[God, Hades is so condescending, even when he's trying to make nice. Steven rolls his eyes before typing his reply.]
Yeah. We're talking about things like 'cognitive empathy' and ways for me to practice it--but honestly, a lot of the things Hythlo's teaching me are just... things my parents and grandparents walked me through when I was a kid, only without telling me *why*. It's less learning new things and more relearning skills gone rusty.
We all know I'm not an innately moral person. But honestly, I don't think Hythlo is either. We just... both had the breaks put into us by the adults in our lives as children and mine got cut somewhere along the way. He and I are trying to fix that. I'd *like* to be in control of those parts of myself again.
While I may not be naturally moral, I *do* have standards.
[Being in control didn't mean non-indulgent, after all. At least in the right circumstances. It just meant he wouldn't be a danger to the people around him. (Like Tyler, he thinks, traitorously.)
The goal was to beat his future self at his own game, right? Which meant only preying on those who deserve it. And while Hades deserved a lot of shit for being a serial body thief, the whole incident on the stairs had happened because of what he deserved, but because Steven had been in Fight or Flight mode and Hades had cut off all hope of Flight.]
And speaking of those standards, I think I need to apologize to you.
no subject
Yeah. We're talking about things like 'cognitive empathy' and ways for me to practice it--but honestly, a lot of the things Hythlo's teaching me are just... things my parents and grandparents walked me through when I was a kid, only without telling me *why*. It's less learning new things and more relearning skills gone rusty.
We all know I'm not an innately moral person. But honestly, I don't think Hythlo is either. We just... both had the breaks put into us by the adults in our lives as children and mine got cut somewhere along the way. He and I are trying to fix that. I'd *like* to be in control of those parts of myself again.
While I may not be naturally moral, I *do* have standards.
[Being in control didn't mean non-indulgent, after all. At least in the right circumstances. It just meant he wouldn't be a danger to the people around him. (Like Tyler, he thinks, traitorously.)
The goal was to beat his future self at his own game, right? Which meant only preying on those who deserve it. And while Hades deserved a lot of shit for being a serial body thief, the whole incident on the stairs had happened because of what he deserved, but because Steven had been in Fight or Flight mode and Hades had cut off all hope of Flight.]
And speaking of those standards, I think I need to apologize to you.
Soberly this time.