| This page is retired. Corona Hua was retired in Feb 2018 due to persistent unhappiness & discomfort in how she was being treated by the fandom. I wrote a character that disliked being held onto a pedestal, only for readers to put her on the same pedestal. Mix in the fact that such treatment is often disproportionately aimed at East Asian girl characters. |
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Before you start a war, you gotta know what you're fighting for. |
—The Cab - Angel with a Shotgun | |
Corona Hua [she/her] is the second daughter and middle child of Hua Mulan, from the Ballad of Hua Mulan. Destined to take her mother’s role and serve in a ten-year war, Corona thinks of her destiny with honour and prestige. Yet, there is one aspect of it that she’s not quite fond of. When one is supposed to fight in a war for ten years, one really really hopes they’re fighting for the right side.
Character[]
Personality[]
A soldier is more of an archetype than their own person. And my, what an archetype Corona is.
To the casual observer, Corona Hua is the epitome of a perfect warrior. Dedicated, determined. Every move is calculated. Fine words and eloquent phrases slip from her mouth like a polished sword from a scabbard. She is the image of heroism, of chivalry. Gallant, gorgeous. The hands that can break bricks are the same hands that offer fresh fruit or flowers to her classmates. Without doubt, this is the girl born to play her destined role.
The model of a modern major general, one might say.
In all fairness, it’s hard to keep up that ideal image.
To wear a crown is heavy, but Corona finds her battle armour even heavier. She’s not entirely sure if she’s as strong-willed as everyone thinks. When one is portrayed as a perfect, untouchable near-goddess of war, it’s almost damning when in reality, one is very very human. It’s an image that Corona greets with a polite smile and a bashful thanks, but one she thinks of with fear and anxiety when eyes are off her.
Still, a soldier toils for the people. And Corona refuses to let anyone down.
So, she fights.
For Corona, every day is waging war against her own inhibitions, against her human limitations.
She is scared shitless of failure. When one’s personality and self-identity is built on your successes, the mere thought of not living up to an expectation causes distress. Perfection is an asymptote of life, but Corona cannot help but strive for it.
Definitely a people’s person, Corona carries herself with a casual, cheery persona. She is constantly bouncing around with energy, to highlight her as alert and active. There is a mild sense of dorkiness in her behaviour, so that she can come off as more “relatable” and hence approachable.
However, despite such energy, Corona remains a person firmly grounded in reality. She's a logical, tactical thinker, and prefers straight facts to anything flowery. This is a trait that has greatly aided her work in military strategy, and she takes great pride in it.
A total pedant, Corona aims to live life meticulously. Every detail must be attended to. In particular, she's very fussy about armour and weaponry quality, and gives no care to expense and distance, believing that quality has no price. If she has to circumnavigate the world for the most durable and battle-ready steel alloy, then so be it.
For a perfect soldier, there is no play. Even in leisure does Corona spent hardening her skills. If not resting, she refuses to idle around. Sometimes, when she's bored or waiting around for something, she'll break into push-ups or find something productive. A quality fighter must be alert and ready at all times, after all.
No doubt, Corona is always looking out for something to prove. She wants people to know she's worthy of her praise and her destiny, that the accolades on her shelves are not empty trophies. There is no chance that she’ll ever back down from a dare, the one exception being when she disagrees morally with the contents of the dare, and if that is the case, she’ll make that clear, and try to push for how she is in the right for rejecting it. If people call for her help, she won’t stop until she succeeds.
Of course, Corona really does want to help people out of the goodness of her heart, but at this current point in time, she feels like everything she does has just become an expectation of her. It’s exhausting for the young girl. She comforts herself for this fact with the belief that because people have confidence in her, then she soon will find the confidence to help them.
However, that confidence of hers starts becoming a front. If she tells others that she never misses, that she is the paragon of a hero, then perhaps by repeating those phrases, they might mould into truths.
In a world that honours hundreds of fighters in verse and prose, this soldier is desperate to shine out amongst thousands.
Appearance[]
Corona is a tall, Chinese girl with a lean statue. While the army uniform she wears gives her a very slimming look, one should note that Corona is muscular and strong. Being quite sturdy means it is generally hard to knock her down.
Although she is naturally pale, being accustomed to work out under the sun means that her skin has an olive tinge.
She keeps her jet-black hair long, and often keeps it up in a ponytail tied with a maroon scrunchie.
Her nose is long, straight and flat, and her mouth usually rests in a thin smirk or grin. She has wide, brown eyes with double eyelids, and small nervous-looking eyebrows.
Hobbies and Interests[]
Aviation[]
When Corona claims she wants to reach unattainable heights, she means it literally.
Almost.
Space is daunting and far too cold, but the skies of Earth’s atmosphere contain unimaginable freedom. Corona knew that there was only one thing that could take ordinary humans to such great heights – aircraft. From youth, she has filled her room with models and tiny replicas of famous aircraft, both those of warfare and of commercial use.
There was too much love for these machines in her heart to be contained in mere models. Later, Corona enrolled in courses to learn how to fly spellicopters and smaller aircraft. Here, out in the skies, pulling stunts and whatnot, Corona feels at home, as if this is what she's supposed to be doing.
Military Strategy[]
Corona admires diligence and endurance, but wit and brilliance is just as high up on her list of traits that a good soldier should have. She has a strong interest in military strategy, and hopes to apply any knowledge that she picks up in her future endeavours.
Video & Board Games[]
Likewise, Corona adores video and board games. One can't always be out practising or prepping, and in her downtime, she finds these things a great tool to hone her skills. Sure, games are fun on their own, but Corona finds comfort in the fact that even when she doesn't need to be productive, she still can improve reaction time or hand-eye coordination, and apply those military strategies that she's all too fond of.
Weaving[]
A Mulan should be fantastic on the loom. Since childhood, Corona has been working with fabrics and cloth. Every line must come out neat, she says. Lined up, orderly, just like the soldiers you'll fight with and even lead. When she weaves, she feels like there are hundreds of rows at her command. Corona loves the rhythm of the loom, loves the repetition. Outside of exercise and work, she finds her steady calm in front of a machine very different from the aircraft she admires.
But making things that are merely decorative seem almost frivolous. Leading to…
Cosplay[]
Disguises come in handy for many military tactics. Corona hopes by learning how to make outfits that imitate characters she likes and admires, she too can apply this experience on the battlefield.
Fairytale: The Ballad of Hua Mulan[]
How it Goes[]
Mulan at her loom weaving, thinking about how mandatory conscription was a thing last night and that her ageing father is going to be whisked away to fight. Deciding to take her father’s place, she buys weapons and acquires a horse at the marketplace, and with her parents’ blessing, leaves for battle.
She fights in the war for ten years, and is even honoured by the emperor. When she arrives home, with her troops, she changes into feminine dress, and no one thinks any little of her.
The ballad ends with a comment about how when hares are running from danger, you cannot distinguish male from female. Likewise, in times of warfare, all genders are of equal worth.
How does Corona comes into it?[]
Perhaps it’s a stroke of fairytale magic, but whenever Mulans raise a family, the order of children is always daughter, daughter, son. When Corona was born, her family had thought their second child a son. Perplexed by this, thinking it an anomaly, they loved their child anyway, and decided to assign Corona the next Mulan destiny nevertheless.
However, when Corona came out, it became evident that she was indeed a daughter and therefore fitting to fulfill the Mulan destiny nevertheless.
Opinion on Destiny[]
Corona is beyond thrilled that she lucked out as the next Mulan. Familial piety! The honour of warfare! General badassery! It’s a stroke of luck to be born to the previous Mulan, and an even greater stroke of luck to be the middle child – the one in the birth order to take up the destiny.
However, she hopes that whatever war she'll be fighting in, it'll be a worthwhile one. Corona is personally sickened by the concept of “poor people dying for a rich man’s war”, and wants her cause to be noble and just. But, when methods are violent and lives are lost, are there any good wars?
Furthermore, she is afraid of being misgendered for the next ten years, before having to come out again. Corona hopes, with the new changes in destiny brought by Raven Queen, that she can make some amendments to her tale.
Parallels[]
- See Trivia section for name meaning.
- Her pet hare is named Mushu as reference to the metaphor of the two hares at the end of the ballad, and as a nod to the dragon companion in the Disney movie.
- Corona's interest in aviation stems from a common "meme" in regards to the Ballad of Hua Mulan. The first line describes Mulan weaving, but if one changes a few characters, a line about Mulan piloting a plane can fit the meter and "rhyme" of the verse.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Corona lives with her mother, father and two siblings.
- Mother: Her mother is the previous Hua Mulan. War hardened, she is quite unresponsive and is often found staring off in the distance. One isn’t quite sure if she’s reminiscing on the past, or still adjusting to civilian life, despite it being decades since she’s seen the face of battle. Corona looks up to her mother, and tries to make sure the previous Mulan is at ease at home, but Corona isn’t entirely sure if she wants to emulate her.
- Father: Her father worked in the Emperor of China’s court, his job being to deliver Mulan and her troops home. He’s generally a quiet and chill man, who is not easily bothered by much. Corona loves her old man, but inadvertently thinks of him as weak and frequently tries to protect him – from even the mildest of things. Although not intentionally, she patronises him with these constant efforts.
- Older Sister: Corona's older sister is already in university, and often prods her younger sister to "bring home hot army guys", or whatever.
- Younger Brother: Corona's younger brother is roughly ten, and spends most of his time playing Maidencraft.
Pet[]
- Corona owns a brown pet hare named Mushu.
Romance[]
- Corona is a soft butch lesbian. Despite the potential for a fighter pilot ace pun, she is not asexual and often pokes fun at this irony.
- She was shipped with Shiloh Seo, which was known as "Coronary" or "Artery of War".
Outfits[]
Corona is not much of a casual dresser, rarely seen wearing clothes outside of uniform and formalwear.
Some common design features are:
- Her signature colour is dark green, though she will also wear dark blues on the occasion.
- She often wears her hair tied up. No particular motif reason, she just prefers it out of her face.
- Although she has no preference between skirts and trousers, she tends to wear the latter due to convenience in her athletic tendencies.
Trivia[]
- Hua means flower, and Corona means crown. Corona Hua = flower crown. While Mulan means magnolia, the syllables (if pronounced with a different lilt) can also mean wooden basket. Hence, Hua Mulan = wooden flower basket. Disney's Mulan makes a similar pun, where Hua Ping is translated into flower vase.
- Corona is also the technical term for the petals of a flower, emphasising the motif.
- Corona is the Anglicised form of her Chinese name.
- Although a sword is definitely not Corona’s favoured weaponry (she prefers ranged to melee), she keeps one in her belt nevertheless.
- Corona was heavily inspired by Zena (the OP)'s trip to Beijing in January 2017.
Gallery[]
