If I see one more person talking about why the US can't just pass universal healthcare like the UK but can't tell me anything about Beveridge Report and it's purpose as a specific arm of the rebuilding process after the most devastating conflict in human history, I will fail my sanity check
The Creature from Frankenstein is not handsome.
I'm sorry to deflate a million fanart, but the descriptions in the text of Frankenstein go against the conception of him being handsome. For example, on the top of Chapter V, he is described as follows
His limbs were in proportion, and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful! Great God! His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips
"Beautiful" here is meant as a bit of irony, contrasting his intent of a handsome creating turning out like the horrific amalgam of dead flesh the body was. As bonus evidence against the Monster supposedly looking pretty, here's one from the final letter, from when Captan Walton finally sees him.
I entered the cabin where lay the remains of my ill-fated and admirable friend. Over him hung a form which I cannot find words to describe—gigantic in stature, yet uncouth and distorted in its proportions. As he hung over the coffin, his face was concealed by long locks of ragged hair; but one vast hand was extended, in colour and apparent texture like that of a mummy.
It's very obvious that the Creature was meant to be beautiful, but because he's made of rotten body parts it came out horrific and uncanny. I imagine he looks like a ghoul from Fallout, honestly.
extremely petty and bitchy hot take of the night: making a whole production of how queer and transgressive and anti-racist your take on lovecraft is and how much the guy would have despised it and be spinning in its grave just feels like pro forma marketing at this point. "Lovecraft but fuck Lovecraft' is a whole genre now. You're not breaking any barriers, stop acting like you're blowing people's minds here.
The thing with the NCR being imperialistic and crushing small settlements is true with places that don't benefit the services because are far from the big cities and too poor to afford taxes but you know who isn't crushed by NCR? The tribals.
Yes you heard me, all that stuff with the Khans being "like native americans" is only true for them apparently. Arroyo is a tribal city, it's in the NCR territory and there's no reason not to belive that is part of the republic, yet it's a big city now and not only thanks to the GECK but it's confirmed in New Vegas that it's still going pretty well.
We don't know much about other tribal groups because they're either taken by the Legion (blackfoot tribe) or not mentioned after fallout 2 (Sulik's tribe) there's no reason however to think they've had their lands taken or whatever tha khan claim
Honestly, the fact the Great Khans are analogous to Indigenous Americans is kind of stupid. They’ve only been in the Mojave at the same time the NCR has been there. Everyone is talking about how the NCR is stealing the land in the Mojave, but so are the Khans. Furthermore, the NCR and Great Khans both come from Vault 15. In terms of age, they’re exactly the same. And they’ve been fighting since NCR was Shady Sands. You have to save the future president of the NCR from the Khans in Fallout 1. They’ve been trouble since the moment they left the Vault.
The Khans do raise a good point about what the NCR is doing... but the point is squandered by making them the Great Khans. The analogy fundamentally breaks because it’s the Khans. If Obsidian wanted to make an Indigenous American stand in, they could have created a new faction that’s been living in the Mojave ever since the nuked dropped. Then the point would be a lot more coherent. And I guess if one is unaware of Fallout 1 and 2, the point does work. But, if one looks are the wider expanse of lore, it does not work.
I side with the NCR because they're the ones with the most consistently good outcomes. Legion is Legion, and House is House. As for Independent, I like the idea, but it's a bunch of squabbling disunited settlements. If it wasn't for the Courier's robot army, they'd get swept away by the Legion and NCR. And I don't think a mailman with extreme brain trauma is exactly the sort of negotiator needed to create a united Mojave which can stand independent of them all. The endings are all pure chaos. I know, we like to headcanon wholesome self-sustaining communities, but that's not what the endings say happens. And if we're arguing headcanons, I can just headcanon that the Courier is literally the second coming of Jesus Christ and will bring about world peace. Based on the content that is in the game, not cut content, not headcanon or fanfiction, just what's in the game, the NCR has the best combination of QOL and protection and stability out of them all.
The NCR is not flawless, no government is, but compared to the madman across the Colorado, the Businessman with the golden tongue, or the brain damaged mailman covered in blood, I'll take a flawed democracy and
Just as Tandi Intended
I own an Service Rifle for home defense since that's what President Tandi intended. Four fiends break into my house. "What the Dharma!?!" I grab my trooper helmet and service rifle and blow a thumb sized hole in the first fiend, he's dead on the spot. I draw my 9mm pistol and miss him entirely since it's 9mm, and hit the neighbor's mongrel. I have to resort to the anti-material rifle hidden at the top of the stairs loaded with explosive ammunition. "Tally ho!" The blast shreds two men in the blast and angers brahmin all over the street. I pull out the combat knife on my belt and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He bleeds out while waiting for the Followers to arrive because knife wounds to the throat are impossible to stich up. Just as Tandi intended.