r/HFY TFOS# 562 - Our first contact & Tradition (Hfy Sci-Fi Reddit Stories)

[@blueeyeswhitedragon9839]

Written by some one who enjoys knives and knife collecting, and who knows a thing or two about forging a blade. Well done! This is my first scifi story that included a realistic component of my hobby. Thank you to all involved!!!

[@silvadelshaladin]

And on the next episode of Forged in Fire we have our first alien contestant. Give a warm welcome to Dathek.

[@robertschumacher2707]

Imagine if the two had landed in Texas? EVERYONE would have shot...

[@RomanvonUngernSternbergnrmfvus]

I think we all agree that either Florida or Texas who get the first alien kill, the Gurkha might get the melee kill on a alien though

[@sherylcascadden4988]

Ditto for Arizona.

[@arakheno4051]

Unlikely .. depends on when they land .. in broad daylight, well there are rules of hospitality here. Seeing a ship come down .. didn't attack or kill anyone, well, the rules apply, "How you folks doing? Care for some tea?" .. then things would get interesting :)

[@enclaveofficerz3245]

@@arakheno4051 those fuckers were surveying our land for their colonists to see whether or not they would have to teraform our planet to be used. They likely saw us as no more than chickens to be slaughtered and thought dominance could be established by killing one of us. I say we should take them out of the equation before they get the chance.

[@mikehenthorn1778]

Land in the hill of PA or Ohio and shoot someone things are getting bad fast. Blood feuds are declared, guns and bows are fired, pictures are taken with the kills, moonshine is consumed, and the hogs are fed.

[@nickolaswilcox425]

pattern welding may have lost its practicality long ago with the improvement of steel production, but it makes one hell of a nice looking piece of steel, thats one art we arent going to have die out any time soon

[@alanblack6500]

I have a Katana made with Damascus Steel, it's sweet and sharp as hell, but it's, like scary sharp.

[@blueeyeswhitedragon9839]

Just for the record...pattern welded steel, damascus steel and wootz steel are all different forms of forging metal.

[@ringding1000]

@@blueeyeswhitedragon9839 Pattern welded steel refers to the figuring in some hammer forged steels. Created by hammer welding different steel alloys or iron and steel rods welded together. By carefully choosing the materials and then carefully and repeatedly folding the materials together, beautiful patterns can be created in the steel. Some of the most beautiful pattern welded steels can still be seen in pre-WW1 sporting shotgun barrels to this day. (There were a lot of cheap plain looking ones made also) Damascus refers to a specific geographic location - what is present day Damascus Syria- that pattern welded steel items were made from Wootz steel imported from India. And then finished items export to other places. It was never cheap or easy to acquire. Wootz is an actual type of crucible made steel originating some where in India a couple 1000 years ago and not a forging technique.

[@curiousangel6321]

That knife story seriously makes me want to get back into metal working.

[@AgroSquerril]

true that

[@canedy999]

wonder what the aliens that shot the ambassador thought would happen? I mean pre-FTL sure but still has multiple systems, like did they think they wouldn't be shot in retaliation?

[@loganb7059]

Yeah. I was wondering why they would do that. Maybe it was thinking “now that I’ve given an example, they’ll bow down to their lord and master.”

[@corinthiansdaniels3728]

@@loganb7059 maybe they thought we would panic that or they thought they landed on a British world

[@bobsterclause342]

Probably a vasle and didnt care. Probably planned it.

[@atmosquake3090]

I believe they saw as an animalistic commune. Sort of like a troupe of monkeys or an ant colony. Portraying advanced abilities but not actually intelligent, the diplomat was likely going to be collected as a sample. However, just because animals are primitive doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. I may be more advanced than a bear but generally I’m not gonna fuck with one

[@cgi2002]

@@corinthiansdaniels3728 now now, if they had landed on a British world their ship would have had the union jack flying from it before they'd even realised what was happening and they'd be outside learning to play cricket within the hour. Also remember while we Brits may not routinely have guns, those who do are better trained in their use than their American counterparts. Those who don't, well, have you met the Scotish.

[@purpledevilr7463]

Another story with ADHA in it. There must be a fair few people with it on there. Makes sense, sci-fi + creativity and all.

[@AgroSquerril]

Tradition is part 2 to the ADHD one , i works as a stand alone no i didn't mention it

[@bobsterclause342]

Two or more with adhd, but when will there be a add one. Oposites.

[@disfuncionexe]

American Dental Hygienists' Association?

[@UNSCrearadmiral]

It's like mars attacks... But realistic

[@AgroSquerril]

lol

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

There is a factual issue with the second story. Pattern welding isn't Damascus. It's just a common name for it. Properly, the two are unrelated. That sort of pattern and layers for art is actually pretty recent. Real Damascus blades were made a completely different way.

[@kylejohns2288]

Bloom furnace Damascus is not really feasible anymore

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

@@kylejohns2288 , Why not? Granted it would be a LOT of work but we still have the basic tools and the resources and some researchers have gotten EXTREMELY close, if not achieving classic Damascus.

[@Shadevar2010]

​@@thelaughinghyenas8465 i'm far from being an expert, but I did talk to an actual sword smith once about Damascus steel. From what he understood, the specific bloom that formed Damascus included very rare trace elements that were only found in a location that is no longer known. The closest they've come to replicating the strength of Damascus is something called WOOTZ steel. At least that was how I remember it being explained...I was over a decade ago.

[@discusmaximus]

For the Author(s), for the narrator Agro Squirrel, for the algorithm !!!

[@Maeshalanadae]

Something in the second story that the nonhuman didn’t really consider. What if you had to survive on a primitive planet without access to modern tech? Smithing is a useful survival skill, xenos.

[@yomogami4561]

hmmm so linguist broke the alien language or just their writing? if the former their should have been recordings of what the aliens said loved the story and demostration of tradition being a fan of 'forged in fire'

[@mikkelnpetersen]

Even with better technology, we should never forget old crafts, it's history and history should not be forgotten, else we may have to restart from even further back.

[@rod2662]

🙏for the algorithm 🙏 🙏algorithm be pleased 🙏

[@reasonablehiccups4792]

For the algorithm

[@AgroSquerril]

for the algorithm

[@Carlosmartinez117]

I really love watching your channel grow

[@AgroSquerril]

as a strange coincidence , so do i :D

[@whowhat4573]

Algorithm be pleased.

[@AgroSquerril]

for the algorithm

[@WingManFang1]

4 years after 2018 we had FTL drives? That’s a lovely pipe dream about next year haha

[@ZM1306]

Diffrent time line, instead we have corrupt governments and had covid...

[@allenmorgan1007]

For the Algorithm, For the Author(s), For the Disembodied Voice!

[@scotthinger6397]

I really liked the second story. The first story wasn't bad ether.

[@calvingreene90]

Alien makes an oopsy.

[@jeanannd]

The story makes me wonder, WHY the one alien shot and killed a human being? 2nd story: Passing a human tradition on to a nonhuman friend. The tradition will continue even through the stars.

[@bobsterclause342]

8.69 k start of day, 8.75k subs now. Dark out now.

[@ladyred9613]

40k a year later

[@kirstenwyatt9675]

104k now

[@lindaorr1805]

With us having smart phones for a long time you would think we would get the point of knowing who is calling before we answer and the same in reverse exp: Know who you are calling/inviting

[@arakheno4051]

F.A.S. Love a good forge story.

[@CaptainShield]

Some aliens learn.. others don't.

[@DEMONOFLOVEANDDEATH]

For the Algorithm

[@reasonablehiccups4792]

For the algorithm

[@AgroSquerril]

For the Algorithm

[@creemoon9546]

excellent

[@reasonablehiccups4792]

First for the algorithm

[@AgroSquerril]

For the Algorithm

[@murphycunningham2465]

By The Algorithm

[@AgroSquerril]

For the algorithm!

[@Duke00x]

Honestly I think everyone should know at least basic survival skills no matter how advanced we as a people get and it is even better if you know subsistence living level skills as well and know how to go from nothing to being able to make (and grow and raise and find) all basic things you need for long term survivaland even civilization rebiulding. You don't have to be a "prepper" but you should be able to not just survive but live in a circumstance like a plane or boat crash on an uninhabited area where you are unlikely to be found or rescued anytime soon or if society collapses (it has happened meny times in history even to world super powers of the time). Or in the case of this story a space ship crashing on an uninhabited planet.

[@ryand2449]

for the algorithm

[@AgroSquerril]

For the algorithm

[@blackdiamond9636]

Ive ben meaning to ask. Wat is a "mentalgent." Is it a southern thing or is it a reference to sompthing. You always say "good evening ladys and mentalgents"

[@AgroSquerril]

Gentle Men = Mentle Gen = "Mentle" Gent

[@bobsterclause342]

Thanks for the confirmation agro

[@Aden_III]

Did you really not understand that?

[@sherylcascadden4988]

That particular linguistic trick is called a spoonerism.

[@conquerofgames8504]

Only if we had ftl and such

[@merlinwizard1000]

82nd, 9 December 2023

[@klappstock943]

For the voice the story and the Algorithm