The Artistic Bardic Warlock of Alaya

So here's the thing.

HDG is, by and large, about disability. It is a metaphor underlying nearly every element of the worldbuilding. Compared to the affini, essentially all xenosophonts are, in one way or another, handicapped. This can be in clear and obvious ways, like how Lynn Walsh of From Pawn To Princess is effectively crippled by joint pain, or it can be in slightly more oblique ways, like the common trope that the world of the compact is built around the affini, i.e. intentionally several times larger than would be comfortable for a human to navigate without help.

An affini (in this metaphor: an able-bodied person able to navigate the world without any trouble) becoming disabled? That makes perfect sense; it happens to people in the real world all the time. A xenosophont becoming, metaphorically, not disabled? Significantly less likely; a significantly harder lift. As Kanagen put it in the blog post on the subject:

The problem with affinification from this perspective is that it can very, very easily upend that disability narrative. Functionally, it's kind of like saying, "Hmm, that's a good idea, why didn't I think of that?" to someone asking "Have you tried not being disabled?" Now, this is far from the only theme Human Domestication Guide has as a setting, especially now with so many stories having built upon the original, but it's such a key part of the setting's DNA that extreme care should be taken whenever you're writing something that might affect it — and affinification does. Not every affinification story runs headlong into this, of course; for example, there's a reason that Tam in Sui Generis goes through years of what is, functionally, extremely grueling physical therapy and repeated surgical interventions. Did you notice the Sixth Toe prosthetic she needed to move around in Earth gravity because she's from Mars? Did you notice how long it took her to stop using it? How long it took her to learn to walk again once she had vines that could do the job instead?

Another data point for this... Typically, affini florets do stop being florets at the end of their bloom. That is to say, the end of their lives. They effectively die and are reborn. That is, essentially, what it takes to stop being a floret.

I normally don't bother getting into quote-unquote "HDG Discourse", but I was recently falsely accused of doing so on anon on Ao3 (which was funny as fuck) so I figured why not take the opportunity to *actually* discoursepost, since this is a subject I have some pretty strong feelings on

My stance on affinification is it should be allowed & not discouraged. Right now it is allowed but heavily discouraged, and I think this is both unnecessary and unkind- particularly to members of the community who have affini headmates. I've seen some arguments about affinification being bad because it undermines the disability narrative at the heart of HDG, but, imo this is only true if you take a very limited view of the capacity in disabled people VS abled people.

Disabilities come in all shapes and size, ranging from things like being unable to walk and needing a wheelchair, to having autism in a world that isn't suited for autistic people (google 'social model of disability' if this doesn't make sense.) However, "disabled person" =/= "person who can't do anything at all", it just means "person who can not do/struggles to do some things."

I get that the general take here is "the affini are The System and disabled people are never part of The System", but disabled people are actually - very fucking occasionally - able to become part of the system.

The US has a non-zero amount of trans representatives and presumably at least some of those are disabled; likewise, I have no doubt there are disabled non-trans representatives that I'm not aware of.

I think, basically, affinification is fine if your character has to work for it in a story. It is true that yes, you cannot overcome physical disabilities irl- but it may well be possible in some cases to still do a job you wanted to do, or get a position you wanted to, with enough hard work anyway. I do recognise this is not always possible, but to be clear I'm approaching this from a mental disability perspective anyway because that's what HDG means to me personally, and things are a bit different there

To be clear, I fully acknowledge trans people/disabled people/other minorities should not need to work to get this kind of recognition. They do, though; that's how life currently is, and it's fine for people to want to explore that in HDG stories. It Takes Time is on some level about my self-insert wanting to fight to be accepted and seen as an equal by a bunch of people who are more able bodied than her, even if she isn't capabilistically their equal (or it will be when I get to that arc in 50 million years lmao).

The reason it's about that is that, as an autistic person who has spent their entire life being thought of as stupid, inept, and incapable by the people around me, but is not actually, my life has been all about fighting to get people to stop viewing me that way. This is also why ITT isn't an actual affinification story; I don't need my self-insert to physically become an affini to feel validated, I just want to be treated as equal to them in the ways that I care about (which is not in the ability to micromanage 50 vines at once.)

so yeah there's my 5 credits on affinification: basically I think you can write it without undermining the disability narrative if you do it properly. also I am not at all trying to say "disabled people should just work harder to get what they want" no one should have to work if they don't want to: I just so happen to be the type that naturally enjoys having responsibilities and being in charge of stuff and I would actually be okay being in the social role that the affini have within the compact (which I realise separates me from like 99% of hdg's reader demographic already lmao)

I normally don't bother getting into quote-unquote "HDG Discourse", but I was recently falsely accused of doing so on anon on Ao3 (which was funny as fuck) so I figured why not take the opportunity to *actually* discoursepost, since this is a subject I have some pretty strong feelings on

My stance on affinification is it should be allowed & not discouraged. Right now it is allowed but heavily discouraged, and I think this is both unnecessary and unkind- particularly to members of the community who have affini headmates. I've seen some arguments about affinification being bad because it undermines the disability narrative at the heart of HDG, but, imo this is only true if you take a very limited view of the capacity in disabled people VS abled people.

Disabilities come in all shapes and size, ranging from things like being unable to walk and needing a wheelchair, to having autism in a world that isn't suited for autistic people (google 'social model of disability' if this doesn't make sense.) However, "disabled person" =/= "person who can't do anything at all", it just means "person who can not do/struggles to do some things."

I get that the general take here is "the affini are The System and disabled people are never part of The System", but disabled people are actually - very fucking occasionally - able to become part of the system.

The US has a non-zero amount of trans representatives and presumably at least some of those are disabled; likewise, I have no doubt there are disabled non-trans representatives that I'm not aware of.

I think, basically, affinification is fine if your character has to work for it in a story. It is true that yes, you cannot overcome physical disabilities irl- but it may well be possible in some cases to still do a job you wanted to do, or get a position you wanted to, with enough hard work anyway. I do recognise this is not always possible, but to be clear I'm approaching this from a mental disability perspective anyway because that's what HDG means to me personally, and things are a bit different there

To be clear, I fully acknowledge trans people/disabled people/other minorities should not need to work to get this kind of recognition. They do, though; that's how life currently is, and it's fine for people to want to explore that in HDG stories. It Takes Time is on some level about my self-insert wanting to fight to be accepted and seen as an equal by a bunch of people who are more able bodied than her, even if she isn't capabilistically their equal (or it will be when I get to that arc in 50 million years lmao).

The reason it's about that is that, as an autistic person who has spent their entire life being thought of as stupid, inept, and incapable by the people around me, but is not actually, my life has been all about fighting to get people to stop viewing me that way. This is also why ITT isn't an actual affinification story; I don't need my self-insert to physically become an affini to feel validated, I just want to be treated as equal to them in the ways that I care about (which is not in the ability to micromanage 50 vines at once.)

so yeah there's my 5 credits on affinification: basically I think you can write it without undermining the disability narrative if you do it properly. also I am not at all trying to say "disabled people should just work harder to get what they want" no one should have to work if they don't want to: I just so happen to be the type that naturally enjoys having responsibilities and being in charge of stuff and I would actually be okay being in the social role that the affini have within the compact (which I realise separates me from like 99% of hdg's reader demographic already lmao)

Why not give in, feralist? Think of how soothing it'll be to finally get some much-needed rest in your owner's arms, listening to the gentle flow of air and thrumming rhythm of her core. Independence doesn't suit you <3

Good evening all you beautiful little Sophonts!

You may address me as Trifolium Mellifera 2nd Bloom she/her or if it so pleases you Mother Vine would work fine.

I am a researcher of Terran History as well as a Xenobiologist, I am currently abroad the Coreopsis and you can find me in hab unit 781T

Owner of a darling petal who I cherish dearly

mmm~ this wine... it's got some very light warm notes to it~

Oh your wine is warm? I'm sorry about that, you wanna trade? I'm just here to get drunk~

No... I mean the wine is sweet, with a hint of dryness

how can a liquid be kinda dry?

it... nevermind... This one has the most alcohol content, and this one tastes the best. Happy?

Yep! Thank you so much oh my gosh!

I mean the best tasting wine is still wine eh?

Puppy HRT

Month 18 Part 8 FINAL