𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄,

⏵ player information
name and pronouns: Mimi (she/her)
age: 28+
contact: pinkwestwood (@) discord | fuels

⏵ character information
name: Inara Serra
canon: Firefly
age: Early 20's (23-26)
canon point: End of Series (prior to events of the movie Serenity)
history: Here
abilities:

Trained since the age of 12 to be a government sponsored Companion (Oiran/Courtesan) and an Ambassador for the Alliance, Inara has learned the masterful skill of control being able to read others thoroughly and understand their motives, worries, and motivations. Since she is often in a vulnerable position with her clients (even if she can choose them and ban them per her protected status, control and domination are important abilities instilled into her through years of rigorous training. Outside of this, she does not possess any magical powers/skills outside of being decent at fighting and using weapons.

personality:

Upon first appearance, Inara comes across as soft and frail given her petite stature and delicate way of dressing. It's only when she speaks that it's evident she's very commanding with her words, using a more sophisticated method of speaking and holding her ground against even individuals with a violent streak. Although she's quite fierce in her demeanor, this isn't a skill that came naturally to her.

Since the age of 12, Inara (born on Sihnon, a planet renowned for it's intense Companionship training) had begun training for the role of Companion. It is an intense training that focused mostly on control, psychological and emotional analyzing, and higher education. Based on the information given by Inara throughout the show, the physical acts of intimacy weren't touched upon until all trainees were eighteen. Although despite being 'born' into this line of work, Inara quite enjoys the work itself as it allows her more freedom, respect, and prestige within the Alliance. Although sworn to secrecy, Inara was banned from the Companion House Madrassa due to her revealing the secrets of one of her clients who was against the Alliance and an Independent. Despite this being a positive thing in the eyes of the Alliance, the house banned her for breaking a sacred oath a client and customer have, still allowing her to be a Companion. Despite this happening to her, she continued her line of work often building strong connections with her clients and working with the same group of people as often as possible.

Despite the persona she tends to put on with clients and higher ranking officials from the Alliance, deep down she's very sentimental and has a strong bond with most people aboard the Serenity, easily striking up conversations and friendships with people who would otherwise disregard her due to her line of work. One strong example of this is her relationship with Shepherd Derrial Book. When the Shepherd joined the crew and Inara spotted him with a bible, he dismissed her curiosity in it assuming her to be non-religious or uninterested in being lectured about her 'sins'. She quickly became quite close to him, sharing in her own religious beliefs in Buddhism and her tolerance and acceptance of others who may not be similar to her. She's also shown being kind to Simon, a more uptight and awkward man aboard the ship, comforting him and his sister while others on the crew were shown to be distrusting of them. Her strongest bond on the ship and a point of contention is her relationship with the crew's captain Malcolm.

Throughout the series it is shown from the start that he did not respect her line of work, immediately demeaning her and calling her a whore when came aboard looking to rent one of the shuttles. She immediately was able to negotiate a lower rent price, set boundaries (there would be no sex between them, no one is allowed to enter her shuttle, they have to allow her to work with clients on each planet they went, and that was the last time he would call her such a term). Since their initial meeting it became clear there is a lot of emotional and sexual tension between the two, but instead of confronting their feelings, Malcolm often argued with Inara and Inara found herself easily frustrated by him. Towards the end of the series when she convinced him to travel to an independent planet to help out a friend from her Companionship training days and Malcolm was sexually intimate with said friend, she broke down in tears and vaguely admitted her feelings for him. Instead of staying and trying to work on a relationship with him, she opted instead to leave Serenity and sever ties with the crew.

Despite her line of work, Inara is often shown to hold strong boundaries with people, using control as a guiding force for herself. When asking anyone for any kind of favor, she is quick to offer payment in the form of money to avoid being used for sexual favors. She dresses seductively but modestly, often covering her arms and chest. In addition to these boundaries she sets with others, she has free reign to pick and ban clients and will often blacklist a client or potential client if they step out of line and disrespect her.

Another interesting aspect of her personality is her strong preference for female companionship and friendships. While she's shown to act sisterly towards the mechanic of the ship [often doing her hair, fixing her outfits and astutely aware of her crush on the doctor of the ship], she is shown to only feel comfortable showing her true self with other women. Despite her poised and controlled nature for the most part, like most people, she does show fear, vulnerability, and her more emotional side with other women and those she is comfortable with. She has been noted as saying that she will only take on female clients if they're extraordinary in some way.

samples:
sample one | sample two

A note: I will not have her continue her line of work in Etraya given the nature of the game and the focus of the series overall more on the traditions that come with being a companion rather than the intimate acts themselves. I will have an opt-out post and avoid mature topics with minor characters accordingly.