Ladies and gentlemen, the most fabulous fox in the Multiverse.
Indeed!
Trotter is a character who has really grown on me over time. Now, to be clear, I liked Trotter from word one; when I wrote "Love and Theft" (a process which took place in this frenzied, almost desperate attempt to get the story -- which had just sort of appeared in my mind, fully-realized -- down onto paper before I had the chance to screw it up), Trotter just sort of exploded onto the stage like a white hot supernova, and I knew that he had this sense of presence which was almost palpable. And that's vital, because the entire story hinges on the plausibility of the fact that basically everyone who lays eyes on Trotter falls for him -- you have to believe that Jane could be so smitten with this white fox that the rest of the world would basically disappear when she's watching him dance, and you have to believe that Jackie and Trotter have such an intense kind chemistry between them on multiple levels -- emotional, sexual, and almost existential, even -- that you'd understand why, even after all these years -- and even after all the emotional harm they have clearly done to each other in the past -- they just start giving off sparks the moment they're in the same room together.
Basically, you have to believe that Trotter is someone who people will kill for.
For any of that to work, Trotter has to pop. He has to command your attention whenever he steps on the stage. And so I tried to convey that, even while he's self-centered, and thin-skinned, and -- left to his own devices -- he's happy to take the path of least resistance for himself, he also has a real sort of charisma to him. And not just because he's gorgeous -- although he is. (
That fur, as Jackie notes...) Trotter just has a presence to him. He makes you watch him, and he makes you want to like him.
Anyway, I hope some of that comes through in this entry.
And that's one of the reasons that I find his relationship with Jackie so interesting. Because she has a natural charisma, too, but it's very different from Trotter's. Jackie's presence comes from her confidence, her self-control, her ability to just always project this sense that she's in command of the situation. She's funny and quick-witted, too, but most of her charisma comes from gravitas. Trotter's charisma is different. He effervesces. He's always teetering on the edge of control. He's like a walking, talking, dancing, and singing tornado. But he does it all in a charming sort of way.
And, over the course of this story, and the others that he subsequently appeared in, Trotter really grew on me, because I think I discovered some extra layers between his diva exterior (which, to be clear, is not an act -- that's how Trotter is) that I hadn't quite realized were there at first. And I discovered that, while Trotter is self-absorbed, and flighty, and venal, he does have a heart, and it is in the right place.
Trotter is someone who people will kill for. But it turned out that Trotter was willing to kill for the people he cared about, too. He wasn't too self-centered to put himself on the line for Jackie, for her crew, for the kids at Red's.
Trotter's fabulous, in a full sense of that word.
That's what I think, anyway.
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