Tumgik
#when you’re lost in the darkness
cowgurrrl · 8 months
Text
Shrapnel
Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader
Summary: “Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that much for them.” — Lois Lowry, The Giver aka a person from your past finds their way back [2.3k]
Warnings: pregnancy, a problematic ex, jealousy, talks of Jane, ✨feminine rage✨, language, threats of canonical violence
Tumblr media
You're holding Joel's hand while walking through Jackson when it happens. He's not usually one for PDA, but since you found out you're pregnant, he almost always has a hand on you. He squeezes you when a voice calls out to you. You have a doctor's appointment later in the day and got through your unremarkable early morning patrol shift. You're much more interested in debating baby names with Joel than talking to anyone else, but the shouting gets more persistent. At first, it's just your first name, but as the sound gets closer, your maiden name gets tacked on. Nobody's called you by your maiden name in years. It's enough to make you turn with furrowed brows and frustration building in your chest.
It takes a second for your eyes to adjust to the person in front of you, but once they do, you're stunned into silence. He's aged— wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, gray at his temples, and a slight limp in his gait. He's definitely not the teenage boy you once knew. You subconsciously drop Joel's hand and take a step back to fully process the man in front of you.
"Matt?" You breathe, and he smiles.
"Hey," he says. "I can't believe you're… here and alive."
"Yeah, I could say the same to you. What are you doing in Jackson?"
"My group trades out here sometimes. I've never seen you here before, though." He says. How the fuck could Maria not tell you about the smuggler who looks a scary amount like the little girl in the photo on your desk? Maybe she didn't know. Jane never had his last name. There's no way she would've known. "What are you doing here?" He turns the question around.
"We live here." You say and raise your hand to rub Joel's back. His shoulders are tense under your touch, but you each relax at the familiar affection. Matt looks between you two, and you recognize the slight puffing of his chest. Matt's body has changed with the apocalypse, muscles and scars peeking from his sleeves, but Joel is broader and a good head taller than him. Joel doesn't even blink at the peacocking.
"You gonna introduce us?" Matt asks, gesturing to Joel.
"Uh… yeah. Yeah, this is my husband, Joel," You look up at Joel and nearly choke on your next words. "Joel, this is Matt, Jane's dad." Joel's face falls at the sudden connection. You can see him scrambling for something to say, but a light tap on your shoulder stops him. Like the patron saint of horrible timing, Ellie appears at your right. Matt looks over her in awe, and you immediately want to tuck her away from sight. "Joel, can you take her home?"
He stares at you, a protective glint passing through his eyes, and you give him a minuscule nod. He clears his throat and jerks his head at Ellie. The unspoken communication is understood, and she falls back enough for your blood pressure to drop to a reasonable level. He pecks your lips before holding a hand out to Matt.
"Nice to meet you, man." He says, and Matt meets him halfway, grimacing slightly at Joel's grip.
"Likewise," Matt says. Joel gives you one last look as he walks away. You watch him and Ellie bump shoulders and get further and further away from you and Nugget, Joel's nickname for the baby still developing under your heart. When you pry your eyes from your family and look at Matt, he smiles politely. "Should we talk?" You don't trust yourself to open your mouth and speak, but you nod and lead the way to the Tipsy Bison.
The Tipsy Bison is emptier than usual, something you're silently grateful for. Town gossip didn't end with Cordyceps— something you and Joel are more than familiar with— and you don't want to give anyone material for rumors. Matt gets a plate of food while you grab a glass of water and snag a table towards the back of the room. Once he settles across from you with his plate, you're not sure what to say or do. What do you say to the father of the kid you had at sixteen? The kid he abandoned?
"What've you been up to?" He asks, breaking the ice and making you chuckle at the absurdity of it all. "Besides getting married." There's enough bitterness in his voice for you to hear it and roll your eyes.
"That's normally what happens when you don't see someone for over twenty years."
"C'mon, let's not do that."
"Do what?" You snap, and he gestures vaguely between you.
"Fight. I'm not gonna ask you for anything," I'm not gonna ask for her back. "I'm just happy you're alive and safe. I wanna know how you got here and what's been going on with you guys. Can you just, I don't know… let me in?"
Something stupid, vulnerable, and fifteen in you wants to give in and tell him everything. Something else screams at you to run him out of town. You take a deep breath and a sip of water.
"I was a smuggler in the QZ back home for a few years before moving to Boston. That's where I met Joel." You say, and he nods, grateful for the information.
"Joel seems like a good guy."
"He is," you say. He takes a bite of food, and uncomfortable silence falls over you. You wonder if he can spot your barely there bump under your thick jacket and if he would even say anything if he did. He barely gave you any attention when you were pregnant with Jane. You doubt he'd see anything now. "How long have you been smuggling?"
"About ten years. I used to do the FEDRA jobs before I met the people in my group. It's better money, and I get to travel with them."
"What QZ did you end up at?" You ask. He gives you the name of another QZ about a six-hour drive from your hometown. He tells you he was visiting a friend when Outbreak Day happened and never made it back. Why would he? He didn't have anything he cared enough to come back for. You tell him about getting to the local QZ and staying there, conveniently leaving out details about Adam, hit jobs, and midnight star gazing. Once you're done, he stares down at his plate, moving food around with his fork as he thinks.
"That girl," he starts, and your heart clenches. "Was she-"
"No," you cut him off, shaking your head. "No, she's not. Her name is Ellie. Joel and I adopted her a few years ago."
"So, where's Jane? She's… how old is she?" He asks. Your hand instinctually lands on your small bump under the table, a nervous habit you picked up from your first pregnancy.
"Twenty-five."
"I can't believe that. What's she like?"
"Matt…"
"I know I don't have the right to ask or even be here, but I wanna know about her. If you don't want me to meet her, that's fine. I won't argue with you. I just wanna know if she's happy. Well-adjusted, especially after everything. That's all." His words are too little, too late. How dare he act like you kept her from him when he never came around in the first place. Like suddenly he's Father of the Year, and you're the bitch baby mama who never gave him a chance.
"She's dead." It stings as it leaves your mouth, and you watch the weight of the words smack him in the face. His fork falls from his hand, and his eyes search your face like he's trying to determine if you're lying or playing a mean joke on him. You don't know what he finds in your expression, but it's enough for all his breath to leave him.
"W… what? What happened? When?"
You give him bits and pieces. You tell him about Mrs. Carmichael and the school, but you don't tell him how far you were from the QZ or why you couldn't return to your original, much closer trading post. You tell him you buried her but not where. You tell him you went after the Fireflies who detonated the bomb but not how you bled information from them until you were shaking from rage and grief. By the end of it, he's pale and wide-eyed, but his hands are steady.
"I should've been there," he says, and you want to agree, but then he keeps talking. "I could've protected her better or kept her safe or, I don't know. Maybe things would be different." Protected her better. What the fuck could he have done that you didn't? How would he have kept her safe? By keeping her from her peers, learning, and the sliver of hope embedded in her favorite books? By locking her away and controlling her every move like he tried with you?
"What would've been different, Matt?" You ask, decades of anger and annoyance bubbling up to the surface. "You? Us? Give me a fucking break. There's nothing you would've done to protect her. You weren't ready to be anyone's father, let alone hers."
"But you think you were?"
"The second I saw those positive tests, I knew I could. For ten years, I was ready to give her anything and everything. For ten years, I took the shitty jobs and overdrew my bank account, and lost sleep trying to keep her alive. And what were you doing when I got kicked out of my mom's house and had nowhere to go? What were you doing when she had colic and couldn't stop crying? What were you doing when she needed someone to walk her into school every morning for a month because she was so scared?"
"I was a kid." He tries, and you laugh, dangerous and low.
"And I wasn't? I was Ellie's age when I had her. Joel was twenty-two when he had his daughter, and he was scared but still stepped up for her." At the mere mention of Joel, he rolls his eyes and pushes away from the table.
"We're talking about us and our daughter, not him."
"Oh, it's our daughter now? Now that she's dead, you want some kinda claim?" You ask. "You don't get to come into my town, ambush me, and then act like I'm the bad guy," he tries to open his mouth to argue, but you put a hand up to stop him. "And if you say anything else about my husband, I'll tie you to the back of my horse and drag you out of town. Do you understand me?" You ask, and he pauses like he's trying to figure out if you're serious, nodding when he realizes you are.
"Here's what's gonna happen: you and your group are gonna trade whatever you need to trade for, and then you're going to leave my town. You're not gonna say anything about this conversation to anyone, most of all my daughter, and if I catch you so much as looking at her again, I'll break your fucking neck. You can keep smuggling here but never speak to or about my family ever again. If I find out you're spreading lies about Jane or Ellie or even Joel, I'll-"
"Careful, you might run out of big, scary threats there, sweetheart." The unmistakable sound of you cocking your gun under the table clicks in the air. It's a miracle he's survived this long with that big fucking mouth and no observational skills. He swallows hard as you press the barrel of your gun into his kneecap.
"You wanna cut me off again, or do you need to learn a lesson?" You ask. He shakes his head, suddenly enthralled by whatever you could have to say. "Get the fuck out of Jackson." You push your gun against his bone hard, hard enough to make him hiss in pain, before removing it completely.
Then, silently and with his tail between his legs, he does what he does best. Turns his back and leaves. You're privy to the fact that this is similar to the first time he left. You were pregnant, he was pissed, and neither of you were necessarily happy with the situation. Except this time, you hold all the power. This time, instead of going back to a home you'd be kicked out of, you're going home to your husband and child. This time, your baby already has a father who loves them so much, and you still have six months until they're born. This time, you're not worried about the future because you have people who support and love you, no matter what.
And what is he returning to? A sleeping bag and the knowledge that he fucked up and probably will continue to fuck up until he gets it together or dies, whichever comes first. For the first time since he yelled at you and left you to fumble with the pieces at sixteen, you feel a sense of closure or, at least, victory.
Did you see that, Janey girl? You think when you walk outside and look up at the gray March sky. Do you see how I'm still protecting you? Do you see how much I still love you? Do you still feel it? A single, strong kick to your side seems as good an answer as any. You laugh and rub your hand over where you felt the tiny foot. For a moment, you realize you're the only bridge between Jane and this baby, that whatever cells Jane left behind in you are mixing with these new ones. And you're not religious, haven't been for a long time, but you pray they're able to know each other through you. You pray you're strong enough to do that for them. You pray one day you'll see Jane again, and she'll tell you how she was with you every step of the way.
Not yet, sweet girl, you think. Not quite yet.
285 notes · View notes
thebluestwhale · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
the getaway, 1975
15 notes · View notes
yoursjustasitwas · 1 year
Text
rewatching the first episode and there are so many things!!! how they emphasize from the first second there IS NOT a cure, how Tommy NARROWLY avoided getting infected in jail (listening to the news it’s clear that people started to get aggressive before clearly becoming infected; tommy emphasized in jail it was “crazy,) the plane crash, joel saying “head to the river i’ll find a way” (jackson is by a river,) i obviously don’t have to mention baby girl, how the qz is on an overgrown “congress street,” congress meaning to gather, the qz woman saying something along the lines of ‘after the medicine we’ll get you some new clothes, toys, your favorite food to eat;’ after ellie gets joel the medicine he gets her her favorite food, new clothes, a game; joel taking pills while drinking (it wasn’t time what healed those wounds!!) 80s music playing out of the radio meaning a week after ellie got infected bill and frank died. i cannot.
34 notes · View notes
astrexq · 7 months
Text
Why is it, when you need someone most they aren’t there for you, they don’t have the ability to support you, and the people around you when you need someone the most aren’t the right people.
I have so much hurt built up, but the people I need most aren’t there for me, and can’t be.
I feel alone? I’m not sure how I feel.
9 notes · View notes
soulinkpoetry · 10 months
Text
Tumblr media
The heart will guide you back where you belong.
.
.
11 notes · View notes
mceproductions · 4 months
Text
youtube
Best of 2023 TV Shows #2: The Last of Us (HBO)^
Video Game adaptations becoming great have been an understatement of the 2020s so far.
So it is fitting that for the years’s best new show we get one of the best ever to come out of PlayStation.
Tumblr media
The Last of Us centers on a fungal cordycep outbreak that would consume the planet.
At the start, we see Joel and his daughter Sarah go about day to day life in southern Texas along with his brother Tommy. On outbreak day the chaos that would consume the area would end up costing the family.
20 years later Joel now has settled in Boston with his partner Tess running black ops work against Fedra, the de facto organization that replaced the us government in the wake of the pandemic. Tess would end up coming into a job for the resistance group known as the Fireflies to lead a young girl named Ellie to Colorado.
Only Ellie was bitten and yet not infected. That would send Joel and Ellie heading west on the famous journey we’ve played in earnest.
But for those who haven’t, we get to see what Neil Druckman masterfully made a decade earlier brought to great life.
Beginning with a neat prologue tying in both game and our reality especially in the wake of our own pandemic.
The classic opening that is nearly recreated shot for shot.
youtube
The infamous 3rd episode that brought us the years best moment on tv that ironically featured a character that would survive in the game.
youtube
And 5 more episodes that would greatly impact the landscape on how video game adaptations are perceived.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey own things with Bella getting her own solo adventure in episode 7 that further flushed her out than even the initial game did.
Along with great support from Anna Torv, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Merle Dandridge (reprising her game role) and Diego Luna.
Even better was the themes of the game being redone by Gustavo Sanatolla without losing impact.
It’s amazing how many thought the sonic movies giving life to video game adaptations a few years ago was a fluke.
This year along with the Mario movie, The Last of Us proved that to be not a fluke.
SUM 22: A legendary Sony Game becomes 2023s best new show thanks to creator involvement and command turns from Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
3 notes · View notes
discogoode · 1 year
Text
chapter 2 of WYLITD is up! enjoy! let me know if you like it!
7 notes · View notes
deadsprout · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
Don’t mind me, just obsessing with this and all the times Ellie is illuminated by plants and beautiful lighting
15 notes · View notes
cowgurrrl · 4 months
Text
Day After Tomorrow
Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader
Summary: “Lover, hunter, friend and enemy/ You will always be every one of these.” — Love and War by Fleurie aka winter part ii [3.0k]
Warnings: (probably) incorrect wound care, mentions of deceased loved ones (what's new), mother-daughter arguing although neither of them realizes that's what it is, Chekov's gun if you squint real hard
Tumblr media
It's been days, and Joel hasn't moved from his spot. You and Ellie come up with your own watch schedule to keep each other safe and make sure Joel doesn't die in the middle of the night. You stay up throughout the night and let her take over once the sun rises in the morning, but you don't sleep. Every time you lay down next to Joel's mattress, all you can do is count his breaths and watch his sleeping form. The only time you've actually been able to sleep was when Ellie suggested laying next to him instead of on the floor to keep warm. You've seen her do it, and if he cares, he doesn't make it clear. If anything, he subconsciously leans into her. Still, you're hesitant until you curl up next to him and feel his beating heart under your hand. You fall asleep counting the contractions of his heart and silently pray that it doesn't stop before you can wake up.
You've only left a few times to raid the other houses in the neighborhood, tearing rooms apart and looking for first aid kits or leftover antibiotics. The closest thing you find is a smattering of codeine left in someone's medicine cabinet and some more towels. Anything else that might've been valuable has been picked over or lost to the elements. You find an extra blanket in one house and throw it at Ellie when you return. "Told ya I'd find something," you tease as you take off your backpack, the forced lilt in your voice enough to make her smile. You have to fight Joel to get the opiate into his system, but the bubbling pain caused by his stitches seems to outweigh sobriety. You want to make a joke that you think NA would make an exception for this, but he's unconscious again by the time you think of it.
You catch the symptoms of an infection before Ellie can. The skin around his stitches is inflamed and red, and he's spiked a fever in the last few hours. When you check his pulse, it's fast and irregular, and he's shaking under the blankets. You contemplate taking out the sutures, but it's too early. If you take them out, he could start bleeding again, and his body might not have enough strength left to clot. You sigh and scrub a hand down your face as you weigh your options.
"Is he gonna die?" Ellie asks suddenly, breaking the eerie silence filling the basement, and you tear your eyes away from Joel to look at her. It's only been a week, but Ellie looks like she's aged three years since you've been down here. Her cheeks have hollowed, and the bags under her eyes are so dark they're almost purple.
"He has an infection. His body might be able to fight it, but I don't know." 
"Is there anything you can do?" 
"Without medicine? Not really," you admit. "I can… make him as comfortable as possible with the rest of the painkillers. I can change the towels and give him food and water, but that's really it." I can let him die with some dignity, you think. It's better than the other situations you've been in where you thought he was gonna die. What would you tell Tommy? He was protecting you and Ellie. He fought to stay alive. He wanted you to move on. He'd be a hero. Tommy would make sure of it. The idea turns sour the second you think of it. You don't want a hero. You don't want his name sung to the skies or cemented in marble for generations to gawk at. You want him to stay alive.
"What are we gonna do? If, y'know…" Ellie trails off, and you look away from her.
"We keep going."
"But-"
"It's what he was trying to tell me to do when he got stabbed. He wouldn't want us to stay here, and you know it." You stop the argumentative tone in her voice before it can fully develop, and she huffs in annoyance. 
"So we're just gonna act like nothing happened if he dies? Like he wasn't even here?" You ignore her to mess with the blankets covering him and wait for her to try and open up negotiations so you can turn them down. "Do you love him?" She asks instead. You cringe, but she's firm and determined as she watches you process the question. 
"He's my partner," you say. "My family."
"That's not what I meant," she says.
"I don't know what you're looking for."
"What did Tess say to you when you were alone with her the last time?" She asks, and your heart jumps. She's out of line. She knows she is, but she keeps going. "Joel doesn't know, does he? Because it hurts, and when you love someone, you don't want to tell them things that will hurt them. Right?" You clench your jaw and shake your head. "I'm not fucking stupid. I see the way you guys look at each other. I hear what you guys talk about when you think I'm asleep. I know he's mostly grumpy, but not all the time. Not with you. I-"
"Ellie," you snap, cutting her off. "It doesn't matter what you see or what's there. I'm not… I can't." Words fail you as they often do when talking about Joel. "He's not mine to love. Not in that way. So, it doesn't matter what I feel, and it especially won't matter if he's dead." Ellie is silent as the words hang in the air between you two. You've thought the same thing many times over the years, but this is the first time you've vocalized it. He was always Tess's. In your mind, he still is. If either of them ever asked you to step down or leave, you would've done it without hesitation because he was never meant to be yours. 
"When I got bit the first time, I was with someone I loved," Ellie says. You look at her and catch her ripping at her nail beds to avoid your gaze. She takes a deep breath and shifts uncomfortably before she continues. "Her name was Riley. She joined the Fireflies, and they were gonna send her to a different QZ. Atlanta, I think. She wanted us to have one last night so we snuck out to the mall," she shakes her head and takes a deep breath. "We got into a fight about her leaving. I was just so scared to be alone, and then… she decided she was gonna stay for me. She hated the FEDRA school, and I was scared to be out in the QZ, but we were gonna figure something out together." She looks like she wants to say more but can't bring herself to. You're able to put the pieces together.
"Have you heard me tell Joel about someone named Adam?" You ask, and she nods shyly. It's weird bringing up Adam to her. They each feel like they belong to different lifetimes. "Adam was kinda like my Riley. He helped with Jane, went on runs with me, lived with me, everything," you say. "He was my best friend." 
"Did he get bit, too?" She asks, and you nod.
"I stayed with him until the end. I think I felt like I owed it to him— like I wanted him to know I loved him enough to bear the weight of watching him die," you dig your fingernails into your palm and shake your head. "I stayed with him until the end and then let him go on his own terms like he wanted. If it comes down to it, I'll do the same for Joel." 
"Are you scared of losing him?" She asks. You swallow thickly and nod.
"Every day." 
"Me, too," she admits. "I'm sorry about Adam." She says, and just like that, whatever barriers left between you two are gone. Suddenly, you're not the adult, and she's not the child. You're two girls forced to become women too young and carry the weight of what that means for the rest of time. You're equals.
"I'm sorry about Riley." You say. You think the conversation will end there, and you let yourself crawl under the covers with Joel as the sun slowly inches over the horizon. Before you can close your eyes, Ellie fiddles with the rifle nervously, making metal click, and you look at her.
"Does it ever get easier?" She asks. "Loving someone who's not alive anymore?" You stare at the ceiling, your eyes fluttering shut at the question, and your hand finds Joel's.
"I wish I knew," you say. "Does he know? About Riley?"
"No," she sighs. "He's not really one for sentimental conversations." You laugh despite the situation. It's delirious, and you really shouldn't be doing it, but you can't stop it. For more than ten years, you've known Joel, and never has a truer statement about him been said. The hysterics hit Ellie, too, and you two giggle on the floor together. When Joel shifts in his sleep, you both go quiet but start laughing again a few moments later when it's clear he's not stirring. 
"He's gonna fucking kill us if we wake him up." She says breathlessly, and, for some reason, you start laughing harder.
"He doesn't even know what day it is. You think he's gonna know how to kill us?" You snort, and that sends Ellie over the edge. Your stomach hurts, and you can't catch your breath, and it feels so good. When was the last time you laughed this hard? Over a card game and a few drinks with Joel and Tess? Dancing in the kitchen with Adam and Jane? Or further back? In some long-forgotten memory lost to your pre-kid days? It's impossible to know for sure. 
The only thing you feel sure of is the ache in your ribs and the smile on your face when you finally quiet down and lay down next to Joel, his hand squeezing yours either in reflex or love. 
Tumblr media
You wake up to Ellie calling your name frantically, and you're up before she can even finish descending the stairs. The sun is high in the sky, and light is pouring in through a little window. It has to be, at least, mid-afternoon. When did she leave the house? How long have you been asleep? Is she hurt? 
"I got medicine!" She shouts as she runs to you. Her cheeks are red from the cold, and she's tracking snow into the basement, but she's not bleeding. It takes you another second to scan her features for any injuries before you can even process her words. "I got medicine. I don't know if it's the right kind, but I got it." She hands you the vials with shaky hands, and you glance between her and the bottles. The label says it's penicillin. It could fight the infection bubbling under the surface of his stitches. Kill the bacteria and save his life as long as he's not allergic to it. As long as it is what it says it is. 
"You were supposed to wake me up for second watch." You scold because you don't know what else to say.
"Is it the right kind? Will it help?" She asks. You take another second before cursing under your breath and going to Joel's bedside, shaking him awake.
"Joel, I need you to nod or shake your head for me. Can you do that?" You ask, and he nods. "Are you allergic to penicillin?" He shakes his head but looks confused. There's a 50/50 chance he didn't understand your question or know if he's allergic to it. You lift his shirt to check his stitches to find the skin more inflamed and angry than the last time you checked. He's gonna die if you don't do something soon. You sigh before turning back to Ellie. "Give me the syringe." 
She does with shaky hands, and you carefully measure and fill the entire syringe with the antibiotic. You don't know what the correct dosage is supposed to be, but you figure too much is better than not enough. You hold his shirt out of the way as you inject the medicine into his muscle, praying that it is medicine and not something mismarked. You watch him once the syringe is empty and wait for him to start foaming at the mouth or coughing up blood, but he doesn't. Carefully, you put the needle down and check his vitals, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 
His heart rate and breathing are steady, and his pupils respond when you lift his eyelids. It'll take days for you to see any improvement, but just the knowledge that the antibiotics are working below the surface to save his life is enough to calm you down. The snow still in Ellie's hair does the opposite.
"Where did you go?" You ask, your voice hoarse from fear, and she tenses up.
"Hunting." She supplies a little too quickly, and you stare at her.
"How did you find medicine?" You ask, and you watch her scramble for answers. "Tell me the truth."
"There was this man from a town nearby-"
"Jesus fucking Christ." You cut her off and bury your head in your hands.
"I did everything you taught me! I didn't tell him my name, where I was coming from, or anything!"
"Did he see which way you left?" 
"I don't know. I don't think so. He seemed nice!" She defends.
"Yeah, they always seem nice." You sigh.
"How about 'thank you, Ellie'? 'I know it must've been scary, but you saved him.' Anything?"
"You could've gotten yourself killed. You could've led them here. We can't move him yet. So, what am I supposed to do if they show up here? Huh?" You snap. You hate being so harsh with her, but she needs to understand how dangerous that is. "Do you remember what Joel said about fires? Why we don't always light them?"
"Yes, but-"
"Why don't we light fires, Ellie?"
"I-"
"Ellie Williams." 
"Because people could see and rob us." She says, and you shake your head. 
"Trust me, robbing us would be the last thing on their minds," you clench your jaw and take a deep breath. "I appreciate you finding medicine and coming back, I do. You probably just saved his life, and I'm sure we'll both spend the rest of our lives trying to thank you for that, but it was also really fucking stupid. I trusted you to stay up and take a watch shift because you wanted to be treated like an adult. So, I'm gonna treat you like an adult now," you say. She opens her mouth to say something, but you put your hand up to stop her. "You're off the watch schedule, and you're not allowed to even look at the rifle unless it's an emergency or I can trust you again. You don't leave this house again without me knowing. You don't walk, talk, eat, sleep, or even breathe without me knowing. Do you understand?" 
"That's not fair!" She protests, and the last thread of patience you have snaps.
"I can't lose another kid!" The words leave you before you can reign them in, and you both go silent, staring at each other. This is all new. You've never had a kid who got to this age. She's never had a parent. Neither of you can fully fill the void for the other, but somehow, it feels like it's happened. "It will kill me, okay? Him," you gesture behind you at Joel. "It would hurt like hell, but I could find a way to survive. I've done it before, and I could do it again. But you... if anything ever happened to you, I would never forgive myself. So, just, please-" Ellie, throwing her arms around you, cuts you off, and you freeze. It only takes a second for your brain to catch up with your body, and you hug her back, squeezing her tight. 
She's taller than Jane, her head fitting perfectly under your chin, and you can't stop yourself from smoothing her hair down. She doesn't flinch or jump away from your touch. You take that as a good sign. It occurs to you that accidentally claiming her as yours was never in the plans. You were supposed to get her to the Fireflies in Boston with Joel and Tess, and when that didn't work out, she was cargo. Just a burden to deliver to someone else. You were supposed to leave her, get paid, and lick your wounds the whole way back to the East Coast. What now? You can't just leave her with them. You can't just turn your back on her. You can't pretend she didn't exist. You're fucked. You wonder if Joel's had the same thought.
"Okay," she says into your chest. "I won't leave again. I understand." 
"Thank you." You whisper, and she nods. You leave it at that, not wanting to incite another argument or worse— admitting something else you weren't ready to admit to a fourteen-year-old. She hands you the rifle without protest and lies down next to Joel, falling asleep faster than you've seen before, and you let your shoulders drop as you watch them. 
You can't recall a time Joel looked so relaxed in his sleep, and it could be the penicillin or the codeine, but you like to think it's Ellie. You have to believe it's her. If you survive this, you decide, you'll do everything possible to give her a better future. You can't guarantee tomorrow, but you want to try. 
"I love you," you say into the air. You know they can't hear you. That deafness might be the only reason you say it. "I think you know I do. I just… wanted to say it out loud at least once. I'm sorry it took me so long." You're quiet after that admission, listening for footsteps, hooves, or something else that might come and threaten their lives. If you listen hard enough, you think you can hear the snow hitting the ground, rabbits digging underground tunnels, and Adam's clumsy feet jumping up and down.
TAGLIST: @abbyhaslongshorts @kiwiharrykiwi @sumsworldz @myloveistoolittle @anavatazes @marantha @cosmoscoffeee @shyminnie07 @beezusvreeland @eddiemunsonsbedroom @harriedandharassed @doodlebob-mp3 (I made an executive decision on tagging lol if you only want to be tagged in one thing, lmk and I’ll do my best to remember!)
122 notes · View notes
ems-art-box · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Happy Outbreak Day
2 notes · View notes
overelias · 1 year
Text
No because I could not imagine better casting for Ellie and Joel. They’re perfect, perfect, perfect. The rage at an unfair world behind Bella’s eyes, the crippling sorrow in the set of Pedro’s jaw FUCK they are so beautiful in their art.
7 notes · View notes
oceanusborealis · 1 year
Text
The Last of Us – When You’re Lost in the Darkness – TV Review
TL;DR – A faithful and tense introduction to the series. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this show. The Last of Us Title Review – I came into this week’s The Last of Us with some trepidation. On the one hand, the series, especially the second game, holds a special place in my heart as it was the streaming event that sucked me into this world.…
Tumblr media
View On WordPress
3 notes · View notes
treety-of-the-ents · 6 months
Text
0 notes
sketchmagetch · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media
1 note · View note
yashley · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Say something true!
#critical role#ygifs#imogearne#imogen x fearne#when you’re taking a picture of the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen and the camera falls back and fucking decks you in the face#fearne going it’s ok you don’t need to confess I know~~ while imogen interrupts to say ‘’you’re a loser’’ they drive me NUTSkljsgdlkjs#also my brain is a little beehive cos these two Started with Fearne being the enabler to darker things while imogen was cautious#to fearne Seeing imogen about to be lost to ruidus and hardveering into panic that the power would never be worth losing her#to imogen hearing fearne hesitate and deny the shard and then telling fearne she should do it anyway#the way these two handle the other's Sways in darkness in such a Knowing way - ‘’Are you sure it wasn’t intentional?’’#there’s like this ping and before it was encouraging and now fearne is scared and imogen is enabling the risk#and it’s like either imogen is silently ensuring laudna’s safety by fearne taking the shard despite any risk#or imogen honestly believes that fearne is stronger even than the power she would embrace. There is no risk. Fearne will conquer this.#so it’s like is it ulterior motives or is it faith or is it hypocrisy or is it all three at once it's so good#imogen spending her entire life running from her power so isn’t it so much easier to tell fearne she can just do it while imogen couldn’t#or is it just her genuinely encouraging fearne from Knowing the aftermath of pursuing the power#but it's like imogen ...... why would fearne choose you over the possibility for power when she's never done that before#and is this insistence/encouragement going to actually reassure fearne or is it going to be another crack#and when they do the ritual fearne asks imogen to be the one to take her out and imogen tries to comfort her by agreeing#and fearne looks on sadly and nods#remembering when she was asked to be the one to take imogen out and all fearne knew was that she couldn’t#anyway imogen's face when fearne said you're in love with me imogen said NOT NOWDSHKJF
373 notes · View notes
very-feral-lesbian · 1 year
Text
ellie is joel’s light in the darkness
and he’s hers
Tumblr media Tumblr media
198 notes · View notes