(I was going to do these alphabetically, but then I said "screw it." Anyway -- on with the show!)Name: Bashful Bianca Posey
Gender: Female (♀)
Species: Canine
Breed: Dalmatian
Age: 13-15 years old mentally
Height: 27 cm (10.5 inches)
Weight: 5.5 kg (12 lbs)
Alias(es)/Former Names: Freckles Posey
Address(es): The Dearly Farm
Occupation: Lepidopterist-in-training, butterfly enthusiast
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Relationship Status: Single and looking
Alignment: Lawful-Neutral Good
Status: Alive
Appearance: Bashful is on the shorter side in stature. Her right ear is white with a black tip and a spot in the center, and her left ear is solid black. She has one spot on the left side of her chest, two spots (one bigger and one smaller) on her left foreleg, three spots (one small, one bigger, one biggest) on her right foreleg, one spot on her right hind leg, and one spot on the back of her left hind leg. These are not all the spots that Bashful has, however – the most prominent feature of her spot pattern is the large smattering of freckles spreading across both of her cheeks, around her eyes, and up the bridge of her nose towards her forehead. Intermingled with these freckles are two beauty spots underneath each eye that are a little larger than the rest of the others. Much like how Sneezy’s spots around her nose resemble pepper, Bashful’s freckles are reminiscent of an embarrassed blush.
Bashful has brown eyes, and usually wears a light blue collar with a pink butterfly-shaped tag on it.
Biography: Bashful was born as one in a litter of seven to parents Caspian and Snowflake, and poor owners. She had six other siblings in her litter – another sister named Sneezy, and five brothers named Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Dopey. She was one of the last pups to be born, making her just minutes older than Sneezy and Dopey. Bashful was always shy around her owners and siblings, and took to hiding behind or underneath furniture or her siblings if she was embarrassed or frightened. Additionally, she would always get easily embarrassed by excessive praise and affection from any member of her family, as well as her pets. All of these behaviors were, of course, what earned Bashful her name.
Despite her shyness and living situation, she got along very well with her entire family. She loved to play and joke with her brothers and sister, and always valued quiet time between her and her parents. Needless to say, the pup was very content with her life. However, things took a turn for the worse when her father, Caspian, passed away from food poisoning. Bashful was absolutely heartbroken, and even further devastated upon learning that she was going to be sold off to a complete and total stranger, and ripped away from Snowflake and Dopey.
Along with her other four brothers and Sneezy, Bashful was placed in a cardboard box on the front lawn of the home with a signpost next to it displaying the price for each pup. Their first customers just so happened to be the Baddun brothers, sent out by Cruella to pick a pup and buy it. Bashful had been hiding behind Doc and Happy – camouflaging her with her other siblings and keeping herself out of their line of sight. Additionally, Bashful’s freckles had not yet come in – giving the impression that Sneezy was the Dalmatian with the most spots in the litter. In the end, Sneezy was indeed the one picked up by the two criminals – and only the first of them to go.
From there, each of her brothers was sold off one by one: Doc to a criminal investigator, Grumpy to a goat farmer, Happy and Sleepy to other families. Because of Bashful’s avoidance due to her shyness and fear of separation, she would always hide whenever potential buyers would come around. This, of course, left her as the last pup to be sold off.
At first, her original owners contemplated keeping her around if nobody bought her – but lo and behold, a new owner finally came around for Bashful. She was overjoyed, and more than ready to leave the nest. Her adopter, Dr. Savannah Posey, was an entomologist. She re-named Bashful “Freckles” (a name she wasn’t too fond of, but didn’t mind terribly), and brought her to her new home – which included a large, fenced-in yard, and lush gardens. Between her work as a supervisor at a local museum and her work as a taxonomist, Dr. Posey was also a hobbyist beekeeper, and kept a large butterfly garden.
Bashful was fascinated by this change in environment almost immediately, and quickly grew to love her new lifestyle. For one thing, she loved the peaceful atmosphere of her new home. She also loved learning about her owner and her work – and went from being wary or unsure of bugs to having a newfound appreciation for them. She no longer saw them as gross or creepy creatures, but as hard-working and perhaps even a little shy, much like her.
Dr. Posey had all sorts of books, videos, and other material (including her taxonomic material and displays) on her area of study and subsequent subjects – which, in turn, sparked Bashful’s curiosity. She would spend hours observing the displays that Dr. Posey would either have completed or be in the process of working on. She also loved to read the books that were available to her, and if Dr. Posey happened to have different bugs staying at home with her for observation, Bashful would hardly be able to leave them alone. Every so often, Bashful would be allowed to visit the museum and see Dr. Posey’s workplace up-close and personal, which only fueled her fire further.
Of all of the creatures that she came across, Bashful’s biggest interest was the butterflies – like the ones that frequented Dr. Posey’s garden. She could not help but marvel at the beauty and grace that such a creature possessed – she was simply obsessed with them! She loved to observe them, and every so often when more adventurous ones came along, she would play with them as well. It was here in this humble butterfly garden that Bashful truly felt at peace.
As time passed, Dr. Posey’s name was become more widespread and getting bigger in her field. Soon enough, she was offered a new job at another museum – this one happening to be in Grutely. They moved to another house, this one having a woodsy area and fields surrounding it, which gave Bashful a lot more room to explore. She set out one day while Dr. Posey was off at work, and after a while, came across the Dearly Farm. Soon enough, she reunited with Sneezy and the rest of her siblings, and made it a habit to make daily visits to the farm.
Personality: In bluntest terms: Bashful is
shy. She always has been, from the time she was very young and even now as she frequents the farm.
Her name was earned from several different factors. The biggest and most obvious was that, as stated, Bashful was always very reserved, even at her first home. If there was a situation in which attention was drawn to her and she would feel uncomfortable, and in turn, she would hide in the house, behind her siblings, or act embarrassed if there was nowhere for her to go. Even when the pups were being sold, she hid away from Cruella and the Badduns. Because she spent a majority of the time hiding behind Doc and Happy, it did not allow them to get a good enough look at her to consider purchasing her. Hiding is not exclusive to excessive attention, though – in fact, it’s her go-to coping mechanism for almost anything that overwhelms her. She has also been known to hide when she feels bad about having messed something up or doing something wrong, as well as when she gets scared or in any situation when her feelings are too much to handle.
Social anxiety concerning interacting with other dogs contributed to this extreme shyness as well. She finds it hard to talk to strangers or pups she may not know well outside of her siblings and close friends. As much as she wants to make more friends, it comes across to her as difficult because she is afraid of being judged, and is even afraid of being embarrassed in front of other pups. Her heart is very clearly in the right place, and that of gold – she just has trouble making her ambitions known. She always tries to do the right thing, and more than makes up for her shyness by helping others out or perhaps encouraging them, depending on the situation. Her shyness and fears are somewhat assuaged when she has a friend or her siblings to assist her, but even with their support to her, she is still very much dependent on them.
She has very little self-confidence and low self-esteem, and as such, is easily flattered. She has a fear of public speaking, stage fright, is camera shy, and is gun-shy when it comes to others watching her do something she regards as private, whether it be by accident or not (ex. doing her business, singing to herself, talking to herself). She stammers occasionally – only when she gets too tongue-tied or overwhelmed – and trembles occasionally as well for the same reasons. She doesn’t even give a fraction of a thought to joining the Bark Brigade in fear that she will be singled out in some way by Pug, which would only increase her anxiety and lower her self-esteem even further.
Bashful is also very coy about showing and receiving affection. As mentioned, she is easily flattered, and will only pull deeper into her shell upon hearing words of high praise or affection. In puppyhood, if her owners, parents, or siblings praised her excessively (made a big deal of something she did in a positive way), she would wiggle and writhe in embarrassment, and blush madly. Conversely, if she was to try and talk to another puppy that she has a crush on or perhaps wanted to be friends with, she will often blush, stutter, or get tongue-tied. Often times she’ll hide out whenever she is thinking about someone that she wants to strengthen relationship with – the mere mention of a puppy she has a crush on will more often than not cause her to flee the scene. She is very much a romantic, and is practically in love with the idea of love.
Bashful is extremely inquisitive. Though she doesn’t always say much, she is an excellent listener, and can easily pick up on small details and emotional undertones in a conversation or story. She is interested in the lives of other pups despite her anxieties, and wishes she had the confidence to talk with a majority of them and learn about their histories. Having a large family with a strong relationship with her siblings has shown her to be a very loyal friend and family member.
Thanks to the influence of her previous owner, she has a very strong interest in entomology, particularly butterflying and lepidoptery (the study of butterfly and moths), since butterflies are her favorite insect because of their delicacy and beauty. She enjoys gardening with Odette, and has even started her own butterfly garden among Odette’s plants, and owns an ant farm as well. She is also interested in studying honeybees, snails, and grasshoppers, but has an awful fear of spiders.
Other Information:
-Bashful’s favorite toy is a (you guessed it) lavender, pink, and purple plush butterfly with floppy wings.
-Her collar color is reminiscent of Bashful the dwarf’s cap from the original film. In the winter, she wears a green-striped scarf with the same colors as Bashful’s hat from The 7D.
-Unlike some of the other shy or easily scared puppies on the farm, Bashful does not lose bladder control easily when she is embarrassed or frightened.
-She does not have a weak stomach, either, but she is fairly sensitive in regards to how her shyness is handled. Expect a few tears if she gets bullied.
-She is not very strong physically, and has less-than-stellar endurance and agility – another reason why she is not a part of the Bark Brigade.
-I have already determined who I intend for her to have a crush on – however, I don’t want to reveal it publically, as plans do tend to change & I don’t want to make myself look desperate to pair her up when that’s not the case at all.
-Her favorite butterfly is the Birdwing, and her favorite moth is the Luna Moth.
-Bashful’s favorite Pokemon is Beautifly. Her favorite types are Bug, Grass, and Flying.