The reason why Cthulhu mindbroke people was because his existence shattered all of their preconceptions about existence. Imagine being a Christian in the early 20th century and you just ran into concrete proof that god isn't real. Not only that, but the universe is ruled by vast, horrifying entities which don't care about humanity at worst (Azathoth) or are actively working against it (Nyarlathotep).
Lovecraft's characters went mad because it was the only way they could cope with this knowledge.
>Imagine being a Christian in the early 20th century and you just ran into concrete proof that god isn't real. Not only that, but the universe is ruled by vast, horrifying entities which don't care about humanity at worst (Azathoth) or are actively working against it (Nyarlathotep).
Probably 95% of people could live with that and majority would wonder "what can we do about it?" or "how can we profit from it?". Big idea about "getting mad from the revelation" is pretty stupid.
It was but it doesn't change anything.
Basically, people learn fundamental-shattering revelations every day. How many people went mad from the revelation that timeflow isn't constant everywhere? How many kids went mad from the revelation that their parents aren't all-knowing and will die one day? How many people find that their beloved ones died in accidents - and still live? How many people went mad from the revelation that all it takes is one red button to level whole city?
The answer is - not many. What makes people mad is constant threat spanning over months. One bad day won't ruin your brain.
>Probably 95% of people could live with that and majority would wonder "what can we do about it?"
Literally nothing, Elders can't be killed, can't be reasoned with. >or "how can we profit from it?"
Either become a sacrifice/cultist/convert yourself into a monster/become a slave or food, or just die.
It won't stop anyone from trying. Remember that humanity had spent literally millions of people's lives in all forms trying to achieve things that can't be achieved. What's the difference between praying to elders and praying to Allah? In both cases you hope your prayers will be heard - and in both cases you get no answer at all.
2 years ago
Anonymous
>and in both cases you get no answer at all.
The Great Old Ones will answer mortal adherents. The problem there is they're all pursuing their own agendas, and none of those put humanity particularly high on the priority list.
The Outer Gods can also, under the right circumstances. The problem there is that their blessings have a decent chance of destroying you and/or your civilization.
>Azathoth
Only ever really mentioned in passing, iirc, but the blind idiot god at the center of creation surrounded by mad dancers always struck more of a vibe with me than the moist ayylmao edgelord that is Cthulhu.
if a 20s christan saw Cthulhu in real life, I guarantee their first thought wouldn't be "oh my god everything I know is wrong better just fricking kill myself", it would be, "holy shit a giant squid demon, get the fricking priest!"
Lovecraft didn't know as much about religious people as he thought he did. Being an incestuous shutin and all. He'd be moderating /x/ and wearing a wig while talking about "christcucks" if he were born in the 21st century
This wasn't the point and you've never actually read any of his books.
That's not at all the point
In CoC no one loses their mind. The problem is that the characters have stumbled upon a cult, something they don't understand. Who could Thurston tell? His punishment for knowing and not joining the cult is his eventual death. One of the themes of CoC and most of Dying Earth is that one of the consequences of civilization is that humanity cannot stay ignorant to the powers of creation, which are things humanity cannot understand.
Just see how people have rationalized our existence. >god did it >nothing did it >simulation >we aren't real bro!!!!
You don't find it humorous that those are the arrived upon answers to why we exist?
you're a wiki-surfing poser
the only time any character goes insane in any of the novels I've read is at the end of Mountains of Madness when the protag looks out the window of the plane he escaped on and sees something terrible that isn't explained. Lovecraft actually wrote that he thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out
Randolph Carter comes face to face with all sorts of monsters in the Dreamlands, along with a direct encounter with the King in Yellow and fricking Azathoth and the court of monsters singing to it and comes out of it shaken but undamaged
Are we really going to hold a writer from like the 1920's accountable for what people did with his work 80+ years later, using technology he couldn't comprehend, when all he wanted to do was let the reader use their own imagination to maximize the horror? I mean you can call it a shitty tactic, but it must have worked because here we are talking about it still in 2023
he is an idiot for not anticipating, I am the consumer and so I am right, he should have fricking known
i don't care if he is old, when I pay $20 for a video game and the writing is bad, I want to trap him in a torture ball for 1000 years for how he inconvienced me, it's fricking $20, that's a whole mcdonalds meal
fricking disgusting frick, I deserve better, I tell him what to do. Literally his works should be wiped off the earth
Cthulu Cult is totally comprehensable whearas something like the musics of Erich zann isn't . Cthulu is just what the majority of people know and associate the idea of incomprehensible horror. in short indie devs miss the point entirely.
>Cthulu is just what the majority of people know and associate the idea of incomprehensible horror.
Yeah because they've heard of Chtulhu online from others who have merely heard of him. Anyone who has actually read the story would know that there is no incomprehensibility or perception-induced madness in it. The closest it comes to that is when the sailors describe non-euclidean spaces, and non-euclidean spaces are perfectly comprehensible for anyone who has played Portal. Or Duke Nukem 3d.
It's not that you can't comprehend. It's more that comprehending is the problem.
Once you understand, it renders everything else insignificant. You realize that you're a step above ants on the cosmic ladder, less than amoeba to the real powers on high. >oh but I've gotten used to nihilism already
Good for you, a hundred years ago the idea that God and Jesus are insignificant delusions of primitive apes was horrifying.
>Primative man does not understand thunderstorms >Is fricking terrified of them and starts making all kinds of fanatical claims to explain it >Fricking ThUnDeRsToRmS
i always just imagined that the tentacle monster form was the closest way humans could imagine them in a 3d form and that in reality they were mostly beyond our normal senses etc
What do you think Lovecraft would think of Cthulhu becoming an icon and having tons of art movies books and merchandise all based around his eldritch monster?
I'm just bummed he died before he could do LSD or even some weed in the hippie generation. He was improving quite a bit in his storytelling and would have benefit greatly from mind-altering substances.
I like how people always just think "no, I wouldn't go insane" like it can't be a supernatural effect of seeing these things or something. Like how staring at the sun makes you go blind no matter how much you try to justify it.
The thing is, that phenomenon is not actually established in the stories at all. Plenty of people look at plenty of eldritch monstrosities and remain sane. It's more about the fear of the unknown and the defeatedness induced by the realization that mankind is something so insignificant that beings beyond our comprehension could just accidentally step on us and never even notice the extinction they wrought.
Yeah, Lovecraft wrote for an audience that was very much smugly satisfied they had the universe all but figured out and themselves firmly planted as its masters.
I wish he would have lived longer.
Lovecraft will always be based for bringing in cultcore, domains/lesser-deities, and le eldritch horrors beyond our comprehension to the subconscious of fantasy and gothic-punk/horror.
Dark Corners of The Earth implements something like ten different Lovecraft stories. Some are major parts of the story, others are references. It's like they wanted to make a game out of all of them but could only make one product.
It's less 'can't' and more 'brain doesn't want to'
The universe being a place that loathes you and wants to kill/exploit you is a brutal pill to swallow for egotists and softies, and I mean to say that with the least amount of fedora possible.
The idea of the horror is that shattering the character's preconceived notions (being loved by the world/God, being a part of the world's elite species that has a good degree of control over it) and indeed their entire value systems all at once is enough to drive them to despair, madness and death
Probably as OK as usual mentally I'd imagine, depends how dramatic the author wants to be at the time. Even in best case though it's still a monkey up against supernatural forces, and they have low enough life expectancy against natural forces as it is, so maybe 'OK' is being a bit generous
>Anyone with some knowledge >Regular Dreamland visitors >Hybrids
I can see them not going "insane" >Some random wagie
Sure, go insane >Encountering Demon Sultan
Brain shutdown
That's not at all the point
Then tell me what is. It just seems like a buzzword used by indie developers
The reason why Cthulhu mindbroke people was because his existence shattered all of their preconceptions about existence. Imagine being a Christian in the early 20th century and you just ran into concrete proof that god isn't real. Not only that, but the universe is ruled by vast, horrifying entities which don't care about humanity at worst (Azathoth) or are actively working against it (Nyarlathotep).
Lovecraft's characters went mad because it was the only way they could cope with this knowledge.
At best, not at worst, my bad.
>Imagine being a Christian in the early 20th century and you just ran into concrete proof that god isn't real. Not only that, but the universe is ruled by vast, horrifying entities which don't care about humanity at worst (Azathoth) or are actively working against it (Nyarlathotep).
Probably 95% of people could live with that and majority would wonder "what can we do about it?" or "how can we profit from it?". Big idea about "getting mad from the revelation" is pretty stupid.
You underestimate how serious religion was in the age before the internet.
It was but it doesn't change anything.
Basically, people learn fundamental-shattering revelations every day. How many people went mad from the revelation that timeflow isn't constant everywhere? How many kids went mad from the revelation that their parents aren't all-knowing and will die one day? How many people find that their beloved ones died in accidents - and still live? How many people went mad from the revelation that all it takes is one red button to level whole city?
The answer is - not many. What makes people mad is constant threat spanning over months. One bad day won't ruin your brain.
>Probably 95% of people could live with that and majority would wonder "what can we do about it?"
Literally nothing, Elders can't be killed, can't be reasoned with.
>or "how can we profit from it?"
Either become a sacrifice/cultist/convert yourself into a monster/become a slave or food, or just die.
It won't stop anyone from trying. Remember that humanity had spent literally millions of people's lives in all forms trying to achieve things that can't be achieved. What's the difference between praying to elders and praying to Allah? In both cases you hope your prayers will be heard - and in both cases you get no answer at all.
>and in both cases you get no answer at all.
The Great Old Ones will answer mortal adherents. The problem there is they're all pursuing their own agendas, and none of those put humanity particularly high on the priority list.
The Outer Gods can also, under the right circumstances. The problem there is that their blessings have a decent chance of destroying you and/or your civilization.
>Azathoth
Only ever really mentioned in passing, iirc, but the blind idiot god at the center of creation surrounded by mad dancers always struck more of a vibe with me than the moist ayylmao edgelord that is Cthulhu.
Thank (you)
if a 20s christan saw Cthulhu in real life, I guarantee their first thought wouldn't be "oh my god everything I know is wrong better just fricking kill myself", it would be, "holy shit a giant squid demon, get the fricking priest!"
What if an atheist found out God was real. Would they go mad from the revelation?
realistically, probably not, they'd just be really stubborn and still act like he isn't real
happens irl they just go into hard denial
Lovecraft didn't know as much about religious people as he thought he did. Being an incestuous shutin and all. He'd be moderating /x/ and wearing a wig while talking about "christcucks" if he were born in the 21st century
That definitely would be accurate to not just Christians today but to everyone in the modern world. Pretty scary concept.
This wasn't the point and you've never actually read any of his books.
In CoC no one loses their mind. The problem is that the characters have stumbled upon a cult, something they don't understand. Who could Thurston tell? His punishment for knowing and not joining the cult is his eventual death. One of the themes of CoC and most of Dying Earth is that one of the consequences of civilization is that humanity cannot stay ignorant to the powers of creation, which are things humanity cannot understand.
Just see how people have rationalized our existence.
>god did it
>nothing did it
>simulation
>we aren't real bro!!!!
You don't find it humorous that those are the arrived upon answers to why we exist?
Hodgson is chad. Tolkien is virgin.
you're a wiki-surfing poser
the only time any character goes insane in any of the novels I've read is at the end of Mountains of Madness when the protag looks out the window of the plane he escaped on and sees something terrible that isn't explained. Lovecraft actually wrote that he thought the ending was a bit of a cop-out
Randolph Carter comes face to face with all sorts of monsters in the Dreamlands, along with a direct encounter with the King in Yellow and fricking Azathoth and the court of monsters singing to it and comes out of it shaken but undamaged
OH SHIT LOOK OUT CTHULU
AAAIIIEEEEEE CHESHURE KOT TASUKETE
>Lovecraft is shit
>No it's not
>*Cat name meme*
Here, the thread dor you, so you don't have to wait for anons to actually reply
thanks anon
PLS NO
Are we really going to hold a writer from like the 1920's accountable for what people did with his work 80+ years later, using technology he couldn't comprehend, when all he wanted to do was let the reader use their own imagination to maximize the horror? I mean you can call it a shitty tactic, but it must have worked because here we are talking about it still in 2023
he is an idiot for not anticipating, I am the consumer and so I am right, he should have fricking known
i don't care if he is old, when I pay $20 for a video game and the writing is bad, I want to trap him in a torture ball for 1000 years for how he inconvienced me, it's fricking $20, that's a whole mcdonalds meal
fricking disgusting frick, I deserve better, I tell him what to do. Literally his works should be wiped off the earth
That's true I suppose
>all a minute apart
Hmmmm
very true
you're right, he made your brain feel a little bit bad for a few minutes, he and all his descendants should be killed for hurting your pleasure
>it's fricking $20, that's a whole mcdonalds meal
Put down the McDonald's and pick up a salad, fatso.
That has always been complete nonsense. The Great Old Ones are just aliens and monsters.
Yes. Dude was a weird freak even for the time.
How so?
Cthulu Cult is totally comprehensable whearas something like the musics of Erich zann isn't . Cthulu is just what the majority of people know and associate the idea of incomprehensible horror. in short indie devs miss the point entirely.
>Cthulu is just what the majority of people know and associate the idea of incomprehensible horror.
Yeah because they've heard of Chtulhu online from others who have merely heard of him. Anyone who has actually read the story would know that there is no incomprehensibility or perception-induced madness in it. The closest it comes to that is when the sailors describe non-euclidean spaces, and non-euclidean spaces are perfectly comprehensible for anyone who has played Portal. Or Duke Nukem 3d.
It's not that you can't comprehend. It's more that comprehending is the problem.
Once you understand, it renders everything else insignificant. You realize that you're a step above ants on the cosmic ladder, less than amoeba to the real powers on high.
>oh but I've gotten used to nihilism already
Good for you, a hundred years ago the idea that God and Jesus are insignificant delusions of primitive apes was horrifying.
Well, he got me to play a MOBA for a few days. That's something, i suppose.
>making people play moba
that's pretty fricking cruel even for cthulhu
>Primative man does not understand thunderstorms
>Is fricking terrified of them and starts making all kinds of fanatical claims to explain it
>Fricking ThUnDeRsToRmS
I just can't.
These things should be represented by static or datamoshing or something because if I can't comprehend it I doubt my computer can.
Arguing about Cthulhu stuff is so nerdcore. So chic, I love it. I'm so glad I came to v today!
hekin squid man is cringe
NOW RATS IN THE WALL
THAT'S KINO
This is him now
i always just imagined that the tentacle monster form was the closest way humans could imagine them in a 3d form and that in reality they were mostly beyond our normal senses etc
get toon world'd
>I am going insane AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
YAMETE SQUID-SAMA
Chudcraft thread
basecraft
What do you think Lovecraft would think of Cthulhu becoming an icon and having tons of art movies books and merchandise all based around his eldritch monster?
I'm just bummed he died before he could do LSD or even some weed in the hippie generation. He was improving quite a bit in his storytelling and would have benefit greatly from mind-altering substances.
what if an atheist was visited by god and god told him chtulhu was real
the atheist would go insane because god would be an indescribable shapeless mass of tentacles, mouths, and eyes
How's this any different from biblically accurate angels almost braining someone with their true form?
I'm not big on christian mythology but isn't the deal with them that they blind you if you look at them? As opposed to making people mad.
i thought he was just a massive psychic power house that its mere presence would turn your brain to mush from picking up his psychic waves, 40k style
I like how people always just think "no, I wouldn't go insane" like it can't be a supernatural effect of seeing these things or something. Like how staring at the sun makes you go blind no matter how much you try to justify it.
The thing is, that phenomenon is not actually established in the stories at all. Plenty of people look at plenty of eldritch monstrosities and remain sane. It's more about the fear of the unknown and the defeatedness induced by the realization that mankind is something so insignificant that beings beyond our comprehension could just accidentally step on us and never even notice the extinction they wrought.
Yeah, Lovecraft wrote for an audience that was very much smugly satisfied they had the universe all but figured out and themselves firmly planted as its masters.
I wish he would have lived longer.
SAAAAAAVE MEEE Black personMAN
Lovecraft will always be based for bringing in cultcore, domains/lesser-deities, and le eldritch horrors beyond our comprehension to the subconscious of fantasy and gothic-punk/horror.
>Lovecraft game
>Call of Cthulhu or Shadow over Innsmouth or both merged together for whatever reason
Everytime
Dream quest of unknown kadath would be a much better vidya setting.
Dark Corners of The Earth implements something like ten different Lovecraft stories. Some are major parts of the story, others are references. It's like they wanted to make a game out of all of them but could only make one product.
It's less 'can't' and more 'brain doesn't want to'
The universe being a place that loathes you and wants to kill/exploit you is a brutal pill to swallow for egotists and softies, and I mean to say that with the least amount of fedora possible.
The idea of the horror is that shattering the character's preconceived notions (being loved by the world/God, being a part of the world's elite species that has a good degree of control over it) and indeed their entire value systems all at once is enough to drive them to despair, madness and death
So if a monkey otd dog is exposed to eldritch horros he will be ok?
Probably as OK as usual mentally I'd imagine, depends how dramatic the author wants to be at the time. Even in best case though it's still a monkey up against supernatural forces, and they have low enough life expectancy against natural forces as it is, so maybe 'OK' is being a bit generous
>Anyone with some knowledge
>Regular Dreamland visitors
>Hybrids
I can see them not going "insane"
>Some random wagie
Sure, go insane
>Encountering Demon Sultan
Brain shutdown
AAAAAAAAAAAH SAVE ME Black personMAN ALIEN OCTOPUSS MADE ME MAAAAAAD!!!!!