#also gay person loves new vegas SHOCKER!!

[pinkeoni]

And now, for no reason in particular, in no way related to anything on my blog at all, here is a long ramble about sexuality in Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout: 4

So in Fallout: New Vegas there is the option to control your characters sexuality, something that was fairly revolutionary at the time the game came out in 2011. The perks Black Widow and Lady Killer allow +10% damage along with unique dialogue options for the opposite sex, and Cherchez la Femme and Confirmed Bachelor offer the same bonus but for the same sex. The player has to option to chose one or both of these perks, and they both become available fairly early in gameplay. I usually pick both perks for the added damage bonus, although since Fallout is for an intents and purposes a roleplaying game, I like to imagine that my player character is a lesbian and is only flirting with men in order to get ahead.

Along with the fact that you can make your character gay, bisexual, or what have you, there are also a few gay characters within the game. The companions Arcade Ganon and Veronica are a gay man and lesbian respectively. There are a few other NPCs that have dialogue acknowledging their queerness.

The one thing that I wish that NV did have was the ability to romance companions. Imagine me, with my ancient HP laptop burning my lap, exhausting every one of Veronica's dialogue options trying to see if I can date her but to no avail. You can actually flirt with Ganon if you are a male character with the Confirmed Bachelor perk, although the interaction does not go farther than that. You can have sex with same sex prostitutes, but there's no cutscene. If I pay 300 caps for some hanky panky, then I wanna see it!

So when I found out that you could romance companions in Fallout: 4, I was beyond excited.

In F:4 you can romance most companions regardless of gender, effectively making any of the romancable companion bisexual by default. You can also romance any number of companions at the same time, meaning you could have one big bisexual polyamorous relationship if you wanted to (the companions cannot date each other and are all connected to you, but the choice to have multiple partners is still there.

Bisexual polyamory sounds very progressive, and I don't think that that shouldn't be acknowledged, but even without the romance options, NV feels like the gayer game.

The thing about the romance options in 4 is that it doesn't seem to address identity. All of these characters are bisexual by default, but (as far I have seen from reviews and from my own experience playing) the characters don't ever acknowledge queerness as an identity. If I'm a female player character romancing a female companion, there isn't any dialogue acknowledging the fact that we are both women (in fact from what I've read, the dialogue is the same regardless if you are a man or woman, with only the pronouns being changed). Furthermore, the perks that you can choose that controls the characters sexuality are not there. Black Widow and Lady Killer are still there, although their same-sex counterpart perks are not available.

What I like about the perks in NV is the fact that player identity is not only something that has to be imagined behind the screen, but it becomes a facet within the game that influences the game and is acknowledged. Not only with sexuality, but gender is a factor in the role play as well. There are a few characters who acknowledge through dialogue that my character is a woman.

In 4 you are given a backstory as a spouse in an opposite-sex marriage with a new baby, superimposed into a heterosexual relationship right off the bat. This is opposed to NV where you play as a glorified mail carrier with amnesia that you can project a backstory onto. In 4 the game starts off with your spouse essentially being literally "fridged" (no literally, they die inside of a cryochamber) and your baby is kidnapped which triggers the main plot of the game. I guess this could be subversive if the player character is a woman, but that's only the player chooses to be a woman. Context clues points to the game assuming that the player is a man, what with the male player character voicing the opening narration of the game, along with being the defaulted gender option in the character creation screen. I think that choosing to play as a woman creates a much more compelling narrative, although the game never acknowledges this so it's mostly up to the player to infer this narrative themselves. (Again, gender is only brought up through pronouns) I would say that maybe the game is trying to offer commentary on the nuclear family household, although the problem doesn't rely on the family itself but the war and outsiders are the ones who destroyed it while the family itself was perfectly healthy.

You would think that being a newly widowed spouse would have some impact on the romance aspect of the game, especially if you are engaging with a same sex partner after previously being with a partner of the opposite-sex. Which isn’t to say that people in heterosexual relationships can’t also be interested in the same-sex or that people in marriages can’t be engaged in a healthy open relationship, and I do like that the game includes this option at all, although (and again, this is to my knowledge) this doesn't seem to get a mention when dealing with the romance. The dead spouse only really makes an impact on the main storyline of the game, and similarly, the romance aspect doesn't seem to effect this aspect at all.

F:4 tries to have an established backstory while also trying to give the player the same freedom of role play that its had in previous games, but these two player identities just end up running parallel to each other rather than working together. You can make choices in the game that seems to contradict your backstory without it ever being addressed. This could maybe make for an interesting story, but (and once again, as much as I have played and seen) there doesn't seem to be any internal conflict between the player character's past and what they decide to do for the run of the game.

While all of the romancable companions are effectively bisexual by the nature of the gameplay, bisexuality or queerness in any capacity isn't recognized as an identity and operates more on just a cosmetic level. Not that a character would have to explicitly state that their label in order for it to be valid, but it doesn't add anything to their character in the same way that it does for Ganon and Veronica from NV. These two never say "I am a gay man" or "I am a lesbian" in that exact way but their identities have an impact on their character and how they interact with the player. Veronica in particular had a girlfriend in her past that wasn't approved of by the strictly conservative Brotherhood of Steel that she belongs to.

"So you want homophobia in your video games? This is a post-apocalyptic society, who cares about who dates who!" and to be fair sexuality in Fallout society does seem to be far more lenient in both NV and 4, which makes sense considering the context. There aren't any marriage laws, and there's even a line suggesting that the male soldiers from the fascist Caesar regime are regularly mounting each other.

But still, Veronica experiencing that bit of homophobia from her past helps queer identity feel more realized rather than just an empty gesture from game devs for a few political correctness points, and can even be found as relatable to some of it's queer players. Veronica's story is about her desperately trying to save her conservative community, but comes to realize that the only way for her to live is to leave them behind. She's heartbroken to leave her family, but recognizes that she has to prioritize herself even if they aren't going to. The Brotherhood of Steel isn't a real organization, but that's definitely a real experience. If the Fallout games aim to offer commentary on real-world politics (which it definitely aims to do) then it isn't going to succeed if it's characters don't reflect real-world experiences.

Sorry if this comes off as me railing on F:4, I actually greatly enjoy the game and have probably sunk more hours into it than NV (which is partially due to my PS4 actually being functional and the laptop I have that plays NV has been on its last legs for years now) and I do greatly enjoy the characterization of the companions, even if I wish that their queer identities made more of an impact. NV, on the other hand, is one of my favorite games of all time.

So that's my whole spiel. Doesn't have anything at all to do with anything else on my blog whatsoever. Completely unrelated.

[love-laika]

It’s game of the year season seemingly wherever I go now, so I thought it might be interesting to think about what my personal GOTYs would be for every year of my life that I’ve had them.

1996-2002: family did not own any video games, except maybe my dad had Tony Hawk 2 for his old computer at some point? It was a long time ago

2003: the year I got my Gameboy advance (silver). I had one game that I played all year and it was Super Mario World still love that game its probably my most played game of all time

2004: would you believe that Half-Life 2, Katamari Damacy, Burnout 3, and Metroid Prime 2 all came out this year? Anyways I didn't own any of those consoles. I had Pokemon fire red on a GBA SP and that backlight saved my childhood. Honorable mention: Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga

2005: it's Pokemon back-2-back baby. I asked my grandma for Leaf Green and instead she bought a different green (Emerald) game. Which like, thanks grandma and probably guy at target for that one. Over the next 2 years or so, I had two different save files, each with about 250 hours

2006: the year of the DS and I am at the point in my life where I have more than one non-Pokemon game a year to play. I basically lived in animal crossing wild world for that part of my life. I have distinct memories of me and my friends all piled into a minivan with that one. Honorable mention: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

2007: I was lucky enough to somehow get a Wii from my parents despite the fact that people were getting into fist fights over them. I could say Mario Galaxy or Zelda or Pokemon but nah, Need for Speed Carbon. My first racing game that for a short time made me obsessed with cars

2008: ok I'm going to cheat on this one because there are two games I can't not mention. Pre-PS3 acquiring GOTY is Guitar Hero 3 it's not even the best GH but it was the one I had and I played the shit out of it. Post-PS3 has to go to LittleBigPlanet because I was equally obsessed

2009: honestly tbh two of my favorite came out this year but I'm picking one. While Skate 2 is my second favorite skating game of all time (behind THPS2), Uncharted 2 wins this year. I'm now 13 and "plugged in" to the gaming scene and buy games as they come out!

2010: the year my parents got divorced!! I spent a lot of time avoiding things with video games. I now have my own PC that can kind of game. The first indie contender is Super Meat Boy! I also poured hours into Battlefield Bad Company 2 but the winner absolutely has to be a game from 2008. Fallout 3, while I acknowledge that New Vegas is superior in almost every way, is a game that sucked me in for over 200 hours that year. I was ready for the biggest disappointment in my whole life 5 years later (thanks Todd)

2011: I love LittleBigPlanet 2 and Minecraft to death but Portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 portal 2 po

2012: honestly, I don't remember fucking any of the major games released this year. I guess I played Borderlands 2? so fuck it, Team Fortress 2 is my GOTY for 2012

2013: it ain't Bioshock Infinite or GTA V that's for sure! My three faves from 2013 are, from bottom to top: Gone Home (everybody's favorite gay walking sim), Saints Row 4 (when SR5???), and The Last of Us (shocker right, who didn't pick that)

2014: as much as I loved Titanfall, I already feel a bit bad about shorting Brawl and Melee in the past. I put way more time into Smash for Wii U (and 3DS) than any fighting/party game. Still praying for that switch port because then it would be literally perfect

2015: my GOTY is Fuck Fallout 4 lmao. No but actually its Undertale because it’s fucking amazing, just sort of everywhere. Sorry Life is Strange, sorry Super Mario Maker, I'm still a Homestuck in my heart

2016: I've been so bad at playing games this year, I actually still have games from last year I want to finish (VA-11 Hall-A whoops). but god Titanfall 2 is so good, it’s a shame Respawn has had so much trouble finding financial success

2017: AND FINALLY, THIS YEAR will have to wait because im busy

[dopeintrovertstudent-blog]

Humanity ( for a class)

If you're interested in listening to a high school blog for a class that means total nonsense then stay tuned because shocker I don’t know what I’m talking about. Oh wow, you’re actually still reading we’ll as tell you what I’m writing about. Humanity the good and bad also our strengths and weakness. Humanity weakness well what is it, In my eyes it's our terrible ability to repeat ourselves over and over. One of our strength would be our problem (almost solving) skill I’ll get into that a little later. (History.com Staff. “Japanese American Relocation.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation ) In the 1940s America bombed in pearl harbor and in fear that it would happen again we imprisoned a lot Japanese and forced them to build us a railroad sound familiar during that same time(more violent and a lot more lives lost)imprisoned and enslaved the Jewish people, POC, LGBT and others, and Forced them into labor too. Now let’s shed a light on some bad things, around 1940, Let’s watch some good old TV oh my god what that on the TV its sexism(“Sexism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism). We as humanity (somewhat years later is that this applies to a few places) realized that sexism is really bad we at least attempted to fix it (we thought we had stopped the problem but sexism is like a cockroach just won’t die). Before I move on to the next one, I would like to say in regard to the families affected by this I mean no disrespect may your loved ones forever be in our prayers. Our repetitiveness to think that we need to make our hate for another caused many people's lives to be taken some young and some old, From Australia(Kembrey, Melanie. “Milad Bin Ahmad-Shah Al-Ahmadzai Jailed for 18 Years for Gay Nightclub Shooting”, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Feb. 2017,) to (Fantz, Ashley, et al. “49 Killed in Florida Nightclub Terror Attack.” CNN, Cable News Network, 13 June 2016), Orlando. So what if the body count for one maybe be higher that's not what we’re looking at we’re looking at how this tends to happen no matter if it's a nightclub or a concert in Las Vegas. And finally, because this is getting quite long,(Emmett Till.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/emmett-till-50751) Emmett Till at the age of 14 he was accused of whistling at Carolyn Ranyart, a white woman who was a cashier at a grocery store. For days later Till was kidnapped, beaten and shot in the head, The men that had done it (I believe it was Carolyn’s husband and brother) was trailed and found not guilty. (Buchanan, Larry. “What Happened in Ferguson?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Aug. 2014,) Michael Brown was (I understand that by using him from my case may not make sense but keep reading) an unarmed black male, that was shot while being unarmed (Unless there some other news source that says differently). I’m listing these young men, not because of the controversy that had sparked but what happened after, Emmett Till death was the “last straw” that in a way added more flame to the civil rights fire. Michael Brown years later death sparked the same things later. I used this because the terrible repeat of a having a young child's life taken away to spark or start a movement bad, Personal I’m a pretty passive person so by taking this route to get the job done or the “conversation started” is to me sad. To be clear I don’t mean to sound so 'know it all’, I’m only using the evidence presented in front of me. When I look out into to the world I see our strengths and weakness a little clear, Our repetitiveness and problem-solving. My main idea’s at times may seem all over the places but there is instead in my writing, I want’ed to you at least acknowledge that fact that we as humans tend to repeat ourselves to in some cases inflict pain and suffering for nothing. But where our faults lie we find an odd strength, The strength of finding those faults and attempting to fix them though sometimes not successful we still try. I always thought we as humanity have overcome many things but as my mom says "when we take one step forward, Somehow we end up taking three steps backward’’