#foxesstart

[go-foxes]

Location: The Foxhole Court Date: Wednesday, August 11th Time: After Afternoon Practice (open​)

He didn’t get a lot of practicing in over the summer. Not with—everything. 

He’s maybe wishing that he did, somehow. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and he doesn’t know what kind of one he’s making. The gym’s pretty easy, but on the court he feels a step behind, trying to shake off the rust from a summer spent worrying about things so much bigger and realer than Exy, trying to learn a new system and new drills on a new court in a new league. 

It just another thing that never seems quite fair. Like he’s never been able to give as much of himself to Exy as he wants, because life keeps getting in the way. Like he’ll never know how good he could have been.

But it’s not like Wymack’s going to send him back to California now, so he’s being hard on himself. Whatever happened, whatever choices he made or had life made for him, he’s here now. He’s going to play Class I, he’s going to make plays and score goals and do it all with Mateo at his side. 

He just has to get through summer training first.

The court feels huge, bigger than anything he’s ever played on before. It’s hard to believe that in just a few weeks there will be fans in the stands—whether they’re fans of the Foxes or not—camera crews broadcasting them for people to watch. It buoys him as he sucks down water, bracing himself through the burn in his muscles, the shaky feeling in his legs like they’re not quite sure if they want to hold him upright after yet another session on the court. If he were any less proud, he’d be on the floor.

“This is brutal,” he says, like saying it out loud is owning it, making it into something self-deprecating instead of something that’s just embarrassing. “Tell me it isn’t always like this.”

#foxesstart #you know i love a court starter #TK. #TK: INTERACTION

[foxespsu]

Location: Eden’s Twilight Date: Saturday, August 14th Time: Night (open)        

The Foxes’ go-to bar is unexpectedly, but delightfully, weird. Kai dresses the part, and it’s a little too easy. There’s plenty of black clothes and beat up jackets in his closet already, although he doesn’t bother with the eyeliner he sees on some guys here. He wouldn’t look like them if he tried it. He’d just look like, well—who he used to be.

Eden’s is fun, though. He likes the pageantry of it. In some ways, it reminds him of the shows back home. The music’s not the same—too much distorted electronic, not enough drums and profanity—but that’s fine. It’s not like he was expecting a thriving punk scene when he moved to Palmetto. 

It helps that the bartender doesn’t even blink before serving Kai a beer, too. He’s seen himself in the mirror; there’s no way he passes for twenty-one. Some days, he barely passes for eighteen. Just one of the many, many things he hopes will change the further he transitions.

Tonight, though, that’s not his focus. Back home, he’s all but given up on drinking. He’s not going straight-edge or whatever. It just—wasn’t fun without Katie. Nothing was. It only takes a few beers now before he feels the floaty, disembodied glow that comes with a good buzz.

God, he’s had a year, though. Therapy appointments where he’s supposed to talk about Katie, doctor’s appointments with well-meaning but ultimately frustrating doctors who need him to justify his transition for the hundredth time, and maybe worst of all, the way his parents only seem to stay in the same room as each other when they’re asking Kai how are you doing?

Yeah, he’s ready to cut loose. He hasn’t had anything stronger than a glass of wine or two in a year, but now seems as good a time as any to experiment. “Anyone want to do shots?” He’s not so far gone that he’s going to get drunk alone, and if any desperation leaks through—the new kid, the freshmen, lonely in ways none of the Foxes can fix—he can pretend he didn’t hear it. “It’d be my treat.”

#AND NOW KAI'S TURN #foxesstart #interaction: kai #kai

[chaoticfoxes]

Location: The Vixen Den Date: Friday, September 3rd Time: Victory Party (open​)

For someone who doesn't like people, Mateo ends up at a lot of parties. He even used to host them pretty often at his house. He was the one who shelled out the money to buy the expensive alcohol or got his "friends" into upscale clubs when they were all still underage. None of that was because he loves parties though, it's just another way to get back at his dad--using his money and trashing his house.

Not that he paid enough attention to care.

Now his dad really doesn't have a reason to check in on him. Mateo's on the other side of the country. A party at the Vixen's Den literally has nothing to do with him.

Mateo's here though, because his only other option is to hang out in his ugly, crowded dorm room. Besides, he probably deserves to be celebrated, considering he scored the last goal of the game.

For the most part, he's keeping to himself and avoiding the dance floor. After finishing his drink, he goes back to the kitchen and grabs a bottle of vodka, pouring it until it's nearly to the top of the cup before adding a splash of coke. "Yum," he says flatly and takes a long sip.

#i dont think i owe anything on mateo so here's a starter #and this is an announcement that if i do please let me know lol #i double checked but it's very possible i lost some replies while on vacation #foxesstart #thread: mateo #mateo

[ladoescurodalua]

( by Bruno Felmag )

#animals #fox #redfox #wildlife #foxclub #foxesstart #volpe #raposa #vulpes #foxes #fennec #wild #vulpesvulpes #foxlove

[art-in-you]

by tonbippo08

#tonbippo08 #art #asianart #asia #animals #graphictshirts #cute foxes #foxesstart

[xyris-art-illustrations]

Sleeping fox watercolor wip!

#art #fineart #illustration #artontumblr #artonpaper #drawing #portrait #animalart #artenaturale #fox #foxes #foxesstart #cute foxes #cute #watercolors

[foxespsu]

Location: The Hotel Date: Friday, September 17 Time: Post-Game (open​)

Win or lose, press duty has its purpose. Grant knows that. For the next five years, it's yet another way to distinguish himself as an athlete. To convince pro teams that he's worth the gamble, even as a Fox. That doesn't stop his gritted teeth in front of the press tonight, or the way he returns to the hotel feeling almost more exhausted from the media and their questions than the shitty game tonight.

Of course, he's pissed about the game, too. He'd expected losses, as a Fox. Six to two, though? That hurts—hopefully, it hurts everyone else as much as it does him.

But Grant hadn't expected press duty to feel so much like standing around in Freeport, listening to comments that all had the same meaning in the end—the same undercurrent of aren't you so brave for playing Exy? As if there was any difference between him and the rest of his teammates. As if they knew anything about him, just because they'd heard the gossip or read a newspaper.

What did he expect, though? He's a Fox. On this team, his past is more interesting than his present. Hell, he's got teammates who invite that scrutiny—his roommate tonight being one of them. That would be River's bad idea and thus their problem, except that it spilled over into Grant's life at press duty tonight.

God, he's going to sleep like shit tonight. If Grant's particularly unlucky, he'll wake in the middle of the night from some nightmare. If there's any justice in the universe, River won't notice.

He skips the room for now, then, choosing instead to collapse into one of the chairs in the hotel lobby. Wymack's nowhere to be seen, but he's not the only Fox around. Grant needs to do—something. "So, what. Do we all just sulk around here?"

#grant has replies BUT....i have evidently not posted a starter since nov so here i am trying to fix that #interaction: grant #grant #foxesstart #also keeping this vague since press duty actually isnt uhhh finished or posted LMAO

[go-foxes]

Location: Football Stadium Date: Friday, September 10th Time: Mid-Game (open​)

Back in Indiana, River wouldn't have said they had anything against football: in a town where everything revolved around football and Exy games, it gave them a reason to be out of the double wide that was less likely than anything else to get them in trouble. They took advantage of that, because they had no reason not to. River was a jock in Indiana—at least they were for most of the time they lived there, before they had enough self-awareness to realize all the ways that they were different. The ways they didn't fit.

It feels different here, though. Here, the football team is beloved in a way that Foxes aren't. They have the whole University behind them, they draw crowds that are actually cheering for them, rather than just waiting to see how they're going to fuck up next.

River's been a Fox for long enough, now, to have a chip on their shoulder about it. To not like the way the Foxes are being trotted out for Palmetto Athletics solidarity now that they've won something, in a way they hadn't been last year. They're being put up on the video screen today to wave at the crowd, but they know that if the Foxes don't keep it up, they'll be right back where they started, with the University threatening to cut the team entirely.

At least there's a flask going around. If they're going to have to spend their Friday night here, instead of out in Columbia or in the Vixen Den, then there better be. They haven't really been following the score, but they do look up at the videoscreen for long enough to make sure it's focused on the action on the field below. Once they know they're not about to be broadcast drinking underage to a whole stadium of people, they turn themself away to take a few furtive swallows, grimacing slightly as the liquor burns its way down their throat.

"Looks like the coast is still clear," they say, wiping the back of their hand across their path and passing it on. "You want some?"

#i need some river replies! #foxesstart #RIVER. #RIVER: INTERACTION

[go-foxes]

Location: The Vixen Den Date: Friday, September 3rd Time: Victory Party (open​)

A win is a win. No matter how many cards were doled out, no matter how few goals were scored, no matter that they spent more time pushing and shoving in the center of the court than trying to score on either end—they won. For only the second time in Olivia's time as a Fox, they won.

She used to take that for granted. She used to play on teams where winning was expected. Where it wasn't enough to win, if you didn't win the right way—if you didn't play with enough discipline, didn't rise up to the exacting standards that her coaches always had for their teams, whether it was her father or the Lions.

She knows that they can't expect to win more games if they keep playing like they played against the Southern Eagles. But—winning this first one gets their season off on the right foot. They can play better from here. They can build on this.

And—a win on the week of her birthday? A pretty good present.

She hasn't come back around to looking forward to parties the way she did her first few months as a Lion, but being in the Vixen Den feels less like a chore she needs to perform to be a good teammate after a year on the Foxes and after a win. There's still only soda in her cup and she isn't about to make a beeline for the dancefloor, but the music and the crowd feels less overwhelming than it did this time last year. And that feels like progress, something she can tell Betsy about.

"A lot more people show up to your party when you win," she says wryly, looking out into the crowd—which has a lot more strangers than usual. "Fair weather fans."

#when olivia is very overdue you ALSO get a starter #foxesstart #OLIVIA. #OLIVIA: INTERACTION

[foxespsu]

Location: The Vixen Den Date: Friday, September 3rd Time: Victory Party (open​)

It's not the type of game Kai played in high school, even on his most competitive days. It was a lot messier than that—barely legal body checks and definitely illegal punches, a flurry of cards on both sides. His head still aches a little from the shock of an elbow to the visor, even if his helmet did its job and protected him from any actual harm. But it was a victory. That's what counts, right?

He thinks about his parents back home, who no doubt tuned into the game the entire way. There's a string of texts from both of them on his phone waiting for his reply. Not a family group chat, but separate texts from each to congratulate him, like they wanted to double the amount of praise. It feels good to start the season—his first real taste of college Exy—off with a win. It feels good to know his parents witnessed it, that they're no doubt proud of him all the way back in California.

Thank God he didn't get into a fight this time. Kai does not think they're proud of the scrimmage. He hasn't told them much about Mateo or TK. It's easier to tell them he's good, he's settling in, he's making friends. All the stuff they want to hear, especially after the last year.

There are a lot of unfamiliar faces in the crowd tonight. He knows the Vixens by sight at least, even if he hasn't spoken to many of them. Still, when the time comes for small talk, it's one of the Foxes that he seeks out. "So, do you think tonight's like...a good omen for the season? Should we all save the socks we were wearing for luck?"

#kai needs to come out from the first week of school #foxesstart #interaction: kai #kai

[go-foxes]

Location: The Vixen Den Date: Friday, September 3rd Time: Victory Party (open​)

Colin never misses a party. Especially one after a game they won—he's on his fifth year with the Foxes, and there have been far too few of those.

It's not like he wanted to come off the court tonight. It doesn't feel fair that Wymack and Abby made him, when he sat by and watched in the second half and saw Casey stay on after another dicey hit. It would have felt worse if they lost, if losing Colin and Kent and then Sterling one after another put their team into a hole they couldn't dig themselves out of—but they won.

It wasn't beautiful Exy by any stretch of the imagination. It was pretty fucking shitty, actually. But that doesn't matter, because they won. The season just begun, and they're already tied their record from last season. After this—it's all uphill.

Colin never misses a party, but maybe he should have tonight. His shoulder's sore, where it made contact with the Plexiglas. He passed all his concussion tests, but his head still hurts. But he wasn't about to just go back to Fox Tower, when the rest of the team is here. When it's his team, and it's his last year, and there's no telling how many more of these nights he'll have with them.

He could only last so long inside, though. Outside, the pounding of music and the dull roar of voices fades, and so does the pressure at his temples. He's got a beer in one hand, but he's barely had any of it—he can tell it wouldn't end well tonight.

But it still feels important to hold it. To put on a smile for the crowd, teammates and cheerleaders and strangers alike, and at the first hint of a concerned face say: "I'm fine. I'm not about to let a Southern Eagle take me out."

#i've said it before i'll say it again #PARTY TIME IS COLIN TIME #foxesstart #COLIN. #COLIN: INTERACTION

[chaoticfoxes]

Date: Sunday, August 8 Location: Room 315 Time: Morning (open)

Ever since his mom died, Mateo doesn’t have any emotional attachment towards his massive house or all the expensive shit that comes with it, shit he asked for, but as he surveys his new room, he actually misses his bedroom and his king-sized bed. 

There’s bunk beds, like they’re going to fucking summer camp or something. While there’s a living room and kitchenette, this entire dorm room is probably the size of his bedroom, and with four boys living here, they’re going to be on top of each other’s shit all the time. 

If it was up to Mateo, he probably wouldn’t have gone to college at all. It’s not like he actually needs the degree, and he definitely doesn’t need an Exy scholarship. He has a guaranteed job for life, not that he’ll ever give his dad the satisfaction of taking it, but the point is it’s there if he needs it. Heir to Hotel Montes--all the “fuck you money” and job security he could ask for but doesn’t give a shit about.

He’d rather spend the rest of his youth traveling the world--going to the Red Light District in Amsterdam and laying on the beach in Thailand. Instead, he’s a Fox, the worst team in the Class I division. They only won one game last season, and he’s supposed to be excited to be here? The only reason he is, is because of TK. 

TK’s been his best friend since little league. Even when he basically vanished from Mateo’s life for a few years, he considered him as his best friend. Now it’s so much more than that, he’s his brother, something Mateo actually takes seriously. He would follow his adopted brother anywhere. No questions asked. He’d put that tall as fuck kid on the back of his motorcycle and drive him wherever he wanted to go, but did it have to be Palmetto, South Carolina?

Mateo stares up at the top bunk and wrinkles his nose. There’s no way in hell he’s sharing with anyone other than TK, and he’s not going to make him climb up there. He might get a concussion before the season starts. Standing on is tippy toes, he throws his tempurpedic pillow up there to claim his bed for the year.

“That one’s mine,” he declares to the room, leaving no room for an argument.

#foxesstart #this felt like a dialogue below the gif kind of starter #aaaaaand here he is #thread: mateo #mateo

[go-foxes]

Location: Laser Tag Date: Monday, August 30th Time: Evening (open​)

When she thinks of the things she misses over the summer, over breaks—when so many of the Foxes go home in a way that she can't and leave her in Palmetto—she misses games, of course, like the one they played on Friday, even if it was just a scrimmage. But she also misses things like this.

It was a surprise to her at first, even if it maybe shouldn't have been. She might have grown up with a pack of siblings, but she always thought of herself as a lone wolf. A loner. When she left them all behind, it became even more true: she had friends in Louisville, but they were fleeting, foster kids that moved around just like she did. There was no one who really knew her, no one she really knew.

After everything, she'd thought it was better that way.

And that's how she came to Palmetto. She wanted to play Exy, to keep holding on tight to this thing she discovered in Louisville, this thing that made her feel alive—but she hadn't really been thinking about the team. Not at first. She thought that she'd keep her distance the way she had been. She'd thought that it'd be safer that way.

Two years later, and she's the Vice Captain of the team. She doesn't want to keep her distance anymore, if she ever even really did in the first place.

What she wants is to be here: dressed in all black on a weekday night—though it's not like that part is out of the ordinary for her—running around in the dark with her teammates as they try to shoot each other. They spent the past week on different teams, but this feels different: this time, she really doesn't care if they win or lose.

"You ever done this before?" She asks in between rounds, shrugging off her illuminated vest and setting it aside. "I think I'm real bad at it. I still can't tell when I hit someone."

#i needed to get glory in! #foxesstart #GLORY. #GLORY: INTERACTION

[go-foxes]

Location: Gym Date: Friday, September 3rd Time: Morning Practice (open​)

It's been weeks. Weeks of practicing. Weeks of adjusting. And now it's finally here—TK's first real game as a Fox.

This time last year, he couldn't have imagined it. He didn't think about the future that much at all, then. When he did, it seemed to collapse too quickly under the weight of all the unknowns. And, even if he could get past that, it was hard for him to imagine anything outside of California, especially when he'd fought so hard to stay there. And, even when he saw the end coming, it always seemed like tempting fate to imagine his future without his mother in it.

He knew he'd have to face it eventually, so what was the point of imagining it? Of inviting that pain in sooner?

She isn't here now. She won't be watching this game, or any of the rest TK will play in his life, no matter how many more of them there are. And although he wishes he didn't, he wonders if his father will watch. If Eduardo Montes will, for Mateo. Somehow, he doubts it—for both of them.

That's fine, though. They don't need them to. When gametime comes, he'll be caught up in the lights and the crowd and the adrenaline—and maybe the nerves, too—and TK won't be thinking about his father at all.

The adrenaline hasn't set in yet—the game's still hours away. But the nerves already have. The scrimmage might have been a practice run, but tonight will be real.

"And we've still got a whole day of classes after this?" He asks, wry and rhetorical. "I don't think I'm gonna make it."

#i needed to get tk in so here we are! #letting him live somewhere other than his first week lol #foxesstart #TK. #TK: INTERACTION

[go-foxes]

Location: Abby’s Date: Sunday, August 8th Time: Team Cookout (open)  

When she signed her contract with the Lions, she thought that was it. Five years in Pennsylvania, five years on a winning team, a direct line from the stroke of her pen on that page to the professional draft, to the rest of her life.

That summer, the one between her senior year of high school and her first year as a Lion, was one of giddy anticipation. Her father felt like her coach, still, her partner on the court, working her hard in preparation for the jump from high school to Class I—from high school to the Big Three. 

Nothing’s felt like that since. The summer after her freshman year was filled with dread, dread that she tried to hide from her father—as she also tried to ignore the clips from Zia’s interview when she signed with the Foxes, the way everyone was talking and speculating, and not just about Zia but about her. And while her father was still working her hard on the court, she thought that he was already disappointed in her, after her freshman year failed to be the explosive debut that either of them wanted. 

And then, well—she came to the Foxes. She started over. A new team, new teammates, new court. Having a fresh start maybe should have been a relief, but it still felt nerve-wracking. She didn’t know what she was getting herself into, and she didn’t know if she’d made the right choice. 

But, after her first year on the Foxes, her dread wasn’t about returning to Palmetto, but about returning to New Hampshire, where she and her father had only grown farther and farther apart since that last innocent summer before Penn State. And, halfway through the summer, she’d just—had enough. Had enough of tiptoeing around him. Had enough of trying to train without invading the sanctity of his court, the one she’d always trained on before. 

She always thought that she was someone who didn’t quit when things got hard. That it was one of her greatest virtues. But, after leaving Penn State, she can see how valuing not quitting above all things made her inflict pain on herself that she didn’t need to, how she could have left long before she actually did. 

Was leaving quitting on her father? Or was it the smart thing to do, saving herself unnecessary pain? She still isn’t sure, but she came back to Palmetto early anyway. Moved into Abby’s with Glory and Marley, spent weeks here where even if she was training, they still felt restful, because she wasn’t biting her tongue, wasn’t looking over her shoulder.

And now everyone’s here again, in Abby’s backyard where Olivia spent the best part of her summer. And while there’s still uncertainty, she isn’t filled with dread. She isn’t starting out the season already ready to regret it. 

After spending at least part of the summer in Abby’s kitchen, she feels like it’s her job to help set things up—even though she’s never been exactly handy in the kitchen, she at least knows where everything is. "Hey, how was your summer?” She asks, with an armful of paper plates and disposable silverware in front of the closed screen door. “D’you mind getting that?”

#foxesstart #gettin olivia in and figured why not give her her own starter! #OLIVIA. #OLIVIA: INTERACTION

[foxespsu]

Location: Team Retreat Date: Friday, August 20  Time: Night  (open)      

Before this, the closest Parker came to camping was the night her dad’s truck got snowed in. They were supposed to sleep in a cheap motel, and she’d been looking forward to the crappy coffee, the weird wallpapers, and the hard beds. Instead, the roads were too dangerous to drive, and they’d slept in the truck on the side of the road. It wasn’t fun. 

She can still remember her dad’s restlessness. His attempts to distract her, all while his own anxiety mounted. After all, if the wheels weren’t moving, he wasn’t getting paid. Trucking lost some of its charm that night. Maybe for both of them, not that it mattered. That’s her dad’s job. It’s not like he has the luxury of quitting. There’s no Wymack in the wings with a scholarship and team retreats for him.

Obviously, this is different. This is—cabins and s’mores and sleeping away from civilization on purpose. It hasn’t brought her any closer to her teammates so far, but it’s not that bad either. 

She’s by the campfire now, trying to figure out how, exactly, she’s supposed to get the marshmallow toasted without burning it. Not that she lets the burnt ones go to waste, either. It just seems like a shame to use her graham crackers and chocolate on something that tastes vaguely of smoke and char. 

There’s another Fox in her peripheral, but when she glances over to catch who it is—Parker swears as her third attempt at gently toasting a marshmallow catches on fire. Bringing the torched treat out of the flames, she blows on it lightly to cool it down. “I’m gonna figure this out,” she promises. Then, brightening. “Hey, know any scary stories?”

#foxesstart #parker #interaction: parker