Hypnosis Doesn't Work Like That!

A story started on Jan 25th, 2019. Based on another Wattpad story, which had an interesting concept but was almost unreadable due to head-hopping first person, inconsistent tenses, and similar issues.

This version is the story of an almost-adult girl (who may be adult before the story ends). Kitty Angel is writing it without any proper planning, experimenting with the half-improvised style that seems to be popular on Wattpad, and with posting one or more chapters every day.

Characters:

• POV character: Adelaide Juniper Spenser - Mostly known as Adi. Has also been Adele, Della, or other variations at different times in her life. Huge ego, thinks she's smarter than everyone else. Never learns anything because she's so sure she knows better than everyone; falling behind in school.
  • Garfield - Adi's brother (or half-brother?). More successful, and starts the story on a foreign holiday with his father.
  • Adi's mom (Nyxoriña Spenser) - somewhat absent-minded. Works long hours, tries to be her daughter's friend but has no idea how to talk to her. Does a really good breakfast.
    • Grandma Jacobs - Adi's grandmother, presumably Nyx's mother. Died when Adi was young. Used to call her "Addykins".
    • Uncle Berenstein - Nyx's brother. They used to argue a lot. Mentioned in chapter 56
• Mr Bøzinger - Nyx's boss at one of her jobs.
• Britney Wakefield - One of Adi's best friends. Cheerful bubbly goth. Wears goth clothes, acts like a stereotypical goth, but is really a lot smarter than anyone realises, especially Adi.
• Toni Walker - Muscular tomboy with a crush on Adi. Britney's "sidekick" (Adi doesn't get this in-joke, and it drives her nuts), and third member of the group of friends at the start of the book. Has an epi-pen in her bag; Britney and Adi have taken a class on how top use it, possibly some other friends too.
  • More detailed descriptions of many of Toni's family can be found in chapter 226.
  • Hendrik Walker - One of Toni's brothers. Has a nice car, which she borrows in chapter 40
  • Pea Walker - Toni's dad. Fairly well-off, works away from home a lot.
  • Uncle Jürgen - Toni's uncle, who's been known to stay for months at a time.
    • Harry - Jürgen's son, often stays at the same time. Loves cooking. Real name Hansel, but prefers Harry because he doesn't like to stand out.
  • Uncle Walt - Another uncle known to stay on occasion, but less frequently
    • Sherwood Goldings - nee Walker. Toni's cousin; not sure who his father is. When he married bf Alan Dale, there was some dispute between the families about which name they should take. They settled it by making up a new surname, which is some kind of private (possibly dirty) joke between them
• Teachers
  • Miss Featherchase - Adi's literature teacher. Old fashioned, super strict, and not open to new ideas. Refers to students by full name. Nose looks like a beak, and her shriek of anger sounds almost like an eagle. Toni refers to her as "Leatherface".
  • Miss Catterton - Maths teacher. One of the younger teachers, has some respect from her students. Approaches them like friends until they break the rules
  • Mr Kibblesmith - Geography teacher. Addresses students as "You" and points rather than learning their names
  • Mrs Ivanovic - Known to use the school's courtyards for a crafty cigarette between lessons
• Dean Carter - Possible romantic lead, if the story gets that far. A student at the college Adi wants to go to.
  • Belle Carter - Popular girl, queen bitch. Not clear if she's really the bully Adi thinks of her as. Captain of the volleyball team. Calls Adi "Juniper", which Adi thinks is mocking.
• Lady Larsen - The hypnotist who made the files. May possibly be the same Lars mentioned in the Big Little Bus, adopting a female pseudonym.
• Moistville College staff
  • Dr Lupus - Student disability advisor. Meeting with Nyx to make sure the campus is a safe place for Adi.
  • Marina Oakenclough - Tall woman with red hair. Only her students and subordinates call her "Professor" because they're the ones who need to be most respectful. Head of Foundation Studies, so in charge of everything on foundation day.
  • Annabelle and Cherri were the guides on Adi's campus tour
  • Professor Rosewood - former psychology lecturer, also a student mental health consultant.
    • Juniper Wolenczak - student mentioned as in chapter 76
  • Dr Horace "Dutch" Elminster - ginger hair, wears a comb-over in an attempt to stop his bald spot getting sunburned whenever he visits his brother's beach house. It never works. Introduced but not named in chapter 76
  • Professor Beach - Head of the media sciences faculty
  • Professor Firestone - First name Amidala. Tall, dark hair. Speaks very deliberately with a trace of a French accent. Honorary professor as she doesn't technically have a role in an academic department. Responsible for the intake of students with special needs. Refers to Adi as "Miss Spenser" when they first meet. Quite formal.

Places:

• Schwingford - the town where Adi's school is
  • Leonard Juiban High School
    • Grimer Street - goes past the back of the school. There's a gate where students can get onto a car park, but one of the janitors is supposed to check of ID on entry.
    • Growlithe Road - street at the front of the school. Access for vehicles is staff only, but there's a long stretch of kerb where many students are dropped off or catch the bus
  • The Miller Arcade - A small shopping arcade two streets away from Toni's house. Includes:
    • Samedi's - A supermarket, at one end of the arcade. Sign declares it to be the largest branch in the chain.
    • Dominic's Pizza Yurt - at the other end of the arcade. Pretty fancy restaurant with an odd smell of incense
    • Baby Bonanza - Decorated almost entirely in pastel pinks and yellows; sells everything baby related (chapter 20)
    • Wulf, Wellspring & Sons - Pharmacy
  • Weepinbell Avenue - where Toni lives. Pretty nice neighbourhood

• Duzcheburg - A small town on the outskirts of Schwingford. Where Adi and Britney live.
  • Duzcheburg All Angels church - big building, notable landmark. On the boundary of the town's residential areas, so Toni won't ride her bike fast until she's passed it (when coming from Adi's house)
  • Chansey Street - On Mom's way home from work. She often stops there for takeout from one of several places
    • Ting Ling Wang's - Chinese restaurant on. Huge portions, Adi's mom gets one curry for two people at times.
    • There's a taco truck often parked on the corner with Gardevoir Avenue.
  • Raikou Crescent - Where Adi lives. Grey-brown stucco walls. Tiny strips of front garden, more likely gravel than grass
  • The Mercer Centre is about a half-hour drive away (at least at the speeds Toni drives, which may be a little over the limit)
    • There are shops named Sheer (where Toni expects to get accessories for Adi's smart outfit) and Dābs (which is in the same area)
    • There's an Onix Square entrance, which is a good place to stop for a snack.
    • There's also a Lairon Square.
  • The Merlinson Arcade is where Britney spends a lot of time when she wants to get away from her parents. It has a small cafe.
  • Graveller Road - near Adi's house, winding road that goes between quarries and factories. Stops as Duzcheburg Station.

• Moistville - a short train ride from Duzcheburg; if Adi is still living at home she'd have to get Mom to drive her to the station every morning.
  • Moistville College - Dean is a student there, and Adi is applying. First mentioned in chapter 36
    • Parts of the college map are colour coded, and the signposts (many of them built into fountains or sculptures) are mostly colour coded. The area around Zahl Building is buttercup yellow.
    • Note: buildings are named after famous generals (real and fictional). Parks are named after Kamen Riders.
  • Lots of description in chapter 62
  • Two courtyards are Sylveon Square (where the Hammond Building is) and Glaceon Square
  • Custer Building has a lot of residences; Zahl Building has most of the theatres and some editing suites for characters doing media studies.
  • The Maverick Centre is on Arceus Road.
  • The Peckem Building is where Adi will end up living. It's a 'blush pink' on the map, and the lobby is done out in the same colours. It's the main residence block for students with special needs who don't want to be right next to their classes, and most rooms can be adapted for different needs.
  • Gaim Park is one of several parks around the city centre. It's made up of small groups of trees, with gravel paths winding across the grass between them. A place where a lot of people can meet without seeming like a growd. Has an amenities block with toilets and coin-operated showers (for joggers); and a kiosk selling tofu burgers.
  • Hux Tower A building near Gaim Park which houses a number of college administrative offices. Where Adi went for her interview.

Timeline

Written

• Tuesday night - listens to the file, first test
• Wednesday - triggered by mom, then by Featherchase in school. Goes home with Toni
• Thursday - triggered by Toni's dad on speakerphone. Tells friends. Triggered by Belle. Evening, gets book list from Brit and asks Mom to call her adi
• Friday - triggered by Belle in the morning. Mom finds note. Sees Belle/Dean arguing at school. Triggered by Leatherface again
• Saturday - Mom cryptically questions Adi. Its about a month until Adi's birthday. Adi and Toni go shopping at the Mercer Centre. Adi says "If I was really an adult baby" line.
• Sunday - Garfield gets home. Big argument. Mom lays down the law, and admits she knows Adi's secret.
• Sorting out birthday presents; Mom asks Adi about the baby stuff she's seen, suggests some other things she could get like a mobile for her room. Adi embarrassed and angry. When triggered, she buys herself the mobile without thinking. - planned for Sunday; might actually have ended up being Monday
• Monday - Foundation day at Moistville College. Garfield and Adi can't get over the previous day's argument. Adi meats Dean and learns his (first) name
• Tuesday - Adi goes to stay with Toni, finds out that Britney thinks she wants to be a baby
• Wednesday - Adi doesn't have enough diapers to get home; Toni refrains from triggering her, earns some trust. First kiss, and Adi finally learns about the danger to her bladder muscles. Mobile arrives at home. Confrontation with Belle. Toni overhears Adi listening to file; doesn't realise she's trying to change her baby name
• Thursday - Toni finds out Belle wants a guitar (not sure if I skipped this scene)
• Friday - Last day. Gives Belle a copy of the hypno file
• First week after school
  • Adi gets used to living with Toni for a while
  • Toni now believes Adi is intending to become a baby, but promises not to push her. Trying to retrain her bladder muscles
• Second week
  • Adi thinking of Toni as her girlfriend now. A couple of tentative kisses. But still too nervous to say the word
  • Nyx hires Dean as "babysitter". He's not sure he understands, but willing to help
    • Maybe a bit of coincidence, but she's hunting for people who have a reason to be in both Moistville and Schwingford, so it fits
  • Movie night; end up watching Bibi Babi Miko movie. Adi enjoys acting like a baby for a while
• Third Week
  • Adi tries going without diapers. Thinks she's mostly cured
    • Triggered by hearing about the city Adelaide on the radio, wets her pants, Toni thinks this is a signal that she wants to have a "punishment" scene
  • Lets Toni trigger her again, and finds that maybe it's a little fun
  • Voluntarily wets herself once, before she's an adult
• BIRTHDAY!
  • Gets a selection of birthday age badges. So she can have a party with her friends and celebrate being technically an adult, with booze and stuff. But if she wants to play as a baby, she can just change her badge, and they'll treat her as a younger age. No triggering unless she chooses to wear a diaper again, or gets out the 'special' tshirt Toni bought her.
    • Gets the guitar, and is so happy about it.
  • Adi gets something spilled on her shirt. Goes to change, and uses the bathroom at the same time because she doesn't quite trust Garfield. Then eavesdrops and overhears some of the party plan; all built around giving her the choice. But she hears her name; puts on the special shirt without realising, and everybody else thinks it's voluntary because she hasn't wet herself and that seems to confirm the assumption that she hasn't been triggered.
  • Adi has a "first birthday" that's fun, but she gets very little choice in being turned into a baby
• for the rest of the week she's triggered several times a day, and pushed to add more baby behaviours to let her 'family' keep her regressed
  • Garfield is being a jerk occasionally; triggers Adi in the hope of
  • Introduces Dean as the babysitter
  • Adi's dolls are acting out the plot from The Tempest; so she's studying for her exams without realising
• for the rest of the week she's triggered several times a day, and pushed to add more baby behaviours to let her 'family' keep her regressed

Extra Plan

• Bits added so it doesn't seem cruel to have Adi being a baby for so long. Not sure about the order for these, so any thoughts welcome
  • Garfield's being a jerk again, "when you get back to your girlfriend's" trigger
  • Garfield comes up with the reading trigger, making it easier to
  • Mom asks Adi again if she's comfortable with being a baby
    • Says she's having second thoughts, but doesn't want to just stop
  • Adi manages to text Toni the safe word
    • Toni comes back from work exhausted, a load of stress including her phone dying in the middle of an important negotiation
    • Adi decides not to push the "want to be adult" thing, because this is relaxing for both of them
    • After a long day, she realises that Toni is helping her to prepare for exams even while she's little, and how much this is helping her.
      • Deletes the message before Toni sees it
  • Adi sets up a failsafe; the safe word automatically gets sent to Toni when her exams are over.

Planned

• Toni, Dean, Britney, Nyx, and Garfield all watching out for any attempt to escape; because they think the game of trying to get out of this is part of the fantasy for her.
• Exam season. Adi's allowed to go to school for exams, with her baby behaviours modified so that she can act like an adult only while the exams are in session.
  • During this, Belle finds out what's going on, and joins the family in the hope of rebuilding her relationship with Dean
• Over the summer, Adi can be a baby almost as much as she wants, until the college year starts.
• Not allowed any real adult time; a few escape attempts, or trying to be an adult, but always caught and triggered.
• Most mornings she wakes up adult, but whoever's looking after her will always come in to trigger her before she can persuade them that she really doesn't want this.
• One morning she gets a notification email from a site she used to post on, and she looks back at all her horrible, bitchy reviews that she thought were so funny when she didn't believe in hypnosis. Dean comes in and discovers that he's read her work in the past.
• Dean starts behaving different, less caring maybe. Adi can't understand.
• One time Dean tries to tell Adi what he feels about those old reviews, but can't get the message across right. Ends up missing the time she's supposed to listen to her file, but she automatically tells Nyx as soon as she gets home.
• Adi 'kidnapped'. Dean won't tell her what's going on, uses the triggers to make her behave through airport security, won't tell her anything.
• Arriving in another country. No cell reception at the holiday cottage. Adi knows she has to call home, but has to charge her phone first. Listen to music while it charges (ooops), Dean hears when he comes in, scolds her, and takes the phone. No way to call home.
• Not sure if the final sequence should be Adi's POV, or focus on all the others trying to track her down.