And here is my gift for @foxesrefuge for @aftgexchange <3

You asked for angst and bad guys being bad, here they are! I hope you’ll enjoy it, I had a lot of fun drawing it and seeing tumblr tag it as unappropriate content, too.

“no sympathy“

your sweat and tears will never quench my thirst for blood

It’s sad to think that Riko could have been different. He was failed in every way- to be treated as a human being by Tetsuji, to be acknowledged as family by his father, and in turn he failed those closest to him. He was put in a position to be a good leader but made selfish choices. 

His life brings up the questions I wrestle with a lot. Are some of us made of “weaker stuff?” What constitutes that? Did he have a chance to be a different person but made the wrong decisions? Could he have turned out differently if he had been raised in a different environment by different people? Or was he born psychotic and therefore was never born with the capacity to feel for others? 

I want to believe that he could have been different, but to believe otherwise is to say that there is no hope for some. I don’t know which is more forgivable, to know that a human being failed with what they were given or to know that some people are damned from birth. It’s a universal dilemma and sore spot for a lot of people. We like to think we would have acted differently, and maybe we would have. I would hope so.

What I haven’t seen brought up is a comparison between Andrew and Riko, and maybe it’s because I’m new to this series and I simply haven’t come across it. Everyone in this series has had hard times but these two converge on a lot of things. 

(This got longer than I expected so I’m cutting it)

Instead of ‘have a Kevin’ you’ll have a Riko Moriyama today, Val! (I fixed his tattoo lol)

“Let Riko be King,” Kevin said, with the exaggerated enunciation of the thoroughly sloshed. “Most coveted, most protected. He’ll sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever. Me?” Kevin gestured again, meaning to indicate himself but too drunk to get his hand higher than his waist. “I’m going to be the deadliest piece on the board.” “Queen,” Andrew said somewhere behind Neil.

Hi <3 I’m really glad to see this message because I could talk for hours about Riko (and every character in this damn book tbh)(but we are here for Riko).

We’ll start with the recs. I think you can ask @kitshunette as she draws Riko a lot. Probably @still-waiting-for-godot too. Maybe @queen-of-perplexity ? Not sure at all.  @shihoran already talked about him for what I know, but I don’t know if they received this survey. (Edit) And just as asked, @coldsaturn and @booksareourlove too. Annnnd I’m sorry I think I have no more names, and they’re not really people nobody heard about before. But if someone read this message and wants to talk about Riko/answer those questions too and all, don’t hesitate to show up <3(long post so everything’s under the cut)

Riko is supposed to be something of an unlovable character. He’s abusive, abrasive, argumentative. He’s brash, bitter and brutal. He’s crass, cold-hearted and cruel. I could go on and try to find three negative words from every letter, but I won’t. I’d be searching too long, and honestly, I’m writing this at 5am without my glasses on like an idiot.

I don’t try to excuse or justify anything Riko did. I can’t, because I know he was wrong. But I cannot hate him. I am honestly rather fond of him. I ship him in weird (and in my opinion, wonderful,) pairings or triads because I can.

The point is, I know what Riko is, demonic, dark and dangerous. I know he’s no good person, and I even doubt he knows how to be one.

Riko Moriyama knows he is a force to be reckoned with only because he is forced to know that. If he forgets that, he is slacking. If he treats his team – especially the Perfect Court – like humans, then it is likely he would take the blame. It is likely that he would pay for any of their arrogance. He would pay for their independence, their disrespect, their faults. Riko would pay because they were given to him, and if he couldn’t get them in line, then I’m sure it would all fall down to him. Riko would not be given second chances because Moriyamas neither give nor get second chances. We see that throughout the book. Ichirou giving Neil that one option, that one warning, and then they likely never see each other again. Ichirou killing Riko and demoting Tetsuji when they become liabilities. The Moriyama family are ruthless, why would the secondary branch be any different? They still share the name, they have a reputation to uphold.

How do I see Riko?

I see Riko as a parallel… an alternate universe that never came to be. Riko Moriyama. Nathaniel Wesninski. Both products of loveless families that would have been moulded into perfect copies, clones of what was expected of them. The difference? Mary loved Nathaniel just enough to get him out. She risked her life to get him out of that. Gave her life to get him out. Riko had no one to do that. 10-year-old Riko didn’t have a mother, or even a friend to pull him from the pit he was falling down. He had Kevin? A ‘brother’ who he was only allowed to associate with ownership and Exy. Nora has said herself that “They needed each other because the only thing in the world they wanted was to be the best and the only way to be the best was by plunging into life side-by-side.” Riko drilled the Master-pet mentality into Kevin, but that is something he would have needed to be taught first.

Riko was going to grow up to be Court, to be the next Raven’s captain when Tetsuji couldn’t do it anymore, as ruthless as the man that ruled Edgar Allan before him.

Fandom: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic

Rating: M

Characters:

Riko Moriyama/Kevin Day, Neil Josten, Ichirou Moriyama, Andrew Minyard

Warnings:

Graphic Depictions of Violence, AU

Summery:

Riko Moriyama survives the meeting of Neil and his brother after the Raven’s lost game - but at what price?   Kevin would never accept that some people declared a life not worth living anymore - least of all the young man he had grown up with. 

Chapter One - Broken crown

“Riko Moriyama is Not suicidal”, Kevin Day said with conviction.

“Well, seems he is”, Matt answered, “Did you seen his interview? He stepped down. Looked like a ghost.”

Last week, the Ravens had made it public: Riko Moriyama was stepping down as team captain and leaving the Ravens. All hell had broken loose on social media. Watching the interview had made Kevin’s skin crawl, but he had spoken to no one about it. His own team was still celebrating their well-deserved victory and Neil’s freedom.

This evening, the Exy sports community had held its breath when the news about Riko Moriyama’s suicide attempt had gone viral. The young striker had been found near death after OD’ing. Riko Moriyama doesn’t do drugs, Kevin thought bitterly. Something was very wrong here.

Riko is an unloveable ugly thing: a study in his father’s absences Written for @poze-laceen and posting it because @shihoran just made me cry.

Tetsuji had known when he was saddled with the boy that there would be challenges. He’d expected it. Riko had inherited the Worst of Kengo’s temper, and adopted the most violent parts of Tetsuji’s attitude. That he required disciplining more often than not was no surprise.

Rated: - Warnings: (Implied) Self Harm Relationship: Riko Moriyama / Kevin Day Word count: ~756

Scar: Botany. a mark indicating a former point of attachment, as where a leaf has fallen from a stem.

Royalty //