I’ve been reminded of one of my favorite story genres nowadays, and decided I’d share some of my favorites (I’ve probably mentioned a few elsewhere on the site).
For those who don’t know what it is, HFY stands for “Humanity, F— Yeah!” It’s generally about reversing the old science fiction trope of humans being the weak rung on the ladder compared to aliens, whether it’s via strength, intelligence, or other.
Usually it involves humans being crazy enough to try things no sane species would ever try, and that gives us our edge against other species in the galaxy.
A lot of stuff in that genre can be found here on Reddit:
r/hfy
Deathworlders
One of my top favorites, that I read the new chapter of each month. Humans need not fear the scariest monsters of the universe. They fear US.
It stems from the theory that Earth is what’s termed a “deathworld,” in that we may be an edge case for what is survivable for intelligent life to develop on. Our gravity being stronger, our background radiation more severe, and the everyday perils of our world in general being much tougher than what most lifeforms in the universe have to deal with, making us tougher as a result.
The link below goes to the first chapter of the story, and covers the premise. It was originally written as a one-off, and then the author found out people had been talking about it and adding to the universe, so they continued it as a series.
Deathworlders: The Kevin Jenkins Experience
Stabby the Space Roomba
Why Vulcans Let Humans Run the Federation
This one explains why humans are in charge of the Federation. It is hilarious. If you’ve watched much of the shows and the movies… I think it’s a fair assessment of humanity.
PM Seymour VA’s Humans are Space Orcs Compilation
Technomancer's Sanctum 
I certainly don’t mind all the traffic… but what is drawing people to this post specifically?
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I’m here because my son linked me to a series of YouTube videos called “Best HFY Stories”. I had to Google what HFY stands for, so here I am.
If you like HFY, I always recommend “The Road Not Taken” by Harry Turtledove.
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Read a mention of HFY. I didn’t know what it meant. Googled…
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Probably because people like me, looking for sci-fi audiobooks on YouTube have been bombarded by HFY stories lately (most are AI narrated unfortunately) and when looking up what HFY is, this is one of the first articles to pop up. Also, check out “Why humans avoid war”. It’s a fun “HFY” story and there are a couple that aren’t narrated by robots on YT.
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My YouTube algorithm started showing me HFY content. I got curious and started watching and then digging as to origin since I had no idea what it was. I’m still on that journey, but my Google search lead me here.
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