So when I was coming up with this story for TLOU I was really struggling with choosing how the reader was going to start off. One was as a 4-year-old (which is what I ended up doing) and the other was that he was going to start off as a 16-year-old high schooler.
That wasn't the only thing I was going back and forth with. I was struggling with the titles too 😂. It was between No Matter What, Ticking Clocks (based on Coldplay's song Clocks), or Afraid (which was just the title of the song from The Neighbourhood). I also made a cover for the last one.
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Afraid was a close second because I saw a cool edit for TLOU on YT with the song. I'll leave a link here in the replies so you can check it out (it's not letting me out the video on here for some reason RIP)
So in this chapter, I'm leaving an alternate draft of the prologue for Ticking Clocks where Y/N was going to be 16. The story afterward would've been similar to what I ended up doing but it did have some different points and characters.
Of course, Y/N after the time jump would've been like 36. I think that's why I pivoted to the other choice because I just felt like he was too old. But whatever lmao.
Brent was supposed to be Ray. Instead of a younger face claim in Jake T. Austin, it would've been Anthony Mackie (shocker!). They would've been childhood friends and ended up joining the Fireflies and yada yada yada you know.
Jane would've been someone else (didn't come up with a name or character) but it would've been an older actress like Scarjo or Elizabeth Olsen or something instead of Jenna Ortega.
Then there was a huge plot point that would've been revealed later...that Y/N was actually Ellie's father 🤯 yeah as you'll see in the draft below I hinted at her mom (Anna) being involved so that's that.
Oh and yeah Y/N would I've still massacred the Fireflies and even killed Ray Lmfao.
So that's pretty much what I had in mind. I love how Ticking Clocks eventually turned out and I'm proud of that book. I also thank y'all who read that and supported it, the dramatic twists and moral dilemmas included lol.
If you have any questions about this scrapped idea, feel free to ask me. With that said, enjoy the alternate prologue.
• • •
THE ALARM CLOCK sounded on the nightstand beside the sixteen-year-old. He let out a groan as he shifted beneath the covers, rubbing his eyes as he could also hear an alarm coming from outside. He knew it was his dad's from across the hall.
Suddenly, there was a knock at his door as well. It started light at first before it got heftier, along with a shout from his sister.
