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My latest creation. Let me know if I'm correct in suspecting that it gets too technical and that it needs trimming. I went into possibly too much detail about its life cycle, partially because I worked out a complete (and very plausible) life cycle with the help of a friend that knows more than I ever wanted to know about roundworm biology.
Any suggestions for what could be trimmed or [EXPUNGED] (or any other improvements) would be welcome.
People say that it's hard to top Mother Nature in the weird parasite category, and might dislike the entry on those grounds. I happen to like it. I especially like the creep vibe you get from imagining a fluffy little kitten with worms instead of hair, or the fact that cut "hair" can grow a new head and burrow into a new host … no thank you, I'm glad I'm not a stylist. It works especially well for me because I can believe the little bastards actually exist, and that's not cool. Or imagining MC&D (or maybe just a random entrepreneur) offering a treatment for balding individuals, just a simple powder you apply to the scalp …
On the other hand, I didn't like the story about the capture. Maybe it's just me being anal, but it seems like every time a Foundation employee takes a vacation or goes to the grocery store they stumble across another SCP. Cut the mention of the researcher just happening to find and contain the first known instance of 189 and it will help.
My main goal with that was to include the mental image of petting some cute animal when all its hair starts writhing under your hand. I agree that it's clumsy writing to have Foundation staff randomly stumble across SCPs, and welcome suggestions on how to incorporate the squicktastic mental image without keeping the improbable coincidence.
Well, think of how many people there are in the world. If the SCP-density is that high, you'd think paranormal objects would be common knowledge by now.
How about a report of a "possessed" animal coming to the attention of the Foundation? Some religious-type lady pets her dog and the hair writhes under her hand, I see a freak-out and a visit to a priest.
The moving fur and infectious hair are way out there, I'll grant you that. The writing is good too, but the whole concept seems kinda silly to me.
I'm not going to downvote this based on that alone, because I'm no troll, but I won't up it either, since it just doesn't work for me…
This does for me about what SCP-611 does — namely "AUGH GAH ARGH GETITOFF oh god this is awesome". +1.
This was utterly terrifying and sickening. Mostly because I'm a cat person, I guess. But, sorry, can't upvote it. There's nothing worthy of containment here.
Or hell, maybe just end the article with a statement about how it was determined that this species is not going to be a threat to reality, so it will therefore be released from containment.
D: Ugh.
Everyone is always picking on cats…why couldn't they find a PUPPY with this thing?
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I'm more sympathetic to kitty victims myself. They're so cuddly…
Oh god that is horrifying. I have cats and it freaks me out when they do that weird skin thing. It would be really bad for me to be petting the cat and suddenly figure out that the hair is WORMS. D:
Upvoting. You have significantly terrified me.
I'm going to hold off on voting. I'm fairly new here, so my opinion might not count for much, but the fact that you would basically have writing worms for hair, not hurting, just growing is incredibly creepy to me. However, I can't see why it is contained. I mean, the life cycle is plausible, and believable, and of no danger to anyone at all. Is the foundation jsut keeping it because it's squicky?
I'd love to figure out a better reason for this to be contained, but I don't want to just randomly up the danger at the expense of plausibility. I'm also trying to figure out a way for these things to be less fast-spreading, since if they're too widespread the Foundation would have even less reason to try and contain them (why try to contain the common cold at this point?). My goal is somewhere around SCP-366 for the "mostly contained, but you might still be infected" vibe. Again, I'm eagerly open to suggestions.
Many thanks to Yoric for the pic - I was kinda hoping someone would find something suitable.
As far as the reason for containment, perhaps the Foundation is trying to determine whether or not this is a natural parasite, such as was mentioned in in SCP-366
I'm going to go ahead and upvote. Parasite SCPs may have a high bar to clear, but you managed it. Hell, you knocked it out of the park.
I don't remember what show it was (I want to say 'Amazing Stories') but I've seen this done before. Albeit in a more sinister way.
The story was a guy looking into a 'cure' for baldness. I don't remember the details of it (it was a long time ago) but they guy started to grow hair. He was enjoying it, but it was growing too fast for him, so he tried trimming it himself and it shrieked when he did. He was confused and things only got worse as 'hair' started growing from his tongue. In the end, he was bedridden and the man who gave him the 'treatment' arrived and explained the 'hair' was actually the young of his own species that needed a host. As the man starts to remove the young from the guy, you got a closeup of the tiny mouths.
Okay, now, in that context this species would be weird enough to be contained. If these things grow into sapient creatures or something then it would be containment worthy.
Ugh, "Sapient X" is one of my biggest pet peeves for animal SCPs. However, I do believe this one has worth as it's got a hook that puts it above most other attempts at animal SCPs, because damn, if the fur on my cat was alive, I'd be freaking the fuck out.
I know what you're referring to, but what specifically it was, I'm failing to do so. Maybe it was Tales of the Crypt? My Google-Fu isn't helping me…
Thank you! I'm glad I'm not the only one to remember this.
I don't think it's from TftC. It's too sci-fi for that. Maybe 'Outer Limits'. I keep leaning towards 'Amazing Stories', tho…
Funny thing is, I was actually considering writing an SCP like this myself, but thought, 'Everyone here's seen the show and will call bullshit the moment I put it up.' Guess I should have written it, eh? :P
I never watched much Outer Limits - my reason is described best by TVTropes' pages for "Outer Limits Twist" and "Diabolus Ex Machina". The inspiration for this was actually just feeling like something had just brushed against a hair on my leg, seeing nothing that could have done so, and going "wouldn't it be creepy if that was the hair itself twitching?".
Just curious now, could it grow on, say a rhino? Or any animal that has hair?
Isn't a rhino's horn tightly compacted hair?
Imagine these things infesting THAT…
She brought her binoculars up, pointing them at the stolid slabs of muscle grazing two hundred yards away, and twirled them into focus. Blur, flash of clarity, blur… back the other way… ah. Pebbled grey flanks, legs like basalt columns. One big male lifted his head, flicking a ponderous ear. His eyes gleamed dull obsidian in the slanting sunlight, his horn squirming gently as the wind teased it — Wait. Squirming?
O_o
