#okay so that doctor joel killed in the first game

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

you’re home 

plum, chapter two

warnings: Joel Miller x reader, MILD SPOILERS for the last of us (both games and the hbo series), heavy angst, slow burn, age gap (20 years), timeline wise this is set in between the first and second game (so when they live in jackson)

word count: 586

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Jolting awake, a pair of hands quickly found your shoulders in a calming manner. 

“Wow, wow, it’s okay, plum, you’re alright, you’re safe,” your frantic eyes came to rest on Tommy’s figure sitting beside the cot you had been placed in. Answering before you even had the chance to ask or unravel any further, he continued, “you’re in Jackson, we brought you back home.”

Sitting on the small bed with a palm rooted on the mattress for support, you trembled, “I’m home?” and the floodgates immediately burst open, letting the relieved tears flow that you’d come to think wouldn’t ever see the light of day. 

“You’re home,” the familiar person holding a worn clipboard at the foot of the cot nodded softly. 

“Doctor Duncan?” the friendly face made you squeeze your eyes shut in an effort to bare the overwhelming nature of finally being safe.

“Hi Y/n,” she kneeled down to be more at your height, “it’s good to have you back.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually here,” you sobbed, fighting hard not to let the dizzy feeling in your body win. 

“All this time,” Tommy breathed, “I thought you were dead.”

Looking up into his glossy eyes, you admitted, “I almost was…”

Not being able to resist any longer, he asked, “did the others-, are they-”

“No…” you shook your head lightly and glanced down at the dark fleece blanket draped over your aching body, “they didn’t suffer, it was quick, painless for them…”

You honestly hadn’t thought about any of them in ages, out of the pure need to survive, but now that you finally did, the vile memories had your empty stomach clenching in need to vomit. 

“What happened?” Tommy asked, though was quickly counteracted by doctor Duncan’s soothing voice.

“You don’t have to answer that right now, sweetheart,” and gave you a pained glance.

Of course, Aria had gathered some pieces to the puzzle from just the minor check-up she had undoubtedly done as soon as you had been brought into the infirmary. She didn’t have to look any further than just your still faintly bruised wrists to get an idea of what horror you had clawed your way out of to get back here. 

“I-…um…” you struggled to keep your breathing steady as you let your vision drift and the painful words fall from your lips, “we were ambushed by a group of hunters. They did what they do, killed everyone without even thinking twice about it, except when they found me,” you unconsciously dug your nails into the root of your palm, hard enough for the skin to break, “I was hiding and I could hear,” you closed your eyes, still recollecting the 2-year-old memory clear as day, “every single one of them get shot. One after the other, Trevor, Alice, Benny, Sam, almost rhythmically with how fast it was. But when they found me, they didn’t pull the trigger. Said that my head was too pretty to put a bullet through it. So instead, they just knocked me out. I woke up back at their base, chained in this cell… they-… they-…” as much as you wanted to tell these people you cared so much about every single horrifying thing you had to endure, you just couldn’t. The words physically wouldn’t come out of your mouth. 

Squeezing your eyes tight enough that they hurt, Tommy’s soft voice pulled you back from the black hole of memories you’d found yourself in. “Jesus christ, Y/n…” he uttered, barely breathing at all. 

© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[thebiggestmenace]

What are your thoughts about Joel and Ellie’s estrangement in part 2?

I'm so glad you ask!

I actually have many thoughts about it. I totally get why ellie would ignore joel for that. she feels as though her life is only important because she's immune, so him taking away her choice to save the world is the biggest betrayal to her. and then him lying to her about it? just makes it worse, honestly. she basically put her life in joel's hands, and yeah, he did save her, but that wasn't what she wanted. that's not what she thought her life was meant for. she was willing to die for that, but joel took that choice away from her. and then when she asked about it, he just lies? she very clearly knew he was lying to her, but she had nowhere else to go (among other reasons), so she stayed with him.

so, knowing why she's mad at him, I can't see her being mad at him for 2+ years? like, yes, he did betray her trust and took away what she thought she was meant for, but 2 years? after he told her about sarah? and after he told her about his attempt? I know the latter was more in the show, but it was implied in the game. I just can't see her being mad for 2 years. yes, ignore him, make him feel bad for what he did. but that's your father figure? that's the person you traveled the country with? I know it was for the cure and then the cure never happened, but I'm sure ellie saw where he was coming from. she had to of. they got pretty close traveling the country. she had to have realized he barely survived losing his first daughter, and that he wouldn't have survived the second. especially when it was all on a whim??? marlene said the doctors THOUGHT that taking her brain would be the cure. that's not definitive. that's a possibility. so, if joel didn't kill the doctor and didn't save ellie, there's no reason to believe it would've equaled the cure. and I'm sure he could've explained that to her, but no, he wanted to protect her from the truth. which I can kind of get, but she thought the cure was her life's purpose and then you won't even explain what actually happened?

I can totally see where ellie's coming from, but if they just SAT DOWN and had a conversation, maybe it would've been okay. cause I do think, after time (not 2 years worth), she would've been able to see where he was coming from. yes, she probably would've resented him after finding out the truth, but she would've understood. at least a little bit, I think.

so long explanation short, I get why they drifted but I don't enjoy it. I don't think it was worth like 2 years of drifting when ellie probably would've understood if joel had just told her what happened

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3513

went to the doctor. she gave me antibiotics and told me to start taking the inhaler again.

rad.

got some advice and creative support on the quilt for my friend, which was really nice! my mom's been incredibly unhelpful saying how she would do it instead of accepting that this was going to happen how i wanted it to happen.

i had gotten so discouraged last night about the fabrics mom was pulling out and i hated how it looked and she was pushing me to use different fabrics and use a different design because she wasn't being helpful with what i wanted. but the people at the quilt store were so supportive in helping me realize the vision i had - WITH the original pattern i created, so i'm more than happy about that.

i'm super excited to sew it all together tomorrow. then i'll need a backing and a binding and batting and figure out how to fasten it together. and part of me wants to put lace in the edge because my favorite blankie as a little kid had lace in it. i liked it so much because it was soft and yellow and had lace. i still like it so much because of the same reasons. so i'll work with the colors and see if i can find a cotton lace for it. if i can, that is. if not, that's okay. i'll make something else with lace.

maybe a different quilt for a different friend's baby!

i am ambitious. for the other baby i'll probably do more traditional baby-esque fabrics. they'll be appreciative of it, i'm sure. i'll have to wash it before i give it to them, though, unless i just bring it straight to them from a quilter. that friend is allergic to cats, very much so, so having several cats around the fabric isn't exactly the best idea. i'll probably wash and dry the fabrics before i make it, if im totally honest. make sure when it does get washed it doesn't lose its shape.

count me in for making dozens of blankets for these two little babies i know who have the same first name.

i'm so happy.

i love making things. i'll make a crocheted one next, i think! since flannel is for the fall/winter.

anyway. i took a nap today after angrily washing pots for dinner. i didn't feel good and i was upset that the dishes hadn't been done - again - and so impeded my ability to make dinner.

which, for dinner, i made steak. and i fuckin KILLED it. not the cow, the cooking. first time to cook steak, did a great job. flavorful, properly cooked, cut like butter. moist inside despite being well-done. (while i am aware this is a culinary abomination, neither my sister or i can eat meat that is raw in any way. it makes us violently ill so we just. don't do that.)

but the nap and the steak occurred before the quilt cutting and pinning. the quilt is all ready to go for tomorrow. i'm hype.

also i am not going in to work tomorrow. the doctor told me to take it easy tomorrow while the antibiotic works into my system.

and because i'll be home it means i can actually get to joel's for game on time tomorrow night! that'll be nice.

and in the meantime, i have heartburn so i am gonna take some tums and try to sleep.

[ragnarssons]

Hi! Is it okay if I sent a small rant here?

Most are saying that Joel damned the world by saving Ellie. The world was already damned and killing a innocent little girl wouldn't have made it better. The doctors were incompetent. They were going to kill the only known immune person. They didn't even do any tests. This is enough to prove that even if he left Ellie, there was never going to be a cure because the doctors were idiots.

Did you know that Joel is living his best life at Jackson? Ellie and Dina are married and are rasing JJ together. They also gave Joel a "world's best grandpa" Mug. Joel started teaching guitar lessons it has been a few days let's see how that goes.

It's okay, it's okay, you can come and rant and vent here! People saying Joel damned the world are TLOU2 fanatics who believe the worship-style narrative Abby forced upon the players/audience, because that damn woman can't see no fault in her father. Not even her father murdering a 14yo without her consent. It's funny how we say "well saving the world shouldn't be on Ellie's shoulders"... well technically, "damning" the world shouldn't be on Joel's either. First of all, literally, the world has been ended and doomed for 20 years, while Joel was a poor-ass single dad/contractor not eating his flour. He didn't doom the world, as you say so yourself, at the moment of the game, the world is already doomed, has been for a while, and has revealed a lot of uncomfortable truths about human kind. And yknow, if we gotta delve into questions like this, we still can raise with: How are the doctors any good if they're so willing to kill a child without her explicit consent? And if they get her consent, is it "good consent" if Ellie accepts out of trauma and survivor's guilt? Can they still do it? Where is their duty of care? And then let's say they go with the procedure, everything apple-pie they get their cure. Then what? They use it to beat FEDRA? And how many people would die in the process? What would even be the point of beating FEDRA when it's about "sAvInG HumAnItY"? Or they just distribute it freely like that, happy happy everyone is happy? P l e a s e. The way the world is portrayed in the game and the show, you can't believe that's how it's gonna happen. It's stated multiple times on the show, how FEDRA and The Fireflies are these huge, determined, strong entities going at each other's throat, so much so that oftentimes, human casualties ensue, and it doesn't stop them. Like can we take a minute and weight in on how many people The Fireflies might have killed in approx. 20 years? (I'm sorry anon, literally battling TUMBLR to post this maybe it's too long so I gotta cut this-)

[skoulsons]

TLOU Ep5

Shorter bc my computer cut out and I had to hand write notes

This is horrifically dark

MY BOYS

that man is full of knives

“Stay with me” AND HOLDS HIS HAND. this is unfair

I love the way Perry stands

Jeffrey pierce looks so good in this role. The slicked back mullet??

it sounds like she’s talking to little kids

“You’re all guilty, so that’s how that’ll go” 😭

Okay but why be like “no one has to die” and then say “kill them”?? YOU WANT THEM DEAD OR NOT?

and jeffreys voice.

oh man

OKAY great I figured we went back in time a smidge but I wasn’t for sure. So the doctor was with them

poor Sam :(

WAIT IS IT AN ETCH A SKETCH?? are those THAT old? They can’t be. no that’s not one it’s something different

“He’s scared bc you’re scared” 🙃🙃

THE SCORE?? ITS THE SAME ONE WHEN JOEL AND ELLIE EMBRACE IN THE RESTAURANT HELLOOOOOO? ALL GONE (REUNION) RIGHT?? not the score evening out when he signs “super sam” im gonna throw myself down stairs head first

The same fear and reassurance between Joel and Ellie last episode. “No one’s gonna find us” “are you sure? “100%”

Henry pulling out the bag of crayons and then drawing together. why.

HE HAD PAINT AND EVERYTHING

their hug :( and Henry gently rubbing his fingers back and forth on Sam’s shoulder???;?/!;?

“He has an asshole voice. Joel, tell him he’s okay” “everything’s g r e a t” 😭😭

Joel giving Sam his food :(

The look joel gives Ellie when she tells them her name <3 so game-esque

HER SLAPPING HIS LEG TO GET HIM TO SHARE HIS NAME

Joel jogging and then leaning over to catch his breath 😭 me, always

“Get your gun out” AND HER SMILE AND HIS HEAD SHAKE

Ellie’s arm slung over Sam’s shoulder :(

SAVAGE STARLIGHT !

you’re kidding. soccer. SOCCER? IN FRONT OF JOEL?

*write on this L*

“But you get it. You might not be her father, but you were someone’s. I can tell” is his protectiveness that obvious

did Perry just make a “your mom” joke.

Joel criticizing Henry for talking too much and ellie smiling 😭

LISTENNNNN A SHOT AND JOEL TAKING HIS SWEET TIME TO TURN, FIND ELLIE, PUT HIS ARM OVER HER BACK AND SHIELD HER? make a whole ass dinner too why don’t you

Henry holding Sam’s hand :(

“If you don’t move, he’s not gonna hit you.” This reassurance 🫶🏻🫶🏻 “But if you go out there, he’s gonna kill you.” “it’s dark and he’s got shit aim, nobody’s gonna kill me.” “then he’s gonna kill us.” “Do you trust me?” And her nod 🕳👩‍🦯

Joel asking him to not do it bc he doesn’t want to kill him :/

EXPLOSION ! And as @ellie-licious and I were talking about, Ellie’s frolicking in the middle of the street 😭

the focusing shots of Joel’s face realizing that that body is Ellie on the ground.,.,..

WHERES OUR BLOATER

she’d really kill the kids. damn. you’re fucked up kathleen

BLOATER BLOATEF BLOATER

THATS SO MUCH INFECTED HOLY PISS OHMY

THERES SO MANY

THE SAME KILL ANIMATION. MWAH I LOVE ART

listen I know Joel’s skilled and he loves Ellie, but firing so close to her is SO ballsy 😭 AND HIM SHAKING DURING IT?? kill me. *WRITE ON THIS L*

im scared of scorpions :/

im scared of ending up alone :/

he showed her it oh fuck. oh wow was not expecting that.

NOT ELLIE TRYING TO FIX IT WITH HER BLOOD WAAAAAAA

“Stay awake with me” :(((((((

“I promise” :((((((

NOT A HUG.

shit. shit man shit. shit. why. why was I hoping for a different outcome.

Wow I was talking earlier if they’d play it the same way as in game. and they did almost 1:1. Wow.

Ellie calling out for Joel :/

JOEL BURIED THEM. wow different from game for sure, but I’m happy with it

[lizajane2]

I have a lot say about the "morality" of what Joel did. Now you are more than welcome to look at it from a moral standpoint, but to apply it to a world where right and wrong is a bit obscured... I have always thought that right and wrong is a matter of perception. Because what you think might be seen as wrong is right to another.

Let's take Kathy (Kathleen) for example (there are a lot of parallels here that can also be used for season 2 spoilers), she is completely motivated to avenge her brother. From her story about how he would protect her from the storms you could get the sense they were joined at the hip since they were kids. But then outbreak happens, and they lose everything they know and everyone they love. They just have each other. In her mindset, she is doing what she believes is right, she's thinking "who gives a fuck about kids? Who gives a fuck about anyone else? The world's gone to shit and I lost the one person, the one purpose I had to survive." Her last purpose, what spurred her on was killing Henry and Sam. I 100% think she was mentally fucked up enough to opt out if she had achieved getting revenge. She had no reason after that.

As for Joel, "he took away the world's only chance for a cure," yeah, with what advanced technology could they use to mass produce a cure for a fungal infection? Early computers from the 40s had a basic central processing unit; contacting over long distances became a thing in the 50s which is around the same time Computer Sciences started to emerge... shit the internet didn't become an actual thing until the late 60s. And then it was on the rise between 1990 & 03'. It was still new and evolving but then the world went to shit. And even now here in real life we have yet to find any cure for a fungal disease despite the technological advances we've made. You're gonna sit here and tell me that a cure was possible based on a hypothesis that hasn't even been tested? No. But what the show fails to mention, is that in the game you find out that the Fireflies did find people who were immune. And they all died.

Joel who lost his daughter wasn't about to sit there and let the Firefly's extract Ellie's brain for a hypothetical. Now I completely agree that his decisions were 100% selfish. He was operating solely on the fact of not wanting to experience the pain of losing another daughter. NO parent would allow a doctor to operate on a 14 year old child for a so-called cure that is solely based on belief... okay, yeah that makes sense. I don't think he was wrong for saving Ellie not one bit. I think he was wrong for lying, I think he was wrong for taking her choice away. But he's never gonna regret saving her because ultimately Joel believes he did the right thing; and first and foremost, he's a father. That need to protect, to keep safe, to make sure that she is gonna live and have a life that she wants, is always gonna be there. I think he did the right thing saving Ellie, not lying to her.

[fantasyinvader]

I think hearing about the Hunters arc put the final nail in the coffin for me watching TLoU. It just feels like such a departure from the first game and it's messages.

Hear me out on this. In the first game, we escape Boston with Ellie, meet Bill with a warning about how the Infected aren't the only thing we need to worry about. We get to Philly, and we're dealing with the Hunters. These people attack and kill anyone who enters their area without mercy, even willing to hunt down kids with a tank. We learn through exploration and examining the artifacts that this place was a QZ that FEDRA lost after the Fireflies rallied the people, only for the people to accuse the Fireflies of using them when they ordered Philly to start marching to "liberate" other QZs. In essence, this sets up something that does carry over into the second game.

The Infected aren't the real monsters here. Those are just zombies doing what zombies do. The real monsters are humans, specifically humans who prey on other humans. We get the Hunters, who purged their weak. We have David and the cannibals, eating people just like zombies. In Part 2, we have the WLF taking over Seattle and enslaving the people there, forcing them to live and work in a stadium in order to support the fascist militia. Not to mention the Rattlers, same thing on a smaller scale down in California.

Then we have the Fireflies, who were similar to the WLF and accused of using people as well. We know from the first game they recruited children, while the second tells us they were told by their superiors to do whatever it takes to win even if it felt like you were sacrificing part of yourself to do so. We see Jerry, the commander of the Salt Lake City Fireflies, tell this to his daughter Abby. If we pay attention in the hospital as we attempt to rescue Ellie, we can learn they wanted to kill Joel while he was unconscious despite, you know, Joel bringing them the girl. Joel wasn't their enemy, he did a job for them and they wanted to repay him with his death only to be spared by Marlene's intervention because she wanted Joel to absolve her for deciding to sacrifice Ellie. Joel didn't, and they tried to escort him out of the building without his supplies let alone any sort of payment. The Fireflies used Joel and were going to use Ellie.

I know the creators of the show want to go for a "everyone's a hero from their own POV" thing like Neil did with Part 2...but that doesn't work here. That wasn't the story of the first game. The first game we saw ever escalating cruelty from people who stopped valuing human lives. First the cartoonishly evil Hunters, then David's group appearing okay at first, then we see the Fireflies are not the heroes we might have initially thought they were. All these people lost their humanity and started preying on humans. Joel was an ex-hunter himself, but he left that to become a smuggler and then a father to Ellie. A father who wouldn't let his daughter be sacrificed (...like Jerry would have).

Joel was the hero as he regained his humanity and rejected the idea of sacrificing Ellie. She was a person, not a resource. Not the Hunters, not David, and not the Fireflies. With that last group, the show is just retconning so much. No "getting back our guns from them," instead it's "we need a car battery from them." The Hunters are seemingly not their fault now, and they're skipping the university chapter. You know, where their incompetence is starting to really shine as some dumbass decided to free monkeys that served as carriers to the CBI. If you have to do all this in order to make them "heroes," chances are they weren't in the first game. Neil must have finally realized that and did something other than making the doctor white to make him sympathetic.

Also, for a franchise that tries to bank on representation it sure does love killing off or screwing over it's minority characters.

[cakesexuality]

I know you said you weren't assuming anything but you wouldn't be wrong to. I won't get into it just bc I don't think this thread is the place for that, but maybe there is something there about David and a few experiences in my past, idk. Those particular events weren't really traumatizing for me but they're still connected to a person who very much did traumatise me in other ways.

But maybe me liking David is just about the game's themes of morality. Like, the game ends with it being revealed that Ellie has to die in order for them to make a cure/vaccine for the zombie fungus (and Ellie knew the whole time that she would likely die), her godmother greenlit the surgery for it, but her pseudo-adopted dad killed the doctor who was going to do it bc he'd already had his biological daughter die and refused to go through that again, which creates a question of who the bad guy is -- Joel, who stopped something that could potentially save humanity? Or Marlene, who promised Ellie's mom to keep her safe but was letting her die anyway? (I think there's no real right side here bc I don't think there was a guarantee of a cure/vaccine so her death could have been for nothing but it's also what Ellie wanted and she was okay with dying if it meant saving everyone else)

And the second game asks the same questions, by having you watch a cutscene where a woman brutally murders a beloved character (elaborating in the tags bc spoilers) and then you spend several hours playing as that woman, to make her motivations sympathetic and let her redeem herself by showing her be a big sister figure to two kids who've been chased out of a religious cult after one came out as trans. You even get into a boss fight where you play as her while fighting Ellie.

Maybe capital-G Gamers just don't like redemption arcs or something bc the response to the fact you have to play as someone framed as a villain was piss poor and there are absolutely things to criticise the game for but that's Not It and I feel like a lot of those people are the same people who were being transphobic about Abby bc she's a woman with lots of muscle and about Lev bc he actually is trans and oh my god I could go on about the controversies around this game for a very long time

"You like villains bc you see something of yourself in them and use them to vicariously imagine yourself doing bad things you wouldn't be able to bring yourself to do irl"

Well then please explain why I love Habit from EMH and David from TLOU bc I see nothing of myself in them

[gabshereig]

“why abby is better than ellie”

i know everyones gonna hate me for this one but i had to write it for an english assigiment so hear me out 

Aurgumentive essay: The last of us part 2 Why Abby is superior to Ellie

Does living in a post-apocalyptic zombie world give you an excuse to be a bad person? Ellie Williams is not a moral person and should not be idolized or romanticized. Contrary to widespread belief, the protagonist in The Last of us part 2 is Abby Anderson, the killer of Joel Miller.  

The last of us is a video game set in the year 2033. The world is destroyed and decaying around them. The zombie apoloyse started with a mushroom virus called cordyceps. Cordyceps is a parasitic fungal brain infection, that can be transmitted through spores or bites. The first game follows our main character Ellie Willaims and Joel miller. Joel is a smuggler who takes things from one place to another. His job this time is to smuggle a little girl. This girl's name is Ellie, Ellie is immune to the infection. Joel must smuggle Ellie into the firefly's so they can make an antidote to the infection. The firefly's is a group of scientists and others who later disbanded. Joel has done horrible things to ensure his survival; he is hardened. Joel and Ellie form a daughter father relasonship on the way across the country to the fireflies. When Ellie gets to the firefly's lab Joel learns that to cure the infection theyd must kill Ellie. This added information destroys Joel. HE must do something. He kills 10 to 20 humans to get to Ellie. When he walks in the lead, the doctor tells Joel that he will not let him take Ellie. Joel then kills the lead doctor which we later lean that was Abbys father. Ellie was the only cure for humanity.  

This brings us to the second game. Joel did not come home one night, and Ellie went to search for them. Ellie gets to them first where she is forced to wanted Joel to get beaten to death with a golfclub by Abby and the rest of the Washington liberation front. Abby spares Ellies life and then leaves. Ellie is heartbroken and the second game is set in motion. Ellie revenge. One of the main reasons as to why Ellie is not a person is because she left her family for a revenge plot. All evidence seen in the video by UNPARALLEL Gaming. Dina, her girlfriend, with a newborn baby Jj is living with Ellie outside the city in a beautiful farmhouse. Ellie has Left Dina in shambles multiple times, but Dina lets her back in. Dina needs Ellie and moreover Ellie needs Dina to feel human. Ellie is consumed with rage. It is late one night. Jj is asleep and so is Dina. Ellie is paking a bag; she is planning to sneak to sneak out and leaving Dina and her baby without telling her. Dinna wakes up and tells Ellie, “Come back to bed, we’ll talk in the morning.” Dina is upset and confused as to why Ellie would leave in the middle of the night without telling her. Ellie replies in a cold voice, “I have to finish it.” Dina flinches at the coldness of Ellies voice. Ellie must kill aby. Ellie tells Dina she cannot sleep or eat. Her survivor's guilt is too strong. Ellie tells Dina that she loves her. Dina replies, “I love you... stay” the look in Dinas eyes is utterly heart wrenching. Dinas eyes are begging and pledging for the love of her life to stay with her. Dina did not deserve this. “We have a family” she says, “Shes (Abby) doesn't get to be more important than that” Ellie does not respond. She just stares emotionlessly. Ellies silence kills Dina. Dina says “I'm not gonna do this again” tears start to stream down her face. “that's your choice” Ellie replays. Dina turns her back and her face crumbles with despair. She cannot stop the tears; she just lets them come. You can see the evident heart break on her face. Dina has saved Ellies' life. Physically and emotionally. Dina picked Ellie up when Joel died. She made sure she had food, and she was safe. Dina helped her get back into being okay again. Dina gave Ellie all her love and time and how did Ellie repay Dinas love? By turning her back on her. Ellie did not deserve someone like Dina. Ellie left Dina heartbroken with a baby, alone in a zombie apolyse. This is significant because Abby would never do that. Abby gave everything she had to her friends. She never let her revenge get in the way of her friends. Was Abby cold? Yes. But who would not be when their father, the only man in the world that could cure the infection, and all her group was brutely murdered. Abbys group was her family. She would do anything for them.

Abby is better than Ellie for multiple reasons. But the one to harp one is abbys humanity. As seen in the video published by nocotber. Abby spares Ellies life twice. Ellie comes after Abby, harassing her and murdering all her friends. AT the theater when Ellie is searching for Abby, she comes across Ellies friends. Ellie murders abbys dog, ex-boyfriend, her pregnant friend, and a few others. Ellie does not hesitate or even ask them about where Abby may be or who they are. She just kills. Ellie is a coldblooded killer. Abby is heartbroken but still never goes after or Trys to kill Ellie. Abby also saves levs and yaras life. Abby betrays her whole group to save a 12-year-old boy and his sister from the scars. The scars are a cult who believe in gutting people and hanging their bodies on display. Abby betrays the WLF to save these two kids from a religious cult. She says it is to lift her guilt. Which means Abby feels guilty about killing Joel. It shows she has humanity whereas Ellie is shown to be so far into revenge that a part of the game shows her running through tunnels while repeating “Abby” under her breathe while she is searching for Abby. Ellie is an unhinged, unmoral, and mentally unattractive person. For lack of better words Ellie is insane.

Some would say Abby is a horrible person because she murdered Joel so disrespectfully. Joel is a very loved person and the game sets up 15 hours of close contact with him and his personality. Part two sets up flashbacks of Ellie and Joel at museums. It is beautiful. It truly shows their humanity and how much they genuinely loved each other. Joel did everything for Ellie. Joel murdered and tortured people for her well-being. Joel was all Ellie had for a long time. Then Ellie had to watch Joel die. The game does an amazing job at setting up an intense bond between the player and the characters. You begin to love Ellie and Joels relsonship. Most people do not see Ellie faults because they spend hours of their life basking in her trauma and validating her and Joels murderous ways. A As Joel you have the option to sneak around and not kill people but sometimes you do not and are forced to. In the second game while you play as Ellie, you are forced to kill 15 people, you can choose to kill the rest. Ellie is murderous. In the first game the least amount of people who can kill is 31. He is a serial killer. He murdered 358 infected people. These people are wrong though. The fact that they do not try to look at everything though abbys perspective is the main issue. Abby killed the murder of her father. Her father was the only one who could save humanity. All of humanity. The only man that could make the world “right” again. Abby has 2 chances to kill Ellie and she did not. Abby had the opportunity to help others and she did. Abby portrayed a strong unfeminine looking body on a woman which is not showed a lot in the media. Abby is not a bad Person. She did not do anything that you would not do if you were in her situation.

Abby is superior to Ellie because Ellie is an immoral person and should not be Romanized. Not only is Ellie a coldblooded killer she is also incapable of returning love. While Abby would drop everything for the ones she loves. After reading this paper you should rethink your Romanized version of Ellie and see her who she is, someone broken, someone incapable of forgiveness, someone who will never change, And a toxic person. You should learn to forgive Abby for killing your favorite character and learn to love her just as you loved Joel.  

Druckmann, Neil, director. Last Of Us 2 Ellie Dina Breakup Scene Ellie Leaves Dina to Find Abby Dina Leaves Ellie She Is Broken. Youtube, UNPARALLEL Gaming, 25 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=544iOKfkG4U. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.  

Druckmann, Neil, director. The Lat of Us Part 2. The Death of Abby's Friends - The Last of Us Part 2 (2020), Noctober, 27 June 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Uygib0PKuo&feature=share&utm_source=EJGixIgBCJiu2KjB4oSJEQ. Accessed 27 Oct. 2022.

[reiedits1]

The Last Of Us Part II

I played and finished The Last Of Us Part II last week and it has been on my mind ever since. I obviously understand that a lot of people have problems with this game, and that’s okay. I’m not here to change anyone’s views on the game or anything, I just want to kind of write down my opinions and takeaways as, again, it’s been on my mind since finishing it lol. Nobody may see this and this will mean nothing, that’s fine. 

Anyway, this post will contain SPOILERS

My Overall Thoughts

I’m not entirely sure how to structure this so I guess I’ll just start with a broad statement lol; I loved The Last Of Us Part II. In my opinion, it’s a beautiful and well-crafted story about loss, grief and consequences, with how each of these things affect different people. 

Discussion 

From what I’ve seen, I see a lot of people hating on this game for its handling of Joel and the decision to have the player play as Joel’s murderer, Abby. I’ve also seen a lot of people say that the message is as simple and plain as “viOleNcE iS bAd”, but I personally think it’s so much more than that.

The Last Of Us Part II doesn’t just tell you that violence is bad, but it shows you the ramifications of it by dealing with the emotional toll as well as the consequences on not just the main person involved, but their loved ones too.

As we all know, at the start of the game, Joel is brutally killed by Abby and we go with Ellie on a mission to avenge him by killing everybody involved. We see it all from Ellie’s point of view, hardheartedly seeing Abby as the villain as she just killed the character that we know and love as we have an emotional connection to him after the first game. His death is supposed to make you feel angered. It’s not like you’re supposed to be joyed by it. His death scene left me feeling empty and sick, wanting revenge alongside Ellie. 

However, as the game goes on, we start to see the story from Abby’s point of view. We learn that the doctor that you, the player, had to murder at the end of The Last of Us is actually the father of Abby. This is brilliant. Now we see one of the main themes of the story, consequences, and I was immediately on board. Joel is not a good person, at all. He murdered hundreds of Fireflies and took away the possible cure for humanity for his own personal reasons. This is incredibly selfish, even going to the lengths of lying to Ellie about the events as he knows that it isn’t what she would want. Technically, Joel is the villain.

Joel had been through so much, so you may think it’s justified. But the point is, Joel isn’t the only person in the world of The Last of Us. Everybody he murders aren’t just mindless NPCs, they are people. People with their own problems who have gone through their own share of pain and loss, people with their own loved ones. Such as the doctor, who had Abby, whom he loved very much and Abby the same. So, understandably, she would feel incredibly angry and feel the need for revenge, just the same as Ellie and the player after Joel’s death.

There is now a cycle of revenge. Ellie goes on to kill Abby’s friends, and so Abby tries to kill Ellie and her friends. It’s not until Lev talks Abby out of it that the cycle seems to have been “broken”. Abby and Lev put it behind them, however, Ellie cannot and nor can Tommy, which means that the cycle is not broken. Ellie continues her hunt for revenge, thinking it’s still what she needs. Just as she’s about to murder Abby, she sees it’s completely useless.

Here I’m going to talk about another core theme of the story: loss. As Ellie is about to kill Abby, she realises that Joel is gone. Completely gone, and killing Abby is not going to change that. She now has Lev, and if Ellie was to kill Abby, Lev would only lose Abby, leaving him in the same situation Ellie was in at the start of the game, which in turn means Ellie is becoming what she set out to kill. It’s no use. Revenge only causes more pain and loss. This cycle is so vicious and nobody wins, and Abby realised this once she found Lev, and found that revenge is a futile thing that does not achieve anything, especially not bringing back her dead friends. She managed to break the cycle herself, and in turn, she found a life worth living, a live with Lev. However, Ellie could not manage this, choosing to still seek revenge.

Because of this, she faces the consequences. She loses all of her loved ones. She loses Dina, she loses Jesse and she loses her baby son, JJ. Tommy is the same too. Tommy couldn’t break the cycle, and he loses his wife, Maria. And guess what, Joel is still gone. All of that loss, yet Joel is still dead. It’s all been for nothing. Ellie is now completely alone, which is what she said she was scared of in the first game, all because of revenge. The way forward is not anger, rage or revenge, but acceptance and love. That’s my takeaway.

You may think this treatment of Joel and Ellie is “disrespectful”, but I disagree. In the first game, you do a lot of bad things as these characters. Yeah, you go through a lot of pain, but so has everybody else, yet they still face the unfavorable consequences. It only makes sense that Joel and Ellie would too. In my opinion, this only helps to build the world of The Last of Us and show that just because Joel and Ellie are the main characters, they aren’t invincible, and the world doesn’t revolve around them. They just happen to be two people who live in the world amongst so many others, which for me, makes it so much more realistic. This is emphasised in the incredible detail in the gameplay of each enemy having names, with other enemies interacting with eachother as you stalk them. It makes them feel so much more real and only increased my enjoyability.

From a story like this, which is so dark and gritty, I don’t expect a happy ending. You’re not supposed to like Ellie by the end of this story, as she serves as the example of why the cycle of revenge is horrible. You’re not supposed to feel satisfied by it, you’re supposed to feel empty, hurt and sad. That is literally the point. 

You have to realise that The Last Of Us is a piece of artistic storytelling told and made by artists. It would have been so easy for Neil Druckmann to write a boring and two-dimensional story to appease players and make bank. But he didn’t. He chose to craft an intricate, heavy and creative direction for his material, and I hugely respect that. At the end of the day, he doesn’t owe you anything. This is his story, and these are his characters, he can do what he wants with them. If you don’t like his creative vision, then great! You don’t have to. If you don’t like something, just don’t play/watch/read it. If you loved the first game but hated the second, then just pretend it doesn’t exist and come up with your own fanfiction for these characters, it probably wouldn’t have been as good as this.

A lot of people blame “bad writing” when they don’t like something. There’s a difference between feeling bad about something than it being bad writing, you know. Just because it wasn’t what you wanted, doesn’t mean the writing is bad. By you feeling angry about Joel dying, Neil Druckmann’s writing has accomplished its objective. And I’m not trying to say that everybody who doesn’t like this game didn’t like it because their fanfiction didn’t come true. You cannot like this game solely because you don’t like the direction it took, and that’s fine. Because again, this story is a piece of artistic storytelling, and art is subjective.

This entire post is just my opinion. I personally loved this story and these characters, and it was exactly what I wanted to get out of this game. Everything about the game I just adored. I loved the plot, the writing, the characters, the gameplay, the music, the visuals, the performances - everything. And if you didn’t, then great. That’s your opinion. It just hurts me to see so many people dismissing the incredible things achieved in this game solely because of one plot point. I don’t know. As I said, I’m not trying to change your opinion or anything, I just thought I’d share mine.

I only scratched the surface of my thoughts and opinions on this game. I could talk about it for hours, which only goes to show the extent of its achievements and how incredible it really is. I doubt anybody is reading this and that’s fine, apologies if none of what I said made any sense at all lol, I’m awful at articulating my opinions aha.   

[yeeyee-alumni]

Joel did not doom humanity (no matter how much the second game wants you to believe that)

To demonize Joel’s decision at the end of the first game (saving his surrogate daughter’s life) you need to bend over backwards and ignore any and all context the first game gave us with regards to who the Fireflies truly are. Because the truth of the matter is: a) they knocked Joel unconscious while he was trying to revive a young girl b) they drugged Ellie immediately to tear her body apart for their needs c) THEY DID NOT ASK ELLIE FOR PERMISSION to give her life for their cause, they didn’t even tell her she would have to die (Ellie was making plans with Joel after the giraffe scene, “Once we're done, we'll go wherever you want. Okay?”, clearly indicating she had no idea she would have to die) d) they did not let Ellie and Joel see each other to say their goodbyes e) they were about to walk Joel out into the wilderness without any of his gear/resources, which during the zombie apocalypse is a certain death sentence f) they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain (remember how Marlene promised Joel guns in return for delivering Ellie?) So even if you show them as much goodwill as possible, the Fireflies are still a bunch of assholes. If the exact opposite had happened, they let Joel go all on good terms and then he suddenly decided to turn around and murder everyone I would have called him a terrible person, but that is not what happened. As it stands, the Fireflies are shady and questionable at best. But it actually gets worse:

a) the procedure that would 100% kill Ellie had an incredibly low success rate (the doctor mentioned in his recording that every previous operation with other test subjects had failed) b) the same recording mentions cerebrospinal fluid having been extracted, meaning they were capable of performing a non-lethal spinal tab, but they’re unable to perform a non-lethal biopsy or craniotomy on Ellie? (this may seem like nit-picking, but actually further solidifies my point about how incompetent the Fireflies/Abby’s dad were/was) c) to add to their immense incompetence, mere hours after receiving Ellie they decide to IMMEDIATELY KILL THE ONLY PERSON KNOWN TO BE IMMUNE as oppose to keeping her alive for as long as possible to run every single test in existence on her. But let's paint a picture of the best case scenario, which is Jerry, the absolute legend that he is, actually manages to get a vaccine out of Ellie, what happens then? a) How are the Fireflies, who are nearly extinct at this point, supposed to MASS PRODUCE and NATIONWIDE DISTRIBUTE a vaccine? That is logistically impossible. b) More than likely, they would use the vaccine as a bargaining chip against FEDRA (granted, this is more a guess than a fact, but to believe they wouldn’t take advantage of the vaccine in the fight for political power against the government they’ve been fighting for years is beyond naïve). But let’s be even more generous: turns out the Fireflies are the most altruistic resistance group to have ever existed, they actually manage to produce and distribute the vaccine into every last corner of the country, everyone is immune. What now? a) You might be immune to spores and bites, but your immunity doesn’t help you when a clicker rips your throat out or a bloater crushes you to death, the infected can still kill you in numerous other ways. b) The faction wars going on are not gonna disappear overnight. WLF and Seraphites will continue to kill each other by the dozens every day, one could even argue that introducing a vaccine into the conflict would only cause things to escalate further. c) Numerous cannibals, hunters and bandits still roam the country, they will not abandon their practices overnight and they are arguably a much bigger threat than the infected to begin with. Just because everyone is immune does not mean that the world returns to sunshine, rainbows, and flowers. To imply that it would, means being simplistic and naive beyond reason. It should be obvious by now that Ellie’s death WOULD NOT HAVE IMPROVED ANYTHING. The chances of actually getting a vaccine are slim to none, the chances of vaccinating everyone are even more dour, and even then the overall situation would not improve much. With such bad prospects I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice my child either. (I am aware that an argument can be made that none of these factors had an impact on Joel’s decision to save Ellie, yet they’re still crucial when making a judgement about the Fireflies/Abby’s dad). To summarize: a) Abby’s dad was incompetent and a horrible person (his conversation with Abby in the second game tells us that he would not be willing to sacrifice his own child, but if it’s someone else’s it’s a-okay for him). b) The Fireflies were a malicious and incompetent terrorist group with messed up morals. c) No, Joel did not doom humanity. Subsequently, Abby’s quest for revenge was not justified because the Fireflies and her dad were never justified in their actions to begin with. And this is only solidified by the second game having to retcon the hell out of all these arguments I just painstakingly illustrated and explained in order to even attempt to have Abby’s motivation be seen as justified. Only one example being how it was clearly established in the first game that they had MULTIPLE doctors in Salt Lake City (Marlene: “The doctors tell me that the cordyceps, the growth inside her, has somehow mutated.”; Ellie: “She said that they have their own little quarantine zone. With doctors there still trying to find a cure.”). Yet in the second game we are told by

Abby that actually no, turns out her dad was the only doctor that could have developed vaccine. And it doesn't take mental gymnastics to see why the second game takes it upon itself to alter most of the context of the first one: to (retroactively!) condemn Joel. HOWEVER, a sequel doesn’t get to pick and choose which established facts from the first entry it builds upon or what it gets to retroactively declare as non-canon only to have it fit their preferred narrative. Quite frankly, that’s bad writing. A sequel, in order to be considered well-written, has to not only be a natural continuation of the events, but has to stay consistent with the characters and the world that were previously set up. And if you have to alter much of the context to make it look like Joel condemned the world, isn't that the most obvious sign that he never actually did? And all of this effort for just one goal: to justify Abby’s quest for revenge and yet it still wasn’t and here’s why: Joel killed her dad in order to PREVENT HIM FROM KILLING HIS DAUGHTER. Abby on the other hand WILFULLY SLOW TORTURED Joel for what appears to be hours, prolonging his death for as long as possible, all for her own gratification (and we won't mention how she went through with it despite Ellie's crying and pleading). And don’t even try to make the argument about Abby wanting “justice”, Joel didn’t torture her dad out of revenge or for his own gratification - this is not justice, this is simply sadistic. A man killing someone who is about to murder their child in semi-self-defense cannot be compared to someone wilfully slow torturing someone to death for their own gratification, like Jesus, I didn’t think I’d have to spell that one out. I am aware that the second game tries to do whatever it can, including retconning their own original story, to paint Ellie and (especially!) Joel as evil. And for a considerable amount of the player base this actually worked, and while I cannot find it in me to condemn them (we all experience stories differently after all), I reserve the right to reject arguments in defense of Abby such as “all people are forced to do bad things during the apocalypse” and “does context even matter?”. If the only way you can defend/justify Abby's actions is to remove all context and nuance, then your reasoning is built on quicksand.

[damn-stark]

The Trouble ch.8

A/N- tell me how you liked it!! The ending is coming soon.

Warning- ANGST, talks of loss and grief, ptsd, violence, blood, light fluff, SPOILIERS if you haven’t played the game.

Pairing- Jesse x fem!reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

——

Here. Finally.

It took a long time, but you arrived.

Maybe you regretted it a little, feeling the sun burn your skin as it scorched down, but there was no turning back now. You’ve made it this far. Santa Barbara, and hopefully one step closer to reaching Ellie.

Albeit you knew you weren’t going to find anything on the abandoned boat that you came to. Everything here seemed to be untouched for a couple months, if this was Abby, she was long gone now.

“Has Ellie passed by here?” You couldn't help but wonder out loud whilst you stepped out of the cabin and walked off to jump off the boat—Is she even here?—you think to yourself.

Nevertheless You couldn’t stay out here in this damn blazing sun for too long, nor could you stay so below, you needed to get to higher ground. You could possibly find something there—your eyes lift to the house that overlooked the ocean behind you and getting there, or just getting higher was your goal. And it wasn’t a tough thing to do, the terrain was easy to get through, you just expected the neighborhood you ran into, Messa Bluff, to be tough. All neighborhoods were. Those not used anyway.

You pulled out your gun expecting to hear, or see any sort of infected roaming mindlessly in the streets, but as you walked towards the first house you saw, there was dead infected on the ground. And it could be an old body, but as your eyes roamed it’s ugly figure, you noticed the fresh blood that spilled from the wound on its head. Some of it was still pouring out of its corpse, so it was just killed.

“Hmm,” you sigh before you lift your eyes from its body and continue towards the house, noticing not just a few feet ahead another freshly killed infected—someone’s here.

Your eyes flicker up to the house and you just hoped it was Ellie.

*A FEW YEARS AGO*

“We actually have a girl around the same age as you,” Tommy directs to Ellie who sat by herself on the reading chair. “She should be coming from her classes soon.”

“Classes?” Joel questions. “You guys have a school?”

Maria nods her head. “For the younger kids we do, but y/n is learning to become a doctor.”

Ellie heard them talk but she could hardly care, sure she might want friends if staying here was for the long haul, she didn’t want to be alone cooped up in her room, but she hardly cared to meet someone at the moment. She was bored, hungry and frustrated, but perhaps that was the hunger. All she wanted to do was go to her room and see what she could decorate it with.

Yet Joel stayed in his brother's house talking about random things that came up, but Ellie knew that he was waiting for you, the girl Tommy and Maria had mentioned, so she could meet you. But you surely took your time to get to your house, and once you did, you rushed in unaware of the guests in your living room. Albeit Ellie had noticed you first, she caught your muddy shoes in your hand that you tried to hide behind you, she noticed the urgency and panic in your face that she had seen on other people many times. She couldn’t help but wonder what you had done in your nursing classes to have ended with your shoes caked in mud, and for your first instinct once you got to your house was to dart to your room without as much as a glance at the obvious chatter in your living room.

And luckily for you, you got stopped before you could reach the stairs. “Hey, Y/N, wait up.” Maria called out after your fleeting figure.

“Yes?” You ask as you poke your head past the wall, noticing in that instant an older man with hair a deep grey color, and visible scars on his face that only made him appear intimidating and rugged; he also looked familiar, but you’ve never seen him in your life—“oh.” You mouth before your eyes flicker over to a red-headed girl slouched on the reading chair, her green eyes brightened by the sunlight kissing her face while she obviously studied your face. She also looked intimidating, but not as much as the man, and one thing you couldn’t help but notice was that she looked young. Which, you didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, yet.

“Come over here and introduce yourself,” Tommy waved you over.

You sigh, but don’t argue as to not look suspicious, instead you throw your backpack on the stairs and regretfully put your shoes on top of it, making sure to cover them with your coat before you walk towards the living room.

“Hello,” you greet the man and the girl still on the couch with a faint smile. “I’m y/n.”

“Y/N, this is my brother Joel.” Tommy introduced him as he fell by your side, the new information letting you realIze that, that’s why the man looked familiar, he looked like Tommy.

“Hello.” He simply said in a husky voice that was much deeper than Tommy’s. “Tommy,” he continued as he looked up at his brother beside you. “You didn’t tell me you had a daughter.”

“No,” Tommy chuckled, “she’s not my biological daughter. She’s my adopted daughter.”

Joel nods and then looks back to the girl, motioning her to get up with his hand. She seemed hesitant, but she picked herself up and stood behind him, making Joel step back so he could push her forward and introduce her. “Ah, this is Ellie, and she’s just around your age.”

“Really?” You question as you blink and meet her gaze. “That’s cool.” There's an awkward silence after, with neither of you knowing what to say or do, but Maria seemed to have a good suggestion that only made things more awkward.

“Why don’t you take her up to your room.”

You weren’t children to show each other your toys, but you did need to hide your shoes before either of them saw—“okay,” you say in a feigned calm tone before you walk back and point your head towards the direction of the stairs. “Come on, it’s upstairs.”

Ellie steps forward and you miss the glare she shot Joel before she slowly followed after you, managing to catch you snatch your shoes and other things from the stairs before you ran up and waited for her at the top. Once Ellie reached the top you guided her to your room at the end of the hall and made sure to swiftly throw your shoes in the bathroom, and shut that door.

“So,” you decide to break the tension. “How old are you?”

“Uh, fifteen.” Ellie answers whilst her eyes wander around your nicely decorated room. “You? I mean they say you're the same age as me, but I don’t believe them. I think they’ll say that just to force you to befriend me.”

You scoff lightheartedly and turn to face her once you’re stopped by your bed. “I’m sixteen. I just turned sixteen like a day ago.” You sit on the edge of your bed and catch Ellie focused on the vinyl records all neatly tucked in the shelves, she walks towards the shelf and her lips tugged to a small smile.

“Are these all yours?” She asked excitedly as she looked at you.

“Yeah,” you nod, “I’ve collected some along the years, and my grandpa gave me the rest.”

Ellie’s eyes return to the vinyls to brush her thin fingers over the backs, stopping as she catches sight of a certain album that caught her attention. “Do you have anywhere to play them? Or I mean do they work?”

You drag yourself off the bed to walk to your desk and open the wooden record player. “You can put one on.” You smile as you step back to make room. “To try it out.”

“Are you being fucking for real?” She queried as her eyes met your eyes and you caught a gentle sparkle in them.

“Yeah,” you nod. “Go.”

Ellie doesn’t hesitate to bring an album by “The Clash” with her as she walks to stand by your side, pulling out the vinyl from its sleeve and carefully placing the record where it went. She then set it up and you both waited, hearing silence for a brief second before the sound of an electric guitar began to play, and seconds later a voice began to sing and you recognized the song “Should I Stay or Should I go’ was playing. One of your favorite songs. And it seemed to be hers too because she soon turned up the volume and began to bop her head to the beat, as well as tap her foot as her hands went into her coat pocket and her smile turned to a grin.

You then followed by doing the same head movements as the song played and completely broke the tension between you both. And perhaps it was such a small moment, a small change, but the hostility was gone, neither of you were strangers anymore, but Instead immediate friends.

“Can I ask you,” Ellie spoke up while the song played. “What happened in your medical classes that got your shoes dirty?”

Your eyes widen and you blink to meet her curious gaze, but you don’t hide the truth from her. You smirk instead and reveal the truth. “Yeah, there was no class today. I snuck out with my friends. Just don’t tell Tommy, or Maria.”

Ellie scoffs, and her lips tug to a smirk. “Your secret is safe with me.”

You grin and step back to walk towards your shelf. “Wanna listen to more music?”

“Hell yeah,” Ellie grins.

——

The trail of dead infected bodies led down a small hill that you cautiously followed, even if you weren’t sure who had just killed these infected. For all you knew it could be those people called the Rattlers, that you read about on some letter in one of the empty houses, even if you hoped it wasn’t, the possibility was that it was them. And you could still run, turn back and return home, but you needed to check if it was Ellie first. You couldn’t leave her behind.

So you needed to continue following the path. And as you did. you ended up finding thick green shrubbery blocking the path forward, with the trail of bodies ending a few steps back, so whoever had left it went forward. But when you let your eyes scan the area, you see that an RV and a truck were also blocking the path.

“Hmm.” You slowly walk forward and see a large enough gap between both trucks where you could squeeze through. You were hesitant and anxious in doing so because your peripheral view was limited since you couldn't see much past the truck's gap, but, it was the only way through—fuck—you hold your breath and have your hand tightened around your gun as you slowly walk through.

Once you’re miraculously through and don’t get tackled or suddenly bit, you exhale deeply and feel a wave of relief wash over you, but before the feelings could set in your bones you instantly jump back at the sight of a clicker hanging upside down from its leg. “What the fuck,” you gasp as you clutch onto your chest with your unoccupied hand. The clicker begins to click it’s jaw and manages to push its body forward in attempts to try and get any piece of flesh it could sink its teeth into, but you only stepped back from its reaching hands and then felt yourself bump into something else.

There was no noise, or movement that you could hear behind you, but you still swiftly turned around, only to see the girl you had been looking for. “What the shit…Ellie?!” You gasp again as you feel your whole body grow stiff. You narrow your eyes on her, and besides noticing that she was upside down, you couldn’t help but notice fresh blood dripping down her red, sunburnt face, half of her shirt drenched in the same thick liquid, and her cheeks looked more sunk in than before.

The first thing that should’ve run through your mind was to help her, but your mind kept fixating on wanting to know if she was real, or just some weird hallucination. She looked real, but was she? You snapped from your stupor and stepped forward, reaching out your hand to feel the warmth of her cheeks under our fingertips; she felt real. Next you proceeded to lean in and press your ear close to her lips to hear her slow breaths taken because she was passed out due to the blood that ran to her head because she was upside down. So the answer was that she was actually here, hanging upside down from a tree.

There was an answer as to why she ended up as she was, thus leaving you finally to act out on your plan to help her off the tree. However, when you reached the rope that was tied around a large rock, you caught the sound of footsteps behind you. Thinking it was infected you turn around to get ready to shoot them, but then you see that it was something much worse.

“Drop your weapon and put your hands up, and this might just go easy for you.” A man much shorter than his ponytail wearing companion spoke to you with a certain, annoying cockiness expressed on his face.

You quickly glance at the rope just inches beside you, and then your eyes fall on the switchblade just under Ellie. You think of dropping your gun and then running to get it, but they’d shoot you, or hurt you some other way before you could do damage, so instead you stayed put and did as he said whilst you tried to talk them out of whatever sick plan was on their mind. “Please, just let us go, we'll be on our way out. We just got lost and my friend got caught in this trap.”

The short man approaches you with a smirk and his gun points at you while his companion stood behind him with his weapon on the ready. “We can help you find a way out.” The short man assured you even if it was a lie that you weren’t aware of. “But you have to follow our rules since you’re in our city.” He reaches for your arm, yet as he tries to grab it you kick him back and pull out your gun hidden behind you. You shoot at him, but end up missing after the older looking man he was with shoves you to the floor and steps on your hand until you let the gun go.

“Take her.” The older man instructed, “I’ll take this live one tied up.”

You quickly flip over and reach for a dagger hidden in your waistline, but the guy pulls you up and in a harsh movement twists your arms to your back, and pulls you closer to his chest. “Don’t try anything,” he sneered in the ear. “Or I’ll shoot your friend and then you.”

“Fuck—”

“Abby….” Ellie unknowingly interrupts you, “I found….”

“This bitch is fucked.” The guy holding you remarks about Ellie.

You scoff and squirm in his hold, but he only presses a gun to the back of your head and turns you so you could watch his friend drop Ellie to the ground from where she was hanging, causing her to groan out in pain as she landed on her wounded side. “Ellie!” You bellow, seeing her open her eyes to see the person who had called her name.

It took her a moment to recognize you, to figure out that you were real, but once she did, she could only continue to groan out in the blinding pain she felt shoot out from her bleeding wound.

“We’ll be lucky if she even lasts us a month.” The same guy kept talking, this time however, his comment made your eyes widen out of fear. “Can we please just please just say we’re done for the day?” He continued to ask as he watched the other man untie Ellie.

“Yeah,” the guy agreed whilst he kicked Ellie forward. “I’m going to get that thing down, and let me reset the traps.”

Right! The clicker hanging from the tree—the corner of your lips tug to a smirk and using all the strength you could muster after a long day, you use your legs to throw yourself back, causing the man that had you captive to stumble back towards the clicker who quickly lunged forward in means to bite him.

Nonetheless he managed to get out of the way before the clicker could bite any part of him.

“It get you?!” The friend asked in a panicked voice and with his gun pointing at the guy behind you, who still surprisingly had you in his hold.

The man shakes his head, “No, I’m good.” He then digs his nails in your skin and grimaces after what happened. “You bitch,” He proceeds to also finally tie your hands with some zip tie. “You’re gonna pay for that.”

You snort and just as you’re going to snap back, Ellie beats you to it and begins to laugh. You can’t lie it creeped you out that she did laugh since she was badly wounded, but you let it be, and well it annoyed the guy.

“Something funny?”

“Looks like you shit your pants,” Ellie counters while she struggles to push herself off the ground.

The guy shakes his head and whispers in an annoyed tone. “What you say?”

“What a little bitch.” Ellie continues smugly.

“Oh, you like funny huh?” The guy snaps before he grabs your arm again, cuts off the zip tie and drags you towards the clicker. “Watch this.” He shoves you forward and the clicker begins to reach for you, clicking its teeth as the sound makes it go crazy. You struggle in his hold, and dig your heels into the ground to make it difficult for him to continue pushing you forward, but he’s stronger than you and manages to tear your arm from where it was stiffened to your side to push it towards the clicker's mouth.

“You fucking,” you strain to say whilst you squirm and try to throw your elbow, or foot back. “Asshole. Let me go. Stop!”

“Come on,” the other man protests, “we don’t need this.”

“No, man,” the young man responded amusingly. “They’re fucked up anyway.” He continues pushing your arm towards the clickers teeth until the point you could feel the heat of its mouth on your skin. It was terrifying and heart clenching, your breath became heavy and quick and Ellie wanted to stop him, but she was struggling to get up. You kept trying to fall back, or really just do anything, and miraculously you did manage to get the upper hand after an instant of throbbing pain shot throughout your arm.

You didn’t pay much mind to the pain and passed it off as the man digging his nails in your skin and pressing his rough fingers on your arm, before you ducked and used your strength and weight to swing him to the side and throw the man towards the clicker's arms and jaw. After that he let you go and his friend tried to shoot you, but Ellie quickly grabbed the gun you dropped and shot him first, causing him to fall down on his ass.

“Fuck,” you breathe out as you move away from the clicker and catch your breath on the ground, catching Ellie snatch the guys rifle off the floor and storm towards the other man in means to shoot him.

“Wait! Wait! You said Abby! You’re looking for an Abby right?” The man bellowed as he threw his hands out, managing to make Ellie stop before him. “We picked one up a couple months ago.”

“Yeah sure.” Ellie said, stepping forward.

“Big girl!” The man pants, “blonde. Arms like mine.” He motions, “she had a scrawny kid with cuts by his mouth.”

Your attention focuses on the man and your eyes narrow as your mind pulls out flashing memories of who he was talking about. For a brief second you see and hear the memory of Abby killing…Jesse play out in your head and it hurts far worse than your arm does.

“Yeah, that’s her.” The man says once he notices the realization on yours and Ellie’s faces. “You let me go. I’ll tell you where she is.”

“Talk.” Ellie deadpanned.

“She’s in a holding cell in our camp,” the man obliged.

“Where is that?” Ellie interrogated him further.

The man points past her and continues. “Head up that way til you hit the railroad track. That’ll lead you to a resort. We keep em in the tall, round building.” He groans and Ellie looks back to where he pointed to for a second before looking back at him—“I swear.” Before he could add more Ellie lifts her gun and shoots him once before he goes limp like his friend.

Finally leaving Ellie and you alone.

However the reunion wasn’t a happy one. After Ellie could tear her eyes from the man laying on the floor, she turned to you with a serious expression that expressed no warmth. “What are you doing here, y/n?” She asked bluntly.

You push yourself up to your feet and can’t help but glance at her wound on her side as you answer her. “I came after you.”

Ellie walks past you to collect her switchblade off the ground, but stops as she’s crouched down, turning her head to look at you over her shoulder. “Why? Who told you I left?”

“Dina, told me. After I went for a visit.” You say as you walk and grab a rifle from the man Ellie had killed.

There's a short silence while Ellie stands up, but she’s quick to fill it with the same question. This time in a more demanding tone. “Why are you here?”

“Because.” You stand up and turn to face her, ignoring the pain your arm was under. It felt as if someone was pressing a hot iron on it. “My friends' problems are my problems.”

Ellie’s green eyes quickly snap up to meet your own eyes, and you notice a sadness flicker within them while her lips twitch to almost express a frown, but she holds back and instead focuses on her wound at her side. “Did you come to take me home? Convince me not to kill Abby?” She lifts her shirt and a soft hiss leaves her lips. “Well then let me tell you that you’ve come in vain. She killed Joel, I’m only finishing what she started.”

You scoff. “What she started?!” You storm towards her but she keeps her eyes on her wound. “Ellie, you went after her already. You killed all the people that were with her and it almost took Dina, Tommy and you out with them. The only reason,” you pause when you don’t notice her looking up at you. You crouch down to be at her level. “Look at me.”

Said girl blinks a few times to fight the tears that welled in her eyes before slowly dragging her eyes up to meet your gaze.

“The only reason,” you continue, “neither of you died was because she spared your life. She wasn’t going to bother you anymore, and you came after her. You left your family to come after someone who most likely has not thought of you since she left Seattle.”

Ellie shakes her head. “It’s not that easy to forget what she did!” She stands to her feet and stands just a few inches away. “I can’t sleep, I see him all the time. I see that day, I see her.” She cries. “I need to do this. It’s the only way I will be able to live in peace. I need to do this for….him.” She can’t even muster the strength to say his name, or mention her pain without her voice breaking. Tears wanted to slip past her eyes, but she was strong enough to hold them back for now.

“And what?” You counter with tears of your own while you step forward. “Don’t you think I see Jesse? Don’t you think Jesse’s death hurts me too?” You sniffle and swipe tears off your cheeks. “I see him all time. And not with good memories, but his body after he was shot. It haunts me, even when I’m awake. And I want it to stop.” Your voice quivers. “But even I know this is wrong. Stop this and come home before something happens to you. You know Joel wouldn’t have wanted you to come if it meant risking your life. So come home Ellie, please.”

Ellie steps back and her gaze holds yours for a moment whilst tears roll down the curve of her cheeks this time. She parts her lips to argue, to try and convince you to follow her plan, but she knew you more than anyone, no matter the pain you were enduring after losing the man you loved, you’d never fall as low as she thought she had fallen. She couldn't ask you to stay.

“Just leave, y/n.” Ellie mumbled as she shoved past you.

You turn sharply on your heels and stay put with determination in your own plan. “No. Not if you’re not coming with me.” Your lips twitch.” Wherever you go, I go.”

A sigh leaves Ellie’s lip and with some hesitation she turns with a comment ready to be shot out, but before she could speak, her eyes fall on your arm and they go wide with horror. “Y/N.” She mutters before she rushes towards you and grabs your arm, twisting it a bit and gasping sharply. “You’re….” She pauses and you follow her line of vision down to your arm, instantly feeling your heart sink to your stomach, and feeling all sound cease to exist as you catch the bite mark on your arm. “…bit.”

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Tagged- @protect-lev, @expecto-nox @vintage-and-hypnotic , @kokomaesadie @0j-b0 @itsyellow @minheoly @traceylader

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3104

today was another early and long day.

joel had to go in to work but he forgot to tell me he could go in later so when i woke up and showered and got ready and said "alright let's go" he said "i don't have to be there for 8" and instead of letting him clarify i went to my car anyway.

but before i made it to work, i managed to stop at the gas station for red bull, bring joel to work, stop at a different gas station for gas, stop at starbucks for breakfast, and still be at and in work for 8:45 this morning. maria asked me if everything was okay because i'm never at work so early. i told her joel had to work early. she said "that's right, blame it on joel."

which isn't wrong but is also funny.

work was long today. i got the chance to make a few changes to my résumé and send it back to jb for ideas again, and i worked with a few students and the first one i worked with, after a few diagrams, was absolutely killing his stats homework. all else the same, one thing could be described differently and a world of difference can be made for anyone. he just nailed it.

there was also a student club fair today, which i went to because i was told there were stickers, so i went around, grabbed a lunchable that was part of the provided food, made my way around to different tables, got souvenirs aka stickers and an ace flag, made my way all the way around, spun the wheel, and got a fancy pen and another sticker. it was enjoyable. i'm glad i had pockets.

the rest of the day was spent waiting around and killing time by talking to my coworker and cutting out stickers, as well as playing a cup-and-ball game for a little bit. i'm supposed to run an ELL math study group on thursdays, but no one showed up and i didn't expect anyone to, so i just camped out with my stickers and i was give the game to play with. it was after that when i talked to one of my new coworkers for a while. turns out we have a lot in common, and he sat patiently and listened as i told him about our sunday campaign. why i did that i don't know. but i did and he was really nice about it. he also likes tuna, so i know he's at least got some sort of decent taste, but i also learned he eats cereal microwaved so it's mushy and warm and that's just not something i can support. he likes cocoa pebbles. which is fair, they're delicious. but you gotta eat them with ice cold milk. you can't put milk in them and microwave it.

i've been saying for a few days that cereal is instant soup, and the only thing keeping us from eating it hot is our moral compasses.

not this guy, though.

which is fucking hilarious to me as much as it is deeply unsettling.

after work, i got joel, and we came home and we cleaned the table up and i put my laundry in and we waited for people to show up and it was a long evening of noise from joel and company as well as tv noises and a little bit of creativity from me.

but it's bedtime now and joel is asleep, which is good. he's got tomorrow off, but i have a doctors appointment at 10, so even though it'll feel like -14°F at 10am, i still gotta go. around 2am tomorrow (saturday) it'll feel like -37°F, which is almost -40°C because -40° is the same in both fahrenheit and celsius. which, excuse the pun, is wicked cool.

anyway, joel is sleeping and i should too. i'm tired.

[layce2015]

The Last of Us Part 2 (Joel x Reader)

(A/n: just wanna say that I'm not gonna follow the game completely. A good amount of it I will follow but there is a fate of a certain character that I'm gonna change as I feel Naughty Dog did this character dirty.)

Chapter 1: I Don't Know What Happened

The Last of Us (Joel x Reader) Masterlist

"I don't know what happened." Joel admits to Tommy as he starts to clean the neck of the guitar. The two brothers were out on patrol and decided to stop and take a break in this abandoned house. There Tommy had to ask Joel what happened with the Fireflies as Joel and (y/n) seemed a bit tight lipped about what happened.

"(Y/n) and I were suppose to take her to the Fireflies and walk away." Joel said before he let's out a small scoff. "You go halfway across the country with someone. She needed her immunity to mean something. Maybe we were starting to buy into that whole...cure business. Maybe (y/n) and I just wanted to do right by her. And then we made it." Joel explains as Tommy sits across from him, listen intently.

"We found the Fireflies. And because of her...they were actually going to make a cure. The only catch...it would kill her." Joel said, whispering the last sentence.

Flashback

"Sweet Jesus." Joel mutters and (y/n)'s jaw drops as the couple made it to the operating room.

"Doctor?" A nurse said and the doctor turns to them and gasped. "What're you two doing here? I won't let you two take her. This is our future. Think of all the lives we'll save." The doctor said as he grabs a scalpel and aims it at them. Joel glares at the doctor with determination while (y/n) closed her mouth and started to reach for her gun.

Present Day

"Jesus, Joel." Tommy mutters, shocked, as he stares at his older brother. "What did you two do?" He asked. Joel looks up at Tommy for a moment and replies. "We saved her."

Flashback 

After killing the doctor, Joel disconnects the tubes and goes to pick Ellie up. "Stay back!" (Y/n) yelled at the nurse as Joel whispers to Ellie. "Come on, baby girl. I gotcha..."

As he picks her up, the couple look out the window to see some lights shining through. "Oh shit." Joel said as he starts to run at the door. "Get back!" (Y/n) ordered at the guards that were coming in, aiming her gun at them before turning around and follow Joel out of the room.

Present Day

"Damn, Joel. That's um...that's a lot." Tommy said, sounding like this was a hard pull to swallow. Tomny looks down them back up towards Joel. "What does Ellie know?" He asked as Joel continued to clean the guitar. "I told her they ran some tests. I told her...her immunity meant nothing." Joel replied.

"And she believed you?" Tommy asked, curiously. "She didn't say otherwise." Joel said, softly, as he looks down. "And (y/n) was okay with this?" Tommy asked. Joel stops cleaning the guitar, looks at the floor for a bit before he raises his head up and nods at his brother.

Flashback

"Joel?" (Y/n) asked her husband as they drive down the highway in the truck, Ellie still passed out in the backseat. Joel turns his head slightly to look at her, her face full of concern and worry. "Are we really gonna go through with this? Lying to her?" She asked.

"We have to. For her sake." Joel replied. (Y/n) let's out a sigh then looks down at her hands. She looks over her shoulder at Ellie and starts to think over what just happened. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Joel asked her, concerned.

(Y/n) continues to look at Ellie, as if she held all the answers, and she started to think about what if they let Ellie die, and it turned out that the vaccine didn't work? Then Ellie would've died for nothing. But then what if it did? Would the world go back to normal?

(Y/n) let's out another sigh before she turns to Joel and shakes her head at him. "No. I just don't like lying to her." She whispers before she turns back around and starts to twiddle her thumbs together.

Present Day

Tommy let's out a heavy sigh and shakes his head before he looks back at Joel. "We should head back." Tommy said and he gets up and grabs his backpack. Joel watches him start to leave then stands up, grabs his bag and the guitar and follows him out.

The two brothers go out to the garage, open the door then head to the horses and climb on. Then the two head out and start to head back home.

They make their way over the grassy hill to see the town of Jackson in the distance. As they make their way down the hill, Tommy starts to speak. "Did (y/n) go for her checkup?" Tommy asked Joel as they continued down the hill.

"She's suppose to go today...guess I'll find out how she is when I get there." Joel replied as the worry for the wellbeing of his wife started to linger in his mind. The past week, she had been sick and throwing up it seemed like every morning. She thought it was some type of flu but it didn't feel like the flu.

Luckily, there was a doctor in Jackson and (y/n) decided to go see him. Joel hoped that the doctor would figure it out and give (y/n) some sort've medicine. He hated to see her so miserable.

"We're almost there." Tommy said to Joel as they make it to the front gate of Jackson. As they got closer, the doors opened and they trotted inside and head over to the stable. Joel gets off of his horse, grabs the reigns and starts to lead the horse to the stable.

"It's okay. I got them, you go on." Tommy said to Joel. "You sure?" Joel asked and Tommy nods. "Alright." Joel mutters then he grabs his bag off of the saddle. "About what we were talking about earlier...." Tommy started to say and Joel stops and turns to him.

"I can't say I'd have done different. I'll take it to the grave if I have to." Tommy said to Joel, who nodded at him. "I'll see you later, Tommy." Joel said and he starts to walk down the street while Tommy leads the horses to the stable.

Meanwhile, Ellie was sitting her little room, which was basically a shed behind Joel and (y/n)'s house, drawing in her journal. She was listening to her walkman, which she fixed, and started bobbing her head to the music as she continued to draw.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a knock at the door but, thanks to her headphones, she didn't hear the knock. The door opens and Joel sticks his head inside. "Hello? Ellie?" He calls out but he noticed that she had her headphones on.

So he walks over to her then nudges the chair with his foot, which startles Ellie as she jumps and takes off her headphones. She turns her head and sees Joel standing behind her. "Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack." She said, breathless, as she closes her journal and stands up to face him.

"I tried knocking, but..." Joel stops as he gestures towards the door. Ellie leans against her desk and looks up at Joel. "Hey." She said. "Hey." He said back. "What's up, Joel?" She asked him. "Just checking in." Joel replied. "Folks are..." he let's out a sigh then he starts to pace back and forth in her room.

"...y'know talking about how impressed they are with you and how well you're helping out." He finished. "Good." Ellie said. "Yeah." He mutters.

"Umm...is (y/n) okay? I heard she wasn't feeling good." Ellie said, concerned. "She hadn't made it back from the doctor yet....but I guess I'll find out here real soon." He said and Ellie nods.

"Tommy and I went out riding the other day and he, uh...he told me a joke and I thought about you. It's ummm....." Joel said but then he stopped as he tries to remember the joke. "Well, shoot, I forgot it. Something about a clock...how do you--" he started to say but Ellie interrupts him.

"Joel, it's, uh, it's pretty late, and I gotta get up in a few hours--" she said. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, and I'm gonna get out of your hair. I just um--" he said then he points towards the door then looks back at her. "I wanna show you somethin'. Just gimme one second." He said as he goes to the door, opens it and picks up the guitar then comes back in her room.

"What's this?" Ellie asked him, nodding towards the instrument. "Some folks call this here a gee-tar." Joel replied, really pouring into his Texas accent. "Funny." Ellie chuckles, softly. "You wanna hear something?" Joel asked her. "Okay." She said and he nods as he goes to sit down, the guitar on his lap.

"Promise me that you won't laugh." He said to her. "I won't laugh. I won't." She assures him as she sits down in her chair. "I'm trusting you." Joel said, smirking, then he takes a deep breath and starts to play.

If I ever were to lose you

I'd surely lose myself

Everything I have found here

I've not found by myself

Try and sometimes you'll succeed

To make this man of me

All of my stolen missing parts

I've no need for anymore

I believe

And I believe 'cause I can see

Our future days

Days of you and me

As he sings the song, Ellie smiles, softly, at him while (y/n) started walking towards the door then leaned against the frame. She got back from the doctors and spent most of the evening walking around Jackson, trying to clear her head as she was shocked at what the doctor had said to her.

It took her awhile to convince herself that she had to tell Joel and she was heading back to their home when she heard music playing. She followed it and realized that it was coming from Ellie's little shed house and walked up just in time to hear her husband sing.

She smiled fondly at this as she remembered the day he first sang to her. It was actually about a year after they started dating and he brought out his guitar and started to play and sing for her. In that moment, (y/n) realized that she had, indeed, falling in love with Joel. When he was done singing, she said the words "I love you" first and he, of course, he said "I love you" back.

(Y/n) was brought back to the present when she heard him stop playing and he looks over at Ellie. "There you go." He said. "Well...that didn't suck." Ellie replied, smiling, and Joel chuckles while (y/n) smiles. "I'll take what I can get." Joel said.

"Well, in my opinion, you still got it." (Y/n) said and both Ellie and Joel look over at her, both of them startled as they didn't hear her come in. "Hey." Joel said as he starts to stand up, still holding the guitar in his hand, and walking up to her.

"Hey, (y/n). You doing okay?" Ellie asked and (y/n) let's out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine but, um..." she said then she looks over at Joel. "I-I need to talk to you, privately." She said to him.

The two share a look before Joel nods then goes back over to Ellie and holds out the guitar to her. "She's yours." He said to her, who looks at this in shock. "No. No, no, no, I don't know the first thing about this." Ellie said, quickly. "I promised that I'd teach you how to play." He said as Ellie takes the guitar.

She looks up at him, surprised that he remembered that. She smiles then looks down at the instrument. "You did." She said, softly. "So what you say? Tomorrow night, first lesson?" He asked her. "Deal." She replied, smiling. "Okay." Joel said and (y/n) smiles at this.

Joel walks over to (y/n), who takes his hand in hers, and they start to walk out until Ellie speaks up. "Did--" she stops as the two adults turns to her. "Did you remember the joke?" Ellie asked him and Joel leans against the door and thinks for a moment before he remembered how the joke went.

"What is the downside to eating a clock?" He recites and Ellie thinks for a moment but shrugs as she couldn't think of an answer. "It's time-consuming." Joel said and Ellie chuckles and (y/n) snickers under breath. "That's so dumb." Ellie laughs. "Yeah." Joel and (y/n) said then Joel grabs the knob of the door.

"Goodnight, kiddo." He said and he shuts the door and the two adults head back to their house.

Later, Joel opens the front door of their home and (y/n) walks in first before she stops in the middle of the hallway. "Everything alright?" Joel asked her after he shuts the door and walks up to her, her back facing him and her arms folded across her chest.

(Y/n)'s heart was beating rapidly, whether in fear or excitement she wasn't for sure. She just wasn't sure how Joel would take this news. "Hey." Joel said, softly, as he comes up to her and places his hands on her shoulders. 

She turns her head to look at him then placed her right hand on one of his hands. "Whatever it is you need to tell me, we'll get through it." He said and she smiled at this, then she removes her hand off of his and turns to face him.

"I, uh...I really don't know how to say it, so I'm gonna come out and say it." (Y/n) said and Joel gives her a worried look as she takes a few deep breathes before she starts to speak. "Joel...I'm pregnant." 

Joel's eyes widen and he let's out a gasp at this. "What? Y-You serious?" He asked her, shocked. "Yeah. He thinks I'm at least alittle over a month along. So that night we had together when we were out on patrol and that storm came through and we took shelter..." She replied and placed her hand over her stomach, feeling the little bump. There was long shocked pause between the two before she speaks up.

"Joel? Honey, are you...?" She started to asked but then Joel cups her face in his hands then leans in and kissed her on the lips. "Thank you." He whispers, his lips ghosting over her lips. (Y/n) let's out a breathless laugh and the couple share another loving kiss then embrace one another, relishing in this happy moment.

A moment that neither one of them ever dreamed would come true.

[skoulsons]

hi. So I have nearly 90 drafts that have piled up over the course of about 3 or 4 months, so I guess I’ll start posting them now 😭 I haven’t really read over this or checked it and I think I wrote it at 4am, so I’m sorry if it loses any coherency

(Headcanon?? or im just down bad) but like, joel’s “if somehow the Lord gave me a second chance at that moment, I would do it all over again” being the way he tells ellie he loves her is so incredibly profound to me. Love (WE’RE TALKING PLATONIC) isn’t a feeling. People act like it is, which is why so many people fall out of it. Love is commitment, serving, and choosing them every single day. It’s in your actions. Their entire story shows this. Even in the little things, like joel teaching her how to play guitar. But even in the greater things. Ellie keeping him alive all throughout winter. Sure, she needed him to get to the fireflies, but I think winter goes deeper than that. This is post-ranch argument. The ranch argument (and joel taking her back while they’re sitting above Jackson) and joel finding her with David are *their* moments. The moments when we see, okay, they are stuck together now. Even once they reach the fireflies, that’s not the end like we thought it would be a few hours ago. They’re going to stay together. Joel saying “I’m never gonna leave you again” to her in that silent moment immediately after he finds her after David is such a….I can’t think of the word oh my sjdhdjd but like their relationship is kind of solidified(?). Like their solidifying moment of “we’re with each other now”. And I think winter shows Ellie’s deep, profound love for Joel. Giving him literally all the warmth and as much as comfort as they could have (yes he was dying obviously just shhhh), probably nearly starving herself to make sure he got the majority of food and water she was able to get. She did that for weeks while he was knocking on deaths door. And joel, while she was just a job at the beginning, has still protected her from day one. And obviously his big moment of action that showed his love (no matter what way you view the end of the first game), was him saving her from the fireflies. He could not bear to lose another daughter, so he killed doctors and soldiers and everyone in his way to save her life. NOW to tie back to my first sentence in this whole spiel. I do believe they’ve both loved each other for years now, and I think it was always an understood thing between them. Joel’s love definitely never faltered through those last two years, though I’m sure you could argue Ellie’s did. Or didn’t, I don’t know. But it wasn’t something they ever said to each other. At the time of their porch conversation, tensions are very high. Ellie is still upset from the dance with Joel’s intervention, and she’s still giving him the cold shoulder bc of his lie. I think a lot of things go through his head when she says “I should’ve died in that hospital. My life would’ve fcking mattered. But you took that from me”. I think one thing is, and something I probably would not have controlled, is her saying her life would’ve mattered if she died for the cure. If I were joel I would’ve spewed about how she does matter and blah blah blah sappy stuff ynow. But he’s walking on thin ice here. He knows she feels betrayed. He knows they’re not how they used to be. He knows he can’t just say anything because he may upset her more, and that’s at the top of his list of thing he does not want to do. And so he waits a minute and tries to collect his thoughts and what he wants to tell her. He thinks of something that, while it combats everything she just said to him, also holds a lot of weight of their relationship and why he did what he did. I genuinely think that him saying this is just “I love you” in its purest, most raw, emotional, profound (I’ve said this like 7 times im sorry it just f i t s) form. If he said “I love you too much to let you die”, that would’ve scared her off. But he gave her something that she needed to hear and to start to understand why he did it and how he STILL feels, even after everything. And sometimes I wonder if the “I would do it all over again” refers to just the hospital, or their entire journey as a whole. Either way, I think it still tells her enough.

-And so she tells him she doesn’t think she’ll be able to forgive him and it BREAKS him. The thought of losing her, or not so much losing her, but never getting their relationship back to birthday level camping trip highs, kills him. His breath is shaky immediately. But then she tells him, maybe she could forgive him. But not that she could, but that she’d LIKE to try. She WANTS to get back to that birthday level camping trip high of the relationship they used to have. As hurt as she is, she misses it. He’s (I believe, personally) the most important person in her life, even if at this point. She wants to get back there as much as he does. And he starts to break more. Because now, there’s a chance, though incredibly small, that he COULD get her back. And that is more than enough. It could take years, but he’s happy with it. He’s thrilled to know that, even after everything, she is willing to try. Can you imagine early tlou2 if it were different and we got to see a cutscene of Ellie asking joel if he wanted to watch Curtis and Viper 2 that night? The smile that would’ve come to his face?

ALSO I FORGOT TO GO WITH THE LAST CHUNK OF TEXT.., him singing future days to her I think is also such a big profession of love. They’ve been in Jackson a few months and they’re living a “normal” lil family father-daughter life now. Not out every day fighting for their life. They get to settle down. And obviously his attachment to ellie has been going on for a while, but them being like,, they’re glued together now. They’re WITH each other. Joel’s adopted her ok ive talked to Neil druckmann myself I know things. But joel signing this to her is just so incredibly special. He loves her so much. I literally sat in my bed last night and was full on sobbing bc the degree that his love goes for her is beyond my comprehension. Every time I think about I CANNOT wrap my head around it. It’s so insane to me. But he loves her so incredibly much. He got a second chance at fatherhood and refuses to lose ellie, under any circumstance as we’ve seen, even if the rest of the human race was on the line, he can’t lose her. Now obviously as I mentioned above, we never hear the “i love you” sentiment actually said between either of them, but we see it in their actions. All their actions throughout the games, even the little things. And I think what joel says on the porch is as much of an i love you as you can get, i think I’m singing to her is just as much as well. He could’ve sung ANY song he knew on guitar, but no he picked future days to show her how much he loves her. “If i ever were to lose you, I’d surely lose myself. I believe, cause I can see, our future days, days of you and me” (yes I cut some lines out) BUT LIKE???? GDKDHDK but not even just talking about the lyrics or the fact that they show exactly what joel is trying to say, it’s also that this is the song joel uses to introduce ellie to guitar. To introduce her to something he 1) promised he’d teach her and 2) it’s something he LOVES. it’s just so,?:?!&,)?:,;@($ i love their love I love their story I love the little things I love overthinking about them

[brittaperry]

so it’s 2021 and I replayed tlou bc it’s totally not like there are other video games on my shelf that I haven’t finished or even started

originally this was going to be a thread on twitter but then I remembered that talking about anything tlou related over there seems like hell so I’m here instead.

this opening is still one of the best in video game history. like I’m still a mess watching Joel and Sarah fall. rip me (and also Sarah… and now Joel too, I guess).

should I make a tally every time I hear someone from CR? it’s been like ten minutes and I’ve heard 3 of them already.

why do I feel like I know more about the minor characters and their relationships with the main characters in this game than I do about the ones in TLOU2?

Joel is probably canonically stealthy because 1) survivor, and 2) limited supplies, and I like playing stealthy but I am not always good at stealthy.

Ellie pulling a knife on Joel immediately because she thinks he’s hurt Marlene? That’s how you introduce a character.

the women in this game are just so good. like not morally in some cases, but in terms of writing and development.

missing collectibles when I'm trying to collect them all and finally get the trophy makes me scream. no one look at me.

Ellie's excitement over being outside? I am EMOTIONAL.

"Why the hell are we smuggling an infected girl?" that is what they call a wham line.

it started raining here while it was raining in the game. the universe said “let’s really immerse you this time”.

sorry to all the NPCs I travel with but if I don’t search every corner of a place and grab all of the loot, I won’t be able to think about anything else for the next 6+ hours. (flashback to FO4 because yes, I do really need all of this junk, because apparently I’m the only one building the settlements).

I’m not going to talk about how much I hate that bit in the Outskirts when Joel drops down on to the floor with the 4 runners and 1 clicker, but I need you to know how much I hate that bit in the Outskirts when Joel drops down on to the floor with the 4 runners and 1 clicker.

"You got something on your shoe" Ellie is a comedy queen.

the NPCs are useless sometimes. Bill’s just casually walking around while Joel and Ellie run from the bloater.

EXCUSE ME BUT I AM VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT JOEL AND ELLIE AND HOW MUCH THEIR FRIENDSHIP/SURROGATE FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIP HAS DEVELOPED BETWEEN BOSTON AND PITTSBURGH. YOU CAN REALLY SEE THAT THEY’RE STARTING TO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER AND I WANT TO CRY.

I missed one of Ellie’s jokes... I’m so disappointed in myself.

I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hotel basement part. I hate the hot--

the fact that you meet and then lose Sam and Henry in the space of a few days still devastates me.

they buried Sam and Henry, and that makes me happy (even though I’m still devastated they’re gone) because they had to just leave Tess where she was, so it’s beautiful that they were able to say goodbye and that those two characters could be laid to rest.

remember when Tommy wasn't an asshole.

no, you're crying over Joel and Ellie.

JOEL TEACHING ELLIE ABOUT FOOTBALL. I JUST!!!!!

I hate when games are like "HINT" because you're taking your time and you want to explore the world they created like, chill.

when Joel falls onto the rebar and the sound gets muffled, echo-y, and goes in and out? how it gets harder to control him? how certain parts of the screen blur? how the screen starts to fade in and out as you're walking because Joel's losing consciousness? A+++ choices. who else is doing it like them?

it's interesting how the first time you play as Ellie in TLOU and the first time you play as Abby in TLOU2 it's winter.

why does Naughty Dog hate horses?

Ellie is one of the greatest video game characters. if you think otherwise, I'm sorry but you're wrong.

why did I think you had bottles and bricks you could throw at David?

AGAIN, ELLIE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST VIDEO GAME CHARACTERS.

AGAIN, JOEL AND ELLIE MEAN THE WORLD TO ME.

THE GIRAFFE. MY HEART.

WHEN JOEL PULLS ELLIE OUT OF THE WATER AND SHE'S NOT BREATHING AND THE FIREFLIES ARE JUST ASSHOLES AND KNOCK JOEL OUT. LIKE NO, I STILL HATE THE FIREFLIES. I get that it’s the apocalypse but you see a guy who’s trying to resuscitate someone who could be his daughter and you’re like “let’s knock him out”?

here's the thing, and I'll go into this more when I play part 2, the fact that they're going to kill Ellie for the cure and they don't even tell her??? Like, Ellie would say yes to it, but they don't ask and I hate them. ALSO, just because they say they can make a cure, there's no promises. AND ALSO, HOW IS IT THAT THERE'S ONLY ONE MAN WHO CAN MAKE THE CURE? okay, that's more of a complaint for the second game, but yeah, HOW IS IT THAT A GUY NAMED JERRY IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN CREATE A CURE? IN TLOU2, WE FIND OUT HE HAD AT LEAST ONE STUDENT (MEL) SO DID HE JUST NOT TELL ANYONE ELSE HOW TO CREATE A CURE BECAUSE HE WANTED TO FEEL SPECIAL? LIKE HE'S NOT THE ONLY SCIENTIST LEFT IN THE WORLD. LIKE THERE ARE TWO OTHER DOCTORS/ASSISTANTS WITH HIM IN THE SURGERY. okay, this is not TLOU related, this is TLOU2, but yeah, I'm still mad about it.

also, the whole giving NPCs names thing is in TLOU and other NPCs will say things like "this is for my friends" so unless this is an update and wasn't in the original (cbf to play on ps3) why was it such a big deal in TLOU2? like when you're in the hospital, the Fireflies call one of the NPCs Ethan.

just realised I missed ONE Firefly pendant. I hate everything.

back to what I was saying before, Marlene says "you can still do the right thing", which implies that the cure can still be made but like, she'd have to assume that Joel did kill Jerry to get to Ellie and she still says that so like, were there other people who could've made the cure?

did Joel do the right thing? no. would I have done exactly the same thing? yes.

THIS GAME IS STILL ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO GAMES/EXPERIENCES.

I didn’t take many screenshots, but here is probably the worst encounter I’ve had during this fight.

Also, that looks like the most useless bladed melee weapon. Like, Joel just made it for the aesthetic, right?

Anyway, on to Left Behind.