From the Intergalactic Journal of Mechanics and Biology
They say that a single human once ran for 80 hours 44
minutes without stopping to sleep. He covered a distance of 350m (360km) during
that time. At a relative speed of less than 5 miles an hour, the speed pales in
comparison to other apex predators of their planet. The spotted cheetah can run
up to 76 miles per hour, but can only sustain that for approximately 1,500 feet.
The best bread and trained horses of their planet may be able to run 100 miles
in a day, but many who attempt this feat never finish.Despite its relative speed, the human can sustain a
relative pace of four miles an hour four a little over three earth solar cycles
without rest (keep in mind that this is not an examination of average ability).
Once thought to be the most endurance evolved species in
the galaxy, the Rundi can run for an hour at the speed of fifteen miles per
hour, but in a long distance race with a human, they find themselves slowly
outmatched.First, they outpace the human easily, they grow slowly
tired, they fall to a slow walking speed, they try to maintain, but their body
overheats. Eventually the steady footsteps of the approaching human converge
and then pass ahead to recede into the distance.Compared to most creatures, the human has a few
advantages. Bipedal in nature, they can carry objects with them as they run
like water and food, the arches in their feet act as shocks and springs to
decrease shock. The feet are oriented straight ahead and their toes are
shortened to decrease the mechanical work of the foot. Spring-like tendons and
ligaments aid them as they run. A narrow waist that can pivot allows for the swimming
of arms during running action. A heightened sense of balance and movement keeps
them on a straight course and allows their head to remain steady as they go.
About 20 miles of energy can be stored in the muscles themselves. Additionally,
one of the largest muscles in the body, the gluteus maximus is not engaged
during a brisk walk but during a run. But the biggest factor, is their ability
to cool through sweat.As far as we know, humans, and some of their earthly
counterparts, are the only creatures in the universe that excrete water to
catalyze cooling.
They were going to die.
They were going to die.
The sun would come up, and burn them to death and they were
going to die.Krill never thought that his life would end this way.
Surrounded by the strange Humans on a class A death planet waiting for the star
to rise over the horizon and melt them to a crisp.
Tag: message from the queue continuum
She may fight with knives, but check out her guns
💪
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Gothic outfit, featuring a creepy kimono with moonlit skulls and bats (design by Rumi Rock, who offers custom colors)
Rumi Rock calls those obi “Gira heko” (dazzling soft obi), from the onomatopoeia giragira (blazzle/dazzle) which is a variation of kirakira (sparkle/glitter)
Humans are one of the most feared species in the galaxy. Not due to superior strength,speed,skill or strategy. In fact, it’s because in comparison to the other species, humans are just batshit crazy enough to try any half-assed plan they come up with.
Ejoc cracked her knuckles in nervousness. Ever since the human crew members had begun to integrate into the system, things had been… interesting to say the least.
The humans had begun integrating with her people first, because biologically they were the most similar. Similar vocal abilities, similar eating patterns, kind of similar coloration even. They needed slightly less oxygen than the Stam people, so could survive just fine on their ships. Perhaps the biggest difference was the human’s short stature and ability to eat meat. And, of course, what appeared to be a near suicidal “survival” instinct.
Her first mate stumbled into the control room, bleary eyed and almost spilling his coffee more than once. Ejoc rubbed the back of her right hand nervously.
“Um, hello Marcus.” She said
Marcus looked up, his green eyes slightly creeping her out. “Oh. G’mornin ma’m. Sorry I’m late. I just got up.”
She stiffened. “You JUST got up? That is incredibly reckless. You are not nearly awake enough to…”
“Captain. Please. I know what I’m doing. I got through military school on coffee and lost dreams.”
Ejoc didn’t know how to respond to that. She stared at him as he took his place behind her seat. Two weeks and she still wasn’t used to this. He constantly made decisions that were reckless at best. Even with simple things such as amount of sleep. Why, in the goddesses’ name did she have to be assigned a human?
A few hours later they were flying through the Buelfe system when came an uncharted asteroid belt.
“We cannot make it, captain!” Cried one of the interns running a control panel. “We need to go another way!”
Hesitantly, the captain turned as her first mate coughed, in an extremely unsanitary and human way to get attention.
“Yes, Marcus Jackson?”
“Well, captain, I’m not sure I’d classify this particular asteroid belt as an obstacle.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well captain, with all due respect, the asteroid belt in the Sol system is much denser than this. Cadets at the Mars academy fly through it as a training exercise.”
Every eye in the room was now on the small pudgy human. A couple of people even let their mouths hang open.
Ejoc looked at him with some fear. “A training exercise, Jackson?”
Marcus looked confused. “Well, yes. It’s really not that difficult. If we don’t reroute, we can still get to Arthenia within the scheduled time frame. However, if we don’t, we’ll be late. And you and I both know how much Arthenians love tardy ambassadors.”
A million thoughts flooded through Ejoc’s brain in a fraction of a second. Humans. Reckless. Horrifying. Yet, they had evolved and built civilization from scratch in the time it took most species to invent tools. Three million years. That’s all it had taken. Three million years. An infant species, already exploring the stars.
A million more thoughts buzzed in the next fraction of a second. She remembered the admiral that had given her the “honor” of being the first Stam captain to see a partially human crew. “Trust them.” He had said. “They look unsettling. They are more reckless than children. But trust them. They know very well what limitations are.”
Ejoc looked forward with determination and gripped her seat as tightly as she dared.
“Do as he says. Find a suitable path.”
Marcus calmly stood as the ship weaved in between asteroids. Most of the other people were either furiously working at their stations or visibly holding back a scream.
He shared a look with the one other human crew member in the control room. An electrical maintenance engineer named Keisha. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“What is up with these aliens and being afraid of everything?”
They made it through the asteroid field “obviously” according to every human anyone asked about it later. Afterwards, the captain was slightly more open to human crew member’s suggestions. Although she drew the line at alcohol. Why humans voluntarily ingested something that made their brain less functional she would never know.
I think the best piece of character design advice I ever received was actually from a band leadership camp I attended in june of 2017.
the speaker there gave lots of advice for leaders—obviously, it was a leadership camp—but his saying about personality flaws struck me as useful for writers too.
he said to us all “your curses are your blessings and your blessings are your curses” and went on to explain how because he was such a great speaker, it made him a terrible listener. he could give speeches for hours on end and inspire thousands of people, but as soon as someone wanted to talk to him one on one or vent to him, he struggled with it.
he had us write down our greatest weakness and relate it to our biggest strength (mine being that I am far too emotional, but I’m gentle with others because I can understand their emotions), and the whole time people are sharing theirs, my mind was running wild with all my characters and their flaws.
previously, I had added flaws as an after thought, as in “this character seems too perfect. how can I make them not-like-that?” but that’s not how people or personalities work. for every human alive, their flaws and their strengths are directly related to each other. you can’t have one without the other.
is your character strong-willed? that can easily turn into stubbornness. is your character compassionate? maybe they give too many chances. are they loyal? then they’ll destroy the world for the people they love.
it works the other way around too: maybe your villain only hates the protagonist’s people because they love their own and just have a twisted sense of how to protect them. maybe your antagonist is arrogant, but they’ll be confident in everything they do.
tl;dr “your curses are your blessings, and your blessings are your curses” there is no such thing as a character flaw, just a strength that has been stretched too far.
DarkestElemental616 