#elliespuns writes

[elliespuns]

Quiet the Winter Harbor

Summary: After Ellie experienced horrors beyond her comprehension and was forced to do what was necessary, it completely broke her. Not knowing whether he was still alive or not, she slowly started to lose all hope of seeing Joel ever again. Terrified, helpless, and lost—that's how he found her when he appeared and took some of her pain away.

Pairing: Ellie & Joel, father-daughter

Wordcount: 1.5k

Tags/Warnings: canonverse, angst, comfort, fluff, found family, platonic relationship, father-daughter, soft Joel, baby girl Ellie, Joel POV, Ellie POV

Note: This one-shot of a 'story' is based on the actual TLOU game events; on a scene where Ellie kills David and Joel comes to take her away. Ellie & Joel mean so much to me. Writing them into fluffy scenarios will always make me happy. Hope this silly little 'scene' can make you happy too.

Rushing away from the burning building that's slowly tumbling down as the flames lick the air, Joel's arm is wrapped around the little girl's petite back as he's leading her away from the danger. She's trembling. She would never thought that she'd ever go through something like this. Ellie has killed people before, but this? This was different. He was trying to—was he? He definitely was. She keeps replaying the last few moments before her eyes, sobbing softly. She had to do it. She had no choice. She didn't want any of this to happen. Yet it still did, and it absolutely broke her.

The young girl who needs him right now is falling apart right next to him, and he has no idea what to do or what to say. The man Joel wishes to torture to death was trying to hurt her in ways no girl should ever experience. She's so young, innocent and fragile. There are no right words to empathise with something like this.

Instead of opening his mouth to say something that would only make her feel worse, he just gives her shoulder a gentle, loving squeeze with his hand and pulls her closer to him as the tears keep running down her freckles and leaving salty taste on her lips.

She's quiet. He is too. He feels miserable. If only if got there sooner. The anger, the frustration, the helplessness that suffocates him knowing he can't turn back the time to do something, and her little, quiet sniffs are not making this any easier on him. All Joel wants to do is to bring that motherfucker back to life, only to torture him and make him suffer in an agonizing way. Make him experience evil—evils that he had the nerve to put Ellie through.

And even after all this, he still can't believe what a brave and courageous kid she is. Hell of a fighter. He had never seen so much strength in a person before, let alone in a little girl.

When he arrived at the scene and he witnessed what she has done to the man, he knew that he would've done exactly the same thing. Except she's a kid. She shouldn't know what this feels like. Having her clinging to him tighly as she cried, embracing her, he finally realized that she must have gone out of her way to save his life. In that moment, he regretted everything he said to her back at the farm house and from this moment on, he decided to make his life's mission to dedicate his all this kid.

He should do something. Say something. He owes her so much. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been here right now. Feeling helpless, with nothing but love inside his heart for her right now, he can't take this deafening silence any longer. He stops and crouches down in front of her, putting them at eye-lever with one another. The freezing, snowy path sends an icy cold feeling through his entire body as soon as his knee hits the ground and his hands reach for hers, having her lift her red, puffy eyes on him. "Listen, Ellie. I er… I have no idea what to say because, honestly, there is nothing I can say or do to take away what you've just gone through." He says softly, his voice deep but full of endearment and understanding as he caresses the knuckles on her fists with his thumbs, warming her extremely cold hands.

"Joel, I don't wanna—" She sobs, her words stuck in her throat, her teeth chattering from the cold.

"You don't have to say anything. Just know that I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for everything. For every damn mean thing I said to you. I didn't mean any of it." He says, regretting the harsh words that left his mouth at the farmhouse before everything went down so fast and he has come to realize that he hurt her. "You deserve so much more." He assures her, his huge palms covering her fists.

"Joel, can we just—"

"No, listen. Listen, Ellie…" He stops her by cupping her wet, icy cheeks that are somehow burning up, wiping her tears away with his calloused thumbs as her sad, pained eyes peer into his and her lower lip quivers. "You are the bravest fucking kid, do you understand?" He says, his voice trembling as if he's on the verge of crying himself. "And you saved my life. No one else would care enough to take so many risks to do that for someone like me." He adds and smiles, his cold hands sticking to her cheeks as he's refusing to let go. "And you still did. You matter, okay? You matter to me. I should've never left your side and—"

It's when his words are cut short as the frail girl in front of him throws herself his way and wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his jacket and weepeing softly. "I was so scared, Joel. I was so fucking scared that I lost you." She mumbles into his neck, searching for comfort in the smell of his shirt and coat.

It was as if his heart stopped beating for a second the moment she clung to him. His arms are suddenly taking on a life of their own when they instinctively wrap around her and pull her closer before one of his hands comes up to caress the back of her head as she keeps sobbing, leaving wet traces of her tears in the crook of his neck.

They never embraced each other like this before. Freezing on the cold ground, Joel's knee that's buried deep in the snow to keep his balance steady for her starts getting numb. But he doesn't mind. He doesn't care. It's the warmth of her heart that's softly beating through her chest right against his as they keep hugging tightly, quietly, and affectionately. If it weren't for the howling of the wind, he could have sworn he heard it too.

This girl means everything to him. How did this happen? He has no idea. But he curses himself for all the time he made her life a living hell by constantly rejecting her charming, beamy, and at times, ridiculously goofy personality. She might be the best thing that has ever happened to him after Sarah, and all he has ever done till now was be an asshole. Now he's going to do better with her.

Carefully breaking the embrace, he cups her cheek again. "You don't ever need to feel like you have to talk to me about what happened there, okay? Just remember… if there's ever going to be a day when you feel like laying all this burden out on me, don't hesitate." He pays her a smile. A smile so warm and full of love it made her heart flutter.

She's devastated after all that happened, but this? This smile on his face? Smile that he never gave her before? Smile that says, 'You'll never be alone ever again.' She can't help but nod and crack a tiny smile too, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. "Okay." She sniffs, her voice trembling as she's doing her best not to cry anymore. She doesn't know how, but Joel is making her feel better. He wouldn't take away the horrors she's still replying in her mind over and over again, but it means a lot. She's never thought that one day this stranger of a man would be someone that she deeply cares about. Someone whose love would mean the world to her.

"Okay, kiddo. I don't want to spoil the emotional moment we have here, but… you're going to need to help your old man." He chuckles, trying to loosen up the tension by using humor—the one thing he knows always wins with Ellie. "I think my knee got stuck to the ground, and I also can't feel it anymore."

Ellie smiles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand before she reaches for his. "You're such a dumbass." She shakes her head and lets a few little giggles out, helping him on his feet.

Slapping the snow and filth off his jeans, he reaches behind him to grab something that appears to look like Ellie's backpack. "Here. I believe you have a few valuable things in this thing." He hands it to her, watching her eyes beam at the sight of her pack that she thought she'd never see again.

"You might be old and helpless sometimes, but you're not totally worthless." She jokes, grinning at him before she flings the pack over her shoulder.

"There she is." Joel chuckles and is head over heels for his baby girl's smile, which he thought he had lost too.

The end.

Author's note: This is not an actual attempt at a fic or a story that has a continuation. This is just a silly little one-shot I wrote for myself, and the nice people here helped me overcome my fear of oversharing my privacy, so I finally posted some of it. If anyone else already wrote fics based on this scene, just know that I got inspired by the scene itself, not by any of the stories related to it. Anyway, I hope it's not that terrible, and keep in mind that English is not my mother language. Typos are possible.

[anavatazes]

Seems because life has been extra busy lately and it's taken a lot of my time away from these parts (I miss you all 😢) I may have missed the great boopening... seeing as I have no idea if there are rules, or what to do exactly, and frankly since I was I was child I never really cared 🤭, here we go...

A boop for all my followers. I love you all ❤️

A boop for @typewriter83 and @elliespuns for being the wonderful people on the planet and helping me feed my Joel addiction in all its forms 🥰❤️

A boop for @trulybetty and @rhoorl as some of the first people I met in the PPCU fandom that are absolute sweethearts and incredible authors 🥰❤️

A boop for @punkshort for the most incredible work she does as a writer. Seriously. Go read her stuff! Especially if you love one Joel Miller 😏. You will not be disappointed.

@justagalwhowrites, @avastrasposts, @frannyzooey and @joelsgreys deserve some boops for the incredible stories they write and help keep me sane while driving me insane (in some cases 🤣).

And the biggest, most loving boop goes to @morallyinept for all of the hard work and love Jett puts out into the world❤️❤️❤️❤️. She does so much for everyone in the fandom and asks for very little in return. We love and appreciate you, Jett 🥰🥰🥰!!!

To everyone else who may be reading this and not mentioned, you've been booped 🤭.

Love you all and I love boops. The kids and grands are always doing it, and Mara and the cats are always being booped. We have one cat that rolls her eyes at them 🤣.

Ok, back to the grind. If I want to be off this weekend for the Convention, I need to get back to filing and helping clients. Love you all 🥰❤️

[softlyspector]

i remember you saying you don't like the show/fandom interpretation of tlou. is it okay to ask why? im just curious because i was going to get the game soon and wanted to hear your opinion

Sure! You guys are determined to have me tarred and feathered it seems lol

I want to start by clarifying that I do like the hbo show. And when I first saw it, I loved it. It's what made me want to play the game in the first place and got me into gaming at all. After having played/watched both, I just prefer the game.

Before I get into the why of that I want to say that this has nothing to do with the actors. I love Pedro and Bella and their performances. I want to get that out of the way because people are really, really protective of Pedro in particular, and even though it has nothing to do with him it still ruffles feathers and gets me in trouble whenever I talk about preferring the game/game characters.

After playing the game, though, there was no going back for me. Especially after being spoiled for everything in tlou part II (which I won't go into, in case you're avoiding spoilers). It was apparent that a lot of the characterization in the show is retcon for the anticipated criticism. The creators looked at the crit of part 2 and made some changes so that things that happen later make more sense.

The characterizations of both Joel and Ellie in the show are different to their game counterparts. I, personally, find that there is more nuance and depth in the game for the characters, which is what's most important to me as a player/viewer. I talked at length here about what's different between show and game Joel. And @elliespuns talked recently here about what's different between game and show Ellie here.

They go to great pains in the show to portray Ellie as much more violent (relishing in violence more than once, David's comments about a violent heart, etc.) and more hardened than she is in the game. She's a child and I think the game does a better job of showing us that, that she's scared and needs Joel. She's a smart ass in the game but she's not an asshole. Similarly, Joel is annoyed with her in the game, too, but you can tell it's all superficial, which is not the same as in the show, where Joel does seem to genuinely feel contempt for her at times.

The show also goes to great lengths to paint Joel as uncaring and even cruel, and, at the same time older and weaker than in the game. I've already had asks about Joel's supposed 'lack of humanity' in the game which I just fundamentally disagree with and could probably write essays about.

It feels calculated, that they changed them the way they did in the show, so that part 2/seasons 2&3 will make more sense. They're recognizable in the show as Joel and Ellie but they are at the end of the day, almost entirely separate characters.

Also, we spend a lot of time with side characters in the show (not that I would take that away from the show or change it) but Joel and Ellie's bond does feel much more rushed/not as strong because of it. It does not have the same development as in the game and the relationship (to me) is fundamentally different and changed because of it. When you only have 9 episodes in a season and 4/5 of the episodes are focused on other relationships or other characters entirely, and the first episode is mainly setup without the main characters really knowing each other, it becomes a little bit of an issue.

The subtlety of the game, the setup and pay off, are all just better done, in my opinion.

Again, I want to reiterate that I liked the show! It's just that after playing the game and seeing what the original story is, how developed the characters and relationships are, what the set up and pay off of the plot and relationships were, the show does fall to second in my mind.

In terms of fandom interpretation. . .I'm not sure I actually want to get into that too much. Interpretation is subjective and fanfiction is, at the end of the day, a read and write whatever you like situation. I'll never be the person to say don't write something that way/ don't read that, etc. HOWEVER. I will say that interpretation is often just projection. I said it before but, in particular, by virtue of Joel being played by Pedro Pascal in the show, there are a lot of tropes commonly associated with show Joel in the fandom that are just not my cup of tea and, in my opinion, not even close to in character. But as I said, that's not always the goal when people are writing and that's fine, it's just not for me. I do have trouble when people posit fanon and those common tropes as universal truths.

Again, this is all just my opinion and interpretation. I understand why people like the show better. It's not justifiable that I regularly have to defend my love of the game characters.

Anon, thank you so much for sending me this ask. I could talk about his kind of thing all day long and I love doing analysis and comparison.

[elliespuns]

Okay. Ellie and Dina having sex for the first time. Who do you think was the first to make "the" move?

This is how I think it happened (I feel brazen, so I will be describing it in detail, so stop reading if you feel uncomfortable). It won't be explicit though.

Pinning Dina down on the couch and hovering above her, Ellie presses her weight against her and continues to kiss her in earnest. Slipping her tongue into her best friend's mouth and tasting the sweetness of it, she roams her body, which is still covered with clothes—an awful lot of clothes.

That's when the freckled, not much experienced girl starts unzipping Dina's vest, causing her friend to prop herself on her elbows and take it off for her. With a playful smile on her face as they stop kissing for a while, Dina throws it on the dirty ground, not caring about anything but those cheeky girl's green emerald eyes and the taste of her pink, soft lips.

Ellie's heart is racing when their lips meet again, and they melt into each other passionately again. Bashfully even. That's all Ellie is—bashful—when she feels her friend's hand slip under the layers of her clothes that are warming up her already burning body. Tasting the sensation of Dina's nicely cold hands brushing against the sensitive skin on her tummy as they can't stop kissing and pressing into each other, Ellie slips her hand under the older girl's t-shirt too and starts enjoying the way her skin feels against her fingertips. If only they could do this for as long as possible.

With their tongues brushing against each other and their hands taking on a life of their own, the two girls continue to devour the sweetness of their salivas mixing together as if that's what they've been dying to do for so many years. This is already too much, and the girls haven't even started anything yet.

Grabbing the hem of Ellie's sweatshirt and trying to take it off her, their glistening lips part for a while as Dina pulls it off her completely. They keep staring at each other, breathless and panting. They are not naked yet, why does it feel like it, though? They still have their t-shirts and jeans on; those damn skinny jeans that just perfectly depict their thighs that delightfully press against each other as they're back to licking into each other's mouth, touching and caressing in places that only make their bodies shiver.

They are making out. Ellie still can't believe it. They are doing more than that. It seems like it. It can't be just a make-out when their hands are slipping under each other's tops and cupping each other's boobs. Right? This must be something more.

Ellie's head is all over the place as she's suddenly brought back by Dina rolling her to the side to change positions with her, climbing on top of her, and pressing her lips against her jaw, only to find her way all the way to the crook of the skinny girl's neck and bite gently.

This is her first time with Dina. Maybe this is her first time with a girl in general. Ellie is getting so lost in all the wet, open-mouthed kisses that are tracing her neck that she doesn't even realize her friend's hand that's been caressing the skin above the waistband of her jeans, is now inconspicuously slipping under it and right inside to start caressing slow, tender circles around her—

Oops. Not going too far. But yeah, I think it was Dina, who made "the" move. Sorry for the buildup only to end it at the best part, but yanno... my blog is not a smutty blog, even though I know I can pull it off. Ha! May the horniness in this post make you happy.

[elliespuns]

Since we're talking a lot about weed in this blog recently (that's something I never thought I would say), I kind of agree with you about Ellie probably tasting kind of young, like 16. Ellie is a kid with sense despite being a troublemaker, I don't think she would drink 'till throw up like other teens do but it's so her trying to smoke a plant for curiosity. And now I'm just trying to imagine Joel after Ellie smokes weed for the first time "yeah kiddo, just made dinner, so hurry up and- *snif.. snif snif*...ellie? Is this... weed, I'm smelling?"

"No...?" She snorts, lying.

Joel raises his brows. "Then why are your eyes red?" he asks before crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk.

Elllie gets up off the couch, where she's been chilling for the last two hours, which seemed like five minutes to her. She can't tell. Her mind is a rollercoaster. "Can I tell you a secret?" She smiles widely, strolling over to Joel.

He watches her stumble on her way before tugging at his arm and clinging to it, resting her head on it. "Hm. I'm listening."

"I'm so fucking high!" She says this and bursts out in giddy laughter before mumbling into the sleeve of his flannel. "But don't tell Joel." She whispers it, just in case.

"Sure." He says, rolling his eyes. "Your secret's safe with me." He adds and pulls her closer for a crushing, affectionate hug.

[elliespuns]

You know the part in the game where it takes you from the summer straight to the fall section and Ellie and Joel have completely different outfits? I love to imagine the scenes in between where they probably had to stop somewhere in the clothing store to look for something new to wear—something that'd fit the weather too. I can't help but imagine all the fun they had while picking their clothes. Like Ellie teasing Joel by picking a pink shirt and telling him with a teasing grin on her face that he would look great in it, and Joel grunting and finding the most ridiculous girl's clothes instead to do exactly the same, receiving the most defiant and adorable reactions in return.

"What? You pick the most absurd clothes for me, and I can't even tell you how perfect this Cinderella dress would look on you?" Joel clicks his tongue. "Girl, you don't know how to be fashionable, it's ridiculous." He shakes his head.

"You are fucking ridiculous!" Ellie exclaims amid her laughter. "Why don't you wear it then?" She crosses her arms over her chest as if she's waiting for him to go with it. "Go on. It brings out your eyes."

Shaking his head, he strolls over to her with a grin forming on his face as he yanks the pink shirt out of her hand with a playful groan. "Gimme that shirt!"

"Are you going to wear it?" She yelps with a squeal in her voice, excited to see the grumpy old man all pretty in pink.

"I'm using this to clean my pistol." He adds, tearing it in half.

"I hate you."

[elliespuns]

Ellie and Joel sit at the campfire. It's a quiet night, and they've just finished eating. Joel's about his business, sharpening his knife, and Ellie is bored to her bone. Listening to the sound of the crickets and the nighlife around them, she shuffles her foot on the ground before she glances over at Joel with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, Joel?" 

"Hmm?" He doesn't bother looking at her; he is busy with his knife.

"What does the receptionist at a sperm bank say as clients leave?" She asks, ready to annoy his ass with one of her adult jokes that she knows will make him unconfortable.

Hearing the words, he's quick to lift his eyes on her. "Ellie!!" The thin line of his brow jumps in surprise. "Where did you—"

"Thanks for coming!" She blurts out and falls quiet, just like him.

There's a suspended moment of silence for a while, as if something had momentarily stolen the very sound of their voice, before Joel finally breaks the silence by letting himself fall victim to the funny look on Ellie's face and bursts out into a big, booming laugh, causing her to do the same. They both guffaw. Laughter bubbles up from deep within him and her—a contagious joy shared between them that infects the air—as they can't stop their hearthy laugher from howling through the woods.

For once, they worry about nothing. They don't worry about the infected. They don't worry about the hunters. They don't worry about how they're going to cross the country, scavenge enough food, or find supplies. All they worry about is how to stop the giddy delight, unable to contain the sheer joy that radiates from both of them as their tummies hurt.

I've always loved this picture. This moment between Ellie and Joel holds so much emotion: contentment, love, and joy. We never got to experience it in the game, and so with just the existence of this picture, there was nothing left for me to do but imagine this heartwarming moment in my mind and interpret it for myself.

Judging by the picture itself, this must have happened between Pittsburgh and meeting Henry with Sam. They already have to know each other a bit, and they both still have their summer clothes. Ellie and Joel aren't that close just yet at this moment. But Joel is already far enough to let this girl make him laugh out loud.

I've always imagined that Joel cracking up could only be caused by one of Ellie's inappropriate jokes. We already know from the car scene that she's good with those, isn't she? And he'd never laugh out loud at her silly puns. She'd just make herself laugh, and he'd usually just find it cute but wouldn't let it show.

Who would have known that an adult joke from a quirky teenager would make his night?

[elliespuns]

So 16yo Ellie and 55yo Joel live together in the normal world. They live the best-shining example of a father-daughter relationship, and yeah, well, Joel is a busy man, working out of town, and he gets this deal where he has to leave for two weeks and he can't take Ellie with him because she has school, and it's not that easy, and she's like, "Go, I'll be fine, you know me." and he's like, "Yeah, fuck I do!" and is refusing to leave, but it's hard because he needs the money, and this opportunity means more money, and more money means making Ellie's life more comfortable, and he's thinking about it, and it's fucking him up. One night he has a chat with Ellie, and she finally convinces him to go, and he's like, "Okay, but under one condition. You're calling me every two hours to tell me you didn't set our house on fire. And if by any chance you did, you call to tell me that you'd at least run outside." and she huffs a laugh and is like, "You know I'm spending almost 8 hours a day at school, right?" and he just cups her cute, freckled face in his hands and kisses her forehead, "Then cut the classes and call me from the bathroom." he jokes. They both laugh. It's decided. He's going.

The next morning, he comes to her room to tuck her in bed, kiss her head and then leaves with a heavy feeling in his heart. He will miss that girl like crazy and worry all the time. But at least he's giving her some space, right? She's 16 after all—not such a kid anymore. So he leaves her money worth two weeks of spending with a loving message pinned on the fridge for when she wakes up. "Please don't starve to death. Eat properly! Miss you already. P.S.: every TWO HOURS!"

I just had this five-second scenario entering my mind about Ellie going grocery shopping, and I'm dying because this would literally be her idea of two weeks of food supplies.

peanut butter, jelly, Frootloops, milk, mac n' cheese, Milk Duds, M & Ms, Reese's, two frozen pizzas, waffles, deodorant, big tub of ice cream, cookies, tampons, two cans of Dr Pepper, big bottle of Mountain Dew, RedBull, Sprite, apples, Oreos, chips, popcorn, muffins, pancake mix

After two weeks, Joel pulls in the driveway with a 'luckily, the house is still standing' thought in his head and then comes home to all the junk lying around the place like, "That girl is going to be the death of me, I swear."

[elliespuns]

The hardest part about having ideas as a writer is that when you have them, you tend to see only bits of them in your head; like incomplete scenes that might be perfect on their own, but you still WANT something MORE; to embrace them, to come up with a story that surrounds them.

And THAT, ladies and gens, is the hardest part. To come up with a story that would breathe your silly little but wholesome ideas life, love and emotions.

That, and actually putting it all into writing.

[elliespuns]

I always wondered how it would have been, in an alternative canon of course, if joel and ellie somehow met each other but in his hunter days

What about this?

He meets her in a shootout that happens between the group of people that she joined recently and the hunters he is a part of, just when she jumps him in an attempt to stop him from killing the people she barely knows and feels don't deserve to die like this. But he shakes her off; she falls down off his broad shoulders, hits her head, and falls unconscious.

When he notices that the asshole who just jumped him is actually a little freckled girl, he doesn't have the heart to kill her, so he picks her up and sneaks away from the scene with her, planning to make sure the kid is okay and then leave her somewhere far away from the others because he has seen what these men are capable of and he's not having this. He can be fucked up, but he was never that fucked up. This is a kid. This is a little girl he accidentally hurt, and he has to make it right.

He takes her to the nearest woods and waits for her to wake up. When that happens and she opens her eyes to see a tall, huge man sitting on a log in front of her, probably just being an old creep, eyeing her or something, she starts panicking, but he's quick to get up and grab her. Wanting to explain what happened to her, he has no chance to do so when she starts fighting him. "Let go of me, you piece of shit! Motherfucker!" She's screaming at him, reaching for the switchblade in the back pocket of her jeans. But he's holding her tight; she can't move. "Fuck, kid, just hold on a second, I— Jesus, girl! You're stronger than you look." He comes to understand just now that he's not dealing with a fragile doll. He's dealing with a foul-mouthed, courageous, beaten by life, and strong as a bull girl who won't just make this any easier on him. Will she?

"Get your hands off me, you f— What did you do with my fucking knife?" She exclaims, finding herself worrying more about losing a damn knife that she got from her mother than about the fact that some stranger of a man is not willing to let her go. She really must have hurt her head badly, she thinks to herself.

"I have it in my pocket. Couldn't risk you stabbing my eyes out." He leers and loses his tight grip on her, letting her know he's not about to hurt her but still holding her arms in place, just in case. "Listen. You fell, you hit your head, and I got you out of there. I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" He says, letting go of her. That makes her jolt away from him.

"Give me my fucking knife." She pants, her voice quivering and her chest heaving from all the fighting. She feels dizzy. Her heart is beating fast. She's afraid of that mountain of a man in front of her, but she can't let it show. She can't. "And don't you ever touch me."

"Why do I have a feeling that you care about that stupid little knife more than about the fact that you've just been kidnapped?" He laughs under his breath, reaching into the back pocket of his pants and taking out her knife to hold it in front of his sight. "What's so special about it anyway?"

"That's none of your fucking business." She spits at him as she takes a swift step toward him and yanks it off his hand, turning the knife against him, her hand shaking. "Why wouldn't you just leave me there? W—why did you take me with you?" She asks, scared of the answer. What if he really just wants to be creepy with her?

He stands up and brushes the dirt off his knees before he takes a step closer to her and grabs her shaky fist that's pointing the knife at him, and with the help of his other hand, he carefully folds the knife in hers. "Because I'm not a fucking monster. And besides, I'm not planning to keep you." He says, his voice cold as he quickly takes his hand off of hers. "I see you're fine now. You're free to go."

When she woke up and saw him, she thought this was going to be the end of her, not knowing what to expect. But it's actually her now who's suddenly unsure of how she feels. She's alone. Where the fuck is her group? They're all probably dead. Thanks to this asshole. She has nothing. No one. This man could've killed her already or left her to die, but he wouldn't have.

"Wait..." She says, making him stop on his way. "I-"

"Yes, kid. You can go with me." He cuts in as he turns around and starts walking the other way, realizing that leaving this kid behind with nothing or no one would be the worst thing he could've ever done. "But you mind your own business. I'll do me. You do you. Okay?" He warns her, as he's not at all in a mood for company. "You keep quiet, and maybe I can get you something to eat."

She nods with a soft, quiet "Sure." slipping through her lips as she takes a look at her folded switch blade and squeezes it tightly in her palm before she follows that man. "I'm Ellie, by the way." She says quietly, her voice so calm and soothing.

"Joel." He clears his throat, finding it hard to believe he found himself with a kid. He's too old for this shit. Then why does he have a feeling this girl—Ellie—is here to stay?

I know they would've been a lot younger in this canonverse, but once I read "if Joel and Ellie met" I instantly imagined them as we know them BUT in this setting and situation :)

[elliespuns]

Okay, so I just need to get something out of my chest to see if I'm the only one who feels this way.

What I experience in writing is that I don't actually need to plan anything. Portaying Ellie and Joel comes so easily to me that whenever I sit behind the keyboard, I get into their midsets and I come up with like 95% of what I write right on the spot. And I'm not even trying to be them; it just happens, and I come up with the best stuff as I go.

And I guess that's what makes writing one of the best experiences for an insignificant writer like me because I don't even have to think about these two characters too hard. I just sit behind the keyboard, and it naturally pops into my mind - everything - what they are like, what they think, the way they behave, how they feel, what they say, it's crazy. Like I love these characters so much that I become them when I'm writing them. And I am not using myself (or any of my own experiences) in writing either. It's all them, just them. I live in their minds, feel their heartbeats, and experience every emotion of theirs so deeply. They're happy, and I am happy. They're sad, and I am sad. I literally feel like they are my babies.

[elliespuns]

Do you think joel was a good cook or couldn't boil water to save his life lol. I feel like I read a lot of fics where joel couldnt' even cook an egg as a single dad, but idk i feel like either he could be really good at cooking, or he was okay at it but he had a couple of dishes that he could cook really well, like chili or something lmao or some southern dish.

As a single father with a teenage daughter and not enough money to live high on the fog, I'd say he had to be able to cook. I don't think he was great, because he surely didn't have enough time to practice in the kitchen with having to work all the time to take care of the bills and other things, and because they would mostly end up ordering takeout or pizza with Sarah. But I believe he would enjoy cooking on weekends, with Sarah helping him out (or making fun of him).

He was probably more likely to make the easiest dishes out there. Like mixing rice or pasta with meat and vegetables and either serving it just like this (either hot or cold) or baking it with cheese on top or something like this. He was probably good at preparing meat too, like roasting chicken or pork and then eating it with plain or roasted potatoes, or just making spaghetti meatballs, the easiest dish out there. I can also see Joel making homemade pizza by throwing cheese on a dough with mushrooms, pepperoni, and ham. Nothing revolutionary or nutritious, but doable and edible.

Imagining Joel probably had a grill in his backyard, he would spend his summer days with Sarah just barbecueing. He would have a good steak once in a while, and Sarah would love grilled corn. They both probably liked grilled vegetable kabobs too. But they would have mostly just burgers anyway since they couldn't get enough of these. And of course, he can't forget about salads; he would also make all sorts of salads if he was lazy: chicken salad, summer salad, lentil salad, you name it.

I don't think he was a bad cook. I think he would do really well if he tried. I think he also had a few tricks up his sleeve. Like making the best baked chicken/beef tacos or lasagna, which I can imagine were Sarah's favorites. Or something like parmesan garlic roasted potatoes, which he would look up on the internet and make for Sarah because he knew how much she loved parmesan and potatoes.

And not to forget about Ellie, I am sure she had a chance to taste some of his specialties too. There wouldn't probably be that many options in the post-apocalyptic world, but I bet my shoes that Ellie would love his parmesan garlic roasted potatoes, making him happy to remember Sarah loved those too. 

"Joel, these are so fucking delicious!" She says, around a mouthful of the savory potatoes, working another spoonful of them into her mouth. "Promise me..." She swallows. "Promise me you'll make these again."

"Sure, kiddo." He chuckles, pleased with himself, wishing he can make himself stop grinning. "Easy, though. Don't choke on them." This warms his heart.

"Fuck it, I would die for these potatoes!"

[elliespuns]

I think your writing is sweet. You hold so much respect for Ellie & Joel and whenever I see you talking about them I feel you understand them so well and the way they are and I think it's really beautiful. You should consider writing fics because we need more love in this fandom

I will be honest with you: I'm head over heels for Ellie & Joel, and in some way, I feel overprotective of Ellie. That's why I respect her and the way she and Joel approach each other (that's why I enjoy the canonverse the most). I worship the ground they walk on, and I can admit out loud that I never felt like this about any other characters before.

Ellie is the most lovable character I have ever had a chance to get to 'know'. Sometimes I feel like she really does exist somewhere, and I wish her just the best. I can't look at her and have negative thoughts. It just makes me happy to know her. And having the privilege to portray her in 'stories' that never really happened (except for my imagination) makes it all so sweet because I get to see more of her with Joel as if I were still able to play some parts of the game we never got a chance to. Everything I write is like this never-ending movie in my head that makes me believe the moments I write happened at some point.

I know they are just characters, but they stepped into so many people's hearts that they deserve to be treated with love.

[elliespuns]

I have two cute ideas for AU one-shot drabbles with Ellie and Joel, including Sarah too, and they are so fluffy I choke on them like a cat, and still, I can't tell y'all about what these are because I don't want anyone to write them for me (ideas can be easily stolen). But I have no damn time to actually write it, and it's frustrating I wanna scream. Ugh… Someone come knock on my door and ask me kindly to fucking write it and post it.

[elliespuns]

Do you have other hobbies aside this blog?

Yes, a lot actually.

[elliespuns]

Do you track specific tags under your posts? Like your answered asks, analysis, etc? I wanted to stalk your answered asks the other day and couldn't find any :( I love reading your answers.

I had to take time to answer this because my tags used to be a mess before I sorted them out, and now I'm finally ready to let you know that I do (thanks for making me clean up my mess).

If you want to visit any of the categories I'm gonna name below, just go to elliespuns.tumblr.com/tagged/hereinsertwhatyousearchfor (or go to the web version of my blog and you'll see links at the top of my blog leading to the tags I track).

You can choose from:

My TLOU analyses: #elliespuns analyses My writing: #elliespuns writes My TLOU incorrect quotes: #tlou incorrect quotes My answers: #elliespuns answers My TLOU polls: #tlou poll

TLOU memes: #the last of us memes TLOU art: #the last of us art TLOU concept art: #the last of us concept art

Thank you for caring.