Brandishing

Flourishing a weapon in a threatening way is meant to signal to a potential enemy that should they pursue their malevolent and violent intent to fruition that they should anticipate a defense mechanism of significant force. Sometimes, simply carrying a weapon can act as such a deterrent; that is, unless it is being conceal carried, in which case that it would need to be brandished all the same. This brandishing almost never signals nor implies a taunting, since taunting prototypically comes from the initiator or aggressor, much like Goliath taunting David and carrying his heavy spear in an overt fashion. Brandishing a weapon is almost always done in a defensive capacity, or at least in a warning, demonstrating willingness to forego the very real capacity of available force multiplication in steady patience, but the capacity is still there should the patience be tried. The precipice of rapid descent into ferocity is being teetered upon when a weapon is in full exhibition without the firing pin being triggered or the javelin being thrown, with the possessor thereby offering one last olive branch with the flash of the armament in full display. The brandisher is not signaling his desire to fight - almost the opposite! He is signaling his desire to stop the fight before it happens. He’d rather preserve his enemy in the state that he has found him, which is to say, unscathed, than plunge into delivering scourges. And yet, should the pursuer of violence remain resolute in their non-conformity to personal pacifism, the brandisher will immediately become more than a brandisher; they will become an agent of wrath and release their fury…not because they want to attack, but because they were attacked in unrelenting passion.