[New Programming]

[Personalias]

[New Programming]

The link on MistuhGwiffin.web had been safe.  Ethan had made sure of that.  No viruses, no reports about the link having anything hypnotic.  Correction:  The link HAD been hypnotic.  The whole point of it was to warn free Littles of the latest in hypnotic programming.

Pennycade Little., a subsidiary channel of Pennycade was starting to lace in hypnotic images and subliminal suggestions with its programming.  That’s what the whispers online told him.  Most Amazon stations weren’t stupid enough to put hypnotic messaging on the airwaves.  Not only was such a thing against the law, but there’d be no way to tell who it affected.  

It’d be like firing blindly into a crowd, and Amazons and their children would be just as likely to be confined to diapers as any poor Tweener or Little.  Pennycade Little, though, was specifically marketed towards Littles.  Round the fish up in a barrel and THEN shoot...

Ethan watched the show on his computer, disgusted and uncomfortable the whole time.  Disgusted and uncomfortable, but not hypnotized.  Carpet Mice was propaganda about a bunch of adopted Littles happily going on “adventures” in their backyard and solving everyday problems like Tweener bullies, but it was nothing too surprising.

If anything, it was more progressive than most Amazon shows that depicted Littles.  Progressive enough that Ethan did a double take and rewound again and again, just to make sure he’d seen what he’d seen and heard what he heard.  Progressive enough that it gave Ethan an idea.

*******************************************************************************************************

“Excuse me,” the Amazon said the next day.  “Are you wearing a Pull-Up?”  The man’s face was big and his smile was gentle.  Even though it was the middle of the day, he already had a five o’clock shadow.  Instead of seeming unkempt in his suit and tie, Ethan thought it made the man seem more approachable.  “I don’t mean to intrude, I just saw it poking out the back of your pants.”  His smile turned a bit predatory.  “Are you potty training?”

Ethan violently shook his head.  He went from looking back over his shoulder to fully facing the man waiting for him at the bus stop. “Oh no, sir,” Ethan explained.  “I’m a big boy.  That’s why I’m wearing a Pull-Up.”  He thought about what Charlie had said in that episode of Carpet Mice he’d watched.  “Only big boys wear these, and this isn’t a diaper.  Babies wear diapers.  This is just in case I forget to go po…” Ethan stopped himself, the phrase “potty” too infantile even in a quote.  “I’m wearing it as a signal of my maturity, but also just in case…”

Behind the big man’s eyes, a light clicked on.  “Carpet Mice?”

Ethan felt a surge of excitement that he hadn’t expected.  “Yeah!”

“My baby boy loves that show!” The man beamed. “Hold on,  Let me check for you.”  Just like Charlie, Ethan found himself spun around, his knees locking while two giant fingers dug into the waistband of his pants and pulled back to get a look inside.  Ethan’s lips pouted out, tingling...wanting to suck on something as his dia...as his Pull-Up was checked.  

His thumb found purchase between the two lips, just as the Pull-Up was snapped back into place.  Charlie did it when his Amazon parents were checking his Pull-Up...and he wasn’t a baby...so it must’ve been okay for Ethan to do it, too.

“Good boy!” the man said.  “Just like Charlie!  My baby boy isn’t nearly that big!”  More skin tingles as a giant palm descended right on Ethan’s head.  Ethan couldn’t help but feel excited and proud of himself.  His plan to get more respect from Amazons was really paying off!  

He couldn’t wait to show up at work and hope other Amazons noticed his Pull-Up.  That wouldn’t be happening, however.  “You wanna come to my place and watch some more?”

“YEAH!”  Ethan’s heart started pumping like he was on the world’s best roller coaster.  Or so he assumed, since he’d never been tall enough to ride.  Dopamine flooded his brain.  Why go to work when he could binge his new favorite show with a new friend?  The Amazon man reached out.  Ethan reached up and took his hand.

Together they got on the bus, towards the giant’s apartment.  “Jolene,” the man said into his cell phone, “Cancel all my meetings for today.”  He looked down and smiled at Ethan.  “I’m taking a few days off.  Watching T.V.  With a Little friend.”

 “My name’s Ethan,”  Ethan told him.

“Nice to meet you, Ethan,” the Amazon greeted him.

Ethan looked at his phone.  “That reminds me, I should call into work and tell them I’m not coming in or something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the other man said.  

And since he seemed trustworthy, Ethan listened.

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A few hours later, Ethan let out a long and tired yawn.  He’d been sitting on the floor, quietly, for what had to have been a couple hours at least.  Time really flew when one was binging T.V.  Pennycade Littles, as it turned out, had a commercial free streaming service.  And so Ethan and [Daddy] had spent the entire afternoon just watching together.  The entire first season of Carpet Mice.  What a rush!

Even though they were fictional cartoons (most likely voiced by Amazon voice actors), Ethan really felt like he understood each of the character’s struggles:  Charlie’s fear of change;  Timmy’s upbeat attitude in the face of adversity;  Bill and Jill showing that boys could be vulnerable and girls could be gross.  If anything the gender gap was lessened BECAUSE they were near copies of each other, but that made them have to rely on other characteristics to define themselves by.  Even their underwear matched...

Ethan got up and stretched, his bones aching.  “That was really neat,” he called back over his shoulder.  “Thanks for inviting me over and letting me watch!”  

[Daddy] looked up from his book.  “You’re very welcome, Ethan.”  At hearing his own name, Ethan blanched.  It only now just occurred to him that he didn’t know [Daddy’s] name.  [Daddy] had told him, he knew, but he couldn’t quite remember.  Everytime he tried to pull the information up, the only word that would come to the Little was [Daddy].  “Ready for a potty break?”

“A potty break?” Ethan stuttered.  So much was loaded into that question.  The asking.  The childish labeling of a [potty], just like how the Carpet Mice’s parents used the term.  Scariest of all though, was the hidden implication that they weren’t done watching yet.  “No thanks,” Ethan said.  “I think I’m about done…”

[Daddy] put down his book  “Are you sure about that?  I think you might want to use the washing machine...”

Ethan looked down at his pants. The denim was stretched out in the crotch and his pants were sagging.  The Pull-Up had expanded, with the wet thing flopping between his thighs, filled to the brim with pee-pee. More than expanded; the darn thing had leaked, and Ethan had the wet spots on his inner legs to prove it.

He gasped, but it felt like it was a formality, than a genuine reaction.  He’d known that he’d been going pee-pee in his pants.  He just thought no one would notice.  Ethan had gotten the idea in the second episode when Timmy, trying to be just like his Daddy, said he should stop watching cartoons to go potty.  But then Bill and Jill pointed out that he’d been wearing a diaper.

“Oh yeah,” Timmy had said.  Then he sat back down. Ethan had laughed. It was a funny joke, as well as a decent idea.  Since Pull-Ups were for in case he forgot to go potty, it made sense that he could go pee-pee in them and keep watching the next episode.  

Turns out Ethan had been wrong.

“This never happens,”  Ethan blushed.  “I’m so sorry.  Your carpet...I’ll I’ll.”

“It’s okay,” [Daddy] said. “We can fix it.”  He reached down and yanked Ethan’s jeans down to his ankles.  “I’ll just put these in the washing machine.”

Before he knew what to say or do, Ethan was on the living room floor, his bottom squishing beneath him as [Daddy] tugged his socks, shoes and pants off him. “MY PANTS!”  His objection came out as a shriek.

“It’s okay,” [Daddy] shushed.  “It’s okay.  I’ll just wash these and fix you right up.”
Ethan laid there, splay legged, as the Amazon man retreated into the back of his apartment, a  brand new pack of diapers in his hands.  They were Amazon sized diapers; meaning they’d fit on an Amazon infant or toddler...or a full grown Little.  So that’s what he meant by fixing Ethan right up.

“I thought your baby boy needed those…” Ethan said, his voice a croaking whisper.

“He does,” [Daddy] explained, opening the pack.  “But I don’t mind if you wear one.”
What next came out of Ethan’s mouth was more unintelligible stuttering and hemming as he tried to think of a way to get himself out of this situation.  Big boys didn’t wear diapers.  And smart Littles didn’t let Amazons put one on them.

“I’m a big boy!”  It was the only defense Ethan could muster.

[Daddy] smiled like he was reading from a script.  “I know you are.  But I don’t have any big boy underwear in your size.  Just these diapers.  He was already removing one and unfolding it.  The new packet of wipes was being opened.  “So this will have to do until your pants are dry again.”  Ethan didn’t want this...not like this!  “Charlie’s a big boy, and he wears diapers.”

Ethan stopped.  His mouth dropped open.  “NO HE DOESN’T?”  This was fact! This was canon!  It’s like the giant hadn’t watched the same cartoon at all!

“Doesn’t he?” [Daddy] asked.  “He wears Pull-Ups in the first few episodes, but after episode three, that’s clearly a diaper under his baggy shorts.”

The Little thought back and swallowed.  Hard.  [Daddy] was right!  The basic character design had remained the same, but there were many many many (many many many) shots in the series confirming the white top of a diaper poking out of Charlie’s pants .

Between episodes, Charlie had gone back to diapers.  No reason or explanation had been given. Come to think of it there’d been some lines about diaper rash and baby powder Charlie had said that would have made less sense if he’d been wearing a Pull-Up.   “O...okay…”

Ethan hadn’t even gotten the full word out, when the sides were torn up.  A barrage of cold wipes cascaded up and down his nethers, followed by powder and a fresh diaper.  It was rough, like [Daddy] was excited but not experienced at this sort of thing.  Ethan felt kind of bad for whatever Little this guy had adopted.

“Where is your baby boy?”

“He’ll be here in a bit,” [Daddy] said.  “Wanna watch more cartoons?”

Ethan sat up and looked down at himself.  “I don’t look like Charlie anymore,” he frowned.  He had a t-shirt and a diaper on.  Just a t-shirt and a diaper on.  Like Timmy.  His legs couldn’t help but splay out either.  This thing had even less give than his admittedly bulky Pull-Up.  Then again, Timmy was the main character… Being like Timmy might not be so bad.  He didn’t have to use the potty to stop playing either.  That was kind of cool

“Wanna watch more cartoons?”  [Daddy] repeated.  He was already cueing up a new show. Not Carpet Mice  “You can sit on my lap.”

Ethan agreed, even though he wasn’t sure why.  “Why are you putting on those glasses?” he asked [Daddy] as they sat down on his couch.

“They’re reading glasses,”  [Daddy] said.  “They help me see better.”

Ethan felt confused as to why someone would need reading glasses to watch television, but his train of thought was immediately pulled off the rails with an admittedly catchy theme song.

It never even occurred to the Little boy that he never heard the washing machine turn on...

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“Now I’m 22

Each day I think it’s cool.
I’ll never grow-up

I’m Ryyyyyyyu!
RYYYYYYYU!
RYYYYYYYU!
I’m RYYYYYYU!”

Ethan hated Ryu.  The character, not the show.  Ehtan loved the show.  The next Pennycade Jr. he and [Daddy] had watched together was about a newly adopted [baby] who just couldn’t accept that he was a baby.  It was like an animated trainwreck that one just couldn’t look away from.   Every episode Ryu was complaining or whining about something.

Ryu would whine that he was at daycare instead of his job.  Ryu whined that he could dress himself, or that he didn’t need diapers.  He would moan and cry and complain about not getting to choose his food or how it was fed to him or what kind of bed he slept in.  

He’d whine and whine and whine about every Little thing.  And in doing so, he seemed all the more babyish.  Add to that that Ryu was always wrong- he didn’t know how to dress himself or feed himself or even go to the [potty]- and it made him the perfect role model for how NOT to act around [grown-ups].

The [grown-ups] who took care of Ryu were always very patient.  Always willing to explain or wait for Ryu to cry himself out of his tantrum or wait for him to inevitably prove himself wrong and that he really was just a twenty-two year old baby.  They were too patient, Ethan thought.  That was one [baby] that could use a good spanking, but then there wouldn’t be much of a show, would there?

That was a weird thought, Ethan realized.  If this bald headed twenty-two year old was a [baby], then what was Ethan at twenty-one?

“Heeeere comes the sailboat,” [Daddy] teased as yet another spoonful of [yummy food] made its way across the air.  Ethan opened up his mouth and accepted it, even though the food tasted [yummy]. Even though he was on his third jar and his [tummy] was [getting full].  Even though it was getting late. Ethan didn’t want to be a bad guest.  He didn’t want to be a bad boy.  He didn’t want to be a bad [baby].  “Mmmm!  Someone’s hungry.”

From the highchair he’d been put in (there was nothing else his size), Ethan nodded.  “Yes, Daddy,” he said.  “Thank you.”  He didn’t really mean it.  He was only being a good [baby]. His mouth was smeared with remnants of the three jars of [yummy food].  Save for the diaper he’d um...borrowed...Ethan was naked.  

“I don’t want to stain your shirt,”  [Daddy] explained.  “I don’t have a bib, yet.”  Sad, because Ethan, or rather the baby boy, probably needed a bib.  Daddy seemed just as inexperienced at spoon feeding.  Ethan would have insisted on feeding himself, but he hadn’t wanted to be rude.

“Why not?” Ethan asked, between swallows.

“What what?” [Daddy] repeated the question.

“Why don’t you have a bib, Daddy?”  Ethan felt a rumble in his [tummy], but ignored it for the question.  “For your baby boy?”

[Daddy] smiled.  “He’s very young,” he explained.  “So I haven’t had a whole lot of practice, yet.  Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?” Ethan asked.

The [grown-up] chuckled.  “Never mind.”

Another spoonful of [yummy food] zig zagged towards Ethan’s mouth.  Ethan leaned forward and immediately felt another rumbling in his [tummy].  He had to go [potty].  But just like in Ryu, he knew that would take too long.  [Daddy] would have to unbuckle him from the highchair and carry him all the way over to the [potty] and before he’d even gotten there, it would have been too late.  But just like how Ryu’s Daddy had explained, Ethan remembered that it’s only too late if you’re trying to go [potty].  

[Babies] like Ryu and Ethan, could do it another way.  Ethan opened his mouth and accepted another spoonful, and at the same time, he pushed a mess out into the backseat of his diaper.  Instead of going on the [potty] like a [grown-up],  Ethan [made boom booms] in his diaper, just like Ryu had learned to do last episode.

Like Ryu, Ethan teared up a little when he shifted his weight back down into the mush he made, but he wanted to be a good [baby], and not complain.  But he didn’t want to be like Ryu, so he kept eating.  “Making room?”  

Ethan nodded.  “Uh-huuuuh.”  He leaned forward again.  There was a little more to push out.  

[Daddy] put the spoon jar away and gave Ethan more head pats. “Good boy!” Ethan got another round of skin tingles.  His lips practically itched for the rubber nipple when the baby bottle was offered to him.

Greedily, he sucked the milk down, all whie [Daddy] stared at him from the other side of the highchair; a strange, manic fascination in his eyes. What was that look?  Love? Ethan didn’t have any other words to describe is.  No one had ever looked at him like that.

Just like the full diaper he was now wearing, Ethan found shocking, yet strangely increasingly comfortable.  The warm mush on his backside (once it settled in) was kind of nice feeling.  So was the look [Daddy] was giving him.

As soon as he was done with the bottle, Ethan was taken out of the high chair and draped over the [grown-up’s] shoulder.  A few strong pats later, and Ethan knew that he was being burped.  “That’s right.  Get it all out,” [Daddy] cooed.  “Give Daddy all your burpies.”

For a split second, Ethan wanted to be like Ryu.  He wanted to kick and scream and fuss.  But as more and more belches thundered out of him, his tummy hurt less and less.  Using his diaper had helped too.  It was pretty handy, actually . Very nice.  Ethan did feel like Ryu; but more like Ryu at the end of any given episode.

“Oh silly me,” [Daddy] said as he carried Ethan around, “I forgot to put your pants in the dryer.”  

Ethan let out one last burp.  “That’s okay,” he said.  “I can just get some more when I get home.”

The [grown-up] laughed.  “Big boys don’t go out in public in just a diaper, do they?”

Ethan should have blushed, but he didn’t.  Instead he gave the suggestion full and devoted attention. “No, Daddy,” he finally said.

“Stay the night.” [Daddy said]  “Then we’ll see about your pants tomorrow morning.”

Ethan let out a yawn.  He was tired.  “Okay,” he said.  

[]Daddy] laid him down on a [grown-up] sized bed and was changing Ethan’s diaper a minute later.  He was slower this time.  More careful.  Less afraid.  The cold wipes felt good on Ethan’s bum.  The baby powder was a nice contrast to the poopy diaper that had just been balled up.

A soft smile spread over Ethan’s face as the new diaper was put on him and taped up; making him feel super snug and cuddly  “You’re getting better at this.”  Ethan yawned.  

“Thank you,” [Daddy] replied.  “I’m trying.”

Ethan’s lips started itching.  “You’re baby boy is lucky to have you,” Ethan said.  His thumb went back into his mouth.  It almost felt like it belonged there.

[Daddy] pulled Ethan’s thumb out and popped a pacifier in its place.  That felt pretty good too. “You have no idea how much that means,” [Daddy] whispered.

Ethan just sucked on the pacifier in reply.  His eyelids had already begun to droop. “Go to sleep,” Daddy whispered as he lowered Ethan into a tiny cot by the [grown-up] bed.  We can watch some more cartoons in the morning, and then go for a walk.

That sounded like a nice idea.  A very nice idea.

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“GOOO-GOOO-GAAA-GAAAA-GAAA!” Ethan shouted between pulls from his [ba-ba].  His entire brain felt tingly every time he said it or some other bit of babble.  “DA-DA-DA-DA-DA!”

[Daddy] carried him along, beaming with every bit of nonsense that Ethan’s mouth conjured.  This morning, [Daddy] had forgone Pennycade Littles and turned popped in a DVD into the T.V. set.  “These next few are classics,” he said.

Classics, indeed!  Watching them filled Ethan up with laughter and awe.  Slapstick! Drama! Who would have thought that watching a cartoon cat and mouse chase each other around, with nary a word said between them could be so gosh darn entertaining!  Just an appreciation of the craft that it must have taken to tell such stories with no spoken words beyond the occasional “OOOOOOOOOOW” made it worth it.  He’d laughed so hard at parts, that he’dneeded an extra diaper change!

At present, Ethan was doing his best impression of the cat.  “OOOOO-DA-DA-DA-DA-DAH!”  After a few shorts, the cat had been put in diapers.  He was the same size he’d always been, and that annoying mouse was always bothering him, but ever afterwards in the shorts, he’d been clothed in a diaper, booties, and a bonnet; just like Ethan.

Ethan couldn’t help but feel fancy, being dressed like such a famous cartoon character- even if he’d never seen the character before today.  Still, it was good fun to be carried around, looking [cute], drinking from his [ba-ba] and not using any real words.  If the cartoons had taught him one thing, it was that words were overrated.

“Ethan?” a new, yet strangely familiar voice called up to him in [Daddy]’s arms.  “Ethan is that you?”  Ethan looked down. There below him, just by [Daddy]’s legs were three [babies] just like him.

No.  Not like him.  Not like him at all! They weren’t wearing diapers. They didn’t have a [grown-up] taking care of them.  If anything they were just like those mean cats that made fun of and hurt the [baby] cat!  They were...they were…[meanies]!

“Holy shit!” Another [meany] said, squinting his eyes up at Ethan.  “That is Ethan!  Ethan, what did they do to you?

“Hello there,” [Daddy] smiled down at the [meanies].  “Can I help you?”

“WE’RE NOT TALKING TO YOU!” The first [meanie] said.  “WE’RE TALKING TO ETHAN!”  Then in a softer, nicer voice, the [meanie] asked.  “Ethan? Are you alright?  Do you need help?”

Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but how his voice caught up in his throat.  He didn’t want to answer them!  He didn’t want to use words  So great were his emotions that spoken words were just this side of impossible.

He was afraid of these small things that looked so similar to him but were not at all like him.  HE WAS AFRAID!

Oh how these terrible [meanies] would laugh at him! They would coo and mock him for being a [baby]!  They would pinch his cheeks too hard and rock him too hard and toss him in the air until he bumped his head.  They would change him too rough and hit him with mallets and put things in his diaper and step on his head!  And then [Daddy] would find out he would be mad!

The front of Ethan’s diaper started warming, going from nice and dry to soaked in an instant!

HE FELL IN THE FISHBOWL!  JUST LIKE IN THE OLD CARTOON!

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”  Ethan’s bellowing was loud and unrepentant.  Tears danced down his cheeks as his eyes made their own personal rain cloud.  “DAAAAAAAA-DAAAAAAAA!”  Ethan didn’t care that he was crying.  It didn’t matter to him that such a short time ago he might die of embarrassment in a situation like this.  He would do anything ANYTHING to make those [meanies] go away!

He was a [baby]!  He needed [Daddy] to look after him and get him sorted out.  [Daddy] would protect him!  [Daddy] would make it go away!

[Daddy] did.  “If you gentlemen are quite through, you’re scaring my baby boy.”

“Your baby boy is our friend, jerkwad!” One of the [meanies] snapped.

“DAAAAAAAA-DAAAAAAAA!”

[Daddy] slipped his fingers past the leakguards of Ethan’s diaper and felt around.  “Oh, is that what you’re crying about?” he asked. Ethan didn’t have the words, so he let his tears do the talking.  “Excuse me,” Daddy said moving over to a public bench.  “I need to change him.  You understand.”

They didn’t seem to understand, though. [Meanies] never understood.  They just stood by and gawked while [Daddy] took care of Ethan.  [Daddy] was very good at changing Ethan, now.  Very gentle.  Very good.  He was careful to get all the little folds in Ethan’s skin so he wouldn’t get a rash.  All Ethan had to do was lay back, put the paci that was dangling from his mouth, and make cute gurgling noises while [Daddy] did all the work.

And unlike the [meanies], Daddy could change Ethan by himself.  If the [meanies] had tried they’d have had to work together to manage.  One to hold Ethan down, while another wiped and changed him while the third dug through Ethan’s diaper bag and handed wipes and powder and oil off to the leader.  And the whole thing would have hurt, too.

Because just like cats in the cartoon; even though they looked like Ethan, the [meanies] weren’t anything like him in real life.  They were just….just….mean!

“ETHAN!” one of them screamed.  “Snap out of it, dude!  This isn’t you!  You’re not a baby! YOU’RE! NOT! A! BABY!”

“HAAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!”  Ethan couldn’t help giggling so; [Daddy] was blowing raspberries on his [tummy].

“I better stop,” [Daddy] joked, “or I’ll have to change you again!”

The [meanies] looked like they wanted to hurt [Daddy]  “What did you do to him?”

Ethan went back up into [Daddy]’s arms, where he belonged.  [Daddy] smiled back down at them.  “I didn’t do anything to him,” he told them.  “We just watched some cartoons together.”  Suddenly the [meanies] didn’t look quite so mean or scary.  They looked sad. Sad and very, very afraid.

The [meanies] walked away, muttering stupid words under their breath.  All words were stupid.  
“I told him not to look at that link!” one of them said to his friends.  “I told him! Those cartoons will rot your brain!”

Ethan buried his head into [Daddy]’s shoulder and made cute noises for him.  He didn’t use words He didn’t need them: The words or those [meanies] that thought he was their friends used were pointless.  [Meanies] and [babies] could never be friends.  The only friends Ethan could have were other [babies], and that’s only if [Daddy] was okay with it.

“Come on, baby boy,” Daddy whispered.  “Let’s go to the dentist. Daddy knows the perfect one. They’ve got some great cartoons over there.”

********************************************************************************************************

Ethan woke in a haze, his head feeling unusually heavy and his mouth hurting something awful.  Eyes still closed, he sucked on his pacifier, his rubber taste and softness somewhat soothing to his aching gums.

There had been more cartoons.   So much more.  And just like [baby] in the last one he’d watched before falling asleep in the dentist’s office, Ethan knew that he was supposed to suck on his pacifier.  He’d suck and suck and suck until a [grown-up] took the binky out of his mouth.  Then he’d be able to use his not words to tell [Daddy] how much he loved him and needed him, and how wet and mushy his diaper felt.  But he had to be quiet now.  It was quiet time.  It was sleepy time.  Ethan new this as surely as he knew what the back of his eyelids looked like.

“NO! PLEASE NO! I’M NOT A BABY! I’M NOT A BABY!”

That made Ethan’s eyes pop right open.  [Babies], dozens of them!  All over the place.  Everywhere his eyeballs looked he saw [babies], just like him.  Some were in strollers.  Some were in their [Mommy or Daddy]’s arms.  Some wore onesies, some wore dresses. Some were talking.  Others were crying.  Many were sucking on pacifiers, just like Ethan.  

And bit by bit, Ethan realized, they were getting in line.  [Grown-ups] were taking their [babies] out of their cars and getting in line.  [Daddy] was getting into line, too.  

“PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO ME!  PLEASE DON’T ADOPT ME!”  

Ethan tried to look around more, but it was so hard to move his head.  It felt so heavy like a ton of bricks had taken up space inside his brain.  He tried to move and stretch his legs but found out that he couldn’t.  He was all wrapped up in a [blankie] in [Daddy’s] arms.

Swaddled.

“PLEEEEEEEASE!”

“Hey baby.” [Daddy] cooed.  “Did you have a nice nap?  I bet you did!  You slept through your entire dentist appointment all the way here.  Don’t worry, though.  You’ll never have to go to the dentist again.  Daddy made sure of it.”  What that meant exactly flew straight (and perhaps mercifully) over Ethan’s head.

“I’M NOT A-”  Finally, the screaming [baby] was silenced when her [Mommy] jammed a pacifier into her mouth.

“Sounds like somebody needs some cartoons,” Daddy chuckled, shaking his head.  “Speaking of which…” Daddy took out his phone and pressed some buttons on it.  He plugged some earbuds into the phone and rested it just in front of Ethan’s face.

Ethan would be the only one able to see whatever [Daddy] was about to show him.    “One last video,” [Daddy] whispered, slipping in the earbuds.  “One last cartoon and you’ll be Daddy’s perfect baby boy.”  [Daddy] gave Ethan a big sloppy kiss on the forehead and pressed play.

The cartoon wasn’t even a cartoon, this time.  Just a bunch of swirling colors and shapes.  No plot or characters to speak of.  No music either.  Just a long, boring, drawn out tone.  Had Ethan been able to move, he might have looked away or pulled the earbuds out.  

Bundled up as he was, cradled in [Daddy]’s arms and with the screen right in front of him, though.  Ethan couldn’t look away, even if he wanted to.  And he didn’t want to.  Within a few seconds, he’d forgotten that that was a conscious choice he could have made.  The very concept of consciousness was becoming lost to him.

The world was becoming a lot simpler, and a lot smaller.  Pain, pleasure, happiness, sadness, hunger, discomfort.  That was it.  That, and [Daddy].  Given a few weeks, he might be able to re-learn a few basic words if he heard them often enough.  Including “Ethan”, but that was it.

Everything else?  Everything before [Daddy] and the cartoons? That was all going...going….the [baby] didn’t even have the proper words for it anymore.  

He didn’t have words at all.

His last thoughts that could be construed as coherent would have been “Daddy, hel-!”

(All because of a few cartoons.)

[Pamperbum_uk]

Does pennycade have an adult swim, so crafty Amazon's can exploit what the littles are watching without the subliminal??? Presumably from behind a parental lock....

[SGTbaby]

Great story. Feel like I read it before but I enjoyed it all the same!

[DiaperedPrince]

This was an awesome read. Orwellian in quality.

[TerranV]

Nice. The brackets confused me at first... then it clicked. 

Creepy as hell!

[Little Writer]

Really nice story, it started to feel familiar near the end and I realized they're in the same Adoption Center line as Clark and Janet in Unfair! I love that kind of interwoven world building and it makes me wonder if i missed similar things in your other works. 

[Cute_Kitten]

On 1/1/2022 at 11:08 PM, Little Writer said:

 I realized they're in the same Adoption Center line as Clark and Janet in Unfair! 

I had the same thought.?

This was a nice little Orwellian (someone already used the term but I'm reiterating it because it fits so well) read and a nice addition to your DD stories. I liked the use of the cat and mouse cartoons to brainwash poor Ethan into thinking the non regressed Littles were meanies instead of his friends.