courier-finn - Tumblr blog

[courier-finn]

This show exceeded my expectation.

More sketches incoming, it's time to revive THE fandom.

[courier-finn]

the ghoul

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its incredible that for the whole game the protagonist manages to run over only one person

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the jerky man

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"I'm Walton Goggins, and I play The Ghoul. How about that?"

[courier-finn]

securitrons,,,,, my beloveds,,,

[courier-finn]

Thank you SO MUCH @the-laridian for commissioning me and for being so patient and kind! (and happy birthday!)

This is Laridian's courier of New Vegas, Gunnar Volk! You can check out his adventures by following the links on Laridian's page! :3

🔽Process shots/timelapse under the cut🔽

[courier-finn]

Fallout needs more weird and quirky companions. Take the following examples:

A raider who was kicked out of a gang for "not being like the other raiders" (i.e. he talks to animals and claim they can understand him - he "channels" the animals responses and pretends to speak as said animal)

A super mutant stand-up comedian wannabe whose jokes every single time without fail, always end with the punchline of a human brutally dying

A Mr. Handy bot who constantly makes veiled threats towards you regardless of how good/bad you are

A wasteland girl who writes tragic, post-apocalyptic love stories and self-insert fics (she often writes about "forbidden love" type relationships between humans and ghouls/mutants/robots)

An edgy ghoul who WANTS to turn feral because they're just that bored with being alive for so long

A pair of creepy identical twin brothers who dress up in cowboy outfits and speak in riddles with a Southern drawl. They count as "one" companion because they're always finishing off each other's sentences or talking at the same time. They are NEVER apart

[courier-finn]

In every mainline Fallout game except for New Vegas, players can earn the loyalty of a dog known as “Dogmeat.” As part of the main quest of Fallout 4, Dogmeat assists in tracking down the antagonist, even if the player has never encountered him before. When you leave Kellogg’s home, Nick simply starts talking about Dogmeat as if he’s a known quantity.

Perhaps related to this quirk of the world, Dogmeat is first named in this game when the clairvoyant Mama Murphy recognizes him and addresses him by name. The game’s UI calls him “DOG” until he is recognized by Valentine or Murphy. It seems clear that this german shepherd is somehow an independent agent with a good reputation, or something.

Dogmeat does not have a loyalty quest associated with him, which is how the player would earn the other companions’ perks. However, upon finding Astoundingly Awesome Tales #9 within the Institute, Dogmeat becomes more resistant to damage. While this isn’t coherent or conclusive evidence of Dogmeat being a synth, it’s plainly prompting the audience to consider that idea. In light of these factors, his origins have been fiercely debated among the community.

The skeptics and “hard sci-fi” fans out there would have you believe that he’s merely a famous stray dog who solves crimes. But I believe there's something more remarkable at work.

There's a section in the Fallout 2 instruction book called the Vault Dweller's Memoirs, where the player character of the first game recounts what canonically happened. Due to Fallout’s famously terrible companion AI, if you travelled to Mariposa with Dogmeat, he would consistently run into the force fields and get vaporized. So, in the Memoirs, we learn that this is exactly what became of Dogmeat Prime, in canon. He loyally sprinted into a wall of solid light, and disappeared. What if our buddy simply awoke in a new, confusing place?

In Fallout 2, Dogmeat must be found at the Cafe of Broken Dreams, which is explicitly a liminal space. It appears randomly to travellers in the desert. The NPCs within are frozen in time, such as a young version of President Tandi, who mentions that Ian went to “the Abbey,” an area cut from the game. To gain Dogmeat’s trust, the Chosen One must equip the Vault Dweller’s V-13 jumpsuit, which Dogmeat recognizes as belonging to his dead master. You can also attack him to spawn Mad Max, who claims ownership of the dog. Max fits the description of Dogmeat's original owner given in Fallout.

There’s also the “puppies” perk in Fallout 3, which enables you to restore Dogmeat, in the event of his death. “Dogmeat’s puppy” inherits his base and ref ids. In other words, they ARE the same NPC, just renamed. So, the way this actually articulates is that whenever Dogmeat dies in combat, you can find him waiting for you back at Vault 101. In practice, it’s almost Bombadilian.

Lastly, please consider the following developer context.

In June of 2021, the dog who performed Dogmeat’s motion capture and voice for Fallout 4 passed away. A statue of her was placed outside of every Vault in the China-exclusive sequel to Fallout Shelter. She still watches over each player.

River's owner, developer Joel Burgess, honored her in a brief thread about her involvement in the game, and shared much about his thought process and design goals while leading the character’s development. The Dogmeat project changed course early on, after Mr. Joel saw a new member of the art team gathering references of snarling German Shepherds. This motivated him to bring River into the studio, so the artists and developers could spend time with her.

He wanted to steer the team away from viewing Dogmeat as a weapon, and towards viewing him as a friend. Everything special about Dogmeat was inspired by River. For example, whenever you travel with Dogmeat, he’s constantly running ahead of you to scout for danger, then turning to wait for you. This was inspired by River’s consistent behavior on long walks. The only way they were able to motivate River to bark for recordings was by separating her from Joel while he waited in the next room. Reading the thread, it’s very clear that he hoped Dogmeat would make players feel safe, encouraging them to explore, and to wonder. In his closing thoughts, he said the following:

-Joel Burgess

Mr. Joel felt it was important to express that the ambiguity of Dogmeat’s origin in Fallout 4 was deliberately built into his presentation. He also felt it was important that you know Dogmeat loves you. Dogmeat was designed, on every level, to reflect the audience’s inspirations, and to empower their curiosity.

The true lore of Dogmeat is a rorschach test. The only “right” answer is to pursue whatever captures your imagination.

[courier-finn]

So....crazy that hes bisexual right

[courier-finn]

something i made a while ago, uploading bc fallout is back in town. dont mind the main blog signature 🥴

[courier-finn]

this is actually how blind betrayal went down

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Hello?

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jess

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"Back before I met you, I'd go whole days without massacring a bunch of things. Honest."

I love this man too much. I'd say send help, but it's too late for me. Save yourself.

[courier-finn]

Best character in fallout, period

PRINT

[courier-finn]