Good god (tw: some light undertone themes of suicidal thoughts and self destruction/harm) but with lots of comfort to come so dont worryyyy
The rain poured down the hero’s face, they had their chin tilted up high towards the light grey clouds as if the mist surrounding them was suffocating. Their eyes were closed, but that didn’t stop the pelting droplets from finding their way under the hero’s eyelids.
It felt somewhat like relief, the cool water soaking through every single layer of their clothes. It eased their mind and their wounds, washed the blood from their chin and nose.
It stilled such a busy world.
On the other hand, the hero was freezing. It must’ve been at least six hours since they had had their arms wrenched behind their back and duck taped together to keep them bound to a school yard post. A singular piece covering their lips to keep them from shouting for help.
It was so simple compared to the intricate traps they had been stuck within before. Nonetheless, for some reason it was also the hardest to escape.
Partially, Hero knew it was because they had no will to. They had gone through the darkened alley behind the school knowing they were going to get jumped. They had let themselves be beaten and hogtied, they had accepted a concussion and a busted nose.
Hero knew if they were ever to talk this out with the Agency’s therapist there would be words strung out around the concept of ‘goodness’ and ‘greatness’.
Hero didn’t feel all that good—let alone great.
Hero didn’t feel anything except exhausted. So they had slumped back against the post, legs sprawled out against the asphalt, haphazardly painted with basketball gym lines.
Their arms were burning from the awkward position and consistent strain and the hero ignored it all the same. It was the weekend, so there would be no concerned teachers to save them and definitely no kids out to play in this weather. And sure, if they wanted, they could break free—they were a hero after all—but for now they just sat.
Unwilling and unwanting of any form of further freedom as the hypothermic chill coating their skin slowly reached into their bones.
“To freeze or not to freeze…” Hero’s eyes snapped open at the sudden familiar voice coming from behind them. “That is the question~” Villain’s head poked out from around the post where the hero lay still bound.
They stepped around to face the hero straight on, crouching down to meet at their level. “Sucker for punishment? Or are you just really too weak to get yourself out of some lousy tape?”
The villain grinned, even through the heavy rain the hero could practically feel the other’s heat and see their sultry eyes. They squirmed, suddenly all too uncomfortable in their position as they tried to push themselves up into a standing position.
“What? Cat got your tongue?” The criminal laughed, watching their nemesis wriggle helplessly and increasingly more desperately against their bonds. They reached up, one hand delicately cupping the hero’s face as the other ripped the duct tape off their lips in one swift movement.
Hero gasped mostly in pain, slightly due to their racing heartbeat. “Fuck— Villain—”
Gently the villain’s thumb brushed over the hero’s bottom lip, wiping the blood away with the rain water that tainted everything it could touch. Hero took in another deep breath, collecting themselves from a moment ago before looking into the villain’s eyes again.
“Need some help?”
The crime-stopper wanted to shake their head no, they wanted to spit at the villain and break free on their own, instead they mumbled an incoherent form of yes and let themselves be brought to their feet in a single pull. The villain’s hands did not leave the hero’s sides even after they were steady on their feet and Hero couldn’t help but notice just how cold they truly were without the villain’s warmth.
The villain didn’t question them a second time, once they were sure the hero could stand on their own they reached one hand into their pocket for their smaller knife. Flipping it open while their other hand still rested against the hero’s hip, wrapping their armed hand around the hero’s body to cut away the remaining tape from their arms.
And for the few seconds their bodies stayed pressed together, Hero wondered if this was close enough to be considered a hug. Then, in a sickening moment where all of the blood rushed from the hero’s head to their now free arms, they swayed and collapsed against the villain.
The criminal had barely enough time to catch them before the hero relaxed their weight completely into Villain’s chest. Head pressed into the crook or the villain’s neck, Hero’s icy fingers clawed at the fabric of their nemesis’ suit with what little energy they had left.
Hero was searching for heat, they had forgotten just exactly how badly their body craved it when they had let themselves rot against the post. Now that the villain was here though, they needed to warm up and they only wanted to while trapped in the villain’s embrace.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, Hero. I’ve got you, you’re safe.” Villain reassured them, voice soft and inviting as they shifted their arms around to help walk their nemesis back to their car. “Do you know how long you’ve been out here?”
Hero took their first few shuffling steps with the villain’s support, making up for a lot of their weight. Their eyes flicked to the villain’s worried expression, “A few hours.” But they couldn’t hold their gaze.
They were ashamed now. They had been caught in their own self-destruction and saved by their mortal enemy. The person they fought tooth and nail almost every single day for the past two years.
Now that person was helping them into their car and out of the rain, where initially the hero had hoped to stay forever. How embarrassing.
The villain didn’t say much else, only answering with a curt nod before returning their focus to bearing the hero’s weight in their steps. It was safe to say the hero hadn’t expected to be as weak as they truly were and that maybe if the villain had never shown up, they wouldn’t have been able to get away.
That was worrisome. Worrisome enough to dry the hero’s mouth up in a second and send shivers down their spine.
Villain reached out, hand grabbing onto the passenger side door handle and they slowly opened it to reveal the inside of their beloved car Hero had heard about so many times in battle. Yet, they had barely even registered the walk from the school yard to the parking lot, let alone the fact that their enemy was actually helping them.
Hero looked to Villain, who gave them an assuring smile. “I’ll take care of you, or bring you straight home—no questions asked. Just don’t make me leave you out here any longer.”
That earned them a small smile.
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I know that literally only Cerrit and Vespin know this, but someone should tell all post-Divergence spellcasters—wizards, clerics, sorcerers, and otherwise—that the damnation of Exandria to eternal suffering was, ultimately, prevented by a man with an ax.
In a party of spellcasters of varied sources—even the other martial fighters were casters—the one who stopped Vespin Chloras, history's most infamous wizard, from guaranteeing that the Betrayer Gods would win the god-war and ensuring that the Calamity ended in fire and ruin for all peoples forever wasn't any of the spells cast but a sharp piece of metal swung into his head by a strict-martial-only mage slayer.
Someone's gotta tell all casters in Exandria, especially the wizards because they forget this a lot, that the fate of the world was decided by a melee weapon in a skilled hand. Keep them humble.
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It kind of fucks me up to see some people come out of watching RGU having absorbed absolutely nothing of what the show has to say about patriarchy, misogyny, & queerphobia, outside of "men bad, lesbian good." Which like.....sure, I guess? in the absolute barest sense, I suppose RGU is partially about that.
But if this show's thesis were really as simple as "lesbian good," then Juri & her role as an antagonist on the mini patriarchy that is the Student Council would simply not exist at all. Juri would've won all the duels, kicked Akio in the nuts, freed Anthy, & ridden away into the sunset with Shiori in her arms before Utena even showed up if that were the case. But she obviously didn't do any of that despite being a lesbian, so there must be something more complicated at work here.
A lot of RGU's narrative is dedicated to deconstructing binary social systems & the ways in which they harm those trying to and/or being forced to fit within one of two narrow boxes; man vs woman, adult vs child, princess vs witch, prince vs devil, special vs not special, romantic vs platonic, etc. So for someone to watch all of that beautiful complexity, only to filter it through yet another essentialist binary...sucks, to say the least.
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