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(account deleted)While not an entirely revolutionary idea, your execution delivers the point to the reader quite nicely and in a witty way that leaves me satisfied, good job,
pretty gud, very weird, a sort of dreamlike feel, but the note at the end makes it too obvious. it doesn't kill the article, but it does push it down from an uneasy 5 star to an uneasy 4 star.
edit: I guess dreamlike isn't the most accurate word. It feels mystical, something not just beyond Authority understanding but outside the purview of humanity altogether. I think that's why the ending is such a disappointment for me. it takes something deliciously weird and explains it as a product of human creation, and it does so in a rather blunt and tactless way.
also, I don't think it should be gamma. or red.
changed my vote to three stars.
(This review is adapted from thoughts I gave in the RPC Reading Club on November 20th.)
One thing that drew me to this article was its oppressive tone. The object punishing you for hitting it is an unexpected yet welcome aspect. There are subtler touches I like, such as the distinction that it's not iron but "chemically identical to basic iron", but the article really makes its mark when we enter RPC-182-1. It's nerfed, though, by some poorer parts, like the over-the-top ghost faces and this cringeworthy line:
Should a human being be consumed by RPC-128-2, the creature will emit smoke from its body, accompanied by the sound of the consumed human screaming.
That being said, I still enjoyed the imagery throughout the remainder of the description. The RPC-182-1 landscape is otherworldly, and the Cleaners are menacing.
The brute formatting of the logs didn't give me the highest hopes, but they were better than I anticipated. It's classic exploration stuff when you get down to it, and the groups are fun enough to follow. It could use a lot more specific dialogue and details, which is a recurring hiccup (e.g., what kind of "cover story" did "Mr. William ████" give the police?). Even besides that, the logs are lacking. The third one fails as a climax (I only laughed my ass off at "A loud, wet slap is heard"). The base camp in the second log is the best it gets, which is a bit of a shame. The questions explored about the world are too narrow-minded, and it leads me to wonder how it could've gone if they did more than just roam around some. Wonder is better than nothing, at least.
All the "Hartman Group" stuff is going to be divisive, but I'm personally a fan. Not so much of the mediocre GOI pitch, but I'm actually content with its position as a one-off. This is about as good as you can get with a failed GOI pitch; it improves the article instead of distracting from it. The article is earnest about its inclusion, and it lends an air of mystery to it, like there's a side to the story we're not seeing. I don't think there needs to be an answer; I can just presume the full story of this "group" has been lost to link rot and redaction throughout the database.
To be frank, I didn't expect to review this with the kindest words going in, but I was pleasantly surprised. Granted a few stumbling blocks, this is a remarkable emulation of classic SCP design and intrigue. It's nothing mind-blowing, but if you came to read RPC in the hopes of recapturing that old magic, you won't be disappointed. This is a setting worth returning to someday. 4/5
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