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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JiffyPopTart" data-source="post: 8105026" data-attributes="member: 4881">I'll try to phrase my thoughts on the differences in another way to maybe illustrate it better.When discussing issues of racism, there is always a hope that one day things are going to get better.  The world of 2020 is better than the world of 1950 in terms of equality for most minority groups.  There is no reason to believe that over a longer span of time things will improve even more.  The characters in the show that are fearful of racism still have some "safe spaces" that they can return to and feel protected.When discussing issues of lovecraftian horror, there is literally no hope of things getting better.  Either you are blissfully ignorant of the fact that you mean nothing OR you learn that you mean nothing and have to live with the knowledge.  You could be hiding in the most secure underground bunker guarded by a million trained martial artists and it just doesn't matter because literally nothing you do is going to protect you or humanity if things go south.I'm not going to say you can't draw parallels or that you can't substitute racism for lovecraftian horror in a story, but what I am saying is that when viewed on a non-personal level one is less  hopeless than the other.I havent read everything Lovecraft has ever written, but I have read a majority of his stories.  Some focus on something as small as a man trapped in a crypt with no universal horrific entity elements.  Others focus on the literal reawakening and reemergence of Cthulhu which implies the end of the world.  When I use the term "lovecraftian horror" I am referring to the end-of-the-world or you-are-less-than-inconsequential-in-the-multiverse stories.  This outlook for humanity is what I feel Lovecraft is credited with maybe not inventing, but at least baking into a solid cookie for consumption.  Its just such a different scale than any story involving a group of people, wizards, monsters, and racism that defines their existence.[SPOILER="Spoiler for the show up to and including episode 8"]At the end of the crooked wizard police attack on the house the characters are saved by a conveniently timed invulnerability spell and a monster popping up out of nowhere to kill all the police and end the battle.  Although some unimportant extras were probably killed in the shootout, the two important characters emerged from the ambush without any damage and having gained a magical monster pet who will apparently do Tic's bidding.  This is kind of the opposite of a hopeless lovecraftian outcome from a group of powerful evildoers coming after you.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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