#astronaut ellie

[tlou-bombshell]

i'm shy as fuck, so if i ever say i want ellie in her death stranding outfit to literally hold her knife against my throat while she calls me her nasty little slut, i'd mean it

[elliespuns]

"Some day..." - Ellie Williams [photos: antibia]

[westonspharmacyphotodept]

Aww, that’s right. Your astronaut thing.

(original game photography from The Last of Us Part II by @westonspharmacyphotodept -- all manual post-production using no presets, stock, templates or AI).

[probssomethingorother]

but like small Ellie, in the Hole, wondering if the darkness is like how it is to be out in space?? If the silence is the same?? Thinking that if she can just push herself to be okay in solitary she can be a good astronaut ?????

AHHHHHHHH

[emacrow]

Commander Johnson, I-I think I found what or who been stealing our extra spare material supplies

Astronaut Jennifer said in the com as she stared, standing stiff as a board if it weren't for the gravity of Mars making it difficult.

What she was staring at couldn't be human but yet so close and eldritchic- alien like as the inner part of her mind was screaming danger danger, That Is Not A Human Being, Run RUN RUN,HIDENOWHIDENOWNOWNOW

It's look like a adult, a very slim and very tall adult if it weren't for the fact that his skin was tanned with a bit of splash of starlights all over, wearing a suit made of galaxies covered in red Mars rocks, his hair was white, whiter then the clouds on earth, ears pointy and curled a bit as if it wa to shield or reflect to what its was hearing(but they has moved back in a aggressive manner thar remind her of snuffles when threaten) and eyes glows so ominously Neon Green with black instead of white surrounding the iris, splatter of star like freckles that looks like he almost has two pupils mixing into a slits like in each of them.

Teeths razor sharp and thick, as the thing looks like it was growling at her with his body arch over, hands with extra digits of long blacken claws like nails dig into the dirt, hiding all the stuff that the alien had stolen along with a lil head of another mar baby, it weren't for the fact there was no sounds in space, she would've been screaming float running back to her headquarters base.

She was only patrolling the part of the base where they were trying to grow plants in one of the green houses they painstaking made on Mar, but then she saw the glow of unnatural green slipping out of the sealed tight glass.

Curiosity took the best of her as she put on her suit and went to check at that spot is where she find what seem to be a native Mar creature and its baby hoarding all the missing stuffs that they had lost in the base, along with the missing robot, opportunity as the top of it's hoard pile in a makeshift hole(it's a Nest and she has enter this creatures domains) near a small pool full of of oddly frozen water that glowed luminous.

It was a stand off between her and the creature not moving an inch until Jennifer's coms responded back as she flinched, her heart dropping snd face paling dramatically when the creature's ear flick a bit as it heard the static electric device.

"J-J-J-Jennifer, do you copy? I repeat, Do you copy?!?" Commander Johnson spoke a bit frantic.

Unawared of the danger he had put Jennifer in when she flinched, the creature lunged, Jennifer scrambling to turn around and hop/run back into the safety of the base as fast as she could.

Like inspiration for @tinycoded360

[astralnymphh]

help. me.

this is my sign to write ellie achieving her astronaut dreams huh

[ominousvibez]

i know a lot of people tend to define dani/ellie's "obsession" as the ocean to go with danny's space obsession but tbh i feel like as dani gets older she's going to do a lot to separate herself from her identity as danny's "clone" and become her own person

like, that's why i love that the fandom has adopted the "ellie" nickname so much for her. i so wish the show went on for longer with more competent writers or the comic could expand on this maybe but i think finding her own identity and voice would be such a powerful narrative. you're made for one thing but you don't wanna do that, so now what do you do?

(tbh that kind of identity exploration is probably too anit-christian for b*tch h*rtman so i'm glad he didn't get to touch it)

it's canon that dani goes off and travels the world, so why not have her obsession be traveling? she's got a huge case of wanderlust. she likes the outdoors, she likes hiking and camping and is a huge granola girl. like, i think that kinda just fits her a bit more, in my opinion. traveling/exploration.

[dnvrsmedia]

Space Girl

Astronaut!Ellie x Astrophysicist!Reader 

⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊ ⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡

gender non-specific! no gendered terms or pronouns (they/them used)

inspired by the song ‘Space Girl’ by Frances Forever

some lyrics included at the end of the fic!

DISCLAIMER! although i absolutely love space & all things to do with it, i absolutely have no idea how NASA works HAHA. learning abt space & astrophysics is a hobby of mine so please suspend your disbelief on the logistics of it all lol.

°✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊⁺˚⋆｡ °✩₊

From a very young age, Ellie knew what she was destined to do. When it came around to teachers, friends, and Joel asking what she wanted to do when she grew up it was always the same answer. “I’m going to go to space!” She said with a firm face and a serious heart. Yet, only a few people believed she would make it. No one believed that the spunky orphan with anger management troubles would be the one to make it out of the stratosphere.

People say that dreams change. That some dreams are meant to be just that, dreams, yet Ellie was determined to make her dreams a reality. Ellie Williams was a go-getter. When she had her eyes set on something everyone around her knew she was going to have that. Having that mindset has brought her to where she is today, a real-life astronaut at NASA. All the hard work and dedication that the auburn-haired girl spent years to lead up to this moment was finally here. She spent countless sleepless nights in college dreaming about the stars. Hours on the phone with her adoptive father, Joel, ranting to him about all the cool facts she has learned while away from him. So, when Ellie got the offer, she made sure that Joel was the first one she let know.

She can't recall before that moment when she first saw the old man cry, but that day, there was no dry eye between them. She brought him to the same museum he took her to when he adopted her on her 15th birthday. Due to her NASA status and undeniable charm, she was able to bribe the museum guards into allowing her to close the space section just for this moment. Ellie would never admit it, but she had no idea where she would end up if it went for the man himself. He was the one who took the broken-down orphan child with way too much pent-up angst, to a fucking astronaut!

It was her first day in Houston after leaving the small town - Jackson- she grew to love. The town gave her a heartful send-off and enough food and well wishes to fuel a small village. The first official day of training before leaving Earth was tomorrow. Her palms clam up and knots in her stomach arise at the thought. She didn’t want to fuck up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A sigh releases from her body as she pulls into her new home, a decently nice apartment complex a few miles from the base. Being an orphan who was tossed around from foster home to foster home until the age of 14, Ellie never had a big heart for items. Unlike Joel, Ellie never really found herself keeping too many items. Sure back home in Jackson, Ellie had some nicknacks and things she found enjoyable, but during the moving process, she found herself only really needing to pack up her dingy old truck. Her wallet was thankful for not having to spend extra on movers, yet the depths of her heart yearned for something more. Yearning for a place she could feel like her home. Jackson never felt like hers no matter how long she’s been there. Ellie wonders if that's why she yearns for the stars. The fast

Her calloused hand turns the key in the ignition off.

“Welcome Home, Ellie.” A small smile adorned her face. Yeah, she was ready for the challenge to come.

Droplets of sweat evaporate off of the auburn-haired girl’s body as she finds herself moving in under the hot Houston sun. Although she didn't bring much, Ellie still had quite a time hauling her things into her apartment. Past Ellie thought that it would be a genius idea to ship her furniture before leaving Jackson. Unluckily for her, all of her shit got rerouted due to some error or something? At least that is what the FedEx worker on the phone told her on the phone. She looks around the room with a bit of defeat. She has all of the “essentials” she told herself to bring with her in the back of her truck. These items include all of her gaming devices and gear, comic collection, clothes, TV, and the fuck ton of snacks she got from Jacksonites. Nowhere included in her array of shit was a bed nor a chair.

“Fuck!” Ellie yelled outside her door. Of course, everything had to go to shit the second she got here. The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped Ellie out of her self-pity party of one. A person of seemingly the same age as her stood before her with a concerned look on their face. Ellie’s face heats up in embarrassment.

“Oh uh, I’m Y/N… I live in 112 B. I heard you moving in and wanted to check in on you. Is everything okay?” You rock on your heels. Ellie takes you in with wide eyes. She doesn’t think that she has met anyone more beautiful than the person standing in front of her. You were in your casual wear since it was a Sunday afternoon, yet she looked at you like you created the sun and all of its stars. After realizing that she is standing before you with her hin to her jaw (like an idiot) she finally introduces herself.

“Oh! Sorry!” Ellie scratches the back of her neck– a nervous tick she does– “I’m Ellie,” Her calloused hand reaches out to give yours a shake. ‘Are all hands normally this soft or are they just godly?’ Ellie wonders.

“I’m okay! Well, minus the movers losing my shit and bringing it back to Wyoming. I don't have a bed and my first day of work at my new job is tomorrow so I’m just stressed.” Ellie finally allows herself to breathe after going on that tangent. You let out a short giggle at her frazzled state. Ellie’s frown turns into a small smile before she bursts out in a fit of giggles herself.

“What a welcome that is, huh? It’s okay, Ellie. When I first came to Houston, I completely had no idea what to wear for work and I was the only one under the age of 60 wearing a pantsuit.” Your smile sends a pang to Ellie’s heart. Maybe this won't be a terrible time living here. A laugh erupts from her belly

“Oh, that must’ve been terrible, thanks for that.” Ellie’s gaze lowers to her beat-up converse as she tries to calm her beating heart.

“Anytime, and um, Ellie? Would you maybe want to grab a coffee with me?”

You rush out in hopes that she doesn’t reject you. Ellie kind of stares at you, not sure if she heard you correctly or if her sleep-deprived delusions were messing with her.

“Or not, I mean I totally understand how difficult moving is. If it helps, I have my old blowup mattress and some sheets and pillows to spare in the meantime you can use.”

Embarrassment floods your body. What were you thinking? Now, you are gonna have to see her every time you leave your room and be reminded of the time you got rejected.

Ellie’s eyes shoot wide open with her eyebrows to the sky.

“No!”

Your face immediately sinks at her answer. Ellie shakes her head furiously, god she is such a loser.

“No! I mean yes! I’d love to go grab a coffee with you. I’d also love to take you up on that blowup bed offer. The least I could do is buy you a coffee, yeah?”

Your smile reappears on your face as you nod in agreement.

You ended up taking your car to your favorite coffee joint near work. There was a small shopping center filled with cute local small businesses that you thought Ellie might enjoy looking at as you sipped your respective drinks. You had gotten to know the freckled-faced woman the longer you two strolled along the plaza together. Her bashful smile that adorned her face after she mentions something that she is passionate about was probably your favorite part about her. She was so intriguing to you like you had known each other all of your lives.

“So, what made you make the move to Houston?”

Ellie sipped on the last bit of her iced coffee. She practically gulped all of the sweetened caffeinated drink down after the first sip. She stated that it was “the best she has ever had.”

“Oh, for work actually! I work uh for the government.” You start to feel yourself becoming shy. You hated mentioning that you worked at NASA. Not because you weren’t proud of your job, but because you had this irrational fear that everyone believed that you were bragging.

Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“That is so very vague, Y/N” She laughs. “What, you a government spy or something? You working for the FBI? The CIA?”

Now it was your time to laugh. Ellie had a way of bringing you out of your insecure shell only with hours of meeting you. You shake your head.

“Hmm…any other acronyms?” She asks.

“Actually, uh yeah.” You laugh. “And it has nothing to do with spy stuff. I actually work at NASA.” You proudly smile, your job was something you had dreamed about ever since you were little. Being in Houston and working with the people you do made your inner child beam. Ellie stops in her tracks as a look of shock spreads across her face.

“You’re fucking with me, no way!” She shouts in the store, customers turning and scolding her with their eyes. You laugh and shake your head.

“No, I promise I am not.” You laugh once again. “I’m an astrophysicist.” The proud look not leaving your face; feeling more comfortable with sharing after hearing Ellie’s response to your career.

Ellie’s hands find themselves on your shoulders as she gently shakes you.

“No way! I start at NASA tomorrow! I’m going to space!” She smiles widely, you can tell how passionate she is just from those words. Now it was your turn to let out a gasp.

“You’re an astronaut!?” You yell rather loudly. For the second time, the patrons of the store are not loving your outbursts.

Ellie gives you her toothy smile as she nods like a maniac.

Since that day, both you and Ellie have been inseparable. Having your familiar face around made Ellie feel a lot more at ease in her first few months. Whenever she had a break from the training she would sneak off to your desk with your favorite snack. Oblivious to her charm, her presence usually waned for the other women in your department to throw themselves at her— something you were not very fond of. Sometimes she got to work at the same time as you, those times being her favorite. Not just because she was able to sleep in a bit more, but because of the little routine the two of you worked up together. Just shy of a week of Ellie living across the hall from you, you both traded spare apartment keys in case of emergencies…or at least that is the reason why she gave you one. On days like these, Ellie would get ready and let herself into your apartment as you made breakfast for the two of you. To repay you for your service, Ellie would then drive the pair of you to your spot– the coffee shop you showed her on her first day in Houston. She then would pay for your beverage before bringing you both to work.

“See you in a bit, space girl!” You smiled over your shoulder as you made your separate way to your desk.

Space girl; that was the nickname you gave her after her third week of being here. The nickname made her cheeks hurt from her mouth involuntarily smiling at you.

When Ellie got to work hands-on with you, she couldn’t help but admire. There was just something about seeing you in your element that made her heart beat a little faster. Having someone else who was passionate about the things she was, just made her fall. Hard.

Six months before Ellie was scheduled to explore the stars above, you noticed that her attention would always wander while she was with you. Whenever you did catch her spacing out–pun intended– you liked to ask if her head was in the clouds.

Ellie responds with a smile, “No, but they are in the stars.” Her Ellie Williams smirk makes way to her freckle-filled face.

Yet, behind her flirtatious exterior, Ellie was worried. Her heart yearned for you at every waking moment. She was with you whenever she wasn’t training for her year-long trip. A trip that she has dreamed of making since she was a young girl. She wanted you to be hers, yet she could not bring herself into asking you to be hers. Making you wait a year while she’s miles and miles away felt incredibly unfair. Her leg bounces as her teeth pick at the thin skin of her plush lips as you both sit on her couch watching a movie. Your hand makes its way to her bouncing thigh in hopes to calm the green-eyed girl down.

“Alright, El, talk to me.” You pick up the remote in between you to pause the romcom you begged her to watch with you. You noticed that she has been a bit off for the last few weeks. The two of you would share a moment, you practically begging her to kiss you, and then she would revert herself to the time you first met. You thought that it was just her exhaustion from work, or the anxiety due to take off.

Ellie's thigh came to a halt, her body tensing at being caught. One thing that Ellie came to learn is that it was increasingly hard to lie to you. She found herself always wanting to be honest with you, so as the months have gone by, as her feelings grew, it was harder to hide them from you.

Ellie shakes her head and mumbles a very non-committed, “S’ nothin’.”

Your eyes roll so hard you swear they’d fall out of your sockets and onto the ground. You take her hands in yours as you try to gain her eye contact. Once that doesn’t work, you remove one hand from hers to caress her cheek every so gently. Your soft fingertips grasping her cheek as you turn her chin towards your face. Ellie’s furrowed eyebrows slowly loosen as she sees the worried expression on your face.

“C’mon, you can tell me.” You pout; wanting nothing more than to ease any worry within the girl before you.

An overwhelming sense of warmth encompasses Ellie as her eyes dart from your lips to your eyes, and to your lips once more before she pulls you in for a fairytale kiss. It felt like a mini-universe was being made between the two of you once her lips connected with yours. Months of yearning all poured into this one kiss. It was full of passion as the auburn-haired woman deepened her mouth into yours, her hands trailing up the sides of your body as she pulled you in close to her. God, did Ellie feel stupid. She could have had you this close to her for months if she only had the courage. Your free hand moves to the nape of her neck as you massage her baby hairs. A sigh of contentment slips out of her mouth; you could physically feel the tension in her body melt with every stroke of her head.

You pull away due to lack of oxygen as Ellie's lips trail, not wanting to pull away. You giggle as she pecks your lips, obsessed with the way they feel. Ellie finally allows the both of you to move from each other's lips before she kisses your cheek. Her face beat red and her lips plump from the make-out session you just had.

“That was-” You look up at her dreamily, you finally got the girl.

“Amazing.” Ellie smiles brightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner, it's just– leaving for the year with little communication isn’t really appealing for a relationship.” Ellie blushes and looks away from your eyes. You were having none of that as you scoop hair behind her ear, her eyes trailing back to yours.

“I’m not an everyday person, I work at NASA with you,” You laugh at her bashfulness. “Plus, you are worth it, Space girl. I’ll be here waiting for you. I’m yours.”

Space Girl, I saw a lunar eclipse

Looked like how I feel 'bout your lips

Space Girl, the only way that we'd end

Was if you were sucked into a black hole

But I'd still spend my days dreaming 'bout you

Dreaming bout you… ๋࣭ ⭑

[astrolauu]

happy birthday kiddo 🚀

[tlou-bombshell]

I'm so done with women dude. But I'm also so done with men.

✨Women✨ be taking you to K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb (don't ask, pls google that up) one day, just to literally crush every fucking thing the next day.

And ✨men✨ be crushing your soul everyday for no reason so that's pretty fucked up too.

Now I fucking understand why Ellie decided to go in cunt mode and leave everyone to go in a suicide mission just for the thrill.

Kepler you better find another exoplanet soon you goddamn bitch.

[elliespuns]

Joel: How's it smell in there? Ellie: Like space, and dust

[photo: noblephoenix]

[whereami55]

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered Photography

#submission Photos I took in TLOU2 Remastered

@naughty-dog

I just watched Grounded II and was astounded by the incredible journey. I was familiar with the history before watching, but learned some more interesting backstory and behind the scenes. Definitely check it out when you get the chance.

[ellies-enrichment]

[probssomethingorother]

Whumptober No.3

Ellie, FEDRA, The Hole, Hurt No Comfort

This wasn’t a place created with any sort of comfort in mind. It was made to drive people mad, to torment them in solitude. A shiver ran through her body, not entirely from the cold. The eerie quietness of the place pressed against her ears, suffocating in its own right. ----- Ellie's first time in the Hole.

Read it down below or on Ao3! but don't forget to drop a comment wherever you read :)

Once you hit twelve, you were eligible for Hole time.

FEDRA was brutal, but even for them, imprisoning anyone younger in a damp dark concrete box was cruel and unusual punishment.

Ellie was placed into the Hole just three days after her twelfth birthday for insubordination - a blanket offense FEDRA wielded whenever they deemed a child too bothersome.

And “placed” was putting it lightly. 

Physically there wasn’t much of her to control, but still, two hulking FEDRA officers held each one of her arms roughly. Their hands easily wrapped around the entirety of her upper arms, fingers even overlapping and gouging with heavy pressure. Their tight grip was sure to leave ringed bruises in their wake. Dragging her with them, their long and fast stride made her small feet skid across the ground, barely touching. She wasn’t even fighting against them, but their pace was relentless -steadfast to get rid of her. They jerked her small body around ruffly as they turned down the corridors, hallways getting darker and more dingy the closer they got to Solitary. 

The Hole was located in Building D. It was an old factory that housed the laundry center, cleaning expo, and some stray military vehicles. It was a shared space used both by the normal FEDRA units and the training division. The children of the training division spent much more time in there on the whole - manning the stations by washing clothes, cleaning equipment, stripping down cars, and of course, enduring time in the Hole. 

It was located on the second basement level, just above the access tunnels to the factory steam pipes. Relegated to its bowels, its isolation was intentional, ensuring the world above was as far away as possible. 

Ellie gulped down her worries as they led her down the last flight of stairs, onto the final basement level. It was noticeably quieter down here than the floor above, the echo of their rushed footsteps and the consistent rustling of the officer’s keys were the only things piercing the silence. A few fluorescent lights flickered and buzzed, but most were off, creating an eerie dim atmosphere.

It wasn't Ellie's first time in Building D, but it certainly was the first time on this level. The pit in her stomach grew heavier with every step she was dragged forward. It wasn’t anything kept a secret amongst the kids, she knew what to expect, but it was all still quite nerve-racking nonetheless. She always thought that she would be able to handle it, but then she saw some other kids her age spend their first nights there, people she thought would also be able to handle it -  and well, they had come out... different. 

Ellie didn’t want to come back different. 

Whisking her deeper down the hall, they finally arrived at the end, a small desk stationed in the middle of the corridor dimly lit by a fading desktop lamp. Ellie was jolted to a stop as the FEDRA officers halted in front of it. The old officer manning it didn’t even look up from whatever he was reading, just passed one of the officers a clipboard with an attached pen. 

The officer on her right took it, releasing their grip on Ellie’s arm to fill out the needed log. The absence had blood rushing to the spot, and it was only then did Ellie realized how hard she was being secured. Instinctively, her other arm reached out to touch and soothe it but still stuck in the grip of the other officer, her arm was yanked back and away with a glare. 

“Don’t fucking move,” the restraining officer grumbled. 

Ellie rolled her eyes. 

“Williams. E. 53013117. 24 hours,” the other officer plainly voiced, pen audibly scratching across the crusty paper. He returned the clipboard with a clatter, the thick board dropping against the vinyl desk top. Still fixated on something else, the desk attendant didn’t raise to look at them, just monotonely replied, “Six is open. Back right,” while carelessly holding out a set of keys. 

The moment the keys were grabbed, Ellie was being dragged again, shuffled behind the desk by the same two officers, and led back even further down the hall. Soon, ten doors came into view, four on either side, two on the back wall.  Still holding tight, they directed her to the heavy steel door on the right, the number 6 worked into the door with bolt heads. A small window, high up, was the only way to peek inside, but at her height, Ellie could see nothing. 

She gulped down, bracing herself. 

Wasting no time, one of the officers turned the key into the lock with a loud echoing clang and the door creaked open, revealing the small, dark space inside.The grip on her arms was abandoned as they stood in the doorway, and when Ellie made no immediate moves to head further in, one of the officers pushed at her back, causing her to stumble forward. 

“Twenty-four,” he grumbled, “tap is in the corner, toilet too, food once a day, talking or making sounds, you stay longer.” His words were cold and rehearsed, his face stoic.  

“Just sit and don’t be a little shit.” The other officer added, clearly annoyed, like somehow this was an inconvenience. 

Ellie bit her lip to keep from lashing out. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing her react. She wouldn't cry or beg not to go in. Not in front of them. She stepped further in, turning around just in time to see the door slam shut. The small upper slat screeched close not a second later, leaving her completely alone in oppressive inky black darkness. 

Her eyes slowly started to adjust.

The Hole was exactly as she had imagined - small, maybe six by six, and so damp that she could feel the moisture on the walls and floor. It was cold for now, but she had heard that when the steam pipes got used below, sometimes the heat leaked through and made the rooms unbearably hot. There were rumors about an older kid dying once - suffocated under the oppressive moist heat. Currently, the air was thick and stale, but not suffocating like that. 

Sucking in a deep breath, she slid down the left wall to sit on the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest. She squinted as she took in the room, eyes still struggling to get used to seeing without light. 

As her eyes tried to adjust to the abysmal darkness, she realized there was no need. There was really nothing to see. There was no bed or blankets or anywhere to rest other than the floor. The tap wasn’t much more than a rusty spigot coming from the wall, no sink attached, or even a drain on the floor. The toilet was basically an open silver basin, and by the smell of things, it didn’t flush, just emptied straight down through a hole and pipe below. 

This wasn’t a place created with any sort of comfort in mind. It was made to drive people mad, to torment them in solitude. 

A shiver ran through her body, not entirely from the cold. The eerie quietness of the place pressed against her ears, suffocating in its own right. The lack of sounds irritated her so much that it made her physically restless, and after just twenty minutes of sitting, Ellie was up and pacing around - at least then the soft squelch of her shoes on the damp floor provided a noise other than the sound of her own breathing. 

She made the circle over and over and over again, walking around and around until that too became just as irritating.  

With a huff, she stopped and slid down the door this time, head listlessly banging back against it in annoyance. Her ponytail made the position uncomfortable, pushing into her scalp, but she couldn’t find herself to care all that much since the whole place was so uncomfortable anyway.

As she sat against the cool steal, she realized that from here she could now hear someone crying in another cell, voice just barely wafting through the tiny space between the ground and the bottom of the door. 

It sounded like a young boy and the only person she knew her age who had received Hole time recently was “Mikey P.”  But he got in trouble three days ago - watched him get dragged away herself. He had tried to sneak into a better mess group so all the good food wouldn’t be taken but was caught. Ellie didn’t think that was a three-day infraction so FEDRA must have upped his time while down here. She wondered if it was for the crying, or if the crying was because of the increased time. 

She desperately wanted to call out, see if it was him, but she wasn’t about to test how strict the no-sound rule was. Ellie slowly leaned and lowered herself to the floor, laying on her side so her ear was closer to the ground and the door gap. She let Mikey’s crying fill her ears because even his sobs were better than silence. She dug at the ground with her nail as she stayed there, waiting and waiting for the time to pass, listening to him go on and on. 

No FEDRA kids were ever given lullabies as children, but somehow twisted as it was, the cries were one for Ellie. Eventually, she fell asleep. 

What she awoke to was not cries though, it was small squeaking, short and high pitched right in front of her face. Her eyes opened quickly, only to be met with a dark silhouette of a rat just a few inches from her face. It somehow sensed her awakening, and before Ellie even had a chance to react, it was scurrying away, brushing past her hand and onto somewhere else in the room.

Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as her body stayed still for a moment, petrified. Ellie hated rats. One summer there was a small infestation, and everyone in her dorm block was being nibbled on in their sleep. They did an extermination treatment after that, and barely any remained. There was one left that she affectionally called Fat Carl, which despite its name was actually quite small, but was plump, almost like a ball, and never moved beyond the downstairs kitchen - certainly never nibbled on human flesh, just human food. 

This rat was not Carl. 

It was a large dirty gross thing even if she couldn’t see it that well. She knew it, just did.

And the thought of it crawling over her or nibbling on her while she slept made Ellie’s skin crawl. Without a clock or even a glimmer of natural light, she had no way of discerning how long she had been asleep and maybe had let it happen. Her only judge of time was that Mikey's cries had ceased, or maybe he too had fallen asleep. Either way, she concluded that she had drifted off too long because it was certainly long enough for the dreaded rodent to get close to her. 

It wouldn’t be happening again. 

Steadying herself and casting aside the knowledge there was something in here with her, Ellie slowly rose from the ground, cautious. The ache of sleeping on a cold, hard floor permeated her muscles and joints, and her hand instinctively went to her neck to massage out the stiffness. Her mouth was dry and begrudgingly she made her way to the tap to get some water. 

She crossed the small room with tiny steps, apprehensive to where the rat had scurried off to. The non-existent light made it impossible to spot, but she knew it was there, somewhere, prowling in the shadows, waiting to get a taste of her. 

With a dejected sigh, she kneeled down underneath the spigot and opened her mouth. A weak stream of water poured out, almost a trickle despite Ellie twisting the nob all the way to the end. The water tasted quite metallic, and Ellie was sure it was probably the same grimy yellow stuff that poured from the hoses they used to wash down the vehicles on the upper level of the building. 

She was glad she couldn’t see what color it was in the dark and verify her suspicion. 

Again, she went over to the wall, left this time - might as well test them all - and slid down it. Her knees came up to her chest and she rested her forearms on them, letting her hands dangle in the air. She didn’t know what had set her off, but suddenly there was tears prickling at her waterline, nose getting runny. She sniffled it all back. 

She didn’t want to cry. She wasn’t a crybaby, she wasn’t like Mikey. She could handle this. But maybe Mikey was crying because he was being eaten by rats. What if she was going to be eaten by rats? What if they kept her down here longer, like him? 

She brought her nose to her arm, wiping away the snot that was eagerly trying to run out her nose and used one hand to wipe away her tears, blinking the budding ones away. 

She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t. 

As Ellie sat, the space slowly started to get colder and colder, and her arms moved from her legs to hug herself, brushing up and down to create some warmth. She was wearing a long sleeve and jeans, but the worn-out clothing was not doing much to stave off the chill, especially now that it was just slightly damp from lying down. 

If it wasn’t so dark, she probably would be able to see her breath. Her jaw began to quiver with shivers. She desperately tried to ignore it, but the coldness started to seep into her bones, the kind of cold that was unforgiving, and cruel. Briefly, she wondered if having the steam pipes on would be better, but dying of heat seemed worse than dying of cold. 

She didn’t actually think she would die, but her mind produced the idea nonetheless, just a brief intrusive thought of her own demise- a FEDRA officer coming back to find her frozen to death in the dark of this concrete box.

It was a fleeting image, her brain quickly jumping to another scene- her body frozen in the darkness of space, floating around lost in the void.

She always liked space and didn’t know why her brain was bringing it forward with this depressing scenario. 

Space. Cold and Dark. Just like the Hole. 

Ellie screwed her eyes shut, trying to get rid of the image in her head, but that only made small speckles appear on her inner eyelids, little dots that easily could be mistaken for stars. When she opened them, the little floaters remained in her vision painting the darkness of the room for a minute until they slowly dissipated away. 

Space. Stars. Cold and Dark. Just like the Hole. 

Just like the Hole. 

Tightly squeezing her eyes shut again and opening them to produce a new set of stars, Ellie took a deep breath in before relaxing against the wall more. 

She softly whispered to herself, "Ground control, this is astronaut Williams. Do you copy?”

She paused, waiting for a response from the non-existent command center. “Ground Control do you copy?” She whispered again. 

She brought her hand up to her mouth as if she were holding a microphone, and dropped her tone as she softly replied, “Copy, loud and clear Williams.”

Moving her hand to her ear, she pretended she had a communicator there, and clicked it on, continuing, “Astronaut Williams is ready to commence mission training.” She quickly flipped back to her lower register, again bringing the imaginary mic up to her mouth. “Copy. Mission training is a go.” 

Ellie took a moment, breathing in and out deeply, imagining herself inside a spacesuit. Every inhale was a gust of oxygen from her tank, every exhale was her body expelling the bad air, adjusting to the vacuum. The cold air stung as she inhaled, but she reminded herself that Astronauts faced conditions far harsher than this in space. 

The cold. The dark. The solitude. If they could do it, so could she. If she wanted to be one of them, then she had to do this. 

"Mission Objective: Survive 24 hours," she whispered into the communicator.

Faintly, she heard a quiet rustle and small squeak, her rat roommate still somewhere close. She took a shaky breathy in and pushed her eyes shut, producing another galaxy of stars in her vision. She opened them slowly and shakily breathed out. 

"Accept," she responded to herself, though her voice wavered slightly as she plopped her head down on her knees. With a sigh, she sent a final message to command, “Heading out of range of coms,” she said even more quietly, words drifting off, losing her vibrato as her mind began filling with imagery of the world beyond this one. 

Drawing her knees closer to her chest, she allowed herself to get lost in it. Mind pretending she was floating in the dark, walking on the moon, landing on a comet, anywhere but the bleak reality of the Hole. 

Her shivering became less frequent as her mind transported her away. Hours seemed to pass, and soon, her vision blurred, sleep threatening to take over again. She tried to fight it, still so fricken scared of that rat, still lurking, but it was little use. Her eyes fluttered closed, but her mind was to kind to her - letting her retreat into space in her sleep too - Astronaut Ellie traveling the universe.

This time, she was pulled from her sleep by the sounds of metal hitting metal on the other side of the door. It was followed by the upper slot opening with a grating screech, dim light powering through. 

Ellie didn’t think it had been twenty-four hours yet, but perhaps she was wrong. She scrambled off the ground quickly, and reaching the door went on her tippy toes, hands resting against the cool metal door in support. She was so small that it did nothing to help her see through the slot. Even raised up, the top of her head barely hit the bottom of the small opening. 

Within a quick second of coming under the slot, food was being pushed through it without any warning. Unable to reach, or even ready to grab it, the small tray tumbled onto Ellie’s head, contents spilling all over her. The tray then hit the floor with a clatter and a plastic cup that accompanied it made hollow sounds as it bounced and then rolled away. 

“Fuckers,” she whispered as she stood in disbelief, milk dripping from her head and some sort of globby mush slowly sliding down and doing the same. 

She could pretend all she wanted, but this certainly wasn’t space. This was FEDRA. This was the Hole.  

[ynnadart]

i haven't seen any art of their combined dreams so i drew it myself :)

[astralnymphh]

guys this may be the most brilliant i have ever felt but ellie in a futuristic au thats basically savage starlight and shes in that little suit you saw from tlou2 r*mastered (DO NOT BUY!! DO NOT SUPPORT NEIL!!) fighting space crime and living in a big spaceship station. lives in a tiny space dorm with you and you go on missions together located on various planets I NEED TO WRITE THIS MY SPACE LOVING HEART IT NEEDS IT YEARNS. like shes in this outfit and her room is like like HEHEHHE I LOVE THIS IDEA GONNA MAKE IT A SERIES IN THE FUTURE (i have sm to write but im just putting this out there)

and her room has all the necessities like kitchen tv bedroom all in one and the view is cosmically gorgeous like legit cosmical and you always cook her meals and watch her slip into her gear in the morning AGHHHHHH