AN: I read this on a column done by Skyrocket called 'Tsunami'. I thought
she had a point, and with her permission I am putting a clip of her recent
article here for all of you to read. If you have any comments, email her at
infinite_tsunami@yahoo.com
"Over the years, on mailing lists, chat lines and message boards I have seen "Jap" used as a short for Japan or the Japanese language or people. Everyone, please listen to me when I tell you that you should *NEVER* use "Jap" to refer to those things. Why? Because "Jap" was a derogatory term for the Japanese coined by servicemen during the Second World War. Since then it has become an ethnic slur used to insult the Japanese or people of Japanese descent. To be blunt, it is highly akin to using "the N word". Now I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to ride people's cases or shove a bunch of PC stuff down your throat. It just *really* bothers me when I see anime fans unknowingly using a word that was created to deride all things Japanese when they're talking about Japanese things they like. My advice is to just write out the word "Japanese" if you're talking about the people or the language. The internationally recognized abbreviation for Japan is JP. I respectfully ask that everyone reading this try to use the examples above in their future adventures in anime fandom. Hopefully it will prevent any misunderstanding as to your intent when you are referring to anything Japanese."
Anyway, on with the story.
Duo pulled into the driveway and parked. Wufei hadn't arrived yet. All three climbed out and waited patiently as Ken stumbled to the door and yanked it open.
"I don't buy cookies," he mumbled. The laughter that the three emitted jogged Ken awake.
"Duo? Trio? Shinna? What're ya doing here so late?"
"Late? It's 7:14," Trio replied.
"Really?" He said, poking his head back inside to look at his clock. "Hmm, Guess it is. I must've been sleeping. Come in," he said, moving aside. Trio walked in, followed by Duo and Shinna.
The room was dark as usual, with the only light coming from the TV. Daemon was watching 'Russian Roulette' again and looked up long enough to acknowledge the guests before turning back to the TV. Trio looked around the room, but decided to go outside to get some fresh air. After all that had happened today, being in a crowded room didn't sound appealing.
"I'm going outside," Trio said, lifelessly. Duo nodded his acknowledgement as he sat down to watch the TV. Shinna followed Trio outside.
Outside there was a hammock in the barely lighted backyard. Trio walked over to it and sat down gingerly. Her partially exposed back felt really warm up against the cold cloth. Shinna sat down at the opposite end, but they both slide inward. Bumping against each other despite trying to stay on opposite ends made Trio laugh, then silence filled the void.
The two girls sat in the silence looking at the beautiful stars and the occasional glint of sunlight off the window of a colony. The stars glittered like tears and seemed to Shinna to be trying to comfort Trio, but to no avail. Shinna was glad she didn't feel like Trio did, glad she didn't have a boy she cared about. 'Then again,' she thought, 'Trey IS kinda cute.no! Stop thinking that! That's just wrong!'
A car's brakes squealed out on the street and car lights hit the right side of the fence.
Shinna stood up, sending Trio flying into the middle of the hammock. "It's Wufei. Only Wufei slams on his brakes like that.
"This is ridiculous!" Wufei's voice broke through the warm night air. "What the hell's going on?"
"I don't know," Sally said.
"I still say you should have stayed in the hospital one more night."
"And I say I'm fine."
Shinna started to speak, but Wufei's angry voice beat her to it. "You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking these G-Alloids are more trouble than they're worth." Shinna's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Wufei, what a horrible thing to say! How can you say that?"
"Easy, don't you see? It's all that Trio's fault! If she had kept away like everyone told her, Kai wouldn't have found us! And now he's breathing down ALL of our necks! Trio has willingly put a dozen's peoples lives in the direct line of fire! Her weakness could very well bring down EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US! And that so-called 'daughter' of ours, Shinna, isn't helping!"
"That's enough, Wufei."
"I don't think so, Woman! It's about time I was allowed to speak my mind! I despise the weak and girls are the weakest of all! And in all inevitability, I despise those abominations called the G-Alloids, Shinna the most! She's so much trouble! She was weak and allowed that relationship between Trio and Shiro to grow and now where are we? If she had done her job like she was suppose to, this NEVER would have happened.
"And all for what? Love? Love's never worth that much! I just can't believe she put OUR lives at risk for her selfish ambitions! Those two girls have put all of us at risk and we can't fight back! I'd almost be grateful if Kai would get rid of all five of them."
A slap rang out and the fence rattled as Wufei slumped down to the ground at the unexpected hit.
"She's still our daughter! I will not tolerate this kind of talk!"
Trio, with tears in her eyes, stood up and walked to Shinna's side. She turned to look at Shinna. Tears were running down Shinna's cheeks freely. She appeared to not have heard Sally speak in her defense. Trio could tell Shinna was holding in an unexpected emotion and she reached out for her. Screaming 'NO!' Shinna launched herself into the air.
"SHINNA! NO! COME BACK!" Trio willed her ebony bat wings to emerge and shot after Shinna with as much speed as she could muster, leaving the two startled people in shock, but she couldn't quite catch Shinna. They flew over the high school with speeds topping 70 mph.
During Trio's pressing flight, a few times she felt a drop of water hit her face. The first time it hit her face, she looked up, but could only see stars. By the third time, a droplet landed next to her mouth and she stuck her tongue out. It was salty.tears. Trio tried again to reach Shinna, but she couldn't fly fast enough and Trio soon began to wear out. She had never flown this fast or this long and it was taking a toll on her body.
Trio couldn't catch up and she was getting tired so she tried her last resort.
'Shinna!' Trio screamed in her head, hoping that Deathscythe would pass the message via the communication line. 'Stop! I can't take it anymore!' Trio looked up to see Shinna's wings flip up and she stopped almost immediately. Trio squeaked and flipped hers up as well. Once Trio stopped, she looked up to see Shinna a half inch from her face.
"You really out to learn to pay attention when you tell someone to stop," she said with a smirk. A tear or two still rolled down her cheeks.
"Well," Trio spat out between gasps, "if you'd slow down a little I wouldn't have to resort to mental commands!"
Shinna wiped her smirk off her face. "I'm sorry I ran off like that."
"More like flew off. But I don't blame you. He said a few things about me that were uncalled for, but true."
Shinna was shaking, "I'm not going back to that EVIL man! Hey," Shinna stopped moving and looked up at Trio with the light of an idea shinning in her eyes. "Why don't we run away? I mean, it would leave everybody else safe and I won't have to see his face again!"
"I." Trio stopped from saying 'yes' and thought about it. If they ran away she couldn't see Jerome, Duo, Hilde, Andrio, Sandrio and.Shiro. But she had to admit, the stress was getting at her and she personally didn't want to go to school. The stress of having the 'X' breathing down her neck and the night's incidents didn't make her want to remain in her present standings.
"I'll go with you."
"Great! Maybe the others want to come! Why don't you call them?"
Trio shook her head. "Not Daemon. Wufei and Sally have probably gone inside already and have told the others of our flight. You call Alex and I'll call Trey."
"All right." Shinna pulled out her cell phone, which she had shoved in her pocket and clicked a few buttons. The phone rang a few times before Alex picked up the phone.
"Hello? Smith residence."
"Alex? It's me."
"Shinna? Hey, haven't heard from you in a long time, what's going on?"
"Trio and I are running away. We wanted to know if you want to come."
"WHAT? What brought this about?"
"A combination of Wufei, Kai and a hospital or two."
Alex wasn't particularly stressed or pressured and Steven cared very much for him. The caring thought reminded him of Quatre and how much Quatre cared about him. His thoughts spread to thinking how many other people would care if he left.
"I'm sorry, I can't go. People would miss me too much."
"Okay." Disappointment was heavy in Shinna's voice. "But don't tell anyone for a couple hours we called, okay?"
"Only if they don't ask. If they do, I'm going to tell them."
"I understand, good night, Alex. I hope we'll meet again some day."
"As do I, good night, Shinna, and good luck." Shinna heard a click as Alex hung up.
"Over the years, on mailing lists, chat lines and message boards I have seen "Jap" used as a short for Japan or the Japanese language or people. Everyone, please listen to me when I tell you that you should *NEVER* use "Jap" to refer to those things. Why? Because "Jap" was a derogatory term for the Japanese coined by servicemen during the Second World War. Since then it has become an ethnic slur used to insult the Japanese or people of Japanese descent. To be blunt, it is highly akin to using "the N word". Now I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to ride people's cases or shove a bunch of PC stuff down your throat. It just *really* bothers me when I see anime fans unknowingly using a word that was created to deride all things Japanese when they're talking about Japanese things they like. My advice is to just write out the word "Japanese" if you're talking about the people or the language. The internationally recognized abbreviation for Japan is JP. I respectfully ask that everyone reading this try to use the examples above in their future adventures in anime fandom. Hopefully it will prevent any misunderstanding as to your intent when you are referring to anything Japanese."
Anyway, on with the story.
Duo pulled into the driveway and parked. Wufei hadn't arrived yet. All three climbed out and waited patiently as Ken stumbled to the door and yanked it open.
"I don't buy cookies," he mumbled. The laughter that the three emitted jogged Ken awake.
"Duo? Trio? Shinna? What're ya doing here so late?"
"Late? It's 7:14," Trio replied.
"Really?" He said, poking his head back inside to look at his clock. "Hmm, Guess it is. I must've been sleeping. Come in," he said, moving aside. Trio walked in, followed by Duo and Shinna.
The room was dark as usual, with the only light coming from the TV. Daemon was watching 'Russian Roulette' again and looked up long enough to acknowledge the guests before turning back to the TV. Trio looked around the room, but decided to go outside to get some fresh air. After all that had happened today, being in a crowded room didn't sound appealing.
"I'm going outside," Trio said, lifelessly. Duo nodded his acknowledgement as he sat down to watch the TV. Shinna followed Trio outside.
Outside there was a hammock in the barely lighted backyard. Trio walked over to it and sat down gingerly. Her partially exposed back felt really warm up against the cold cloth. Shinna sat down at the opposite end, but they both slide inward. Bumping against each other despite trying to stay on opposite ends made Trio laugh, then silence filled the void.
The two girls sat in the silence looking at the beautiful stars and the occasional glint of sunlight off the window of a colony. The stars glittered like tears and seemed to Shinna to be trying to comfort Trio, but to no avail. Shinna was glad she didn't feel like Trio did, glad she didn't have a boy she cared about. 'Then again,' she thought, 'Trey IS kinda cute.no! Stop thinking that! That's just wrong!'
A car's brakes squealed out on the street and car lights hit the right side of the fence.
Shinna stood up, sending Trio flying into the middle of the hammock. "It's Wufei. Only Wufei slams on his brakes like that.
"This is ridiculous!" Wufei's voice broke through the warm night air. "What the hell's going on?"
"I don't know," Sally said.
"I still say you should have stayed in the hospital one more night."
"And I say I'm fine."
Shinna started to speak, but Wufei's angry voice beat her to it. "You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking these G-Alloids are more trouble than they're worth." Shinna's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Wufei, what a horrible thing to say! How can you say that?"
"Easy, don't you see? It's all that Trio's fault! If she had kept away like everyone told her, Kai wouldn't have found us! And now he's breathing down ALL of our necks! Trio has willingly put a dozen's peoples lives in the direct line of fire! Her weakness could very well bring down EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US! And that so-called 'daughter' of ours, Shinna, isn't helping!"
"That's enough, Wufei."
"I don't think so, Woman! It's about time I was allowed to speak my mind! I despise the weak and girls are the weakest of all! And in all inevitability, I despise those abominations called the G-Alloids, Shinna the most! She's so much trouble! She was weak and allowed that relationship between Trio and Shiro to grow and now where are we? If she had done her job like she was suppose to, this NEVER would have happened.
"And all for what? Love? Love's never worth that much! I just can't believe she put OUR lives at risk for her selfish ambitions! Those two girls have put all of us at risk and we can't fight back! I'd almost be grateful if Kai would get rid of all five of them."
A slap rang out and the fence rattled as Wufei slumped down to the ground at the unexpected hit.
"She's still our daughter! I will not tolerate this kind of talk!"
Trio, with tears in her eyes, stood up and walked to Shinna's side. She turned to look at Shinna. Tears were running down Shinna's cheeks freely. She appeared to not have heard Sally speak in her defense. Trio could tell Shinna was holding in an unexpected emotion and she reached out for her. Screaming 'NO!' Shinna launched herself into the air.
"SHINNA! NO! COME BACK!" Trio willed her ebony bat wings to emerge and shot after Shinna with as much speed as she could muster, leaving the two startled people in shock, but she couldn't quite catch Shinna. They flew over the high school with speeds topping 70 mph.
During Trio's pressing flight, a few times she felt a drop of water hit her face. The first time it hit her face, she looked up, but could only see stars. By the third time, a droplet landed next to her mouth and she stuck her tongue out. It was salty.tears. Trio tried again to reach Shinna, but she couldn't fly fast enough and Trio soon began to wear out. She had never flown this fast or this long and it was taking a toll on her body.
Trio couldn't catch up and she was getting tired so she tried her last resort.
'Shinna!' Trio screamed in her head, hoping that Deathscythe would pass the message via the communication line. 'Stop! I can't take it anymore!' Trio looked up to see Shinna's wings flip up and she stopped almost immediately. Trio squeaked and flipped hers up as well. Once Trio stopped, she looked up to see Shinna a half inch from her face.
"You really out to learn to pay attention when you tell someone to stop," she said with a smirk. A tear or two still rolled down her cheeks.
"Well," Trio spat out between gasps, "if you'd slow down a little I wouldn't have to resort to mental commands!"
Shinna wiped her smirk off her face. "I'm sorry I ran off like that."
"More like flew off. But I don't blame you. He said a few things about me that were uncalled for, but true."
Shinna was shaking, "I'm not going back to that EVIL man! Hey," Shinna stopped moving and looked up at Trio with the light of an idea shinning in her eyes. "Why don't we run away? I mean, it would leave everybody else safe and I won't have to see his face again!"
"I." Trio stopped from saying 'yes' and thought about it. If they ran away she couldn't see Jerome, Duo, Hilde, Andrio, Sandrio and.Shiro. But she had to admit, the stress was getting at her and she personally didn't want to go to school. The stress of having the 'X' breathing down her neck and the night's incidents didn't make her want to remain in her present standings.
"I'll go with you."
"Great! Maybe the others want to come! Why don't you call them?"
Trio shook her head. "Not Daemon. Wufei and Sally have probably gone inside already and have told the others of our flight. You call Alex and I'll call Trey."
"All right." Shinna pulled out her cell phone, which she had shoved in her pocket and clicked a few buttons. The phone rang a few times before Alex picked up the phone.
"Hello? Smith residence."
"Alex? It's me."
"Shinna? Hey, haven't heard from you in a long time, what's going on?"
"Trio and I are running away. We wanted to know if you want to come."
"WHAT? What brought this about?"
"A combination of Wufei, Kai and a hospital or two."
Alex wasn't particularly stressed or pressured and Steven cared very much for him. The caring thought reminded him of Quatre and how much Quatre cared about him. His thoughts spread to thinking how many other people would care if he left.
"I'm sorry, I can't go. People would miss me too much."
"Okay." Disappointment was heavy in Shinna's voice. "But don't tell anyone for a couple hours we called, okay?"
"Only if they don't ask. If they do, I'm going to tell them."
"I understand, good night, Alex. I hope we'll meet again some day."
"As do I, good night, Shinna, and good luck." Shinna heard a click as Alex hung up.