The bleeding is a gruesome metaphor, unfortunately apt. And murderous ambition is not just local custom but instead, I think, universal.
[He ruminates for a moment, frowning in thought as he considers her words. Miles clearly isn't someone who dismisses anything said, no matter the source.]
Yet I have to disagree about the scarcity of... non-parasites. I'm not ready to give up on humanity so wholesale. Haven't you ever been surprised by someone? It must be a bleak existence, to expect so little from others, and moreso to feel you are held to such low standards yourself. Wouldn't you rather some did expect great things of you, instead of nothing at all? More motivating, I should think. At least if you fail you can keep trying, rather than feel it was expected.
[Miles had always put across an attitude of absolute faith in his followers and those around him, even in those rare cases where he was doubtful. He'd pushed his belief in their capabilities onto them, and to his utter lack of surprise, they'd almost uniformly lived up to-- and exceeded-- those expectations. But it's no mystery where this belief comes from, in him. His parents had, for all of his numerous defects, never expressed a shred of doubt in him. It was immense pressure and overwhelming burden, but to imagine a loss of that expectation would crush him even worse, surely. Miles needed to have something to live up to, to drive himself through those times when he thought himself capable of nothing at all.
So as he'd said, he'd learned from his parents by example, and passed that on to others, almost always to good effect.]
no subject
[He ruminates for a moment, frowning in thought as he considers her words. Miles clearly isn't someone who dismisses anything said, no matter the source.]
Yet I have to disagree about the scarcity of... non-parasites. I'm not ready to give up on humanity so wholesale. Haven't you ever been surprised by someone? It must be a bleak existence, to expect so little from others, and moreso to feel you are held to such low standards yourself. Wouldn't you rather some did expect great things of you, instead of nothing at all? More motivating, I should think. At least if you fail you can keep trying, rather than feel it was expected.
[Miles had always put across an attitude of absolute faith in his followers and those around him, even in those rare cases where he was doubtful. He'd pushed his belief in their capabilities onto them, and to his utter lack of surprise, they'd almost uniformly lived up to-- and exceeded-- those expectations. But it's no mystery where this belief comes from, in him. His parents had, for all of his numerous defects, never expressed a shred of doubt in him. It was immense pressure and overwhelming burden, but to imagine a loss of that expectation would crush him even worse, surely. Miles needed to have something to live up to, to drive himself through those times when he thought himself capable of nothing at all.
So as he'd said, he'd learned from his parents by example, and passed that on to others, almost always to good effect.]