CatherineA
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Recent works
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it's so good to see your face (welcome home) by CatherineA
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
14 Aug 2025
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Summary
“Marlene was going to tell me about my mom.”
The silence that stretches between them is long, but for once, Ellie doesn’t feel the need to break it. Tommy can fill it or not.
The couch creaks as Tommy sinks back into it, but Ellie’s gaze remains anywhere but on him. The sun sets so early in the winter—it’s so dark—but she can still make out a stain in the rug, only half-hidden under the coffee table.
“Marlene knew your mom?”
“Best friends, apparently.”
“Ellie,” says Tommy, and the seriousness in his voice has Ellie’s head snapping up. The intense curiosity in his eyes is unnerving. “Who—what was your mom’s name?”
It clicks for Ellie, then. Her mom knew Marlene. Marlene knew Tommy…
***
Or, the one where Tommy's and Anna's paths crossed in Boston.
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this is me trying by CatherineA
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
03 Aug 2025
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Summary
"I don't think I can ever forgive you for that. But I would like to try."
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“Where is Joel?” asks Ellie. He’s dead. He’s dead because of her, and they don’t want to tell her.
“Joel just got out of surgery,” Maria answers calmly, taking both of Ellie’s hands in hers. Ellie’s eyes snap back open. “Tommy is with him. You’ll be able to see him soon.” Ellie starts to sit again, to stand, to go to him, but Maria squeezes her hands in warning. “First, we need to make sure you’re okay. Next, we need to understand what happened out there, what Tommy and Dina can’t tell us. Then, I’ll take you to Joel.”
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Or: Joel survives, Ellie is still bent on revenge, and their family just wants to help.
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saying goodbye doesn't feel like the end by CatherineA
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
01 Oct 2024
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Summary
Ellie grapples with that event from TLOU2.
Ellie wanted to be an astronaut, so Joel made sure she got to go to space.
Now, Ellie just wants Joel.
So she stares at the stars and listens—for an apology, for an absolution. Words she will never hear.
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some version of you (that I might not have but I did not lose) by CatherineA, manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
30 Sep 2024
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Summary
Jonathan likes New York, mostly because it couldn’t be less like Hawkins. But living across the country does mean that when he finds himself alone and injured, he’ll finally have to learn to accept help—from the most unexpected source.
“Jonathan?” the woman asks, stepping towards him like he’s a frightened animal. “Jonathan Byers?”
He nods, wary, and she must believe him because she quickly closes the distance between them and kneels close, holding out a rag and examining his cut.
“I’m Diane. Your dad—Hopper called me.”
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the weight of the world ain’t that bad by CatherineA
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
31 Aug 2024
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Summary
“Ellie,” he begins, staring at the ground, his voice low. Not little shit, not kiddo, not baby girl. The use of her given name has the desired effect, because she takes a step back and looks down at him with an expression almost like fear. He levels her in his gaze. “Listen to me very closely. No matter what happens? What you’ve done will not be for nothing. It can never mean nothing. It has already meant everything.”
Ellie stares at him, open-mouthed. There’s a joke here, somewhere—Ellie, silent?—but the punchline doesn’t quite form.
“Joel, you’re freaking me the fuck out,” she says, finally. And yeah, it’s not her fault he hasn’t made it abundantly clear exactly what she has come to mean to him.
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Or: Joel opens up to Ellie just a little bit earlier. It changes everything.
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He expects a part two, a repeat of his previous actions. He expects floating, snapping, dying.
He doesn't expect the ground to split open around him, dragging the unfortunate military to the pits of hell with no preparation. He pushes against the ground just enough to dislodge the knee from his back, then that man is falling too. Will's left on an island of his own making, pulsing red surrounding him like a lava lake.
He feels safer than ever, but maybe it's just the adrenaline.
Or, a Stranger Things 5 rewrite (starting directly after Sorcerer) where Will's powers are a little more complex, the Upside Down isn't a wormhole, and monsters aren't afraid to kill.
Bookmarked by CatherineA
06 Feb 2026
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Summary
He expects a part two, a repeat of his previous actions. He expects floating, snapping, dying.
He doesn't expect the ground to split open around him, dragging the unfortunate military to the pits of hell with no preparation. He pushes against the ground just enough to dislodge the knee from his back, then that man is falling too. Will's left on an island of his own making, pulsing red surrounding him like a lava lake.
He feels safer than ever, but maybe it's just the adrenaline.
Or, a Stranger Things 5 rewrite (starting directly after Sorcerer) where Will's powers are a little more complex, Kali is not featured, and monsters aren't afraid to kill.
Author supports the closing of plot holes. Author does not support the use of AI.
Bookmarked by CatherineA
29 Jan 2026
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the consequences of my life on yours by stardustandswimmingpools for some_pomegranate_tea
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
27 Jan 2026
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“I only need a minute,” Jonathan says. He’s feeling oddly calm, still warm from hugging Will, like some of it clung to his clothes. But reality has been filtering back in, and with it, a memory. Spray paint in an alley. Punching Steve’s lights out. Most of all, the thing that got him from point A to point B. His jaw works. He releases his hostage. “So, all of that? What Will just said?”
“Yeah, it was really—”
“Let me make something clear,” Jonathan says, low. “I don’t care what happened to you that made you this way. If it was your parents, or your shitty friends, or what. Whatever you have to say, or think, about any of it—you keep it to your goddamn self. If you even fucking breathe wrong in his direction, you’re toast. Do you understand me?”
Steve blanches. “Sorry, what’s going on? What?”
(Or: Jonathan, Steve, and the things you say—and threats you make—to protect the people you love. Takes place immediately after Will's coming out.)
Bookmarked by CatherineA
28 Jan 2026
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Summary
You are twelve with a saviour. You are sixteen with a sister.
(or, Will Byers, a study of sisters and magic)
Bookmarked by CatherineA
28 Jan 2026
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Summary
The party has done so many crawls they've become routine, predictable. So when Dustin forces Steve's hand, and it backfires, they have to abandon the game plan to take care of one of their own.
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Steve gets to know the front end of a gun before he ever shoots one.
Bookmarked by CatherineA
28 Jan 2026