Like many things, the Human Domestication Guide setting didn’t start as anything grand - just a small group of early authors collaborating with each other, building off of Glitchy’s original story. They worked closely, writing their own stories parallel to each other, talking and fleshing out the lore and themes of the world they were creating together. At first, there were only a handful of stories in conversation with each other, but that number only continued to grow and grow.
These days, you may have noticed that there are more than a handful of HDG stories around. There are hundreds and hundreds now, more by the day, not to mention the vast amount of art and other projects exploring and illuminating the setting which have been made in the past few years. While this has produced an abundance of material to read, it does raise a concern: As the setting continues to grow and reach beyond its original audience, how can the community best maintain the setting’s unique identity, the themes and ideas which drew so many of us to it in the first place?
The pillars of the setting's identity are, of course, its Axioms and Rules, which define the general shape and borders of what the setting is and can be. Beyond that, this site offers reference information as to the specifics of how certain things in the lore operate, but these are not well suited to convey the themes and tone core to HDG - the best place for that lies, as always, in the stories themselves.
This page is a collection of seven stories that the Lorets have compiled which together illustrate the core of the setting. Some of these are among the literal first works, establishing many of the setting’s elements themselves and paving the way for everything that followed, while others are early works which encapsulate parts of the lore and themes present throughout the setting.
This isn’t meant as an introductory guide for the setting (although it definitely can be if you want the early HDG experience). However, if you want to write and contribute, we highly recommend you read these before starting. This site can only illuminate so much of what makes HDG what it is - it is crucial to go back to the source material.
For more information on the history of the setting and its current approach to the overall canon, see this blog post.
GlitchyRobo - Archive of Our Own (revised) | ReadOnlyMind (original)
Despite a valiant effort, a brave pilot of the Cosmic Navy has at last been captured by the imperialist forces which conquered her home. She awakens to find herself in the clutches of one of the treacherous xenos, who is all too ready to illuminate our hero’s position in the new society all terrans find themselves in…
The original Human Domestication Guide wasn’t created with a wider setting in mind - it was just its own alien abduction kinky horror story. In the original release, the affini were just a mysterious invading force with unknown true intent and little is known about the Terrans beyond that they lost. While the story itself did not delve into the exact details of the setting, it did provide the foundation upon which Abscission, Divaricated, and others built upon.
It should be noted that the original story is currently undergoing a revision in its migration from ROM over to AO3. This leads to differences between the two, with the AO3 version being adapted to fit with the current setting better and more cleanly integrate the early-setting weirdness.
Fluxom - Archive of Our Own
During a paranoid episode, Autumn, a rebel comms officer, betrays her ship to the Affini and meets Solanum Vitis, the affini vet who cares for her after her capture. As their relationship develops, Autumn realizes that the affini won’t hollow out her brain, but they will make sure she loves them.
One of the earliest stories in the setting, Abscission took everything the original introduced and ran with it. From wardships to cotyledons to the xenodrug classification system as we know it to many other of the setting’s hallmark elements, there is a strong argument to be made that this is as much the Abscission setting as it is the Human Domestication Guide one.
annabool - Archive of Our Own
After Katie detonates her ship’s jump drive in a desperate attempt to stop an Affini boarding operation, she and the troubled Thatch Aquae are flung through hyperspace and stranded on a seemingly uninhabited planet, lightyears from home. With no one to save them but each other, the two unlikely compatriots find themselves growing into something new and all the more beautiful together without even realizing it.
Much like other foundational stories, Divaricated established huge swaths of the setting’s lore, from hyperspace to body modification to biorhythms. It expanded on and established much of Affini ship culture, and illustrated the diversity of florethood - once you’ve met one floret, you’ve met one floret.
AsphodelVeil - Archive of Our Own
When the Affini reach the Terran resort planet of Xenia, they are met with a very different reaction from its workers than they had expected, doubly so from one Gale Rossings. Guided by her resourcefulness and keen sense of right and wrong, she holds a mirror up to affini and humanity alike.
Nurture & Acquisitions offers a perspective on life within both the Terran Accord and the Affini Compact. It provided a glimpse into the remnants of Terran corporate capitalism in the wake of the arrival of the Affini and contrasted that with what relative independence within the Compact could look like. It explored civilian life before and after societal domestication, highlighting how the affini interact with their floret species on a wider scale.
Darkfalli - Archive of Our Own
Genius hacker Aster has had her life torn from her by the arrival of the Affini Compact. From her obsessively obfuscated personal servers to her emotional support orbital space cannon, the Affini took it all, but worst of all, now they want to help her.
Wellness Check introduced the more common “ship-of-theseus” method of digitization, as well as was the first story to consider digitization as a focus. It is the archetypal wellness check, demonstrating that no matter how hard one struggles against the loving vines of the Affini Compact, no one slips through the cracks.
Kanagen - Archive of Our Own
Cass Hope, an anarchist who turned a prison colony into a revolutionary army, hopes that agreeing with 99% of the Affini program will be enough - alas, the Affini won't compromise when it comes to sophont wellness.
No Gods, No Masters explored the setting through the lens of a different kind of feralism, taking an in-depth look at the why of the Affini Compact on a philosophical level and how they react to feralists who aren't raving fascists. It showed how the Compact responds to a polity who would otherwise be willing to work with them, and that no concessions are sufficient to prevent the Affini from enforcing their care.
SapphicSounds - Archive of Our Own
Over her long life, Alcea Pallis sees the best and worst which the universe and its inhabitants have to offer. In the end, she sets out to build something better, and, with the help of her loved ones, forgives herself for falling just short of absolute perfection.
For a Better Universe took a contemplative look at the Affini, the society that they created, and the passage of time through the eyes of a single affini. It conveyed the ultimate utopian goal of the Compact, asked and answered the question of what does “the Affini always win” mean on a cosmic timescale, and showed how the Affini interact with the broader universe, even long after Terran Pacification.
If you still have questions about the setting, you can join the community discord and ask the Lorets who are happy to help folks understand the setting we’ve built together. If you’re looking for more things to read, the community there can also point you to many more of the fantastic works in the setting.
To find further works in the setting, the bulk of stories nowadays can be found on Archive of Our Own. Many early works can also be found where the setting started over on ReadOnlyMind, although it should be noted that as of early 2023, the site is no longer accepting new works in setting.