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Kaitlyn Dever's Last of Us character won't be a muscle mommy & Sapphics everywhere meltdown

Kaitlyn Dever's ‘Last of Us’ character won't be a muscle mommy & Sapphics everywhere are booing

Abby in the last of us game and series
Courtesy of Naughty Dog; HBO

Show co-creator Neil Druckmann explains why the actress didn't bulk up for the role of Abby — and Sapphics are calling shenanigans.

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For many a Sapphic fan ofThe Last of Usvideogame series the character of Abby who makes, well, quite an entrance in the sequel game, was the root of their Muscle Mommy obsession.

The character, who serves as the antagonist — at least initially — in the game, was highly controversial for many reasons, some plot-wise which we won't spoil here, and others for much more absurd reasons regarding her body type and the fanboy outrage over it.

In a nutshell, Abby is buff as hell and those muscles did not comport with the extremely narrow view of cis male neckbeard beauty standards. This outrage included bizarre YouTube breakdowns over the realism of her muscle mass, homophobic screeds, and culminating with death threats being sent to the game creator Neil Druckmann and voice cast when the game was first released.

Now, with the second season of the beloved HBO headed to our screens this year, audiences will be introduced once again to Abby, this time played by Kaitlin Dever. While the actress certainly has the chops and the range to bring Abby to life the immediate question in fans' minds when this casting was announced was whether or not she was going to be able to embody the character's musclebound physique.

Well, we know the answer now, and Sapphics everywhere are bummed.

Speaking withEntertainment Weekly Druckmann opened up about the casting of Dever and why she wouldn't be bulking up for the role. “We would've struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role,” Druckmann explains. “In the game, you have to play both characters [Ellie and Abby] and we need them to play differently. We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around, and Abby was meant to play more like Joel in that she's almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things. That doesn't play as big of a role in this version of the story because there's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it,” he began.

“I personally think that there is an amazing opportunity here to delve into someone who is perhaps physically more vulnerable than Abby in the game, but whose spirit is stronger,” series co-creator Craig Mazin added. “And then the question is, ‘Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest?’ That's something that will be explored now and later.”

While all that sounds fine enough and the first season and its derivations as well — Bill and Frank’s expanded love story in particular — the duo has earned some goodwill with the fans. Still, Sapphics can’t help but be a bit disappointed not to get another muscle mommy on screen.

Keep scrolling for some of our favorite reactions.

"So no muscle mommy??"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOO PUSSIES"

"tired of the muscular women erasure in media"

"we need more butch lesbians !!!!"

"B-But i want buff women"

"Translation: HBO didn't agree with my fetishes"

"Nah just admit it, Neil; you caved to the criticism and memes we all know that’s why"

"Here take em. I don't need then anymore anyway"

"An angel lost its wings."

The Advocates with Sonia BaghdadyOut / Advocate Magazine - Alan Cumming and Jake Shears

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Rachel Shatto

EIC of PRIDE.com

Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.

Rachel Shatto, Editor in Chief of PRIDE.com, is an SF Bay Area-based writer, podcaster, and former editor of Curve magazine, where she honed her passion for writing about social justice and sex (and their frequent intersection). Her work has appeared on Dread Central, Elite Daily, Tecca, and Joystiq. She's a GALECA member and she podcasts regularly about horror on the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network. She can’t live without cats, vintage style, video games, drag queens, or the Oxford comma.