When feasible, one should eat the rude

I loved Stephen King books as a tween/teen. Sometimes they scared me so much that I had to stay up reading until I was so tired that I fell asleep on the book, but I always loved them.

So, I guess it should be no surprise that I like many of the television shows that have a thriller/horror bent to them too. I don’t like ones that rely primarily on the creep factor, but I’m not adverse to some of the bloodier shows: CSI. Criminal Minds. Dexter.

Hannibal.

I haven’t read the books that the TV series is based on, but when we discovered Hannibal on Netflix, we devoured seasons one and two. And, although we were a few weeks late catching up to the third season, we quickly consumed the first seven episodes online and then followed along as they aired each week on television.

As soon as I saw Crown of Thorns, I thought of Hannibal; it immediately reminded me of the stag antlers that appear throughout season one. Crown of Thorns also ended up on my dragon bracelet, but this was the first bracelet that I envisioned it on. When I started this bracelet, I didn’t have other silvers in mind, but once I started thinking about them, they came fairly easily.

I added Love Hurts and Brainiac because of Hannibal’s particular palate.

I also knew that I needed something to sum up Hannibal’s culinary skills and his penchant for pairing his courses with the perfect wine. While I wouldn’t want to eat what Hannibal makes, he knows his way around a kitchen and he prepares his meals with the skill of a gourmet chef. I came across a few chef’s hat beads, but they didn’t capture the essence of Hannibal. I also found a few knife dangles that evoked the right feeling, but I still shy away from dangles. In the end, I decided to make a bead with a cleaver, carving knife and cutting board, wine bottle, place setting, and recipe cards. Although it’s not quite what I originally planned, I love it!

For the glass, I went with darker shades to match Hannibal’s dark intentions. I chose Dark Soul partly for the name. The shattered effect also perfectly fit the theme of a flawed man. I originally included Ohm’s Broken Heart, which added a little bit of colour while still keeping the darker tones and shattered effect of Dark Soul. But, Hannibal is such a contradictory character – refined and savage at the same time – that I felt it needed something to reflect that. At first I hesitated about adding Bacon, thinking it was a bit too macabre, but the streaked effect reminded me of the opening sequence, which is very stark and different from the opening credits for most shows. And, the single bright bead highlights the contrast between Hannibal’s clean-cut outer persona and the darker man behind the mask.

After I picked out the beads, I struggled with the arrangement. I really wanted to use Cranium for its sinister look – as refined as Hannibal is, he’s still a deeply sinister man! – but, with its dark plating, it didn’t stand out against the darker glass beads. So off it went. The dark grey beads that I originally chose muted the black beads, so I removed them too. But, I didn’t have enough black glass beads to properly balance out the silvers. I finally thought of using my black leather to offset the lack of black beads, but had trouble finding a balanced look with the two strands.

Then I thought of knotting the bracelet.

I haven’t tried knotting my leather before, but it was quite easy to do. And, I immediately liked how the black leather makes the beads pop (I really don’t even need the two black glass beads that I have) and how the knots reflected Hannibal’s complex character. Sadly, I can’t comfortably wear it; even after knotting the entire length, it’s still too long. I ended up hooking the lock onto one of the knots so that I could wear it for a while, but I’ll have to try another arrangement at some point.

I hoped to have this bracelet done before the series finale in August, but I still didn’t have Brainiac at the time. Since I already missed using Brainiac for my Ghoulia and zombie bracelets, I didn’t want to miss using it for yet another theme. I wore an altered combination for the series finale, but this is the first time that all of the pieces have been together. It’s a bit late, but I was so excited by the bead that I made that I still wanted to show it now that I finally have Brainiac.

Maybe this will even be the good luck charm that the series needs to get picked up by another network?