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Clinical Tone, often referred to in the context of containment fiction as just “tone”, is the pseudo-scientific and quasi-academic writing style used to show that the article in question is an official document from a larger organization or institution. Although a “lack of proper (clinical) tone” is a common criticism of containment fiction across all formats, there is no set definition and the expectation has changed drastically over time and across different writing communities. From the outset of containment fiction, clinical tone was one of the intentionally-minded qualities that separated it from other creepypastas.

The standard is entirely community driven and dependent on the expectations of the individual. It is something of a “I know it when I see it” sort of situation given that an article supposedly lacking in clinical tone will be compared to other articles rather than being something intrinsically wrong or incorrect with the article.

Different variations and subversions of clinical tone are present across all containment fiction formats, as it is one of the most approachable and least “gimmicky” methods of accomplishing a Format Screw.