#seethesunny mailbox

[seethesunny]

For the EOY ask game:

20 Something that made you laugh

21 Something that made you emotional

30 Advice to yourself (and maybe others) for the new year

Hello! Thank you and everyone else who's sending me stuff <3

20. From my writing: Joel and Tess meet each other when she shoves him, and she owes him his lunch (from my longfic that I hope I'll focus in 2025)

From other people: every single time Connor shows up he lightens up the mood with his commentary, he's a treasure and he's from WW AU made by @finnelfin

21. ALRIGHT I'm a big softie so reading @adhdprincess Tess lives series had me all in my feels, but with the latest entry where you have to read Ellie feel the dread of messing up big time when Joel leaves and Tess is angry at her got me, AND THEN SHE HAS A PANIC ATTACK AND TESS COMFORTS HER. It was a lot. I have to confess I read this during a hurricane since there was no power and I had it downloaded so I was drowning in my tears with no light clutching my cellphone. 10/10 experience I would do it again.

30. To whoever reads this: if you're tired GO TO SLEEP.

I swear that scene or idea can wait, jot it down into basics (as in character A does this, character B is here) but please don't write it. Would you play basketball while you're barely functioning? Of course not, so please go get some rest before doing the creative stuff because a reminder: that's also mind consuming and that also takes effort!

Get the rest, then do the rest.

[seethesunny]

Tell us about smoke signals!

smoke signals

Thank you for the ask! ❤️

I chose naming it as such because it's set in the winter section of the story, with Tess included ofc (I always loved imagining how it would've been like if she were there), and it's alluding to that one scene with Ellie when she burns down the building.

Also, because I'm predictable to use songs as fic titles and I'm a big Phoebe enthusiast, it's based on this song, too (it's my favorite of hers)

[seethesunny]

Hi Vane! I hope you’re having a Merry Christmas. In the spirit of discussing the creative process: What inspires you to write the most?? Do you like to listen to music while you write, or do you prefer more quiet? What gets you motivated?

Hi and thank you so much!! Same to you 🥹 it hasn't been the greatest day ever (I've got some health issues that are kicking my ass lmao), but it's not terrible.

1. Art! Always art—it can be any type of art, and it inspires me for years and years. It created whole universes, so yes, art. If you want specifics, poetry is what gets me going.

2. I love music, so naturally, I listen to music most of the time, and that includes writing! I tend to create certain playlists to get in the mood, and that's how the magic flows :) I don't like when things get quiet, so even if I'm all alone I need music or something in the background lol

3. Okay this is a tricky one because I can have discipline in so many aspects of my life (control freak unfortunately) but when it comes to writing, I admit I'm more laid back and tend to lose motivation so quickly.

However, I tend to motivate myself when I remember I'm truly the only one who can write what I picture inside my head. Does that make sense? In a very logical sense, no one else can do it, so I must be the one to push myself to get it done I swear this is not as pretentious. I just tend to feel so proud after I can finally get something complete :')

[seethesunny]

Prompt: Joel/Tess on a date but Sarah (knows Tess and adores her) doesn’t know yet that they’re dating, catches them at the movies or at the mall. Something innocent and adorable yet very smoochy!

It's been a while since I got this but this prompt was lovely! Happy belated birthday @bignosebushybrows and hopefully you had an amazing day ❤ and fingers crossed you like it:

When her uncle barged loudly inside their house, calling her downstairs and immediately showing her the keys of the car looped around his finger with a flashy grin, Sarah hadn’t thought much of it. Really, she would, over all things sacred, hate it if someone else had been entrusted to watch over her. 

But uncle Tommy was fun and, hopefully her daddy wouldn’t know if she lowered the voice inside her head just a little; Sarah liked going on with him because he let her do things on her own. 

Now, she did love her dad. More than she could try to put into words, more than she could ever describe, more than the countless stars that adorned the countryside sky when they visited the old ranch where they grew up. However, she was growing older, and there was so much freedom a girl of her age could get under the vigilance of her parents. And she had long gotten used to her daddy being overprotective, it was for her own good, and there was truth to it sometimes.

Tommy rolled the windows down and clicked on the radio, humming along, and she beamed on the passenger side.

Yet she liked this, and it wouldn’t do her harm. At the end of the day, there was someone supervising her, and Sarah understood her own limits and what risks she could encounter. 

“You gotta try the new arcade.” He said, messing up her hair, laughing at her scoff.

She couldn’t stop smiling, having talked long enough about that with her friends over the phone. 

“Sure will.” She agreed eagerly, wrinkling her nose at him playfully.

“And what are you gonna do while I’m nowhere to be seen? You aren’t gonna be scared, aren’t ya? ” He teased half-heartedly, earning a giggle out of her as he took a turn and drove through the park, a shortcut he always reminded her existed when they went this way. 

“I'm gonna use the money my daddy gave me, buy me some fries.” Sarah shrugged, playing with the bracelet around her wrist. “And you should take out Maria on a real date.” 

Tommy gave her a sidelong glare before staring ahead.

“Uncle, meeting her at the mall only is a disgrace to the Miller’s last name.” Not for the first time Sarah scolded, and Tommy almost put his hands up in surrender. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He joked, elbowing her gently while she frowned, right as they approached the parking lot. “Listen, I promise this is the last time.” 

“It better be.” Sarah gave, that chiding tone the same one she brought out so similar to her dad’s, and then she remarked seriously, elbowing him back. “You should buy her something nice.” 

Maria was a cool, charismatic woman who worked at the cash register in one of the stores—she had forgotten the name now—and her uncle was infatuated. He would use the excuse of taking her to the mall for an ice cream or to shop around, but then he would flirt with her while Sarah looked around, and it became common. 

Right now, her daddy had no clue, and she had zipped her mouth shut. 

Once inside, Sarah counted her money twice as Tommy mocked her without malice, barely disguising his impatience.

Maria’s store popped into view when they took the escalator, and Tommy kissed her forehead to her light-hearted complaint.

“Don’t get too far, ‘kay? And if you need anythin’ you know where to find me. Go have fun, kid.” He squeezed her shoulders, trusting her and letting her acknowledge it as she nodded. 

“Please, bring up the date before we leave!” Sarah exclaimed, waving a hand in the air before disappearing into a bright, big H&M store on her left. 

She took a break at the food court when she got thirsty, all the walking and observing and trying on clothes tiring her some, so she sat close to the cinema entrance and ordered some cinnamon sugar pretzels after drinking her lemonade. Munching on them, Sarah squinted in the fluorescent lights above her head.

It couldn’t be him, right? 

Sarah was sure of one thing: she could recognize her daddy on a crowd, and he just stood out with his physique. And he wasn’t alone! His arm was banded around a woman’s shoulders, leaning on him, and when she saw a glimpse of her face- 

“Ish that Tesh?” She murmured around a mouthful of food, crumbs drizzling around her lips; Sarah brushed them aside, pretzels being set apart as she scanned them thoroughly, not being noticed.

Accidents happened, and she could mistake some random couple; nonetheless, some meters between them couldn’t fuzz out the truth. Sarah leaned on he elbows, attempting to capture more as her daddy whispered something on Tess’s ear, who in turn smacked him gently on the chest and pressed their lips together. Oh, oh, so it was something serious.

Tess had been a constant presence in her life whose encouraging words were always at the ready, who had figuratively taken her under her wing since the first day, who was confident and relaying both—she was friend of the family, had known her for so long. The past summer, she had spent so many hours at their home teaching her how to work with clay, starting with easy things since Sarah was a beginner.

Had she been so blinded by her own joy as to not notice the signs? Tess surely showed up more, and her daddy had been a bit weird, in the sense that he would act differently around her, and once Uncle Tommy picked at him because he called her during work hours… 

Her heart almost leaped out of her chest, the dawning realization sticky like the cinnamon on the pad of her fingers, a gasp spilling out of her lips as they walked towards her seat. 

Sarah froze as there was no way she was exiting without being noticed, clutching a napkin to clean her fingers anxiously and blinking repeatedly at the wait for the inevitable.  

Warm eyes spotted her, their conversation drowned before being completely shut down, and then it was their turn to still like a deer caught in headlights.

Tess’s hands were intertwined with his, and Sarah fixed on it before her gaze darted between them, chewing the inside of her cheek.

The first one to regain her composure was Tess, laughing nervously. “Hey, hi Sarah. Nice to see you here.” 

Sarah rubbed her palms, clasping them together as she locked eyes with her daddy, who looked as if he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. 

“Uh, baby girl.” He greeted gruffly, strained, but not dropping Tess’s hand at all. “How long have you-” 

“You have some explainin’ to do.” Is what Sarah opted to answer after chosing her words carefully, approaching them openly. 

Tess was the one who tilted her head and offered a relieving, small grin, offering her other hand. “Let’s go for a walk then.” 

Joel sighed heavily and scrubbed at his face with a hand, staring at them both afterward. “‘S a long story, Sarah.” 

“Got nowhere else to be, Daddy! I suspect we’ll be here for a long period of time.” She yelled to jab at them, who shared a quick, fleeting look, giving in easily. “At least you were in good hands.” 

A complicit wink at Tess—they both busted in giggles, he rolled his eyes, and urged them forward.

She wasn’t ready to go home yet.

[seethesunny]

🌹

Forgive the block of text I was in a mood :)

Who was Joel when they met on a random day? He had nothing. Nothing. And when that brother of his left, who gave the shell of a person another chance? To that brooding man who spent his time on the rundown bar, got himself in brutal street fights, and threw himself on the ring in Area 4? Sure, he’d earned his part most days, but having food on the table and a chance at surviving had been given by her own hand. She wanted to reclaim that back so badly she burned with the intensity of it, third-degree burns on her flesh. She wanted him to understand he was being an asshole and it was unfair. All the scars, all the pain, and the mistakes, she’d had to swallow them down and never bring them up again. She wasn’t stubborn like him. What good did it do?

for every "🌹" received in my inbox i'll post one random sentence of a random WIP i'm currently writing

[seethesunny]

Who is your favourite POV to write from?

Hi, it's nice to see you around Arien! Hope you’ve been doing well ❤️

Okay, so when I first got this ask, I was extra sleepy, and my first thought was to reply, "Usually, third person POV, of course!" But now that my brain is okay, I've come to realize I was in the wrong haha so things have settled down now, and I can reply 🫡

Tess! Hands down, Tess. I'm extremely biased, as you may have noticed previously with all the Tess love here 🫣

When I started, it used to be Ellie because she was 'easier' to write, in the sense that she’s way too similar to me and it came naturally and I still think so, but eventually that's why I drifted to other characters' POV. I wanted to explore other perspectives and expand on others.

So, my favorite is Tess not only because we've gotten so little of her in the whole tlou franchise which is extremely criminal and makes no sense and I needed to get more even if it were using imagination (shout-out to the other 10 Tess fans out there), it's also because there are already so many established ways in that she is a complex character even if we had her for a short time.

You see, Tess is a character whose first impression you get is that she's meant to fit in a survival world, right? Whether it's the game or the show. When she shows up us as the players/audience, witness that she's unfazed by her circumstances (she kills two dudes sent to kill her on her way home like it's nothing, escapes her torture and somehow gets out of jail after being mistaken for a firefly) and pulls Joel to follow suit and set everything in order, which is established as their routine, their day-to-day.

Okay, so in both, we understand that Tess is strong, smart, and resourceful, that she's made connections and isn't afraid to make herself be seen and heard, and of course she's the one calling the shots despite Joel being her partner. Because she is more severe than him, and that has gained her respect.

But we also get the idea that there's much more than what she lets on, or at least that she doesn't show up to the public, and that's what's fun to dig into! She's been officially described by ND as: "She leads her life as a hardened survivor with a dog-eat-dog mentality, but still she is a loyal, courageous, and selfless companion to Joel and Ellie", and that's something important to take into account. That duality that she possesses.

Who's the heart of tlou? At its core, Tess's selflessness in her last moments and her death wish is what sets the story in motion. You could argue that Joel could've done the same without her, but it was an explicit reaction to what Tess wanted, and her impact is something that needs to be highlighted more.

She has hardened as much as Joel. She's tough and rough, yet you also see that she also got jokes, and she could've wanted more (discussing laying low in the game), and ultimately, it is her desire of striving for hope and her view being shaken by a feasible cure (not because of the fireflies, but because there seems to be a need of redemption as the wheels turn inside her head) that makes her clash with Joel in their little trip to hand her to the fireflies.

We will never know if she would've done the same as Joel (though I would like to speculate that if it wouldn't have changed, probably would've just said the truth), but exploring her past and other outcomes in aus is what keeps us going even after years.

I've always found kinda sweet how the memory of Tess lives on in us and the other people who will want to know more about her.

Haha sorry for the ramble! She's one of my favorite characters ever.

[seethesunny]

Can ya tell me something 'bout "Let us outlive the wolves"??? That title is fire 🔥

- @adhdprincess

Fic titles ask game

Hello there, love! And sure! :)

Let Us Outlive The Wolves

This was a short thingy I wrote for the word prompts I did a while ago (I still take those, but I haven't done another round) that's set in canon. Tess and Joel deal with some unpleasant weather, it's almost the end of the year, and Joel sort of acknowledges he's still very much alive and thriving alongside Tess. I enjoy doing slice-of-life one-shots of these two, and writing this was part of their routine :)

So with those sorts of vibes of living despite their hardships, I remembered this poem from Rhiannon McGavin, titled "Prayer for the new year." That goes:

For the new year, I won’t count it down like a / uranium bomb. The last days / came as a plague ship over the horizon, I / know, so I’m swimming to meet it. Let the / desert bloom through ruins we can look out of, let us / outlive the wolves. Fresh air is the only kiss I / need and I will carry you like honey and / apples. Bless the body between / love and fear, bless who / dares the skyline, and who holds / thieves accountable from the lamp posts / as fireworks blaze into red dandelions, / and what’s the future except an / unfolded table cloth? / Midnight led by the shifting light / of wounds across white rose / petals? I / I will / I will see / I will see the moon and morning and hope.

I generally take inspiration from poems, and this was one of the many I borrowed a title from 🫶🏼

[seethesunny]

Ask game! Finish the sentence: RIP Joel. He would've loved [blank].

- @adhdprincess

Whoa idk how I missed this! Sorryyy

But RIP Joel. He would've loved busking 🙏🏼

[seethesunny]

2, 22, 12! :)

Hi thank you so much for sending these! 🫶🏼 I've had so much fun with it.

2. A piece you're proud of and why

So, to not give the same reply again and again, I will go with this: The QZ baby verse where Ellie is Tess and Joel's daughter.

I wrote it as a one-shot first the past year, but I was soon craving more of it, so y'all can expect more in 2025. I have a half written thingy in my drive to post soonish.

I was really proud of sangfroid since I took my time with it, as I wrote it and let it sit in my drafts for months, then polished what was necessary and decided to share. I guess it got my vision across, and I was really proud of the characterization. Writing Tess is a delight and even more when it comes to exploring motherhood since she had never had a kid before, and her relationship with Joel wasn't as close yet.

12. A concept you'd like to develop next year

The Joel and Ellie are estranged years but exploring that dynamic with Tess included!

I've been meaning to write the dance scene with her in it for months, and I want to develop more of Tess and Ellie's relationship in my writing (maybe write fics that revolve solely about them), and with the upcoming new hype around tlou 2 I've been coming back to it lately. I'm a Tess fan first and foremost, so if I'm tackling tlou 2 that feels like my call.

22. An idea you had that didn't make the cut

@kokureno and I have this idea that we labeled as the Christmas exes au, and you can imagine what the plot is with those details.

Basically Tess comes back to her hometown for the holidays, their families have been friends for years so logically Joel is there too, for reasons there was only one bedroom and of course ONE BED and it's a longfic about how they get back together. It sounds very simple, BUT the yearning and longing don't make it easier, especially with how they ended their relationship.

Sadly, this year had me too busy to properly give it enough justice, and it hasn't been completed yet. I have the start and even an epilogue, so maybe next year I can share it when it's time 🤞🏼

[seethesunny]

Hi Sunny! For the EOY ask game: 6, 7, 8 <3

Hi there!!! Thank you so much for these :)

6. A scene you struggled with

Welp I didn't particularly struggle with it if we're talking about writing skills, but writing the moment when Joel was inside a loop where Ellie dies and he ended his life to reset it was... too emotional charged, and it took -100 years off my life, then I followed it with Tess dying too, because @clairenovaking and I terrorized the old man too much.

Loop fic was a beast and I'm proud of it, always recommend it and comments/thoughts/yells in the box are welcome 🫶🏼

7. Comfort character to create for

By all means and motives she should NOT be anyone's comfort character bc she's wicked and wretched and mean and a criminal.

But your honor I love her I love Tess <3 she's extremely underutilized, so I have to take matters into hands.

Sometimes, she gets more trauma, but hey, this is all with love. I swear. Sometimes, she gets a second chance and a good life. Sometimes, she doesn't get apocalypse trauma and just normal life, regular if you will, and sometimes there's none! She's happy and well. Tess means too much to me and if she's going to appear in MY brain one way or another.

8. Most challenging character to write or draw

Maria??? I think I have a more clear view of what's up with Tommy since he had more screen time in the game, which is the version I'm familiar with, but even in the show I think I need to wait for s2 to see how they handle them! Tess and Joel are easy to write because I've been shipping them for far longer.

Don't get me wrong, she's so interesting, and I know there are endless possibilities of what to do with her, yet I feel like I'll get her wrong and don't give her justice.

My favorite Maria is melforbes' patching up so that's the fanon/lore I accept and how I imagine she is. But that's the game version, though.

[seethesunny]

You know what- HIT ME WITH #30 TOO! I need your words of wisdom 🙏

- @adhdprincess

Aw, don't flatter me like that 🤣 I tend not to pick my own advice (I'll stop doing that next year, promise)

30. Advice to yourself (and maybe others) for the new year

Yes read fiction to nurture your love for reading and writing but always remember that non-fiction books can help you when it comes to creating your own stuff! And learn about yourself!

This is really silly but I love reading a dictionary (from more languages than my mother tongue!) and learning linguistics, so naturally, I also enjoy historical books (even though period setting stuff/historical aus aren't my thing) and that's how I ended up reading biographies and memoirs.

I ended up reading more self-help books in these past years than I ever did before, too, really digging into a psychological aspect that helped me understand so much about the world but also about the people that surround me. I'm a biology nerd, and there's always some science book floating around to catch my attention. There was a book about birds with handmade illustrations that captivated me, and I learned so much about parasites and symbiosis while doing my research on coffee trees lol when I was like 11 there was this book about faith and different perceptions of divine and it made me not feel awful about question my long wavering faith and it helped me so much to unlearn stuff I had been taught, I've been going back to social sciences after this professor basically revived my interest in it and it has been so fun.

What I mean: don't close yourself from trying new things even if they might not be what you're used to, there can be rich experiences from non-fiction 🫡

My brain is really scrambled right now so I can't give titles, but there are always good recs out there 🫶🏼

[seethesunny]

Might I have an order of..... 5, 15, and 27? Thank you, kind madam.

Also, thank you for being a wonderful friend ❤️

- @adhdprincess

5. A scene you enjoyed creating

Baby Sarah gets sick during valentine's day so Tess and Joel have to stay with her and cancel plans, that was a really fun thing to write <3

15. An area of your art you feel you improved upon

Can I say punctuation? I feel like I also massively improved there because I was more in synch with my writing and I realize that feels so small and not like a big deal, but keep in mind this is not my first language so even that feels monumental sometimes 😅

27. Shout-out to a commenter/reblogger who encourages you

Fellow writer who's been here all year lifting me up both with her own fic and her kind comments, thank you @clairenovaking 💖 tagging also my twin @kokureno bc rule of thumb is that I can't leave her out 🫡

[seethesunny]

15. An area of your art you feel you improved upon

21. Something that made you emotional

24. Rec another creator's artwork you wish more people would see

15. I think I've become more comfortable with the format I use for writing, because I used to do a block of text without breaks and I've learned how to let the moment breathe, which has improved my pacing, too.

21. The beautiful art @be-an-echo made for me on my birthday, it was the best gift ever 🥹🥹🥹🥹 I come back to that artwork every day and I thank her for basically illustrating my twins verse au 🫶🏼

24. This fic got recommended to me because it's videogame tessjoel and it's SO GOOD it's gritty, rough, harsh qz tessjoel where they resolved their sexual tension and that's the plot. But as always it's so much more with them. 10/10 pls give it a reading I've been craving more of this.

If you go to my bookmarks there are other game version fics I've recommended that are as good as this one <3

[seethesunny]

5, 6, 25!

5. A scene you enjoyed creating

The whole father's day thingy I posted in the family collection 🥲 it was me just having so much fun especially surrounding dialogue, and it's always a delight to write twins verse au <3

6. A scene you struggled with

From what I've posted I don't think I struggled with it if it ended up posted? like publicly? I tend to avoid posting what makes me struggle lol

But I do think it took me a while to figure out how I wanted the Ghost!Tess fic to go- in exactly what direction to aim, since she's a ghost Joel can see but not everyone else, which fuels the angst more.

25. A scene or image that lives rent-free in your head

From what I've written? The nightmares in the QZ baby Ellie verse because I love a good dream sequence and you can expect MORE and maybe even mooooore messed up I'm gonna go nuts <3

From other people? The vampire!Tess fic written by @clairenovaking has been living inside my head since October and I fear it's only gonna get worse, it got so bad it had me rewatching scenes of Annie Wersching as Lily/Lilian Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. I'm normal about vampires okay.

[seethesunny]

Question for you, Vane! What's your favourite story that you've penned to date, and why?

Hi Arien and thanks for asking! <3

The past year I said unraveled/undone, and I meant it, but this year I got to co-write trapped in a loop shenanigans and I had the time of my life 😅 I had been itching to try my hand at one of those and when the offer came to me I totally was on board.

So both it was the most enjoyable experience while writing, wasn't pressured and I felt like I worked so well together with @clairenovaking.

And I got to write Joel's POV in very different scenarios from where he didn't know about the loop and when it was HIS turn. I BROKE that old man <3 There was so much angst but it was really hopeful so even if it got grim we knew it ended happy lol

📖: and in the end i'd do it all again (i think you're my best friend)

My pride and joy our beautiful daughter

[seethesunny]

who is your favorite pov to write - tess or joel? do you prefer writing qz tessjoel or jackson tessjoel? what's your favorite tess x ellie headcanon?

Hi beloved!!! Thanks for these 🫶🏼

1. My favorite so far has to be Tess!

Listen, I love Joel, and I can do a fair job when it comes to writing him, BUT he gets all the attention, and I think we need more Tess POV fic. In MY own humble opinion. Plus, exploring Tess’s mindset is more enjoyable to me than doing Joel's.

2. This is not shocking, but Jackson tessjoel is my thing.

I love a good QZ story, I can write canon stuff AND I can match the tone of the universe anytime, but I'm just too fond and attached of how it would've been like if they had the chance to settle down and be together in Jackson. It may get angsty, but I'm a big softie, and I want things to be better for them 🥲 I think it's also for the number of possible scenarios I can play with that aren't confined to one (1) location.

3. I've mentioned this previously in my Jackson au series, but they love stargazing together!

Back in their trip, Tess told Ellie how she used to go camping with her brother, and they would spend their time looking at the stars, hence why she knows the names of some.

Ellie made Tess promise her that once this was over they could do this, too, just like how Joel promises to teach her how to play the guitar and also how they would help her learn to swim.

Sometimes, the settlement gets too much for them (they're feral stray cats, they're adapting), and in those quiet hours of the night, they go outside, sitting side by side and enjoying the company. The Wyoming sky is miles better than the one in Boston, and Tess enjoys those little things that used to be a dream, the QZ could be so oppressive and now she gets to marvel at how bright the stars shine.

Tess is slightly better than Joel at communicating with Ellie, but she quickly starts to communicate without words, and they just... know when they need to have that time to themselves, and Joel silently joins them without pushing them. It's part of their routines, and it's the thing Tess misses the most when Ellie stops talking to them and avoids even looking at them :(