I’ve been reading a lot of “humans are weird” posts and I noticed how the aliens just seem… all the same in a way? Like, they all act the same, or live the same way, or something…
Why does it seem like humans are the only ones to… I don’t know, give live birth, or dye their hair/get tattoos?
And why does it seem like humans are weirdly homogenous in those stories. Like… “all humans “pack-bond” “ or whatever.
Why wouldn’t other species have more different languages on their planets?
Why wouldn’t other species have now-useless organs, that are just an evolutionary relic, and serve no real purpose?
Why wouldn’t other species have like eye-sight problems and have some equivalent of glasses or contacts?
Why wouldn’t other species have prostetics?
Why wouldn’t other species get adrenaline rushes (or equivalent of it)?
Why wouldn’t other species wear clothes?
Why wouldn’t other aliens do crazy shit just because?
Why wouldn’t other aliens tan or dye their hair (or equvalent of it) or get tattoos?
Why wouldn’t other species have baby teeth or something similar?
Why wouldn’t other species have mental illnesses or allergies?
Why would humans be so special?
Why would other species act so… primitivelly, despite being so advanced? (Meaning like alpha/beta etc. dynamics being very important or huge size difference between males and females of the species).
So, let’s say that one species usually has like one or two oddities, sometimes more, but none has so many as humans. Humans are not unique in the things they do - they are just unique because of how many weird thing they do.
Imagine some alien captain getting briefed on how to handle humans, before a human joins his crew like:
Older alien captain (O): So, one of the things about humans is that they have many languages they speak on their planet, so they might use translators to communicate with each other, too.
Younger alien captain(Y): Like Nintians or Fari?
O: Yeah, like that. And they sometimes use paint to change their haircolor. Their hair changing color is not a sign of illness.
Y: Like with Zagraw?
O: Exactly. And they like to keep small animals with them, even small predators. They call it “pets”.
*continues for another four minutes, while reading other stuff from a screen*
Y: Slow down… these humans sound really out there. You’re sure they do all that stuff? One species can’t do all that stuff, that’s ridiculous.
O: Kid, we’re like on the first page of the manual. There’s a hundred more pages.
Y: You’re kidding me, right?
-Aliens seeing how many times humans declare war on each other throughout history and thinking that humans enjoy war as some sort of sport or spectacle -Aliens coming into possession of human sci-fi horror films and being worried that their human companions are afraid of them -Aliens coming into possession of positive human representations of aliens and forming huge crushes on Mr. Spock and ET -Aliens first discovering humans through stray TV broadcasts of the Brady Bunch, Grease, and other vintage tv shows. Intergalactic fashion suddenly shifts to favor clothing similar to 50s greaser jackets and sweaters -Aliens falling in love with human fashion and parading around in poorly applied makeup (the said aliens watched dozens of tutorials on YouTube), bonus points if the alien is traditionally masculine looking. “I look like your human goddess Beyonce and you cannot convince me otherwise, human Steve.” -Aliens falling in love with human languages and printing human words all over their clothing like Americans do with French words. However, they often mix up the languages by picking and choosing which words they like the best, so the phrases turn out like “C'est good, nyet?” -Aliens relating more to neurodivergent people because of how their brains work, bonding with humans over different strengths and weaknesses -Aliens seeing all the ways humans go thrill-seeking (rollercoasters, skydiving, bungee-jumping, water slides) and scolding their humans for putting themselves in danger oN PURPOSE -Aliens tasting spicy foods for the first time and and scolding their humans for eating FIRE -Aliens being worried that their human love interests find them unattractive and trying different things to look more human -Aliens being confused by human daydreaming and infant “pretending”. Why would humans want to be anything else? They are already perfect. -Aliens having the same weird fantasy of being “abducted” and “probed” by humans that we have of them -Aliens having weird 70s style videos on “Human Etiquette”, with incredibly inaccurate info on how humans actually act -Aliens first coming into contact with dogs and animals because we sent those into space first, assuming that humans are the same and attempting to placate them with tummy rubs and rubs behind the ears
This seems to relate to the ability humans have relating to the 4th dimension.
Im talking about the ‘I know someone is there’ feeling. You could haveyour back to something, but then just /know/ that theres someone/something behind you without seeing or hearing anything. You just /know./ Like, imagine how weird that’d be to Aliens
Bizarinvin: *Walks up to Ava slowly and quietly, maybe trying to see if xey can surprise them somehow*
Ava: *Immediately turns around* Yo Biz. Trying to scare me?
Bizarinvin: Yes but how did you even know I was there! I made sure I was silent!
Ava: I have eyes on the back of my head
Bizarinvin: Really?!
Ava: *Laughs* Nah. I just felt you there.
Bizarinvin: But you havent touched me.
Ava: I just sensed you there I guess then
Bizarinvin: What? How?
Ava: *Shrugs* I dunno. Humans can just… know if theres someone there without looking or hearing them sometimes
Bizarinvin:….Ok. *Goes to update the Human Guide with this new info
Okay, so we’ve talked about inanimate objects like Stabby the space roomba. Fair enough, the aliens think, after adjusting their mental frameworks a little. It moves around, it’s got some intelligence, humans just aren’t very good at distinguishing ‘animate’ and 'inanimate’ and will pack-bond with anything that moves. Weird, but okay.
But then:
Human Sashi: What are you doing??!
Alien fusid: …Eating the first meal of the day? I believe you call it 'breakfast’?
Human Sashi: No, I mean… you’re using my cup!
Alien fusid: Dishes were provided by the space station.
Human Sashi: Well, some of us brought our own – my friend doesn’t like them; too standardized. But that’s not what I was talking about. That’s my cup!
Alien fusid: I apologize, but it looks exactly like the other cups.
Human Sashi: No it doesn’t.
Alien fusid: …What?
Human Sashi: It’s got a chip in the corner, see?? I mean, it’s fine, but just… don’t do it again, okay.
Alien fusid: I had the strangest interaction with a human today.
Alien Wimu: The humans are quite odd. What occurred?
Alien fusid: It had pack bonded to a cup.
Alien Wimu: …a cup?
Alien fusid: Yes. It is a regulation cup, but it has a chip. Apparently, we are not to touch it.
Alien Wimu: …
Alien fusid: …
Alien Wimu, meditatively: The humans are certainly very, very odd.
Why do you insist on doing the most irrational things, and how has it led to you being the dominant species on the planet?
those “monkey brain/human brain” posts except the monkey brain is presented as the rational one
Ayup, jumping on the bandwagon
So, humans are weirdly aware apex predators with crazy survival instincts (though sometimes we seem like we might not have any)
There’s been talk before about predictive behavior and pattern recognition, but what about the ley lines?
And liminal spaces?
We will swear up and down about not messing with the Fae, have so many stories about things that happen, of those you do not speak of lest they take it as in invitation
And disassociation?
And gods beware if of what happens when a damn human dissociates while walking in a liminal space, taunting things their alien companions are hissing at in fear and worry; ‘where did you pick up this human, why did you let them off the ship for krellnak’s sake put that back!’
Humans using peripheral vision to dodge incoming attacks and casually throwing an incendiary device over their shoulder into the enemy without looking, grabbing an injured companion and walking (seemingly) calmly to a med clinic.
Humans who sit for hours or weeks alone in their quarters, refusing to give an explanation afterward
Yanking smaller alien partners up with one hand before they step in something unpleasant
Warning about incoming attacks or foreseeing something, their alien friends staring in wonder and confusion because how could they possibly know about that? Being treated with suspicion at first because of worry about double-crossing spies, human rolling their eyes and explaining yet again about gut feelings, and instincts
Another human pulling aside the commander to explain in whispers about humans who do have abilities, who practice the Craft
Humans explaining about different religions, about those who don’t follow one faith or another, ones who shrug and point at the windows and smile, saying, “Well, we found each other, other life among the stars, who knows what we might find next? Isn’t it exciting?”
Restless humans who pace along the viewscreens, impatiently badgering technicians about how far they’ve gone, where are they going next, how does that work?
Humans who, once they’re on planets, fall to their knees and stay that way for hours, and no, they don’t require a medic, they just want to stay here for a bit.
Humans who are constantly exploring everything, being called up and questioned about their whereabouts, how did they even get there? They shrug, saying they were learning
“Learning what?” Asks the alien leader
A smile, baring teeth that remind them that humans are omnivorous predators. “Everything we can.”
I’ve been reading a lot of these “humans are space orcs” posts and that got me thinking…
Imagine that you’re the only human in youre crew. Youre crew is getting attacked by pirates and they start shooting darts with a deadly substance in it. None of youre crewmembers is getting hit, but one dart hits you. The whole crew is freaking out and screaming “Oh no, our human is dying!”
But you don’t feel like you’re about to die. You feel energetic and hyperactive. You manage to blurt out “ohmygodifeelawesomewhatwasinthosedarts?!?” And one crewmember just stares at you like you lost youre mind and says “that… that was caffeine”
And then you spend the next hour running in cyrcles and screaming “WEEEEEEEEE” while your crewmembers slowly start to whish that these darts had killed you.
M-melting brains? I-uh I think I might need to sit down and rethink my life.
Alien: So… when harmful foreign substances enter your bodies, you increase your body temperature?
Human: Yep
Alien: You slowly burn yourselves alive???
Human: Well when you put it like that, geez
Alien: And you regularly survive this?
Human: Mostly, but sometimes people’s bodies get too hot and their brains start melting.
Alien: ….
Human: It doesn’t happen so much anymore though, don’t worry!
Alien: Don’t worry, they say. Melting brains is fine, they say.
The pack bond feature your race has aquired is vastly inconvenient to say the very least.
Okay, so I feel like contributing to the Humans Are Weird section and it’s just, humans and predators get along? Like, we have mutual beneficial relationships and companionship with animals that, in theory, we should be fighting with.
Like, we have cats and dogs as pets, some people have wolves, we see lions and tigers and think they’re cute, hell, zoologists have been raising Big Cats for years, not to mention the stories about people care taking bears.
And if Jurassic World became a thing, you can bet your ass someone would Chris Pratt a set of pack dinos
So like, imagine that theres a race of aliens who are, by genetic script, predatory, and vicious and every alien system are like “Theres no chance at establishing peace with them, it’s impossible.” But then humans come and we stumble across a wounded one like
“this species ?? Is adorable ?” And all the other aliens are like
“No, human Mike, it is a vicious predator! It’s bet to just avoid the quadrant where theyre from and destroy any that come too close.”
“You want to kill him, but he’s just a wittle cutie!”
“ … Human Mike, stand back!” And of course the humans rally around it and force the other aliens out and slowly feed/build up trust with the species and we form a bound with them and Aliens are like ????
Evetually humans teach the aliens how to respond to the species and while they’re still pretty dangerous if they’re hungry and you shouldn’t turn your back on them, there’s still like, relative trust between the species.
Another humans are weird/space orcs idea that came to me while trying to drink water upside down:
Humans are apex predators. We’re unbreakable and relentless and legion and lethal. Nothing gets to us- except us.
It’s the stupidest little things that can stop up a human.
Many aliens have theorized about this. Perhaps with no natural enemies, the species tried to threaten them with themselves in a desperate search for some kind of challenge. Maybe it’s cosmic karma for being nigh unstoppable. Maybe they had transcended so much that the nuances of life were tiny and incomprehensible to them. Maybe it’s natural selection trying to thin the herd.
Whichever the cause, it’s a strange combination of disturbing and amusing to see a human be defeated by itself. It’s a little alarming to see the most resilient and powerful species in the universe be completely shut down with things that pale in comparison to their normal challenges.
Seeing a human function almost completely fully with several broken bones… but absolutely crippled and reduced to using one arm when faced with a large hangnail.
My dad broke his leg in a snowmobile accident in such a way that the bone was sticking out of his leg. He crawled a half mile in the snow to the nearest house to ask for help. But when he stubs his toe on the coffee table every few weeks, it’ll bring him to his knees.
I recently got a double conch piercing done- two massive needles shoved through the thickest cartilage in my ear, one right after the other. I’ve got 5 other piercings. None, not even the conch, hurt as much as getting a single hair yanked out of my head.
I see people eat some of the world’s hottest foods all laced with capsaicin which can kill things, and drink alcohol that’s literally poisonous, and break pen cases with their teeth. But a too cold slush drink? Unable to talk or move, head between the knees, for about two minutes, because brain freeze. Or, better yet, sometimes we literally choke on spit. Nearly asphyxiate. Because we regularly ‘swallow down the wrong hole’.
Alien: Why did you say, last month, that your broken ribs and arm and massive blood loss was ‘fine’, but when you got a paper cut today, you cried for ten minutes and now still refuse to unwrap your wound? It is tiny in comparison to some things that you’ve faced without hesitation.
Human: Honestly it’s really stupid and I don’t really know, but I will swear up and down and until the day I die, a broken bone hurts way less than a paper cut.
Alien: But… no. It’s not worse. It… that doesn’t make sense.
Human: I know, right? But it’s true.
A-are these feats of athletic prowess normal for humans?!? I should report this to my superiors...
No limit..✌
I am not an alien scout looking to learn all I can about humanity before the inevitable invasion.
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