#about bashful

Send a symbol for my muse to discuss someone who:

🥺 - … they look up to

“Oh um ... well I kinda look up to Jiminy. Don’t tell him I said that. It’s just that he can remember things so well and he’s great at giving advice to Pinoke! I have trouble remembering everything to tell him. Wish I could be a bit more like Jiminy.”

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 - … is part of their (biological) family

“I don’t really have much biological family left. My parents were ... well they didn’t know quite what to do with a kid who struggled to pay attention in school. They tried but they never really understood me. That’s why I suppose I kinda made my own family now. Literally in Pinocchio’s case.”

☔ - … is often sad, or bringing sadness to my muse

“Well gosh. Most of us are happy a lot. Especially Happy. But well, the Queen makes me sad. Not just scared. Seeing all the ways she hurts people, I can’t help but be sad.”

🛡 - … they want to protect

Before I get into specific muses, I’ll just give a general answer up here. Every muse I play, I picked either because they were disliked by the fandom, or the fandom had a different view of them than I do. (or occasionally they’re just overlooked by the fandom.) I like to play muses that I feel I can bring something new to. This doesn’t mean I think my portrayal is better than everyone else’s, though for a lot of these muses I’m the only one playing them as far as I know. But if my portrayal wasn’t unique, I wouldn’t really see a point in rping them.

So now into specifics:

David: I know there are more David rpers out there than some of my other muses, and I haven’t actually interacted too much with them. David is a bit of an exception to the stuff above. I picked David because I had a lot of people who wanted a David to interact with. I don’t think David is really disliked by the fandom, but he is still kind of ignored, and viewed as just Snow’s sidekick almost. That leaks into my portrayal a bit as David feels like her sidekick at times. He was a farmer, she was a princess. She knows far more about ruling than he does. But, in reality, they’re a team, and a good one at that. There’s a lot more to David than just “Good at fighting and always supports Snow,” and I try to portray that, which is why a lot of my threads end up at least mentioning his past as a farmer.

Henry: Even the people who said they liked Henry didn’t utilize him well. Henry was typically seen by the fandom as either an annoying little kid who should be “grateful” that Regina ... fed him I guess. (always made me throw up in my mouth a little.) The other option was that they said they loved Henry, but just used him as a cheerleader for their favorite ship. Henry is more than support for the ship of your choice. He’s a kid with his own personality and wants. I started writing him because I was tired of everything revolving around what other people wanted from Henry rather than what Henry would actually want. That’s why I still play him so young. Henry didn’t really get to be a kid, in the fandom or in the show. He was always supporting the adults in his life. Henry needs a chance to be a child. I try to do that here.

Dopey: Another one that’s more “ignored” than “disliked.” I’m not sure most people remember the dwarves aside from Grumpy. I honestly don’t know anyone else’s opinions on Dopey besides mine and @fairestmusesofthemall. People don’t even talk about him. And he doesn’t talk either ... because he can’t. One day he just kind of ... popped up in my head and wanted me to give him a voice. So, I started writing him. And even though he’s harder to write because muses need to know sign language or get along just with his actions, it’s good to give a voice to a character who otherwise doesn’t have one.

Bashful: Similar to Dopey in that he’s just forgotten. Not sure anyone has opinions on him. But I love bringing him to life and making him trans. He’s a fun dwarf to write. I talked a bit in this post about how I started playing him, so I won’t go on and on about that. I’ll just say, he’s another it’s nice to bring attention to.

Leopold: Oh boy is he hated. People blame him for so many things that we never saw him do on screen. Leopold is treated as if he’s the devil. I rewatched his scenes to figure out where they got that interpretation from and ... I got the exact opposite. I wanted to rp him right then and there, to show people how sweet I found him to be, but I didn’t start rping him then. I didn’t think I’d get any interaction with the old grandpa. I finally started playing him when I started this multimuse blog. I figured he, Bashful, and Robert together might get some attention. Then I started adding the other muses you can find here now. Anyway, point is I play him almost exactly the opposite of how a lot of the fandom sees him. I play him as sweet and kind, if a bit naive, and always wanting to help people. Others portray him as mean and ruthless. And yeah, the reason I decided to play him was because I have such a different view than everyone else.

Nova: Everyone likes Nova. So do I. I think the only difference I have, and the reason I wanted to play her, was that I don’t want her to get back with Dreamy/Grumpy right away. He didn’t ask her what she wanted and forced a breakup without talking to her. I think they’d have some things to work out before getting back together again, and honestly I’d love to play something like that out. But anyway, because of that difference, I wanted to play her. She’s such a sweet muse and fun to play.

a field of painted flowers

You are the gentle sigh of spring and summer. You are full of beautiful life. You were always meant to bloom in your own time, and your time has come. You were never meant to be a wallflower, but the center of the bouquet. But you would readily trade anything for another’s sake. You would give up your place beneath the sun so another may feel the light. A peacemaker, a diplomat at heart. Conflict is the bane of your existence, as a weed amongst your garden. Your greatest challenge is to learn to confront it, to face your fears and your doubts and approach your ambitions with confidence, lest the weeds slowly overtake you. And do not think it selfish of yourself to ask to be seen, to be admired amongst your fellow flowers. You are worthy of praise. You do not have to kill what is special about yourself to fit in.

a castaway heart

You want to be loved so badly. To be accepted. You are so eager to give your heart away, but it always comes back to you bruised and broken. You know you should never trust anyone again, yet you end up doing it anyway and making the same mistakes again and again. Take more care of your heart, please. It is worthy to be loved. It is worth more than what you give it. You deserve to be cared for, to be treated tenderly. Or do you not think so? Do you see no worth in yourself? You are not a thing to be used and discarded, and neither is your heart. The best keeper of your heart is yourself. Learn to trust yourself, and build the home you long for within your own chest.

(like mother like son lol)

ships sailing home

dentist tasked with a child piranha

the first meeting

What’s the lie your character says most often?

"I'm fine."

4. What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Bashful's favorite hobby is blacksmithing. He's still the go to smith for his brothers, but he doesn't get to do the intricate work he used to as often. They aren't in need of anything fancy in their small dwarven cottage. Any time he gets to do something more intricate with metal, he gets excited.

If we're talking something he used to do that he doesn't do at all anymore, that'd be sports. Dwarfs have some fun sports but you need bigger teams. They only have enough for one team, and that's if you don't cross of the dwarves who are too old or too tired to play. He's not really competitive in like, needing to be the best. He just liked having pickup games with his friends.

14. How do they put out a candle?

Depends. If he's been smithing and is still wearing his blacksmith/fireproof gloves, he'll just reach down and put out the candle flame, pretty much without thinking. If he's not wearing his gloves, he'll wet his fingers to put out the flame. (makes me shudder but you do you Bashful.)

30. When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

His "professional" work is mining with his brothers. They already have a lot of gems that they don't really know what to do with, so even if he feels bad for cracking a gem, he knows it's not a huge deal. If it's his own personal work, he knows he can try again and he does. He's a bit of a perfectionist so he's made a lot of "mistakes" that most people would find to be beautiful work, but that he wants to get just right.

If he had a job where more people counted on him to do his part, he'd probably feel bigger guilt. But he's lucky that his job is pretty laid back.

43. What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

Bashful has trouble when people tell him he can do whatever he wants. His parents told him that in a very passive aggressive sort of way when he finally came out to the village, as a way to show they were displeased with his choice. If you tell him he can do what he wants, he'll be afraid you're upset with him or his choice. One he realizes he was taking that from how his parents treated him, he'll apologize and try to move on.

49. Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

Yes. He would at least try it. If he really, really didn't like it, he'd come up with some excuse for not eating as much, like his stomach not feeling well, having a big lunch, etc. But he'll try anything just to be polite.

55. What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

Dwarves grow beards. Even women. This helped Bashful as a trans man. Made it much easier for him to pass. Bashful loves his beard and takes good care of it.

Even so, beards aren’t seen as purely a masculine feature in dwarven society. Many female dwarves have beards that rival men’s. And they’re proud of it. Joy always wanted a beard as a sign of adulthood when she was a young girl.

the ground beneath us is solid