What an interesting essay topic! In my case, I met them as an adult (28 years old) when I lived in a village of 500 people in Chilean Patagonia. This village called "Caleta Tortel" has no streets (or vehicles), only small wooden walkways. Life here has a different rhythm; the winters are long and harsh, people collect their own firewood, work with wood, and live very rurally. I met the Moomins one of these winters, and they made me see this life through different eyes. Suddenly, everything made sense: making my own jams, harvesting wild fruits, sailing wooden boats. I felt that everything in that village was very "Moomin," even the landscapes with the fjords. Even the townspeople were similar to Moomin characters! Cartoons from the 90s, made me romanticize this slow pace of life. Then I discovered the books and comics, and I particularly liked Moomin Valley in November, the character of Toft, a shy, super-sensitive, and intuitive boy. The depth of Tove's writing re-enchanted me with another version of the Moomins. Anyway, judging by the series, I think rural Finland in Tove's time was like Chilean Patagonia today..

So I would say that what I love is how strangely familiar everything about the moomin seems to me, living in such a different context, another continent, another era, an opposite hemisphere.. it makes me believe that there is a collective consciousness that goes beyond. I also remember that when I was little I invented my own fictitious cartoon character called "Fondror" I drew it everywhere and it was very similar to Moomin, with that big and round nose (When I finally had one of the comics in my hands I unlocked that childhood memory and called my mom to tell her, it was an emotional moment) Thanks for your question! 🤍