SCP-8463 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-8463.

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Gravelsweep

GravelEnthusiast 06 Jul 2025 04:32

I've wanted to write this article since January. Basically ever since I took that photo really. I actually had a draft of this written up before Classic Con was announced that was about twice as long and contained a lot of irrelevant information. When the contest was announced, it was a great reason for me to shave off most of the fat, but it also gave me a brief headache on how to get rid of the last hundred or so words.

So yeah, it's a hole that kills you.

I'd like to thank all of my wonderful critters: Azerzia, Mahalayati, Almighty Bungus, Sinking_Otter, Uncle Nicolini, battlecruiser12, avavian, Queerious, AstersQuill, Spheria, TroutMaskReplica, Jezixo, xexnoncores, local lesbian commie, DFAstillo91, IAmTheOoga, and mxsinister.

The image used was edited by IronShears to remove my friends pajama panted leg. Thank you so, so much for the last minute help.

This was a really fun draft to work with and I plan on doing more short-form in the future. Good luck to all my fellow writers for Classic Con.

Last edited on 08 Jul 2025 02:46 by GravelEnthusiast Show more

+50

GravelEnthusiast 07 Jul 2025 13:02

Thanks to everyone who read and voted on this! I’m really happy with how it turned out and to see that so many people like it is a great feeling

TroutMaskReplica 06 Jul 2025 04:49

this is actually about republicans probably

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Say hello to Junior Dad

+1

(account deleted) 06 Jul 2025 06:02

Well Well Well, if it isnt the well. Has it been treating you well? Well why not? Well, I wouldn't take that. Well, I tried to warn you Will.

Yossipossi 06 Jul 2025 06:18

I appreciate how the execution of this article puts you squarely in the townsfolk's shoes, which any citizen of any country probably ever will be able to sympathize with. Politicians directly avoiding the root of an issue or otherwise ignoring a gaping hole in the ground — literally, in this case — is a tale as old as time, and this article does a great way of grimly poking fun at it. The set up of the article also doesn't make it apparent what this article is about, which makes the ending more satisfying — something difficult in a piece as short as this. Great job.

Merehrab 06 Jul 2025 12:43

Ah, the classic tale of politicians ignoring a very obvious issue that's right in front of their faces, instead making unnecessary changes that doesn't benefit anyone in the community. A tale as old as time, really. The townsfolk should just throw their mayor down the well at this point. +1, I quite enjoyed this.

IAmTheOoga 06 Jul 2025 14:19

I can't believe gravel enthusiast posted hole on the SCP wiki.

Jokes aside, this is really good. The particular feeling of helpless despair this conjures is wonderful, the knowledge that it isn't that there's nothing that could be done, but that nobody is willing to do anything. Easy +1

Dysadron 06 Jul 2025 15:56

Fridge logic of the conproc is exceptional.

There's lots of lovely horror details: the figurines breaking, "chopped meat", Fred's quiet acknowledgement of Eliza's fate, the dog, the fact only Michael was a victim of 8463 and not Georgia. At first I wasn't a huge fan of the tone of Stine's dialogue but by the end of the log it's clear it's entirely intentional. Political themes are great too as others have pointed out. Enjoyed this a lot.

GravelEnthusiast 07 Jul 2025 03:19

I’m really glad someone noticed the bit about Michael and Georgia. I wasn’t sure if I had made it too subtle or not. Thank you for the kind words!

+1

Anyar 06 Jul 2025 16:53

Somehow, even though nothing spectacular happens in this article, it still feels deeply unsettling, no doubt helped by the parallel to politicians doing everything they can to ignore obvious societal issues. 'Course, real-life politicians have done *much worse* than ignore a hole that kills a person a day.

One point of SPaG (first comma should be a semicolon):

This was approved, however, contact with the drone was lost following its descent past 100 meters

J Dune 06 Jul 2025 16:56

I like this, in spite of some major technical issues with the prose. The description is way too lax and the dialogue in the final log is ridiculously cheesy in a way that pulls me out of the article as opposed to just being corny politicianspeak. In no way does it resemble an actual town hall address or, quite frankly, anything that would come out of a city official's mouth unless you're in Halloween Town and the mayor is voiced by Glenn Shadix.

However, the concept is quite clever and you're doing something that very few articles tend to do, which is use the conprocs for fridge horror as a way to reroute the reader back to the beginning when they've reached the end. Plus, this makes a pretty strong, concentrated attempt to say what it wants to say without directly stating it. There's a big, obvious hole in the ground that can only be covered up by verbally dancing around it. Very fun, and some of the language and imagery used in the incident log is great at establishing atmosphere. I think there are a few tricks you could've used to make this more effective, like the classic 'timebomb' details (hole getting bigger despite containment being effective, or the majority of the town's population being holebound even if they don't realize it) but I can still respect what this is doing as-is.

Last edited on 06 Jul 2025 16:56 by J Dune Show more

GravelEnthusiast 06 Jul 2025 17:14

Do you have any suggestions on how I could fix the issues with the mayor’s dialogue? Also, thank you for taking a look at the article and I’m glad you liked it

SovereignSmurf 05 Sep 2025 13:59

But the entire town is hole-bound, that's why containment is only necessary for a year. And it seems like most of them know it.

PlaguePJP ClassicCon Reviews (6)

PlaguePJP 06 Jul 2025 18:51

I like this, but I really don't know why. Consider that a compliment more than anything. Reading this reminded me of old made-for-TV Goosebumps movies, but elevated, if that makes sense. There's a great vibe here, but I agree with Dune that it feels a bit is missing and a bit that's too obvious. At the end of the day, the totality of this article worked for me, and I think it fits the classic vibe well.

+1

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