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she used to be mine by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
04 Oct 2025
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“You okay?” Joel whispers, his breath warm against her ear.
"Yeah,” she lies. What else can she say? That she’s an impostor for being at a funeral for a world she’ll never experience? That she’s more worried about him than anything? That she’d give anything to go back to the hospital if it meant sparing everyone the grief of adding more names to these memorials?
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(ellie & joel's first outbreak day in Jackson)
Series
- Part 1 of whumptober 2025
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 5,841
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 12
- Kudos:
- 84
- Bookmarks:
- 10
- Hits:
- 844
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open sesame by PenAndInkPrincess
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
24 Sep 2023
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Summary
“Do a trick.”
She blinks, more than slightly startled, her struggle ceasing for a moment under the force of her bewilderment. In her defense, she’s still being held by a hand that feels like it could snap her wrist like a twig just by squeezing too hard, so she thinks she has a right to be a little confused.
Also the words make no goddamn sense.
“What?” She asks blankly, giving another testing tug against the hold. No dice. His grip doesn’t go tighter, but neither is he anywhere close to letting go.
“You’re out here doing magic and shit so you can steal from the crowd, right? Do some magic if you want the money.”
She gives him an incredulous look.
“Dude, I just tried to,” she’s suddenly aware that they are in public and that she and Riley will likely need this section of the park in the future, “rob you,” she says in a low hiss. “And now what? You want a fucking show?”
“You want the money? You ain’t stealing it from me. Do a trick and earn it, fair and square.”
(modern verse AU in which joel and ellie meet after she tries to pickpocket him)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 30,734
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 131
- Kudos:
- 1,604
- Bookmarks:
- 380
- Hits:
- 17,724
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the shirt off his back by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
16 May 2025
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Summary
“Your clothes,” she says. “I don’t mind them.”
“Well, they’re all yours,” he says. “Whenever you want.”
In the moment, he’d carve out his actual heart and give it to her if it made her feel better. His clothes are nothing compared to that.
Or: 5 times someone stole Joel's shirt + 1 time they didn't
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with your hair falling into place like dominoes by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
25 Apr 2025
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Summary
“Well, no wonder.” He opens another cupboard like there’s gonna be anything in it, like all the others in all the other apartments they’ve gone though haven’t been empty. “When was the last time you washed your hair?”
She scratches self-consciously at her scalp. “When do you think, dude?”
She’s gross. Travelling is dirty and sweaty and half the time they’re sleeping on the ground. More than once, she’s found leaves in her hair in the morning. She wants a hot shower like she hasn’t wanted anything in years.
Or: Ellie's relationships with Joel, her family, and herself, told through hair.
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angel from montgomery by monalisaaa
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
20 Sep 2025
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Summary
“Hey.”
The girl’s eyes snapped up, panicked. She spared a second to glance down at the man in front of her, her eyes racing up and then looked at Joel with the exact same type of terror, before emerging with something in her hands.
Joel watched, immediately suspecting a gun. “Whoa, now-”
The girl lifted her hands up, revealing an old knife. She smeared the tears on her cheeks away, trying to seem bigger than she was, but it didn’t work.
She was a terrified kid.
The urgency in Joel’s expression blinked. “Hey,” He repeated, his voice painted soft, though he didn’t let himself hear it. The girl just stared up at him with her knife, not realizing the tremble of her own grip or the violent shakes that tore through her entire, bare body. He just realized that now. Only her knees were covering her, along with the clearly torn pair of underclothes on her lower half. She cringed under his eyes. “It’s okay,” He tried. “I’m not gon’ hurt you.”
The girl didn’t even blink. She just stared up through her tears, terrified of him.
Fuck.
TLDR: Joel finds a traumatized Ellie on the side of the road. He's immediately soft. Meanwhile, she has to learn how to trust him.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 94,840
- Chapters:
- 14/14
- Comments:
- 172
- Kudos:
- 496
- Bookmarks:
- 121
- Hits:
- 16,463
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Bookmark Notes:
soo sad but i love comfort
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Summary
Ever since Sarah... well, ever since Sarah ten years ago, Joel's stayed as far away from kids as he can. Just the sight of one is practically enough to send him into a panic attack.
But then Tommy signs them up for a contracting job at a high school as a favor to an old army buddy.
And then there's a little girl in the front office, who somehow appears in the coffee shop Joel visits because the motel's coffee machine is shit.
Most damning is when Joel goes in to do some work at three in the morning and that same goddamn little girl is asleep in his construction zone and, when he wakes her up, says she's homeless.
Next thing he knows, she's asleep in his motel bed and he's filing foster parent paperwork.
What the fuck just happened?
(Foster parent AU! Featuring Joel Trying His Best And FailingTM, Ellie annoying local man and his friends & family into adopting her, and Tess/Joel as a lil treat for the masses.)
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Summary
Ellie fucks around and finds out. Rinse. Repeat.
- Words:
- 107,313
- Works:
- 18
- Bookmarks:
- 17
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Bookmark Notes:
KENZIEEEEEEE, c’s favourite fics, the fucking b sides, READ
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Where Joel miscalculates the situation with David and the hunters, and Ellie pays the price. Ellie and Joel struggle to cope after Ellie is raped. Thrown into unfamiliar territory-- Will their bond grow stronger, or will the trauma tear them apart? Begins during the winter, and follows the pair into Jackson as Ellie grows up in the aftermath of the decisions that have been made for her.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 271,135
- Chapters:
- 86/?
- Collections:
- 2
- Comments:
- 2,072
- Kudos:
- 3,331
- Bookmarks:
- 590
- Hits:
- 184,683
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Bookmark Notes:
pretty heavy but so so so good
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wherever you will go by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
14 Mar 2025
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Summary
“Don’t move,” he says. “Might bite.”
She glares at him as much as she can around the butterfly. She doesn’t believe him, clearly, but he can see she doesn’t know enough about butterflies to know if he’s messing with her or not.
He doesn’t know what made him say it. She’d just looked so… surprised by the bug on her face.
“You’re full of shit,” she whispers, only sounding half sure of it.
“You’re already some kind of weird mutant,” he says, the first time he’s brought up her immunity since they left Bill and Frank’s. “You really wanna catch butterfly disease too?”
Or: Ellie and animals.
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one single thread of gold (tied me to you) by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
30 May 2025
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Summary
The words remind her of something. There was that voice, Ellie remembers. It said she was safe too. And it sounded… nice. Like she could believe it.
Slowly, she settles down.
Eventually, she learns the voice that found her belongs to a man called Tommy Miller, who took her back to his town.
An actual town, not controlled by FEDRA.
Holy shit.
Or: AU where Ellie and Joel don't meet in Boston, but they find each other anyways. Featuring, cryptid Joel!
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Disconnected by finding_the_sun
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
10 Aug 2025
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Summary
Ellie gets an injury while out on patrol and hides it from everyone, worrying that Joel will take it as a sign she's not ready to go out there. A few days later, she starts getting sick, and only gets sicker as time goes on.
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the consequence of living by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
11 Jul 2025
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Summary
Ellie takes a few hesitant steps toward the door before Joel notices it: blood, soaking down her side.
Fuck. Fuck.
He yanks her back, frantic as he pulls up the hem of her shirt. Dark red seeps through the fabric as he searches for the source. “Jesus,” he breathes, spotting the wound. “Okay, you’re okay. Keep goin’.”
She stares at him in confusion, still trying to catch her breath from the terror of being attacked. “What?”
“Just keep movin’.” With his hand on her back, Joel forces her forward until bodies no longer surround them. He needs space to work, needs to get her away from the carnage before shock sets in. With one movement, he sweeps the cans off the large crate, then focuses on Ellie. “Up,” he says, voice low as he boosts her to sit.
“What’s wrong?” she asks. He can hear the fear creeping into her tone.
“I think you were shot.”
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(wherein henry's bullet doesn't just kill sam)
Series
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 13,900
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 26
- Kudos:
- 175
- Bookmarks:
- 36
- Hits:
- 3,767
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Well, theoretically it starts before Ellie can even remember. Apparently as a kid, Ellie was a biter from hell.
Ironic in the world she grew up in.
It’s not something she really thinks about. Hell, there used to be times with Riley where they’d sit on one of their beds and read or work or whatever, and if Riley’s arm or hand or, once, ankle, was close enough, Ellie would gnaw on it as a joke until they ended up on the floor, wrestling.
So, whatever. Some people love with gentle words and little gifts and some people bite.
or,
Ellie and Joel navigate the first few months in Jackson. A story told in the gentlest of bite marks.
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Summary
Ellie has a recurring nightmare.
In it, the world is blue-black with shadow. A figure swings down with something blunt and she has to watch, choking on screams, as the Joel dies violently in front of her. The whole time, she’s pleading with him to get up, to open his eyes, to stay with her. He never does.
Ellie wakes up begging.
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A story about forgiveness.
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if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
18 Jul 2025
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Summary
There’s more blood than she expects, when she’s bit.
Riley tears up one of her spare t-shirts so Ellie can wrap her arm up, but they have to change it twice before it stops soaking through. Weirdly, Riley’s hand doesn’t bleed as much. There’s a bit of blood, because, well, in teeth versus skin, teeth win, but she just dabs it away with a scrap of cloth and some water and it stops pretty quick.
Worried about making it bleed again, Ellie leaves the wrapping on hers for so long that neither of them notice that the whorls of infection on her arm don’t match the infection creeping up Riley’s arm.
Or: The one where Ellie bleeds a lot.
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Bookmark Notes:
SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD
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a little better than me by orphan_account
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
17 Jun 2025
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Summary
Slipping into her favorite socks—decorated with cheerful cartoon characters that seemed to laugh along with her—she padded down the hallway, her footsteps quiet against the hardwood floor that creaked softly under her weight. As she reached the last step, she couldn’t help but jump over it in her typical reckless fashion, a little thrill coursing through her as she landed with a soft thud.
“I don’t like you doin’ that, Ellie!” Joel called out from the kitchen, his voice gruff yet warm with the early morning lilt that she had come to adore. It was a sound that felt like home. He was already sitting at the kitchen table, cradling his favorite owl mug—potbellied and ceramic, its surface adorned with a whimsical design—still half full of steaming coffee that twisted upwards in delicate wisps.
Ellie grinned as she walked in, the sight of him rustling a comforting feeling deep inside. “Good morning to you, too, old man. You’re up bright and early as usual,” she teased, the affectionate jab adding a playful edge to her voice.
Or: 5 times Joel loves Ellie +1 time he says it.
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bad things happen bingo 2: electric boogaloo by two_birds_alone_together
Fandom: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
17 Oct 2025
- Words:
- 61,136
- Works:
- 5
- Bookmarks:
- 2
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Inextricable by honeyandraspberrytea
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
05 Oct 2025
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The woman whips around, and yeah, she looks like she could be in her mid thirties, but Ellie is so confused because Joel never would have left her if there was even a chance Sarah were alive, he wouldn’t have abandoned her, and Ellie swings the scope back to Joel to see if she can read his face, but he’s facing the wrong way, and he’s hunched over like he’s physically in pain and—
“Daddy?”
She starts to move, slowly, towards Joel, taking halting steps like she thinks he’ll disappear. He doesn’t move at all.
Distantly, Ellie hears Anna radioing for Tommy.
“Daddy?” she asks again, and Ellie registers her southern drawl, even more pronounced than Joel and Tommy’s. She sounds like Scarlett O’Hara. Tommy made her watch Gone with the Wind last month, after Ellie had missed it on movie night.
Joel still hasn’t moved. Sarah doesn’t step any closer to him.
They just stand there, in a stalemate.
Joel is breaking down.
-=+=-
Two years to the day of EllieandJoel, JoelandEllie, the prodigal daughter returns.
(Sarah lives, and Ellie learns to live with it)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 44,475
- Chapters:
- 12/22
- Comments:
- 156
- Kudos:
- 574
- Bookmarks:
- 107
- Hits:
- 15,246
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Summary
“You’re a kid,” the stranger interrupts. His voice carries a gruff, uncaring tone, even though his eyes are considering.
Ellie pulls up her boot to rest by her hand, wrapping her arms around her knees. In the secret space of her heel, she thumbs the hilt of a pocketknife.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t blast your fucking head off,” she threatens.
The stranger’s brows raise as if her threat is empty. “If that’s what you were tryin’ to do, you did an awful shitty job of it.”
“Fuck you,” she snaps, and her cheeks burn. She hasn’t felt uncomfortable like this since David, since I like the fight—
Ellie is not doing that shit again.
Before the stranger can retort, she wields her pocketknife and lunges from her curled-up position to slash at his face.//
Ellie first meets Joel in the aftermath of Silver Lake.
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a monster broken by the rules of love by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
06 Jun 2025
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Summary
“We need to get to the science building.” Her voice cracks; she doesn’t give a fuck. “Now.”
Joel shakes his head. “Ellie—”
“No, listen to me,” she insists, grabbing one of his hands with both of hers. “They… I think they can make it quick. The cure. And… and it’s on your leg, so we have a little time—”
“Ellie.”
“We have… Joel, we have to move. Now.” She jumps to her feet and grabs Callus, leading him to Joel. “Now, Joel.”
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(joel gets bit at the university of eastern colorado)
Series
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 29,075
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 65
- Kudos:
- 237
- Bookmarks:
- 62
- Hits:
- 3,900
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Bookmark Notes:
(Spoiler capítulo três)
"She leans right into Joel’s space, prying his fingers apart and examining them. They’re not twitching or anything, just trembling like he’s coming off an adrenaline rush. It happened to her too, back in the mall. Scared the ever-living fuck out of her.
His right hand is worse — that one shakes sometimes because he keeps fracturing it — so she threads her fingers through his and ducks until he can see her face. After a moment of hesitation, she scoots close enough to press her fingers to the side of his neck. His pulse is racing but steady. Human. It feels like his whole body is vibrating. 'All the muscles on the bite side spasm together when it starts for real,' she says firmly. 'You’re just freaking out.'"(Achei essa fanfic impecável quando se trata da angústia envolvendo o Joel sendo mordido e a ideia dele ser imune também.)
(Fico pensando na reação das pessoas de Jackson ao ver ele voltar om essa perna tendo esses tiques. Imagina o Tommy percebendo que quase perdeu o irmão?)