Mariel Rivera

[Aster]

Name: Mariel Sofia Rivera
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: JROTC, Hiking and camping, sports (spectating), swimming, cross country, jogging, paintball, music (hyperpop), animals

Appearance: Mariel is 5’9” and weighs 135 lbs. She is notably taller than average for girls her age, which is only accentuated by her lean figure and long limbs, which give off a gangly appearance. She has warm, medium brown skin and thick, straight black hair. It’s currently shoulder-length, though she often keeps in a ponytail or bun during physical activities. Despite her relative thinness, Mariel’s long, ovular face has a roundness to it, which full cheeks and a soft chin. She has prominent brown eyes, a skinny, round-tipped nose, and a wide mouth.

Mariel almost exclusively dresses for comfort. She favors t-shirts, tank tops, and shorts in warm weather, swapping to hoodies, sweaters, and sweatpants in the colder months. Mariel usually wears comfortable running shoes. On the day of the abduction, Mariel was wearing a teal bubble jacket over a black, long-sleeved 100 Gecs shirt, paired light grey sweatpants and teal running shoes.

Biography: Mariel Sofia Rivera was born on August 18th, 2004 in Salem, Massachusetts to Angela and Nicolas Rivera. She was named for Mariel Zagunis, a fencer who had won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics a day prior—her mother saw the name in the news while they were coming up with her name and liked how it sounded. She is the eldest of two children, with a brother named Jakob Rivera two years her junior, who is currently a freshman at John Endecott Memorial Academy. Mariel is close with her brother, though in recent years he’s wrapped himself up in his own hobbies. The Riveras are a lower middle-class family—Angela is a mail carrier and Nicolas is a security guard—and while they went through brief periods of economic turbulence, Mariel and her brother were always cared for.

Mariel is biracial; her mother was born to Vietnamese refugees a few years after they had arrived in Boston, and her father moved to Massachusetts with his family from Puerto Rico in the 1980s. Both sides of her extended family in the US live within an hour’s drive of Salem; her mother’s side of the family is scattered in the towns northeast of Boston, while her father’s side is concentrated in and around Lawrence. Mariel saw both sides of the family regularly during breaks and holidays, and they often intermingled. She was a bubbly, outgoing child, and frequently socialized with her many cousins. Mariel was one of the younger cousins, however, and often followed along with the rest of the group without question. She’d put a lot of trust in her older cousins, and was often unwittingly roped into their mischievous, disobedient antics. While she’d get punished with the rest of them whenever they were caught, her parents were usually lenient on her, as she usually didn’t take an active role.

This behavior continued as she started school, where she easily fell into large friend groups and often took passive roles. However, she was far from a wallflower. In fact, Mariel discovered that she had a knack for making others laugh and she relished the positive attention. This mostly took the form of crude jokes, which she’d picked up from her older cousins. Mariel would also pull various stunts in and out of class to get a laugh, which she was often reprimanded for. Her tendency towards class disruptions died down as she got older, although she was routinely chided for talking during class well into middle school. Outside of this, her time as a student was unremarkable; while she was a competent student—and was even slightly ahead of her peers in math and science classes—she wasn’t particularly gifted at any of her subjects.

Her father Nicolas has a soft spot for animals, so pets were a constant presence in the Rivera household. At the time she was born, the Riveras owned a five-year-old Labrador Retriever mix named Millie, who was fond and protective of her. Some of Mariel’s earliest memories are of her on walks with Millie and her father. Millie died when Mariel was seven, and it would be a few years before the family adopted another dog. Currently, the Riveras own a nine-year-old pitbull terrier named Derrick, as well as a tabby cat named Gizmo that the family adopted as a newborn kitten when Mariel was nine.

Mariel spent much of her childhood outdoors. Alongside regular visits to local playgrounds and parks, the Riveras often went camping in nearby Harold Parker State Forest during holidays, usually with some relatives on her father’s side of the family. Mariel always looked forward to these trips, excited to spend time with her family while exploring somewhere new and exciting. Much to the chagrin of her parents and other adults, she and her cousins would often wander off into the woods on their own, which prompted them to take them on the hiking trails instead. Mariel was a zealous hiker, often outpacing the rest of the party go off on her own. She’d gotten injured on a couple of occasions while going off the path, though those incidents didn’t diminish her love of hiking at all—though she did learn to stay on the designated trails. The rush and excitement Mariel got from hiking in new places didn’t wane as she grew older, and she became more familiar with local trails she began to explore newer areas further away from home. In recent years she’s made trips to campsites and trails across Massachusetts, and as far away as New Hampshire. As she got older, Mariel began to appreciate hiking as an exercise—and as an opportunity for her to have fun away from parental supervision. Nowadays she mostly goes on trips with her older cousins and friends, as she isn’t allowed to go camping on her own until she turns eighteen.

She also channeled much of her boundless energy into sports. She always looked forward to playing games in gym class or the playground, or with her cousins at family gatherings. Even when she wasn’t playing herself, Mariel was captivated by the high energy and competition of televised sports games, which her parents kept playing constantly in the living room. Consequently, she grew up a fervent supporter of many Boston-area sports teams, such as the New England Patriots and the Boston Celtics. This, alongside learning about her namesake, fueled her childhood dream of becoming a professional athlete. The one thing she wasn’t entirely sure of was what sport it would be. Mariel loved soccer and basketball with other kids her age, though she was a middling player who found it difficult to excel on the field.

Mariel spent a few years bouncing between various youth sports leagues before finding her passion in swimming at the age of eight. She enjoyed being in the water and was excited to learn new strokes and faster ways to swim. In addition, trips to the pool as a whole always felt like a special occasion, especially during the colder months. Mariel took to her lessons with great gusto, and her instructor suggested that she join the YMCA’s youth swim team. Mariel was outgoing, and while she didn’t like all her teammates, the spirit of teamwork motivated her to get along with them nonetheless. Her passionate and outgoing nature also won over her coaches. However, while she was a proficient swimmer, Mariel never performed as well as she’d like to. Among her teammates, she was in the middle of the pack in terms of skill, and at swim meets she struggled to make it past the preliminary rounds or finish in the top half of the finals. This drove Mariel to practice harder, though she was only further discouraged as the years went on and she felt like her peers’ skills were outpacing her’s. This all came to a head in 8th grade, when she failed to meet the requirements to reach the highest training level and realized that she wasn’t cut out for professional swimming. Mariel quit the team shortly afterwards, and while she still enjoys swimming recreationally, any mention of her time on the North Sharks is still a sore spot for her.

In the summer before she started high school, one of Mariel’s older cousins held a birthday party at the Boston Paintball Pro Shop in Chelsea. She became enamored with the game, enjoying the friendly competition and the adrenaline rush that came with it. For a brief time in the following year, Mariel and her cousins frequented the Pro Shop, though over time they found it to be too expensive. This didn’t stop them, however. They turned to renegade play, with her cousins buying their own paintball equipment and setting up a field in the backyard of some of other cousins that lived in a rural area. Her parents were initially hesitant to let her play on an unregulated field—particularly because it was hosted by some of her more troublesome cousins—but Mariel reassured them that she and her other cousins would keep them in check, and that they had switched to less dangerous low impact paintball. Over the past few years, Mariel has regularly played paintball with her cousins, at most once a month. Her cousins are far laxer than they let on to their parents, though no major injuries have happened so far. She’s also played with friends from school, either inviting them or pooling money for a trip down to Chelsea.

Mariel entered high school without any concrete aspirations; she’d given up on her dream of becoming a professional athlete after quitting the swim team and wasn’t particularly gifted or interested in any subjects at school. With graduation looming on the horizon, Mariel felt pressured to do something with herself. This is when she learned about John Endecott Memorial Academy’s JROTC program. She had some family members in the military, and even a few cousins who were a part of their school’s program, so it piqued her interest. After talks with her relatives, she joined JROTC with their encouragement. Despite had some initial troubles adjusting to the program’s rigor, Mariel eventually fell in love with the program. She found herself enjoying the various activities and found a familiar comfort in being part of a team. Her interest in paintball also drew her to the battalion’s rifle team, and she is one of their best marksmen.

However, Mariel retained her interest in sports, and wanted to participate in more activities outside of JROTC. She tried out for various teams her freshman year, including cross country—which was the only one she made it into. Mariel was drawn to cross country because of its focus on outdoor running on uneven terrain, which sounded more interesting than indoor track. She’s far less competitive in comparison to her time on the swim team and is primarily on the team for her own enjoyment. Mariel finds running relaxing and has recently taken up jogging outside of meets and practice. She usually spends her weekend mornings jogging at various public parks in Salem and uses the time to walk the family dog.

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Mariel discovered the musical duo 100 gecs after stumbling upon the music video for their song ‘money machine.’ They became her gateway into hyperpop, which quickly became her favorite genre. While most of her friends find the chaotic sound and irreverent lyrics grating, Mariel legitimately enjoys the sound, finding it upbeat and intriguing. She is quick to defend the merits of hyperpop, though she usually does so in a jokey manner and doesn’t push down or challenge her friends’ opinions too harshly. Over the past few years (and particularly during quarantine) Mariel got into many more hyperpop artists, including Sophie, food house, and Arca. 100 gecs, however, remains her all-time favorite, and she even owns some of their merchandise.

Mariel also adopted two pet rats during the quarantine, Geronimo and Thea. They had previously belonged to a cousin who lived with her aunt and uncle in Lynn, though she’d recently moved into an apartment that didn’t allow pets. Mariel and her father offered to take the rats in, though due to Nicolas’s mild disdain for rodents, Mariel became their sole caretaker over time. Despite the stigma surrounding rats as animals, Mariel finds them to be adorable.

While not popular, Mariel is fairly well-liked by her peers. Her time in JROTC has mellowed her out somewhat, though she still has a reputation as a class clown. Mariel’s constant joking has earned her a fair share of disdain from people, though unless they clearly vocalize their opinion of her, she remains unaware that people dislike her. Her social circle primarily consists of fellow JROTC cadets and cross-country teammates. While she feels a strong sense of camaraderie with both groups, there are a few other cadets and teammates she does not get along with. She tries her best to get along with them regardless in the interest of team spirit. Mariel also has a decent number of friends outside of her extracurricular activities and could get along with almost anyone if they vibe with her sense of humor.

Academically, Mariel remains fairly average. She has no particular interest in any of her classes outside of the JROTC program, though she has a preference for math and science as the concepts come to her a bit easier. Her weakest (and least favorite) class is English, and she finds academic writing particularly difficult. Her plans after graduation are currently undefined—while she ultimately plans on joining the military, Mariel is unsure if she wants to immediately enlist after graduation or attend a university with an ROTC program. Mariel herself is hesitant to go to college, though her parents encourage her to get a degree. As a compromise, she is currently applying to various in-state public universities with ROTC programs, and plans on enlisting if she doesn’t get a decent scholarship.

Advantages: Thanks to her years in swimming and cross country, Mariel is in excellent physical shape and has good stamina. Her outgoing nature will help her make and maintain alliances. Mariel is also able to put aside her personal opinions of people if they are in pursuit of a common goal. While she’s never handled a real gun before, Mariel has some decent marksmanship skills from her time on the JROTC rifle team and paintball.
Disadvantages: Mariel tends to act quickly, and doesn’t think about the consequences of her actions. She also tends to take things at face value and can be easily tricked or manipulated. Despite her athleticism, Mariel lacks any real physical strength.

[Deamon]

Hi Aster!

I'll be critiquing Mariel for you today.

First up I'd like a bit more detail on Mariel's appearance, currently we only really have detail on the general shape of her face and not much about things like her jaw, cheeks etc. I'd also like some more detail about her general body shape.

Angela is a mail carrier

Missed an A here.

in the 1980s.

Missing an S off 1980s

What does Mariel enjoy about hiking now that she's older?

or with her cousins at family gatherings.

Missing an S off gatherings.

With regards to spectating on sports why does Mariel enjoy this? The profile doesn't go into much detail about this so I'd like to see it expanded.

Her passionate and outgoing nature

Missing the D off and.

Among her teammates, she was in the middle of the pack

You need a comma after teammates here.

What did Mariel enjoy about the act of swimming itself as the profile doesn't really go into this but there must have been something there if she continued at it despite not being very good.

Since her cousins are such major presences in her life I'd like more detail about them and who they are, just to provide a bit more context.

on outdoor running on uneven terrain,

You've put "an uneven terrain" instead of on in this sentence.

What does Mariel enjoy about hyperpop?

Despite the stigma surrounding rats as animals

You're missing the L in animals.

Her social circle primarily consists of fellow JROTC cadets and cross-country teammates, with whom she feels a strong sense of camaraderie with. While she might not like all of them, she prefers to avoid conflict and get along with everyone as best she can.

These sentences fit together awkwardly and could do with being reworked.

or attending a university ROTC program

This should really say attend.

What subjects at school does Mariel like or dislike?

And that should be it. Once you've made all those edits post back here and I'll take another look!

[Aster]

Edited!

- general typo fixes and sentence structures
- elaborated on her appearance
- expanded on her extended family
- added likes/dislikes of her subjects
- fleshed out her interest in hiking, spectating sports, swimming, and hyperpop

[Deamon]

APPROVED