#4f

Okay, I'm just rambling here.

But can we think about good old Ben, please? It's like, this guy has a rock body, but not a rock heart.

So, sometimes I have this scenario in mind where Ben saves someone in the middle of these global disasters over the weekend. And this person just sees Ben and says.

“Woaw, this really is a strong guy. Just the kind Mom said is worth it.”

And she's like, too thrilled for him. But Ben has always had this self-esteem issue about his looks (Because, God, he really did call himself “The Thing”). So he's really in doubt as to whether this is some sick joke or one of those cruel schemes of his recurring villains.

I imagine the 4F are really confused about it. Johnny makes jokes about it like “Hey, are you sure she's not blind?” But he's really happy/concerned about it.

Sue has her doubts at the beginning, especially since I'm thinking of someone really intense here, but she manages to accept you as that person who finally sees everything she sees in Ben, and the fact that you really like the way he looks is a good point for her.

And Reed, I can imagine him being a little more… distant? Like, the guy is so preoccupied developing those super complicated science things that he likes that he's not really too aware of it.

All until Sue mentions it to him in one of those late night chats and it's like all the neurons in his head connect in a “Oh, I knew there was something different but I didn't know recognize what.”

And Sue is just mentally slapping him in the face because, the smartest man on the planet has an emotional/empathic dullness.

Maybe this is focused in a timeline/universe where Ben already had a relationship with Alicia and has felt loved for how he is, but still doesn't feel fully loved for how he looks (yet, because from what I've seen his relationship with Alicia is really nice and good for him). So he's internally terrified because this is new to him, because someone doesn't see him as “The Thing”, but how:

“This really handsome, educated man who looks like he can hold me in his arms for an entire fight with Doctor Doom and still make me feel protected and give me the confidence to say nice things in his ear.”

And this isn't a made-up line of his, but something you literally said when you thought he wasn't listening (he was).

So Ben at the beginning decides to keep his distance, I mean, they shouldn't even meet because he is almost every day in another universe, fighting Galactus or taming beings similar to Cthulhu himself.

OR SO HE HOPED

Because he finds you every damn time, and you convince him to go on a date and…. CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO HIM WHY THEY'RE AT THE ALTAR?

Someone help this poor guy, because there won't be a day in his life when he won't be told about what a beautiful sculpture he is, or how thank the lord that Michelangelo is dead, because if he were to revive he would die of rage to know that there is such a magnificent living work of art and it's not his.

I imagine that person would even have the audacity to go to art classes to be able to… I don't know, give more accurate opinions about it, use references or even… help him with other things?

Yeah, I just wanted to get this out of my brain, and if I think about it, then so do you.