#the close encounter of cabin 7

[unchartedstarsocs]

What do you mean I haven't posted this already-

Anyways, here's a cover I did for a minicomic I'm making!

The comic is intended to be a campfire story in my (WIP) comic, The Close Encounter Of Cabin Seven. In the story, the main character, Oliver, meets a girl (currently unnamed) and it does not end well for him. Fun fact: he's holding a love letter in the cover.

Here's the sketch:

[unchartedstarsocs]

I'm currently working on a comic, and for world building reasons I had to come up with an entire written language.

Eventually in the story there will be a translator, but in the beginning there isn't one so it would be fun for fans to go back and translate little details I left.

cannot recommend more putting secrets and hints in your creative work that you dont expect anyone to figure out

[fullscoreshenanigans]

What kind of dates do the full score trio like to go on?

☆ Obligatory café dates:

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7 Bonus Art)

↳ They run the gamut of the local one in the village closest to Alex's cabin, ones Norman and Ray visited during the search for Emma, and ones new to all of them. ↳ I love playing around with whether Emma or Norman typically get the sweetest drinks. Sometimes Ray takes them up on the offer to try a sip, and the grimace he makes from the super sugary ones is kind of adorable. ↳ Emma also tries to use a barista to legitimatize calling Ray Raymond at some point.

☆ Frequently linked with café dates are chess dates in the park. It's usually Norman versus Ray with Emma spectating or backseat chess playing when she wants to get a rise out of Ray. This results in either griping or flirting depending on the mood.

☆ Picnic dates out in the meadows or hills near Alex's cabin (or parks, again depending on if they move away), food provided by Ray. Not uncommon for them to wind up sprawled like this among the grasses and flowers:

(The Promised Neverland Art Book World - Volume 20 Cover Rough Drafts)

Sometimes they stay long enough to watch the sun set on the horizon and the fireflies come out. It's nice being able to stargaze outside together, considering they only were able to do it once at Grace Field and probably didn't have time for it during the short while all three were reunited during October and November 2047. ↳ Norman encountering any insects besides fireflies or arachnids is a fun sight to behold though, just because the other two know he's Not Fond of them.

☆ Emma takes up ice skating during the timeskip. Ray can kind of keep up with her, and Norman is just happy if he can stay upright and maintain his dignity. He can't say he minds his partners taking his hands and guiding him, though. ↳ Occasionally Emma and Ray use these outings as an excuse to get him in loud and colorful winter hats, claiming it's to help prevent him from blending into the ice and snow. Somehow he never manages to win the argument that his coat, scarf, and hat he's already wearing should suffice.

☆ I mostly see antiquing as an NR thing, but sometimes Emma will tag along to spend time with them, even if she ends up wandering off or chatting with people about other things instead of focusing on the main reason they're there lol

☆ They do escape rooms, but since it's them they usually impose their own rules, like no verbal communication.

☆ I like the headcanon of Ray turning into a bit of a pretentious foodie in the human world so he'll usually research and vet the restaurants they pick beforehand. ↳ 50% of the times Norman sides with Emma on overriding Ray's vetoes to a place he regrets it, but Emma argues it's the experience that matters most. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and at least they'll have a new story to tell people.

☆ Even during busy periods in their lives, Ray likes to wine and dine NE with small but extravagant insta-worthy candlelit dinners at home (cooking is such a big love language for him). The two delight in the contrast between the end result and the preamble, which is usually a blunt and concise "dinner at x. Be there." text combined with a seemingly random image that he manages to tie into the meal theme or an extreme close-up of some ingredients. ↳ This is also something Ray likes to do when Norman is experiencing a flareup from Lambda sickness and they have to cancel a night out, depending on the severity. The venue just switches from their kitchen to their bedroom.

☆ They can all get competitive at places like fairs, carnivals, and arcades. Emma and Ray might banter over it, but it can be kind of wild to onlookers how intense Norman and Ray can be about it all without saying a word to each other (they do this when playing video games like Mario Kart too).

☆ Emma insists on going to the Norman Rockwell and Ray Charles museums after she remembers or finds out the boys were named after them. The Charles trip is sidestepped until after Ray sorts out some of his issues with Isabella.

☆ Due to Norman's connection with owls in the demon world as William Minerva, I'd love to see them visit an owl sanctuary or café if Vincent's owls didn't make it over from the demon world like Ayshe's dogs.

☆ Even if they have other events planned for the day, they like to take some time to themselves to watch the sunrise on Ray's birthday, wherever they might be. From a balcony or porch at their home or a hotel, a nice spot on a hill that will allow them to have a nice picnic, etc.

[thefrogdalorian]

You Are Eternal

✯ Read on AO3 ✯ Word Count: 1423 Rating: Teen Summary: When devastating news that High Magistrate Karga has become one with the Force reaches Din in his cabin on Nevarro, he reflects on the complicated nature of their relationship. Din pays his own tribute to the man who witnessed firsthand his shift from bounty hunter to father. Content Warnings: Major character death. Grief, mourning... I wrote this to try and cope a little with the awful news and it's just.... really sad. Author's Note: I just had to get this out of me tonight. It was my way of coping I guess. I hope Greef lives on somehow in the show, I really do. But I think he was Din's first real friend and their arcs are so similar, it's so sad to think he won't be there anymore. Thank you for reading. RIP Carl, Mando will never be the same without you 💔

Din Djarin was, unfortunately, all-too accustomed to loss. The feeling of grief was not alien to him. Ever since that terrible day on Aq Vetina, when he had lost everything and everyone that he had ever loved, the fear of losing others seemed to loom large over his life, a constant uneasiness that had long clouded his interactions with others. That was, until he had been sent to Arvala-7 and encountered The Child, who he would eventually adopt as his own. It was a chain of events that would not have been possible were it not for the very man whose loss had struck him harder than any blow he had sustained in the profession that had once united them.

Despite how many times Din had undergone the mourning process throughout his life, he found that the news of one of his oldest acquaintances’ passing had hit him particularly hard. The rapping at the door, well after the sun had set on another bright and sunny Nevarrian day, took Din by surprise. But nothing could have prepared him for the message that had promptly been relayed to him. News that had been delivered by a copper-plated droid, of all things. 

When he opened the door to his cabin on Nevaro, the last thing Din expected to hear was news that the High Magistrate had become one with the Force.

In those first few horrible moments after hearing such devastating news, Din found that the sensation resembled a punch to the area just underneath the shiny beskar plate that protected most of his chest and abdomen. Although Din was an extremely skilled fighter, he had occasionally been delivered such agonising blows in that incredibly vulnerable place. Now, Din was reminded of such agony as he processed the news.

Din’s relationship to Greef Karga had undoubtedly been complicated and at times, volatile. A former adversary, to an acquaintance, to possibly something even more… like a friend. Din Djarin did not typically have friends. But as he sat there in his cabin, processing the news after dismissing the droid and removing his helmet, he began to wonder whether, perhaps, he had had one… without even truly realising it.

A friend that had passed to the afterlife, before Din had the opportunity to comprehend how much Greef had truly meant to him.

Of course, there had been Paz. But Din was bound to Paz by Creed, as a fellow Mandalorian. There were no inherent bonds such as that with Greef. Instead, the former leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild on Nevarro had become increasingly close to Din. Greef had gradually become a trustworthy presence in an often cruel and treacherous galaxy.

Perhaps it was the shared trauma of the siege in the cantina, when Din and Greef had barely escaped with their lives, which had been the catalyst for their increasing closeness. Until then, Din had wondered whether he could fully trust the older man. After that, though, there was no doubt. Greef Karga was, at the very least, an ally.

All Din knew with any degree of certainty was that as soon as the Razor Crest needed repairs, when Din and Frog Lady had barely escaped with their lives on the frozen planet of Maldo Kreis, it was the coordinates for Nevarro that he had punched in. After being rendered an apostate for removing his helmet and violating the Creed, it was once again Nevarro that Din had journeyed to in order to secure a droid for his expedition to the Mines of Mandalore. On that very visit, when Grogu had been in danger thanks to the rogue IG unit, Din had not hesitated to thrust his son into the arms of Greef Karga, knowing that he would protect the little boy.

Back then, Din could never have foreseen himself settling on Nevarro. He had been so consumed with his quest for redemption that he had promptly rejected Greef’s offer for a tract of land by the lava flats. Yet after retaking Mandalore and adopting Grogu, the land had suddenly become an extremely attractive proposal. The little parcel of land had become the perfect place for Clan Mudhorn to rest between jobs for the New Republic. Din was eternally grateful for Greef’s offer. 

It was true that Greef had done much for Din during the time that they had known each other, but it was equally true that when Nevarro had been under threat from the pirates headed by Gorian Shard, Din had not hesitated to raise a band of Mandalorians to follow him. There were few people in the galaxy that Din would have gone to such lengths for, but Greef Karga was undoubtedly one of them. 

Not to mention the repurposed IG unit that Greef had given to Din, for Grogu to operate, despite Din's reservations. Although it had initially annoyed Din (and the stall holders of Nevarro) as it had given Grogu a way to verbalise his insolence and feed his insatiable appetite, it had been an invaluable aid during the retaking of Mandalore. An aid that would not have been there were it not for Greef. Both Din and Greef owed an enormous debt to each other.

The realisation of what a key figure Greef had been in Din Djarin’s recent history almost sent him tumbling to his knees. That Greef was the man who had perhaps witnessed more closely than any other the shift in Din from a lonely, selfish, bounty hunter with a strict adherence to the Creed, to a man who would do anything to ensure the safety of The Child, even if it meant violating the Way. That Greef was gone.

For a second, Din wanted to run from the cabin, screaming and sobbing, pleading that this could not possibly be true. That Greef would never realise how much he truly meant to Din. But he quickly came to his senses and soon sought solace elsewhere.

Din crept down the hall towards his son’s room, ensuring that in spite of his emotional state, he was as quiet as possible so Grogu was not awakened. He just wanted to be close to him, to feel his presence nearby, a comforting closeness to the special little boy who had changed everything for him. Din was relieved that Grogu was sleeping soundly, his shallow, even breaths continued even as his distraught father stood in the doorway. 

Din feared how much the news would devastate the little boy who was currently sleeping soundly in his crib. Despite how much Din ached to hold him close as comfort for himself, he didn’t have the heart to wake Grogu. Although Din supposed, given the way that Grogu seemed to understand the galaxy around him, that perhaps somehow his son had already sensed the enormous loss of such a monumental presence. A loss that would surely leave a void incapable of being filled in all of their lives. Every sunset on Nevarro, a sight that had once left Din awestruck with its beauty and the vibrance of its colours, would surely seem a little darker from now on.

Din turned his back and left Grogu's room then, fearing that if he stood there for much longer, the tears that had begun to silently creep down his cheeks would develop into a more audible indication of his grief that would wake Grogu. Plus, Din had remembered a certain cupboard in the kitchen, the contents of which would provide a fitting tribute to the High Magistrate.

He had hoped that one day, he might invite Greef to the cabin for the advised smaller gathering to share this luxurious libation with him. Perhaps even face-to-face, without his helmet, such was the increasing number of ways that Din had discovered there were to walk; ways to be Mandalorian.

That would never happen now, Din realised with a pang of sadness as he stepped out onto the porch and into the moonless Nevarrian night. He placed two glasses onto the table by the bench and slowly poured the amber liquid. 

Then Din sat back on the bench, and raised a glass of the Coruscant wine to the stars, in a toast to his old friend. He spoke the sacred words of the ancient language of their people, a daily remembrance that he would now carry out for the man who, despite everything, had become his friend.  

“Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Greef Karga.”

(I’m still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.)

[jo1sstuff]

@yourstruly9489

Kinda reminds me of Jess for some reason. (cabin 7) What do you think?

Paper things

[strawberryshortcake1495]

The Story of Jasmine

(I can’t afford the fast-pass chapters so I’m not sure if her backstory has already been revealed, but as I said, this is all just my own interpretation and shouldn’t be taken as canon.)

Jasmine used to be such a happy girl. She was the eldest child in her family, having two younger siblings named Amara and Colton (aged 7 and 4). She was only 12 years old when she and her family went on a vacation to Savannah. They visited the Sorrel Weed House and Jasmine explored each crook and cranny of the house, drawn in by its history of being haunted. That’s when she saw a phantom from the corner of her eye but chose to ignore it. By the time her family left, it was nighttime, and they were making their way home when a large phantom blocked their way. In a frenzy, they quickly drove off into the forest and stayed at a cabin for the night. The next day, the phantom was gone but that wouldn’t be Jasmine’s last encounter with those ugly creatures. She and her siblings started seeing phantoms everywhere but they’d always disappear before they could really catch them. Amara told their parents and then they started seeing the phantoms too. This went on for like 3 weeks. Jasmine’s mother thought they were going crazy and started spiraling into madness. Jasmine’s father thought that the hotel they were staying at was haunted as well and that the only way to escape the phantoms was to just go home. So one fateful night, they packed their bags and started driving all the way back home. Jasmine kept checking her phone as they kept driving. 7PM. 8PM. 9PM. 10PM. 11PM. As the clock struck midnight, the skies turned red and there was a loud roar in the distance. Then the giant phantom centipede manifested and started chasing the family. Jasmine’s father was driving at speeds that shouldn’t be possible and Jasmine herself was hugging her siblings and trying to comfort them while crying her eyes out. Suddenly, they began to swerve off the road. The last thing Jasmine saw was a tree getting closer and closer and closer.

When she gained consciousness, the first thing she felt was something wet and mushy. Someone wet and mushy. As Jasmine’s vision cleared and she looked around, she realized something horrific. Her entire family was dead. She was laying in a bed of corpses. Distraught, Jasmine scrambled out of the broken car and began crawling into the forest. Her leg was twisted in a not-so-fun way. The only thing she could really see was the sky, which had returned to a somber dark blue with stars that illuminated the forest. Jasmine fell limp and closed her eyes, ready to die.

She awoke in a strange place with white walls. A man was standing near her bed. It was Maverick. Jasmine tried to leave but Maverick kept her put, and explained that she was sick. Infected with the virus. Maverick told her if she stayed, she could be able to help other infected people like her so they wouldn’t end up like her family. Jasmine stayed in that place for 6 miserable years until she turned 18 and started working professionally under the Paper Cranes.

Jasmine is presumed to be Patient Zero. A child who was gaslighted into believing she was crazy.

[whxtedreams]

Chapter 7 - The Cabin

Summary

Present: You go on a patrol with Joel

Past: A converstation with Tommy after the events of the Cult

CW // Fluff, Tommy being an idiot, mentions of past sexual encounters, PTSD, tooth rotting fluff, Joel just doesn't know how to let himself feel.

WC // 7,719

Now

Late Spring 2024

Tommy arrives at your house early the next morning, throwing small rocks at the wall he knows your bed is pressed against. He's done this on countless occasions, but after the first time he broke the window and accidentally landed a rock in your bed, he started aiming next to the window instead. As he continues to throw rocks, the loud smacking sound fills the air. You groan in annoyance and roll over in your bed, not wanting to wake up and deal with Tommy right now. 

"Rise and shine Sunshine!" Tommy shouts from your front garden, throwing another rock at the wall. You groan and slide out of your warm blankets, sitting up in your bed, your hair messy as you were woken up mid-sleep by the annoying and loud noise of his continued rock throwing. You crawl on your bed and slide open the window, feeling the cool air rush into the room. You lean your arms on the windowsill and look down, seeing Tommy ready to throw another rock but lowering his arm when he sees that you're awake and smiling up at you.

If the tall tree next to your front porch was planted next to your window, you'd bet your coffee that Tommy would climb it and bang on your window if he could. You wonder if he would've taken things that far if the tree was more accessible to him. You sit in your bed and continue to watch him from the window, thinking about his antics with annoyance, but a hint of fondness creeping in. Sure, he's a headache to deal with at times and he can be a bit annoying, but there's also a certain level of appreciation that you have for his playful spirit.

"You look beautiful as ever, sleepyhead," he teases as he drops the rock back into your garden and you roll your eyes, shutting the window on him. You sit in your bed in silence for a moment, not feeling very beautiful with your messy hair and the small signs of sleep still etched on your face. You lay back down and close your eyes, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep before you have to face the day. After a few minutes, Tommy throws another rock on your wall again. "You better not have gotten back into bed" He yells. 

You groan and sit back up.

"You better not have gotten back into bed," you mumble, mimicking Tommy's voice as you swing your legs off your bed and stand up. You pick up the discarded black pyjama shorts from the floor and tug them on before descending the stairs to the ground floor. You're a bit hazy and still groggy, not having fully woken up yet. 

Unlocking the door, you open it to see Tommy sitting in the rocking chair next to your door. He looks up at you with a grin and closes his eyes, showing that he has no remorse for waking you up early in the morning. You sigh and cross your arms, leaning against the door frame and looking down at him. "You have a key, you know. You don't have to throw rocks at my house," you say, your tone tired and irritated. 

Tommy's smile drops and he opens his eyes as he stands from the chair, heading past you and into your house. "Last time I just walked in, I saw you and Emily having sex," he grumbles, sounding a bit embarrassed and like he's trying to brush off what he saw. You let out a chuckle, knowing how he must've felt stumbling in on that particular moment.

He had walked in on a rare night when Annabel was out with friends and you had the house to yourself with Emily. The two of you had normally kept your sexual activities to your bedroom but one thing had led to another and you had ended up on your knees in front of her on the couch, worshipping her with your mouth between her thighs. Tommy had chosen that moment to come over and give Annabel a new book he found for her. He dropped the book and ran out faster than you've ever seen him move, the image of what he saw scarring his mind. You and Emily had burst out laughing at the sight of Tommy's face and his hilarious reaction. 

He couldn’t look you in the eyes for a week after that. 

A week after that is when he broke your window with a rock.

You shake your head and close the door behind him as he moves into your kitchen. “Well Em isn’t in the picture anymore so you won't walk in on that kind of thing anymore.” You reassure him as he sets the kettle on the stove. 

"Well, yeah, but I'd rather not have to scrub my eyes clean again," he jokes as he opens your fridge and smiles when he takes out the bowl of baked honey apples you made last night after Joel left. "You want any?" he asks, taking a bowl for himself and a mug for you from your cupboard. You're a bit surprised that he's already in the fridge looking for snacks, but you shrug it off and let him do his thing. 

"Just coffee." You reply, sitting down in a chair and sighing as you do so. Tommy nods and scoops himself a rather large serving of baked honey apples and smiles like a child in a candy store, his whole demeanour changing and his expression becoming childlike and innocent.

You watch him as he digs into the apples like a child, taking them in huge mouthfuls and making small noises of pleasure as he enjoys the baked honey apples. You feel a sense of dissonance between the man leaning against your kitchen counter enjoying the food you’ve made and the man who has killed and tortured countless people before. It's almost like this side of Tommy is hidden away and only comes out when he's around those he cares for, making you feel even more special for having the privilege of seeing him like this, enjoying the simple pleasures in life. 

You guess he sees the same in you. 

“I love you.” He grumbles over another big mouthful and you scrunch your nose as you see bits of apple falling from his mouth.

“You love my food.” You scoff playfully as he smiles over another mouthful. 

"Mmm, that too," he hums, setting down the half eaten bowl of honey apples and beginning to make coffee for the two of you. He moves around your kitchen like it's his own, acting as if it's a familiar space. You recall how at one point, it was his home. When you first arrived in Jackson, Tommy refused to settle down in any house besides your own. It took three months for him to eventually come around and feel safe in the town, when you were safe in his eyes, along with Annabel.

It took another six months before he finally stopped using the spare room as his own and officially moved in with Maria, whom he quickly fell in love with and made him feel even more at home in the small town of Jackson.   

Tommy sets your favourite bee painted mug in front of you before bringing his own mug and bowl over to sit beside you where Joel had sat the previous night. As you take a sip of hot coffee, you smile into it as you're filled with the comfort of knowing that he's made it just the way you like it, showing a level of care and thoughtfulness towards you.  As the morning light pours through the windows, it paints your surroundings in a warm glow as the warmth of the coffee heats up your body from the inside out.    

"So, I'm guessing you didn't come over just for food and company," you begin, questioning him on his early visit. You expect to hear that something is wrong but instead he only smiles at you and sets down his coffee mug. 

"You want to go back on patrol-"

"Yes," you interrupt him, your tone firm and sure. He freezes in his tracks and lets out a huff of laughter at your quick response, not expecting to be cut off like that. You're already halfway out of your seat and grabbing your jacket from the back of the chair. Tommy stares at you for a moment, a mischievous smirk playing at the corners of his lips.

"Not right now Sunshine, calm down," he puffs out, sounding a bit exasperated. He holds out a hand to stop you, his tone changing to one of concern instead of his previous friendliness. "Maria and I think you're ready to get back out there," he continues, sounding a bit more stern, "but we have some conditions." You set your jacket back down reluctantly and sit back down beside him, waiting to hear what these conditions are before you're allowed to go back out on patrol.

"And what condition would that be?" you cautiously ask, already knowing that you'll agree to whatever terms he sets, but wanting to have it spelled out for you anyway to make sure you don't go blindly into agreeing to them. 

Tommy smirks at you and crosses his arms, looking quite pleased with himself and whatever plan he's come up with. "Well, if we are going to let you back out there, I want you to take a patrol partner with you.”

You frown at his request, not liking the idea of having to take a partner with you for your patrols. Your usual route is quiet enough and doesn't warrant the need for multiple people to go, as you're more than capable of doing the patrol alone. You would occasionally take Tommy along with you if you were doing a supply run or a more difficult route, but you were comfortable going alone for the most part.  

"Joel knows the route well enough by now, since he's been covering the cabin for you," Tommy continues, and you let out a puff of air at the thought, feeling a bit relieved that your first choice for a patrol partner was actually the correct one. You weren't annoyed or frustrated by Tommy's condition either, as Joel would be a good partner, and you're glad that Tommy didn't try to set you up with someone younger or inexperienced.

"Yeah, okay. I think I can manage that," you respond, nodding in agreement. You take a sip of your coffee and swirl the warm liquid in your mouth before continuing. "You said conditions, as in plural. What else?" you ask, raising an eyebrow in expectation of what he has to say next.

Tommy finishes the last of his apples and pushes the bowl away, placing a hand onto his stomach and letting out a contented sigh. "You start doing supply runs more often and… Maria and I are having a barbeque next week to properly welcome Joel and Ellie," he says, his tone sounding like an invitation, but more of a command rather than a request, "We want you to be there." You frown at him, a little taken aback by his order but knowing that you'll have no choice but to follow what he says.

"Tommy-" you begin, not wanting to argue with him or go against his command. He looks over at you with pleading eyes, and you groan and lean against the table with your elbows. Resting your head in your hands, you sigh and consider your options. 

More supply runs, easy. But you don't like social gatherings as they're too crowded and you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by being around so many people. Even though you've been living in Jackson for almost five years now, you still find yourself uncomfortable being around that many people.

"It's just going to be a few people, just family. No crowds." He informs you as he starts to see you internally panic.

You reluctantly give in and agree to go to the barbecue. “Fine.” You mumble under your breath. 

Tommy's hand reaches out and rubs your back before standing from the table. "Next week, Saturday," he informs you, stepping towards the archway and stopping before turning back to you, pointing at the fridge. "You can even bring some of those baked honey apple slices, I'd really like that," he adds, and you lift your head from your hands with a small laugh. 

"Are you only inviting me for my food?" you tease, your tone playful and your expression mischievous as you look up at Tommy, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Of course I am.” He says as he breaks out in a big grin. You roll your eyes as he waves goodbye. You think he’s left but he reappears in the archway again. “Make sure to take your meds before the party, yeah? They’ll help.” He gives you another reassuring smile as you tell him you will and he actually leaves this time, leaving you once again alone in your house. 

It’s too quiet. 

You stand from the table and place a record on the turntable beside the stairs, the soft voice of Elvis filling the room. You close your eyes and allow your body to relax as it absorbs the melody and fills your racing mind. 

You spend the next few hours puttering around your house, cleaning and preparing for your first patrol in weeks. You go through your collection of guns and knives in the lockers in the garage, cleaning each one thoroughly and making sure all the guns are loaded with bullets and all the knives are sharp. You take your time and make sure to treat each weapon with care and ensure that it's in working order, making sure that you're well stocked and prepared for whatever might come your way while you're on patrol.

“Ellie.” Joel warns as the teenager attempts to leave the house quietly without him knowing. “What have we talked about, kiddo?” He tries to remind her as he stands at his kitchen sink, drying off dishes from breakfast that the two of them had shared with Tommy.

Tommy had wandered over mid-morning as Joel was preparing breakfast. His younger brother had initially debated internally as to whether or not he wanted to stay for breakfast. The debate didn't last long, however, as he set himself a seat at the table and began helping Joel with making the food, despite Joel's resistance at first.

Tommy had come over to invite both himself and Ellie to a barbecue he was hosting in honour of them joining the community. Joel had groaned at the news but agreed in the end. He hated gatherings, even more so after the outbreak. There were too many people, and too many things could go wrong. It was too loud and deafened out any lingering threats. He really didn’t want to go.  

He then moved on to mention that you were going to start accompanying him on the patrols. Tommy had explained that after your injury, he felt better knowing that you weren't alone at the cabin anymore and would have backup whenever you did a patrol, especially since he had a gut feeling that the cult you were after could also be hunting the both of you. 

Now that Joel comes to think of it, Tommy had smelt like honey when he was over. Had he come from your place?

Ellie responds by turning away and muttering something under her breath, her expression filled with annoyance.

Joel sighs and sets down the plate he was drying, looking towards Ellie. "Come on Ellie, I'm just asking where you're going," he explains, his tone a bit softer now as he attempts to reassure her that he's not opposed to the idea of her going out. "I won't say no, I just want to make sure you're okay," he continues, his concern evident in his tone as he tries to ease Ellie's nerves about going outside on her own.

She shrugs, moving back and forth on her toes and heels, her grip tightening on the straps of her backpack. "Just hanging out with some friends," she replies, not making eye contact with Joel and doing her best to downplay what she's really up to.

Joel raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his shoulder, the dishcloth laying across his shoulders. "Right. And where are these friends hanging out?" he asks, knowing very well that there's more to the story than Ellie is letting on. A small smirk appears on Ellie's face, and she takes some time to respond, wanting to prolong the conversation and Joel's annoyance.

"Just by the river," she replies under her breath, her tone a bit more sheepish now, as she looks down at her dirty shoes. Joel had tried to clean them for her after they arrived in Jackson, but she refused to let him touch them. She said the dirt brought them charm, he really doesn't understand teenagers.

"Alright, so the river," Joel replies to Ellie, feigning a stern tone, but she can tell that he's just joking. She responds with a big smile and excitement, which prompts Joel to ask her, "What time should I expect you back before I send out a search party?" Ellie lets out a light scoff, the idea that she'd get lost out in the woods or river completely ridiculous to her.

“You’re fine with me leaving Jackson?” She beams and stops rocking on her feet. 

"No, but you're going to anyway, aren't you?" Joel argues, but she nods in acknowledgment, confirming that she'll leave regardless of his opinion on the matter. "I'd just rather know when and where you're venturing out," he continues, showing that he at least won't stand in her way or do anything to prevent her from going. He might not agree with what she's planning to do, but he'll at the very least give her the freedom to do what she wants.

"Just be back before I get back from patrol, yeah? I'd rather not have to come looking for ya at night," Joel reasons with Ellie, hoping to get her to stick to that curfew. She nods in understanding and rushes out of the house, not wanting to spend any more time arguing with him. She'll probably get caught up in hanging out with her friends or doing whatever it is she has planned, but she'll at the very least try to get back before Joel finishes his patrol. He hopes . She'll probably push her curfew to the last second though, wanting to spend the maximum time possible out having fun. 

The door slams behind Ellie, causing Joel to flinch and his hand to instinctively reach for the absent gun in his pants. He closes his eyes and takes a slow, shaky breath, trying to calm himself.  

He’s safe. 

He’s safe . 

Joel spends the morning upstairs, emptying out a room he’s planning on using as a woodworking room. He desperately wants to make a guitar, or at least things to litter his house with. Maybe even make something for Ellie and Tommy. And maybe you. You had a singular pirate ship on top of one of your bookshelves, another one would look really nice on the other side to balance it out.  

A knock suddenly interrupts Joel's day-dreaming, sending him racing up from his seat, his hand already instinctively reaching for the absent gun in his pants. He curses and runs a hand through his hair in a sign of frustration, bending down to pick up the spoon that had clattered to the floor.

When he opens the door to find you there, your back facing him, his heart rate climbs for a different reason. You turn at the sound of the door opening and flash him a soft smile. Joel tries not to stare, but he can't help himself. The simple act of you smiling sends shivers down his spine. 

You're dressed in short black cargo shorts with two knives attached to each side of the waist band. A skin-tight black long-sleeved shirt is tucked into your shorts, with a deep V-neck that is laced together with thin rope a zig-zag way. A gun is holstered to your thigh, and Joel notices a small amount of pudge around the holster's straps, and hates to admit that it makes his mouth go bone dry. You're also wearing some brown lace-up boots, a knife placed in each shoe. 

Your hair is also in a low ponytail, with small strands of hair framing your face and that makes his old knees feel weak. 

You’re dressed for patrol. Right . Patrol. Shit he forgot about patrol.

"You...ah...You look nice," Joel compliments you awkwardly, and mentally berates himself for sounding so awkward. He's not used to giving out compliments easily and feels almost a little embarrassed at complimenting you just now. However, it was the truth, and you really do look nice. In fact, you look stunning, and Joel doesn't know how he's going to be able to handle the tension and emotions he's feeling towards you.

A high pitched Ha escapes your throat and you slap your hand over your mouth the second you make the sound. Heat flushes to your cheeks and clear your throat and lower your hand. “Ah, thanks Joel.” You just as awkwardly reply back as your own eyes take in his appearance.  

"You… Don’t look ready?" you ask Joel, your face twisting into confusion and the blush still evident on your face, creeping down your neck. It takes a moment for him to respond, as a warm feeling washes over him when he looks at you. He looks down and realises he’s still in his brown tee and sweatpants from when he woke up. He scratches the back of his head and looks back into his house for a moment, before looking back at you.

“Ah – no, but I can be in a moment." Joel invites you in, holding the door open for you to enter. You step into the house, and Joel follows, closing the door behind him. You look around the house, taking in his living space. It's not too spectacular, but it has a very homey feel to it.

"Of course Tommy gives you a big place," you comment, clearly impressed by Joel's living space. Walking into the living room, you take in the space and appreciate every detail, amazed at how big his place is. Joel notices this, and can't help but feel a bit chuffed at your reaction to his home.  

"I haven't really had the time to make it my own, and Ellie's, but it's real nice," Joel agrees, trying to downplay the lack of organisation in his home while also pointing out how nice the space is. You glance around at his home once again before settling onto his couch, waving him off when he attempts to excuse his lack of personal touch within the house. 

"Don't worry about that," you assure him, but he still feels a little self-conscious about the unkempt nature of his home. “Took me a while to collect things. Just go get ready, I’ll wait here.” You sink deeper into his couch as he smiles at your comfort level in his home, and he can't help but admire your ease at making yourself at home. He shakes his head and turns to get ready, trying to ignore the fact that he can't help but imagine what life would be like if you were permanently part of his life.

As he climbs up the stairs to his room, he grits his teeth and sighs, shaking his head and telling himself that he shouldn't be thinking like this. He really shouldn't be picturing you in his life like that, but for some reason, the thoughts continue to intrude on his mind. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have another person around since Ellie wants to move into the garage, but that's not what he should be thinking about right now. 

No, he doesn’t want that, does he? 

Eventually, you and Joel make a trek through overgrown woods and grassy plains, arriving at the cabin after around an hour from the gates of Jackson. It's tranquil and quiet, the trees towering above you and birds chirping and singing around you both. Joel can't help but steal glances at you as you make it your goal to touch every tree you pass along the way, it is a rather adorable sight to behold. He's been to this cabin many times before alone, but now that you're with him, it just has a whole other aura to it. Feeling much more...calming.

You attempted to make small talk as you crossed a small stream, but you had caught him off guard and he grunted in response, which caused you to stop asking him any further questions. He was still not used to kindness and people in general, but he wishes he was. After that, you two walked in silence alongside each other while the birds chirped around you both in the distance, the quiet ambience of nature surrounding the area and making for a peaceful atmosphere. He had tried multiple times after that to bring up a conversation but the words caught in his throat. 

He watches you as your pace quickens as you spot the cabin in the distance. It looks the same as when he was here last, which is a good sign that no one had ventured past this area. The small flowers that litter the ground surrounding the cabin are all still standing tall and there are no footprints on the path that leads to the firepit to the right of the cabin. Joel takes note of this and feels more at ease about your safety and the safety of the cabin as a whole.

The surrounding trees provide shade and cast shadows from the old and non-functioning street lamps along the path. The sun that manages to break through the trees, sheds its light and warmth down on you as you ascend up the porch of the small wooden cabin. Joel is a few steps behind you, admiring you in your element and noticing how this is essentially your cabin. He too has noticed while in the past that no one else has signed the log book besides you and now him. The whole place has a feeling of emptiness around it, though he'd expect as much given how secluded this place is.

You turn around at the top of the stairs, smiling widely back at him with a very evident excitement to be back on patrol. “Come on, old man. Am I going to have to slow down for you the whole patrol?” You joke and he stops and places his hands on his hips and shakes his head and softly laughs. 

"Who are you calling old?" he retorts, trying to show a bit of feigned offence, before finally giving in and walking down the path towards you. You swing open the cabin door and disappear inside, and he lets out a sigh as a small smile appears on his face. 

This is going to be a long patrol. 

You set your backpack down on the floor behind the wooden frame of the couch as you take in the interior of the cabin. It’s almost the same as the last time you saw it, except more… tidy. The small dining table leaned against the back of the couch has been cleaned up, your pencils placed neatly into a cup. The usually messy couch covered in blankets and pillows, has been left bare. Said pillows and blankets are tucked neatly into a box besides the brick fireplace across from the couch. The chessboard that you were in the middle of a solo game is packed away neatly beside the armchair, beside the other side of the fireplace.

The little kitchen to your right is still the same, besides new fresh fruit and vegetables packed in bags between the fridge and the bed. The bed against the wall is also made, something you didn’t do. At the end of the bed are boxes and board games neatly organised into tubs. The set of shelves above the tubs has also been tidied.  

Joel has been busy. Probably just bored, actually. 

You smile to yourself as you step over to the log book on the shelf that's near the bed. You lean over the organised mess of board games and boxes piled up in plastic tubs at the end of the bed and take out the log book from the shelf, flipping through the pages of Joel’s previous entries.

It’s to be expected, the entries are short and to the point. 

All clear. 

Nothing to report.

Restocked food. 

Chopped firewood. 

Nothing to report.

Cleaned the cabin. 

Still cleaning the cabin…

4 Clickers on the other side of the river, taken care of. 

Raiders came, taken care of.

Stormed, stayed the night. Still cleaning the cabin…

Cabin needs coffee.  

You can't help but smirk as you read through Joel's last entry. Joel walks in and sets his bag down beside yours as you keep reading through his entries. “You cleaned up.” You state without looking up from the book. 

Joel’s footsteps come to a halt and you see him from the corner of your eye look around the studio cabin. “Oh, yeah. Hope that’s okay.”  

"There's coffee in the monopoly box by the way," you smirk up at him and he looks at you with a blank expression that seems to be a permanent fixture of his face. 

Joel blinks a few times before responding, looking down at the monopoly box behind you and raising an eyebrow in genuine curiosity as he asks, "Why is it in the monopoly box?" He looks back up at you, his blank expression unbroken but now with a hint of interest in his eyes.

"To keep people out of my stash, obviously," you state with no shame in your tone, which causes a small smile to appear on his face. "Alright, so how do you want to handle patrol?" You ask him, deciding to get straight to the point, walking over to the bags of fruit on the floor to grab an apple. You take a bite out of the apple and toss it in your hands, enjoying the taste of the delicious fruit. “Do you want to take one side while I check the other?” 

As you look up from the fruit and catch him staring at your face, you pause mid-bite and frown. You think that there must be something on your face that he's noticed, so you wipe your mouth with the back of your sleeve just to be sure after you take your bite. Juice from the apple covers your sleeve that must have dripped down your chin and you wipe your face again to make sure you’re clean. 

"Ah- I mean, um-" he begins, only to clear his throat before he continues and you freeze mid way through scrubbing your face. You almost want to laugh at the awkwardness that's filling the air, but you manage to hold it back.. "Not that I don't think you can do it by yourself, just that you haven't done patrol in a while," he quickly follows up, almost as if he's trying to assure you that he believes in your abilities. "So... want to do this patrol together?"

"Sure, we can," you reassure him with a soft smile, and you can see his face soften in response. "You can show me all the ways you messed up my cabin that way," you tease him, which causes him to narrow his eyes at you in mock indignation, though his slight smirk gives away that he's not actually mad in the slightest. You take another bite of your apple and walk out of the cabin ahead of him, knowing that he's close behind.

You continue down the porch stairs and settle down onto the dirt path that leads you away from the front of the cabin. Joel jogs to catch up to you after closing the cabin door and walks beside you, his pace matching yours perfectly. "Your cabin has been in great hands while you were out of action, if you must know," he replies with a smirk that shows he's truly not at all offended by your playful teasing. 

It's a calming sense of normalcy as the back and forth conversation goes from playful banter to genuine questions aimed at you and your past, though Joel still dodges any that are aimed at him. You had attempted to strike up a conversation with him on the way to the cabin this afternoon, only to be instantly silenced by his grunts and other closed-off responses. But now, at least he's asking you questions and showing a genuine interest in who you are and what you've experienced. 

At least it’s something , you think as you softly kick a rock on the path.    

He doesn't interject or interrupt as you lead the way throughout most of your patrol, stepping back a safe distance from the traps and ensuring that he doesn't set off any traps accidentally. He stands behind you, surveying the area with his hands gripping onto the strap of his rifle over his shoulder. He reminds you of Tommy like this, but more assertive.  

It's a rather mundane process, especially since you're used to doing this by yourself, but there's always a feeling of reassurance, when Joel sticks around and follows in your footsteps. Even if you settle into a silence as you work, you can still feel his presence nearby, which is a soothing feeling in its own way. 

Tommy's trust in Joel is enough to make you lower your guard around him, allowing you to turn your back on Joel as you work. You're accustomed to a life of distrust with everyone around you but Joel has become an exception in the last few weeks, someone you trust to have your back and keep you safe like his younger brother has over the years. 

You finish your patrol of the area as the sun begins to set and Joel heads into the cabin to fill out the logbook as you wander over to the lake in front of the cabin with your bag.  

As you lay in the grass beside the river, the sky begins to glow pink and paint a beautiful sight for you to see. The soft grass is gentle and calming under your body while the soothing sound of the river flowing by calms you down as you stare at the sky above. When you look to your side, your heart breaks slightly when you remember for a moment that Annabel isn't beside you like she used to be whenever you would lay beside the river and stare at the clouds. But then Joel settles beside you and lays down with a sigh, resting his head down on the soft grass.

You find yourself gazing at him for a few moments, unable to tear your eyes away from his peaceful state. The sunlight illuminates his tan skin, and the soft pink tones highlight the contours of his features and his patchy stubble as he admires the sky. That's when he turns his face to look over at you, his smile forming into a smirk as he catches you staring. Your cheeks flush with embarrassment as your gaze stays locked with his for a few moments longer. 

"How about you come over for dinner with Ellie and I after we get back?" He asks you, and your heart flutters slightly when you notice the soft pout forming on his face awaiting your response.

Dinner, yeah, you can totally do dinner. 

You utter a soft "Dinner... sounds nice" in response, just loud enough for him to hear you, as you two now lay next to each other on the grass. The closeness between you two causes your heart to beat a bit too fast, and you're unsure whether or not he can hear just how fast it's beating from your soft reply. 

You notice that Joel's mouth twitches and his lips slightly part at your response, and you find yourself wanting to smile. The two of you proceed to look up at the sky and watch the clouds move by, though you still find yourself glancing at him from time to time. When you notice him looking back at you, your breath catches in your throat as his mouth opens slightly, his attention once more firmly rooted on you.

"We should probably head back." You whisper, now speaking just a bit louder so he can hear you, though his attention is still firmly fixed on you and your voice. 

"Yeah, we should," he answers back in a whisper, looking straight into your eyes as he does so. His gaze is unmoving, as though he has no intention of breaking eye contact any time soon.

And yet, neither of you move.

Before

Early Winter 2019

As your eyes flutter open, you find yourself in a field of flowers, surrounded by the warmth of a fire that is attempting to provide some heat to a body that has been left shivering from the colder weather. Burning fear settles over your body as you don’t hear either Tommy or Annabel. They had been bickering when you must have drifted off.

Your attention is immediately fixed on your niece as she shifts in her sleep and tugs on your jacket. The cuts on her lips from the other day remain red and sore, causing your heart to ache as you down at her. 

You close your eyes to try and keep yourself from showing any signs of pain as Annabel leans on your burnt shoulder. The pain is excruciating, but you don’t want to wake her from her slumber. She had been unable to sleep at all since you escaped the cult, afraid and scarred from the experience.  

Once you had found a river and cleaned all the blood that covered your body, Tommy was finally able to witness the full extent of your injuries. His face had been torn between rage and compassion as he saw the burns on your arms and the cuts on the side of your head, and he hesitantly reached out to touch them, but his touch was soft and gentle even in the midst of his own tears. You returned the hug, letting the tears flow freely, knowing that it was best not to hold back in this moment of vulnerability.

You were in pain, both emotionally and physically. You were exhausted. 

Your head turns to the side, allowing you to view Tommy's profile in the light of the soft fire while he lays down beside you. He carefully takes your hand in his and gently squeezes it, his apologetic smile conveying more than his words could ever hope to. "How you holding up?" he whispers, his gaze set on you rather than looking away. At the moment, he seems more concerned for your well being than his own. 

"I'm okay," you tell him, and in a way, it feels as though you're trying to convince yourself more than you are trying to convince him. He squeezes your hand again and you finally look back up at him, finding the warmth in his eyes even in the dim and soft lighting.

"How are you really holding up?" he asks a second time, causing you to pause and truly consider your answer. You don't want to lie to him, but you don't want to cause him any unnecessary worry either. You think about your feelings for a moment and decide to be honest, no matter how he reacts.

"Physically, I think I'm doing well enough for the time being..." you start to say, your reply beginning as a confident response but trailing off into a quiet murmur.

He nods and seems to accept your initial response, but then a small shiver runs up your body as you feel his thumb rub over the burn on your hand. You grimace slightly in discomfort, but don't pull your hand away. Instead, you allow him to keep rubbing the burn, letting him provide some physical comfort to a part of your body that still pains you.

“But, I don’t know who I was back there. I’ve killed a lot of people before but not like that. I’ve never hurt someone like that before. But he was going to kill you Tommy, I… I snapped. He… He was going to hurt you. I tried to calm down but it was too much. It broke me.” You confess and Tommy nods, his thumb continuing to sooth you as he rubs your hand.

“I can’t lose you Tommy.” You whisper, your voice breaking as tears threaten to fall. 

Tommy closes his eyes and exhales in relief as he turns to his side and wraps his arm around your middle, nestling his head beside your shoulder. He's found a more comfortable position in this moment, and your body relaxes a bit as all three of you lie together in the field. Your heart aches as you feel both Annabel’s and Tommy’s heartbeat within your arms, and a feeling of warmth and comfort spreads all throughout your body just from their combined presence. 

They’re alive . Alive because of you .  

“We’re going to be okay.” He whispers into your shoulder. “The three of us, we’re going to get through this. We’re going to get to Jackson and we’re going to leave this all behind us, yeah? We’re going to be safe. Annabel is going to help with gardening from all those plant and flower books she’s been reading. I’m going to help build things from what Joel has taught me and you’re going to help protect everyone. You may have snapped back there but they deserved worse than that. 

You’re a good person, Sunshine. I mean it. And the people at Jackson will see that too, they’ll see what Annabel and I see. And if they don’t I’ll show them how wrong they are. They’re going to love you, just like we do.”

Tears begin to fall down your face without warning, caught off guard by how comforting it is to lie here with Annabel and Tommy. Tommy's arm tightens around you and Annabel nestles in closer to your side, both of them providing you with comfort and a sense of warmth that warms your whole body. As you look down at Tommy, you realise that he, too, has tears streaming down his face, and your heart aches for him in that moment.

You sniffle, the tears falling more quickly as you find yourself unable to keep them contained now that Tommy has shed his own. "Do you really mean that?" you ask, your voice trembling as you hold back the sobs that threaten to overwhelm you. 

"Of course I do," he confesses between his sniffles, and your heart almost breaks when he reveals a piece of his heart while fighting back against his own tears. "You and Annabel are everything to me," he finishes in a whisper, causing a fresh wave of tears to sting your eyes as your own tears run freely down your cheeks.

"Fuck Tommy, If I could start over..." your voice cracks slightly as you try to fight back against the sobs, "I would suffer through everything all over again just to be here with you and Anna." You close your eyes and lean your forehead against Tommy's, who sighs softly into your touch. “If either of you died back there, I don’t know what I would have done.”

If you had your hands free, you would tangle your hands in his hair, soothing him as he does for you. But your right arm is trapped under Annabel while your left arm is trapped under Tommy as they lay on either side of you.  

“I know Sunshine, I know.” he hushes you with a gentle tone, calming the storm of emotions that rage inside you. As you open your eyes,  your expression softens as you look at him as a smile forms on his face before he continues. “Although if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn’t open that unlabeled can that turned out to be canned fish.” He jokes and you playfully push him off you.

Annabel shifts beside you and groans in her sleep at your movement. Tommy laughs softly as he sits up and wipes the tears from his face before leaning back on his arms, looking back down at you. 

“Yes you would. If you don’t, you’d still have that awful sweater,” Your reply earns a fake look of shock and feigned offence. 

“I loved that sweater.” He replies back honestly and you shake your head. 

You had told him not to open the unlabeled tin can that he found on the side of the road. He carried it with him for at least a mile before he opened it and instantly regretted it. The foul smell of rotten fish bursted into the air and assaulted your noses. The three of you had ended up throwing up from the stench and had to throw your clothes away as the smell clung to them. Tommy at the time had been wearing his Everything is Bigger in Texas sweater he found a few days back. He wasn’t going to take it with him, but once you voiced your dislike for the sweater, he didn’t take it off until the smell of rotten fish made him.

You playfully argue about the sweater until the time between responses grows longer and longer as you fight off sleep, too afraid about drifting off again and waking up alone. As your eyes begin to drift, his hand settles in your hair and gently detangles strands from each other.

“It’s okay, go to sleep. We’re not going anywhere.” He whispers and with that, you finally let yourself sleep.  

The three of you arrive in Jackson three days later, and you hope that Tommy was right. You hope this is a place the three of you can finally be safe.     

Chapter 8

Notes

a little break from the violence of TLOU, just some fluff.

Some more of Ellie and Joel, just Joel being a dad.

Also some of Joel's PTSD. Loud noses are scary.

Joel admiring you. I tried to keep it as less descriptive as I could, but it's hard. I just mentioned clothing, i tried.

I had so much fun writing this chapter omg. I like writing awkward Joel, it's fun.

Divider by the beautiful saradika

Cabin can be found below

[unchartedstarsocs]

Out of context OC dialogue:

Chris:(exasperated)Timothy, he's a turtle. Timothy: So?

[unchartedstarsocs]

U.F.O. anyone?

Spotlight on Alpine Lake Grass

[starstruckbyacomet]

There Is No Safe Word (Part 7 of 10)

(Source) (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Prewarning)

Neil Gaiman's house. Photo: The Neil Gaiman Visual Bibliography.

Editor’s note: This story contains content that readers may find disturbing, including graphic allegations of sexual assault & child abuse.

In 2014, the cracks in Gaiman and Palmer’s marriage began to show to those around them. While they were at Bard, they decided to buy a house upstate. Palmer would have preferred to live in New York City, but Gaiman liked the woods. Eventually, he picked a sprawling estate set on 80 acres in Woodstock. It was Gaiman’s money, a friend who accompanied them on the house hunt says, “and he was going to have the say.”

Later that year, Palmer got pregnant. She and Gaiman were spending more time at home together and talked about slowing down and devoting their attention to their marriage. She wanted to close the relationship, and he agreed. But when she was eight months pregnant, Gaiman came to her with a problem: He had slept with a fan in her early 20s, taking her virginity. Now, Gaiman told her, the girl was “going crazy.” He promised to change, and they met with a couples counselor. Gaiman was prone to panic attacks and had never been in treatment. “Amanda was shocked at how traumatized Neil was, given his public persona and the guy she thought she’d married,” a person close to them says.

Caroline Wallner in the kitchen of Hotel Tivoli where the handmade dishes and cups she custom designed and fabricated for the establishment are stored. Photo: The Daily Gazette.

One of the people in whom Palmer confided about her marital issues at the time was Caroline Wallner, a potter who, along with her builder husband, Phillip, had been living on the Woodstock property and working as a caretaker. Gaiman had made them an offer that seemed too good to be true. They would build an addition on one of the cabins on the land at Gaiman’s expense, and in exchange, Gaiman would sell them a five-acre parcel, allowing them to put up a barn-style home to share with their three daughters. They tended to the garden, ran errands for guests, and rehabilitated the buildings, which needed plumbing and electrical work.

At lunch one day, Palmer told Wallner she hated living in the woods and was disturbed by what she was learning about her husband. “‘You have no idea the twisted, dark things that go on in that man’s head,’” Wallner recalls Palmer saying. Palmer said she wished her marriage were more like Wallner and Phillip’s, but their marriage of 11 years was falling apart, too. In 2017, Phillip moved out of their house. Wallner, 54, spent her days in bed crying and drinking. She stopped eating and, for the most part, stopped working. It was then that Gaiman began paying attention to her. He would bring juices up to her cabin and fret that she was losing too much weight. The first time he touched her, in December 2018, she was sitting on his couch next to him, crying from exhaustion. Gaiman told her, “You need a hug.” She stood and he hugged her, then slid his hands down her pants and into her underwear and squeezed her butt. She does not recall saying or doing anything in response. “I was stunned,” she says.

Neil Gaiman in his office. Photo: Weston Wells for Variety.

Over the next two years, they had a series of sexual encounters, always when Palmer was away. When Gaiman wasn’t around, they occasionally engaged in phone sex. At first Wallner, who hadn’t been with anyone since Phillip left, went along willingly. But at the end of their second encounter, she remembers asking Gaiman what Palmer would think about their romance: “He said, ‘Caroline, there is no romance.’” After that, she tried to keep her distance from him, darting away when she saw him on the estate. He was difficult to avoid. He kept an egg incubator in Wallner’s cabin and would come down and check on it, entering without texting first. On one of these visits, he found her crying by the fireplace. He walked over to her, stuck his thumb in her mouth, and twisted her nipples. She told Gaiman the arrangement was making her “feel bad.” She recalls him replying, “I don’t want you to feel bad.” But nothing changed. Wallner had no income at the time and was borrowing money from her sister to get by. She worried that if she didn’t appease Gaiman, he’d kick her out of her house and then she and her three daughters would have nowhere to go. “‘I like our trade,’” she remembers him saying. “‘You take care of me, and I’ll take care of you.’”

Sometimes she would babysit. Once, Wallner and the boy, then 4, fell asleep reading stories in Gaiman and Palmer’s bed. Wallner woke up when Gaiman returned home. He got into bed with his son in the middle, then reached across the child to grab Wallner’s hand and put it on his penis. She says she jumped out of the bed. “He didn’t have boundaries,” Wallner says. “I remember thinking that there was something really wrong with him.”

Caroline Wallner. Photo: Basilica Hudson.

In April 2021, Gaiman informed Wallner that the land he’d promised her was no longer available. That summer, she stopped responding to his attempts to engage in phone sex and Gaiman increased the pressure on her to leave his property. One night in December 2021, Gaiman’s business manager, Terry Bird, called Wallner and offered her $5,000 to move immediately if she’d sign a 16-page NDA agreeing to never discuss anything about her experience with Gaiman or Palmer or to take legal action against Gaiman. Wallner recalls saying to Bird, “What am I going to do with $5,000? I need therapy. This is maybe $300,000.” Looking back, she says she didn’t know how she came up with that number, but Gaiman agreed to it, and she signed. (Gaiman’s representatives say Wallner initiated the sexual encounters and deny that he engaged in any sexual activity with her in the presence of his son.)

[branmuffins22]

from this ask game

🧮 what are you working on? describe it in 20 words or less

🌅 do you typically known the ending to something before you start writing it?

🔚 have you ever completely changed the direction a piece was going?

📚 do you ever read similar works while writing, or do you intentionally not read them?

😊 say something nice about your writing

Thanks for the ask!

🧮 what are you working on? describe it in 20 words or less

Lots of Owl House stuff, mostly Vee-centric/adjacent fics, but also a canon rewrite and a Code Lyoko AU.

🌅 do you typically known the ending to something before you start writing it?

Ehhh, kindasorta? Yes and no? I usually try to get a rough idea of what the consequences of the story will be, like who ends up where and some of how they got there, but I rarely have it nailed down completely before I start. Gotta give the characters a chance to wander before I pin 'em. For instance, in The Disappearance of Masha DeLisle, I knew going in that it would end with Masha waking up on a beach in the Demon Realm, and with Vee isolating herself between her breakdown and the imminent shutdown; but I didn't know Vee would lock herself (and one of her cabinmates) in Cabin 7, and I didn't even consider the counselors' POV until I got there, despite that segment being the actual end of the fic.

🔚 have you ever completely changed the direction a piece was going?

Kinda, but not really? Not yet, anyways. Or, not that I can think of? Hm. Maybe I shouldn't be answering asks so close to bedtime... Two of my WIPs have been marked for major revision: one because I tried to do a little too much at once and didn't leave myself room to actually tell the story, and another because I realized an entirely different format could tell the story in a much more effective way. That said, I haven't actually started writing either of those revisions yet. Still in the most basic planning stages of "Here's how I should fix this." Either way, while the contents are changing, the stories themselves are fundamentally the same. So I guess, I've come across these obstacles on my way to those destinations, and I've picked out what detours to take, but I still haven't started moving from where I stopped.

📚 do you ever read similar works while writing, or do you intentionally not read them?

I read a bunch of similar works, since those are what scratch my itch, but perhaps predictably, nothing is quite exactly the way I'd do it. If nothing else, I like to collect relevant headcanons and such, like some sort of possum. I try to maintain a list of credits for where I got certain ideas from, but it's hard when I just spontaneously remember A Thing I'm Pretty Sure I Read In A Fic Somewhere and decide it's so compelling that I simply must include it. It once took me like a month of off-and-on searching to find the fic I got a certain spell idea from, and the search is over a year and still ongoing for the fic that cheekily described a giant Worm Off The String as one of the Boiling Isles most fearsome predators, that Luz and one of her friends encounter in the woods, having to stay perfectly still to avoid its detection/ire... Anyways, yeah. I read similar stuff. It's fun and inspiring!

😊 say something nice about your writing

ooooo, ur brain is sooo awesome. ur dedication to The Bit is exemplary, nobody is using literary devices as character gimmicks quite like u 😤

[just-norn-things]

7, 13 (hehe) and 16 for Rhianwen!

Thanks for the ask! Sorry this one took so long, it inspired a plot bunny and I had to run with it. Enjoy!

7. What was their first experience with other races?

Asura: Rhianwen's meeting of the Asura became a little ficlet, so it's posted here.

Charr: The first Charr she met was a Priory scholar that Trahearne introduced her to during an excursion to Orr. Still trying to find her way in the world, Rhianwen found herself sharing a meat skewer with this strange overgrown cat one evening around the campfire. Meat was new to her, and the burning sensation on her tongue newer still. It lit a fire in her chest, and from the way the heat from this creature's cuisine fed her magic, she could not help but feel very warm towards them indeed.

Human: Rhianwen finds humans...fragile. More flimsy than the Asura, even. Good clients though. Usually rich when they find her, willing to pay through the nose for anything and everything. They might find her services far cheaper if they were willing to get their hands dirty, but heiresses seeking to extend their youth and desperate wives yearning for a quick fix to their problems were not the type to do so.

Norn: The first Norn she encountered was a client, who wrote to her about her fertility struggles. As with any client, they were invited to her swamp for a consultation, to discuss expectations, finances and such, and Rhianwen was quite embarrassed to find that her furniture was very much not Norn-friendly, with the poor woman opting to sit outside rather than risk breaking the chairs in the cabin. Rhianwen is tall for a Sylvari, measuring in at around 7.5 feet, but she was still dwarfed by the woman who sought her aid.

Nevertheless, she was impressed by the strength and practicality of this giant of a woman, and considered patching a hole in her roof more than sufficient payment for her services.

Eight months later, the Norn returned with a swollen belly and her mate in tow, hefting an Elk so fat that Rhianwen's supplies were stocked for months.

13. How do they feel about death?

As a necromancer, as a reaper no less, Rhianwen considers death to be a state of being like any other. So many souls gently toe the line, teetering on the precipice of this world and the next, and her work as a midwife often sees her use her talents to pull a soul back from the brink, should they stray too close.

Some say that she herself has spent so long walking that tightrope that even other necromancers struggle to tell if she is one of the living, or merely a visitor from the mists.

16. Where were they when the call of Mordremoth struck?

Rhianwen is soundless, which thankfully dampened the call. She joined the Pact as a Pale Reaver at Trahearne's request, otherwise, she would not have been involved at all. Her connections to the spirits on other planes of reality made her maker merely another buzz in the sea of voices, though the closer they got to the final battle, the more she found comfort in retreating into her reaper's shroud due to the struggles of her peers.

[unchartedstarsocs]

I have many counselors (all at the same camp), who do I choose-

I'm just gonna focus on the main one, Leo! He just started his first summer at Moon Trails camp (just a general summer camp, idk) and was not ready for the chaos two of his cabin members would cause.

I'm currently still working on his design and stuff, but his outfit looks similar to David's from Camp Camp.

which oc is a camp counselor? what kind of camp is it?

[ellies-cycling-notes]

Day 15: Pittsburgh to Mill Creek

Distance Covered: 87.30 miles

Total Time (including rests): 8:24 (8:46am-5:10pm)

Time spent riding: 7:07

Average Speed: 12.3 mph

Apples Eaten: 3 (??? - 5.5/10, ??? - 7/10, fuji - 7.5/10)

Today's ride was pretty good. Not on the level of the GAP trail, but still better than most of the rest of my rides. It was close today, which was really nice as I didn't have to drink too much water and didn't get overheated. I actually only took 1 "real" stop on the ride, about 70 miles in. I stopped a couple of times before that for refilling water and such, but those stops were 5 minutes at most. I would have liked to go the entire ride without having to stop, but the last stretch was rather tiring so I had to take a break. The first part of the ride took me through several small townships and industrial regions in Pennsylvania. Then, once I crossed the Ohio River for the final time (my route actually had me take several bridges over the Ohio River and back to be able to stay on bike-friendly roads), I entered rural Ohio, which was mostly just flat stretches of road. There were some rather hilly parts, but most of the ride was flat, and even the hilly parts were better than the area around Philadelphia and Baltimore.

A Change in Approach

Now that I've gotten the overview of the ride out of the way, I'd like to address a change that will be happening to this blog. In short, I will be probably writing less, and about less consistent topics for the rest of the ride.

I have finally started to reach the point of mental exhaustion, and was barely able to think about anything other than just riding on today's journey. I was able to focus a lot more by not distracting myself with other thoughts, which is what led me to making rather good time. I still expect to write things as I think about them, and will still give a general overview of the ride, but the "Notes on the Ride" and "Design Notes" categories may not appear at all some days. For example, today I don't have any design notes to write about. I've been feeling overly stressed about making sure I have things to write about, and that's not why I started this blog at all. In fact, when I started this blog, I note that I might not even post every day. I've just gotten too wrapped up in my own perception of the blog, and I need to take a step back and use it in a less systematic manner. With that being said, today I do have some notes from the ride, so here they are:

Notes on the Ride

Bugs on clothes - it is not unusual for me to encounter bugs on my ride that slam into me. However, today had two interesting specimens that were rather different that the usual "fly hits the face". (1) a butterfly flew onto my shirt while I was riding, and latched on, staying attached for a good 2 miles or so before flying off again; (2) a wasp flew at my chest and actually went under my shirt. Luckily, it soon flew out and away from me, but it was quite a scare in the moment.

Industrial train area - the most annoying part of today's ride was only a little bit outside eof Pittsburgh, when my mapping took me on a route through an industrial train area, on rocky gravel paths right next to various traincars.

Water bottle - I got my water refilled by being given a bottle of water from a very kind couple who I encountered on side roads in rural Ohio.

Switched site at campground - I'll discuss the campground more in detail later on, but here I'll mention that, due to the storm, there was great damage to my campsite, so it had to get switched with another one.

Plastic log cabin - I saw a plastic log cabin in the yard of one of the houses I passed by. This wouldn't be interesting, except for the fact that I realized it was the exact same model cabin as the one my family had when I was a kid.

Campsite Issues

I just need to complain a bit here. Mill Creek is not the worst campground possible, but I was rather unlucky, in that the storm from yesterday knocked out the power in the camp, so they don't have running water or working bathrooms. It's a relief that I'm doing alright on water consumption and it's not too hot today, or I might've had to take my bike out for a ride to a store to buy bottled water. Part of me feels like I should've searched for other campsites nearby and gone to one of them instead, not caring about the reservation I made here. This does give me an excuse, though, to go to sleep early, because there's nothing like a shower or such to keep me awake.

That's all for today. No design notes today, a rather good ride but not so good campsite, and getting mentally tired. I'll probably start riding early tomorrow, riding through rural Ohio all day. Tomorrow's ride is supposed to be a similar distance to today's, but I hope it's flatter.

Previous -- Today's Pics -- Next

[campnorthstarmaineme]

One Week Sleepaway Camp

**One Week at Camp North Star: A Sleepaway Adventure Like No Other**

For kids and teens craving a summer adventure filled with friends, outdoor activities, and unforgettable memories, Camp North Star offers an extraordinary one-week sleepaway experience. Nestled in the picturesque woods and surrounded by natural beauty, this camp provides the perfect backdrop for campers to unplug, make new friends, and dive into all the fun that summer camp has to offer.

Here’s a breakdown of what campers can expect from one week at Camp North Star and why it’s an experience they’ll cherish long after they head home.

---

### Day 1: Arrival and Settling In

The excitement is palpable as campers arrive and catch their first glimpse of the lush grounds of Camp North Star. After check-in, they’re introduced to their counselors and cabin mates—friends they’ll share laughs, challenges, and good times with for the week. The staff makes sure everyone feels welcome and settled, giving a tour of the camp and covering basic safety guidelines.

---

### Day 2-6: Adventure and Exploration

From day two, the camp schedule is packed with activities that blend outdoor fun, creativity, and team spirit. Each day follows a well-rounded structure, ensuring campers try a bit of everything Camp North Star has to offer.

#### *: Outdoor Activities and Sports**

The mornings kick off with high-energy activities like kayaking, canoeing, or paddleboarding on the camp’s crystal-clear lake. For campers who prefer to stay on land, archery, soccer, and volleyball provide an opportunity to get their hearts pumping and hone new skills. With skilled instructors on hand, beginners and experienced campers alike feel empowered to try something new.

#### : Skill-Building and Creativity**

The afternoons are reserved for skill-building workshops that let campers get in touch with their creative side. Arts and crafts, theater games, and music workshops give everyone the chance to explore new talents and express themselves. The camp also offers more specialized activities like cooking and nature photography, giving campers unique experiences and skills they can carry home.

In addition to these options, Camp North Star offers an “Adventure Course” complete with climbing walls, zip lines, and team-based problem-solving exercises. These activities are not only fun but also encourage teamwork and boost confidence.

#### * Social Events and Bonding**

 Camp North Star are all about bonding and entertainment. Each night brings a new event: movie nights under the stars, talent shows, and dance parties keep the campers’ spirits high. One highlight is “Capture the Flag,” a camp-wide game that has become legendary. Campers work together with their teams to strategize and win, building camaraderie and friendly rivalry.

---

### Day 7: Closing Ceremony and Goodbyes

As the week comes to an end, emotions run high at Camp North Star. Campers gather for a closing ceremony, where they receive awards for their participation, accomplishments, and unique contributions to camp life. From the “Adventure Ace” to the “Kindness Champ,” each award is tailored to recognize individual strengths and contributions.

After the awards, there’s a final slideshow recapping the week’s adventures, laughter, and friendships. Campers hug their new friends, exchange contact details, and snap last-minute pictures to hold onto the memories they’ve made.

---

### What Makes Camp North Star Special?

One week at Camp North Star is a transformative experience. Here are a few reasons why:

- **Friendship and Community:** Camp North Star emphasizes inclusion and camaraderie, fostering an environment where every camper feels seen and appreciated.

- **Skill-Building Opportunities:** With its wide variety of activities, campers develop new skills in areas they may not encounter at home or school.

- **Experienced Staff and Counselors:** The camp’s trained counselors ensure that every camper has a safe, fun, and growth-oriented experience.

- **Connection with Nature:** From lake activities to the Adventure Course, campers gain an appreciation for nature and the outdoors.

### The Lasting Impact

A week at Camp North Star goes beyond a typical vacation. It’s a place where kids build independence, gain confidence, and experience personal growth in a fun, supportive environment. For many, Camp North Star isn’t just a summer experience—it’s a place they return to year after year, and one that holds a special place in their hearts.

---

So, if you’re looking for a sleepaway camp that’s packed with adventure, learning, and memories, Camp North Star is ready to welcome you for a week you’ll never forget!

Camp North Star is situated in beautiful Poland Spring, Maine, surrounded by many beautiful and natural landscapes that we get to share and enjoy with our campers. Trips are offered every session and happen on the days we are not on our normal activity schedule. Trip days are a time to relax and enjoy time with friends and bunkmates.

Camp North Star is the top premier Maine sleepaway camp for boys & girls. We offer the best overnight summer camps for kids & teens in New England. Call Now: (207)998-4777

We give Different types of camp north star like-

Sleep away Camp

 Summer Camp

 Sports Camp

 Boys & Girls Camp

Thank You, For More Service’s Please Visit Our Websites.

[unchartedstarsocs]

I have now reblogged it.

Draw your favorite OC/s