[He obviously doesn't like that 'you shouldn't try to bring the dead back to life' business, if the way he stiffens up and his mouth tightens is any indication.]
The problem is not that they are dimwitted or stubborn, the problem is that they are insane. Perhaps I should explain: generally, those in power in my world are gifted with the Spark, a specific type of madness that allows exceptional prowess in most scientific fields but also, obviously, results in insanity in those too weak to learn how to control themselves. This is the majority of the Spark population, unfortunately. Between them and the royals who are desperate to cling to what little power they still possess, it is nigh-impossible to get anything done unless one simply starts enforcing the laws without the preamble of asking for approval. Those in power no longer represent the voice of the people over whom they generally rule, and so it is my job to ignore them, interact with the peasantry on my own, and quash any resulting uprisings that are more a bid for glory from the jilted middle-ruling class than a sincere attempt to raise up the voice of the people. It is like running a kindergarten, frankly -- my job is not to work with them, but to keep them busy long enough to run the country.
And yes, that includes bringing the dead back to life, something the fifty noble families generally abhor among their own because the dead are excluded from matters of succession. Why, by their rules, I shouldn't be in power -- they would honestly rather have a country in chaos than a construct ruler.
And do you know what? That law, I make an exception for. I despite hypocrites even more than I despise those who use the guise of fighting for a people they don't truly care about to wage petty class warfare. Shoving their stupidity and double-standards in their faces enough times might just have the desired results that attempting to be polite and rational never has. Does the fact that I died at the age of fifteen make me a worse ruler? Are my parents truly to be faulted for trying to save at least one of their three sons, even if it meant butchering the two less likely to survive for spare parts? Can other parents be faulted for doing the same, especially in a war-torn country where marauding, masterless creations often wreak havoc on innocent villages, assuming the ruling class administrating said villages isn't already doing it?
Shoosh pap
The problem is not that they are dimwitted or stubborn, the problem is that they are insane. Perhaps I should explain: generally, those in power in my world are gifted with the Spark, a specific type of madness that allows exceptional prowess in most scientific fields but also, obviously, results in insanity in those too weak to learn how to control themselves. This is the majority of the Spark population, unfortunately. Between them and the royals who are desperate to cling to what little power they still possess, it is nigh-impossible to get anything done unless one simply starts enforcing the laws without the preamble of asking for approval. Those in power no longer represent the voice of the people over whom they generally rule, and so it is my job to ignore them, interact with the peasantry on my own, and quash any resulting uprisings that are more a bid for glory from the jilted middle-ruling class than a sincere attempt to raise up the voice of the people. It is like running a kindergarten, frankly -- my job is not to work with them, but to keep them busy long enough to run the country.
And yes, that includes bringing the dead back to life, something the fifty noble families generally abhor among their own because the dead are excluded from matters of succession. Why, by their rules, I shouldn't be in power -- they would honestly rather have a country in chaos than a construct ruler.
And do you know what? That law, I make an exception for. I despite hypocrites even more than I despise those who use the guise of fighting for a people they don't truly care about to wage petty class warfare. Shoving their stupidity and double-standards in their faces enough times might just have the desired results that attempting to be polite and rational never has. Does the fact that I died at the age of fifteen make me a worse ruler? Are my parents truly to be faulted for trying to save at least one of their three sons, even if it meant butchering the two less likely to survive for spare parts? Can other parents be faulted for doing the same, especially in a war-torn country where marauding, masterless creations often wreak havoc on innocent villages, assuming the ruling class administrating said villages isn't already doing it?
[LOOK AT THIS CAN OF WORMS, DIANA. LOOK AT IT.
LOOK AT HOW OPEN IT IS.
FUCK MAN, IT IS SO OPEN, BITCHES DON'T KNOW.]