tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post5959950958097650210..comments2023-10-31T00:31:59.277-07:00Comments on The United Federation of Charles: What is Post-Lovecraftian fiction?CTPhippshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-16242299956888338582019-06-10T22:30:29.513-07:002019-06-10T22:30:29.513-07:00Hm, yeah. The thing is, Lovecraft's whole '...Hm, yeah. The thing is, Lovecraft's whole 'Nothing you do matters, nor do you.' theme was terrifying for the time. Existentialist thought was just starting to hit the mainstream and the very idea of humanity not being important was pretty new. Religions tend to paint humanity as important, if only because some deity or other cares about them, but science and philosophy ask 'Well, what if we're just an accident?' which implies we're actually not important.<br /><br />Of course, decades later, this idea isn't particularly uncommon, and is frequently seen in media. As such, some of the punch in Lovecraft's works has been lost, because people roll their eyes at people collapsing at the thought of not being important. The incomprehensible Old Ones are still terrifying, but because of their malevolence and power, not because they represent any inherent meaninglessness.<br /><br />On the other hand, memetic hazards are a thing in a lot of works, so who knows how humanity would do in a such a setting if they were actually in it.ilbgarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09570495767861630416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-54226192233631233882019-05-21T08:42:18.628-07:002019-05-21T08:42:18.628-07:00Or how modern writers balk at the idea that humans...Or how modern writers balk at the idea that humans would have the nerve to treat hostile aliens as a threat just because they're hostile aliens. Get the fuck out of here. It'd be different if the aliens actually were benevolent, but in the Cthulu Mythos they're dangerous if not outright hostile far more often than not. Even in The Mountains of Madness, the main character's sympathy with the creatures doesn't make sense given the events he laid out in the story -- the Great Old Ones supposedly created the Shoggoths and humanity, but the Shoggoths defeated them. How was humanity not wiped out in the struggle? The archaeologists somehow woke up a few surviving Great Old Ones and some Shoggoths, and the Shoggoths killed all of them, yet we're told the scientists were dissected by the G.O.O.'s. How is that possible or realistic given the G.O.O.'s created humanity and therefore would have no reason to dissect them? How are they benevolent if they were creating entire species for the purpose of maintaining slave races and one of those races, the Shoggoths, rebelled? And from other stories it's very obvious they're not our friends either. It is a nonsensical mistake to apply sympathy to any of the creatures in this genre or to assume treating them like the hostile entities they are is racist.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789165384113253941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-50201945712277771052019-05-21T08:34:03.210-07:002019-05-21T08:34:03.210-07:00A lot of the deconstructions people have made rega...A lot of the deconstructions people have made regarding the Cthulu Mythos often miss the point of the stories they're deconstructing. Like how the author expresses puzzlement at how we just assume the Deep Ones are evil just because they are ugly -- that's a blatant strawman. We know they're evil not because of their appearance, but because of how they use unequal power relationships to take over human communities and how they enforced their will on the people of Innsmouth with the help of Obed Marsh, and made the people breed with them against their will. Good grief, man. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07789165384113253941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-45634163229466631392016-08-15T02:10:17.078-07:002016-08-15T02:10:17.078-07:00Technology and it's ability to even the odds o...Technology and it's ability to even the odds or transform the definition of humanity is a very interesting line of thought. Cthulhutech's one good idea was taking the anime ideas from Evangelion and expanding on them to Lovecraftian levels.<br /><br />What is the price of survival if you become a monster? And is it a monster if it's merely above humans as we are above ants?CTPhippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-30460118165766872172016-08-14T22:38:03.141-07:002016-08-14T22:38:03.141-07:00In the setting I'm creating for an RPG video g...In the setting I'm creating for an RPG video game I'm making, it explores something similar-humanity's created a benevolent, godlike super AI (known as "Metatron") that the local elderitch abomination ("Apollyon") is actually terrified of. Basically, Apollyon's insanity-inducing, destructive, alien nature is something of defense mechanism. Metatron is a coldly logical AI that doesn't care how scary he is and can actually comprehend him pretty well, which is a pretty unsettling prospect for an elderitch abomination.Matthew Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06887788945033210212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-59649697157686018022015-01-04T08:32:28.580-08:002015-01-04T08:32:28.580-08:00Really nice article.
Really nice article.<br />Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10623661580370670936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-51285889935185149612014-07-07T22:13:41.065-07:002014-07-07T22:13:41.065-07:00I'm glad you didn't mention the last film ...I'm glad you didn't mention the last film version of 'Conan'...the one where he was a barbarian for about 5 minutes then a big mush for the rest of it. Why they didn't just say,'exactly what you did for Game of Thrones. Go,' I have no idea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-61122000897436965672014-07-05T13:55:17.957-07:002014-07-05T13:55:17.957-07:00I heartily agree with that sentiment!I heartily agree with that sentiment!CTPhippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226189019351004118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7876216494183628999.post-81129014319700277952014-07-05T12:26:56.575-07:002014-07-05T12:26:56.575-07:00Much to ponder here. Never say die whether the un...Much to ponder here. Never say die whether the universe/multiverse cares or not! Stephen Northhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05805955917147553134noreply@blogger.com