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Can any human domestication guide fans confirm whether this is accurate?
Are these writings primarily literary narratives (as in meant to convey a story) or are they mainly fetish material?
Like some Omegaverse stuff is serious writing that explores gender politics, etc. alongside men going into heat, but mostly it's just like "Wouldn't it be hot if my boyfriend's dad and his friends r'd me out in the woods?" You can't really evaluate it seriously when it's just porn.
I look at porn for the plot. I can't cum if the plot is bad.
I don't know what you'd prefer for the sub's gender, but the only dommy mommy fiction I can recommend is Unnatural Magic by C.M. Waggoner. It's a great story with good world-building, and it's very political. The sequel (which I don't think is actually a direct sequel) seems to have a female/female pairing, but I haven't read it yet.
Benevolent slavery?! Wtf does that mean!?!
Human Domestication Guide is a collaborative writing project about alien plant dommy mummies who keep human pets and do lots of imperialism, but nice. Instead of killing political dissidents, they use mind control pheromones and forcefem them
I know what HDG is, but I fundamentally don't agree that its form of slavery should be explored in a nuanced or realistic way. It stinks of the exact same paternalistic cultural imperialism that has been applied to countless cultures throughout history. The desire to take control away from people because "you know better" is still genocidal. It goes hand in hand with the genocide that sees people slaughtered in cold blood to this very day.
I actually prefer HDG only being about the kink of getting mindbroken by aliens. I have nothing against people being into those things, but I do have a problem with people taking the setting of HDG seriously. Sexual fantasy is only fine when it keeps clear separation from reality, so by keeping it unserious it can be explored in a safe way.
Not being able to look past those real world undertones is what kept me from enjoying HDG. The implication that the alien's involuntary intimacy was a good thing made me nope out. Getting so close to the line that people do take it seriously is why I don't fuck with it.
I haven't read any HDG yet. I was planning to at some point, but after hearing they try to avoid writing about politics, I've lost interest. Science fiction has always been political, and it needs to be taken seriously. We can't be treating slavery uncritically, even in kink, or we become accustomed to destructive ways of thinking. We should use science fiction as a tool to look within ourselves from a new perspective, and develop our ideas of right and wrong. If we're into bondage and pet play, then we should use science fiction to examine what that kink means to us and come to understand ourselves better.
I like The Culture. Culture Minds keep humans as pets, but more like free range cats than like dogs. The humans have absolute freedom to stay or go as they please, and are treated like small and weak equals, not property. It's definitely not slavery, it's anarcho-communism.
The problem with a political interpretation of HDG is that it's at odds with the fantasy escapism of being tamed by a plant monster that wants what's best for you.
Fundamentally, the Affini are bad. Their ideology is rotten and hypocritical and in real life it would not work out the way it does on the page. If you try to think about the political implications of HDG at all you will inevitably run into that. "Benevolent slavery" simply isn't a thing.
But there's plenty of fiction that explores evil empires, the point of HDG is to have fun with the kinky idea of "what if a hot plant turned me into a pet?" Exploring the politics of the situation inevitably detracts from the fantasy of it being benevolent.
I have more fun having sex with a person than a doll. Well, except for dollgirls, but that's another conversation. People are political creatures. Take the politics out of a person, and a doll is what you get. How can a plant be hot if she isn't a nuanced individual? If a plant is turning me into a pet, she better exist as an individual (or a hivemind, I'll admit) situated within a cultural context, with an internal world and life experiences. Otherwise what's the point? You might as well tie yourself up for all the masturbatory character of the act!
The HDG fandom somehow found a way to take the doms out of domination, and it's as soulless as AI art
Scathing but true
Thanks, I'm just mad. They take a perfectly good premise for science-smut exploring the ethical ramifications of slavery under novel circumstances, and then they ruin it by giving it the JK Rowling treatment! Admit the ladies you're wanking off to are fascists, you cowards! I jerk off to 40k porn and don't feel bad about it, because I'm a fucking adult who can separate ethical from hot.
There's a certain kind of queer person I despise, because they respond to the horrors of the world by creating a "perfect" bubble world which is just as fucked up as the real one, it's just horrific in a way that plays into their trauma reactions and only hurts people in ways they feel are deserved. And their smut sucks ass. Anyway, that's the plot of WandaVision.
I don't think HDG can be both serious science fiction and kink. Kink can indulge in portrayals of sexual assault or abuse that would never be ok in science fiction. That does not mean it is uncritically exploring those topics, but allowing readers to sublimate their own experiences into the story. People can explore fears like threats of genocide or loss of autonomy in a safe and controlled manner.
I don't know much about The Culture, but calling it anarcho-communism doesn't follow from what you describe. The humans might be able to come and go as they please, but do they have any say in the order that affects them? A pet in the real world might live a post scarcity life while their humans live in a capitalist dystopia. Is there dangerous infrastructure that can accidentally kill the pet or roaming threats? Is it just one upper class area where the pets are treated well, or is are they safe throughout the entire society? Are there bad owners, or is every alien just magically good to their pet?
Long rant about domestication:
Also, the idea of dogs not being able to live free range like cats is a myth. The majority of dogs on earth are not domesticated, while I've personally met domesticated dogs who roamed freely. Dingos were brought to Australia by people and became more independent with time, but for a real chunk of time they were more village dogs rather than wild animals. I currently know a dog that was given to a group of people as a puppy by her wild mother so she could live a better life.
The line between a pet and a wild animal is permeable rather than a clear cut distinction. The animals we are closest to did not get plucked up by people and made into pets, but gradually grew closer to humans through a process of natural selection that favored those who could better survive beside us. We coexist so well through natural processes, not eugenics or mind control.
The plant mommies came to earth and forced people to be their pets rather than give them the choice to be pets. A more grounded version would see humans gradually becoming pets because it was the best option rather than by the aliens turning those that fight them the hardest into slaves.
The more fundamental problem with HDG is how its entire understanding of domestication is based on an outdated worldview that assumes humans have more control than they do. The very idea is rooted in eugenics and imperialism. I doubt it's even possible to detangle HDG from authoritarianism.
Calling the Culture anarchocommunism is somewhat accurate. Humans do have say in what goes on in the Culture, there are humans in high ranking roles in the Culture making decisions. Humans aren't pets in the Culture, and Minds don't own humans. Humans are only pets in the sense that Minds are superintelligent AI that largely do all the work to run society while humans live post-scarcity easy lives, but they are ostensibly equals.
Here's some background from the author: http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm
HDG is kind of like what anti-Culture propaganda portrays the Culture as, but more rapey.
That makes more sense. I just wasn't familiar with The Culture or the story they're a part of.
Sometimes someone will ask a Rapid Offensive Unit why it, a fully automated warship, keeps a human crew. Many ROUs don't, but those who do say that having humans around is nice. They're good company on long voyages, and fun at parties. Fellow Minds contacted over hyperspace comm channels may make for faster and more erudite conversational partners, but there's just something nice about having a bunch of little guys inside you. Humans are always up to something interesting.
A more grounded version would see humans gradually becoming pets because it was the best option rather than by the aliens turning those that fight them the hardest into slaves.
That's what I thought HDG was before today! That's what I wanted, not apolitical subslop. I've been seriously misled by my friend who's into this fandom!
Also, the name sucks. A human domestication guide would be a resource for affini. The name implies an affini point of view. I was so shocked when I learned florets are almost always the point of view character and there's nothing in this setting for people who want to keep humans as pets. What's the point of the name then!
The Affini are just Rogue Servitors from Stellaris but plants instead of robots. I love playing as Servitors and collecting aaalllllll the little pets~
"and to goon to" is listed as a secondary reason, but I assure you that it is the primary reason while being a plot device is secondary at best.
See, I knew that when I first heard of them months ago, but just today I learned apparently the Affini aren't the protagonists? Apparently it's against the wiki rules to write stories about Affini culture and politics, because their whole society outside of the florets is noodle incidents?
I assumed the Affini were nuanced and relatable characters because I need to understand someone's internality in order to goon to them, but apparently the fanbase is all submissives who don't like to think about politics?
I gotta say, if that's the case I prefer the Culture a million times more. Minds keep humans as pets but also have political intrigues going on that the story is actually about. And they can still be hot!
you've just compared a series of critically acclaimed novels to ao3 original, have some shame
Hey, I'll have you know fetish fanfics and community writing projects can be amazing. Look at SCP's Antimemetics Division, or... um... well I want to give an example of the former but I don't want to make my kink list known to lemmy...
But anyway, if HDG writers can spend 10 hours worldbuilding a feminine plant penis but draw the line at portraying the character doing her job... well I'm afraid the transbians have re-invented misogyny. Fetishising a character whose internal world you refuse to explore is what men have been doing to women for the past 3000 years. We're just reducing dominant women to sex objects instead of all women this time.
Don't forget they recreated benevolent colonial slave owners too, and made themselves the slaves. The white transfems. It's almost hilarious how pathetically clueless it is
I would think if I were a sub, I would want dommes in my community writing hot stories for me. Subs need doms. They should try to welcome dommes into the community.
Subs who hate politics writing domme characters who are only ever portrayed interacting with their subs is... well I can't possibly believe how that would actually be a gratifying story. In my experience, sex is way more fun when your partner enjoys it too.
all i'm saying, i won't be taking reading recommendations from 196 chat from now on