HiscottiBiscotti

You are not compelled to form any opinion at all about this matter before you, not to disturb your peace of mind at all. Things in themselves have no power to extort a verdict from you.

Think about it for a second. This is a post-apocalyptic future where most knowledge of ancient civilizations has faded into obscurity. It's not gone, thanks to the efforts of the Followers and other factions, but even if you're a Follower you have to really go and look for it.

Now, our boy Edward here didn't just learn the broad strokes of Roman history - he's familiar with niche and intricate aspects of its political and military structure as well as its cultural practices. He knows the original meaning of "decimation". He knows the difference between a legate and a centurion. He knows the general appearance of a Roman legionary. And he knows Classical Latin, in its Classical pronunciation. Think how deep into the weeds you would have to look to find out that "Caesar" was actually pronounced "kye-sar" and not "seezer" like any English speaker would instinctively say it. And then how invested you would have to be that your whole army adopt this incredibly archaic pronunciation.

But the "et ketera" bit really takes this to the next level. "Et cetera" has been a common set phrase in the English language for centuries. It's not a fancy word from a long-dead language that Caesar exhumed from the depths of the Followers' archives. It's a regular part of casual speech that Caesar bothered to learn the etymology of and decided to retroactively apply the original pronunciation to. For no reason other than commitment to the bit.

This is not the approach of a scholar interested in learning the deep lessons of history. This is the borderline unhealthy obsession of a fanboy. He's the caricature of the teenage boy whose gateway into fascism is thinking a bit too much about the Roman Empire. An archetype that barely existed when FNV came out but has gotten awfully common since then. This game was really ahead of its time.

Mother - Fallout 4 fan art by Joel Kilpatrick

“Inspired by Fallout 4. For anyone who hasn’t played any Fallout games, feral ghouls are humans who were horribly irradiated in the nuclear war.

The radiation caused their brains to deteriorate, they are violent and have no ability to reason. But sometimes after killing one, you might find that they were carrying with them a baby rattle or some keepsake from their lives before.I always wonder if they get glimpses of loved ones and memories from their old lives. And if they retain any part of themselves from before.