Hey there, everypeople! I'm 
The Awesomest Man, here to break down Sputnik Studios into its component parts for you to reassemble in your own beautifully horrific way!
OVERVIEW - WHAT IS SPUTNIK?
Sputnik Studios, created by 
ratking666, is an animation studio based in California. Founded in 1985 and defunct as of 2021, they are/were a surprisingly prolific studio, with their own TV Channel, Home Video division, website, and a passionate fandom that persists to this day. Sputnik's defining feature is its access to anomalous tools, primarily used to accelerate its production pipeline, expand the imagination of its creatives, and maintain a positive reputation. Only the higher-level staff at Sputnik - Directors, Producers, Showrunners, and such - are aware of these tools and how to use them properly; as far as everyone else is concerned, Sputnik operates as you'd expect. Even then, accidents will happen, and as hard as the Foundation might try to keep Sputnik as the lowly, above-average Studio it should be, the forces they toil with and within are greater and more terrible than anything they can possibly imagine.
CHARACTERIZATION - WHO IS SPUTNIK?
The golden rule of Sputnik is thus: they are IGNORANT, not evil. Sputnik is made up of people. Creative people. They're the kind of people who would sooner burn their art than sell it to a big corporation. At the same time, they don't really understand their art, not truly, anyway. They understand the value of their art, that's what the studio was built on! It just so happens that art doesn't usually have feelings; you'd probably feel really weird if your latest artistic commission suddenly turned to talk to you.
SETTING(S) - WHERE IS SPUTNIK?
Sputnik is in a unique position as a GOI, since they are perhaps the least in tune with the wider anomalous world and just barely ping the radars of most normalcy groups. If it weren't for the universal potential of Toons, I'm doubtful even the Foundation would consider them worth any degree of attention! That said, it's not like Sputnik has no place in the SCP world. Here are a few noteworthy connections Sputnik has made, whether intentionally or not:
- BUT A DREAM: Naturally, as a product of the Canon, Sputnik's closest connection is always going to be with But a Dream. The broad strokes of BaD's concepts and story - plus all of RatKing's contributions to Sputnik - should be considered "de facto" canon regardless of setting, though the loose nature of BaD as a canon means this shouldn't be a major factor in your writing for Sputnik beyond context.
- PARAWATCH: The Sputnik Fandom and Parawatch are, in many ways, cut from the same cloth. They both carry a distinct “weird internet” vibe, they both enjoy poking their noses in places they don’t belong, and they both have no idea what’s really going on. Don’t be afraid to get our favorite conspiracy theorists in on the fun; you never know what skeletons they might help uncover….
- THE FOUNDATION: It should go without saying that Sputnik has had its fair share of run-ins with the SCP Foundation, but there’s more to this story than you might think. Ordinarily, Sputnik would be in the Parawatch tier for the Foundation, some idiots who know about the anomalous but don’t know the anomalous, Y’know? The tricky part comes from the fact Sputnik’s anomalies deal with imagination, the volatility of which the Foundation knows all too well. As such, the Foundation keeps a closer eye on Sputnik than most of their staff would consider necessary, and must remain ever-watchful for the moment Sputnik stumbles into something really big.
THEMES - WHY IS SPUTNIK?
I’m gonna take a page out of RatKing’s book for this section and describe what Sputnik isn’t.
SPUTNIK IS NOT
- An excuse to write creepypasta/cartoon horror.
- Only about toons.
- Beholden to art.
Ultimately, like But a Dream, Sputnik Studios is all about imagination, just in a more direct form. But a Dream is about the vast potential and power of imagination; Sputnik Studios is about how imagination impacts us and the world around us. It's about how perception shapes the identity and work of creatives. It's about the nature of art and what it means to us as individuals and as a collective. When you type a sentence, brush a paint stroke, draw a line, what have you, how does it make you feel? Does it fill you with pride to see your vision given form? How do you want others to feel about it? Do you want them to laugh at a joke, cry when you kill a character off, shout profanities at a dastardly villain?
WRITING - HOW IS SPUTNIK?
There are [NUMBER] different structures you can pick from when making your Sputnik GOI Format, each tailored to a different type of topic.
