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Challenge #03148-H239: You and Your Hobbies

Humans live in a somewhat rustic colony, though they have contact with their Alliance friends and live happy lives. Some Havenworlders come down to study what life is like on worlds that have decided to eschew most technology, save for the very large, highly advanced, hospital kept well out of sight thanks to the treeline, though easy to access if needed.

Today, several individuals are making homemade soap and decided to show their Havenworlder tourists how such a thing was made in the historical past, from making the lye, to adding the fats and scents. -- Anon Guest

Everybody knows, on an intellectual level, that Humans are weird. Now and again, people need an empirical reminder of this fact. Such as: There are entire colonies dedicated to doing things "the old-fashioned way." This flies in the face of the concept of civilisation, where the primary goal was to get as far away as possible from the old-fashioned ways.

Many go there for holidays. A rare few -call them 'enthusiasts'- live there full time. They're happier earning their daily bread via the sweat of their brow. Though they do accept some modern conveniences. Such as a state-of-the-art medical facility with fast-flight ambulances and rapid comms devices to call them.

Rodd had come to visit a retired Human on his holidays. Done with exploring the universe, Human Gaz had commissioned a little cottage to get away from it all, and then they did. It was quite a thing to take a shuttle down to the planetary spaceport, and then a horse and buggy to Gaz's village. Gaz had advised him against the goat carts. In their words, "Those vicious little buggers'll have your hand off."

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Challenge #03147-H238: Some Assembly Required

A traveling human with a few musical instruments with them is going from world to world, station to station, traveling across the alliance and even into the edge and beyond. Their goal? To learn the musical culture of as many various races as they can. To write a book all about a musical universe. -- Lessons

Her luggage wasn't as immense as many might think, given her life's goal. There were three changes of clothes[1] of bland similarity, and the rest

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Challenge #03146-H237: Do Not Eat Your Heart Out

DEVOUR YOUR HEART!

That is the only way to rebel against the cruel world!

My soldiers, rage!

My soldiers, scream!

MY SOLDIERS, FIGHT! -- Anon Guest

Horseshit, thought Kosh, listening to this maniac leading the band of irregulars. He had only joined them because he and they were traveling in the same direction. Safety in numbers, and he was especially fragile following his great shame. Poisoned while under the care of the Master. It may have been better if he'd died.

His

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Challenge #03145-H236: Si Vis Pacem

si vis pacem, para bellum -- Anon Guest

[AN: According to my translator webpage, this means: If you want peace, prepare for war. I believe Sir Pterry (GNU) had much to say about that though the Patrician.]

Humans have said for centuries, for millennia, If you want peace, prepare for war. Given the number of concurrent wars happening anywhere on the planet during those same millennia, one can safely posit that they got this horribly wrong.

They also believed that space travel

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Challenge #03144-H235: Change Cometh From Above

You can open the cage of oppression and break the chains of slavery, but it's up to the individual whenever or not they step outside. For what does freedom really mean when demanded of you by a god? -- Anon Guest

To live was to work. To work was to live. Only the newborn were permitted hours of rest and sloth. All of them spent their time in darkness. The light of the sun was a privilege granted by the one on

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Challenge #03143-H234: Call it an Infrastructure Issue

It was an artificial planet, the makers had kidnapped young Deathworlders, including small human children, as forced labor because they were small and able to get into tight places. Some of the kids died getting trapped in areas where the air would run out. CRC learned of this horror, Pax Humanis was called in. The madmen who kidnapped the kids soon learned WHY you don't mess with children in the alliance. Especially since one of those kids was the little daughter of

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Challenge #03142-H233: Watch Out For the Little Ones

A crew of tough-as-nails space marines finds the lone survivor of a shipwreck that had been sending out distress signals. The planet itself was utterly uninhabitable, it was shocking the kid survived. The child, barely two years of age, became their mascot, and guarded treasure. This little child, a level 2 Deathworlder, would grow up with a large family, and space marines are a bit fierce about protecting those they love. -- Anon Guest

Trouble barely remembered life before they joined up

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Challenge #03141-H232: Human Enrichment Duties

There is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING in this universe that is more dangerous than telling a human that is completely bored out of their mind, that something, anything, is impossible. -- Lessons

There are some cosmic laws that are inviolate. Never ask what can go wrong. Never play finesse games with a cogniscent nicknamed 'Slick'. Never try to eat anything bigger than your own head... and never EVER tell a Human what's impossible.

Nature hates a vacuum, Humans hate monotony. Though some flourish

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Challenge #03140-H231: Loco Parentis

"Knock Knock"

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana who?"

"Knock knock"

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Banana Who?"

"Knock Knock"

exasperated! "WHO'S THERE??"

"Orange"

sigh! "Orange who?'

"Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?"

GROAN!!!!! -- Anon Guest

Some stages of childhood development seem to be a test of the parental's endurance. Some of those kids really make strangers wonder how they survive to adulthood. Just one of those stages is the discovery of jokes.

"Hey... hey... hey... hey...? Why do beans like to live

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Challenge #03139-H230: Pour Encourager l'Artistes

It took them a long time to get to the planet the Archivaas called home. But there was a reason they went there. Many, many generations of their family had been avid photographers, or as they jokingly called themselves, a whole family of "shutter-bugs". Photos and drawings from earth before the time of the shattering, before the first humans even went to the moon, albeit, very rough photos, all the way through the generations to digital media, saved in a large crate

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Challenge #03138-H229: The Opening Volley

Poor Wraithvine, the trauma of trying to train, and protect, a young chosen one by the name of Kevin, and his strong-headed mother while Kevin was training, still fresh in his mind, and now yet another young one, this time even stronger, and even MORE reluctant, to leave his home. Destiny isn't kind though, not by a long shot. If it was, then why are those rather pissed off looking purists trying to raid the village and get rid of "monsters"? And

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Challenge #03137-H228: Medicinal Herb Misuse

Despite being Deathworlders themselves, they hired a human who was an expert at debugging computer systems, at engineering, and at improvising fast solutions when things went south. They looked like large, bipedal, cats, including claws that could pull in or be exposed when needed. They made sure they hired a human who was not allergic to fur, or felines. However, when the human started growing catnip, using it to sooth himself when they had trouble sleeping at night, the beings realized it

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Challenge #03136-H227: By the Gods

“He has to know. He'll never be whole without the truth. Look, I get it. You hate the gods. All gods. It’s no accident that includes yourself. And it includes your boy. Don’t you see that? He feels that! He can’t help what he is. He can’t begin to help it, because you haven’t even told him. It’s all connected man.” -- Anon Guest

Picture what it would be like for gods and deities to roam

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Challenge #03135-H226: Incitement to Heroism

Amatu is reluctant to leave his home, the farm, the village he grew up in. A place where he is loved and accepted despite his odd appearance. The immortal mage decides to stick around for a while, since things about this young man are more than a little interesting, but thanks to one form of magic showing in the bell, the next starts to show in his abilities growing stronger. He yells at a crooked trader from another land to tell the

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Challenge #03134-H225: Caution - Humans Running

It doesn’t matter what species you are. If the ship’s engineer start running you better follow -- Anon Guest

Only Humans ever invented running as a recreational activity. Which is why places with a jogging track also have large volumes of warning labels. Before Humans joined the Alliance, even possessing something that could pass as a jogging track was never a priority. When one cogniscent was running, it was generally a good idea to run with them. They obviously knew

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