Interesting idea I’ve seen in a few different Lovecraft-derived stories

The universe is populated by things that are completely indifferent to us. They operate on a scale such that they can barely even perceive us, just as we can’t directly look at bacteria. However, they will only kill us by accident, or if we’re somehow in their way, because they don’t care enough for malice.

The universe is also populated by humans. Those are the folks who will potentially do horrible things to other humans out of sheer sadism.

I’m reading Winter Tide

To explain why I find Trumbull such a profoundly boring character, I’d like to propose the Theory of Linking Fucks. In order for you to give a fuck about someone, they must give a fuck about someone or something. It doesn’t even have to be a thing that you give a fuck about, because the mere recognition of a shared capability of giving a fuck is enough to generate empathy. But Trumbull gives about as many fucks as a particularly mobile brick, and that makes it hard to have a reaction to her other than wishing she would go away.