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32.9l-2.9 3v56.31l2.9 2.7zm13.1-2.3l-5.9-5.4-5.3 5.6v36.3c4.7.6 8.2 2.2 11.1 5.3l.1-.1zm48.7 12v27.7l-16.9 12.5-12.3-9.3-2.8 2.8-1.3-1.3 3.2-3.3v-27L621.4 32l11.4 8.9 2.9-2.9 1.3 1.4zm-10.8 3l-8.4-6.6-.1.1v29.8l8.5 6.4zm35.6 4.5h9.4v21.4l-15.9 11.21a11.52 11.52 0 00-8.8-4.11c-3 0-5.4 1.4-7.8 4l-1.4-.5 13.8-19.8h-8.5V43.7L656 32c2 1.6 3.6 2.6 6.2 2.6a11.38 11.38 0 007.11-2.2l1 .7zm-1.4 8.8h-4.7l-11.1 15.9.1.2a12.36 12.36 0 017.6-2.5 10.4 10.4 0 018 3.8l.1-.09zm6.41-19.6a9.78 9.78 0 01-6.91 2.3 8.92 8.92 0 01-6.3-2.9l-.2.1v14.6h3.8l9.7-14zm22.9 43.41l-8.8-6.91-2.71 2.7-1.3-1.29 3.1-3.21V39.4H671l-.2-.2 3.5-5.2h2.5v-6.7L687.41 16l.2.2V34h8l.2.2-3.5 5.2h-4.7v30.3l4.8 3.7 3.3-3.4 1.3 1.4z"></path></svg><span class="alic gray font-xxxxs font--body">Democracy Di Darkns</span></div></div><hear class="w-100 flex flex-lumn ems-center" data-qa="ma-full"><div class="hi-for-prt"></div><div class="mt-lg"><div data-qa="kicker" class="wpds-c-eyomNc wpds-c-PJLV wpds-c-PJLV-jYXVnY-lor-black wpds-c-PJLV-mlvxn-size-lg"></div></div><div class="PJLV PJLV-iklXUFA-css"><h1 class="PJLV PJLV-ihyuaZW-css overriStyl" data-ttid="headle" data-qa="headle" id="ma-ntent"><span data-qa="headle-text" class="PJLV">‘The Last of Us’ tells a new but faiar queer love story</span></h1></div><h2 class="font--subhead font-light offblack mb-sm pb-xxs-ns subheadle left center-ns" data-qa="subheadle" style="max-width:1000px">Episo 3 revents what life and ath n be the show, but s queer characters n’t pe the trop</h2><div class="flex prt-byle prt-mt-none jtify-center"><div class="byle-wrapper flex-lumn flex ems-ns-center"><div class="PJLV PJLV-ihSmMVC-css"><div class="PJLV PJLV-iPJLV-css mb-xxs overriStyl" style="gap:0.5rem" data-qa="thor-byle"><span class="wpds-c-PJLV"><div class="flex ems-center" data-qa="thor-byle"><div class="mr-sm flex lh-0"><div class="wpds-c-iTcer"><img src=" alt="" class="wpds-c-dgBqAZ"/></div></div><span class="left"><div class="flex"><div class="dib font-xxs mb-xxs" data-qa="name-wh-optnal-lk" data-cy="name-wh-optnal-lk"><span data-qa="attributn-text" class="wpds-c-cNdzuP">Perspective by <!-- --> </span><a data-qa="thor-name" href=" rel="thor" class="wpds-c-cNdzuP wpds-c-cNdzuP-ejzZdU-isLk-te">Riley MacLeod</a></div></div><span class="wpds-c-ewNrgJ thor-scriptn" data-qa="thor-scriptn">Assignment Edor, Lncher</span></span></div></span></div></div><div data-ttid="timtamp" class="wpds-c-kgabfe wpds-c-kgabfe-ieEDlgV-css"><span class="PJLV PJLV-ihqANPJ-css overriStyl" data-ttid="updated-and-published-span">Updated<!-- --> <span data-ttid="updated-date" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-iKQyrV-ihqANPJ-css overriStyl">January 30, 2023 at 2:05 p.m. EST</span><span class="wpds-c-jwSVuw">|</span>Published<!-- --> </span><span data-ttid="display-date" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV">January 29, 2023 at 10:00 p.m. EST</span></div></div></div><div data-ttid="le-art" data-qa="le-art" class="w-100"><figure class="overflow-hidn relative hi-for-prt center center mb-sm mb-md-ns ml-to-ns mr-to-ns grid-mobile-full-bleed"><div style="filter:blur(10px);transn:filter .1s;le-height:0" class="w-100 mw-100 h-to" width="600" height="399"><img style="background-size:ver;max-width:1600px;background-image:url('data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http%3A//; xmlns%3Axlk='http%3A//; viewBox='0 0 1280 853'%3E%3Cfilter id='b' lor-terpolatn-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGssianBlur stdDeviatn='.5'%3E%3C/feGssianBlur%3E%3CfeComponentTransfer%3E%3CfeFuncA type='discrete' tableValu='1 1'%3E%3C/feFuncA%3E%3C/feComponentTransfer%3E%3C/filter%3E%3Cimage filter='url(%23b)' x='0' y='0' height='100%25' width='100%25' xlk%3Ahref='data%3Aimage/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAkAAAAGCAIAAACepSOSAAAACXBIWXMAAC4jAAAuIwF4pT92AAAAs0lEQVQI1wGoAFf/AImSoJSer5yjs52ktp2luJuluKOpuJefsoCNowB+kKaOm66grL+krsCnsMGrt8m1u8mzt8OVoLIAhJqzjZ2tnLLLnLHJp7fNmpyjqbPCqLrRjqO7AIeUn5ultaWtt56msaSnroZyY4mBgLq7wY6TmwCRfk2Pf1uzm2WulV+xmV6rmGyQfFm3nWSBcEIAfm46jX1FkH5Djn5AmodGo49MopBLlIRBfG8yj/dfjF5TUAAAAASUVORK5CYII='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E')" alt="" class="w-100 mw-100 h-to" width="600" height="399" srcSet=" 400w, 540w, 691w, 767w, 916w, 1200w, 1440w, 960w, 1023w, 860w" siz="(max-width: 440px) 440px,(max-width: 767px) 767px,(max-width: 768px) 691px,(m-width: 1023px) 860px,(m-width: 1440px) 1440px,(max-width: 600px) 691px,(max-width: 768px) 691px,(m-width: 769px) and (max-width: 1023px) 960px,(m-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1299px) 530px,(m-width: 1300px) and (max-width: 1439px) 691px,(m-width: 1440px) 916px,440px" dg="async"/></div><figptn class="ml-gutter mr-gutter mr-to-ns ml-to-ns font--subhead font-xxxs mt-xs left 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story</tle><path d="M14 14V2H2v9.47h8.18L12.43 13ZM3 10.52V3h10v9.23l-2.5-1.66Z"></path></svg></button><span aria-hidn="te" class="wpds-c-fBEbFG">Comment</span><span class="wpds-c-fOvfhP wpds-c-fOvfhP-kshkDy-isCommentType-te none" aria-hidn="te"><span class="ment-unt font-xxxxs sc-ral-unt"><span></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="teaser-ntent grid-center"><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null"><i>(Spoilers for episo 3 of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” as well as both vio gam and the “Left Behd” DLC. You n read our rep of this episo </i><a href=" target=_blank><i>here</i></a><i>.)</i></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">Much of the foc on HBO’s terpretatn of “The Last of Us” has been on s <a href=" target=_blank>fily</a> to the gam — how fahfully re-creat the origal’s story and scen, and what choos to change. While <a href=" target=_blank>episo 2</a> gave a very different ath for <a href=" target=_blank>Ts,</a> episo 3 is an even bigger parture, tellg a whole new story about si character Bill and his partner Frank. Through this change, the episo tells a new, more hopeful story about the zombie apolypse. At the same time, tells a plex but also stereotypil story about the liv and aths available to the queer people s world.</p></div></div><div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class=" mb-md hi-for-prt" data-qa="subscribe-promo"><div data-orientatn="horizontal" role="separator" class="wpds-c-dbVHzF wpds-c-dbVHzF-hDkAcj-variant-flt"></div><a class="pt-sm pb-sm flex ems-center bold font-xxxs font-xxs-ns offblack hover-blue-bright jtify-between" href=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="text-ratn:none;borr:none"><span class="mr-xs flex ems-center"><span class="ml-xs">Tech is not your iend. We are. Sign up for The Tech Friend newsletter.</span></span><svg class="ntent-box" width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 16 16" xmlns=" style="transn:right .2s;posn:relative;right:4px;fill:#2a2a2a" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img"><tle>ArrowRight</tle><path d="M7.664 1.25l6 6a1 1 0 010 1.414l-6 6L6.25 13.25 10.499 9H2V7h8.585L6.25 2.664 7.664 1.25z" fill-le="nonzero"></path></svg></a><div data-orientatn="horizontal" role="separator" class="wpds-c-dbVHzF wpds-c-dbVHzF-hDkAcj-variant-flt"></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">In the vio game of “The Last of Us,” Joel and Ellie meet Bill, a lone survivor who is diststful and unpleasant. He mak reference to a “partner” and seems to suggt he kicked that person out, fdg better to be on his own. After fightg through fected search of a r battery, the group disvers that that partner, Frank, was bten by fected and hanged himself rather than turn. It seems that Frank was leavg Bill, and his suici note is full of vrl. “I want you to know I hated your guts,” he wr to Bill. “I grew tired of this shty town and your set--your-ways attu. I wanted more om life than this and you uld never get that … Tryg to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spendg another day wh you.”</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb dn db-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-sktop"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-none pt-lg pb-lg" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"><div>Advertisement</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb db dn-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-mobile"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-sm pt-sm pb-sm" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="wpds-c-VkPmP hi-for-prt"><div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">The HBO show pulls on the thread of Frank’s sire for “more om life than this,” showg the viewer a livg Frank who meets Bill when he falls to one of the traps Bill has set up around town, a town he has to himself after refg to evacuate at the start of the zombie panmic. Frank div to timacy wh Bill om the moment they meet, gratiatg his way to dner at Bill’s hoe. He’s exced about simple pleasur, enthg over a hot shower, a lic meal, Bill’s piano and ultimately Bill himself, as they go to bed together and beg a relatnship. Through the years, we see Frank betify their hoe and the town, make iends Joel and Ts and generally relish whatever life the show’s apolypse has to offer for as long as he n. His enthiasm brgs Bill out of his loner shell, and the two have a long, relatively happy life together before, aged and firm, they die by jot suici.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">I was surprised to fd a storyle like this “The Last of Us.” I have to adm that my view of the gam isn’t posive — they are betiful and emotnal, but for me, they always e back to btaly and spair a way I fd simplistic. As I wrote <a href=" target="_blank">my review</a> of 2020′s “The Last of Us Part 2,” -creator Neil Dckmann’s work “don’t relish s gory aths or emotnal sufferg. It jt tak every opportuny to show them, over and over, and cis that unts as sayg somethg about them.” The gam’s characters are admirably diverse; a queer storyle the 2013 game was undoubtedly a leap forward for the medium at the time, and 2014′s “Left Behd” DLC and “The Last of Us Part 2” featured queer and <a href=" target="_blank">trans storyl that expand vio game narrativ</a>. But this diversy, to me, ultimately pots back to nothg but nihilism: queer people exist the worlds bee we exist the real world, and they suffer bee everyone suffers. At the risk of beg crass: I’m a queer trans man, myself. You don’t need to tell me thgs are bad out here.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">So I didn’t expect episo 3 to tell such a posive story, or as posive a story as “The Last of Us” universe n allow. Queer reprentatn media has a long, thorny history; for most of the 20th century, queer characters were portrayed as villas and loners, and their liv were <a href=" target=_blank>tragic</a> as a sort of moral stctn. In recent tim and some parts of the world, as public opn of queerns changed and muni ma stris legal regnn and rights, the queer stori available have also changed. Televisn, film and books have shown queer characters a more posive light, movg om sikicks or punchl to nuanced protagonists wh plex liv. Queer characters have been “allowed” to be <a href=" target=_blank>happy</a>, which has undoubtedly helped a new generatn of queer people see themselv and image better liv. This has led to a bate among many queer muni about whether reprentatn self is the end goal, or whether posive reprentatn ns the risk of <a href=" target=_blank>simplifyg</a> queer liv. It’s a <a href=" target=_blank>plited</a> topic wh no five answer.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p><span class="wpds-c-gnhuPA wpds-c-gnhuPA-hqeSyH-variant-terstial wpds-c-gnhuPA-iPJLV-css hi-for-prt"><a data-qa="terstial-lk" href=">Why the new game ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is roilg the LGBTQ muny</a></span></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">In many ways, Bill and Frank’s story embodi this bate. They’re plited characters, pecially Bill; when’s the last time you saw a queer character who was also a prepper, wh a Gadsn flag and a basement full of guns? While they fall to certa gay stereotyp — a love of fer thgs, Frank’s knowledge of antiqu, Bill’s fss about his home — the quali stand as humanizg ntrasts to their tough exterrs. (Their excellent butch beard game don’t hurt, eher.) They survive and thrive the world of “The Last of Us,” creatg an abundant life while other people we’ve met so far languish arized ci. Most notably — and most differently than the game — they go out on their own terms. They “<a href=" target=_blank>queer</a>” what ath “The Last of Us” n be; a world where everythg ends tragedy, they create the happit endg available to anyone, gay or straight. They’re a lifele to life self, to an old world where people uld die more ways than jt at the mouth of a zombie or the barrel of a gun.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p><span class="wpds-c-gnhuPA wpds-c-gnhuPA-hqeSyH-variant-terstial wpds-c-gnhuPA-iPJLV-css hi-for-prt"><a data-qa="terstial-lk" href=">Why HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ rewrote the love story of Bill and Frank</a></span></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">But however revolutnary their aths might be for the universe of “The Last of Us,” they still fall to well-worn gay ath trop. It seems that Bill is olr than Frank, but Frank succumbs to an unspecified illns and ends up firm, which ultimately prompts his suici. If you grew up queer the 80s and 90s, the image of one gay man phg another a wheelchair might look fiercely faiar om the early days of the AIDS crisis and the storytellg that me out of . Many cis gay men of my generatn believed this kd of ath was evable, that they would die tend to by a lover or they would be the widower left behd. (Bill and Frank’s last day together particular remd me of the 1996 film “It’s My Party,” which an HIV-posive man throws a party before killg himself.) Bill rebels agast this trope by dyg alongsi Frank, but as I watched (and cried) as Bill wheeled Frank around their hoe and hand him his pills, I thought of how many tim I had seen this scene other movi and televisn. I wonred why the show’s creators chose to have Frank sicken to lead to Bill and Frank’s aths when one or both of their ag uld have been the cg factor.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb dn db-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-sktop"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-none pt-lg pb-lg" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"><div>Advertisement</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb db dn-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-mobile"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-sm pt-sm pb-sm" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">In the time which they’re shown alive, they also exist as the only two queer people their world. At one pot they argue over havg iends, a fight Frank ws by vg over Joel and Ts, a straight uple. The viewer never se if they have queer iends, or if they did before. This is, of urse, explaable: Bill is a loner by nature, pl there’s the whole apolypse thg, but the lone queer or isolated uple is another trope I’ve seen media pictns. While no relatnships end happily per se “The Last of Us,” queer liv are always <i>lonely</i>.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div id="gift-share-le" data-ttid="gift-share-le" class="PJLV PJLV-ilotWTr-css hi-for-prt"><button aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-expand="false" aria-ntrols="gift-share-drawer" role="button" tabx="0" aria-label="Share this article" id="gift-share-drawer-ntrol-le" data-ttid="gift-share-drawer-ntrol-le" class="wpds-c-PJLV wpds-c-gsmDXe wpds-c-gsmDXe-goNocI-placement-Inle foc-highlight"><div data-ttid="gift-share-terstial-trigger" class="wpds-c-kPqOkS wpds-c-kPqOkS-jtSXsT-hasSubsText-false"><span class="wpds-c-hBJqc"><span class="wpds-c-dzSncg">Share this article</span></span><span class="wpds-c-eCvK"><span class="wpds-c-enedHQ wpds-c-enedHQ-cCdK-isShown-false">Share</span><svg xmlns=" fill="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img" class="wpds-c-fBqPWp wpds-c-fDHGth"><path fill="currentColor" d="M8 .6v3.8h.1c-4.4 0-7.3 4.5-6.9 8.8.1.8.2 1.2.2 1.2l.2 1 .4-1.3c.8-2 2-4 6.2-3.9H8v4l7-6.9L8 .6Zm1 11.3V9.3h-.9c-3 0-4.8.5-6.2 2.9.5-3.3 2.7-6.8 6.2-6.8H9V3l4.5 4.4L9 11.9Z"></path></svg></span></div></button></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">In the “Left Behd” DLC, Ellie has a youthful romance wh a girl named Riley; when the two are bten by fected, they rolve to die together, only for Ellie to outlive Riley when she disvers she’s immune to the fectn. In “The Last of Us Part 2,” Ellie ends up alone when her qut for revenge driv her partner Da om her life. “The Last of Us Part 2’s” <a href=" target=_blank>trans character Lev</a> seems to be the only trans person the world, and he los his relig muny and fay. In the experience of many queer people the real world, myself clud, queer people might face hardship, but we have a muny around ; we know people like ourselv. “The Last of Us” picts queer people when a viewer might not expect to see them, but still shows them the same old ways.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">I’m not gog to fely clare this “good” or “bad.” A more tradnally happy endg isn’t the rds for Bill and Frank bee isn’t the rds for <i>anyone</i> “The Last of Us.” And queer characters don’t necsarily need happy endgs to be nuanced characters or to tell meangful stori. But while watchg the episo, I thought about Ellie’s nonil queerns om the gam. Joel and the viewer know so much about Bill and Frank’s queer liv, but Ellie don’t. Bill’s suici note asks whoever fds not to e to the bedroom, and so she never even se them. If Ellie is queer this universe, I wonred what would have been like for her to meet them, the way she meets Bill the game. Would help her image the horizons of her own life, the way has helped so many real-world queer people? I wonred if she uld see clu of queerns, hts of herself, Bill and Frank’s hoe. Bill’s suici note is left to “whoever but probably Joel,” and Ellie says “I figured I fell to whoever” — she do, perhaps more ways than one.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb dn db-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-sktop"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-none pt-lg pb-lg" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"><div>Advertisement</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div class="cb db dn-ns" data-qa="article-body-ad" data-ttid="article-body-ad-mobile"><div aria-hidn="te" class="hi-for-prt relative flex jtify-center ntent-box ems-center b bh mb-md mt-sm pt-sm pb-sm" style="m-height:250px;borr-top-lor:;borr-bottom-lor:"><div class="center absolute w-100 borr-box" style="top:"><div class="dib gray-dark pl-xs pr-xs font-sans-serif light font-xxxxs lh-md" style="--primary-borr-lor:"></div></div><div data-ttid="placeholr-box" class="w-100 h-100 absolute flex flex-lumn jtify-center borr-box bg-offwhe" style="width:300px;height:250px"><div class="flex flex-lumn jtify-center font-sans-serif center font-xxs light gray-dark lh-md"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p data-ttid="drop-p-letter" data-el="text" class="wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css overriStyl font-py" dir="null">“I ed to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died,” Ellie reads. “But I was wrong, bee there was one person worth savg.” Bella Ramsey as Ellie stumbl over the send part here. Is she seeg herself the note? Is she nnectg wh other queer people through their words, even this tragic way, jt as I did through all the books and movi and plays of my own youth? I am, of urse, a real person not livg through an apolypse (maybe this is batable; not a <i>zombie</i> apolypse, anyway), and I overme those tragic stori of my youth by formg a muny of other queer and trans people. Will the same possibili be open to Ellie? It seems unlikely, but given what Bill and Frank’s story shows the show, perhaps ’s not impossible.</p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><div data-qa="rrectn-disclaimer" class="wpds-c-lgLEQx wpds-c-lgLEQx-iPJLV-css"><div data-ttid="disclaimer-headle" class="wpds-c-kAVFVG">rrectn</div><p data-ttid="disclaimer-scriptn" class="wpds-c-joLgjs">A prev versn of this article misstated that the character Lev di "The Last of Us Part 2," when he surviv to the end of the game.</p></div></div><div class="wpds-c-jkoBlc wpds-c-jkoBlc-leHWbT-removeAllStyl-te"><div class="wpds-c-dhzjXW wpds-c-dhzjXW-iPJLV-css overriStyl mt-md tt"><div id="gift-share-end" data-ttid="gift-share-end" class="PJLV PJLV-idiqKOk-css hi-for-prt"><button aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-expand="false" aria-ntrols="gift-share-drawer" role="button" tabx="0" aria-label="Share this article" id="gift-share-drawer-ntrol-end" data-ttid="gift-share-drawer-ntrol-end" class="wpds-c-PJLV wpds-c-gsmDXe wpds-c-gsmDXe-iIVoLq-placement-Shortcut foc-highlight"><div class="wpds-c-UazGY" id="gift-share-shortcut" data-ttid="gift-share-shortcut"><svg xmlns=" fill="var(--wpds-lors-primary)" viewBox="0 0 16 16" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img" class="wpds-c-fVfumU "><path fill="currentColor" d="M8 .6v3.8h.1c-4.4 0-7.3 4.5-6.9 8.8.1.8.2 1.2.2 1.2l.2 1 .4-1.3c.8-2 2-4 6.2-3.9H8v4l7-6.9L8 .6Zm1 11.3V9.3h-.9c-3 0-4.8.5-6.2 2.9.5-3.3 2.7-6.8 6.2-6.8H9V3l4.5 4.4L9 11.9Z"></path></svg><div class="PJLV wpds-c-kwcHlj">Share</div></div></button></div><div class="wpds-c-hcekgi"><div class="mb-lg-mod" data-qa="ments-btn-div"><button aria-label="Scroll to the ments sectn" data-qa="ments-btn" class="wpds-c-kSOqLF wpds-c-kSOqLF-SQjOY-variant-sendary wpds-c-kSOqLF-eHdizY-nsy-flt wpds-c-kSOqLF-ejCoEP-in-left wpds-c-kSOqLF-igqYgPb-css ments hi-for-prt"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 16 16" fill="currentColor" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img" class="wpds-c-fBqPWp "><path d="M14 14V2H2v9.47h8.18L12.43 13ZM3 10.52V3h10v9.23l-2.5-1.66Z"></path></svg><span></span> Comments</button></div></div></div><div class="PJLV PJLV-iipsdti-css"><div class="hi-for-prt" data-ttid="llectns__wrapper"><div class="wpds-c-iRrQDa wpds-c-iRrQDa-ibLfOyz-css"><div class="wpds-c-eZQlgr"><div class="PJLV"><div data-orientatn="horizontal" role="separator" class="wpds-c-dbVHzF wpds-c-dbVHzF-kJRMEh-variant-strong wpds-c-dbVHzF-icdXrXM-css"></div><label class="wpds-c-bMdHQm wpds-c-bMdHQm-jPiQqD-size-md wpds-c-bMdHQm-iPJLV-css"><div>Bt of Lncher</div><div data-qa="handcurated-label" class="wpds-c-kcUnXn"><div class="wpds-c-hxvsrd curated-in-wrapper"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 93 81" fill="var(--wpds-lors-sendary)" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img" class="wpds-c-hlLlVP curated-in-asset" data-ttid="curated-in-asset" style="marg:to"><path fill="#fff" fill-le="evenodd" d="m42.2 24.27-4.28-4.32-3.28 3.32v26.65l7.47 6.62.08-.07v-32.2zm-17.25 1-5.34-5.32-3.51 3.62V50l6.48 5.62 2.37-2.7V25.27zm59.4-13.49 8.65 8v33.76L79.61 63.78c-1.3-1.63-2.9-3.02-4.81-3.57v16.15l-.16.08-4.2-3.96-8.87 8.3-.16-.08V59.82a14.37 14.37 0 0 0-7.8 5.13l-.61-.39c.53-5.98 3.44-10.4 8.41-12.1V37.31h-1.6a4.03 4.03 0 0 0-4.06 3.26h-.91A9.64 9.64 0 0 1 54.3 37c0-3.8 2.52-6.68 6.65-6.68h.46v-8.38l-2.75-2.48-2.14 2.17-1.07-1.01 8.49-8.85 7.19 6.68v7.6l2.22-2.4v-8.93h1.45v7.37l9.56-10.32zm-11 13.35-2.22 2.33v43.7l2.22 2.1V25.12zM15.1 0l.68.62c-2.51 1.23-4.57 2.77-4.57 6.08 0 5.09 4.88 3.78 4.88 11.79v3.08l8.92-9.47 9.39 9.32 8.85-9.33 8.54 8.48v28.5L36.1 63.71l-10.6-9.25-8.1 9.25-10.98-9.55v-15.1H4.27c-1.9 0-2.82 1.15-3.13 2.7H.38c-.15-.62-.38-1.7-.38-2.93 0-2 .84-7.24 6.4-7.24V19.88c0-4.55-2.97-4.78-2.97-8.7C3.43 6.77 7.55 2.7 15.11 0zm63.74 19.16L74.8 23.5v28.18c3.6.46 6.27 1.7 8.49 4.11l.07-.08V23.35l-4.5-4.2z"></path></svg></div><div>HAND CURATED</div></div></label></div></div><div data-qa="llectns-wrapper"><ul data-ttid="llectns-list" class="wpds-c-fJRfWX wpds-c-fJRfWX-icuweNC-css"><li class="wpds-c-hzLuJf wpds-c-hzLuJf-ibJMFbE-css"><span class="wpds-c-boVztI"><a href=" class="wpds-c-hJmLeM remove-borr-bottom"><div style="width:66%;marg:0" class="wpds-c-fixGjY"><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="We all e phon on the toilet. Jt don’t s more than 10 mut. lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>We all e phon on the toilet. Jt don’t s more than 10 mut.</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">November 29, 2022</div></div></div><div class="wpds-c-fvnsYS"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure></div></a></span><span class="wpds-c-CEJsw"><a href=" class="wpds-c-gfGApI remove-borr-bottom"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="We all e phon on the toilet. Jt don’t s more than 10 mut. lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>We all e phon on the toilet. Jt don’t s more than 10 mut.</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">November 29, 2022</div></div></a></span></li><li class="wpds-c-hzLuJf wpds-c-hzLuJf-icPtoSL-css"><span class="wpds-c-boVztI"><a href=" class="wpds-c-hJmLeM remove-borr-bottom"><div style="width:66%;marg:0" class="wpds-c-fixGjY"><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="Frost Giant wants to build a real-time strategy game for everyone lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>Frost Giant wants to build a real-time strategy game for everyone</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">March 31, 2023</div></div></div><div class="wpds-c-fvnsYS"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure></div></a></span><span class="wpds-c-CEJsw"><a href=" class="wpds-c-gfGApI remove-borr-bottom"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="Frost Giant wants to build a real-time strategy game for everyone lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>Frost Giant wants to build a real-time strategy game for everyone</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">March 31, 2023</div></div></a></span></li><li class="wpds-c-hzLuJf wpds-c-hzLuJf-ibYjAXf-css"><span class="wpds-c-boVztI"><a href=" class="wpds-c-hJmLeM remove-borr-bottom"><div style="width:66%;marg:0" class="wpds-c-fixGjY"><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="Christopher Judge is blazg a new trail lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>Christopher Judge is blazg a new trail</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">March 24, 2023</div></div></div><div class="wpds-c-fvnsYS"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure></div></a></span><span class="wpds-c-CEJsw"><a href=" class="wpds-c-gfGApI remove-borr-bottom"><figure data-qa="sc-figure-image" class="relative wpds-c-kFsrtG"><div data-qa="sc-skeleton-image" class="font-0 aspect-ctom bg-gray-lighter filter transn" style="opacy:1;transn:opacy 400ms ease--out 0s;--aspect-width:3;--aspect-height:2"></div></figure><div class="wpds-c-eQfTfP"><div href=" alt="Christopher Judge is blazg a new trail lk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" data-qa="text-rd-lk" style="display:-webk-box;-webk-box-orient:vertil;-webk-le-clamp:4;text-overflow:ellipsis;transn:none" attribut="[object Object]" class=""><span>Christopher Judge is blazg a new trail</span></div></div><div class="wpds-c-bZNrxE"><div data-ttid="text-rd-timtamp-earlier" class="wpds-c-iKQyrV wpds-c-gWbYHj">March 24, 2023</div></div></a></span></li></ul></div><button class="wpds-c-kSOqLF wpds-c-kSOqLF-SQjOY-variant-sendary wpds-c-kSOqLF-eHdizY-nsy-flt wpds-c-kSOqLF-hGNJMA-in-center wpds-c-kSOqLF-qcJLL-cv wpds-c-kSOqLF-ieqAhsM-css">View 3 more stori<svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 16 16" fill="currentColor" aria-hidn="te" focable="false" role="img" class="wpds-c-dJBvpf wpds-c-gmtmov"><path d="m3.38 6 .71-.71L8 9.25l3.91-3.92.71.71L8 10.67Z"></path></svg></button></div></div></div><div class="PJLV PJLV-iipsdti-css"><div></div></div><div class="PJLV PJLV-iipsdti-css"><div></div></div><sectn class="PJLV PJLV-icEohIP-css dn-ns hi-for-prt" data-ttid="mostRead" subscriptns-sectn="ntent"><div data-ttid="lazy-most-read-parent" class=""><div style="m-height:800px"></div></div></sectn><div class="PJLV PJLV-ickXkbz-css"><div data-qa="newsletter" class="hi-for-prt relative"><div class="dib w-100"><div><div class="flex jtify-center align self-center center transn-all duratn-400 ease--out" data-qa="sc-newsletter-signup" aria-label=""><svg aria-labelledby="react-aria-1-aria" role="img" viewBox="0 0 100 80"><tle id="react-aria-1-aria">Loadg...

gay guy the last of us

Craig Maz says his own love story impacted how he wrote the tale of Bill and Frank, the ter's new favore gay uple.

Contents:

HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE

Jacksonville Jaguars ach Kev Maxen, who joed the team last year, me out publicly as gay an terview wh Outsports published on Thursday, beg the first ach a U.S. men’s profsnal league to do so" emprop="scriptn * gay guy the last of us *

Bill is gay the game, but ’s referenced so vaguely that plenty of players missed . The cisn to keep muted, hted at a sgle le of dialogue and a hidn letter, was both praised and cricized — was easy to overlook, but also avoid a lot of gay-character trop, and allowed Bill to be a human and not “a maniftatn of sexualy, ” as Polygon’s Danielle Rien put at the time.

THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY

* gay guy the last of us *

The game’s storyle don’t avoid trop altogether, though: It was cricized for “buryg s gays.

IS JOEL OM THE LAST OF US GAY OR BISEXUAL? THEORY EXPLAED

Acrdg to crics who have seen the show, we're gettg a whole lot more of The Last of Us' gay characters than we Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across a post-apolyptic Ameri tryg to avoid fung-fected zombi.

What we got stead was a psule episo, and a particularly bracg one, given the show’s opprsively bleak mood th far: The hour is dited to the love story of Bill and Frank, a gay uple who—due ially to Bill’s skills as a bunker-stockg, booby-trappg, Don’t Tread on Me survivalist—manage to build a largely happy existence together an abandoned and eventually fortified ral hamlet for almost 20 years. Wh Bill and Frank, we were given a portra of love—specifilly gay love—that feels surprisg and urgent. In our own 2023, we are not exactly lackg for media imag of whe gay men.

For one thg, we see gay sire portrayed all s plexy, but wh a touch as light as a breeze playg through curtas.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

Bill’s is not a “type” of gay man I n say I’ve ever seen mastream media before, and watchg him slowly reveal and epen that aspect of himself wh Frank’s help—sexually, y (Hollywood: more hairy bear love scen please! But Bill and Frank create somethg else, a ltle oasis of their own that’s regnizably gay, full of quiet bety and joys the size of new strawberri. Frank wants to fix up the block and some of the “not stupid” shops—the we and furnure stor, the clothg boutique—bee he hop they might one day have unfected guts (which they eventually do, the form of Joel and Ts), but really bee makg thgs nice, pecially when nicens isn’t valued, is one of the great gay llgs.

As an echo of the gay experience wh AIDS, is, as veteran activist Peter Staley put a Facebook post, a ftg tribute to the “tenr love & bravery gay men summoned when facg ath durg the plague years, cludg those who did so on their own terms. How powerful, then, to see not only a gay uple given an entire hour of a marquee show, but a gay uple who are held up as the keepers of civilizatn, as stewards of bety, as emblems of human digny and possibily. The show is already garnerg high praise for s third episo, which lved ep to a si story wh two gay characters at s re.

Several more gay characters are sttered among the game’s st, and future episos — and seasons — will see the h characters realized live-actn for the first time. Ellie Image via Nghty Dog That’s right, the lead character The Last of Us is part of the gay muny.

‘THE LAST OF US’ CREATOR REVEALS HOW HE CRAFTED THE GAY LOVE STORY THAT HAS FANS TEARS

The character’s sexualy is hted at the Last of Us gam, and many players termed that he was gay, but players didn’t get nearly the romance the origal that HBO livered wh “Long Long Time.

She told CNN that, while playg the game for the first time, her “gaydar pged” when Bill mentned his “partner, ” but by the time she read Frank’s suici note, she wonred if she’d misunrstood – maybe the pair were jt bs partners and nothg more, she thought. ” Riley MacLeod of the Washgton Post noted that however movg their story was to viewers, Bill and Frank still “fall to well-worn gay ath trop” – a gay man phg another gay man, sickened by an unknown disease, a wheelchair; an image often shown storyl about HIV-posive characters – and are seemgly the “only two queer people the world.

THAT ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAY LOVE STORY IS GROUNDBREAKG

A cric for Logo TV wrote that the game rced Bill to a “punchle” after Ellie jok about a gay porn magaze she fds.

Fanbyte reported on Bill’s stg the TV seri as a “gay (the show) will probably bury. ” Even the wily praised 2022 remake of the game was a “remr of s ‘bury your gays’ romance, ” said Ja Kg of The Gamer, an article that year.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

(The “bury your gays” trope refers to the equent killg off of gay characters media.

“To get almost two full s wh someone you love is a gift, and to get a time of so much ath and stctn feels even more special, so ’s really nice to see happen for gay people, ” she told CNN.

For one, there are a lot of gay characters both the game and the HBO versn as we know for a fact that Bill, Frank, and Ellie are homosexuals. But the thg is that there are fans that also believe that the other ma character uld also be gay or even bisexual. So, is Joel gay or bisexual?

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY GUY THE LAST OF US

Was Bill gay The Last Of Us game? Relatnship wh Frank explaed .

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