#cw kink discourse

[archivalfluid]

This might start a fight ( and idc ) but I like how there’s so many ‘anti-exclusionist’ rp accounts that vilify kink when it’s obvious they haven’t taken a singular step of research outside of fanfic. Like, you do you ig? But as someone that’s a survivor of quite a few horrific events and as someone that actively participates in the community in a non-fictional sense, a lot of y’all take things beyond ‘i have trauma’ and into puritan / exclusionary non-sense. The lack of self-awareness isn’t astounding but it’s certainly something. Like. The things I went through literally resulted in a severe dissociative disorder, CPTSD, and more. But somehow I was still able to retain the ability to not, like, vilify a large portion of a community that’s largely marginalized. Did I have to unlearn a lot? Yeah, ofc, but the effort was made and is still being made. Yet there’s folks my age and older STILL rehashing the same fucking dead in the water discourse because they refuse to look outside of their own lil bubbles. 

[archivalfluid]

[ HEADCANON : HANNIBAL LECTER : KINK VS SEXUAL GRATIFICATION ]

Before we talk a little more about this, it’s important to note that kink itself, to me anyways, encompasses many spectrums. Whether that be what you’re ‘into’ so to speak or what, say, titles / roles someone earns ( or fancies ) - the kink community in and of itself is massive and far more than ‘50 Shades’, so there’s of course variety in who ( and why ) folks are participating.

I am by no means an educator or historian ( that’s my partner, hah ) but I do enjoy some degree of realism in how I go about my headcanons. And, you know, if I’m able to debunk some of the ( admittedly ) toxic mindsets Tumblr writers have about kink, well, here we go ---

A basic, core concept: kink is not inherently sexual. Follow up concept: you do not need to experience sexual stimulation or any sort of sexual gratification to take part in kink.

For Hannibal Lecter, there is cross-over, though since I headcanon Dr. Lecter as very reliant on finding someone intelligent enough / interesting enough to engage at a deeper level with - well? At first, Hannibal playing with someone likely has no sexual intent at all. Having experienced such a severe level of abuse and neglect whilst being abducted - I doubt it would surprise many that I fully believe Hannibal is some variation of ace. I lean toward aceflux myself, personally.

That being said, there are many ways in which one can take part in play without making things sexual, so here is a small ( but not conclusive list ) of scenarios which Hannibal has likely been a part of in his decades as a leatherman.

1) Tying folks up - a lot of people just enjoy the look / feel of it & it makes them feel more confident.  Others enjoy the mental release of being suspended while tied / in sub space. 

2) Cigar play - Can be very therapeutic in the sense that it’s a task with a very specific order in which things need to be done. Folks that enjoy routines often really enjoy play involving smoking. The task is learnable, repeatable, and many nd kinksters use smoking as a stim. There’s a lot of emotional intimacy in this form of play!

3) Whipping / Flogging - While there’s lost of folks that get sexual gratification of pain, there’s a decent handful of folks that purely enjoy it because of pain itself, enjoy the emotional release during / after a session, or flat out enjoy pretty marks on themselves. 

Again, these are just bare bones scenarios, but Hannibal is rarely horny when he’s actively domming someone. There are also, in fact, folks in the community that are entirely sex repulsed. Make room for inclusivity in your kinky hcs too! I guarantee you it’s more fun!