Cosmic Horror is a Broader Concept than You may Think

[@gabrieloceano]

Starts showing Armored Core footage, and starts playing Twilight of Wolumunde's theme. You sir is a cultured one!

[@TP_ERK]

Combine in half life fits pretty well to this. It is an empire you can't even comprihend and fight against. everything they doing can be just another day for them meanwhile it is doomsday for you.

[@Dinoenthusiastguy]

Exactly! What's so terrifying about it (it thinks of itself as a single entity) is that it isn't evil per se, it's just so massive it doesn't see a human life as being worth more than that of a microbe. Sure, it's a living h*ll from the point of view of a human or alien in it, but do you treat your individual cells any better?

[@Nekro_Knight]

Just going to shout out "The King in Yellow".

[@dsedh23]

Yeah big shout out to my main man

[@knightoggoldenbow4655]

#Casildas Song

[@Jigunyaku]

The most amazing thing about cosmic horror is that it not only frightens, but immerses you in a state of awe. It is not surprising that many inventions of Europeans inspired religious and reverent horror in the indigenous people of the Americas and Africa. From awe and fear to religious veneration and cargo cult is just one small step.

[@mattmorehouse9685]

Hell, religion itself can be pretty strange and frightening. The idea that vast nigh on all powerful beings have a personal interest in little old you begs the question: "What will they do if I don't obey?" The answer Christianity and Islam seem to have come upon is let you be taken to a place of eternal suffering after you die. I've also heard Buddhism has similar realms of torment, at least from Religion for Breakfast, where people are tormented.

[@tucan7112]

I didn't realize it was radiation and it was honestly terrifying.

[@adisca2k]

Funnily enough, knowing about radiation and what it does to a human body is even more terrifying than a mysterious force/disease.

[@hijarian]

Regarding the heroes vs villains thing you mentioned at the end of the video - a very interesting detail IMHO is that in the absolute majority of heroic action stories the villain is not just a losing party, the villain is _alone_ and is _being ganged up on_ .

[@knightoggoldenbow4655]

Another kinda Cosmic Horror theme can sometimes be fond in the SCP Universe atleast in a few instances

[@Punishthefalse]

The portrayal of radioactive fallout as an eldritch entity is done very well in HBO's Chernobyl, and this is even after knowing that it is radiation. Go check it out.

[@Umcar.]

Your videos are a delight to watch. Good editing, great narration, a soothing voice, and interesting topics. Keep up the good work!

[@Diskhate]

Some time ago i heard this description when it comes to cosmic horror, and i think it fits perfectly: "Imagine a little insect, for example an ant, who has lived it's life on a keyboard.. Now imagine that, in an instant, the ant gains knowledge of what the keyboard is, what a computer can do, what knowledge was required to build it, thus what humans are, and what else these creatures may have discovered, built and achieved...and the true horror does not come from the humans killing the ant, but by the sudden change in how the little ant perceives the universe around her, understanding how insignificant she is and how it would be impossible to live life normally knowing what she knows"

[@damianallen4964]

So I'm not the only one to realize how horrifying radiation would be to a population without the modern scientific understanding that we are blessed/cursed with!

[@adisca2k]

It kind of makes it more horrifying, knowing the full extent of the symptoms. Eat enough of it and you are left hopeless before a painful and inevitable death as your body starts rapidly breaking down.

[@hijiriyukari]

Saya no Uta was my catalyst that feed my interest on the Cosmic Horror genre and I thank that I've discovered Junji Ito and Lovecraft from it.

[@borb5353]

huh damn that story never would have reminded me of radiation, this was great

[@qasderfful]

I would propose an alternative. I would propose separating Cosmic horror and Eldritch horror. They both have the theme of the unknowable in common, but there are a few major distinctions. Eldritch horror centers around the occult. Ancient beings, monsters whose mere comprehension drives people insane, cults comprised of these mad people, you know the deal. But it's not necessarily grand in scale. Cosmic horror, on the other hand, centers around events and things that are too big to understand, and far outside your control, yet nontheless are threatening to everything you know. The work can be both of these things, like Lovecraft's works, Darkest Dungeon or Sunless Sea/Skies (Fallen London) universe, or it can be only one of them. As an example, Bloodborne is Eldritch alright, but not Cosmic. The unknowable creatures are all small in scale and abilities and have a very understandable motivation (to procreate). For a pure Cosmic horror, your example with radiation is rather brilliant. Another one would be a scientific conception of false vacuum decay (a way of pure nothingness that may or may not spread from a random point in the universe with the speed of light until it engulfs all) or the whole cosmological constant deal (not even going into that or my comment would be thrice as long).

[@PsychoBoyTyler]

Your story reminded me of Chernobyl (the HBO series) which almost had a cosmic horror feel to it, especially in how everyone was completely powerless to stop the disaster and its fallout once it took a life of its own. It's really about how a story is told, it really doesn't have to be about Outer Gods and squidlike monsters.

[@CloverRhyme]

Your video essays are always delightful to listen to, especially with the touch of sarcasm and humor in them. Keep up the great work! P.S. Enjoy the dewdrops -A Navia Main

[@quinnholleman1547]

Another example of non-traditional cosmic horror is the Rememberance of Earth's Past Trilogy (The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Death's End) by Cixin Liu. It's a hard sci-fi story about first-contact and two of its main themes are the incomprehensibility of alien life and alien life we can communicate with so far outclassing us technologically that we don't even stand a chance and it milks them for every terrifying drop it can squeeze out. One of the most terrifying pieces of media I've ever consumed, it genuinely messed me up for like a month after I finished it and has made me very afraid of the possibility of alien life. The whole story plays out like a cosmic horror story with humanity not even being underdogs simply because what we're up against is so far beyond us they can stop us from being able to develop the means to fight back. I don't know if this comment made any sense, but read the books, they're terrifying and spectacular and I highly HIGHLY recommend them.

[@LucasDimoveo]

The author somehow made politics and anthropology eldritch

[@mattmorehouse9685]

That's... an interesting way to recommend them. Then again, I have heard of the "Humans are cthulhu" trope, where we are unknowable alien creatures to non sapient life. Like farm animals. *shudders*

[@zaj007]

I liked your story

[@TonyRedgrave]

Not to um actually you, but I'm going to um actually you. I don't think the coral people are ex-humans. Simply because Ayre never mentions being an ex-human. It would be weird for her to not tell you that after telling you that she's a coral person. But yeah, great video. For a 10 minute story, the radiation thing was really clever. Especially since it all clicks in to place at the end.

[@NathanIsYappin]

Yeah, what Coral represents is spelled out pretty clearly by the game and it's a bit odd Haedal seems to have missed it. AC6 keeps using the same word over and over for it: "potential." Limitless potential for creation, destruction and evolution. It can be an energy resource powering civilization to new bounds of prosperity, ammo fueling the fire of endless wars or the next step in humanity's evolution. Coral is vaguely described not to inspire horror but because Coral is whatever you want it to be. Coral is a kind-of mediocre cosmic horror considering it's completely at humanity's mercy to use, destroy or unite with. The closest thing to a cosmic-scale threat it presents is "Coral Collapse," which the game barely describes. The real cosmic horror of AC6 is humanity-which, through sheer power of macro-scale industry, shrinks down a planet into a single theater of war over just one resource. And like you were saying, Ayre was "born of the Coral tide," she's not a disembodied human mind and there's very little to suggest that can even happen. Haedal seems to think that's what is happening during Alea Iacta Est, and I think that's a critical misread.

[@LoneWolfInsane]

@@NathanIsYappin I would disagree, coral is absolutely depicted(/described) in a way that is suposed to inspire horror. But this horror does not come from the coral itself being scary. Instead the Horror comes from Handler Walters, the research institutes, thumb Dolmayan's and O'Keeffe's view on coral. As the player spends time with them, their view on coral starts to rub off on the player. They fear a corral collapse/ release because it would give the coral consciousness and freedom (mutation), taking away humans control over the Coral and lead to an unknown future that they do not understand. which is pretty much on point for the Lovecraftian horror, with the fear of the unknown and the grand scale of cosmic entities beyond our ability to comprehend, that drive humans which perceive them insane just by existing.

[@OnyxIdol]

Your last point, albeit presented as a joke, is a very important one. So much (visual) media reduces "Lovecraftian" to tentacle aesthetics while missing the underlying point of what makes cosmic horror so scary. (The flipside of course being that it is very hard hard or rather requires intense creativity to put cosmic horror to the screen effectively due to its incomprehensible and indescribable nature)

[@adisca2k]

Aye, they could make an evershifting mass of random features, that would at least fit the bill for indescribable, but the real horror would be modeling and animating it.

[@Melotaku]

@@adisca2kI think the Wall of Flesh from Terraria is a good example. Imagine that in a 3D space!

[@adisca2k]

@@Melotaku You've just reminded me of The Flesh boss from darkest dungeon. An abberation of possessed pig parts, ever shifting and ever expanding. That I would call lovecraftian without tentacles.

[@FenrirGrayhound]

Hae is definitely an Arknights and Hollow Knight enjoyer

[@Melotaku]

What makes you say that?

[@FenrirGrayhound]

@@Melotaku (the music)

[@Synchro-tq1mo]

The short story you told resembles a lot something Junji ito would write

[@kamprouristheoharis8458]

Idk but for me the radiation clicked at blue glow and burn marks.

[@nephicus339]

One of my favourite conflicting perspectives is The Last Of Us 1 & 2. Whereby everyone __hates__ Abby for what she does; yet so few people realize Abby is doing exactly what Joel did to her, and then Elly does to Abby what Joel did to Abby. Nobody stops to think about perspectives besides their own anymore.

[@internalizedhappyness9774]

Imagine The Antithesis of All Creation 🕳️ Edit: P.s milk that video it was good work! That cow is happy and healthy, good job farmer!!! 🧑‍🌾 😝

[@mattmorehouse9685]

Come to think of it, cosmic horror from the perspective of a farm animal. You're born or hatched and raised in a nice environment with other animals and the big two legged critters that smell weird and give you food. Until they turn you into food.

[@maxfernandes4738]

YOOOOO FURINA'S MY WIFE TOOOOI!!!!!🎉

[@StarboyXL9]

I LOVE MY WIFE!