History Literature / EarthGirl

** In ''Earth Star'', [[spoiler:FirstContact finally happens. Not directly with aliens, but with a mysterious unmanned alien probe which the ultimate get activated and which then sends out a huge data stream in the form of a sort of light sculpture.]]

** In ''Earth Star'', [[spoiler:FirstContact finally happens. Not directly with aliens, but with a mysterious unmanned alien probe which the ultimate get acticated and which then sends out a huge data stream in the form of a sort of light sculpture.]]

* BlessedWithSuck: The Handicapped can't portal offworld, going into anaphylactic shock once they leave Earth/Sol for a still-unknown reason. No cure has been developed so far. In book three [[spoiler:it turns out some planets with more solar storms than Planet First selection criteria allow for are habitable by the Handicapped. Also, an experimental cure developed during the Exodus century and lost in a stasis box ever since is rediscovered. It is highly risky, though, because it majorly alters the Handicapped's immune system and if it fails, it kills the patient. After a near-miss it ultimately works for Jarra.]]

* SplitPersonalityTakeover: Jarra's "JMK" personality isn't ''really'' a split personality, but the spirit of the trope is there after Jarra [[spoiler: learns that her biological parents were killed in the line of duty.]] She loses herself in the JMK's life and even dismisses mail sent to "Jarra Reeath" (her actual name) as a "mailing error" and files a complaint about it.
** BecomingTheMask

* PlotHole: Discussed InUniverse by Jarra and Fian: They each show one another an episode their favourite TV shows and, upon having the respective premises explained to them, point out the flaws in the storyline. Jarra's favourite show, ''Defenders'', is rife with inaccuracies about military life and Fian's favourite show, ''Stalea of the Jungle'', depends on [[IdiotPlot military personnel having ignored basic procedures.]]

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Mohs/OneBigLie: Portalling tech.

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:Jarra's parents abandoned her because going to Earth would have been the end of their military career, them dying on Planet First was a risk they signed up for, Jarra gets bullied by some classmates for lying and being handicapped, Joth running into the danger zone and dying, Jarra got impact suit PTSD, the military initially only hired Jarra to serve as an propaganda FakeUltimateHero to net them an EngineeredPublicConfession from any bigots in their midst and calm down hysteria by building up her being a descendant of Tellon Blaze, the military have a propaganda department (Psych Division) that writes the scripts for any of Jarra's public appearances, the Isolationist Party is willing to kill Jarra to sabotage FirstContact, every time Jarra gets hurt it just increases her support among the public.]]

* NotSoDifferent: For all her complaints about how norms (people from outside of Earth) are prejudiced against the Handicapped, Jarra initially has several prejudices of her own regarding the "exos" as she calls them, including her belief that they are all prejudiced against the handicapped. After a little time in the company of the exos, she realizes the error of this.
** [[AntiVillain Petra]], the open hater of the handicapped in Jarras class who bullies her in the second book, turns out to be disturbingly relatable as basically Jarra's Foil: [[spoiler:Her mom [[ParentalAbandonment left her and her dad]] to live with her handicapped child on Earth. In the sixth months she has been on the course, her mother never suggested to meet up nor visit her or invite her over. She fell for Fian as well, but lost to Jarra. Then she fell for Joth, but soon lost him (just like Jarra lost her parents shortly after contacting them). The more popular Jarra became, the less friends Petra had, and when she drops out of the course the former is left stunned: [[AlasPoorVillain "It was easier when I didn't understand Petra, just hated her."]]]]
** In Earth Flight, Beta sector and Earth are shown to be similarly shunned, misunderstood and looked down upon by the other sectors and each other, too. Jarra admits that at the beginning she was prejudiced against Beta sector in general, and skimpily clothed Lolmack and Lolia in particular, just as much as the norms.

* ConspiracyTheorist: Krath starts out as this trope. He spends most of ''Earth Girl'' parroting his father's conspiracy theories, making himself look very stupid and other people very angry. For example, he responds to a documentary about the Artemis disaster by saying the incident was faked by the military, and keeps insisting even when two classmates make it clear that they're from Artemis and find his remarks offensive. {{spoiler:He gets better: the end of ''Earth Girl'' sees him realise his father's an idiot when he claims the Solar 5 crash was faked, when two of Krath's classmates were there and he himself has literally stood in the crater. This marks the start of some serious CharacterDevelopment.]]