#.....idk what to tag this. it's not really agere cuz it's physical regression

[marshmellowtea]

not to be on my physical regression bs again but can we pleeeeaaaase imagine chris somehow getting turned back into a pudgy toddler with chubby cheeks and little hands that cling onto anyone who's gentle with him and who flinches whenever anyone's too loud or moves unexpectedly around him and the entire cast is taking turns holding him when he asks to be picked up and wondering how anyone in the world could be cruel to this tiny little thing.......

[barbieswithbettyfinn]

If someone were to write a NSAP heathers fic what prompts would you give out that you don’t personally want to write/would prefer to read?

That’s a really good question, wow. Thank you for asking!

I try my best to write everything people request of me, and honestly, so long as the grammar is decent and there’s some effort put in, I’ll read just about anything as well (go easy on the epithets is all I ask). But I have a fairly good grasp on stuff I’m a lot more hesitant to write about than others (but maybe will in the future! Never say never!).

Since this got super long, I’ll put it under a Read More. After mulling it over for a few days, I was able to come up with seven prompts of sorts, and my reasons for them. Most are pretty broad so make of them what you will!

TW for mentions of impure regression, toxicity, as well as very brief mentions of abuse. If I need to tag more, feel free to let me know so I can edit it!

Impure regression is something not often shown nor talked about (which is understandable, given it doesn’t make people feel good), nor is it even that widely known. But sometimes it happens, and there’s no shame when it does. I did try to write it myself and, uh... it didn’t work out.

JD actively being a bad daddy. The key word here is actively since I have written a fic that alluded to this dynamic before. I’ve got a soft spot for JDonica (I know lol) and there’s not a lot of fics for them in this niche. There’s a profound sadness to stories about toxicity, but, on the other side of the coin, so much hope as well. We read them because we want the characters to get away, get help, get better, be better. But it’s tricky because it’s so easy to be overt with it to the point of shattering the audience’s suspension of disbelief (Too Bleak, Stopped Caring), and conflate being toxic with being abusive (of which the variety will almost always be physical, with large helpings of verbal and emotional. And sexual to really hammer it into the ground). Toxic relationships are not always abusive; on this I speak from personal experience.

I’m putting autistic Heather Mac here too, not because I don’t want to write about her, but as an allistic person, I simply don’t know enough about autism to do her any sort of justice. I don’t even put out autistic Mac headcanons because I don’t want to accidentally offend anyone (also I don’t have any). But let me tell you, I love reading stories about her. More neurodivergence, more representation please. Teach me. Let me see what you see, and how you see it. I love it. The stuff I write is actually more age regression (which is sfw) than age play (which is kink, sexual or non-), but the tag on AO3 is weird (ie: Age Regression/De-Aging. I feel it’s misleading to put De-Aging when no one is physically turning younger, idk) and I mention this because agere can be a coping mechanism for some as well as for recreation and leisure. And don’t feel limited to just Mac. If you have neurodivergent headcanons for any of the characters, go for it! Also I love autistic Cady Heron, wow

This also goes in with my “toxic isn’t necessarily abusive” tangent above, but I’ve been flirting with a new poly ship that has no fics yet: Betty Finn/Veronica Sawyer/Heather McNamara. Cuz I love McNamawyer, and I love Beronica, but both at the same time? Oh boy. (I’ll have to make a post on them later.) Usually when I write Mac, big or little, if something upsets her, she gets sad and then she gets snuggles. But with Betty in the picture, specifically little!Betty, Mac gets mad. Wicked jealous. Even possessive. Girl’s got mommy issues and insecurity through the roof. Adding a third person into the picture really changes the dynamic. And not only is that new territory for me, her being mad and even mean (you know, as a treat), but I’m not at that point yet where I can reconcile these two very different portrayals of Mac and keep it trucking. So angry!McNamara, especially in this context. This is another one I tried writing and not only did it get toxic real quick, but my dumb brain decided the story was finished before Betty even physically showed up lol.

I guess I wouldn’t mind reading about pet regression since there’s like, none in this fandom. I actually only headcanon one character who pet regresses and it’s not for Heathers. And research has been difficult so I’d purrfer to leave it to people who know more and can do more with it than me lol.

While I’m not one for physical punishments, I wouldn’t mind reading about them so long as there is proper aftercare. That’s all.

And I’m not one for pairing JD up with Kurt and Ram either (not too hot on Kurt and Ram in general, honestly), but, as I said before, if there is effort put in, I will read it. No bad ideas, only bad executions. I’ve never had a reason to care about Kram in particular, not even in fic, because characterization has, more often than not, never been the focus for them. They’re just Those Two Guys who dick around in the background, or their actions cause damage for someone else (usually Veronica or JD). It’s always plot-driven and not character-driven. I don’t know them because their characters have no solid ground to stand on, and I’ve never wanted to know them because what they do have isn’t exactly appealing. I genuinely can’t tell them apart sometimes, and when translating them from movie to musical, even the people running the show seemed to think they were interchangeable (Mac was dating Ram in the movie and the note to Martha was from “Kurt,” whereas in the musical Mac was dating Kurt and Martha had a thing for Ram... why?). All this to say, give me a reason to care and I just might. I truly wouldn’t mind getting on board another ship, especially since there’s no overlap as it would be with the girls. It wouldn’t hurt any.

I think that’s it.

I know these are very broad aside from probably one, but I don’t want to limit anyone’s creativity. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that. I greatly look forward to reading any and all future content regardless, because this corner of the fandom is so small. Thank you again for asking this question. I hope you have a great day, a nice night, and that next day for you goes just as well if not better!

[marshmellowtea]

What's the non sexual age play tag? Or is that what the tag is? (Asking because I want to look in it for genuine reasons not hate reasons)

that's what the tag is called, yeah. it's an ao3 tag that i frequent a lot because that's where a lot of age regression fics end up—i don't think a lot of younger people realize this, but before there was a significant, distinct age regression community, things that we now just consider age regression would just be lumped under sfw age play/cgl. that was technically a kink community, though, and eventually people realized that no, age regression is its own distinct thing that a lot of minors wanted to partake in for a variety of reasons, and people started to branch off into their own genuinely sfw, non-kink affiliated communities like cglre and chire and such. at least, that's the way i experienced it growing up and watching these communities divide, so idk if that's universal, that's just what i saw happen on tumblr.

i have.....some things i could say about the way it rose up and the harm it has done to contribute to this general atmosphere of hostility toward kink and adult spaces it's caused, but on its own, i really don't think it's inherently a bad thing for these spaces to have their own names and rules. that's not really my beef here, and i'm gonna.....reel in this side of the discussion before i go on a tangent here.

what is prevalent is that since age regression as we know it today wasn't really a thing when ao3 started, most fics that would be considered genuine, nonsexual regression ended up under the non-sexual age play tag, and because agere being a community of its own is still a relatively new phenomenon, it just kind of stuck that way. most "proper" age regression fics end up under the nsap tag, while the actual age regression tag is grouped with de-aging and thus generally implies physical regression. that doesn't mean you can't use it for mental regression, though—i actually generally prefer to use both tags on my agere fics—but it definitely has a different connotation than the one most people want for their agere fics.

i go into all this to say that there are people, probably mostly younger people, probably people who aren't aware of this history, who seem outright disgusted by the fact this is the case. i don't wanna demonize people for being uncomfortable with the tag—age play is still technically a kink term and age regression is generally understood to be separate from kink nowadays, and so it's perfectly fair to be uncomfortable with that!—but the problem comes when people do use this tag, claiming they're being ~forced~ into doing so (ao3 doesn't really force you to use any tags but okay), and throw big whiny fits about how their fic isn't ICKY AGE PLAY but rather PURE, WHOLESOME AGE REGRESSION, they're not DISGUSTING for using this tag cuz it's out of their hands, they can't help it, and isn't ao3 so wrong for making them do this???? they really should've fixed this by now, just more proof the site is evil!!!1!.....nevermind the fact there have been attempts to make a separate age regression tag for the agere community (that have mostly failed because people haven't properly mobilized to make them usable, but still), and that, once again, ao3 isn't making you use the damn tag in the first place and if you're that uncomfortable with it, then why are you using it at all?

it's....more a matter of tone, and also a complete and utter lack of self awareness that bugs me. there are people who do this in a less self pitying, virtue signaling way by putting a small a small "age regression not age play" in the tags that still kind of make me roll my eyes, but it doesn't feel as irritating to me as the people putting full on rants in the tags about using a tag no one is making them use in the first place. and, of course, they'll use the excuse of "well, it's the most popular tag, i do have to use it!!!" which is just a silly argument to me because they're just openly admitting their exchanging their personal discomfort for hits, which is....a superficial reason to use a tag that gives you an apparent full on meltdown, honestly.

sorry for going off on your very simple ask about this topic hglkdsajfkl, it's just......one i'm passionate about and i never really had the chance to properly express all my feelings on it. like i said, i really don't want to demonize people's very valid discomfort, it's just the hypocrisy and the lack of giving a shit of how we go to this point that bothers me. they don't care about why this tag is the most popular tag, they're just mad that it is. this isn't even getting into the kink negativity aspect of it all, but i think i've rambled long enough, so i'll stop here now.