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sugarcoatednightshade · 10 months

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thinking about how Humans Are Space Orcs stories always talk about how indestructible humans are, our endurance, our ability to withstand common poisons, etc. and thats all well and good, its really fun to read, but it gets repetitive after a while because we aren't all like that.

And that got me thinking about why this trope is so common in the first place, and the conclusion I came to is actually kind of obvious if you think about it. Not everyone is allowed to go into space. This is true now, with the number of physical restrictions placed on astronauts (including height limits), but I imagine it's just as strict in some imaginary future where humans are first coming into contact with alien species. Because in that case there will definitely be military personnel alongside any possible diplomatic parties.

And I imagine that all interactions aliens have ever had up until this point have been with trained personnel. Even basic military troops conform to this standard, to some degree. So aliens meet us and they're shocked and horrified to discover that we have no obvious weaknesses, we're all either crazy smart or crazy strong (still always a little crazy, academia and war will do that to you), and not only that but we like, literally all the same height so there's no way to tell any of us apart.

And Humans Are Death Worlders stories spread throughout the galaxy. Years or decades or centuries of interspecies suspicion and hostilities preventing any alien from setting foot/claw/limb/appendage/etc. on Earth until slowly more beings are allowed to come through. And not just diplomats who keep to government buildings, but tourists. Exchange students. Temporary visitors granted permission to go wherever they please, so they go out in search of 'real terran culture' and what do they find?

Humans with innate heart defects that prevent them from drinking caffeine. Humans with chronic pain and chronic fatigue who lack the boundless endurance humans are supposedly famous for. Humans too tall or too short or too fat to be allowed into space. Humans who are so scared of the world they need to take pills just to function. Humans with IBS who can't stand spicy foods, capsaicin really is poison to them. Lactose intolerance and celiac disease, my god all the autoimmune disorders out there, humans who struggle to function because their own bodies fight them. Humans who bruise easily and take too long to heal. Humans who sustained one too many concussions and now struggle to talk and read and write. Humans who've had strokes. Humans who were born unable to talk or hear or speak, and humans who through some accident lost that ability later.

Aliens visit Earth, and do you know what they find? Humanity, in all its wholeness.

#humans are space orcs #humans in space #earth is a deathworld #earth is space australia #tagging this so that ppl can find it even though the space shit i write about always feels like its in direct opposition to all the pop tag #also my biggest pet peeve in all of writing - all writing. everywhere. not just in fanfic but books and tv and movies too - is when people #write off an injury by saying something like 'oh nothing bad just a couple of scratches some bruising and a minor concussion' like girl WHA #MiNOr ConCuSSioN is such an oxymoron and I hate it so fucking much. like i dont care how minor it was thats still brain damage.#especially when the same character does this more than once. like im sorry ms. but uh. you can no longer read. or talk eloquently. sorry #evidence: my brother has had two 'minor' concussions and now cannot read write or speak without tremendous effort. And like its totally #ruined my ability to watch action shows/movies because now i just sit there and count how many concussions there characters are getting #after a certain point it becomes totally impossible to believe that these guys are able to function. (still fun to watch tho im not a hater

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mvjerbs · 1 month

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Tried writing again but I'm still shit at it. Still hope you enjoy it though. “Out of all the things I had left in the stadium, I left my phone. Great job Ken! Great job.” Kenji said in an annoyed tone as he drives through the streets back to the stadium.

“Is it still in the locker room Mina?” Kenji asks.

“Yes Ken, your phone’s location has not changed for the past few minutes. It is still there” Mina answered.

“Well, at least no one tried to take it away” Kenji sighed before speeding up. He wants to be at home with Emi soon.

Kenji arrives and immediately headed for the locker rooms, as he got in he opened his locker where he found his phone in the exact same place Mina located it.

“Alright, time to finally head back” Kenji said. He closed his locker and was about to leave when he suddenly hears something. Kenji stopped for a moment to listen, the stadium was thankfully quiet around the time so sound echoed through the hall. It was a little difficult to hear but it sounded like… grunting? Curious, Kenji decided to investigate and followed the source of the noise. As he got closer, the noises became louder as well as the sound of curses and something hitting the ground. He eventually reached the field and discovers the source of the noise. It was Juro Agamatsu, his rival, it seems like he was practicing his pitches. Kenji watched as Juro throws another ball before grunting in frustration and picking up another ball. Confused, Kenji squints to see what Juro was aiming at. It was a bottle, it was placed on top of a chair. It seemed like he was missing all of his pitches with the other baseballs lying around not too far from the target.

Kenji turns to Juro who takes position and aims once again only to miss. “DAMN IT” He yelled out as he grabs another ball.

“C’mon Juro focus. FOCUS.” He said to himself before throwing another ball and missing again.

“You’re not becoming worse, you have to prove him wrong.” He muttered, walking over to pick up two balls and taking position again.

“Focus, Focus!” He misses again. With the last ball in his hand he positions himself once more, aimed at the bottle and…..he missed.

Juro let out a frustrated yell as he lashes his anger out on the basket of baseballs that are now scattered around him. This scene reminded Kenji of himself when he was still new, it made him internally cringe and feel bad for his rival. Then Juro stopped, Kenji watched in worry as he wondered what was going on. Then, he heard it. It was quiet at first but it slowly got louder.

Juro was crying.

Kenji never expected to see the day that his rival would breakdown, and yet there he was sobbing. Kenji sensed the vulnerability of the situation and decide to leave to respect the man’s privacy and give him space. As Kenji walks away, he hears Juro grunting and throwing once more, it seemed like he was practicing through his breakdown. Kenji stops for a moment, feeling bad for the Pitcher before deciding to turn around and help the poor man out.

Kenji stood by the side watching as he thinks about how to approach Juro in his vulnerable state.

‘Should he call out to him? Should he just wait for the right moment to let him know of his presence? WHAT SHOULD I DO?’ Kenji was torn, he wasn’t what to do but settled on letting his presence be known. Kenji takes a deep breath steps out of his hiding stop, only to end up hitting his phone on the wall he hid from and dropping it which created a lot of noise.

Kenji winced, that was not a good start. He slowly opened his eyes and lifted up his head to meet Juro’s surprised face staring back at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before Juro’s face shifted to anger.

“What are you doing here Sato. Eavesdropping on people now? That’s pretty low even for someone like you don’t you think?” Juro said, immediately changing his personality as if his break down never happened. Kenji was impressed but also worried considering how well he immediately changed.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping you Juro. I just happened to be around that’s all.” Kenji said, holding back the urge to reply with a snarky remark.

“Hah! Yeah right.” Juro scoffed, picking another ball off the ground.

“Mr. ‘I’m-so-much-better’ Sato, is being such a nic-“ Juro was cut off when Kenji raised his hand, signaling him to stop.

“Timeout.” Kenji said. Juro furrowed his eye brows in confusion.

“Just- can we just pause the trash talking for now? I don’t think we both are in the mood for that” Kenji explained. Juro looked at him in surprise. They were silent for a moment, before Juro scoffed, silently obliging to the request and returning to his practice.

Kenji was surprised to say the least, he was expecting some insult or comeback instead of obedience, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Kenji went over and sat on a chair as he watched Juro practice. He tries to aim for the bottle once again but fails and he yells in frustration. “ Hey uh. How about a little break huh?” Kenji nervously asked, he isn’t sure how to start a conversation with Juro but he hoped that was good enough.

“I don’t need a break. I need to practice. And don’t talk to me, I’m trying to focus.” Juro answered coldly. Welp, looks like it didn’t.

“Wow, ok Mr. push over. I was just trying to help” Kenji replied in an annoyed tone.

“Yeah, well guess what? I don’t need help. I’ve reached this far without it and it’s too late to ask for it.” Answered Juro as he picks up another ball. ‘Great, this guy is hardheaded.’ Kenji thought, suppressing the urge to throw an insult at the man before trying again.

“Listen, I know how you feel-“ Kenji starts when he was cut off by Juro’s sarcastic laugh.

“Oh really? Do you now?” Juro said, turning to face Kenji with anger evident on his face.

“Why don’t you tell me then huh?” he says as he slowly makes his way to Kenji. Kenji sensed the incoming fight but remained seated as Juro loomed over him.

“Did you go through doubt? That you’re suddenly terrible at something that you thought you believed you were good at? Or are you just saying that just to get me to open up, Huh? Tell me Sato, TELL ME!” Juro asked, his voice getting louder with each question, but so does Kenji’s anger.

“Yes Agamatsu, YES! I know how you feel because I went through the same frustrations as you!” Kenji snapped back as he stood up. Juro was taken back. He did push the man’s buttons and he got the expected result, but something tells him this was real.

“I was literally struggling in my first season here. It even got to the point where my coach was going to trade me off to another team! Years being called the best player, and I was suddenly told to be traded and that hurt me!” Kenji vented. He didn’t plan to do that and was hoping he could’ve kept that event a secret, then he saw Juro’s shocked expression and his lack of response. It was too late to take it back, might as well just continue. Kenji took a deep breath and let out a sigh, calming down his anger.

“I know how you feel, because I acted the same way you did earlier.” He explained. He looked at Juro and noticed the anger that was slowly disappearing as well. They both stood there in silence for a moment.

‘So much for being the bigger person.’ Kenji thought, he was about to leave when Juro moved, grabbed a water bottle and sat down. Kenji watched him the whole time, wondering what he has in mind. None of them spoke for 3 grueling long minutes before Juro spoke.

“You know, now that I think about it….. You were pretty terrible back then.” Juro said. Kenji scoffed at the memory, sitting back down on the chair he sat earlier.

“Yeah, I was.” Kenji agreed.

“So… How did you do it? How did you over come it?” Juro asked. Kenji paused for a moment, thinking on how to explain the events he experienced without revealing that he is currently taking care of a kaiju baby before speaking.

“ I took a step back and asked for help.” He answered. Juro turned to face Kenji as he listens with interest.

“The day when I had my breakdown, I decided to call my friend and my dad to talk to. They gave me advices and offered to help. I was like you back then. I felt like I could manage on my own and refused the help. I had to learn the hard way and eventually got better.” Kenji continues, smiling fondly at the memories that came to his mind.

“Doing things through frustration will only cloud your focus. So take a step back, talk to others and don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Kenji explained. He looked up to face Juro with a soft and friendly smile. Juro stared back at him, contemplating on what Kenji had said before letting out a sigh.

“Alright, I’ll take your advice” Juro said, leaning back on his chair.

“So tell me, what are you really doing here at this time?” He asked once more. Raising a brow he faced Kenji.

“I told you, I left my phone back at my locker and I went back to grab it.” Kenji answered.

“Really? Out of all the things you left, you left your phone?” Juro asked, a smirk forming on his lips as he looks at Kenji.

“Ugh, I don’t need to hear this right now.” Groaned Kenji as he buried his face into his hands, this earned a laughter from Juro. Both continued to talk, each moment spent learning about the other and discovering some things that would have never been known from their rivalry.

“So you practice here every after game?” Kenji asked.

“Not really, I have a favorite place to practice. Its nice and quiet. I would practice there for hours under the sun. Developed a sweet tan from it too.” Juro said, lifting up one of his sleeve to reveal the tan line he developed all while playfully flexing his arm.

“That sounds narcissistic.” Kenji commented, laughing when Juro gave him an offended look.

“I believe its called being confident.” Juro replies back. Huffing in fake annoyance only to smile as Kenji continues to laugh.

“So… you feeling better?” Kenji asked, wiping a tear from his eyes after he had calmed down from his laughter.

“Honestly, yeah. I do.” Juro admits with a smile which Kenji returns.

“You wanna try and practice again?” Kenji suggests. He picks up a ball from the ground and hands it to Juro who accepts the ball. Kenji watched as Juro stood and walked over to the spot where he practiced. Juro clasped the ball in his hand as he stares at the bottle, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He raised his leg and charged up his pitch. Juro opened his eyes and in one swift motion, threw the ball and...He did it. He managed to his the bottle. Juro let out an estatic roar as he celebrates the success, Kenji joins in as he cheered from the side.

“There we go! That was good! Always wondered how you do those throws.” Kenji said as he walks over to where Juro was.

“When your dad sees your potential at something he’s passionate about, he forces you to get better at it.”

“Damn, he must be really supportive to get you to be this far.”

“Yeah…totally.” Juro answered with a slight shift in his tone. Kenji noticed the slight change in emotion, but before he could say anuthing Juro decided to change the topic.

“But you are a different type of impressive too you know. People always say its hard to see any of my pitches, but you could easily hit mine whenever you up against me.” Juro said, turning to Kenji with an impressed smile.

“Some techniques that I learned. Its why I’m the ‘Best Living Player’.” Kenji shrugged with a smug smile on his face.

“Now that was narcissistic.” Juro commented, smiling as he watch Kenji be offended at what he had said

“Hey!-“ Kenji was about to explain himself when he was cut off by his watch beeping. He looked at his watch and his eyes widen, suddenly looking panicked. Emi was awake and was throwing a tantrum.

“Oh shoot, I’ve been gone for too long. I-I gotta go.” Kenji said, turning to rush back to his bike and reach home before Emi’s tantrum got worse. He doesn’t want to repeat what happened last time.

“So Timeout is over?” Juro asked causing Kenji to turn and reply back

“Yep! Timeout is over.” Kenji said.

“We should really do this sometimes, cause not gonna lie, being rivals can be tiring.” Juro suggest. Kenji paused for a moment to process what he had said before smiling at him.

“It’s a promise. See you tomorrow Agamatsu!” Kenji said, waving at Juro before jogging to the exit.

“See you, Kenny boy” Juro yelled, smirking as Kenji turned around once again.

“Tryhard!”

“Eavesdropper!”

“I WASN’T EAVESDROPPING!” Kenji yelled back. He could hear Juro’s laughter echoing the halls causing him to smile. Maybe they should have more timeouts.

#canon x oc #ken sato #ultraman ken #kenji sato #ultraman rising #emi ultraman #emi sato #mina ultraman #juro agamatsu (oc)#fanfic #its bad but its the effort that counts

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