Why trans Bashful? I love the idea, but what inspired you?
I kind of stumbled into the idea on accident one day while talking with @fairestmusesofthemall, and it just kind of stuck. When I went and watched some scenes with him in it, I noticed a lot of the time Bashful doesn’t look that bashful. In fact he gives some of the best angry glares out of all the dwarves in the show. So then, what is he bashful about?
In Disney’s Snow White, he tends to be the most shy about romance things. That’s one reason my Bashful is so hesitant to get into a romantic relationship. It’s not that he doesn’t want one. He’s shy.
But I couldn’t help but think, what if there was more to it than him just being shy? Obviously in both Disney and OUAT canon that’s not the case. But I thought it would be fun to explore a Bashful who is so shy because he has something he needs to hide from people, aka that he’s trans.
It just seemed to fit really well. It explains why he’s shy about some things and yet not about others. I also use it to explain a throwaway line in season five. Stealthy had a problem with Bashful specifically. Why Bashful? Well, what if Bashful was the reason they had to leave the mines and try to survive without Bossy and the other dwarves? It all tied together pretty nicely in my mind.
But basically, I like to imagine a lot of different characters as trans, being a trans man myself. Most of the time it’s just for fun and only really works as an au. With Bashful, it fit so well that i decided to incorporate it into how I would write his character. It’s a lot of fun to have a trans character to write, so I’m really glad I kind of stumbled upon this.
