Arien
Fandoms
Recent works
-
After the Zero Hour by Arien for Bumblepony
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
30 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
Joel pushed up the gable window. “That is some good workmanship. All these years, all this weather, and it still does what it’s supposed to.”
He reached inside for a brass bell. The museum was full of Revolutionary War exhibits, and the bell had probably belonged to somebody important and was beyond price. But it was just a bell, now. Joel rang it twice and sat back, ready to slam the window down if anything came to investigate. Tess leaned close to listen.
“I don’t hear anything,” she declared a few moments later.
“Okay.” Satisfied, Joel climbed in. He gave the room a cursory glance and then reached back to help her. “Guess the museum’s still Cordyceps-free.”
“We belong in the museum. Not them.”
--
After a successful trade with Bill and Frank, Tess and Joel have serious trouble getting back into the QZ.
Series
- Part 23 of Drifters, a book of Tess and Joel
-
Tags
Summary
“They were my pills, too. If you were anyone else …”
“You’d what?”
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “I’d send you after them.”
He returned the smile, but it was awash with the guilt he’d always helplessly, hopelessly, love more than her. Joel wanted her angry and unforgiving. It sustained him. Tess knew what it was to want to hurt at the hands of the one she loved most. They gave one another everything. Most of the time, it wasn’t pretty. But that was what they were.
“Next time – ”
“You can’t lie to me,” she swiftly countered. “I’ll take the rest Joel. But not that.”
--
Joel is a mess and everything is miserable.Series
- Part 24 of Drifters, a book of Tess and Joel
-
Tags
Summary
“You can scream if you want,” Joel murmured. “Hell, that’s probably more convincin’. But I need you to listen first. Can you listen? You ain’t too scared to do that?”
Tess swallowed hard. Her breath rasped in her throat and her skin prickled all over. She was reeling from his speed and strength. He could do whatever he wanted. He was strong enough and fast enough to do whatever he wanted and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop him. The hubris of thinking she could actually have gotten herself out of the trap was staggering. If she was quiet, if she could be still, maybe another chance would open up. But the fight would not leave her body.
She loathed herself for it.
-
Zenith and Nadir by Arien for marchflower
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
18 Oct 2025
Tags
Summary
This was good. Joel could work with this. Dallas was far enough away without having to worry about hitting the reset button on every aspect of his brother’s life. He nodded quickly. He wasn’t worried about the kind of work he might be asked to do. He didn’t even consider it then - he saw a way out and that was all that mattered. But a wave of anxiety did wash over him which left him faintly trembly, weak in the belly. Everything was going to be on him, now. He had to do right by Tommy. There was no point to any of this if he couldn’t do it better than his old man.
--
Joel through the years, the people he loves most and the patterns which emerge.
Series
- Part 3 of Night Fever, a Tess/Joel 1970s AU
-
Paradigm shift by Arien
Fandoms: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Marvel Cinematic Universe
24 Aug 2025
Tags
Summary
They have four fantastic powers, but they need four fantastic suits that can both keep up with them - and remain intact. Or; how we ended up with that exact shade of blue and the complications that come with accepting a new way of being.
Recent series
-
Drifters, a book of Tess and Joel by Arien
Fandom: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
30 Dec 2025
Summary
This series comprises of:
1. A mostly canon-compliant origin story of Tess, following the first 20 years between Outbreak Day and the events of TLOU and
2. A very non-canon-compliant fix-it fic that you can either take or leave, depending on whether you like happy endings or not and
3. A collection of stories based on reader prompts that further the tale.
- Words:
- 776,159
- Works:
- 24
- Bookmarks:
- 88
-
Night Fever, a Tess/Joel 1970s AU by Arien
Fandom: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
18 Oct 2025
Summary
1970s Bodyguard/Boss AU.
Recommended reading order is that in which they appear. Interstellar Overdrive is the main story, with Zenith and Nadir functioning as both a prequel and a sequel. The other stories slot around these. For a full chronology of events and where everything fits in, see here.
You can find more information, such as playlists, reference photos and Q&As here.
- Words:
- 464,276
- Works:
- 5
- Bookmarks:
- 7
-
Tin Star, a Tess/Joel Western AU by Arien
Fandom: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
25 Dec 2024
Summary
The Sheriff and the Outlaw: sweethearts, bandits, soulmates.
Magic horses.
- Words:
- 221,473
- Works:
- 3
- Bookmarks:
- 2
-
Making Mirrors, a Tess/Joel Modern AU by Arien
Fandom: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
15 Apr 2025
Summary
A parallel universe to Drifters - the life lived had Cordyceps not conquered the world.
Dreamt of a doorway that opened to everything
And I'm reaching towards it, drifting backwards
Drawing the curtains, windows inside my head
Maybe I'm only making mirrors.
-Gotye- Words:
- 668,681
- Works:
- 4
- Bookmarks:
- 6
Recent bookmarks
-
Best Damn Thing by AuroraBe for Bumblepony
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
21 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
He frowned, stepping out of the patio and into the buzzing main room. “Sarah, baby, what’s wrong?”
“Everyone’s drinking beer.”
“What? Who brought beer?”
He ducked into a tiny nook between the booths and pressed a finger to his ear as if that could block out the piano or the chatter.
“I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice small and panicked. “Some boy with pretty hair and sparkly brown eyes.”
Great. Exactly what he needed. Those were always the worst.
*
Sarah goes to her first teenage party, and things spin out of control. But not to worry, Uncle Tommy is just a phone call away.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 5,456
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 29
- Kudos:
- 17
- Bookmarks:
- 3
- Hits:
- 202
Bookmarked by Arien
22 Nov 2025
-
Tags
Summary
“Bubbles, Tommy? Seriously?”
“C’mon, Tess. The kids are gonna love them.”
***
How some 20-year-old bubble wands begin to mend a fractured family
***
Good Things Happen Bingo Prompt: Blowing Bubbles/Tess and Tommy (platonic)
Series
- Part 1 of Good Things Happen Bingo
Bookmarked by Arien
21 Nov 2025
-
Mortified by Praises by Bumblepony
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
15 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
He hears the rustling of canvas and opens his eyes, turning to the door of his tent. Door, Joel scoffs; it's less a door and more a flap held closed by ties. At this particular moment, it's being secured in place by someone who is decidedly not the healer he'd called for.
"Where's the healer?" He grits.
"Busy, it's me or no one."
"Gods above, go get the fool from whatever bar table he's crawled under and tell him he's needed." Shifting Joel pants, his vision fraying black around the edges. Shit, he's lost more blood than he thought. "Git."
The kid doesn't budge. "He's treating the Lord, blisters or some such, he says to make do with me or make do on you're own."
IE: Joel is a fallen knight, fighting for gold instead of honor, and Tess is a squire, hiding from a storied past.
Series
- Part 30 of Tess and Joel Stories
- Part 2 of Tess/Joel Month 2025
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 2,895
- Chapters:
- 1/2
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 5
- Kudos:
- 27
- Bookmarks:
- 1
- Hits:
- 99
Bookmarked by Arien
14 Nov 2025
-
Sweet Dreams by stumblingaway
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
19 Oct 2025
Tags
Summary
“Woah.” Ellie’s face is inches away from her window when Tess looks back, her gaze fixed on the deer. “They’re so big.”
“There’s a whole lot of things bigger than them,” Tess snorts.
“The only animals I’ve seen are birds and dogs.”
Right.
Joel rolls down his window and she’s hit with a blast of cold air to the face. She’s thankful, actually, as the roar of the wind fills the car, drowning out any of the kid’s attempts at further conversations. He rolls it back up once the sun has started to set, the insects beginning their evening songs.
Tess, Joel, Ellie, and the rare occurrence of sleep. A Tess Lives story.
Written for Whumptober Day 18: Dystopia
Series
- Part 4 of Whumptober 2025
Bookmarked by Arien
19 Oct 2025
-
vanishing hours by 6hoursgirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV), Prospect (2018)
08 Nov 2025
Tags
Summary
In the winter of 2025, Joel Miller hires Anna Williams to help as an office manager at his thriving construction business. An odd friendship blossoms between them, but Anna has secrets and a baby on the way, and Joel has a monkey on his back.
Bookmarked by Arien
10 Oct 2025