I want to remember that violence is usually terrifying and horrible and should be a last resort, not one's first or favorite reaction. Many novels and media stories trivialize pain, suffering and death. However, I do not write strictly for enjoyment and escape. I write because it is an expression of who I am. They are real.
People are real.
And those people should matter, not just those trivial words. The actions and intentions of a person are the things that makes the difference, not just some slickly described image packaged so attractively with the latest media techniques. You cannot be as active as Dion and Aranur without encountering death. You cannot spend so many years courting violence and danger without those things touching you. Dion's great flaw is that she does not know how to live outside of that environment, and so her best efforts to avoid danger and violence are ironically the same efforts that put her family into danger.