i think ppl stereotypicall think that violence cannot also be an act of love because love is like a 'good' and 'pure' thing and therefore cannot be synonymous with violence @thebubbledragon
One of my best friends sent me this while talking about a book trilogy they had just finished reading. (The Green Bone Saga for the curious.) It's become one of those things that twists and turns in my mind. It's this call that I feel like I need to write a response for. My hearts sings out with something that my mind and fingers can't quite capture yet.
I sat down earlier trying to turn a variation of "violence as an act of love" into prose. What I wanted was that to be my drum beat. Something where I dove into it with that as the singular repeating line while each paragraph answered it. Those words are still stuck as sounds and feelings.
It touched me because I write so many things where acts of violence serve as acts of love and respect and acknowledgement. Hell, sometimes it's born from a tangled sense of compassion. Between my favorite ships and settings and tropes it melds in so perfectly. So many of my characters when cornered go, "I love you so much I'll fight for you. I'll take your place. I'll bleed for you without flinching."
The greatest acts of violence Solus carries out with the Force (and many outside) have been born of love. She respects loves a man so much they tear chunks out of each other on Concordia. Their blood splatters seems into the ground because this is as much a dance as the night before was. As their meeting had been with turns of phrase and looks and assurances half given. She loves Mandalore so much she burns parts of the Jedi Order and Republic Spy Networks. "Let them know what it feels like to have Outsiders invade their home." She breaks a friend's arm in three places as a village burns around them because she'll suffer no disrespect to her family. A man nearly two feet taller than her was tackled from a balcony as a distraction, as a show of prowess. All of the finesse of the Force, of her lightsabers (the gifted kyber burning orange), of most of her training as a warrior in favor of a brutality fueled by love. Him and his brother were endangering her family, defiling her home, and it would stop. Later when Inquisitors caught her and her family her riduur died; he died knowing he couldn't win but he could buy his two riduurs and their children time to escape. She dug so deep into the Force a shockwave echoed seemingly across the time and space. Them and their forces died because would lay waste to everything to protect her children, her family, her home. There's so much more drawing from her and her love that appears as violence. Later, she juggles the world for her riduur as she works to take their home again and again. She's guide and advisor and assassin and the rock to build upon.
Nico Bright loves Claire Redfield so much she ingests a variant of t-virus to save her. Her body bleeds antibodies because fate is fickle. It doesn't change but it hurts. Later she fights a man with decades of experience over her and wins. (A shotgun is a great equilizer.) There's blood and broken bones and bruising on her end. Her own life was in danger and that fuels her. But, even more so was he hurt people she loves. It's an act she'll never be able to undo, what he did to them and countless others, but she can stop it from happening again. It ends here and it ends now and it ends with her almost hyperventilating body thrown so deep into this she becomes calm. She protects civilians (a title she no longer views for herself) with a calm tone and good leadership and acts of violence. Because it keeps them safe from the zombies outside their little SUV. So many of her brushes with bioterrorism are born from this unyielding love for humanity and others even if it almost breaks her.
There's so many more; Alijah Kastor who hunts people who could kill her with her hands tied behind her back, Lumi Kirrin bathed in blood from such a young age to defend the basic rights of others, Jazari Naaji who acts for love and family no matter the personal cost, Vren Avitus who makes herself in a guide and assassin and solider to save her sister and her loves, Fe Cataegis who has a panic attack so intense she throws up because she hates travel by water but this fight needs her more. Sosha Soruna is canon but she helps reclaim a home that is not her own wearing none of the trappings of those around her; it's violence in the act of love because this is Jila's Home and she wants her girlfriend happy.
There's just something so twisting in violence as an act of love that calls out. It's the answer to the question of "What would you do for those you love?" with a defeaning, "Anything."
Poly asks for Nico, Jill, and Carlos - What are their living arrangements like? Who lives together? Who bounces back and forth between partners and never goes to their own apartment? What do the sleeping arrangements look like?
What are their living arrangements like? Who lives together?
A lot of the polycule, in general, tend to have legal marriages. So, that breaks down into Carlos & Jill (and their dog Coco) with their own house. Then nearby is Claire & Nico's own home; it's a single story because they're both aware they get injured often.
Who bounces back and forth between partners and never goes to their own apartment?
It absolutely was Nico. She hates being home alone overnight. Even when she shared an apartment with Javi, then later Claire, she'd be somewhere else if they were gone for work. Everyone has stuff that belongs to her and she has stuff that belongs to other people.
What do the sleeping arrangements look like?
Nico tends to be between Carlos and Jill. Being surrounded by her loves is one of her favorite things. Also because she's the shortest sticking her in the middle keeps them from losing her. Because she will turn into this tiny little ball and end up somewhere at the edge or in the floor.
I was tagged by @aceghosts and @whateverthefuckyouwantiguess to share five songs for my OTPS. Since I saw other people including lyrics I’m absolutely jumping on that part too. Because I am nothing if not a giant fucking sap. I’m doing four ships including breaking down some polyships into smaller parts.
Tagging: @thebisexualmandalorian, @thebubbledragon, @heavensong, @thuriweaver and anyone else who wants to do this! Seriously, anyone not tagged that wants to jump in please do so. Because I adore OTPs and songs about them.
Y’all don’t know this but you are so proud this isn’t like 50%+ Taylor Swift.
PelnaVren (Pelna Khara x Vren Avitus)
(They’re my darlings from FFXV, my fandom before Resident Evil took over, and I am forever going to be in love with how in love they are. Literally, he’s Vren’s very first love so there’s such a sweetness to it no matter how many years pass. He calls her “Sunflower” as a pet name. Vren’s so much light that flowers may as well grow toward her. It’s at odds with someone born only “half-alive”. Her strongest type of magic is also lightning.)
Sunflower, Vol. 6 - Molly Tuttle
Sunflower, my eyes want you more than a melody
Let me inside, wish I could get to know you
Sunflowers sometimes keep it sweet in your memory
I was just tongue-tied
-
Wondering headshake, tired eyes are the death of me
Mouthful of toothpaste before I got to know you
Line By Line (feat. Karen Morris)
Love's too big for a love song
If I tried to sum it up I know I'd get it wrong
-
Four chords, three minutes, you'd never fit in it
So I just take you line by line
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
I'll be writing about you for the rest of my life
-
Like I'm still not convinced that I won't be too much for you someday
Ready To Love -KSHMR
I hope this will last forever
You are more than just a phase
Your smile brings me out the darkness
You are all I need tonight
-
Flowers hanging in the window
Match the color of your eyes
Dancing in a ball of fire
Each move with no compromise
I can't live the same without you
Your heart makes me come alive
You bring joy through all the sadness
Let's not do it unless it's done right
Favorite T-Shirt (Acoustic) - Jake Scott
I been sittin' here tryna figure out
What did I do right to be with you right now?
-
You were kissin' my neck, you were makin' me nervous
And none of our friends would believe it
You were puttin' your hands up under my shirt
Makin' fun of the way I was breathin'
-
And you look so good it hurts
In my favorite T-shirt
Electric Love - Paravi
Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle
I can't let you go now that I got it
All I need is to be struck (Oh)
By your electric love
Brightfield (Claire Redfield x Nico Bright)
(When Nico was younger Claire saved her from a zombie; Nico had survived everything up until that final one. It wasn’t a special zombie, just a generic human one, at the edge of the camp zone but she was so tired that when she fell, she thought that was it. Nico was in love with her a little then but didn’t figure that out until several years later. Her flipping love into a religious/holy experience is trying to rewrite the religious traumas of her youth; the fire and brimestone and homophobia that told her she’d go to hell for loving a woman. There was some agonizing on Claire’s part before they got together because Age Gap. But, then it ended up being so, so worthy.)
Haunt You (feat. chloe moriondo) - X Lovers, chloe moriondo
Loved you from the first time that I saw you
In the kitchen with your hair under a baseball cap
Couldn't find the words to say one single thing
Oh, I never knew someone could make me fall like that
-
Now I can't picture my lifе
Without you by my side
Can't let you go
I'll nevеr let you go
Cherry - FLETCHER, Hayley Kiyoko
And your voice real low when you talking to me
You're saying something and I'm thinking one thing
Your lips when you bite 'em like this
And I'm blushing real hard, got me moving my hips
You're across from me and it's hard to breathe
-
You're such a dream, I'm dying to see
Oh, if it's real, if it's sweet, if you taste just like a
Cherry
Bubbly - Colbie Caillet
I've been awake for a while now
You've got me feelin' like a child now
'Cause every time I see your bubbly face
-
The rain is falling on my window pane
But we are hiding in a safer place
Under covers staying dry and warm
You give me feelings that I adore
-
It starts in my soul
And I lose all control
When you kiss my nose
The feeling shows
'Cause you make me smile
Baby, just take your time
Now holdin' me tight
religion (u can lay your hands on me) - Shura
We've been talking on the telephone for hours at night
Whilst I've been thinking about kissing you
I wanna consecrate your body, turn the water to wine
-
It could be LA, it could be Heaven
If you're an angel, can I be your God?
You in all your glory, it's not confession
Baby, don't apologize
Fall Into Me - Forest Blakk
The day that I met you
The world had just spit me out
On my way to the bottom
Sure I'd never be found
-
Fall into me
And I'll catch you, darlin'
We'll dance in the street
Like nobody's watching
It's just you and me
-
I'd fall for you twice
If that's what you wanted
I'd give you my lifе
From now till forever
I'm falling in love with you
Ovеr and over again
Cleonight (Claire Redfield x Leon Kennedy x Nico Bright)
(They were independently together with each other before Claire was the one to go, “Hey, we’re already all dating each other...what if we just all dated as a unit?” Because the other two would’ve continued on like the dumbasses that they are without bringing it up. Leon’s got a lot of self-worth issues for many reasons. I add religious trauma as one of them. So, I think he also tends to view love as this thing he kind of doesn’t deserve because it’s holy. Claire and Nico work to correct him.)
Daylight - Shinedown
I was diagnosed with a fear of getting too close
Had to tell the ones I love I was on the ropes
I'm not the only one whose life's been pulled apart
-
You saved my life, not once but twice
You keep me free from falling
You saved my lifе, make it all alright
When I don't feel like talking
You makе sure I always see the daylight
ANGELS - Chase Atlantic
Calling on my angels (Ooh, yeah)
It's getting darker and I'm starting to get anxious (Ooh, yeah)
-
Pleasure and pain feel the same to me (Same to me)
I lost my faith, but I still believe there's something (Oh, yeah)
Blood in my eyes made it hard to see (Oh)
I went out searching for an angel then you came to me, my darling
Cloud 9 (ft. Tegan and Sara) - Beach Bunny & Tegan and Sara
I don’t wanna seem the way I do
But I’m confident when I’m with you
-
But when they love me, I feel like I’m floating
When they call me pretty, I feel like somebody
Even when we fade eventually to nothing
You will always be my favorite form of loving
Holy - Zolita
Worship your body as you walk my way
You're the only one who can make me pray
I fall at your feet, your breath defined
And underneath my skin's an intrinsic shrine
-
I love you most, but I'm not worthy
I'll give my soul, sacrifice me
Cause your love is holy
-
I'd rather drown in your ocean
Than wither on the shore
Undying devotion, feel you in my core
Veneration, this faith's got me high
Nothing without you, live for you till I die
Till I die, till I die, till I die, till I die, till I die...
Better Man - 5 Seconds of Summer
New friends again and again, gone when the morning comes
Demons I tried to defend, but I couldn't get enough
-
Fading away, fading away
Wake up to someone with nothing to say
I'd never change, thought I'd never change
Then you come and change it all
-
With your love, your love
I'm a better, better man
-
Wrapped in your arms, I swear
I'd die for your love, your love
Briveira (Carlos Olveira x Nico Bright)
(They met through Claire, Chris, and being coworkers at TerraSave and absolutely did not mean to fall in love. They were just friends for a while which was more than enough. He calls her “Dandelion”, she calls him “bear”, and life was totally good. She was this little bright patch that showed up about 9 months after Jill “”died”” that made things a little easier. She even reminded him of a Jill a little; that Fire, Call to Action, Integrity, Intelligence, and Stubbornness. Also the tendency to just pick locks. It was something (beyond age) that had him agonizing over loving Nico romantically; was he loving Nico in her own right or as this replacement for Jill and a redo to keep her safe? The answer, according to Nico, is that he worried for nothing and she’s thrilled when he finally made a move. So was Claire who got to watch her delightful girlfriend pine over him. It was both cute and disgusting at how confusedly in love she was.)
Sunflower, Vol.6 - Harry Styles
I couldn't want you any more
Kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor
I couldn't want you any more tonight
-
I don't wanna make you feel bad, but I've been trying hard not to act a fool.
Lover - Taylor Swift
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear
Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?
-
Can I go where you go?
Can we always be this close forever and ever?
And ah, take me out and take me home
-
I take this magnetic force of a man to be my
Lover
My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue
All's well that ends well to end up with you
Swear to be over-dramatic and true to my
Lover
-
And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me
And at every table, I'll save you a seat
Little Things - One Direction
Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me
But bear this in mind, it was meant to be
And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks
And it all makes sense to me…
-
Oh it's you
They add up to
I'm in love with you
And all these little things
-
If I let you know I'm here for you
Maybe you'll love yourself like I love you, oh
Heartbeat - Carrie Underwood
And tonight, I wanna drive so far, we'll only find static on the radio
And we can't see those city lights and I love the way you look in a firefly glow
Saying everything without making a sound
A cricket choir in the background, underneath a harvest moon
Standing on your shoes in my bare feet
Dancing to the rhythm of your heartbeat
-
I wanna feel you holding onto me and make me hold my breath