Random Stuff VIII: The Admin Special

[Zathoth]

Breaths are insanely expensive though.

 

I would pick Scadrial. Seems like a nice place even without being Metalborn.

 

If any fantasy world then One Piece or Toriko.

[Kobold King he/him]

Theory time!

 

Within Lovecraftian lore there are beings called shoggoths, horrible monsters created by the Great Old Ones as servants and that still live in the ruins of their cities. The shoggoths were beings of protoplasm; they have the appearance of great gelatinous amoebas that will periodically change their forms to include mouths or eyeballs, in imitation of their creators.

 

A description of the shoggoth race as a whole:

 

 

"Formless protoplasm able to mock and reflect all forms and organs and processes - viscous agglutinations of bubbling cells - rubbery fifteen-foot spheroids infinitely plastic and ductile - slaves of suggestion, builders of cities - more and more sullen, more and more intelligent, more and more amphibious, more and more imitative! Great God! What madness made even those blasphemous Old Ones willing to use and carve such things?"

 

 

...it's clear that H. P. Lovecraft had a rather negative attitude towards these blobs, though it's not quite clear why. As a species they're not guilty of any atrocities that cannot be ascribed to humanity; in fact, the one war they waged that is documented was a rebellion against the Old Ones that had created them as slaves. More to the point, the descriptions he gives of the shoggoths ultimately boil down to:

 

 

"Giant squishy blob-things that sometimes have eyes and mouths."

 

 

Ooooh. Spoooooky.

 

This reflects a persistent theme in Lovecraft, that of the unknown being something that is not only dangerous but also quite obscene. An alien being that is greater than us is not just a powerful alien. It is an eldritch abomination. A living pile of slime is not just weird. It is blasphemous.

 

Many fans of Lovecraft create artwork of the shoggoths that look like this:

 

 

 

 

These are superb works of art. They capture the description of the shoggoths and also stay true to the attitude Lovecraft regarded them with. But what would we get if we followed faithfully through with the description of the shoggoths but approached them not with xenophobia, but with a sense of whimsy?

 

 

 

 

Conjecture: The shoggoths of the Cthulhu Mythos and the Smooze from My Little Pony are the same type of entity.

 

Let's look at what we know about the shoggoths:

 

• They were created by a highly advanced alien race as servants. They rebelled and killed their former masters, but continued living in their cities out of fascination with their inventions.
• 
  
• Their numbers have dwindled, but they continue living in various ruins across the earth and conceivably on other worlds the Great Old Ones colonized.
• 
  
• They are gelatinous, with physiology resembling that of a giant amoeba, but they create eyes and mouths for themselves as a mimicry of the Old Ones and other beings they encounter. Specimens in At the Mountains of Madness are described as enormous, capable of filling entire caverns with their presence.
• 
  
• They began their existence as non-sapient, but developed a form of intelligence over time that equaled humanity's but seemingly lacked the same creative spark, as evidenced by the fact that they failed to create their own society and simply continued for millions of years to copy that of the Old Ones.
• 
  

 

Now let's delve into Equestria and see what we know of the Smooze:

 

• The original Smooze was purple and covered an enormous section of the landscape. It produced eyes, mouths, and limbs for itself, usually giving animalistic roars but occasionally talking in crude communication. ("You're not gonna stop me.")
• 
  
• It was released by a witch, but it is unclear whether she created the creature or if she merely utilized something that already existed.
• 
  
• The latest Smooze is green and of a markedly less apocalyptic demeanor. It lacks eyes (chooses not to create them?) but communicates its emotional state with a mouth. It was obsessed with shiny objects and consumed all that he could find, swelling to an enormous size as a result.
• 
  
• This Smooze was introduced by Discord, a spirit with known interdimensional capabilities, and sicked upon a formal event. The Smooze displayed some intelligence but little volition, but was ultimately tamed and befriended by the ponies.
• 
  
• Princess Celestia, an archmage capable of manipulating the course of the Sun by sheer magical power, was neutralized by the Smooze's slime.
• 
  

 

Both forms of entity are clearly very similar in many aspects, and it is not hard to imagine that they could be one and the same species. Information about either species is incomplete in the original source material, but fleshing them out with details from the other franchise lends a more complete picture.

 

What do shoggoths eat? Judging by the Smooze, they consume metal and other sparkling objects, which explains their fascination with Old One technology and also why no remaining Old One technology has been found in shoggoth-inhabited ruins.

 

Where did the Smooze come from? The witch and Discord both retrieved Smoozes from former Old One colony worlds.

 

Why can the Smooze neutralize alicorn magic? Because the Old Ones, and by extension the shoggoths, were made of a very different form of matter than we are familiar with, and it can be postulated that exotic forms of matter might interact with magic in unexpected ways.

 

 

To me, the idea of the shoggoths and the Smoozes being the same species is one that brings two weakly developed creatures into a single cohesive whole. It also presents two opposite ways of looking at an alien being wrapped into a single entity. Lovecraft's shoggoths are beings to be hated for their bizarre appearance and behavior. MLP's Smooze is a being that can wreak a lot of chaos but can be befriended if you keep an open heart. It all depends on the lens through which you view the universe.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Oversleep]

The cover artist who did the awesome Mistborn covers is working on a sketch:

We suspect it to be cover for TES.

[Arraenae]

Which country's Mistborn covers?

[Oversleep]

Polish ones. They come with extra polish

Mistborn/Well Of Ascension/Hero Of Ages/Alloy Of Law

Shadows Of Self

Bands Of Mourning

Edited March 16, 2016 by Oversleep

[Kobold King he/him]

On the subject of fantasy worlds, I think Equestria is objectively one of the very best places to live.

 

About a third of the population has the capacity to wield astonishing magic, another third can fly and control the weather, and the remaining third has super strength. There is no war--not in this timeline, anyway--natural disasters are pretty well kept in check and rarely wreak much irreparable damage anyway, and dangerous creatures are for the most part confined to a single easily avoided ecoregion.

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

The worst part about choir concerts is the waiting before hand. I can see the audience filling up, and I know my friends and family are out there somewhere and and I'm gonna have to sing songs thay I only half know in front of them and unholy hell why did I sign up for choir?

Wait, nevermind. Kobold's whimsy distracted me. Thanks Kobold!

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

Hey guys!

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to be really inactive, starting tommorow and ending in about 10 days. Sorry

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

We'll miss you.

And I'm on the plane about to leave for Tucson. It's a smaller plane, and my seat is all alone on this side of the aisle (they have one seat on the left and two on the right) so I get an aisle seat AND a window seat. Score!

[Oversleep]

Surely there must be something more effective than drinking superstrong, supersweet coffee. Can coffee beans be chewed maybe? *Yawn*

[Orlion Blight he/him]

Surely there must be something more effective than drinking superstrong, supersweet coffee. Can coffee beans be chewed maybe? *Yawn*

I've run across chocolate covered coffee beans.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I've run across chocolate covered coffee beans.

 

So have I. They're not bad. 

[Oversleep]

On a scale from one to Bronze Compounding, how good they are?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

On a scale from one to Bronze Compounding, how good they are?

 

Depends on how much you like the taste and effects of coffee. Me, I like the way they taste, but coffee makes me all jittery, so I stay away. Not sure exactly how high they are on the caffeine scale. 

[Mistrunner]

I just spent possibly five minutes practicing ninja moves in front of the TV whilst pretending to be 007 and waving the remote around like a gun.

I am using my free time in a healthy, constructive manner.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I decided to have a nice meal of pasta with Parmesan cheese with my chicken tonight. Only I realized too late that there was no Parmesan.

There was, however, a chunk of Swiss. Don't ask me why.

It's pretty good on pasta.

[The Honor Spren she/her]

While Mistrunner is being a ninja, :ph34r: I'm being King George and singing this song from Hamilton over and over.
(This isn't the full song, but it's my favorite video.)

Edited March 17, 2016 by The Honor Spren

[Orlion Blight he/him]

I decided to have a nice meal of pasta with Parmesan cheese with my chicken tonight. Only I realized too late that there was no Parmesan.

There was, however, a chunk of Swiss. Don't ask me why.

It's pretty good on pasta.

You know, you might be able to use sawdust in place of parmesan and not notice the difference if you buy the cheapo stuff

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

You know, you might be able to use sawdust in place of parmesan and not notice the difference if you buy the cheapo stuff

 

Nah, I get the stuff that comes in wedges that you have to grate yourself.  

[Mistrunner]

Also, you know you might be a hermit if you go downstairs with a blanket fully covering your head like some unholy purple ghost and your mother doesn't react.

She passed me a cup underneath so I could get a drink.

It was very thoughtful.

Update: So, my mother has started calling me Blankethead... 

[Delightful]

Mistrunner, quick, what's your epic weakness?

[Mistrunner]

Mistrunner, quick, what's your epic weakness?

...Studio C being canceled?

[Delightful]

Hmm. That can only be used once. We a have to plan out attack carefully.

[Mestiv he/him]

Surely there must be something more effective than drinking superstrong, supersweet coffee. Can coffee beans be chewed maybe? *Yawn*

 

I've hear that Yerba Mate is stronger than coffee, I've never tried it though. I also have never tried coffee to be honest I've disliked everything coffee flavored I've tried in my life, so I figure the coffee itself must be bad too.

[Young Bard he/him]

I've just read the prologue of White Sand. (I wasn't going to, but after I finished Aether, I really wanted to discuss it, and the only thread is Aether + Sand.) A little cliche, similar to a situation in Aether, actually, but interesting none-the-less.