I think a lot of Asian kids have complicated relationships with their parents and there& #39;s a lot of nuance to be discussed in that realm, but I also wish there were more stories where Asian parents are present in their kid& #39;s life and... it& #39;s not a bad or negative presence?
In YA, Asian parents are either abusive and toxic or they are absent. I think the only time I& #39;ve seen Asian parents that were supportive and great presences in the teen main character& #39;s life was SEVEN TEARS AT HIGH TIDE by C.B. Lee.
And I don& #39;t want to hear that it& #39;s not realistic for Asian parents to be both present and good. It& #39;s not a reality for everyone, yes, but good Asian parents do exist.

Example: My parents. They aren& #39;t perfect but I love having them in my life and they are good to me.
For instance:
- I& #39;ve been really down lately (being made redundant lmao). My parents know this. My mum will spontaneously burst into my room and yells "HUG TIME" and she will hug me.
- My dad regularly buys me my favourite dessert (durian crepe cake) whenever he sees me sad.
I am glad that Asian writers are writing stories that are authentic to them. For some, it& #39;s exploring complicated relationships with their parents.

I just wish I saw more stories where Asian parents aren& #39;t always The Bad Guys and that their kids need to be liberated from them.
I also think that there& #39;s nuance to what & #39;good& #39; vs & #39;bad& #39; parenting looks like.

Cultural perspectives do shape what good vs bad looks like, and that& #39;s further complicated when viewed from a strictly Western lens (esp with how love ought to be expressed).
That cultural clash can be really tough for Asian diaspora kids. A lot of us grow up seeing how white parents interact with their kids; we compare and feel that cultural dissonance which can be hard to grapple with.

FLY ON THE WALL by Remy Lai explores this very well by the way!
I& #39;m back from driving and have a few more thoughts:

Asian writers, if writing messy child-parent relationships is what you know, that& #39;s valid and I& #39;m not here to say you can& #39;t write them.
But also, please don& #39;t feel pressured to write Asian parents with this negative stereotype.
Also, it& #39;s interesting that child-parent relationships are significant in MG stories and are often depicted with nuance and are generally more supportive& positive.

And then in YA, all the Asian parents are one-dimensional stereotypes. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😭" title="Laut schreiendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Laut schreiendes Gesicht"> I& #39;d love to see that same nuance in YA.
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