isinialanat

[isinialanat]

I just finished my wardship and got approved for independence! Woo!

But, I dunno . . . I see florets around with their Affini and . . .

Is it too late to become a pet? Assuming I find the right plampt?

Aw, blossom, it's never too late!

Most of my crewmates would be absolutely delighted to adopt a cutie like you if you let them! But I absolutely understand you wanting to find the right one. And I hope you do!

Ask around, try meeting up some of your protectorate officials, don't be afraid! I wish you best of luck with your prospective adoption!! 💜🪻

[isinialanat]

[Open Communications]

I am verrrry normal human. No infessssstation at all. Plantling should bring its ship to the ruined and completely ssssafe space station to collect regular humanssss. Your tasty… tasty biomass will not be consumed by an infessssssstation and incorporated into the Hivemind. Because there issssnt one.

[Close Communications]

Awww, so sweet! ::)

Well, if you insist I might talk to command... Get a little rescue ship to your location... Get you all niiice and sleepy...

It's been a couple decades since I last saw a cotyledon program starting. ::)

What's the opposite of a floret pluribus...?

[isinialanat]

Help! I adopted my first floret a little bit ago and I think I'm doing something wrong! I'd really appreciate some guidance from another youngbloom with a Terran floret on how to handle everything.

My precious little cutie got picked up from one of those awful feralist ships before I adopted them. I've been making a lot less progress than I expected and not giving my beloved what they deserve makes me feel like there are thorns tearing my core apart every day ::(

The biggest issue right now is that they're absolutely TERRIFIED of the implantation I have scheduled for them. They keep saying all this stuff about how it's going to turn them into a mindless willing slave or something and it's all so so wrong but nothing I say helps. Do you have any tips that would be useful to help them get over that fear?

I've also been trying to help my floret acclimate to their life and that hasn't been going too well either- half my hab is just a big enclosure for them with everything a Terran could ever want (okay maybe not EVERYTHING but pretty close) and they haven't even explored it yet. Every social interaction, be it with another floret in the park or at the veterinarian every day, ends up with me cradling them in my vines and telling them that everything is going to be okay ::(

Even though your situation is different than mine, I know that your adorable floret went through some similar experiences and I'm just at the end of my vines in general. Thanks in advance ::)

Ah, no! I know how it feels, cradling your floret in your vines, all scared and sobby...

First thing I'd do is postpone the implant appointment. You need to respect their decisions on important matters like that and go on at a rhythm they feel comfortable, don't make the mistake of trying to go too fast like I did. A haustoric implant is a big deal, for both of you.

Florets, especially those from feralist backgrounds, need some space and time to develop trust. Why don't you organize a couple days to stay at the hab with them, try to talk things out, sort their fears? Maybe they don't like the Terran-like part of your hab because it reminds them of bad parts of their life back in the Accord, or maybe they don't trust it as theirs, thinking of it as nothing more than a facsimile or a façade.

Maybe you'll both learn something about each other. Bonding in such a personal level is very important, since you're the one person your little sophont is gonna be next to most of the time. There's no point in a haustoric implant if there's no bond for it to reinforce in the first place.

And most importantly: don't give up. Show them that you really care about their wellbeing, that you want them to be comfortable and healthy. That you love them. You've got this. 💜🪻

[isinialanat]

There's... a lot of you...

[isinialanat]

Good kitty! 💜🪻

Just found out about "catnip"

Kinda hypocritical of terran feralists to think that drugging pets so they're cute and docile is okay for them but not for us...

Cats like it so much they try to get their silly faces full of it at the mere scent, what makes you think you won't? ::}

[isinialanat]

So I'm kind of in a bind. I live on what you'd call a Feralist planet, pretty far out from anything the Compact controls rn. Living conditions could be better, but we've got good people here who just want to be left alone. They're not violent, but I don't want to think about what would happen if one of your big plantships showed up in our orbit.

My friend, though, she's different. She talks about the Compact all the time. About your tech and your medicine. I know she needs it. Something called Class G? We don't have anything like that available here. At least not readily.

I wanna hand her over to you, but I don't wanna be the one who called down the plants on everybody's heads. What should I do? Steal a shuttle? Set up a trade?

Oh no... Please don't get yourself in trouble...

Hm... I happen to have access to my floret's old ship, we're fixing and remodeling it together... If we went there in it for... "trading" maybe we wouldn't raise suspicion.

Either way... a command ship will get there sooner or later. Rather sooner knowing there's terrans in distress down there... I'd be just doing your friend a favor by expediting her treatment. I know firsthand how important Class-Gs can be for your mental wellbeing.

You should try to keep safe when the moment comes, in case things get... resistance-y over there.

[isinialanat]

So do affini eat fruits and veggies, or is that like cannibalism for you?

You would hardly call eating beef "cannibalism" even if you're both Terran mammals, would you?

[isinialanat]

Daphne Odora from Beast at Bay

[isinialanat]

i've been waiting for what feels like forever (like 2 weeks since they arrived) for the compact to finally get to my backwater part of Terran space and set up a domestication center! In the meantime, do you have any story recommendations about Terrans who go to the voluntary domestication center and live happily ever after?

Yours. Look outside your window ::) <3

[isinialanat]

Hi there! I hope you're having a wonderful day! I did have a question, I have a friend who's iffy about the afffini and not sure about them all. What's the best way I can tell her all the benefits and joys of the affini without overwhelming her

I'd say... "show, don't tell"? Invite her to lunch or to a walk on the park with your mistress, have a nice day together... Who knows? You may even end up having a new connivent at the end of the day... Or dare I say... a pinnate... ::)

[isinialanat]

So if a sophont HYPOTHETICALLY wanted to blow up a pile of chairs and tables for fun, how would they get their compiler to HYPOTHETICALLY make them explosives to HYPOTHETICALLY blow up furniture with?

You should ask your mistress very kindly to get you some protective equipment and a safe space for you if you really want to experiment with pyrotechnics, blossom. It can be very, very dangerous. What if you got a burn, or a splinter? ::(

[isinialanat]

Uh- please help? my floret ingested a mild xeno-drug and now he's vomiting- is xeno-drug immunity even a thing? is this a biological response? some kind of gag-reflex???

I'm not a vet, please get your floret to one IMMEDIATELY!! D::

[isinialanat]

How would you go about sneakily domesticating a neurodivergent therapist trained sopphont whose special interest taking care of everyone and whose pattern recognition brain would keep them hyper vigilant around affinis and their methods? Asking for a floret friend...

I don't really have that much experience when it comes to domestication myself, but my floret was really vigilant and scared at first, in which case I think you just gotta try to be a caring friend in such cases.

Don't force it, let the bonding happen naturally. This might be controversial too but... I personally used no xenodrugs on her until she asked. For someone like that, I felt it was better to meet her at the middle and let her slowly realize what's best for her. Otherwise her trust would've been broken and it all would've been harder on the long run... But maybe that's just my first bloom, first floret, insecure barkhead perspective.

[isinialanat]

Are there any independent terrans on your ship?

Independents tend to feel... trapped inside a command ship, no matter how big. They apparently don't like seeing their fellow sophonts being domesticated, at all. I believe it's either misguided projection or bottled up jealousy.

[isinialanat]

How did you come across your floret? Was she a rescue or a volunteer?

p.s. she's so cute aughhh

Thank you! She is very cute!

It's a bit of a tragic story, really, so I won't go much into detail. She was initially rescued from a decaying feralist ship by my best friend Cinna, who brought her to me to take care of while they were busy with work... and because my mind wasn't treating me so good, for which they decided some company would be the best treatment.

I discovered quickly she was hugely mistreated by her crew back at that one ship, and we started bonding over our passions, our jobs, our feelings of not fitting in... In under a week she was eager to sign a voluntary domestication contract, which... really took me by surprise.

Turns out, she really was what I needed, and I was what she needed, so we're both doing better than ever right now. 💜🪻

[isinialanat]

I'm curious about aspects of the Terran living standards within the Compact. I understand, of course, if your station doesn't give you much insight into the "average" life of a Terran outside of Florets.

Regardless, what sort of living standards do "non-Florets" enjoy? And how many such Sophonts are even left within "my" species in your time? I don't mean the Feralists or far flung frontiers-people. I mean Ted the grocer, or Alice the grad-student. How are they doing? Are they okay? What access do they have to xenodrugs?

I hope this packet reaches you well. It is very cold here, and I'm not sure if my dish is properly oriented.

Oh, there are some independents left in their protectorates! They're an infinitessimal minority, only getting smaller and smaller... but that's just another reason to help them out! We have protectorate officials that go down to the independent settlements to check on them periodically, make sure they are doing alright and they have all they need to live comfortably. That includes medicine, which in most cases does include xenodrugs if only for their superior efficacy.

I like to think of it as... a sophont sanctuary! Those who aren't suitable for life as a floret also deserve a comfortable and fulfilled life, so it would be unfair to leave them stranded... Plus, independents are basically an endangered species, so we might as well take care of them while they last being, well, independent.

[isinialanat]