#farm owner's son!peter

[christinesficrecs]

Also, these gems are still on tumblr for your enjoyment. 🧡💙🧡 here, here, here, and especially this one. Oooh, this one too.

the lunch table configuration | 16.6K | Explicit

When Isaac makes Derek switch lunch tables, the last thing Derek expected was to fall for Stiles.

between the click of the light and the start of the dream | 105.1K | Explicit

It's Stiles' senior year, and he's trying to concentrate on normal things - like the lacrosse championship, spring break, prom, graduation (and definitely not Derek) - when he starts having nightmares and waking up in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah, and he's being haunted by a hag. Great.

The Hollow Moon | 180K

It’s the summer after Stiles’ first year of college, and he’s working a crappy job and dealing with nightmares and anxiety - but he’s okay, he swears. He makes it through most days without too much trouble. Then, a certain werewolf comes back into town. Which Stiles doesn’t care about, nope, not at all.

Blind Date With A Book  | 30.3K

Stiles thought the Blind Date With a Book trend was a great way to drum up business for his small bookshop. He definitely thought it was a great idea after the hot guy kept returning and buying more blind dates with books.

Derek didn’t know how he kept getting set up on blind dates by his family, or why he kept going on them. The highlight of his night was when the date was over and he could go to the little bookshop in town and buy something to read for the rest of the night. He wanted to read, not date.

This Started As Only Make Believe | 44.1K | Explicit

Derek is trying (and failing) to juggle his career, coach lacrosse, and raise his 5 year old werewolf daughter. When he adds his bitter ex-wife and his daughter's slight attachment to him, Derek knows he doesn't have any time for a life of his own - and definitely no time for the super cute daycare teacher.

Past The Breakers | 40.7K

Stiles and Scott get summer jobs at the exclusive Seawolf Beach Resort, and the last thing Stiles expects is to start taking surf lessons from the hot lifeguard.

This Might Be Irony  | 38.3K

Stiles and Derek have been close friends since the Hale siblings moved in next door after their parents’ death. But Derek’s in the popular group, he’s a star baseball player, and he dates popular Pep Squad captain Jennifer Blake. Stiles doesn’t have any of that, just his skateboard and a hopeless crush on Derek (oh yeah, and his Vote Lydia Martin Prom Queen button). As prom and the baseball state championship grow closer, Stiles and Derek start rekindling their friendship.

And it all begins with two white boards.

heart as black as night | 97.7K | Explicit

It's 1924, and Derek Hale is a bootlegger and runs one of the many speakeasies in New York with the help of his Pack. They don't know, however, that he's also a hitman for his Uncle Peter, a shady Omega with mafia ties to whom Derek owes a huge debt.

Stiles Stilinski is about to graduate from high school and start working at the docks when he stumbles into the Sour Wolf, a speakeasy with lively music, a glamorous jazz singer, and a certain dark, handsome, and moody bartender that Stiles can't stop thinking about.

my heart’s been offline  | 58.8K

31/M/New York. Rich, lays in bed all day, likes to read (aka Derek Hale, son of an Oscar winning actress, brother of one obnoxious reality star and one rebellious fashion designer, hates the paparazzi so much he’s a recluse)

26/M/California. Boring office job, likes to read (aka Stiles Stilinski, co-owner of a 100 acre organic farm with his dad and two best friends, writer of obits for a newspaper, has absolutely no life)

Or, where Derek and Stiles meet online, and Stiles has no clue Derek’s part of a famous family.

I Ran (So Far) | 33.7K

In which Stiles’ summer starts off so badly he starts running, gets pelted by paint balls, and decides he is, in fact, going crazy if he willingly wants to hang out with Derek Hale.

But The World Won’t Stop Turning  | 19.9K

Derek glances at Stiles, who is watching him with a curious expression.

“Oh shit,” Stiles exclaims as comprehension dawns on him. “Everything makes sense now. Derek, I know what the witch did, she cursed you with – “

But before Stiles is able to finish his sentence, everything fades away and Derek is surrounded by darkness.

I'll Be Seeing You | 81.4K | Explicit

In the summer of 1941, with the country on the brink of war, diner waiter Stiles meets Derek Hale, an army soldier just passing through Beacon Hills.

Babcia Knows Best | 11.8K

Stiles takes his grandmother to bingo every Thursday. Now there’s a new guy calling out the numbers, and his grandmother has decided to set them up.

Wild Horses | 78.9K | Explicit

Derek's a drifter with no home, no destination, and no will to live. Stiles works on his family's failing cattle and horse ranch while all his friends are going off to college. When Derek falls asleep in a random barn, exhausted and half-starved, he doesn't expect to wake up on the other end of the sheriff's shotgun. And Stiles sure as hell doesn't expect his dad to invite the drifter in for breakfast.

no aphrodisiac like loneliness  | 19.7K | Explicit

Stiles is 27 now, with a master’s degree and a career and a house and a serious boyfriend and a life in San Francisco that doesn’t include Derek. But then Stiles unexpectedly shows back up in Beacon Hills, and Derek would recognize that scent anywhere.

[emdoesstufff]

My Bistro Huddy Headcanons

Bradley "Brad" Milin (27) - He's half Cuban, (his mom was Cuban and his dad was a rich white guy) and he moved to LA when he was four. His parents were never married and his mom and stepdad got married when they moved to California. And it's canon that he grew up rich so I think he would visit his father and just use his money. He started working with Bistro Huddy when he was 20 and it was new. He met Nicole a month later and brought her on the team.

Nicole Kravinsky (26) - She was born in LA and moved out of her parents house when she was 18, and she went to a tiny town in Indiana to live a new life. She dated a guy there and when it didn't work out she moved back in with her parents. She met Brad and he mentioned that his work was hiring. And the rest is history.

Aaron Jaccobs (23) - He was born in Wyoming and raised Jewish. He moved to LA for college and he went to a film school. After he graduated he couldn't find a job in the film industry and he bounced back from job to job for years. When he was 25 he found Bistro Huddy and has been working there ever since. Having a stable job helped him reconnect with his parents and he got more in touch with being Jewish.

Bridgette Cooper (24) - She was raised by her very Scottish grandmother in Sacramento. When she graduated college she met her boyfriend Peter and he got her a job at a nice office that paid her well. When Peter did some things at that job, they had to quit and moved to LA. She started working for Bistro Huddy and she supports both of them now. Amber tells her every day when she walks in to break up with her boyfriend, but Bridgette always says she had to take care of him.

Terrance "Terry" Oliver (47) - He was born and raised in Texas and he lived in one house with his entire extended family. He worked on his dad's farm, he played highschool football, and he was on set to go to college with money his parents had saved up for him. When he was 17 he came out as gay and his grandmother demanded he be kicked out. He traveled to California when he was 34 and he met a 23 year old Clint. They dated secretly for two years before breaking up and Terry moved to LA. When he was 36 he met the current owner of Bistro Huddy and worked his way through until he was the manager. When he was 41 Clint showed up to interview for bartender. Terry gave him the job and they became friends (or maybe more). He won't tell anyone but he loves all the servers like they were his kids.

Joseph "Joey" Miller (39) - He's from LA and was "raised" by his uncle. His uncle was very old and sickly and Joey took care of him until he was 19 and his uncle died. He went to culinary school and he was sure he was going to end up as a world renowned chef. When he was 21, he had no place to live, a pregnant girlfriend, no money, and a culinary degree he had to put in good use. He practically forced Terry to give him a line cook job and he quickly worked his way to executive chef. When his son was 2, he divorced his first wife and met his second wife, who had a 13 year old son named Nico. His mom wasn't around a lot so Joey taught Nico how to cook so he could take care of himself. He divorced Nico's mom when he was 17 and kind of forgot about Nico. Two years later Terry introduced the owners nephew who would be a new line cook. Joey will tell no one that Nico was once his stepson.

Samuel "Sam" "Pickles" Brockton (21) - He was born in LA and Joey hates that they have that similarity. He was raised by both of his parents and they got him a job as a dishwasher at Bistro Huddy when he was 16. He hated the job so much that he finally came out as bisexual to his parents in hopes they might kick him out or something. They were actually very supportive of him and he continued to work there. One day when Nico quit for the second time, Joey needed someone to cut vegetables for him and he brought Sam over to do it. He found that he actually really enjoyed the kitchen environment and once Nico came back he asked to be promoted to line cook. He hasn't told anyone but he has dreams of becoming executive chef one day.

Nicolas "Nico" Menundez-Miller (29) - Nico was born in Mexico and raised in San Francisco. His dad died when he was 6. For seven years he had a paper route, walked dogs, mowed lawns, and did all kinds of of jobs to help his struggling mother out. When he was 13 him and his mom moved to LA when she married his new stepfather. His mom had to work all the time to make enough money to survive and he spent most of his time with Joey. He took Nico took his work and taught him how to cook so he could take care of himself when no one else was around. Four years later Joey and his mom divorced and him and his mom moved in with his uncle. After he graduated highschool, his uncle got him a job at the restaurant he owned. He quits about once a month and he promised to never tell anyone that Joey is his ex- stepfather.

Ruby Warner (24) - She was born in Germany and lived there until she was 10. Her family then moved to New York City and her dad opened a restaurant. He became pretty famous in the city for his food. By the time she was 12, Ruby got rid of her accent completely so she could no longer be bullied. When she showed interest in being a chef, her father began teaching her how to cook and sent her to a prestigious culinary school in California when she was 18. Afraid to tell her father she couldn't find work, she stayed in California and worked a couple part time jobs. When she was 21, her mom called and told her that her father had died. After that she became determined to find work as a cook and she eventually got hired at Bistro Huddy.

Kalina "Amber" Jones (32) - She's from Georgia where she was passed around in the foster care system. When she was 15, one of her foster families moved to LA she was dragged along. A month later they gave her up and since she wasn't in the California foster system yet, she ended up getting lost and had to move in with a friend she had just met. Their family ended up taking care of her and helped her get into college where she pursued a law degree because she knew she could make enough money to support himself. After she graduated she worked at a law firm for quite a few years. When she was 29 she had had enough of the job she had and applied for the hostess position at Bistro Huddy. She's had a crush on Joey at most the whole time she's worked there, but since he was older than her and she knew he had a lot of family problems, she started away.

Telcinto "Clint" Marcello (36) - His mother was Polynesian and his father was Korean. They moved to Guatemala after they married and Telcinto was born. He lived there for 15 years before they sent him to California to live with his aunt. After living there for years he met Terry. He still spoke little English but enjoyed being around him. Terry gave him the nickname Clint. After dating for two years, they broke up when Clint wanted to go back to Guatemala to find his parents. Once he got there he learned that his parents had birth died of alcohol poisoning a few years ago. He fell into a deep depression and developed a drinking habit himself. He moved back to California and got into therapy. He decided to become a bartender and give a positive view on alcohol instead of what he had. When he went to interview at Bistro Huddy, Terry ended up being the manager there. A few years later and he was still working there and still friend with Terry (wink wink).

Patrick "Trick" Miller (18) - His mother moved from Japan and met his father in LA. When he was 2 his mom and dad divorced and he didn't see his father for a good seven years. When he was 6 he learned that his father had a stepson and he resented him for leaving him for another kid. When he was 15 he dropped out of school and needed money and somewhere to live. He decided to go to his father who gave him money and allowed him to live with him. After a few months he couldn't stand living with his dad anymore and he moved out but keep kept in touch to keep his money incoming. When he got arrested for stealing from a seven eleven he borrowed a suit from his dad and somehow ended up becoming a busser at Bistro Huddy.

[46ten]

James Hamilton, Sr (speculation)

I'm going to beat this dead horse some more.

In checking to see whether any new records have been discovered about James Hamilton, Jr (if that was his name - Peter Lavien thought it might be 'Robert,' haha), born 1751 or 1753 or some point in the 1750s, who may have been apprenticed as a carpenter (Ramsing) and who engaged in some occupation where AH thought he could be set up on a farm (AH's letter to his brother), I didn't find anything!

But I did find one fairly recent article stating James Hamilton Sr. abandoned his family shortly after AH was born, and I just wonder where folks get this stuff? It's one thing to state "unknown," and another to totally make something up. And there's reasoning, beyond just lack of evidence, that this bothers me so much.

I'd like to reflect on why it's popular for some historians to state that James Hamilton abandoned his family:

It allows them to create a narrative where AH was desperate for a father figure and this psychological motivation plays out in his relationship with GWashington. Spoiler: there's really nothing to point to in order to assert that AH was looking for a father figure/sought out approval from an older, paternal figure. From his correspondence, he was happy with the father he did have, and the person he played a son to was Philip Schuyler.

It says something about their own attitude towards financial misfortune. AH states in at least four different letters to different people (based on my recall) that his father fell into great misfortune and his affairs were wrecked, or that he tried but could not achieve great success, or something along those lines. He was "too generous, too easy of temper, too much pride, too large a portion of indolence." But it's never that his father just up and abandoned him.

(Let's limit this to just middle-class Americans) It takes very little - the loss of a job while living in a location not conducive to finding another job, a physical accident, a medical illness, a natural disaster - for someone to end up in crippling debt that they never recover from financially. According to Newton's research, James Hamilton may have spent part of his time running from debt collectors, and then may have taken any odd job he could. But being in a bad financial situation is not a moral failing, no matter how much the editor of National Review (Brookhiser) and a former WSJ writer and biographer of JP Morgan and Rockefeller (Chernow) may believe it.

Two things that can stall a financial slide and prevent destitution are 1) family wealth; 2) ability to draw on equity/credit. Rachel Faucette had both: her relatives were wealthy, and she was a slave owner who could use those enslaved persons as collateral and rent out their labor. James Hamilton apparently had neither. But that doesn't make him a horrible father who abandoned his kids.

This leads to some interesting speculation I came across - one researcher casually mentioning that given the circumstances of Rachel's divorce, James Hamilton Sr. would have had to adopt his sons to legitimize them. (This type of event - having to petition to adopt an illegitimate child that was the product of a long-term but illicit relationship, actually happened in my own family about 175 years ago - there's an official act of the state legislature of this adoption). And this made me think:

There's decent speculation that James Hamilton ran out of money/opportunities in Statia in 1765, which is what led him to St. Croix in 1765 to act as a debt collector for his employer.

Rachel and their two sons move there either that year, or certainly by 1766 (we can locate AH in St. Croix in 1766) but he cannot be counted in a census with the family, or perhaps even live with the family, because of the restrictions on Rachel (not clear that this was the case under Danish colonial law).

When Rachel dies intestate, custody of his sons likely would have gone to her nearest relatives - her son Peter Lavien, and then her Faucette relatives like the Lyttons (her sister's family).

And that James Hamilton Sr likely didn't have legal rights to his sons, but nevertheless does try to settle on another Caribbean island and have property, possibly thinking that they could join him at some point (if their affairs went to wreck, too) makes me feel a certain way. This narrative by conservative historians to paint James, living in the even harsher 18th century, as a neglectful father because he couldn't get on a solid footing financially and was in a decade plus relationship with a woman with whom - after they'd already had two kids - it was determined by a St. Croix court that they could not legitimize the union or children in anyway - is really f'ed up, and tells one a lot more about the worldview of those historians than it tells us about the relationship between James and his son(s).

Anyway, the only thing new here is the question of James Hamilton Sr's legal rights to his son, as I've written of most of the rest of this before. Posting about it in case I take up research of Danish colonial law in the future!

[moonflower91]

Hello, Darling

part 1

Eat Local (2017), Henry x OC wife

After being married to the same man for as long as she had, Ila caught the scent of him right away. The crisp night air, rich with scents of rot and new life, of smoke and fresh grass, blood and sweat...none of it could mask that scent of his. She'd been walking through the forest, hunting for a quick snack before returning to her little rented room two towns over, when that gorgeous scent crossed her path. She'd frozen, eyes flashing as she took in her surroundings, half expecting to see him standing a ways off, waving at her cheekily when he won their game of hide and seek. 

Truly, it was amazing how her husbands scent had never changed--not from the time they were human children rolling around in the muck, to the time they had their last wedding back in the 1990s.

Soft, fresh and somehow smelling of the spices they once used in their food. 

He smelled of home, he always had done.

But, Henry was nowhere close, his scent strong, but still easily masked once more when a breeze drifted through the branches. Still, she had been his wife for over six hundred years. Ila found his hide away half an hour later, in some adorable farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't his, that she knew. Human smells hung thick in the air, and a truck sat in the drive, alongside the car that smelled of a professional cleaning job. One was Henry's rented car, the other belonged to the farm's owners. 

Ah, she realized. Right on schedule, fifty years on and another meeting ensues. 

Nonetheless, Ila's feet carried her right to the door, Henry's scent growing stronger with each step. 

She hasn’t realized how much she missed him until he was just beyond the door. But being married for so long and so often necessitated a certain amount of time spent apart every so often. God knows she could use a little break from him every half century or so. Just a few years between, nothing substantial.

This last five or so years had seen her taking a tour of their old country, exploring the forests and foothills of Romania, remembering a time long past when she and her family had travelled together.

When she pushed the door open, that gorgeous scent of his greeted her like a welcome friend. And that sweet, smiling face which never failed to make her long dead heart swell with happiness. They had been together for so long, and somehow he loved her the same as he had when they'd married at fifteen. He had begged his parents to be allowed to marry her, even though her mother and father came from less than favorable stock. He was the youngest son of seven, and it had been far easier to convince them than it would have been had he been the eldest. Her parents, on the other hand, had just been happy to see her married at all. 

When Henry had been turned against his will, he had not wanted to be apart from her, and one summer night, he'd turned her in a haze of bloodlust. 

“Hello, darling.” She beamed at him, quickly bouncing inside from the cold, although it didn't bother her. Still, there is something about standing in just a jumper and jeans outside when its hovering just above freezing that makes one want to be indoors. Distantly, she thanked god that old myth about being invited in was just that, a myth.

He didn’t appear shocked to see her, but neither was he unhappy, reaching out towards her with that same soft smile of his. Just like her, he had probably caught her scent in the air and knew she would come, awaiting her as he always did when her need for travel took her far from his arms. 

“Hello, sweetheart.” He greeted, accepting her happily into his arms and lap. She wrapped an arm around his neck, the other resting against his chest as she beamed happily at him. “I didn’t expect you quite so soon.”

“Well I wasn’t going to come during your meeting. You know Peter and me don’t get on.” She grimaced at the thought of the ancient creature, absently fixing the collar of his coat. 

“Peter doesn’t get on with anyone.”

“And I wanted a moment alone with my husband.” She continued, smoothing his coat, running her fingers up his neck to just beneath his ear. 

“Oh did you now?” He smirked, the hand curled around her hip cheekily stroking up her side.

“You know, this reminds me of our third wedding. Only you and me, abandoned cottage, dead of night. Only we were wearing far fewer clothes. And there is no cowering priest here, I imagine.”

Henry groaned, rolling his head backwards as though long suffering. “Don’t start something you can’t finish, love.”

“Who says I can’t finish it?” she smirked, pressing herself closer. But whatever fires she was tempted to stroke to life were prematurely guttered by another vampire's arrival. 

“Me.” A low voice sounded from the opened doorway.

“Duke. Always a pleasure.” Truly, he was the head of their counsel, and the vampire Henry answered to directly. Truly, it was Peter who was meant to be the Duke's right hand, being the second eldest of the Eight, but Peter had a wretched attitude and so Henry held that distinct honor instead. Ila supposed that was a right sore spot for Peter, but she was very proud of her husband.

She had no place among The Eight, the masters of eight distinct territories throughout Europe, and thus she had no right to remain and sit in on their meeting. But the Duke had known her long enough to know she was no real threat to any of the matters discussed. And, she was Henry's wife and he trusted Henry implicitly.

“Same to you, Ila. Though this meeting is a private affair. Counsel business and all that.”

“You would put a poor woman out of a house after she’s just been reunited with her husband?”

"Now, now, Ila my dear." Henry murmured softly, pulling her just a little tighter to his side.

The Duke's movement into the room shifted the air just so, and Ila's nose wrinkled. Blood was one thing, but the smell of decay and cleaning solution was quite another. "What is that stench?"

"Owners enjoy killing and bloodshed and violence more than most vampires." Henry replied, rolling his cigarette between his deft fingers. 

"Children?" Ila asked immediately, shifting to look at her husband. She had been a mother in her human life, and drew a hard line against humans who enjoyed harming the youngest and most vulnerable. Had he confirmed her question, none would stop her from going downstairs and tearing the captive owners apart, limb by limb. 

But Henry shook his head. "Migrants. Homeless. Anyone they come across, really." Well, in that case, Ila was more than happy to let the others have a meal once adjourning. 

"You do pick your hosts carefully. Anyway, Duke, if it is all the same to you, I'll step out of the room when the meeting commences."

"Very well, but that is only because I didn't make it to your last wedding."

"Yes, you were very much missed."

True to her word, when the last member of their council arrived, Ila retreated to the adjoining sitting room, idly flicking through one of their hosts books. Good lord, the things humans enjoy reading about these days. 

But when she heard Henry softly say her name, her ears perked up she tilted her head to listen better. Henry would not say her name and draw her attention unless he wished for her to listen.

"You think we wouldn't find out, Thomas." Duke growled. 

"About what?" 

"He's been overfeeding." It was Henry this time, his voice soft, but she could hear the disdain and disgust in his soft tone. 

"Sixteen above his quota this year already. And the less said about last year, the better."

"No, that's a lie!"

"And not only has he been overfeeding, he's been taking them young." The Duke rarely revealed his anger, and when he did, he shook the earth, even as he spoke quietly and measured. Ila stilled, disgust and horror welling within her as she processed the Duke's accusation towards their youngest and newest counsel member. It was a general law amongst the vampire community that children were forbidden stock. To harm something so innocent and helpless for one's own sustenance was a sin amongst them. In ancient times, it had been different, but time, it seemed changed even the immortals. 

Chen walked through the sitting area, causing her eyes to flicker up to him. He was quick and silent as a cat, shotgun in hand, and without hesitation, he pushed the door open into the kitchen, and shot and incapacitated Thomas.

"If you don't kill him, I will." She whispered, knowing those in the other room could hear her. True, Thomas had broken the Law, but he was still a Council member, still powerful, still respected. 

"Don't worry, darling." Henry murmured back, breaking a chair leg off while Thomas struggled against Chen and Angel. "Done and dusted."

—————-

"Getting tossed down the basement stairs is too good for that fuck." Ila murmured, head tilting as Henry brushed the remains of Thomas off his hands.

"Indeed, love." Like Ila, he despised unnecessary killing, but the slaughter of children struck a particular cord in them both. In their human days, they welcomed a pair of boys into their lives after a handful of fruitless years. Their sons had been a blessing for them both, who had begun to think they were just an unlucky pair destined to never have a child, let alone two. Ila's mother, god damn her, had been particularly vicious and despite pressure from Henry's family and Ila's, the two had not let the wretched woman near their sons once they were born. Even Ila's father had been allowed to hold them once or twice. 

By the time Henry was turned, their boys were half grown. He had stayed away for nearly a year after, following them in the darkness, hiding in the woods, under rocks, even resorting to burying himself in the dirt in the daytime when he had to, just to make sure nothing harmed them. But one night, when the ache of longing was at it's sharpest, he'd snuck back into their camp, his keen eyes finding her form easily. Curled up she was, and his still heart broke to see that even after so long, not knowing if he'd died hunting or had simply abandoned her, she slept with one of his shirts tucked under her chin. 

He had only wanted to touch her hair, to look at her, to breath her in before he disappeared into the night, but he had underestimated just how her smell would strike him with his heightened senses.

A primal instinct surged within him, and in a red haze, he realized he'd reached out and pinned her--his own wife--down onto her sleeping pallet, his hand clenched around her delicate little neck as his fangs elongated. It was only her frightened wheeze of his name that stopped him from draining her.

But he was young then, and he was on her before she could utter a shriek, his teeth plunging into her neck, drinking from her greedily as she clenched her hands at his shoulder. It was only later, when she told him, the bite had felt...good.  

He'd drunk down more than half of her, and only lived because he had stopped and left just enough to keep her heart beating and allow her to turn.

That night, after she'd roused enough to drink down a whole deer, the two of them ran away into the night, away from their family, away from their sons. The blood on the blanket had left them to believe she'd been taken in the night by some monster, and it wasn't exactly wrong. It had just been her husband who'd taken her. It had hurt them to leave them, but given that he'd nearly killed his wife, he could not risk his boys coming to harm from their hungry mother. Ila would not forgive herself if she'd hurt their children, and would likely stake him if he risked it.

Silently, they kept watch over their sons, their children and their children after.

"So there is a vacancy then?" Ila asked as Henry shut the door, slamming it for good measure. 

"Aye. Vanessa is bringing him, nine generations of pure blood. Hard not to accept."

"I hope he's accepted. Nessa is a pretty good judge of character."

Indeed, when the funny little human arrived at the farmhouse, Ila immediately took a shine to him. He was talkative, approachable, even friendly to the eerie group he found himself surrounded by. Lord knows they needed fresh blood to stay in the loop of todays modern vampire. Last she had checked, Henry's territory's population was steadily growing, but unfortunately for them, babies were making babies. The baby vampires needed careful maintenance if their kind were to stay in the shadows unbothered.

He introduced himself as Sebastian, a gypsy boy from an orphanage, not knowing just how rare and valuable his blood was. He had no idea how respected he would be, if he turned. 

"I'm Henry. I also hail from the east." He and Sebastian shook hands, with the latter immediately withdrawing with a hiss. Sebastian played it off easily enough, and turned his eyes to Ila, standing just behind Henry with a bright, warm smile on her lovely face. 

"I'm Ila, just here to observe. I'm Henry's wife. I also hail from the east."

"Oh no kiddin'! How long you been married then?"

"This last time, it'll be about 22 years. I day we're due for another one soon enough, especially now that I'm back from abroad. Keep things legal and godly, and all that." Truly, she didn't care much about the godly bit. Legal, yes, but aside from that, Ila just loved a good wedding party, and after six hundred years, she'd gotten very good at planning them. 

The human frowned confusedly, but the female vampire just smiled warmly at him. Eh, he figured, smiling awkwardly back, so what if she's a little simple, she seems friendly enough.

Ila stood back against the wall, resting her hand against her husbands chest from behind him, watching their human newcomer with curiosity. Now that talk of quotas was at an end and the child murderer was properly disposed of, there was no objection to her presence. Either Sebastian was accepted and turned, or he was rejected and disposed of. She hoped he was accepted, he really was a funny little human.

But when he sat down on the chair with the leg broken off, he seemed to be properly and sufficiently annoyed enough to try to leave, despite multiple attempts to make him stay. Pressing a soft kiss to the hand that rested against his chest, Henry stood and soundlessly walked around the table to block Sebastian's exit. He held the door firmly shut, even as Sebastian quietly turned around to take Angel's proffered seat. 

Although clearly unnerved, the Romani boy sat back on Angel's vacant chair.

"Vanessa has spoken very highly of you. She says you come from good stock.” The Duke continued, causing the Romani boy to scoff. 

"You're joking, aint ya? I am Romani from an orphanage." Sebastian protested, an awkward smile pulling at his lips.

"That's alright. My mother was a right bitch, my father a slave to the drink. My husband and me slept out under the open sky most nights. But he kept our children fed and warm, kept me safe, kept our vardo moving."

“You got kids?” Sebastian spluttered, eyes wide.

“Aye, now I’ve got great grandchildren. My one grandson looks just like my younger boy. Our genes are strong, eh Henry?” Henry only smiled softly at his wife. "My point is, I'm a nothing from nothing but you, my dear Romani kin, are certainly something." Sebastian only regarded her that same way again, softly, almost pitying for surely the young woman going on about having great grandchildren was a little touched in the head.

"Look, you've caught me on a bad week. I'm tapped out. Normally I am the man to see, but..." Sebastian trailed off, that easy smile returning to his lips as he tried to talk his way out the door as politely as he could.

"He is a good talker." Ila murmured softly to her husband in Romanian. "Could sell water to a fish."

"That will work for us." He murmured back to her.

"Honest, I mean look, it sounds brilliant and all that. Whatever it is. Save the whales, or praise the lord or whatever." Henry frowned confusedly at the young man across from him. "So no offense, and all that, seriously. Thanks though." As he moved to tap out his cigarette, he unintentionally blew smoke towards little old Alice.

And caused her to sneeze, her face contorting in her annoyance, her fangs flashing in the dim light. Nevertheless, Sebastian saw it, stumbling back in horror.

"You didn't tell him?" The Duke accused Vanessa softly, annoyance curling in his words.

"I thought we'd break it to him gently." She replied sheepishly.

In the background Sebastian was still going on in a half frenzied ramble about how Alice was a zombie monster, how he needed to leave.

Ila frowned, this all sounding mildly familiar to her. It took her a moment to recall--cold farm house, frightened human, annoyed vampires...well, all she needed was a wedding gown and this was like her wedding in 1798. Spring wedding, in their country cottage, two of their wedding guests had brought their own meals. The mess that caused at the end of the night had made it so she had not permitted any more humans being brought as food to another one of her parties.

But other than that, it had been beautiful night.

"Tonight, we must become Eight." Vanessa told Sebastian gently, pulling her out of her memories.

"Maybe I'm miscounting, but I counted eight of you already. Whatchu need me for?"

"Oh!" Ila exclaimed, shaking her head, her hair brushing over her shoulders. "Not me, sweetie. Like I said, I'm only observing."

"Well you can have it back, really I don't mind."

"But I do." Henry spoke up, his eyes hardening. There have been disputes over elected counsel members in the past, and he was just as happy that Ila stay out of the line of fire all together. It wasn't that Ila was disliked among the more senior members of their breed, but the implication of favoritism for becoming the Eighth as well as being the wife of a current member was too much to risk. Anyway, it wasn't as though Ila coveted the position.

"Now, now darling. He meant no offence and none was given." she ran her hand across his back, hoping to calm his carefully hidden temper.

"A vote is before us. All in favor."

One by one, each member cast their vote as aye. Except, of course, for Peter. The pouty little man was more hurt at Thomas' betrayal and execution than anything else, and voted against Sebastian because of it. 

"For being over a thousand years old, he sounds like an angry child." She murmured in Romanian once more. 

"Oh, so shut up Ila, I have half a mind to toss you out. You've no say in these proceedings." Peter spat from his place by the window. Damn, she thought. She'd forgotten he understood Romanian. 

It was too bad, she really liked the young Romani boy.

[ao3feed-peterstiles]

Wolfridge Ranch

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/59797051 by Baby_Sweetpea Witness protection was a fickle thing, and a tight network. He couldn’t reach out to his dad, or to Scott and his wife Kira, or to Lydia or Jackson or Danny. He was completely alone, in a new state, with a new name, date of birth and backstory. Gone was Stiles Stilinski, 24 from Beacon Hills, California. Son of the Sheriff Noah Stilinski, best friend of Scott McCall, former lacrosse benchwarmer. Hello Ellis Kit, 23, from Kensington, Minnesota, quiet kid of a small time farmer. _____ After Stiles witnesses the brutal murder of a man by his Ex Boyfriend, Theo Raeken, he’s put into witness protection half way across the country, away from all he’s ever known. He gains a job as a ranch-hand under hot as hell co-owners Peter Hale and Chris Argent, a temporary safe haven known for taking in strays. Happily, he finds himself gaining a family, but quickly realises he could lose so much more. Words: 1710, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M, Multi Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale, Chris Argent, Derek Hale, Isaac Lahey, Cora Hale, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Jackson Whittemore, Kira Yukimura, Lydia Martin, Danny Māhealani, Aiden (Teen Wolf) Relationships: Chris Argent/Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Chris Argent/Peter Hale, Chris Argent/Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Derek Hale/Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Danny Māhealani/Jackson Whittemore Additional Tags: Past Theo Raeken/Stiles Stilinski, Violence, Blood and Violence, Minor Character Death, but it’s none of the good ones don’t worry, Scott McCall Being an Idiot (Teen Wolf), But still a good friend, Author is australian sorry for american inaccuracies, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma, Threesome - M/M/M, Good Peter Hale, Good Chris Argent, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Human, Smut, Allison and Malia don’t exist sorry, Ages adjusted for Peter and Chris and Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is Noah (Teen Wolf), Undercover, Witness Protection, Bad Person Theo Raeken, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/59797051

[shewhowillrise]

Possibly new cowboys in Tony and Peter’s lives in farm au:

New Cowboy in town Thor, answering a help wanted ad from a recently widowed single father ranch owner Tony, after the loss of his brother.

M’Baku, studying abroad, and in hopes of getting his veterinary license, works on a ranch of a recently widowed single father.

Scott Lang, hoping to start anew after prison, tried the quiet life as a cowboy, and answers a help wanted ad for a nearby ranch.

After the loss of his brother, Steve, Bucky Barnes, tries his best to be there for Steve’s husband, Tony, and their son, Peter. He knows he can’t replace Steve, and that wasn’t his intention when he sent out to be an extra set of hands for Tony.

[moneeb0930]

Did Harriet Tubman ever see her sisters again?

Edward Brodess sold three of Tubman's sisters, whom she never saw again.

Tubman escaped slavery and rescued approximately 70 enslaved people, including members of her family and friends. Harriet Tubman's family includes her birth family; her two husbands, John Tubman and Nelson Davis; and her adopted daughter Gertie Davis.

Tubman's parents—Benjamin "Ben" Ross and Harriett “Rit" Greene Ross—were enslaved people who were owned by two different families. Their lives came together when Mary Pattison Brodess, Rit's owner, married Anthony Thompson. Ben Ross, owned by Thompson, met and married Rit Greene. They lived together until about 1823 or 1824, when Rit and their children went to the Brodess farm. Ben was a timber estimator and foreman and Rit was a domestic servant. After Ben was freed, he bought his wife's freedom. Ben was a conductor on the Underground Railroad and slaveholders were becoming suspicious of his role in escapes in the area. Tubman, having freed other family members, rescued her parents. After a short period in St. Catharines in Ontario, Canada, Tubman and her parents settled in the Auburn, New York area.

Tubman married a free man, John Tubman in 1844. In 1849, Tubman fled the area, believing that she was going to be sold. She returned to the area to bring John Tubman north with her, but he had already married another woman. Tubman operated a boarding house out of her home in Auburn and Nelson Davis boarded with her for three years before they were married in 1869. Davis fought during the American Civil War. They adopted a girl, Gertie, and operated several businesses out of their farm. They raised pigs and chickens, operating a farm selling eggs and butter.

She made 13 trips to Maryland to bring back her brothers and parents, other family members, friends and others. She did not know of the whereabout of her sisters, except Rachel who was separated from her children and died before the family could be reunited.

Born Araminta "Minty" Ross, her parents were Benjamin "Ben" and Harriet "Rit" Greene Ross. They were "respected as clever, honest, and religious people with a strong sense of family loyalty".

Ross family sites in Maryland. Ben lived at Peters Neck, and for awhile Rit and 5 children lived there as well. Rit and her children lived at Brodess Farm beginning about 1824. Ben later lived at Poplar Neck, and Rit joined him there after he purchased her freedom around 1854.

Around 1785 or 1787, Benjamin Ross was born in Dorchester County, Maryland, the property of wealthy landowner Anthony Thompson,who married Mary Pattison in 1803. She was the slaveholder of Rit Greene. Ben and Rit were married in 1808, through an informal marital ceremony, which was their only option to commit to one another.

Ben was a lumberman who supervised slaves who brought down poplar, oak, and cypress trees. He then transported them to Baltimore, where they were used to build ships. In the late 1830s and early 1840s, Ben and Tubman both worked on digging canals for Lewis and John T. Stewart, who were shipbuilders.

Anthony Thompson died in 1836. In the early 1840s, Ben was emancipated and received 10 acres of land following Anthony Thompson's death, as stipulated in his will.Thompson's son, Dr. Anthony C. Thompson, a "timber magnate" and a physician, inherited the estate. He also owned Poplar Neck, an area in southern Caroline County, where Thompson sent free laborers and enslaved people. Poplar Neck is approximately 35 miles from Peters Neck, where Tubman was born. Ben once said that Dr. Thompson was "a rough man towards his slaves, and declared, that he had not given him a dollar since the death of his father". He ultimately sold his 10 acres to Dr. Thompson.

He continued to work as a foreman and lumber estimator by hiring himself out within the Eastern Shore for $5 (equivalent to $164 in 2023) a day. He saved his earnings to buy his wife's freedom.

He was a conductor on the Underground Railroad,which included hiding people on his property in Caroline County. The increase in successful escapes drew the attention of local law enforcement in 1857.He was seen as a "primary agitator", such as with the escape of the Dover Eight, which led to Ben and Rit's trip north to avoid retribution. They initially moved to St. Catharines, Ontario in Canada, but the climate was too cold for the 70-year-old couple and they then moved to Fleming outside of Auburn, New York.

Rit was born about 1785 or 1787 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Rit and her mother Modesty were owned by Atthow Pattison, and they lived on his 265-acre farm near Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge east of the convergence of the Blackwater and Little Blackwater Rivers. Tubman believed that Modesty had arrived in the colonies on a ship from Africa. Her grandmother may have come from the area now known as Ghana on West Africa's Gold Coast. People of that area are of the Ashanti ethnic group. In 1791, Modesty does not appear in Pattison's will.

In January 1797, Pattison died and left Rit to his granddaughter Mary Pattison, who was the wife of Joseph Brodess. There was a stipulation in Pattison's will that she and her children should be freed when they reached forty five years of age. In 1803, Mary Pattison Brodess married Anthony Thompson, who had an enslaved man named Benjamin Ross. She died in 1809 and her son Edward inherited her estate.

Initially, her enslaved parents and siblings lived in Ben Ross's cabin on the Anthony Thompson farm at Peters Neck in Dorchester County, Maryland, in what is now the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Around 1823 or early 1824, after the death of Mary Pattison Brodess Thompson, Edward had Rit and her five children moved ten miles away to the Brodess farm in Bucktown, where she worked as a domestic servant. Edward sold her daughter Linah. He attempted to sell her son Moses to a slave trader from Georgia, but Rit traded off hiding him in the woods and her cabin until the trader gave up and left.

Edward Brodess decided not to honor the stipulation in Pattison's will that would have freed Rit and her children at the age of 45. Edward died in 1849. Eliza Ann Brodess inherited her husband Edward's estate. Edward, and then his wife, Eliza Ann, hired Rit out and kept the money that Tubman earned. Gorney Pattison, great-grandson of Atthow, filed a lawsuit against Brodess for the monies that she earned, since she and her husband had not honored Atthow Pattison's wishes. Pattison lost the case.

Ben purchased his wife's freedom from Eliza Ann Brodess for $20 (equivalent to $654 in 2023) in 1854 or 1855, and the bill of sale was recorded on June 11, 1855, at the Dorchester County Court. Rit was not manumitted because a law of Maryland did not permit for enslaved people over age 45 to be set free. She then lived at Ben's cabin in Caroline County.

Freedom in New York

Fearing that she was going to be sold away from Maryland, Tubman ran away in 1849. She followed the "north star" and was aided by white and black people to make her way north. Her parents were among the people that she brought north and out of slavery. They escaped with Tubman in 1857.

I had crossed the line of which I had so long been dreaming. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom, I was a stranger in a strange land, and my home after all was down in the old cabin quarter with the old folks, and my brothers and sisters. But to this solemn resolution I came: I was free and they should be free also. I would make a home for them in the North, and the Lord helping me, I would bring democracy all here.

— Harriet Tubman

Tubman arrived in Caroline County, Maryland with a horse and a makeshift wagon to pick up her parents, as well as the belongings they most treasured on their trip north. They traveled at night to a train that took them to Wilmington, Delaware, where they waited for Harriet at the home of Thomas Garrett. After a stop in Philadelphia to meet William Still, they headed north on a train to St. Catharines in Ontario, Canada, where Tubman had her headquarters and waited for fugitive slaves.

Tubman made a meager income chopping and selling wood and working for farmers. Her parents spent a difficult winter, subject to illnesses from the cold. William H. Seward, the governor of New York, helped arrange for the purchase of land in Auburn, New York for Tubman and her parents. Her parents lived in Auburn the rest of their lives. When Tubman was away on Underground Railroad trips or during the American Civil War, friends looked after her parents. Ben died about 1871 in Auburn, New York. Rit died in October 1880, nearly 100 years of age.

Ben and Rit had nine children together. Dorchester County records provide the names of Harriet's four sisters: Linah (b. 1808), Mariah Ritty (b. 1811), Soph (b. 1813), and Rachel—and four brothers: Robert (b. 1816), Ben (b. 1824), Henry, and Moses. Harriet also considered two of her nieces as sisters: Harriet and Kessiah Jolley.

Edward Brodess sold three of Tubman's sisters, whom she never saw again. A trader later wanted to buy her youngest brother, Moses, but Rit was able to resist being separated from her son.

A conductor on the Underground Railroad, Tubman made 13 return trips over 10 years to lead about 70 + people north, including her parents, siblings, and friends to freedom. Her first trip was in December 1850 when her niece Kessiah and her two children were to be sold. At the auction, Kessiah was sold to her husband John Bowley, a free black man. Before the children could be sold, the family left with Tubman for Philadelphia. Tubman led three of her brothers and other people away from Peters Neck on Christmas, 1854. Doing so, she took the risk of becoming enslaved again or lynched if she was caught; escaping slavery was even more risky after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. As a result, Tubman extended travel routes into Canada, where slavery was prohibited.

Three of Tubman's brothers worked at a plantation near a free black named Jacob Jackson. In 1854, Tubman had a letter sent to Jackson to coordinate the escape of the young men. She would look for them at her parents' home at Poplar Neck in Caroline County. The end of the letter states "tell my brothers to be always watching unto prayer and when the good ship of Zion comes along, to be ready to step on board." She was particularly concerned that her brothers would be sold to the Deep South.

For ten years, during multiple attempts, Tubman tried to rescue her sister Rachel, and her children, Angerine and Ben. During those attempts, Rachel had been separated from her children and she would not leave without them. In late 1860, Tubman found that Rachel had died and she was unable to rescue her niece and nephew.

Her brother John, his wife Millie, and their son Moses lived next to Tubman in Auburn. A number of nieces and nephews lived in Auburn, New York.

[nysocboy]

Gemstones Episode 3.4: Wieners, betrayal, a burning a-hole, and Kelvin at his jerkiest. With a nude Steve Zahn bonus

This is the G-rated version of the review, with no nudity or explicit sexual discussions.  

Title: "I Am Come Not to Bring Peace But a Sword." A famous quote from Jesus in Matthew 10:34.  Things are going to get dark. 

Some premium sex dolls:  Keefe and Taryn are leading a Teen and Parents Together "ice cream and wieners" party.  Keefe has apparently never done any ministry without Kelvin, so he is very nervous.  He is not wearing his "wedding ring," maybe worried that it would out him.

The parents point out that they know very little about Keefe, even though he is a youth minister, in charge of nurturing their children.   Before Keefe has a chance to answer any questions, Biker Clarence, the owner of the store that he bought out drops by to praise him for buying "every last butt buzzer I had in stock!"   He invites Keefe to check out the new merchandise coming in: "We got some premium sex dolls!"  Inappropriate, dude! You're in an ice cream shop. Don't you notice the kids around? 

Taryn and Keefe assure the parents that "it's not what you think."  That is, Keefe isn't actually gay, he bought the toys for a project "we did with your kids."  Even worse!  But didn't the parents know about Smut Busters?  You have to get permission slips every time you take the kids off church property.

Loud and Proud:  We see the beginning of the service, a Christian rock number, with May-May disapproving and Cousin Karl loving it.  Then it's time for the family dinner at Jason's Steakhouse, and a practically endless series of queer codes.  Interesting that the guys start being obviously a couple immediately after the Cousin's Night romantic interlude.

May-May disapproves of her sons' silk suits: too shiny, "like a lady's neglige.  A little loud and proud for me."  In other words, they make the boys look gay.  Jesse yells at her for "talking trash." Implying that someone is gay constitutes "talking trash"? That's homophobic, dude.

Judy defends the boys from the "accusation," saying that they are attractive to women. So youturn gay because you can't find a woman?  Laying on the homophobia, aren't we?

As he listens to his family's homophobic banter, Kelvin looks like he's about to cry.   And Keefe -- that's the look your boyfriend gets at Thanksgiving Dinner, when your parents told you to not "cause a scene" by coming out, and then Uncle Bob starts complaining about "fags taking over." Cavalero got it exactly right..

Holding Hands under the Table:  Peter Montgomery (Steve Zahn, top photo) enters, announces that he has a new militia compound "on a farm," and invites his sons to join him.  They refuse, so he circles the table, threatening that retribution is coming.  

As he circles, Keefe moves his right hand under the table.  Then Kelvin moves his left hand under the table. These are not random acts:  Boyfriends who are scared (and closeted) would look for reassurance by holding hands.

Their hands stay under the table until Peter threatens Judy, and Eli steps in, telling him to leave or he'll be shot.  Everyone in the family except Gideon, Kelvin, and Keefe pulls out a gun.  A gun expert on the fan board pointed out that only Amber and BJ are holding them properly.  Then Kelvin,  frightened (of his family's guns?), says something indecipherable to Keefe, who moves his hand back to the table top and makes a finger-gun.  Kelvin looks around for a weapon, and brandishes a fork.  His left hand is still under the table, and stays there, holding Keefe, until Peter circles the table again.  

Now the "wedding rings" are fully visible, matching men's silver wedding bands with black diamond inlay (the real thing sells for over $4000),  on the ring finger of Kelvin's left and Keefe's right hand.   Kelvin can't say that they are lovers, but he can show it.

For a little while, anyway.

Things get worse after the break.

It makes my a-hole burn: The backlash to the ice cream-and-wieners party begins when Kelvin finds a letter in the Teen Time suggestion box: "Keefe is weird. I am not comfortable with him around kids." Is "weird" being used as a euphemism for "gay" again?

He yells at Keefe for messing up: "You had one job! It's your only responsibility."  Dude is missing the point entirely.  He should be concerned with defending Keefe's character.

He wants to know what went wrong.  Keefe explains that the porno shop owner "outed me in front of the parents."  Not outing him as a participant in the Smut Busters: that wasn't a secret.  Bike Clarence made it sound like Keefe bought the sex toys for himself, thus "outing" him as gay. 

Well, did Keefe explain that he bought the toys on church business?  He tried, but he couldn't really articulate how buying sex toys helped the church.  Kelvin gets even more angry; Keefe's inability to handle this incident without outing himself -- and by implication, both of them -- suggests that he is not qualified to be assistant youth pastor.  So, are you going to fire him, or what?

What about the parents' concerns? "This kind of talk makes my a-hole burn."  Keefe responds: "I hate to think that I'm responsible for your a-hole burning."

I have never heard anyone use that expression to mean angry or upset, nor can I find it online.  It's quite likely that Kelvin's real a-hole is burning: remember that he just stopped withholding sex. If your partner is too big or too enthusiastic, as he is bound to be after a drought, he can create tiny tears, resulting in rectal burning and itching.  In Season 1, Kelvin's a-hole burned  after a similar experience, tied into his guilt over being gay  Now it's the possibility of being outed, and its impact on his career, that burns him. Will he be backing away from the erotic again, to maintain the illusion that he and Keefe are just good buddies?

Sip and Paint: A scene of Kelvin/Keefe problems will inevitably be paired with BJ/Judy problems.  They are on another date night, at a sip-and-paint studio. Why do they get so many dates, when Kelvin/Keefe get none?  

Someone sends BJ a dick pic!  He wants to email the guy to explain the mistake, because "some lucky gal's missing out on that glorious cock shot."  Did you forget that gay men exist, Buddy?  I'm sure your brothers-in-law would enjoy looking at a glorious cock.  Uh-oh, Judy realizes that Stephen, the guy she had the affair with, sent it on purpose to big-dick her husband!

The White Slap: Next, Jesse gets is initiated into the Cape and Pistol Society, for the elite of evangelical ministers. He sparrs with rival Vance Simkins, and uses so many cuss words that he's sentenced to a "white slap" -- literally being slapped by someone wearing a scary white mask. 

Then Baby Billy confronts him: "You are so hell-bent on running this church the way your daddy did, but you ain't your daddy." This line in the trailer led to widespread speculation that Eli had died, but it was just a misdirection.  Then Baby Billy suggests that a performance by Aimee-Leigh, Eli's dead wife and a famous gospel singer, would get some butts into the seats.  But how can she perform? 

Probably there are videos of her singing at the Grand Ole Opry or something. Baby Billy may explain, but who's paying attention?  Viewers are pushing the fast-forward button, anxious to see what happens with Kelvin and Keefe.

Rumors Swirling:  At the church food court -- notice the booths for Fancy Nancy's Chicken, Jason's Steakhouse, and "Wok on the Water" --  Kelvin, in virginal white instead of his usual green to emphasize his purity, listens to parental concerns about Keefe.  

"We do not feel safe with the assistant youth pastor. We heard he's a devil worshipper" and "I don't want him influencing our children."  

The most obvious conclusion from the sex toys debacle would be that Keefe bought them for pedophile grooming, but no one accuses Keefe of child molestation.  You don't say that a pedophile is a bad influence, you say that he is a danger. They think that Keefe is gay.  

This is Kelvin's chance to exonerate Keefe by coming clean: "Buying the sex toys was all my idea. I thought it would be a good teen project.  Keefe was just following my orders."  But instead he throws the guy under the bus in order to stay closeted: "I vouch for him.  He is one of my closest personal friends. He is my dude." 

A parent (Nick Arapoglou,  left) responds: "With all the rumors swirling about you, can't you see how strange this all looks?"

"There's rumors swirling about me?" Kelvin asks, shocked.  He thought that he was adequately closeted, and maybe he was -- Evangelicals often have trouble conceiving of a Man of God being "that way," so they may have let his feminine mannerisms and lack of interest in women slide.  But with Keefe outed, the rumors are bound to swirl. If Kelvin is outed as well,  his career as a youth pastor...as a pastor of any sort...as a Gemstone...

"Remove him, or we remove our kids." a parent demands. 

Kelvin literally runs away. 

The full review, with nude photos and explicit sexual discussions, is on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

[madamlaydebug]

In honor of Black History Month...

Today, we honor the life and legacy of Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth (1797 – November 26, 1883) was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist.

Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, Ulster County, New York. She was one of ten children born to James and Elizabeth Baumfree. James Baumfree was an African captured from the Gold Coast in modern-day Ghana. Elizabeth Baumfree was the daughter of enslaved Africans from the Coast of Guinea.

When her first owner died in 1806, nine-year-old Truth (known as Belle), was sold at an auction with a flock of sheep for $100 to John Neely, near Kingston, New York. Until that time, Truth spoke only Dutch.

Around 1815, Truth met and fell in love with a slave named Robert from a neighboring farm. Robert's owner forbade the relationship; he did not want his slave to have children with a slave he did not own, because he would not own the children. Robert was savagely beaten and Truth never saw him again, learning later he died from those injuries. She was then forced to marry an older slave named Thomas. She bore five children: Diana (1815), fathered by Robert; and Thomas who died shortly after birth; Peter (1821); Elizabeth (1825); and Sophia (ca. 1826), fathered by Thomas.

The state of New York began, in 1799, to legislate the abolition of slavery, although the process of emancipating New York slaves was not complete until July 4, 1827. Dumont had promised to grant Truth her freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if she would do well and be faithful." However, he changed his mind, claiming a hand injury had made her less productive. She was infuriated but continued working, spinning 100 pounds of wool, to satisfy her sense of obligation to him.

Late in 1826, Truth escaped to freedom with her infant daughter, Sophia. She had to leave her other children behind because they were not legally freed in the emancipation order until they had served as bound servants into their twenties. She later said: “I did not run off, for I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be all right.”

Truth later learned that her son Peter, then five years old, had been sold illegally by Dumont to an owner in Alabama. With the help of abolitionist, she took the issue to court and, after months of legal proceedings, got her son back, who had been abused by his new owner. Truth became one of the first black women to go to court against a white man and win the case.

On June 1, 1843, Truth changed her name to Sojourner Truth and told her friends: "The Spirit calls me, and I must go." She left her home to make her way traveling and preaching about the abolition of slavery and the rights of women. Of all her speeches and orations, she is most famous for “Ain’t I a Woman?”, delivered at Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

Her service to uplift all women and to free African-Americans will not be forgotten.

A Queen salute to Sojourner Truth!

#blackhistory #blackhistorymonth

[tony-is-my-daddy]

My Forbidden Fruit

I hit a writer's block a few days ago with the multi chapter Starker fic I'm working on and I thought I'd try writing something else to keep myself occupied. I hope you like this.

Basically, Peter is a farm owner's son and Tony works for his dad and they're not supposed to date but oh well... Also, it's not staded in the fic but Peter is twenty years old here.

TW: one love scene, a bit of possessive behaviour but it's mostly just dirty talk. I think that's it but if you think there's anything else, let me know, please!

------

He placed down the last crate of corn in the barn, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. His hands hurt at this point from how many heavy crates he'd been carrying around all day, but he couldn't complain, his job paid quite well. Working for a well going farm owner meant good payment but also a huge property where Tony had a load of work to get done every day. He'd been up since six in the morning and the only break he had was his lunch time ever since.

The physically tiring work wouldn't have been bad, but this job wasn't just physically tiring. There was this one boy who kept annoying him and distracting him from his work however he could. That stupid game between them felt more tiring than his whole afternoon of carrying crates around the place. And the worst part was - the boy was extremely pretty and he knew how to use that to his advatage.

He walked around in the tiniest clothes ever that Tony secretly loved, short shorts and tight fitting tops that just drove him absolutely insane. It's hard to focus on your job when he's outside, sunbathing on the grass in nothing but a pair of boxers, or doing his morning yoga on his balcony, or when he's coming back from a dip in the lake, milky skin and messy chestnut curls dripping water that the towel wrapped around his waist barely soaks up.

He was only supposed to stay until the end of the summer, but it was now the middle of September and he was still there. Tony didn't know why he was still at the farm but he wasn't about to ask because getting into a conversation with Peter, the son of the owner of the farm which Tony worked on, was dangerous. Peter had his way with words, all syrupy-sweet and tantalizing. Tony did not need that, he wasn't planning on losing his job because he fucked his boss' son.

But he could never avoid the boy fully when he was on the farm, and today was no exception. Peter was already on his tail as he walked out from the barn and towards the pile of wood that needed to be chopped.

"Hi Tony," the younger boy greeted as he hurried after the man. "My mom told me you had a lot of work to get done today so I thought I'd keep you company."

"I don't need company," Tony replied curtly as he grabbed the axe that laid against the wall of the shed.

They always used makeshift stand made out of a huge woodbark that almost reached up to Tony's hip to chop wood on, it was the easiest route. So Tony grabbed a small piece of wood, set it on top of the big bark and with a hard swing of the heavy axe, he split the wood right into two pieces, the axe stopping as it got stuck in the thick bark.

"Stand back, pretty boy, or you might get hurt," he said with a motion of his hand, signaling to Peter to go away.

"I'm fine." Peter smiled as he sat down on a bench not too far away from Tony. He watched the man work in awe, as if he was doing anything other than swinging an axe back and forth. "You're so strong, Tony. I wish I could do that as well."

"Try doing sports other than yoga and maybe you'll be able to lift the axe," Tony mocked him between two hits. "This isn't some game, Peter. I'm working over here, please don't distract me."

"Oh I'm not distracting you, am I," the younger boy asked faux innocently. "I'm just sitting here-" Yes, in those stupid shorts that put his milky white legs on display. "-and I'm not doing anything-" Just talking to me with that voice. "-just watching you work. Because it looks so fascinating, how strong you are."

"Then why not watch the other workers instead? They're probably just as fascinating as I am."

"No they're not."

"Why not?"

"Because you're way sexier."

There it was, again... Tony hated it when Peter did that, so open about what he wanted and always trying to get it shamelessly. Tony felt like a piece of meat under the intense stare of the younger boy, and he started getting more and more uncomforfable. Who did this boy think he was, saying such things?!

"Peter, I work for your father. Hell, I'm over ten years older than you!"

"That doesn't mean a thing, I like men in their thirties way more than men in their twenties. You're more mature, smart, experienced. I like that."

Tony rolled his eyes and got back to chopping wood, that was his work, after all. He tried his best to ignore the younger boy, but it was hard when he was only a few feet away and he looked fucking edible. Tony found himself glancing at Peter more often than not, making him smile triuphantly, which Tony pretended he did not see. It was harder to do his work with the pair of honey eyes (do not ask how did he know what color Peter's eyes were) constantly on him, his hits becoming less accuare until he wasn't even splitting them in half but into thirds and two-thirds. He shook his head, deciding to take a break. He put the chopped wood into a wheelbarrow and manouvered it into the shed, putting them away into the organized pile that stood next to the wall. The next thing he knew, Peter was there next to him, picking up a piece of wood and putting it down next to the ones Tony placed. Tony adjusted it a little so it sat straight, like the rest, and put three more next to it.

"Hey Tones... would you like to come with me to the lake later today?"

Tony scoffed. "It's Tony. And no, if you haven't realized yet, I have a lot of work to do."

"What else are you gonna do?"

"I have to finish chopping wood, lock the animals up and the boss told me there's a car that needs to be checked as well."

"Yes, my car! It doesn't want to start, I don't know what's wrong with it. Ahh, you're gonna look at my car? That's so nice of you Tony, I really appreciate it. Maybe- maybe you could teach me something? Like, I could watch while you work and you tell me how everything works and-"

"No." Tony finished up putting the wood away and lead the wheelbarrow back outside and put it down close to himself as he started chopping wood again. He managed to cut three before he heard Peter's voice again.

"What do you mean no? Why not?"

Tony sighed. "I was told to take a look at your car and fix it, not to give you a car mechanics one-oh-one. And that's exactly what I'm gonna do, no less, no more. Now if you'd please stop distracting me, I'd greatly appreciate that."

Tony heard a small huff behind himself, then saw the boy pass by him and finally left Tony alone. He heard the slam of a door, Peter probably went back to the farm house. So Tony continued chopping wood in peace, but soon regretted sending Peter away because his job was way less interesting without him around. Maybe he did actually need that company...

The sun was starting to set when Tony finally got to checking Peter's car. He put a portable lamp down next to himself as he opened the hood of the car.

"Tell me where it hurts, babygirl," he mumbled to the machine as he smoothed his hands down the engine. He looked through it and found the battery termials. A loose positive cable, of course. Tony carefully removed the negative cable, so he could tighten the positive without getting shocked. Then, he plugged the negative back in, both of them nice and snug in their place. He closed the hood and sat in the car to check if it would start. He turned the key that was still in the ignition and the engine began rumbling. When he stepped on the gas pedal, the vehicle started. Tony laughed victoriously and turned the car off.

This was probably his fourth time that he sat down during the whole day, so he savoured it. He leaned his head back against the seat and took a deep breath. The car smelled like Peter, the most intoxicating scent ever. Tony didn't often get to be engulfed by that smell, but it was so good, he never wanted to leave that bubble he was in, never ever. He knew that's not how it worked, though, and he sighed as he leaned back forward, ready to open the door, when suddenly the passenger door on the other side of him opened, and a very shirtless Peter Parker got into the car, a towel thrown over his shoulder.

"Let's go," he said.

"What? Where?"

"To the lake. You said you had no time because you had work. But this was your last job and now that you fixed my car, we can go and take a relaxing dip together."

"Peter, no-"

"Peter yes. Now start the car, please, I wanna get there before the sun sets fully. It's so pretty, you have to see it."

Tony shook his head again, but when he looked at the puppy dog eyed boy, he knew he lost the battle. He couldn't say no to that sight, he had to go. So with a sigh, he started the engine again and he put it in reverse to back up to the road. Peter told him exactly what direction to go, since Tony hadn't been to the lake yet, and soon they were in a secluded area, nature surrounding them and the small lake. Peter got out of the car and eagerly ran towards the clear water, Tony following in suit.

Peter dropped his pants, now only clad in a pair of tight boxers that perfectly hugged his round ass, and walked into the water. He let out a little yelp as it touched his skin.

"It's a bit cold," he giggled. "But it's still nice, come on!"

Tony shook his head with a slight smile, but started unbuttoning his flannel anyways. He watched as Peter's eyes followed his movements, the boy basically drooling over Tony's exposed upper body. But Tony couldn't say anything, he was no different. Seeing Peter's lean figure was something he was still not used to, probably never will be used to.

He unbuckled and unbuttoned his jeans as well and let them slide down his legs, stepping out of them and his shoes. Now he was also in only his boxers and while he knew he really should not have done it, Peter was irresistible. So he walked into the cool water as well, pleasant against his overheated skin.

At its deepest point, the water came up to Tony's hip, just covering the hem of his boxers, while it reached up to Peter's waist. The height difference between them was so obvious in that moment. Hell, every difference between them was so obvious, Tony's tanned hands against Peter's pale skin, calloused hands on the boy's silky soft sides while Peter placed his own, smooth hands on Tony's chest. They were so close to each other, they were touching each other. And not only that, but the amount of clothes separating them was minimal. It was so much easier to resist Peter on the farm, where people were around them and Tony knew what was his job. Where there was always at least a foot distance between them and an acceptable amount of clothes on them. But now, no one was there to interrupt them, nothing could've possibly made Tony step away from the beautiful boy. He was getting lost in the moment, lost in the honey colored eyes, the endless amount of freckles littering Peter's gorgeous cheeks and the bridge of his nose, the thick eyelases that fluttered so beautifully, like the wings of a graceful butterfly, the deep pink of those soft looking lips. Tony couldn't help his hand that moved on its own, coming up to touch Peter's bottom lip gently and yes, it was so soft, so delicate.

"Just kiss me already," Peter breathed, his usual teasing tone gone, now he was straight up begging. It made that last bit of resistance melt away, the last brick of the wall that Tony built around the two of them smash into tiny pieces, and their lips pressed together within a heartbeat. It was passionate, rough, months of built up tension poured into it. Tony'd hands began roaming up and down Peter's sides and back before one of them finally rested at the back of his neck, pulling him in, deepening the kiss, and the other one just below his ass as it pulled Peter's leg out of the water to wrap around his waist. The younger boy's arms wrapped around his back as well, hands burying into Tony's sweaty hair.

It was perfect, everything about the kiss was perfect and Tony never wanted to stop. Especially not when Peter's other leg followed the one that Tony was holding and he clung to Tony with his whole body. Only then did Tony notice the tent in the younger one's boxers.

"Tony," he gasped between kisses. "Please, do something, please."

And how can a weak, weak man like Tony resist to something like that? He grapped Peter's plump ass with both hands and started grinding the boy down against himself, the sweet friction on their clothes cocks making both of them moan out loud. The kissing came to an end as their jaws dropped in order to let their sounds flow, but they remained close to each other, basically sharing a breath. Their foreheads leaned against each other, half lidded eyes staring into the other's while they moved in tandem, grinding against one another.

"You're so beautiful," Tony said, his voice gravelly. "Skin so pretty and soft... I wanna mark it all up, make it mine. Make you mine."

"Take me. Take me, I'm yours, always have been yours."

"God, Peter. You're so good, fuck, so hot."

"Want everyone to know that I belong to you, Tony. Want them to see that the hottest man in the fucking world owns me. That I'm yours and no one else's-"

"And I'm yours, too."

They shared a few more lazy kisses between loud moans of the other one's name, both of them nearing their climax rapidly. Peter was the first who came, a harsh bite on his shoulder pushing him over the edge. As he came, he let out a scream louder than the ones he had before, which made Tony lose himself as well and come with Peter's name rolling off his tongue like a prayer.

They still held each other close as they came down from their high and tried to catch their breath. Tony was rocking Peter side to side, making the younger boy sleepy.

"Tony," he whispered.

"Yes, baby?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"I love you."

Tony chuckled. "Can I tell you a secret as well?"

"Mhm."

"I've loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you."

[lanadelreyscokewhor3]

SAVE A HORSE, RIDE A COWBOY- P.B PARKER

Pairing: Dilf! Cowboy! Peter Parker x Innocent! Fem! Reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Summary: Coming home for the summer back to the farm had it's perks. One of them being, you get to help out the owner of the ranch next door, Peter Parker. As they say- save a horse, ride a cowboy.

Warnings: thigh riding, over stim, BREEDING KINK, pet names, sir kink, praise kink, dumbification kink, degradation kink, tit play, smut implied, choking, cum feeding, teasing, swearing, yelling & booze mentioned ( readers father gets drunk & mad), age gap ( reader is mid 20s, peter is 40s), i let all my daddy issues shine through with this one yall, saddle up!!

Notes: "you're in the wind, i'm in the water- nobody's son, nobody's daughter... watching the chemtrails over the country club" - lana del rey, chemtrails over the country club

The caw of the rooster woke you every morning.

You didn’t have the luxury of an alarm clock, the blaring red numbers and constant blaring every five seconds being replaced with the trickle of the sunrise through your dainty lace curtains, the weight of your dog Harley jumping on your legs.

You didn’t mind.

It was a nice change from the sound of the bustling streets, the yelling of people down below mixed with the consistent sirens.

You loved your little apartment in the city, your roommate always providing you with comfort and kind words with a side of her jasmine tea.

But you had missed home.

You missed breathing in fresh, clean air, the soft breeze that would sway through the willow trees by the creek. You missed the feeling of the warm sunlight beating on you as you sat in the pasture with the cows, often sketching them while your father would yell at you to feed them, not just give them therapy sessions.

You could already hear their mooing from by the barn, causing you to sit up with a stretch, a yawn escaping your lips as you scrambled out from under the sheets.

An extra pep was in your step as you scurried down the hall to the washroom, brushing your teeth and washing your face in record time.

Today was the day.

You braided your hair in little pigtails, wrapping little pink bows to finish them off, smiling at your reflection in the mirror.

Today, you'd be seeing Mr. Parker again. Mr. Parker was your neighbour, the owner of the ranch right next to your farm. Your father had introduced him to you the second you had hauled in your suitcases in the door for the summer, and you nearly had fallen to your knees right then and there.

He was a living Adonis, his boyish smile making your face heat more than the stale summer heat outside.

I offered you up to help Mr.Parker this summer Y/N. His boys left the ranch to settle in the city before their first year at University.

Now typically, you hated when your father did this. This, little thing where he’d offer you around to the villagers like carol songs on Christmas, announcing that’d you'd be helping them with chores, without charge.

Of course, you couldn't just say no- being rude was not in your nature. But it irked you to no end when you’d have to scrub Mrs. Dorris's endless pile of dishes, or when you were forced to shovel manure on Mr. Hill’s barn with a smile plastered on your face.

But this wasn't Mrs. Dorris, and sure as hell wasn't Mr. Hill. This was Mr. Parker.

I’ll go easy on ya darlin. he had said with a wink, when the look of surprise was stunned upon your face at your father's words. Your heart had fluttered, hands went clammy as your fidgeted with your sundress. The thought of him and the words that rolled off his tongue had you smiling, a blush staining your cheeks as you ran back to your bedroom, slipping on the prettiest shirt you owned, and a pair of jeans that hugged your curves like a glove.

A basket filled with fresh berries and slices of homemade bread you had prepared last night was wrapped in flannel linen as you kissed your father on the cheek, and rushed out the door.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come in!” the husky voice called in response to your soft knocking on the oak door, sending shivers down your spine as you creaked it open, peeping your head inside. The sight had you nearly falling to your knees, the basket near slipping from your fingers.

You had walked in on him buttoning up the last of his white dress shirt, his beautiful, calloused hands adjusting the silver watch at his wrist. There was no ring on his finger, you noted.

Part of you hated yourself for feeling a wave of relief and happiness wash over you at the bareness of his hands, the other side encouraged it.

It was agony, wanting this man. You knew deep down, it probably wasn't right, him being a little younger than your father. Yet you couldn't stop the feelings you felt, no matter how much you tried to repress them back down. They bubbled to the surface, with every smile he gave you, with every word that spilled from his lips.

“Hello, love.” he smiled, bringing your attention up to his soft, brown eyes, the sunlight shining on them, turning them caramel.

“Hello sir.” you smiled softly placing the basket of goodies on the table, clasping your hands together. As if your inner conscious knew if you didn't, you'd reach out to touch the living artwork of the man, running your fingers down the planes of his shoulders, across his sharp jawline, through the strands of his silky hair from under that damn hat…

“Are those for me darlin’?” he asked, tugging you out of your daydream. “They're from Daddy's bushes outback… I picked some yesterday. The bread I made last night.” you blushed, watching as he popped a raspberry in his mouth.

Juices stained his fingers, in which you watched him suck them clean, his eyes boring into yours the entire time, gaze mischievous.

You gulped.

“You shouldn't have love. You’re too sweet.” he winked, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows as he brushed past your frame. “You give little treats to everyone darlin?” he asked, eyebrow raised as he held the door open, nudging for you to step back outside with him.

You obeyed.

“Only the ones I like.” you teased, earning a laugh from him. It was your new favourite sound, you decided, as light and airy as the birds who chirped from the branches of his oak trees.

“I’m honoured, sweetheart.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Parker stood true to his word, of course. He did go easy on you.

Not once did you lift a finger, as much as you offered to. He just shooed you off with a smile, saying today was an “introduction day”.

You were given a tour of his property, its beautiful pasture and meadows appearing like a painting in your mind. You couldn't help but smile as you watched some horses gallop in the meadow, their manes blowing in the gentle breeze as the grass swayed. It was stunning here. All seven hundred acres of it.

From the little apple trees that bloomed white in the spring to the creek that stretched to the back of his property, you never wanted to leave here. Especially if Mr. Parker would be here.

The day was drawing near, the afternoon heat diminishing as he took you around his barn, showing you all the horses that nicked in their stalls. You’ll mostly be helping out here, if that's alright darlin. Just keeping them fed, watered, clean and maybe even on some rides while I get stuff done out back. He had told you as you scratched a pinto mare's forehead lovingly, laughing as he snorted at you.

“I saved the best for last.” he teased, leading you to very last stall. A gorgeous chestnut mare poked its head out from the opening, it’s doe eyes wide as it took you in.

“This is Layla. She’s truly something.” Sure enough, a golden plate with Layla was underneath her long neck, glimmering brightly as the sunlight trickled through the open doors. “She's beautiful.” you gasped, placing your hand out for her to sniff.

“Layla’s the first horse I ever bought. Don't let her age fool you though, she runs as fast as the greens our back.” he joked, scratching her neck gently. “She seems very friendly.” you nodded, your heart seeming to triple three sizes as she nudged Peter's body, as if to say- more attention on me please!

“Oh she's a sweetheart. She's my good girl, aren't you Layla? Such a good girl.” he cooed, patting her neck.

The barn suddenly became hot, the sticky afternoon heat reappearing as your cheeks flushed. Such a good girl.

Those four words alone had you keening, causing you to chew on your cheek as you clenched your thighs together, kicking little pebbles as a means to calm down.

Those words weren't sexual. They were not intended for you. So why did it feel like it was?

You wanted to slap yourself silly for thinking this way, taking something so innocent and contorting it into… whatever this was. The dampness in your panties increased as he turned his attention towards you, a grin on his face.

Almost as if he knew. Almost as if he could see right through you.

“So does that sound okay then love? Lookin after them?” You nodded, following suit after Peter as he turned on his heel, heading back out the main doors. “Good. Wanna make sure you're comfortable here, okay?”

“Yes Mr. Parker. Thank you, um, for showing me the ropes and stuff today.” you blushed. “Of course darlin’. And-” He stopped you with the gentle touch of his hand, the feeling warm against your goosebump ridden skin.

“Don't be afraid to come over after hours okay? If you need anything at all, I’m here.” His eyes bore into yours, the softness they portrayed making you hypnotised.

You would do anything this man asked of you. You'd come over every day, every night, every hour if that's what Peter wanted.

“Thank you sir. You’re too kind.” The fact his grip tightened slightly at your words didn't go unnoticed by you. Nothing ever did, when it involved him. “Have a good evening darlin’.”

It was going to be a very, very long summer indeed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“YOU RUIN EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH GIRL!” Your fathers' cruel voice and the sound of the glass hitting the floor echoed, his whisky coating the floor with its bitterness had you running for the door with a cry.

Your vision was blurry as you sniffled, tears making your eyes red and puffy as you sobbed. The door slammed behind you with a thud, your legs carrying you as fast as they could down the steps and to the driveway.

You needed out.

You needed away from this house, and your fathers booze stained breath. His temper raged when he drank, and that was many times this week.

Many, many times.

The cool air soothed your heaving lungs, the cicadas buzzing under the moon distracting the buzzing in your brain. You couldn't think of anywhere else to go but, well… Peters.

The offer he had given you the first day of your time on the ranch blazed in your memory like a wildfire, his soothing voice numbing the pain.

You wanted to see him.

The idea of his soft embrace and charming smile sent your feet running down the driveway, down the road and to his house. You prayed the offer still kept. You had worked for Peter nearly every day this summer, and when you didn't work, you still often dropped by to give him little treats and pastries.

It was too late to second guess yourself any longer as you clambered over the closed gate, lock and chains jangling as you jumped down. Cursing yourself for wearing a little lace nightgown, you made your way down the long driveway.

There was dim lighting from behind his curtains, and you were thankful he wasn't asleep. The guilt that would wash over you if he was would never leave. You made your way up the front porch steps, rattling on his door quietly, The curtains shuffled as he made his way to the door, creaking it open slowly.

“Y/N? Darlin are you okay?” he asked gently, a look of concern on his face as he shooed you in. “I know its late, Mr. Parker sir but I just…”

You burst out into tears, hands covering your face as you cried. You felt his large frame wrap around you in a comforting embrace, swaying you side to side in his arms.

“Shhh, shh its okay love. Just let it out, atta girl.” he cooed softly, stroking your hair in a soothing manner as you gripped his shirt like your life depended on it.

“M’so sorry sir.” you sniffled, rubbing your nose as he lead you over to the couch. “Hey, never ever apologise honey. I told you that you could over anytime, did I not?”

You nodded softly, glancing up to meet his gaze. “Exactly. Can you tell me what happened love?”

His voice was so rich, so smooth and dreamy you never wanted him to stop talking. Each word was a note from a symphony, blending together in perfect harmony. You trusted him. More than anything, you trusted him. Which is why you told him everything.

“Dad was drinking again and he- he started getting mad again. Throwing stuff and yellin, blaming me for things I- I have no control over.” you sniffled, his palm cupping your cheek as he whipped your stray tear with his thumb.

“Oh honey I’m so sorry. That's not very nice of him is it?” You shook your head. “He’s being so cruel to you angel. But I’m so proud of you for coming over, you did the right thing.” he whispered, kissing your forehead tenderly.

You felt your heart thud madly in your chest, its beat in sync with the cantering stallions in the barnyard. His skin smelt of oak as he drew you even closer to him, sliding your body across his lap. There was nearly no space between the two of you now, but you didn't care.

Peter was here now.

He’d take care of you.

“He’s always telling me mean things, it makes me cry. I don't like to cry very much Mr. Parker.” you whispered, the throbbing in your core becoming more prominent as he began to bounce his knee.

Up down, up down.

You hiccuped softly as his hand came to rest on your thigh, tracing circles gently against your skin. It was comforting. You liked it, more than you should have.

“Tears can be pretty sometimes sweetheart. Happy tears, for instance.”

“But these aren't happy ones sir.” you smiled weakly, watching as his hand inch up your thigh. “I know sweetheart. We should do somethin about that eh? Get you feeling all better?” he purred.

You nodded, too dumbstruck for words as his hand resumed its hitch hiking, making its way closer to your soaking clothed cunt from under your nightgown.

Oh god.

“W-what are you doing sir?” you asked meekly as his fingers gently traced the cloth, making you shiver, the pulsing of your clit near unbearable as he teased.

“Oh darlin, I’m making it all better, see?” he pouted, slowly adjusting you so you sat straddled across his thigh. “But Mr. Park-”

“Shhh, darlin. Its just me, its your Peter.” he shushed you, hands tracing the curves of your hips, running up and down as he watched your nipples pebble from under the soft nightgown. He could sense the worry on your face as you chewed on your lip, looking up at him softly.

You wanted this. More than anything you wanted this. But deep down, you knew it was a bad idea, getting mixed up with your employer.

But weren't the bad ideas always the best ones?

“I see those thoughts runnin in that pretty head of yours baby. Little girls like you don't need to think, they need to be taken care of. And I’m gonna take care of you okay? I’ll give you everything you need, everything to make you feel better.” he cooed, tugging on a curl that had fallen from behind your ear as you swallowed, nodding.

He was right. Peter was always right, you knew this.

“Yes sir.” you whispered, eager to please the man. “God when you call me that darlin you drive me wild. Make me so god damn hard and you don't even know it, you silly girl.” he mocked, eye brow raised as he squeezed your cheeks together.

“Makes me wanna bend you over and stuff you full of cum, till your drippin. Makes me wanna spank your ass red, till you're a blubbering mess. But I can’t do that, can I sweetheart? That'd be too cruel for my innocent lil girl.” Peters grip made its way down to your neck, closing firmly around your neck, making you gasp.

“Mr. Parker I need-”

“Ah ah ah..” he clucked his tongue, watching your doe eyes widen. “I know what you need darlin. I always know what you need.”

Any thoughts from your brain has left, your body and mind solely given to use for Peter in whichever way he wanted. You wouldn't be surprised if drool dribbled out of your mouth with the way you were under his trance, your gaze fully focused on his full blown pupils.

“Yes sir.” you speculated, smiling as his dimples showed. You were making him happy. “Good girl. Now you're gonna ride my thigh yea? Then I’m gonna fill you with cock until you're fucked stupid.”

You found yourself nodding, his grip on your hips tightening as you began to rut your hips against his thigh, the denim feeling delicious against your clit. “Mghmm.” you moaned, rolling your head back as he guided you slowly against his bouncing knee.

“You’d like that huh? My dumb lil darlin, stuffed full.” he teased, country drawl even heavier as he watched you in delight. The praise and degradation was making your head spin, your bones turned to mush as you rode him.

There was a fire in your veins, a simmering in your core that continued to burn with each rise and fall of his knee, with each gentle kiss and lick he placed on your collarbone.

It ached. It ached more than anything.

“I know it aches honey, but you gotta be a good girl and take what I give you.” he murmured against your skin, moaning as you slid your hands up through his hair, tugging.

The brown, honeyed strands were as silky and smooth as you thought they'd be, perfect reins for you to hold onto. “Been wanting you so badly sir please!” you cried, your slick coating his jeans as you slid your hips.

Back and forth. Back and forth.

It was addicting, the way he was making you feel without truly touching you. “Oh honey I know. I’ll just have to ruin you for all those boys at college won’t I?”

He was toying with you, a cat chasing its dinner. You were the mouse. And you were perfectly fine with that.

“Please!” you gasped, pulling on his scalp as he leaned down to suck on your breasts through the lace of your dress. “Mmm. By the time I’m done with ya darlin, these will be full of milk. Gonna fuck you r-right.” he stuttered as you tugged on his his hair, arching your back to provide better access as he licked and sucked. He bit down on your nipple, tugging at his teeth as you screamed his name.

You were shattering. You were floating, a simple atom floating with the stars as you came, toes curling from the sensations. You never wanted to stop.

You never wanted him to stop.

No one had ever made you feel this way, had made you orgasm so hard your eye rolled back to your brain…

“That’s a good girl. Such a good baby.” he praised, his gentle voice snapping you back to realty as he brushed his lips against your soft, warm skin.

“M’so good. So so good…” you trailed off, sleepy smile on your face as he slid his hand down to the wet patch on his pants, smearing your juices on his fingers.

“Open up darlin.” he hummed, winking as you stuck your tongue out, lapping up your cum from his fingers like a kitten drinking its milk.

“My good girl.” `

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

You rock BTW.

Wondering if you could recommend any fics where Stiles meets someone online and falls in love (think like a cinderella story, she loves me) . AU or Cannon is fine. Ships of Sterek, Steter or Stargent preferred but all ships are fine.

 Hi @she-who-reads-fanfiction! @kevaaronday made this list for you.

my heart’s been offline by thepsychicclam (1/1 | 58,893 | Explicit | Sterek) 31/M/New York. Rich, lays in bed all day, likes to read (aka Derek Hale, son of an Oscar winning actress, brother of one obnoxious reality star and one rebellious fashion designer, hates the paparazzi so much he's a recluse)

26/M/California. Boring office job, likes to read (aka Stiles Stilinski, co-owner of a 100 acre organic farm with his dad and two best friends, writer of obits for a newspaper, has absolutely no life)

Or, where Derek and Stiles meet online, and Stiles has no clue Derek's part of a famous family.

if only by petals (1/1 | 46,665 | Mature | Sterek) “I could totally stop talking to him,” Stiles interjects, feeling a sudden overwhelming urge to defend himself and brush the whole thing off as nothing. “I could. Easily. That’s the beauty of talking to someone online; you can just, like, talk to them for however long you want and then disappear for however long you want without any real impact on your daily life. It’s not like I’m going to run into him at the grocery store. I could stop at any moment.”

“But you don’t,” Lydia points out.

“No, he doesn't,” Scott replies, forcing Stiles to scowl at him. “He just got a new one this morning and he hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

Or, the one where Stiles has been talking to some guy that he doesn't know online, but that's the least of his worries when a new pack moves into Beacon Hills, and Stiles suspects the alpha of bringing a coven of witches with him.

Somewhere In Between by amazingpages (1/1 | 33,029 | Teen | Sterek) Derek’s been letting his job dictate his life ever since he was promoted from freelance photographer to official travel photographer. In his five years of travel, he’s built relationships in countries all across the globe, yet he still returns home after each job as lonely as ever. When he decides to try out the pen pal site Laura recommends to him, he doesn't know what to expect. Derek isn't prepared for Stiles, a small town guy with big dreams of seeing the world. And he certainly isn't prepared to fall in love with him. He has to remind himself that this is just a pen pal thing and not to get carried away. It's not like Stiles could ever like him back.

Right?

I Should Meet You Because I Love You by derekstilinski (10/10 | 22,573 | Mature | Sterek) Derek and Stiles meet online, and then in real life.

a voice on the phone by To_fill_the_sea (3/3 | 14,498 | Explicit | Steter) After the Hale fire Peter distances himself from the entire pack. He remains in the pack but travels and keeps in contact. While he is away the pack grows and gains a new emissary. This emissary is one Stiles Stilinski and he develops quite the friendship with Peter over the phone. They've talked almost daily for years and have never seen each other's faces and feelings have been developing along the way, but something happens that forces them to finally meet. What happens then?

Don't Say a Word (Just Dance With Me) by cathcer1984 (1/1 | 11,922 | Mature | Steter) AllHailTheKing has left the following comment on your post I want:

If you're amenable, I want to give this to you. Will you let me?

With a frown Stiles clicks on the link to the post, it opens automatically in a new tab and his faces heats when he sees what he wrote.

I want...

I want someone to woo me. Send me flowers, hold my hand, take me dancing and to dinner. Talk to me about books and movies, intellectual and silly things. 

I want someone to fall in love with. 

I want the excitement of dating without the expectation of sex.

I don't want sloppy hand jobs from frat boys who don't know what they're doing with a dick that isn't theirs. 

I want someone who will wait to take me apart with their hands and mouth. I want to be held at night and wake up next to him the next morning. I want sleepy morning sex and soft kisses, breakfast in bed and comfortable silence. 

*

Or the one where Stiles has a blog and one of his posts makes a reader want to woo him.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by Finduilas (1/1 | 6,583 | Teen | Sterek) Stiles and Derek meet online, through fandom. They share their online life together: fics, fanart, squeeing over actors; but they haven't met in real life yet. Or have they...?

I Settle for Long Distance Calls by iamursforevrmre (1/1 | 4,369 | Gen | Sterek) Derek is the guy who Stiles met on some random band page on MySpace because Derek made a ridiculously hilarious comment and with a spurt of confidence, Stiles had messaged him to tell him just how hilarious it was and they got to talking. Derek is the guy that made a FaceBook account just to talk to Stiles on the messenger so they could talk more when MySpace was slowly dying out. Derek is the guy that changed his text message plan to unlimited when he finally sent Stiles his cell phone number. Derek is the guy that has been on the phone with Stiles at any and all hours through the day. 

And Derek is the guy that Stiles is in love with.

camera shy by rjosettes (1/1 | 3,741 | Teen | Scallison) When Stiles can't bear Reddit anymore, he resorts to Tumblr for his porn and gaming needs. He has no idea what he's getting himself into when he follows photgrapher aargentsf on a whim, but nonetheless...he thinks he's gonna like it.

Two in One by sterekstyles (1/1 | 2,444 | Not Rated | Sterek) Prompt: Some kind of online relationship, where either they don't know each other irl or they do but they don't know it's them who they are talking to (and crushing on) online!

watching you light it up by S3anchaidh and piratetattoos (1/1 | 2,084 | Teen | Sterek) "Light of my life, fire of my loins, you're not getting cold feet are you?" Stiles says, and Derek rolls his eyes. Stiles should be immune to how Derek looks, but damn, he could never be. They've been friends for three years now, and they've been there for each other every step of the way, celebrating the little victories like when Derek got his name legally changed, when Stiles went on testosterone, when Derek got approved for top surgery. 

*

(or: the one where they meet under different circumstances, in a different world, but they still fall in love.)

Your Taste by redeyedwrath (1/1 | 1,335 | Gen | Sterek) In which, Derek is Stiles' online boyfriend - even though Stiles doesn't know what he looks like - and they meet for the first time

[friendly-jester]

I thought of roles for some of the other Avengers for my SamBucky AU I’m calling School of Fish AU bc school?? fish?? Bucky’s a teacher and Sam’s a fisherman?? get it?? lol

Like I said previously, Sam’s the local fisherman. He’s living with Sarah and helping her raise the boys like a good uncle and he meets Bucky and is like 👀. Bucky’s the history teacher at the local high school. He’s still pining over his childhood best friend Steve who recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Peggy.

Steve Rogers - I see him running a mechanic shop for some reason??? I don't know why but that's what I'm feeling rn. He’s been friends with Bucky his whole life and thinks of him as his brother. He doesn’t know Bucky’s in love with him bc he’s oblivious. 

Peggy Carter - I don't actually know what she'd do for work (maybe the English teacher??) but every Tuesday and Thursday evening she teaches a self defense class at the community center. Nat and Valkyrie help co-teach from time to time. She does know Bucky's in love with Steve because she's not oblivious but isn't jealous or anything like that. She understands why Bucky would fall for Steve and wants Bucky to be happy. They actually get along pretty well.

Sarah Wilson - Helps with the family fishing business like in canon. Also like in canon she’s a single mom taking care of Cass and AJ with Sam’s help. Every Saturday is lady’s night where she, Pepper, May, Wanda, Natasha, Peggy, and other ladies of the mcu I’m forgetting get together at Valkyrie’s bar and just chill together. I just want more woman friendships in the mcu so I’m giving it to myself as a treat. 

Tony Stark - Stay at home dad of Morgan. Before Morgan was born he was a scientist in the nearby city. He is the PTA’s number one volunteer for stuff. Married to badass business woman Pepper Potts. #malewife

Pepper Potts - Like I said, badass business woman. I think Aunt May would be a business partner just because I love imagining those two having a friendship 👌 I don’t actually know what the business would be (I haven’t thought that far ahead) but she works in the city that’s like 30 minutes away.

Peter Parker - High school student who tutors and babysits a bunch of the younger kids in the town they live in. Still a super smart nerd and lives with Aunt May just minus the super powers. Good friends with Ned, Shuri, and Michelle.

Wanda and Vision Maximoff - Owners of the small bakery/café in the town square just because that seems like it would be their jam. Met in college and married about a year ago with twin sons on the way.

Natasha Romanoff - Besties with Clint. No one actually knows what she does for a living or what her life was like before she moved to the town a few years ago. I honestly don't know what she’d do for a living but it wouldn't be as exciting as everyone in town thinks it is lol

Clint Barton - Owns a farm a few miles out of town where he lives with Laura and the kids. Goes to the farmers market in town every weekend to sell the stuff they grow on the farm. Laura is the local librarian because she gives me librarian vibes.

Bruce Banner - The science teacher at the high school. He and Tony are old college roommates bc science bros.

Valkyrie - She owns the bar in town and know everyone's secrets because they get drunk and tell her. Very bi and besties with Thor. 

Thor Odinson - High school gym teacher seems obvious but it just suits him okay?? Coach of the football team too. He's a lot of the kids favorite teacher just because he's so kind and understanding. If a student has a problem they'll most likely go to Mr. Odinson for help. In a long distance relationship with Dr. Jane Foster who’s doing science-y stuff in a different state but should be coming home soon.

Loki Odinson - Drama teacher. I picture him being like Mrs. Darbus from High School ​Musical.

T'Challa - The charismatic town mayor who’s always reeclected because everyone loves him and he's doing a fantastic job running the town.

Shuri - T’Challa’s younger sister and student at the local high school. She and Peter have a friendly science rivalry that has caused a few minor fires and explosions.

Dr. Stephen Strange - I feel like doctor at the local hospital is too obvious but I don't know what else he'd be?? A librarian maybe?? I'm vibing with doctor tho.

I know I'm still missing a bunch of characters but that’s all I’ve got so far. I kinda like the idea that the Guardians of the Galaxy are a group of hippies that just showed up in town one day and haven’t left lol

[steliosagapitos]

             “Spring Day At Knudsminde Farm, The Danish Residence Of The Grand Duchess In Exile” by Olga Alexandrovna/О́льга Алекса́ндровна (Russian artist, 1860-1960).

      ~ Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and her husband, Colonel Nicholas Kulikovsky, escaped the Russian revolution and civil war arriving in Denmark 1920. They lived with the Grand Duchess' mother, Tsaritsa Maria Feodorovna, at Hvidøre Manor until her death in 1928. When Hvidøre was sold in 1930, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and her husband acquired Knudsminde Farm in Ballerup, where they lived until 1948. Hereafter, they emigrated to Canada. Provenance: Danish private ownership. The former Danish owner received the painting directly from the Grand Duchess.* She was the youngest child and younger daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and younger sister of Tsar Nicholas II.She was raised at the Gatchina Palace outside Saint Petersburg. Olga's relationship with her mother, Empress Marie, the daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, was strained and distant from childhood. In contrast, she and her father were close. He died when she was 12, and her brother Nicholas became emperor. In 1901, she married Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg, who was privately believed by family and friends to be homosexual. Their marriage of 15 years remained unconsummated, and Peter at first refused Olga's request for a divorce. The couple led separate lives and their marriage was eventually annulled by the Emperor in October 1916. The following month Olga married cavalry officer Nikolai Kulikovsky, with whom she had fallen in love several years before. During the First World War, the Grand Duchess served as an army nurse at the front and was awarded a medal for personal gallantry. At the downfall of the Romanovs in the Russian Revolution of 1917, she fled to the Crimea with her husband and children, where they lived under the threat of assassination. Her brother and his family were shot by revolutionaries.Olga escaped revolutionary Russia with her second husband and their two sons in February 1920. They joined her mother, the Dowager Empress, in Denmark. In exile, Olga acted as companion and secretary to her mother, and was often sought out by Romanov impostors who claimed to be her dead relatives. She met Anna Anderson, the best-known impostor, in Berlin in 1925. After the Dowager Empress's death in 1928, Olga and her husband purchased a dairy farm in Ballerup, near Copenhagen. She led a simple life: raising her two sons, working on the farm and painting. During her lifetime, she painted over 2,000 works of art, which provided extra income for both her family and the charitable causes she supported.In 1948, feeling threatened by Joseph Stalin's regime, Olga emigrated with her immediate family to a farm in Ontario, Canada. With advancing age, Olga and her husband moved to a bungalow near Cooksville, Ontario. Colonel Kulikovsky died there in 1958. Two years later, as her health deteriorated, Olga moved with devoted friends to a small apartment in East Toronto. She died aged 78, seven months after her older sister, Xenia. At the end of her life and afterwards, Olga was widely labelled the last Grand Duchess of Imperial Russia. 

Source: Wikipedia.

[ccss10987]

Found a time line! I originally wrote a bunch of things out, but it was super unorganized. The website also lists out other interesting things if you’re willing to read it.

the website - https://thehauntedshanleyhotel.com/our-history/

1845 - Thomas Ritch built a new hotel called Ritch's Hotel, but later renames it as the Mansion House.

1851 - The hotel's name is changed to Hungerford's Hotel, after being bought by F. G. Hungerford.

1858 - In April, Hungerford sells the hotel to John Tonkin.

1866 - John Tonkin sells the hotel to A. J. Wood and it becomes the Topatcoke House.

1871 - In May, Wood sells the hotel to Aaron Schoonmaker and it becomes the Napanoch Hotel.

1872 - Schoonmaker sells to Eli Dewitt Terwiliger.

1876 - October 31st James Louis Shanley is born.

1877 - Terwiliger sells the hotel to Civil War veterans, William Easman and his two brothers, Charles & Peter.

1884 - The Easman brothers sell to Frederick B. Bridgens.

1887 - Adolf Wagner purchases the hotel.

1895 - March 18th the hotel burns down to its foundation, after a nearby house catches fire and spreads.

1895 - by September a new building frame is erected.

1895 - In November the hotel reopens for business as the Colonial Hotel.

1898 - Wagner sells to Mary Roos and they change the name of the hotel back to the Hotel Napanoch.

1900 - US Federal Census shows George Gosselin as the owner.

1902 - Allen H. Hazen is born.

1906 - James Louis Shanley purchases the Colonial Hotel for $10,000.

1907 - Charles Byrnes fell from a window, but survived.

1908 - A new addition is built for the hotel, including a bowling alley, barbershop, billiard room, and second floor apartments.

1910 - A barbershop opens with a barber named Peter Greger from Brooklyn NY.

1910 - April 26th James and Beatrice are married in the hotel.

1911 - July 18th Kathleen Shanley is born to James and Beatrice.

1911 - ON May 26th the barber's daughter, Jeanette Roseanne "Rosie" Greger, drowns in the well of the Hoornbeek Farm across the street from the hotel.

1912 - On January 6th, Kathleen Shanley dies at the age of 5 months and 24 days.

1913 - On September 10th James Shanley Jr. is born. By this time the hotel's name would soon be changed to Shanley's Hotel.

1914 - On January 21st James Shanley Jr. dies at the age of 4 months and 11 days old.

1915 - Dr. Walter Nelson Thayer, Jr. accidently ran over his 5 year old son, Walter Nelson Thayer III, after the boy climed onto the running board as the car was backing out of the alley between the hotel and the doctor's home. The boy sustained severe head injuries but did not die from the accident.

1916 - January 30th William Shanley is born to James and Beatrice.

1916 - In February there is a fire in the ice house and a new auto fire truck is credited with saving the hotel from destruction.

1916 - On November 9th, William Shanley dies at the age of 9 months and 10 days old.

1920s - The hotel operates as a speak-easy with bootleg liquor being hidden away in a secret basement room under the bar.

1932 - The hotel is raided for booze during the Prohibition Era.

1933 - James and Beatrice attends the Inaugural Ball at Washington DC

1933 - On August 3rd future first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, is a guest at the hotel.

1937 - August 26th James Louis Shanley dies.

1941 - April 13th there is a fire at the hotel due to a faulty chimney.

1944 - Beatrice sells the hotel to Allen H. Hazen

1961 - November 27th Beatrice Shanley dies.

1967 - Nelson F. Waters purchases the hotel from Al.

1971 - August 26th Allen H. Hazen dies.

1973 - G. Edward Trumbull purchases the hotel.

1991 - The hotel closes down.

2005 - Salvatore Nicosia purchases the hotel and discovers it is home to several spirits.

2007 - The Shanley Hotel is reopened.

2016 - July 5th Salvatore Nicoscia passes away.

2017 - In December, the hotel was condemned and closed after a time of mixed reviews and poor management.

2018 - The hotel is reopened under new management

[gayenerd]

This is another article I found during the internet k-hole I went into while looking for information about Adrienne’s ex-fiance, saved in a document, and now can’t find online anymore. I think it was originally featured in the Mankato Free Press, but the author apparently had a blog detailing her 2009 efforts to get in contact with Adrienne and campaign for Green Day to play in Mankato again. There’s some more interesting tidbits about the Mankato punk scene and an interview with Adrienne there. 

Campaign Green Day: Reflection

By Amanda Dyslin

Free Press Features Editor

June 10, 2009 11:29 pm

— It was dark in the middle of the southern Minnesota countryside, somewhere by St. Peter in the summer of 1992.

On a farm with a barn and not much else, there was one light pole casting a shallow glow on three guys standing atop 6-foot wide, 5-foot tall wire spools — a makeshift stage to gain high ground over 200 or so people watching. Next to them was a big, old, beat-up beast of a car pulled up by the owner so 15 or so people could stand on top and gain a better view. One of them had a video camera.

Ben Gruber, then a sophomore at Loyola High School, was there. In fact, he and a buddy had helped haul equipment for the band, and even gave the drummer, Tre Cool, a ride before the show in Mankato. The music was good, he said. A lot more polished than other punk bands he’d seen in Mankato.

He was aware of the five-year-old band, born in Berkeley, Calif., he said. They’d put out a couple of smaller recordings, including their full-length debut “39/Smooth” on Lookout! Records. But they were two years from their breakthrough record, “Dookie,” which would have pretty much everyone at the show that night in awe of what they had experienced — maybe one of the last stripped down, small-scale punk shows Green Day would ever perform.

Mankato punk

The Libido Boyz are often considered the anchor of the Mankato punk scene in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It was a time when the city was rich with garage and basement punk bands, drummer Chad Sabin said before a reunion show in 2007. PSD and Plain Truth were a couple of other bands that got a lot of attention at the time.

Marti’s All Ages Music, located where the Vietnamese restaurant Tonn is now on Front Street, was an open building with a bathroom and a couple of booths where kids could put on shows. A couple of bands went on to the big time after playing there. The Offspring was one of them.

Many claimed having heard of friends who had seen Green Day play at Marti’s. According to a former talent booker, the closest Green Day ever came to playing the venue was when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and his girlfriend, Adrienne Nesser, walked in and left right after The Offspring’s set in 1994. Marti’s tried to get Green Day to play the venue numerous times, but it was way too small for even the moderate level of fame they’d already gained pre-“Dookie.” Marti’s had the same trouble with the punk band Fugazi.

“It was pretty much no frills,” Gruber said. “There wasn’t much to do there.”

The bulk of the punk scene was made up of high school and college-age punk-rockers who would play anywhere, Sabin said. Like a lot of kids at the time, the Libido Boyz just wanted to play loud, chaotic music, which also is what people seemed to want to hear. Kids would cram into basements for concerts or listen outside garages.

“On any given week or weekend, there would be a show with anywhere from two to 10 bands playing,” Gruber said. “There was a really good crop of musician-age kids who were into (punk) for a while (before) grunge became very popular.”

During the next few years, the Libido Boyz got big. They played in the Cities and toured the state and eventually started playing shows across the country, including New York and San Francisco. Out West is where they met Green Day, who would become the biggest punk band to come through Mankato.

“They were just dirty punks like us,” Sabin said.

Former Libido Boyz bassist Dave Begalka said they played punk shows with Green Day from time to time while on tour. Mike Dirnt, Green Day bassist, actually did Begalka a big favor once when they played a show in Cleveland together.

Some of Begalka’s bass gear went missing, and a couple of months later he saw Dirnt when they both were playing shows in the California Bay Area. Turns out, the bass gear was mixed up with Dirnt’s equipment that night, and he’d been keeping it safe for him the whole time.

“I thought that was just downright a swell thing to do,” Begalka said. “As I recall, I think we couch surfed at Billy Joe’s that night. ... By the way, I still use the lost guitar strap that went around the U.S. with Green Day.”

The Libido Boyz and Green Day crossed paths in another way as well, through Adrienne, who was a student at Minnesota State University and living in Mankato.

The first lady

Adrienne (Nesser) Armstrong, now 39, was born in Minneapolis and started at MSU in the late 1980s, graduating with the class of 1994 with a degree in sociology.

She met Billie Joe on Green Day’s first tour in 1990. Some report it was a show at First Ave in Minneapolis, and she is quoted at greenday.net as saying only about 10 people were there. She asked Billie Joe where she could get a copy of the band’s CD, and the two hit it off.

While on tour, Billie Joe kept in contact with Adrienne by phone. Their first kiss inspired an early Green Day song, “2,000 Light Years Away.” Their relationship caused Billie Joe to arrange two tours around Minnesota so they could see each other, a relationship which lasted about a year and a half.

Although it’s unclear, witnesses who saw Billie Joe and Adrienne around Mankato during that time say the reason Green Day played shows in the area at all was simply because she was here. The shows weren’t a part of any tour, but rather impromptu ways to pass to the time.

The relationship fizzled after they decided the distance was too much of a strain. Adrienne got engaged to Billy Bisson, the frontman of Libido Boyz, the following year. Reports differ from either side, with some saying the relationship dissolved on its own. Bisson has been quoted as saying Billie Joe stole her away.

While in Mankato, Adrienne worked at various places, including the Piercing Pagoda in the River Hills Mall and Pagliai’s Pizza, and is described by those who knew her as a beautiful punk rock girl who everybody had a crush on.

Cheryl Rueda, manager of Pagliai’s, worked with Adrienne and three of the Libido Boyz at the restaurant when Adrienne was dating Bisson. Adrienne also babysat for Cheryl’s kids.

“She was a beautiful girl,” Rueda said. “I think the world of her. She was just a regular person.”

Thursday nights Adrienne babysat for Cheryl’s two kids, Andre and Marisa, who were about 3 and 6 at the time. She would often have a craft project or activity to do to keep them entertained. She even took them out trick-or-treating during a blizzard one year.

“She was their favorite babysitter,” she said.

Carrie Zempel Heise worked with her at a bar called The Jungle, now Dutler’s Bowl.

“I ran into her after the bar had closed down (she was working at Pier 1 Imports), and she told me she was moving out West soon,” Zempel said. “Months later, word got back that she had married Billie Joe, and then the next thing I saw was an interview with him in Rolling Stone magazine talking about his pregnant wife!”

When Adrienne finished school, Billie Joe convinced her to move to California and marry him. Rueda said it happened so fast it seemed she was gone over night. Before she left, she and friends had a big garage sale, said Amy Lennartson of Eagle Lake. She and Lennartson originally had plans to move to San Francisco together and open a business.

“She headed West that May, and I stayed over the summer to finish up my time at MSU,” Lennartson said. “Then, in true rock star fashion, I returned home from a Fourth of July vacation to a wedding invitation from Adrienne — to a wedding that had already happened.”

The wedding took two weeks to plan and happened in five minutes July 2, 1994, in Billie Joe’s backyard, according to the VH1 “Behind the Music” documentary. “We didn’t think about it, we just did it,” Adrienne said.

Protestant, Catholic and Jewish vows were exchanged because neither had a religion. The honeymoon took place 10 minutes from Billie Joe’s house at the Claremont Hotel. The day after the wedding, Adrienne found out she was pregnant.

The couple has two sons, Joseph Marciano, 14, and Jakob Danger, 10.

Adrienne now co-owns Adeline Records in Oakland, Calif., and Adeline Street clothing line. She works with the Natural Resources Defense Council, and co-owns Atomic Garden, an eco-friendly clothing and home goods store.

There is at least one friend in Mankato Adrienne is reported to keep in contact with. But said friend — whose basement Green Day was reported to have played in and who reportedly visited the Armstrongs in California — wasn’t eager to talk about it.

Rueda kept in contact with Adrienne for a while. Adrienne would send the Rueda kids Green Day T-shirts and things. She also sent a family photo to the Ruedas years ago. When Adrienne’s first son was 1 1/2, she came back to Mankato to visit and Rueda saw them. She was the same person she had always been, Rueda said.

A few years ago, Adrienne asked a friend in Mankato to go to the Ruedas’ house and videotape the kids so she could see how much they had grown up. Otherwise, the Ruedas haven’t heard from her since.

Big time

The night Green Day played St. Peter, the original plan was for them to play at someone’s house behind where Casey’s is now on Lee Boulevard in North Mankato.

Two local bands went on first. But the cops came and broke it up because of the noise. Gruber and his buddy offered to drive equipment and Tre Cool to a house on Fifth Street in Mankato, where somebody had offered up their basement. But the band took one look and said it was way too small.

That’s when a girl whose family lived off Hwy. 99 near St. Peter offered her place.

“This whole caravan of cars ended up driving out to her place,” Gruber said.

It was too hot to play in the barn. Gruber suggested the guys make a mini stage out of the wire spools, which they thought was pretty punk rock, even commenting on that stage and show later on a bootleg recording, he said.

Gruber said he later recognized songs such as “Welcome to Paradise” off of “Dookie” that they played that night — the night most people look to as the epitome of nostalgia when it comes to Green Day’s presence in Mankato. People still go to YouTube to check out the nine or so minutes of footage from that concert, despite being out of focus, jittery and too dark to see much.

“Took me back,” Gruber said of watching the footage. “That guy filming, he was probably standing right next to me and my friends.”

A couple of hundred people have similar memories from that night, having accidentally stumbled upon a concert that would become local legend. None of them could possibly have imagined what Green Day would become.

“Dookie,” released in 1994 — which followed 1992’s “Kerplunk,” having sold 50,000 copies — sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. That album, along with those of The Offspring and Rancid, is credited for reviving mainstream interest in punk music, and it won Best Alternative Album at the Grammy Awards.

Future albums, “Insomniac” and “Nimrod,” went double platinum, and “Warning” went gold. None of them reached the level of success of “Dookie.”

But 2004’s punk rock opera “American Idiot” changed everything. Debuting at No. 1 and selling five million copies, critics absolutely drooled over it. “American Idiot” won Best Rock Album at the 2005 Grammys and swept the MTV Video Music Awards.

“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and won the Grammy for Record of the Year. During the band’s 150-date tour in support of the album, they drew crowds of 130,000 people over two days in the United Kingdom.

The band’s new album, “21st Century Breakdown,” was released worldwide May 15 and received rave reviews. Last week the band played “The Tonight Show” with Conan O’Brien.

Their world tour kicks off in July, with the Minneapolis show at the Target Center July 11.

Copyright � 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.