Vulpes and Arcade Plushies

Look what The Last Kiss Of Damaris made for me!!! Are these not the cutest Fallout: New Vegas plushies ever? Arcade's expression is just so him. And I wanted an uncharacteristically-happy Vulpes Inculta, and there we are.

Excuse me while I go Kermit-flail.

PAX East 2012 Overview

The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is a cool place. It has animal art installations. Like this horse.

And some really big animal art installations. Like this giraffe.














And this year it hosted a really big games installation called PAX East.

This is PAX East.

Well, actually, it's the showroom floor, where all types and sizes of games are on display, from indie to blockbuster studio productions -- most of them future releases yet to be touched by the unwashed masses.

But touch them you can! You can play demos on the showroom floor. You can go over to the LAN and play computer games with top of the line NVIDIA tech.

Do I know what that tech does? No. Did Battlefield 3: Close Quarters look and play awesome? Yes! I got more kills than I usually do playing BF3 Team Deathmatch.

Prefer tabletop gaming? PAX has you covered.

They've got the tables and the games. Bring your crew or meet up with people there.

If it's a type of game, it's at PAX.

But say you're tired of gaming, and bored with all the chances for obtaining swag from the various companies. Say you want to craft something. And you don't want to pay for it.

Well, here are some tables where you can paint something and take it for free.

I don't know what they were - I saw the table from one of the ceiling cross-walks and I never got back to it on the floor. But I liked the concept.

Some of the upcoming games had giant displays. This one let you climb inside and experience getting attacked by Alien's alien. It didn't move or anything. But it looked pretty convincing.

Speaking of moving and convincing:

This Big Daddy's drill arm actually worked! He and his Little Sister were impressive.

In fact, all the costumes in Irrational Games' contest were impressive, as were the cosplayers walking around the convention. Fans put a lot of time, effort and love into their costumes, and it showed.

You don't have to wear a costume to PAX, of course, but if you do attend in one, expect admiration and frequent photo requests.

Where were we? Oh yes.

Other game displays showed only a mysterious front. You had to wait in line for the chance to see inside.

Umm...yeah. Should probably mention that a lot of your time is spent waiting in lines at PAX. It's not surprising. Each game station, each panel room, only contains a finite amount of space and there are a millionbillion people who want to occupy it. Maybe not that many. But you get the idea.

For a chance at the games, you have to wait. For a chance at attending a panel, you have to wait. And for popular panels, you have to get there ahead of time--possibly hours ahead--to make sure you're in the part of the line that fits in.

Had I mentioned that there are panels? Yes, you can not only play games, you can attend panels on games and learn about all sorts of aspects of the game industry.

One intrepid soul actually filmed the Plot vs. Play panel, which was one of the best panels ever (in my fan-girl opinion), and put it up on YouTube. (I already posted it on my blog.)

My favorite panel room was the (nyan) Cat Theatre. 

(This still makes me smile. I am easily amused.)

Here we watched the original Fallout: Nuka Break fan film plus the entire first season of its web series.

They have a Kickstarter running to fund a second season, if you'd like to help out.

A Q&A panel followed, with the cast, creators, and Chris Avellone (who has been intimately involved with Fallout through several apocalypses and whose Obsidian Entertainment created Fallout: New Vegas).

I include this shot (from before the panel started) because you can see Chris Avellone is wearing a PIP-Boy!

It's a totally cool prop and was made especially for him.

Are you all properly jealous yet? ;)

One final observation: You remember the unwashed masses I referred to at the beginning? Attending PAX can mean you run the risk of catching PAX Plague. There always seems to be some type of super-flu which someone inadvertently brings along with them. And it has a very good time. I believe everyone I knew came down with some form of it. Including me. But it was a small price to pay for one of the most fun-filled weekends I've ever had.

PAX East 2012: Plot vs Play panel

Here are Ken Levine (Bioshock), Chris Avellone (Fallout: New Vegas), and David Gaider (Dragon Age) speaking about the importance of writing, plot, and game mechanics.

Yet more Vulpes and Arcade Freeside fanart

:Boys-Love Warning: Vulpes/Arcade by *doubleleaf on deviantART

I commissioned this What Happens In Freeside-esque image from doubleleaf on dA. It hasn't even been up 24 hours and it's already gotten over 11,000 views! This is due to her skill as an artist, of course.

But I have gotten emails from readers saying they read my fanfic before playing New Vegas, and are now playing the game because of me. I've also received emails saying my fanfic has deepened players' experience of New Vegas.  This all fills me with warm fuzzies and makes me very happy.  Fallout: New Vegas was the first game to make me a Total Fan Girl and I am so pleased to be able to pass that obsession on to others.

Don't know what any of this is about? Read the fic or GO BUY THE GAME!

My Theory on How Sherlock Survived *Spoilers*

If you haven't seen season 2 of the BBC's Sherlock, don't read this. Unless you like spoilers.






*spoilers*








*spoilers*








*spoilers*












Okay, this is my theory of how Sherlock survived the fall from the building in The Reichenbach Fall:






He never jumped.

We see John get out of the taxi, and Sherlock directs him to stand in a certain place and look up and says he's on the roof. So when John looks up, he would assume the figure on the roof is the one he's talking to on the phone.

Sherlock also tells John specifically to keep his eyes on him. Which means there is something elsewhere that John cannot see for the trick to work. 

I'm guessing Sherlock is on the roof of a building nearby, perhaps behind John. That is where the confrontation with Moriarty took place.

The other rooftop is where Sherlock arranged with Molly - when he asked her for help earlier - to have Molly standing with a body from the morgue of Sherlock's approximate height and weight (it wouldn't have to be perfect, the angle from ground to rooftop would skew perspective) and dressed in Sherlock's clothing.

On Sherlock's signal (he could do an arm wave, since John can't see him), Molly would drop/push the body off the ledge and splat.

Then that bike-rider (part of Sherlock's network) knocks into John as he runs to the corpse, not only delaying him so a crowd has gathered and he can't actually touch the corpse, but the rider has injected him with project H.O.U.N.D stuff (borrowed from Mycroft? since he owes Sherlock) so John is bleary and disoriented when he gets to his feet. And then sees precisely what he expects to see, what he most fears when he catches a glimpse of the corpse.

And then Molly can do the paperwork to say it's Sherlock in the morgue now, sign him officially dead.

That's how I think Moffat & Gatiss did it. 

Canon Shippiness with Sherlock and John

Interview with Chris Avellone

This is an excellent interview with Chris Avellone, wherein he discusses how Fallout: New Vegas and its DLCs were created - the steps designers go through, etc., things he's learned in the industry - such as not to foreshadow future games as they did in Knights of the Old Republic 2 since 3 was never made, and how to break into the industry - example: being a modder with an extremely popular download rank is a plus.

You also learn some cool trivia, like Chris A. wrote Lanius and Rose of Sharon Cassidy, and he attended William & Mary and Virginia Tech.

Sexy Marks & Sparks Commercial

Thoughts on Skyrim and Dragon Age

Welcome to Skyrim. This place probably needs no introduction amongst my readers, right? We're all bleary-eyed from having stayed up too late playing the latest in the Elder Scrolls franchise.

My fella asked if I was riding a draft horse and I proceeded to tell him about how Skyrim horses are sturdy and built for endurance because of the local terrain etc etc. He asked how I knew all this. I told him I'd been living in Skyrim for a while now.

So you can take it as read that I love Skyrim. Even though the giant Frostbite Spiders are entirely too realistic.

You do not want to see that thing charging at you - first person point of view, mind!

Of course, it's worse when they sneak up on you. Turn around and WHAM there's a giant spider IN YOUR FACE.

I hear there's a No-Spiders mod for PC players. I'm a PS3 player, so I'm stuck with 'em. Solution? Temporarily turn gameplay to "Novice" and hit 'em with a Dwarven Battle Axe. Results in minimum amount of spider face-time.

As realistic as Skyrim is, I must admit I felt more You Are There in Rage.

Rage feels like you're holding a video camera in front of your face. You're literally right there.

So glad that game didn't have spiders.

Some of my friends criticized Rage's role-playing aspect. I was lenient on that because it's listed as a First Person Shooter, and that's really what it is. A First Person Shooter with Talking.

Because my friends are correct, the role-playing aspect is weak - you don't get to know anyone very well considering what they want you to do for them; you risk your life on the slimmest acquaintance and you choose sides without much inquiry on your part. One of my friends diagnosed the player character as "pants-on-head-stupid."

I was reminded of this when playing one of the quests in Skyrim. My only option to get the quest moving forward again was... well, I said to my screen, "What? Am I pants-on-head-stupid?"

And it struck me that many of the criticisms that were leveled at Rage are valid against Skyrim as well. You risk your life on the slimmest acquaintance. You're asked to choose sides before knowing much about either.

But what really gets me is the lack of dialogue options. I know things. And yet there are no options to tell anyone. I know the identity of a secret Thalmor agent. Obviously I must be able to tell someone at some point. But why wouldn't I tell them now?

That's a small frustration, though. I think my biggest criticism of Skyrim is that we don't get to know anyone very well. And this is important, because Skyrim IS a Role-Playing Game.

I want to know - and like - the characters I'm fighting for. For me, what differentiates a Role-Playing Game from other genres is the emotional investment. I expect there to be a story and I want to feel something because of my role in that story.

This was something Dragon Age 2 did spectacularly. I care about all the people in my party. I feel for them, and I want them to like me. Especially Fenris and Anders. (cough, cough)

Which brings up ROMANCE. Nobody does romance like the Dragon Age team. There's flirting and witty dialogue and it's genuinely fun.

Sidebar - have you seen the sexy cutscenes in Dragon Age Origins? Those were awesome!! Why don't other games do this? Why didn't Dragon Age 2 do this? I expect sexy cutscenes in Dragon Age 3!! Developers, take note!!

Back to romance in Dragon Age 2:  However you feel about romancing Anders and how that complicates your response to Anders' actions - the point is that you do feel it. Your emotions are invested in this game.

I don't feel anything about anyone in Skyrim. (Except my horse. Anyone kills my horse, I hit reload save.)

Currently there is nothing stopping this Dragonborn from saying, y'know, y'all are about as inviting as this place, which is unrelentingly snowy and cold, and Alduin actually sounded pretty intelligent so I'm having a moral crisis over slaying all these rare beasts, therefore I'm riding south in search of a beach. Good luck with whatever.

After all, I've got plenty of reading material - Cats of Skyrim, Thief of Virtue. Maybe I'll stop in Cyrodiil and see if they can find a copy of Hard in Hightown for me.

What Happens In Freeside Available as PDF or Mobi

Yes, I have converted What Happens In Freeside Stays (the first story in the What Happens In Freeside fanfic universe) to pdf and mobi (for Kindle readers). Just scroll to the bottom of the Books page on my website and there it is. Enjoy!

For those of you who don't know, this is a male/male romance between Vulpes Inculta and Arcade Gannon of Fallout: New Vegas. It is fan fiction. It is full of derp. And fanged fluffiness. And is sorta kinky because it was inspired from a prompt on the Fallout kinkmeme. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I definitely recommend you avoid it if it doesn't sound fun to you.

Dogs of Fallout: New Vegas' Playing Cards

I love how Lupa gets her own card.

Queen, no less!

Although since women aren't allowed to have positions of power in the legion, I guess it's pretty telling that they have to go to a dog for the Queen card. Gives you some insight into that faction.

Also - Rex!

Solving Bioshock Cats on National Cat Day

Today, October 29, is National Cat Day and to celebrate I shall share with you a partial SOLUTION to the BIOSHOCK Cats Mystery.

Including cats for the player to discover actually IS a game-within-the-game.

While it is still unknown who originally designed the black-and-white cat and put him/her in the original Bioshock, all the level designers of Bioshock 2 participated in finding fun places to stash kitties. And...

We have Steve Gaynor to thank for putting NAMED cats in Minerva's Cave.
All Hail Steve!!

There are THREE cats - one for each level of Minerva's Cave. The names of each feline honor someone important to the development of computing - which is of course very important in the Cave storyline. I found Babbage and Turing, you may remember.

Armed with this information, I set about to find the third kitty on my second playthrough - and discovered:

Lovelace

According to Wikipedia, Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace is recognized as the World’s First Computer Programmer, having written the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine.

For whose computer did she write this? Charles Babbage’s.

Babbage called her the Enchantress of Numbers and wrote of her in his Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864):

I then suggested that she add some notes to Menabrea's memoir, an idea which was immediately adopted. We discussed together the various illustrations that might be introduced: I suggested several but the selection was entirely her own. So also was the algebraic working out of the different problems, except, indeed, that relating to the numbers of Bernoulli, which I had offered to do to save Lady Lovelace the trouble. This she sent back to me for an amendment, having detected a grave mistake which I had made in the process.

Fun facts:
 - Ada was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron.
 - The computer language Ada created by the US Department of Defense is named after her.
 - The British Computer Society awards a medal in her name.
 - There is a movement to have an Ada Lovelace Day (which this year was October 7).

I didn't know any of that, so I am now a better informed person because of Bioshock's dead cats.  :)

Many thanks and virtual cupcakes to Steve for allowing me to interview him on the subject of virtual kitties. He's a wonderful fellow and you can follow his tumblr and his twitter.

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Vulpes + Veronica = ?

A while back I saw a prompt on the Fallout kmeme to write Vulpes/Veronica and took it as a challenge to see if it could be done and still stay true to the characters' motives and persuasions.

The result was THIS.

In the ensuing discussion of the fic on the kmeme, I hypothesized how the child of a union between Vulpes and Veronica would look.

And a gloriously wonderful anonymous artist drew me this.

I shared it elsewhere already, and - as part of my realization that I've missed posting a bunch of Fallout artwork - I'm posting it here too.

If the artist would like to identify him/herself, I would be more than glad to post credits and links.

Set Sail For Horror

I commissioned Francesco Francavilla for something Lovecraftian with cats

and this is the fabulous, wickedly brilliant picture he created for me!!!

So I thought I'd share it with you, since it is Halloween-time.

You can commission him, too, by the way.

And follow him on Twitter.

Vulpes and Arcade Art Additional

you can't rock legion clothes by *Mikkynga on deviantART

Let me try it on by ~Sa-Di-Ka on deviantART

Somehow I missed posting these earlier. Are they fantastically awesomesauce or what? 

Much love to the artists!!!

I love Shaun Dingwall

Shaun Dingwall.

This man:

Is following me. OMG

I am preserving this brief, shining moment, because I'm certain he will unfollow soon - 

once he realizes how utterly boring I really am. 

That's a new type of anxiety, isn't it? Someone you like and respect follows you on Twitter or Tumblr and immediately you worry that whatever you post is unworthy and will result in unfollows. 

Does that happen to you guys?

Vulcade Rules

I love Chris Avellone. Seriously. He is the coolest dude.

And I shall now believe in my heart of hearts that Vulpes/Arcade is canon.

(FYI: The link in the above tweet I sent goes to THIS post)

Everything is Vulcade and nothing hurts!! You would not believe the squeee-ing and flailing of fan-girl arms that accompanied receiving this tweet. I was super-euphoric for the rest of the night. *dancing*

New Vulpes and Arcade Artwork!

This splendiferous, fabulous, totally awesome piece of What Happens In Freeside Stays Vulpes/Arcade art was created by ROUTA.

Go watch her tumblr because she ROCKS!!

Jake Gyllenhaal of Brokeback Mountain

Bioshock Dead Cats

I'm playing Bioshock (the first one) on my PS3. I'm trotting around. Shooting stuff. Evolving. Y'know how it is.

And I notice there are a lot of dead cats strewn about the place.

Not in piles or anything. And not gory, either. In fact, unlike the people, they look completely fine. Like they just tipped over and fell asleep. There's generally one per floor/section of each area, so if you scavenge--and I scavenge like a boss thanks to Fallout New Vegas--you're going to find a bunch of them.

They're never labelled "cat." If any word comes up at all when you put your reticle thing on them, it just says "corpse."

So I started to think, I wonder if one of the game's developers likes cats. Maybe has a cat like that. Because it's one specific black & white cat.

I can totally see someone sticking their own cat in a game. Probably because it's the sort of thing I'd do. (I did put my pug in a book, after all.)

So as I was sitting through the credits--yes, I sit through all credits, film ones, game ones. What? They're cool.

Anyway, I was sitting through the credits and I saw one fellow thanked his wife and his cats.

The quotes weren't attributed, but I totally want to ask this person if they are responsible for the prevalence of cats in Bioshock.

And thank him for a job well done.  :)