a question, some Cthulhiana, and some EG spoilers (maybe)

Thomas Bitterman · 13 Oct 2008, 02:37 · from 2008-October.txt.gz

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From: tom at bitterman.net (Thomas Bitterman)
Date: Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:37:34 -0400
Subject: (urth) a question, some Cthulhiana, and some EG spoilers (maybe)
Message-ID: <e11bddb60810121937g208290e6pfe421ca80c47ed44 at mail.gmail.com>

First, the question.  In the final conversation, between Cassie and Klauser
(which
really needs extended explanation), Cassie asks Klauser what to take on the
trip
to Woldercan.  He says, "Women have monthly needs.  You could use rags, and
our great-great-grandmothers did, but if you would prefer not to...".  WTF?
Who
talks like that?  Why would an old man tell an old woman about menstruation
and
the historic ways to deal with it?

Now, Cthulhuiana and spoilers (if I'm lucky).  The two major male
protagonists have
multiple identities (Wallace Rosenquist/William Reis and Gideon Chase/Gil
Corby)
but the names keep the same initials.  If someone can have two identities,
they
can have more.  Since it's a Lovecraftian book, let's look there.

The first one is easy.  Gideon Chase is the Great Cthulhu.

The second one is tougher.  I can't be sure, but I'll go in order of
descending likelihood.
I would like to thank my copy of _Encyclopedia Cthulhiana_, which comes in
handy
more often than you'd think.

1. "Black Ram with a Thousand Young".  The male aspect of the Outer God
Shub-Niggurath.  My favorite for plot purposes.

2. "Wza-y'ei Rhan-Tegoth"  The first word is the start of the chant that
summons
Rhan-Tegoth, a Great Old One who came to Earth.  It is said that the
destruction of
Rhan-Tegoth would prevent the awakening of the Great Old Ones.

3. "Watery R'lyeh".  Cthulhu's underwater city.

4. "Beyond Rigel".  Rigel is a star that is associated with the Elder Gods,
enemies (more or less) of the Great Old Ones.

I like 1 best because it turns the whole story into infighting between the
bad guys with Shub-Niggurath getting the U. S. Navy to nuke Cthulhu.  Cassie
is just a pawn in this game and is going to get her just "reward" on
Woldercan
from the Great C himself.

Enamel
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