🪿 age regressor Ryland Grace headcanons!
⟢ I’ve always seen Grace as having a pretty big age range. 0 ~ 9-ish. Generally, the more upset he is the lower he gets.
⟢ He’s a very curious little who likes to explore and play games that involve figuring things out, such as puzzles and worksheets. His love of science remains even in his younger headspace - he gets veeeerry fussy when Stratt or Rocky say that he’s not allowed in the lab. His mind gets a bit too fuzzy for his usual games when he’s super itty bitty, though - the younger that he is, the more low-energy he gets and the less he can do.
⟢ Loves to draw him and his carers together. They’re always very childlike drawings where they’re all holding hands in a grassy field with a sun in the top corner. The classic. He’s always so excited to show it to them and is super proud of himself (and a little bashful) when they put it up on the fridge.
⟢ He’d definitely be a fan of sticker charts and those noise level charts that they have up in schools. Anything he does for his own students he’s generally happy to have applied to himself. He likes a certain level of routine, nothing too restricting but just enough that he feels prepared for the day. Time outs as a means to self regulate (not as a punishment!) also work well.
⟢ He wants to climb trees! So badly! No matter how many times Stratt or Rocky tell him to get down and that he’ll hurt yourself, he keeps trying to climb them. If the tree is too tall then he’ll start to cry once he reaches the top and has to get his carer(s) to come and get him. But if it’s at a height where he can get up and down on his own, he’ll always preen like “see, I told you! I’m fine!” Even if 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t end that way.
⟢ Very teary no matter his age. Super happy? Crying. Sad? Crying. Angry? Crying. Especially if he gets hurt, he’ll be sobbing within seconds even if it’s super minor. This does not bode well with the tree climbing thing.
⟢ He runs out of energy QUICKLY. He can be running and splashing around on the beach one minute, then be teary the next because he’s just soooo tired! He forgets that he’s not quite as spry as he used to be.
⟢ He ranges a lot littler on the trip to Erid and was basically constantly regressed when he started getting ill from the lack of food. Deliriously crying out to Rocky that he’s hungry, that he feels sick, and wanting beside him constantly. That was at the point where he was too weak to get up on his own, so he spent most of his time sleeping or whining, using the last of his energy to curl around or reach out to Rocky.
⟢ Either super clingy or icked out by touch. It’s usually dependant on how old he’s regressing. The older he gets, the less he generally wants to be touched. This isn’t always the case, though! Some days where he feels particularly touch starved he’ll want contact even if he’s on the bigger side. And all of these boundaries are null when it comes to Rocky - he would crawl into his skin (rock?) if he could.
⟢ He really enjoys parallel play. He is perfectly happy to do his own thing if he’s ranging a little older, but still prefers to have someone in the room with him, both for comfort and to be there if he needs anything.
⟢ Grace in his baby headspace is suuuuch a little babbler. He loves when people go along with it and reply as if he’s saying something coherent, it makes him giggle like crazy!
⟢ I can see him babytalking as well. He does it less the older that he is - his 2 ~ 3 or so range takes the brunt of it. His tone stays super whiny no matter his age.
⟢ Definitely does the “ah! ah!” Thing when he wants something that’s just out of reach. Rocky thinks it’s adorable, it sort of reminds him of pebble behaviour when they’re too uncoordinated to walk yet so they have to trill and motion for what they want.
⟢ Grace is SUPER attached to his lucky symbols quilt. He carries it with him everywhere and will cry if it’s not in his general line of sight. He also has a little fox plushie that he’s equally if not more attached to. If something ever happened to that thing? Ohohoho. Good Luck.
⟢ Because of his lack of parents, it’s parental nicknames for just about everybody. Stratt? Mama. Carl? Dada. Yáo? Papa, etc etc.
⟢ Definitely padded on the Hail Mary - that catheter rip did damage!!
⟢ He wants those skittles so effing bad /ref. The tantrums he throws when his carers (usually Stratt and sometimes Carl - Carl’s a bit more lenient, though) tell him that he can’t gave anymore are mighty in the most… adorably pathetic way. Lots of stomping and wailing. He’s surprisingly easy to soothe for such big feelings - soothers are called what they are for a reason. Carl affectionately calls it his “mute button”.
⟢ Speaking of, Grace loves his ever-growing collection of pacifiers. He uses them even if he’s regressing a bit older. His favourite is the one with little stars on it, to nobody’s surprise. He’d definitely love star projectors as well, but gets picky about their accuracy.
⟢ He loves to stargaze outside too, especially on the Vatt. The stars are extra sparkly out on the ocean! He has to be rugged up or else he’ll be shivering the whole time, so Stratt usually gives him her coat to wear.
