#such a long fucking post omg

[vinestaff]

rain or shine i'm by your side so why won't you look my way

[hiding-under-the-willow]

I am being brave and wandering into your ask box so you can ramble about the ghost au. It looks neat and I'm so curious owo

YAY YEAH YIPPEE!!!

Okay I'm just gonna try and synthesize all of the random notes I've written in the last few days into something of a vaguely coherent list lol

Grian and Joel are roommates looking for a new flat when they get the call that Grian has inherited a house, they very impulsively and foolishly decide to keep the thing that is way too large and far too run down for the two of them to handle, the house is so incredibly haunted, normal bbc ghosts plot ensues

Grian is the one who almost dies and ends up being able to see ghosts. Mumbo is the one who pushes him out the window. Which is ironic bc Mumbo was very much not pro killing the new inhabitants of the house when the other ghosts were scheming ways to get rid of them.

Okay so ghost facts.

Bdubs is obviously highly based on Robin the caveman, I imagine him being slightly closer to the end of the paleolithic period than Robin. I think he may or may not have had some weird cult stuff going in. Weird cult leader caveman guy worshiping the sun and moon. Yes the cloak is real moss. There's bugs in that thing

Wels and Hels killed eachother in a duel, right on the property line, which now neither of them can cross in death. So now both of them is just stuck on either side of the fence seething about it for the rest of time. I like how ridiculous and arbitrary the ghost property line rules are in ghosts, so I find this incredibly funny. Hels is the guy Black Knight stories are based on

Ren wasn't actually a king, he was some type of noble who tried to declare himself king of a specific area, hence the beheading. Whooooooo let's go treason!!

Cleo was not doing actual witch craft at the time she was accused of it, she was however probably doing other illegal and vaguely fucked stuff. Mayhaps that's why she was accused, someone wanted her out of the way and that was an easy and surefire way to get rid of her

Keralis. My silly silly little guy. Our Kitty stand in. I just thought the idea of him dying from pufferfish poisoning was really funny considering him and XB's whole thing. I wanna have XB around, I can't decide if I want him to be a marine biologist of some kind who drowned on the next property over that keralis talks to over the fence, or if he's just like a grounds keeper who takes care of the lake next door that keralis is parasocially obsessed with lol

Beef. Beef my beloved. Period piece romance novel protagonist looking mf <3 He grew up in a family of butchers, became an impressionist painter instead of joining the family business. Focused a lot on pastoral scenes, especially stuff involving farm animals and especially cows. His family thought his career choice was kind of useless and frivolous, his artist colleagues thought his choice of painting subject was kind of frivolous. That's where he got the nickname 'Beef', now it's all anyone remembers him by, AND the fucking paints killed him 😔

Scar!!! The scammiest fucking traveling salesman on the planet. Death of a Salesman death of the American dream type vibes on that guy. He's gotta pay his medical bills somehow man, can't even really blame him for all the grifting. He probably should've been more careful with who he was scamming though, he maybe pissed off the wrong guy (do not scam mobsters! They will have someone kill you about it!)

Xisuma, given the greatest honor of being my Captian stand in. He was a sharp shooter, until his eye got fucked up and he lost his good aim. They shipped him off to the country side to work in 'intelligence', he takes his job very seriously despite this obviously just being somewhere they put him to not have to deal with him. Seriously enough in fact to discover a spy in their ranks! Just in time for that spy to kill him real bad. Damn.

Joe my absolutely beloved. Pat stand in but not quite. He was a popular radio host, he did a lot of volunteer work as a voice/performer for hire. He gets recruited to do some announcer work for a scouting event. There is, mayhaps, a much more. Uh. DIY. Scouting event happening on the next property over. There is an accident involving some homemade fireworks next door (cubfan. when I get you cubfan.), the fireworks going off scares some kid in the middle of fucking around with a bow, Joe gets shot, you can assume the rest. Cub is ghosting around next door cause of the fireworks accident if it makes you feel any better lol

Mumbo my stupid nervous guy. Ran a large tech startup in the late 90s, should not have been given that kind of power over a company. Accidentally did like. A lot of finance crime. Found out about said finance crime and immediately had a fucking heartattack and died from the panic. My cringe fail businessman I love you

Yeah yeah okay so neighbor ghosts. Cub, Hels, maybe XB, and Gem.

Etho is their weird annoying neighbor, he can also see ghosts, but it'll take awhile for everyone to figure that out.

In the same way Grian can see ghosts bc Mumbo tried to kill him, Etho can see ghosts bc Hels tried to kill him (haven't decided how exactly that went down yet)

I've been thinking about what to do with the basement ghosts and I think I want to put team zits down there.

Uh. Other human cast. Jimmy is around! He kind of fills an Obi type role, silly friend who is just kind of around a lot. I think I wanna have Lizzie as like a local barista Joel has a crush on. The ghosts get in his way every time he tries to make a move on her.

Obviously a lot of the ghosts aren't strict one to one fill ins for the original show's ghosts. Ren and Beef are both kind of drawing elements from both Thomas and Humphrey, Wels and X are both kind of drawing from Fanny and Cap, Scar and Mumbo both kind of combine to make up Julian's character. So on and so forth. All of the stuff with Etho and his property's ghosts is obviously all stuff I just did cause I thought it was fun lol

Oh yeah! Ghost powers! Okay obvious stuff, Bdubs has Robin's ability to fuck with lights, Cleo has the same burning smell as Mary, Mumbo can push stuff like Julian. Non obvious stuff. I want Joe to be able to be heard through like radios and phones and such. Hels has to have something to have almost killed Etho but I've yet to decide what that is. If Hels has something I think it would be funny to then have Wels also have the same power, but like. Weaker. So he can be pissy about it. Obviously.

Uh yeah that's all i can think of off the top of my head

Anyways, yeah!!! That's the basic constructions of this au. I had this idea like 3 days ago and have. Obviously thought about it a lot in that time lmao

You can't put two pieces of media in front of me and not expect me to go insane about it <3

[crazy-fangirl2524]

My biggest flex will always be how I knew Neil was the more feral and dangerous one than Andrew this whole time even before tsc and seeing the entire fandom freaked out makes me want to kiss and hug Nora and just thank her for finally finally showing everyone and I’m not just crazy

[claudtrait]

made a cutie YIPPEE

[starkspi]

i own this exact pair of duck sunglasses, so of course i had to draw something with them in it

[sualne]

you won't fucking believe what im working on again

[jade-len]

you know it's bad when i read svsss and tgcf, stories about just two guys falling in love and getting together, and think, "god i wish i were in between them."

gay little domestic cottage core life with binghe and qingqiu? please and thank you. being sandwiched by hua cheng and xie lian, two pretty men who are hundreds of years old? i am blushing, kicking my feet and giggling

and again, it's not even that i would want only one of them. like in both of the relationships, the two love each other too much to the point it'd feel wrong if they were separated! it wouldn't feel complete, so you gotta be with both of them!

but that's the thing; i just?? i feel so incredibly guilty whenever i think about being loved by these mxtx couples??? like it's so stupid but i feel like i'm intruding in on something and it's like, everyone else seems to just want them together only, not wanna be with them. like it's fuckin taboo or whatever

i feel like with any other character from any other media it'd be fine to simp for and write/read x readers of them, but when it comes to these books, it's off limits! no way, what are you, crazy? yes, yes i'm unhinged and desperately want their love and affection simultaneously. i want to be in a happy little poly relationship with these overpowered beautiful men with long hair.

i can't be the only guy or whoever to feel this way?? to wanna be kissed by these characters? sandwiched?? i have two hands for christ sake and they all look so happy together and im just like "lord i wanna be with them so much". someone tell me i'm not alone cmon <\3

[thefishywizard]

I'm so curious about your MCD rewrite/AU so sorry if this is long-

How old is everyone before the timeskip? Who gave Zane the amulet if Kawaii~chan didn't want to help him with that? What's the in-lore reason that Laurence is Shad's.. decendent..thingy...? Can all of the Divine Warriors reincarnations(Garroth,Aph,Laurence,etc) talk to the people who turned into relics? Or is that just an Alina thing?

again sorry for the long ask :(

Haha! Oh boy you think that ask was long? Buddy, I basically wrote you an essay. Buckle up.

(Linking to a separate post on my alt that has all ages for s1 on it since otherwise it'll make this post far too long)

First off! KC is taking Brian's place as traitor, not Garroths. So KC is the one leaking info to Zane, not the one stealing the amulet from Laurance. (Also unlike Brian she's not kidnapping nicole or opening the gate.)

On that note, Garroth doesn't betray everyone because of jealousy, he would be early into his relationship with laurance and aphmau by this point so seeing them kissing in the woods wouldn't phase him, even if it wasn't out of character. Garroth DOES work with Zane. However, it's out of a misguided attempt to defend the village and his lovers. "Lord Aphmau's optimism is encouraging, sure, but she doesn't know what O'Khasis will do. She's an untrained nobody who's had a lucky streak, and she's naively leading the village to the slaughter. Just help me with this one ensy wensy favor, dear brother. I just need a little trinket your fellow guard his holding for safe keeping. Give me that, and I'll leave your little village and your... ugh, "partners" alone." Garroth importantly doesn't sequester himself away in his quarters. He's acting necrotic, jumpy. He's not sleeping, and he's checking and rechecking defenses in preparation. He's visibly running himself ragged in an attempt to justify phonix drop being able to defend against an O'Khasis invasion, but he just can't. Because in Malachi's castle, this was his greatest fear. that by entrusting aphmau as lord he doomed the village, that her optimism and helpful nature would not be enough and she would lead to the villages destruction. That him running away from his fate would eventually catch up to him and O'Khasis would destroy anything in its path to apprehend him. Aphmau and Laurace will not agree to allow Garroth to sacrifice himself, and Truthfully, Garroth doesn't want to. But O'Khasis will eat them alive. Surly, this is the answer? One favor for his brother, and everyone he loves can live in peace. Fear of losing everything can lead people to doing things they regret.

Laurance is actually NOT Shads decendent. Because... Shad doesn't have any. Alina was his only child, and after she died, he was too wracked with grief to think about having more children. But what Laurance IS is Shads vessel. Laurance spent MONTHS in the nether being tortured. There's no way the process of turning into a shadow knight took that long. He was being prepped as a host. Shad can only do so much with corpses, and Laurace not only entered the nether as an alive, able bodied skilled guard. But also a companion of the woman who is really similar to his ex-wife (irene). Laurance is functionally the PERFECT host, BUT... ungrth rescued him before the process could be completed. A massive loss after coming SO CLOSE. But the calling always brings them back, it's only a matter of time before laurance crumbles to the urge ans returns to the nether and into Shads waiting clutches. (I'm thinkin laurance has these like, intricate brands on his back to allow shad entry and control. He and aphmau might work with emmalyn, Vylad and Zenix to try and figure out what they are. (Irene probably already knows) but even if they do figure it out the calling is too strong and he enters the nether to protect aphmau and garroth at the cost of his free will.)

Yes, everyone with a relic can speak with the person the relic was made from. (Irene's relic is a little different because it wasn't made at the cost of her life, so if someone else held the relic they would not be able to speak to her but because aphmau IS her, she can. And she talks to her even before picking up irenes relic.) But here's who they would get to talk to based on the relic

Shads relic: Alina (basically Liliths sister now.)

Esmunds relic: his younger brother (reminds Garroth of Zane)

Menphias relic: her good friend (reminds Katelyn of Jeffory)

Enkis relic: his mother (reminds Travis of his mom)

Kul'zaks relic: his father (reminds Vylad of Garte)

Were these specifically designed to cause the most psychic damage to the new relic holders? Yes.

Also never apologize for a long ask again i love to yap.

[relaxxattack]

every time someone calls moirallegience just an alien qpr i wilt a lil like YEAH thats more or less the CLOSEST human thing but its also Literally Not That. like a qpr is fundanmentally not romantic and thats not even going into moirails whole Actual Purpose of calming ppl down. its just. aughhhhh pisses me off i see the confusion but, as aformentioned, aughhhhh

OH MY GOD THIS HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME TOO.... but i don't want to get petty at the people in my notes always saying "moirails are QPRs!" because in some ways that is the closest human thing so it's hard to be mad...

i think there's definitely some overlap in some ways. but NOT because moirallegiance and qprs are the same at all really, but INSTEAD because both relationships can be outside of popular human norms.

you know... like any relationship.

like the only reason the two really have overlap is because they are both committed emotional partnerships that aren't required to involve sex? that should be true for all romance, even if it's not the norm right now.

they're both just romances* that are unconventional to human norms, which makes people view them as the same thing when they're not.

i think the REAL issue here is that humans insist on using human words to understand things that are just, fundamentally, alien. can't we just appreciate alien romance for being... alien romance?

no, moirallegiance is not platonic, it's romantic. it's just romantic in a way you don't understand, is all. that doesn't invalidate that romance.

*in generalization, most QPRs are not romantic, because they are made up of aroaces who are life partners in a non-romantic way. however i want to disagree with you that none of them are romantic, because that is up to the partners in question.

[oceanwithouthermoon]

i try to be accepting of different interpretations of things, but i get so genuinely upset when people will think of every single thing except for the obviously true one just because it doesnt fit with their perception of a character 😭 like i just saw people having a whole actual discussion about like "omg saiki is a ROBOT" because of moments where he either lacks emotion or shows more emotion than usual,,, like wdym u came to THAT conclusion instead of yk... that saiki is a human being and also a teenager who experiences rapid changes in emotion !!!! idk

[dollya-robinprotector]

Me, going into the Summon Room after two days of starving myself: "Maybe if I get the Servant I want then I would finally want to try and eat something! Haha just kiddi-"

FGO gacha god: "For fuck sake here's your two whores with very luxury rainbow sparkles now go eat you fucking donkey!"

[butchrindou]

rindou is so ugly im genuinely upset oh my god. What is this

[bisexualboysbroadcast]

the finger™️ situation in thai dramas has gotten out of control are they TRYING to kill me????

[phoenixkaptain]

Random thoughts time! Splinter of the Mind’s Eye edition~

1. I’ve already said how much the novel changed my perception of Luke, but it did the same to my perception of Leia. She tells Luke that she joined the Rebellion because she was bored and she discovered that the Empire didn’t allow art because it could so easily be used to create free thinkers and she wanted those free thinkers to be allowed, encouraged even, to create. She likes arts and she likes people and she likes people’s art.

2. Leia is the best combatant. In one book alone, she: kicks a guy so hard in the face she almost decapitates him, manages to sweep the legs out from beneath someone, claws a man until he passes out, goes toe-to-fucking-toe with Darth Fucking Vader with Luke’s lightsaber and actually manages to hold her own pretty well, throws an axe into a person’s shoulder while she and her target are both running. She’s so cool in this book, and every time you think “oh they’re gonna do the sexist damsel thing again” it turns out that Leia was just biding her time. So. Fucking. Cool.

Also, my favourite Leia scenes because they’re funny:

“”That should give them something to think about,” she announced with satisfaction. “Let them think we dematerialized the bars. It won’t bother Grammel, but it might make the troops uneasy. I want anyone trailing me to be as nervous as possible.””

“Leia moved closer, reached out uncertainly to touch his arm. He eyed her, then coughed. She sat back. Suddenly she began screaming. Luke looked around but there was nothing in sight.

Bending over, the Princess screamed into clasped hands. The muffled wail continued for several minutes. When it ended, she looked back up at him again without apology.

“I’m all right now, I think,” she said with forced steadiness.”

3. Love how eepy Luke is.

“Hin bared sharp canines, grabbed Luke by the neck. Luke stared resolutely at his furry visage. Abruptly, the hand moved away and Hin nodded slowly, giving out an apologetic grunt.”

-

“Luke was looking past her. On the other side of the stream they’d been following grew a small forest of water plants, apparently stimulated by the steady flow of fresh nutrients here. The huge leafy pads floating on the black surface were a dull, yellow-brown color. They were round and pointed slightly at two ends where the upturned edges met.

“You can’t,” Leia commented, “be thinking of traveling on one of those.””

-

“”I’m going to cut this one loose,” he announced.

The Princess looked skeptical. “With what? Your saber? I didn’t know they operated under water.”

He gazed back at her solemnly. “They’d better.””

-

“A voice sang fancifully in the back of his mind. It was exorting him to relax. Well, that was simple enough to do, he reflected pleasantly. Relax he would. He was tired, so tired now.”

-

“What had riveted his attention was not the Coway’s continuing methods of medication, nor the vanquished warrior’s convulsive reactions to them, but a large rock. As big as a man’s head, it lay in the water close by the Coway’s head.

His fingertips retained the memory of that stone. It was the one he’d encountered prior to passing out. Or had he passed out? It seemed as if something deep inside him, some resource of which he was unaware, had reacted on the brink of asphyxiation to help him raise the rock, turn and fling it at his tormentor.

Yet he couldn’t recall even placing both hands around it, let alone lifting it clear of the water and throwing.

“How did I do it?” he asked the Princess.

She eyed him uncertainly. “Do? Do what?”

“Beat … him,” he added exhaustedly, gesturing loosely toward the Coway fighter.”

-

“Suddenly his hand opened as if he’d been shot. The pink bulb fell to the ground as Luke stood bolt upright, eyes open and staring. The Princess rose, tried to make something of the gaping expression on his face.

“Luke… what’s wrong?” He took a couple of unsteady steps.

“Was it the fruit, boy?” Halla looked equally concerned. “Boy?”

Luke blinked, turned slowly to face them all. “What?”

“We were worried, Master Luke. You…” But Threepio broke off as Luke turned away to stare eastward.

“He’s coming,” he murmured, every letter resounding. “He’s near, very near.”

“Luke boy, you’d better start making some sense of I’ll have Hin hold you down and feed you dipills,” Halla said. “Who’s coming?”

“There was a stirring,” Luke whispered by way of reply. “A profound disturbance in the Force. I’ve felt it before, weakly. I felt it most strongly when Ben Kenobi was killed.”

Leia inhaled in terror, her eyes widening. “No, not him again, not here.”

“Something blacker than night stirs the Force, Leia,” Luke told her. “This Governor Essada must have contacted him, sent him here. He’d be especially interested in locating you and me.””

-

“”I guess I’m probably the cause of that.” They all turned to face Luke. “Just as I sensed Vader, he no doubt can sense me. He’s had a lot more experience in the Force than I have, so his senses are probably stronger. Don’t forget, he was a pupil of Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He glanced back toward the shaft-tunnel leading to the surface of Mimban.

“He’s coming for us.”

-

“Luke felt a wild sense of elation as he brandished his father’s weapon. “I’m not worried about anything, Vader. Not now. I have no more worries and only one concern.” His voice held an unaccustomed hint of conviction. “I’m going to kill you, Darth Vader.”

That humorless laugh again. “What a high opinion you hold of yourself, Skywalker.”

“I’m… I’m Ben Kenobi,” Luke whispered in an odd way.

For just a moment, Vader seemed shaken.”

-

“Luke’s motionless form was enveloped in a rich, red bath of light. In his hands the crystal shone with a brilliance unnatural. Nor was the light still. It shifted, fluttered, ran over him like a live thing. It sought out every extremity, each finger and follicle, like the St. Elmo’s fire of old on the rigging of a sailing ship.

After several long, rapturous moments the radiant envelope shrank, sucked up by the crystal which resumed its normal coloring.

Luke sat up so abruptly that Halla was unable to repress a short screech. He blinked once, looked at her.”

-

“”I don’t understand,” Luke murmured. But he hefted the crystal again in both hands, closed his eyes and tried to concentrate and relax at the same time. The glow from the crystal intensified.

“I understand,” came a voice out of Luke’s body that might or might not have been Luke’s.”

-

Like Luke spends half the book scaring people and making them uncomfortable. He’s perfect. I love him.

And some more Luke scenes because these could go in wildly different directions and I need someone else to see them:

“”Oh no, Captain-Supervisor!” Luke cried, dropping to his knees and clutching desperately at Grammel’s trouser legs. “Please don’t do that. They’ll have us executed. Please, we’ll work till we drop, but don’t send us back there!” He was sobbing openly now.”

“Wiping tears conjured with difficulty away from his eyes, Luke tried not to appear too hopeful as he regarded Grammel.”

“Reaching with both arms, the Coway warrior clasped Luke around the shoulders and pulled. Luke thought he’d have to use the saber after all, when the native pushed him away gently. Then it slapped him on one cheek.”

“”Well…” Using his right hand, he belted the quiescent Coway hard enough to rattle the native’s teeth. Despite Halla’s assurances, he braced himself for some sort of violent response. Instead, the native displayed a satisfied expression and dropped to his knees before Luke as the crowd howled its approval.”

“Only his neck still bothered him. It ached at the back, where the Coway’s unyielding fingers had pressed.”

-

And, finally, here’s a collection of Leia lines that I can perfectly hear in Anakin’s voice:

“Turning serious, the Princess told him, “One learns to accept whatever events life has in store with the best possible spirits.” She stared straight ahead.

“That’s just what I’m doing,” Luke confessed, “accepting them in the bets possible spirits—nervousness and fear.”

“Well, you needn’t look at me as if this is all my fault.”

“Did I imply that? Did I say that?” Luke countered, a touch more tightly than he intended. She glanced sharply at him and he cursed his inability to conceal his feelings. He would have been, he decided, a rotten card-player. Or politician.

“No, but you so much as…” she began hotly.”

-

“”Do you have any idea who I am?” the Princess started to tell her. She caught herself just in time. “Not that it matters. What does matter is that you can’t do it, can you?”

Halla started to object but the Princess cut her off challengingly. “Can you?”

-

“”Temples, gods, crystals,” the Princess murmured. “Okay, suppose this legendary place does exist,” she hypothesized, jabbing an accusing finger at Halla. “This Kaiburr crystal, just what is it supposed to be… a big gemstone of some kind?””

-

“Still skeptical, the Princess sat back and looked in askance at Halla. “A small fragment of radiant glass or plastic, or an ordinary silicate treated to glow. You expect me to accept that as proof?””

-

(Honestly, the entire scene of them talking with Halla in chapter 4 is just filled with Leia being Anakin.)

-

“The Princess noticed her one victim recovering consciousness and kicked him soundly.”

-

“She concentrated her stare on the middle of the sergeant’s back, trying to drive him insane. The sergeant showed no hint of being affected. Probably solid bone under the helmet, she mused.”

-

“She whispered back tightly, “You have this wonderfully evocative way about you, Luke, of reducing the most excruciatingly uncomfortable circumstances to the merely mundane.”

Luke looked hurt.”

-

“”That’s funny,” noted the Princess, “because you strike me as having a particularly limited capacity for learning.”

-

“Thanks to the tactics being employed by the Imperials, Luke discovered that the Princess was too furious to be really frightened.”

-

(A lot of the earlier quotes also have this vibe. I love Leia so much.)

All in all, would I recommend Splinter of the Mind’s Eye? Sure. It’s 12 chapters, 298 pages, not too long, and it has the first lightsaber throwing, the first instance of Luke lifting anything in the Force, it’s the first mention of kyber crystals (spelled “kaiburr” but still), it’s one of the only times in the entire series Leia wields Anakin’s lightsaber (and she’s really cool doing it), it has if not the worst then a very poor portrayal of Darth Vader, and Luke and Leia both come back from the dead because of space magic. Really, it’s a rollercoaster of a read and I highly enjoyed it, somehow.

[taetebebe]

˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗⊹ ♡ ⊹˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗⊹ ♡ ⊹˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗⊹ ♡ ⊹˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗˗

|| ROMANCE : UNTOLD Concept Photo (CONCESSIO Ver.) - part 2/2

[its-aftg]

Seth and Riko...

OG post that inspired this

Imagine that Seth, you know, didn't get fucking murdered in book 1.

That first banquet where the Ravens have joined the Foxes district...just imagine that when Jean calls out to Neil and makes him come into the locker room to meet up with Riko that it's not just Matt that comes looking for him but also Seth. They're roommates and Seth will be damned if anyone intimidates the other striker on their lineup (other than him of course).

When Riko tells Neil he will speak to Kevin and have him explain, that he will not tolerate the disrespect, Seth sees red. Matt goes to push Neil out of the room and moves back in to have Seth's back. Seth turns to Riko, eyes angry. "You might not tolerate the disrespect but I don't fucking tolerate you pulling people away to have secret chats in locker rooms." Seth bodies up into Riko's face, quick to move like he does on the court, coiled and ready to throw hands.

"Shoo, Nathanial and I are talking." He motions to Jean to get Neil back in.

And well, that was the wrong thing to say. Seth smirks before pulling back a fist and connecting with Riko's jaw. He never cared if it was during Exy or if it was off the court, Seth was always hot tempered and ready to go, a blessing and a curse he thought. Riko didn't stand much chance against the other striker, while Seth's job was to be fast and score, he was a wall when it came to fighting. Plenty of practice on the Fox line for the everyday brawl. He towered over Riko and easily bodied him down to the ground in front of the locker, it only took a few strikes to take him down. He let out a small laugh at the shock Riko let show on his face - no Jean to protect him as Matt held him back near the door - "Leave my team alone or next time I won't go easy on you." Seth spit on him as he turned to the door to leave with Matt and Neil in tow, looking back as Jean went over to help Riko off the ground.

When they met eyes he just smiled and walked away.

--

The next time they met on the court. Since Seth and Riko played the same position they didn't get nearly enough time fighting as Seth would like. In the time between the banquet and the match both Kevin and Neil had come clean on what was really going on with the Moriyama's. Seth wasn't all too happy with them., and wasn't happy with them trying to make Neil and Kevin's life harder -that was his job.

Seth and Kevin were up when Riko was on, Matt and Nicky on as backliners. Matt was more than ready to follow along with whatever he needed to do to destroy Riko, already tasked with being the one to cover him. Seth watched the way Matt repeatedly made it harder and harder for Riko to get the upper hand, months of training with Kevin had made Matt so much better at being the Foxes biggest backliner. He smiled under his helmet as he watched Riko's repeated frustrating as Matt blocked his route, stole the ball, and passed to either himself or Kevin.

During the last half Riko darted down his side of the court, looking like he was running for his life and making Seth think of Neil when he first arrived at Palmetto. He knew it was his chance to confront him head on and and raced the 10 yards over to him. He checked him before Riko could pass the ball away and managed to scoop it up when Riko lost it. instead of trying to run with it he spotted Kevin with an opening and immediately bounced it out of his racquet towards him.

Riko hissed at him after the wall turned red with the alert of a goal scored. "Piece of shit," Riko spit at him.

"Not what your mom was saying last night!" He laughed as he flipped Riko off and went back into the next play as the Raven dealer chucked the ball down the court.

He watched with trained eyes, preparing to steal the ball where he could. Zane saw Riko mostly open and passed back to him from half court, both Seth and Matt descended on him faster than he expected, both aware that the team had to pass to Riko frequently to keep Riko happy as their king. Matt smashed into him from behind as Seth yanked at his racquet to flip the ball out. Riko didn't stand a chance against the two 6 foot plus men, both ready to use their size to their advantage. Seth popped the ball out of his net and in an unexpected move passed it behind him to Matt to deal with.

The game played on behind them as Seth stepped a few feet away from where Riko had fallen on the floor, racquet loose in his hands as he watched the ball soar to the Raven's side of the court.

"I should have killed you and your scaredy-cat when I had the chance," Riko sneered.

Seth raised an eyebrow in question at him, observing the way his gaze tracked to Neil bouncing his leg on the bench at the Foxes side.

"Oh, you think you coulda got the better of us?" Seth brought his racquet up over his shoulders, the look of a casual conversation as the ball was still in play around them. He shifted his weight to one leg as he watched Riko plant his feet in effort to stand back up.

"I don't think- I know."

Seth laughed as he threw his racquet to the ground. "Yeah, I don't think so mother fucker," he said as he threaded a hand through Riko's hair, pulled him up with only that as the grounding point to Riko's full height. Seth bent down to meet Riko eye to eye before his other hand wrapped around Riko's throat to lift him up completely off his feet. Attention was drawn to them as a whistle blew and red cards were thrown on the play. Seth didn't stop, lifting Riko well over his head, laughing more as his hands clawed at the one at his neck, mouth open trying to take a full breath into his lungs. He squeezed tighter, feeling tendons shift under his grip even through the guard. When he felt satisfied by Riko's fear he slammed him against the plexiglass wall to their left, let him slide down as he released his hold just as his other hand balled into a fist to start relentlessly pummeling into his side as the other came down to catch him on the side of the head.

The Foxes didn't move to stop him, except one. Kevin came up and roughly grabbed at his elbow.

"Gordon! Forget him, " Kevin met his eyes and held his racquet out to him. "Time to get them where it really hurts." A rare feral Kevin smile was on display and Seth was only able to take his racquet back, clack theirs together before running off with a shit-eating grin, ready to play Exy with his favorite striker in NCAA.

Riko wouldn't finish out that game, he'd have to have been hauled off with some moderately severe injuries for only being in an altercation with one other man.

The Foxes would win.

Seth wouldn't regret what he did, after all, he's just a Fox with an attitude problem.