The Girl in the Pale Blue Bubble Part 2

Her large brown eyes slowly fluttered open.  She opened her mouth, trying to speak, but no sound came out.  She slowly got up, before collapsing once more unto the floor. Then, the girl tried to speak once more.

“He… Hello?” The girl had a bit of a foreign accent, perhaps Suican or Xerian.  

“Hello.  How may I be of assistance, Summer?” a friendly female voice asked.

“I… I’m not Summer,” the girl stuttered, looking around for the source of the voice.  Perhaps, the voice came from the speakers on the ceiling.

“Who are you?” The female voice now seemed unwelcoming.  The girl frowned.

“I don’t really know,” she said, attempting to get up once more.  She looked around the room, before recognizing something familiar to her.  It was a bookshelf. She walked over to the bookshelf, taking a small leather book out.  It seemed like a diary of sorts. The girl examined the cover, running her fingers over the embroidered letters.  

“Property of Summer Koo.”  She paused for a moment. The last name, Koo, seemed a bit familiar.  Why did it seem so familiar?

“Summer was a thoughtful young woman,” the female voice said, with a sigh.  The girl blinked, surprised at the voice’s response.

“But isn’t summer, a season… Of Earth culture?” she questioned.

“Summer can be many things.  Summer can be a season, a name, a place…” The female voice drifted off, listing what summer could be.  The girl sighed and flipped through the pages, stopping at one page.

“Father says that we must leave this place.  He claims that Neptune is cursed. But I refuse to leave.  Leading Spy Academy is our legacy, surely we cannot abandon it!” Britta read out loud.  Spy Academy seemed so familiar. The girl thought hard for a moment, and her memories flooded back, one by one.

She had been attending Spy Academy, along with her best friend, Serenity Woodbrookes.  They had known each other for many years, since the age of two, equivalent to the human age of five or six.  They were on this special team together, along with three other boys.

A few months after attending the school, they were assigned to complete a special task: to find the traitor among the ranks of the Xerians, a species of nearly immortal beings.  During the mission, the traitor had captured the girl, along with another boy. The assistant of the traitor, had tried to attract her attention, with much desperation. The girl remembered one thing he had said to her.

“Do you want a snack, Britta?” The assistant was the same species as her best friend, being a Xerian.  Then, the girl realized something. Britta was her name.

“My name is Britta!” she declared, to the female voice.

“Britta… Britta Cadwell?”  the voice questioned. It seemed a tad surprised.

“Yes,” Britta said firmly.  She felt more secure, now that she knew her name.  

“Stranger detected, posing as deceased student of Spy Academy.  Enemy detected. Initiating lockdown protocol.” The voice now seemed robotic, quite artificial.  Britta looked around, alarmed. The door that was once open, suddenly slammed shut. She was confused, wondering why the voice thought she was an enemy.

Will this Britta Cadwell be killed by the security? Or will she be saved? Will the survivor be put to death? Find out in the next and final part.

The Secret Racist Presence in the Marvel Universe

‘Shang-Chi’ Will Be Important, But Far From Enough, December 4th, 2018, nextshark.com

https://nextshark.com/shang-chi-not-enough/

Summary:

When googling Asian superheroes, almost nothing was found.  Most characters were either minor characters or villains. If there were any Asian characters at all, they would have ‘Fu Manchu’ mustaches or something to do with dragons.  They would be master martial artists, being the stereotypes of Asians. However, the Asian community wants something more than an Asian stereotype. They wanted someone like the Flash or Nightwing.

Recently, “Iron Fist”, a Netflix series was cancelled because Marvel refused to think of the character of having Asian heritage.  Instead, Marvel chose to whitewash the role, lacking cultural awareness. The actor who was hired needed several months of martial arts training.  Also, the show needed some kind of Asian representation because the show was about Asian martial arts. Perhaps if the show had some sort of Asian representation, it would have helped the show from being cancelled because of the drive of Asian culture that would be featured in the show.  

A few months later, Marvel has released the ideas of a movie franchise about an Asian superhero, Shang-Chi.  Shang-Chi is a martial arts-based hero who joins the Avengers in the comics. According to reports, Marvel plans to consult Asian filmmakers.  This should be good news for the Asian community.

Opinion:

Shang-Chi will just be some martial arts movie that will continue to present the stereotype of rich, uncultured, martial arts knowing Asians.  I despise the fact that Marvel had to use Shang-Chi in particular. The only reason why they’re creating the movie is not for the content and for the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but rather for money, after noticing the success of “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians”.

The fact that Marvel picked Shang-Chi is quite offensive to an Asian.  First off all, the name is already so stereotypical. Next, his skills are ‘master martial artist’ is very stereotypical and repetitive.  Everything about the character is racist and stereotypical.

It is okay to portray Asian sometimes as martial artists, but not all the time.  In almost every single movie, Asians are either the nerd, master martial artist or the weirdo.  The repetitiveness is getting boring and it’s sticking in people’s minds. It’s time for change.  

Marvel is attempting to mimic the success of Black Panther, but they’re not doing it the right way.  Black Panther broke the stereotype of criminal African-Americans. Instead, they looked at the African-American community, showing that African-Americans can be heroes, not thugs, criminals and threats to the community as a whole.

Instead, Marvel promotes a movie that uses stereotypes to make a character mold.  They will attempt to force this character, with an stereotypical Asian name, with the stereotype of being a martial artist.  Shang-Chi comes from stereotypes, originally from Dr. Fu Manchu, who was a villain who used martial arts and had a stereotypical ‘fu manchu’ mustache.  

After looking up Asian Marvel superheroes, no well-known Asian heroes were found.  However, in the DC universe, there are many well known Asian superheroes, including Katana, Robin, and more.  Perhaps Marvel could attempt to include more diversity in their characters like DC.

As society learns to treat others fairly, it is definitely important for large influential franchises to do so as well.  When large franchises portray any race stereotypically, it harms everyone in the community and fuels racism. It hurts individuals and can cause bullying and even suicide.  

As John Langdon once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but often rhymes”, the racism towards Asians is reflected in the conservative Turks living in the Ottoman Empire.  After the British and French pressured the Ottoman Empire to give equal citizenship to all people under their rule, the Ottomans did so, which angered the Turks. As a result, the Ottomans killed and deported the Armenians.  The Armenians were driven from their homes, arriving in refugee centers, begging for food. This is like how racism is present today. Often time, Asians are driven away from opportunities, just because of stereotypes. Harvard and other Ivy League schools discriminate Asians, believing all Asians are shy.  In one case, even before meeting an applicant, the administration called the young applicant ‘shy’. When another white applicant was compared to the Asian, the white applicant had similar achievements to the Asian applicant, and was also shy. The white applicant was unfairly accepted. In other cases, Asians who have higher grades are rejected in favor of white students with lower grades.  

Overall, it is extremely important for large companies to use their forms of media positively, because it will affect everyone in the audience.  When a company uses stereotypes to portray a protagonist, it constrains the people who are being stereotypes and makes others believe that the stereotype is true.  Everyone is unique in their own way. Nobody is a clone with the same exact personality. That’s what makes humans special.

The Dangers of Social Media

The Girl in the Pale Blue Bubble Part 1

Hey everyone! I haven’t been on recently, because I’ve been busy with my first year of high school school. Here’s a section of a short story I’ve been working on. Enjoy!

She was floating in a pale blue bubble, suspended in an infinite slumber.  Long mahogany hair cascaded down her back, brushed to perfection. Months had passed, yet she remained in the same infinite slumber, with a peaceful expression on her face.

She had been discovered in space, floating among the debris of a spacecraft, that was once owned by a snake-like king.  The girl has been surrounded with thousands of deceased reptilian creatures, many with intricate armor.

No one knew what to do with the girl.  She was alive, yet suspended in the seemingly infinite slumber.  So, the bubble sat there, waiting for something to happen.

A black drone entered the room, landing on the fine white carpet.  It began to make a humming noise, slowly vacuuming the carpet, as usual.  Humans no longer did this menial task; robots were an infinite workforce. It vacuumed around the bubble, being extremely careful not to touch or prod the bubble, before flying out the door.

Then, soft music began playing.  It was Mozart, the former inhabitant’s favorite kind of music.  She had died twelve years ago, in a tragic accident. Just like the girl in the pale blue bubble, she had been caught in an explosion, caused by a reptilian king.

The bubble started to emit a humming noise, before starting to vibrate.  It began to vibrate faster, and faster, starting to make a screeching noise.  The baby blue bubble began to burst, little holes forming at first. The holes grew bigger and bigger, water beginning to flow out of the bubble.  The bubble began to shrink, becoming smaller and smaller, until the pale blue skin disappeared, leaving the girl to fall onto the ground.

(Note: I own this material. Any attempt to copy my work and claim it as yours will result in a copyright violation. If you are inspired by this work, please note that crediting others is important. Thank you adn have a great day!)

Hello

I created a reference page for all of my characters from the Spy Academy sci fi universe. Check it out

Click!

A Limerick

There once was a lass who liked photos.

She said, “See the lovely prose!”

It was rather still,

But not very distill,

She just couldn’t say no to the eaux.

The Kiss of a Xerious Fox

Gish Tong suspected something was a little off when his delicious brother tried to kiss him when he was just six years old. Nevertheless, he lived a relatively normal life among other humans.

It wasn’t until he bumped into the devilishly stupid Xerious Fox, Stella Woodbrookes, that his life finally began to make sense.

However, Stella proved to be dumb and seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with eating human brains. Gish soon learnt that Stella had taken an oath never to eat a human being.

When Gish’s delicious brother is injured in a delicious accident, Gish realises his own life is at risk.

Despite Stella’s Pearl white fangs and Silky white fur, Gish finds himself falling for the Xerious Fox. Only fate will decided whether she kills or protects him.

One night, a Serpentine appears before Gish and warns him of a darkness within Stella. The Serpentine gives Gish the delicious sword – the only weapon that can defeat a stupid Xerious Fox.

Will Gish find it in himself to kill the only creature who has ever made him feel truly depressed? (Hint: yes!)

(Credits to the plot generator from the previous post;)