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Hiya!
So this is not exactly part of the Persephone Project timeline, but it is related documentation. I realize this looks like an SCP, but do not be fooled, it is merely a tale pretending to be one.
Anyways, special thanks to Captain Kirby,
RockTeethMothEyes, and
Gabriel Jade for making sure all was in order, and especially to Gabe who approved of me shooting his son.
Bon Jovi jumps in, "Shot through the heart, and your to blame"
And now we have justification as to why 049 was Santa for a year
He was a sad boy
I read it yesterday before you posted it (on the SMLT thingy) and loved it!
M25. Need I say more?
I have a minor suggestion for the last sentence of the last paragraph of the containment procedures:
Weekly visits from a Level-3 approved psychiatrist have been scheduled on a weekly basis.
The double-usage of the word "weekly" at the end is kind of redundant, and I would recommend trimming it to just read:
"Weekly visits from a Level-3 approved psychiatrist have been scheduled."
The following bit seems to stem from the original article:
ceramic mask
I don't think those masks were actually made of ceramic. I tried looking it up, but it's kind of hard to find (it's easy to find what the rest of the outfit was made from), but I think the mask was leather, too. I'm admittedly not certain about that. And apparently the outfit is anachronistic here, at least according to its self-proclaimed origin date, since it wasn't invented until the early 17th century.
Actually, now that I'm really looking at it, that mask in the picture doesn't even look like a legitimate plague doctor's mask. It looks like a Carnivale mask based off the plague doctors. I don't think it covers the lower half of his face, and the eyes should have glass lenses. I know this is one of the most iconic images on the site, I don't expect or even want it to be changed, just sayin'…
Anyway, these two whopping issues are minor things and didn't stop me from enjoying this +1. Thank you for writing it!
Ah, thank you for suggesting the fixes for the Con Procs!
As for the image and the description, the chunks you pointed out have been lifted from the original SCP-049 to have the reader feel something familiar going on with the article after the weird Con Procs, then hit them with something different again. I personally didn't too much research into this, but I can certainly appreciate your efforts.
In any case, thank you for reading! :)
Aww what a sad boi, I want to hug him. >:
Plague boi deserves happiness!
I enjoyed this, but I'm confused. 049's article heavily implies that the pestilence is mortality and he sees a half-life zombification as being superior to death. Wouldn't he then be overjoyed by Omega K? It's a permanent end to the pestilence and the downsides are arguably better than his previous cure.
I've talked to Gabe at length about this, and the Pestilence is not death according to him.
I personally got the idea that the Pestilence is either Time or Entropy, but that's just my head canon.
Damn. That was something else.
I truly did enjoy reading that. Never thought I would feel bad for 049.
I just don't see how 049 has Borderline Personality Disorder. Which main symptom being the fear of abandonment. I can however see 049 having Bipolar personality disorder.
Doctor North was here. Just don't let South know, or East….never tell East.
While I agree that 049 wouldn't fit for a Borderline PD diagnosis, neither for bipolar personality disorder for a very simple reason
It does not exist.
Long Term Depression
That would be chronic depression. And it is not, since it had a recent debut of symptoms.
and Bipolar Personality Disorder.
Non existent diagnosis
dialectical behavior therapy program with Dr. Isaac.
Which is a nice treatment for Borderline personality disorder but is inappropriate here because it, per definition, is delivered in a combination of group and individual therapy.
You still wanna go with a psychiatric formal diagnosis? Go for a severe major depressive episode and provide a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, that is the kind of therapist that would devise a therapeutic approach as described.
As for Bipolar Disorder: it is a mood disorder in which mood episodes can have an irritable (manic + depressive, or "mixed state", but irritable is a pretty appropiate sum on a day to day language) or depressive, or manic (related to elated / grandiose feeling, and a heightened level of activity). These episodes should last for SEVERAL DAYS (unusual) to months (usual), not the "day of fury" described.
Regarding my previous suggestion, irritability is a common symptom in male subjects that present a depressive episode early on.
Dr North: bad Boi, no give bad advice!
PS trust me I'm a psychiatrist.
Sorry for being bad Boi, I'll stop.
Nah I'm fill of bad advice I'll never stop
Doctor North was here. Just don't let South know, or East….never tell East.
I think the idea of 049 post-ΩK is an almost automatically successful idea, but I am in the minority here and slightly let down at the execution. I'm trying to temper my reaction considering maybe such a let-down is almost just as inevitable as the idea is good, given the giant ingredients at play here.
To me, the classic character has become a shell of itself and isn't interesting to me anymore. It's not that you've just shot him in the chest, it's that you've declawed him. His expertise is no longer the source of his effectiveness as a character, but is relegated to be a purely participatory act of pseudo-inclusion for his psychological disposition — something the Foundation containment staff and Ethics Committee perhaps shouldn't be concerned with. I also can't help but see the picture of 049 helping direct Foundation surgeons as unintentionally humorous. All in all, I guess I'd just rather not see the classic character this way. But that's probably the point of the tale.
I have some medical nitpicks that will be of no interest to you or anyone else:
Novote for now but I'll come back to it, because it really is such a great combo of ingredients.
Hey, thank you for reading and offering feedback! My responses are below. :)
Anesthesia- That is not something I'm 100% on, but it's a rule of the canon. According to Captain Kirby, anesthesia no longer works because… I don't know why. I wish I could give you a reason but I simply don't have one. I know a tale in EoD from S1 mentions this but I can't recall it by name at the moment.
I suppose even if local anesthesia did work, 049 would likely just do it on his own anyway out of pride.
—BP Disorder- I used some of my old college literature (which may or may not be out of date now, now that I give it some thought!) to frame his diagnosis. Here are the symptoms I picked out.
I've been told a few times that Bipolar Disorder fits better, and I'm contemplating changing it to this unless I find something better.—
I've changed it to Bipolar Personality Disorder based on your suggestions. Thank you! :D
Surgery- Even in a post-death world, people still get shot, tumors occur, and augments need to be installed. You're right, it's pretty kid-glovey, but that's really the best they can do given the situation. I am open to suggestion. :D
Fair enough on the canon anesthesia thing, I didn't know it was a replicated mistake.
- Chronic feelings of emptiness.
- Unclear or shifting self-image
- Anxiety
There's 50% of the population (lol). These are symptoms of Borderline/Bipolar, sure, but they are non-specific; like trying to propose a diagnosis for something based on headaches and fatigue. Could be a million things, all of which would include headaches and fatigue in the symptoms list. I'm not faulting you for this, just offering some expertise.
In my unbidden opinion, I'd say bipolar would be better, but still not accurate. Bipolars go through manic phases where they feel like they are, well, manic — on top of the world. They cycle between this and deep depressions where they will just shut down for days. I suppose we could be seeing the depressive phase of a bipolar 049 here, but we'd expect a serious and amphetamine-like 180° at some point for the diagnosis to stand. If I were consulted, I'd say it is just depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder.
Even in a post-death world, people still get shot, tumors occur, and augments need to be installed.
What I was getting at is that most surgical procedures, those following these injuries too, would be to prevent death or other serious sequelae. I'm not sure how much justification most procedures would carry in this world, especially given real world considerations of expense. You 're right; I think augmentation would remain.
As for the delicate handling of 049; I don't know what the answer is, but it's my main gripe. Feels like the tale has equivocated how the Foundation in-universe would approach 049 and how the community would want a classic character treated .
To my understanding, General anesthesia doesn't work because the end-of-death rules don't permit unconsciousness. That wouldn't apply to local anesthesia.
Specifically, Experiment Log 23 on SCP-3984 seems to present this information. I'm just gonna copy paste it.
Experiment Log 23
Date: 2026-02-07
Experimenter: Dr. Joyce Michaels
Subject: D-374A, a female Macaca mulatta or Rhesus macaquePurpose: To confirm or deny the above assumption: that it is not possible to cause the brain to become unconscious.
Procedure: Over the course of 5 days, D-374A was injected with:
- A mild sedative
- A strong sedative
- A mild local anaesthetic
- A mild general anaesthetic
- Class C amnestics
Results: D-374A responded positively to the mild sedative (dosage was insufficient to cause sleep), local and general anaesthetic and amnestics. D-374A had no response to the strong sedative — in fact no effect of the sedative was observed, despite the weak sedative showing a positive drowsiness response.
Note: Sedation, at least to the point of unconsciousness, is not an option for future experiments. This supports the above assumption. - Dr. Joyce Michaels
(account deleted)
