Nerd Is The Word (Patreon)

"You're crazy! Even if A.I. ever achieves complex consciousness, there's no guarantee it would go rogue and start a global purge! You can't just attribute inherent malevolence to the very concept of intelligence!"

"Why not? Us predators are pretty smart, and it's verifiable fact we're as ferocious as they come."

"But not inherently! Case in point- you're as soft inside as your silly oversized pussycat paws."

"Oh you are just daring me to eat you, little man."

~~

fellas is it gay to passionately debate ethics in modern robotics with ur roomie til like 3am

tadeo and dom's love language is arguing~

Dom is.....kind of a phony. Big cats (eg. smilodons, lions, tigers, etc) value power and ferocity above all else, namely in the form of social clout. Feline parents tend to push their children into high-flying careers in respected fields like business and politics. Dom is a bit of an outlier in that he decided to study computers- but even this is kind of a front, as he only landed on software engineering because he dreams of creating the next big social media app to make him a billionaire. It isn’t really til he meets Tadeo- relentlessly passionate cringelord of all things nerdy- that he begins to really enjoy programming for programming’s sake. That he begins to care about people beyond what kinds of favors he can get out of them, and care about interests outside of what makes him look cool and sophisticated. 

The way in which Dom was raised (restrictive and extremely socially conscious) is what makes him so drawn to Tadeo, who is either too confident or too shameless to care about how his geeky enthusiasm and odd interests are perceived by others. In the beginning, Dom is disgusted by Tadeo's cringey attitude, but really he's simply jealous. His feelings toward his roommate-rival swing between fickle admiration and snotty dismissal. Eventually he mellows out as they spend more time together, and Tadeo cajoles him into trading card games and science zootube channels. Admiration becomes the dominant emotion, until it erupts into a full-blown crush, whoops

Tadeo meanwhile is initially confused by his roomie's hot n' cold temperament toward him, but chooses to respond with friendliness, because he suspects that Dom is secretly kinda lonely. He's pretty enthused when Dom eventually starts getting the fuck over himself, and begins to view Dom as a true friend, maybe even a best friend. He's drawn to not Dom's superficial persona as a smarmy socialite, but rather the parts that are awkward and dorky and just as enthusiastic about science as Tadeo is. 

spoilers maybe (?) but they do end up boyfriends