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Challenge #03031-H108: Love Her to Education

What if someone loves a member of the Family, but has to learn to cook. -- Anon Guest

[AN: Has been linked to Engagement Approval Feast by my pal DaniAndShali ]

As far as love is concerned, there are levels of adoration. Loving to distraction is easy. Loving to invention is harder, inspiring the lover to make something initially for their best-beloved. Harder still... is loving to education.

Izzy had been kept out of the kitchen by a series of circumstances for her entire life. First, her parents didn't want to trip over her, then they didn't want her in their elbows. Then this otherwise marvelous pair of perfectionists couldn't stand watching her stumble her way through novice failure after novice failure. She had spent her whole life having other people cook for her, and attempting "five minute" cookery that was set up to fail from the beginning[1]. Until today.

Today, Izzy DuPree was learning how to cook. Izzy loved Mary Rodruiguez to absolute bits, and her Abuela insisted that there would be no useless spouses. Sexuality didn't matter. Gender identity didn't matter. Wealth and upbringing didn't matter. If you couldn't handle a spatula, you were out on your ear. They were starting with eggs.

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Challenge #03030-H107: Tea and Socialisation

I can't help it Internutter, I gotta see! Mr. Sunshine introduces Jay to his one, and only, true friend outside the Pax Humanis organization, Ms. Lilicoon. Her hands have healed quite a lot now and she keeps in regular contact with Sunshine and even has permission to visit his home on occasion, of course she always makes sure to ask first in case he's busy. Now that he's got a new student, and to show him that there's hope for even ones

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Challenge #03029-H106: Experiments in Friendship

The ship was doing a long-haul taking a mix of human and havenworlder colonists to one of the few mixed-colony worlds. A human child, with their havenworlder friends, had begun exploring the ship and found their way to the engine room. When the parents found them, they were being given a lesson in how the engine works, and being allowed to be helpful, as much as kids can be. -- Fighting Fit

The world that Planetary Survey had found was perfect. Perfect

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Challenge #03028-H105: Swim the Light Fantastic

They flew past me all the time inside those massive metal machines. Though some were bigger than others. My people have been floating among the stars, bright spots in what, for most, would be otherwise pure darkness for as long as I can remember. We had bodies, once, and needed such machines before, but we evolved past that. My family called me, we were heading to a new asteroid belt. Holding out hands, we, as bright flames, flew to see those that

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Challenge #03027-H104: The Paper Anchor

The book was old, beyond old, really. It had been passed down from parent to child for a millennia. It was, now, so thick and large it was carried in a careful satchel and, due to being so ancient, the oldest of the pages yellowing, only carefully opened with gloves. The newest pages, however, were much fresher and had been added to the book almost weekly over the past hundred years. But now, the owner, dying gracefully of old age, called to

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Challenge #03026-H103: Worn Away

The family went to court just as the parent said they would. Recordings of the cruel abuse the students, and instructors, of the Alliance - run school were shown as evidence. And now these people were forced to see, and hear, everything they did to her and face their crimes. Of how Barbara would stop, turn away to hide her tears, something the cameras saw, though everyone else ignored. It wasn't just the parents who intended to teach the instructors, the students,

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Challenge #03025-H102: Illegal Tender

There is bad way to win and there is a good way to lose; what’s interesting while also being troubling is that it’s not always clear which is which. A flipped coin doesn’t always land on head or tail, sometimes it may never lands at all -- grimsley

Kosh hadn't expected to find a slice of home in the hoard. Precisely, an octagonal slice of gemstone engraved with the stylised castle chess piece that was Whitekeep's sigil. It was

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Challenge #03024-H101: Mostly Harmless You Say

Pib's parents are on a station for a while as the ship they normally work on was in for repairs, and these repairs were going to take some time. The instructor at the primary school reads the transcripts of young Pib from aboard the ship and sees the injury / kill count of the child and their jaw drops. Some of the pirates wounded, or killed, by this larval human were not exactly amateurs, or small-fry. The parents just smile. -- Anon Guest

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Challenge #03023-H100: A Day in the Life of a Global Villain

Another day passed by in this prison. Before I fell asleep I heard clanging on the cell door. Someone on the other side spoke “Package for prisoners 089” I pulled myself out of bed “that’s me” a small compartment opened up revealing a small box. “Who’s it from?” I asked, no response must’ve left. I slowly open the package, my cell mate chimed in “what’cha got there?” I raised an eyebrow “transport proteins”. “What?” I didn’t need

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Challenge #03022-H099: Situational Education

Human children have a propensity to pet anything that's soft and furry. It's just a part of what seems to be observable human nature from childhood into adulthood. However, sometimes children had to be taught to not pet the fuzzy. In this case, they meet a havenworlder who has a soft, fluffy, service animal that has a sweet, little purr. The havenworlder, due to very advanced age, has gone very hard of hearing, the service animal makes sure they stay calm. --

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Challenge #03021-H098: The Lengths Gone Unto

A man walk down the crossroad late that night that when he ran into a beast in black. The beast spoke “Boy that’s a heavy load you have on your back, I can take care of your troubles and your worry woes, all you gotta is sign.” Man said “beast I do believe another devil beat you to it this time. I do wish I had something to give but ‘fraid I’m sold out. If you ain’t looking for

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Challenge #03020-H097: With Stone Tools

The Vorax were stranded on a planet with several humans, both ships having been taken down by an unexpected solar flare of significant intensity. Due to the fact this was a survival situation, the two factions, for now, put aside their differences to work together. These Vorax, like many others, had heard stories of humans and their abilities. But it really did not hit home how true these stories were, until they insisted on going with the humans to hunt prey animals

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Challenge #03019-H096: The Walking Wounded

They had anxiety issues, didn't sleep well, often awakened in tears. After years of war, living in peace was very hard. They left to get groceries and returned to find a shocking discovery. A massive tank was in their apartment with an odd arrangement. One side was the life support system for the tank, the other side was a large metal box, almost as tall as they were, attached via wide metal tubes. Inside the tank was a huge octopus, or what

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Challenge #03018-H095: Time and Effort

A: Can I borrow a knife?

B: What do you need it for?

A: What do you mean?

B: What you need it for will determine which one I give you.

A: How many knives do you have?!?

B: What do you need a knife for? -- FightingFit

"No, no, no," said Human Arin. "I gotta go down this rabbit hole. How many knives do you own?"

"One for every purpose and then some," dismissed Human Bob. "I have a collection."

"That's

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Challenge #03017-H094: Benevolent Weeds

Those lovely blossoms known as dandelions to us. Whole thing is edible, though better when its young. There are a few other plants like that where the entire thing is edible. Well, she was a botanist, not that she let her family, or the deregger, government knew she'd become so well educated. A well-educated young woman there? They'd kill her for being too smart and her family followed the CEO's like they were gods.

Everyone thought her too simple to be of

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