The O. Cordyceps Unilateralis [ex Animo] ('ex Animo' meaning 'of the soul' as it feed on consciousness or 'soul') is a fungus which usually preys on small animals like birds and rodents, and therefore grow to be a few inches tall. They are virtually indistinguishable from a normal mushroom, the only way to identify them is from the transparent green spore cloud which surrounds them (The Area of Effect of the spore cloud of a small specimen is roughly 10 feet). When inhaled, The subject experiences hallucinations, nausea and vomiting, and eventually death. This occurs in a time-span of roughly 30 mins. After death, the O. Cordyceps Unilateralis [e.A.]
grows from the corpse, the full length being approximately 50-60 meters. The time-span of growth is around 2-3 hours. The AOE of the spores is about 10 miles. The O. Cordyceps Unilateralis [e.A.] is usually found in areas such as forest, jungles, rainforests, etc. this gives the S.C.P. Foundation grounds for surveillance in any wooded area necessary, so as to contain the specimen immediately, because if this organism were to go unchecked, the results would be catastrophic. Large areas of the planet would be uninhabitable by any animal life and the larger the area of contamination, the harder it is to keep it from growing.
2-3 hours to grow, a 10-mile area of effect, and all living creatures are affected? How did The Foundation ever contain that in the first place? They might have some interesting tech but I think even they lack the sheer manpower to deal with a disaster on that scale. This would overtake entire countries in a matter of days.
Also, this sounds really similar to the fungus from The Last of Us (which is based on Cordyceps fungi), just minus the zombification effect. Even dismissing that similarity, what you have currently is the "thing that does a thing" or "X that does Y" concept. An SCP article is much more than simply an anomalous item, being, place, or event. The true meat of the SCP is the story around the anomalous thing. The thing itself is a vehicle that the narrative is attached to. To give my best example from Series 1, look at SCP 093: The anomalous item itself is a rock that turns mirrors into interdimensional portals. The thing that makes this SCP shine is the story; the history of the dimension that it leads to.
Things What Do a Thing: An Essay On Anomalies That Are Things That Do A Thing
Essay Regarding SCPs, Narratives, and How They Can Share a Page
There are other guides there that can be very helpful, but these are some of the most often recommended for first-time contributors.
We need to know more than just "it's a fungus that kills any living thing and is really hard to contain." What story are you going to tell - How The Foundation found it, Who or what created it and why, did someone use it to some end? (These are not all questions that must be answered, these are some possible narrative hooks.) You need something that differentiates this as an SCP, instead of just an Anomalous Item.
I also recommend reading several (at least 10-20) of the top-rated SCPs from the last several months, and avoid reading series 1 SCPs for inspiration. Many series 1 SCPs would not last a day under current SCP standards, and a few are only still around because of their history with the wiki itself. (This does not apply to all series 1 SCPs, as you can see I mentioned 093 earlier, but many of these were written before the wiki's style had really been cemented.)
The anomalous object, while important, is not actually the main focus of the SCP. A good story, a compelling narrative, something that makes the reader feel something - that is the goal of an SCP article. What feeling do you want to evoke from the reader? Horror? Empathy? Sadness? You need to create a narrative around this object and its effects.
I am not saying this to discourage you, I just want you to understand the amount of effort that goes into creating a successful SCP.
If you can revise this idea with a story that you want to tell, we will be able to give you much more meaningful and constructive critique.
The anomalous item is the vehicle, the narrative is the person driving, the readers are the passengers. You can have the shiniest, most polished, most interesting vehicle in the world, but without the driver, the passengers aren't going anywhere. Where is the narrative taking the readers, and how is it getting them there?
hey, thanks for the critique, I really appreciate it :) my thinking is that the SCP were alerted of its presence when it affected a small town somewhere very rural, and they had to contain the entire town, after this they set up surveillance in all wooded areas so that they can dispatch a team to deal with it (burn it). I will rethink the growth period, maybe several days. I was also thinking that only certain elements can contain it, like silver. The spores gravitate towards it and clump together, making it relatively harmless.
I was also thinking of making the fungus itself a sort of sentient hive-mind, either way the idea as a whole is still very early in development.
Thanks for the advice! I'll take it to heart and hopefully come up with an SCP that's much more substantial :)
