Welcome to Gaia! ::

NAME : Fisher Valentín Gridell
GENDER : Male
AGE : 28
OCCUPATION : Junior Manager of Attractions at The Crystal Forest, a Gambino theme park.
RACE : Human

LIKES : birds, bright colors, children, jewelry, young adult novels, handwritten letters
DISLIKES : alcohol, dogs, frogs, his cell phone, snow, driving, late nights

LOOKS : Standing at a respectable 5'10", Fisher takes after his brown-eyed, tawny-skinned mother in coloration, and his father in everything else. His build falls squarely between fit and chubby; active enough to run around a theme park all day, sedentary enough to believably sprawl in front of the TV with a fast food dinner once the day is done.

He strives to be neat and well groomed whenever he knows he will be interacting with others, his hair cut and styled as close to Ken Doll Perfection as his dark curls will allow. He wears three plain, silver earrings in his left ear and a wide, silver ring set with a small sapphire on his right pointer finger.

The dress code for management at The Crystal Forest keeps him in business casual most of the time, but when he's not at work he usually wears jeans paired with henleys or t-shirts, and clean, monochromatic sneakers.

PERSONALITY : When he's in a good mood, Fisher is a walking infomercial host, pelting everyone he meets with a friendly enthusiasm that can tire even his most willing conversation partners. He is proactive and arrogant which can make him excellent company when he's championing a cause you approve of, but when he's not, being around him can make you feel a little like an introvert at a surprise party you asked people not to throw. Luckily, Fisher can be talked down rather reliably, as long as you keep at it until he listens. He is quite courageous and willing to do things others might not dare to try, retaining a youthful sense of invulnerability despite his past experiences with death and loss.

On the rare occasion when Fisher is feeling belligerent, he will sulk loudly and impressively, playing devil's advocate out of spite until he is told he is making the situation uncomfortable. Although he might sound like a constant irritant on paper, all Fisher really needs is a receptive audience or a firm hand and he will grow to be a welcome companion and friend.

[ ESFJ | Neutral Good ]

HISTORY : Fisher was born on a sunny August morning to Shawn and Valentina Gridell, a happy couple already in possession of one four-year-old son named Luis. For nineteen hours after Fisher's birth, his family was greeting card perfect. Then, a pulmonary embolism ended Valentina's life while she slept.

The remaining Gridells continued on as normally as they could after that. The boys were raised by their father with the assistance of Shawn's sister and mother. For years Fisher's life was like any other child's until tragedy struck for the second time, a month after he turned eight. Luis's school bus crashed. He spent four days in a coma before he was pronounced brain dead and taken off of life support.

Though he had tried to hide his despair from his children when Valentina had died, this time, Shawn didn't bother. Fisher went to live with his grandmother full time for nearly a year, and by the time he returned home, he and his father had both independently come to the conclusion that they would never argue or shut each other out no matter how upset they might get. Life was too short to waste fighting.

These days, Shawn and Fisher remain extremely close, a fact that an outsider might cling to as a way to explain why Fisher is single. He did have a long time girlfriend from the time he was sixteen through college graduation, but as soon as they didn't see each other every day, they grew apart. Fisher doesn't miss her.

Though his career might seem like an odd one, Fisher actively courted his position and is very happy with his work. He lives in a one bedroom apartment down the block from his father.

NAME : Nara Shidon
GENDER : Male
AGE : 39
OCCUPATION : Psychologist
RACE : Human

LIKES : Curry, comfy chairs, tea, scarves, rainy days, swimming, most watery places, high places, old forests, photography, early mornings, cold autumn days with the crunchy red leaves, post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, classical music, driving in the countryside, his ASMR condition, his hair being played with.
DISLIKES : Keeping his own records, "modern" art, being in small spaces, deserts, dry climates, extra reticent patients, insomnia, flashing lights, willful ignorance.

LOOKS : Nara is 5' 8", not really too fit, but naturally blessed with a decent metabolism. He likes to dress in comfortable, business casual clothes, with a little bit of hipster thrown in there. His voice is soft and deep, a comfort to listen to, and he speaks calmly, soothingly. His hair is blue/black, and his eyes an orangey-brown. He has many scars.

PERSONALITY : Nara is very serious about both work and play. He is philosophical, thoughtful, a problem solver, and almost infuriatingly patient. He is slow to anger, dedicated to helping anyone, and committed to taking things on long term. He tackles problems with efficiency and rationality, almost to the point of annoying friends with his lack of emotional responses. An element of a romantic nature can sometimes work its way in, if it is sneaky. He's bisexual, and has had several partners, but is currently dating Phiel. Underneath it all, Nara does have a somewhat delicate ego that he has worked hard to shield, and his relationships can be rather charged in private.

HISTORY : With a rich family, Nara had all the advantages a child could have, but growing up was hardly pleasant and rather difficult. He was attacked by his crazy uncle when he was six, gaining the nasty scars on his chest and one on his face. He hardly remembers the event, but in school he was often teased and bullied for his mangled face. It's best not to ask where the rest of his scars came from, though some are burn scars from a house fire. In college, he threw himself into his work, and he graduated days ahead of a burnout, which made him reflect on how he wanted to help people. He traveled and worked on hobbies until he felt ready to pursue his practice and though he comes highly recommended, he only takes whichever cases he wants, regardless of status.

Recently, he has gained further scars on his face, a result of Zurine's break-down. Despite this event, Nara is not upset with her, and is instead even more protective of her. It looks like his relationship with Phiel is even deepening because of it.

NAME : Noah Ó Braonáin (O'Brennan)
GENDER : Female
AGE : 26
OCCUPATION : Interior Designer at her aunts company in Durem.
RACE : Human
LIKES : Making items, sewing, reading, crafts, designing, writing, taking pictures, hugs, milkshakes
DISLIKES : Bad movies, 99% of dubstep, someone being upset, math, rude people, snobs.
LOOKS : Medium to long auburn/red hair, pale complexion (unless she's been in the sun then she is tanned), 5'10, ~130lbs, slim and very well toned, slight muscle definition, green eyes and slightly plumped lips. Noah's clothing style completely varies depending on her mood. If she's feeling daring, for example, she can usually be found wearing faux leather pants and jacket. If she's feeling more flirty she may wear something more casual but nice (see ref image).

PERSONALITY : Noah is a very creative person and is very outgoing, playful and doesn't take life too seriously which depending on the situation may cause more trouble. She's very comfortable in her own skin and is more than willing to talk about things most people are uncomfortable with. Despite this, however, whenever someone is upset she finds herself often uncomfortable and even more so when she can't cheer the person up which makes her feel somewhat inadequate. She will bend over backwards for just about anyone, even strangers. When she is "used" by others she can certainly hold a grudge for what seems like eternity and while she does allow for second chances, that is their last chance. Noah is very much a sporty person who delights in extreme sports.

Overall, Noah is an extremely friendly person who treats strangers the same as her friends which is with kindness and compassion. Noah is generally a peaceful person and should problems arise she will defend herself or others but refuses to allow herself to partake in what she calls "needless drama." In most situations she's more of a collaborator or accommodator but can be more "forceful" when it is deemed necessary. Noah is not a pushover in the least.

HISTORY : Noah's family growing up consisted of her father and grandfather while her mother wasn't involved. Growing up Noah was a very shy child who tended to stick to herself, read and do various crafty things such as drawing. Once she reached eight grade she began to blossom into an outgoing person through sports which also gave her a lot of confidence in herself. Her junior year of high school she got involved in parkour and free rock climbing which she maintained as her primary source of exercise into adulthood.

Noah went to college at the age of eighteen for interior design and lived at home with her family while she attended school. When it came time for her to intern Noah went to her aunt and obtained a position as a designer after being tested by her aunt. At twenty years old Noah had received her two year degree in interior design and was offered a full-time position for her aunts company in Durem. At twenty-three Noah was financially stable enough to buy herself a medium sized home on the out-skirts Durem so that she could live in peace without the noise of the city. At twenty-four Noah had remodeled a few sections of her home and adopted one fancy Conure and then the following year she adopted a Green Cheek Conure. It was around this time that Noah decided that she was financially stable enough to begin pursing adoption despite not having a partner.

NAME : Sven Beyer
GENDER : Male
AGE : 43
OCCUPATION : Author
RACE : Human
LIKES : Writing, jewelry, the cold, his cat, sweaters, cooking, rain, children
DISLIKES : Loud noises, heat, being the center of attention, insomnia, television.
LOOKS : Sven is 5'11, slender with wide shoulders, and pale. His blonde hair doesn't help, instead creating an almost ghost-like effect. His hair falls to his elbows, however he tends to tie it back. He typically forgets to cut his bangs until they touch his eyes, and often his straight hair is disheveled. He has warm blue eyes and a face that seems always on the verge of a smile, despite the heavy bags under his eyes. While his hair is not groomed properly, he always dresses neatly, usually in sweaters or sweater vests and dress pants.

Sven has a long, jagged scar over his right knuckles that he often keeps covered in his sleeve. He doesn't care much to talk about it.

PERSONALITY : He keeps to himself typically. He doesn't dislike people or hold a grudge against humankind. He simply is the type to enjoy his own company over others. He can become very serious when it comes to work, but easily drift into an almost airy and absent personality when on his downtime. He doesn't rile easily, and sometimes he looks unfocused. He's a thinker more then a talker, and loves listening to others talk provided they have something to actually say.

Sven loves helping, and while he tries to hide it due to having gotten used in the past he just can't. He'll do anything to ensure someone is safe and happy, and is a protective man; almost even fatherly at times. He adores children and has been known to tell stories to his friends children and write small and personal picture books for them.

HISTORY : Sven was originally named Lucas. His parents, who were german, were fairly pleasant until his mother lost her job when he turned ten. She became a stay at home, and during the time shifted. She became mentally abusive, eventually driving her husband to demand a divorce and take Lucas away once it became official. They moved countries and his father became an owner of a modest shoe shop. When Lucas became an adult he abruptly left home, deciding to set out into his own life.

Around 25 he married to a woman he thought was his soulmate, but eventually she began to display contempt when he became a writer. Finding his job an excuse to not "work hard" like other jobs, she divorced him. Lucas changed his name shortly after due to his mother attempting to track him down, and has stayed Sven since. He eventually found his break when his series, named Flesh, became a best seller. He now lives by himself and has a rather comfortable life, for once!

NAME: Difni De Costa
GENDER: Female
AGE: 200-ish, a lady doesn’t tell (215)
OCCUPATION: Head Librarian of Durem Central Library.
RACE: Dark Elf
LIKES:
Books // Collecting knowledge/trivia // Well tailored suits // Hot coffee // Dark and quiet nights // Afternoon rain // Plushes, the fluffier and bigger the better
DISLIKES:
Excessive heat // People who ruin books // Poorly written romance novels // Torn stockings // Sandals // Indecision // Sudden loud noises, like fireworks or car horns.

LOOKS:
Custom tailored waist coats and shoes with heels so sharp they double as carried weapons. She prefers a pencil skirt but a good trouser isn’t unusual in winter. While she only measures in at a measly 5’4” out of her shoes, with such a strong personality you’d think she were six feet tall. Her skin is dark gray, her hair stark white and long enough to reach nearly to the backs of her knees, not that you’d know with how well she packs it into braids.

PERSONALITY:
Difni appears to be the stereotypical dark elf: well put together suits, professional attitude towards her work, and a resting expression stuck on “stern disapproval.” But appearances are deceiving, she’s actually quite approachable. She enjoys meeting new people and figuring out what they’re all about. Everyone is a unique and fascinating little puzzle for her to piece together. While she’s dressed like a high class business woman that doesn’t mean she can’t have a good time; she’s very likely to drink you under the table. Her temper is legendary and she’s a nightmare for anyone who dares to damage her books or her library. People still tell stories of how she once bodily threw out a patron for snapping the spine of a vintage reference text.

Under all this carefully crafted appearance and attitude is a soft center. She’s kind and even sometimes motherly to those few she’s come to call family. She’s naturally one to help a friend and she isn’t afraid to call up old favors to do so. She grows easily attached to those that share her love of knowledge and books, several of her regular patrons growing into close friends. She likes to surround herself with people who can keep her mentally stimulated, those that love to learn, people who are puzzles she can’t seem to solve. The softer side of Difni is all sweaters and home cooked meals. She feeds her friends and family, often substituting a good meal or homemade cake for a gift.

HISTORY:
Growing up in the seedy underbelly that is the Dark Elf community makes a girl grow up quick. You learn to twist things in your favor and do anything you can to get one up on the next guy. Difni was clever and excelled at information gathering, eventually making a career out of it. Most of her work came from less than reputable sources but a girl takes money where she can find it.

She grew and she climbed the underworld corporate ladder, collecting favors, money, and secrets. She hated the world she was growing up in, all its dark corners and the need for putting on a show for any and everyone. Once she was able, she used the small fortune she'd worked so hard for and bought her way out into the light. She found work as a librarian, starting once again from nothing to rise up to sit comfortably as the head of the Durem Central Library. While she found herself content with her books and gossip she was left wanting. While finally in an environment where she could start a family she finds herself unable to conceive. For a while it seemed children weren’t in the cards, but then a curious lab put out a call for guardian applicants. The opportunity to learn about the growth of magic in a created being and the added bonus of an adoptive child (of sorts) was too good to be true.

NAME : Evangeline Hernandez (Eva)
GENDER : Female
AGE : 27
OCCUPATION : Principal
RACE : Human
LIKES : tea, books, working out, sweets, video games,
DISLIKES : coffee, chocolate, liquorice, rude people, people questioning her
LOOKS :
█ ⋮x HAIR COLOR x ► x Brown
█ ⋮x EYE COLOR x ► x Blue
█ ⋮x HEIGHT x ► x 5'5"
█ ⋮x WEIGHT x ► x 110lbs.
█ ⋮x BODY TYPE x ► x Hourglass
█ ⋮x SKINTONE x ► x Fair
█ ⋮x STYLE x ► x x x x x x

PERSONALITY : Evangeline's the boss, so it only makes sense that she can be on the bossy side. She does things a certain way and doesn't care for people undermining and questioning her. She is perfectly capable of running things and all those that try to stand in her way will get mowed down. She tries to keep this out of her social life, but often fails. If you call her bossy to her face she'll most likely laugh in your face and reassure you that it's confidence, not bossiness that you hear. She knows what she brings to the table, and she has no problem letting other people know as well. After all it's not often you find beauty and brains. Eva is very protective, mostly of her son but also of those she feels deserve it. She's an elitist though, so only the best of the best get under her wing. Ever since she was young Eva was aware of her good looks, and how they would allow her to get just about whatever she wanted. She's extremely flirtatious and has no problem owning up to that trait. She's also very curious. She's always had a thirst for knowledge.

HISTORY : From a young age Eva always knew she wanted to work in the school system. Her mother was a third grade teacher and her father taught at the college level. She grew up with three younger siblings and was always teaching them the ropes and how to do things. As she got older the want to teach only got stronger, and when she finally got to college it was no surprise to her family when she chose education as her major. Years went by and she decided that she wanted more, so she went back to school to not only work in a school but run it. It wasn't long before she was done with her masters and then it was only a matter of time before a job opened up. Climbing the latter it took her a few years but now she is in her second year of being a principal at an elementary school. She loves it, but she feels like something is still missing.

NAME : Daniela "Dani" Romero
GENDER : Female
AGE : 28
OCCUPATION : Registered Nurse
RACE : Human
LIKES :

- Weight training & exercise
- Movies, romantic comedies and horror especially
- Theatre
- Cleaning & organization
- Competition

DISLIKES :

- Small, confined spaces
- Too much idle time and/or alone time
- Wasted potential
- Tea
- Science fiction

LOOKS : Dani is athletic and sturdily built, a testament to the dedicated personal fitness schedule she's been on since she was an athlete in high school. She comes in at 5'6" and is built stocky and solid, with wide-set hips and particularly muscular thighs. She has brown eyes and thick, dark brown hair that is always pulled into a bun for work, though during her down-time she usually wears it in a high ponytail.

It's very important to her to always look put together and professional -- she wouldn't be caught dead outside the house in grubby sweatpants or anything less than a full face of make-up, with the sole exception of her morning run. (And even then, she wears cute, trendy work-out clothes, because she likes to feel cute and confident no matter what she's doing.)

PERSONALITY : Above all, Dani is a fiercely enthusiastic, ambitious person. She believes in throwing herself into anything that she does 100%, which makes her an excellent nurse and caretaker for her mother, but does sometimes lead to her being overbearing and pushy when it comes to her friends' personal lives. She can sometimes burn herself out if she takes on too many projects at once, and she has a difficult time turning away people in need, especially her friends. If she can help, Dani feels like she has an obligation to help.

It's difficult for her to admit when she's wrong, and she rarely apologizes; she tries to be careful to make decisions in a way that she won't have to apologize, but on the rare occasion she realizes she's been wrong, they're always very heartfelt.

She is a motivated, positive person, believing that you have to grab life by the horns and make what you want out of it, rather than sit back and passively expect things to fall into place. Hard-working and confident, she always sets goals for herself and strives to reach them, and does her best to inspire the people around her to do the same. She is very team-oriented and has a no man left behind mentality for all the work that she does, preferring to ensure success by pooling the resources of the best and brightest rather than trying to do everything on her own.

HISTORY : Nothing has ever been handed to Dani her entire life, and that's exactly the way she likes it. She was taught the value of hard work and personal determination from an early age, watching both of her parents clock in long hours as a mechanic and a janitor, proud of them both, no matter how un-glamorous their jobs might be. Her parents were determined to give her a better start than they had, and encouraged her to work hard in school so that she could go to college on scholarships and have as many opportunities and options as she could get her hands on.

Dani threw herself into academics and sports both, involved herself in clubs and student council, and took AP classes for college credit when she was in high school. She graduated valedictorian and immediately enrolled in college, pursuing nursing out of a desire to make a difference and because she knew she could live comfortably on the salary and give back to her parents sooner rather than later.

She didn't make time for dating until after she'd graduated, but her relationships didn't tend to last long, especially once her father had a heart attack and she split her focus between her career and caring for her family. He passed when she was twenty-three, and it was then that she met Tristan, whom she married only a handful of months later.

Their marriage was rocky from the start, perhaps because she'd been in such a vulnerable place when they began dating, though Dani tried her best for several years -- and through several stints of marriage counseling -- to make it work. They just recently finalized the divorce and she is moving back home to spend time with her mother and make a fresh start.