bad things happen bingo 2: electric boogaloo
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Listing Series
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i'll take the lesson (if you take the blame) by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
28 Apr 2025
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Summary
“Where is she?” Joel demands, overcome by a wave of deadly calm. There’s no time for panic, not when Ellie is in danger.
“She’s been bitten.” Then, softer, “I’m so sorry.”
Joel’s vision narrows and his lungs seize as the world around him screeches to a halt. His hands go numb. Old Beardy shifts nervously beneath him, but he barely notices.
There’s a protocol for a bite outside the walls, one every Jackson resident knows by heart. The bitten is taken to the nearest checkpoint, where they’re given a sedative; death with dignity is one of the few mercies Jackson can offer. Before it takes effect, the infected person has time to write a final message to their loved ones. And then, the patrol captain delivers a single, point-blank bullet to the brain.
The captain isn’t to leave the checkpoint until the bitten person is dead.
“Joel. Joel.” Hands land on his biceps, squeezing tightly. “She’s alive. Not far from the Hoback lookout.”
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the story of how joel did it
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a monster broken by the rules of love by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
06 Jun 2025
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“We need to get to the science building.” Her voice cracks; she doesn’t give a fuck. “Now.”
Joel shakes his head. “Ellie—”
“No, listen to me,” she insists, grabbing one of his hands with both of hers. “They… I think they can make it quick. The cure. And… and it’s on your leg, so we have a little time—”
“Ellie.”
“We have… Joel, we have to move. Now.” She jumps to her feet and grabs Callus, leading him to Joel. “Now, Joel.”
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(joel gets bit at the university of eastern colorado)
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the consequence of living by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
11 Jul 2025
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Summary
Ellie takes a few hesitant steps toward the door before Joel notices it: blood, soaking down her side.
Fuck. Fuck.
He yanks her back, frantic as he pulls up the hem of her shirt. Dark red seeps through the fabric as he searches for the source. “Jesus,” he breathes, spotting the wound. “Okay, you’re okay. Keep goin’.”
She stares at him in confusion, still trying to catch her breath from the terror of being attacked. “What?”
“Just keep movin’.” With his hand on her back, Joel forces her forward until bodies no longer surround them. He needs space to work, needs to get her away from the carnage before shock sets in. With one movement, he sweeps the cans off the large crate, then focuses on Ellie. “Up,” he says, voice low as he boosts her to sit.
“What’s wrong?” she asks. He can hear the fear creeping into her tone.
“I think you were shot.”
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(wherein henry's bullet doesn't just kill sam)
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a mama and a shaman and a fiery pistol by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
12 Oct 2025
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Summary
“Making a vaccine… would have killed you,” he chokes out finally, tangling his fingers in the chain.
Joel can’t bring himself to look at her, not directly. Instead, he eases the chain over his head, staring down at the hole punched through it to memorialize its owner. “So we stopped them.”
“We?”
Slowly, reverently, he extends the necklace to Ellie, fingers splayed so she can see the battered Firefly insignia. When she doesn’t move, he allows it to dangle before lowering it to her palm, name up.
“Your mother and I.”
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joel isn't the only one of ellie's parents at st. mary's.
Series
- Part 2 of whumptober 2025
- Part 4 of bad things happen bingo 2: electric boogaloo
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keep you from sorrow and harm by two_birds_alone_together
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
17 Oct 2025
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Summary
The crowd parts as Dina barrels through, her jacket half-on and her boots untied, panic written clear across her features. Terror replaces the momentary relief at seeing her alive and unharmed when he sees how frantic she is. That girl doesn’t panic; not like this.
Before he can take another step, she skids to a stop in front of him. “Where’s Ellie?”
“What—”
“She was covering for me,” Dina chokes out, the words tumbling over each other in her rush to get them out. “I wasn’t feeling well, so she took my shift. Where is she?”
Tommy’s world tilts. Ellie. Inside. The words don’t connect at first, then slam into him so hard that he bends forward, hands bracing on his knees as his vision tunnels. Ellie was inside when the fire broke out, and now…
Not Ellie. Christ, not Ellie.
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the tipsy bison catches fire.
Series
- Part 2 of a light not expected
- Part 5 of bad things happen bingo 2: electric boogaloo
- Part 3 of whumptober 2025
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the privilege of being yours by two_birds_alone_together for Merakiae
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
01 Nov 2025
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Summary
Sarah dragged him stargazing a handful of times, but they never ventured far enough from Austin to escape the light pollution. After, when he and Tommy wandered the country with no real destination in mind, Joel couldn’t bear to look up. What was there to see but stars that outlived his daughter? Light that kept shining when Sarah didn’t?
Ellie, though… well, he hopes she never stops marveling at the night sky. She’s the one who tricked him into lifting his gaze for the first time in decades.
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joel and ellie mark september 26 with old and new traditions
Series
- Part 2 of explain the infinite
- Part 4 of whumptober 2025
- Part 6 of bad things happen bingo 2: electric boogaloo