So, since I'm in a new place and I'm currently unpacking like a fiend. Because of all the stress of the move, plus unhappy family news, I've decided to keep the next scheduled posts light and silly. To that end...
Does anyone else ever develop very strange crushes? When I say strange, I mean on people that don't actually exist, be it in books, movies, or video games. Because I do... a lot. It's really quite embarrassing to admit, more so because I'm past thirty-years-old at this point, and it's still happening.
I know I'm not the only one. So, for the remainder of my pre-scheduled posts, I'll be profiling one of these crushes. These ones are all from video games. You get to explore my weird, weird brain.
So first up...
Joel, The Last of Us
He develops a close fatherly bond with Ellie, another character in game. In fact, this bond is really the only indication that there's anything remotely human left in him. It died, I think, with the murder of his young daughter at the onset of the plague that devastated humanity.
The fact of the matter is, Joel is a very complex, wonderfully written character who is actually quite a scary person, if you think about all the shit he's done just to stay alive. They allude to some of his darker moments in game, but because he's becomes so fiercely, heartwarmingly protective of Ellie, you find yourself empathising with him a great deal.
In the end, you even celebrate a decision he makes that is exceptionally selfish and may well just condemn the whole human race to slow, painful extinction.
Perhaps, quite tellingly, as a character in a video game. I love his darker side. I love the capable, cold killer side and how it exists in the same person as the warm, fatherly side. I love that the writers made him complex and more than - or less than - a stereotypical good guy.
As a "person," his protectiveness of his young charge makes my heart hurt, even if it ultimately it and his selfishness pretty much condemns humanity.
In short, in the event of a survival situation, I would want this brute on my team. Also, purely on a shallow level, this man is hawt! I mean, early fifties or not, I would...
For these reasons, Joel from The Last of Us is today's video game crush.
Agree? Disagree? Leave your opinions below!