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candy8448 · 6 months

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I have a lot of Legend HCs piled up in my mind so i decided to organise how my version of the hero of legends goes:

Link was born to the royal family. He is the twin of Zelda (i hc her to have pastel blue tipped hair), but at this time, it is believed that Hylia only has daughters, and that any prince born is a curse and unheared of and the baby is disposed of secretly, the public never knowing of any boys born to the queens. Link's father's brother, Alphonse is a knight of Hyrule and decides to rescue this baby and raise him himself in secrecy.

While Link grows up, Alphonse raises him in castle town, taking him the the countryside every summer to help in his grandmother's (granmalon) farm. This is until he becomes nine years old.

One night, Link wakes up from a voice in his mind, telling him to come to the castle and rescue her. He sees his uncle leaving, telling him to stay in the house and under no circumstances to leave. Link follows anyway into the storm and enters through the castle sewers where he sees his dying uncle. With his last words, Uncle bestows upon link his sword, and the responsibility of saving Zelda, telling him that "Zelda is your-"

Link continues on his adventure, the rest of the events of a Link to the past taking place. Throughout, the knights are brainwashed and are hunting him down, he is no longer safe in the open and has to stay hidden. The wanted posters make almost everybody in Hyrule call for the guards when they spot him.

In the end he is able to defeat Ganon and restore the land of Hyrule and bring his uncle back.

The knights, despite being free from their brainwashing, are never fully returned to normal, having had power before they become terrible people, using their status to mistreat the people of Hyrule and make villagers not feel safe letting their children near them.

Link travels to the Palace of the Four Sword a while agter his adventure. He fights his way through till he brings back all the Four Swords together and has to fight four shadow versions of himself (though they don't exactly look like him) and he thinks nothing of it other than it being a slightly scary experience.

Link continues living with his uncle until a year later, he is now 11, he comes across the triforce which sends him to the far lands of Holodrum- or Labryna? He isn't entirely sure, traveling through the triforce like that gave him a massive concussion and he gets a massive headache when trying to piece together which came first. Either way, he finishes his adventures with the Oracle of seasons and ages, each taking about half a year to complete and sets out by boat, trying to reach home back in Hyrule.

On his small sailboat, Link finds himself in the heart of a storm, and he and his boat is struck by lightning. His body in paralysis, he cannot do anything to fight the churning water...

Link wakes up to a face in front of him, the girl with long red hair. Her name is Marin. When retrieving his sword on the beach, an owl comes up, telling him that to leave Kohilint island, he must wake up the windfish.

Link does through each dungeon, retrieving each instrument and becoming close friends with Marin. She tells him about how she wanted to be a seagull and fly away to sing for the people of faraway lands. Link promises to take her with him when he manages to leave.

When he finds out the truth, it breaks him.

He vows never to wake the windfish, he's been living here for almost a year, he is 13 and he cares for everyone on this island, and they cafe for him. It's the safest Link has felt in a long time and it he couldn't bear to destroy Kohilint, to destroy Marin.

Link tried to build a raft and sail out, taking Marin with him, but no matter how much he pedals until his hands are covered in blisters, they cannot get any further from kohilint. Marin is the one who tells him to stop trying and hurting himself, and they go back to shore.

Link lives there for another year, not completing any more dungeons, only leaving everyday to strike down any monsters, that of which seem to never run out. Until one day Marin is kidnapped by some bokoblins, and Link is made aware how putting off waking the windfish will only increase the amount of monsters until he is unable to fend them all off.

He gets the last of the instruments and heads to wake up the windfish.

Link is 14 when he wakes in the middle of the sea, he assembles himself a small raft and has a close call with dehydration and starvation before a ship comes and picks him up. The whole time he is dealing with the grief of having basically killed Marin.

When he returns back to Hyrule three years later from when he first left, he is told that his uncle had died of a sickness a year ago. He was living off borrowed time and something borrowed is something that cannot be kept.

Link desides to put down the sword and stops adventuring forever.

Link and Zelda finally find out that they are siblings and Zelda stays by Link's side, him making a secret entrance to Zelda's room as the still corrupt guards are still out for his head since he is a prince of Hyrule. Link had never liked the idea of a royal lifestyle, knowing how Zelda hated it made him never want any part of it. He would rather stay as an average nobody and one of his people, attending to his Uncle's apple orchard, it was always enough for him. Link also starts an apprenticeship with a blacksmith to take his mind off things. It's been two years since he returned to Hyrule and Link is now 16.

When making a delivery to the castle sanctuary, Link runs into Yuga, who turns a maiden into a painting and leaves Link unconcious on the floor. Link wakes up again to the sight of a guy in a purple bunny hood saying that he found and brought Link to an empty house, unaware that it was Link's own. He gives Link his braclet and urges him to talk two Zelda who redirects him to Sahasralah which kicks off Link's adventure between the worlds of Hyrule and Lorule.

After the two kingdoms are restored, Link takes another break when Ravio sudgests he goes on a holiday to a kingdom north of Hyrule, Hytopia. Link does so and arrives just when the princess Styla is cursed. He obtains an amulet which can split him into three Dopples and fights Lady Maude, which breaks the curse.

Now Link is 18, almost 19, when a purple portal opens up in front of his house and he has no choice but to walk through and see where this new adventure takes him...

(Continuation)

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jahiera · 6 months

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speaking strictly from a plot & writing perspective here, not a commentary on characters or who or who is not my favorite blorbo (they all are). it's gale time and I wanted to get down everything I thought about this go around with his romance & the writing before it escapes me.

so I once again had a ton of fun of course, the game is still a blast, and several arcs were way more satisfying this time around simply because I ... did not skip the creche, unlike my very first run (I was an idiot) (I didnt think it would be that important) (it really really was). love it 10/10. I cannot WAIT to do my gith run & really focus in on that because the lore there is just, so cool, and that subplot was really rich & rewarding this time around since I had someone who was not orpheus become a mindflayer instead.

as for Gale, Thank Fuck I started before they bugged him up again too much. but let's deep dive into The Material.

shoutout to Tim first of all, he's a legend, dreamboat, superstar. there are so many lines delivered so effortlessly when they would sound ridiculous in anyone else's mouth. he gives gale so much soulful intensity and subtle, nuanced gravitas befitting someone like gale; with enough of Gale's own moments of silliness, cheekiness, wry wit & understated sarcasm, to outright flabbergasted at times, I was Giggling every conversation fr. I'm not usually prone to the "I LOVE YOU" Romances that come earlier rather than later, but ohhhhhhh tim gives each line with all the weight & agony that you can feel inside Gale when it comes (the looming death; not knowing what the end may bring; not wanting to leave any regrets behind) so like. MWAH to him. MWAH MWAH. all the kisses in the world.

okay mandatory compliments to the actor aside. I came out of the whole thing with breadth of new appreciation for Gale as a character in terms of the... concepts, threads, that make him up, and act 2 is where he REALLY shines overall.

I didn't necessarily come away from it with the same... weepy...... done-no-wrong? interpretation of Gale that I've seen floating about. he's lovely. he's intense. he's got soul-crushing devotion on his mind, no doubt. but for every fracture of tenderness, raw sincerity, & off the cuff soliloquy, he's got a lot of interesting flaws/characteristics I'd love to unpick with a fine-toothed comb on some replays or rewatches. Still trying to turn over in my brain exactly what that is, but it's there, and I love it. will say I'm really glad I played it mostly in a vacuum rather than getting too into others' thoughts on him, because What I Had Seen on the Webbed Site had near put me off entire (seeing someone say he's not prideful or pompous at all... when he self-describes as pompous?) -- maybe it's my tendency to focus in on what makes a character tick, when are they sharper, or harder, or meaner, and I enjoy watching that play out a lot, but? yeah. I didn't come away thinking him a super soft mushy mwahmwah -- ROMANTIC, yes, but overall as a character not nearly so lovesick and in desperate need of some protector. in fact when you tell him you don't want to be his crutch, he says as much too -- you've helped him, but you're not the sole focus of his person or the only thing keeping him alive.

there's enough of the humanity in his cheekier moments (stop licking the damn thing!!) and plenty of tear-jerking aside all of that. gale my canon-depressive-episode, mildly suicidal, chronic pained up, still-kind-of-full-of-yourself king. I adore you I love you I cradle you softly in my arms. he charmed me entire! I think that the themes hey were trying to tackle are really interesting and nuanced and I do have some thoughts on the success of the game in actually tackling those, what is there is really wonderful. some gorgeous writing in act 2, especially, and it was sold so well by the voice acting & sincerity in the writing I was just like. PERFECT. 10/10. NEED TO WRITE 98 FLUFF PIECES RN. which does not happen often, to me, as a person.

with. some exceptions, going back to critiquing act 3 as a whole.

act 1 & 2 are both strong, really nice. however this romance definitely needed at least one or two more scenes in act 2 to pad out the space between awkward flirting at the party to "I like it when you're sweaty and bloody-- sorry who said that" to "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU." -- these scenes should've elaborated on Gale's personal feelings; of mystra, of what's been asked of him, of Tav. they should've set in threads of Gale's anger earlier, rather than the jarring shift from late act 2 "yeah I'll kill myself" to "actually... mystra fucking sucks! lol!" in act 3 at sorcerer sundries. yeah babygirl, mystra DOES fucking suck, wish I could've listened to you as you arrived to these conclusions rather than connecting empty character lines between act 2 and 3. and act 3 desperately needed more space to talk gale in or out of the crown. because by the time we get to the end, if he's really into the crown, he's into it beyond the focus of all else. but in the scenes where you talk him off that particular ledge, it doesn't even take very long to do so, and leaves kind of a weird... gap of intention.

I feel like they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner, honestly. because Gale's personal quest literally cannot be resolved until 5 minutes before the end, any climax wouldn't have much space afterward to pad the aftermath. so the solution to that would've been more character focus scenes, more flavor text depending on how you've influenced gale, something that actually makes the choices feel rewarding -- some hurdles to cross too, checks of some kind. but there really isn't any of that, and so the conflict is almost nonexistent. you squirt gale with a water bottle and he gives up the crown with no real additional dialogue. or you tell him "ma...maybe???" and he's suddenly a power obsessed little freak (complimentary) with no recourse, and in either case, we never got much dialogue to get some insight into his personal thoughts on it. this doesn't make Gale a bad character, but it does leave the narrative to be lacking in some regard.

like, for example. Astarion gets dialogue changes depending on the quest outside of character-specific moments (such as a spawn Astarion changing his dialogue after you help Aylin with Lorroakan), post-quest conversations, PRE-quest conversations with his siblings, moments where he reveals more of what he thinks (such as "You're... you. no one is like that.") etc., Gale gets None of that. the only other characters who really do are Lae'zel and Shadowheart; everyone else is either shafted or resolved in the last few minutes too. I came out of this most satisfied as a player overall with LAE'ZEL'S conclusion (also at the end of the game!!) because we had gotten a few more moments where her focus is obvious and her motivations are clear.

anyways, those are just general writing issues. Act 3 overall is the weakest, most agree, and that's still true here. Sadly it kind of takes some of Gale down with it in this case, because his personal quest is both so removed from the overall plot (despite him being a literal fixture as the only character who knows anything about the crown & was decreed by a literal god to take out the absolute).

however none of this is related to Gale as a guy. as a guy I'm Fucking Obsessed With Him. taking him with me everywhere was so rewarding especially in act 1 / 2. his commentary & insights, when they were there, ranged from funny as fuck to genuinely insightful & interesting for the overall plot. the ideas behind him, the glimpses we get of the life he led before, and the life he wants to lead after with Tav -- or what he alludes to wanting to lead with Tav, thinking that he'll still probably die at the end of this -- are lovely, interesting, TOUCHED MY SPIRIT. he's such a neat version of how to do a character that is as endearing as he can be foot-in-mouth, and as intelligent as he can be a little belligerent. I looooved every moment I could talk with him about magic in act 1, see his passions (beyond mystra), argue with him about how to do something (I'M the magical wonder here actually and I get to make the shadowlantern), all of that really MADE the romance for me in the lulls where his Silence or the gaps in his writing were more clear. 10/10 would kiss that fucking wizard again and cry a little bit thinking about exploding with him aboard a giant alien brain while one of those "ITS YOUUU I LIE WITH" songs plays in the bg

#tldr he's my special guy. some of the writing was disappointing as a pacing thing but he's MY SPECIAL GUY #I also cried a little bit as lae'zel got to take off on a red dragon with orpheus but that's secondary #also I said orpheus is hot & NO ONE agreed with me. fine. I'll carry this banner alone #men who are capable of executing a rebellion or instant apocalypse with their swaths of power. What.#who said that.#anyways. GALE MY DARLING. my belovedest. I want to write 1000 dialogue snippets in act 2 and 3 for you #and MAYBE I WILL. who knows.#still chewing on him and need to Ponder if I want to actually make any sort of character studies for him because. um.#some of you.. can be off the rails about this man. but I do think of him fondly and love what was there #he can be a bit of a bitch he can be the most wonderful man in the world he can hold your hand he can cast globe of invulnerability #he can also make the FUNNIEST fucking oneliners known to man. I crave him carnally & emotionally #I want to Add scenes to his romance. I wish act 3 was better. goddamn.#still one of my favorite games though. I am Back on the nautiloid as we speak. Durge and Minthara time #bg3 meta

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rosalinastan · 9 months

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comfy cozy chowder chewsday :-)

#hes literally been so comfy cozy lately #hes my favorite little guy in the whole world <3

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spookythesillyfella · 4 months

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~ with the wonderful cake baked by Sketch and Colin , and with the green tea from Brendon , and the rather elegant mug received from Tracey , Tony sure seems to absolutely adore his birthday !!

~ he's so pretty with all those flowers in his top hat too !! so sophisticated !! the pristine white stargazer lily and the even more wonderful hyacinth really make him the most dashing !!

–

happy day to my favorite silly of the silly show !! ^w^

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sendmyresignation · 3 months

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really love alternating between girls to the front and listening to washed up emo episodes. to me it so clearly demonstrates a lot of the friction btw the nebulous diy posthardcore/pre-midwest emo conglomerate and riot grrl is often a matter of like. basic difference in musical ideology and subculture values lmao. like. this guy from art monk was talking about how some of his friends bands have been forgotten because a lot of the scene was v. humble and believed in letting the music speak for itself which imo fits with a lot of women in these bands who talk about wanting to be seen as "serious artists" not bc women arent "serious" but rather its emblematic of the type of band/music relationality they want to embody. like. the women in these scenes, to varying degrees, certainly interacted and invested in the same values as their peers- its weird to imagine just bc they are women that (1) they all should think the same and (2) they all felt inherently isolated from their communities??

#we can have a discussion about if these women were successful at being taken seriously and such for sure #but to me it has a lot more to do with diy ethics than like. antifeminist false post-genderism like marcus implies #and every subculture and scenes values are like. they have pros and cons obv but there is no CORRECT choice ultimately #its v frustrating that the limitations of the olympia anyone can play music! perspective is like never interrogated #(bc personally im sooo completely uninterested in that music rhetoric even if i can objectively see its value)#man i wonder how many shitty art school dudes felt emboldened by the k records bullshit....#not to mention how much of that music imo has little longevity (again. fine! the ephemeral nature of creation is beautiful! not for me)#anyway i love washed up emo bc tom loovvess jimmy eat world but i can so tell he probably hates mcr. so funny.#hes the guy who compares third wave to glam metal. which i think is fun but is clearly meant as a sort of criticism of its commercial nature #but again. jimmy is his favorite band so like. i do have to chuckle. same way i feel sometimes about dan ozzi. what was the line.#my posts

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cherry-shipping · 6 months

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one of the (admittedly many) reasons i love love love LOVE my uf and ht self inserts i think is because all the shit i hate about myself is amplified with them and i LOVE them for it. theyre weird gross perverted overbearing annoying creeps who nobody really feels comfortable around. and its the BEST!!!!!!!!! like yeah they suck shit. they dont know anything and theyre genuinely disturbing and disgusting people. arent they just the BEST

#cherry chats #i happen to love girls who are the worst ever. is the thing #when my ht/uf inserts make everyone around them uncomfortable and gross people out and when nobody likes them i think its so awesome and fun #they both suck so bad. theyre awesome #they dont KNOW shit they cant DO shit theyre weird nasty FREAKS #theyre overbearing and clingy and creepy and selfish and completely fucked in the head. and theyre everythinf 2 me #^____^#i love my fucked up little self inserts. they are so not okay over there #had a visual image of my uf self insert lighting they and sans’ bed on fire cause he annoyed them. lmfao #blame kiss with a fist That song is everything in the world to me Ok #btw speaking of which i should really give my most common self inserts nicknames #because going ‘my uf and ht self inserts’ every time is a pain #like. my trollsona although i dont talk about them much is a favorite too and their name is zairku Cuz troll names etc #and in my head i nicknames my horrortale guy 207 for. some fuckin reason #ermm. whadda hell do i call that underfell freak then.#……………… cherry???? bc thats qhat i used to go by way way WAY back in the day???#and it. SORTA fits the general uf aesthetic…..???#well. just like how 207 was a placeholder that just became their nickname i guess cherry would be the same #if i called them that as a temporary placeholder while i think of something else itd just end up being their name anyway. lol #okie dokie hehehee thats good then ^__^ i think ill add that 2 my pages when i get out of bed #which is. very soon bcuz i wanna smoke. so im goin outside. its -4° out

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scattered-winter · 1 year

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Will gets reduced to a Sunshine BF as if he wasn't complicit in what happened with Octavian. We all remember that in the Titan War he was like "well I don't normally endorse stealing but we need supplies so go break into some bodegas" and in BoO he literally did not care about Octavian dying. Annabeth bursts into terror and tears over Percy poisoning a goddess who was trying to kill them but Will has absolutely no problem with Nico committing mass murder. This is my favorite thing about him and fandom takes it away from me

yeah like. bro has DEPTH. almost like he's supposed to be a multifaceted 3-dimensional character or something. idk. let will go apeshit. i love it when healer characters simply do not give a fuck <3

#abby said solangelo is the buddie of the pjo/hoo fandom which only makes sense if ur a 911 girlie but she was RIGHT.#but its like. everyone ships them but they really just ship the sandpapered versions of them #where theyre not their own characters outside the relationship #and idk. rich inner world version of will is my favorite little guy of all time but i keep forgetting he doesnt exist outside my brain lmao #anon #will solace #percy jackson and the olympians

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weaverofink · 1 year

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another kon bc i cannot stop drawing him

#superboy #kon-el #conner kent #my most special boy. my favorite little dude #young justice #young justice 1998 #teen titans #dc comics #im obsessed w this guy. i have such a soft spot for clone characters #esp conner bc he's the clone of like The Most Perfect Guy In The World #you can imagine the kind of pressure he is under.#art #my art #weaverofink #I AM OBSESSED W THIS PEN #I FEEL SO FREE

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carcarrot · 7 months

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youtube

#i present you with my favorite live video of take me out. the franz ferdinand songs they did live were bonkers to see russell doing #like michael. can we talk about that btw. but anyway #forever obsessed w the little like. choreography/gestures russ came up w for take me out like girl you're hands.#like maybe if i ***** **** ** *** ******* ** ** ***** ** **** ***** ** ****#can you tell my cold has somehow made me (more) uninhibited. anyway #also the synchronized boincing during take me out is just so good. so important. hes just the worlds bounciest guy #ok time for me to sleep again #ffs #Youtube

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miniscrew-anon · 11 months

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What do you mean love is real?

So apparently today is aromantic visibility day. Why did no one tell me 😫 I was so unprepared! So here is the best I could do. Happy Aro Day!

——

“Do you wanna maybe grab a coffee later?”

Four blinks in surprise. His pen stills on the paper and he looks up at the blushing barista who’d come to his table to deliver his refill. She smiles at him, the corner of her eyes crinkling up.

“You seem like a really nice guy,” She says, “And I happened to notice that you always stick around for my whole shift even though you don’t buy anything other than your coffee. So… do you want to grab a bite later?”

Four sticks around because the cafe lets him sit as long as he wants and he gets free refills for just three rupees a day. The place is dry and warm and gives him a space to work on applications. It helps that the staff is nice, but Four didn’t even realize he tended to come in when this woman was here. But he can’t tell her that. He doesn’t want to embarrass her.

Plus, he feels a little flattered that she’s asking him out. No one’s ever done that before. He doesn’t consider himself very attractive and he doesn’t have much to offer. He’s never gotten so much as a second glance before. It makes him feel good. Confident, even.

So he checks her nametag and smiles back. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to get a coffee with you later.”

—---

“Damn - what’s next? Hooking for cash?” Shadow cackles, sticking his hand into Fours paper bag and pulling out a pastry that’s just past its sell by date. “Smart though. I’d never have thought about dating a barista for access to food.”

“I’m not dating her for the perks.” Four speaks around his mouth full of danish.

Shadow unwraps his croissant and moans obnoxiously at the treat. “Oh no? Then why are you dating her? You like her?”

Four only hesitates for second.

“Yeah,” He says. “She’s great. Why wouldn’t I like her?”

—------

Three months later Four’s playing a different tune.

“I thought things were going well. You said you were happy.” Her voice is low and shaky, eyes directed at the floor to hide the tears in them.

Four winces and looks away. He’s holding her hands in his and he squeezes them in comfort. Even while he’s the one doing the hurting.

“I was happy. Am happy.” He fumbles with his words, “It’s not that anything went wrong. It’s just that I’m not… feeling it.”

“What did I do?” She chokes out.

“Nothing! Nothing. You’re great. I just… I’m not…” Four sucks on his tongue in thought. “I’m just not feeling that kind of connection.”

And it’s true. She’s been a great girlfriend. She respects his space and his privacy. She doesn’t mind that he doesn't have any money. She’s even bought him dinners at restaurants and a pair of new shoes.

She’s been so great to him.

But that hasn’t stopped Four from feeling drained just holding her hand. The absolute exhaustion of pretending to like cuddling and bumping knees under the table. The constant need to smile at her and pay attention and be attentive and act like he’s having more fun than he is. It’s more than just his introverted nature that makes him dread having to respond to her texts. More than his general touch aversion that causes the uncomfortable feeling in his gut when he kisses her. He doesn’t know what that is though.

“S-so what? You wanna just be friends?” She asks, finally picking her gaze up. “Is that it? B-because I don’t want that! I really, really like you!”

“You barely know me,” Four says weakly. It’s only been three months. How can anyone really like anyone after just three months? He sure can’t.

“I know you.” She sniffs and wipes her face. “I do. And I love you!”

Four sighs.

—-

“So no more free snacks? Damn. Are you sure you’re not into her?”

“If you’re that into the loaf cakes, she’s single now.” Four says flatly. He pulls his backpack away from Shadows searching hands. “You date her.”

“Nah. She’s too goody two shoes for me.”Shadow waves him off. “If you can’t handle her then I don’t even wanna think about it.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Four can’t help but defend her. She was an amazing girlfriend.

“Oh? Then what was it like? Why dump her if she was so great?”

Four pauses.

“I just,” He says, “I wasn’t feeling it, I guess.”

Shadow quirks a brow. “Incompatible?”

“Yeah. I guess so,” Four says quietly, “Must have been. Yeah.”

—-----

“I had a great time. Walk me to the train?”

“Of course.”

She links their arms together and leans into his side, humming happily. Four dutifully lets her cuddle into his side and subtly checks his watch. Her train is leaving in a few minutes. Enough time to hover on the platform for a little while.

He wonders if he should kiss her.

Because they had a great time. She was fun, with just enough wit and charm to keep him engaged. It was nothing like his other girlfriend, who’d been so kind but felt untouchable in her purity; this woman was a firecracker, all tongue and cheek. She kept him on his toes, never meek or wary. It helped that they had so much in common - she was also a down on her luck gig worker. ‘Who’s gotten the most crap from a shit employer’ had been a fun topic over a cheap dinner. It had been unusually enjoyable and Four found himself laughing hard enough to choke on his burger.

So he should kiss her, right? That’s the norm when you have a good date, right? How to affirm you enjoyed your time together and signal that you would like to do it again?

He glances at her from the corner of his eye and wonders if this squirmy feeling in his stomach is the fluttery feeling everyone always talks about. It must be. There’s no reason it wouldn’t be. Sure, it feels a bit like what he used to feel with his ex, but it’s probably different. He had much more fun on this date. So it must be different.

He checks his watch again. The train pulls up, ruffling both their hair. She pulls herself off his arm and turns towards him.

“Thanks for coming out with me,” She says, “We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah, we should.” Four smiles, stomach-squirming kicking up a gear. Why do they call it the butterflies when it feels more like worms? “I’ll call you.”

“You better.” Her lips quirk into a smirk. “Or I’ll have to call you.”

Four swallows thickly. “Yeah.”

She leans forward slightly. Angles her chin up. Tilts her head just slightly to the left. Stares into his eyes.

“Well,” Four says, “Goodnight.”

He drops her hands and gently guides her onto the train. Waves at her through the window while it pulls away. He sighs in relief.

—--------

“So she never texted you back?”

“No.”

Shadow whistles, earning himself a chastising glance from the librarian. He waves apologetically at her.

“I really thought she’d like you,” He says quietly. “She seemed like your type too. Weird.”

Four shrugged. He wasn’t upset about it. Truthfully he felt kind of relieved. Even though he’d had a good time.

“Were you weird or something? Is that why she’s not interested?” Shadow questions him. Looking for ammunition, as always.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Wrong! I set you two up. So you owe me an explanation.”

Four sighs. “I didn't kiss her at the end of the date. That’s probably why.”

“What?” Shadow groans, dropping his head on the table and keeping Four from turning the page in his book. “Why? She’s so hot. She’s almost out of your league.”

Four shrugged again. He hadn’t actually noticed if she was attractive. He’s never been interested in stuff like that.

He pauses. He’s never been interested in stuff like that.

“Huh.” He says. “I must be gay.”

—---

“- I don’t know. I think the spontaneity to be part of it, ya know? Like, that’s where all the passion comes from!”

“I guess,” Four says, “But I prefer to have a warning before being kissed. I like to be prepared.”

His date groans dramatically. “But it’s so mechanical then!”

“I like mechanical,” Four says. He takes another step forward. They’re waiting on a bus line. He’s going downtown, his date uptown. This is where they part.

“Haha,” His date rolls his eyes with a tiny smirk, “Because you’re a mechanic. Very funny.”

“I thought so.” Four leans to the side to see how long the line is. Not too far now. He glances at his phone and pretends to check his messages.

He wonders if his date is going to kiss him.

Probably. That’s probably why he started talking about why he enjoys the spontaneous kiss more than the asked one. He was probably asking permission, or something. In that strange, avoidant way that all of Four’s dates always like to use. He wishes they’d just come out and say what they wanted.

They’re almost to the front of the line and Four starts fidgeting with his clothes. The squirmy worms are back, writhing around in his guts. He still doesn’t know if these are the butterflies everyone talks about. And he’s getting less sure with every kiss he gets. But maybe this one will be different.

He’s gay and his date is a man. So it’s going to be different this time.

Four holds onto that hope until he gets to the front of the line and his date loops his arm around him to pull him in for a kiss.

His date’s skin is dryer and his chin is scratchy. That’s the only difference.

Four gets on the bus and slumps into the seat.

—--

“So you’re taking a break from dating?” Shadow asks. He swipes Four’s bottle and takes a swig

Four grabs it back and scowls. “Get your own. These aren’t cheap.”

“Oh, I know.” Shadow smiles back, reaching for the iced coffee again. Four slaps his hands away. “Meanie. So what went wrong this time? Still just not feeling it?”

“No, I'm not. But this guy was actually kind of annoying this time. So who knows.”

“Ah, I see. Polluted the experiment.” Shadow nods sagely. “Well, there’s always next time.”

Yeah, Four thinks, Next time.

—-

The next time someone asks Four to grab a cup of coffee, he turns them down.

—-

“Wow, oh my god! Four! It’s so crazy to see you here! How long has it been? Two years?” She laughs, going in for a friendly hug.

“Just about.” Four smiles at his ex girlfriend, returning her embrace. He hadn’t seen her since he broke up with her and he hadn’t expected to see her again. But he ran into her on the street. A welcome surprise since she really is a lovely woman. “I didn’t expect to see you here in Termina. I thought you wanted to go overseas after you got your degree?”

“I did! But my boyfriend got a great job here in the city so we relocated here.”

“You relocated for him? It must be pretty serious then. Congrats,” Four says sincerely, “I’m happy for you.”

She laughs it off. “Thanks! He’s great. He’s going to be a doctor so the move was necessary. After he’s done with his residency we’ll probably move though. But enough about that - how have you been?”

“I can’t complain. I just moved here myself. More job prospects here in the city.”

“I hear that. Did you get your mechanics license?”

“Yeah. I’m certified now.” Four says. “I work for myself when I can and do temp work when things are slow. But it’s picking up so I’m hoping that it’s going to take off soon.”

“That’s so amazing! I’m proud of you!” She beams at him, genuine happiness on her face. It’s enough to make him feel all gooey. “So are you here alone?”

“Uh, yeah. I just came to pick up a few things. Why?”

“I don’t know,” She laughs. “I guess I was just wondering if you had a girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Four blinks. “Uh, no. Turns out I'm gay, actually.”

“Really? Huh. Well, I guess that makes sense,” She laughs. “It explains the blank-faced thing, anyway.”

Four stares at her. He racks his brain but he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. “What do you mean?”

“Oh. I guess I never told you about that.” She bites her lip nervously. “I’m talking about how you’d go expressionless after we said bye after dates. I used to watch you through the window when the car pulled away or when the bus started. I always thought it was a little strange, that you’d lose your smile pretty much instantaneously after I wasn’t in view anymore. Like you finally decided to drop your act. Usually after seeing your girlfriend a smile lingers, you know?”

She puts her hands up apologetically. “I’m not angry or anything! And I’m not trying to insult you. I’m just saying that it makes sense, since you weren’t really into me back then.”

Four is quiet for a while. Chewing on this new information. He’d always known he felt tired after dates, but he didn’t realize it was so weird. In the movies when lovers turned away from each other with big, lovesick smiles on their faces, he thought it was just a fake trope. Like exploding cars. Or moaning during sex. Just something to visualize the budding romance.

He didn’t realize that happened in real life.

—--

Four stared at his book without reading a single word. He turned towards Shadow, who was laying on the hood of the car next to him. Engrossed in his phone.

The blonde cleared his throat. “Did you know that it's normal to feel giddy after a date?”

Shadow snorts. “Yeah right. That’s just a dumb movie thing. That’s not real.”

Four stares at him until Shadow looks up. His friend’s mouth drops open at Four’s expression.

“THAT SHIT’S REAL?!”

—--

Four comes across the term by accident. He’s reading something about asexuality, someone's private experience with it, and they mention it in passing. One internet search later and Four is texting Shadow in the dead of night.

Aromantic. It’s the lack of romantic attraction.

??? There’s a term for that?

Yeah

Cool. That you?

Yeah

Cool. Me too i think

Cool

—--

Oh, the stories I could write onto my blorbo~

All of these things actually happened to me while I was still in my discovery phase. They’re a little altered to fit the character but it’s very much based in real events. Including the “oh I guess I’m a lesbian” thing. That was an interesting two years. I told a lot of people I was gay back then 🫠

#hsh au #townhouse au #hsh four #hsh shadow #and as always I am projecting my shit onto my favorite little guy #plus a little on Shadow too because I recall he’s a bit grey himself #couldn’t help myself with the discovery of people being happy after a date #that rocked my world when I found out #it’s like when I discovered people feel warm when they are sexually attracted to someone #like #physically warm #absolutely crazy stuff man #aromantic #st0rmyverse

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