Sarah Paulson headcanons!!

Sarah Paulson characters reactions to a sensory overload

hey! it's mal again, i'm doing these ones because there needs to be more fan fiction to raise awareness for neurodivergence. i often have sensory overloads which is why i'm the one who's writing these! hope you all enjoy!
tw: i don't know if it will be triggering but there may be a mention of hair pulling and punching/kicking

billie dean howard - murder house / hotel / apocalypse
• you would be on set with billie when a sensory overload would happen
• billie would be off filming something and you'd start to panic, not having her close at a time like this made your sensory problems shoot
• you'd put your hands over your ears and drop to the floor, you would scream "it's too loud" "it's too bright"
• billie would notice and run over to you immediately
• "oh baby doll, is it too much?" she would ask gently, not wanting to alarm you or scare you further
• you'd nod "billie, too loud" you'd comment, your voice would be really small
• "okay darling, am i okay to touch you?" she would ask
• you would nod again and she'd lift you up and take you somewhere quiet to calm you down
• if it was really bad, and you didn't want to be touched, you'd hit her away
• "it's okay baby doll, it's me, it's billie" she would say gently and eventually you'd let her pick you up
• the voice would overwhelm you so much that you'd start to cry
• she would get your favorite blanket and wrap you up in it
• she would get your noise canceling headphones and gently place them over your ears and play your favorite playlist for you
• before putting your headphones on you, she would ask gently "do you want to come back on set with me, baby doll? you can keep your headphones on the whole time"
• you'd nod, not wanting to be away from her, so she would take your hand and gently guide you back on set
• she would place your headphones over your ears when you arrived back
• "call me if you need me darling, okay?" she'd say
• you would just nod and close your eyes while you sat on a chair

lana winters - asylum / roanoke
• lana would be so careful with you if you were having a sensory overload
• she would take you out of the situation asap and take you somewhere quiet
• "come on angel, let's get out of this situation" she would say and take your hand, guiding you away
• you'd be unable to talk because you were scared because everything was too overwhelming
• she wouldn't know what to do
• she would stress you out more without meaning to
• "baby i'm sorry, i don't know what to do"
• "it's okay lana, just hold me please"
• she would do what you ask, and she would rub up and down your back to make sure you felt as comfortable as she could possibly make you feel
• "do you want music?" she would ask gently
• you'd nod so she would get your headphones for you and put them on, making you listen to your comfort playlist
• she would kiss your forehead and wait until you'd calmed down

cordelia goode - coven / apocalypse
• cordelia would be amazing, as usual
• you would probably have a sensory overload while you were all sat at the table at dinner time
• "dee?" you'd whisper, sitting next to delia
• she would look at you in concern "what's wrong sweetheart?" she would ask you gently
• maddison would start making snarky comments which would cause delia to yell, not meaning to overwhelm you more, but it would
• "MADDISON, QUIET THATS OUT OF ORDER." she would shout across the table, scaring you in the process
• that's when the sensory overload would begin
• you'd start to cry, shake and complain about the noise being too loud, the lights would feel too bright and everything would feel too much
• cordelia would realise what she'd done and take you out of the room, you would start to kick and punch without meaning to, it would all just be too much
• "i'm sorry sweetheart, i didn't mean to cause this" she would say
• delia would feel guilty for making you scared, thus causing you to have a sensory overload
• she would have a special room just for your sensory overloads in the coven, it would have all soothing lights and your favourite blankets and teddies
• "come on sweetheart, we're going to your special room" she would say taking your hand and walking you to the room she had made just for you
• you would sit on the floor in the corner and stare at the soothing lights
• delia would ask "can i sit by you, sweetie?" gently
• you would nod, crying taking over your brain, making you unable to speak a word
• she would sit by you, and take your hand gently, until you were ready for more affection
• "c-can i sit in your lap?" the words would come out in a whisper, but she would hear you. she would always hear you.
• "of course you can." she would say, pulling you into her lap and putting her arms around your waist
• she would put calming songs on to make sure you felt better about the noise, knowing you didn't like it to be deafeningly quiet
• once the sensory overload would subside and you'd start to feel normal again, delia would tell you how much she loved you and you would apologise
• "sorry delia, dunno why that happened" you'd say sadly
• "oh baby, it's okay, i know you can't control it" she would say gently, incase it set you off again
• you'd just nod
• "listen to me sweetheart it's not something you can control, it doesn't mean i love you any less, because i don't, i love you so so much, i always will." she would say, kissing you to make sure you knew
• you'd just nod, snuggling further into her arms
• she would keep reassuring you, knowing that would be exactly what you would need to feel safe
• you would often feel like a burden after a sensory overload so delia would make sure you knew you could never burden her

sally mckenna - hotel
• sally wouldnt be very good at handling a sensory overload
• she would go to liz or iris for help
• "what do i do? she's having a sensory overload?" she would ask, panicked
• she would always want to keep you safe, but in situations like these, she felt useless
• liz would tell her to give you some music and help you relax so that's what she would do
• she would play music really loudly in the room which would cause you to scream "ITS TOO LOUD" and she would panic again
• "i'm sorry baby, i don't know what to do" she would sigh, feeling awful about the situation
• you'd point to your headphones and she would help you put them on, leaving a kiss on your forehead
• she would pull you into her lap once you'd calmed a little and she would stroke your back and your hair
• "you'll be okay my sweetheart, i've got you" she would say
• she would try and be as gentle as possible with you, but would end up being louder than you needed

ally mayfair-richards - cult
• al would be great, he would be the best actually
• he would remove you from the situation as soon as he could, taking your hand and sitting you on a chair
• "look at me sweetie" he would say, placing two of his hands gently on your face
• you'd look at him, and he would take your hands, rubbing circles on them
• he would get your headphones and place them on your head and snuggle you in his lap
• he would instantly make you feel better
• once you calmed down, he would talk to you, making sure he knew what caused your sensory overload, so that it wouldn't happen in the same situation again
• he would do her best to help you avoid sensory overloads because he knew how exhausted they made you and he wanted to protect you
• he would hold you in his arms while you calmed down

wilhemina venable - apocalypse
• despite being stern around everyone, when it came to you, mina was the softest she could be
• she had books and books about autism and would read all about sensory overloads and how to handle them
• mina would find you curled up in a ball against a wall somewhere and would take you to her office
• "little one? come on, let's go somewhere quiet" she would say, helping you up and taking your hand
• you would trail behind her and she would sit you down
• the lights would be turned off and she would have purple fairy lights to calm you down
• "come on precious girl, it's just you and me, you're okay now, no more noise, just the sound of my voice" she would say, knowing her voice soothed you
• she was so soft for you and would do anything for you
• when you'd calmed down, you would lay your head in her lap and fall asleep
• she would comb her hand through your hair to keep you completely relaxed

word count: 1545

hi! hope u enjoyed! sorry if theres spelling or grammar mistakes, or they aren't accurate it's 5am and i'm half asleep :D i wanted to finish this so i could move on to the next idea! i don't know if many people reading this are neurodivergent but i wanted to do this for myself too, so i hope you liked it! feel free to leave requests and we'll get to them as soon as we can!
-mallory <3