How to Deliver Black Roses – What Is a Black Rose?

Yesterday I wrote about blue roses, and today I’m writing about black roses. To deliver black roses is incomprehensible to me for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that I didn’t even know about the existence of black roses until a few minutes ago. After all, what is a black rose anyway?

Like the blue roses I wrote about yesterday, black roses don’t appear in nature. So if you see a black rose somewhere, then it was created in one of two ways:

1. The black rose was bioengineered in a laboratory somewhere.
2. Someone dyed a rose of another color black.

What Do Black Roses Symbolize?

Black roses are often used in literature to symbolize anarchy. Black roses have also become a common trope in fantasy literature, where a black rose is often symbolic of or associated with vampires.

I suppose if you had a Goth girlfriend, or if you’re thinking about becoming a suitor to a Goth chick, you might want to deliver black roses to her. The associations with vampires and anarchy might turn her on. Although if you’re not Goth yourself, you might have a hard time getting anywhere with the object of your affections on matter how many black roses you deliver.

How to Create Black Roses

You can easily create your own black roses. Just take a dark colored rose, red or purple, and put it in a vase with some water. Add India ink to the water. The roses will absorb the ink, which will change the color of the rose petals. How you go about delivering these black roses is up to you, but surely you have a friend who would deliver them for you if you asked them nicely enough? (Or paid them?)

Using Black Roses Against an Enemy

The color black, in general, has symbolized death. If you want a classy and off-beat way to intimate an enemy, then send him or her a single black rose. Best to do so anonymously though.

Black Roses in Roleplaying Games

I could see how someone might use black roses in a roleplaying game of some kind. Suppose you’re playing in a superhero roleplaying game like Champions, and you have an arch-nemesis like Doctor Destroyer. How scary would it be to receive a bouquet of black roses from THAT guy?

But the black roses’ use isn’t limited to a superhero game. In a fantasy setting, black roses might be rare and magical. Suppose one of your comrades has been poisoned, and the cure for the poison requires the use of some black roses to create. You and your other comrades might have to escort the mad alchemist to the cave where the black roses grow. And to actually procure the black roses, you would have to defeat its fell guardians.

Or if you’re running a Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes campaign, maybe the evil Doctor Negative sends a black rose to Jim Stone, the hapless private eye who thwarted his last dastardly plan. It seems clear that a black rose in that situation might signal an impending attack.