The inverse of corruption: the hero has lost, but in a way that forced the villain to face goodness within himself, which spirals out of control and turns him into a hero more virtuous than the one he defeated.
See, see, what I want to see is a villain who actually starts learning good leadership techniques. His Rule Through Fear just plateaus, so he reads some books and is like, “wait, I can make people do what I want without having to micromanage their personal threats and keep track of their families of collateral? Wait what?” So he starts with his sidekicks, and his sidekick turnover time rockets through the fucking roof when he starts listening to them and giving them benefits. He finds that he attracts the COMPETENT sidekicks instead of the bottom of the barrel, so he wants them around. Then he figures out that if he has competent sidekicks that he can DELEGATE. Oh sweet dark goddess, he can hand over an ENTIRE CASTLE AND SURROUNDING ENVIRONS to his second-in-command, and she can more than capably keep it running while he goes off to summon demons for a bit. Because the sidekicks will stick around, it’s also worth investing in them. He sends them for training, lets them in on his secrets a bit, at that works out SO WELL.
His mind is blown. He is so excite. He might have FREE TIME if this keeps up.
Then he’s looking at the rest of his domain going “but wait, is there more?” He sees that his lands’ productivity is shit. They have been shit for a long time because hey, the beatings will continue until morale improves! Instead, he starts (slowly, wouldn’t want them to think he’s going soft) introducing changes. He eases back on restrictions and punishments just a bit, and rewards those whose productivity improves. A few cycles of that, and everything is working so much better. Sure, he has to deal with people being mouthy and ambitious every now and then, but hey, it’s not like he decommissioned the torture chamber, and he finds that the other peasants are more than half likely to turn the troublemakers in, now, because they don’t want to lose their good thing.
His lands go from “that country is a horrible dystopian nightmare avoid at all costs” to “hey, that country offers some free health care, and if you do a good job, you can advance!” It becomes a land of opportunity in a sea of serfdom and grinding misery. PEOPLE START SHOWING UP ASKING IF THEY CAN COME LIVE THERE.
The Evil Overlord is delighted. New workers! Just…walking in!
Not to mention, his existing peasants? Wow, they must be happy, because the birth rate has jumped sky high, ifyaknowwhatImean?
He slowly figures out that making people happy in all sorts of ways WORKS BETTER. Giving women legal standing and rights equal to men’s allows women with talents to move out of the house and oh, work toward the glory of his empire, rather than being locked into one job. Free childcare holy crap allows any woman in the home to take up an outside job or economy-feeding hobby. Stamping out corruption and crime among his minions makes the people happier and makes peasant productivity soar because they don’t have to worry about getting raped or beaten, while at the same time their towns are safer because his minions now have time to go off killing bandits and rogue dragons and hunting down mad serial killers and shit. Giving everyone a village council that has a say in boring, day to day governing takes all that boring shit OFF HIS PLATE. He sends in his emissaries, tells them to work in his interest but let the peasants hash out the small shit, and 9 out of 10 that works fine. It costs him very little and again, everyone feels INVESTED in what they do. They are now WILLINGLY WORKING FOR HIM.
Public works projects improve roads and bridges as well as providing jobs. Raising wages has the same effect on the peasantry that it did on his sidekicks. Allowing limited ownership makes people enterprising and feeds the economy. Social services allow people who get injured or sick to bounce back and remain in the workforce and society, which maintains his investment in them as well as helping morale on the family level. Trading with his neighbors instead of conquering them is much less resource intensive and maintains his investment in his people. Not to mention, when that one upstart country on his southern border decided that they were going to get in a snit, HIS TRADING PARTNERS CAME TO HIS AID. Not that he needed it, but still, it was nice!
And on a personal level, remembering his SiC’s birthday that once started this incomprehensible but incredibly pleasant chain reaction that has resulted in them becoming an incredibly close and effective partnership ifyouknowwhatImean. Which reminds him: must decide whether his proposal gift should be skull-themed or dragon-themed. I mean, she’s a necromancer, so obviously skulls, but is that too obvious? And she REALLY LOVES riding on the dragons, so…hmm.
The book One For the Morning Glory by John Barnes deals with this in one of its minor characters, a highwayman who is hyped throughout the story as a terrifying leader of a fierce band of robbers, and when the heroes have to retreat to his territory they find out that the regions under his control are really, impressively successful because he does things like pour his ill-gotten gains into community-serving businesses and help people achieve their crops and their logging and their craftsmanship so they are prosperous enough for him to turn a good profit from robbing.
(It’s also a very excellent fantasy story in the tradition of The Princess Bride.)
thanks in advance: get this done by the time i press “send”
thanks for your interest: why’d you have to bring this up
would you be so kind: fucking do it
best: i have never physically met you
all best: this conversation is over
all my best: i wish you would die
happy to help: this is the easiest thing in my inbox
i hope this helps: i’ve done all i’m willing to do
i did a bit of research: i googled it, because you’re too lazy to
sorry to chase: answer my email
so sorry to chase: answer my FUCKING email
i am really sorry for being a pest but: i am LIVID that you are ignoring me
please contact my colleague: this isn’t my problem
i’m copying in my colleague: this isn’t my problem and i am thrilled about it
i’ll check and get back to you: i might forget to
i’ll let you know when i hear anything: i will forget to
can you check back with me in a week?: i’m hoping you will forget to
per our earlier conversation: i just yelled at you on the phone
great to chat just now: you just yelled at me on the phone
thanks!: i’m not mad at you
thanks!!: please don’t be mad at me
thanks!!!: i’m crying at my desk
please advise: this might be your fault
kindly advise: this is entirely your fault
mind if i swing by?: i’m already in the elevator
can you confirm for me: you told me before and i deleted the email
sorry if that was unclear: i think you’re an idiot
let me know if you need anything else: please never contact me again
Reblogging to add a direct quote that I used today –
Please respect my work process: just do it the way I told you to and stop arguing with me, I don’t care what you think
I read Percy Jackson as a kid and always liked disabilities being hidden supernatural perks. So this is what I made for heathenry
I haven’t read the Magnus Chase books, so I don’t know if they have anything like this
– – –
Ginungagap? The yawning void in which existence sprang from? The abyss from which things fade out of existence? Meet dissociation and depression, bitch. It can’t hurt you if you’re as empty as it
Dyslexia? Guess who can naturally read runes. Can’t read a book for shit, but you can clearly define the true forces behind reality
Audio processing issues? That’s because your familiars are across the realms, picking up info. You just can’t discern it yet, you need practice
Adhd? That’s the hunger, the breath of life, the fury that Odin gave. He’s got plans for you and you can’t just sit around and wait for them
Selective mutism? Vidar, the god of silence and revenge, became silent as part of his vow for vengeance. Pay attention, because when you lose your words, it means you have some pretty heavy shit to prepare for. Prep for that destiny, it’s coming. Watch. Listen. Actions speak louder than words
Asthma? You weren’t built for this Midgard air. You were made for the wide open skies of Asgard. To you, this air is suffocating
Sensitivity to light? That’s because you are supposed to be in the land of dwarves
Color blindness? That’s because the land of elves have different colors altogether
“The folklore among knitters is that everything handmade should have at least one mistake so an evil sprit will not become trapped in the maze of perfect stitches. A missed increase or decrease, a crooked seam, a place where the tension is uneven – the mistake is a crack left open to let in the light. The evil sprit I want to usher out of my knitting and my life is at once a spirit of laziness and of over-achieving. It’s that little voice in my head that says, I won’t even try this because it doesn’t come naturally to me and I won’t be very good at it.”
—
Kyoko Mori, ‘Yarn’
That last phrase especially – “I won’t even try this because it doesn’t come naturally to me and I won’t be very good at it.” It really is like some kind of all-encompassing evil spirit sometimes.
True story – There are historical accounts (well, there’s at least one historical account) in which English people whine about how the Norse men bathe so often they’re able to seduce the local women away from their husbands.
^^^ Yep. Turns out the women were way more into the hot well groomed muscular dudes who liked to smell nice.
*Hot, well groomed men who liked to smell nice and knew their way around sharp objects.
“I just don’t know why you couldn’t marry a local boy sweetie.”
“What can I say dad, Hjalmar bathes regularly, smells nice, has shoulders, can wield a sword and can wield his sword ifyaknowwhatImean, and when he comes back from raids likes to shower me in rare gifts from overseas. Look at this necklace! The amber beads came from the lands of the Rus! Also, he’s teaching me how to shoot a bow and use a spear because he thinks it might be nice if I could go on raids too someday.”
As small as the world 