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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Nickeris86 on March 06, 2012, 10:01:48 AM

Title: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Nickeris86 on March 06, 2012, 10:01:48 AM
So I have been getting really into the Cosmic Horror genre and reading a lot of Cthulhu related materiel like "Batman: The Doom that came to Gotham" and "Fall of Cthulhu" and I have really enjoyed how truly gruesome they are. So much so that I though I might try my hand at it myself.

However I wanted to through in my own Eldridge Abomination who is actually on humanities side in all of the nastiness that's coming. The story will still be visceral and horrifying but I like some hope in my creations. The creature will still shatter the sanity of a mere mortal who looks gets to close to the truth but its not intentional.

The main reason I wanted to do this is two fold. One because I am weird and find things like Cthulhu and the Deepones to look awesome and feel that good guys should be able to have claws, maws and tentacles too. Two, not all things that are good are beautiful and not all thing that are evil are ugly. In the bible Lucifer was the most beautiful angel in all of creation, while some of the other kinds of angels were terrible to behold (one type was a mass of wings, eyes and fire and another had three heads a lion, bull and eagle and also lots of fire.)

What are your thoughts?
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: DragonEyes on March 06, 2012, 12:59:42 PM
I can't see an eldritch abomination being good, but I can see it acting in a way that would approximate "good" to the humans involved. I really see it like some sort of orange or blue morality* that just happens to align with humanities interests. Maybe they have something akin to an eldritch pashu-ahimsa. Ahimsa is the Buddhist concept of non-violence.

The problem with this solution is that the cosmic horror genre is most successful when no one can understand the motivations of the creature. The horror comes from the unknown, much like the rest of Lovecraft's horror, it comes from not seeing and knowing and capitalizes on the fear of the unknown. If you can understand the creature's morality, it makes it less scary and maybe give a guide into the morality of the evil ones.

* Warning, searching the term "orange and blue morality" may lead to tv-tropes, which has been shown by anecdotal evidence to lead to missing time.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Gruud on March 06, 2012, 02:36:48 PM
My own take on the Elder Ones is that they are not inheritantly evil. In fact, they have no morality at all as we would understand it.

They simply want things to be as they want them to be, and we are so far beneath their consideration that when we are destroyed/maddened/etc by them, it is of no more consequence than the bugs that die on our windshields each day.

We, being the bugs, intepret this as evil.  ;D

So, at least to me, the trick would be to have "how they want things to be" to somehow be inline with a positive outcome for us bugs, which we would thereby (incorrectly) ascribe to them being good.

Make sense?
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: LizW65 on March 07, 2012, 12:07:54 AM
If Terry Pratchett can write a cuddly Orc (in Unseen Academicals) than a loveable Eldritch Abomination is a definite possibility, and in fact would make a nice inversion of the trope. 
Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure Doctor Who has done this before, but I can't think of an example off the top of my head.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Nickeris86 on March 07, 2012, 12:36:15 AM
I don't think the Doctor every went up against a misunderstood Eldridge being unless you count that star that was alive. Closest thing I could think of would be in the episode "Beast Beneath".

I like the idea of Orange and Blue morality, but I would still like a creature to be benevolent in its nature towards us bugs, maybe its a Buddhist Old One. I had created an Alien Intelligence supplement for the RPG Rifts which was benevolent and it made since why it was on the side of mortals. I don't think its back story would work in the confines of a Cosmic Horror setting.

It's possible to have a creature that is on the side of humanity but not be able to understand it in the slightest.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Snowleopard on March 07, 2012, 03:50:07 AM
There is always the thought that the Eldritch one is actually working against another Eldritch one
and therefore his/its/hers/their aim is the same as humanities without it actually understanding us.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Nickeris86 on March 07, 2012, 07:07:09 AM
Does anyone know a good place to get dark/horror poetry published? I have a cosmic horror poem that I wrote (the inspiration for the story.)

It is one of the few poems I have written that I actually don't hate. Which is a miracle because I really suck at writing poetry. It still needs critiquing, so far I have only shown it to one person and would like more feedback.

Any takers?
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: LizW65 on March 07, 2012, 11:23:11 PM
I just thought of another example:  Ethel in Simon R. Green's Secret Histories series.  As of the latest book in the series, the jury is still out as to whether she/he/it/whatever is entirely benevolent or not.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Nickeris86 on March 08, 2012, 12:41:21 AM
Hmm never heard of that one will have to check it out.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: LizW65 on March 08, 2012, 09:03:16 PM
And there's this:
http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0803/shoggoths.shtml
Though it's not so muc about Eldritch abominations as human ones.
Title: Re: Friendly tentacles
Post by: Nickeris86 on March 09, 2012, 02:51:22 AM
Okay I think I am going to go ahead with this story. Though right now the main character who is going to get all brain drained is pissing me off. I was trying to make him seem average but a little rebellious and he just ended up being a dick. So I have to re think how he is going to work out.

As for the abomination itself I have an idea of how it will appear... It won't muahahah. At least not entirely or clearly. The basic description is tentacles teeth and a great eye and lots and lots of shifting flesh.

Its motivation:
(click to show/hide)