Just Add Prompt

A 4874-post collection

Challenge #00499 - A124: Dominion

“Look there, that’s the fourth tribe —”

“Herd.”

“…whatever. Fourth herd of cows we’ve driven past in the last half-hour. Between that and what I saw regarding the cats you live with and you cleaning waste from their box of sand earlier,  I’m just saying, I’m not really that convinced you humans are the dominant species on this planet.”

“Well, we are kinda high up on the food chain,” said Sandra. “I’ve tried to explain this to you before. We’re omnivores. Some animals are the kind we keep for food. Like all these cows. Some, we keep for company. Like my cat.”

“You do not eat all things that you can,” insisted D'tez. “Your diet is very restricted in comparison to your available food.”

“Well, just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” Sandra checked the map as she drove. Still on course. “We have cultural and ethical reasons for not eating everything that isn’t nailed down.”

“But a simple expansion of what is edible would eliminate your food issues.”

“We’ve been through this, D'tez. Humans view insects as dirty. We don’t like to eat dirty food.”

“But they are abundant, plentiful and tasty! They take up much less space and are far easier to raise.”

Sandra sighed. “It wouldn’t be the first time humanity didn’t do something just because it made sense.” She sighed. She was starting to agree with the Galactics. Humans were insane.

[Muse food remaining: 39. Submit a promptAsk a questionBuy my stories!]

Challenge #00498 - A123: Obvious Design Flaw

All those corrosive things humans excrete can come in handy sometimes, right?

(“We have to get out of this maze as fast as we can, but if we turn on the plasma cutter the monster will hear us!”
“Stand back, I got this” *spits at wall*)

“Sucrose! What the heck kind of alien builds walls out of sucrose?” asked Mabel.

“I have no idea, but we are going to need one hell of a dentist by the time we

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Challenge #00497 - A122: When The Rot Came In

The beginning of the end of Nufurria

(or- I’m *really* curious as to how this society began, what it was like in its heyday, and how interaction with the larger galactic culture changed it.  How do the Nufurrian ‘masters’ see themselves?)

Conception.

“Don’t you get it? We don’t have to be freaks and weirdoes any more! We can take all the furries and otherkin and everybody who loves anthropomorphics and go make a world in our

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Challenge #00496 - A121: Adventures With Incompatible Technology

The robots of Steam-Powered Giraffe meet Van Rijn’s Muses. 

{Fldth-whomp}

“I’m not saying she wasn’t a nice lady, Hatchy, I’m saying you really should have given that big, dangly robot her portal gun back. It’s done weird things to your cannon.”

“I like my new can-non,” grumbled a second voice. Presumably Hatchy.

“I’m k-k-kinda fond of it m-m-m-myself.” said a third. “But it’

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Challenge #00495 - A120: An Attempt Was Made

And they never spoke of the peanut-butter lobster incident again.

Meals, they said, were a uniting factor. Food, they said, was universal. Humans, they said, would eat anything.

But not this.

Plate after plate after plate of it came back. They were supposed to love lobster! But they were sending this all back with comments like, “it tastes funny” or “I’m allergic to the sauce”.

One of them even came into the kitchens to find Byaadi

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Challenge #00494 - A119: One Fine Evening in the Commerce District of Station Alpha Five.

Sorry, but here’s another prompt http://cnvvj.tumblr.com/post/78934269709/harblkun-hookteeth-beltaguise-fantasy

Personally I just submit them as I have ideas/spot them on tumblr, but I try not to send 20 at once

[AN: I’m sure I did this before… But again]

“I’ve found a B or a D is better for me. There’s a fine balance between thermal security and back, neck and shoulder problems.”

A human sauntered over to

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Challenge #00493 - A118: Blood!

Nosebleeds, or to be more precise what do the other cogniscients think when it happens. Do they go for a medical kit and flutter about while the human sighs and holds their nose, or do they comment that at least the humans do something normally for once (but what scared them enough to defensively spout blood?) or something else entirely?

The human - the first they had met, was making an intermittent noise with its proboscis.

Snurf.

Communicating was spotty. Both sides

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Challenge #00492 - A117: Imagine There's No People

Challenge: No humans, or anything pertaining to them at all. That includes human-made or modified things, creatures, places, foods etc.

[AN: Ooooo a GOOD one :D]

Belok took note of the unusual structure as ze approached it. Ze could see that it was made out of ancient hulks of previous civilisations’ stellar vessels, but they had been… conglomerated. Docked, patched and - in at least one case - crashed together into one unappealing whole.

Ze tried all comms avenues including

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Challenge #00491 - A116: Random Curiosity

You mentioned Shayde’s much-debated status as “human” among the denizens of Amalgam. So I’m guessing that as well as all the “human status confirmed” moments there had to be a few cogniscients that just bluntly asked her what she was. And I’ll bet after the first twelve she started coming up with more creative answers/responses….

[AN: I doubt she made it as far as twelve]

There were drawbacks to being in the company of someone who was only

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Challenge #00490 - A115: One Alarming Discovery on the Paths Less Travelled

I may have already submitted a similar prompt, but there was mention made about how non-human species might be very good for autistes - some are very cuddly, some like particularly quiet environments, some have interesting textures. All good for degaussing or forcing the unwanted mob to back off when the autiste is having trouble communicating.

In case a similar prompt has already been made, I’ll request the first time a human of the autism spectrum met any of the Galactic

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Challenge #00489 - A114: Oxymoronic Artefacts

A sign in Braille that says “do not touch”

“Humans had to have made that,” said P’riix.

Tonq, the other archeologist on this ruined planet, peered at it. It was a wall plaque with two codified human languages on it. One of them, raised for the vision-impaired.

The flaking paint above read, “DO NOT TOUCH”

“Oh yes,” said Tonq. “We have clear evidence of humans.”

Which would alter all the reasonings concluded from the evidence

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Challenge #00488 - A113: Biggest Fans

A friend just showed me the opening lines to his new story and said I could use them as a prompt:

“This is the voice of the Mysterons. We know you can hear us, Earth-”
*sound of tape rewinding*
“…Sorry for the technical difficulties. To clarify, we are not the Mysterons. We are arguably worse.”

“Approach Cairo at vector two-one-niner by alpha seven,” sighed Kevin. “And we’ll thank you for a lack of

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Challenge #00487 - A112: Why They Never Came By

The humans’ reaction to finding out what the rest of the galaxy thought about them before actual first contact (bonus points mentioning the Pioneer plaques)

The humans learned fast. They apparently learned by messing around with things until something happened that they understood, and worked outwards from there.

And they had learned to read Ulu.

T'reka watched and recorded various humans at the Communications Centre that had once been a Hide Unit. They sat or stood at various info-stations and accessed data

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Challenge #00486 - A111: Camouflage

“Humans perceive sixteen times the colors we do. Do not hide in bushes or vines from humans. They can distinguish your pelt from the foliage with ease.”

There were always things to learn. Things like, once an anomalous shape is recognised, it’s easier to spot. Dappled shadows were better to hide in and blending was important.

“Gotcha!” said the human. “You really suck at hide-and-seek, T'yrt'yr[1].”

“I followed the rules,” she

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Challenge #00485 - A110: Irresistible Force

Hey look what came around with new bits on it! http://siphersaysstuff.tumblr.com/post/73671577343/therobotmonster-moniquill-siderealsandman

Prepare for a barrage of prompts based on it :P

1. “Our strength and speed is nothing to write home about, but we don’t need to overpower or outrun you. We just need to outlast you - and by any other species’ standards, we just plain don’t get tired.”

[AN: I love that post so much that I’m hinging a book

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