12 Bookmarks by lightningbarry
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Becca had this phase where she was really into playing pinball — handheld ones, not the big machines, which was a relief. The big ones are really noisy. But anyway. Becca had read all the manuals, even looked up reviews online, and she swore there was a strategy to it, that you could control where the ball landed, if you just hit it at a certain angle, with just the right amount of strength. But Mel was missing the hand-eye coordination, or the muscle memory, or something, because to her, it all seemed totally random, like nothing she did made any difference as to where that damn ball ended up.
Conversations with Trinity feel kind of like that, sometimes. Like watching a tiny silver ball come racing down towards her, frozen in silent panic, Becca chanting in her ear to hit it, just hit it, knowing full well she's only going to miss.
Mel is really, really bad at pinball. In case that part wasn't clear.
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
22 Jan 2026
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“Mind if I join you?”
You could do anything you want, Ellie thinks. Kiss me, cut me, pull me apart and see every rotten piece. Whatever you want, I’m yours.
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or grief is a funny thing. ellie and dina in two different aftermathsBookmarked by lightningbarry
30 Oct 2025
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it’s all in my head (but i want non-fiction) by singsongsung
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV)
30 Jun 2025
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After Ellie moves into the garage, Dina keeps ending up in her bed.
Missing moments set prior to and during season 2.
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
30 Jun 2025
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a heart, a hand to hold onto by becomethesun
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
31 Dec 2023
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If she’s being honest with herself, the real problem is that every time she looks at those pink stripes, she’s back to that night in December, Joel’s sharp words ringing in her ears, sure as hell ain’t your dad, come dawn we’re going our separate ways, sitting on that window seat with her knees hugged to her chest for hours afterwards, staring at the wallpaper and waiting and waiting and waiting for him to come back and tell her that he changed his mind, that he’s not leaving her.
She knows how the story ends, she knows that even though he never apologized, he did wait for her, he didn’t leave her, but those stupid pink walls keep reminding her that everyone leaves her eventually.
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When emergency home repairs kick Ellie and Joel out of their house in Jackson, they temporarily move in with Tommy and Maria. One could say it's a full house. (Featuring Miller Family Bonding and Ellie's abandonment issues and a nonzero amount of Lord of the Rings references.)
Series
- Part 1 of kin (a canon-divergent au)
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
28 Sep 2023
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circle of fifths by marchflower
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
16 Oct 2023
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“It’s not that,” Ellie interjects softly. Joel sighs.
“Then what is it?”
She doesn’t know how to tell him this- that it’s not school, its not him or even Cat. It’s not that easy. It’s her. She doesn’t know how to tell her girlfriend that she keeps hurting her feelings. She doesn’t know how to tell Joel how hard she feels like she has to work to make him proud. She doesn’t know how to keep all of them - her family, her friends, her girlfriend - happy and keep herself happy too. She feels like she did the first time Joel taught her how to swim: scared shitless on the edge of that dark pool, furious at herself for agreeing to this, like she was on the very cusp of drowning.
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Ellie navigates the break down of her first relationship and all the shit that comes with it.
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
11 Sep 2023
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memories feel like weapons (i miss who i used to be) by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games)
03 Mar 2023
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Joel pretends he doesn’t notice the toy robot go missing as soon as he and Henry look away. He ain’t going to interfere with Henry and Sam, but if Little Miss Sticky Fingers wants to give the stupid toy to Sam later, well, he’s not going to say anything either. The boy’s just a kid. They both are. And they don’t get to be just kids very often anymore.
Not his place to say anything, but he won’t stop Ellie either.
Or: Ellie steals stuff. Joel doesn't really care, but he notices. He also keeps giving her things. She spends a lot of time thinking about the things she owns.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 34,251
- Chapters:
- 1/1
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Bookmarked by lightningbarry
25 Jul 2023
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you and me on the rock by marchflower
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
27 Jul 2023
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“Oh, come on.” Ellie takes a step towards him, her hands balled into fists. “Don’t be like that. We’re a fucking team, Joel. That’s not fucking fair.”
“You know what ain’t fair?” Joel snaps. He stuffs one arm, then the other, into his jacket. “Is having to sit here and listen my own goddamn kid tell me they think I’m too old to do my fucking job anymore. That ain’t fair. That aint right.”
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Just Ellie and Joel doing what they do best: pissing each other off and patching each other up.
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
12 Jun 2023
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Summary
The aftermath of not saving the world.
- Words:
- 9,628
- Works:
- 2
- Bookmarks:
- 57
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
12 Apr 2023
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Ellie and Joel will never belong in Jackson like they belonged when it was just the two of them, hiking in mountains and sleeping in caves and making each other laugh with really bad puns.
But they try. They try.
Series
- Part 2 of badlands & wildflowers
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
12 Apr 2023
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what stranger miracles by anderfels
Fandom Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
28 Dec 2025
- Words:
- 571,267
- Works:
- 13
- Bookmarks:
- 395
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
08 Mar 2023
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after-school special by audries
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
06 Mar 2023
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Two days from now she will tell him, out of nowhere: I don’t even believe in heaven. And I don’t believe in God either. Then she will grin unevenly with her crooked teeth and amend it. I guess I believe in Dairy Queen, though. He will say, Amen.
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post-ep 8. Joel takes Ellie the only place he can think to take her after a day that bad.
Bookmarked by lightningbarry
08 Mar 2023
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“Hey.”
Charles looks up, squinting against the sun, and focuses on the figure looming above him. It’s a bright day on the mountain, and all this damned snow is doing nobody any favors. “Arthur,” he says. “Good morning.”
“Huh? Yeah, mornin’.” Arthur tilts his head, scratches at his jaw, and tucks his chin down towards his chest. It’s a very particular mannerism, one that Charles has watched him perform countless times.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 19,144
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- 8/8
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Bookmarked by lightningbarry
20 Apr 2021