The News You Need from the People You Trust

is 53 years old and is retired following a 23 year career as a field reporter for a news station in Chicago that was cut short by a heart attack three years ago. He can usually be seen in the company of his 9 year old granddaughter Lia who lives with him, and if she's not with him, you can find him either at a bar or smoking outside of it.

[aaron-ferrier]

oh heavens, is that AARON FERRIER from SYCAMORE WAY i see roaming around mapleview? minnie may’s always calling them -SELF-ABSORBED & -IRRESPONSIBLE. i happen to think they’re not that bad! they’re a pretty cool RETIRED BROADCAST JOURNALIST and every time i’ve seen them, they’ve always been +CHARISMATIC & +GENEROUS. i hope i see them around again! @mapleviewstarters​

Aaron Thomas Ferrier was born in a small city in Central Wisconsin.  He’s got a twin sister named Abigail and three younger brothers named Adam, Alexander and Andrew.  His mother passed away several years ago, and Aaron goes back to Wisconsin and visits whenever he can. 

When he finished school, he moved to California and got his Master’s in Journalism from USC.  That’s where he met his first serious girlfriend Carrie and when they found out she was pregnant, they got married right away.  In the end they had two daughters, Lily and Daisy, and their marriage ended after only 5 years when Aaron got a job in Chicago and Carrie didn’t want to go with him, so he and the girls moved without her.

Aaron worked as an investigative journalist for 23 years and became a fairly well known figure in Chicago.  He enjoyed his job a lot, but the traveling and his high-risk lifestyle eventually took its toll on him and in 2017 he suffered a moderately severe heart attack.  He recovered eventually, but had to quit his job and was told to cut back on smoke and drinking, which really didn’t do, but he’s trying to be better.  He moved to Mapleview after he retired, he’s been there for about two years. 

He was a very devoted father, but his older daughter always struggled a lot and eventually she took off and rarely checked in with Aaron until one day she dropped her four year old daughter off with him and never came back.  Since then, Aaron has legally adopted the little girl, Lia, and now she’s nine years old.  She’s the most important thing in his world, but he always holds out hope that Lily will find her way back to them one day.  

Now that he’s retired, Aaron has a lot of time on his hands, so he spends a lot of his time focusing on parenting his granddaughter, but he’s also a fairly high-functioning alcoholic who’s got enough of a handle on it that he’s got a nanny for Lia and he works very hard to hide it from her.  

Aaron’s a super nice guy who’s always looking for friends or people to hang out with, he’s a very social guy who’s still adjusting to having a more low-key lifestyle. 

[daisyferrier-deactivated2020101]

Ever since moving officially to Mapleview, Daisy had insisted that she came over to her dad’s place to make dinner for him and Lia at least once a week. She’d been gone from him for almost eights years outside of holidays and school breaks when she was in college. However, his health scare kinda of place things in perspective for her. Outside of her mother and her absentee sister, Aaron was the only immediate family she had. Daisy honestly couldn’t imagine life without the man who raised her and it honestly terrified her. So, packing up her bags and putting her dreams on hold was an easy decision to make and there certainly were no regrets. “Hey old man, you gonna ever leave this office? I said dinner was ready like three times,” she chuckled as she leaned through the doorway. @aaron-ferrier​

[aaron-ferrier]

Though he’d never want to stand in the way of Daisy achieving her dreams, Aaron was thrilled she’d decided to come and join them in Mapleview.  He loved his daughters and his granddaughter more than anything in the world, but he was scared he’d run Daisy off like he did Lily, though deep down he knew he couldn’t blame himself for Lily, she’d always done whatever she wanted and no one could stop her, not even real world responsibility like her daughter, Daisy was more down to earth and Aaron was beyond thrilled that she was around.  He’d been approached a few months ago to start writing a book about experience as a field reporter and he wasn’t totally sold on the idea, but he was giving it a chance and he'd gotten a little wrapped up in what he was doing.  “I’m sorry Doll, I was writing.” He set the pages aside and stood up to follow her, “What are we having? It smells amazing.” 

[madoxsaviano]

Maddox was kind of a loner, he had owned up to that label a long, long time ago. He worked from home, and the video calls to Denmark or China he on occasion had to have didn’t exactly count as social interaction. He was divorced and childless, he just hung out with his dog most days. He preferred it like that, but he did not hate people. He wasn’t hiding in his house, avoiding people - he liked company. Everyone around him seemed to be considerably younger but he didn’t really mind being the confused grandpa that didn’t get them. People were fine, he just liked his house more.

There were a couple people whose friendship Maddox still cherished a lot, and Aaron was at the top of that list. Aaron was family at this point. They had their own schedules and all, but sitting down with him over a few beers was basically permanently penciled into his calendar. Sometimes shit happened and they had to reschedule, fall was hard for him and Maddox was a bad friend this time of the year. They were both tired and old, but the sit-downs always happened.

“Did you go to the camping thing?” Maddox said. He had seen enough town fairs and carnivals and such, and they didn’t change that much. Too many people were too drunk, someone probably fucked up and injured themselves. He could stay at home. “My niece keeps telling me I should have. Apparently I need a hobby.” (( @aaron-ferrier​ ))

[aaron-ferrier]

Aaron didn’t have a ton of friends in Mapleview, he’d gone there to recover after his heart attack and decided to stay and keep raising Lia there.  He’d loved his home in Chicago, but it was stressful to live in city and he hated that he couldn’t work at the job he loved, so he moved somewhere smaller to get away from the stress and the reminders of his old life, with his daughter Daisy following him eventually.  He’d met Maddox shortly after arriving and the two of them had hit it off right away and had a long-standing appointment to get drinks pretty regularly.  Not that Aaron didn’t find himself drinking most of the time, but it was nice to do it in a bar with a friend instead of trying to keep it hidden from his family.  

They’d had to reschedule a handful of times, but they’d finally found some time to get together and Aaron was glad to get a chance to relax a bit.  He loved raising Lia, though he struggled with the circumstances behind it, but occasionally it was nice to get out of the house a little bit.  

“I did.  I didn’t really get involved too much, there was a lot of singing, which I don’t do.  If there hadn’t been booze there, I would have snuck away before the first night, I’m not sure how many of those kind of events I can handle, but I guess it wasn’t all terrible.  Next time we’ll have to go together, at least that way if we need an out, I can fake another heart attack and you can take me home where I’ll make a miraculous recovery and find a less insufferable  hobby for the both of us.”

[kiefergonnakief]

[amcni]

“You know, those so-called great minds like Plato and Socrates hated poetry. But now poetry is seen as the stuff of intellectuals and academics,” said Amani. “Books like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ were branded as frivolous. In modern times, they’re highbrow.” With a brilliant smile, the woman said, “All I’m saying is, anyone who thinks video games are ruining their kids will probably be eating their words in the decades to come. I know this is a small town with shoddy Internet, but I’ll always be pro-video games.” || @mapleviewstarters​

[aaron-ferrier]

“People are always going to complain about whatever young people find fun.  I think it’s all about finding a good balance and making sure you’re experiencing different parts of life.  Like, I’m raising my 9 year old granddaughter right now, and she and I love playing Skyrim together, but we also read and go out to do things and it’s all about finding a balance.  I don’t want to sound like an old person, even though I am one, but my granddaughter is definitely into some things that I think are pointless, but I’ve got to try and be better for her sake, the last thing I want is her resenting me.” 

[wcrstorminspo-deactivated202407]

“I think the best part about living in a small town is the fact that everyone got to see you grow up and they sure do love to point out that you’re not married or have kids yet.” Grace explained to the other person as she took a sip from her coffee. “It’s like you already have to hear it from your own family but then on top of that I have to hear it at work as I’m wrangling their demon cat.” | @mapleviewstarters​

[aaron-ferrier]

“I guess it’s a good thing I’ve only been here for two years then.  I grew up in a fairly small city in central Wisconsin and that always seemed so insufferably small, but then I lived in Chicago for 30 years and now I’m here so there must be something to say for smaller areas.  I can see how that would be really annoying though, it’s nice to live in a small place where people really don’t know you.  That being said, we really appreciate what a great job you do wrangling our demon cat.”

[warbcunds]

anyone that knew her at all knew that she hated these sorts of things. for years, she had been stuck coming to them purely  as a show of support for her ex-husband, as she figured any decent wife would. in the beginning she even found david’s ridiculous ideas amusing, but now they only annoyed her. that being said, it was a family tradition she hadn’t quite been able to break despite the divorce. so, she finds herself sitting off to the side as far from the singing as possible while nursing a cider.  “ridiculous, honestly.” she muttered, mostly under her breath. “this song makes me want to scoop my brains out with a fork just to make it stop.” 

[aaron-ferrier]

Aaron was definitely the type you would call “indoorsy” and he wasn’t a huge fan of community events like this, but he’d been in town for about two years and he understood that he needed to go to these things if he wanted any kind of a social life here.  He’d been trying to decide if the mayor was insane for a while now and the song was tipping the scales in the favor of “yes” but what did he know?  The only thing salvaging this whole trip was that there was plenty of alcohol, and even if there hadn’t been, he had his flask (and a few backups) on him at all times, just to be sure he wasn’t caught dry.  He was looking for a place to sit and decided to take the first one he saw, regardless of who he plopped down next to.  “Hey there.  You look like you’re having an even worse time than I am.” 

[aaron-ferrier]

would you take your daughter back if she came home now? what would your granddaughter say?

I absolutely would, without question.  It doesn’t matter what she’s done or where she’s been, she’s my daughter and my door will always be open to her.  As for Lia...it might be hard, but she asks about her mother all the time and I try to be honest with her.  Nothing about the whole situation has a simple answer, other than that she’s welcome, but that’s a bridge I will cross when I come to it, and hopefully I will come to it soon.  

I just really miss my little girl.

[beaswest]

warm firelight illuminating her face, bea’s chin was propped up on one fist as she watched the crackling flames. popping an untoasted marshmallow into her mouth, she finally pried her eyes away from the fire and turned to the person beside her. “i’m goin’ to grab a beer, i’m too sober for copacabana again. do you wanna come with?”

@mapleviewstarters​

[aaron-ferrier]

Aaron wasn’t really an outdoorsy person, he’d gotten plenty of experience camping out during his years as his a news reporter and he’d grown to love his house more than any other sleeping option available to him.  He didn’t have a choice about this trip and decided to make the best of it.  “I hate to break it to you, but I’m about 5 beers deeps and it’s still unbearable, but I’m just going to keep drinking until I stop wanting to tear my ears off.  Do you know if they have anything stronger than beer? I’ve got some whiskey in my flask, but I don’t want to drain it all on the first night.” 

[aaron-ferrier]

what was the best part of your career?

I did some amazing traveling over the years, I've been all over the world reporting on different things and I loved it. I still love to travel, but I do it much more casually now, and it's been a long time since I've conducted any reports from a war zone.

[aaron-ferrier]

favorite movie?

Invasion of the Bodysnatchers from 1978, it was the first movie that ever really scared the crap out of me.

[aaron-ferrier]

Do you consider yourself to be an alcoholic?

No, I don't. I'm not sure if there's a better word for what I am, but I wouldn't use that one personally.

[aaron-ferrier]

Ask me anything

is 53 years old and is retired following a 23 year career as a field reporter for a news station in Chicago that was cut short by a heart at

[aaron-ferrier]

          with her own worrying and desire to have no complications or issues, one thing to put her at ease was prescription prenatal vitamins. a good precaution and something to protect the health of her baby was all nora needed to know. it’s how she’s chosen to spend her lunch break, leaving a few trusted employees in charge of the store. the line is outrageous but with being the owner of happy tails, nora knows she can spare the extra time. a nice bonus to being her own boss. she decides to take her time, knowing it would only cause her stress otherwise, scoping out the products the pharmacy had purposely put in front of the counter to attract last minute buys. something pink catches her eye and she instinctively reaches out to pick it up off the ground, realizing the stuffed animal is attached to keys. before she can wave down an employee, a voice close by has her attention.

           “  hi ! oh, are these yours ?  ”  an interesting choice for keychain companion, but she assumes sentimental value or a child was involved in the decision. nora lifts up the adorable stuffed dragon, dropping them into his hands.  “  i would absolutely lose my head if it wasn’t attached to my body. can i ask the story behind the precious pink dragon ?  ”  

Aaron was fully aware that the pink dragon was an unusual choice for someone like him, but it was a sentimental object and he didn’t want to part with it, it meant a lot to him, but he was so exhausted he’d accidentally left them behind.  He didn’t have much going on this days since his heart attack and subsequent retirement from his work as a field reporter on the news, but life in Mapleview was nice and he was happy to run into someone who found his keys and was willing to return them instead of running off with them like someone in Chicago probably would have.  

“They are,” he said, sighing with relief.  “Thank you so much.” He took the keys from her and smiled, “It was my oldest daughter’s.  I used to carry it around on my keys when we went out and when she would get bored, she’d have something to play with, and then I used it on my youngest, eventually I used it for the same reason with my granddaughter was little, now she’s nine, but I still carry it around, it means a lot to me.”

[aaron-ferrier]

Adrien nodded. Reasonable, quite reasonable, he agreed. He lifted the dragon’s little foot. Unfortunately, the sight was most predictable: smears from a grimy puddle coated its foot. “Ah, shit,” he couldn’t help muttering. “Looks like there’s no way for us to ascertain right here and now.” His nails scratched the mud, to no avail. The stains wouldn’t fade enough to reveal the owner of the dragon. “I guess we….”

He paused abruptly, his instincts as a former teen miscreant kicking into gear. In the midst of his sentence, he stopped and stared at the asphalt road. He poised himself to do what he would do next, telling himself he’s doing the right thing. They were both compelling stories, but a kid with grandpa going into surgery was ultimately still a lot sadder than some middle-aged guy with a common cold. So Adrien did it: he ran. He just fucking ran off with the keychain.

Again, Aaron allowed himself to briefly relax, if it was Lia’s then that was the end of it, if not, he’d go back to looking for his keys.  That was all fine until the guy bolted, something Aaron could honestly not believe was happening.  It had been a while since Aaron had had to do much physical, it had taken him a long time to recover from his heart attack and he was a heavy smoker, so he wasn’t a great runner, but he was pissed and convinced that this guy was trying to make off with his car and there was no chance in hell he was going to let that happen.  

“Hey!” he yelled, quickly closing the distance between them and grabbing the younger man by the back of the shirt to stop him.  He might not be much to look at now, but 23 years as a field reporter for a news station based in Chicago meant he had experience being forceful if he needed to be and he called on that now. “Look, I am in no mood to deal with your bullshit right now, so here’s what we’re going to do, you’re going to hand over the keys and I’m not going to kick the snot out of you.  If they don’t unlock my car, I’ll give them to the store’s lost and found and you can get them back there, do you understand me?” 

[aaron-ferrier]

[aaron-ferrier]

Adrien blinked in surprise at the man’s words. He did in fact stumble upon such a keychain. However, as far as he knew, this pink dragon belonged to a little boy whose grandfather would undergo an operation soon. “Ah, I have. But, um, I think it belongs to the grandchild of my patient,” he explained, using his best Professional Voice. “I work as a doctor at the hospital, you see.” Well, radiologist to be specific, but that was still a type of doctor, blah blah.

“His grandfather’s going to undergo a risky operation, and the kid’s five years old, so he’d really appreciate us retrieving his comfort item.” Adrien tensed up, apprehensive about how this interaction would go. His own first kid hadn’t even been born yet, and he was already getting into confrontations about which child deserved a certain toy?

Initially Aaron breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was about to be on his way home where he could collapse into bed and finally get some sleep, and a flash of irritation crossed his face, but it wasn’t necessarily aimed at the young man in front of him.  “Okay, well if it’s his, I obviously don’t want to take it from him, I’m not a monster.  I’m just a guy with a massive sinus infection who wants to go home and sleep.”

Aaron really did’t want to take a toy from a miserable kid, but he could hardly sacrifice his car and house keys for a random kid he didn’t know and the dragon belonged to his granddaughter, he could hardly go home without it if it was hers.  “Okay,” Aaron said, rubbing his temples, “If it’s mine, the dragon with have the name “Lia” written on its little foot in Sharpie, if that’s not there then you can go ahead and take them, but if it is, then I’m going to take them back and go home, that’s reasonable, don’t you think?”