-★- Human Domestication Guide fic vibe check -★-

Beep! so foxy has read a lot of HDG fics, and written a lot too, and knows a lot of the OG authors personally as friends and talked with them about it and such. However the setting exploded and now folks are using the setting to write all sorts of fun stories!

However, some stories vibe less with the stuff we put a lot of our kinky autistic trauma brains into making and are doing their own thing! Which is cool but also I liked the early vibes and wanted to express what I think those are. Like lots of stuff it's super subjective. So don't worry if you don't vibe with it.

Also if you're using this vibe check list, first thing you gotta realize is a lot of this stuff takes a fair bit of reading comprehension to even evaluate, so if you're not great at reading subtext it'll probably confuse you! Second is that the scoring system isn't point based, being a 1 in certain categories throws off the vibe much more than a 1 in others, and you don't add it up.

A big thing with this is that the more you try to discretely quantify vibes the less accurate you're gonna get so, yea it's vague and not equally scored and requires understanding subtext and reading the framing of the story separate from the content of the story. Like if you haven't figured out the extremely strong CGL(Care-Giver Little) vibes in a lot of fics you probably won't be able to parse this

Anyway a good vibing fic is at least a 2 in all categories, two authors who helped use and revise this evaluated their stories entirely in the 3-5 range in all categories, and yea if your story floats between 3-5 in all categories it has that old HDG vibe I love, and I'd probably love your story. I'd probably like it too if it doesn't vibe that strongly but probably not liking it as an HDG story if that makes sense, am I making sense? I hope this list makes sense! Enjoy!

What's the consent level?

Consent is on par with most modern media, and will not trigger issues with folks who are uncomfortable with non-con/dub-con; if the terran MC becomes a floret they retain full bodily autonomy
Consent is a bit dubious at times, and might make more sensitive readers uncomfortable; when the terran MC becomes a floret they technically gave up all their rights but it changes very little about their bodily autonomy
Consent is very dubious but not outright violated; once the MC is a floret the affini definitely violates typical consent more but it's understood as part of a CNC dynamic
Consent is dubious most of the time and outright violated on some occasions; the MC floret can say no but it's very much a suggestion and the affini does as they see best, consent violations typically happen even if floret is behaving
What's Consent? completely non-con; affini doesn't care about floret's consent and is going to make them happy despite any amount of protests, floret is likely violently hostile in early stages until broken

Bonus Points:

MC says they don't want to be domesticated, gets domesticated anyway

How well do the CGL undertones come through?

Author avoids all conventional affini interactions that are CGL coded, and no affini is seen taking up a caretaker role for their floret; if an affini talks down to a non-affini sophont it doesn't seem in anyway like a parent talking to a child; the words "little one" are never used
An affini at some point handles some part of another characters self-care, at least one affini in the story is their floret's caretaker, affini occasionally talk down to their floret like they're a child, an affini calls the MC "little one" at least once
multiple scenes of an affini handling an MC's self-care, MC floret clearly ends up with at least one aspect of their self-care permanently handled by an affini (feeding, bathing, etc), little one is used multiple times for the MC and other florets, affini talk down to their wards/floret's like they're children, MC needs help navigating affini sized spaces at least once
subby MC ends up ceding multiple aspects of their self-care to an affini over the course of the story permanently, little one is a pet name frequently, the author is absolutely kinking on the CGL undertones, MC routinely needs assistance navigating affini sized spaces, and spends a fair bit of time in them
subby MC ends up ceding most if not all of their self-care to an affini over the course of the story; it's less undertones and more straight up the author writing CGL cause they're into it; affini handles things like their ward/floret's schedule, outfits, and other aspects of their day, all pet names invoke the sub's littleness (princess, petal, little one, cutie); the author loves to put the subby MC in situations where they need others to handle stuff for them

Bonus Points:

sub often hugs plushies
An affini chooses their ward/floret/little one's outfit for them
affini bathes their sub
affini brushes their sub's teeth for them
hand feeding
spanking scene
sub uses mommy to refer to their domme at least once

Trauma!

The MC is not revealed to have any major trauma and it's not a plot point
The MC has some trauma but even in the scenes it shows up it's not the main issue, and resolving it isn't a part of the plot
The MC has major trauma which pops up in a few big scenes but resolving it isn't a part of the plot
The MC has major trauma which is a B plot but not the A plot
The plot is centered around the MC(s) trauma and resolving it through both comfort and kink

Bonus Points:

Trauma is medically related and kinked on
Trauma is disability related and kinked on

Affini Competence

The only reason the terrans didn't win is the canon guidelines said they have to lose, but otherwise the affini make so many mistakes they only succeed by plot fiat
Terrans routinely out maneuver the affini to show off their skill and ability, to the point it feels like the only reason the affini come off as competent is their tech being advanced
Terrans are portrayed as equally competent as affini
Affini have more experience, knowledge, and physical capability but terrans still occasionally get the better of them
The terrans never stood a chance, affini are hyper competent and even the most expert terrans are out-skilled by an affini who has more than passing knowledge of the specific field of study

Bonus Points:

terran character literally says "we never stood a chance"
terran MC vastly underestimates the compact and is stunned to realize just how overwhelming the compacts capabilities are
terran feels they need to work very hard to be useful in post compact society

Mind control! (technically tied in with consent but whatever)

the terran MC is never put into trance; xenodrugs aren't used to induce altered mental states; Biorhythms are never mentioned or if they are everyone is on C-blockers
terran MC gets put into trance at least once; xenodrugs induce some minor altered mental states that make the MC more open than they otherwise would be at least once; Biorhythms are maybe touched on but not focused on; C-blockers aren't mentioned
MC gets tranced multiple times; xenodrugs absolutely have them acting different on multiple occasions; Biorhythms are definitely affecting the MC; C-blockers are only mentioned if used to highlight the fact the MC falls under the sway of biorhythms
The above, but the MC also undergoes notable mental changes induced by the affini over the course of the story
The MC undergoes major personality/memory/cognition changes that are permanent; Mind Control is one of the central kinks of the work; if identity death is featured the subtext is that it's hot, even if the characters words express otherwise

Bonus Points:

a character gets hypnotized to prevent them from saying, thinking, or doing something

Queer

MC is cishet, any romance is het, queer characters are minor roles or entirely absent
MC is gay or trans! affini come off as somewhat queer but not necessarily trans
MC is two of the following: gay, transgender, polyamorous. Affini are very queer and treat very queer individuals and relationships like they are normal
One of the sub-plots is about being queer. MC is gay and trans, and possibly polyamorous! Affini are very trans and gay and introduce themselves with their pronouns most of the time. A majority of the main cast is queer.
The main plot is about being queer, either an egg story, a coming out story, or something really queer like discovering one is polyamorous or has species dysphoria. All the affini are queer, alien and have often have weird genders. There are named non-terran+non-affini characters in the story. The entire main cast is queer.

Bonus Points:

A character uses neo-pronouns
A character uses it/its pronouns
A character uses multiple sets of pronouns that are both used
Non-binary or intersex individual in the main cast
A character is aspec
A character is shocked at the effectiveness of class-Gs
A character transitions to a different gender
species dyphoria
A character gets a body-modification
An affini picks their pronouns/gender on screen

Neurodivergence

The MC is neurotypical, or not intentionally neurodivergent and thus not touched upon more than vibes
The MC is neurodivergent but it doesn't come up much
The MC is neurodivergent, and the story involves at least one accommodation for their neurodivergence, the affini all come off as neurodivergent
The MC is explicitly neurodivergent and it's a part of the plot, multiple accommodations are made to help them; the story/affini make a point to say at least once that they are not lesser for their cognitive differences and not a burden because of the issues they have, the affini all come off as neurodivergent
The MC is explicitly neurodivergent and resolving the trauma and issues surrounding it is the main plot, the story spends a lot of time exploring the accommodations they need; the story/affini make sure the character and reader understand that they are not broken and that they deserve love kindness and care

Bonus Points:

the D/s kink is actually a part of the MCs accommodations (i.e. executive dysfunction solved by an affini acting as their executive functioning)
an affini struggles with mental health issues

Anti-capitalism

The author/story clearly disagrees with the compact destroying capitalism, and the only reason they haven't reinvented a market economy and private property rights in the compact is other authors told them no
The author/story is okay with the destruction of capitalism, but takes issue with how it's done, and can't properly conceive of a society without capitalism
The author likes the destruction of capitalism, has minor gripes with how the affini did it, and goes out of their way to point out some differences in how society is structured without currency
The author revels in the death of capitalism, not overly concerned with how the affini did it cause it's a kink story, takes time to world build post-capitalist post-scarcity society
The author doesn't just revel in the death of capitalism, they kink off of it, it's clearly a thing for them and they dedicate story time to some fixation such as public transportation or healthcare to an intense but delightful degree, the author almost certainly has read some marxist philosophy

Eroticism

The author didn't make the story hot, no kink scenes, not even plain old sex if you're into that
The author made it sorta hot, but the kinks are very tame; or kinks are sex focused instead of other forms of D/s intimacy
The story is hot; kinks are a bit more intense but fairly common and widely enjoyed; and/or kinks have some focus on sex
The story is hot and is definitely more kinky than horny; sex is barely touched upon if at all; the kinks definitely aren't for everyone and the author is probably kinking on trauma; the D/s dynamic is the star of the show underpinning almost every single interaction
The story does not reflect conventional understandings of horny, there's no sex and the author is probably aspec, the eroticism of the kink is inseparable from its trauma based roots but at the same time goes well beyond them; the kinks are intense and extreme and appeal to a very select group of highly traumatized transfems while everyone else finds it extremely off putting

Bonus Points:

Surgery scene the author is kinking on
Memory play
Gesture training

Xenodrugs

Xenodrugs are mentioned and used as little as possible
Xenodrugs are mentioned and used but not much, and the author isn't particularly kinking off of it
Xenodrugs are used, and the author kinks off of them but they use some really tame ones and don't explore it a lot
Xenodrugs once they start getting used become a part of most scenes and infused into the eroticism, the author is having fun but they still aren't using too many
The author is clearly extremely fascinated with xenodrugs, including the ones that almost never get mentioned, they clearly are trying to use a lot of them because its hot, they include at least one very niche xenodrug to kink off of

Bonus Points:

Class-O xenodrugs are mentioned, and while the characters might find them horrible, the author has no problem with them and might find them kinda hot
Class-D's are used to get the MC to confess things and end up confessing they enjoy some sort of kink they are denying themselves
Class-M's are used, and the story elaborates on the experience
Class-J's are used, and the story elaborates on the experience
Class-W's are used, and the story elaborates on the experience
Class-B's are used for memory play
Class-C's are used, and the story elaborates on the experience
The author actually used class-L's
The author actually used class-P's
The author showed a class-O floret "onscreen"

Happy ending!

the MC is not domesticated, or domesticated and still thinks this is a bad ending by the end of the story
The ending is bittersweet but leans positive; the terran/sub MC is domesticated
The ending is positive; the terran/sub MC is domesticated
The ending is delightful and it's because the main character has completed their personal journey which involved things outside of domestication, though domestication is a part of the happiness
The ending is delightful and it's so heavily intertwined with domestication that independent observers and some readers might struggle to understand it as a happy ending to their journey

HDG themes

Maybe you figured it out, but HDG is about disabled traumatized autistic kinky transfems who struggle with mental health kinking on their trauma. Also a lot of the original authors were aspec, and is nice to have some kink that isn't about sex tbh.