SCP Foundation

(I'm posting this comment ahead of the beginning of the voting period because I don't want to forget later.)

So, as you might have guessed, this tale features my own SCP-306 and DStecks's SCP-659. There are also four other skips from the contest eligible articles mentioned at the beginning of the tale. These skips happened to be some of my favorites, which is why they are included.

This is actually the longest story I have ever written (aside from a horrifically awful tale I wrote way back in 4th grade). I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Happy reading!

Umm…is it supposed to be open for reading to the general community? If so, your tale links to a "Private Content" page.

There's elements to this that don't agree with me. It feels a little overwrought emotionally, with the whole "I don't know whether I want to live or not" thing, and there's some odd turns of phrase here and there ("panic spread like fire on match", huh?).

However, this is a cohesive tale with an actual story behind it, which gets into enough detail to do a little development of the characters participating in the action. It adds something to the skips it's using as source material, which to me fulfills the spirit of this contest in highlighting lesser-known works.

I feel generally unmoved, to be honest, but on principle and technical merit I'll upvote this one.

I am neutral voting this. The continual contemplation of suicide is not in itself a bad thing, it's just done too unsubtly to have an impact on me. The prose and writing are all right, if lacking some character, and the plot is okay. My biggest issue is the character development. In the last fifth of the story, everybody seems to take such drastic, unexplained changes in outlook that it's just too jarring for me to take seriously. The frog goes from being miserable and suicidal to being happy? Because it apologized? The bird who hated all humans and misled himself into thinking that the frogs were friends shows, like, no reaction? And understands what the humans did? It's deus ex machina characterization, wherein you develop your characters by way of sudden, conveniently timed epiphanies.

I found this kind of poignant. It's a very original collusion between skips. My only question is, why do the birds suddenly start talking near the end?

It's cute. I like it.

It's pretty flawed, and overlong for what we get out of it (though not wall-of-text-y, which is good).

But I guess I found it just compelling enough overall to upvote.

While the resolution is rushed, I liked the very end, btw.

This tale has been revised. Take another look!