hi & welcome to my blog which consists mostly of me screaming about the last of us, more specifically joel & ellie. i also enjoy a fair amount of other fandom content (ted lasso, succession, harry potter, marvel, some musicians, etc), so expect occasional reblogs outside of tlou.
my name is miranda (she/her), and i am back on tumblr and ao3 after an approx. 10 year hiatus, so it has been really fun finding joy in this again after so long! my asks are always open, as are my dms! i love meeting and talking to people on here!
speaking of, i write tlou fic and post on ao3 when i have the time and inspiration! i absolutely love found family dynamics, angst/fluff, and giving these beautiful characters who i love so much some softness and happiness.
masterlist:
ONE-SHOTS:
you were wrong (my healing needed more than time) - ellie and joel adjust to life in jackson. joel is having a harder time than he thought he would...and he somehow forgot how hard it is to be a parent (3.9k words)
what would it feel like to put this baggage down? - the progression of joel & ellie's relationship through conversations they have while he does her hair (7.4k words)
routine - there is a break in ellie's routine, and the entire day spirals from there. set in modern au in which 7-year-old ellie was adopted by good parents joel & tess, the beautiful verse set up by this fic (4.6k words)
twenty year dark night (now i see daylight) - joel remembers a series of core parenting memories with sarah as he navigates being a parent to a very different child under very different circumstances (11k words)
a place in a brand new world - joel tells ellie the truth after a few months in jackson. she struggles with forgiveness, complicated further by having a hard time coming to terms with what her place is in joel's life. ft. good uncle tommy, feelings of inadequacy for ellie, and joel waiting patiently to pick up the pieces (5.4k words)
we don't get too long (that's why i'm holding on) - ellie's getting older, and so is joel. lots of things are different, but plenty is the same. ft. aged-up ellie and joel; everyone lives, no one dies jackson fluff (2.4k words)
i had the best day with you today - the pumpkin patch/fall vibes fic i dreamt up one day while listening to "the best day" (taylor's version) by taylor swift (5.1k words)
a home that leads me back to you - whumptober 2023 promt #3: "like crying out in an empty room, with no one there except the moon" | solitary confinement | "make it stop"
SERIES:
modern sisters au -
modern setting au in which joel is a single dad to his two teenage daughters, sarah and ellie.
daughters - in another universe, joel has both of his girls together, minus the apocalypse. aka, the modern au in which sarah & ellie are sisters (2.3k words)
on my side (even when i was wrong) - sarah and ellie attempt to pull off a scheme to keep joel from finding about ellie's school troubles. he finds out anyway (4.5k words)
the better version of our past -
joel and tess agree to smuggle a six-year-old named ellie to the fireflies in exchange for gear they need to get west in joel’s search for tommy. when they discover she is immune and what the fireflies plan to do with her, there is a change of plans.
takes place about 8 years before canon. tess lives, family is found, ellie gets a post-apocalyptic childhood.
the past coming back (pt. 1) - main story. an alternate universe/timeline where joel & tess meet ellie eight years earlier under similar circumstances (30.7k words)
the future looks good (pt. 2) - a little extra of ellie’s pov at bill & frank’s (set in chapters 3-4 of part 1 of series). ft. ellie's process of starting to trust joel & tess even though she's never really known trustworthy adults (2.2k words)
just tryin' to find my way to you (pt. 3) - ellie gets sick while settling in jackson. joel worries too much. ft. the healing powers of candy land (7.1k words)
today is another day to find you (pt. 4) - joel makes a guitar once they're settled into jackson. ellie is absolutely smitten, but tess is even more smitten with her family and the moments they enjoy together (2.7k words)
time cutting me open (then healing me fine) (pt. 5) - tommy convinces joel & tess to take a "vacation" so that he can activate good uncle tommy mode. it goes about as well as could be expected. ft. ellie's separation anxiety, tommy doing his best, and lots of fluffy comfort for all (6k words)
i found you under an april sky (pt. 6) - during her early months in jackson, ellie learns what it means to be loved, have a family, and a place to call home (6.4k words)
a flower bud in concrete (pt. 7) - the miller family grows within the safe walls of jackson. tess & joel decide to have a baby now that they are in an environment that is normal enough, and ellie has mixed feelings about being a big sister (14.3k words)
just stand still (pt. 8) - ellie is 14 now and experiencing some major growing pains. ft. aged-up tpcb ellie, heavy angst, and canonical violence/traumatic events, but also the incredible miller family there to help make it all better (25.3k words)
why is this show trying do hard to convince us that joel was wrong? the moral dilemma of the cure is that the cure would save so many people, but killing a child is wrong. Show!Ellie tells Dina what Joel did, and Dina is immediately disgusted and turned off from getting revenge. Dina — who is in love with Ellie and thus values her life so much!
Ellie seems to be so disgusted by Joel’s actions that he thinks his murderers were somewhat justified??? Joel is the most important person in Ellies life, even after he passes. Ellie can be horrified by the violence she’s capable of, but she would never, ever be this fucking weird.
And why are we accepting Abby’s Dad as this witlle innocent guy? He started the violence by deciding to kill Ellie! I understand why Ellie thinks he’s innocent, but Dina? DINA?
Instead of leaving the morality of Joel’s decision to the audiences interpretation, the show is dragging Joel to rehabilitate Abby.
joel miller character of all time. he pays for his therapy sessions with weed. he wears reading glasses. he body checked a senior citizen for calling his not-daughter a slur. who is doing it like him.
i adore the addition of mel using her last breaths to try and get ellie to save her baby. maybe mel knew that ellie hadn’t meant to kill her, that wasn’t her intention— not after what she had done to nora and having to deal with the guilt and the shame and the realization that maybe she is just like these wolves. and the glimpse into the loss of her humanity.
and then trying to save mel’s baby, and asking her all these questions about how to do it right and not cause further harm— jesus christ, that got me. that was so good. she’s trying so hard. the hand-me-down anger doesn’t quite fit her, as integral to her character as it is now. she’s still just ellie. she wanted to save that kid scar that the wolves were torturing. she didn’t want to kill mel and owen. she wanted to save mel’s kid.
idk. i really enjoyed this episode. see you guys in two years 😭😭💔
