This is the only reality I choose to live in

Bambi OC Profile: Mala

Name: Mala

Sex: Female

Species: White-tailed deer

Appearance: Dark brown coat, dark brown eyes, white underside and inner limbs, white ear insides

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Personality: Shy, timid, cynical, cautious

Likes: Being alone (sometimes), flowers, being listened to, feeling confident

Dislikes: Being judged, unfair criticism

Bio: Mala was born into a reasonably large herd. Her mother died not long after her birth, but luckily the other does were around to nurse her. Unfortunately, there was little else they could provide as they had fawns of their own. As a result, Mala was left to her own devices most of the time and grew up thinking others were more important than she. Over time however, she tired of being a wallflower and tried to assert herself, but that ended causing a greater distance between her and the herd. Lost and confused, Mala resigned herself to being a loner. That was until Ronno came into the picture.

Relationships

Ronno: Mala was quite taken by his bravado and grew smitten with him. Ronno was taken aback since he himself was used to persisting after others’ approval. So when he finally got it, he didn’t know what to do with it… except regale her with stories of himself. Mala was overjoyed to have a friend at long last, in fact so overjoyed she put on blinders regarding his faults. Every meeting was about him, doing what he wanted. Mala soon became aware of this after seeing Bambi and Faline together, being everything she and Ronno were not. She envied their happiness, but what could she do? Leave Ronno and risk being alone again? The very prospect terrified her. She could not, would not let that happen; misery loves company after all. Mala had an idea: If she couldn’t be with Ronno out of love, why not it be for competition if nothing else? It was nice to have someone to butt heads with, literally and figuratively. It was fun, it was thrilling, it gave her a rush like nothing else. Ronno relished the idea; not only did sparring with Mala improve his strength, it also strengthened their bond as potential mates. Together, they would rule the forest and have strong, strapping fawns… wait…

It was only after seeing Bambi and Faline having an argument that Mala finally saw sense to assert herself in a healthy way. Slowly but surely, she and Ronno worked on improving their relationship. Granted, it was terrifying for the both of them since a healthy perspective was unchartered territory. They soon hit their stride and happily settled down with two fawns.

Bambi: Since they were of the same herd, Bambi was one of the other fawns Mala tried to assert herself against. She didn’t know until much later he was the Great Prince’s son. Out of fear of punishment from the Great Prince of the Forest himself, Mala steered clear from him until adulthood when she became aware of the cracks in her and Ronno’s relationship. With Faline’s encouragement, she started interacting with Bambi more and now they’re good friends.

Faline: Faline was considerably nicer to Mala than most. She was happy enough to guide her through things like how to interact with the other animals. Since Mala started spending more and more time with Ronno though, the two does drifted apart. In adulthood however, it was like no time had passed. In fact, Mala didn’t know how she could ever deserve a friend like Faline. Through her, she learned it was okay to trust others and have others help her along the way. The two of them are still friends to this very day.

Thumper: In his kittenhood, Thumper was boisterous and well-intentioned though verbally careless. This meant he had no filter, especially around Mala and Ronno. Mala was constantly infuriated by his needling and was always the first to defend Ronno. Needless to say, they did not get on at all. In adulthood, Thumper acted much friendlier, which startled Mala, who had not forgotten how they had acted in their youth. Later on, Faline taught her about forgetting the past, a lesson that was one of the hardest to learn.

Flower: Mala very much related to the skunk’s shyness and liked hearing his soft voice. She liked him because he was a good listener and just nodded whenever she spoke to him.

Friend Owl: Friend Owl was like an uncle to Mala, always giving advice. Advice that applied more to himself, but advice nonetheless.