#riverportintro

“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience—or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope."

Brandon and Claire Wolfe were seventeen and nineteen when their first child arrived. By the time Sloane was born three years later, they were already fraying at the seams. The middle child, bracketed by a brother older and two siblings younger, Sloane learned early that silence meant survival. Her house was a chorus of yelling and slammed doors, bills stacked higher than dishes in the sink.

She was an observer before anything else. Teachers called her bright, promising, but noted her tendency to drift—eyes out the window, poems inked into the margins of her homework. She never invited friends home. She stayed late at school or walked the neighborhood until dark, anything to avoid crossing her own threshold. Empathy came naturally, but so did distance. She could hold anyone’s secrets and still keep her own locked tight.

“I was quiet, but I was not blind.”

Her parents leaned on her when it suited them. Claire treated her like a confidant, confessing debts, regrets, the ache of a marriage that felt like a cage. Brandon offered little more than silence and sharp edges—except for the day he handed her the keys to a vintage Mustang on her sixteenth birthday. It was the only proof she ever had of his love, a gift she kept polished and running long after everything else between them broke down.

At eighteen, she packed a duffel bag and left. No tearful goodbye, no forwarding address. She drove until Rhode Island felt far enough and enrolled at the university, majoring in literature because words had always been her only constant.

“Angry people are not always wise.”

It was there she fell in love for the first time—the kind of love that swept her under so quickly she mistook control for devotion. Adoration soured into suspicion, then into locked phones, broken glass, and bruises carefully hidden beneath concealer.

She told herself it was love. For seven years, she told herself that. Until her twenty-fifth birthday, when a vase shattered against her arm and left her with six stitches and no more excuses. At the hospital, a nurse asked quietly, did someone do this to you, sweetheart?—and the truth split her wide open. Her older brother was the only one she called. He came without hesitation, packed her things, drove her away while her boyfriend was at work.

“There is no charm equal to independence.” — Emma

He wanted her to stay. To rebuild, to stitch herself back into the family fabric. But she couldn’t. Too much distance. Too much history.

Nona found Riverbook by accident and she took off, like she was good at doing, finding her own apartment, her own silence, her own freedom.

Her students call her intimidating.

Her friends call her Nona.

ABOUT.

Name: Aaron Setzer Nicknames: Az Age: Thirty DoB: April 18th 1995 Occupation: Manager and baker at Main Street Coffee Romantic/sexual orientation: Biromantic/bisexual ( no lean ) Birthplace: Long Island, New York

Born and raised in Riverport, his family large and rather well known in town thanks to their bagel shop, Aaron found himself an anomaly. He didn't seem to fit in anywhere, despite all of that, despite the easy way in he'd been given.

He'd always loved his family; they made it almost impossible not to, but from a very early age, he felt overwhelmed... and it wasn't just his family's somewhat overbearing behaviour and excessive encouragement. No, it had always felt like more than that.

It took until the age of ten to receive his diagnosis and even that was quick back then. Knowing he was on the spectrum helped a lot; he began to figure things out, to find some kind of direction. Baking was that direction. He'd help out in the shop, but it didn't quite hit the spot, and that was when he found a real love for pastry making.

At eighteen he moved to Chicago for school, enrolling at The French Pastry School, which was where he stayed until he exhausted every course they had to offer. It wasn't ideal, moving somewhere new, sometimes he really did struggle living away from his support system, but at the time, he felt like it was all he could do to gain some kind of independence and really explore what he wanted to do with his life.

Aaron returned to Riverport a couple of years later and very slowly worked his way up the ladder in his family's shop and the bakeries around town. By twenty-seven, he found himself in a management position at Main Street Coffee and was finally able to do things his way. He might not have owned the actual bricks and mortar building, but he was largely left to his own devices in terms of how to run things day-to-day.

After returning to town, he made a little more effort to explore romantic relationships, although it soon became apparent that people loved to be around him, but not be around him all of the time. It became a little bit of a sticking point going forward. Still, he did his best not to focus on that, to keep going with his career and perhaps get a cat instead of a significant other.

By thirty, he had five... well, he had one and she ended up having kittens, something that had definitely not been planned and was the result of her getting lost just before she was due to visit the vets. He made the best of it and the kittens now call his place home, too, often curled up on the couch by his feet of an evening. He knows he probably should have given them away back then, but he can't help but love the chaos surrounding him.

Aaron is the type of person who's very stuck in his ways. He has a routine that he's meticulously built on work daysand he has to stick to it. Any sign of the boat being rocked and it's not going to be a good day. If he's not in the coffee shop working by 6 a.m. things are not going well.

Full Name: Aleksandr Boravik Nicknames: Alek, Aleks Age: thirty-one Date of Birth: September 3rd Zodiac Sign: Virgo Birthplace: Astoria, Queens, New York City, NY Occupation: Owner and Mechanic at Green Light Auto Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Heteromantic/Heterosexual

Alek is a 2nd-generation Serbian immigrant, born shortly after his parents immigrated to the United States. His parents (Milena & Vanni) married young and arrived heavily pregnant, moving in with Milena's sister in an already cramped apartment in Astoria. Alek is their first and only child. Alek has known responsibility all his life. His earliest memories are in his aunt and uncle's grocery store, where he was restocking and sweeping as soon as he could toddle around with a broom. He's no stranger to hard work, whether staying at home to help his mother with seamstressing or joining his father on the odd (and often tiresome, gross, or both) jobs he was able to pick up as a repair man. This experience has made Alek a jack-of-all-trades, and he is able to repair or fix most anything he is presented with (not only with knowledge, but largely with relentless stubbornness and refusal to fail, lol).

A large amount of Alek's childhood was spent living with his aunt, uncle, cousins, and parents crammed in their two bedroom apartment. This gave Alek both a love for family and an appreciation for his own personal space. As an adult, he lives alone, and he would make you think he prefers that, but in truth he does miss the constant sound of chattering voices and thumping feet and clattering of pots and pans in his ears, and it can be lonely being too alone. He prefers to be at work.

His parents had dreams of Alek achieving higher education and becoming a doctor or an engineer, but that isn't what he had in mind. He thrived outside of the classroom and did not excel academically, often opting to skip class and smoke underage cigarettes. Against his parents' wishes, he dropped out of high school in his junior (11th grade) year, going on to earn his GED while he worked with his father in the daytime and in the grocery store in the evenings/overnight, often getting himself caught in the web of troubled youth. This broke their hearts, and Alek could feel the guilt of disappointing the people who had sacrificed so much for him well up inside, until it overflowed.

Stubbornly determined to show his parents that he had made the right decision with his life, Alek packed up and moved out of his family home, hauling off to Riverport with the savings he had amassed over the years and the few personal items he possessed. He refused to take help from friends or relatives, instead relying solely on himself, however wise or unwise the choice often was. He took up an apprenticeship with the original owner of Green Light Auto, an older man and fellow immigrant who hadn't had the time (nor the patience) to have children of his own. After four years of saving, Alek was able to buy Green Light Auto, achieving his own goal of being an entrepreneur while his old boss retired in Greece. He has been the owner for one year, and business is good.

Additional Info:

Alek is a firm and fair, hands-on boss who prefers to be on the floor rather than kicking back in his office. He has been co-workers with most of his employees previous to being their superior, and their opinion of him ranges from "good man/friend" to "hardass that makes us stay in late". He is at work more often than home, and has a beaten-up old chair in his office that he often sleeps in.

His favorite hobby (and one of the few leisurely activities he has time for) is boxing, and he keeps a rack of gloves and a punching bag in his office.

He has two cats, Sacha and Masha, who roam around the shop at their leisure.

His parents are CONSTANTLY asking him when he's going to be married, when he is going to give them grandchildren, etc., the pressure is always on for Alek to find a wife. Though their nagging can be annoying, Alek has to admit that at this point in his life, a wife and child would be a welcome thing to have.

He has a smoking habit that he's trying to break, but will rip through cigarettes when he's stressed/angry.

He has a small, tight circle of friends, rather than a large group of homies. He is a private person, and keeps his business to himself.

Doesn't seem at first glance like he has a sense of humor, but is actually funny, whether he is intending to be or not.

HATES sewing or embroidering but is very talented at it, will swear and grumble to himself while creating beautiful stitching.

Growing up in Riverport was something that Mason was proud of. He loved his town and the people that lived in it. He was born to Lucille and Matthew Collins and the family wanting for nothing. He lived the perfect life or so it seemed to everyone on the outside. When Mason was just five years old, his father decided to leave the family and never look back, taking the house from beneath them and leaving a young Mason and his newly single mother desperate for housing and food. The pair found a very small home that needed lots of TLC and settled in, his mother finding a second job just to keep them afloat. Mason would never have thought that he grew up poor, his mother made sure of that. There was always food on the table and presents on birthdays and Christmas and Mason never questioned it until he got old enough to understand. 

Once he could, Mason took a job as a bus boy at a local diner and tried to help his mom out as much as he could. When Mason wasn’t working, he would be studying hard at school or exploring areas around the town he had grown up in. He eventually found a stray dog who he named Luke and he brought him home after stopping by the vets office to ensure his health. With a promise to pay them back later, he got his new friend home from the vet and begged his mother to let him keep the pup. Luke in turn inspired Mason to want to work with animals for his career and he fell in love with the idea of becoming a veterinarian.

Even though their family was large and felt unpredictable, Eve loved their focus on arts and humanities and was fortunate enough to be immersed in culture. Her family would take frequent trips to the city from Riverport to visit art galleries, concerts, or conventions. They would all pile up in the SUV and drive into midtown. As soon as they hit the city, they began to hear cursing from the front seat and the car would fall tense. All memories that Eve felt very fond of.

As Eve got older, her relationship with her parents began to grow rigid. Eve wanted to take guitar lessons and play like Joan Jett, but her parents insisted on classical piano lessons. Eventually, Eve gave in. She realized that fighting would get her nowhere with her family even when it went against her best interest. They had a particular way they expected her life to look and she just didn't feel connected to it at all.

She began skipping school and hanging out with a group of burnouts from the local public school. She found a group of friends she really felt at home with, but that ended abruptly when they got caught buying weed behind the library. At least she was a stoner that was well read.

Eve's mother was furious. She threatened to send them to boarding school, but with only 6 months left until graduation it didn't seem practical. Eve never wanted to be the talk of the town, but suddenly no one would shut up about her recent illegal transgressions. Tensions were high in the household and she decided her best option was to get her G.E.D and cut ties.

She hatched the plan with her friend Gabriel. Wait until her 18th birthday and drive to Brooklyn to stay with Gabe and his brother, who had a spare room the two of them would share. Eve didn't take a single cent from her parents, just what she had saved from odd summer jobs over the years. She rejected their ideals and wanted to experience life outside of their french vanilla fantasy. She symbolically changed her surname, not because she thought it would matter to anyone, but because it mattered to her. To be someone new.

She stayed in the city for a few years, working at a local coffee shop to make her share of the rent with enough to spare for basic necessities and eventually moving with Gabe to a their own apartment, but Gabe ended up booking a few gigs with a band and suddenly he was on the road with them, leaving her to pay the full cost of their shared apartment. She quickly realized she no longer made enough money to pay the rent and couldn't sustain a life in the city.

Suddenly, the worst happened. She heard that her sister Eleanor's husband had tragically passed away, leaving her sister to raise their young child alone. Already 2 months behind on rent, she decided to use this opportunity to come back to Riverport with the veiled intentions of helping support her sister and be a good auntie. Rent was far cheaper in Riverport and she was lucky enough to phone a friend for a job at Main Street Records, not expecting to be thrust into the Manager role, though there were not many employees and the role was more a title and less a responsibility, she still felt that she might be in over her head.

full name: chloe renee batts age: 30 birthdate: october 25 zodiac sign: scorpio occupation: vet nurse @ riverport animal clinic sexual orientation: pansexual romantic orientation: panromantic hometown: chicago, il

BIO: tw cheating/infidelity

Chloe Renee Batts was born October 25 in Chicago, IL to parents Phillip and Michelle Batts. As the youngest of three children and the only girl, Chloe grew up both well taken care of and well protected. In Chicago, the Batts family was well known, maintaining their positions in the community both through their professions (Phillip a veterinarian and Michelle a lawyer) as well as through their consistent community involvement. No matter the event, the Batts family was sure to be involved in one way or another. Due largely to that fact, Chloe has always been an incredibly sociable individual, both having and making friends wherever she went. 

School was something Chloe always enjoyed, her love of learning fostered by her parents and two older brothers. Academic success was an expectation in the Batts home, and from the time she began school Chloe had access to seemingly endless resources, materials, and tutors. Maintaining her academic focus led Chloe to graduate high school as her class Salutatorian, with a 4.1 GPA and her choice of colleges and universities. Her sociable personality ensured she remained active in several extracurriculars, including but not limited to cheerleading, debate team, science club, and French club. 

Despite her eclectic interests and hobbies, Chloe’s passion since childhood has been animals of all species, shapes, and sizes. The daughter of a veterinarian, the Batts children were exposed to animals,  as well as their appropriate care, in their early years, something Chloe took to like a fish to water. In her youth, she loved accompanying her father to work, soaking in everything happening around her during each visit. Therefore, it came as no surprise when she began working at the clinic as soon as she was old enough (part-time cleaning kennels). During her senior year of high school, Chloe’s declaration of a major in veterinary nursing came as no shock,, and her family supported her wholeheartedly in making her longtime dream a reality. 

Academically, college wasn’t a difficult experience for Chloe. Between the knowledge she possessed from her time in her father’s clinic, as well as her academic prowess, she quickly rose to the top of her class. College was, however, the first time Chloe found herself involved in a real relationship. Meeting her beau had been fate in Chloe’s eyes, and the two quickly fell for each other after only a couple of months of dating. Remaining together after graduating college, the pair became engaged two years into their relationship. Things between them were perfect, and Chloe found herself daydreaming of and planning the perfect wedding. However, three months before the pair were to be married, Chloe caught her beau cheating on her with a co-worker, one of the veterinarians at the clinic he worked for.

BASICS:

Name: Kaleb Luz

Nicknames: Kay - only his little brother calls him that, Mr. Luz, Mr. Light. Mostly a full name kind of guy.

Age: 31

Sexuality: Bisexual

Occupation: High School History Teacher

Hometown: Riverport, Long Island

Been in Riverport: His entire life

Bio:

Trigger Warnings: childhood abandonment, homophobia, homelessness, neglect

Born on December 5th, 1994, in Riverport, Long Island, Kaleb Luz was the only child of Mateus and Camila Luz. His father was a high school gym teacher and his mother was a stay at home mom. To say it was a loving home, that would be a lie.

Mateus valued winning, not just in sports, but in everything: grades, reputation, and status. Kaleb had little interest in sports. His grades on the other hand, were slightly above average. Never enough to impress his father.

Camila on the other hand, was rarely present. Even when she was physically there, her attention was usually elsewhere - typically herself.

When Kaleb was fourteen, Camila announced she was pregnant. For once, he felt something close to excitement. The day his mother brought his baby brother home, he fell in love. Kaleb made a promise to himself he’d never let anything bad happen to his baby brother.

Whenever Luz family attended Mateus games, as he was a coach for the high school sports teams. They acted like a perfect family. Though if you really paid attention you might be able to see through the facade.

At seventeen, Kaleb was kicked out of the Luz household. He was very lucky to have good friends who let him couch surf. When people asked why he got kicked out, Kaleb never gave a straight answer. He would joke, “my parents said my vegan diet is very expensive.” The truth was his father found him in bed with a guy in his class and didn’t approve.

If Kaleb didn’t have a little brother who he loved more than anything he would have left town for college. But he wanted to make sure his younger brother had a good role model to look up to. So he went to the local community college and got a degree in education.

Kaleb landed a job at the high school where he’s a high school history teacher. This is the same high school where his father taught. Though they were never teachers at the same time.

Kaleb is the type of person who’s very kind. He’ll listen very well, and is very understanding. Even though, he has a tendency to be cryptic and guarded. People think they know Kaleb, but they really don’t.

Headcanons:

Kaleb’s first language is Portuguese

He’s allergic to gelatin - which is why he’s vegan. It’s the safest diet for him to eat.

Kaleb has been self sufficient for a long time.

Kaleb is also a parental figure to his brother. He is happy their parents are doing a slightly better job at taking care of him. He just doesn’t trust them.

He’s not sure why he’s nice to his parents even though they dont deserve any kindness from him. It’s why he calls his parents by their first name.

His mother made it to the 1% of a multi level marking scheme. Kaleb tried to tell his mother to stop scamming people but she didn’t listen. Kaleb is so embarrassed by this. He suspects a lot of people in Riverport have been hit up with a “hey hun” message before.

He’s only been in one relationship. He’s had a lot of one night stands and fwb type of relationships. When he feels people getting too close he tends to ghost or end things. Kaleb is scared of letting people in.

His younger brother is in his history class. His own father went to the school to ask him to change the class but that didn’t happen.

His younger brother is in his history class. His own father went to the school to ask him to change the class but that didn’t happen.

Since his brother is in his class, the students have called him by his first name. Kaleb has tried to shut it down, though the high schoolers don’t listen.

If he wasn’t a teacher, Kaleb would be a chef

Kaleb is very klutzy

Went through a phase of only eating burritos

Favorite movie is the High School Musical series - Kevin tweeted about his love of high school musical and this must be his head canon.

Lover of pop music, even though his vibes don’t match that.

Claims his dream job is to be the green power ranger.

Wanted Connections:

friend who let him couch surf

Someone who played on a sports team his father coached

Childhood friend who thinks they know a lot about Kaleb when they really don’t

Hook up or fwb

College friends

Friends who drink together