#but okay i think its still cool without it

[allisluv]

saved by the bell.

summary: finnick helps reader during a sensory overload (based off a request i can't find in my inbox </3)

pairing: finnick o'dair x wife!reader

content warnings: post-rebellion, implied neurodivergent!reader, sensory overload + overstimulation, mention of finnick's mutt attack and as a result finnicks scars, reader has hair long enough to tie back, reader accidentally snaps at finnick but it isnt intentional and she does apologise and finnick forgives, fluff, mention of noise-cancelling headphones, comfort, teasing, fluff, not edited (what a surprise)

a/n: been a while since i posted on here, life was hectic i'm sorry! this is based off my own experience during a sensory overload, but not all are the same!

To mark the one year anniversary of the war ending and to commemerate the lives lost during the rebellion, you and Finnick send out invites asking all of the surviving victors to visit District Four for a small get-together. Its nothing fancy, just finger food and conversation. A celebration of life, Finnick calls it.

Everyone RSVP’s to let the two of you know that they will be attending, and it doesnt take long for Finnick to start planning activites and dragging you along for weekly trips to the farmer’s market to buy supplies for the party.

On the morning of the party, you realise that it’s going to be rough from the get go. Finnick is up with the sun, as he so usually is, and you wake not long after him. The bed is empty without your husband by your side, and it makes your heart ache with loneliness.

You turn onto your side and wince when a stream of sunlight drifts in through a gap in the curtain. Your head feels like it’s going to explode at the brightness, and you’re quick to bury your face into Finnicks pillow. You breathe in his scent in an effort to ground yourself, but all it does it send your senses into overdrive.

A sad, pitiful whine gets caught in the back of your throat as you roll onto your back, glaring at the specks of paint on the ceiling. “Why today?” You grumble, burying your face in your hands as you will yourself to hold it together, if not for yourself, for Finnick and the others.

It takes a while, but eventually, you gather the courage to stand. The floorboards feel cool beneath your feet, and it is such a stark contrast from the sweat pouring out of your pores that all it does it make you want to rip your skin clean off your body.

Sucking in a deep breath, you shuffle towards your closet and begin rooting through it in search of something light to wear. Finnick and you had went shopping for new outfits specifically for today, but the prospect of wearing that particular fabric right now makes you want to claw your eyes out of their sockets, so you settle on a sundress that you have previously deemed as safe to wear when you’re in the midst of a sensory overload.

Once you’re dressed, you tie your hair back out of your face so it doesn’t stick to the back of your neck. Your skin is clammy and damp, and realistically, you really should have taken a shower, but even thinking about it makes your frame hum with irritation.

You flap your hands in an effort to rid yourself of the nervous energy that has taken refuge in your body. When it does little to soothe your weary mind, you plant your hands on your hips and let out a frustrated huff.

You’re snapped out of your thoughts by your husband’s voice calling you from the kitchen. “I’m coming!” You call, smoothing out the creases in your sundress before steeling yourself for today, and slipping out of your bedroom. You’re still in your bare feet when you stomp down the hallway and into the kitchen.

Finnick is balancing on a kitchen chair by the entranceway, a roll of triangular-shaped bunting in one hand and a box of thumb tacks in the other. He arches an eyebrow at your foul mood, and your stomping. “Everything okay, angel?”

You brush him off with a dismissive wave of your hand. “I’m fine. What did you need?”

Finnick doesn’t miss the edge to your voice, but he decides not to push it. “Could you hold these thumb tacks and hand them to me when I need them? Or were you busy?” He asks, giving you an out if you need it.

“No, I can help,” You insist, already moving to stand beside him. “Just be careful on that chair. Its decades old.” You warn as you take the thumb tacks. Finnick starts stringing the bunting up along the wall of the archway, and you let out a sigh. “Why do we need bunting, anyway? Dont you think it’s somewhat over the top?”

“Look, I didn’t survive those mutts not to celebrate today.” He teases. “After all those god-damn physio sessions, I deserve bunting if I want bunting.” He pauses. “And Jo’s gonna ask the question you just asked, so you better have my back when she does.”

You roll your eyes fondly and relent. “Alright, alright. If you want bunting, we can have bunting.” You hand him a thumb tack and roll your shoulders back uncomfortably. Chicken curry is stewing in the slow-cooker, and it’s making the kitchen stuffy with heat.

Finnick’s always been observant, and he catches the small movement of your shoulders almost instantly. “Are you sure you’re okay, angel?”

“Mhm.” You shrug non-comitedly and pass him one more thumb tack.

He doesn’t seem convinced, and the second the bunting is secured, he hops off the chair and has a hand on your shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing. Come on, angel. Talk to me.”

As if on cue, the doorbell goes and you let out a relieved sigh— you would have likely cracked and admitted the truth if he kept pushing.

Saved by the bell.

“I’ll get it,” You say, pecking his cheek and moving quickly to answer the front door with Finnick hot on your heels.

The door swings open and Johanna struts inside, shooting a smug look over her shoulder at Annie and Katniss. “See? Told you it would be open.” She brushes past both of you into the kitchen. “Oo. Something smells nice.”

Katniss rolls her eyes, and Peeta nudges her in the ribcage, prompting her to say hello. Haymitch, Annie and Enobraia all exchange greetings with the two of you as you usher them inside.

“You know, you should really keep that door locked,” Beetee says as he envelopes you in his arms. “Did you know there are approximately three thousand burgarlies a day? Thats two every minute. And I bet you more than half of them are due to people leaving their doors unlocked.” He explains nonchalantly as he follows the others into the kitchen.

You rub the back of your neck anxiously, feeling your skin crawl at all of the physical contact you had just endured in the last thirty seconds.

Finnicks eyes land on you and he inches closer to you, but doesn’t touch. “What’s going on with you, angel?” He asks gently. You open your mouth to brush him off but he cuts you off. “And don’t feed me another lie about you being fine. I’m able to read you like an open book. Just tell me whats going on in that pretty little head of yours, okay?”

You grit your teeth in an effort to stay calm. You’re not angry at him, you’re just overwhelmed. Its all too much; the noise from the kitchen, the lights, the heat, Johanna calling out into the hallway about the bunting, the smells of the different food. Which is why you don’t mean to snap, but you do. “Just get off my back, alright? I said I was fine.” You snap, brushing past him into the eye of the storm— the kitchen.

Finnick blinks, momentarily stunned by your outburst, until it dawns on him and he follows after you. He pulls you to one side from where you’re pretending to listen to Enobaria. “Excuse me. We need to talk.”

“What—”

“Now.” Finnick says firmly, but not unkindly, as he steers you by the elbow back into your shared bedroom. He closes the door once you’re both inside, and leads you to sit down on the edge of the bed. He crouches down in front of you, resting his hands on his knees, and asks, “Are you having a sensory overload?” You avert your gaze and that’s all the answer he needs. “Do you need space or do you want me to hold you?”

Your bottom lip trembles and you clamp your teeth into it to stop it from wobbling. “Can you hold me?”

Thats all the confirmation your husband needs. He sits cross legged on the floor and tugs you into his lap. “Loosely or tightly?” He murmurs into your hairline.

“Tightly.” You answer. “Please.”

Finnick tightens his hold on you and presses a kiss to your forehead as your breathing starts to even out and you begin to calm down.

“I’m sorry,” You mumble.

“For what?” Finnick asks, kissing your temple once more.

“For snapping at you. It wasn’t fair.”

“It wasn’t,” Finnick agrees. “But you were overwhelmed, and you were stressed. I forgive you. No hard feelings, alright?”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“Do you want to come back outside? We can get you your noise cancelling headphones, that way it might be easier to deal with the noise. How does that sound, hm?”

You hesitate. “Johanna’ll make fun of me.”

“Johanna makes fun of everyone,” Finnick points out.

“Fair point, well made.”

“But if she says anything, I’ll fight her.” He cradles your face in his scarred hands and giving your nose a playful tap.

“Will you win, though?” You tease.

“You know it, angel.”

[katyawriteswhump]

love and other catastrophes at the omega cafe 3.1/8

Thanks again for the lovely response to this fic... I am trying to get more ready as fast as I can without messing up 💚 This is posting in two parts today, to force me to stop tweaking the first half and get to a final proof on the rest!! ETA: Part 3.2 now up

Summary: Steve is a runaway Omega who gets a job at an Omega café, where he’s basically paid to curl up and purr in Alphas’ laps. It’s legal, and he earns a living, rents his own place. He’s getting along fine for a packless Omega. Then Alpha rockstar Eddie Munson turns up for an hour of ‘kitty’ petting, and shatters Steve’s fragile little world…

Rating: as flagged earlier, we're E now; No major warnings; Tags: omega steve, alpha eddie, a/b/o dynamics, fluff and angst, sexual content, self-touching, wet dreams 💚 

Chapter 1 on tumblr Chapter 2 on tumblr On AO3

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Steve passed the rest of the day in a kind of trance.

On the way home, he took a wrong turn on a walk from his bus stop he’d done a hundred times. By the time he got in, he was so flaked out there was no way he could eat.

Despite his usually tiptop levels of personal hygiene, it’d gotten to the stage where he barely wanted to wash. The idea of scrubbing away the teeniest hint of Eddie sickened him, and obviously, he wanted Eddie’s scent imprinted in his nest. Still, when Robin called and said she was coming over, he forced himself to shower. He scrubbed his skin red raw in places, without really knowing why.

When she arrived, she launched off about how she was totally over her crush on some girl, Nancy, who she’d met at book club. Finally, as he reheated two slices of home baked apple pie, she narrowed her eyes to inquisitorial slits.

“Steve, are you okay? You seem… feel…”

“Different?” Steve dumped two hot dishes on the breakfast bar. “Look, can you level with me? Do I smell different?”

“I mainly smell dessert.” She frowned, inhaling slowly: “I get peaches, that white-chocolatey yum that you insist is chamomile, all ruined by those diabolical chemicals they use at the café. Oh, and that papaya shower-gel on rollback at Walmart this week. Usual stuff. I’m a Beta, remember, I don’t pick that stuff up so well.”

“How about this?” He sat down beside her, and pulled her close, pretty much burying her nose in his hair.

“Mmmm, okay.  Most of it is definitely you…. but, yeah, there’s something else there.”

Something so potent and claiming that it'd torpedoed its way through Steve’s overzealous attempts to wash.

He ’fessed up.

Not about who Eddie was, in case Robin knew more than he wanted to hear. He simply told her about the hot Alpha, who he really liked.

“Robin, he came back three days in a row. I’ve never been so aware of an Alpha’s scent, and his, erm,”—the proximity of his big dick— “his Alpha-ness. I think he likes me too.”

He picked up the cream carton, started pouring it over his untouched pie.

“Before you go tits-over-ass,” said Robin, “do you reckon this sex-on-legs Alpha prince is willing to court you properly?”

“I don’t know, I… doubt it, I… oh shit!” Robin shot out a hand to grab the cream from him, before it flooded over the rim of the bowl. Wow, he couldn’t concentrate on anything.

“Steve, this is the risk you take working there. All the blockers and dampeners in the world can’t stop Alphas predating Omegas.”

“Predating? Christ, Robin! I mean, if he wanted sex, predatory or otherwise, he’d go… somewhere else.”

It was true! If Eddie wanted sex, he’d hire a sex worker. He could sleep with a groupie. Christ, the lead singer of some super-cool rock band could have anybody he chose.

Customers came to ‘Kitties’ to… cuddle kitties.

Yeah, maybe that’s what he came for initially, Harrington. Now he’s seen something he wants and…

Steve couldn’t decide if the logical conclusion of that sentence set him gasping with terror or preening with excitement.

“That’s NOT what’s happening here,” he told Robin, kinda forcefully.

“Isn’t it? Unless he’s gonna court you, he’s messing with you—wanting to chat like you’re besties, dropping by every day? I know, to an extent, you’re paid to be messed with. But at least there’s rules in that place to keep you safe. Has he flouted them yet?”

“No. He’s been a perfect gentleman.”

There was the weird foot massage. Oh, and he fed me cake, but neither of those are strictly against the rules.

“Riiiiight,” she said, swallowing a mouthful of pie. “So how did he get his scent so deep beneath your skin?”

Beneath Steve’s skin. Yeah, that’s exactly where Eddie was, and he wanted him so much deeper.

He stared at his untouched dessert. “He hasn’t tried it on, honestly. Tomorrow, tho’, he has kind of booked me. For the whole evening. In a private room.”

“Oh my God, Dingus!” She dumped her spoon down with a clang that set Steve squeaking. “You absolutely cannot go into work tomorrow. At this rate, you’ll form such an attachment you’ll be off for weeks with rejection sickness.”

“But the suppressants—”

“—appear less than useless with this guy! Listen, the soup kitchen is recruiting, paid Omega posts, helping in the kitchen and stuff…”

She kept talking. He zoned out. Surely he couldn’t get rejection sickness that quick? Plus, her soup kitchen idea was lousy. She always promised she’d protect him, and make sure nobody checked up on his identity. Jesus Christ, though, if the shit hit the fan, she’d be in the spray-zone too.

And even she didn’t know the entire story...

Thinking about it send Steve into a spiral of panic, eyes glazing, which Robin read as:

“See? You’ve gone all spacey.” She reached across, swiped her hand across his admittedly clammy brow. “That Alpha is making you ill already.”

“Fine, you win.” He pushed away his cream-drenched pie. “Look, let’s agree that both our love lives are monumental lost causes. Can we change the topic already?”

They snuggled for a while and played ‘Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp,’ on her phone. In the end, to get her off his back, he swore he’d call in sick the next day.

He felt like a complete douche for the lies and evasions. What choice did he have? He needed to get rid of her, to get a good night’s rest. Though, in the event, he tossed and turned right through to the small hours.

When he did sink into a shallow slumber… Holy crap!

Eddie was fucking him, ’course he was. He’d gotten Steve bent over the lower part of the cake counter, and he’s ramming into him with that Alpha dick, sending crockery crashing and brownies scattering.

Shame Steve knew it was a dream. Despite his fretful clenching and writhing—and a serious ‘call-911-before-I-drown’ flood of slick—he couldn’t feel Eddie really stretching him, satisfying him as he craved.

He’d had dreams like this before. It was always some rando Alpha grabbing him, throwing him down face-first, taking him roughly. His stupefied brain never bothered to give them a face.

Tonight, though, he struggled as hard to conjure Eddie’s face in his dream as he strove to feel that dick truly splitting him. He wanted to be stuffed, yeah.

More even than that, he wanted to stare into the fathomless depths of those gorgeous brown eyes. Have that abyss surge up and subsume him. He wanted Eddie’s mouth to devour his, till Eddie’s flavor was all he could taste. And he needed those firm lips to nibble along the line of his jaw, skating down the tenderest parts of his throat, till those gleaming fangs pierced him.

He didn’t care about the blood and the pain. He craved it as much as anything, because he wanted… He needed…

Eddie.

Then it got even better. He dreamed he was curled in a cosy little nest, with Eddie blanketed around him. He wept because he knew Eddie was going to fuck him lovingly, slickly and sweetly… Oh, and stuff him so deep, knot him so thoroughly, that they’d have to snuggle here for hours. Days!

As Steve drifted towards wakefulness, that empty feeling grew excruciating as his heat-cramps had been. He finally awoke properly to the sound of rain hammering against his window.

The bedclothes he’d soaked with sweat and slick were drenched too.

He slid his hand between his legs, inhaling sharply at how sensitive it all felt. His slit was beyond juicy, and he smelled himself—his Omega sweetness—stronger than in forever.

He’d played with himself before, had even gotten toys around, although the blockers repressed some of his sexual appetite. The mere echoes of his dream about Eddie ignited a tingling glow in his cunt. He stroked a couple of times, then dragged his hand out, held glistening fingers in front of his nose.

He giggled and returned to fingering himself, thumb toying with the hard little nub of his cocklet. He was half-tempted to go find that dildo.

Then he stopped mid-stroke.

He didn’t think he could endure the ‘little death’ feeling he’d get from bringing himself to climax alone. He briefly considered getting Eddie’s image up on his cell… but no. If he scrolled in the wrong direction, it could be catastrophic.

The last thing he wanted was to know about the ‘real’ Eddie Munson.

What if Eddie’s ‘nice guy’ persona was an act? What if those generous tips—that’d gotten Steve up-to-date on rent for the first time ever—were intended as a sweetener? Would he expect Steve to roll over tonight then be all, “So long, see ya, Honey.”

His gut told him otherwise. Tho’, really, wtf did his airhead Omega instincts know? He should simply try and enjoy his little crush without holding out too much hope. Or getting fired and seeing the precious little life he’d carved for himself come crashing down around his ears.

He climbed out of bed and stripped the sticky sheets. Good job he had intended to do his laundry today anyhow.

When he got to the café later—he forked out for a Lyft, because the rain would’ve wrecked his hair—it was humming with customers settling in for ‘kitty-kitted-up’ night. It was their only late opening of the week, and the vibe was always jazzier than usual. Even the soundtrack shifted from that loop of plinky movie songs to 80s and 90s hits.

As Steve hurried through, Kate Bush was hitting high notes even Chrissy could never dream of. One of the other kitties—wearing a ginger catsuit—was idly batting a ball of wool around a customer’s ankles.

While the rules remained the same, the kitties generally acted out more playful and fun. Rumor had it that Carol had once put on moves resembling a lap-dance for a particularly smexy Alpha. Tommy had apparently sulked for a week. Steve, meanwhile, had been squeamish about the whole costume thing at first. Then he’d learned to enjoy the attention.

Now, he wanted nobody’s attention but Eddie’s.

He found Chrissy in the back corridor, wearing a strappy tiger-print minidress that barely covered her panties. She held a compact mirror and was drawing on a black cat nose with eyebrow pencil. On spotting Steve, she bounced on her bare toes, setting the little bell on her kitty-collar jingling.

“Steve! I’m so jealous! Eddie is soooooo hot! And he’s soooo into you!”

“Yeah, but I haven’t listened to any of his songs yet. What if he sings like a muppet?”

She wrinkled her nose incredulously, “Steve! As if!”

He returned her hug then left her to her make-up. He’d arrived early for two reasons. Firstly, at home he’d started chewing his fingernails for the first time since fourth grade. Then something else had struck.

The back of the café was a total dump.

Where the hell could you entertain a rockstar who doubtless lived in the lap of luxury?

Chapter 3.2 on tumblr Chapter 3 on AO3

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Thank you so very much for reading. If you enjoyed, every little like and reblog or comment means a lot to me so thank you💚

I am always happy to tag, pls let me know, or you can follow the tag #steddie omega cat cafe 💚

tags 💚🐈‍⬛💚 @disrespectedgoatman 💚 @bumblebeecuttlefishes

@katethetank 💚 @themoonagainstmers 💚 @chaotic-waffle 💚

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

[kittycatred]

hey. hey, deep breaths, calm down a bit, you can do this. it's one skeleton. get that thing slaughtered and run. it's gonna hurt, but it's worth it. do it for them.

[ ⚠ WARNING FOR HIGH PITCHED RINING SFX & RAPID HEARTBEAT SFX ⚠ ]

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[ full drawing of the 2nd image under the cut !! :) the first one is already in the post prior ]

[snepfeathers]

pros of being mostly immune to online impulse purchases: I can save my money and use it on more necessary things, like rent and groceries

cons of being mostly immune to online impulse purchases: I don't get to have The Thing

[ohmigoshiloveu]

Okay so like. I still haven't managed to get myself to finish episode 9, so I don't fully know how Theo's glow up finishes, but regardless I fucking love relistening to Emizel's section of episode 1 and like. Fuck man Theo does a lot of growing. Like he's a little bit pathetic at the beginning of the series. He's so, so brave during the alleyway fight, but he sounds shaky and scared and like a sopping wet pathetic baby the entire time. Charlie specifically describes him as not very alert, not a great fighter, and gives him this little moment where it takes him a second to manage to crush a soda can. He botches the check to beat Emizel in Smash Bros so there's a chance he sucks at the related skills (dexterity and computers I think?), but also after he loses Charlie specifically has him sound super frustrated and conclude that he should've 'stayed in his lane'. When Emizel says 'We'll do what we do best,' and Theo immediately responds with 'drink soda?' so fast that the other players notice it. Charlie might've had that as a predetermined character thing. Theo drinks soda. There's not much else to him.

Which creates this interesting dynamic between him and Emizel, because Emizel is so much better at him at all of these skills that the people around them (a FUCKING GANG) value. Emizel's perceptive, and agile, and strong, and a great fucking fighter irl and in videogames AND he always sounds badass. He's the top dog, the apex predator in their social circle. And I think that colors their relationship a lot? Like Theo has to look up to Emizel. I bet that Theo's looked up to Emizel since they first met, maybe Emizel came crashing into his life doing something epic and Theo thought it was the greatest shit ever.

On the flip side, I was getting a few hints of resentment? Hear me out! It's that 'should have just stayed in my lane' line. He's painfully aware how great Emizel is, compared to how much he's (from his perspective!) just a one trick pony. He's here to drink soda and say funny things, that's all most people want from him and he fucks up whenever he tries to do anything else!

And later in the segment Theo snarkily brings up a medicine check that Emizel had just fucked up in like this super backhanded, super passive aggressive way. That could be him wanting to rub Emizel's one singular fuck up in his face (especially because Theo was having a Moment about how he feels like people only see him as the soda guy, so any feelings of inadequacy would've been dialed up to eleven, so if there was any time for him to resent Emizel it'd be then), but it could also be that he was frustrated with Emizel being an ass (Emizel had just guessed that Theo's dream was to be a nurse, which was flat out wrong, and that's literally what set up the backhanded comment. Theo was saying something like 'thank fuck you don't wanna be a nurse cuz you sure fucked up with nursing that guy earlier.' It could also be that Emizel literally almost forgot Theo's name. Theo literally gave him the 'th' sound, it might've just been a bit Charlie was doing or it could've been Theo being AWARE that Emizel almost forgot his name. Or! It could be that in this moment, where Theo was confiding in Emizel about feeling like being the soda guy was all anyone ever saw in him, Emizel said something to the affect of 'well yeah Soda's the fun one.' Emizel doesn't think before he speaks and literally has a 1 in empathy. Just because he loves Theo doesn't mean he's not gonna blunder into being a complete and utter asshole to him. I'd hazard to say Emizel accidentally being an ass to people he cares about is a running theme).

But also all of that might come down to Charlie still getting the character down. Or, because I've theorized before that Theo might not've been supposed to survive the first Gabriel fight, the little hints of bitterness might've been intentional (even if they were completely improvved and Charlie didn't mean to add that to Theo's character) because Charlie was trying to shove as much character into this character before he was gone, but once it became clear that Theo was going to stick around longer he dropped it. As far as I remember, that bitterness is completely gone in all later interactions we see with Theo. OR! It could be that the bitterness drops because they've both got bigger fish to fry from that point onward, what with Theo's Shilo Incident TM, Emizel's vampirism, the Weylin twins. He doesn't have time to be bitter, he's too busy worrying about losing a cornerstone of his identity or helping his best friend adjust to being a fucking vampire now. And then after he learns to live without soda that basically negates his feelings of inadequacy- like, getting over the idea that he's nothing if he's not the soda guy would be required for him to give up on being the soda guy. And then Emizel would drift back into JUST being a guy to aspire to instead of also being a reminder of Theo's short comings, and then drift even further down into being 'guy who is actually going through it and has to overcome his own demons just like I had to overcome mine'. Like, I think we got to watch Theo slowly start to take Emizel off this pedestal in real time (he still definitely thinks Emizel's hot shit tho. Emizel's his boy, after all.)

Regardless, even if Theo did resent Emizel a little in the beginning, it's so fucking clearly overshadowed by how much he fucking loved him. And like, how could he not? Imagine you're Theo, critically low self esteem, and the literal coolest guy you know fucking LOVES you. Like, Emizel keeps consistently going out of his way to pull Theo up to his level and to treat him as an equal (mostly. Sometimes protectiveness bleeds through, like in his hypothetical fang scenario in ep 1 where he predicts there being five Fangs to fight and he says he can take three and Theo can take two (which in itself is still incredibly kind to Theo. Like, boy, you thought Theo was gonna be able to take out two whole guys? Hell no.) But that could also be chalked up to Emizel just being a cocky ass who wants to show off). Like dude, c'mon. Emizel might be a reminder of everything that Theo's not, but he's also probably Theo's biggest cheerleader. He wholeheartedly thought he was being supportive when he said he thought Theo'd make a great nurse! In all seriousness, though, even if it ultimately discourages him, Theo playing that Smash game against Emizel was at least a little bit of proof of him decidedly not 'staying in his lane,' and Emizel seems to inspire that! Later in that segment he challenges Theo to see which of them can break one of the Fangs kneecaps first! I bet Emizel challenged him to stupid competitions a lot, and that got Theo fired up and competitive in return!

And even when Emizel's not building Theo up, he's still giving Theo special attention, or readily receiving any attention Theo gives him. If nothing else, even at his lowest points that might've made Theo feel cool by association.

On Emizel's part, I think he's like, possibly completely oblivious to any turmoil Theo's going through? Like he thinks Theo's the shit and genuinely sees him as an equal. I'm 99% sure that Theo being his right hand man happened because Theo would've put himself into the role (in episode one before he gets all of his character development he's pretty much always looking to Emizel for what to do, and still more or less does whatever he says up to where I'm at in the series, with refusing to leave the alleyway being the only exception I remember). I think if Theo'd had higher self esteem or been less eager to defer to Emizel, Emizel would've happily gone about his business slotting Theo into more of a partner role. He tells Theo to run from that alleyway because Theo'd taken a fucking devastating hit and Emizel was sure he could handle himself, not because he knows Theo sucks at fighting. He tries to turn Theo into a cool vampire. He convinces Shilo that Theo'll be a valuable asset to raiding the Weylin warehouse and they take Theo with them instead of having him stay behind with the car like Grefgore, despite Theo being the one who actually knows how to drive. He tells Theo about being a vampire even though he keeps it a secret from everyone else, confides in Theo that 'yeah he might absolutely be susceptible to going into a frenzy like Shilo did.'

When you get down to it, Emizel pretty much tells Theo everything he would think is relevant, with two notable exceptions. Maybe three if you count him not telling Theo he has nine lives like a cat but tbh I think he might've just forgot. Or maybe he gets to it later, or maybe he did tell him and I forgot! idk man! But! Those other two things. First off, he like. Pointedly does not tell Theo that he's a prince. Like when they were doing the recap on the way to the Weylin warehouse, there's like. Charlie gives Condi an opening to say it, a little 'is there anything else?' and Emizel just. Doesn't. And the second one is that (at least where I'm at) Emizel never comes clean about bloodbonding Theo. Maybe it just hasn't come up yet, but still. It fits a pattern of Emizel not wanting to admit something that makes him, like, ABOVE Theo somehow. He sees Theo as an equal, and a precious one at that, he doesn't want things to get weird between them because he's literal royalty, and he doesn't want Theo's life to literally revolve around him like it would under a level three blood bond- and doesn't want to admit that he even considered it, even if he did it without really understanding what it was.

And Emizel backing off from ghoulifying Theo after Arthur explains what it actually entails kinda leads into a far more headcanon-y relationship analysis thing so um. Feel free to skip the next paragraph.

So! Like. Why the fuck was Emizel so attached to Theo being Soda. Like he gets over it decently quick, cuz that's his buddy and it's what Theo wants, so like. Whatever. But like, if I'm right about Theo always looking up to Emizel from the moment they met, there might've been some wiggle room between when they first became friends and when Theo became Soda. And like, before Theo became Soda, being Emizel's buddy would probably be the only thing he'd feel he had going for him? Which would've made it even harder for Emizel to get them both on equal footing, and I think that's just... really unappealing to him. Like! Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Emizel loves having people kiss up to him and respect him and blah blah blah, I just think Theo being his boy and Emizel treating him like a partner go hand in hand. Either they weren't best friends yet or Emizel was just. Kind of uncomfortable and eager to push Theo into growing into something more than a hypeman. And then the soda incident occurs, and it gives Theo SOMETHING to define himself by, something people like him and know him for that's got nothing to do with Emizel, and maybe the initial soda incident was bad, but having that sense of identity and falling into what kind've feels like a class clown kinda role might've helped get Theo over his self esteem issues long enough for Emizel to go 'oh you're actually super cool. sweet.' and then blah blah blah they get super close like they are in canon. And then whenever Theo seems like he's backsliding into what he was before the soda incident, Emizel tries to course correct not because he doesn't think Theo's any fun without soda, but because he's made the mental connection that Soda without soda turns into less of a best friend and more of a follower, which as stated before he probably really doesn't want from Theo specifically. but idk. pure conjecture here.

Anyways, above all else, Theo's important to Emizel. I really, really like the idea that Theo was supposed to be like a brother to him (which. Again pointing at my 'Theo was supposed to die in episode 1' theory, can you IMAGINE the angst Emizel could've had about that? Lose one brother and then someone else claiming to be your brother shows up? It would've felt like some hellish, not-worth-it trade. Like a betrayal, like accepting Shilo might mean replacing Theo, and how could he ever?)

And Emizel's important to Theo! But unlike Emizel (who I'm 99% sure is gonna have some kinda moment with Theo but I genuinely cannot see him loving Theo in any other way than the way he does now), Theo has the bonus of having his view of Emizel have a clear trajectory to evolve over the course of the campaign. Like I said, he seems to be getting more confidence in himself and like, not gonna get into the stuff I've had spoiled beyond episode 9 but it seems like Theo's gonna get a lot more comfortable being a proper leader and not just a number two. He's gonna have an easier time seeing Emizel as an equal, and I think that's fucking awesome!

I could be completely off base, but if I never watch another episode then I'll never be proven wrong. So. Ya know.

[hickeygender]

23 is young and i don't wanna go acting like it isn't but sometimes i see stuff from baby zoomers and i feel fucking ancient. skibidi toilet? i have yet to understand what that's referencing. reality shifting? i was into new agey stuff as a teen and i get the whole law of attraction/manifestation thing, but the rest is all greek to me. a good half of the aesthetics i see talked about online? literally got overwhelmed when i stumbled on the aesthetics wiki last year and i feel like an idiot seeing all these kids list off like 4 different hyperspecific aesthetics to describe themselves 😭 girl what does any of that mean? patiently explain it like i'm 85 when it comes up, or don't expect me to know what the hell you're talking about. i'll just end up smiling and nodding like your out of touch grandpa who loves your energy but is frightened by cellphones and the concept of smartfridges 💀💀💀

[imabiscuitinthousandworlds]

so i googled my current favourite play that i'm absolutely obsessed with and ended up on the english wikipedia site bc my browser is set to english and. it's so bad. the fucking plot overview leaves out basically everything that happens ever except for the end result. several key figures aren't even mentioned. "this guy dies for freedom" well, yes, but actually no, plus you're implying his sacrifice is actually worth it. that's not true. in some other section a dude is mentioned who claims this play is basically star wars. that someone familiar with the play but not star wars could look at a star wars poster and tell you which characters are narratively similar/equal to characters of the play. i am baffled. i have never, not once in my life, ever seen someone be so wrong. dude must have read an entirely different play. i'm tempted to dig up the english version and read it just to see how fucking wrong he is. he is *so* incredibly wrong. jesus fuck. how could you possibly say that

[shreddeddescent]

Hey. This is probably a weird thing to say but I am VERY excited to see ur gay incest divorce thing. I love it when characters aren't in a relationship and don't want to be it's very cool (can you tell I'm aromantic)

i have been sitting on this ask for so long cuz its so fucking funny that i dont even know how to respond

"gay incest divorce" SURE MAN. THATS.... HHHHHHHHHHH IMA KMS FR

[themyscirah]

Okay so basically the United States MINT of all people is going to be working with DC to make a line of coins! These coins sadly won't be in circulation (the things I would do to live in a world where I could get Batman coins from the supermarket) as they're collectors coins, but will be releasing over the course of the next 3 years, 2025-2027.

Designs haven't been released yet (the same is true for all 2025 designs) but we know there will be 9 coins in total (3 each year) with the first year featuring (of course!!!) Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.

Although we know the first three heroes to be featured, the remaining six have yet to be decided, and it turns out the Mint is putting out a survey on their site to gauge which of a group of culturally significant heroes people want to see most! (link to the form is mentioned in the article above)

The considered group includes: Supergirl, the Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, John Stewart GL, Aquaman, Hawkman, Jamie Reyes BB, Robin (Damian?), Cyborg, and Batgirl, of which 6 will be selected.

As someone who does a bit of coin collecting myself (mainly circulation coins like the quarters sets, but I also have a couple proof and collectors coins) I think this is a really cool and interesting idea that showcases the history of the comics medium and these characters and their influence on American culture. Really excited to wait and see what the designs look like for the coins already announced!

[exopelagic]

what WAS the normal child response to learning abt climate change actually. bc I’m pretty sure ‘depressed for at least 6 months and becoming deeply fascinated by apocalypses for ~3 years’ was prooooobably not it but who am I to say

[red-dyed-sarumane]

voca stuff is kinda funny bc the. en community im forced to see when looking for art on my twitter fyp is always like "this SUCKS this synth NEEDS to be on sv thats the only way to save it" & then like a week after release theyre either complaining that its not perfect anyway or forget about it entirely & then i come here & everyones still on "sv says its ai so we shouldnt be using it at all" bs Apparently if ive seen multiple posts on it today alone (unless several people just decided to make up a guy to get mad at which is a standard for this site) really just 2 different worlds here

[hoziersong]

it's tag venting time

[deneveve-is-lost]

I'm the worst because if I find out complete strangers who I follow on social media think something I like is annoying I start thinking I should probably just kill myself and save myself the embarrassment, it's not ideal

[lunarsapphism]

my little brother turned 17 today :( most of the time i dont think about all of my siblings ages and whatnot cause usually none of it is relevant but god. i remember when i used to make that guy blueberry oatmeal and feed it to him in his high chair when he was a toddler and ur telling me hes just seventeen all of a sudden?? that shit is fucking wild.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

why didn't they just use franziska for literally all of this.

[jackass-jones]

The most validating thing about having a brother in law is sometimes I’ll make a comment about my parents being kinda horrible and he’ll just be like "DUDE FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT IVE BEEN THINKING THIS THE WHOLE TIME BUT DIDNT KNOW HOW TO ADDRESS IT"