Name: Wei Chi
Nationality: Taiwanese
Class: Puppeteer
Contrary to most books intended for young adults and new adults, not a lot of my characters have mommy or daddy issues. I recognize this is mainly due to my own preferences, and as such I’m not one to let that stop me from creating characters from every walk of life. In that spirit, Wei Chi has enough to make up for the rest of the cast. He’s got mommy and daddy issues; he’s got granny and grampy issues; he’s got aunty and uncle issues. Heck, he’s just got issues.
The only son of a long line of Chi’s, Wei shoulders the burdens of expectation from three generations of relatives. He grew up compared to every cousin, every friend-of-the-family’s kid, every classmate. He had to be better than all of them. He was his family’s pride. Nothing less than perfection was ever expected, and he quickly grew to understand that no affection, no reward was free. Every bit of familial love came at the price of upholding their growing expectations.
That’s why it’s no wonder he’s a little cracked. To him, BRYZ is a sanctuary, a massive dollhouse where he can play pretend in the world he’d like, surrounded by his puppets. His mom and dad, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, all are reformed into happy, protective wooden dolls, doting and supporting him, giving him the words of love and encouragement he so needs. Wei never steps into battle in BRYZ; he gets to hide behind the legs of his entire extended family of puppets, as they run off to die for him, like his ideal family would.
Style-wise, I think Nor made his fictional Taiwanese elementary school uniform look pretty sharp. Spotless white just fits the vibe of a high-pressure, high-standards private school. You can also just see the sheer despair and nothingness in his face, which again is great for an older drawing. Her unfinished puppet drawings are pretty rad too, with his mom still being delightfully unsettling even now. With Nor’s recent descent into generally disturbing art, fresh from her generally disturbed mind, I can only imagine what her re-sketch of Wei Chi and his puppet family will be like.
I’m scared.
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