Mama who always has sensory toys in their bag to help ground their baby. Crinkly toys, spin gadgets or pain fidgets to help ground them via their hands or fingers.
Mama who always talks them through it and pulls them aside if the episode happens in public places. Quiet spaces work best to bring their baby back
Mama who talks to them in a firm voice to get them out of it, but no anger and no fear. Cause fear makes situations worse.
Mama who holds their hands tight and bear hugs them to reassure them that they are here and not in that dream state. Mama holds them and pats them to make sure they're able to notice that they're body is here, as well as their mind.
Mama who breathes with their baby and doesn't rush them so they know that they're safe and ok to go through it, even If it is scary.
Mama who has snacks to bring them back like sour candies or spicy foods.
Mama who coos and tells them that it's alright and gives them stuffies or comfort items after it passes.
Mama who doesn't discourage them from holding onto their items or them after. These episodes are super scary and babies need their mamas and/or stuffies.
Remember kiddos, derealization may be super scary, (I suffer from it so I totally understand how you guys feel!) But with the right items, words and coping mechanisms, it WILL pass! Even if it comes again n again. It will always pass. You are so much stronger than those icky episodes and feelings. And your mamas, papas and bubbas are always there to comfort you all. You are NOT a burden. And you give so much love to your caregivers, and they love you just as much!
Mama who always has sensory toys in their bag to help ground their baby. Crinkly toys, spin gadgets or pain fidgets to help ground them via their hands or fingers.
Mama who always talks them through it and pulls them aside if the episode happens in public places. Quiet spaces work best to bring their baby back
Mama who talks to them in a firm voice to get them out of it, but no anger and no fear. Cause fear makes situations worse.
Mama who holds their hands tight and bear hugs them to reassure them that they are here and not in that dream state. Mama holds them and pats them to make sure they're able to notice that they're body is here, as well as their mind.
Mama who breathes with their baby and doesn't rush them so they know that they're safe and ok to go through it, even If it is scary.
Mama who has snacks to bring them back like sour candies or spicy foods.
Mama who coos and tells them that it's alright and gives them stuffies or comfort items after it passes.
Mama who doesn't discourage them from holding onto their items or them after. These episodes are super scary and babies need their mamas and/or stuffies.
Remember kiddos, derealization may be super scary, (I suffer from it so I totally understand how you guys feel!) But with the right items, words and coping mechanisms, it WILL pass! Even if it comes again n again. It will always pass. You are so much stronger than those icky episodes and feelings. And your mamas, papas and bubbas are always there to comfort you all. You are NOT a burden. And you give so much love to your caregivers, and they love you just as much!
can you pretty please draw maybe a follow up to the most recent comic thing you did like Caine having to reveal he uses the pacifier. Pretty please with a cherry on top.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
De-abstaction was never something anyone in the circus had expected to be something that could actually happen. But, while messing with code trying to get a handle on Caine, Kinger had made plenty of extra discoveries. Not just the existence of their mind files, but the fact that they could be *altered*.
It wasn't easy, fast, or anything short of dangerous, but through the months following Caine's return and redemption, he and Kinger put their skills to the test.
Abstraction, in the simplest terms, is when someone allows their mind file to corrupt. With Caine's help to access the files, Kinger could work to fix the code. Not just that, but make small alterations to non corrupt code. Like his own. Able to become more lucid.
And that's how he was settled down outside, back with Queenie. They chatted endlessly atop the steep hill covered in cartoonishly green grass. It seemed just as it had once before. Save for the extra set of hands that Queenie ended up with post-de-abstraction.
Something to do with the models for circus members reflecting their files. But with those being slightly altered now, each human brought back had at least some slight alteration to refelct the change.
By the same means through which the two chess pieces were now reunited, Ribbit was back too. Except they didn't spend their first day or two back with their best friend. No... she couldn't recall exactly what happened between the two of them, but she did know that she didn't feel like facing Jax again yet.
Sure, they had *seen* Jax, around the common areas. They were sure he saw her too, but neither of them said anything yet.
Speaking of Jax, she wasn't sure of his identity anymore. Like, if "he" was "him". He appeared feminine now, not like how Ribbit recalled seeing him last. Ribbit then made a mental note to refer to Jax as "they", until she knew what was proper for them now.
Jax looked different now, and, clearly, had made some real development towards getting better. They had begun to show real comfort around the other members of the circus, unguarded enough to apologize. Maybe something they did too much now. Vulnerable enough to, when they were feeling bad, leave their room and sit near whoever seemed the safest place to be.
Ribbit definitely got the short end of the stick. Literally. She was clearly at least a few inches shorter than before, plus they now had some chub. And clothes, all baggy and of colors easy on the eyes. She supposed all of those things made her a bit less vulnerable to a punch in the stomach.
She felt jealous seeing Jax feel safe again. Maybe more than they ever felt with her. Ribbit always felt a strange beat in her heart when she caught a glace at them pushing themself up to Pomni, who would wordlessly hold them until they sat back up, ready to face the world again.
It was a feeling that made her chest let out a heavy beat, one that made her legs go weak and made her brain forget how to brain. And she couldn't even recall the reason why Jax sparked such a bittersweet feeling in her.
Ribbit knew she missed them, but she also knew that approaching them felt like mission impossible. They weren't sure what they expected to happen if they just *talked* to them, but such a feat currently felt impossible, with the way her head pounded, somehow without a single complex thought in it.
She missed her friend. But the feeling that accompanied the thought of them kept her tethered to her bed, eyes locked on the ceiling.
Ribbit stared up at the surface, admiring the stars the danced above, projected by round spinning lamp. She didn't know why she felt to fuzzy in her head.
Realistically, she knew that she should probably find someone to tether her to reality, but that didn't stop the task of leaving her room do so from seeming any less daunting. The halls felt to big to wander, and she didn't know who she would even search for if she chose to do so. Or if she found someone, if she would be able to talk to them! Her vocal cords felt locked, as if she couldn't speak even if she tried.
Despite the task seeming near impossible, she wanted a hug so, so badly.
Despite their better judgement, they rolled themself off their bed to stand. She almost fell back, her legs full of a sensation much like that of too-wet jello. Their head felt full of cotton, and they weren't sure exactly what they were even doing, but, on their wobbly legs, they stepped out of their room and into the dormitory hall.
The hall felt longer than it normally did. The ceiling felt higher. Ribbit felt smaller.
She wandered down the hall near aimlessly. The only idea in her head anymore was the need for comfort. For a hug. For someone to tell her everything was okay.
Her vision was blurry as she peered down the stretch of hall left between her and the stairs down the common spaces. And suddenly, it was too much. She didn't know why she left her room anymore. The task was too much, and she didn't know who she was even searching for.
Ribbit plopped herself down on the ground of the corridor, scooting herself over the the right wall. She pulled her legs up to her chest, and pulled her large grey shirt over them.
Ribbit didn't know how long they had sat there, curled in on themself, before a smooth voice brought them back to.
"Ribbit?" the voice spoke. Her name sounded like it was spoken from beneath a thick blanket. They looked up towards where the word came from.
She didn't recognize much of the figure, her vision simply done trying to do it's thing. She only made out a pink shape and some squiggles.
The voice spoke again, no less muffled the second time around. "Ribbit? Are you okay? What are you doing out here?"
Ribbit stared at the figure. She couldn't form one single thought, other than that the figure seemed *safe*. She had no weird feeling of something being wrong, like she did with Jax. And the voice of whoever was speaking seemed gentle.
The froggy slowly reached out one trembling hand towards the figure. It seemed nice enough. Maybe she would get the comfort she left her room in search of.