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Riley Mercer

Riley J. Mercer (born Riley Jade Mercer) was a queer, nonbinary, mixed-race Afro-Puerto Rican and White musician. They served as the lead guitarist for CRATB and became known for experimental guitar work, effects processing, sound design, and composition. Riley lived with narcolepsy with cataplexy and shared homes in Brooklyn and San Diego with their partner, Carmen Rivera.

Background and Education

Riley was born circa 2007 and earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School, with guitar as their primary instrument. English was their primary language. They understood Spanish well but spoke it hesitantly.

During their early adult years, Riley shared a Brooklyn apartment with Ezra Cruz and Peter Liu. The apartment remained part of the three musicians’ chosen-family history before Riley’s later homes with Carmen.

Personality and Communication

Riley was quiet and observant and often communicated through dry humor, deadpan remarks, and puns. They expressed ideas and emotions through music more readily than through extended conversation.

Riley spoke in a warm, low androgynous alto that could become slightly rough or raspy when they were tired. Their speech was slow and economical, with frequent pauses, understated metaphors, and a low, startled chuckle when something caught them off guard. They sometimes used Spanglish when tired or comfortable.

Physical Appearance and Presentation

Riley was approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, with a slender, soft-lined build. Their face had a rounded jaw, gentle brow, strong cheekbones, and an androgynous balance of features. They had light-medium brown skin with golden undertones, muted hazel eyes that could appear gold or grey-green, and thick, shoulder-length wavy hair. Riley often dyed their hair muted shades such as lavender-grey, faded sea green, or dusty rose and wore it half tied or tucked beneath a knit beanie.

Their hands had permanent guitarist’s calluses, dry skin, and frequent ink stains from handwritten music and notes. Riley favored oversized hoodies and sweaters, flannel, thrifted jackets, hand-cut jeans, worn Converse or broken-in boots, muted colors, and layered clothing.

Music Career

Main article: Riley Mercer (Career and Legacy)

Riley served as CRATB’s lead guitarist from the band’s early career. Their work combined electric guitar, effects pedals, experimental textures, and sound design within the band’s jazz-fusion music. They also played drums and percussion and worked as a composer.

Their primary guitar was “Frankie,” a customized matte-black Fender American Performer Jazzmaster with scuffs and stickers, hand-wired vintage-style P-90 pickups, a satin-finished maple neck, and heavy-gauge strings. Riley played mostly fingerstyle and favored layered ambience, long reverb, sustained notes, looping, unusual tunings, and 5/4 meter. Their pedalboard included an EarthQuaker Devices Avalanche Run, Walrus Audio Julianna, Electro-Harmonix Freeze, ZVEX Fuzz Factory, Boss RC-5 Loop Station, and Keeley Compressor Plus, labeled with faded masking tape.

Riley’s listening habits included ambient and post-rock artists such as Hammock, Explosions in the Sky, and early Sigur Rós, along with lo-fi hip-hop, extended jazz improvisation, and science-fiction film scores. Their favorite chord was Emaj7#11.

Riley was a founder of Fifth Bar Collective, led Fifth Bar Multimedia, and served as creative director for Fifth Bar Films. From the founding of Rising Notes in 2038, they served as the camp’s Operations Director and helped translate its access and community commitments into scheduling and program design.

Health and Disabilities

Riley had narcolepsy with cataplexy and endometriosis. Narcolepsy caused excessive daytime sleepiness and episodes of muscle weakness or paralysis triggered by strong emotion.

During the 2029 Velvet Frame Lounge shooting, Riley witnessed Ezra Cruz being tased while trying to reach the critically wounded Nina Cruz. The emotional shock triggered a severe cataplexy episode that left Riley conscious but unable to move. Peter Liu accompanied Riley to the hospital while Jacob Keller went to Ezra.

Riley later decided to undergo a hysterectomy in the context of endometriosis. The decision centered on their authority over their own body rather than on an established medical-emergency requirement.

Riley routinely sat or reclined during rehearsals, sought quiet places to rest between obligations, and protected recovery time around performances. They kept a blanket and herbal tea close at hand and carried spare strings and tools, patch cables, protein bars, a small pillow, hand warmers, notebooks of lyrics and tuning maps, and a sketchbook in their gig bag. Journaling, audio notes, and regular time with Frankie were part of their daily creative practice.

Family and Core Relationships

Carmen Rivera

Main article: Riley Mercer and Carmen Rivera

Riley and Carmen were partners. They shared a primary home on Macon Street in Brooklyn and used the Narragansett Cottage in Ocean Beach as their West Coast home.

CRATB and Chosen Family

Riley’s bandmates included Charlie Rivera, Ezra, Peter, and Jacob. Their relationships with Charlie and Ezra included shared work, disability access, and support through crises.

During Ezra’s rehabilitation after his 2035 overdose, Riley visited him daily and stayed with him through crying and severe withdrawal sickness. When he left rehabilitation and feared being alone during the worst cravings, he stayed on Riley’s couch. Riley gave him company and practical support without requiring him to perform recovery for them.

Riley remained part of Jacob’s chosen family through the end of his life. They joined Peter and Ezra at Jacob’s home during his final days in 2083 and were present for his last morning with the gathered family.

Memorable Quotes

“This tone is… como se dice? Unreal?”

Characters Main Characters Living Characters Musicians Guitarists Black Characters White Characters Latinx Characters Puerto Rican Characters Afro-Latino Characters Mixed Race Characters Mixed Heritage Characters Disabled Characters Chronic Illness Characters LGBTQ+ Characters Nonbinary Characters CRATB Members