Noting that new site member 
PrisonerD-Day (account age 12 days, site membership 11 days) recently posted the following concept critique thread to the draft critique forum. The initial post has multiple indicators of AI-generation: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17146668/my-first-scp-idea
I'm just going to get straight to the point on this.
Elevator Pitch:
A man named John, once a father with a gentle heart and a gift for coaxing beauty from the wind and soil, is reduced to a number by the Foundation. His story is a haunting exploration of what happens when hope, compassion, and identity are crushed beneath the weight of a system that views people as mere data, not as souls. His final, quiet act of despair is a mirror to the world’s lost innocence, embodied in the oddly beautiful flowers he leaves behind.
Central Narrative:
SCP-XXXX (until I find a free page), known as John, is an ordinary man with extraordinary gifts: he can manipulate wind with ease and generate a unique, bioluminescent flora. Discovered in the wilds of Alaska, he is taken into Foundation custody and stripped of his name, his past, and his dignity. Over the years of containment, John’s only solace is the memory of his daughter and the flowers he grows—each a fleeting echo of a simpler, kinder time. When he witnesses the senseless termination of two D-Class personnel, people the Foundation views as expendable, something inside him breaks. In a moment of quiet resignation, he chooses to end his own life, leaving behind only his flowers and a legacy of what was lost, not just for him, but for all of us.
The article will unfold through clinical reports, interview logs, and incident documentation, revealing John’s humanity in the margins of the Foundation’s cold bureaucracy. The flowers, if touched, evoke a sense of nostalgia for a world that once was—a world of childhood laughter, clear skies, and genuine connection. In the end, John’s story is a tragedy of the ordinary, a reminder of what happens when we forget to see the people behind the numbers.
Hook/Attention-Grabber (Optional):
“No one sees me. No point now.”
These are John’s last words, spoken softly before he ends his own life. This is not a story of monsters or madness, but of a man who was never seen as human—until it was too late. The flowers he leaves behind are the last, fading light of a world we’ve forgotten, and a warning of what we risk losing when we stop seeing each other.
Additional Notes (Optional):
Name Origin:
John is a name chosen for its universality—a symbol of the ordinary man, the everyman, whose story is too often overlooked. In the Foundation’s files, he is an SCP, but in his heart, he knows that he is John: a father, a gardener, a man who once made the wind dance for his daughter just to see her face light up with joy. His insistence on his name and the Foundation’s refusal to use it is a central thread of his tragedy.
Symbolism of the Flowers:
The flowers John creates—Flora Lacuna Serena—are more than just plants. They are living memories of a lost world. When touched, they evoke a fleeting sense of nostalgia, a whisper of a time when life was simpler, kinder, and more beautiful. They represent what we have lost—childhood innocence, genuine connection, and the simple joy of being seen and loved. In the stark, clinical halls of the Foundation, these flowers are a rare and fragile beauty, and a reminder of what John—and all of us—once had.
Emotional Depth:
This article is designed to hit hard, not with overly used jump scares or pointless (sometimes) gore, but with the quiet horror of dehumanization and the ache of lost hope. It’s a story about what it means to be seen, and what happens when we are not. The flowers are a symbol of that loss, and John’s final act is a plea to remember the humanity in all of us—even those the world has forgotten.
If you made it to the bottom, thank you for reading all of this, because I put in a lot of effort. Once again, thank you.
Excerpts of note:
The article will unfold through clinical reports, interview logs, and incident documentation, revealing John’s humanity in the margins of the Foundation’s cold bureaucracy. The flowers, if touched, evoke a sense of nostalgia for a world that once was—a world of childhood laughter, clear skies, and genuine connection. In the end, John’s story is a tragedy of the ordinary, a reminder of what happens when we forget to see the people behind the numbers.
Additional Notes (Optional):
Name Origin:
John is a name chosen for its universality—a symbol of the ordinary man, the everyman, whose story is too often overlooked. In the Foundation’s files, he is an SCP, but in his heart, he knows that he is John: a father, a gardener, a man who once made the wind dance for his daughter just to see her face light up with joy. His insistence on his name and the Foundation’s refusal to use it is a central thread of his tragedy.
Emotional Depth:
This article is designed to hit hard, not with overly used jump scares or pointless (sometimes) gore, but with the quiet horror of dehumanization and the ache of lost hope. It’s a story about what it means to be seen, and what happens when we are not. The flowers are a symbol of that loss, and John’s final act is a plea to remember the humanity in all of us—even those the world has forgotten.
Of note, when their usage of AI was addressed, they lied about their writing:
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17146668/my-first-scp-idea#post-7024834 response to comment "This is AI generated."
Look, I get why you might think this sounds polished, but this story comes from a really personal place for me. I've been working on John's character for weeks, constantly refining his voice and motivations because I wanted to capture something specific about feeling invisible in systems that don't see you as human. The whole concept started when I was thinking about how we've lost that sense of wonder and connection that felt more present back in 2012. Kids actually played outside more, social media wasn't as toxic, and there was this feeling of possibility that just isn't there anymore in 2025. I wanted to channel that loss into something tangible, which became John's flowers that trigger nostalgia when touched. John's name wasn't random either. I specifically chose it because it's so common, so everyman, which makes the Foundation's refusal to use it even more dehumanizing. They reduce him to SCP-XXXX when he's just John, a dad who misses his daughter. That contrast between his humanity and their clinical detachment is the whole emotional core I'm trying to hit.
The flora sprouting from his body came to me later when I realized I wanted something more intimate and peaceful about his abilities. Not just creating plants from soil, but having them grow from him directly without pain, giving him those brief moments of serenity in an otherwise cold environment. It makes his eventual self-neutralization hurt more because he's losing that last connection to beauty and peace. I've been going back and forth on whether his daughter Clara is actually dead or being held elsewhere by the Foundation. That ambiguity is intentional because John dies without ever knowing the truth, which amplifies the tragedy. I've read SCP-2085 and SCP-8980 for inspiration on handling emotional depth, but John's story is specifically about quiet resignation rather than rebellion or reality alteration.
The Stephen King comparison came up because I love how he finds horror in ordinary people broken by circumstances. John isn't a monster. He's just a man who tried to save D-Class personnel he saw as human beings, witnessed their execution, and realized the Foundation would never see him as anything more than an anomaly to study. This isn't AI polish. This is me obsessing over every detail because I want readers to feel genuinely sad about a fictional man named John who deserved better than being reduced to a number.
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17146668/my-first-scp-idea#post-7024837 double-post reply to same comment, edited 8 minutes later to append "on that platform, so I transferred it to here too." to the end
Also, I'm sorry that I may have confused you. I probably shouldn't have picked up the Discord standard SCP idea draft, because that makes it look like A. I generated. I did it in a rush and copy-pasted (I was in a rush) my idea from Discord, since everyone seemed to be critiquing it, but I wasn't receiving any greenlights on it
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-17146668/my-first-scp-idea#post-7024893 reply to comment "I'm inclined to agree with Fish: this looks AI-generated, not "polished". The descriptions are overwrought, and you reiterate the central emotional theme five times. This sort of vague, directionless repetition requires deliberate effort from a human author, but it's common in AI/LLM-generated content, because they're just fancy autocomplete machines. Community members are hyper-aware of these quirks. Posting AI-generated material is against the rules, and it is not a path to success on the site. Setting that obvious issue aside: you're not using this subforum correctly. You're supposed to start in Ideas Critique, make use of the standard template, and get greenlights before seeking critique on a draft. Before doing that, I would strongly recommend reviewing the Required Reading Hub, particularly the Site Rules, Guide for Newcomers, How to Contribute and How to Write an SCP."
You're absolutely right about the subforum mistake, and I apologize for that. I should have started in Ideas Critique with the proper template before jumping into a draft. I'm still learning the process here and clearly jumped ahead of myself. Regarding the AI concern, I understand why it might read that way. Looking back at my draft, I can see how the repetitive emotional themes and overwrought descriptions could seem artificial. The truth is, I've been so focused on making sure the emotional core came through that I ended up hammering the same points repeatedly instead of trusting the reader to pick up on subtler cues.
This concept has been bouncing around in my head for weeks. I started with just the basic idea of a man with wind and plant powers, but as I developed it, I kept getting caught up in trying to make every sentence carry emotional weight. I think I overdid it to the point where it lost the natural flow that good SCP writing should have. I genuinely wrote this myself, but I can see how my inexperience with the SCP format and my tendency to over-explain emotions made it read artificially. The clinical tone mixed with heavy emotional themes is clearly something I need to practice balancing better.
I'll take your advice and go through the Required Reading Hub thoroughly before starting over in Ideas Critique. I clearly need to better understand both the community standards and the writing style before attempting another draft. Thanks for the honest feedback, even though it stings a bit. I'd rather hear it now than waste more time going down the wrong path.
Membership revoked, PM sent. Kufat supporting.
