#blah blah blah ... something about sex and eating as 'base' (i.e. animalistic) instincts + death thought accessibility hypothesis

[disengaged]

Hey pegs! I hope you’re doing well and feeling better💖

I know a lot of Metallica fics over the last 2-3 years have had a very recurring “cannibalistic/horror/gore” theme to them. It seems to be a fan favorite as well seeing how many kudos these types of stories would get! I know I am not opposed to them at all. But I guess my question is: what are your views on “cannibalism as a metaphor for love”?

Hopefully this serves as a distraction to some degree, and once again I hope you feel better soon!

cannibalism as love ... well! it clicks for me, it makes some kind of intuitive sense. the experience of love (i.e. the act of loving another) is so often conceived as being utterly all-consuming, it makes logical sense for media depictions to extend to literal consumption. i see it as symbolism of the ... somewhat-necessary loss of the self/parts of the self involved in such an emotionally-involved affair (?), but also ... it's an exploration of what it means to give oneself to another. the vulnerability, the intimacy, the power exchange—it's devotion, it's sacrifice, it's mutual complicity in tumbling down the rabbithole (the taboo, the Other; to eat your lover is a freakish thing to do). it can be tender, loving, cruel, brutal, abusive, or any combination of the above, but any way you shake it, it's ... perhaps the most extreme version of dedication. easy to romanticize, easier to eroticize.

i'm speaking mainly about consensual cannibalism here, but i think it goes without saying the non-consensual murder kind has endless potential, too.