DarthOne
☦️
Regarding Lovecraftian horror and Eldritch Abominations, for me it comes down to several things. There’s the sheer vastness and ancientness of the universe in general. The fact that these... creatures, Cthulhu, Hastur and so on have not only been around for most of it and but have survived it all. Then there’s there sheer power and knowledge they posses in comparison to humanity’s. How insignificant everyone besides these creatures are in comparison to them. Not just a question of ‘we’re bugs to them’. It’s that humanity, like so many other races, will fade away, Great Old Ones or not, and be forgotten. That we don’t matter in the slightest in the long run.
To borrow a bit from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent sits down and breaks down for himself what Earth being gone means...sit down and just consider this.
Picture something familiar and dear to you. It can be the house you grew up in, your family name or the street you live on. Now apply a Lovecraftian outlook. Time, the universe, the Great Old Ones? They don’t care about whatever that thing is. One way or another, imagine that precious thing gone or forgotten as if it never existed to begin with.
Now ramp that up to something a little bigger. Imagine your neighborhood...and apply the above Lovecraftian outlook. Then ramp it up bigger. The town or county you live in. Then do it again; but bigger. And again. And again. Over and over until you reach the limits of what you can grasp. Most people don’t get up to even countries, not really.
Regardless of what it is nothing, not language, religion, countries will last. Humanity won’t even be a galactic footnote, because no one will care or pay attention when we are gone.
Now bear in mind that even the ‘lesser’ Great Old Ones like Cthulhu have unvaryingly born witness to that countless times.
Now yes, sometimes be it by dangerous and ancient knowledge the schemes of the Great Old Ones can be stopped. But never without a cost.
In The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the people of that town have suffered for generations under the Deep Ones; the US might have taken action against them, but the main character is still going to become one of those wretched creatures for the rest of his immortal life. And even then, it’s noted that the Deep One city might have been damaged, but it was not destroyed. Nor was it the only one of its kind. And that Innsmouth was just a trail run for a bigger city next time, like Boston. We’re even told early on that the Deep Ones could wipe out humanity...but they just can’t be bothered to do so.
In The Whisperer In Darkness, yes some Mi-go are killed...but poor, poor Henry Akeley is still a disembodied immortal brain in a jar without sight, sound or speech for all eternity. The Mi-go mines in the hills of Vermont and elsewhere are still going strong, as are their human collaborators.
The Dunwitch Horror; again the horror and his brother are gone... but that’s scant comfort to the locals and police officers that it ate. And the knowledge of how to create another horror and bring back the Old Ones to wipe out humanity and carry the Earth off is still out there.
To borrow a bit from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where Arthur Dent sits down and breaks down for himself what Earth being gone means...sit down and just consider this.
Picture something familiar and dear to you. It can be the house you grew up in, your family name or the street you live on. Now apply a Lovecraftian outlook. Time, the universe, the Great Old Ones? They don’t care about whatever that thing is. One way or another, imagine that precious thing gone or forgotten as if it never existed to begin with.
Now ramp that up to something a little bigger. Imagine your neighborhood...and apply the above Lovecraftian outlook. Then ramp it up bigger. The town or county you live in. Then do it again; but bigger. And again. And again. Over and over until you reach the limits of what you can grasp. Most people don’t get up to even countries, not really.
Regardless of what it is nothing, not language, religion, countries will last. Humanity won’t even be a galactic footnote, because no one will care or pay attention when we are gone.
Now bear in mind that even the ‘lesser’ Great Old Ones like Cthulhu have unvaryingly born witness to that countless times.
Now yes, sometimes be it by dangerous and ancient knowledge the schemes of the Great Old Ones can be stopped. But never without a cost.
In The Shadow Over Innsmouth, the people of that town have suffered for generations under the Deep Ones; the US might have taken action against them, but the main character is still going to become one of those wretched creatures for the rest of his immortal life. And even then, it’s noted that the Deep One city might have been damaged, but it was not destroyed. Nor was it the only one of its kind. And that Innsmouth was just a trail run for a bigger city next time, like Boston. We’re even told early on that the Deep Ones could wipe out humanity...but they just can’t be bothered to do so.
In The Whisperer In Darkness, yes some Mi-go are killed...but poor, poor Henry Akeley is still a disembodied immortal brain in a jar without sight, sound or speech for all eternity. The Mi-go mines in the hills of Vermont and elsewhere are still going strong, as are their human collaborators.
The Dunwitch Horror; again the horror and his brother are gone... but that’s scant comfort to the locals and police officers that it ate. And the knowledge of how to create another horror and bring back the Old Ones to wipe out humanity and carry the Earth off is still out there.
