Tag: riddle

NaNoWriMo Day 25

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I’m making a post before I start writing today to prove I’m still alive and working on Nano! It’s just been very busy and I keep finishing up words late at night and just conking out in bed. It’s been … a crazy month, to put it lightly. But! The story is really coming along and I’m very excited about that. 😀

Riddle continues to be a snarky little smokeball. Who dares cause mischief when it’s been clearly established that he is the mischief boss?

Word Count: 44863

Excerpt:

The world always looked so solid when he fronted, or came too close to one of the others. Their perception of everything was so grounded. Riddle, as a child of the abstract, tended to view everything by the webs that tangled between them when he was in the inner world.

There were almost no webs in sight here, which offered him a very obvious clue.

“Someone trying to mess?” he called out. He didn’t have a mouth or a voice box with which to speak, but all the same he conveyed a coy yet threatening tone without issue. He roiled with glee when wherever he was didn’t even bother to echo his question back to him.

“Come out, come out, wherever you aaaaare,” he hissed. This time, he indulged in the sinister tone he’d used as a pure habit back when the body was much younger. Back then, he’d been truly nasty to his headmates on occasion.

He was well past that, but that didn’t mean he’d let the old skills go to waste. Something was afoot, and he was already following one of the webs tugging at his awareness. At the end of that link, he would find answers to who exactly thought they could cause trouble in his headspace.

That was his job, and everyone else had kindly agreed to it.

NaNoWriMo Day 17

Neon BrightLeave a comment

It has been a long weekend. I felt so busy, but at least I didn’t fall behind on words! I actually got things into the action of everything!

Word Count: 34248

Excerpt:

“So you’re upset with me,” Riddle slurred, even as the prism elf switched off his stun baton and strode towards him. There wasn’t much fight in him at the moment, and the elf seemed to recognize that. Riddle couldn’t feel anyone else close to him at all, and for a moment that worried him.

“Not upset, exactly, but surprised,” the elf admitted. “I didn’t think you’d come looking for us again, not after you managed to get away the first time. But here I am, the one to bring you in after you strayed.”

Riddle grinned, but it turned into a wince after only a second. “I wouldn’t mind you telling me what’s going on.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t,” the elf said gently. “But since you’re so slippery, I have no intent of detailing everything to you until we’re sure you’re in check. You understand.”

Riddle wanted to sling another protest, some other snarky response, but he wasn’t in time for the elf to produce a simple handkerchief from a pocket in his kaftan. As hasty as he was, he was also ridiculously graceful as he leaned forward to tie the cloth around Riddle’s mouth. Silk dug into his cheeks and the knot at the back of his head tangled in his shaggy hair.

He was going to make Finnraal cut it next time, he swore to whatever gods cared.

NaNoWriMo Day 15

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I finished writing last night at like an hour to midnight, so I decided to save the excerpt post. I was tired and it was time for bed, but also I got through a pretty fun scene so that’s exciting! 😀

Sometimes, the members of this DID system need to have a one-on-one to get a better understanding of each other. Riddle happens to be very guarded and harder to understand by his own choosing, but he’s still a good Riddle, and Finn knows this. 

Word count: 30104

Excerpt:

Finnraal gasped as his foot settled down on dry, dusty stone that he couldn’t have hoped to see. The annoyance that sparked all around him told him what he needed to know. He’d found Riddle at the bottom of the well, and the shadowy headmate didn’t want him there in the least.

“Whatcha doing down here, Finnraal?” Riddle’s voice came from all around and nowhere, and Finnraal had to control his breathing. Riddle knew everyone’s fears and admitted to none of his own.

He used to cause nightmares for Finnraal and Kala especially, and sometimes Azul too. At the time, it had felt like such a malicious thing. He’d always been so quick to remind Finnraal especially of his failings, of his fears, of his regrets. In the name of being practical, Riddle used to be as mean as they come.

It had taken a long time for Finnraal to understand why, and even then there were depths he hadn’t reached.

It was time to stop avoiding that.

NaNoWriMo Day 8

Neon BrightLeave a comment

I skate in before midnight on my timezone. I made it. Somehow. It was kind of a long week, so I procrastinated a bit. But! I had fun with some more new characters. Including another of Finnraal’s headmates, Kala.

Word count: 16800

Excerpt: 

Kala huffed out a sigh. “Riddle?”

“Um. No. I’m sorry, this is a bit tricky.”

She opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it again with a slight shake of the head. The voice wasn’t familiar at all. It didn’t belong to any of the headmates she knew. For a moment, she wondered if maybe someone else had been born after the stress of the day. It would explain why Finnraal was still impossible to reach.

Finally, she decided to be straightforward. “Who are you?”

“I’m. Well, my name is Percival,” that voice said. “I’m trying to contact you through a dream, but all I see is … I think it’s a well.”

“Then you’re not in my dream,” Kala said flatly. “If I’m sharing dreams with Riddle I’m going to scream.”

“Oh. Ah! I understand!”

NaNoWriMo Day 5

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Writing came easier today! I also made sure to leave off at a good spot that’ll make it really easy to start up again tomorrow. I’m happy with my progress thus far, considering I have no idea where this plot is going.

Also, Riddle is a really fun character, guys.

Word Count: 10456

Excerpt:

Riddle shook his head. “Nah. Won’t be necessary. This gentleperson is going to flounce back into the crowd and find someone else to run his errands.”

“Do you even know who I am, half breed?”

Riddle blinked lazily. “No. And you don’t know me, either. We’re on even ground, which probably pisses you off something mighty, doesn’t it, full breed? Eugh, I can’t believe you made me say that. ‘Full breed.’ Full of hot air, maybe.”

NaNoWriMo Day 4

Neon BrightLeave a comment

Things were slow today! I’m very late in finishing it up, but I think I did okay. To clarify something, Finnraal has Dissociative Identity Disorder! That term doesn’t necessarily exist in Muunfel, though, nor does some of the understanding we have of it in the real world. I’ve been working on the character for a while, though I want to preface this by saying I still have a lot more research to do on how to depict DID in a fantasy setting. These excerpts are meant as WIPs only; once I’ve had some sensitivity readers for the story, it should be a lot more solid!

Word Count: 8733

Excerpt:

The world above was an uncomfortable sort of thing. Everything, everyone felt like a charade of sorts, like the settings and actors of a play. Riddle didn’t trust them, and he didn’t think the others should trust them on principle, either. Maybe it was because he made a point of knowing the least trustworthy people he could find when he was out front.

Information was one of the most important commodities he could possibly gather. More than money, more than spare parts from the shops, maybe even more than food. Information paid like the most sparkling diamonds, if one knew how to spin it. Riddle was good at collecting it. Finnraal and Kala were good at turning it into something else.

His contacts never stayed in the same place for long, but they always left signs for those who knew how to look. Signs leading to their latest nest would be found in the alleys and back roads of the bustling city.

Riddle hadn’t gone to them in some time. He almost worried he had lost his edge with finding the signs, but he noticed a series of notches carved into a signpost. Progress at last. Is anyone watching?

Yes, good job, Finnraal thought drily from within. This is literally why you’re the one in front right now.

“You want my help and this is how you repay it,” Riddle muttered. He snickered as a general sense of disapproval surged out of his audience, and didn’t pay it much mind. He could have fun in the real world, even if no one else appreciated his ways.