When Emme “Negaoryx” Montgomery spoke out about the harassment she endured following the dead bunnyThe Last of Usmeme, she revealed an easter egg in the game that was dedicated to that moment.
Negaoryx started streaming in 2016, and in 2019, she streamed a playthrough ofThe Last of Us. A wildly emotional game, she was already tense from the events of the previous chapter after Joel becomes incapacitated and unconscious from the pain, forcingEllie to care for them both. Then, the next chapter opens where Negaoryx’s viral meme begins, to a bunny in the snow. She says “that’s the cutest f***ing thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life” just before an arrow strikes and kills the rabbit.
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Negaoryx recently interviewed with Kotaku, opening up about what she’s endured since the clip went viral a year ago, as well as another Twitch clip of herplayingDead By Daylightthat also began circulating the internet. In that clip, someone in chat asks her an inappropriate question, and she proceeds to eloquently dissect that viewer’s level of immaturity. As this is an all too common behavior experienced by female streamers, it led to the interview with Kotaku.
The Last of Us Part 2is filled with a number of easter eggs, such as references to past Naughty Dog games andreferences to the originalLast of Usgame with Sam’s toy robot. But one easter egg that most fans look to have missed is the one based on Negaoryx’s dead rabbit meme. Negaoryx tells Kotaku that she recently got to interview the co-directors ofThe Last of Us 2, Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau, and they told her that a dead rabbit in the game is a direct reference to her.
There’s also a scene that shows Ellie looking out the window to a living rabbit in the snow, which might be a reference tothe same Winter chapter inTLOU, but that isn’t specifically related to Negaoryx, it seems.
Since Negaoryx’sLast of Usclip went viral, her voice and face have been pasted over the top of many other videos, such as a scene fromStar Wars Episode 3that implies Anakin cuts down a young Jedi boy. And though the clip has led to some good for Negaoryx, she’s also received mockery geared towards her gender, harassment, and even death threats from kids thinking she was reacting to games that appeal to children, likeMinecraft, for example.
But she feels more positive about her more recentDead By Daylightclip: “If I’m going to go viral for anything, I’m glad it’s something that absolutely is speaking to the way that women deserve to be treated, bare minimum,” Negaoryx says.
