Dropping this new OC here before I head to bed. Since I was in search of a bunny OC, I decided to take this gal on. Her Arabian-inspired design gave me an idea for an Arabic character from a northern African country, but also then decided to incorporate her into Aiya's life as a friend-type companion. Also, as opposed to her being a rabbit (it's been done so many times before), I made her a hare native to north Africa. So here she is, and I hope you enjoy what I have in store for her and Aiya.


Age: 35
Gender: Female
Birthday: August 27, 1989 (Summer Baby)
Species: Cape Hare
Occupation: Videographer and Dancer
Heritage: Moroccan
Home: Beni-Mellal, Morocco (birthplace) / Waihee-Waiehu, HI (current)
Languages: English, Arabic, French
Alma Mater: Waihee Elementary School, Maui Waena Intermediate School, Maui High School, University of Hawaii Maui College
Vehicle: 2019 Mazda 3 AWD Hatchback Preferred (Soul Red Crystal Metallic)


Bio

Born in small city of Beni-Mellal in Morocco, Zahira Ismaili (ARY: زهيرة اسماعيلي) had a hard life growing up in her home country. Her father was the only one able to work but made a pretty good living in real estate. However, for the women in his life, he felt that their potential was being limited by the restrictions of their home country. So, as he continued to make money after Zahira was born, he saved as much as he could to finally be able to immigrate to the United States, and luckily for him as a real estate agent, he was able to acquire a great amount of wealth. When Zahira was 10 years old, their family packed their bags and moved across the globe and landed on the island of Maui. They settled in Waihee-Waiehu where Zahira was able to attend a proper school. She had a bit of an advantage when attending an American school as she was able to learn English while living in Morocco. Her father was able to continue in his field in real estate and her mother was able to find work in a nearby nursery and was soon able to go to college and earn a botany degree. It was at the same college (University of Hawaii Maui College) where she met Aiya. Some of her college experience was not a pleasant one with her coming from an Arab African country, but Aiya was the one constant that made her experience easier. The two became fast friends helping each other throughout their studies. She graduated with an AS in Creative Media and makes her living as a videographer filming various documentaries (mostly focusing on nature) across Hawaii and occasionally in Morocco as well. She's also an accomplished belly dancer and performs her own belly dancing acts for the small Arab community of Maui. As a native of Morocco, she's fluent in Arabic and French as well as English.



Personality

As an Arab immigrant, Zahira does exhibit somewhat of a timid nature. While she's confident in her own abilities as a videographer and belly dancer, around most people, she tends to get shy very quickly around many of the natives of the Hawaiian Islands. When she's around friends and those she's most comfortable with, especially Aiya, her confidence does tick up quite a bit. She's softspoken for the most part and usually does prefer to be the quiet one gelling in the background. At home with her family, though, she's often quite talkative. Unlike most Arabs, her family have abandoned the practice of Islam and have since converted to Buddhism since being introduced to it by Aiya's family who practice the religion.

Appearance

Zahira is a semi-plus sized Cape Hare with short, shoulder length hair and light brown fur. Her thick profile is mostly from her belly on down. She often dresses in the same style as anyone living in Maui, though she will sometimes wear casual Moroccan style clothing including either a Hijab or a Shayla. When she's performing as a belly dancer, she wears a blue and gold belly dancer's outfit while barefoot (she normally wears flats otherwise).



Adopted from and artwork by  1ndigocat (RIP…gone too soon)