saw someone write this to explain jayce's justification for using the arcane to save viktor, but it felt like an epiphany moment to me that boils down a really interesting concept.
they said : "i need you more than i need to be good"
and i just... it's so beautiful and heartbreaking and devastating and morally ambiguous and potentially harmful.
but i think it succinctly describes many instances in fantasy / sci-fi / fiction relationships (of any kind) where they love and are devoted to each other, to the point where they would corrupt themselves or each other or the world or their morals in order to stay together.
like jayce using the arcane to save viktor.
like silco using shimmer to save jinx.
like ekko using the z-drive to save jinx?
like xaden turning venin to save violet.
like emma turning killian into a dark one to save him.
like neil going to the nest and letting lola capture him to protect andrew and the foxes.
like aaron killing drake for what he did to andrew.
like jean helping and protecting neil while in the nest to ensure that neil could eventually leave.
like jean "i will lose them all if i have to."
like cardan exiling jude to protect her from persecution for killing balekin.
like peeta and katniss choosing to eat the nightlock berries instead of killing each other.
like patroclus following achilles in his adventures, and eventually putting on his armour to fight in his stead.
like achilles choosing to kill hector knowing what his fate would be.
like natasha choosing to die for the infinity stone instead of clint.
like lucy rewriting the end book.
like aang closing his access to the avatar state instead of letting go of katara
some of these are romantic relationships and some aren't. some of these you might not even agree are applicable examples. and most of these are extreme cases.
but i think this sentiment can be seen in many many large and small acts of sacrifice. where one person doesn't agree with the morals or the consequences or the reactions related to the action in question, but the other has completely put aside those factors and concerns in order to protect that person.
it feels like a deeply indescribable emotion and desire. the act itself seems almost unfathomable to the person on the receiving end of it, and sometimes even to us as the audience.
but those choices likely can never truly be understood until you yourself are faced with a situation like it.
where someone you love is in danger, and the more unfathomable thing is the possibility of losing them.
i think that phrase encapsulates this beautifully.
