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IDA RIVERA
Tashi Rodriguez

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DETAILS

Occupation: High school student, part-time stocker at the General Store
Residence: Sunny Heights
Age: 18
Birthday: March 15th
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 122 lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Sexual Orientation: Hetero

Notable features: Large purple birthmark on upper thigh, prominent scar across her chin.

PERSONALITY

Likes: Nonfiction books (particularly true crime), swimming in lakes and breathing mountain air, walking the empty town on a hot summer night, menthol cigarettes and cheap beer, irreverent jokes and good-natured teasing, animals (particularly turtles and other reptiles), socialism, writing anything and everything.
Dislikes: Being alone with her thoughts, failure, adults (her stepdad in particular), meeting new people/social situations in general, loud music and crowded rooms, public speaking, eating meat, capitalism/the establishment, rich people.
Strengths: Wicked smart (despite her grades), fiercely loyal, cares deeply about other people - particularly those in need, highly creative, always knows how to cheer up those she loves.
Weaknesses: Lacks follow through and self confidence, tends to be clingy, explosive temper, thinks in black and white terms, incredibly stubborn, always looking for a fight, awkward in social situations.

General personality: Ida is the epitome of a misfit. She’s never quite fit anywhere - whether it be in this town, in a group of friends, even in her own clothes. But the product of not fitting in is having to imagine a place where you can. She’s a daydreamer, someone who sees things not for how they are but how they could be. The frustrating part is that reality often doesn’t catch up to her imagination. In the real world, she is overlooked and unseen. When you’re the kid from the wrong side of the tracks and don’t present as the belle of the ball, you have to carve out a space for yourself where you can be safe and left alone. Because of this she’s prone to fights and fits. Always trying to prove that she’s not to be messed with, and that she couldn’t care less what other people have to say. But, for those who get to know her, Ida has a whole world waiting. She’s always making big plans, cracking weird jokes, and running around you in circles. She’s fiercely loyal, and will always pick you up when you’re down -- even if she has to drag you up by the ears. She’s a good friend to have, and a tough enemy to shake.

HISTORY

Education: High School
Years in Sweetwater:  10
Family Members:
Mariella García Rivera ; mother ; deceased
Henry (Hank) Chesterfield ; stepfather

General History: Everything before Sweetwater exists in a time capsule sealed tight. Ida’s mother Mariella was a small, fearsome woman who was always hustling to make ends meet but still found time to tuck Ida in at night. Ida’s father left before she was even born and was by all accounts back in Puerto Rico, still in his mom’s hometown. But Mariella had already decided she was going to make in in the states.

But even with her tough as nails attitude and three different jobs, there just wasn’t enough to make ends meet. She was always auditioning boyfriends, hopeful that she could find someone that would make things just a little bit easier for her and her daughter. One day, in a blue pickup truck, that man arrived. Hank was a maintenance man for hire who contracted with the janitorial services that her mother worked for. He was standoffish, a little odd looking, but he was kind and upstanding. It wasn’t long before the two started dating. They were a mismatched couple -- Mariella was 26, beautiful, sparkling and talkative, while Hank was 41, reserved, methodical and unexcitable. But the two were married when Ida was nine and moved to a ramshackle house in Sweetwater.

The marriage was one of convenience, not of passion. Hank had never been married and he figured it was now or never. Mariella needed someone she could depend on to bring in money and watch her daughter. She had a small yard to play in, a small room of her own which she’d never had before. Her mom still worked a lot but she saw her more often. Ida and Hank were still strangers (he had clearly no interest in being a father figure), but he was nice enough. For three years, things were about as good as they could be, under the circumstances.

Three nights a week, her mother worked nights cleaning office buildings on the other side of town. One morning, Mariella never came home. When the police sat Ida down to explain her mother had been beaten to death, she didn’t understand when they said the killer had snapped because Mariella “looked at him funny and had no good English.” Ida said blankly that her mom’s English was fine. She just forgot when she got angry. Or scared. She must have been scared. The prosecutor opted not to charge the killer with a hate crime. He was convicted of manslaughter and served 16 months in prison.

Life deteriorated quickly after that. Hank became her reluctant guardian, selling the house they couldn’t afford and moving them both into a dilapidated trailer. Hank continued working as a handyman, taking jobs further and further out of town so he wouldn’t have to be at home with the daughter he didn’t ask for. When Ida started high school, things got worse. She started getting in fights, getting suspended. Her grades suffered. She had a couple older, unattractive boyfriends that came and quickly went. She had few - if any - friends, partially due to a lack of motivation, largely to a lack of interest. After Hank got an out-of-town girlfriend, she started to fend for herself -- living mostly alone.

That’s how things have been. Now, she’s looking down the barrel of her senior year in high school. Her dream is to go to college, major in criminal justice, and become a private investigator. But even though she’s got big dreams, she’s never had the encouragement or motivation to reach for them. But with the help of a friendly neighbor, Ellis D., somehow she thinks things might be starting to turn around.

OOC

Your OOC Name: Rigby
Discord ID: Rigby#3969

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