#willingness to change

[openmind12]

An open mind is a state of being receptive to new ideas and perspectives, without allowing preconceived notions or biases to hinder one's ability to learn and grow. It is a mindset that is essential for personal development, intellectual curiosity, and progress in society.

One of the most significant benefits of having an open mind is the ability to learn and expand one's knowledge base. When we have an open mind, we are receptive to new information and ideas, even if they challenge our current beliefs. This openness allows us to broaden our perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the world around us.

Furthermore, having an open mind fosters creativity and innovation. When we are not constrained by preconceived notions or biases, we are free to think outside of the box and come up with new and original ideas. This mindset is particularly important in fields such as science and technology, where innovation is essential for progress.

An open mind also allows us to communicate and collaborate effectively with others. When we are receptive to different perspectives, we can engage in meaningful discussions and work together to solve problems. This type of collaboration is crucial in creating a more equitable and inclusive society, where diverse viewpoints are valued and respected.

On the other hand, a closed mind can be detrimental to personal growth and progress. When we are closed-minded, we are resistant to change and may reject new ideas without giving them a fair chance. This type of mindset can lead to ignorance, intolerance, and stagnation.

In conclusion, having an open mind is essential for personal and societal growth. It allows us to learn, create, and collaborate effectively, while also promoting tolerance and inclusivity. As individuals, we can cultivate an open mind by being receptive to new ideas and perspectives, challenging our biases, and engaging in respectful discussions with others.

#open-mindedness #personal growth #learning #knowledge #creativity #innovation #collaboration #diversity #tolerance #inclusivity #critical thinking #curiosity #adaptability #acceptance #flexibility #perspective #self improvement #intellectual humility #open to new experiences #willingness to change

[1whoconquers]

John 5:6 - Embracing Healing: Are You Willing to Get Well?

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#Gospel of John #healing #Transformation #Willingness to Change

[aziraphalalala]

Aziraphale is a feral beast once he gets a taste of something he likes. Ox rib. Sushi. Wine. Cake. Books.

Crowley.

#don't even try to change my mind about this #this angel will be mcfucking feral once he sees something he wants #zero self-control #zero willingness to even try for any self-control #feral aziraphale #feral michael sheen #how is that not a suggested tag? #good omens #ineffable idiots #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #aziraphale #crowley #crowley x aziraphale

[nancywait]

This, or That?

“THIS” ~ Tuning Into Source, pen&ink by N.Wait 1986 “THAT” ~ The Net, watercolor by N. Wait 2007 Connected to Source, or Imprisoned in Ego? Unity or Separation? A disconnect, or interconnectedness? Unity Consciousness, or what we’ve got now? We’ve got both now. This and that. This shifting into that. Truly, an exciting time to be on the planet. I did “This” in the mid-1980s, 20 years before…

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#alternate reality #Art #bridging worlds #consciousness #energy changes #expression #higher self #inner awareness #intuitive knowing #Shift #the nancy who drew #Transitions #Willingness to Change

[powdermelonkeg]

Thoughts on the thunder wizard again.

Genuinely, I find Gale's relationship with Mystra to be fascinating when you consider all its facets. Unhealthy, imbalanced, definitely poisonous, but also very, very intricate with a lot of blurred edges to it. One of those things where you're both like "wow, what the hell, that's horrible" but also "that makes perfect sense for their characters, and while I would NEVER, I know why they would, and why it happened."

You've got a wizard who doesn't know what real love is, who thinks he's finally being shown it by the person he adores most. His greatest fantasy, his most potent joy, his most heartfelt aspirations, and they were all offered to him.

And he wants to see what all she's hiding from him, because of course he does. She's the keeper of all things forbidden to him. The empire of Netheril reached magical heights that will never be touched again, and all that knowledge is beyond her curtain. She loves him, right? Surely, if he proves himself enough, she'll let him grasp that power he so desperately wants.

And not even in the power-hungry sense! All that magic Mystra's locked up was accessible during Mystryl's reign. Think of all the answers to theories about the universe that are back there. Every question of "can this be done, and what would it do" would be answered, if he could just bargain hard enough.

She loves him, right?

Surely, if he proves himself enough...

And then, on the other hand, Mystra. Once Midnight, her human personality has been subsumed by the goddess of magic and her duty to the Weave. She has a responsibility to magic, she IS magic.

Then along comes this mortal boy who knows how to handle her Weave. Who doesn't try to wrestle with and dominate, who sings to it. He handles it with such ease and grace—it's not just that he could be Chosen, but he deserves it. To put her Weave in the hands of someone so intrinsically in tune with it, who understands its potential with a wonder like no other. Few enough can handle the raw power that comes with being Chosen, but this one? This one is perfect.

And he adores you. And you adore him, like one would a beautiful butterfly that's landed on their finger. And he's willing to be devoted to you in all things, not out of transaction like most of your worshipers are, but out of love for you, your craft, your magic. You're so deeply and utterly charmed by him.

And it's not like Mystra hasn't walked this path before.

She gives him what he desires, because what he desires is her. And, in a different way, she desires him. She wants him to be her representation in the world. She indulges his adoration with her own presence, and takes indulgence herself in mortal comforts. He's never satisfied with her answers, but who could blame him? She keeps a whole world away from mortals, because she knows what such unfettered power might bring about (again).

And the wizarding prodigy's ambition is lit (again).

And the height of power is reached for (again).

And she stops him (again, again, again).

She does care for him. She doesn't want to see her little butterfly burn himself, and she doesn't want to be the one to ruin those wings.

But then he's not a butterfly. He's a mortal, wielding a weapon of murder, of her murder, and he's brought it to her doorstep because she told him "no." And he's cut himself on it, he doesn't know what it is, but it's hurt him—and it's only a fraction of the hurt it could do to her. How dare he want her help after threatening her?

(He didn't mean to.)

(He only wanted to help.)

(He only wanted. How human.)

She doesn't help him. If he wants to pursue Karsus' weaponry, it's his responsibility, his hubris, that led him to injuring himself on it. She's furious. She's hurt. She's cold.

(What fools these mortals be.)

But then, there's a greater threat to her. Something that could drown the Material in Karsus' failings. And that little boy, who nicked himself on the sword he lifted, still wants her help.

It's a fair trade, isn't it? She'll forgive him, let him into her domain again, if he accepts his punishment and goes into battle for her. He picked up a sword, it's appropriate that he learns to use it in her name, right?

If he was telling the truth, he wouldn't hesitate. If he really wanted to serve her with the Netherese Orb, he would jump at the opportunity to do so. He would have to give up a few petty things in the process, ("petty," she calls mortality, as if family and home mean nothing, as if friends and love are finite. Because to her, they do mean nothing. Because to her, they are finite.) but it isn’t atonement without sacrifice, is it?

It's the tactical move. She's not above hurting one man to save a nation. It's not even the first time she's done it.

(Dornal Silverhand sends his regards.)

If he loves her, he'd die for her, because she'd let him into her paradise. If he doesn't love her, he won't, and she was justified in removing him from her grace.

He doesn't love her. Not anymore.

Does he hate her enough to try to take his dues?

Ambition has always been man's greatest folly.

#bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #mystra #listen. go watch steven universe where rose says 'i'm not a real person' #pay attention to how rose laughs at greg and how funny and sweet humans are #that's how i think mystra sees her chosen #but she lacks rose's willingness to change and dip into mortal life #gale is cute. gale is precious. gale is wonderful. but gale is amusing. #and he's not equal to a god. certainly not the goddess of magic. and his attempts to insist that he is are only met with a pat on the head #long post #oops i turned a ramble into poetry again. i swear it's not intentional #the parentheses got me :/

[ovaruling]

idc i will never understand the desire to keep our species going in 2024. why? literally what reason rn. look around. we’ve done enough. we’re going to have record heat and cold and weather this year and the year after that and the year after that. if they even survive the natural disasters imminent then your children will be 25 and won’t be able to go outside bc it’ll be either 135 degrees or -135 degrees by 8am every day and we’ll have new degrees of mass extinction every season. the food supply will be vanishing. the ocean already will be devoid of fish by 2048. we will likely suffer another few zoonotic pandemics as animal agriculture worsens bc no one can fucking put down the cow breastmilk. life as we know it is going to come to a violent and stuttering end much sooner than everyone wishes to acknowledge. it will be painful and horrifying and slow and then very quick. i would never wish that on anyone. i would sooner us all die out than one more new innocent be subjected to any of that. but ok

[commsroom]

there's an interesting statement being made about identity if you accept all of the wolf 359 characters are equally themselves as of the finale: eiffel is form without memory; hera is memory without form; lovelace is both, but without continuity of experience; minkowski is both with continuity - and she's still not the same person that goddard recruited. if we're never the same people we were, but we're always ourselves, then the only way the self can be defined is through its own assertion - and maybe it can be argued that "my name is-" (and later, being able to say "my name is hera" reintroducing herself to pryce) and "i am captain isabel lovelace. no matter how hard you try, you are not taking that away from me" and "without me, who are you?" / "renée minkowski, and that is more than enough to kick your ass" are all the set up for (and part of the answer to) "am i still doug eiffel?"

#wolf 359 #w359 #it's about accountability but also about inevitable change and the willingness to learn from the past #and change for the better #holding those maybe contradictory ideas in your head #that we can't escape who we are. the limitations of the self or the people we've been in the past. but also #that there's no permanent state of self we're bound to #that the self is a constant negotiation of presentation and communication with others and can't exist in a vacuum #but also that it is about inherent worth and self-defined and self-named #i think that line is so interesting. 'we can't just change who we are but we get better.' #because depending on how you interpret it it either supports or contradicts this philosophy #and i think the difference in how hera interpreted it vs how maxwell might've meant it is part of how they misunderstood each other #and why it's an idea that stuck with hera and that she returns to. and feels like it was a lie. after maxwell betrays her #but that's another discussion maybe. #and also of course. the significance of names in wolf 359. but that's a whole thing on its own too.

[thefirstpaleontologist]

ok I just had a really fun hazbin hotel au idea

what if Lillith had dumped Charlie with Alastor before she fucked off to heaven, resulting in Alastor ‘raising’ (I use that term loosely) her for the 7 years leading up to season 1?

Edit: did a redraw of that first scene!!

#hazbin hotel #alastor #Charlie #Alastor raises Charlie au #is this anything #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin hotel au #aroace alastor #forced found family is what this is #I did this purely to force Alastor into an uncomfortable situation that he can’t escape #I really like their friendship in the show so I think it’d be interesting how their dynamic might change if #1 Charlie is younger and still needs an adult #2 they’re forced into eachothers company (rather than the mutual willingness to cohabitate and get along that they have in the show) #3 I give Charlie even more mummy and daddy issues than she already has #the angst and fluff potential is off the scales on this one folks

[sapphorror]

#invader zim #zadr #zade #zadp #iz posting #natterings #saph reads #let it be known i tried to think of a clever caption for this but sometimes words just dont cut it #anyway i sympathize with takship can you even imagine how uncomfortable itd be getting forced to third wheel for these guys of all guys #i am just... so enamored by their ever-standing dynamic of pursuer and the pursued #the very particular type if devotion that comes from the willingness to follow someone into hell or worse #not to hold their hand but simply because youll never let them escape #and its not even a question that youd follow wherever they lead #THE WAY ANTAGONISM CAN OPERATE IDENTICALLY TO LOYALTY #AND THE WAY THIS BEATING HEART OF THEIR DYNAMIC HAS BEEN THERE UNCHANGED SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING #zadr chase scenes are fundamentally symbolic change my mind

[daily-hanamura]

#p4 #p4g #persona 4 #persona 4 golden #hanamura yosuke #yosuke hanamura #ahhhh thinking about early days yosuke got me hurting again #hes holding on so hard to the hope of being wanted #of peoole thinking about him enough that they reach out to text him even though they know its a moot point #but also when he talks about how people might get annoyed with him if he called just to say hes changed addresses #yosukes always been very conscious about imposing himself on other people and this is something about him thats very consistent #and it hinders his ability or willingness to actually reach out to others or form meaningful connections #because he just sees himself as being annoying so he ends up being guarded #im not ok about this #he's good with his queue

[clownprince]

alright i was already intrigued by the premise of knight terrors: the joker but i'm SO fucking hyped now you're telling me rosenberg is elaborating on the divorce arc??? also dark workplace comedy is exactly where i hoped they'd go with this

#scared to get my hopes up bc rosenberg hasn't done much with the batman/joker dynamic so idk his take on it #i think he has a solid understanding of joker as a character #and i'm beyond thrilled at the possibility that they're not just ignoring endgame and joker war and all that shit #joker trying to do his own thing and be his own person without batman is the logical next step #and i'm glad rosenberg managed to salvage something out of the raging dumpster fire that was tynion's take on joker #also mildly concerned about where this might go bc personally i like it when joker has no identity or purpose outside of batman #to me that's what defines joker. his lack of a stable identity and willingness to change to be what he thinks batman needs him to be #and idk if rosenberg is talking about in the nightmare or irl but my assumption is the nightmare will be reflected in the main narrative #rosenberg is also like. genuinely funny. to me at least. so i'm excited. just a bit nervous for what this might mean for the batman/joker #dynamic moving forward. idk #uhhh #batjokes #joker #knight terrors: the joker

[demonslayedher]

Hantengu: As Bad As You Can Get Without Being Muzan

I've touched on this in old meta entries and I'm just going to wind up linking them here, but a friend got me going on this again today, so I'll state it again: Hantengu is one of the most insidious characters in this whole series, if you're going by sweeping themes of self-mastery which Gotouge may or may not have consciously intended.

For starters, I'm going to compare Hantengu to his polar opposite, Rengoku Kyojuro, mostly by referring you this post where I already explained how Kyojuro displays samurai-style idealized virtues of self-mastery, stoicism, and inner peace about death or aging. A common theme in oni lore is how letting one's passions run amok is what brings out the demon any person has potential to become, whether these passions are greed or worry or even joy. Kyojuro is very clearly a passionate person, but he's self-aware enough to know that his passions must be kept in check in order to benefit from them, and that means putting effort into maintaining them. He's seen how that can lead to burn out as in the case of his father, so he maintains his own balance by recognizing and accepting the harsh truths of any situation with as much grace as he can muster, recognizing and taking steps to overcome his own shortcomings, and recognizing and making a choice to "set his heart ablaze" instead of getting lost in frenzy.

Hantengu, on the other hand, lets his passions run so amok that they take their own physical forms, and even then no single one of them is ever consistently powerful enough to be sustained for long before he's spawned something new based on whatever new frenzy he's in. It's his reckless abandon of self-control that made him so demonically powerful.

There are other characters who lack self-control, though--Inosuke and Zenitsu are who they are because they are the perfect agents to introduce chaos to any scene. They gradually take steps to learn self-mastery, however--Zenitsu is hyperaware of his own failings, to the point of rumination, and Inosuke is hypoaware. However, at their core, their desire to do better by other people leads them down paths of self-improvement, a path which keeps them aligned with humanity as opposed to the allure of powerful demons.

Demons in this series display similarly admirable traits, though--Kokushibo and Akaza have striven as hard as any Corp member to improve themselves, for instance. Gyutaro and Daki might have had blatant disregard for others due to a lingering jealousy and hatred for how much better everyone else always had things than they did, but they have always taken active roles in standing up for themselves and trying to improve their circumstances.

If we dive into more loathsome, demented demons, we still see that they know themselves enough to own their faults, whether they see them as faults are not. Douma is quick to recognize his own lack of passion, Enma is unashamed as about what gives him pleasure and uses his underhanded, self-protecting tactics in order to play the long game in his strategy, Gyokko is an artist, and Muzan is perfectly clear and at peace with who he is and what he wants. Muzan's desires are so plain to him that it even opened up a believable opportunity for Tanjiro to feel sympathy for him in their final encounter, though Tanjiro made the choice not to.

Tanjiro never even entertained the notion of pitying Hantengu, though.

I'll come back to Tanjiro, but to borrow from this post about themes in KnY as they relate to oni lore: In many philosophies, even an excess of positive emotions can be detrimental, and people who follow those philosophies are instead encouraged to not given into any emotion too strongly. Likewise, the lack of a virtue can be bad, but an excess of it becomes a vice.

While the Ki-Do-Ai-Raku fearsome foursome represent the danger of unchecked, excessive emotions, Zouhakuten represents an excess of virtue, which turns it into a vice. From an outside perspective, of course Tanjiro was doing the right thing attacking a tiny oni, because this oni will go on killing people if he doesn't, but Zouhakuten focuses so intensely on the injustice of attacking the small and weak that he is ignorantly convinced of his own self-righteousness.

The other demons don't do this, particularly--they justify what they do, like Daki saying how this is just the way the world works that beautiful and powerful oni can do whatever they want because that is how the world works, but she doesn't claim her actions are righteous. Muzan also makes rational points--which Zouhakuten echos--about how the demon slayers drive a lot of the violence due to their own inability to make peace with their lot in life, and going out of their way to attack demons. However, as much as Muzan believes he is superior, he doesn't belief he is a god who can cast moral judgement on others, nor is he interested.

Zouhakuten, taking the form of a deity that fiercely protects the precepts of Buddhism and threatens those who defy it, makes the daring claim that he is just.

The Demon Slayers Corp members, at least those like Tanjiro, are guilty of the same thing. The difference, however, comes back to self-awareness. For example, Tanjiro is confronted with the question of whether Zouhakuten/Hantengu has ever eaten anyone in Tanjiro's life, and as he has not, Tanjiro must at least question if justice is on his side anyway in attacking Zouhakuten. It was an easy answer, but being mortal and easily killed for sticking his neck out by picking fights with demons, it's something Tanjiro continually has to question and reaffirm.

Yes, the answer is always easy for Tanjiro, and yes, there are Corp members who are only in it for the glory or the money (and these characters are not treated as heroes). However, Tanjiro must also continually self-reflect on his own weaknesses and failings. Taisho Secrets tell us he's even reviewing his training and battles in his sleep to analyze and learn from them, and we see his continual efforts to improve no matter how beaten down he's gotten. In the heat of battle he has to keep himself confident and focused. He's got to keep from beating himself up unfairly, and he's got to keep from getting over-confident, it's a balance to maintain and it takes practice to read oneself with clarity.

He's constantly having to practice self-mastery, which means Total Concentration of whatever strength he needs to pull from, including passions like righteous anger that make it feel like his heart and/or forehead are ablaze. It takes him practice to be able to keep rebounding, but he's got humility to be able to learn from others, take criticism, and analyze himself with clarity.

These are the virtues which Kimetsu no Yaiba extols, and which most separates the paths of righteous from the paths of those who who gave into their passions.

As a few other examples: --Nezuko retains her virtues by recognizing her own weakness and focusing on self-mastery --Rui lost himself in a feeling of entitlement, conviction in his own sense of justice, and disappointment in his parents. Or so he thought! That was all the result of running away from a truth about himself he didn't want to face; the fact that he was the one responsible for breaking his family bonds. --The Pillars, with all their human faults, remain righteous because they could easily succumb to their own sorrows, angers, and self-loathing. The fact that they do not--however much these things have messed them up--and they keep striving to better themselves, for the sake of a conviction in something difficult to achieve otherwise.

Zouhakuten, instead of rising above his own shortcomings, is a deeper concentration of, a wallowing in those unbridled passions. Being so convinced of his own righteousness, he does not have any clear self-understanding, and therefore, has no inclination toward self-mastery.

He is, after all, Hantengu.

Hantengu made himself into what he is because he convinced himself of his own lies about his own helplessness, and this utter lack of self-awareness and his unchecked passions are what make him a demon. By doing nothing to improve himself, he grew out of control. And, ultimately, Hantengu is selfish. Everything must revolve around him and how he is the most wretched creature, the most powerless thing to ever have the harshness of the world thrust upon it. Among a cast of relatable demons, made victims of their own poor luck or circumstance or a desire to amend some wrong done to them, Hantengu is the worst because he got himself there for nothing but his own self-centered lie.

While all the demons have relatable traits which have flown out of control, he's the most realistically like someone we all know or have met. He's the most benign and hardest to catch, one whom many philosophical, religious, or therapeutic texts try to warn against for how his insidious fleeing from truth grows into something monstrous.

The scariest part is that the wallowing Hantengu might be closer than we think.

#and now I'm going to bed #can you tell I'm excited to watch Noh this week? #Hantengu #kny fandom theories and meta #by this logic Douma is also pretty bad but for nihilistic reasons #and at least Douma displays a willingness to change his mind if challenged #I don't care about anything ACTUALLY NO I THINK I LIKE YOU SHINOBU LOOK I DO HAVE FEELINGS AFTER ALL THIS IS NICE #and what's fun with Muzan is that we get to see his worldview challenged by panic #but also Muzan KNOWS he's a coward and OWNS THAT by trying to run away #AND I LOVE IT #I love all the tension from seeing the battle from inside his head #anyway #right #bedtime

[notmoreflippingelves]

It's dawned on me suddenly

And for no obvious reason

That I can't go on

Living as I am.

#esteban flores #elena of avalor #disneyedit #eoaedit #don't you hate it when you have a blorbo; a million song lyrics that suit them; and no photoshop skills to speak of? #esteban flores and pierre bezukov (specifically the version in great comet) would get along great tho #the same bruised desperate heart longing for purpose and overflowing with love but no vessel to put it in (at present) #the same intellectual snobbery as a faulty mask for profound and permanent self-loathing #the same...'survivor's guilt ' isn't even the right word...it's definitely that but it's also just 'existence' guilt #like 'yes; I failed to die alongside those I love on the battlefield. but even before that; I failed at being loved in the way I wanted to' #'which is like the one job we are supposed to have as humans: to love and be loved.' #'once I'd like to think I was worthy but now I know that I am not. I have wasted my chances and made too many mistakes' #of course they both Esteban and Pierre still ARE worthy of love but it takes time and effort and willingness to change to find it #am going to try to also do something with 'dust and ashes' at some point #not to mention like my million BATB broadway; Frozen broadway and JCS lyrics that suit Esteban #myedits #mygifs #obligatory ' I used to be butter; I used to be butter; I used to be butter' joke here

[serenityquest]

#recovery #change #willingness

[chemicalarospec]

It's been less than a decade of legal gay marriage in the US (2015) -- not even the majority of my life -- but it really feels so far in the past. I was reading a fanfic and was like "why is this so weird about gayness??" and then I remembered the source is set in the 2000s - the author was just being time period accurate. And like. Okay I remember gay marriage. I remember first hearing about it when I was 8 and it taking a couple years but becoming a thing and in 8th grade (I was 14) I had a teacher who was queer married but would never talk about it but in 7th grade some of my classmates had a younger teacher who would gush about her wife. I've heard again and again, "growing up, gay marriage wasn't legal. I didn't have hope for a happy future." I remember that post with the flower girl dog "a few years ago, this wouldn't have been legal" "and for a second I lived in a world where homophobia didn't exist." Just this idea that gay marriage being legal is the norm for me and young people in most of the West. It's not new anymore. We still hear news about gay marriage being legalized in other countries but it's just so normal here now. Kids today aren't growing up under the othering idea that gay people can't get married -- they're growing up in a world where they're going to meet happy gay married couples and they're going to know gay people get married not because they've had to wait for decades for it to be legal, but because they met and fell in love and got engaged afterwards. They can see their happy future. We're so lucky.

You know who has had gay marriage legal for the majority of their life? A 15 year old. Not that young. I'm so grateful for everyone who came before and made this happen. I'm usually such a downer about the state of the world but some things aren't so bad. Some things are quite nice after all.

#to be clear i am acearo. but it's still meaningful to me as a major step for queer rights and for my childhood self hearing about Gay and #not knowing where i fit in but knowing i was somewhere in the 'LGBTQIA+ community' #gay marriage #reflection #kids #growing up #queer #gay #I said this #gay history #american #i looked it up and i think school had just got out when the descision to legalize was realized #so i didnt really get to talk and hear about it from my classamtes #i also remember when it was Gay instead of Queer #that's sort of a more personal langauge change but just the focus on gayness instead of now we have gender and many orientations #but when i was a kid Gay was still the focus. Gay being accepted doesn't mean we all are but it gets a foot in the door and it's a proxy fo #general society's willingness to see the Other. gay marriage is another step of acceptance of the Other

[novantinuum]

when the blind reactors you watch are starting to get into the Nitty Gritty of plot and you are going to have to be Very Careful in your meta ramble comments from now on so as to not accidentally sway their thinking or Give Anything Away

#SoEverdream on patreon just finished s3 #and got to the 'rose shattered pink diamond' (*major irony Air Quotes*) ''reveal'' #we really in it now boys #jen rambles #man tho it's so funny at the end of s3 he was musing on if the reveal of what rose ''did'' would at all change steven's willingness to be #more offensive on the field in a situation of need and he was like... 'man part of me... actually really wants that and a part of me #Does Not because steven is a literal child and at the end of the day i want him to stay innocent' #and meanwhile in the back of my head i'm just #war flashbacks to 16 yr old steven Going On the Offensive and uh #it not ending well :') #which i still think... narratively- how it's presented- was kinda genius on a meta level #they play up that fight the whole episode... building up towards it with a whole anime-esque training montage #playing it up like some fuckin shounen shenanigans #for Many audience members i think they were like 'holy shit lets GOOOOOO fight fight fight' #but then like #WHAM. consequences hit #and it's not a fun little shounen fight scene anymore #and you realize that this is the worst possible thing that could've ever happened to steven- truly giving himself over to the offensive #like god damn holy SHIT i cannot wait for this reactor to eventually get there #bc his reaction to steven having to stab a sword clear through bismuth was VISCERAL #and i just KNOW it'll be the same at That Moment #and i CRAVE it #but i need to be patient ahahah #all in good time :)