Windows by Andrew Nagel

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Lester Curtis
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Re: Windows by Andrew Nagel

Post by Lester Curtis »

Yep, they were right . . . Cthulhu's one evil s.o.b. . . . I think they should give him a nuclear warhead to chew on.

Pretty horrific shit, there, well done as it is.
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Lester Curtis
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Re: Windows by Andrew Nagel

Post by Lester Curtis »

Welcome to the forum, Andrew. You did an excellent job. And, once in a while, it's good to be reminded that there might be someone out there that we really should shoot first, instead of trying to talk to!

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who's looking forward to more of your work.
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Robert_Moriyama
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Re: Windows by Andrew Nagel

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

vates wrote:
Bill_Wolfe wrote: the lack of any kind of ‘happy ending.’
But ... well ... in the end the boy seems genuinely happy, the father content.
The father wasn't so much content as he was resigned to his fate -- he felt that he deserved death for putting his son in a situation that resulted in his horrible death (and worse undeath). And the boy's body may have been smiling, but I wouldn't assume that the boy was the one in the 'driver's seat'.

(Yes, I realize that you were being ironic / sarcastic. Anyway, the ending was probably a happy one for the Great Old One, who quite enjoys a good bloodbath involving the puny parasites infesting his home.)
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Robert_Moriyama
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Re: Windows by Andrew Nagel

Post by Robert_Moriyama »

vates wrote:
Robert_Moriyama wrote: Yes, I realize that you were being ironic / sarcastic.
Actually, no, I don't think so.

Let me just outline what I consider one possible reading of the story.

As it seems some people are more prone to fall into rapport with octopus man than others. The fate of mother and son seems to indicate that that ability might be hereditary. Unfortunately such contact tends to have a fatal end for the human party involved; whether by ill intent on the side of octopus man or because of some kind of accidential overload on the human side I cannot tell from the story. However the octopus man seems to keep memories of possibly all such contacts.

It is in these memories the boy finds the mother he never knew. And is in rapport with octopus man that he is reunited with her. In rapport that kills him.

So never mind his death, never mind the ugly circumstances. He died happy.
Oh my gods! A C'thulhu apologist! Elder Gods aren't evil -- they're just misunderstood.

"Shucks, I didn't mean to make that puny -- er, cute l'il boy's eyes explode. Anyway, I made things right by animating his mutilated corpse and letting him see a vision of his mother, whose mind was another tasty morsel -- I mean beautiful addition to my Octopus-man's Garden in the Sea..."

::)
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

Jack London (1876-1916)
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