What is love?

[treks]

WHAT IS LOVE?

baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more

Aaaah, that great philosophical debate.

I. Give us the basics, but also, no blank comments.
II. On the contrary, in the comment itself, characters must articulate what love (platonic, familial, romantic, universal, as a concept) means to them. To them personally. Eloquently or poorly, they have to use their words.
III. Repliers will shake their heads in simultaneous pity and judgment discuss one of life's fundamental experiences with the original responder!

Comments

Grier "Rook" Thorne | Dragon Age: The Veilguard | OTA

[costofmagic]

The last thing you ever want to bet against.

[theinheritor]

And as such, tis the single most reliable thing you can always bet on.

[costofmagic]

...This will mean little but that sounded very familiar just now.

Claire Bennet ∞ Heroes ∞ OTA

[infinite1ups]

Giving everything for the people who mean everything to me.

Date Masamune | Sengoku Basara

[vengaboy]

I know who I want at my side when all is said and done, and bring in the future we fought so hard for... Sure, I suppose you could call it love.

assassin (kamadeva). fgo. ota

[iluminada]

A lie, mostly.

[ Well then. ]

Love is the pill every living thing chooses to swallow to make their time upon earth a more bearable struggle; for it is a toiling thing, living, made all the more ugly for your shortcomings and the hubris of your own actions. And so you paint your lust and your desires and all your visceral, unseemly little hungers with the colors of whatever happiness or empty, foolish ideal you have fashioned into giving meaning to your little lives and you call that love.

[ A sigh, bored and exhausted. ]

I suppose children know of love. But childhood is gone in the blink of an eye, and whatever remnants of such an untainted thing may remain in someone's heart during adulthood are quickly forgotten in the face of whatever new fancy people decide to anchor themselves with. Knights with their honor and courtly romances; poets with their shallow grasp of beauty and their tired little verses. Lovers with the flickering flame of their devotion.

Bullshit like that, yeah?

[ouvredart]

... Lot of words. Could have just stuck with "bullshit" and saved a fair bit of time, no?

[iluminada]

Oh no. Your precious time, wasted.

[ Very sad. ]

Whatever shall I do?

[mikoshi]

[ After a long, hard look: ] You have a disorder. This is symptoms.

[scamurai]

Ugh... If you're so sick of love, then why don't you just kill yourself already? You wouldn't feel it anymore and it saves us all from some extra noise pollution.

[Telling a depressed girl to kill herself? Real classy, Fuji. Deep down, he feels pity which makes this feel worst for him and he doesn't truly mean it... But due to his empathy killing allergies, he has to be at his worst to keep himself stable. He's clenching his chest as he feels his heart tightening up with blood running down his lips.]

I don't think you need fixing, lady. You just need a death sentence. [More like a mercy kill in his mind.] You can't feel love if you're long gone, right?

[litethefiretomyheart]

And here I thought I was cynical about love as a concept.

Still a stunningly attractive woman such as yourself surely must crave some affection.

Van Chapman | Dimension 20

[bleedin_linguist]

I'm no good with words, me, but it's -- it's a fixed star, isn't it? It's whatever's always there when you need to know where you are.

armand • interview with the vampire (2022) • m/m for shipping

[omaittre]

To be driven to madness. The most disloyal emotion to the heart. The most volatile of the passions.

A most unquenchable thirst.

[chem_break]

Whoa brother, that sounds like coming off the rough end of a real bad break up, if I'm guessin' based on your vibe.

[stickbow]

You! You get it. If anyone says love is soft, they've never seen love! Love is wild, love is demanding, and love is consuming.

[ He's a quick, touchy thing, darting to sidle up to his side. ]

But that's the beautiful thing about loving something--there's no madness as inspiring as love. So! What's your poison?

[morgott]

What makes love disloyal to thee?

Sylus | Love & Deepspace | OTA

[bloomingdatura]

Strength, and weakness, all at once. The largest boon one can ever find, and the largest loss when it's gone.

It's a drive like no other.

Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter | MCU

[ricochetingbullets]

Love is pain.

[Simple as that.]

[faa]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that.

[ He's not about to disclose that he got cheated on, for reasons that can best be summarized as mild, irrational embarrassment, or maybe shame is a better word. Either way, it reflects poorly on him that he was worth cheating on, that he wasn't enough on his own, and it's not something he wants any old person to know—especially another man. ]

At this point, I'm over it. It's easier to just go out with people and come home to my own apartment with no roommate at the end of the day.

[greenthumbliara]

When it is lost? Or worse, taken from you? Yes, it is overwhelmingly painful.

Challia Bull | Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX

[jupiterman]

Love is the most joyful and isolating emotion you could ever experience.

Saria | Arknights

[epicdivorcewoman]

It's...mm.

I'm not the best person to be answering this question, clearly. I...

It's difficult.

[phasing_cat]

Love is not just being willing to die for someone... you have to live.

Telrim | Animorphs OC | OTA

[inside_job]

['Love'? Oh, for... She sighs. Fine.]

Voluntarily sticking your neck out for each other, no matter what idiocy they've dragged you into.

Agatha Harkness | MCU

[monstronaturae]

A mistake.