Sowing Dragon's Teeth

[M is for Morphine]

Oct 9, 2010 3:05:45 GMT -5 Rikku said:

And gah, I'm really not liking this at all. xD; I thought I was rather fond of the idea, but it doesn't really seem like much of an idea at all, looking back at it like this. Kind of blatantly a way to work through issues. (Having a protagonist who's the kind of person I most admire, and who suffers from slight esteem issues because of his talented siblings ... yyyeah. Sounds familiar.) And books shouldn't be that. Not the good ones.

There are some great books that are blatant therapy sessions for their authors. The Master and Margarita, for example, was Bulgakov's attempt to work through his frustration with critics, politics, and his extreme mistreatment at the hands of Russian censors. It's not only a good book, but it's outrageously fun, and funny.

Just write for yourself. Every character has a some of the author in them, and if it's their angst and insecurity, so what? Your real emotions are only going to make the characters more real for us.

We want yer pathos. Geev it to us.

[Tam]

Oct 9, 2010 3:29:37 GMT -5 M is for Morphine said:

Your real emotions are only going to make the characters more real for us.

I feel like all I've done tonight is agree with other people's advice, but this is exactly what I wanted to say after reading that post.

Characters need bits of the author in them. I don't think anyone would be able to write anything decent at all if they didn't allow their characters to take on traits that were personally familiar to them. And I think the inclusion of characters that clearly mirror your own situation boils down to the same thing as most other writing techniques that are frequently looked down upon: if you're a good writer, you can write it well. And you're a fantastic writer. So I'd say you should be fine.

...And, for the record, although I didn't get a huge amount of information out of that paragraph (which I guess is the problem? I think?), what I did read sounded quite suitably cool. =D Key points of coolness include the names Oleander and Raphael (<3 I've wanted a character named Raphael for ages.), the concept of golem magic, the use of an overlooked main character (really. Novel protagonists are always being bullied and feared and mistrusted and misunderstood, but how often are they just plain-and-simple ignored?), and the title itself, which simultaneously sounds epic and gives me shivers. I'm not sure why. But I really like the fact that it does.

[Zylaa]

... Wait where's the original post now? D: *doesn't see it* Was it deleted or is my computer just glitching? Rikku I look forward to your NaNo plots every year, stop hiding it from me. >_>

[Shadaras]

*agrees with Zyzy*

And also I want to know what a story called 'Sowing Dragon's Teeth' is about, because that is a thoroughly epic title and makes me smile to look at. And also because what little bits people whose posts I can see have referenced sound win. ^_^

[Rikku]

... Sheesh. xD You people with your persistence. Fine.

*carefully sprays Angst-B-Gone all over the thread*

I think we'll be safe. So. Sowing Dragon's Teeth! =D I will henceforth refer to it as Teeth because it is shorter and amuses me. So. I did indeed have a paragraph where I tried to explain it, but it was terribly boring, to me at least, so I stopped partway through and got annoyed and debated whether or not to post it, and ended up posting it so people would at least know what I had so far, and then decided that no, that had been silly, and went back to delete it, but by then it was apparently too late. This was all fairly lateish at night and I suspect I was tired because I kept on getting all miserable for some reason. But I am fine now! =D And happy and ideas have been occurring to me all morning. Where were we? Oh yeah plot. Okay. As warning there is nowhere near as much enthusiasm as normal. xD This story will have to find its heart as it goes along ... but then, that's sort of one of the themes of the story. So I think that'll work out nicely.

Our dear protagonist is called Riff, a bold and reasonably clever young man who isn't entirely sure what to do with his life; but with ... oh, this isn't working again. xD For crying out loud. This is ridiculous. Maybe it's so awesome it transcends summary? Yyyeah. That's it. I'll try something else.

There's th - gah! Still!

Um, to the basics. It'll have three different viewpoints, I think - Riff, Riff's sister Rome, and someone who befriends Riff's brother Olly. Because Olly himself would be a terribly biased narrator, even in third-person. xD Olly's story will be the darkest: about how a rivalry is an obsession that nearly consumes him ... I thought of this arc after I watched The Prestige, which deals with similar things, but the only thing that kept me from being thoroughly creeped out is thinking that if I was doing the story, I'd end it differently. xD Which I will. But Olly's arc will be sort of the darkest of the three, probably with fun bad guys. (And, to make things interesting ... guess who the guy that befriends him secretly is? =D)

Rome's will be lighter, something happy and fun probably. Pretty much pure fluff? I don't have much of a character for her yet though (and I don't have Olly's appearance yet, or much idea who his rival/'new friend' will be, but hey, it's only the tenth) and about how her magic (which is to do with making inanimate objects animate) does ... okay, I'm wanting to use the phrase 'wacky hijinks ensue' here even though I have no idea what. >.>; Okay. Wacky hijinks ensue. And Riff's story is sort of nicely balanced between the two.

This is a good strategy, I think. =D I can switch between the stories when I get bored of one or the other, and there'll be some nice variety while still maintaining cohesion. If things go according to plan, of course. Which doubtless they won't.

... So yeah. xD Still doesn't make sense, sorry. And I can't seem to apply some dramatic cool-sounding phrases like 'it's a story about friends. But ultimately? It's a story about family' because I tried (repeatedly) and nothing worked. So, uh. Sorry. But it'll still be fun, I think. >.>; I mean, even if I don't fanatically adore it or anything, I still quite like it, and there's a decent amount I can do with it, and maybe (as I said) it'll find itself as it goes along. And whatever happens it'll be fun. I went out of the way for it to be fun for me. xD I even split the characters into careful little banter-pairs, Riff with his roommate Xochie (yes I know), Olly with rival-guy, Rome with her golem servant Piper. So that'll be. Fun. I guess.

This is all so terribly incoherent. xD; Again. I wanted my NaNo to be all pretty and appealing ... eh. Maybe I'll think of a better way to describe it later. In the meantime ... well, you asked. Here you go. Yay.

[Zylaa]

^_^ Thankee.

Oh thank goodness you'll do a different ending than The Prestige... great movie, but dark and creepy as heck ending. >_>

And as far as stories finding their heart goes, I'm still not even positive what I'm going to do for my NaNo, and I've only got the one new idea, so long story short I'm in the same boat. Here's hoping we can both get that spirit. =D

[M is for Morphine]

Oh yay, there is is. I saw my post at the top and I thought, "Oh my god I broke her thread". XD

[Kathleen]

I rather missed any and all fuss, by being so late. =D

I can't garner much information, besides a golem called Piper (!), and inanimate objects animating making wacky hijinks, and consuming rivalry obsession. But having three different viewpoints sounds very neat. I always want to do that, and then end up with just the one, because I get obsessed with a single character. ;_; And all your names are win. ;3 I shouldn't worry too much about not being able to describe it with any dramatic-sounding phrase, because I hardly ever can (with my stuff). =D Hardly ever here meaning never without it sounding ridiculous in a bad way.

But the important things to remember are, one, it always sounds worse to yourself than to anyone else, and two, it's the writing that counts, honestly, when all is said and done. You could have a story about cheese, and I know you'd manage to make it fantastic, because you're good at that. And NaNo isn't even about it being grand writing, just about fun. Stories are perfectly entitled to find heart as they go along. =D

If I were to censor for boredom and general this-sounds-awful factor, I would never get started.

And now this looks long and doesn't sound right and I'd just better post it before I lose all courage. D= *slinks off*

[Shadaras]

Amount of time it took me to make even a semi-decent summary of Saviour = quite a while. xD

I like the sound of this very much. All the names and all seem cheerful or bouncy, which is always quite fun.

And I am being far too distracted by homework-guilt to give a proper response. >.> But yay! Rikku-idea! It seems like a lot of fun. ^_^

(also you and Zy have made me curious about The Prestige which may or may not be a good thing)

[Jayeee]

I'm excited to see this idea develop! All three different stories sound pretty great, even though they don't have a concrete plot.
And I hate that you and so many others can come up with such great character names. As soon as I read Riff, my first thought was 'Why didn't I think of that?!' D:

[Trilly (18426 words)]

A Rikku is back! And incidentally, you get a hearty thumbs up form me for the one-word title. You can look at the title "Teeth" and draw so many interpretations from it.

I think it may sometimes be a good thing to start off with characters you don't know at love at the beginning, because that way you can be freer to work with their personalities without getting hung up on stuff like "but would this character really do that?," and you can grow to love them and their quirks at the same pace as the reader would. ^__^ Good luck with this story idea; it sounds like a really fun read so far, and I do hope you decide to post it as you go. Reading Rikku writing is like, a staple of my NaNo experience. A NaNo without it is like a NaNo without copious amounts of caffeine. It cannot be done.

Hmm... never saw the Prestige. Always wanted to, though. ^^

[Rikku]

... Goodness I have a lot of things to reply to. >.>; *facepalms for falling behind*

Oct 9, 2010 19:02:32 GMT -5 Zylaa said:

^_^ Thankee.

Oh thank goodness you'll do a different ending than The Prestige... great movie, but dark and creepy as heck ending. >_>

And as far as stories finding their heart goes, I'm still not even positive what I'm going to do for my NaNo, and I've only got the one new idea, so long story short I'm in the same boat. Here's hoping we can both get that spirit. =D

Agreed! xD About ten minutes in I had to go fetch a reassuring stuffed animal, and even that didn't stop me getting all shivery-scared, and the ending left me utterly traumatised.

=D Right!

Oct 9, 2010 19:11:46 GMT -5 M is for Morphine said:

Oh yay, there is is. I saw my post at the top and I thought, "Oh my god I broke her thread". XD

D: Sorry to confuse you! You have my assurances that the thread is entirely self-broken. (And thank you for the good advice, also.)

Oct 9, 2010 19:19:39 GMT -5 Kathleen said:

I rather missed any and all fuss, by being so late. =D

I can't garner much information, besides a golem called Piper (!), and inanimate objects animating making wacky hijinks, and consuming rivalry obsession. But having three different viewpoints sounds very neat. I always want to do that, and then end up with just the one, because I get obsessed with a single character. ;_; And all your names are win. ;3 I shouldn't worry too much about not being able to describe it with any dramatic-sounding phrase, because I hardly ever can (with my stuff). =D Hardly ever here meaning never without it sounding ridiculous in a bad way.

But the important things to remember are, one, it always sounds worse to yourself than to anyone else, and two, it's the writing that counts, honestly, when all is said and done. You could have a story about cheese, and I know you'd manage to make it fantastic, because you're good at that. And NaNo isn't even about it being grand writing, just about fun. Stories are perfectly entitled to find heart as they go along. =D

If I were to censor for boredom and general this-sounds-awful factor, I would never get started.

And now this looks long and doesn't sound right and I'd just better post it before I lose all courage. D= *slinks off*

xD I might still end up with that, or at least a very poor ratio of viewpoints, depending on which of the three I like best. So far that seems to be Olly, oddly (I have the name of his rival who pretends to be a friend! =D His pirate name is Bluesword, he pretends to be someone called Hush, I dislike the name Bluesword and love the name Hush), but doubtless once I've started thinking more about what'll happen in Riff's character arc I'll like him better, and once I've thought about who Rome will actually be I'll like her better. Already I am fond of Piper however.

=D I am glad about the names! I love the names.

And your stories all sound beautiful and intriguing. xD And this year's certainly does, even more so than most. Hardly ridiculous.

... And stop making me want to write a story about cheese. >.>;

Oct 9, 2010 19:26:20 GMT -5 Shadaras said:

Amount of time it took me to make even a semi-decent summary of Saviour = quite a while. xD

I like the sound of this very much. All the names and all seem cheerful or bouncy, which is always quite fun.

And I am being far too distracted by homework-guilt to give a proper response. >.> But yay! Rikku-idea! It seems like a lot of fun. ^_^

(also you and Zy have made me curious about The Prestige which may or may not be a good thing)

=D Again I am glad for the names! And that you think the idea seems fun, I hope it is.

Welll. You like dark creepy stories, so probably you'd like it. xD

Oct 9, 2010 23:21:33 GMT -5 Jayeee said:

I'm excited to see this idea develop! All three different stories sound pretty great, even though they don't have a concrete plot.
And I hate that you and so many others can come up with such great character names. As soon as I read Riff, my first thought was 'Why didn't I think of that?!' D:

=D And the great thing is that the three stories will intersect to form one story! although I have no idea yet what that is.

xD I always think the exact same thing about character names. And sometimes steal them, for which I am mildly ashamed.

Oct 10, 2010 1:44:02 GMT -5 Trilly (18426 words) said:

A Rikku is back! And incidentally, you get a hearty thumbs up form me for the one-word title. You can look at the title "Teeth" and draw so many interpretations from it.

I think it may sometimes be a good thing to start off with characters you don't know at love at the beginning, because that way you can be freer to work with their personalities without getting hung up on stuff like "but would this character really do that?," and you can grow to love them and their quirks at the same pace as the reader would. ^__^ Good luck with this story idea; it sounds like a really fun read so far, and I do hope you decide to post it as you go. Reading Rikku writing is like, a staple of my NaNo experience. A NaNo without it is like a NaNo without copious amounts of caffeine. It cannot be done.

Hmm... never saw the Prestige. Always wanted to, though. ^^

=D Yes! I hope that I'll remember the title when I'm brainstorming, because then my ideas will be directed by it so that it'll, y'know, actually make sense.

Aw, but it's good to start with characters you really want to get to know ... D: 's okay though, I actually seem to like the characters for this! So I'm fine there.

And aww. ^_^ I am always glad to be likened to usefully addictive drugs! So probably I'll post bits, yes. Depending on whether or not it actually turns out interesting. >.>;

=D It is a good story! Dark and creepy but good.

[Rikku]

I had spare time and was slightly bored and wanted to do something, so! =D I needed to get Riff's family sorted and see what the dynamic between him and Xochie was. Olly's a lot less silly when he's older, and Riff's a lot bolder and more interesting. I didn't get Xochie quite right in this (and didn't get a chance to fit in his wings! Gah! Love his wings!) and Rome doesn't do anything and 'Alvin' isn't really a character yet, I'll need to work on all those things. And the plot and Big Bad and stuff.

... I love the inn, though. =D

SPOILER: Click to show

The inn perched cheerfully on the edge of the water.

If it was windy – and today it was – the waves rolled and roared to crash with spectacular lack of effect against the rocky little patch of … rocks that the inn was built on. If the waves tried particularly hard, they could expend their mighty force to splash uselessly against the rocks so that a tiny amount of spray feebly dampened the wall. Margo Wood, who owned the inn, sent out one of her nephews to clean it every now and again, to discourage any uppity barnacles.

The sign over the door declared it the Happy Jug Inn. The words were picked out in peeling paint, as was the gaudy picture of a suitably cheerful-looking beverage receptacle. The sign creaked atmospherically in the wind. It had been a perfectly creakless sign, smooth as a rogue’s pickup line, but Margo had carefully refrained from oiling it. An atmospheric creaking sign was important.

The usual customers were clustered inside the inn, sipping their ales, nibbling on peanuts from bowls placed every table or two. There were similar bowls of rotten tomatoes and amusing meringue pies for the customers to help themselves to if the entertainer was boring, paused too long or looked at them funny. The current entertainer was a young, nervous juggler, who proved less than popular to the bored crowd - a few tomatoes had already been splattered against the wall behind him, and were slippering slowly to the ground. The juggler didn’t have real cause to be worried, though, because the ale was so effective at scattering wits that no one could really aim at him, or at least not the right one of him. He was lucky that none of the Woods were there – Margo was deadly with a tomato, and the oldest of her boys was showing a flair for meringues.

The Woods were outside, in the broad grassy square behind the Happy Jug that didn’t seem to have much of a purpose except for events like this. It was the fifteenth birthday of Oleander Wood – the one who had a gift for flinging delicious pastries, and indeed seemed to have a gift for everything - and Margo insisted on parties for such special occasions, even if the day and, indeed, the family, were unwilling to cooperate.

There were five of them: Margo, wearing her usual tavern-wench-ish clothes and innocently cheerful expression - gold curls remaining perfect despite the blustering wind – her former partner Alvin Glance looking more than usually awkward, her niece Rome, her nephew Raff, and, of course, the birthday boy himself, Olly, who was busily telling anyone who would listen – who was everyone – exactly why windy days were the best kind of days by far, modestly leaving it only implied that, well, of course it would be the best kind of day on his birthday.

Olly took more after his presumed-dead mother than his aunt in looks, being tall, lean, dark of hair, bright of eye. He was at the age where people were allowed to – nay, expected to look awkward, and thus it was hardly fair that he was utterly at home in himself, and uncommonly quick on his feet. And handsome, as well. You mustn’t forget the handsome. Olly never did.

The event was going as such events usually do – only a hurried and heroic dive by Olly managed to retrieve the cake before it was blown from the table, and the trifle was beyond saving – when something entirely unexpected happened: a stranger sauntered in on them, looking completely at home.

There was a lull in the conversation as they all turned to stare at him. The cake seized the helpful distraction to squelch slowly but determinedly in the direction of the ground.

The stranger was slight and slender, with skin quite a bit darker than was normal in this area – a kind of burned-butter bronze, somehow gleaming despite the lack of cooperative sunlight – and long black hair, black as soot, tied in a sleekly shining braid along his bare back. Despite the cold he didn’t wear a shirt, and he went barefoot as well, but these weren’t the oddest things about him. The stranger … there was something …

Raff, eightten, peered at him with the critical air of someone who is fond of observing people, and couldn’t quite put a finger on what was so bothersome about him. Perhaps it was his perfect, white-toothed smile; perhaps it was the way that he immediately drew the eye, moreso even than Olly. And was ridiculously beautiful. Perhaps it was the not-quite-human way he stood, at once relaxed and alert; perhaps it was the way he tilted his head, birdlike, and perhaps it was the way his eyes couldn’t seem to decide what colour to be. Whatever it was, the stranger was odd.

And, apparently, not a stranger.

“Xochie!” squeed Margo, rushing forward and hugging him. Xochie endured the hug with good grace. “Where have you been!” She gripped his shoulders and pushed him away so she could beam at him to his face, then hugged him again. Alvin looked exceedingly awkward, and confused. Everyone else just looked confused.

“And this is …?” said Olly curiously.

“Oh! Bad manners of me. Sorry. This is … well, he was Shelley and mine’s childhood friend when we were young, we were practically raised together, in fact we were raised together, but that’s the meaning of ‘practically’ I suppose, we found him when he was all addled in the head—”

“No,” interjected Xochie politely, “I wasn’t.”

“Well, his memory was gone, anyway, and he was like a brother to me and your mother, so to answer your question I suppose that all things considered …” Margo squinted up her eyes in thought, then brightened. “Children? Meet your Honorary Uncle Xochie!”

Xochie – a more than usually odd name, that – gave his perfect smile and a slight bow.

“So we have two uncles now?” Rome asked. “If we count Formerly-Uncle Alvin?”

“Yep!” trilled Margo. “XOCHIE would you like cake you should have cake.”

Olly dumped the by now rather diminished cake onto the table and eyed Xochie. “My aunt seems to trust you,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean I will.” He paused. “In fact it means I probably shouldn’t, now I think of it. Margo’s taste isn’t to be relied on.”

“Um,” said Alvin.

Olly waved an impatient hand at him. “You don’t count. She dumped you, didn’t she? So obviously you must be trustworthy.”

“Admirable logic,” said Xochie, smiling. “And I can see why you’d distrust me. I, too, would distrust someone who arrived without a birthday present.” He pulled something out from behind his back. “However …”

Olly grinned hugely and took it. It was a hat, a fine hat – a very fine hat, it might even be said – black, and crisp, and vaguely triangular. It was charming. It was rascally.

“I asked around about you all before I came here,” Xochie told him, “as I haven’t visited since your mother died. It seemed only polite. And I heard that a certain young man cherishes dreams of piracy?”

“Not dreams,” said Olly airily, settling the hat on his head. It suited him. “I’ve already joined a crew, and I plan to have my own ship within the next few years.” He winked. “In fact it might be said that all I was missing was a hat!” He clapped Xochie on the back, enthusiastically, and Xochie somehow managed to keep his balance and his perfect smile intact. It was really rather impressive. And it was clear that any lingering mistrust Olly might have been entertaining had been sternly tossed out the door.

After a few minutes’ chat with Rome, she, too, was acting as though she’d known him all her life. Then Olly declared he had to show everyone how excellent he was at fencing in his fine new hat, and, as always with Olly, drew attention away from everyone but him. Olly wasn’t a bad person, as such – at least not then. It was simply that he knew the universe existed more or less to please him.

Raff watched with gloomy admiration as Olly made dangerous swishing noises with the sword and valiantly stabbed (at various points) the berries on the cake, Rome’s hat and several unwisely loitering flies.

“So,” Xochie said to him, cheerfully. “You—”

“Don’t bother,” Raff interrupted him. “I know what you’re doing.”

Xochie smiled his perfect smile. “I’m sorry? I don’t think I quite—”

“You’re being charming. It won’t work. I know it’s doesn’t mean anything.”

Xochie’s shifting eyes widened a fraction, and his smile disappeared. “Interesting,” he said, in a different sort of voice – less friendly, less false. “How ever do you know that?”

Raff looked up at him. He still had black hair then, short and spiky. His eyes were almost black as well. He had a round, cheerful face, the kind that seemed made for smiling; right then it wasn’t. He took pity and explained, “Olly does the same thing.” He nodded towards his brother, who had gotten some tomato-splattered juggling balls from somewhere and was somehow juggling them with his sword, to much laughter and applause. “Always.” The scowl deepened.

“Woods are a perceptive lot, I’ve always felt,” Xochie said. “Which one are you?”

“Raff,” said Raff, and then corrected, “or Riff, I like Riff better. Or Riffraff. But that’s just what my family calls me. It’s Raphael really.”

Xochie nodded, accepting this, and said, “You admire your brother, Raphael. Yes?”

Raff sighed. “I think it’s kind of impossible not to. That’s the problem,” he said, and kicked at a stone savagely. “Ow.”

Xochie looked him up and down, noting the scowl, the irritable slouch – and the clothes he was wearing, more or less smaller copies of Olly’s piratey garb. Well, of course the boy sought his brother’s approval. It was as he’d said: it was impossible not to.

“It can’t be much fun,” Xochie said, ducking easily as a juggling ball whizzed over his head. He continued as though there hadn’t been an interruption. “Being the younger brother of a boy who’s talented and promising and everyone loves and a girl who’s the most skilled witchmage anyone’s seen for a hundred years. Particularly,” he added, “seeing you’re so drab and boring.”

Raff bit his lip and stared at the ground.

“Oh, come on,” said Xochie irritably. “If you ask someone not to be charming, you shouldn’t get all teary-eyed because he says something you don’t like. You asked for it, remember?”

Raff muttered, “I didn’t ask for you to be a meanyface jerk.”

“Well, no,” Xochie conceded. “But as you said. Charm’s not worth much if it’s not real.” He touched his chin thoughtfully. “So meanness, really, if it’s honest, has more value than kindness. When you think about it.”

“Your logic,” said Raff, “is stupid.”

Xochie tilted his head, birdlike, and regarded him. Another juggling ball was accidentally flipped in their direction, and this one thwacked him on the arm. He made a small, irritated noise, and directed a glare at Olly, but the youth had already moved on to singing a rousing sea ballad and didn’t notice him.

“Hm,” said Xochie. Then he said, “Raphael,” and took a smallish coin from somewhere.

“Yeah?” said Raff, warily.

“I bet you a glimmer that you can’t make that table fall down.”

Raff’s face showed confusion. “Why would I want to?”

Xochie shrugged. “It’s an ugly sort of table. Oh, and your brother just climbed on to it.”

Raff’s head whipped around. He stared at the table. Then he stared at Xochie.

Then he gave a determined nod and dashed off in the direction of the kitchen, where the knives were kept.

Xochie put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head and waited. The wind toyed at his braid. Olly moved on to an inexplicably popular folk song about cabbages, which everyone else koined in with.

A few minutes into the third verse, which rambled poetically about how terrible slugs were, he stamped his foot on the table for emphasis.

There was the kind of crash that is made when a table with carefully half-sawed-through legs collapses, and the kind of startled yelp that is made when a young pirate is standing on the table at the time.

Xochie smiled slightly, then turned as Raff hurried up to him with a guilty conspiratorial grin. The grin suited him, and brought out the shine in his eyes. He seemed rather more alive than he had a few minutes ago.

“I bet you,” Xochie said seriously, “that you can’t sneak a slug into that hat …”

And Xochie's name is pronounced /zo/-kee now okay. =D It was /zo/-chee before but this is better, it is much more adorable. <3

[Shadaras]

...I think I am going to utterly adore Xochie, save for his fanciful name. xD And I like Riff quite a bit, and Olly as well, really. And, well, I just like reading your writing. ^_^

[Rikku]

Oct 10, 2010 20:33:41 GMT -5 Shadaras said:

...I think I am going to utterly adore Xochie, save for his fanciful name. xD And I like Riff quite a bit, and Olly as well, really. And, well, I just like reading your writing. ^_^

It's short for Xochipilli? Um, but I'm not sure if that's better or worse. xD I'm well aware his name is terrible, but he seems to be quite firmly stuck with it. And I am glad you like these characters! (I was fairly certain you would like Xochie though! =D I am somewhat smitten with him I think, I keep on accidentally thinking of scenes for him when I should be making a villain or plot or something.) And my writing of course. So yay. ^_^