Actually saw something about this in a documentary once. They said it's not really a short circuit, more like the brain gets the shape right but flips the direction because it's not processing the word as a whole yet. Makes sense when you're up close with a brush, you're just making curves and lines. That moment you step back is when the language part of your brain finally kicks in and goes "oh no.

23 months at a bad job" is wild, that rule really made you suffer.

Read about adding a bit of clear developer to stubborn color. It helps open the cuticle without extra lightener. Your conditioner trick might work the same way.