SCP-2486 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-2486.

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Communism will win 23 Oct 2016 15:59

These photos were combined in Deep Style at http://www.deepstylegenerator.com/ to make the 228 result:
https://pixabay.com/en/soul-woman-person-smoke-light-sad-623423/ (public domain)
https://pixabay.com/en/pomegranate-pomegranate-cleaned-red-501504/ (public domain)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pomegranate_-_മാതളനാരകം_02.JPG (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, by Wikipedia user Shijan_Kaakkara)

Thanks to minmin for suggesting a few of the crosslinked articles and naming this!

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if your reading this your gay

Fingo7 23 Oct 2016 16:02

I fell for those testing logs hook, line, and sinker. +1

SpectralDragon 23 Oct 2016 16:06

What the fuck. +1

Flappybobb 23 Oct 2016 18:23

I can pomegranate it. +1

tapnek 23 Oct 2016 18:37

Needs more cross-testing. Perhaps a separate document would be necessary?

Communism will win 23 Oct 2016 18:38

I considered it, but the joke risks being worn out really easily. I like the length it's at now.

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if your reading this your gay

TimetravelingGuy 23 Oct 2016 20:49

Nice, weird, and fruity.

The only thing I could think to add is maybe reformat the cross-testing into a table or something that gives it some more structure.

Communism will win 23 Oct 2016 20:54

That was my first impulse, but a table would look weird with the SCP numbers split onto two lines by the dash, and the SCP-2221 excerpt would have just been a train wreck.

Aside from a table, is there any way you can think to make this more readable? I do take concerns like this seriously, but this is the best system I've managed to come up with.

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if your reading this your gay

Shaggydredlocks 24 Oct 2016 05:02

Maybe try:

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||~ [[[SCP-XXXX]]]||

Description

Looks like:

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Addendum: SCP-2486-A have been found to be affected by several anomalous objects in an unusual fashion. With the approval of O5-07, SCP-2486-A have been incorporated into scheduled testing of several contained anomalies, as the observed risk of dangerous cross-contamination is low. Below is a list of anomalous items with which SCP-2486-A have been found to interact abnormally.

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SCP-1724

SCP-1724 returned a score of 001 when used on SCP-2486-A-080, then produced the phrase "That can't be right." SCP-2486-A-080 experienced no deleterious effects. SCP-1724 remained non-functional for four days thereafter.

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SCP-978

Five instances of SCP-2486-A were photographed with SCP-978 in their cells. Two were shown consuming pomegranate seeds in their cells. A third was shown asleep. A fourth was shown using a knife to slit his throat, with pomegranate seeds spilling out and falling onto a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, also composed of pomegranate seeds. A fifth was shown reuniting with friends and family while consuming a whole pomegranate.

etc.

Rigen 23 Oct 2016 22:23

Why Pomegranate? Is this an inside joke or a reference to something I never knew?

Communism will win 23 Oct 2016 23:15

There's no reference or inside joke at play here. It's just a funny word.

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if your reading this your gay

Scorpion451 25 Oct 2016 02:48

Though you accidentally picked a funny word with a truckload of actual symbolic meaning that makes this way better.

Shaggydredlocks 25 Oct 2016 03:00

Perhaps if it does have a past, he prefers it to be multiple choice?

Taffeta 25 Oct 2016 03:09

Possibly more relevant.

TL333s 23 Oct 2016 23:34

I'm glad there's no hidden meaning to this. "Thing what is anomalous if you use it in a very specific manner" is an old trope I've rather missed. Testing logs aside, this is a clean, simple skip, and it works. :)

"He still looks like an asshole."

EDIT: Also, this was the best line. XD

Last edited on 23 Oct 2016 23:39 by TL333s Show more

What Did They Do Write? #2

Shaggydredlocks 24 Oct 2016 07:16

Be sure to read the article first, as this may contain spoilers.

What is this?

One piece of feedback we see every so often is 'read more SCP's', particularly directing newbies towards Series 2/3 articles. While this may help some people who's main issue is a fixation on Series one (and therefore are not aware of the progression in quality exhibited in later works) this doesn't help people who can't really analyze/pin down what exactly makes other mainlist articles viable.

Even going into an article's discussion page, one may only be able to find generic praise, along with a few (long since implemented) nitpicks. Oftentimes, people will give more in-depth feedback/critique to point out why something doesn't work for them. Here, I try to do it the other way around.

In "What Did They Do Write" I try to do a breakdown of a successful article. There are a ton of ways to produce such an article, so I'm going to try to do this every so often. Hopefully this will help people break down articles they enjoy, to see what makes them tick, and learn from the process.

This was inspired by this post from Aiden Eldritch, and the resulting discussion.

Without further ado:

The pen is mightier than the sword

Right off the bat, we're greeted with a rather concise set of procedures. The containment itself is briefly handled in order to get to the juicy bit (namely, cross-testing! yay!) quickly, but more importantly:

Subjects should be sedated prior to strangulation with SCP-2486.

No further elaboration or hemming on, just a very direct and odd detail that is sure to stick in one's mind. If the mention of cross-testing doesn't do it for you, this alone is an excellent hook.

Don't let your SCProcedures go to waste. They aren't just important in-universe, they're a tool that you as an author can use to draw readers in, by setting up certain expectations, or creating mystery.

The basic anomaly/effect is pretty interesting all its own, and there's one small important detail that not only averts cliche, but is used to great effect in the experiment log.

Subjective assessments and descriptions of SCP-2486-A frequently incorporate imagery

Emphasis mine.

"He still looks like an asshole."

XD Awesome! I laughed my ass off here. Oftentimes with memes/compulsions/various mind-affecting stuff, everyone exposed/affected will basically act the same, and that gets boring rather quickly. Try to consider whether you could benefit from limiting your anomaly's mind-based affects, so you can show how different people react to it.

After all this? Cross-testing. Notice, that at no point do the tests spiral out of control, killing a ton of researchers or destroying sites. Neither does it devolve into an…er…SKIP measuring contest, 'pitting' the SCP against others in an attempt to Worf the SCPs it links to. It simply presents itself intermingled with SCPs from every series, and has them interact in an interesting way. In doing this, it actively avoids all (most of?) the tropes that turn people off to cross-testing in the first place.

The tests are well done. They stay true to their sources; and offer a selection ranging across every series, which is wonderful wiki-walk-fuel. Each one is unique and interesting, and not one test regurgitates information we already have (an issue I've seen in quite a few drafts). This is cross-testing done right.

Overall, this entry gave me some 'classic S1' vibes, and is a prime example of why I'm excited for the Grand Crosslinking.

As an aside,

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What the heck does fishing line have to do with pomegranate souls?

Last edited on 24 Oct 2016 07:47 by Shaggydredlocks Show more

Re: What Did They Do Write? #2

Taffeta 24 Oct 2016 08:50

If the mention of cross-testing doesn't do it for you, this alone is an excellent hook.

No, shaggy, stop getting confused. This is fishing line.

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What the heck does fishing line have to do with pomegranate souls?

Chances are that it's either a really, really thickly veiled reference to Persephone's pomegranates or it's just a nonsequitur. In either case, it works for me.

Re: What Did They Do Write? #2

Communism will win 24 Oct 2016 13:19

What the heck does fishing line have to do with pomegranate souls?

Nothing. I needed something that would work as a weapon without conjuring up the possibility of any mythological connotations, and fishing line came up first.

The "killing someone in a way that doesn't kill them and they become anomalous on account of it" is sort of an oblique reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, where being shot with certain arrows will either kill you or give you a superpower.

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if your reading this your gay

Pata H 24 Oct 2016 08:06

I like how once crosslinking rules are relaxed we've gotten a couple of articles packed with them.

People playing with their new toys.

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