Predation and Containment 844 - The Fungus Among Us / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page Predation and Containment 844 - The Fungus Among Us.

Junior Staff - Site Crit

gee0765 30 Oct 2019 13:36

I try to justify all my downvotes, and I downvoted this piece. I'll explain my reasoning below:

+ show block

Alright, so for the tone you were going for, it's written well. It feels like a scientific paper, and I've not really got any nitpicks about that.

However, this (at least to me) misses the point of what the SCP wiki is for. As a fictional writing site, I look at works to be entertained and this doesn't do that for me. SCP articles are just pieces of narrative writing disguised as scientific documents. This isn't a piece of narrative writing. It's just a scientific paper about a non-existent subject. There's nothing in this which evokes any emotion or comes across as interesting; it's all extremely dry and emotionless. There was recently a discussion on the SCP subreddit about how much verisimilitude was too much in articles, and I feel it's especially pertinent here: The link is here, and while it's written with SCPs in mind, most of it applies to this sort of 'Tale'.

Overall, I think that while the writing quality of this is pretty good and I can tell that effort has gone into this, the subject matter is uninteresting for me and not what I'm looking for on a fictional writing site. Therefore, I felt that I had to -1 this piece. When it comes down to it, if I wanted to read a scientific paper I'd read a real scientific paper, not go on the SCP wiki.

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.

Last edited on 30 Oct 2019 16:30 by gee0765 Show more

Re: Junior Staff - Site Crit

Pedantique 31 Oct 2019 01:48

This sums up my own feelings perfectly. Interesting concept can't sustain something of this length, and verisimilitude doesn't make up for lack of interesting characters or plot elements. Every time I see this sort of thing executed, I'm exhausted by the fifth or sixth paragraphs. There's just nothing to sustain my interest or make me care as a reader.

More than Just a Research Paper. +1

Veiedhimaedhr 30 Oct 2019 16:00

Usually my go to for good stuff is to say “good shit, +1.” I’m going to go a bit more in depth with this one. This is a good piece. The research shows and is evident at every step along the way, and I can respect that immensely. Is there a narrative arc? Not so much. Is this a piece that was gunning for a narrative arc? I don’t think so. I found the enjoyment from this piece to be solely rooted in the interest and process of doing a tremendously thorough deep dive into something we consistently make brief: containment. It’s a wonderful injection of realism for fiction that, at times, forgets that appearing to be a scientific document is more than just ‘typing stiff.’

There’s enjoyment to be had in these divergences in style. The claim this is “nothing more than a research paper” is inaccurate and dismissive. Stuff like this has a more than welcome place on the wiki. Good shit, +1

Last edited on 30 Oct 2019 16:04 by Veiedhimaedhr Show more

TheMightyMcB 30 Oct 2019 16:42

This was excellently written from an academic perspective and honestly that skill is commendable. Shit isn't easy, and I would know. This is the kind of writing that led to me writing SCPs in the first place, after all.

That being said, I'm finding myself very much in the same camp as gee here. This wasn't entertaining. I didn't enjoy reading, it didn't grab my attention, and I wouldn't voluntarily read this again. I don't think it's a good fit for the site, hence my downvote.

Let me be clear, this is good writing, but know that it's not a thing that I personally will likely ever enjoy.

Weryllium 30 Oct 2019 18:27

Since Veied said everything I was thinking better, I'll just say this: I absolutely adore this and I wish we had a hundred more of these.

Great work +1

AgentAX 30 Oct 2019 19:41

That's… different. Unique and as far as I recall, one of a kind. It is well-written, and it for sure deserves +1.
EDIT: We should consider making a whole series of things like those… I would for sure love an academic record of SCP-096 or (don't kill me for saying it) SCP-682.

Last edited on 30 Oct 2019 19:43 by AgentAX Show more

K_Solari 30 Oct 2019 22:39

First off, thank you so much! I replied to Veied and Wery on discord so they got this too. I had my doubts with this from time to time, especially after posting it, and y'all's replies make it worth it. You'll be happy to know that this isn't *quite* unique, as I actually wrote a slightly less academic one over 4975 as well, called Predation and Containment 4975 - What Makes the Cuckoo Tick, if you desire to check that one out too.
I strongly encourage others to try this, and wholeheartedly agree with the series idea. I know I'll be trying to put more out myself, but welcome works from others. After all, the whole point of the sciences is to create the scholarly conversation!

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“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Gummy_Dragon 31 Oct 2019 17:34

Wikipedia as a source? What madness is this?
Regardless, I appreciate that someone is looking at how an older skip could be better contained.
+1

OccultistMave 01 Nov 2019 17:52

This is by far the most dry and uninteresting thing I have read on this site.

sachiel187 06 Nov 2019 00:19

yo, did you just write a research paper on an SCP? like… an actual one?

+1 for trying something completely different, at least to my knowledge. are there any other "academic paper" type entries on this site? i can't think of any off the top of my head.

K_Solari 08 Nov 2019 19:16

I wrote one other one on SCP-4975, but its not nearly as structured.

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“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
― George Orwell, 1984