Comparing my Smiling Critters OCs to TADC because I just realized something
Pomni reminds me of Vixy a little. I really love Pomni's writing!!!
I really like getting a break from the "strong independent girlboss" trope that both Hollywood creators and indie creators have been giving recently. It's repetitive a lot of the time, and a lot of them are becoming just condescending rather than inspiring.
Pomni is her own individual, and that's made clear, but she's also so sweet and kind. She is empathetic and cares about everyone around her, even the people the narrative itself tells her not to care about. She wants everyone to feel included and doesn't want others to feel left out, especially when it can cause abstraction.
I made Vixy to explore different dynamics between other OCs that I have, and I think her relationship with WolfGloom is comparable to Pomni and Jax's in a lot of ways. WolfGloom is a bully. He isn't kind to the Smiling Critters. But he also feels vindicated by them and everyone around him. He is rough around the edges and hard to approach. Vixy reaches out to him. Granted, in my story, he shows his soft side to her a lot sooner in the story, and it makes her realize there is more to him, but she reaches out to him and is persistent. Whereas a lot of critters would look at him and see him as a bad person who can't get better, she acknowledges him as a flawed person who can get better. In his case, he hasn't pushed someone away as badly as Jax did in the past; he just hasn't had anyone close to him before. He has a similar fear of getting close initially, but it's for different reasons. He lets Vixy in gradually, but she is persistent and patient. Their story ends quite well (no spoilers hehehehe).
I guess there's her and CoyoteDusk as well. CoyoteDusk is actively a good critter, though, and others distrust him due to an incident he genuinely does not remember. Vixy has some understanding of this, since she herself doesn't remember her past, and she bonds with him when no one else will, culminating in a deeply personal relationship.
WolfGloom's case definitely reminds me a lot more of Jax and Pomni, since WolfGloom is rough around the edges, prickly, and generally hard to be around at first.
But I really, really like how Pomni is written, and it reminds me a lot of Vixy, who is always the first to befriend the outcast. In Pomni's case, the only pushback she receives is from Ragatha, and in Vixy's case, a lot of the critters aren't super approving of her unorthodox friendships with critters they distrust. But in both cases, they point out that they're adults capable of making their own choices.
Vixy wants to get to know why WolfGloom is the way that he is, just like Pomni does with Jax. Unlike with Jax, who just dies, WolfGloom gets to have his happy ending and be loved and cherished, even if it's scary to him, and even if it's only one critter. He doesn't exactly improve drastically towards others, but he is willing to be kinder for the sake of the one character who cares.
I think I just really like the trope of that one character who cares reaching out to others who don't have anyone, especially when they have personalities that make it hard to. It's a trope that can be either inspiring or gut-wrenching. It's not explored as much as it used to be in media, especially with female leads. But it's a trope that I miss seeing. With Vixy and WolfGloom (as well as CoyoteDusk in that universe), it's definitely a feel-good trope, and it ends with the protagonist uplifting the characters who are, yes, love interests, because I do really enjoy exploring M/F romance dynamics as well. But even just platonically, it's a good trope.
WolfGloom is a big jerk. Vixy is sweet. Sometimes she can be naive. But she is really sweet and kind. She is also perceptive, empathetic, and emotionally intelligent.
Her strength isn't in being super independent and feisty (though she can be very opinionated and fierce about her opinions, especially when it comes to the critters she cares about), but it's in her empathy. Her actual empathy, the kind where she can't leave a lonely, miserable critter to continue wallowing alone, even if he is a snarky jerk to her. Or a lonely, ostracized critter who is seemingly mysterious and dangerous, but she feels compelled to understand. Sure, she isn't physically strong, and she is clever, but she isn't absolutely flawlessly brilliant. But she has the mental strength to figure out a critter's true motives before judging them, even if it means breaking down barriers to get to know them, and she has the emotional intelligence to recognize when another critter is just...hurting.
I dunno. I personally like that personality a lot, and I like seeing it reflected in a character like Pomni, too! It didn't click to me that their stories/personalities were so similar till...just now, honestly. I've been writing my own OCs, trying to diversify their personalities, but that one is one that makes me feel warm. It's a breath of fresh air from seeing only one kind of female lead in media.
I'm exploring it in a feel-good type of way with Vixy. Pomni's story doesn't end as pleasantly as hers does, even if she gets Jax to hug her and admit to not wanting to go in the end. I get to have Vixy reap the rewards.
(I also turn it into one of those romance tropes where the guy who is usually rough around the edges gets a super soft spot for the sweet girl, teehee!!!)
Pomni and Vixy would definitely be good friends! I think Vixy would like most of the TADC cast, to be honest.
Anyway, rant over. I just realized that this has a lot of lore crumbs for my OCs, too.
Might make a separate Pomni analysis on my main. This was mostly about the similarities I just realized between her and Vixy. Empath fox and empath jester, I guess!
