Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad (Life is Strange: Double Exposure)

Spoilers are included below, so beware -

Safiya Llewellyn-Fayyad, better known as Safi or The Shapeshifter, is the posthumous main antagonist appearing in Life is Strange: Double Exposure. She is an aspirational poet, a people-person, and Max's best friend at Caledon University. She is also long-term best friends with Moses Murphy.

Safi is integral to the mystery of Double Exposure, as Max finds her dead in mysterious circumstances after seeing her moments previously. This discovery is what prompts Max to discover that her Rewind power has atrophied, and she resolves to find Safi's murderer while navigating a timeline where she is dead and another where she is alive.

It's revealed in the third chapter that Safi also has powers like Max. She has the power to shapeshift into anyone she has met, she used this on many people, like Vinh in the previous chapter trying to get into his phone, or Amanda, earlier after seeing Max talk to Yasmin. However, when her powers become unstable, she is able to manipulate the perception of people around her. Safi sees herself as a superior being to those around her due to her powers and becomes hellbent on using them to become a 'God' amongst people so she'll be recognized for who she is.

At the end of the game, Safi is effectively brought back to life after Max fuses both the timelines and sets off to find others who have powers like her and Max, starting with Diamond Washington.

Personality -

Striving to bring Max out of her shell and find her roots in Vermont, Safi always has Max's back. She is a true people-person and, loves getting to know those around her better, and really digs beneath the surface of what makes them tick.

Due to this trait, Safi is shown to be invasive. This is seen when she goes through Max's wallet and finds a picture of a blue-haired girl.

However, upon learning that her own mother was the main cause of Maya's ****, she becomes increasingly antagonistic, and as a result, she cuts ties with Yasmin and becomes determined to be recognized by uniting others who have powers.

Appearance -

With her dark hair, dark eyes, and olive complexion, Safi appears to be of Arabic descent like her mother. Her hair is usually hidden under a hat or held by a red hair tie in a ponytail, leaving two tendrils framing her face.

Usually seen with two small silver hoop earrings and a necklace with a red stone in the center, she also wears several rings. Safi has her left nostril pierced with a small silver stud.

Indoors, Safi can be seen with a dark button-down shirt, dark jeans and boots, and sports dark nail polish.

While outdoors, she wears a grey hat, gloves, and a white puffer coat with a red accent section along the shoulder and neck area.

Background -

Safi is the daughter of Caledon's president, Yasmin. She could be of Welsh and/or Arabic descent due to the origins of her name.

Safi has been mentored by Doctor Gwen Hunter, who is a Professor of Creative Non-Fiction at Caledon. Safi's latest book is compiled on Gwen's desk, entitled "All the Daughters We Don't Talk About." It is unclear whether this manuscript was given to Gwen or not, though it is plausible that her mentor would proofread such an important part of Safi's work. It is confirmed that a ripple of tension is clear between them throughout Double Exposure, leading to Gwen being a suspect in Max's investigation.

Safi says the last time she was at a bowling alley was during John Wittle's 9th birthday party, where they had ice cream cake.

Powers -

Abilities -

• Shapeshifting - Safi is able to shapeshift into anyone she has met. She explains that it has something to do with how she wants people to see her. She connects with the person she wants to shapeshift into and nudges that individual's brain. A side effect of this is that when she shapeshifts into someone, it embeds a part of her inside that person. Similar to Max, her powers were unlocked in her teens after experiencing a great amount of hurt and trauma.
• Despite her power only relating to perception and manipulation, Max comments on how her power manages to imprint on objects as well. This could be more than what Safi's letting on.

Consequences -

• When Safi goes through **** stress, those around her mimic her words and emotions. The only way to free them is by taking a photo and double-exposing it. It's shown that Max is the only one resistant to this, most likely due to her supernatural nature.
• It's possible that when coupled with Max's time power (which greatly affects the environment in devastating ways), it created a Storm that would engulf the consciousnesses of those close to it. Due to Max's side of the storm, any action that the two do ripple through time. This is shown when Safi takes a picture of Max welding a gun at her before the latter uses it. This goes through time and shoots Safi in Chapter 1.

Trivia -

• In Dead World, Vinh makes a post on Crosstalk with a link to a site for Safi's obituary. This link can be entered into a browser outside the game to see a Tumblr page with Double Exposure imagery, including Safi's picture and the promise of a "Bio coming soon."
• Like Gabe Chan, Safi's **** causes great pain and grief for an entire community, which triggers those who are close to them to take action against their murderers.
• Max and Safi are the first characters with powers to interact with each other.
• Safi is the first life to be directly taken by Max.

Where is Safi when she becomes naked, and how does it happen?