SCP-6635 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-6635.

Who's useless now?

Undercover Fly 20 Aug 2021 05:55

"There are three things you have to know about the USA if you're one of us: 1) Fuck the SCP. 2) Fuck the GOC. 3) Laugh at the UIU. Those fuckers couldn't kill a mammoth with a bazooka at point-blank range." - UIU series with no name

Is that so?

If it wasn't already clear, this SCP is suppposed to subvert that old UIU stereotype without mentioning the name of it. You know the one.

Shout out to all my critters!

- Grigori Karpin
- Dr Brooks
- timey
- CarminestheBest
- Calibri Bold does not match any existing user name
- Dr LeFaye
- Fireknight
- Jack Ike

And many others!

If you like this, check out my other SCP, SCP-5422!

Quadraginta 20 Aug 2021 06:38

While it was initially amusing, I stopped reading when the Foundation handed D-Class rocket launchers and promptly got their asses blown up by them.

The base concept is a memetic take on 'lmao UIUseless', however, it goes on for far too long when it could have just ended on the first video log.

The numerous test logs feel like filler for the sake of filler and did nothing to draw me in.

Coupled with a decent amount of typos and improper formatting for the second video log, the entire package makes me give it a -1.

Last edited on 20 Aug 2021 06:41 by Quadraginta Show more

Undercover Fly 20 Aug 2021 06:51

I've fixed the formatting. What were the typos?

Sorry you didn't enjoy the article. I struggled with length for a long time with this one and had to decide how much to cut while preserving the overarching narrative. Also sorry you didn't enjoy the logs, but you might see some more interesting stuff if you look closely.

UmbraChroma 29 Aug 2021 19:03

I liked this article a lot, I had a smile on my face pretty much the whole time I read it, and having a soft spot for the UIU didn't help. This feels like a good example of a skip that's campy and funny without being a joke.

The pizza was not recovered.

Just wonderful.

GreenRaven 04 Sep 2021 01:14

…this makes the Foundation look like absolute idiots. And not in a way they deserve.

No researcher in their right mind would run tests like the Foundation did, due to the inherent flaws in the setup of the tests. The flaws meant the results would be skewed, and any reasonable scientist would see it coming.

+ show block

The D-class are being told to oppose Foundation security. The guys working for the organization that decides if the D-class clean SCP-1867's aquarium or 682's litterbox.

This introduces a contaminating factor of the D-class, consciously or subconsciously, not wanting to "win" against Foundation security. When you're testing a SCP whose action is to help you win, that's a pretty big biasing factor.

On the flip side, in Attempt 14, when the D-class were in a situation where they could actively escape, not expecting at least some of them to turn on their captors was ridiculously idealistic. Even the fluffiest and most positive of worlds in fiction know better than to just hand prisoners weapons -there have to be a bunch of mitigating circumstances. In the grimdark of the Foundation 'verses, there have to be even more.

A raid against the UIU, one of the only two GOIs the Foundation has a usually consistently positive relationship with, makes no sense in any timeline where the relationship hasn't soured -and the UIU being willing to share the info in the first place, and negotiate after the fight, shows this timeline hasn't had that happen. The Foundation believing they'd been given false information isn't enough of a reason -that's when it's time to haul out that treaty and kick up a fuss.

Repeated re-reading can't find anywhere where 6635 would be responsible for influencing the Foundation's behavior. (Aside from making them overconfident they could take down the UIU site by using 6635 against its inventors.) This was a peculiar type of bullheadedness on the part of that Site Director, site staff, and the heads of the MTF teams involved.

Undercover Fly 09 Sep 2021 01:43

Thanks for such an insightful analysis of my piece. Technically, everything you said there is correct, but you’re missing some key details.

+ Responses

Firstly, your reason for the test working in Addendum 2 is right on the money. No D-class in their right mind would attempt to attack Foundation security. What muddies the water a bit is the fact that the results of the test are nevertheless in line with what the Foundation expects. Initially it’s because the security is easily able to overwhelm the D-class, but you can forgive the Foundation for being fooled when the D-class actually start faking the expected test results, so they don’t get injured. Besides, at this point the Foundation wouldn’t have any reason to believe that it wouldn’t work as expected. And its anomaly testing, who else are they going to test it on?

An argument can be made that the Foundation should have picked up these testing flaws regardless, or analyzed the documents received more to catch the errors before They started. And they might have, if not for one key factor: They received this anomaly from the UIU. After all, for a perception to be amplified by SCP-6635 it must first be present.

This article is all about how an organization is perceived affects its interactions with others. The fact that the Foundation perceives the UIU as beneath them leads to them jumping the shark, pushing forward and not noticing indications of failure, all under the belief that if the UIU could handle it, so could they. This effectively turns them into the bumbling, short-sighted fools that the UIU are perceived as, first naturally then anomalously. Conversely, the UIU’s trust in the Foundation’s competence is the reason they are willing to give them the documents in the first place. This leads to many situations where the UIU take the solid reliable role of the Foundation in bringing order to chaos, except this time they don’t need an anomaly to help them.

Raid attempt 14, and indeed the entirety of Addendum 4, takes this to the extreme following the Foundation being affected with SCP-6635. The reason that the Foundation gives dangerous criminals weapons is because they have severely impaired foresight as a result of the anomaly. Besides, it worked with the time they gave the D-class assault rifles and would have actually worked here if the D-class weren’t memetically resistant (which was an entirely coincidental factor in their selection).

The raid was launched in the first place due to the Foundation to another perception, the Foundation’s perception of their own superiority and authority. The Foundation holds a high self-image, and the average member (at least of this site) sees the UIU as inferior. If they were able to easily take over the UIU they would, if not for the many reasons it is useful to have the UIU as a separate organization (Detailed in Addendum 5). This is why an anomaly the impairs foresight and wider context surrounding actions causes a situation like it did. It didn’t create a motivation, it simply released restraints on the motivations that were already there. The overconfidence also contributed to this, as shown with the stupidity of the raid attempts in Addendum 4, eliminating any doubts that may have sprung from the actual difficulty of the operation.

So, does the Foundation deserve to look like idiots? Perhaps a better question would be if the UIU deserved to be thought of by them as such.

GreenRaven 10 Oct 2021 10:38

Good points. I will argue I don't see the Foundation having problems with testing on an isolated population they can then amnesticize, though.

I've never seen the UIU as useless. I see them as hamstrung as many a real-life government department is, leashed by higher-ups and not allowed to even think about their possible potential. They don't have, and have never had, a leader that can diplomatically maneuver and spin plots, taking advantage of situations and events that come up to get them prestige and making them seem indispensable. They're as competent as they're allowed to be.

Not just government departments, but businesses and religions exist that are currently important because of what their past leaders could do, not because they were that different from what was on offer. Even when what they have is innovative, without a good leader, they often get swallowed up by bigger fish.

The Foundation had and has good leaders most of the time. Not ethical ones by far, but good at leading. In a universe where the first leaders worked for the proto-UIU, the subdepartment's fate would likely be much different.

Undercover Fly 09 Sep 2021 01:46

Double post due to Wikidot error.

Last edited on 09 Sep 2021 01:46 by Undercover Fly Show more

Nice Subversion

Prime Girl 13 Oct 2021 00:03

Ooh, I quite like this one. I think the whole idea of, like, the UIU weaponizing their perceived incompetence to great effect, and spread through their badges is quite clever. I do see how some people would get turned off of this due to the bit where they send in the D-class, like, I see what you're doing there, making the Foundation humorously underestimate the UIU but I feel like there's ways that would make a bit more sense than sending D-class as if they were Foundation agents. For instance, a similar bit but with Foundation agents, or maybe even another log in the style of an MTF mission log with all Foundation agents extremely underestimating the UIU, perhaps even for multiple "missions" until someone up in Command figures it out? idk that might be a bit much but I feel like something to that effect might work a bit better (?) Like, I know that's the whole point of the anomaly, but I can't see the Foundation sending in their test subjects/prisoner, armed to take out the UIU, for the same reason they wouldn't organize a group of janitors to do so. Idk, it just feels like slightly too much, especially since there's a bit where some of the D-class are trained to resist cognito-hazards? like, why would the Foundation EVER train the D-class for that unless it was for a specific experiment?

Overall, I do like this, but I feel like this could possibly work a lot better with a few small tweaks.

Re: Nice Subversion

Undercover Fly 15 Oct 2021 05:55

Firstly, thanks for the positive feedback. I'm glad you liked it overall.

I can see how people might get turned off by the D-class bit, but I wanted it as an example of the UIU stereotype taken to the extreme. Sending in actual Foundation agents would make sense and would be a move typical of the Foundation to due, as such I attempt to subvert it by them treating it like a test. Additionally I had to keep that section short, in order to avoid it becoming monotonous and repetitive and because it continuing for two long would be unrealistic (I know anomalies have fooled the Foundation before, but this would be pushing it). The D-class possess cognitohazard resistance as an entirely coincidental factor in their selection. The Foundation picked ones that they had trained to be slightly more skilled, and that training included cognito-resistance.

If I can think of a better way to re-work it that I feel would fit, I give tweaking the section a shot. As it is, I'm glad you enjoy the rest.

Great article

Jackyfudge 07 Feb 2022 07:13

The UIU is one of my favourite goi s and this is a nice take on them. The overall interest isn't dampened by the testing logs even though they aren't the best. Amazing in my eyes 100% a updoot