SCP-4636 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-4636.

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440 Hertz 16 Jan 2019 23:53

This is my entry for cliché-con 2019. Category 1, using cliché #5: An item that is very good at doing the thing it's supposed to do, too good in fact (and arguably cliché #1: Compulsion effect that makes you do bad things. It's bad in the context of the Foundation but I can see how it's against the spirit of the cliché.)

Thanks to Zyn who offered extremely helpful advice!

I made the image by altering this photo by William Ellison (CC-BY-SA-4.0) and photoshopping it over this photo (CC0 1.0).

TheMightyMcB 17 Jan 2019 00:11

Saw this in the forums, and I was intrigued then. This is great, Concert A! +1

Croquembouche 17 Jan 2019 01:02

The title did grab my attention, and the article justifies it, but it does little more than that. I feel that the concept here is far too simple to benefit from not being fully explored.

minmin 17 Jan 2019 03:31

fuck the title tbh but this is exactly as tight as it needs to be, no need to pull off some mindbend kudzu plot when you can do the basics cleanly enough +1

Zyn 17 Jan 2019 07:36

no need to pull off some mindbend kudzu plot when you can do the basics cleanly enough

Exactly my thoughts on this—the basics are excellently presented here. I'm quite impressed at the development from what I initially read in the draft forums. Wholehearted +1 from me here. It's a real thinking piece of meta.

Last edited on 17 Jan 2019 07:36 by Zyn Show more

440 Hertz 17 Jan 2019 09:05

You deserve a ton of credit! When I first wrote it I spent a lot of words pre-emptively immunizing the article against imaginary "in universe" criticisms, and obscured the core idea. Your actual storytelling-centred criticism was sorely needed to untangle that mess.

Last edited on 17 Jan 2019 10:26 by 440 Hertz Show more

Vezaz 17 Jan 2019 03:55

I think that title is really unacceptable.

---

I sing of arms and the man
Storm-tossed by Hera's jealousy

440 Hertz 17 Jan 2019 08:53

Alright, I admit it's hard to defend, and a lot of other people hate it. I'm changing it! Clickbaity titles seem extremely common so I thought no-one really cared, but I can imagine rolling my eyes very hard if I stumbled upon it, and the cleverness is too mild to annoy people for no reason.

(For future reference, the original title was: "I confess I'm choosing a meta title just for attention.")

DarkStuff 17 Jan 2019 05:36

Yes, that title is egregious. Yes, this article makes it make sense. Yes, I am upvoting despite my distaste for the title. In addition, I more than understand why you would choose that title. If I wrote something for which that title could be used, and then used it, and then got away with it, I would be smiling ear to ear. It's fun to get away with stupid titles.

Marina Hayes 17 Jan 2019 08:20

I feel like this works because it's essentially the complete opposite of data expungement. The unease is created by the addition of information, instead of the denial of information.

Take my upvote, because now I'm imagining a researcher accidentally standing in the booth and talking about their experiences with SCP-231.

(account deleted) 17 Jan 2019 16:46

I'm sorry I couldn't get to this article while it was still in it's "crit" phase, so I'm popping in now to both give my upvote and my congratulations on another legitimately good, fun-to-read SCP article.

In the end, I don't have much to criticize here, anyways. It's a short, fun read with a decent concept and good writing. My only complaint would be the header at the top - I understand why it's there, but I still don't see much point in the article having two separate "Item #' sections that say the exact same thing and two different 'Special Containment Procedure' sections. I would replace it with a simple warning message, or maybe add the information conveyed there to the disclaimer you have at the top of the page.

440 Hertz 17 Jan 2019 17:34

I'm sorry I couldn't get to this article while it was still in it's "crit" phase

No worries! I didn't wait very long, I was impatient once I became confident I had a proper "finished" version (plus it's for a contest with a deadline).
Your point is convincing, once the contest is over I'll probably change it so it's just a "warning" box. My idea was to insist on how tightly separated the 4636 research group stays from every other branch of the Foundation (to prevent leaks), but in retrospect it doesn't add much.

cbjunior 21 Jan 2019 14:30

This is one of my favorites so far in the Con. It really takes this one idea, this one particular idea, and gives it just enough definition and backing to make it meaningful. It doesn't drag on or throw in unnecessary information or side-plots to add more substance than needed. No fluffing, if you will. It would also be quite scary in reality, having this compulsion extend beyond the object itself and have it manifest even when just referring to the object, and beyond that being perfectly able to erase or destroy any trace of the thoughts you project under its influence, but simply not wanting to.

The cliche nature makes the fear dulled, but it's still effective at grabbing your attention and making you think what the object would make you say. +1

440 Hertz 21 Jan 2019 20:23

It really takes this one idea, this one particular idea, and gives it just enough definition and backing to make it meaningful. It doesn't drag on or throw in unnecessary information or side-plots to add more substance than needed. No fluffing, if you will.

This was my intent and I'm happy you liked it! I took the contest's theme super literally and asked myself "what's the most obvious concept that surprisingly has not been done yet", and then tried to make it as enjoyable as possible while compressing it like a small dollop of extra-pure cliché concentrate.

Ze_Gui 23 Jan 2019 07:46

cool article!
i like it!
also your user icon gives me anxiety!

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