#foxholeevent

The Foxes may have lost, but it’s the weekend before Halloween, and Vixen Captain Vivian Brooks isn’t going to let that ruin her plans—as she knows better than most, the show must go on. 

And besides, she might be doing the Foxes a favor: providing a distraction, letting them blow off steam and get their heads on straight ahead of their next game. When it’s against the Jackals, who went further in last years Championships than the Foxes could manage, they’ll definitely need it. 

But that’s for the Foxes to worry about on Monday, when practices resume after their narrow loss to the Jackrabbits. Sunday night has been claimed by Vivian and the Vixens, for a Halloween party for the ages—when Vivian is involved, it’s not going to be anything less than the absolute best.

The Vixens have all been roped into decorating the den, carved pumpkins and cobwebs and whatever else that’s spooky they could pull together, doing everything they can to make the night one that will go down in Palmetto State infamy. 

All the Foxes have to do is show up—costumes strongly encouraged, but the Vixens will take whatever, as long as it gets the typically reluctantly Foxes through the door, relying on their friends among the team to encourage their teammates to come, even if they can’t make them leave their bad attitudes at the door. 

ADMIN NOTE: This event will continue throughout the next week, meaning that starters related to the event can be posted between now and Monday, November 6. After Monday, threads from the event can be continued, but new starters related to the event shoulder not be posted. As always, players are allowed and encouraged to continue threads from before this event.

“I like your tattoos,” The guy yells over the loud music, leaning against the bar as Brayden sips at his whisky. And what a stupid attempt at a pick-up line. It doesn’t make him anymore motivated to give him the time of day. 

“Mm,” Brayden merely hums in response, looking around the crowd to see if he can spot any of his teammates. 

He doesn’t get the hint and leans in further--any closer and he’ll slip off his barstool. “Roses. Do they mean anything?” He asks, reaching forward to touch this forearm, causing Brayden quickly move it under the bar. Finally, he makes eye contact with someone he recognizes and gives them a look that clearly reads get me the fuck out of here. Shifting his gaze back to the stranger, he purses his lips, “Look, I’m not here alone, so fuck off.” As they approach, Brayden slips off of the barstool and meets them halfway, “Just go with it.”

While the end of the season had been abrupt for everyone, he’d faced his own “end” several games before the others. He’d been hoping, wildly, that the tides would turn in their favor enough to see him return to the court for at least one more game but... It just wasn’t in the cards. The shock and disappointment had been crippling. He’d been looking for a chance to redeem himself after the Trojans game. After Theo. After his “less-than-admirable” behavior in the wake of the concussion. If he was being honest with himself, his entire season had been subpar, at best, and to make matter worse, he hadn’t even gotten to play in the final game. Hadn’t even gotten a chance to try and resist that final nail being driven home in their coffin.

It sucked. 

The injury, as painful and annoying as it had been, was nothing compared to sitting on the sidelines as that final buzzer sounded, watching his teammates shoulder sag in defeat. He’d have given anything, in that moment, to change things. To give the Foxes the victory they deserved. 

Arlo heaved a sigh and leaned back in his seat, idly scanning the room. The closest thing he’d gotten to “formal wear” was a white button down, a pair of black slacks, and a snug suit jacket that he left unbuttoned over his top, the sleeves slightly rumpled, rolled up to his elbows. Overly casual? Maybe. But, he didn’t own a tie (or dress shoes, for that matter - which explained his worse-for-wear burgundy Vans) and he certainly wasn’t about to invest in one for an event that was literally designed to stick them in the same room as their worst enemies and make them feel even worse about their shortcomings. 

Speaking of shortcomings... Arlo shot a quick glance across the room at the Trojans table. He couldn’t see Theo outright from this angle, but every now and then he caught a glimpse of a perfectly poised smile, a pair of bright blue eyes crinkled in laughter. He looked away, swallowing thickly, the back of his neck sticky and hot. 

He couldn’t handle much more of this. Mumbling his excuses, Arlo shoved himself away from the table and made his way out of the gym, fists clenched by his sides. The hallway was deserted and blissfully silent. He let out a shaky breath. He’d be fine: just as soon as they were on their way back home. The more distance he was able to put between himself and Theo Massey, the better.

The silence lasted only a few moments before another body came barreling through the double doors. He looked up, mildly startled. 

“Everything alright?” He asked, schooling his expression into something a little more composed.

With the start of the season comes the Fall Banquet, an opportunity for the teams of the Southeastern District to meet and mingle without the competitiveness that comes from facing each other on opposite sides of the court.

Though the host of the Fall Banquet is chosen by lottery each year, it’s been quite awhile since the Foxes’ number has come up, and this will be the first time in many years the Foxes will be hosting. With the attention of their district and the ERC squarely on them, the Foxes are under pressure to pull off the Banquet seamlessly—with none of the drama and disruption that the Foxes are known for.

Wymack makes sure everyone on the team knows it: though he’s given them free passes during other banquets to goof off or leave early, there will be no such allowances this time. The Foxes are expected to be on their best behavior, and to stay for the entire banquet: anyone who gets into trouble, or causes a scene, or isn’t there at the end of the night will find themselves scratched from the Foxes’ next game—no exceptions.

And he pulls the Vixens in to help, too, giving them full control over the decorations and entertainment, and they spend the Friday afternoon before the Banquet converting the Foxhole Court from an empty orange-and-white stadium to a space for an elegant affair. 

By the time the other teams start to arrive, the Foxes, the Vixens, and their dates are dressed up in their finest and putting on their most welcoming faces, and the court is equally transformed, almost unrecognizable from its usual game night configuration: thick mats cover the polished wooden floors of the court to protect them from being scraped and scuffed by the tables and chairs laid out in neat rows, with each teams’ seats marked by their team colors. 

The Foxes, as the evening’s hosts, have the table closest to the front to themselves, keeping them away from their rivals—teams they’ve beaten so far this season or last season, players they’ve exchanged hits and nasty words with on the court. In an unashamed display of pettiness, the Ravens find themselves crammed into the back. 

The night begins sedately: Wymack, though he looks supremely uncomfortable at being forced to speak in public, welcomes the rest of the teams and makes a short speech about the beginning of the season, after which food is served. After dinner, the court is cleared of tables and transformed yet again: this time, into something more like a party. The majority of the court is taken up by a DJ and dancefloor, with the remaining space taken up by smaller tables and icebreaker games for those not inclined to dance, including a ping pong table and a volleyball net for those who want to face off against their rivals in a different sport.

The Foxes are left to their own devices, then, to stick with their teammates or mingle with other teams as they see fit, so long as they’re there at the end of the night. Wymack breaks away from the other coaches long enough to remind them that he has his eye on them—encouraging them to have fun, but not too much fun, which sounds like it might be another threat all on its own.

ADMIN NOTE: The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The event will run for all of the next two weeks, meaning that starters related to the event can be posted from now until the next game on October 6. After that date, threads from the banquet can be continued, but new threads cannot be started. As always, you are allowed to continue threads from prior to the event, and to post non-banquet starters and threads. And, if you feel inclined to post outfits/aesthetics for the banquet, please tag them with foxholeedit.

With summer winding down, students are slowly trickling back into campus, the town waking up from its summer slumber. 

For the Foxes, who have been in Palmetto and practicing since late June, it means that summer practices are coming to an end. They’ve had a month to integrate the new freshmen onto the team, to fill in the gaps left by last year’s departing seniors—the team has fallen into place, and in just a few weeks they’ll have their first test. 

While summer practices have by no means been easy, with the start of classes and the Exy season just around the corner, the last week of the Foxes’ summer is an opportunity for the Foxes and the Vixens to blow off steam before they’re buried under the weight of homework, practices, and games—and, not to mention, the pressure to perform as well or better than they did last season.

And, for most of the Foxes, blowing off steam means just one thing: Eden’s Twilight, the Foxes’ club of choice where their names are known and the bartenders look the other way as underage Foxes down their drinks. No one knows whose idea it is—(though they likely have a few guesses)—but word quickly spreads throughout the team. 

Friday night, after the Foxes finish their afternoon practice, they get ready and then split themselves between their teammates’ cars to make the drive to Columbia—one carefree night to say goodbye to their summer, before the real work really begins.

ADMIN NOTE: As promised, the end of the Foxes’ summer! Players should feel free to post starters related to this event, though starters can still be posted that are not related to the event, and any threads from before this event can be continued. After the weekend, I’ll be posting a timeline update to correspond with the start of the school semester, and then we’ll be off to the races!

After a month with nothing to worry about but practices, but getting in shape for a new season, the start of the school year is now upon the Foxes and with it, just around the corner, the start of a new Exy season. 

The start of the academic year means a change in the Foxes’ practice schedule: morning practices are from 6:00-8:00 AM in the gym, and afternoon practices are from 3:00-8:00 PM on the court. 

And, in addition to their rigorous training regimen, they now have to worry about classes. Most Foxes only take three classes a semester, due to the demands of being an athlete playing what is, when done right, a year-round sport, and graduate in five years. But, nonetheless, keeping up with both school and Exy is a balancing act, and the Foxes must maintain their grades in order to be allowed to play and keep their scholarships.

The campus is awash in orange, anticipation for the start of the year and the start of a new season—and, for the first time in a long time, the tentative hope that the Foxes might give Palmetto something to be proud of. 

The Foxes’ season will begin next week with a home game against the University of Columbia Gamecocks, the only other Class I team in the state of South Carolina and therefore a natural rival to the Foxes. The Foxes are coming off of their best season in years, with an appearance in the Championships that left them just short of the semi-finals. The Gamecocks’ season, however, ended early and in disappointment, without a spot in the Championships at all. 

For both teams, this first game will be important, a means of setting the disappointments of the previous season aside and establishing the tone for the season to come—but, in the end, only one of them will emerge victorious, and the Foxes intend it to be them. 

ADMIN NOTE: More of a timeline update than an actual event, but consider us officially transitioned into fall! Please feel free to continue posting starters and conducting threads related to the end of summer Eden’s Twilight event, but know that this is where the timeline of the roleplay currently stands. 

It’s late June, and the Foxes return to a town still emptied of students, Fox Tower and the Vixen Den the only signs of life on a still-hibernating campus, athletes moving back in to begin training before the new school year officially begins. For most of the Foxes, it’s meant only a month away from Palmetto, but coming back means that the slate is wiped clean: their wins and their losses last year don’t matter anymore—all that matters now is what is still to come. A new season, a new school year, and new Foxes.

But some things stay the same, older Foxes following the same routine that’s marked the start of each season: moving into Fox Tower and their new housing assignments, spending most of the day unpacking and catching up with their teammates, before splitting themselves up among cars for a team dinner, that includes the Vixens, at Abby Winfield’s house—the first of what will many to come—with Coach Wymack manning the grill and the adults looking the other way, for the most part, as younger and older Foxes help themselves to the available beer.

The weekend is for settling in, one last touch of summer before the Foxes settle in to their rigorous summer training schedule: morning practices at 8:30 AM in the gym for weights and conditioning and then, after a break for lunch and some downtime, afternoon practices on the court for drills and scrimmages, the next few weeks devoted to the Foxes establishing their hierarchy and re-finding their chemistry after a summer of changes to the team. 

But it’s not all fun and games—already, before they’ve even played a game, there’s a sense of pressure that wasn’t there before. Of expectation. They made it to the Championships last season, almost made it to the semifinals. They’ve had a taste of what it might be like to win, and they can’t help but want it again, can’t help but want to come charging out of the game come fall, already knowing what people will say if they stumble, that all their success last season was nothing but luck, nothing but a fluke. 

If they want to do as well as they did last season—if they want to do better—it all starts here.

ADMIN NOTE: Welcome to our new Foxes, and welcome back to our old—our new season has officially begun! Consider the above as setting the stage for the next few wees of roleplaying, and you should feel free to start threads related to any of the above events (move-in, the team dinner, summer practices) and, as always, you should feel free to continue old threads from the end of the schoolyear/summer, as well. I’ll never demand that you guys drop or discontinue threads.