crack of a whip

about.

cancer tw, parental death tw

born in east LA to matias quintana and alba restrepo. they moved to aurora bay when river was three, and to this day, she still doesn't know why. neither of her parents had roots in AB, and the most she could ever get out of them was that matias had "business" there.

"business," river found out years later, was avoiding gang violence matias had unwittingly found himself entrenched in in LA. there were friendlies in AB — matias had spent some time there years before — willing to help him keep a low profile, but it wasn't long until he got wrapped up in whatever trouble there was to be found in the trailer park they settled in on the outskirts of town.

matias was a dumbass with a strong sense of self-preservation, an ugly combination that river swore never to emulate when she got older. he would wind up in bad situations, then say or do absolutely anything to weasel his way out of them. it meant he always owed someone a favor, no questions asked.

on the flip side, alba was a force of nature. she and matias never married and were little more than strangers when river was conceived, but alba put her foot down and demanded that he help raise their child. he only did so in the loosest of terms — he kept a roof over their heads and food on the table while working odd jobs — but river thinks that was probably for the best.

alba tried to keep river out of trouble, but it was unavoidable when they were surrounded by it. river was slippery, always a little angry, and had absolutely zero respect for authority in any form. she was small but refused to be pushed around by anyone, so she learned how to fight early.

after graduating high school by doing the absolute bare minimum (and setting a new record for number of suspensions without being expelled), she hopped from job to job around town, aimless and content to stay that way.

her mom got sick when river was twenty-two. pancreatic cancer, stage four by the time they'd finally caught it. aggressive treatment might've helped, but they couldn't afford it, and alba refused to let river go into thousands of dollars of medical debt to stave off the inevitable. there was nothing left to do but make her as comfortable as possible.

matias was still in and out during that time, at least a little more present than he'd been for most of river's life, but river snapped in the weeks leading up to alba's death and advised him to get far away, quickly. if she saw him again, she'd kill him.

alba died four months after her diagnosis, and river imploded. her anger had always manifested externally before, but this was different. she was arrested a few times for disorderly conduct, but ever stuck to warrant jail time. everything was awful, but at least she was still smart.

she joined the ABFD when she was twenty-five, mostly on a whim. she couldn't hold down a job, and her life was going nowhere. her hatred for authority didn't make it easy, but eventually she came to appreciate the structure of it (and, admittedly, being able to feel like a hero every now and again).

she's mellowed out a little in the years since. she's still (probably unnecessarily) intense, has a hair-pin trigger, and it's hard to get a real smile out of her on most days, but she's become more open to the idea that fun might be good for her sometimes. it can't all be doom and gloom.

personality

+ resourceful, protective, decisive

- unforgiving, impatient, destructive

tidbits.

she technically still has the trailer but hasn't gone back since the day she moved out. she sorted and cleared out all of alba's stuff right after she died, but matias's is still there collecting dust

he's heeded her warning to stay away, as far as she knows. she still talks to her neighbors in the trailer park, and they have instructions to let her know if he ever shows his face

if you take her to a karaoke bar and get her drunk enough, she'll pick up a mic and kill 'i will survive,' but she'll pretend she doesn't remember any of it the next day

she's slowly working on a bachelor's degree in psychology from AB college — two classes a semester at most, and only if she can afford it. turns out, she doesn't hate school as much as she thought she did, but she doesn't advertise that

absolutely has a complex about being the smallest of anyone on the squad. she punched a brand new coworker in the throat because he suggested she wasn't up for the job. she did get in trouble, but she took the suspension without pay with grace, given that the guy was immediately fired

is the shane of the AB gay dating scene. even if you haven't slept with her, you probably know someone who has

big movie guy. she has a letterboxd account she hasn't shared with anyone, where she writes actually very thoughtful reviews

has a jack russell terrier named diomedes, after her mom's favorite musician

can dance. WILL make fun of you if you can't

connections.