ᴄʜɪʟᴅʀᴇɴ: mama to four animals: iria the scarlet macaw ; dulce the iguana ; bruna the guinea pig ; philip the dark calico cat.
ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏᴜʀʜᴏᴏᴅ: forest lake.
ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴄᴀʀᴇᴇʀꜱ: vet tech at bahia wildlife sanctuary ; part-time cashier at earthwave ; part-time zoology masters student at blue harbor university.
ꜰᴀᴄᴇ ᴄʟᴀɪᴍ: giovana cordeiro.
🐊ᴛʟᴅʀ ( trigger warnings: heart attack & parental death )
ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴜᴇ ʜᴀʀʙᴏʀ, ɪʟʟɪɴᴏɪꜱ…
For the first five years of Franca Delfina Oliveira's life, she grew up in Salvadar, Bahia, Brazil with her parents, Rafael and Bruna Oliveira, and her older sister, Beatriz. Both of her parents were massive animal and nature lovers and held careers in helping the planet. The couple had always wanted to start up their own conservation organization after working with a wide variety of them in their home of Salvador. And so, after moving to the States when their daughters were young, they began to work towards making their life-long dream come true.
ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙʟᴜᴇ ʜᴀʀʙᴏʀ, ɪʟʟɪɴᴏɪꜱ…
The Bahia Wildlife Sanctuary has been opened since 2004, and Franca's whole world had been the sanctuary and the Oliveira family farm. Growing up and knowing what she wanted to do, she eventually earned her Wildlife Conservation degree through Unity Environmental University distant learning, spending those years traveling around the globe and volunteering for a wide variety of organizations, especially those for wildlife and conservation efforts. After earning her degree, she moved to Denver full-time and spent twenty-four months getting her vet tech degree from Bel Rea Vet Tech school. She got a job as a vet tech at the Denver Aquarium, working there for a year until, at the age of twenty-four, her mother died from a heart attack. Resulting in her returning back to Blue Harbor and spending the past two years working as a vet tech at the sanctuary and even getting a second, part-time job at Earthwave for an extra income. In fall of 2024, she officially started part-time schooling at Blue Harbor University so that she could earn her masters in Zoology.
🦜While Franca had been living in Denver, the aquarium saved a truck full of animals from a poaching ring. One of those animals ended up being a Scarlet macaw. The bird had lost half of its left wing from the time it'd been taken from Costa Rica to Denver, and Franca had been in charge of taking care of her. The two became bonded and now, Iria the Macaw is under Franca's care. The two are rarely apart from each other.
🦜She had a reputation throughout her schoolyears as being the "Animal Lover Girl", always ready to talk about anyone and everyone about animals and better ways to help the planet. She even started up an Earth Club in high school. Not many people joined it, however.
🦜While her family has always been comfortable money-wise, they're not rich. All of their money has been put into the sanctuary and farm, ensuring that the animals and plants had the best care possible. They live in a fairly reasonable sized log cabin that they worked on themselves, and through the help of friends and extended family members whenever they visited from Brazil.
🦜With that being said, the Oliveiras made sure to visit their home country at least three times a year: Carnaval season, the middle of summer, and around Christmas. Staying connected to their family and culture is highly important to them, though they've been struggling to do so since Franca's mother passed.
🦜The farm is home to four horses, ten cows, a herd of sheep, three goats, five chickens and a rooster, two cats, two dogs, and a pond full of freshwater fish and frogs. They live next to the river and are about a ten minute walk, three minute drive, from the sanctuary.
🦜Along with Iria, Franca is the happy animal mama of Dulce the iguana, Bruna the guinea pig, and Philip the grandpa dark calico cat. And yes, she understands how rare Philip is. But no, she refuses to sell him. She either rescued or adopted all of her babies and loves them all greatly.
🦜Franca is primarily a vegan, but will sometimes adjust to a pescatarian diet every now and then.
🦜She is a certified adventure guide, having earned her certificate through Pure Explorations after partaking in their Nepal Adventure Guide Program.
🦜Summer after she graduated from high school and before she went off to Nepal (as mentioned above), she'd been able to go to Alaska for awhile to participate in Girls On Ice (now known as Inspiring Girls Expeditions): a mountaineering expedition with an alpine ecosystems focus.
🦜As mentioned in her bio, she participated in both SEAmester and Semester at Sea. She spent her fall semester with the first study abroad program, sailing from the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic, before making her way to the Caribbean. For Semester at Sea, she journeyed to Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, India), Africa (Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Morocco), and Europe (Spain and Germany). I have a wc in mind for an ex-lover that she had been on both voyages with that became her biggest "what if", if anyone's interested!
🦜The best way to describe Franca's style is "hippie, granola girl with Brazilian and global touches". She loves brands like Wondery, Inkkas, FARM Rio, Sandcloud, Fahlo bracelets, Live Your Legend bracelets, Pura Vida bracelets, and others that's all about the great outdoors that has conservation efforts and that are connected to her culture and other cultures that she's able to appreciate. This will be further touched on in other posts.
🦥ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ
🦜Franca's big sister, Beatriz (pls with Lucy Alves as her fc pls pls plsss)
🦜BWS and farm employees and volunteers
🦜Earthwave coworkers
🦜Fellow animal, nature, and earth lovers
🦜Franca's friends
🦜High school first love/ex
🦜Her SEAmester/Semester at Sea ex (AKA her greatest "what if" and the one that got away)
🦜Current and former hook-ups, dates, crushes (those she has crushes on, those who have crushes on her)
🦜Enemies/Anyone annoyed by her granola girl/ecowarrior schtick
It seemed to him that his birthdays had become more and more involved affairs as he'd gotten older― he couldn't quite remember having a proper party for one before he'd been thirteen years of age and a few of his remaining teenaged years were fuzzy at best― all of his most enjoyable birthday memories had come from adulthood and he still felt that way now― skin tacky with sweat, hair mussed where someone had run their fingers through it for the better part of the last five minutes, and a smile that might've cured terrible diseases if he'd been a genius in a slightly more mad scientist sort of way. It was safe to say Percy was enjoying his thirty-second birthday quite thoroughly and certainly planned to continue that trend― just as soon as he'd had a smoke and gotten some fresh air... so to speak.
He found himself standing outside the bar a few moments later― patting his pockets with a cigarette already hanging between his teeth― a rough groan in the back of his throat when his hunt came to naught. "'Scuse me, love?" He called to the nearest person, "You wouldn't happen to have a light, would ya? I've lost mine and I'm fiendin' for a smoke." He explained, noting the roughness of his accent on full display now that he wasn't paying attention to all of the ways he could make it anything but. "I'd be happy to buy ya a drink if you let me bum it for just a bit," Percy continued, grinning rakishly around the cigarette. "I've been gettin' 'em free all night 'cause it's my birthday so I'm not fussed about repayin' that favor."
From the moment Franca made the decision to go for her Zoology masters, she was constantly flip-flopping between it being an incredible idea to it being the worse idea. Because on one hand, becoming a zoologist has been one of her dreams since childhood. She loved all the information she was learning and how there'd been information that she'd already knew, there were still so much that was new to her. And g-d, it was extraordinary. On the other hand, however, she's never been good at traditional schooling. While her professor was understanding and helped her out, Franca had a hard time. She was just grateful that she was only taking two classes this semester. Anything more than that and she might've combusted.
She'd been walking by Aurora to go study at the nearest cafe when an ever familiar voice rang out. His accent, however, was much thicker than she was use to, and it took her a moment to realize that he'd been drinking. Which left her laughing softly. "Hi, Professor Ashworth!" She waved at him. "I don't, sorry. I'm not really a smoker." Tried it once; Never again. And she didn't really keep any candles about at home due to Iria, Dulce, Bruna, and Phillip, so that also cancelled a reason as to why she might've had one. His offer did leave her cheeks pinkening slightly. "Oh, uh—No, thank you. I was about to go study at the cafe, and it might be best doing that sober. But happy birthday! Are you having a good one?"
"Okay, Philip; You comfortable?" She beamed as the grandpa cat mewed, him purring as she gently scritch behind his ear. It's become a daily ritual to take him on walks in his stroller, his favourite pillows, blanket, and stuffed animal making sure that he was all cozy as they roamed about. She loved watching him looking around at nature and people, chittering whenever he noticed any birds or squirrels. From what the rescuers had told her, he spent a majority of his life out on the streets before he was taken in by the Blue Harbor Humane Society, spending nearly five years there before she adopted him two years ago. With how old he is, it broke Franca's heart knowing how long he's been alone. But, at the same time, it made her even more determined to give him the best life possible, full of so much love and treats and cuddles. So far, she was succeeding at doing so. As they walked, though, Philip tensed up once he heard barking. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. It's okay, Philly," she said, quickly zipping up the mesh window so that he wouldn't jump out and run away. He hid beneath his blankets while she consoled him, crouching down and speaking calmly to the little guy when, finally, the perpetrator appeared in the size of a dachshund. Sighing, the vet tech soon chuckled as she held her hand out to the pup. "Hi there, little guy," she cooed. "You scared us a bit. Where's your parents..." Checking his collar, she brows furrowed. "Wal... Walter Cronkite? I totally botched that; I'm sorry, buddy."
Franca, admittedly, wasn't much of a drinker. But, after getting into it with Beatriz earlier at the sanctuary in front of the employees and volunteers (and even a few guests), she needed to get away. Texting Phoebe to see if she could meet up with her, she tried to figure out which bar could be the best option. Aurora's was great, but more for when she's in a better mood; The Labyrinth was too flashy and she didn't understand the references too much, nor was she really into fantasy and mythology; Mic Drop!, well, she hates her singing voice (despite being told that it was good), so that's not an option; She will keep avoiding O'Shea's, the place of an awkward blind date that ended horribly a year ago, like the plague; Static was loud, very loud; The Vault wasn't too bad, but she didn't feel like dancing; and then... The Pour House. Fuck, that place kind of scared her, always has. She's rarely, if at all, has come here. But... If she keeps her head down and has a few drinks, maybe she won't be bothered. Fortunately, it didn't seem too busy (or scary) tonight. Sitting at the bar, she'd been about to order a drink when she saw the bartender. "H-Hey," she breathed out. Recognizing her old classmate. "I... didn't know that you work here."
For the past few years, this day has always been rough. Before, it use to be filled with joy and laughter; Now, though, it was a reminder that her mother is gone. That she was no longer around, and all the brightness that had been in their lives, she took with her. But, even though it was hard, even though it hurt, Franca did her best to celebrate her mother's birthday. To still honour her memory and maybe, just maybe, still keep some of her light alive. And one of Bruna Oliveira's favourite things, especially on her birthday, was having some tea with her youngest daughter. The thing is, though, was that Bruna use to switch which tea they had for that birthday. She didn't have her favourites; She simply loved all kinds of tea. And while Franca wasn't as big of a tea drinker, she wanted to keep the tradition alive. She just... didn't know what to pick. As she roamed around the store, eyeing all the options that were on display, she was trying so hard to think like her mother. What would Bruna Oliveira choose for this birthday? Humming to herself, she noticed someone and smiled. Waving a little before saying, "Hello! Um... There's so many to choose from, it's hard to narrow down to just one. Do... you have any recommendations?"
"Oi! Não, não, não!" Sure, Franca was a cashier at Earthwave; But, with how slow it was right now and the young woman practically being allergic to boredom and staying still while doing nothing for awhile, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to do some stocking and facing up near the front. She still had a good view of the registers, so she'd know if someone was coming to check out. Though... It might not have been the best idea. Her mind tended to wander, thinking about over a million different things, which would then tend to her becoming rather distracted. And while her gaze turned to check out the front, the glass of sea moss gel she had in her hand knocked against the other jars a bit too roughly. Soon causing an avalanche of the jars and some of their neighbours to start tumbling down to the floor. She tried to salvage as many as possible, some in her arms, but... There, unfortunately, was still a good amount on the ground. Some of them had burst open, spraying other products, the floor, and even herself with some of the sea moss gel; Others, she wasn't quite sure yet. She groaned softly to herself, turning to call out for one of her coworkers, when she froze at the sight of a customer. Oh, g-d... How long has he been standing there? "D-Desculpe! Eu não... Er..." Clearing her throat, she tried again. "I... Sorry, sorry. I'll have this cleaned up right away. Um... You wouldn't happen to have wanted one of these jars... Would you?" Showing the jars in her arms, she smiled awkwardly at the man. G-d, she hopes she doesn't get fired because of this.
Though Stuart was a lover of all animals—especially mice because self-love is important—he was never responsible enough to keep one. He remembered the fish tank back home, the one in the living room that wasn't lit most of the time because they all liked the way the aquarium would cast a fluorescent glow. Stuart and his siblings had gotten a few fish each from his foster parents, because they were far too scatterbrained for a hamster and too absent for a dog. They all had a cherry shrimp each, but Stuart also owned an endler's livebearer and a honey gourami. They were shy and mildly active, which was as reflective of his character as a shallow puddle in bentonite mud; soon, he'd forget about their existence in its entirety, as if they'd become nothing but a static object in that room. So, obviously, getting a pet of his own was out of question, but sanctuaries like this—they were like a minefield of little dopamine doses. “Did you? No way! You, like, bottle-fed him when he a cub and everything? I watched the Tiger King documentary when it came out, but, like, I don't think it was about the tigers, man. Terrible polyamory rep, too.” Stuart leaned forward to try and catch a better glimpse of the pair. “That's kind of crazy. I don't think I've ever seen a pregnant lioness before. But you guys should totally throw them a baby shower.”
"Uh—" She laughed slightly. And a bit awkwardly. Franca had avoided Tiger King like the plague after it first came out. Based on what she knew from word of mouth, she knew that she wouldn't be able to watch it without spending the whole documentary being frustrated. "I did bottle-feed him, yes. We saved him from a circus that he'd been a part of and he'd still be extremely little at the time of the rescue." His mother, unfortunately, they hadn't been able to save. "It took awhile to get him to trust me, but once he did, it was incredible. I really love him." There was truly nothing that she wouldn't do for the animals. They were her entire world. And for a good portion of them, she's grown up with them. She's watched them grow, and them the same with her. Franca knew, without a shadow of a doubt, how lucky she was. Playing with her bracelets, she listened to Stuart. Her smile soon growing bigger as she nodded quickly. "Oh, gosh... I've seen it about five times before. Two here, one at the Denver Zoo, and then two at these two different conservation sites in Africa—Kenya and South Africa—that I got to volunteer at a few years ago. It's truly incredible. We are, yes! We're working out everything for it and ensuring that it won't be overwhelming, but we're certainly planning it."
🍂 - What is your personal favorite fall tradition?
"Along with decorating the sanctuary and farm, I love dressing up Iria, Dulce, Bruna, and Philip in Halloween costumes so that I can take them to the hospital for the residents to see. All four of them love it so much and just get to be showered in so much love. I started the tradition after I returned home two years ago, and people at the hospital love it. It's brightened up so many people's days and I feel honoured to be able to do that."
🍂 - What is your personal favorite fall tradition?
"Oh, where do I even begin? At the sanctuary and the farm, we put up a whole bunch of carved animal-themed jack o'lanterns to decorate the place. We even make life-size animals out of multiple pumpkins and the animals and kiddos love it. For those able to eat pumpkins, we put some in their habitats to play with and eat. I swear, you haven't experienced true joy until you've witnessed a baby hippopotamus or elephant playing with a big pumpkin."
Zara spies a free bench and beelines to it, desperate to rest her feet for a moment after a morning of being shown around the enclosures. Always a believer in first and best impressions, she's worn a smart matching pant suit set with heels - not the highest she owns, but probably still impractical for a day at the sanctuary. In Zara's defense, she thought she would be sitting inside all morning for the logistics meetings, not being taken on a full tour.
The brunette produces a notebook while she takes a quick breather and scribbles down a few ideas that have been rattling around in her head. Angles mostly, interesting tidbits about the sanctuary that will make it a story media will want to pick up. Franca's chipper voice cuts through Zara's thought train and stops her pen mid-sentence. Truthfully, she hadn't been paying attention to the animals but smiles anyway as she observes them. "Funnily enough I did know that. I'm doing the press release for the announcement." She gestures to the notebook, which to the average person would currently resemble a kindergarteners illegible scratchings. "If you tell too many people it won't be a secret anymore, you know. But I can understand the excitement. You must feel a bit like a proud Mom, right?"
"Wait, you do?" Franca automatically turned to look at her. No one was suppose to know about the cubs yet, aside from the journalist Beatriz was suppose to talk to. She just couldn't remember when that was suppose to be. There'd been quite a handful of people over the years who'd try to gain important information, ones that couldn't be out to the public yet, and for a moment, she was scared that this could be one of those instances. Yet, as she shown off her journal and the vet tech got a better look at her, she began to relax as she continued on. "Right, sorry! My sister gave you the tour. I completely spaced that that had been today."
Playing with her fidget ring, she looked back to the lions. Now, Franca had never been one to play favourites, especially with animals. Every one of them meant the world to her. Though, she did have to admit, there was something special about all the animals that she personally worked with, especially after returning to Blue Harbor. There was so much love and pride watching them grow and knowing how far they come after first initially coming to the sanctuary. The vet tech blushed. "I haven't, I promised," she said with a shake of her head. "Though I'll admit, it is getting harder not to scream it from the rooftops. I am, yeah! After everything they went through becoming here... I'm just so happy that we've been able to provide a loving home to them both. That they're both so happy here."
Their focus had been interrupted by some curly hair smiling female they hadn't encountered before. Truthfully Juno had been so deep in their own journals, documenting the interaction and behavior of the animals inside against that of the humans feasting on their suffering. A sanctuary, they called themselves, but Juno wasn't so sure. Looked more like a menagerie. "You must be so proud." Juno replied, glancing up at the brunette before cutting their eyes to the kittens before them. They glanced around themselves as if to say 'do you see me with anybody?', before turning back to her. Sending what felt like a conversation coming their way, Juno sorrowfully clicked away the point of their pen and closed their journal. "How long are they going to remain here?" they asked, wondering if the place ever really sent them back out to the wild. They figured not, since the animals were on full display for their monetary greed.
She nodded, her smile bright. "I am. They've both come so far since they were brought here." It'd broke Franca's heart when she first learned about all they had endured in their short lives before their team rescued them. And when they had been brought to Bahia, it had been a few weeks after everything with her mother. Taking care of the lion cubs and ensuring their health was restored had been her greatest goal returning back home. At Juno's question, her brows furrowed. She wondered if they hadn't been able to read the information plaques yet. "We can't," she said. Turning to look at them while her head shook. "Dakarai had been born in captivity at a circus and Zola had been abducted by poachers that used bear traps, resulting in her front left paw and right back paw to be amputated. If we tried to return them to Africa, their survival rate would be nonexistent. While we've been successful in releasing animals in the past to their natural habitat, this would do more harm than good." Looking Juno over, she sighed. Of course, the vet tech couldn't blame them for asking. With all the horror stories of other institutes in the past that's claimed to "help" animals yet to do anything but, she could understand people's hesitance or reluctance towards BWS. "If we could, we absolutely would. Trust me, I wish that could be the case. But after everything they've been through, taking them away from Bahia would be detrimental for them."
Late September and early October has always been one of her favourite times at the sanctuary. It was neither too hot nor too cold; It was the perfect temperature for all of the animals. All of them had been out and about all day, whether they be playing or basking in the sunlight to sleep. And while Franca didn't have to work today and everything she needed to do for the farm and her schoolwork all done, she was more than happy to spend her time at the sanctuary, all twelve hours of the sanctuary's open hours. It was more than perfect. Plus, it gave her some much needed time away from Beatriz. Sitting on one of the benches overlooking the lions habitat, she'd been watching over Dakarai with a proud smile. "I helped raise him," she said to the nearest person. Pointing towards the two year old male, playing with his mate. "That's his mate, Zola. Don't go telling people this, but... she's pregnant with their first litter. We're going to be making the announcement on Wednesday."
