There’s an idea in Lovecraft that if you get too close to the truth of things… you start talking crazy. But it’s not that you’re crazy, it’s that you are literally now thinking on a far different level than others and they can no longer understand you. Wanted to throw that here, I love lovecraft.
Makes sense like a super intelligence using one word or just knowing what a relative is and such. We all have that freedom but are limited by the box we believe. Open the mind and listen to the, not a singular but infinite themselves. Every difference is itself but also relative, infinity is relative and we share expanding or contracting but still relative no matter what we do or because we are, just like i am.
@@Jacobk-g7r tbh I personally would compare it to like, seeing a new colour, or a new dimension. It effects your perception and you just kinda veer off what others can understand. Not necessarily intelligence. My fave example was from the Call of Cthulhu game. Essentially there’s a crazy person rambling, but if you find out more about the old god he's speaking perfect English.
Reminds me of Mage the Awakening (in the same way as The Matrix) - To learn that the world around you is a lie, Plato's cave, and the entrance to the cave is locked by mocking guards.
Lovecraft once posited that it’s a mercy we do not comprehend the full scope of a the universe because the intricacies are so great that we may not like the knowledge we get. The reality of these once unknowable truths would either drive people to maddening despair or they retreat into blissful ignorance. For me personally the concept of Time and Reality are fascinating concepts. The in Legacy of Kain they explain Time Travel and I want to use the words of Kain himself “We are not subverting fate, we’re completing it! We meet here in this time because we are compelled to meet here, we have always meet here! Time is immovable, cast a stone into a flowing river and the water will pass over the obstruction as if it were never there, we are pebbles and have even less effect. Free Will is an illusion” in Legacy of Kain time travel is near impossible to mess up because Time is not something so simple as a sequence of events. Everything you do and say is something you would have always done even if there were other options. If you go back in time it’s because you were always going to and anything you do will only assist in what has already occurred. It suggests that of time truly exists and their is a past and Future then theirs no alternative. There is no “alternate future” because the future already exists and you can’t change the past because it has already happened.
That's basically the Allegory of the cave from Plato. If you saw something beyond the world everybody sees, you sound crazy for those who are still watching on the cave wall.
Fun little tidbit abou tthe script: I originally had an entire segment written about the Cult of the Damned for the Lich King part. Basically a cult loyal to the Lich King that aspires to become undead but remain alive because being undead is considered an "honor" that must be earned.
Really really surprised you didn't mention The Frenzied Flame. I'm obsessed with it because of how it embodies a complete surrender to suffering and a release from it
Yeah, especially since he mentioned Elden Ring a lot. Also, similar to Miquella it accepts everyone under itself even the downtrodden, the guilty, the cursed, the abuses, and the ones who lost everything and just wish they could be free of suffering.
I see the flame as a true great old one, maybe a bit too literal. But I’ve always seen it as not an eye or whatever seeing you… but being realized by a cosmic being and vice versa, being communicated by you through a gaze. This ties very close to the horror aspect of Lovecraft and Cosmic horror. What did this person see when driven to this? Are they even a person anymore? Is it because they viewed eyes in the sky? Or did eyes in the sky view them? It’s really cool. Check out just the summary of “Hellstar Ramina”. My favorite aspect of that is a scientist looking through a telescope and observing an old one…. And it’s senses his gaze, and it comes… Knowing becomes a curse, even offhand. Edit: sorry I love talking about this. There’s another story where an abstract artist accidentally draws something that resembles an old god… it is summoned by this. I’d compare this to the frenzied; once it is known it will be there. Hence why they locked up/killed everyone involved.
I think that is what makes rain world so terrifying to me, this idea of cosmic bliss. The Ancients built this grand society, built a strict theocratic caste based society with very little social mobility where people were attached to their material posessions and their lives were miserable. Instead of savouring the gift of life, they turned their eyes to the void and destroyed their entire society. A haunting excerpt from the game still sticks with me. Do you see the same as me? Beauty continuing to bloom even in a place long forgotten. I did not have the will to depart, nor the desire. Why did they always search for an escape, as if we were imprisoned? What offering from the void could usurp the gift of life already given? This moment, right here! It is where we are meant to be. The worst part is not everyone was able to pass on, those who were too attached to the mortal plane had their souls ripped in half, not quite alive but not quite dead, stuck to haunt the premises filled with regret and pain.
I love Rain World, such a weird and mysterious little game with lore to rival the likes of Hollow Knight or even Fromsoftware's best. The Benefactors in particular are interesting in how they are repeatedly shown to not be a single homogeneous group, they constantly debated and complained to each other about everything from science to religion and philosophy. One of the pearls found in Farm Arrays mentions a minority of them who broke away from the rest after they discovered the existence of Echoes, so terrified of their fate that they swore off Void Fluid entirely and went back to the old ways of eating gravel and herbal tea. Another group protested the construction of Five Pebbles on religious grounds, calling him an "Apostate Superstructure Abomination" and demanding that he be moved elsewhere or not constructed at all. And then there's our little Undergrowth friend, who questions if the entire concept of Ascending beyond the physical world is actually misguided, which after completing the Saint's campaign and seeing what happens to him in the ending doesn't sound like a completely baseless concern.
On the final seconds of this video, hearing your thoughs about how you preffer being human, it helped me cement a feeling i had the whole video into words: ''Embrace you own flesh''
This is why many consider Slaanesh the darkest and scariest of the Chaos Gods, as it is 'Experience, Pleasure, Perfection, Emotions and Bliss.' What's more terrifying than an entity who you both create and control you, who makes you feel euphoria at the prospect of torture and destruction, who can make your trip into the most depraved actions and insanity seem like a fever dream, who can turn even the greatest and most advanced civilizations into depraved monsters simply by giving in to the most basic of urges.
The Magnus Archives mentioned??? Seriously guys that series is god-tier existential/cosmic horror, I recommend it to everyone (yes, even if you don’t like horror. No jumpscares here)
I love the idea of the devil or a cosmic entity trying to entice me with my biggest dreams and it's just me eating a sandwich and the confused eldritch horror being like "y͉o̜̪u͔͔ ̥͉c̺a̬n̼ ̢̦d̝o̘ ͖̫b̧e͇t̙t̺e͎͚r̠̬ ̗m͇̥a̮͍n̨..."
In lotr, when Sam wears the ring in freaking Mordor, the only thing the ring can do to entice Sam is showing him visions of turning Mordor into a beautiful garden because he can't entice Sam with dreams of grandeur or lordship. Sam then willingly gives the ring away to Frodo. Sam was the true MVP
Another "way of thinking" or philosophy opposite to the nihilism of cosmic horror is what I would call "Cosmic Wonder" or "Cosmic Significance". This would refer to stories where readers follow humans, mainly an individual or pair of individuals, who are exploring and taking significant actions in a universe that is filled with diverse life, ancient mysteries, ancient races, god like aliens, a few legitimate cosmic horror entities you don't want to come across and a few hints that the universe itself is somewhat alive and has a consciousness of it's own. Unlike cosmic horror stories the protagonists aren't random people that die or lose their minds at the end but established individuals that take center stage in different stories that may be seen as separate stories but at some point it becomes clear that they have been taking part in a larger and grander narrative. And while in cosmic horror stories humans are insignificant in the universe, their actions in a cosmic significance/wonder story actually have meaning and have an actual effect on the universe as a whole; sometimes it is hinted that they have being guided (not controlled) and protected by some superior force like unseen god like aliens or an actual will of the universe/ a legitimate god. Another factor would be that while cosmic horror works better through literature in order to let the reader's imagination fill the horrifying details, a cosmic wonder story would have to be through a medium with visuals that would fill the eyes with great art and sublime imagery. One good example of this type of story is the movie Cloud Atlas, wich is a great movie regardless of if what most people say. However the best example I know is the french comic Valerian and Laureline, a story which contains all the previously mentioned factors which after reading lead me to come up with this concept, highly recommend the read. Ironically I read the comic right after reading Alann Moore's Providence, the man's take on lovecraftian horror wich helped made the parallels between this types of stories hard to ignore.
As a Warframe player, I can confirm, I frequently go from cosmic terror to cosmic bliss on a day to day basis. Just what happens when you are farming relics.
The Instrumentality of Evangelion sounds like true horror to me, I'd say that some small amount of uncertainty is essential. I also don't like the idea of being part of a hivemind.
It's not even a hivemind. The barrier of yourself is completely lifted. There is no you to be part of something. Don't know if that makes it better or worse.
James Tiptree wrote a story, "A Momentary Taste of Being," that explores this topic in a terrifying way. Cosmic bliss is luring humanity to a self-destructive extreme that no one can truly resist the call of... I also recommend another cosmic horror science fiction story by Cordwainer Smith, "A Planet Called Shayol," where prisoners are doomed to lose their sense of self as their bodies are exploited to the furthest possible extent. The only character on the planet who can be said to retain his humanity, and resist the call, is a genetically uplifted bullman-a modern Minotaur.
You know what… this reminds me of the vore kink. Specifically, anyone into willing fatal. The idea of being consumed by another being, dying inside them and your body (maybe also the soul to) becoming a part of theirs. It is dying in great physical pain that is also pleasurable and becoming a part of a greater whole. That’s literally cosmic bliss taken to the point where it’s sexy. Hopefully a future Hellraiser film does something with that someday.
I personally think writing about a soulless world of pain and suffering where death has long been dead and nothing can ever escape unto the bliss of the void is kinda cool tbh :3
I think what makes Cosmic Bliss scary is the willingness to surrender yourself and become nothing, mind, body, and soul, to be unmade completely, but most of all, to desire for it to happen. The C'thulu mythos has a couple things like this, one of which is a cult devoted to the worship of azathoth, they know what azathoth is, they know that praying to it brings nothing but destruction as thats all it does, and they know what happens if it wakes up, but they worship it none the less and wish for t to awaken. For those who don't know, in the c'thulu mythos Azathoth is the creator, the center of the universe, and the thing that keeps the universe running at all, it does this because everything that is is a dream azathoth is having. When azathoth wakes the dream ends and with it everything ceases to be, to the point where most of the eldritch gods try to keep azathoth asleep, because if it wakes they too will cease to be. This cult knows this, and still seeks to wake it. Whats scary about cosmic bliss is it's essentially looking at a creature that wants to consume you completely, even your soul, and not only not being afraid, but to want to let it do so. There's another story that goes into this as well, it's a singing fire. The fire is located in a dimension that is beautiful, fields of colorful flowers and pleasant scents, it is located inside a stone building, and creatures from every dimension come to it to listen as the fire sings, but some are so overcome with emotion that they jump into the flames to become one with it, feeding themselves to the fire willingly and being unmade by it so they can become part of it, willingly surrendering their being in it's entirety to this singing flame.
I think a good example of Cosmic Bliss are the video games Lust for Darkness and Lust from Beyond. The short version is that it's your typical story about a Cult wanting to free an eldritch god from another dimension, but the difference is what the God offers; endless sexual bliss. The world in question looks like something straight out of HR Giger's worst nightmares, but to all those who get affected by what this God has created, they don't want to leave it. The ending text screen of Lust from Beyond where you free said God has stuck with me for that reason, because it shows the characters being utterly overjoyed at being able to experience the overwhelming ecstasy as their minds are essentially destroyed by endless orgasm. And I think this is the kind of thing this video is talking about.
Yeah, I’ve always wanted to release myself from my bones and skin. Just eternally being free to experience things and create with infinite understanding and peace, with unfathomable knowing. Just seems like a very comfortable existence. A bit like being stuck in a car for a long trip, then suddenly you’re able to unbuckle yourself and get out.
I had no idea you were doing video essays as well and I have been absolutely absorbed by these videos and have been binging your catalogue since i found this, extremely high quality
Big HK nerd here. It turns out the Pale King (the Hollow Knight and Knight’s father) was right about the Hollow Knight, but wrong about the infection-containing requirements. Given the White Lady’s (the queen’s) choice of words to the Knight (the player character/protagonist) a vessel needs a very strong will to contain the infection, which the Hollow Knight was deprived of, seeing as it was made to obey its father’s every command. To contain the infection, the Knight inherits the polar opposite of cosmic bliss: defiance defined. One perfect display of courage, manifesting into order upon the kingdom.
Wait, I thought that the hollow knight was not perfect, remember the cutscene at the end of the path of pain? I’m pretty sure that showed us that the HK was not perfectly hollow because it developed a bond with the pale king. The pale king did not recognize this tho and used him anyway. Also I also think that it’s ment to be ambiguous whether the knight will truly be able to contain the infection. On a separate note, I don’t think that the radiances hivemind is a great cosmic bliss example, there is no good evidence that it is beneficial or comfortable to be infected (besides the mossy vagabonds but they were a cult so probably not representative of the whole of hallownest) I always thought of infection as just the death of the mind for regular bugs and a steroid+round rage for the strong willed like mantises
@ Ok, maybe not really cosmic bliss, but my point still matters. Also, you didn’t read it right. Even if the Hollow Knight hadn’t formed a bond with his father, he would still have failed; to contain the infection, one needs a strong will, and the Hollow Knight’s training to actively obey every command given by his father took that from him. He doesn’t meet ANY requirements. People often portray him as being struggling to fight back against the infection, with his folly being the fact he isn’t hollow, but that’s not right. The Hollow Knight has lost the will to fight back, and lets his body be controlled to kill us. Only once he sees what we’re fighting for and our capability to accomplish that goal, does he start stabbing himself, making his body weaker. He’s done fighting for peace, but maybe this little Knight can. Though will is strong, fighting won’t end the war. Only denial can do that.
hey man, just wanted to say excellent video. I love cosmic horror and the visuals you provided with the commentary is just incredibly well done. hope you have a nice day ;]
For me cosmic bliss resembles the ending of the game Scorn. Spoiler! Alert! At the very end, when the main character is being prepared to become one with all, the parasite which was trying to assimilate or take control of him, attacks the character one final time and as he tries, struggling to crawl forward with the hope of escaping, the parasite begins a metamorphosis like act. And we are left with an amalgamation of flesh which resembles many things, different for everyone. I personally believe it to be a cocoon of flesh which if given time, it will transform into an abomination. The whole idea is that when you reach a certain level of fear, let it be cosmic fear, or existential dread and you come face to face with that which is the source of this state of being, you just simply give in and let it happen. Because why live a life fighting something that you can't control nor defeat. Might as become one with it and see what will happen.
Bloodborne really gave me these feelings, At the end it did really. The escape of the Beasthood and madness slowly seeps away as the bloodmoon rises, The inescapable calling of the hunters dream..
I absolutely loved their video Even though I always feel a bit anxious about using footage from other channels, I make sure to credit the source in the bottom-left corner of every video
Anyone that likes this theme, should IMMEDIATELY play Look Outside. Its still a (free) demo, but it is exactly what this is all about, and from several directions. Could make for a whole video on its own, really.
I feel like a great example of this concept is in the show Scavengers Reign where a sorta parasitic entity called Hollow mind controls people to bring food to it but also protects them and let’s them kinda live in their dreams.
Yo! I got excited when I saw the Osmosis Jones footage. My English teacher from Freshman year of high school showed me that movie, and I absolutely loved it!
@CosmicHour I have a question have you tried Warhammer 40k and are you interested in recommending a video on it? Because it has better lore than Warcraft. I hope you respond also I enjoy your videos.
Man, this video came out yesterday and i feel like i've already watched. It feels surreal as fuck. I know Tale Foundry made a video about the same topic, but i specifically remember this version.
Petition to turn the Snnuy icon into and eldritch entity that grows from people becoming subscribers and assimilating into the Snnuy sun (meatcanyon style)
You came close to triggering me with that berserk footage. Especially DURING the eclipse. But I'm happy to give you a pass. This is a good video. Thank you for making it.😊
would this be a cosmic horror? Do your own choices matter or was it all predetermined. Like did I choose to write and ask this or was something else entirely did it with out me knowing
Cosmic horror is creepy good unlike ai art. The art behind cosmic horror still has a human behind it. I am not a fan of those type of art, but at least a real human was behind them. Sorry for bringing up ai, but I was just watching a video about ai art. I noticed how ai art looks like cosmic horror but lacks the soul.
"When we join their call" Well then since you gave the Infection as the Cosmic Horror... Hollow Knight is a Horrible Example... We SEAL IT AWAY, Not Join the Radiance!
Well ignorance is said to be Bliss, so I guess not knowing something was very wrong wouldn't be terrifying, but perhaps finding out what was going on after being in that blissful state might be.
this is much more real than you guys would think real life itself is meaningless that is why religion exists its literally the same as what that section of the video says people blowing themselves and innocents up to die because "god" said so ? religion and gods were invented to cope with the inexplainable, with the unfairness of the universe to have some purpose and to have something to have faith in
@@CringeAnimePFP160 if people kill themselves and innocents over something they believe is real to them but scientifically isnt or at the very least fundamentally unprovable, and to oneself unprovable too, then i would dare to think that it is a bad thing. muslim terrorism, 911, the crusades, the list goes on
At least Heaven's Gate had the excuse of being somewhat unprecedented. But how many people give their individuality for the twin ideologies of socialism and fascism, despite the historical proof?
At first, I was really invested in this video because of the way excellent examples of cosmic bliss of The Miracle in Blasphemous and the infection in Hollow Knight And then you swing into like 10 different things that are such a stretch I find it fairly ludicrous you’re equating them with cosmic bliss, just so you can cover the bare minimum reason to talk about the Matrix and Amigara Fault and other well trod, overly discussed pieces of media. I think if you went and did some research you’d find a bunch of books or short stories that really do wonders with the concept of cosmic bliss. I found the shallowness of the research in this video disappointing.
There’s an idea in Lovecraft that if you get too close to the truth of things… you start talking crazy. But it’s not that you’re crazy, it’s that you are literally now thinking on a far different level than others and they can no longer understand you.
Wanted to throw that here, I love lovecraft.
Makes sense like a super intelligence using one word or just knowing what a relative is and such. We all have that freedom but are limited by the box we believe. Open the mind and listen to the, not a singular but infinite themselves. Every difference is itself but also relative, infinity is relative and we share expanding or contracting but still relative no matter what we do or because we are, just like i am.
@@Jacobk-g7r tbh I personally would compare it to like, seeing a new colour, or a new dimension. It effects your perception and you just kinda veer off what others can understand. Not necessarily intelligence.
My fave example was from the Call of Cthulhu game. Essentially there’s a crazy person rambling, but if you find out more about the old god he's speaking perfect English.
Reminds me of Mage the Awakening (in the same way as The Matrix) - To learn that the world around you is a lie, Plato's cave, and the entrance to the cave is locked by mocking guards.
Lovecraft once posited that it’s a mercy we do not comprehend the full scope of a the universe because the intricacies are so great that we may not like the knowledge we get. The reality of these once unknowable truths would either drive people to maddening despair or they retreat into blissful ignorance.
For me personally the concept of Time and Reality are fascinating concepts.
The in Legacy of Kain they explain Time Travel and I want to use the words of Kain himself “We are not subverting fate, we’re completing it! We meet here in this time because we are compelled to meet here, we have always meet here! Time is immovable, cast a stone into a flowing river and the water will pass over the obstruction as if it were never there, we are pebbles and have even less effect. Free Will is an illusion” in Legacy of Kain time travel is near impossible to mess up because Time is not something so simple as a sequence of events. Everything you do and say is something you would have always done even if there were other options. If you go back in time it’s because you were always going to and anything you do will only assist in what has already occurred. It suggests that of time truly exists and their is a past and Future then theirs no alternative. There is no “alternate future” because the future already exists and you can’t change the past because it has already happened.
That's basically the Allegory of the cave from Plato.
If you saw something beyond the world everybody sees, you sound crazy for those who are still watching on the cave wall.
What's worse than zombies? Zombies that choose to be zombies...
Fun little tidbit abou tthe script: I originally had an entire segment written about the Cult of the Damned for the Lich King part.
Basically a cult loyal to the Lich King that aspires to become undead but remain alive because being undead is considered an "honor" that must be earned.
That thought terrifies me to a point i couldn't even begin to explain, and im not much of one to get scared of this kind of stuff.
In a form of perverted Immortality
Really really surprised you didn't mention The Frenzied Flame. I'm obsessed with it because of how it embodies a complete surrender to suffering and a release from it
Yeah, especially since he mentioned Elden Ring a lot. Also, similar to Miquella it accepts everyone under itself even the downtrodden, the guilty, the cursed, the abuses, and the ones who lost everything and just wish they could be free of suffering.
Frenzied flame is for weaklings. real chads join the formless mother!
I see the flame as a true great old one, maybe a bit too literal. But I’ve always seen it as not an eye or whatever seeing you… but being realized by a cosmic being and vice versa, being communicated by you through a gaze. This ties very close to the horror aspect of Lovecraft and Cosmic horror. What did this person see when driven to this? Are they even a person anymore? Is it because they viewed eyes in the sky? Or did eyes in the sky view them?
It’s really cool. Check out just the summary of “Hellstar Ramina”. My favorite aspect of that is a scientist looking through a telescope and observing an old one…. And it’s senses his gaze, and it comes…
Knowing becomes a curse, even offhand.
Edit: sorry I love talking about this. There’s another story where an abstract artist accidentally draws something that resembles an old god… it is summoned by this. I’d compare this to the frenzied; once it is known it will be there. Hence why they locked up/killed everyone involved.
I think that is what makes rain world so terrifying to me, this idea of cosmic bliss. The Ancients built this grand society, built a strict theocratic caste based society with very little social mobility where people were attached to their material posessions and their lives were miserable. Instead of savouring the gift of life, they turned their eyes to the void and destroyed their entire society. A haunting excerpt from the game still sticks with me.
Do you see the same as me?
Beauty continuing to bloom even in a place long forgotten.
I did not have the will to depart, nor the desire.
Why did they always search for an escape, as if we were imprisoned?
What offering from the void could usurp the gift of life already given?
This moment, right here! It is where we are meant to be.
The worst part is not everyone was able to pass on, those who were too attached to the mortal plane had their souls ripped in half, not quite alive but not quite dead, stuck to haunt the premises filled with regret and pain.
I love Rain World, such a weird and mysterious little game with lore to rival the likes of Hollow Knight or even Fromsoftware's best. The Benefactors in particular are interesting in how they are repeatedly shown to not be a single homogeneous group, they constantly debated and complained to each other about everything from science to religion and philosophy. One of the pearls found in Farm Arrays mentions a minority of them who broke away from the rest after they discovered the existence of Echoes, so terrified of their fate that they swore off Void Fluid entirely and went back to the old ways of eating gravel and herbal tea. Another group protested the construction of Five Pebbles on religious grounds, calling him an "Apostate Superstructure Abomination" and demanding that he be moved elsewhere or not constructed at all. And then there's our little Undergrowth friend, who questions if the entire concept of Ascending beyond the physical world is actually misguided, which after completing the Saint's campaign and seeing what happens to him in the ending doesn't sound like a completely baseless concern.
Context for anyone who hasn't played rain world, this is specifically about More Slugcats, a fan made mod included in the DLC package.
On the final seconds of this video, hearing your thoughs about how you preffer being human, it helped me cement a feeling i had the whole video into words:
''Embrace you own flesh''
This is why many consider Slaanesh the darkest and scariest of the Chaos Gods, as it is 'Experience, Pleasure, Perfection, Emotions and Bliss.' What's more terrifying than an entity who you both create and control you, who makes you feel euphoria at the prospect of torture and destruction, who can make your trip into the most depraved actions and insanity seem like a fever dream, who can turn even the greatest and most advanced civilizations into depraved monsters simply by giving in to the most basic of urges.
The Magnus Archives mentioned??? Seriously guys that series is god-tier existential/cosmic horror, I recommend it to everyone (yes, even if you don’t like horror. No jumpscares here)
Ending was frustrating
( still peak of peak tho )
Heavy agree! It really is a great example of existential/cosmic horror (and bliss)
Maybe the real Cosmic Bliss was the friends we made along the way 🗣️🗣️
No. I want my f***in salvation...
No
GET OUT🗣🔥
The mention of a dream you don’t want to leave reminded me of Instrumentality from Evangelion.
👀 instrumentality doesn't go unmentioned
@@CosmicHours I noticed. lol If only I'd waited to comment
I love the idea of the devil or a cosmic entity trying to entice me with my biggest dreams and it's just me eating a sandwich and the confused eldritch horror being like "y͉o̜̪u͔͔ ̥͉c̺a̬n̼ ̢̦d̝o̘ ͖̫b̧e͇t̙t̺e͎͚r̠̬ ̗m͇̥a̮͍n̨..."
*struggles to flex brain muscles to delve further into my lifelong dreams and objectives
*the sandwich now has slightly more expensive ingredients
@@DiegoGonzalez-mc7mq "L̡O̘O̯K̞ ͈W̪H̙A͎T͜ ͓Y͙O͉U̱ ̦C̯ḀN̢ ̻O̞B͔T͖A̳I̞N͜ ͎W͇I̲T̯H̤ ̰I̳N̘F̣I̠N͇I͙T̲E͍ ̟P̼O͔W͚E͚R̖"
-oh mayo!
In lotr, when Sam wears the ring in freaking Mordor, the only thing the ring can do to entice Sam is showing him visions of turning Mordor into a beautiful garden because he can't entice Sam with dreams of grandeur or lordship.
Sam then willingly gives the ring away to Frodo. Sam was the true MVP
if all it takes is a sandwich that just makes their work easier lol
Another "way of thinking" or philosophy opposite to the nihilism of cosmic horror is what I would call "Cosmic Wonder" or "Cosmic Significance". This would refer to stories where readers follow humans, mainly an individual or pair of individuals, who are exploring and taking significant actions in a universe that is filled with diverse life, ancient mysteries, ancient races, god like aliens, a few legitimate cosmic horror entities you don't want to come across and a few hints that the universe itself is somewhat alive and has a consciousness of it's own.
Unlike cosmic horror stories the protagonists aren't random people that die or lose their minds at the end but established individuals that take center stage in different stories that may be seen as separate stories but at some point it becomes clear that they have been taking part in a larger and grander narrative. And while in cosmic horror stories humans are insignificant in the universe, their actions in a cosmic significance/wonder story actually have meaning and have an actual effect on the universe as a whole; sometimes it is hinted that they have being guided (not controlled) and protected by some superior force like unseen god like aliens or an actual will of the universe/ a legitimate god.
Another factor would be that while cosmic horror works better through literature in order to let the reader's imagination fill the horrifying details, a cosmic wonder story would have to be through a medium with visuals that would fill the eyes with great art and sublime imagery.
One good example of this type of story is the movie Cloud Atlas, wich is a great movie regardless of if what most people say. However the best example I know is the french comic Valerian and Laureline, a story which contains all the previously mentioned factors which after reading lead me to come up with this concept, highly recommend the read. Ironically I read the comic right after reading Alann Moore's Providence, the man's take on lovecraftian horror wich helped made the parallels between this types of stories hard to ignore.
Basiy Star Trek. Specially TNG and specially DS9 (I'd say more but it'd be a spoiler)
I am honestly so glad I found your channel, I really dig your voice and how well put this video was! 🧡
This reminded me of a video made by Tale Foundry! Do you know that channel? Perchance? Lol
Tale Foundry is a huge inspiration, I wanted to give my own spin on the Cosmic Bliss idea but without them this video might have looked much different
@@CosmicHours I got this in my recommended after binging Tale Foundry so it makes sense. But I like horror like this too so I'm sticking around!
Yooo it did for me as well.
As a Warframe player, I can confirm, I frequently go from cosmic terror to cosmic bliss on a day to day basis. Just what happens when you are farming relics.
The Instrumentality of Evangelion sounds like true horror to me, I'd say that some small amount of uncertainty is essential. I also don't like the idea of being part of a hivemind.
It's not even a hivemind. The barrier of yourself is completely lifted. There is no you to be part of something. Don't know if that makes it better or worse.
@@internettevarolanadam I'd say that sounds even worse.
James Tiptree wrote a story, "A Momentary Taste of Being," that explores this topic in a terrifying way. Cosmic bliss is luring humanity to a self-destructive extreme that no one can truly resist the call of...
I also recommend another cosmic horror science fiction story by Cordwainer Smith, "A Planet Called Shayol," where prisoners are doomed to lose their sense of self as their bodies are exploited to the furthest possible extent. The only character on the planet who can be said to retain his humanity, and resist the call, is a genetically uplifted bullman-a modern Minotaur.
You know what… this reminds me of the vore kink. Specifically, anyone into willing fatal. The idea of being consumed by another being, dying inside them and your body (maybe also the soul to) becoming a part of theirs. It is dying in great physical pain that is also pleasurable and becoming a part of a greater whole. That’s literally cosmic bliss taken to the point where it’s sexy. Hopefully a future Hellraiser film does something with that someday.
no, that's just being weird lmao
@@DestroyDEINo, no, he has a point
I personally think writing about a soulless world of pain and suffering where death has long been dead and nothing can ever escape unto the bliss of the void is kinda cool tbh :3
I think what makes Cosmic Bliss scary is the willingness to surrender yourself and become nothing, mind, body, and soul, to be unmade completely, but most of all, to desire for it to happen.
The C'thulu mythos has a couple things like this, one of which is a cult devoted to the worship of azathoth, they know what azathoth is, they know that praying to it brings nothing but destruction as thats all it does, and they know what happens if it wakes up, but they worship it none the less and wish for t to awaken.
For those who don't know, in the c'thulu mythos Azathoth is the creator, the center of the universe, and the thing that keeps the universe running at all, it does this because everything that is is a dream azathoth is having.
When azathoth wakes the dream ends and with it everything ceases to be, to the point where most of the eldritch gods try to keep azathoth asleep, because if it wakes they too will cease to be.
This cult knows this, and still seeks to wake it.
Whats scary about cosmic bliss is it's essentially looking at a creature that wants to consume you completely, even your soul, and not only not being afraid, but to want to let it do so.
There's another story that goes into this as well, it's a singing fire.
The fire is located in a dimension that is beautiful, fields of colorful flowers and pleasant scents, it is located inside a stone building, and creatures from every dimension come to it to listen as the fire sings, but some are so overcome with emotion that they jump into the flames to become one with it, feeding themselves to the fire willingly and being unmade by it so they can become part of it, willingly surrendering their being in it's entirety to this singing flame.
I think a good example of Cosmic Bliss are the video games Lust for Darkness and Lust from Beyond. The short version is that it's your typical story about a Cult wanting to free an eldritch god from another dimension, but the difference is what the God offers; endless sexual bliss. The world in question looks like something straight out of HR Giger's worst nightmares, but to all those who get affected by what this God has created, they don't want to leave it.
The ending text screen of Lust from Beyond where you free said God has stuck with me for that reason, because it shows the characters being utterly overjoyed at being able to experience the overwhelming ecstasy as their minds are essentially destroyed by endless orgasm. And I think this is the kind of thing this video is talking about.
Dear god i love your voice talking about these things
Yeah, I’ve always wanted to release myself from my bones and skin. Just eternally being free to experience things and create with infinite understanding and peace, with unfathomable knowing. Just seems like a very comfortable existence.
A bit like being stuck in a car for a long trip, then suddenly you’re able to unbuckle yourself and get out.
The Magnus Archives mentioned!
Love that series to my bones!
Such a fascinating concept. Also, The Magnus Archives mentioned! It's an absolutely amazing podcast with so many great horror stories.
An awesome video! Lots of great examples and visuals! Keep up the excellent work!
THANK you for including Blasphemous! I love the game very much
I had no idea you were doing video essays as well and I have been absolutely absorbed by these videos and have been binging your catalogue since i found this, extremely high quality
Thank you, that genuinely means a lot 🧡
After fighting the Urge to lay down and sleep a pleasant dream in Darkwood, I believe irl I wouldn't have the same resolve 😂
0:11 what's this from?
League of legend champion fiddlesticks, fiddlesticks : terror in demacia
Wth? It's from Annihilation.
Fiddlesticks: Terror in Demacia. It’s a cinematic trailer for League of Legends
@SomaKitsune no its absolutely not
@@thelonelywhale219 Isn't it the poster from Annihilation? Bah. Maybe I'm tripping.
Big HK nerd here. It turns out the Pale King (the Hollow Knight and Knight’s father) was right about the Hollow Knight, but wrong about the infection-containing requirements. Given the White Lady’s (the queen’s) choice of words to the Knight (the player character/protagonist) a vessel needs a very strong will to contain the infection, which the Hollow Knight was deprived of, seeing as it was made to obey its father’s every command. To contain the infection, the Knight inherits the polar opposite of cosmic bliss: defiance defined. One perfect display of courage, manifesting into order upon the kingdom.
Wait, I thought that the hollow knight was not perfect, remember the cutscene at the end of the path of pain? I’m pretty sure that showed us that the HK was not perfectly hollow because it developed a bond with the pale king. The pale king did not recognize this tho and used him anyway. Also I also think that it’s ment to be ambiguous whether the knight will truly be able to contain the infection.
On a separate note, I don’t think that the radiances hivemind is a great cosmic bliss example, there is no good evidence that it is beneficial or comfortable to be infected (besides the mossy vagabonds but they were a cult so probably not representative of the whole of hallownest) I always thought of infection as just the death of the mind for regular bugs and a steroid+round rage for the strong willed like mantises
@ Ok, maybe not really cosmic bliss, but my point still matters.
Also, you didn’t read it right. Even if the Hollow Knight hadn’t formed a bond with his father, he would still have failed; to contain the infection, one needs a strong will, and the Hollow Knight’s training to actively obey every command given by his father took that from him. He doesn’t meet ANY requirements. People often portray him as being struggling to fight back against the infection, with his folly being the fact he isn’t hollow, but that’s not right. The Hollow Knight has lost the will to fight back, and lets his body be controlled to kill us. Only once he sees what we’re fighting for and our capability to accomplish that goal, does he start stabbing himself, making his body weaker. He’s done fighting for peace, but maybe this little Knight can. Though will is strong, fighting won’t end the war. Only denial can do that.
was studying but will continue later, like whats uni to this upload
I'd rather be miserable and know it's real than live in a fake world that's happy, constantly being lied to.
At least I have control.
hey man, just wanted to say excellent video. I love cosmic horror and the visuals you provided with the commentary is just incredibly well done. hope you have a nice day ;]
For me cosmic bliss resembles the ending of the game Scorn. Spoiler! Alert! At the very end, when the main character is being prepared to become one with all, the parasite which was trying to assimilate or take control of him, attacks the character one final time and as he tries, struggling to crawl forward with the hope of escaping, the parasite begins a metamorphosis like act. And we are left with an amalgamation of flesh which resembles many things, different for everyone. I personally believe it to be a cocoon of flesh which if given time, it will transform into an abomination. The whole idea is that when you reach a certain level of fear, let it be cosmic fear, or existential dread and you come face to face with that which is the source of this state of being, you just simply give in and let it happen. Because why live a life fighting something that you can't control nor defeat. Might as become one with it and see what will happen.
Bloodborne really gave me these feelings, At the end it did really. The escape of the Beasthood and madness slowly seeps away as the bloodmoon rises, The inescapable calling of the hunters dream..
15:23 Love the Mashed clip
I absolutely loved their video
Even though I always feel a bit anxious about using footage from other channels, I make sure to credit the source in the bottom-left corner of every video
@@CosmicHours you should try Warhammer 40k a lot of the crap from Warcraft copied Warhammer just to let you know
Anyone that likes this theme, should IMMEDIATELY play Look Outside. Its still a (free) demo, but it is exactly what this is all about, and from several directions. Could make for a whole video on its own, really.
I feel like a great example of this concept is in the show Scavengers Reign where a sorta parasitic entity called Hollow mind controls people to bring food to it but also protects them and let’s them kinda live in their dreams.
490 views in 3 Hours?!!
This video deserves more!!
Yo! I got excited when I saw the Osmosis Jones footage. My English teacher from Freshman year of high school showed me that movie, and I absolutely loved it!
I love over the garden wall sm, I'm happy that you talked about it
I have no idea why people would play hollowknight
That game is full of bugs
They got me in the first half
never thought of this before, kinda like it honestly.
Amazing as always !!!!
Great video.
I always forget that snnuy runs this channel so when I occasionally find a video from hear I am so surprised for a second lol
Im so happy that hollow knight was mentioned here i feel it's so rare to see it mentioned these days
Didn't Tale Foundry do this same concept recently?
I LOVE YOUR VIDEO!! thank you now I have inspiration for my novel
20:34 Reminds me of the Clive Barker story "In the Hills, the Cities" from "Books of Blood: Volume 1."
MAGNUS ARCHIVES FINALLY MENTION YIPPEEEEE
this man did NOT miss with the world of goo music
Collective class consciousness and radical hope, thats scary af
Just a few wrong characters and you turn cosmic hour into cosmic horror 💀
Hollow knight is fun because if you enter and have emotion the radiance can infect you
@CosmicHour I have a question have you tried Warhammer 40k and are you interested in recommending a video on it? Because it has better lore than Warcraft. I hope you respond also I enjoy your videos.
falling to chaos in 40k or warhammer fantasy seems like a potential form of cosmic bliss
And some of the crew taken over by The Many in system shock 2 seem to experience it as well
Omg omg it’s here!!
Man, this video came out yesterday and i feel like i've already watched. It feels surreal as fuck. I know Tale Foundry made a video about the same topic, but i specifically remember this version.
End of Eva is a cosmic bliss film. Your ending thoughts in the video are the same as Shinji's in the end of the movie.
Petition to turn the Snnuy icon into and eldritch entity that grows from people becoming subscribers and assimilating into the Snnuy sun (meatcanyon style)
30 seconds ago is wild.
There was an episode of Adventure Time with Lemon Grab with a similar theme
I finished watching and god damn I loved it!!! When is the next ooooone
Is this not just exactly a Tale Foundry video from a year ago? ua-cam.com/video/9VDmwazWV58/v-deo.htmlsi=Q6t4sWk9Cc1WpjgK
blasphemous is probably my fave cosmic horror
If you want terrifying cosmic bliss, just check any video on the SCP "When the day breaks"
So cooooool 👽👽👽
Why every angel in the Bible always introduced themselves with these three words… “Be not afraid…”
You came close to triggering me with that berserk footage. Especially DURING the eclipse. But I'm happy to give you a pass. This is a good video. Thank you for making it.😊
I find hope in these places
When are we gonna get another lulu cosplay?
Im simple man , i see Darkwood i like.
@Cosmic Hour have you tried Warhammer 40k it has lots of cosmic horror.
Becoming a toenail, no question
Ah you’re also a victim of the Archives. Does not surprise me, thoughts on the protocol?
0:00 taxes
Is this Necrit?
HOLLOW KNIGHT?!
Question: have you tried Warhammer 40k? Please respond back.
would this be a cosmic horror? Do your own choices matter or was it all predetermined. Like did I choose to write and ask this or was something else entirely did it with out me knowing
Cosmic dread crowd at its finest being terrified way too easily. Schlock mind/universe breaking copy and paste.
Snnuy is that you?
Just a good reminder to not be a cog stuck in the machine and REBEL!!! RAHHHH!
Cosmic horror is creepy good unlike ai art. The art behind cosmic horror still has a human behind it. I am not a fan of those type of art, but at least a real human was behind them. Sorry for bringing up ai, but I was just watching a video about ai art. I noticed how ai art looks like cosmic horror but lacks the soul.
"When we join their call" Well then since you gave the Infection as the Cosmic Horror... Hollow Knight is a Horrible Example... We SEAL IT AWAY, Not Join the Radiance!
Snuy i can smell your presence
i see hollow knight i click
Snuy is that you?
Bro I thought I'm going crazy
Cosmic bliss? End of Evangelion much?
I don't know whether to be annoyed at you for ripping off Tale Foundry or pleased at you for using Hollow Knight
Snnuy ?????
Nothing is beyond words or untranslateable, the person saying so meerly lacks the knowledge and\or vocabulary to do so.
Cosmic bliss isn't terrifying
Well ignorance is said to be Bliss, so I guess not knowing something was very wrong wouldn't be terrifying, but perhaps finding out what was going on after being in that blissful state might be.
this is much more real than you guys would think
real life itself is meaningless
that is why religion exists
its literally the same as what that section of the video says
people blowing themselves and innocents up to die because "god" said so ?
religion and gods were invented to cope with the inexplainable, with the unfairness of the universe
to have some purpose and to have something to have faith in
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
@@CringeAnimePFP160 if people kill themselves and innocents over something they believe is real to them but scientifically isnt or at the very least fundamentally unprovable, and to oneself unprovable too, then i would dare to think that it is a bad thing.
muslim terrorism, 911, the crusades, the list goes on
most, or most of the ones you know think you know anything about?
you stole this from tale foundry
At least Heaven's Gate had the excuse of being somewhat unprecedented. But how many people give their individuality for the twin ideologies of socialism and fascism, despite the historical proof?
At first, I was really invested in this video because of the way excellent examples of cosmic bliss of The Miracle in Blasphemous and the infection in Hollow Knight
And then you swing into like 10 different things that are such a stretch I find it fairly ludicrous you’re equating them with cosmic bliss, just so you can cover the bare minimum reason to talk about the Matrix and Amigara Fault and other well trod, overly discussed pieces of media.
I think if you went and did some research you’d find a bunch of books or short stories that really do wonders with the concept of cosmic bliss. I found the shallowness of the research in this video disappointing.
You seem to struggle with the concept of ego death lately. It affects your production.