this is probably obvious to y’all but I just realized that Empty Spaces, Human Domestication Guide, and mechsploitation are all genres that are trying to do roughly the same thing. the common themes are:

• an innocent POV character
• who was/is made to be completely passive
• is robbed of power, agency, and dignity
• and subjected to extreme, eroticized abuse

and I think what’s going on is that these are ways to process trauma - especially the kind of trauma that comes from abuse that happened over a long period of time, where the abuse victim is shaped into being whatever is most convenient for the abuser, with no regard for the abuse victim’s physical or mental wellbeing. which effectively shapes them into a doll, or a mech pilot, or a floret

obviously recreating trauma through kink is a well-known thing at this point, and I think that these fiction genres are probably some combination of that and vent art. I guess it’s probably a way to take control over the trauma - to re-experience it in a way that feels safe. if I felt safe reading fiction, maybe I would like these genres too