Saiyuki poll

[louiselux]

Saiyuki people, it's time for a poll:

So, emungere and I have been pondering these important questions about Sanzo and Hakkai.

[Poll #646083]

Do feel free to elaborate with comments.

Comments

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Darn it, everybody pretty much already said what I was thinking. But I'll go ahead and toss my own two cents in anyway.

Question #1: Hakkai is his own bitch, definitely. More than any other character in Saiyuki, he's trapped by his past and his feelings about himself and what he's been though. He's completely absorbed in his guilt, grief, and self-hatred to the point where it's almost selfish; he seems obsessed with his pain to the point where he seems to get a perverse kind of enjoyment out of it sometimes. Still, he doesn't need anyone else to punish him or control him; he does all that himself.

I do think he was Kanan's bitch, to some extent, but I think she was his bitch too.They had kind of a creepy, dependent, mutually destructive relationship, in my opinion. In a certain way, they destroyed each other. And if Hakkai learned nothing else from what happened with her, I think he learned that it wasn't safe to belong so completely to another person.

If he was feeling guilty enough or wallowing in self-hatred, I can see Hakkai being someone else's bitch, for a little while. But at the same time, Hakkai would remain totally in control, 'topping from the bottom', so to speak. I don't think Hakkai truly trusts anyone enough to hand himself over that completely, and I do think Hakkai has a whole lot of pride. I really think it would bother him to be in someone else's control. It just wouldn't fly for him. I think he has just as much pride as Sanzo in that respect, he's just not as obvious about it. Plus, he's into the whole self-flagellation thing, so it's not as clear that he has that much sense of self.

Question #2: Yes, I definitely think Sanzo could fall in love. Whether he'd handle it well, or whether it would turn out to be a good relationship is an extremely dubious prospect, but I think he's fully capable of falling in love. He's not emotionally dead, but he is repressed. He tries to keep a very strict control over his 'softer' emotions, and he definitely keeps everyone at arm's length. I don't think he trusts anybody that much to let them love him, at least not at this point in the series. I'm sure he trusts Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku to help him with the quest, and I think he even trusts them with his life. But I don't think he trusts anyone enough to let his guard down and trust that they won't hurt him. I do think he's capable of learning how to do that, though, and if he trusts the other person enough. Building that trust would be a long hard process, though.

I suspect if he did fall in love with anyone, he'd be in denial for a long damn time. He's so big on not needing anyone but himself, and depending only on himself forever. I think it would bother him to feel like he has an emotional need for anything or anyone but himself. I do think he'd be capable of getting over thatm, though, with the right person and the right impetus. Overall, I think he can love, he just doesn't right now, for all the reasons mentioned above.