Now that the character introductions in Chimera Academy are done and next week weāll be heading into the first chapter, Fast Friends, itās a good time to talk about Dorothea.
Despite the fact that Dorothea is not my brain child (@wereah was the one who conceived her and her backstory) of the four main characters I feel that Thea is the most relatable.Ā
The backstories and story arcs for Emmi, Salron and Cael are very webtoons inspired. Emmi and Salron are playing a twist on the literal found family trope that is common in manhwa webcomics, and Cael due to his teenage angst is just living in a manhwa webcomic at the moment.
Dorothea, however, the moment Were-Ah told me the concept behind her I began to very much relate. Which is funny, because my Chinese parents werenāt really that strict in the grand scheme of things. Sure, I played piano; what first generation child of Chinese immigrants didnāt play a classical instrument? Yes, I did a lot of extra studying classes, like Kumon and tutors, but I was also a terrible student as a child. And absolutely my parents got on my case about my grades. My poor mother learned the hard way that you had to give compliments where they were due instead of doing the typical Chinese parent thing and tell your kid to do better even if they were showing you really high grades.
Otherwise though, my parents were very liberal. In part, it was maybe born out of my own condition. It was very scary for them when I was born, and as my mother told me, she thought she wouldnāt see the day I would go to university. So I was allowed to go into the Humanities, I majored in English and minored in History. My parents actually hoped I would become a professor in that field one day, but didnāt give me a hard time when I decided not to do that.
Yet, Dorotheaās story resonates with me, because her story is one that I saw in other kids who had Chinese parents growing up. The ones who didnāt get a say in what they were going to be when they grew up. Who went into post-secondary education and into certain professions not because they wanted to, but because it was expected of them.Ā
Iām not going to say anything else, because itās spoilers, but to anyone out there who grew up with very strict parents, who had your future planned out for you. You know Dorothea is going to be in for a rough ride.
