CTHULHU RISES AS MY SANITY FADES! (Call of Cthulhu D.A.R.E Review part 3)

        Hello and welcome back to the Reader in Yellow, the one blog that takes the prize of being more contradictory than ESUHSD District Superintendent Chris D. Funk's policies. I am your host Ay Ay Ron Hilomen and today we're taking a long winding journey into the wonderful world of mental health. A little note to all you students out there, if the following content isn't your cup of tea, turn away now. If you or a loved one is suffering from mental health problems, please do call a hotline or contact a professional. If you're a student, you've probably heard a billion times about those useful little numbers on the back of your ID card, and I'm here to make it a billion-and-one.  If you're really dead-set about not calling the hotlines, then at least do yourself a favor and tell a close friend, I can say from experience that it does help, alot. Now, with those disclaimers and stuff out of the way, let us without further ado embark on a bit of a personal thing. 

Even the great old ones want you to be successful! (image credit: Ravelry)

        In HP Lovecraft's famous tale about the world's most iconic octopus headed laddicus, there's always been a sort of mental illness angle. Within this story, I could clearly relate to the protagonists biting off more than they could chew when they accidentally summoned the great old one himself. Not only that, but during the moment that they believed to have defeated the beast before looking back to see our big green friend reforming, I was personally reminded of all of those good days I had where I believed I completed my daily workload and vented off my troubles and had a brief period of time to myself before realizing there was more work to be done. In short, there's quite alot to relate to in Call of Cthulhu, and if taken from the mental illness metaphor, then Cthulhu should not be underestimated because of what he can represent. Taking the cultists as a metaphor for symptoms, I could say I've found many an equivalent to Gustaf Johansen in my life. In the story, Gustaf is a sailor whose crewmates were killed by Cthulhu cultists in an event traumatic for him. Taking this into account, there has been a student (who will remain anonymous out of respect) one year my senior who I used to interact with very often. If not for that student, I may have likely still stayed at square one of just bottling up all of my emotions constantly the entirety of my highschool career. Similarly, if not for Johansen, the story of Call of Cthulhu would be very much incomplete without an appearance from the large lad himself. Both Johansen in the story and this friend in my experience also had given their respective Francis Thurston the knowledge of how to temporarily defeat the metaphorical Cthulhu in a sense that left much uncertainty for their return. Unlike in the story, however, I do not intend to leave this on a hopeless note, as both Johansen and Thurston do end up seemingly meeting their demise at the hands of the cultists, as is so common in lovecraftian horror. Another analogy for Cthulhu one could find is our current situation with COVID-19, however due to the threat of ESUHSD High School District Superintendent Chris D. Funk breaking into my home and burning my MechWarrior posters should I not comply with many guidelines and norms when speaking about the worldwide crises, no more shall be spoken (also because my biggest fear is coming off as uninformed, insensitive, or downright detestable in my comparison. At least Cthulhu had a heart, unlike this pandemic).

My mental state fleeing from my daily workload and procrastination habits, 2020 colourized

        Unlike in lovecraftian horror, this is real life, and thus not quite as limited to having a downer ending as  you may be lead to believe. No matter how big of an immortal squid monster life throws at you, just know that there's always a chance that life can get better. 8 times out of ten, it most certainly will, if you give it a chance. Who knows, you may ram a schooner through your problem, punching it with a giant robot, or you may end up having tea and making conversation with an aeons old betentacled elder being the size of a skyscraper to get over your problems. Just remember that no matter what you're going through out there, that this isn't the bleak world Lovecraft envisioned. In this world, you matter, and if any of you readers out there are in need, we're here for you. Unless you're ESUHSD High School District Superintendent Chris D. Funk, then you can probably burn any elder being or mental health problem you encounter to the ground yourself, just like you did with the district's budget.

The Great Old Ones can expect no mercy from this man. None.