#regression au

part 2 of my little!neil headcanons, jeaneil edition! part 1 can be found here. also including some pet regression because that is jean’s little fox kit mhm mhm.

a lot of my jeaneil headcanons tend to lean heavier into the dissociative parts of neil not necessarily because i think jean is any better at reading neil than andrew, but i do think he has more capability to adjust and be flexible with neil’s needs without a lot of processing time or verbal communication. i don’t really have a canonical basis for that, i just can picture neil going through a lot of different states while at the nest and jean very quickly learning to just go along with whatever. 

all that to say that pretty much all of my headcanons from the first part are still applicable, jeaneil just adds some more elements and variety. to me at least <3 requested by @queenconsort and that one anon who asked for some agre headcanons. love y’all, thank you for asking.

jean is such a natural caregiver. he has such a big heart and just wants to keep the people he holds dear happy and safe, whatever that means for that specific relationship. he likes to meet people’s needs and wouldn’t think twice about taking care of neil once it became evident that was what would help neil

neil has a tendency to mix headspaces between little and fox, usually resulting in some variation of baby fox. but his behavior can change pretty drastically depending on which headspace is more dominant. he’s much more excitable and mischievous as a fox compared to when he’s primarily little

the whole “little kit” thing came as a sort of joke on jean’s part while in the nest. “little” was used from the start to insult neil’s size and remind him of his place on the court, while “fox” was also said in a demeaning manner because of their trickery. later on, when it became clear that neil was starting to lose his identity and jean was becoming more desperate to remind him of where he came from it became more of an endearment. “kit” came after when neil started to regress and jean looked up what a baby fox is called

neil has some trouble with verbally communicating when regressed. he can use basic signs sometimes, but he’s very animalistic when primarily fox and mostly nonverbal with a not great grasp on language. he likes to growl and yip and make other fox noises

jean relies very heavily on his ability to read neil and yes/no questions because even when neil does speak, it’s sort of a toss up on whether he remembers french or not (depending on how regressed he is) and it can be very difficult for jean to parse out the meaning of neil’s not super well formulated english

oral fixation is even worse. neil is little kit teething 24/7 and uses biting as a form of communication when he can’t speak (even when not regressed tbh big emotions little body = biting). jean is very used to being used as a chew toy of sorts and adept at interpreting depending on where/how hard he’s being bitten. chewing on fingers? self-soothing/comfort. little nip? playful and wants attention. hard bite or repeated bites? genuine upset/annoyance

they have a little shared safe cozy corner in the closet with lots of blankets and pillows and comfort items. the ceiling has glow in the dark stars to remind jean that the dark isn’t scary. they made it because neil has a tendency to hide in small spaces when scared and little, and jean got tired of trying to coax the baby out from under the bed or out of the bathroom cupboard. neil considers it his fox den and jean uses it on bad days too

little neil is fascinated by everything jean does. he likes to watch jean solve rubik’s cubes under the guise of learning how, only to mix the cube back up when jean solves it and hand it back to him to solve again. he also enjoys watching jean cook and has very limited tasks that he can help with in the kitchen or he sneaks little bits of ingredients to snack on and jean pretends not to notice because regressed neil is not nearly as sneaky as he thinks he is

being primarily little is harder than being a fox because it tends to come with bad memories of when neil really was a child. sometimes he forgets where he is and isn’t sure what’s really going on. thankfully, he usually hides rather than runs but jean has had to catch a slightly older neil on a few notable occasions when he thought he was still on the run with his mother. similarly, neil tends to have more varied triggers and stronger responses when little because he remembers more of his childhood and isn’t as emotionally repressed

So hear me out @sea-owl just hear me out. What if we did a Kanthony regresion revenge au.

In which, Kate's first life was more or less not involved with Anthony and Edwina's courtship. She was just focused on getting Edwina married off and didn't care who she married.

Then Edwina bagged the Viscount Bridgerton and Kate thought this was the jackpot, BUT it turned out that Anthony made Edwina miserable for the rest of her life by neglecting her and doing exactly what he said he would do in the books, and having mistress after mistress while Edwina wilted away at home trying to be the Viscountess that the Bridgerton brood needed. And Kate who had to live the life of a spinster aunt/poor relation to Viscountess Edwina spent the rest of her life witnessing kind and gentle Edwina wilt under Anthony's tyranny to the point where Edwina starts having mental breakdowns over not being able to provide Anthony with an heir, with only Kate to console her.

In her first life, years pass, the Bridgertons don't pay attention to Kate, but she sees them destroy their chances at happiness one by one, and because Kate thinks they're all contributing to making Edwina miserable, she doesn't help them. She sees Colin lose Penelope to Debling, Francesca stay in mourning, without giving Michael a chance, Eloise live her life as a bitter spinster, Benedict go from mistress to mistress without knowing that his true love is actually a maid working for Viscountess Edwina. Kate sees Hyacinth and Gregory make mistake after mistake and end up in unhappy marriages themselves and she doesn't pity them or help them one bit. Because in her heart she blames them for Edwina's unhappiness and her eventual death at the hands of robbers during an ill fated trip to Aubrey Hall.

After Edwina dies, Kate blames Anthony and spends a considerable amount of time and resources looking for a way to get revenge and makes a shady deal with some mystical druids to send her back in time to Eloise's first season, so she prepares Edwina better.

In this second run at life, Kate is determined to keep Anthony Bridgerton from marrying Edwina, not only is she royally angry at him for being a jerk husband to her sister in their last life, she's determined to whip him AND his degenerate family into shape. Anthony running off to meet Sienna during Eloise's presentation, Kate will have none of that, he's going to take responsibility over his lunatic family even if it kills her!. Cue sending Eloise a death threat the day before her presentation, sending the house in a frenzy and forcing Anthony to be there. HA HA, lets see how Anthony likes having his nerves destroyed. On the other hand, he does end up being there when she's on her morning ride covering her tracks (for the death threat thing) and she may or may not have told him he's a deplorable human being, so there's that.

But Kate has bigger things to worry about than Anthony being intrigued over the fact she has her morning rides suspiciously close to his house. Someone needs to tell Eloise that the thing with the printer boy isn't going to work out, asap, and honestly, this is the kind of sloppy Lady Whistledown work that got Penelope caught red handed by Debling in the first place so, two birds one shot right?. Twart Eloise stupidity, make Lady Whistledown owe her a favor, and oh right, keep Anthony Bridgerton from dancing with Edwina at all costs during the first ball of the season. As you can see, Kate Sharma is a busy woman. And if she has to dance with Anthony herself to point out that Eloise is running wild right under his nose, well good! he deserves it, also, she's going to step on his feet for good measure.

What do you mean Anthony still wants to marry Edwina? why?? Kate is doing everything she possibly can to keep him busy and away from her sister, doesn't this man have 7 crazy siblings to manage? where does he find time to send flowers??, ugh time to up the ante and force Anthony into taking even more responsibility over his siblings mess ups.

Because by week 2 of the season, Kate has about had it with the Bridgertons! so fine if Edwina is fated to marry into that family of crazy people then Kate is going to have some words with them. Anthony can keep inviting the Sharmas into his house to dine at his table, but that doesn't mean that Kate has to be nice to them. especially the resident second son AND the third, because seriously no wonder they ended up making her sister cry on more than one occasion, for the sake of Edwina, Kate is going to make sure that Anthony's pack of idiots know what should and shouldn't be done to impress a lady with delicate feelings. Also someone get Francesca a box of tissues, Kate may or may not have given her a whole speech about standing up for herself and looking for love on her own terms.

Week 4 of the social season, the good news for Kate? Edwina is seriously considering the proposal of a Bavarian prince, the bad news? Anthony has ditched Sienna and cancelled his membership at the local whorehouse, this is bad news because he's now trying to marry Kate herself...And according to Lady Whistledown all his siblings think she's top candidate for the position of Anthony's Unhappy wife #1. Do these people have a masochist vein she doesn't know about?

Kate doesn't want to marry Anthony. He's an idiot who wouldn't know how to treat his wife with respect if it hit him in the head. Besides all she's done since regressing back in time is interfere with the Bridgerton's lives and call them out on their bad personality traits. And their bad choices.. And their bad relationships. In Kate's opinion that's not exactly the basis for a healthy family dynamic. (Viscountess Violet and Anthony's 6 clingy siblings beg to differ. )

But then again, Kate is getting to know Anthony in ways she never did in her first life, he's been opening up about his life and about the burden of his father's legacy and his hopes and dreams. Could it be that Kate misjudged Anthony all this time, maybe Anthony didn't know how to make Edwina happy in Kate's first life, it wasn't that he didn't want to love Edwina, he just couldn't. He didn't know how to be a husband anymore than Edwina knew how to be a wife. And things broke down before they even began. Maybe just maybe he would be a good husband for someone stubborn and cutting like Kate, in ways he would never be for someone like Edwina.

With Edwina marrying prince Friedrich and Kate's reason to come back in time finally fulfilled, Kate must make a choice, she can go with Edwina to Prussia, and once again live her life dedicated to her sister. Or she can stay in London and give Anthony and his clingy siblings a chance. A real chance.

this is related to the hyuluka au!

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ivan has been a good kid, if he would say so himself. he has excelled in his studies, one of the reasons why he was named heir. he has diligently worked to improve the domain and its people’s well-being. he did his duty once he became the marquis, and he has forged connection that has made their family name one of the strongest around the empire.

alongside luka, ivan’s… friend, if they could call their relationship as such; they are quite the genius duo from the nobility. both have wits, as well as the influence and power to easily do a task with just a wave of their hand. and they are the most powerful figures of the empire even with the royal family still standing.

ivan never really cared for the social expectations set for them, and he’s happy that luka has been wed to his dream woman. but when it’s the talks of marriage for ivan— he could only think of that ashy-grey haired man from the magic department at the academy.

till.

a commoner orphan who has always been passionate with magic, made his own spells, published comprehensive books easier for students to understand— he’s even sat at the royal meeting to publish a bill that protects the magician’s rights that solidified the tower’s independence from politics.

and yes, ivan finds this intelligent and grumpy specimen of a man, attractive. their loss if others don’t, really.

after graduating from the academy; after studying diligently, passing with flying color, and of course, bothering till for when he wants to— ivan’s life has been well.

expectedly, he does his duty for the empire and he even got to work with till— they may not be together but ivan is still living the life he likes.

until luka’s life has fell apart after the death of the duchess; which has gravely affected the whole country. ivan had to take on the role of a responsible leader for all those he could help. the empire has been losing its citizens, with people dying left and right along with the others seeking refuge in another country. ivan is the only person trying to hold this crumbling state of the empire together, and he could only do so much.

after writing to the tower, one of the only powerful figures that could probably help him right now– ivan received help. by gods, he was so exhausted that even when till himself has came to meet with him, he can’t act as the same playful, and unserious persona with him.

“you look like shit.” ever-so unfiltered, that’s how till is. and that’s what he came to like about him.

but he doesn’t have the energy to laugh. only sighing so tiredly, ivan gently pushes a file on his table. “we need help. i can compensate you all for your trouble, just name your price.”

“you’re doing this for?” till asked. and for once, ivan felt like laughing.

“you know me better than someone playing with politics like fire. i’m just… doing my duty.” he admitted. it may sound heroic, maybe even a lie, but he doesn’t have any hidden motive for doing this.

he just want a life in peace.

if he can’t get the love that he wants for himself, then he’d at least try to attain something that he could get with his wits and power. but even that is harder to achieve at the empire’s state right now.

just what the fuck is running in luka’s mind for him to hoard all the soldiers and mages and lock his domain in and out?

“i expect nothing more. just know that the tower will pull out any help that it has promised if you ever showed any more greed than just peace you claim you wanted.” till stated abruptly, signing the contract before teleporting away with magic.

somehow, it was comforting.

with the tower’s help, the empire has regained its former glory albeit slow. over the years that they have suffered, aside from purging the monsters that has invaded the country; they have also decided to overthrow the useless monarchs and replace it with a newer, and more effective ruler. as well as remove the rotten roots of the nobility and only retain those who have done their duty.

years of hard work that pays off, and well, with a closer relationship with till… ivan’s life is a bliss.

his feelings are still not reciprocated, but he’s at least— seen. ivan has fought alongside till, he has stood beside him for more than he would’ve wished he could in a lifetime and he is content.

so color him surprised when, after a tiresome night at the celebratory royal banquet for the newly crowned king— in a small and quiet balcony, ivan is being pressed against a concrete railing with till’s body on his with their lips locked together.

to say he was elated was an understatement.

they both came home to the marquisate territory, and laid on the same bed, sleeping beside each other.

he could vividly remember till’s whispers of love to him, and then when he woke up— it’s like everything is a fever dream.

as he looks around his room, which is oddly different but is all-so familiar— he stopped and thought about the other night before he jumps out of his bed to run to his study desk.

it’s true. it’s currently year ***, where he’s a teenager, in his old room before he was named the marquisate heir.

and the night before? was it really just a dream when he knows more than anyone how till felt in his arms, or how he tastes?

something’s wrong, and he needs to figure it out.

or alternatively, in the night that luka has regressed—so did ivan in all his glory, and only the two of them has retained the memories of their previous lives.

for luka, it was a chance to redeem himself.

but for ivan? he has lost the chance to finally be with till.

Regressor Cale who already live his life thousand times

And no matter how much he know, how far he goes, it's always end with a bad end

He has regression depression

Each life is different depending on how he acted

There are some life where he just the 'bad guy'

Some life where it end before it began for him

He always came back right after his mother went to Harris village

In one of his life, it's one of those where he just so tired and only want to rest

One thing is different that time, something that never happened before

The existence of his twin brother, Roksu

He is wary but only observes

This life is undeniably better then any life he's going through before

But he couldn't see the end of it because he died before he can see it

He woke up again but there is no Roksu

And the life become terrible no matter how hard he try to do what Roksu did

After a few life, he is back to a life where there is Roksu

And again, he can't see the end of it

He is convinced that Roksu is what he need to make his 'happy' end

During his life, he randomly come back to a life where Roksu exist

After the fifth time, he doesn't come back to that world for a very long time and started to think that the last time will be the last

And when he come back with one of the worse regression depression, he can't even feels glad for it become the world where Roksu exist

In this life, Cale feels more like a walking corpse than a living being

It worry everyone but they can also see how despite how empty he feels, they can see his love for his family

WHAT IF

GoD want to help Cale by giving Roksu and all hints

A temple suddenly appear in *i can't decide where*

Roksu and co. doen't really think much about it but they became curious after hearing about the rumor

How the temple is more like a galery than an actual temple

A galery full of pictures of a certain red haired young master

Anyone who only heard the rumor would think at first that the figure is Roksu

But those who actually come to see will immediately know that that's not true

It's a galery made for Cale

Each picture gave of a strong feeling

They are pictures of those lifes he live

How different those picture from the young master they know or heard of /distant, silent, empty, cold/

The Cale Henituse in the picture is so bright and warm and full of emotion

It's like, whoever see those picture can feels the atmosphere and feeling

Of course there are 'sad' pictures too, but they also full of emotions, so different from the him present

WHAT IF

Roksu found out and demand GoD to let him remember everytime Cale is back

Without knowing that there is a gap between their 'next meeting' in the next life (GoD also not aware of the gap)

Without knowing that after the third time Roksu 'regressed', Cale aware of it

I just watched Regression and I feel chatty today so here we go: a regression au that features the Ishtars. Why the Ishtars? Think about it- a cult, a child wanting to be free from their family, only one person (outside their family) that they trusted, and, most of all, a cunning child that is not afraid to do whatever it takes to get what they want. I don’t know you guys, it sounds pretty familiar. 

Anyways, list of characters and why I think they fit the roles:

Marik Ishtar as Angela: well why not? They’re both the products of a cult (granted one is imaginary and the other is totes true but still), and not only that, but they’re both gifted with a silver tongue and incredible acting prowess (Angela managed to cause a mass hysteria by fabricating lies and acting accordingly to her supposed role as a victim. Meanwhile, Marik hides behind multiple personas to manipulate people’s impression of him plus he also used it to get close to his targets). Also, they both carve freedom more than anything and will use everything they can to attain it. All in all, both are manipulative little shits that deserve a time out.

Yami Yugi as Detective Bruce Kenner: I’ll admit- I was kinda torn with this one (I want it to be Yami Bakura but...) but here’s why I picked him in the end. Bruce sincerely want to help Angela same way as how Yami wanted to help Marik (granted Yugi kinda intervened but still). However, both of them were also betrayed and/or used by their supposed damsels in distress (Angela filled Bruce’s mind with fabricated memories while Marik pretended to be a part of Yami’s friends). And yet, despite all these, the Bruce and Yami still want to help them out (Bruce granting Angela’s father’s wish and Yami banishing Marik’s darker half). So yes, I’ll be going with Yami on this one.

Yami Bakura as Detective George Nesbitt: haha you may try to say that I only picked him for shipping purposes and I’m telling you now, that’s partly true. Another reason I picked him was because, as was stated earlier, Angela trusted only George with her true feelings regarding her family. Sounds familiar, isn’t? If it isn’t well, other than Rishid (who is his brother), Marik only confided his past with Yami Bakura (until ultimately Ishizu talks to the Yugi-tachi and all is history). If that is not enough, Yami Bakura is the only one in the series (again, excluding his siblings) that Marik outright presents himself without any pretenses, so yes. Yami Bakura will be the obvious choice for this one.       

iirc you made a post abt neil age regressing and i need to know more omg !!

- @queenconsort

all my dear valentine does is indulge me and listen to me yap... and boy do i love yapping!

sooooo with many things neil josten related, there are a lot of different ways you can look at this and a variety of different aspects you could focus on. king of intersectional trauma!

first is going to be the dissociative aspect. neil is very easy to write/hc as a DID system, in which case you could focus on little alters. even without a full system, neil does canonically have rather severe dissociative tendencies and sort of getting lost in time/age/memory can be fun to explore.

next is autism! obviously this is more a me specific hc, but if you do see neil as autistic that is something than can contribute to regression. infantilizing autistic people is no good, but a lot of autistic people do experience regression to an extent or have more childlike mannerisms/interests when unmasked (myself included).

last would be the just plain trauma part. age regression is an involuntary response to stress and a coping mechanism for trauma. especially for someone who experienced severe childhood trauma, it would make sense for neil to possibly regress once he starts to feel safer.

enough prefacing/semantics, more specific hcs (and fic recs) under cut!

a long overdue prompt-fic for my darlings! enjoy! cw: mentions of hanging

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luka the ever-so daunting duke of the north has decided that he will only want to wed the one and only daughter of the count, hyuna. after asking for her hand in marriage, hyuna was invited into a glorified cage made of gold that she would then call home.

they would give her the tastiest of foods, the most gorgeous clothes but not her freedom. never her freedom.

the duke’s love for her was pure, innocent even. but his desire to keep her isn’t. luka’s whole world is hyuna. her voice, her laughter, her presence— her whole being. however, he also was selfish. and with his selfishness comes a price.

slowly, the energetic hyuna has slowly withered away. and soon, when the empire has been plagued with monsters and political enemies left and right, the duke had to leave to win the war leaving hyuna behind.

while she’s by no means weak, she was a prey in the domain where nobody liked her, but she persevered. but even with her establishing her authority inside the ducal household and territories, it wasn’t enough. the real conflict came when the duke indeed has won the war, but has been fooled and lied to that his one and only, beloved wife was having an affair while he was gone.

since then, his love was even more shackling. it was abusive. luka controlled hyuna’s movements as if it was his own, and in fear of luka killing her one and only family left, hyuna complied.

until nothing was left of her.

until her light was stolen away from her.

until she was left with nothing but her skin and bones.

until—

“HYUNA!” luka shouted in his horror. he found his beloved hanging on her room, with thin sheets wrapped tightly around her neck.

there weren’t any notes; not like she needed to leave any. the one crying in her grave was the one who caused her to take her own life.

the duke of the north has then truly become a monster that he was rumored to be. he regretted every single bit of actions that had caused hyuna distress, something he noticed but ignored just because he wanted her where he think she should be.

scouring the empire for all of its mages, he hoarded them all and locked his territory down— contributing to the rising monster predicament once again. with no mages to help with the barrier, territories who valued their so-called leaders before their people have plunged their community into severe poverty. some died of poverty, some of monster attacks, the other had to seek refuge to nearby domains. many have deserted their own countries, all for the sake of survival.

the royal family cannot intervene, nor can they save anyone since they are just as useless and selfish. at the same time, the power they hold are nothing more than just their titles. the marquis, ivan, who tries his best to help those he can extend a lending hand to– does his best but it was hard. the man power is currently on the locked domain of the north.

luka is doing a research on how to resurrect the dead. somehow, some way— he has managed to preserve hyuna’s body and has kept her somewhere safe. but all the mages have to work through tears and tiredness just to give results to the duke who began to make heads roll just because he was displeased.

and there they find it. while they cannot resurrect the dead, they can have a second chance!

luka wakes up to year *** where he was a teen and has yet to choose his bride before he becomes the ducal heir.