When all video games are gay and bad
HBO’s The Last of Us improves on the game’s implied gay romance
Three episodes in, it’s clear that HBO’s The Last of Us is a constant adaptation of the unique video game from 2013 — so much so that lines and frames may have been pulled straight from the game. That’s not to express that there aren’t changes, though. Series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are making strategic adjustments to certain elements of the game for the new medium and to catch up to current sensibilities. The first of those changes was with Joel’s partner, Tess, and how her story ultimately came to an terminate in episode 2. Whether it was an improvement is debatable, but for a show dedicated to preserving the anatomy of the source material, it was notable.
The filmmakers made another major change in the third episode, and it’s one that is unequivocally for the better.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for the third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us and the original The Last of Us video game.]
Bill and Frank have been mentioned offhand a limited times over the past two episodes, referred to as collaborators in Joel and Tess’ smuggling sound. If you haven’t played The Last of Us, those names mean no
Disney seemingly has a lot of gay characters. But if someone asked me what I thought of Disney’s first openly lgbtq+ character, I’d only possess one thing to say: which one? ZING!
Disney is very fond of giving themselves a pat on the back for including the LGBTQ+ community in scenes of its major blockbusters. It’s become something of a meme in online spaces, particularly among queer TV/Film fans, who much like myself are unable to resist poking the billionaire company and it’s abysmal care when it comes to telling queer stories.
There’s an argument to be made that in reality homosexual fans shouldn’t care about Disney’s shit LGBTQ+ advocacy, and truly I realize it. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that no matter how much you aim and shove people towards smaller ‘indie’ LGBTQ+ creators, it won’t stop them from wanting better from the billionaire company they are ride-or-die for. It sucks, but that’s just how it is.
To further bully Disney in the hope of actually producing another movie that actually has great gay representation (hello Strange World), I’ve compiled a li
Looking Good
In the first episode of Looking,—HBO’s lovely new series about a organization of gay men living in San Francisco created by Michael Lannan and directed by Weekend’s Andrew Haigh—Patrick (Jonathan Groff), a video game designer, finds himself on a first date with an oncologist who never plays video games. The two are a horrible match, a circumstance compounded by Patrick’s nerves. As the date goes on, Patrick flirtatiously and a little misleadingly suggests that he’s not looking for anything serious, misreading his date’s intentions. The doctor, uptight and under the unkind first impact that Patrick is not quite wise or substantial enough for him, ends the date abruptly. Then, judgment implicit, he observes that Patrick had two glasses of wine to his one and splits the check proportionately.
Here we are, simultaneously in completely familiar and unfamiliar territory: the bad first date that is, also, the horrible, gay first date—and a bad, queer first date that is not the B storyline, will not be followed by scenes starring straight people, and does not film stereotypically campy queer men. This would be enough to justify Looking’s being on purely sociological gr
We pushed this ChatGPT game to the limits, but playing it the right way is more fun
Apparently, we all like playing god, and we all like doing it badly. I risk none of us thought that removing the ladder from our Sims’ pools was such a universal experience until it became a pretty popular meme, and it’s no secret that lots of mods are centered on adding, uh, explicit elements to games. So, naturally, when I started playing around with DeepGame, Utile Labs’ ChatGPT-based choose-your-own-text-adventure game, I insert my best sicko foot forward.
The game, which runs on ChatGPT and is available to anyone with an account, generates stories in a variety of genres. You initiate off with a command like “Play a romantasy story” or “Surprise me” and let the GPT do its thing — and despite my want to break the game, I initiate it much more enjoyable when I took it just a little more seriously.
DeepGame’s first response almost always begins with scene-setting followed by introducing you, the protagonist, as well as a few side characters and a clearly stated challenge or adventure. Then the game asks, “What do you perform next?”
Answering the interrogate is titillating, to say the least. There are no p
New York Times Bestseller
"This is a devastating publication, heartbreaking in how familiar and relatable each story is--yet there's power and solidarity in it, too." -- Shondaland
Edited and with an introduction by Roxane Gay, the New York Times bestselling and deeply beloved author of Horrible Feminist and Hunger, this anthology of first-person essays from writers including Gabrielle Union, Brandon Taylor, and Lyz Lenz tackles rape, assault, and harassment head-on. Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this collection both reflects the world we stay in and offers a call to arms insisting that "not that bad" must no longer be good enough.
In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling storyteller Roxane Gay collects first and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are "routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied" for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including performer