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all i needed was someone (when the whole wide world felt young) by cardigains for eedsknees
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
20 Dec 2023
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Summary
Much like the other day, Ellie ends up sitting on the porch steps. Joel’s back even quicker this time. Almost like he’d left his first aid supplies sitting out and ready to attend as needed.
More cleaning, this one hurts less. More gel liquid, this time rubbed in a bit better. And more bandaids, these ones something other than plain, boring beige. Not princesses either, usually the first thing adults reached for when they mixed the two factors of Little Girl and Injured together.
Nope. This guy has dinosaur bandaids.
“Dude, I fucking love dinos!”
Joel’s head swivels up, eyes going from her carefully patched up elbow to meet Ellie’s gaze. She wants to ask him how he knew. She wants to ask to see the rest of the designs in the box. She wants to tell him all of the other things she loves.
“S’pose I picked right then,” he says, almost like he’d been standing in the aisle, contemplating what exactly that might be.
“You did,” is how Ellie answers him, not bothering with a thank you.
//
or: Ellie is Joel's next door neighbor who's hellbent on learning to ride a bike to get where she needs to go. Little does she know that place is right across the street.
Series
- Part 1 of Next Door Neighbors
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 47,863
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 300
- Kudos:
- 984
- Bookmarks:
- 305
- Hits:
- 16,882
Bookmarked by spritejac
01 Oct 2025
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Keep Going by stainedglasspanel
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
08 May 2023
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Joel sounds a thousand miles away. “Ellie? Are you listening? I said, don’t you *ever* do that again.”
Well, she thinks deliriously, that won’t be a problem after all.
“Ellie, what—?”
It feels like she has no control over her body anymore, like it’s someone else who is extending her arm, pulling back her sleeve, and exposing a ring of broken skin. She hears Joel stop breathing when he sees it too.
She's been bitten.
________AU where Ellie is already traveling across the country with Joel when she gets bitten.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 32,553
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 169
- Kudos:
- 1,558
- Bookmarks:
- 437
- Hits:
- 22,967
Bookmarked by spritejac
24 Sep 2025
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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
Bookmarked by spritejac
10 Sep 2025
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‘Til our Fingers Decompose (Keep my Hand in Yours) by Baymax_13
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
04 Jul 2023
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Summary
The next thing he sees and knows isn’t a dream is Ellie’s little hand reaching over his heart and balling up his shirt in her fist. Her head lays on his shoulder and her ear presses against his chest. He feels her small exhales and they bring fresh, unbidden tears to his eyes. She doesn’t notice his half-lidded gaze, but he sees just fine as she brings the hand still clutched around his flannel up to her nose and presses it to her face like it’s the only thing keeping her from floating away.
Almost on muscle memory alone, Joel aims to press a kiss to her hair where it’s up to his own nose, but he can’t quite get it right. Still, his cheek ends up against the soft tendrils of Ellie’s brown strands and he thinks it’s enough. He hopes it gives her some meager comfort.
It’s all he has to offer.
(Inspired by the famous picture of Ellie sleeping all curled up on the forest floor during episode 2 - essentially an exploration of how Ellie becomes more than cargo to Joel through Ellie's very cute sleeping habits)
Bookmarked by spritejac
08 Sep 2025
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another two years gone (spent forever letting go) by fabbee
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
26 Aug 2025
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Jackson Hole sat at the base of two mountain ranges, with long, winding rivers that ran around its perimeter. The rolling fields seemed to go on forever and ever, full of bright wildflowers and blooming butterweeds. It was breathtaking to stand on top of the hill and look down at their new home.
It was the kind of shit people would paint pictures of.
It sort of made her want to throw up.
“Whadda’ ya say, kiddo? Ready to go home?” Joel asked.
Home.
He made it sound so fucking simple.
“Yep.” She forced a smile onto her face that she hoped looked believable. “Let’s go, old man.”
OR: After Salt Lake City, Ellie and Joel return to Jackson and try to build a life. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the past.
Series
- Part 2 of back to you verse
Bookmarked by spritejac
17 Aug 2025
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Summary
“I mean-” Ellie licks her lips, swishes a bunch of pieces aside with the flat of her hand. “I mean, do you think, like, old women think Joel is attractive?”
A pregnant pause swells to fill the garage. Then Dina snorts and claws upright on the couch. She sways dizzily. “Oh, for sure.” Ellie squeaks, and Dina goes on, voice sing-songing, “And not just the old ones.”
Jesse says, slowly, bravely, “If we’re being honest, I think Joel’s attractive.”
Ellie falls backwards onto her ass, grunting at the impact. “Oh my God-”
“Tommy too,” Jesses adds, and Ellie throws a handful of puzzle pieces at him, shrieks:
“What?!”
*
Ellie discovers that Joel might be Jackson's most eligible bachelor. Shenanigans ensue.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 84,108
- Chapters:
- 10/15
- Comments:
- 256
- Kudos:
- 753
- Bookmarks:
- 178
- Hits:
- 19,481
Bookmarked by spritejac
07 Aug 2025
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shearly beloved by PenAndInkPrincess
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
25 Mar 2023
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Summary
The day of Jackson’s sheep shearing, Ellie’s up before the sun.
Joel, predictably, is not.
She’s learned that settled into the peace of Jackson, he is very much not a morning person. She’d suspected as much from how his grumpiness was always at peak in the mornings while they were on the road, but sharing a house has really made it sink in that unless there’s a world-saving quest ahead of him, Joel would quite happily never see the day before at least 8 in the morning, which is one of the reasons he usually ends up taking later patrols when he can.
Fortunately (and unfortunately) for him, though, it’s sheep shearing day, and she’s ready to see if he was full of shit about liking sheep or not.
(day in the life of ellie and joel in jackson liVING THE SOFT AND HAPPY LIVES THEY DESERVE)
Bookmarked by spritejac
05 Aug 2025
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Summary
It’s across his desk that the first reports of the Fireflies and their miracle cure comes. He handles most intelligence on them. It’s partially down to his own interests; after Anna’s betrayal, he’d needed to make sure that no one else would ever be able to find out exactly how much information ended up spoken fuckdrunk and passed along.
It’s because of this access that he’s the first one who puts eyes on a file about the subject that allowed the Fireflies to get their miracle cure. There’s no names–well, no names that are true, he can tell from even a cursory glance–but there are notes that start to scratch at memories.
Female, 14 years old, raised in the Boston QZ, mother a Firefly, father unknown, 5’1”, 94 pounds at the start and 83 by the end of testing, medical history unknown by virtue of being an orphan.
It’s a rough sketch, a vague idea of a person that could fit anyone.
But somehow, in the part of himself that’s made him one of the best spymasters FEDRA has in its employ, he just knows.
The Firefly’s miracle girl is his daughter.
(au in which ellie's father is a high-up fedra official who decides he can use her immunity for his own ends)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 24,810
- Chapters:
- 3/3
- Comments:
- 148
- Kudos:
- 1,123
- Bookmarks:
- 223
- Hits:
- 13,237
Bookmarked by spritejac
31 Jul 2025
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never enough, always too much by flannelfeelings
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
18 May 2023
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Summary
“It’s not fair,” Ellie’s voice is practically a whisper now. “That you lost everything, and all you have to show for it is this…” she gestures angrily toward herself.
“This what? ”
This mess. This broken, ugly, useless thing that everyone except for you has figured out early enough to ditch.
“Just…me.”
(Ellie worries about her place in Joel’s life and in the world)
Bookmarked by spritejac
23 Jul 2025
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lay bare the bones of the earth by marchflower for emooni
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
26 Jul 2024
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Summary
Joel sighs, runs his hand wearily over his face. “Baby,” he says, and despite herself, Ellie feels her shoulders relax at the nickname. “This - it’s a threat against all of us. It’s not something we can let lie.”
“I’m not telling you to just let it lie,” Ellie retorts. “Just- why does it have to be you?”
Joel looks away, shifts on his feet. “Ellie,” he says, and the timbre of his voice rakes a claw down her spine. “You know why.”
She does, and that’s the thing- she’s not sure she’s worth it, this kind of love that goes blind with rage in the face of threats, the kind of love that drives people out of their homes and into the night and away from their families. The kind of love that demands sacrifice. It sits uneasily beneath her skin, like an electric current.
*
Jackson is threatened - and Ellie steps up.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 190,234
- Chapters:
- 20/20
- Comments:
- 948
- Kudos:
- 1,036
- Bookmarks:
- 245
- Hits:
- 36,581
Bookmarked by spritejac
22 Jul 2025
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a real nightmare (completely aware) by lkay09 for stillboldlygoing
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV)
26 Mar 2024
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“Joel.” His name slips from her without thought, just the utterance of it stinging her chest.
He jerks to a stop, turning to look at her in surprise. Ellie can’t blame him, she’s barely said a word to him in almost two years.
Ellie tilts her head towards Tommy’s house, blowing out a breath. “Don’t bother.”
He looks between her and the house across the street, hands fidgeting with the paper he holds. “There oughta be another option. You shouldn’t –” He cuts himself off, but Ellie knows what he was gonna say. Years of distance don’t mean that she doesn’t still know him as well as she used to.
You shouldn’t have to be around me if you don’t want to.
(bad things happen bingo - cradling someone in their arms)
Series
- Part 3 of bad things happen bingo
Bookmarked by spritejac
22 Jul 2025
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oh mirror in the sky, what is love? by flannelfeelings
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
25 Jun 2024
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Summary
She only borrows the record player because she has no other choice.
Here’s the thing. Making friends in a peaceful little communist society after living in nothing but shitty FEDRA dorms and on the road with a murdering old man? Not a super easy task to just grab by the reins and handle.
It’s easier to make friends when you have something to leverage. So when she overhears Jesse and Dina during stable duty complaining that their upcoming get together won’t have any music, she spots an opportunity. Who the fuck could blame her for taking it?
(ellie borrows something of joel's to help her make friends in jackson - it does NOT go well)
Bookmarked by spritejac
21 Jul 2025
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a small price to pay for forever by flannelfeelings
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
21 Jun 2023
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Summary
As long as she has this bite on her arm, she’s a target. And by extension, so is Joel, and Tommy and Maria and baby Rosie. If it’s discovered that they let an “infected” kid run around, who knows what will happen to them?
Everyone she’s come to love is in danger because of her. She has to do something about it.
(Ellie’s bite scar is almost seen during a shift in Jackson’s greenhouse- she comes up with a brilliant plan to get rid of it permanently)
Bookmarked by spritejac
21 Jul 2025
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Battle Buddies by stumblingaway
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
03 May 2024
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Summary
Ellie and Tommy fight people and patch each other up.
Ft. Ellie calling Tommy, "Uncle Tommy," for the first time.
Bookmarked by spritejac
19 Jul 2025
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Summary
Riley gets bit in the mall, but Ellie doesn't.
Joel takes her anyway.
There’s no grand purpose for her existence, nothing to make her worth saving.
Joel loves her anyway.
Series
- Part 1 of The Garden
Bookmarked by spritejac
17 Jul 2025
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in the threads of his being, there you are by omgahgase
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
02 Apr 2024
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Summary
Joel and Ellie, as Tommy has so intellectually concluded because he’s a genius like that, intertwined themselves so flawlessly within each other that he sometimes can’t see where Joel ends and Ellie begins. It’s just them. Always them. In the same way it’ll be Tommy and his kid in a little bit, it’s Joel and Ellie.
Always Joel and Ellie.
Or: Tommy's thoughts and insights into how his little band of fucked up psychos aren't really as fucked up when they're together.
Series
- Part 2 of me and mine
Bookmarked by spritejac
16 Jul 2025
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this is me trying (at least i'm trying) by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
17 May 2024
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Summary
It wouldn’t be so bad if she was alone in Jackson like she was in Boston. She’d figure out where she fit and she wouldn’t really care if people liked her. She’s done it before when they made her switch schools.
But she’s not. She’s here with Joel, and she doesn’t want him to be embarrassed by her. She doesn’t want him to regret this. To regret her.
OR: Ellie adjusts to living in Jackson.
Bookmarked by spritejac
13 Jul 2025
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darling, lean your weight to me by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
13 Sep 2024
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Summary
It’s the nicest thing anyone could do in that moment. Because Tommy’s nice. Despite how hard she’s trying not to like him, she does.
And Ellie’s pretty sure he hates her.
Or: Actually that pretty much sums it up. Tommy's a great guy! So why does he seem to hate her?
Bookmarked by spritejac
10 Jul 2025
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who you are is not where you've been by BarlowGirl
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
26 Jul 2024
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Summary
And he realizes… there are parts of her that are weird because, well, she’s Ellie. She likes space and puns and dinosaurs. She does goofy voices and curses too much and she asks so many questions. He’s pretty sure that if she’d grown up before the outbreak, she would have been screened for ADD or something. And some of her weirdness is being a kid growing up in the apocalypse, like not knowing what a seatbelt is.
But parts of her weirdness?FEDRA did that.
And he hates it.
Or: Thoughts on FEDRA schooling.
Bookmarked by spritejac
09 Jul 2025
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but tonight i'll need you to stay by captainredspade (CodenameArtemis) for bearrycool
Fandoms: The Last of Us (TV), The Last of Us (Video Games)
13 Jan 2024
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Summary
In Jackson, Ellie struggles and Joel worries. They figure it out eventually.
Bookmarked by spritejac
04 Jul 2025