he is a wretched man. but he was a kind, strange, lonely, curious child. he suffered a life no one ought to have and maintained an offputting wonder. in truth, he still does, in his romanticism, his magic, his fixations ; it’s just the cruelty and the hunger for harm rose to match it.

except for ichnaea. that is the only one who was ever adamant he would have liked to play with him, found kinship in his eccentricities. ichnaea was an ill child with few friends ; he wanted nothing more than a companion to count bugs, stars, and dead things with. the dreams they could have dreamed.

[late night verrot thoughts] thinking about how canonically (both in constrained and collaborative spaces), each person that verrot has attempted to find safety in through asking “do you think we would have been friends as children” has said no. how even in that hypothetical, he stands alone.

#verrotlore [ephemera]

duke ellington.

I think "born evil" has its place. it's a fascinating trope to play with, especially in horror, spec fic, dark fantasy. but as much as we like to think otherwise, unfortunately, using politicians and capitalists as "born evil" standard is faulty. because no one is really "just like that."

this too, 100% ; there's no right, or wrong, or "realistic," or amateur, that can be used across the board because every story demands multiple things. sometimes, if the story is large enough, you'll have gradations of villains that do these things variably. it's not a fixed rule.

a villain is irredeemable so long as the author does not make the narrative decision to redeem them, as an aside. a villain is not "redeemed" by their backstory containing trauma. there's a lot of "born evil" believers that approach villain-writing through a very xtian mindset without even knowing

reading the replies to this and seeing people equate "sympathetic" and "likable" and "good" when none of these words are synonymous. without being overtly grim ; my real life abusers were abuse victims. I have met abjectly evil people who were "likable" (and also) violent for the sake of it

but then when you write those understandable or "sympathetic" villains (ie, they have a backstory of any kind) the audience accuses the author of forcing a "sympathetic" narrative because of the latter point ; it's truly an ouroboros of media illiteracy and an outright refusal to confront villainy

I think about it often.

I was just opening my email for the night and gearing up to write you a reply but I'll do so here too ; thank you so, so much. truly this made me smile so wide and really was a balm on a rough couple of days (months, honestly). seeing him in your style makes my heart full. I really can't express it!

wishing a lovely nameday for ser verrot || #nyctober #hollliismart

"can was" literally so spellbound by him that I forgot how to type. but (can) we talk.

thank you honestly that's a driving force behind his character and why I chose to make him death incarnate and put him on the ascian path in ffxiv!

checking the nation in description knowing well our ancestors would have hated eachother real nasty like but still passing it anyway. on that seventh generation shit.

to be fair, I still get laughed at and people certainly attempt to harass me out of these spaces but ; I'm doing what I love. what do they have to show for what they love.

also ; just wanted to wish my characters a happy indigenous peoples day. when I was preteen on forum boards and in roleplay groups, I remember being laughed and harassed out of fantasy spaces for writing native vampires, elves, monsters. for reclaiming nobility and villains. now I do it, always.

also, can was talk about teenaged verrot. "new to being a count and everyone wants him dead, maligned daily within an inch of his life, cruel to the point of theatrics as a means of survival and artform," teenaged verrot.

this is amazing work! I'm so happy whenever I get to read your writing!

I've deeply enjoyed seeing Verrot's various manifestations over the years, so contributing a little seemed like the least I could do. 😅 Happy nameday~ #NYCTOBER

archiveofourown.org/works/72440581

happy nameday to the fictional character who has afforded me so much personal and creative growth. it is my hope that everyone finds something, anything, but most especially something as indulgent as an original character, that makes them as happy as verrot (and kereboros) have made me.

a boy & man named death.
#oc #ocsky #elfenjoyers

now I won’t say I’m not biased towards the birthday boy in your style,

drops some elves!