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Literature / Captive of the Red Vixen

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Rolas is not happy about this.

A furry sci-fi romance ebook written by Royce Day, Captive of the Red Vixen follows the adventures of Lord Rolas Darktail, a Foxen noble captured by a Space Pirate known as the Red Vixen. She holds him for a fat ransom and then finds herself at a loss as to what to do with him when his family refuses to pay up.

The first book, both chronologically and published, of The Red Vixen Adventures.


Captive of the Red Vixen contains examples of:

  • Air Vent Escape: Attempted by Rolas, but he finds a note from the Red Vixen and a trap waiting at the grille above the lifeboats.
  • Always Second Best: Explicitly invoked by Rolas when describing his relationship to his twin sister, starting with her being born five minutes ahead of him, and then stating, "She was smarter, she was more beautiful, she was more at ease in social matters." At first it doesn't appear to bother him, but later stories reveal he's trying to suppress being The Resenter.
  • A Match Made in Stockholm: Notably the Red Vixen is much more attracted to Rolas than vice-versa. Until he starts dating her true identity.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Lady Melanie who is secretly the Red Vixen, and Sallivera who beats a pirate to death with an iron bar while rescuing Alinadar.
  • Chained to a Bed: Suggested to be how Rolas spent his and Melanie's honeymoon.
  • Collateral Angst: Rolas' twin Salli is the victim of Domestic Abuse, but the focus on the story is on his inability to protect her.
  • Determinator: At one point Rolas charges across an open field to attack a sniper who had just shot Lady Melanie barely slowing down when he's shot in the arm.
  • Domestic Abuse: Rolas' sister, Salli, was beaten regularly by her husband, Kev Highglider, for years until he gouged her eye out and was committed to an insane asylum. She has no small amount of lingering trauma from the whole affair.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: After Countess Highglider sabotages their attempted exodus, Rolas copes by getting massively drunk, and judging by the complaints about loud noise the next day, so did the rest of the Darktail household.
  • Electronic Eyes: Lady Sallivera Darktail's right eye is prosthetic thanks to her ex-husband's abuse, she can make it look like a natural eye of any color but halfway through "Captive" she turns off the camouflage to signify that she's no longer going to hide what happened.
  • Erotic Dream: In "Captive of the Red Vixen" Rolas has a dream of being Bound and Gagged by the Red Vixen and his current girlfriend, Lady Melanie, who are holding leashes tied to his manhood and tugging it towards them. Also about as explicit as it gets in the series.
  • Evil Matriarch: Countess Highglider, mother to Salli's ex-husband, who persecute's Rolas and Salli's family for getting her son committed.
  • Fantastic Caste System: Foxen are divided into Nobles, Commoners, and Military. Though it seems that everyone is required to serve some time in the military regardless of caste.
  • Feudal Future: Foxen society, though the highest level of government appears to be a Council of Countesses and the only noble titles listed below Countess are Viscount(ess) and Lord/Lady.
  • Fox Folk: Foxen, an alien race that resemble humanoid foxes.
  • Gilded Cage: Rolas' cell on the Scarlet Claw resembles a luxury cruise ship cabin, with entertainment center, Auto-Kitchen, weights and treadmill.
  • Go-Go Enslavement: Rolas is forced by the Red Vixen to parade around in tight suede shorts and leather cuffs when the Red Vixen takes him with her to a business meeting.
  • Green Aesop: Minor one in the prequel Prisoners of War, set during Foxen Prime's Steampunk pre-spaceflight period. The protagonists' home nation uses alcohol fueled steam engines for power, and are disturbed to find their Gerwart captors use coal.
  • Hostage Video: Rolas makes one to his parents when first kidnapped by the Red Vixen.
  • Impoverished Patrician: House Darktail thanks to Countess Highglider sabotaging their infrastructure out of petty revenge. Part of the reason Rolas was captaining their freighter himself, and why his family couldn't pay the ransom.
  • Institutional Apparel: Rolas initially gets the orange jumpsuit during his imprisonment, before his captor decides to start playing dress-up.
  • Insult to Rocks: After the Red Vixen reprograms his Auto-Kitchen to only produce "prison loaf", which she says tastes like wet cardboard, Rolas decides that comparison is an insult to the disposable packaging industry.
  • Karma Houdini: The fact that the Red Vixen is responsible for the death of one the crew of the Sallivera is pretty much dropped after she's seen expressing remorse over it as Melanie.
    • To a lesser extent the Highgliders, Kev is simply committed for disfiguring Salli's face while his mother loses her lands and is committed too, but considers that a victory since it reunites her with her son. They even have enough money to post a bounty on Salli in "Shadow of the Red Vixen" but it's later mentioned that they hung themselves after that failed.
  • Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: The Red Vixen's crew only use stunners when boarding, only take the cargo and sometimes the captain for ransom, and leave the ship intact enough to call for help. And even when she starts on her vendetta against House Highglider she allows crews to escape in lifeboats before blowing their ship up. Her rival Bloody Margo, as her name suggests, is far more brutal.
  • No Medication for Me: Inverted for Sallivera, who shows a drastic improvement when she starts on anti-anxiety meds.
  • The Nose Knows: Foxens place great importance on scent. The Red Vixen wears heavy perfume to prevent identification and Rolas recognizes Melanie as her by taste.
  • Powered Armor: Used by the Red Vixen's boarders, part of how they're confident enough to only fire stunners.
  • Railing Kill: The only casualty during the Red Vixen's attack on Rolas' ship is a crewman who fell over a railing in engineering after being stunned.
  • Royals Who Actually Do Something: Most Foxen nobles spend their time administering their holdings and dealing with the concerns of Commoners in their domain.
  • Settling the Frontier: House Darktail's plan to escape their torment at the paws of Countess Highglider was to pack up and leave for a colony world on the edge of settled space with all their loyal tenants. Unfortunately their liege lady discovered the plan, and had a certain pirate informed of their trade routes, among other obstacles.
  • Shock Collar: Rolas is forced to wear a collar that will stun him unconscious if he tries to escape his cell.
  • Shout-Out: The Red Vixen's self-given title of "The Scourge of the Spaceways"(tm) is from Robert A. Heinlein's book The Rolling Stones (1952), though in there it's referring to a deliberately over the top fictional hero not a space pirate.
  • Stripperiffic: The Red Vixen loves this trope, usually wearing not much more than a bikini and a gunbelt while conducting business.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: "No. No, of course not. Lady Melanie Lovejoy has nothing to do with the Red Vixen."
  • There Are No Therapists: On Foxen Prime anyways, foxens are supposedly more mentally stable on average than humans so they have very little experience helping those who do develop mental illnesses, House Darktail has to import a psychologist from Earth to help Salli.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Countess Highglider becomes explosively unhinged towards the end of "Captive" in the end ranting that the Council of Countesses are commoner sympathizers and how she wants her son back, in front of the entire Council, who unanimously vote to have her committed to the same asylum where her son was incarcerated.
  • We Will Spend Credits in the Future: Rolas' ransom was to the amount of 5 million GSA credits.
  • Wig, Dress, Accent: Or in the Red Vixen's case colored contacts, fur dye, heavy perfume, and less clothing than her civilian alter ego.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: At one point Rolas is given the chance to stun his captor and escape. And doesn't take it, stating that he doesn't shoot vixens in the back. Some associated shorts indicate he's worried about becoming like his brother-in-law.

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