The unforgiving nature of time, however, has Kittie reassessing her stance. She feels a nagging urgency to whisper to her parents the sweet echoes of her victories, big or small, before the world quiets around them. The 10th-anniversary
celebration was the turning point. “They didn't say anything,” she replies, when asked about their reactions to the show, her voice tinged with a sense of vindication, having stuck to her guns despite their best effort to have
her change career paths. “They’re just typical Asian parents who are not expressively affectionate,” she supposes.
Family, in truth, is integral in shaping her character arc. Kittie picked up the art of drawing from
her aunt, who taught her to bring her favourite anime characters to life with a pencil and paper. “I remember drawing outfits for Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon,” she reminisces. Her interest in dressmaking can be
traced back to the rhythmic hum of her grandmother’s sewing machine. “I used to cut the curtain in my room to make dresses for my Barbie doll,” she shares. And his disapproval notwithstanding, her father borrowed money from
her aunt to fund her studies.