🦊

ive thought about this before thank you for asking eeeek !! never decided fully on any one idea though, so here's two !!

firefighter. because it's badass as shit and also i need to be saved from a burning building by her BAD. i just think it'd be awesome, that's really it, there's nothing canon about it remotely

in a whole different vein - fishing boat captain !! this is based off of nothing but like, one line and something i saw in the game. she said something about hating sardines once and i just took that shit and RAN. she's from rockford illinois (per the id thing in the qz chapter) which isn't that far from lake michigan where there is some commercial fishing. (yes ik that the city is an hour and a half from the lake maybe she actually lives closer idfk) i just think it'd be a fun idea. for fun. because she's like very commanding and stuff i always see her in some kind of position of power, thus as a captain. (also no idea how accurate any of this is, idk anything about the usa. ya boy is consulting google maps as a primary source)

Fighting artblock by drawing LIS scenes

Joel, muffled: mmhmmm :)

Ellie: Pshhhh, thanks dude!

Joel, who grew up in an abusive household, wound up in an abusive relationship with Sarah's mom.

A fate many children of childhood abuse face.

Now, abusive relationships tend to look a little different for men, I won't argue that or debate that, but the point is, fights would get a little too heated on her behalf, her hands were never kept to herself. He'd come out with scratches and bruises from thrown objects, a split lip from dodging open-handed strikes, and on top of that, words can hurt just as bad as fists - their damage no less impactful.

His wife didn't just leave or die or fade off into the distance magically, he fought for his kid in a messy divorce that left him nearly flat broke, and that's why he'd been the sole provider for Sarah.

So, now I’m wondering how this would have affected his relationship with Tess. It would make sense if this were the reason why he’d always taken a step back and let her take charge, a subconscious piece of him trained to relinquish the majority control in a partnership like that.

Yeah, he was the muscle, and maybe he liked it that way for a reason — and no, not because he ever wanted to hit her in particular. I honestly think he’d gnaw off his left arm before resorting to the same hurt he’d experienced, but I’m sure there would have been some sick relief in handing over a little bit of his pain to someone deemed deserving.

I think Joel got his passive heart from his mom, but he got his violent fists from his dad. He just used them both differently than the people before him. (This is purely me making wild assumptions but I warned y’all that I’d lost the plot).

It’s actually making me look at this scene a little differently.

Because what if for the the first time in their relationship, he’d felt threatened in the same way his father had made him feel as kid and then his ex-wife had as a young adult, his fear of Tess harming him deeper than just the bite on her neck whether he realized it or not. The reaction to back away from the anticipated blow during times of tension and uncertainty is something that would have been ingrained in him from childhood on.

And after years together, a hit like that from Tess would’ve been an added heartbreak to an already impossible situation.

Tess: I'm pinning you against a wall with my hand around your neck-