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Name: Safira Anoraa Bell

Nickname: 'Fira

Gender/Pronoun: cis female; she/her/hers

Age: 52

Birthday: Aug. 7th, 1970 @ 0700

Sign: Leo sun, Libra moon, Leo rising

Gemstone: peridot

Blood Type: A+

Fav. Food: it's a hard choice between tamales and berries of all kinds (especially new fancy berries that aren't common in the DC area)

Hated Food: she is less fond of red meat, but honestly will eat nearly anything

Occupation: Safira graduated from an arts school in Florida. She now owns Kampana, a dance competition and instruction studio in downtown Destiny City that specializes in Latin social dance (namely salsa, merengue, samba, tango, and Argentinian tango) while offering courses in a smattering of other styles such as aerial and pole dancing. She is an active instructor and competitor, and her specialties are salsa and reggaeton. Lately she's been phasing her youngest son and business heir [Richard] into more prominent teaching positions while she pulls back to more competition and administrative work.

Hobbies:

Competing-- there's a reason that, even as she dials back her activity in Kampana and starts grooming Richard to take over for her, Safira is still entering dance competitions. She loves the thrill of competing and the awards aren't a bad touch, either. It keeps her active and strong and gives her something to pour her considerable amount of energy into.

Carpentry-- she likes making things with her hands, but never had the patience for pottery or painting. Instead, Safira likes woodworking and wanted to go into making things that had function after she was done forming them. She has a workshop behind the house and a robust set of tools she is very fond of and protective over. One of the advantages to so many children and grandchildren--she's made furniture for them and delighted in it.

Hiking-- Safira enjoys getting out into the great outdoors to get fresh air away from the city. The sun, the breeze, the smell of the trees around her, it's all very centering and calming for her. She has a bucket list of great hiking trails that she wants to try and--if the rules of the area allow it--she will bring small branches or similar detritus home to use with her carpentry.

Virtues:

Sincere--Safira is open, frank, and honest. Her opinion is very plain, and when she gives her word, she means it. While she's not above the occasional gentle white lie--especially to children--Safira considers it important for people to be able to rely on her. Family and friends are especially important to her in this regard. Her children and husband have rarely needed to wonder how she would react to something, and she is proud of that.

Adventurous--she craves new experiences and is very open-minded. Her one rule is don't do anything illegal. She caveat is, if you do something illegal, don't get caught. Don't do anything she wouldn't do? That's a very, very short list. It makes her a safe person to come to with unusual needs. Her youngest son once dragged home a scraggly, skinny stray human, and Safira was quite willing to let that scraggly, skinny stray human live in her house. What's the worst that could happen? She does think things through, but her threshold for turning something down or someone away is quite high.

Sympathetic--so, about that scraggly, skinny stray human. Safira is quite warm-hearted and given to extending her time and resources to people in need. She donates regularly to several organizations in the area and needed very little convincing from Richard and Ignacio to open their house to people needing a place to stay. She and Luke are quite well-matched in this, and the two of them often coordinate their efforts both in their community and in the strange gaggle of misfits they've been adopting. She is quite susceptible to sob stories and, while not naive, is willing to give second chances to people who seem to genuinely want them.

Flaws:

Proud--Safira does not like to admit when she's wrong, accept help when she needs it, or back down from a challenge. She will sulk if forced to admit she was wrong about something, and it's better not to try to make her actually say 'you were right'. Just take the victory and move on. Experience as a dancer and a mother means that she is perfectly capable of realising that help would be a good idea, and she knows it's not wise to overextend herself. That does not, however, make it any easier for her to ask for help and she will only tacitly accept it when offered. In fact, it's best not to ask if she needs help. She will say no. Just do the thing anyway and let her sulk for a little bit. Similarly, letting challenges go unanswered grates and irritates her, but with age comes wisdom and patience.

Presumptive--is it a bit hypocritical that she doesn't like it when people assume things about her needs and wishes, but she is perfectly prone to assuming things about other people? Yes. Does she care? Well, if it's diplomatically pointed out in a way that saves her pride, yes! Otherwise, she finds a way to reason it out in a manner that at least resolves it in her mind. This can make her sometimes frustrating to deal with, because she's not doing it to be spiteful or mean, but because she genuinely believes it's the best or easiest way to accomplish something. She is the kind of person to show up unannounced to the house of a friend who's been a bit reclusive with a plate of food and a warm blanket and be puzzled or annoyed when the friend--who was trying to study or not feeling well--doesn't quite appreciate the interruption.

Rebellious--she got in trouble frequently as a teenager for sneaking out of her house to go to the beach with some friends. She got in trouble as a young adult for being in bars and dance halls before she was twenty-one. She has absolutely trespassed on abandoned or vacant lots. Perhaps things like this in her youth are a testament to her adventurous nature, but Safira is not afraid to break the rules if she decides it's possible and preferred to do so. Her own mother was long-suffering and knew the local police quite well. Age and experience have tempered this considerably, but Safira is still prone to flights of will and daring someone to do something about it.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Eyes: icy blue, round, and framed with long lashes

Hair: bright red, a testament to her Norwegian heritage. It's very thick and wavy, and she keeps it short to her jawline just to keep it tame.

Face: a soft, heart-shaped face with a strong nose

Skin Tone: fair, with no freckles. She burns very easily in the summer.

Body Type: Safira is 5'9" and generally lean with long limbs, though not without some of the signs of being the mother of five children and the grandmother of several more. Time has softened her angles, and she is quite alright with this.

Clothes: leggings or pants with fuzzy sweaters or comfortable t-shirts. She doesn't wear much jewelry aside from her wedding band and studs in her ears.

(mostly stolen from Basiluzzo's journal until I can edit this for Safira's perspective)

(click for larger)
Luke Michael Bell (53) -- Apr. 20th, 1969 -- Richard's father and a senior accountant/partner at a reasonably prestigious financial firm

Safira Anoraa Bell (52) -- Aug. 7th, 1970 -- Richard's mother and owner of Kampana, a dance competition and instruction studio specializing in latin dance

Garber Abel Bell (33) -- July 15th, 1988 -- Richard's eldest brother and accountant at their father's financial firm

Mikki Alexander Bell (13) -- June 20th, 2008 -- Richard's nephew, Aaron's twin, and a ray of sunny sunshine who loves people and fruit popsicles

Aaron Jonas Bell (13) -- June 20th, 2008 -- Richard's nephew, Mikki's twin, and a quieter kid who loves people from afar and pie from up close

Tammer Conway Bell (32) -- Sept. 1st, 1989 -- Richard's second-eldest sibling, Alan's twin, and a waiter at a seafood restaurant.

Dominique Sato (31 ) -- Aug. 29th, 1990 -- Tammer's long-time girlfriend and light of his life; also a waitress at a seafood restaurant, where she does not let being 4'11" get in her way

Isabelle Akilah Sato (7) -- Nov. 12th, 2013 -- Richard's niece, one of Tammer and Dominique's very doted-on twin daughters, and she loves dinosaurs

Aicha Artemis Sato (7) -- Nov. 12th, 2013 -- Richard's niece, Isabelle's also very-doted-on twin, who also loves dinosaurs but likes hamsters better

Alan Joseph Bell (32) -- Sept. 1st, 1989 -- Richard's older brother, Tammer's twin, who runs a freelance translation enterprise from Phoenix, AZ with his wife

Shora Abigail Bell (33) -- Aug. 31st, 1988 -- Alan's wife and assistant with translation; helps run the freelance translation enterprise but also is a stay-at-home mother for their daughter

Olivia Ava Bell (5) -- Jan. 3rd, 2016 -- Richard's third niece and the baby of the family; being two years old, her interests are largely bright colours and food

Constantine Murray Bell (29) -- Oct. 2nd, 1991 -- Richard's next-older brother, very nearly done with law school (one more year. one more year. one more year.) whose legs (and torso and arms and everything) go on for DAYS

Lee Scott Krisinger-Bell (30) -- Apr. 3rd, 1991 -- Constantine's husband, graphic designer extraordinaire at an ad firm, and perpetual smol next to Constantine

Richard Arra Bell (30)-- Mar. 15th, 1993 -- Luke's youngest son and the heir apparent of not only Safira's dance studio, but also the house they're all living in.

Ignacio Cesar Araya-Bell (31)-- Jun. 3rd, 1992 -- Richard's husband, a professional movie actor, who Richard brought home one day and refused to take "no" for an answer.