I like it. There are a couple things that are keeping me from upvoting this:
1. Thompson doesn't really seem to have any sort of defining characterization, at least from what I can see, other than "dependable serious soldier type". Maybe make him some sort of fiery soul that led the group with passion and emotion. I don't know what else could be done to make him work better in this story, but that's my take.
2. It's the SCP-5000 contest, and I don't think this would fit for 5000. Just a personal thing.
I love the rest of your Norse-inspired stuff, so I'm looking forward to more in the future. Keep it up!
I’m thorn. I liked the article a lot and would love to read more about project bifrost. At the same time there really isn’t much “mystery” here. Obviously we don’t know the origin of the threat, or what the other worlds are and what’s up with these elf people, but it’s not really the focus of the article. As it stands it just peaks my interest about what happens *next* and it seams like a setup for a series of tales.
+1! Loving the mystery of the extra-universal threat and the leadup that project bifrost is coming to!
This just felt boring, honestly. The description updates dragged on for a bit too long, and I couldn't find myself caring for the characters involved when they only really appear at the halfway point.
i have a faint memory of reading this before the contest, and if memory serves correctly there wasn't an awful lot changed in the time since then. i may be wrong, but i digress. like ue, i also found myself disinterested with the characters because we only got to meet them for such a short time and they didn't do much to stand out in that brief period we were exposed to them. i also take issue with the use of this new object class because really it could just have been thaumiel. the implication of an extra universal threat also feel a bit shallow, but if i understand correctly, this is part of a series. i think scp articles should be able to stand alone, independent of its series while serving as a hook. this piece failed to do that for me, unfortunately.
SPaG errors aside, I feel my main issue with this is that it's clearly a sort of worldbuilding exercise for the larger series/canon. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if I feel an article doing this can stand on its own, but I'm unsure that I feel this one can do that successfully.
The issue with a narrative told almost entirely through interview is twofold. The first issue is that it's really difficult to build any tension since we know the speaker clearly makes it out alive. Because of this, I didn't really feel especially impacted by the events in the interview. People died, but because the only characterised one is sitting in front of us, it's just a statistic. I wasn't attached to any of the people who died.
The second problem is with how the narrative comes across. It's little more than pure exposition. The emotions of the interviewee are rarely apparent, with the only parts suggesting any lasting effect being the shuddering and them insisting they aren't "lucky". These elements are too few and far between, leaving the interview just as a list of events with occasional interruption. And, as mentioned at the beginning of this review, the events don't really lead up to anything impactful (like, something in real-time maybe) as this is only intended to be an introduction.
Overall, I didn't really enjoy this article, and would recommend that further entries in this series try to be a little more self- contained. Obviously not entirely self-contained, but able to pretty much stand on their own.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this review do not reflect the opinions of SCP Wiki staff as a whole. Please respond to gee0765 or contact the captain of the Site Criticism Team,
SoullessSingularity, for any questions or concerns relating to this review.
Tone and format would be more appropriate for a larger scope skip, this felt like a trivial militar debriefing.
Maybe more stress on the drama on people surviving a IK-end of civilization scenario, desperate for resources?
No vote