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Fox Veros, Novelist

@verosthewriter.bsky.social

930 followers 200 following 10K posts

Psychologically focused, character driven, socially conscious fantasy. Literary agents, ask for details. Sorry, I'm not commissioning art. He/him/his. BLM. Pro-LGBTQ+. Anti-genocide, no matter who's doing it. Down with white patriarchy. AI is unwelcome.

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 2h

Wait, if he has two arms and his tail is over there, then why does it look like he has more than two l- Oh.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 2h

Wow, that is really dark. And really good.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 2h

What’s the most unusual element in your fictional world?

In Prophecies, Gallara's best friend, Prax, is an animal called an impdrake. Impdrakes look like tiny dragons but aren't magical and can't breathe fire. They seem to understand humanoid speech.
Art by @monafinden.bsky.social.

Gallara, an olive-skinned, dark-haired elven woman, stands and looks anxiously to one side. She holds a straight-bladed sword in one hand, and the other crackles with a tiny bit of magical power. She wears leather plate armor on her torso, with her shirt askew beneath it, suggesting she's not used to wearing it. A backpack full of plants and sample jars rests on the ground next to her. A dragon-like animal the size of a raven or so rests on her shoulder, wings flared. Art by Mona Finden.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 2h

I once wrote a porn story about a woman seducing a werewolf. It's not one of my best, but I liked the theme of him not giving in to his instincts and desires until she gives full consent, which she uses to tease him for both their benefit.

#WritingPrompt #WritingPrompts #Writingcommunity #writesky

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 6h

Okay. Finally, you can tell me about your werewolves and shifters. #WritingPrompt

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 3h

#WIPSnips
From Laylee's first time meeting Davik in Grinks & Co. She's going to be reconsidering some of what her home community taught her, very soon.

#WriteSky #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity #writingprompt

Laylee smiled; she was starting to like this guy. With the handsomeness, it almost made her regret that it was wrong to fuck anyone who wasn’t a faun. “So, ah, just how well do you know fauns?”
“Not as well as I would like.” His eyes smiled, even though his mouth tried to hide it. “Meeting you, though, has already been a pleasure.”
Laylee laughed and gave him a smile like the sun as she picked up her staff again. “It’s mutual. Where are you going today?”
“Wherever the flowers are blooming, as the saying goes,” he shrugged, kneeling and disassembling the now-empty snare. “I haven’t found a reason to return to the city, or to follow a particular direction, since Vormil ruined me.” His hands were quick and skillful, and Laylee couldn’t resist admiring the muscles showing through his sleeves - not that she wanted to resist.
“Then perhaps you’d like to walk with me awhile,” she offered, and tried not to show the little surge of excitement rising inside her.
Davik smiled as he looked back to her and stood up. “That would also be a pleasure, and I’ll treat you with the respect you deserve.”
“I agree,” Laylee said sweetly, and shifted her staff into a combat grip for just a second. “I appreciate you doing your part in that.”

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 4h

#SFFChat
21. Snippet: Hunt

Alakshi asks Gallara to forage with her while Zedenko and Jorang set up the campsite, as way to build their friendship. Not everyone is happy about it, though.

It was getting toward sunset when they returned, but they’d gotten a good haul, all wrapped in big leaves or hanging from sticks by threads of creepers Gallara had rigged: a few handfuls of mushrooms, three kinds of edible roots and stalks, two clutches of perfectly ripe gold beetle larvae, six rabbits that Gallara had seemed a little too happy to see snuffed out, and close to a dozen different things that she’d taken cuttings of that Alakshi wasn’t sure were all intended to be eaten. Gallara and Prax had been impressive hunters and trackers together, but Alakshi had bagged the two rabbits that were for Kolent.
And Gallara had been really nice to her, even though Alakshi was half-human. She’d just talked a lot – a *lot* – about plants, and she’d listened closely when Alakshi had told her about the plants and animals back home, and they’d both watched each other’s backs while they were digging for roots and rabbit holes and stuff. It was going to be really nice for Kolent to not be her only friend anymore. Even if he kept glaring at her from his layer.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 4h

#FantasyIndiesSpooktober
21. Scary movie/TV show recs

The Haunting of Bly Manor was an excellent series, and Get Out and Us are excellent films. Altered States and the original The Thing are great body horror from the days before CGI.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 4h

#FantasyIndiesOctober
21. Spooky Flash Fiction

$My brother's ghost appeared to me, years after his accidental death; I wasn't responsible for it, but he came to me anyway. I'd gotten over his death and moved on, but here he was. Having him there was an uncomfortable comfort at first, but his constant presence grew tiresome, then unbearable. I became resentful of how I felt obligated to put my life back on hold for him for however long he would be there, and I feared grieving him again when he finally left. Resentment became hate, until I snapped. I could touch him - and I could strike him, wrestle him to the ground. His screams made me reconsider, and then they made me more certain than ever, as I smashed and throttled him until I was sure beyond a doubt that he was dead again. He was back the next morning, though - and after a few more days of guilt, I killed him again. And then next day, and the next. Every day, I killed him for a different reason: my hatred for his intrusion. The grief he'd caused me by dying in the first place. Every childhood infraction, no matter how small. My ever-growing hatred, fulfilled in violence every day.$

Then I began to enjoy killing him for its own sake: the feeling of power over another person, the perverse joy of overruling my conscience, of listening to his pitiful screams again and again as I chose to withhold mercy I could easily have given. The deep, primal thrill of life and death and ultimate control sang through my veins like a dark, harmless drug - after all, there were no consequences at all for killing a man who was already dead.
I looked forward to killing - to killing him - every day. Sometimes I would kill him first thing in the morning, sometimes I would savor the anticipation until just before I went to bed. He was no longer dear to me, except as an object of sadistic entertainment, and that was all I wanted from him.
And then, one day, he didn't return. The plans I had made for how to kill him this time were wasted, disappointed, frustrated. I waited anxiously for him, realizing how much I missed him - or rather, what he had become for me. His absence left a gnawing, agonizing hunger in me, and I realized that it wasn't just about him anymore.
He's never come back, and all I'm left with is the knowledge of the sheer joy of killing - a knowledge that I can't forget, and that I fear someday I can't control.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 15h

This is great. Platonic love doesn't get nearly enough appreciation.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 19h

Ha ha ha ha ha, ALSO fair!

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 19h

#AwesomeCharacters
Redemption is a big theme in Prophecies. Gallara learns to be a better friend and fights her racism, Zedenko becomes a devoted friend instead of selfish, Jorang removes the stick from his ass, and Alakshi figures things out with Kolent.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Charlie Delta (has been a ghost this whole time! 👻) @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 22h

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

Today let's talk about characters with redemption arcs!

Is there anyone (MC, side character, villain) in your stories you feel improves significantly and become more likeable/redeemable?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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Reposted by Fox Veros, Novelist

Ro Salarian @rosalarian.bsky.social · 1d

My physical indie comic shop has closed, and I still have about 100 books on my hands. I would rather they be in YOUR hands, so I am giving them away. For every (physical) book of mine you buy, I will also send a free book from the stash.
rosalarian.com/shop

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

Oh yeah, and it's hard on both of them.

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

Cute monsters?

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

If I weren't already following you, I would start right now.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

Brilliant!

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

Being confused by our own sexuality is a very real thing.

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

Ugh, I'm sorry. Sending you warmth and care.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

I once blocked someone (an ex) and Bluesky apparently told them I'd done it, because they made a second account just to troll me and told me that was exactly what they were doing. I wonder if that's something I could turn off.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips
Seff changes her shirt after a fight to the death, and reflects on what a life built on violence would be like.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #writingprompt

I finally got the shirt on, barely remembering to fasten my squire’s pin to it; it felt less like triumph and more like getting an annoyance over with. It surprisingly didn’t smell all that bad, and with all the walking and roughing it we still had to do, I’d make it smell all on my own soon enough. It was too big for me, but I tied a knot in the hem and tucked it into my belt to keep the fabric from getting in my way. And it wasn’t soaked with blood - especially not mine - so that was a plus. Nothing I could do about my and Brell’s blood down the side of my trousers, so I wasn’t going to worry about that.
How did professional soldiers deal with it? When I went on Drohim’s missions with him, he always had me pack him extra clothes in case he got bloodied up, but he wasn’t fighting on battlefields day after day his whole career. Great Many, what a life.

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

It looks really good!

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

#AwesomeCharacters
A major part of Alakshi's character arc in Prophecies is her friendship with Kolent. He's been her only friend since early childhood, and she's only recently realized that they rely on each other more than is healthy.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #writingprompt

Charlie Delta (has been a ghost this whole time! 👻) @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

Tell me about your character's most significant platonic relationship or relationships!

Do bonds with close friends, mentors or companions play a significant role in the story?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

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Reposted by Fox Veros, Novelist

Jess Fink🍉🌈🎃 @jessfink.bsky.social · 2d

Cops are made from ppl who are VERY scared and believe they are THE ONLY THING holding society together, holding VILLAINS back. They deeply believe in the idea of a big daddy figure who enforces the rules, and that criminals and most ppl are just disobedient children for them to boss around.

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Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

There are so many jobs that help society - teacher, firefighter, social worker, therapist, nurse, doctor, utilities worker, and more - but cops choose the one that gets to use violence. Maybe they're necessary, but why would anyone choose the violent one? It's one more reason why I don't trust cops.

Fox Veros, Novelist @verosthewriter.bsky.social · 1d

#SFFChat
20. Is space inherently spooky?

I don't think I would use the word "spooky," but the idea that things could easily be so different than what we could even imagine is inherently scary. Plus, its sheer vastness and so much emptiness feel overwhelming for the human brain to fully imagine.