Follow TV Tropes

Following

History Headscratchers / TheLaundryFiles

Go To

OR

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
just putting this here for future editors

Added DiffLines:

'''As a Headscratchers subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
----

Added: 895

Changed: 258

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* Why would The Mandate want more Erich Zahn instruments? He of all people should know that they all link up to the King in Yellow, who should be an enemy of his. And if they are indeed friends, is that why he made sure Mo survived the climax of ''Delirium Brief''?

to:

** Referenced in WMG.
* Why would The Mandate want more Erich Zahn instruments? He of all people should know that they all link up to the King in Yellow, who should be an enemy of his. And if they are indeed friends, is that why he made sure Mo survived the climax of ''Delirium Brief''?Brief''?
** They're powerful weapons when used properly, and summoning of the King in Yellow requires specific ritual. Also must be considered that Mandate is a dick and likes to troll his fellow Outer Gods '''and''' people in and out of his command, and that "enemy" isn't absolutely correct term - they're rivaling for the control of the Earth and at the same time pulling an EnemyMine on Cold Ones, which invites very unpredictable dinamic where you're helping someone with one hand while backstabbing them with other. Also, if The Unspeakable Vault of Doom is canon, he ''is'' a friend of King in Yellow, at least, more than Cthulhu's.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* Could it be that the Cold Ones, the things that Nyarlathotep and his buddies are fleeing from, are the same as the Infovore from ''Atrocity Archive''? The Infovores are described as ice giants, they suck heat and information out of the universes they inhabit and they are powerful enough to casually carve Hitler's face into the moon, so it does sound somewhat likely, doesn't it?

to:

* Could it be that the Cold Ones, the things that Nyarlathotep and his buddies are fleeing from, are the same as the Infovore from ''Atrocity Archive''? The Infovores are described as ice giants, they suck heat and information out of the universes they inhabit and they are powerful enough to casually carve Hitler's face into the moon, so it does sound somewhat likely, doesn't it?it?
* Why would The Mandate want more Erich Zahn instruments? He of all people should know that they all link up to the King in Yellow, who should be an enemy of his. And if they are indeed friends, is that why he made sure Mo survived the climax of ''Delirium Brief''?

Added: 382

Changed: -12

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** This far into CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN it’s probably counterproductive for the Deep Ones to kill large numbers of humans even though they could do so if they wanted. It is an interesting question as to why the Laundry didn’t use their liaison with the Deep Ones to try and deal with their Sleeper in the Pyramid problem instead of going with the Mandate, or at least why this wasn’t mentioned as a potential option.

to:

** This far into CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN it’s probably counterproductive for the Deep Ones to kill large numbers of humans even though they could do so if they wanted. It is an interesting question as to why the Laundry didn’t use their liaison with the Deep Ones to try and deal with their Sleeper in the Pyramid problem instead of going with the Mandate, or at least why this wasn’t mentioned as a potential option.option.
* Could it be that the Cold Ones, the things that Nyarlathotep and his buddies are fleeing from, are the same as the Infovore from ''Atrocity Archive''? The Infovores are described as ice giants, they suck heat and information out of the universes they inhabit and they are powerful enough to casually carve Hitler's face into the moon, so it does sound somewhat likely, doesn't it?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** A related question is why the Deep Ones don't respond to the subversion of the Black Chamber. I am sure that this will be dealt with in the next book. I suspect that they just haven't found out yet and a good part of the book may be convincing or otherwise causing them not to just excise the diseased flesh by washing away the US and UK.

to:

** A related question is why the Deep Ones don't respond to the subversion of the Black Chamber. I am sure that this will be dealt with in the next book. I suspect that they just haven't found out yet and a good part of the book may be convincing or otherwise causing them not to just excise the diseased flesh by washing away the US and UK.UK.
** This far into CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN it’s probably counterproductive for the Deep Ones to kill large numbers of humans even though they could do so if they wanted. It is an interesting question as to why the Laundry didn’t use their liaison with the Deep Ones to try and deal with their Sleeper in the Pyramid problem instead of going with the Mandate, or at least why this wasn’t mentioned as a potential option.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:


* The stories make reference to things that are from the CthulhuMythos, like Miskatonic University, but there was also a reference to the UsefulNotes/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] paper/theorem/whatever. So, in the Laundry universe, was Lovecraft still a writer who wrote the same stories, but the stories were based on truth? Was he instead an occult researcher? Or are the characters using CthulhuMythos names jokingly?

to:

* The stories make reference to things that are from the CthulhuMythos, Franchise/CthulhuMythos, like Miskatonic University, but there was also a reference to the UsefulNotes/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] paper/theorem/whatever. So, in the Laundry universe, was Lovecraft still a writer who wrote the same stories, but the stories were based on truth? Was he instead an occult researcher? Or are the characters using CthulhuMythos Franchise/CthulhuMythos names jokingly?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* So, doesn't recent mandate for Mandate violate Benthic Treaty? Or he's so out of the scale, he can blow his nose in it, and Deep Ones will comply?

to:

* So, doesn't recent mandate for Mandate violate Benthic Treaty? Or he's so out of the scale, he can blow his nose in it, and Deep Ones will comply?comply?
** A related question is why the Deep Ones don't respond to the subversion of the Black Chamber. I am sure that this will be dealt with in the next book. I suspect that they just haven't found out yet and a good part of the book may be convincing or otherwise causing them not to just excise the diseased flesh by washing away the US and UK.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** Need To Know. A field operative for the Laundry needs to know all the stuff about the occult because the field operative is going to be dealing with the occult on a fairly frequent basis. But the guy who calculates payroll just needs to know how many employees he needs to divide the operational budget between and on what scale each employee is being paid. He doesn't need to know that stuff, so no one tells him it.

to:

** Need To Know. A field operative for the Laundry needs to know all the stuff about the occult because the field operative is going to be dealing with the occult on a fairly frequent basis. But the guy who calculates payroll just needs to know how many employees he needs to divide the operational budget between and on what scale each employee is being paid. He doesn't need to know that stuff, so no one tells him it. As for how he joined up originally, chances are he just blundered into something he didn't fully understand completely by accident but still had to be swept up and kept silent regardless.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

** Need To Know. A field operative for the Laundry needs to know all the stuff about the occult because the field operative is going to be dealing with the occult on a fairly frequent basis. But the guy who calculates payroll just needs to know how many employees he needs to divide the operational budget between and on what scale each employee is being paid. He doesn't need to know that stuff, so no one tells him it.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* How is it that Fred from accounting worked for the Laundry without being aware that the occult is real?

to:

* How is it that Fred from accounting worked for the Laundry without being aware that the occult is real?real?
** Well, some of their staff at that point was barely aware what are they actually do, aside from "secret work for government", and he could be just that stupid.
* So, doesn't recent mandate for Mandate violate Benthic Treaty? Or he's so out of the scale, he can blow his nose in it, and Deep Ones will comply?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* The stories make reference to things that are from the CthulhuMythos, like Miskatonic University, but there was also a reference to the Creator/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] paper/theorem/whatever. So, in the Laundry universe, was Lovecraft still a writer who wrote the same stories, but the stories were based on truth? Was he instead an occult researcher? Or are the characters using CthulhuMythos names jokingly?

to:

* The stories make reference to things that are from the CthulhuMythos, like Miskatonic University, but there was also a reference to the Creator/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft UsefulNotes/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] paper/theorem/whatever. So, in the Laundry universe, was Lovecraft still a writer who wrote the same stories, but the stories were based on truth? Was he instead an occult researcher? Or are the characters using CthulhuMythos names jokingly?
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* The stories make reference to things that are from the CthulhuMythos, like Miskatonic University, but there was also a reference to the Creator/AlanTuring-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]] paper/theorem/whatever. So, in the Laundry universe, was Lovecraft still a writer who wrote the same stories, but the stories were based on truth? Was he instead an occult researcher? Or are the characters using CthulhuMythos names jokingly?
** There's no reference to the Turing-Lovecraft theorem. Word of god is that, in the Laundryverse, Lovecraft's stories are based to some extent on truth, but he was such an UnreliableNarrator that they aren't hugely helpful.
*** Re-check Atrocity Archives. There is a reference to the T-L theorem early in the book.
** We actually get to hear from Lovecraft in "Equoid." He was the 1920s equivalent of a hipster ([[UnreliableNarrator at least, in Bob's opinion]]) who had a number of horrible encounters that set him on the path to occult research as a sideline for his hobby. He got more wrong than he did right, and his writings are compared to the occult equivalent of ''[[Literature/AnarchistCookbook The Anarchist's Cookbook]]'' - if you try to use the recipes, you might just blow your hands off.
* CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN is repeatedly referenced, but whenever other code words end in a colour, there's invariably several variants of the core code word, delineated by colour, such as GOD GAME BLACK, GOD GAME BLUE, etc., grouped under the umbrella GOD GAME RAINBOW. So what other CASE NIGHTMARE RAINBOW scenarios are there?
** WordOfGod provides [[http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2015/06/book-launch.html#comment-1973187 descriptions of CASE NIGHTMARE BLUE, RED, and YELLOW]]. BLUE is the Lovecraftian singularity, RED is alien invasion, and YELLOW is a Creator/VernorVinge-style singularity with added tentacles. CASE NIGHTMARE PINK (further down the page) is invasion by WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic.
* How is it that Fred from accounting worked for the Laundry without being aware that the occult is real?

Top