@wow

You have a point. I know that personally, if I were a supervillain, I wouldn't want to be reduced to holiday lollies and cute little greeting cards. I'd find it deeply humiliating and would probably refuse to emerge from my evil lair for the rest of eternity.

It's possible that the Old Gods think the way we do, and that it would shame them into nonexistence. Or would it?

Would that kind of attention simply give them -more- power?

I mean, think about it. Santa Clause is a cutesy holiday theme that's laughably ridiculous. It's common knowledge that he isn't real. But little children LOVE Santa. They write letters to Santa. They tell Santa their deepest desires and wishes. They stay awake all night listening for Santa to pay them a visit.

Now imagine for a second how an Old God might react to this kind of treatment. Love. Respect. Trust. More than anything, Belief. Loads and loads and loads of it. If the Old Gods feed off of some scattered, insane cult that worships them, if they feed off of our fear of them, how much more power would they get from entire nations acknowledging them, remembering them, telling their children about them?