Per 
Welcome Section
Team Members: MrWrong (Captain), ch00bakka, stormfallen, ModernMajorGeneral
Welcome everyone to this collaborative project. At this stage, agenda includes finalising the details of the K-class scenario, and selecting the types of articles we will be doing.
Unavailability Notice
If anyone of us have lowered availability or outright unavailability online, this is an outlet to inform everyone in advance.
MrWrong: Will be in Japan from 24 May to 2 June (online availability likely dependent on whatever WiFi sources I can get hold of)
ch00bakka: I'll be on vacation with my family & gf from 25 May to 3 June—probably won't be able to write much that week.
MMG: Have coursework until the 14 May, so probably should focus on that but probably won't as I am a bad student.
Brainstorming
Foreword: This is a TL;DR of all current brainstorming points regarding the scenario itself.
We will be working on a total amnesia scenario, wherein there is a case of total amnesia spreading across the global population (most likely a high percentage). Those affected have no memory of their past at all, rendering them unable to do anything (they would live on biologically, but remember nothing [not even language]). The nature of this total amnesia can be a permanent leakage in memory, preventing future attempts at recollection.
Prior use of amnestics somehow allows a degree of resistance to whatever is causing this specific case of total amnesia (in the sense of an immunity system that is ready for future instances of the same disease). However, spraying amnestics at those affected by this specific case of total amnesia would have been too late.
There will likely be no reversal of this total amnesia. While records are not affected, people affected by total amnesia essentially find any records useless. Survivors would stand a better chance at rebuilding civilisation, but with the burden of what to do with so many 'blank state' people.
Additional Notes
- Making it a thing that affects most of the world, instead of everyone (gives Foundation a chance to respond, and validates the use of the novel K-class scenario we will be using here)
- Making the amnesia really total amnesia (as opposed to handwaving bits of it e.g. allowing stuff like language to be retained)
MrWrong:
How shall we date the apocalypse (for the situation of any of our articles needing a reference to date)? I am thinking of setting it either in May-June 2018 (to parallel the happenings in real-time, and we can even post our content as though it were a crisis unfolding in real-time), or set it in a more distant future date.
Come to think of it, after checking the contest ruling, we may not need to have everything be in one timeline/continuity. So I think we can set dates to whatever each of us prefer (and even have it with different continuities and causes, so long we have a worldwide amnesia as a basis).
MMG:
I've dated mine in May-June 2018 for the above reason. I don't think the date is super important to the way my article's been written, though, so it can be changed easily.
ch00bakka:
The second idea I had was some sort of global amnesia scenario—everyone on Earth forgetting everything they know, or becoming unable to make new memories. This one really appeals to me because it could be something the Foundation causes—perhaps they're testing an experimental amnestic and something goes horribly wrong, or they need to amnesticize absolutely everything and mess it up somehow. This also would have some excellent opportunities for genuine horror, since losing all of your memories essentially kills what makes you a unique person, and being unable to form new memories means that everything essentially stagnates or falls apart.
MrWrong
That seems rather novel, and expands on the feel of SCP-3000 on a far wider scale.
ch00bakka:
The way I see it, there are a few ways we could take this one.
the first is that everyone loses some amount of time—maybe a few days, maybe a month, maybe even a year or more. The Foundation knows that it did this, but doesn't know anything else—just that there was something which happened that absolutely required the complete amnesticization of the planet. The doomsday scenario could be the thing which happened, and the story told is of the Foundation gradually figuring out exactly why they did this—this is similar to an idea stormfallen was pitching to me in chat earlier—or it could simply be the fact that there's a year of lost time that nobody remembers. (Lost Time Scenario)
The second is an event which causes people to no longer form new memories. This would definitely have some of the horror feel of 3000, and the mystery elements of the movie Memento—characters can only remember what they've written down, they're constantly re-learning things they should already know, possibly they need to be constantly reminded of the very fact that they're unable to form memories. (Prograde Amnesia Scenario)
And the third is that everyone forgets, well, everything. They still have their skills, they still have language, they can still function as people, but they don't remember any individual events from their life. Individual people would have to try to recreate their lives from the clues they can find around them; Foundation personnel would no longer know that the Foundation existed, but would "wake up" with no memories in the sites they worked at, presented with rooms full of monsters and no passwords to unlock the containment files. (Total Amnesia Scenario)
MMG:
I like this idea a lot, it's novel and there's a lot of potential - I like how it can be written with combined sci-fi/mystery/horror feel. The first scenario reminds me a bit of SCP-3557, though. The second scenario sounds most in line with an apocalyptic event in a traditional understanding of the word, and maybe most straightforward for the theme? #3 is a bit different in that way as it would be more about rebuilding the world, so it's not so doomsday-like. Maybe some people lose their language and skills and can't function at all? You could still consider it to be doomsday I guess.
I may be biased as I just knocked out a draft relating to memory and forgetting so I'm in that sort of mood - I don't think it's appropriate for a doomsday theme but I could at least crosslink it. It's in the memories tab (not finished yet) if it spurs any ideas.
MrWrong:
From how I see the three sub-ideas, the first might not feel too apocalyptic. Lost time is interesting, and can cause a good bit of chaos. But it's not world-ending enough for me. Sub-idea 2 might have some similarities with SCP-3000, and that might work against us in the long run (especially if other people see it that way, and call foul).
That leaves sub-idea 3. It does feel like an aftermath scenario, but the sheer scale of destruction would make it feel the most like a K-class scenario at work. And this sub-idea involves a bit of anomaly for the amnesia itself, since language may require memory sometimes.
Come to think of it, I think we can apply a solipsist argument and say that the 'world' ends when one ceases to recall themselves. It can be either new memories, or old memories, or both.
ch00bakka:
I would imagine that we could get away with hand-waving most of the elements of the memory loss (regarding sub-idea 3). People would still know (for example) what things are, how to speak, how to do math, et cetera—it would affect specific memories, not general ones. Someone affected by this apocalypse could, for example, recognize a computer and would still be able to type on it at the same level of proficiency; but they wouldn't know what any of the icons mean without clicking on them, they wouldn't know any websites or passwords, they wouldn't know the difference between operating systems, and they wouldn't have any memories of having used a computer before.
MrWrong:
Building up on sub-idea 3 (total amnesia), I think we can have it be like an epidemic spreading across the world (affecting some people, but not everyone). This would give room for the Foundation to try to troubleshoot the problem (and let them designate it as a K-class scenario, and I think we are supposed to coin a K-class scenario in this contest) while showing the destruction along the way. Maybe it can be related to amnestics, and affect the Foundation and the civilians they mind-wiped as most likely targets.
ch00bakka:
That would be very interesting—maybe the Foundation introduces a new variety of amnestic, and it turns out to have side-effects that don't manifest for years; they've only looked for side-effects on a scale of months, and have already put them into wide use for some time when they realize that the people they tested them on ten years ago have increasing memory degeneration. Although if it only affects people who have been amnesticized, it's only a Foundation-ending scenario, not a world-ending scenario.
Or we could have it be the other way around, and an increased tolerance for amnestics from regular use actually makes one resistant to whatever is causing the apocalypse. Anyone who has been amnesticized at all has some resistance, and the more you've been exposed to amnestics the better you fare. Maybe by the end of the storyline, we could show the people who are left to work on stopping it deliberately forgetting non-crucial memories to continuously increase their amnestics tolerance—they save the world eventually, but now they have no memories from before they joined the Foundation, and they don't remember anyone's face.
MrWrong:
ch00bakka's latter idea brings an interesting twist to common stories of amnestics screwing over the Foundation. We can have it be the reason why the Foundation manages to soldier on. I do think that the amnestics used as resistance/immunity is something done over time (to avoid a case of the Foundation pouring amnestics rapidly to solve the problem). Perhaps here, the D-class (if we're going for the monthly amnesticised route) will be heavily featured and exhibit the greatest extent of immunity towards the mass amnesia apocalypse.
MMG:
I like the idea of D-class having the best memory but being the most flawed and untrustworthy from the Foundation's POV, and the philosophical aspects of forgetting oneself. The big question about this scenario for me is if there is going to be some resolution to the amnesia apocalypse (in terms of what caused it). It sounds like thematically that wouldn't really fit and it may be best to leave it unresolved, but if someone has a fantastic punchline for the story that would be great. Not crossing too much into 3125/antimemetics division territory may be an issue here.
MrWrong:
I think we can see the mass amnesia like a natural disaster. It happens, destroys the status quo, and survivors are left to pick up the pieces. We can have articles discussing its cause (SCP article or GoI format), or have it be a truly mysterious calamity of unknown origin. I am also in favour of a lack of resolution, or even a lack of that apocalypse being averted.
And looking at SCP-3125, that one is more of being memetically consumed by an alien concept. I think if we go for a straightforward amnesia direction, we can minimise the differences. We may be treading into the territory of anti-memes (particularly if we can going for a thing that induces amnesia, or removes ideas from one), but I think we can manage if we nail down the specific nature of the K-class scenario (like how would this mass amnesia spread). In fact, we can have our specific cause be not directly related to anti-memes while having the K-class scenario to encompass mass amnesia in general (a definition that can include anti-memes, but not exclusively antimemes).
MMG:
Are records and documents going to be preserved? If that were the case, I wouldn't say rebuilding civilisation would be easy, but that would still make it less doomsday-like.
MrWrong:
I think records and documents would not be affected by mass amnesia. However, let us have a case wherein those infected have a permanent memory leakage. They simply can no longer remember anything, with all records and documents coming off as alien scribbles. Therefore, those infected are essentially invalids, and the wheel can never be invented (since people would keep forgetting how to).
ch00bakka:
The reactions of the various Groups of Interest to losing their own memories would be an interesting avenue to explore—maybe we could have several GoI articles, rather than just one? The Global Occult Coalition would have an interest in stopping it and would take steps to make that happen, however they could—maybe even working alongside the Foundation to research methods of restoring people's memories. Marshall, Carter, and Dark might find some method of preventing or delaying the amnesia, but would only sell it to its highest-paying clients; and if it requires some sort of horrific sacrifice, the Foundation might find out about it but be unwilling or unable to use it to stop the actual apocalypse.
MrWrong:
Building on what I mention for ORIA, I am thinking of ORIA's own response to the mass amnesia, trying to balance between their organisation's work, their ties to Iran (which would be suffering due to a significant portion of its population mind-wiped), and making sense of the situation. Some theories and tests will be mentioned, some of which of a religious slant. ORIA may even outsource labour to golems, djinn, and non-human things to sustain themselves.
ch00bakka:
An interesting question would be whether djinn are affected by the amnesia; as memetic organisms themselves, do they lose their own memories, or do others losing memories of them cause them any sort of harm?
My idea for a Marshall, Carter and Dark article is that they've found some way to at least delay the onset of the amnesia. They would, of course, be selling that cure to their wealthiest customers at a high premium; possibly the article could note that rather than money, they're accepting such things as precious metals, other commodities, or anomalous artifacts, because they're not sure whether there will be an economy in which to spend the money afterwards.
MrWrong:
My plan for the djinn is for them to be unable to possess humans affected by this mass amnesia. Since the djinn of ORIA are something like living ideas, I presume that they would leak out. I am split between them not able to possess humans or disappearing forever (like a blackhole).
As for the barter system, I think you can confer one-to-one communications between MC&D and various clients.
ch00bakka:
I've somewhat diverged from my initial plan. Rather than write an MC&D article, I've decided to create a new GoI format for the Abraxas Group, a corporation mentioned in the Sarkicism Hub. A subsidiary of this corporation created a drug that can delay the amnesia, but it requires a specially-prepared Sarkic bio-temple (a Kiraak) and three human sacrifices at the most advanced stage of the amnesia infection.
stormfallen
Possible SCP idea: a relatively-unrelated anomaly, but the documentation is written in-universe by someone affected by the amnesia? Like Memento, where the author has to constantly rely on what he's written to continue the document. Perhaps the anomaly is occurring right in front of him, and he has to keep checking what he's written before he can continue describing it, and maybe gets to a point where his documentation is long enough that he can no longer remember how he started by the time he finishes reading what's already been written, leading to an endless loop of re-reading the unfinished document. Listpages iterations shenanigans.
MrWrong:
Responding to stormfallen, this is certainly like a format screw. I would suggest something like the format screw used by DrMagnus to show a document in the process of being written. For reference, http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3622
Additionally, you may want to find a way to reference the K-class scenario, like maybe a RAISA note to declare that there is this scenario happening and all personnel has to be vigilant towards signs of losing memory.
In a sense, the SCP article is like a two-in-one: the main SCP you're writing, and the mass amnesia that will be illustrated along the way.
MMG:
As this is a tricky doomsday to write for places or objects, an idea for an SCP could be to write up The Doomsday Event (tm) as the SCP itself - also like in Memento-style, trying to put together that something happened. Maybe that could be a big centerpiece of the project and we could all collaborate on it? I'm not sure I would be comfortable tackling that on my own. If people aren't keen that's fine - stormfallen's idea about something unrelated where the anomaly is revealed tangentially sounds fine too.
MrWrong:
If we intend to write the event itself, I think it might be better to set it before it happens (just like how most SCP articles talk about K-class scenarios as a possible outcome, as opposed to it happening). Even what we have expressed interest in writing, it seems to be heavily grounded in reactions. I think we need a bit more diverse stories to talk about a mass amnesia doomsday than just reacting to it.
ch00bakka:
I think it would definitely be good to have at least some description somewhere of what actually caused the amnesia, unless we want it to not have a clear cause; whether that's an SCP article or is revealed in a tale of GoI article is another matter.
MMG:
I have a tentative SCP idea I might write which covers these points - the gist of it would be some sort of place that makes memories tangible - the idea being that as you walk through this building your memories float around like smoke and if other people walk into them they absorb them, of greater intensity as you go to the centre. Having your memories float away obviously causes amnesia. This sounds pretty cheesy when I write the idea like that but the reason was because I felt like doing an MTF exploration log type SCP. The conclusion would be some kind of post-mission debrief/report, where it was implied the amnesia was spreading. This would provide an article about something preceding the doomsday and describe what may have caused it, and it doesn't overlap with stormfallen's SCP idea. Thoughts?
ch00bakka:
This isn't quite as important as other considerations, but if we don't think about it a little, it could hurt the quality of our articles. My suggestion would be something along the lines of MK-Class Global Amnesia Scenario, but I'm not totally certain that that's the best name we can come up with.
MrWrong:
Considering that we need not to follow the established nomenclature for this contest, I would suggest something different (since tvtropes informed me of a Mk-class scenario). Perhaps µk-Class Global Unintended Amnesia scenario (unintended, to contrast Foundation-authorised mass amnesia)?
MMG:
I propose 'TR-class Blank Slate Scenario' or something along those lines because it sets up a horrendous MTF name pun in my article. Otherwise, I think something incorporating 'Global Amnesia' is fine, being more clever than it sounds at first blush, as it's a double entendre for 'global amnesia' as a medical term and obviously something worldwide.
Settling on an idea
MrWrong: When would be a good time to set a deadline on which idea to pursue for this contest? By the end of the month (30 April)?
ch00bakka: Yeah, I would say we should pick a topic some time this week. Maybe we should all rank the ideas in order of preference (in a few days after we've discussed some more) and choose based on that?
MrWrong: Agreed. Use the table below to shortlist ideas, and we select the one most commonly featured. You can provide elaboration if you wish to.
| Member | Shortlisted ideas |
|---|---|
| MrWrong | idea 2 (specifically Total Amnesia; that being said, even from ch00bakka's description, it's not really total amnesia since one still knows language. We can either have it target specific memories, or have real total amnesia that renders one completely memory-less, but is slowly spreading across the world like a massive epidemic), a mix of ideas 6 and 7 (specifically idea 7 leading to 6, but never causing a real nuclear war) |
| ch00bakka | Idea 2 (the "Total Amnesia" scenario) is the one I'm most interested in; Idea 5 would also be fun to write, but I agree with what MrWrong said about a more-defined event having more effect. |
| stormfallen | Idea 2 seems to be the choice here, that's fine with me. |
| ModernMajorGeneral | Looks like Idea 2 (total amnesia) is out in front. I would also vote for that as first preference: my other picks would be 3 and 7. |
ch00bakka: Since everyone seems to have gone with the amnesia idea, I put that in the brainstorming section (and saved our old brainstorming at the bottom of the page).
Content Distribution
Here, state which type of article (i.e. SCP article, Tale, GoI format) you would like to write on. We should have one of each type at minimum.
| Member | Type of article |
|---|---|
| MrWrong | GoI format (specifically ORIA, since their format uses emails and it can tell the story of the total amnesia affecting the world at large; see Groups of Interest tab for elaboration) |
| ch00bakka | I'd like to write a Tale set either at the beginning of the apocalypse when people are just starting to lose their memories or at the end while the Foundation is frantically working on a cure; I'd also like to write a MC&D GoI format about some method of holding off the amnesia they (claim to) have found. I've decided to create a GoI format for a Sarkic biotechnology corporation that made the drug that MCD is selling. |
| stormfallen | I could go for the SCP, though not sure what it would be. Maybe a relatively-unrelated anomaly, but the documentation is written in-universe by someone affected by the amnesia? Elaborated more in SCP tab. |
| ModernMajorGeneral | I have some ideas for a tale set after the apocalypse, where a Foundation researcher travels through the collapsing world. I could also write something to fill in a gap if necessary. I wouldn't mind writing an additional SCP but I may need to wait for inspiration to strike, I'm not sure what it would look like at the moment. Probably not going to write a tale as I realised my idea was similar to Where Have You Been All My Life but not as good. I've been thinking a little more about doing an SCP (see above) |
Drafts
If your drafts are ready to be looked at by other team members, post an URL link to the sandbox containing the draft, or a forum thread asking for review. We can (and ought to) review one another's work, which can allow us to align with a collective vision of the concept. We can (and ought to) seek reviews from other users, including other competitors.
Reviews can be conducted here, or via forum threads, or site chat, or PM etc.
I think this is pretty cool. I like the contrast between the dry scientific terminology and the Sarkic mysticism. The only thing I noticed was that I found the presentation of Ritual Process SOL and Ritual Process ADW to be confusing, as they both produce the same thing but in practice one leads to the other. I had to reread the whole section a couple of times before I thought I properly understood the process, probably because of all the codenames. Could specifying that SOL-12 produces a small quantity of tears in solution (which need to be further treated) help this?
There was also a stray full stop in the Ritual Process SOL-12 Products "The Sacred Tears of Nadox the Wise."
Just to clarify, are you also going to be writing a tale as well?
MrWrong: http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/mrwrong (all tabs; took me a while since I got a writer's block over the implementation)
MMG: http://scpsandbox2.wikidot.com/modernmajorgeneral - All text before the tabs, disregard those. The gist of this is done, but I'm not sure how to end this - explained more in the document. There is a lot of SCP-cliche in this that I'm not that happy with (spoopy fog village, MTF fodder goes crazy) so suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Old Brainstorming
- Idea 1: Pataphysics
- Idea 2: Mass amnesia
- Idea 3: Apocalypse by, say, Wondertainment
- Idea 4: War of the gods
- Idea 5: Vague apocalypse
- Idea 6: Nuclear War
- Idea 7: A shift in priorities
ch00bakka:
The first one would be connected to S Andrew Swann's 001 proposal—the idea that there's some part of the Foundation (usually called the Pataphysics Division) that's aware of its own fictional nature. In that world, the worst possible doomsday would be the end of the narrative universe in which the Foundation exists—not only would there be no more future for humanity, the past and the present would also not exist. This could happen either because of some small-scale event—like the SCP wiki getting deleted—or a large-scale one—like nuclear war in our world (the higher narrative layer). I think I like this more as a concept than as something we could actually execute, since I can't see how the characters of the Foundation universe would prevent some catastrophe in ours.
MrWrong:
But the contest is focused on making a new type of #-K class scenario. I think that takes quite a lot of influence from existing works, although I'm not sure if that scenario were named by any existing articles. Also, I think it would be optimal if we have the users involved in the Pataphysics Division as team members or at least reviewers, if we're going down that route.
ch00bakka:
I definitely agree with your thoughts on the Pataphysics idea.
MMG:
Agree this has been explored by a lot of existing works and may be a hard sell.
ch00bakka:
The second idea I had was some sort of global amnesia scenario—everyone on Earth forgetting everything they know, or becoming unable to make new memories. This one really appeals to me because it could be something the Foundation causes—perhaps they're testing an experimental amnestic and something goes horribly wrong, or they need to amnesticize absolutely everything and mess it up somehow. This also would have some excellent opportunities for genuine horror, since losing all of your memories essentially kills what makes you a unique person, and being unable to form new memories means that everything essentially stagnates or falls apart.
MrWrong
That seems rather novel, and expands on the feel of SCP-3000 on a far wider scale.
ch00bakka:
The way I see it, there are a few ways we could take this one.
the first is that everyone loses some amount of time—maybe a few days, maybe a month, maybe even a year or more. The Foundation knows that it did this, but doesn't know anything else—just that there was something which happened that absolutely required the complete amnesticization of the planet. The doomsday scenario could be the thing which happened, and the story told is of the Foundation gradually figuring out exactly why they did this—this is similar to an idea stormfallen was pitching to me in chat earlier—or it could simply be the fact that there's a year of lost time that nobody remembers. (Lost Time Scenario)
The second is an event which causes people to no longer form new memories. This would definitely have some of the horror feel of 3000, and the mystery elements of the movie Memento—characters can only remember what they've written down, they're constantly re-learning things they should already know, possibly they need to be constantly reminded of the very fact that they're unable to form memories. (Prograde Amnesia Scenario)
And the third is that everyone forgets, well, everything. They still have their skills, they still have language, they can still function as people, but they don't remember any individual events from their life. Individual people would have to try to recreate their lives from the clues they can find around them; Foundation personnel would no longer know that the Foundation existed, but would "wake up" with no memories in the sites they worked at, presented with rooms full of monsters and no passwords to unlock the containment files. (Total Amnesia Scenario)
MMG:
I like this idea a lot, it's novel and there's a lot of potential - I like how it can be written with combined sci-fi/mystery/horror feel. The first scenario reminds me a bit of SCP-3557, though. The second scenario sounds most in line with an apocalyptic event in a traditional understanding of the word, and maybe most straightforward for the theme? #3 is a bit different in that way as it would be more about rebuilding the world, so it's not so doomsday-like. Maybe some people lose their language and skills and can't function at all? You could still consider it to be doomsday I guess.
I may be biased as I just knocked out a draft relating to memory and forgetting so I'm in that sort of mood - I don't think it's appropriate for a doomsday theme but I could at least crosslink it. It's in the memories tab (not finished yet) if it spurs any ideas.
MrWrong:
From how I see the three sub-ideas, the first might not feel too apocalyptic. Lost time is interesting, and can cause a good bit of chaos. But it's not world-ending enough for me. Sub-idea 2 might have some similarities with SCP-3000, and that might work against us in the long run (especially if other people see it that way, and call foul).
That leaves sub-idea 3. It does feel like an aftermath scenario, but the sheer scale of destruction would make it feel the most like a K-class scenario at work. And this sub-idea involves a bit of anomaly for the amnesia itself, since language may require memory sometimes.
Come to think of it, I think we can apply a solipsist argument and say that the 'world' ends when one ceases to recall themselves. It can be either new memories, or old memories, or both.
ch00bakka:
I would imagine that we could get away with hand-waving most of the elements of the memory loss (regarding sub-idea 3). People would still know (for example) what things are, how to speak, how to do math, et cetera—it would affect specific memories, not general ones. Someone affected by this apocalypse could, for example, recognize a computer and would still be able to type on it at the same level of proficiency; but they wouldn't know what any of the icons mean without clicking on them, they wouldn't know any websites or passwords, they wouldn't know the difference between operating systems, and they wouldn't have any memories of having used a computer before.
MrWrong:
Building up on sub-idea 3 (total amnesia), I think we can have it be like an epidemic spreading across the world (affecting some people, but not everyone). This would give room for the Foundation to try to troubleshoot the problem (and let them designate it as a K-class scenario, and I think we are supposed to coin a K-class scenario in this contest) while showing the destruction along the way. Maybe it can be related to amnestics, and affect the Foundation and the civilians they mind-wiped as most likely targets.
ch00bakka:
That would be very interesting—maybe the Foundation introduces a new variety of amnestic, and it turns out to have side-effects that don't manifest for years; they've only looked for side-effects on a scale of months, and have already put them into wide use for some time when they realize that the people they tested them on ten years ago have increasing memory degeneration. Although if it only affects people who have been amnesticized, it's only a Foundation-ending scenario, not a world-ending scenario.
Or we could have it be the other way around, and an increased tolerance for amnestics from regular use actually makes one resistant to whatever is causing the apocalypse. Anyone who has been amnesticized at all has some resistance, and the more you've been exposed to amnestics the better you fare. Maybe by the end of the storyline, we could show the people who are left to work on stopping it deliberately forgetting non-crucial memories to continuously increase their amnestics tolerance—they save the world eventually, but now they have no memories from before they joined the Foundation, and they don't remember anyone's face.
MrWrong:
ch00bakka's latter idea brings an interesting twist to common stories of amnestics screwing over the Foundation. We can have it be the reason why the Foundation manages to soldier on. I do think that the amnestics used as resistance/immunity is something done over time (to avoid a case of the Foundation pouring amnestics rapidly to solve the problem). Perhaps here, the D-class (if we're going for the monthly amnesticised route) will be heavily featured and exhibit the greatest extent of immunity towards the mass amnesia apocalypse.
MMG:
I like the idea of D-class having the best memory but being the most flawed and untrustworthy from the Foundation's POV, and the philosophical aspects of forgetting oneself. The big question about this scenario for me is if there is going to be some resolution to the amnesia apocalypse (in terms of what caused it). It sounds like thematically that wouldn't really fit and it may be best to leave it unresolved, but if someone has a fantastic punchline for the story that would be great. Not crossing too much into 3125/antimemetics division territory may be an issue here.
MrWrong:
I think we can see the mass amnesia like a natural disaster. It happens, destroys the status quo, and survivors are left to pick up the pieces. We can have articles discussing its cause (SCP article or GoI format), or have it be a truly mysterious calamity of unknown origin. I am also in favour of a lack of resolution, or even a lack of that apocalypse being averted.
And looking at SCP-3125, that one is more of being memetically consumed by an alien concept. I think if we go for a straightforward amnesia direction, we can minimise the differences. We may be treading into the territory of anti-memes (particularly if we can going for a thing that induces amnesia, or removes ideas from one), but I think we can manage if we nail down the specific nature of the K-class scenario (like how would this mass amnesia spread). In fact, we can have our specific cause be not directly related to anti-memes while having the K-class scenario to encompass mass amnesia in general (a definition that can include anti-memes, but not exclusively antimemes).
MMG:
Are records and documents going to be preserved? If that were the case, I wouldn't say rebuilding civilisation would be easy, but that would still make it less doomsday-like.
ch00bakka:
And my third idea was looking at how the world could be destroyed—accidentally or otherwise—by some of the less likely Groups of Interest. Doctor Wondertainment, for example, seems like the least likely GoI to be involved in any sort of K-Class scenario, but what if they made a toy that really got out of hand?
Regarding Wondertainment, an idea I had is a "kid-friendly" apocalypse—somehow, Doctor Wondertainment makes all of reality G-Rated. At first this seems fine; no wars, no violence of any kind, a lot of anomalies would be neutralized or made harmless. But then you realize the prime component of "kid-friendly" media: no sex, which means no babies, which means eventual extinction. (Perhaps people can still die, but only peacefully of old age in a way that teaches a wholesome lesson about mortality.)
MrWrong
That could also be interesting, and perhaps fun to imagine such a scenario.
While interesting, that would also mean Wondertainment losing his main demographic (children). Unless this apocalypse finds a way to make children without sex.
stormfallen
There's always G-rated sex for an alternative, with a WondertainmentTM-Brand Stork arriving nine months later. Would remove the eventual extinction angle from the idea, though maybe the world changing as significantly as it does still counts for "Doomsday".
MMG:
Sounds a bit like a comedic Children of Men, focusing only on not having children. Maybe there's also potential in the other implications of kid-friendly media (nobody dies? inanimate objects can talk? etc)
MrWrong:
It seems that this idea leans towards a more whimsical feel towards the end of the world, in terms of tone (which can make this idea distinct from more traditional world-ending scenarios). The GoI format would almost certainly be Wondertainment, if not the SCP article (that being said, I can imagine non-Wondertainment GoI formats, since there is no Wondertainment GoI-format to date).
If nobody dies, we can be looking at overpopulation as a world-ending scenario as well.
MrWrong:
Basically, the premises of my idea reimagines the O5 Council as the Olympian Gods (and Hestia). They are hoarding anomalies under the pretence of the Foundation to stave off any threat to their rule/existence.
The novel K-class scenario would be somehow, offsprings of the Olympian!O5 (perhaps a result of a fluke mating, or genetically engineered by the Chaos Insurgency or something) are threatening to oppose the Foundation (just as the Olympians oppose the Titans). Due to the Foundation's (specifically the Olympian!O5) personal stakes involved, a special K-class scenario is warranted. There will likely be high casualties of an apocalyptic scale along the way, but all that would just be a slideshow for the shadowy showdown between the Olympian!O5 and their offspring.
ch00bakka:
the premises of my idea reimagines the O5 Council as the Olympian Gods (and Hestia). They are hoarding anomalies under the pretence of the Foundation to stave off any threat to their rule/existence.
I do like the idea of the O5 as secretly being a divine pantheon, but I'm not sure about them literally just being the Olympians—perhaps they're the remnants of a number of old pantheons? That would allow for a little more variety in their characterization. Or maybe they're some sort of primeval pantheon that the Olympians and other pantheons were based on.
The novel K-class scenario would be somehow, offsprings of the Olympian!O5 (perhaps a result of a fluke mating, or genetically engineered by the Chaos Insurgency or something) are threatening to oppose the Foundation (just as the Olympians oppose the Titans).
Maybe the children of the O5 Pantheon were always the Chaos Insurgency, and they've just now decided to strike—the stars are right, or there's some other event that's weakened the O5's power.
I think the major problem we'd run into with this idea is that people might not like there being that much explanation of who the O5 Council is and where they came from—why do the Olympians find it necessary to start the Foundation in the 20th century? Where have they been for the last few thousand years? Why contain anomalies rather than just destroying them with their divine power?
MrWrong:
While I would chalk it up to a narrative of the gods having an extremely limited way in influencing the world in the Age of Man (acting through the Foundation, and having nearly no divine power in an age that rejects the old gods), I think it can get convoluted (requiring much explanation to get itself across). And perhaps a mythology sell can be perceived as niche.
stormfallen
9:12:55 PM <stormfallen> Idea: the whole series is about trying to prevent a []K from happening, but we're never actually told what the event is
9:13:02 PM <stormfallen> just that it's Really Bad
9:13:29 PM <stormfallen> the SCP could be something like scp-2798
9:13:52 PM <stormfallen> where it's all about the prevention without telling you what it's protecting againstThe contest entries give a story of the Foundation (and possibly some GoI) trying desperately to stop the impending Doom, but the reader never gets to learn what exactly the Doom is.
For some reason I have the idea of the series ending right as the event happens, with something like "the Foundation pressed the button, everyone waited with baited breath, and then" where it just cuts off and it's unclear whether the Doom was prevented or not.
MrWrong:
So like the calm before the storm. I think that, if we can make room for it, we can have articles set before the apocalypse. This requires buildup, and us knowing the endgame still (while leaving room for interpretation). I do think that a more clearly defined world-ending event will have more impact than deliberate vagueness, which would require quite a bit of planning (I feel).
ch00bakka:
I'd like to pitch one final idea I've been thinking about. What if rather than an anomalous apocalypse, the end-of-the-world scenario that the Foundation has to deal with is just non-anomalous nuclear war between nations?
If we set the articles mostly after the war, then it could be all about rebuilding. The Foundation, with specially-protected secure facilities far away from major population centers, is perhaps uniquely suited to surviving a non-anomalous end-of-the-world; I would imagine that most, if not all, Foundation sites at least have the capability to be self-sufficient for a while and although communications between sites might break down for a while, I'm sure that the Foundation has a satellite communications network that wouldn't be affected by nuclear war. If most of the world has been bombed to hell, the O5 might not be opposed to using anomalies to clean up the radiation and aid the survivors.
If we set it before the war, then we might be able to focus our articles on the Foundation's political influence. I'm sure that preventing nuclear war would be one of the Foundation's top priorities; if everything gets bombed to hell, then it's going to be a lot harder to keep all the anomalies locked up in boxes. We could see what exactly the Foundation liaisons to various world governments might need to do to keep the peace—perhaps it could be more of a political thriller, or more of a James Bond-esque spy narrative.
MMG:
I think this would be enjoyable and interesting to write about, but two things making me reluctant to pick it would be 1) the similarity in theme to the Coldest War canon (not so much an issue if set post-apocalyptic, though) and 2) the potential popularity of this theme (nuclear war is pretty relatable, compared to fictional apocalypses, and I noticed a bunch of conversations about this in IRC, so I suspect at least one of the teams will be using it).
MMG:
This idea came off a draft I had knocking around before the contest went up - the plot was a cognitohazard that made military research and development less efficient, with a possible implied outcome being that global military spending gradually creeps up and up forever over time until it consumes all of human activity. It wouldn't necessarily have to be military-themed, with the general idea being that something influences a total restructuring of human civilisation toward some goal making it unrecognisable (people spending all their time cooking, or producing TV sitcoms, or playing a sport could work). I think there was some brief mention in a well-known SCP about doomsdays where humans spent all their time raising a type of spider, though obviously we wouldn't reuse that same thing.
MrWrong:
I can see a correlation with idea 6, with military buildup leading to nuclear war. Of course, actual nuclear war would cease the military buildup. Therefore, we can theoretically tease a nuclear war but never have a nuclear war.
