# Pastebin PoyP0SlQ
11:20 AM <~barredowl> alright, then. since we're mostly done here, how about our first impressions?
11:21 AM <~barredowl> despite repeating a lot of the information present in previous installments, this managed to keep my attention throughout and entertain me.
11:21 AM <~barredowl> this was really fun to read.
11:21 AM <~barredowl> i really liked how effectively the timeline was at conveying tension.
11:22 AM <%red3> This works on some level for what it's trying to accomplish: giving the reader a sense of scale for what is happening to humanity. But since there is very little content besides this, there's really nothing for me to latch onto. If this was meant to be just a side piece in an overarching plot, then it would work a lot better as a refresher, but since it's meant to be a standalone, it fails to keep my engagement and just 
11:22 AM <%red3> ends up being painfully boring.
11:22 AM <BlueJones> I enjoyed this greatly. It is as owl says an effective way to reconvey what we know already about the mutatuion while at the same time, expanded and furthering the story along
11:22 AM <Pighead> Not great, but not bad. I definitely stand by the fact that this canon is definitely well-written and have a coherent timeline, but I don't know.
11:23 AM <~barredowl> red3: that's understandable. i myself have qualms that it sorta steps on the other installment's toes a little
11:23 AM <%red3> How so?
11:23 AM <~barredowl> and by a little, i mean a lot, looking back
11:23 AM <Pighead> It's good to learn more things and there's some things (like O5-4 who became an instance of 3731) who are intersting to know and can serve for understanding the next things.
11:23 AM <~barredowl> like, the latter half of the description feels like it's skip-ifying all the information about the mutants that we could already infer.
11:24 AM <Pighead> But for the rest, I feel like this SCP is just a resume of what 3 Tales had already told me. And in a better way.
11:24 AM <~barredowl> while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it might be a bit TOO recap-y
11:24 AM <%red3> Yeah, I got that sense too when it started talking about the psychological profiles of the anomalies. We already got enough information we need to generalize them in the first skip and the other three tales did well enough to characterize a few of them that I could see where there'd be some variation.
11:25 AM <Pighead> Ya remember that I absolutely loved "The Shape of a Gun" and "A New Age of Magic", but less "A Farewell to Arms", so in 3731, it's that but in "Recap Mode". And it makes that less interesting.
11:25 AM <~barredowl> yeah, i think that's the thing with me. it sorta seems a bit filler.
11:25 AM <Pighead> (I have to go to dinner, if we will talk about "Thrive" when I come back, my opinions are novote with down ascendant)
11:25 AM <~barredowl> i think i enjoyed this a lot, though, and i think i'm willing to forgive it for repeating information.
11:26 AM <%red3> And on Pighead's point, I think I would enjoy the little inclusions, but since this is meant to be a main skip in the story, it feels meaningless. I can bet almost every one of these points won't make it into the final tale, so mentioning them does little besides add a little trivia to the story.
11:27 AM <~barredowl> yeah, i can see that
11:28 AM <~barredowl> i'm sorta conflicted, to be honest.
11:29 AM <~barredowl> i think from a firsthand glance, i really liked this. but looking back at it, there's a lot of structural and informational overlap with the other installments.
11:29 AM <%red3> I do enjoy how Protocol ALABASTER was reintroduced here, but I would've liked to see more mentions of it in the previous tales so that there would be some kind of buildup. And even the buildup here of the Lilac thing which would destroy the Earth feels boring because there's no emotional investment for me. I don't care about the entirety of humanity, I only care about the small band of characters that was introduced in 
11:29 AM <%red3> the tales. 
11:29 AM <~barredowl> yeah, the special containment procedures, and the whole ALABASTER thing was nice.
11:29 AM <~barredowl> glad it got reincorporated some
11:30 AM <~barredowl> hmm.
11:31 AM <%red3> Yeah. I'm also not a fan of the sci-fi language here. Whereas on 3396 the language was simple enough to be understood but complicated enough to keep a sense of realism, here it feels like the science-y words were cranked up to eleven with no consideration for meaning. It doesn't help also that half of the terms aren't even used again, so the one that they did use at the end was confusing. I found myself having to look 
11:31 AM <%red3> up the terms again to understand what it meant.
11:31 AM <BlueJones> I love the use of ALABASTER and the use of Lilac but I can see your points here as well
11:32 AM <~barredowl> red3: mm, yeah, i can see that. some of the language in the whole foundation-made weapons section is impenetrable
11:33 AM <%red3> There are a lot of subtle flourishes that I like: the way that the dates are in the American format instead of the international one since the Foundation is restricted to purely American sites, the fact that the Giant-class image is placed in such a way that the final bullet point about the Ethics Committee stands out, marking its importance; etc.
11:34 AM <%red3> But overall, this is just too little too late. I've lost interest in the Foundation's mission, the rebel's mission, and all of the stakes that this article is trying to thrust upon me. By the way, are we revealing our votes? I heard some people say that we shouldn't be doing that.
11:34 AM <~barredowl> ah, that's pretty nice.
11:35 AM <~barredowl> i think we've sorta moved past not giving our verdict at the end?
11:35 AM <~barredowl> i've been giving out my ratings on this for this whole thing
11:35 AM <BlueJones> Soooo we are or we aren't handing out our ratings
11:36 AM <~barredowl> we are, i believe
11:36 AM <~barredowl> really, up to you
11:36 AM <~barredowl> you don't have to if you want
11:36 AM <BlueJones> Cool! At first I liked this. But after seeing your points, I sorta have to put this on a downvote
11:37 AM <%red3> Alright. This is a pretty hard downvote. I've noticed that very few of these articles in the middle actually further the story beyond giving more worldbuilding information. While that is nice, it's best when packaged between story beats instead of being the beats themselves. When it does that, it makes the entire thing just feel like filler.
11:38 AM <~barredowl> i think, after some consideration with the informational overlap and the general lack of direction story-wise, despite enjoying a lot of this, i think i'm going with a very light downvote.