SCP-638 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-638.

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Rounderhouse 17 Jul 2020 20:17

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS RICHARD CHAPPELL?

AKA: THIRTY POUNDS OF GOLD

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by rounderhouse

i've been itching to write something for my favorite GoI for a while now, and a heist is too good to pass up. This was about 2 days from idea to post, and could probably have gone through a bit more polish, but I wanted to capitalize on the idea while I still had opportunity. Thanks to ARD, Malyce, Kirby, Sonderance, Dune, and Whitney for giving it a once-over. Puzzles like this one are tuff because you have to balance the half that instantly gets it with the half that need some more clues — I hope I did a satisfying job.

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ROUNDERPAGE

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+ show block

ahtum.jpg
bagels.jpg
chappellheader.png
fiori.jpg
moody.jpg

Last edited on 19 Jul 2020 02:04 by Rounderhouse Show more

Ihp 17 Jul 2020 20:31

This reads like a laundry list of gangster movie cliches in SCP form. You could literally get rid of the fact that they're anomalous and not much would change.

Rounderhouse 17 Jul 2020 20:40

if god did not want me to use gangland movie cliches…. he would not have put goodfellas on Netflix 😔

Agent Whitney 17 Jul 2020 20:40

I Kinda felt like that was the point though. It takes these cliches and makes them something special.

Last edited on 17 Jul 2020 20:44 by Agent Whitney Show more

djkaktus 17 Jul 2020 20:43

Thankfully, a skillful writer like Rounderhouse is more than capable of avoiding the negative pitfalls of cliche and creating compelling, entertaining narratives in his articles. It is worth remembering here that cliches are not a barrier to entry - they're a tool of communication, used to evoke themes and characterizations.

This article is good, and writing it off as a laundry list of cliches is an unfortunately shallow assessment of its merits.

Steaming 30 Jul 2020 03:56

A 'cliche' is a type of 'trope' that is so repetitive and overused, it's tedious and actually a little painful to read. I saw little to no cliches here, only tropes.

Tropes are necessary in keeping short stories short. We don't need to know where Bagel grew up and how he got into the business, all we need to start is 'gangster' and a tiny detail to make him unique. The author then takes it from there.

An even better author will also drop hints of a greater world with even more adventures. But this right here is the adventure we're reading about today. @Rounderhouse also did this by hinting about the Big Bad Guy's greater plans.

+1 all around.

EstrellaYoshte 17 Jul 2020 20:39

Liked it as a draft, like it now. Upvoted.

Christopoulos 17 Jul 2020 21:04

This is good. Prime Chicago Spirit content, and an excellent use of those incredible images.

+1

KleptocracyNow 17 Jul 2020 21:25

This doesn't do anything super new or different, but it's a fun read. A bit formulaic, maybe, but competently executed.

I enjoyed it.

+1

aismallard 17 Jul 2020 21:49

Short but gets to it. I enjoyed the interplay, and providing just enough information to make it feel captivating but not seeming like an open and shut case. It did use several of the tropes, sure, but my enjoyment of the execution was not hindered by that at all. +1

Edit: I just realized what is going on with the seven camoflauge potions.

Last edited on 17 Jul 2020 23:10 by aismallard Show more

(account deleted) 18 Jul 2020 01:11

Yeah, it's good.

+1

Grigori Karpin 18 Jul 2020 01:14

Good stuff, as per usual

One tiny thing, in the last addendum Pick is referred to as a detective but earlier he was referred to as an agent

Either way, +1

Original SCP-638

Nickthebrick1 18 Jul 2020 01:14

This scp article is good on it's own, but what happened to the original SCP-638? Is it still in rewrite?

Re: Original SCP-638

(account deleted) 24 Nov 2020 05:30

Nope, Its completely deleted.

LonLangLin 18 Jul 2020 14:47

This came out a bit long, unfortunately, but the following is my explanation as to why I gave this article a -1.

Show

I'll start by clarifying that, when I read this page for the first time, I gave it a +1. That's because this is a good page - there's a good plot with a nice twist, all of the characters feel believable, and the setting and backstory contribute as well.

The reason I now changed my vote to a -1 is because, while I feel like this is a great contribution to the site, it's not one I feel should be in the format of an SCP article. SCPs are things the Foundation either contains or has contained, for an indefinite amount of time. This is why the articles have Containment Procedures right at the top - they're supposed to help Foundationers continue the potentially perpetual containment of the anomaly.

This article discusses a group of anomalous humans, which means the Foundation would've certainly had an interest in them, and would indeed have apprehended them as described in the article. The problem here is that, as far as I can tell, all of the events of this article take place within 2 days. The Foundation "representative" here mentions multiple times that the Foundation has no interest in indefinitely arresting these guys, and that they will be released into the regular justice system once the investigation is over.

This doesn't feel like something the Foundation would write an SCP document about. Honestly, it feels like it would've taken the Foundation a longer time to write this article than the amount of time these guys were in containment. In my opinion, this story would better fit into the world as a tale - an in-universe documentation of the investigation, perhaps. Unfortunately, this means that for now, I'm giving it a -1.

EstrellaYoshte 18 Jul 2020 16:50

bruh, have you read like, half the mainlist entries since series iii? this a pretty silly reason to downvote an article imo

ribby97 07 Aug 2020 16:49

I agree. Many, many SCPs are about uncontained or uncontainable anomalies. If it weren’t neutralised This one would have had containment procs detailing efforts to capture the group. And you can’t really take the agent’s words at face value, for obvious reasons.

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