Fun story, according to old Norse beliefs my companion animal is a red fox.
The old nordics believed individuals and families had protection spirits called fylgie (literally follower or companion) usually in the form of an animal for individuals and women/goddesses for families. They would protect you and act on your behalf.
If you see your own fylgie it is a death omen but other people who are close to you might be lucky enough to see your fylgie while you are asleep (and people gifted in magic might even see it while you’re awake) which of course means you’re unlikely to know what your fylgie is unless someone else sees it.
So how do I know mine is a red fox? When I was 4 years old my parents rented a cottage with some friends for their summer vacation. One evening they put me to bed and the adults arranged themselves in the living room in such a way that my parents could keep an eye on me while the others had their backs to the bedroom. They just sat around and chitchatted when my parents suddenly noticed a red fox in the bedroom with me! It calmly looked around, sniffed me and walked out of the cottage like it was the most normal thing in the world at which point my parents went “OH MY GOD THERE WAS A FOX IN THE ROOM WITH OUR DAUGHTER!!!!”
For the nervous among you, red foxes aren’t dangerous to humans. They don’t even hurt babies and certainly not a 4 year old. Rabies has been eradicated among red foxes in Northern Europe so they’re just allowed to do their thing so long as they don’t eat people’s chickens/rabbits. You know, just in case you were wondering why my parents didn’t freak the fuck out and yelled at the fox.
But yeah, you can be boring and say it was just a normal fox that found it’s way into my bedroom, but it is pretty cool how perfectly it fits with fylgie beliefs.
So keep that behind your ear, if people tell you they saw an unexpected animal near you while you were asleep you’ll know what your fylgie is.
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Veterinary Pain Management Industry To Grow Fastest in APAC
The veterinary pain management market will grow at a rate of 7.10% by the end of this decade, to touch USD 2.78 billion by 2030.
The growth of the industry is because of growing prevalence of musculoskeletal ailments, for example osteoarthritis, in animals, along with the increasing acceptance of livestock and companion animals.
Furthermore, the developments in the animal healthcare industry…
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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.
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Favorite Animal
What is your favorite animal?
Wolf Dog
This is the daily question in the WordPress January blog challenge. I myself would have to qualify this question before I could answer. As a wildlife photographer, I have my favorite wild animals, wolves, and bears in particular. However, nothing compares to the love of a dog when it comes to having a loyal friend to spend time with.
What is your favorite…
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