uhyeahnoabsolutelynot

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The Choice

Both times Gustavo Santaolalla’s theme “The Choice” is heard throughout the season.

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Joel & Ellie

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I'm glad that didn't work out. Me too.

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some tlou fic writers are like “joel voted for bush” based on, i assume, that stuff he said to ellie about american politics and the sticker on tommy’s truck and the texas of it all and i’m like. oh you think joel voted?

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joel and ellie in every episode: 1x03

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forever contemplating “may i ask… do you really remember me?”

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the “you need to stop talking about this kid like she’s got some kind of life in front of her” to hospital massacre pipeline

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it is literally so fucking funny to me how in ep6 joel is in a place where he is so resistant to the idea that he’s in any way a parent/guardian type of figure in ellie’s life now that he refuses to admit it even to himself in private and YET he still can’t turn off the “i raised you better than that” impulse when he starts getting even the slightest amount of judgment from maria. even though he fully did not like a) he’s been with her for under a year and b) not once has he batted an eye at her swearing or being rude or confrontational, he clearly doesn’t really care. but the second someone gives him side eye about his ability to take care of her he goes into full damage control mode. mind your manners, do as i say not as i do, no i will not let my brother teach you how to snipe infected, don’t joke about how we’ve been roughing it for the past 3 months it makes me look bad and hurts my feelings

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ellie ellie bo bellie

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listen. LISTEN TO ME. when he sleeps facing away from her he feels safer (he can hear better with his left ear facing up) (and he’s able to maintain that extra degree of emotional separation)

it’s the times when he turns to face her that he is taking an emotional risk for her, offering her support despite his greatest fears, and is physically weakened

because to love is to fear!!!!! what the FUCK

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anyone else ever gnash their teeth and tear their hair thinking about ellie being the one to read bill’s letter aloud to joel way back when he has about 2% of an inkling as to what it really means and what’s coming down the pike for them. SHE READS IT. TO HIM

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tbh love the idea of joel having a very laissez-faire approach to parenting ellie in jackson, similar to how he was with sarah but dialed up to eleven because there’s like even less of a point to being a hardass about grades or responsibilities or whatever in the apocalypse. plus after everything she’s been through, now that they’re actually legitimately safe for the first time, hasn’t she earned the right to fuck around, be silly, live her life?

so people approach him like “your kid is skipping school” and he’s like okay thanks for letting me know. or “your kid has an attitude” and he’s like cool i’m sure the two of you can sort it out. or “your kid got in an argument with another kid” and he’s like oh should i get involved? ellie do i need to get involved? no? she says no, she’s got it

maybe occasionally he’s like look i’m getting some serious side eye from maria can you please just do this thing to get her off our backs, like the “make them happy” scene with sarah and their neighbors, but altogether he’s like whatever, i trust you, go be a kid

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@ craig&neil ok i hear you when you say the second half of ep6 is the best it’ll ever be between joel and ellie….…i see where you’re coming from boys like i get it...but i reject it because respectfully i do not think you entirely understand how teen girls think

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“i’ll just throw my fucking sandwich at them”🌿

-ellie

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small cute detail from ep6, in this shot where ellie lifts her elbow to aim you can see joel has his hand on her back to steady her

which also makes it extra funny of her to insist she’s not flinching. obviously he can feel that she is lmao look at his expression in the second frame. the face of a man who can only handle about 5 more seconds of unfounded accusations against a perfectly good gun before taking matters into his own hands

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Joel and Ellie banter THE LAST OF US 2023- • 1.02: Infected

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the juxtaposition between how joel acts in the ep4 scene with the little girl clicker climbing into the car with ellie and how he acts in the hospital is delicioso