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Challenge #02776-G219: Peculiar Parenting Problems

There were things I expected to say to my children when I got into this whole parenthood thing. Things like "don't eat that" and "put your pants on" and "stop drawing on the walls" or "do your homework". Then, there were the things that took me by surprise. "Don't put that in your butt" was one, and "NO! DON'T PUSH YOUR BROTHER DOWN THE STAIRS!!" was another, but most recently, "If you make me faceplant into broken glass, you will be in so much trouble" took the cake. -- Anon Guest

[AN: Honestly, one could collect a whole encyclopaedia's worth of "Things I never expected to say as a parent" and there would still be new submissions by volume 128...]

Some things about parenthood are universal. Some are timeless. Some are both. Parentals of all genders, identities, and relations to the young have heard themselves saying things like, "What have you got?" in a semi-warning tone. Phrases like, "No you can't," or, "Get that out of your mouth," or, "Stop messing about," or, "Put that down," are so common that they might become rote.

It's the other things unique to the situations at hand that end up stunning the adults in the room. For perfectly logical reasons, various parentals have had to say such things as, "Get down out of there before you fall down out of there," or, "That is not for your bottom," or, "That is neither nutritious nor delicious," or, "Back-to-front, dear."

A parental would have a perfectly logical reason to say, "You have your feet on backwards," for instance. Today, in this family, in this house, it was, "I thought I said that should stay buried." It's not easy living in a household of natural necromancers.

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Challenge #02775-G218: Waste Not

[Level 2 Deathworlder] I don't know how you can be so relaxed about this human. This is an unknown planet and, save for a few starvation rations and potable water, we've no supplies left. All of the prey is too fast to catch, and you are obviously starting to look worse. HOW can you be so calm when all you're doing is banging rocks together, scraping sticks, and weaving those disgusting plants skin together?

[Human] Yes so I've lost some kilos, but

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Challenge #02774-G217: Finding a Smile

"No, thank you."

...

"Get that out of my face."

...

"STOP" -- Anon Guest

They said, Give a sweet thing to a sour face. Which was the very essence of the Sunshine Festival. Enough smiles, and the sun would rise, bringing an end to the cold of winter. Which was why the marketplace was overloaded with cloth flowers that had been soaked in cloying perfume. Honey-cakes abounded. Beautiful music filled every corner and turned every road into a cacophony.

Compliments that usually didn't

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Challenge #02773-G216: Vent Words

(Unabashedly based on my grandmother and her go to "curse word")

H - "Crab apples, pineapples, and sauerkraut!"

A - "... I think my translator is broken. I got an offensensitivity warning on what you just said, but I think you just listed foods?"

H - "You shouldn't curse... It is rude." -- SilverRey

Humans are bizarre. This is acknowledged. Some Humans just happen to be more bizarre than others. For example: Most cogniscent species acknowledge the need for stresser/expressive words to

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Challenge #02772-G215: To Aid in Aggression

It was a huge battle, they ended up having to ACTUALLY call for help in the form of human space marines. Why? Because these unknown creatures that had attacked the colonial world had been so powerful that the Vorax ships it'd passed had turned tail and fled as fast as it could, after seeing how easily it had overcome two of their biggest warships.

The humans actually were having a challenge with this battle, not just in space but on the ground.

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Challenge #02771-G214: A Few Minor Obstacles

Everyone, even havenworlders, like to have pets. The type of pet, of course, depends on the type of havenworlder. One, after visiting, and surviving, her visit to the deathworld known as Earth, and especially Australia, had learned of a harmless, but brightly colored, bug called the Christmas Beetle. It was short-lived, not edible - but only because it had a very thick shell, but otherwise completely, utterly, harmless. She learned how to breed them and soon began to sell them as safe,

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Challenge #02770-G213: Filtered Through Children's Lies

Re-Discovery part two: electric boogaloo https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02447-f257-solid-documented-scientific-evidence -- Anon Guest

With enough instrumentation, it is possible to find things you don't understand. With enough inclusive cogniscent contacts, you can also find someone willing to explain it to you.

Human Kev had been hired by the Sciencer EVR890 to scare of anything big enough and mean enough to be a threat to the Havenworlders within. Now, in spite of being hired to be the 'muscle', they were holding what

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Challenge #02769-G212: An Ounce of Foresight

Human Jane is calm compared to the others, but always carries a cocky attitude. Arguing with the others claiming they will destroy the ship. The day was like no other noise but in a sense calm, until Jane suddenly rose from her chair and dashed into the halls. The moment she left the room an explosion was heard from the training room. -- Anon Guest

Humans are their own health hazard. This is known on an intellectual level to many, but most

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Challenge #02768-G211: Disturbing Deathworlder Deeds

Ki'it thought ze was ready. Ze had survived Human Kev's "oops"es, learned to anticipate Human Lin's "I know what I did wrong!"s, and even managed to halve zer dosage of calming medication after a half dozen of Human Ren's "uh-oh..."s.

This, however, was zer introduction to the dreaded, "Wheeeee!!!! Again!" -- Anon Guest

[AN: You are of course free to use any gender-neutral pronouns you love in prompts... it's just that I cannot conjugate anything else than ze/hir.

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Challenge #02767-G210: The Problem With Pib

More Human Pib, please. -- Escla

[AN: Referencing this thing BTW ]

Havenworlders were on edge, some were seeking out places to hide. Some were seeking out places where something might be hiding. The entire crew of the Jaunty Merchant were operating under a Code Giggle.

Human Pib had escaped.

Humans Orgo and Lun were checking their entire quarters, and every nook and cranny therein. They were doing this for the fiftieth time since Human Pib had "turned up missing". The fact that

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Challenge #02766-G209: Communication Block

A havenworlder has a soft, higher-pitched, voice and the human only catches half of what they say most of the time. They are both heading to a medical hub, the human to get treatment, the havenworlder to do their internship. While there, the human explains about that annoying ringing in the ears called tinnitus, and how humans who have accidents, listen to too many loud noises, or just start to get elderly, can sometimes end up with hearing damage. -- Anon Guest

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Challenge #02765-G208: The Double-Edged Blade

Justice may be blind, but she can smell fear!

~Me -- AmberFox

Power, they often think, is wearing a crown and giving the orders. They were wrong. Power is taking responsibility and knowing that one person made the rules that encapsulated all their welfare.

Numbers beyond the safe ability to count were favourable when it was money, but not so when it was people bearing pitchforks and torches. When the people prospered, those in power prospered. Alas, when the people were oppressed,

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Challenge #02764-G207: If I See Further...

Necessity may be the mother of Invention, but Spite can make for an exceptional foster parent. -- AmberFox

Is there any phrase more simultaneously motivating and de-motivating than "you can't"? Whether or not someone takes it to heart, or how they take it to heart, is a matter of importance.

"You can't do that, you simply lack the mental capacity," is a good one that has inspired many to prove the naysayer wrong. Of course, such proof is almost inevitably dismissed as

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Challenge #02763-G206: Makes Sense?

A: Why everyone is releasing stress hormones?

B: oh, it's just turbulence -- Anon Guest

Humans are unfathomable. Sil had been seated near this one since Faranaway Station, a process involving a lot of stops and hazards, and at least two journeys through Hyperspace. Now that they were on their destination planet, the Human Qin was exhibiting high levels of stress.

Sil checked. They still had the same destination area in their itinerary. "What is the matter? Why are you exuding stress

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Challenge #02762-G205: My What Big Ears...

"OW! [Fornication] [excrement]! What the [undesirable afterlife] did I just step on?!" -- Anon Guest

Some toys were made to be weaponised into anti-personnel measures. One has, by logic and design, a set of small, modular, interlocking bricks designed to be parts of a creativity toy for children. Children are renowned for not putting away their toys, or not being very vigilant at doing so. There are, to children, much better things to do than looking for tiny building blocks.

Most adults

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