For the Rest of Mine

A place to link to my TLOU Fics - AO3

[whiskeytango8686]

Hey, just wanted to reach out and say thanks for writing. The way you wrote Ellie’s healing journey was the kick in the butt I needed to get my head right so thank you. Not to be dramatic but you and all the other fanfic writers helped save my life.

hey, I haven’t been on tumblr in a while, so I’m sorry I haven’t replied to this sooner, but thank you so much. Something like that isn’t easy to share, and I’m so glad that you’re finding the strength and courage to keep moving forward. It’s what Ellie would do. Thank you so much for reading my stuff and taking the time to tell me about this. Hope everything is good now and you’re staying safe!

[whiskeytango8686]

whiskey, come back to us :( we miss u @ the TLOU2 fandom!

Haha, I’m sorry! I’ve just been super busy with work and personal life lately. I do hope to get back to writing eventually. Thanks for messaging!

[whiskeytango8686]

hello! im a huge fan of your fics and i hope you're doing well right now. Just wanna ask are we getting an epilogue for "somewhere i didn't think i'd follow"? Or chapter 13 is the end of the fic?

Thank you so much! I am doing well. I actually just updated Somewhere to say that ch13 is currently the end. Eventually, I may get back to writing an epilogue, but for now, I unfortunately just don’t have the time. Thankfully, ch13 does end the story in a place that is satisfying for me, I hope for all the readers as well.

[politicalprof]

Maps matter. Map 1 over-represents territory. Map 2 is weighted by where people live … 

[randomheresy-deactivated2020110]

Right.  Plus, a lot of blue people live in those red areas.  Rural districts tend to be dominated politically by those who control the land and resources.  The owners are overwhelmingly conservative, and they are able to control the politics of the lands and people they own, but a lot of people suffer for it. 

[cecaeliawitch]

boy, he’s super close to admitting that a straight-up vote can’t win the republicans anything so they feel entitled to cheat.

[butt-princess]

people who all cram into apartments in los angelos and new york, alot of which are fucking illegal immigrants, shouldn’t decide the fate of a whole nation when they have no idea the needs of rural america. 

[fandomsandfeminism]

So, first of all, this is a GREAT example of how racism feeds into the Electoral College. Undocumented immigrants don’t vote, and the idea that cities somehow breed more voter fraud BECAUSE they are more diverse, or that POOR people, people who, say, live in APARTMENTS instead of being LAND OWNERS is such old-timey classism to be laughable.  

And that’s SO MUCH of the rhetoric around the EC. People talk about how they don’t want “Urban” or “City” people making choices, and 99% of the time, that’s just code for “black” and “brown” and “Jewish” and “Gay” because you bigots think that 1. Only minorities live in cities and minorities ONLY live in cities and 2. You don’t want anyone who isn’t a WASP-y Farmer voting apparently. 

Like, you’re argument is literally “cities have more poor brown people, and I don’t think their votes should count.” So FUCK YOU.

Also, cities WOULDN’T dominate in the popular vote.

Really? What about the BIG CITIES?

#1 New York City. 8,601,186

#2LosAngelesCalifornia 4,057,841

#3Chicago,Illinois 2,679,044

#4Houston,Texas 2,359,480

#5Phoenix,Arizona 1,711,356

#6 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania 1,576,596

Those 6 cities, combined, have less than 22 million people. The US has 327 million.

And this is my point- the US is not made of a small handful of huge cities. The vast majority of the country lives in SMALL cities and towns, under a million people each, and their suburbs.

So, no, with the Popular Vote, you could not pander just to the biggest cities and be done with it. If you add up EVERY SINGLE CITY with more than 100,000 people in it (Which is 311 cities), that’s still only 94 million. 28% of the US population.

Even if ALL the ~poor brown people~ that you want to stop from voting lived EXCLUSIVELY in cities (which they don’t, you fucking racist), the popular vote DOESN’T actually empower cities. 

The EC ALSO doesn’t actually help rural (”white land owning”) populations (you fucking racist, you don’t even know the racial or economic breakdown of the rural areas you claim to care about). In fact, the EC makes things worse for rural areas. 46 states have an urban majority, and  “winner-take-all” laws that have been enacted by state legislatures in 48 states. So if there is a stark divide between rural and urban populations, in 46 states, the urban votes will win and 100% of the electoral points will go to the urban side (Where YOU think all the poor brown people live, again, you fucking racist).

However, in a popular vote system, no one’s vote would get thrown away like that, and everyone’s vote would be counted equally in the final tally.The popular vote would actually give MORE voice to rural populations that are all but completely erased in our current system.

And it is important to remember that in reality cities do not vote in perfect blocks. Neither do states. Even the most liberal city has conservative voters and even the deepest rural hellholes in Texas has progressives (I was one of them until I moved for college!) Those people matter. Those people should count.

Why not have a system where CITIZENS elect the president? Why does it matter which state someone lives in, if all votes should count equally? (I mean, I know YOU think that POOR BROWN PEOPLE shouldn’t be voting, you fucking racist, but ya know, for the rest of us who actually value the idea of a democracy) 

This is a REALLY good website about the popular vote and it debunks a lot of common myths about the Electoral college.

[whiskeytango8686]

love to see all this thoughtful analysis. Now take all that and replace “electoral college” with “senate”, and all the same still holds true. 

[shknofftherust]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: The Last of Us (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Ellie & Sam (The Last of Us), Cat & Ellie (The Last of Us), Maria/Tommy (The Last of Us), Ellie & Maria (The Last of Us), Ellie & Tommy (The Last of Us) Characters: Ellie (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us), Dina (The Last of Us), Jesse, Sam (The Last of Us), Maria (The Last of Us), Cat (The Last of Us), Tommy (The Last of Us) Additional Tags: AUstro, AUstro is an astronaut AU, Ellie is a big old nerd Summary:

Ellie has been away from Jackson for two years, six months, and eleven days when she receives an unexpected phone call that forces her to return home and confront her past.

This AU will be told through dual timelines: one in which we see Ellie sacrifice her relationships in pursuit of her dream, and another timeline wherein Ellie gradually learns to reconcile the two.

–

TLDR; This is an AU in which Ellie is a space nerd who doesn’t know how to manage her career and her relationships at the same time and is kind of generally a mess.

[whiskeytango8686]

A reeeeally great read here. Interesting set up and there have already been some surprises that threw me for a loop. And of course, it’s written by the writer of the excellent post canon “Deep Blue”, so you know it’s quality stuff. I’m enjoying the hell out of this one. BIG RECOMMEND.

[ehefic]

Ellie spent all winter in the truck on her own, eating up road, putting distance between her and the danger nipping at her heels. Then, in a dusty corner of New Mexico, fate turned her check engine light on and she met Dina.

Dina wet her lips and looked away, then pinned Ellie with those eyes again.

“Can… can I come with you?”

[whiskeytango8686]

This is such a fun start to what will no doubt be a killer must read AU from the author of Jackson Days/Oasis/Hurt & Comfort.

Ehefic never disappoints. She doesn’t have anything but A-Game to bring. 

If you need a break from post-canon, or canon divergence, or college/high school au’s, this one is for you. 

[whiskeytango8686]

Haha, Rusty. Why do you ask a question you already know the answer to?

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

I can’t tell if this question is like... upcoming fics, or story within fics, so I’m going with the latter. I love just slapping the reader out of no where. I don’t want my stories to be like... misleading for the sake of being misleading. I don’t want people speaking in like that TV dialogue where they’re talking around something just so the audience doesn’t know what they mean or anything like that. But I want things to feel as out of no where and fresh as they can in the source material. I think hopefully I’ve achieved that, though obviously others might disagree.

40. How did you come up with the idea for “Somewhere I Didn’t Think I’d Follow”?

So, it actually started as a much, much simpler premise. Basically, I kind of just wanted to do like a one shot about something fairly inconsequential that causes Ellie and Dina to be separated, and then years later, they meet back up, and infidelity happens. Obviously, for those who have read it, it spiraled out pretty far beyond that. It was also originally going to be told much more linearly. At some point at the very beginning it just became more of a “what would it be like for these characters to have to be apart, but not because one of them did something awful, or made some horrible, hurtful decision, but because they had to be” kind of story, and that ended up being much more interesting to me as opposed to the much more salacious original idea. Hopefully, people who read it think so too.

[whiskeytango8686]

43, 20, and 5 (idk why I had to do this backwards but like oop here we are) :)

@breezered, I love you so much. Thank you for choosing the salty ones.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

Honestly, i have so many. I’m so judgmental. I mentioned in another one that I hate side characters that only exist to be like “so you and Dina, huh?”, so that’s one. All characters should have things they care about, outside of the OTP of the story. 

Another is the “burly detective” trope. Where people are constantly referred to by descriptors instead of names or pronouns. I know as a writer, it gets monotonous and even worrisome to continuously write out someone’s name or “he”, “she”, etc, you feel like you’re repeating yourself too much, but as a reader, those things disappear in the text. Constantly referring to someone as like “the raven haired girl” draws attention to itself, makes you have to think about who the writer is talking about. It drives me nuts.

Another is ABO. It skeeves me out. I know this isn’t the trope question but just thought I’d throw that out there.

Uhhhhh, writer insertion without purpose. Really anything without real purpose. Sometimes you can tell that a scene or line or something was added just because the writer thought it’d be neat or they think a thing, but didn’t really consider if the character would actually say it, or if it adds anything to the scene or the story or what we know about the character. Everything should serve a purpose. Fluff can be fluffy and still inform the characters or the situation. Everything that a character says or does should tell you more about the character. As writers, we choose every single word that’s added to the story. All of those words should be purposeful and have meaning.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Toss up between when a scene in my head comes out just the way I want it, and when a scene comes together on the page that I hadn’t really intended, but it kind of writes itself, to sound super douchey.

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

This one is easy. Another writer and I, @ehefic got talking in the comments of one of my stories, and that transferred over to the messenger here, which blossomed into a wonderful friendship. THEN (as you know, B) @breezered got involved, and we started a discord channel so the three of us could all talk, and THHHHHHEN, @shknofftherust got into it. We spend all day talking shit and being critics for each others works and I think it’s made all of us better writers, on top of having a nice connection with 3 other amazingly talented authors. I feel truly lucky to be a part of it.

[whiskeytango8686]

Fic ask: 3, 19, 26, 32, 34, 35 :D

Firesiiiiiiide. Okay, okay, okay. Let’s do this.

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Abso-LUTE-ly. I had never read fics before I found AO3 right after finishing the game, and I read sooooooooo many after finding it, so in a way, almost everything I read then inspired me to write. I’d say the big ones though were @breezereds “i was born to endure (this kind of weather)” I hype Breeze a lot on my blog, but god damn, her stuff is just so good, @moth-and-ferns “Absolution”, and aradia’s “Great Divide” which is just... so, so good. It seems like most people kind of slept on it, and I don’t understand why. It’s unique and written so well.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I used to edit pretty religiously before I posted, but now I just kind of do a once over, and then read it again after posting and just edit typos and stuff as I go. I re-read stuff so much while I’m writing it, getting into my own head, that, by god, it’d better be fucking close to right by the time I hit post anyways.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

The internet in general, more specifically, RIGHT NOW, Critical Role. I never would have imagined sitting around for HOURS watching people play D&D, but they hooked me. I’m sure it has nothing to do with Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson and my need for anything TLOU related post the game... I’m sure.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Shit, this is going to make me do some work. None of these will mean anything without context, but okay.

“It’s not that the memories hurt, even though they do.

It’s not that Ellie isn’t here now to share them, even though she’s not.

It’s that she knows now they’re all that’s left. There’s only ever going to be the memories.

And there will never be new ones.”

&

“Dina had never believed in ghosts before that moment.”

&

“ And with joy and hope in her heart, she calls back up, at the top of her lungs,

“My name is Ellie!” 

Like I said, without context, none of them mean anything or even seem like particularly good writing. Hopefully with context, they’re much better.

#34 I actually just answered in another ask, so I’ll leave that one.

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

Hmm... well, it’s certainly opened my eyes to a whole new world of talent, not just my own (I don’t have THAT big of an ego) but of the community. I was definitely in the camp, prior to finding ao3, that thought that all fan-fic was was trash designed to get characters to fuck each other, and while that certainly does exist, it’s so much more. There is so much talent out there. I’ve read some stuff that is way better than a lot of published works. I mean, it’s definitely a different kind of writing, but it still makes me feel things, which to me is the most important part of art. This was kind of a non-answer I guess, but that’s really the biggest thing that’s changed. A new found respect for something I used to look down on for no reason at all.

[whiskeytango8686]

You have a timeline for "Somewhere I Didn't Think I'd Follow"? Will you ever share it with us?

Yeah! It’s... bizarre. I THINK once I get the epilogue posted, I’ll post a link to it in the authors notes. @ehefic has seen it, and thought it only made the story more sad though, so... be prepared for that.

[whiskeytango8686]

hi! i love your stories!! for the fic meme, can you do #34, #38, and #39?

Thank you so much! Quick note, sorry to anyone who has tried to anon ask me anything, apparently I’ve had that turned off ever since I joined tumblr. It’s on now. Ask away.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

This is kind of an interesting one for me, and I guess the answer would be quite a bit and also... none at all?  ... I’ll explain.

I get accused a lot of my stories being really, really sad. Truth is I lead a very happy, simple life. I just like sad stories, and apparently enjoy writing them as well.

However, when i first played TLOU2 it was like getting hit in the face every time Dina revealed something new, because my wife is a wavy dark-haired Jew from New Mexico. I felt like a weird instant connection with her. So, there are scenes in “Shaken by a Low Sound” that are pulled from my life with her, or inspired by. Them lighting the menorah was very much like the first time my wife and I did. I gave my wife a menorahsaurus for Chanukah. The vows at the very end were my vows to her when we got married. I’m not really sure what the readers image of me is. @shknofftherust once said she thought i was a real masculine lesbian with BDE, so, there’s that. Didn’t fit except for the lesbian part, but whatever, I’ll take it. I actually answered #38 and #39 in a previous ask, so I’ll leave those there, but thank you so much for this! 

[whiskeytango8686]

fic ask: 13, 20/21, 28, 31, 32! then 38 or 39 if you have time/inclination

Herrrrrrrrrre we go.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic? 

No, not really. My first fic (Shaken by a Low Sound) I had the big plot points all in my head from the very beginning, so an outline really didn’t feel necessary. My second one, (Somewhere I Didn’t Think I’d Follow) probably would have really benefitted from an outline, but I still didn’t do what. What I did do was as it went along, skipping through time, I created a timeline tracking every event I’d already written, so that I could easily look back at that and see everything in order. That was really helpful, especially because the generator I used let you assign actual dates, which kind of added a whole new layer to the events, seeing how close or how far apart they were in exact days, even if I was the only person who ever saw it.

20/21. What’s your favorite/least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Uh, well since I only just started writing fics, and started with The Last of Us, I think I’d definitely say it’s been cathartic. Getting to sit down and just button mash out feelings has been great. I mean, I’d like to say some sort of lofty, high minded ideal about the pleasures of writing for oneself and all that, but really, I think my favorite part is when I write something, and someone tells me that it connected with them. I think especially with the way things are now, that is really something special to me.

As far as least favorite thing, fuck, it’s hard, man! It takes forever to get something the way you want it, and it takes a lot out of you. It can be super frustrating just sitting there and no words coming out. I think I hate that the most.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

All of my pressure has been internal, and I’m good at ignoring myself, so, eh. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten any negative comments. I did get some that were... critical, but that’s fine. People are attached to these characters in their own ways. I might not be writing them in a way that matches their HC or what they WANT to be seeing, and it’s fine for them to say so. It’s also fine for them to... go read something that will be more in tune with what they do want to see.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I mean, Dina, with a bullet. She’s just fun to write. Trying to say this without sounding like an asshole, I don’t and can’t identify with the level of self-loathing that Ellie brings to the table, and that makes her just flat out harder to write for me, between the two protagonists I generally write for.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

Uh, well, started out super tame, and has gotten a little weird. “Shaken” was easy, wrote almost all it pretty linearly, each chapter top to bottom. I had one flashback I wrote that I ended up thinking didn’t fit for that chapter, but so I just ended up moving it to one down the line, easy. “Somewhere” has been a different animal. Not only are the parts of each chapter told out of order, but I often write them out of order as well, and then rearrange them. I also often write dialogue scenes like a screenplay, with no blocking (no “he says”, “she rubs her eyes”, etc) and then come back later and add it in, just because dialogue is difficult for me, made doubly so if I have to break my concentration to write out what characters are doing on top of what they’re saying.

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Shit, I don’t know. I guess... so, I’ll give two answers, one that throws shade, and one that doesn’t. 1. I HATE in stories when side characters exist only to talk to the main characters about the main relationship or something similar, like they’re robots programmed only to care about that one thing. I HATE IT. So, I make an effort to not do that with my side characters. Whether I’m successful or not is up to everyone else. 2. I think I’m okay at creating a melancholy atmosphere, which I like in a story.  Thanks for the questions, E!

[ghostofskywalker]

Fic Writer Ask Game:

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

22. Do take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

44. Rant about something writing related.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

[eulersfeverdream]

Fair’s fair, someone answered my ask so I’ll throw this up for anyone who wants to throw any at me.

[silentsockfeet]

[silentsockfeet]

[silentsockfeet]

[shknofftherust]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 19/19
Fandom: The Last of Us
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Ellie/Riley (The Last of Us), Ellie & Tommy (The Last of Us), Joel & Tommy (The Last of Us), Maria/Tommy (The Last of Us), Ellie/Kat (The Last of Us)
Characters: Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us), Maria (The Last of Us), Jesse (The Last of Us), Kat (The Last of Us)
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Spoilers, Angst, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Summary: Ellie returns to Jackson in search of resolution, but doesn’t know what she wants. Instead of immediately pursuing Dina, Ellie takes some time to figure herself out before deciding if she wants to reconcile with Dina. Immediately post TLOU2 with flashbacks from various years mixed in. Catch me on Tumblr under the same handle.

[whiskeytango8686]

Listen

LISTEN

In the past few months, I’ve read a lot of post-canon fic. We all have. I wrote one myself.

This one still stands out in the sea.

For one, it comes from a first time fic writer, like myself, so I love to see it. 

Two, the way it grows is amazing. By the time you get into middle chapters, it hits its stride so hard that you just keep hitting that next chapter button, HARD. The narrative voice, the prose, the overall style just becomes so strong and so well realized, it’s like getting to watch a writer grow in confidence and ability before your eyes and it’s fucking awesome.

And all that is not even getting into the fact that there’s something really special about the characterizations in this fic. No one is the way I’ve seen them in other fics, IN A GOOD WAY. 

Every one is treated with respect and care, and given arcs, even if they’re minor characters, it’s really cool.

Also, interestingly, it’s very Dina/Ellie focused, but it’s so much more. It’s a wonderful character study of Ellie trying to get past all of her trauma, and come to terms with her relationship with Joel and everything she’s done. 

I really wish I hadn’t taken so long to read it, while at the same time am glad I got the chance to binge it now that it’s all finished. 

I highly recommend giving it a shot, even if you feel like you’ve seen all there is to see in Post-Canon.