This is something I wrote back in 2016 but never posted anywhere. I’m not sure how successful I was at creating a story classification system. You can judge for yourself. — Jennie 2019-06-17

Adult Baby/Diaper Lover stories that are found on the Internet seem to have a limited number of patterns to them. As a writer of these stories, I’d like to break out of the established patterns, but in order to do so, I need to explore and study just what the established patterns are. Therefore I’ve decided to make some sort of classification system for them.

What do I mean by a classification system? Basically this should be a way to say very briefly what sort of scenario the story employs. Of course, the elements of any story can be used – point of view, conflict type, setting, etc. – but there are certain conventions that appear specifically in amateur Internet fantasy stories in general as well as AB/DL stories in particular.

Universal Story Elements

Plot

The plot of a story is what determines whether the story is over or still ongoing. It is the contour of tension that drives the story along and makes readers want to keep reading. It is the journey from beginning to conclusion. The plot is what the story is really about.

If there’s no plot, there’s no story – that’s why another word for plot is storyline. But there are many kinds of plot. Boiled down to a fundamental level, the plot is what the story sets out to do and works its way toward, and in the end, it does it, and then it’s over, possibly after tying up some loose ends.

Types of Plot

The most common driver of plot (but by no means the only possible one) is conflict. That is, the story’s central character or group of characters is in conflict with some other force, which might be another character or group of characters, a more faceless opponent, or perhaps even against themselves. Our main character or characters have a goal that they want to accomplish, against some sort of opposition.

Conflict: PvP

Video games must have storylines and thus plot, or else they’re just forgettable mechanics, so I’m borrowing some videogame terms here. Player-vs.-player games pit one player against another in an arena of some form. Likewise, many stories have a central character who is trying to accomplish some goal, but they have an enemy who’s trying to stop them. Sometimes that goal is just survival – the enemy is trying to kill or otherwise harm them, and they’re trying to stay alive. The enemy could be another person, but in science fiction or fantasy genres the enemy could be an alien or a supernatural entity.

Conflict: PvE

Player-vs.-Environment games pit the player against a number of computer-controlled environmental factors, whether they are enemy spaceships, armies of monsters, hostile terrain, or what have you. In stories, likewise, many times you’ll find the main character trying to survive in a hostile environment, fighting against society’s condemnation, trying to break a magic spell, trying to retain his/her humanity in the face of all-controlling technlogy, or otherwise facing off against a faceless opponent.

Conflict: Internal

I can’t think of any videogames that actually pit you against yourself, but that’s the third kind of conflict, in which the main character is fighting a battle against himself/herself in some way. Perhaps this is symbolic of some major decision the character must make. Perhaps the character’s very nature implies internal conflict. Perhaps the character is struggling against his/her own destiny as he/she perceives it. But it is possible for a character’s opponent to be … the self.

Exploration and Discovery

It is also possible to have a plot that doesn’t involve conflict per se. It might be classified under PvE, but one such form of conflictless plot is the exploration story. The main character here is exploring some sort of unknown territory, whether it’s an uncharted island or planet or whether it’s an internal exploration into parts of his/her own psyche that have been buried for years. There might be dangers and threats to overcome, but the overall plot of such a story is just a journey of discovery to find out what’s there.

Transformation

Another conflictless plot is the self-transformation story, in which the main character learns new things about him/herself and is forever altered by the experience. There might be conflict along the way, but the overarching plot is not one of conflict.

Plot Development

The plot of a story has a beginning and an end, but the key to a plot that engages readers is tension. Tension builds to the climax, at which point the story is more or less over, though loose ends can still be tied up. The plot “arc” tends to look like this:

Inciting Incident

The event that starts the plot in motion is the inciting incident. It may not be clear to the readers at first what the inciting incident was, just as it may not be immediately clear what the plot is, but by the end of the story, the readers should be able to look back and see clearly where it was. That means the writer must know exactly where it was too, by the way.

Exposition

Explanatory information isn’t really part of the plot, but where it appears should be in the early stages of the story before things really get going, or it’ll slow things down. Exposition is the author explaining things that the reader may not already know or understand about the characters or setting. The narrator may do the exposition, or the characters may, but it’s usually necessary. There can be exposition before the inciting incident or after it, or both, but by the time the action really gets rolling, you’d better be done with the exposition.

Rising Action

During any story, the main character pursues whatever his/her goal is and is blocked by whatever opposition is in his/her way, and most likely this happens multiple times. But each time it happens, the stakes should be higher, the consequences for failure more severe, the bang bigger. Tension should build. This is not to say that there can’t be an oasis of calm here and there so the main characters (and the readers) can catch their breath. But there is always a progression from one event to another.

Crises

A crisis is a point where the plot can go one way or another, but not back. It’s a moment in the story when it’s clear that things can never be the same again. Usually this involves the main character making a crucial decision. Sometimes stories will have a series of well-defined crisis points; other stories have no crises whatsoever. It’s an optional technique.

Climax

Near the end of the story will come the climax, the point where the tension is finally resolved. It’s important to note that this resolution can go either way – the main character can succeed or fail. The hero can finally defeat the villain, or die trying. Either way, the plot is resolved; the only question is whether it ends triumphantly or tragically. Either way, the story is over after the climax. Note that some use the term “crisis” to refer to the climax. I won’t do that, but in a way, the climax can be looked at as the final crisis.

Denouement

Some stories will end abruptly after the climax, which is a legitimate way to do things. After all, the story is over. But It’s often more satisfying to readers to see some tying up of loose ends, to see the aftermath of the struggle, or to see that the hero’s sacrifice had some effect. The denouement is the term used for this finale to the story. Some use the term “denouement” to refer to the climax, or merely to mean the end of the story. These meanings are incorrect, and I won’t be using the term in either of these ways. The denouement is the “falling action” after the climax, the mirror image of the rising action.

Viewpoint Character

Whose story is this? Novels and long stories might have multiple important characters, but especially in shorter stories there is usually one character whose experiences form the bulk of what this story is about. Perhaps the viewpoint character tells the story himself/herself, or perhaps she/he is only the person with whom the most time is spent, but there is usually a limited number of viewpoint characters, and sometimes only one. Some stories will rotate through their viewpoint characters, showing the reader what is happening through the eyes of more than one person, but not using more than one at once. Other stories won’t be so careful.

Point of View

Who is telling this story? When we’re outside quotation marks, whose voice is speaking? Stories have narrators – without them, there wouldn’t be much of a story – but who is this narrator? Is he/she a character in the story, or a detached nameless entity only concerned with relating the pertinent details? Can he/she tell us about the intimate thoughts and feelings of one or more of the characters, or only about their words and actions? The narrator tells us the story from his/her point of view.

Typically there are only two categories of point of view – first person and third person. Technically, these should probably be first-person singular and third-person singular, but since there’s no common standard for plural points of view, the “singular” is typically dropped. Other points of view are possible, but they’re not common, and when a story is told from a point of view that isn’t first or third person singular, it’s usually something experimental, and the point of view is something unique to that story and thus unclassifiable. It’s like a computer: if you bought one off the shelf, you can say you have a Dell Dimension XP500, but if you built it yourself from parts, it will take more words to describe it.

The narrator may or may not be the viewpoint character.

First Person

As you’re probably aware, a first-person singular pronoun is one such as “I,” “me,” or “my,” the type one uses when talking about oneself. First-person point of view means that the narrator is a character in the story, and as such we see him/her interacting with the other characters. Usually we also see what the narrator thinks, feels, wants, knows, etc. as well. However, the first-person narrator can’t see into other characters’ minds (unless this is a science fiction or fantasy story in which there is mental telepathy or the like, but that is still going to be experienced from the viewpoint of the narrator), so the narrator must merely describe what others do and say. He/she can only speculate about what other characters may think, feel, or want based on what he/she sees them do and hears them say.

In stories with first-person point of view, the narrator may be the viewpoint character, but that’s not necessarily always true.

Example: I picked up the phone, wondering who could be calling at this late hour. “Hello?” I asked.

Third Person

Third-person points of view tell the story using pronouns like “he,” “she,” “him,” “her,” etc. The person who is actually doing the speaking doesn’t speak for himself, herself, or itself – we don’t know which, because the focus is on the characters and what they’re doing, saying, thinking, feeling, etc. And that’s another thing – the narrator might tell us about what the characters think or feel, or not. Whether the narrator does so is called the narrator’s omniscience.

Omniscient

Third-person omniscient point of view allows the narrator to tell us anything and everything that is necessary to tell the story, including what any character is thinking or feeling at the time. The narrator can even tell us facts about the characters’ pasts or what they know or don’t know about other characters.

Example: She dialed the phone, hoping that he was home, but at the same time fearing that he would answer. What she didn’t know was that she was calling on the fifth anniversary, down to the second, of the phone call that had told him about his best friend’s death. In fact, he didn’t know this either, at least not consciously; all he knew was that, when the phone rang, he felt extremely alarmed for no reason he could pinpoint.

Limited Omniscient

Third-person limited omniscient point of view means that, according to whatever rules the author has set for himself/herself, the narrator has the ability to tell us what some characters are thinking and feeling, but not others. Perhaps there is only one character whose thoughts and feelings are revealed to us (usually the viewpoint character), and perhaps there are more than one. Often the difference between omniscient and limited omniscient points of view is a matter of opinion – after all, even in omniscient point of view, there will be minor and background characters whose thoughts and feelings have no bearing on the story and are therefore not described.

Example: “Hello?” she began furtively. “Sam, it’s Lisa. I’m calling because of something – something I heard today.” Did he know? How would he react when he found out that she did? Apprehensive, Lisa found it difficult to go on, especially when Sam said nothing.

Objective

Third-person objective point of view means that the narrator tells us nothing about what any character thinks, feels or knows – only what they do and say. There can, however, still be a viewpoint character, the one whose experiences are most frequently followed and described.

Example: She spoke slowly and precisely. “There’s a rumor going around,” she said, “that you were seen leaving May’s house late Saturday night. I thought you’d told Jill that you weren’t seeing May anymore.” She paused. Sam was still silent.

Alternating

Some stories alternate points of view – especially long stories or novels. It’s possible to have a series of first-person narrators or to move back and forth between more than one viewpoint character. It isn’t common to switch from first person to third person, but it’s not unheard of (switching in inconsistent ways, however, is a sign of poor style).

What Makes It an AB/DL Story?

Diapers

Diapers form a big part of every DL story, of course, and most (but not all) AB stories feature them as well. Why they’re so prominent probably has to do with how powerful a symbol they are: anyone wearing diapers is violating a taboo that is ingrained into us very early in life: only babies wear diapers. You want to be a big boy or girl, don’t you? Well, that means learning to use the potty like big girls and boys do, so you can be out of diapers. Big boys and girls don’t wear diapers. Maybe there are a few people who need to wear diapers into adulthood, or a few others who have injuries or diseases that require them to go back into diapers, but they’re just not usually talked about, and when they are, the diapers are mentioned as part of the disease or injury. Whether the diapers are used or not, whether the diaper wearing and/or use is voluntary or not, or whether the diapers are needed or not, there’s a good chance that it’s an AB/DL story if it focuses on one or more characters wearing diapers.

Classification: Diapers ([object])

Incontinence

Characters who are or become incontinent often form a big part of the typical AB/DL story – often the story is a chronicle of the viewpoint character’s journey into incontinence, willingly or not, often as part of other types of regression. And incontinence is seen in such stories as a type of regression, not as a pure and clinical medical symptom, because we all have this visceral connection between wearing and needing diapers and being a baby.

Classification: Incontinence ([object])

Regression

Although it appears more in stories toward the AB end of the spectrum than the DL end, regression is very common, though it takes on many forms.

Physical

In stories with a lot of science fiction or fantasy elements, physical regression is possible, where we see a character actually transformed into a baby via scientific experiments or magic spells. Mental regression sometimes goes along with this, or sometimes it is treated as an inevitable side effect of the physical regression. In any case, in such stories the character becomes the physical size of a baby or small child with the corresponding physical weakness and lack of coordination. Loss of hair or teeth often goes along with it, as does chubbiness and sometimes poor eyesight.

Classification: Regression (Physical, [object], [age])

Mental/Emotional

Some stories contain mental and/or emotional regression, in which the character’s mental faculties are regressed to those of a baby, partly or in whole. This may require science fiction or fantasy, or it may merely require hypnosis – perhaps in the story universe it is possible for an adult to mentally and emotionally regress temporarily to an infantile state of mind via hypnotic suggestion, or even permanently if the state is constantly reinforced by all others around. The character may no longer be able to speak like an adult, using some juvenile language, talking entirely in babytalk, or merely babbling incoherently; they may become unable to read or even to understand when others speak to them. They may become emotionally unstable, crying and screaming when upset or giggling uncontrollably when happy. They may lose interest in adult pursuits and become fascinated with baby toys and video designed for very young children. They may forget things they learned in school or how to do very simple tasks that they learned as “older children.” All of this may go along with a physical regression, or it may be purely mental, leaving the subject effectively like a severely mentally disabled person. Of course, as depressing as this could be, it can be made delightful in the correct context, if they are made happy and kept happy within their new mental state.

Classification: Regression (Mental, [object], [age])

Social

“Social regression” is what I call it when a character is put into the social role of a baby by one or more other characters. In other words, if everybody (or at least everybody in sight) treats you just as they would treat a baby, you’ve socially regressed. If everyone in the house is always checking your diaper to see whether you’re wet or bringing you baby bottles to drink from or bringing you baby toys and playing with you, you’ve been socially regressed. If you’re being put in a high chair and bib for meals because you might make a mess, or if you’re put in a crib to sleep in because you might fall out of bed, or if you’re put in a car seat to keep you safe, you’ve been socially regressed. This might or might not go along with any mental or physical regression and doesn’t by itself require any kind of science fiction or fantasy scenario to be possible.

Classification: Regression (Social, [object], [age])

The Object

Most AB/DL stories focus on the experiences of one person, usually the viewpoint character but not always, who is put into diapers, treated like a child or baby, and/or caused to regress in some way. However, because stories tend to take place in a stereotypical version of modern or recent society and because the social roles of men and women in such a milieu are fairly different, the experiences of male and female characters in these stories will differ sharply, so I’ll treat them separately.

Male

Given that males in most cultures are seen as the strong ones, the tough ones, the fighters, the self-sufficient ones, or the loners, male characters who are regressed are by necessity playing against type. The typical experience among males is a constant struggle for dominance of some sort, which in same-sex stories manifests as one partner being dominant and the other submissive, but since women don’t even form part of the male competition, male-female stories typically show the male assuming he is superior to all women (sometimes to the point where the woman puts him in his place) or needing the woman’s help to escape from the stress of competition.

Willing

Some male characters go willingly – for example, they’re adult babies, as the writer and/or readers of the story might be. But how willing are they?

Truly Willing

Plot usually doesn’t allow for a truly willing person to experience his every fantasy come true. But then some AB/DL “stories” aren’t stories per se; they have no conflict and therefore no real plot. They can still be enjoyable, but they won’t be as intense an experience to read.

On the other hand, there’s the possibility of the AB/DL elements not being the main plot of the story; some conflict can arise that makes this into a real story but doesn’t directly correlate with the AB/DL experiences of the subject.

Then there are some stories that are billed as “true stories,” whether they are true in reality or not; the usual rules about plot development don’t apply in this case. What’s happening is simply a recounting of events that supposedly really happened, and like events in real life, there isn’t necessarily a well-defined structure to them.

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Willing, But …

Now, there are some ABs who wouldn’t really become babies if given the choice, because of realistic concerns – what if there is no one around to feed them and take care of them? What if they would suddenly be without income? What if a threat arose – they’d be helpless! They want it, but they know they can’t realistically have it – but what if it’s thrust upon them anyway?

Alternatively, there’s the idea that they go along with it, until it goes too far, farther than they thought it would go. Perhaps it starts out as a temporary game that threatens to become permanent, or as a game of social regression that comes to involve more and more people, or as light mental regression that becomes total.

Unwilling

Stories involving unwilling men are fairly common, considering that most men in the world wouldn’t be caught dead in a diaper – in fact, most people of either sex and most ages wouldn’t either. But they are sometimes forced into it anyway, either by necessity (incontinence, for example) or by other people (by domineering parents or spouses, for example).

Truly Unwilling

These are the men who really don’t want to be in diapers but their wives or girlfriends force them into diapers in one way or another, or force regression upon them somehow. Or they’re boys who wet the bed and their parents make them wear diapers. There’s also a popular subgenre in which one or more family’s parents decide to cure their delinquent sons by turning them into baby girls.

Unwilling, But …

Then there are the ones who seem unwilling but aren’t really, like the subgenre in which boys are put in diapers (and sometimes girls’ clothes) and are initially resistant but find out they like it. Or the ones who are somehow hypnotized or mind-controlled into seeming to want it (but does this count as willing?).

Female

Girls and women in most real societies are raised with an initial expectation that they might well be mothers someday, and because of this it’s common for some girls to grow up never being very far from the trappings of childhood and childcare – although of course they’re not the ones being treated as a child anymore. By the time they’re old enough not to need diapers and pacifiers and high chairs themselves anymore, they might well be helping their mothers take care of younger siblings, or helping their friends’ mothers, or, a short while later, babysitting for extra money. Not that boys never babysit, but even in this age when we’re aware of sexism, parents seem to prefer female babysitters. It’s still considered normal for young girls to be given dolls to play with, and it’s still not that unusual for girls to have teddy bears even into college and beyond, whereas a boy in late grade school with a teddy bear is considered unusual. But even with all this, it’s still not acceptable for grown women to dress or act like babies or wear diapers where anybody can see them – although a woman would have an easier time socially recovering from it if she did than a man would.

Willing

What we tend to see a lot in AB/DL stories with female ABs is a story about an outing or incident in an ongoing relationship in which the woman is the baby on either a part-time or full-time basis. She’s perfectly willing to be part of the scenario, but there might be some reluctance when it comes to individual activities, such as going out in public or being fed baby foods that she doesn’t like.

Unwilling

Truly Unwilling

This is the sort of story where we tend to see a haughty or domineering woman taken down a notch or two by being diapered and/or regressed. Unlike stories with unwilling male victims, the woman almost always deserves it, or at least asks for it. There are, of course, stories where it happens to an undeserving female character, but for some reason it’s seen as less acceptable for this to happen than it is when it’s a male character.

Unwilling, But …

Then there’s the story where our initially unwilling female victim discovers that she actually enjoys the baby treatment, perhaps through her inner child coming out to play, or perhaps through the pure sensual pleasure of it all.

Antagonist

There isn’t always an antagonist, a person who is actively causing the regression, but when there is, sometimes they’re the viewpoint character, and sometimes not.

Style

The type of language used in a story is its style. Some stories use very academic language, especially when there’s a third-person narrator. Some stories are very informal about their language, and this can be good when the narrator is first-person – that’s just how that character thinks and talks. But then there are many would-be authors on the Internet who give no thought whatsoever to their style, or never learned good style to begin with.

Classifications: Style (0 – 10)

Tropes

Ageplay

By ageplay I mean roleplaying or acting like a child or baby without any actual regression having occurred. I’ve defined “social regression” to mean being placed into the social role of a child or baby by everyone around – in other words, being treated like a baby – but if the subject isn’t mentally regressed, only social forces exist to make the subject act like a baby. If the subject goes along with it, then they’re ageplaying. What’s more, there can be ageplay without regression; for example, if one person willingly gets into a playpen and starts playing with blocks.

Baby Clothing

Baby clothing other than diapers often figures in AB/DL stories; the regressed person often wears or is put into clothing that mimics actual baby clothing (in the case of physical regression it may actually be baby clothing). Baby style dresses, anything with leggings that snap for easier diaper changes, onesies/babygrows, overalls, booties, mittens, bonnets – these are all items that make caring for an actual baby easier in real life and can harmonize with a character’s regression or ageplay in a story.

Baby Food

Eating baby food is not uncommon in AB/DL stories, whether the subject likes it or not. Often the subject’s dislike of the baby food is noted, but they must eat it anyway; this is a reminder of the subject’s regressed status, as it’s the baby food or nothing. Subjects are often fed the baby food, usually while wearing a bib and sitting in a high chair.

Baby Monitors

Electronic devices with a microphone and sometimes also a camera are often used to check that a baby is sleeping or playing peacefully by a parent or caregiver who is in another room. This allows the adult to talk on the phone, watch TV, etc. without disturbing the baby while still being available in case the baby needs something. In AB/DL stories, baby monitors are also a reminder of the subject’s regressed status; their one-way communication puts the subject in a situation with less power.

Baby Talk

Often an ageplayer or regressed subject must use baby talk – either they’re mentally regressed and unable to speak in adult language anymore, they’re given rules not allowing them to use adult language, or they’re voluntarily speaking in baby talk.

Bibs

Worn during meals, a bib is a powerful reminder that a regressed subject might spill food on their clothes.

Bottles

Nursing from a baby bottle is a common phenomenon in AB/DL stories.

Breastfeeding

Nursing at a woman’s breast is fairly common in AB/DL stories – either the woman is a lactating mother or lactation has been induced somehow (drugs, magic, etc.).

Crawling

Having to creep or crawl on the floor is not uncommon in AB/DL stories, either because the subject is unable to walk, because they are being forced to crawl in some way, or because they voluntarily prefer to crawl in a given situation.

Cribs

Having to sleep in a crib is a common trope in AB/DL stories. For actual babies, cribs make sure the baby doesn’t fall out and suffer injury during sleep. In AB/DL stories, however, the crib is a powerful symbol of the regressed status of whoever is inside. Cribs are often combined with baby monitors. Some characters will sleep in a crib willingly and/or of their own volition.

Crying

A regressed subject may cry when he/she needs something, such as a diaper change or a feeding. If mentally regressed, crying may be the only option available. Or there may be rules that state that there will be no diaper change, feeding, etc. unless the subject cries. In this case I am not speaking of crying for reasons that would make an adult cry, such as grief or sadness; that is not an example of this trope.

Diapers

It’s a pretty rare AB/DL story that doesn’t have somebody wearing diapers/nappies at some point. Diapers aren’t necessarily used for their intended purpose, though often they are. In some stories the diaper wearer will only wet it, or in others he/she may both wet and mess in diapers.

Discovery

Common in AB/DLs is the fear that their AB/DL desires will be discovered by others who might not understand them. This fear frequently appears in stories and is sometimes played out. It’s not uncommon for an AB/DL story to feature a character being “outed” when someone else finds their diapers or catches them wearing baby clothes.

Drugs

By this I don’t mean illicit recreational drugs. I mean that drugs are the means of regression. More realistic stories might use drugs in combination with hypnosis to cause mental regression; less realistic stories might have drugs that physically regress the subject or instantly cause incontinence.

Family

In many stories the viewpoint character’s family figures into the storyline. This is frequently the case with teenage and younger viewpoint characters.

Feeding

Being fed, usually while wearing a bib and sitting in a high chair, is a frequent event in AB/DL stories; when a caregiver feeds a regressed subject it strongly reinforces the regression.

High Chairs

Being placed in a high chair, usually with safety straps and an attached tray, often appears in AB/DL stories as a reminder that the subject isn’t expected to be able to follow adult social norms for eating and may be unable to feed himself/herself.

Humiliation

By this I mean that diapers, incontinence or regression are used for the purpose of humiliating the subject. Humiliation fantasies often cross over into AB/DL fantasies, but only some AB/DLs enjoy humiliation fantasies or see their play as humiliating in any way.

Hypnosis

The use of hypnosis is a frequent staple in AB/DL stories, as it can be used (in stories, at least) to cause incontinence, regressive behavior, or even actual mental regression.

Incontinence (Induced or Medical)

Becoming or being made incontinent is a very common element in AB/DL stories (“induced incontinence”). Also very common is incontinence as a medical problem, not caused by anyone (“medical incontinence”).

Magic

Fantasy-genre stories might use magic to regress the subject – physically, mentally, or even socially (by causing everyone else to “remember” that they had always been a baby, for example).

Pacifiers

Also called binkies, dummies, etc., pacifiers are a major symbol of regression. Anyone using a pacifier must be either mentally or socially regressed.

Playpens

A regressed subject is often placed in a playpen in AB/DL stories; even if they are physically able to get out of it, they are supposed to stay in it until taken out. Of course, it’s also perfectly possible for a character to play in the playpen without anyone else telling him/her to.

Public

Many stories have the regressed and/or diapered subject being taken out in public – note that this is not necessarily humiliation, as the subject may in fact be mentally regressed and unaware of what’s happening, may be physically regressed and indistinguishable from a real baby or child, or may be undetectably diapered under their clothes.

Punishment

Regression and diapers are sometimes used as a form of punishment in stories, by parents, by employers, or sometimes even by law enforcement, in those stories where they have a very strange way of dealing with speeding tickets in this county.

Regression (Mental, Physical, or Social)

Regression is very common in AB/DL stories, although it can be mental, physical or social (see earlier section on regression). It can be caused by many plot devices: drugs, hypnosis, magic, sci-fi technology, and others. Social regression doesn’t really require anything extraordinary, though, if the social circle is small enough. Regression can be voluntary or involuntary.

School

Going to school in diapers, whether it be grade school, high school, or college, and whether it is voluntary, necessary, or forced, is a frequently occurring element in AB/DL stories. Also not uncommon is the idea of being sent back to preschool or kindergarten after being regressed.

Shopping

Going to the store to buy diapers, baby clothes, or other baby supplies is an embarrassing scenario that appears in a lot of stories. Shopping doesn’t necessary mean that the “Public” trope is involved, as the shopping doesn’t necessarily happen at the same time as the regression, diapering, etc.

Some Sample Classifications

“The Dangers of Hypnotic Suggestion on Little Sisters,” by Elizabeth: Narrator (First Person); Viewpoint (Female; Teen; Semiwilling); Antagonist (Teen; Playful); Tropes (Diapers; Induced Incontinence (Hypnosis); Pacifiers; Shopping)

“Lara’s Summer,” by Unknown: Narrator (First Person); Viewpoint (Female; Teen; Semi-Unwilling); Tropes (Family; Punishment (Diapers; Induced Incontinence (Drugs); Pacifiers; Social Regression (Infant)))

“Katie’s Issues,” by Narxn: Narrator (Third Person); Viewpoint (Female; Teen; Semi-Unwilling); Tropes (Diapers; Family; Medical Incontinence; School)