# Pastebin gWLMRBcr
11:18 AM <~barredowl> alright, nice. so, first impressions?
11:19 AM <MalyceGraves> This skip is the reason I'm on the site
11:19 AM <~barredowl> i, for one, very much enjoyed the historical fiction angle this one took. feels very accurate.
11:19 AM <~barredowl> but also enjoyable in its own regard.
11:19 AM <BlueJones> I really dig this. Like, I haven't read this one but it was like reading history unfold ten times over before my eyes
11:19 AM <+cybersqyd> this isn't really the kind of thing I vibe with much
11:20 AM <MalyceGraves> and we continue with the sqyd/malyce disagreements
11:20 AM <+cybersqyd> :D
11:20 AM <%red3> I like how there's no real narrative thread in this. There's no characters, no real antagonist besides the people fighting the Sarkics, and no real resolution. All that happens are events, and the events themselves are cool enough to keep me engaged.
11:20 AM <MalyceGraves> how did we ever get a collab off the ground
11:20 AM <+cybersqyd> i have no idea tbh
11:20 AM <MalyceGraves> There is a great age and a huge mystery associated with this skip
11:20 AM <MalyceGraves> It speaks of a war that everyone forgot
11:21 AM <MalyceGraves> a war so massive that it plunged the entirety of the eastern med into it
11:21 AM <+cybersqyd> hm
11:21 AM <~barredowl> yeah, i dig that. quite a bit.
11:21 AM <MalyceGraves> This is a cathedral of bone, made from a single and massive entity
11:21 AM <%red3> I didn't feel that much gravitas while reading. It just felt like a normal fantasy war to me, not some continental event that the world collectively forgot about.
11:21 AM <MalyceGraves> that speaks to a level of sophistication and reach of power that is staggering if you really think of it
11:21 AM <+cybersqyd> you know, I think that's what my issue with this is? that like, if it was a standalone thing i read and I hadn't seen any sarkicism/cotbg stuff before and things, then it'd hit good for me
11:22 AM <~barredowl> i think i felt that way, but that's more a signal of my general tendency to skim over prose like this.
11:22 AM <+cybersqyd> but because i'm like. familiar with all the stuff it's talking about, it feels like it's a shallow, quick summary of the history?
11:22 AM <~barredowl> still enjoyed it nonetheless: really has an archaeological feel.
11:22 AM <MalyceGraves> cybersqyd: that's also partially my fault
11:22 AM <MalyceGraves> I've answered a lot of the questions raised by this
11:22 AM <+cybersqyd> it doesn't inspire me to wonder about the mystery because i know the answers
11:22 AM <+cybersqyd> yeah
11:23 AM <MalyceGraves> At the time it was written, NO ONE had much of an idea of who/what Sarkicism was
11:23 AM <%red3> That might actually be why this doesn't resonate with me as much.
11:23 AM <+cybersqyd> yeah
11:23 AM <MalyceGraves> This came out of the blue and wham "what if the bronze age collapse happened because of a mega war?"
11:23 AM <+cybersqyd> like, I think it does a good job introducing sarkicism and like, why someone might care about them? but cos I know what sarkicism is, it doesn't really...do much?
11:23 AM <%red3> A lot of it seems grounded in traditional fantasy: crazy powerful religions, giant beasts, and huge temples. It doesn't seem very... unique to me.
11:24 AM <+cybersqyd> i mean, flesh temples are pretty unique and weird in general
11:24 AM <BlueJones> This speaks volumes of historic lore in my mind, like this is sacred ground to those that follow the teachings of Ion and that this place was something that belonged to them. Also, this is a Kiraak if I'm not mistaken? Like the Holy sites of Sarkicism made from people, yes? (late late reply to like intial impressions lol) but yeah, I really dig this cause this did start the Flesh Cults of Ion and His followers
11:24 AM <%red3> cybersqyd: True.
11:24 AM <+cybersqyd> but also, it doesn't really do a lot with that aspect?
11:24 AM <%red3> But the rest of it could fall very squarely into a fantasy world.
11:25 AM <+cybersqyd> like, in the sense that it's not a horror piece about how disgusting a flesh temple is, i mean
11:25 AM <~barredowl> yeah, i can see that, a little.
11:25 AM <MalyceGraves> It's a giant bone cathedral in a bum fuck little shit island off greece
11:25 AM <+cybersqyd> yeah
11:25 AM <MalyceGraves> What kind of an empire can just put up a temple on a throwaway island like that
11:25 AM <MalyceGraves> ?
11:26 AM <MalyceGraves> That's what resonates with me
11:26 AM <+cybersqyd> yeah
11:27 AM <MalyceGraves> Anyway, I love sarkicism
11:27 AM <MalyceGraves> i love history
11:27 AM <MalyceGraves> this vibed hard with me
11:27 AM <BlueJones> Honestly, working out what went down in those times is quite exciting to me
11:27 AM <+cybersqyd> like, I don't think this is a bad article or anything, it's well put together and everything, it's just, not really the kind of reading I enjoy?
11:27 AM <~barredowl> oh yeah, i can totally see the influence in regards to malyce's work
11:27 AM <MalyceGraves> Most of meta's work is like this
11:27 AM <%red3> ^
11:28 AM <+cybersqyd> yeah; I've not really read a lot of it cos of that
11:28 AM <MalyceGraves> As much as Metaphysician is a broken awful human
11:28 AM <MalyceGraves> his writing is amazing
11:28 AM <+cybersqyd> Like, I super respect people who will write big, dense historical pieces but it's not really my style of reading D:
11:28 AM <~barredowl> fair
11:29 AM <%red3> I think one reason why I didn't enjoy this as much as others did is because it didn't get me thinking about this empire. I just saw the article, read through the events, and thought "Okay, this is it." Everything was wrapped up with a neat little bow, so there weren't any questions that were pushing me to learn more.
11:29 AM <MalyceGraves> What about the dude that didn't have a heartbeat but had brain activity?
11:29 AM <~barredowl> i /think/ that was me when i first read this (as, i have read this before): but going back i find there's still a lot to chew on
11:30 AM <%red3> I assumed that guy was just some random person they used for the preservation ritual. They've been shown to sacrifice people before to keep the place running, so why would this one be any different? The only reason they're alive is probably because of the ritual itself.
11:31 AM <MalyceGraves> Fair
11:31 AM <MalyceGraves> When I first read this I was really wrapped up in trying to understand who that dude was
11:32 AM <MalyceGraves> "Karcist Tundas"
11:32 AM <MalyceGraves> didn't mean much to me
11:32 AM <MalyceGraves> Now it means a lot more. A whole lot more
11:32 AM <%red3> Maybe less that it didn't pose questions, but more so once I answered the questions it did present, I didn't ask any more.
11:33 AM <%red3> Like, it never explains what the "Red Death" is, but once I saw the seal on the letter, I assumed it was the large dragon thing. This might be a problem with how I read things in general, but once I made that connection, I didn't care about the question since I had already made up my mind on the answer.
11:34 AM <BlueJones> I always thought Red Death was some sort of disease long gone now
11:34 AM <~barredowl> i /think/ it's supposed to represent SCP-610
11:35 AM <~barredowl> the flesh that hates and all that
11:35 AM <BlueJones> That would make sense as well
11:35 AM <%red3> It does in that one Ihp skip about the beach, and I think most people have taken it to mean that.
11:35 AM <%red3> .s hammer and anvil
11:35 AM <@Secretary_Helen> red3: SCP-2217: Hammer and Anvil (Rating: +521. Written 5 years ago By: Ihp) - http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-2217
11:36 AM <~barredowl> but yeah. i think i've pretty much expended my thoughts on this, being that i really enjoy historical fiction like this, and this is a nice start into a canon.
11:36 AM — MalyceGraves nods
11:36 AM <~barredowl> anybody else have any final words they'd like to bring up?
11:36 AM <MalyceGraves> As a note
11:36 AM <MalyceGraves> This was meant to be something that added context to the rest of the canon
11:36 AM <MalyceGraves> This happened a long long long time ago,
11:36 AM <MalyceGraves> and it is supposed to set the stage for why everyone hates each other
11:37 AM <MalyceGraves> This is an old hate, carried by people who don't die
11:37 AM <MalyceGraves> That is all
11:38 AM <%red3> Mm.
11:38 AM <BlueJones> I don't have much more in response to this, I'm gonna +1 it cause this was the, if not a, main skip that brought Sarkics to the site and I'm glad to see I'm still drawn in to something as early as this
11:38 AM <~barredowl> makes sense. i suppose i never considered this as being intended to add context for a canon while it was being made.
11:39 AM <~barredowl> still liked it, anyway. i'm leaving this a +1, though i do recognize that at times this might be a /tiny/ bit flat.
11:40 AM <%red3> I've made my opinion on this clear. It's going to be a solid novote from me, since it's a lot better than other fantasy articles that try to establish a world by throwing out random terms without thinking about their meanings. I was never confused or overwhelmed by information, and there were parts of this that I enjoyed. But by the time I finished this skip, I was fulfilled but not exactly entertained, so I can't 
11:40 AM <%red3> really upvote it.
11:40 AM <MalyceGraves> I agree with this
11:40 AM <MalyceGraves> If it didn't vibe so solidly with me, I'd probably feel the same, tbh