OMG!!!! Ok ok ok ok ok- hear me out. We all know Sage DESPISES Wild, right? Now… imagine, a reader who prefers Wild over Sage. Everyone knows about it. I wonder how our little angsty boy will take that knowledge… and Hylia forbid if reader prefers Cal over Sage… He hates him even more.
This is SO funny because my wonderful Significant other (@wayfayrr ) actually prefers Wild while I prefer Sage.
It's funny because...here's the thing. Sage has such an interesting ego in the sense that this will go one of two ways. One) He either won't care. Depending on his stance with Reader? He won't give a shit. He has his own things to do and he doesn't care if reader wants to waste their time on someone who looks like they picked a fight with the road and lost.
But if he does like reader? It eats away at him. It absolutely just picks and picks and picks and he's livid. He's doing everything he can to destroy that relationship. Little whispers in reader's ears, maybe he's taking something of their's and putting it wild's bag, maybe he's picking a fight only to act innocent once Reader appears. Hard to say, the point is, he's doing everything in his power to destroy that little relationship before it even has a chance to blossom.
Should Cal be the object of affection it might be a lil different. Because Cal, for all intents and purposes, is like...as close to lore accurate link as possible. Like in AOC he's an absolute BEAST. So he's a pretty even matchup for Sage in that way. However, he has the emotional capacity of the rock he ate for lunch so that might put a damper on things.
Because imagine, if you will, a reader who teaches Cal how to love and how to cherish and how to have emotions further than hungry indifference. Then Cal forms that bond. That bond that he's aching over, craving for. he thinks about it 25/8 and is following three steps behind reader at any given time. Because then? Then should he and Sage have to face off?
Then you have something far bigger and far more...intricate in my opinion. A fun concept! I'll toy around with it a bit more and see if i come up with anything <3