RPC-420 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page RPC-420.

Malfestance 24 Feb 2021 18:15

Forum crit here.

This RPC is a collaborative work by Almarduk, TheGreatTarbolin69, and myself.

Both images are ones that I have heavily edited to fit the article, from what I believe to be CC-compliant sources.

This RPC came one day as a complete joke when we were fucking around in discord chat, a dreadfully-evil being that strikes fear into the hearts of everyone, which really is just a turtle. We kept piling on more and more ideas and next thing we knew we, like compulsive addicts, had a draft set up. We all (mostly I) put this article off for a year, hope you enjoy it.

It's been an absolute pleasure to write alongside these people, they are some of the best writers on the site in my opinion.

Oh yeah, this is an entry to the Budget Cuts contest.

Last edited on 24 Feb 2021 18:20 by Malfestance Show more

Almarduk 24 Feb 2021 18:17

i cant fucking believe this

Prototype_Toaster 24 Feb 2021 18:22

Weed 3

TheGreatTarbolin69 24 Feb 2021 18:34

Dread Frog

Croal 24 Feb 2021 18:52

IMO the emergency call doesn't add anything.
You mention that there are recordings of the asteroid incident, but that they can't prove anything beyond implications?

Just not my kind of article

Malfestance 17 Mar 2021 20:24

I appreciate the feedback, and I have removed the emergency call in light of it.

Von Pincier 24 Feb 2021 19:06

I really like this article, but it definitely has some flaws. Definitely seconding Coup's point that the emergency call just feels like padding, and there are some odd unexplained bits-

• What is "Wafer's Memetic Inoculation Eyewear?"
• Why would a trucker have a dash camera in 1988, a time well before dash cams became common?
• Why did the turtle specifically grow a named kind of mushroom, and not a structure resembling a named mushroom?
• Why refer to the mushrooms as Enokitake when they're better known as Velvet Shank mushrooms in the continental US?
• Is the turtle effected by its own cognitohazard?
• If the alien satellite was likely to cause catastrophic damage to earth, why was only a single ship dispatched after it?
• Why would you task an entire MST for a single anomaly that seems to generally not break containment very often, or is not particularly motivated to do so- you make no mention of attempts by the turtle to escape.

Malfestance 17 Mar 2021 20:24

Thank you for the feedback, I have applied it.
As for the following however:

Why would a trucker have a dash camera in 1988, a time well before dash cams became common?

It's not impossible that the company could have mandated dashcams or that the trucker decided to put it there, merely just an unlikely circumstance that did occur. I have removed the footage anyway, though.

Why refer to the mushrooms as Enokitake when they're better known as Velvet Shank mushrooms in the continental US?

The form of Enokitake used in the article is specifically the cultivated Enokitake, or cultivated flammulina velutipes. I have yet to see any references to "cultivated Velvet Shank" which doesn't result in a different kind of mushroom being described.

Is the turtle effected by its own cognitohazard?

Yes. It's in the log of acquisition.

If the alien satellite was likely to cause catastrophic damage to earth, why was only a single ship dispatched after it?

At the time, only the one vessel was close enough to intercept the satellite. It was operating too fast for other vessels to be dispatched in time before it was too late. I don't know much about the RPC space force though so I may have just said 17 incorrect things.

televisionist 27 Mar 2021 03:56

Wow, what a ride. TO begin, I remember being in the original brainstorm session for this anomaly. I'm guessing it traded hands, but everything is here and still love the concept to death. Sad that the intense music never got written into its character, but it did everything else right. I do love how the article's ending was better adapted from a nuke to an asteroid, although the final note just falls flat. Idk, it's just that it feels effortless for the researcher to just spell out what happened and what the anomaly is. I feel as if the ending could've really benefitted from the "show don't tell" principle.

Otherwise, a fantastic article that ends at just the right length (which is commemorable in it of itself) 5/5, easily.

(account deleted) 29 Sep 2021 15:11

Fun, to the point, and with exciting implications. Easy 5.

I am kinda curious, if there ever was a threat to Earth as a whole, would this turtle be like, a defense mechanism? Just a weird thought.

MF_TOMB 20 Jul 2023 20:59

Kickass also what Mr. Deleted said what would the turtle do in response to an asteroid

Almarduk 24 Jul 2023 01:50

Kill it.