Out of all the characters you see as regressors, who do you think would be most delighted by getting temporarily deaged (Hi Bonney?) and who would just… stress out 24/7 because that’s NOT what they want from regression?
Ooooh that's a really good question.
So the ones I hc as regressors are mostly ones with.... hella trauma. It's not a requisite for regressing but it's smth I'm more familiar with si I err there. On that front, I think most if not all of them would be really stressed by it.
Overall I think Buggy and Luffy would be the most stressed by physically regressing to child sizes.
- for Buggy, it's jarring and that was the time he was most vulnerable. Add on some of the other psychological issues I usually depict him with, and I think actually being child sized while regressed would be a HOT MESS and it would take a WHILE before he could calm down enough to do anything other than dissociate or cry
- Luffy is vaguely similar, but his panic and stress is more external based, if that makes sense? He's the captain and needs to protect and guard his crew, needs to Be There And Be Strong for them - it's smth that already makes regressing in general harder on him. If he DOES manage to slip and Bonney beloved makes him child sized, he's going to lose his marbles - that was the age when he lost so much, when he wasn't strong enough to keep people, when he was weak and vulnerable and unable to protect himself let alone others and he's a captain now and- it's not fun. It's Very Not Fun.
Those in a tentative middle ground would be Shanks, Robin, and Sanji
- Shanks' regression is more muddled than most, but he'd still be REALLY stressed if he was suddenly child sized ((and I'm leaving the arm thing to interpretation, tho I am personally leaning to Still No Arm)). Like Luffy, he's a captain. He's got a crew to protect, and on top of that, he never wants his crew to end up like like the Roger crew either. He's a lil ball of jitters atp. I do however think he has enough trust in his crew to calm down a bit easier than Luffy or Buggy - they're powerful and he doesn't internalize the same way either of them do. All in all, he's still just kinda Blurry and Quiet and more apt to gnaw on things.
- Robin has been in survival mode for the majority of her life. Her parameters for childhood are heavily skewed and she's unfamiliar with the idea of unconditional love and protection. She's learning, and she's growing, and she's trusting. But when she regresses and Bonney makes her a matching size, her brain sort of blue screens for a moment. Logic wars with her emotions and panic. She's new to understanding safety and love and support, but she has wanted it for her entire life. So when her hands are suddenly the hands of a far-too-small-survivor, she reverts to old habits, the instinct to hide and flee and scurry. But then the new habits, the ones she's cultivating, take root and she dares to reach out, to ask, to desire. And they meet her halfway with warmth and love and comfort and snacks and games. It eases up from there.
-Sanji's regression is.... difficult to explain. It's born from a lack but the youngest he goes is around early teenage years. He still cooks and laughs and tries to smoke and puts on a fuss when the other's tell him no but secretly is happyhappyhappy about it. He's just a bit shorter, a bit thinner, less stubble with Bonney's intervention, but he still stresses over the lessened muscle mass, worries and worries and worries - but the crew just slips into normal behaviors, other's stepping up and sending him to play or goof off or relax because they're crew - nakama - family - and he'll always be a priority with them. It's a bit easier with Sanji, ironically enough.
Those least bothered are Perona, and, ironically enough, Ace
- Perona does get the initial surprise and uncanny Valley but she recovers pretty quickly bc she's kind of excited. When she regressed ANYWAY, she trusts her safety with her cg implicitly, or even with her ghosts, so she's not exactly SCARED so much as "whoa what happened??? Oh. Wow, I'm so cute!!!!" She's very excited and is absolutely getting into all manner of mischief. Happy spooky girl hours!!!!!
- Ace has.... a lot of Issues going on around regression. He struggles against it a Lot, but finding his crew and later joining the Whitebeards, he finds that it's a little easier when he can trust others. As a result, being a whitebeard pirate helps him a lot. So when Bonney accidentally-or-on-purpose makes him tiny sized, he's Angry and Annoyed and Mildly Stressed but the rest are just so excited about a Tiny Ace that the stress turns from "Oh no danger" to "Izou please I am begging you I don't wanna wear the cat eared footied pajamas".((spoiler alert, he loses. ((Extra spoiler, Izou then makes a point of making multiple pajama sets with different animals)))).