SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

Summary:

First time author on the site, seeking greenlights. Criticism is welcome.

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SCP-XXXX, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 28 May 2021 08:44

Seeking Greenlights: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Page Layout (Optional): Main article, addendums

Elevator Pitch: Black mold possessing sapience. The SCP is essentially its own strain of black mold, and can manipulate what it spreads (through spores and such) but no other fungi outside of its own unique strain. It can regrow where even a small cluster of its spores have gone, which makes it a tad bit hard to contain if the toxic mold follows wherever the SCP goes.

Central Narrative: A certain “Church of Blight” brought their beloved mold into this world through a human sacrifice, but now the mold believed it is the human it consumed. The narrative follows the mold’s grasp of identity, starting from its initial unwavering belief that it was indeed human, until it eventually accepts that it is and always was an anomaly. It has an incredibly high growth rate, and so if even a small cluster of spores spreads to a different location then it could keep endlessly multiplying until eventually everything has been overtaken. If segments of it meet, then the Mold can relocate wherever it has already spread to. It plays a large part in digesting materials in the environment. The Mold expresses its lament through interviews and addendums, which will be included in the article.

Hook/Attention-Grabber: Mold has endless potential in the SCP Foundation, so I thought it would be pretty interesting making an SCP of it, especially one that *grows* from its hardened beliefs (hah get it).

Additional Notes:
First time author on this website, looking for some constructive criticism and possible greenlights.

Last edited on 23 Aug 2021 01:59 by essy Show more

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

TotallyNotCreative 17 Jun 2021 18:09

Since as you said there is endless potential for the Mold, you can try to expand more of what the mold can do etc.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 16 Jul 2021 10:30

Seeking Greenlights: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Page Layout (Optional): Main article, addendums

Elevator Pitch: Black mold possessing sapience. The SCP is essentially its own strain of black mold, and can manipulate what it spreads (through spores and such) but no other fungi outside of its own unique strain. It can regrow where even a small cluster of its spores have gone, which makes it a tad bit hard to contain if the toxic mold follows wherever the SCP goes.

Central Narrative: A certain “Church of Blight” brought their beloved mold into this world through a human sacrifice, but now the mold believed it is the human it consumed. The narrative follows the mold’s grasp of identity, starting from its initial unwavering belief that it was indeed human, until it eventually accepts that it is and always was an anomaly. The Mold expresses its lament through interviews and addendums, which will be included in the article.

Hook/Attention-Grabber: Mold has endless potential in the SCP Foundation, so I thought it would be pretty interesting making an SCP of it, especially one that *grows* from its hardened beliefs (hah get it).

Additional Notes:
First time author on this website, looking for some constructive criticism and possible greenlights.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 16 Jul 2021 10:30

oops I meant to edit the thing

Admin Post - Info - Open

Zyn 17 Jul 2021 08:06

essy, instead of replying to your own comments, please edit your previous post using the "edit" function under the "options" tab to the lower right of every comment. That helps prevent spam.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

ResearcherNyx 20 Aug 2021 09:26

I love where you're taking it, but I feel like your central narrative could be more detailed

Fill crit below :)

+ show block

There is a lot of potential here, but not a lot done with it.

Like, I think that this could turn into an amazing story if you just branched out a little. Instead of just, "making it a tad bit hard to contain," for it's containment, tell us what happens because it is hard to contain in your central narrative. What is it's effect on the outside world? What happens when two instances meet? These are the kind of questions that you're left with, and it feels unsatisfying to not mention them at all. You've nailed the base concept of a mold that thinks it's human and how it feels because of that, but you haven't told us what that means for it's surroundings. If you can do that, I think it'll be amazing!

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

(account deleted) 28 May 2021 17:47

Sentient black mold that believes it is a human

How does this entity communicate and what are the appearances of its sentient

can manipulate what it spreads

How he do that?

Last edited on 28 May 2021 17:49 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

cybersqyd 03 Jun 2021 09:14

Hmm. I like a lot of the parts of this: the idea of it being a mould that can spread very easily, and the sentience of it (btw do you mean sapience?), and even the creation of it by the Church of Blight is interesting; but it kinda feels… narratively lacking.

You spend a lot of time in this pitch telling us about like, the various things that the mould can do and how those things make handling it hard; and that's fine to understand; but I really want to get a feel for what the article for this looks like. Like, is the core story here the Foundation trying to like, keep it contained and an exploration of e.g. biohazard protection mechanisms that they use? Or are you more wanting to focus on the church who made it and the Foundation trying to stop them doing this again/breaking the SCP out? Or are you focussing on like, the SCP having to gradually come to terms with it no longer being a human, or making us question whether just thinking you're human is enough to be human?

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

Narcis 03 Jun 2021 15:17

The concept in itself isn't that gripping, but I think there is a huge potential to use this as a metaphor for depression. Perhaps something exceptionally awful happened at the site, which caused such severe grief that it manifested itself in physical form (the mold). Obviously that doesn't work as-is, but maybe you can use it for something.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 08 Jun 2021 14:50

I'm very grateful for all the criticism you've been able to give me, and I'll try and make the best out it. I'm not sure if I should make a new post with updated information, but before I'm completely sure of anything I'll just keep what I thought of in response to your crits here.
The mold regards itself as an ordinary human, and communicates through speech (yeah I meant sapience lol). The narrative would mainly cover the SCP's grasp of identity and what it means to be human, as well as the Foundation's efforts of eradicating the church that continuously tries to break out the SCP.
Once again, thanks to everyone that had taken the time to put down their thoughts of it and provide feedback.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

Grigori Karpin 09 Jun 2021 06:54

Sentient black mold that believes it is a human, and gets particularly upset with a specific tune

So other than this sentence, I don't see anything that addresses the narrative. Mostly what you have here is a discussion of the anomaly and its containment.

What sort of narrative arc is there? "The narrative would mainly cover the SCP's grasp of identity and what it means to be human, as well as the Foundation's efforts of eradicating the church that continuously tries to break out the SCP." doesn't really tell me what the arc would be. How would we ever hear from the Mold's perspective?

Also… I don't know anything about the Church or what it would add, could you clarify? I worry this is just another GOI antagonist cult to throw into an SCP, without much in the way of characterization.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 17 Jun 2021 08:14

You make it sound as if I'm writing a tale instead of an article, but I see your point. It's a good thing to think about, so thank you for bringing up the actual arcs. I understand your concerns regarding the Church, and it would be difficult to make it its own unique group without making it seem like just another "we're evil" cult, however it doesn't share those world domination views but rather focuses on exploration and exploitation of the unknown, primarily of the Mold. The story arc would follow the Mold's growing frustrations and hostility, consistently trying to break out and find the disk wherever it may be and destroying it. Since the Church is not some big organization, it tries sneaking into the Foundation on the down low. And as for the Mold, it expresses its opinions and lament through interviews, some of which will be included in the article.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

Marceline_Raynes 19 Jul 2021 13:36

Per our discussion on IRC, I feel as though you've established a solid grasp of the character and its arc as you go through the article. I think that this can work well as a character piece that explores what it means to be human, and how it would feel to essentially have that taken away from us. I look forward to seeing what you do with this, as I believe it has potential to work well here.

That being said, I'm going to Greenlight this, and I wish you the best in getting another one.

---

~ M.D.R.

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

caspian2 22 Jul 2021 00:08

Summoned by PM:

The Mold expresses its lament through interviews and addendums, which will be included in the article.

You kinda lost me here. How exactly will this take place? How does the Mold communicate in the first place?

The SCP is essentially its own strain of black mold, and can manipulate what it spreads

Give us an example of this, especially in the context of the central narrative. Your central narrative contains a backstory, some mention of the mold's character development and the hint of a satisfying conclusion. But I don't know how you're planning to convey the story.

How exactly does the Mold "express its lament"? How does it "grasp its identity"?

If you decide to revise the concept / respond below, do drop me another PM and I'll try my best to reply again. All the best!

Last edited on 22 Jul 2021 00:08 by caspian2 Show more

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

essy 22 Jul 2021 12:29

Hey! Thanks for the crit, I appreciate it!

You kinda lost me here. How exactly will this take place? How does the Mold communicate in the first place?

The mold overtook a human body, and believes it IS that person. It speaks and acts like the person did when they were alive (before the mold rented the place).

How exactly does the Mold "express its lament"? How does it "grasp its identity"?

Complains to whoever's listening, and when someone isn't, just talks to itself. Quotes and things from the SCP will be included throughout the article, and the interviews will provide an in depth look at character development. Its identity, on the other hand, is something more tricky. Through a complicated process starting with denial and ending with self awareness, it finally realizes who and what it really is. The change is as much mental as it is physical, since the body's just decomposing over time (until it's left as a skeleton surrounded by mold) and serves as a harsh reminder that blissful ignorance eventually dissolves down to painful awareness. I'm looking at including some journal entries as a maybe, depending on feedback.
Let me know if there's anything else causing issues :D

Last edited on 23 Jul 2021 06:52 by essy Show more

Re: SCP-5528, "The Eternal Mold"

OriTiefling 22 Jul 2021 14:22

Complains, mostly. Never shuts up, and when no one's listening, just talks to itself.

MAJOR warning here, as this is a way to make a character extremely annoying rather than funny/engaging.

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