This Contest Is History!

Congratulations to the following for winning in their respective categories:

SCP:

TyGentlyTyGently
(+104)SCP-2624: Laika's Sweetheart Space-Beacon

2nd Place: (+83)Wrong Proposal by MrWrong

3rd Place: (+75)SCP-2736: The Age of Nixon by Hercules Rockefeller

Tale/GoI Format:

Doctor CimmerianDoctor Cimmerian
(+75)Now Hollow Fires Burn Out To Black And Lights Are Guttering Low

2nd Place: (+41)'Imperfectly Fossilized Eggs' (M4RHO/EDOPE/FO5LE) by ihpkmn

3rd Place: (+40)Make Portland Weirder by Jacob Conwell

So what's all this about, Rogay?

It's a new year. The world is full of possibilities for the future, and as we reflect on our past we may grasp at what it can teach us. There has always been a place for historical fiction on the SCP wiki, and it's time we put it in the limelight. It's about time we had a history contest!

Sounds cool! What's the plan?

The theme of this contest is THE SCP UNIVERSE AND HISTORY. There are many different interpretations of the Foundation in history that already exist. Everything from the Records of the CKG gathering, the American Secure Containment Initiative, COLD HARPER and the Coldest War canon. It can be alternate history or real history, as long as historically relevant events or figures are central to the narrative.

So what are the rules gonna be this time, huh????

  • One entry per person, with up to three pages. So, if you wanted to a tale with three parts, or an SCP with two supplementary pages, you could do that. GoI documents are also allowed and encouraged!
  • Post all of your contest entry at once.
  • All parts of an entry must be done by a single author.
  • The highest rated page in your entry will be your score for the contest. The person with the highest score once the voting period is over wins!
  • All entries must be tagged with 'hiscon2017'.
  • Once posted, there can be no significant edits or rewrites of the entry until the winner is selected. Things like spelling and grammar fixes are permissible, but do not edit your own article any more than you would someone else's entry.
  • All entries must be posted between 12:00 AM EST (UTC-5), January 17th, 2017 and 12:00 AM EST (UTC-5) January 24th, 2017.
  • No entry may be posted before 12:00 AM EST (UTC-5) January 17th, 2017.
  • Voting will remain open until 12:00 AM EST (UTC-5), February 6th. During this time, the entries will be featured on the front page, possibly in groups of four depending on how many entries are submitted.
  • Entries must be rated +20 when the voting period ends in order to qualify as contest entries. Any entries below this threshold will be disqualified from victory.
  • If you go with alternate history, it must start with or include in some fashion the point of diversion from real history as to provide some context as to how it became alternate history.

So what do I get if I win, huh? HUH???

The winner will have an SCP or tale of your choice be featured on the front page. In addition, winning entries will also be actively promoted across all SCP Foundation run social media sites, including our subreddit, facebook page, twitter, and other platforms.

WHAT IF I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS???

Q: Can I post a joke article as part of this contest?
A: While I would strongly prefer that you write articles that can be taken seriously in-universe, there is no specific rule against making a joke article. As long as it meets the historical requirements it will be accepted.

Q: What constitutes "alternate" history for the purposes of the contest?
A: To be more specific, entries should take place in real historical locations/events and involve the SCP Universe to some degree. Using characters, facilities, groups of interest, SCPs, whatever. Sources of any historical events you write about should be posted in the comments so everyone knows what it's all about.

Alternate history must include the point of divergence from the historical record in order to give context to what's going on. If you had a Man In The High Castle1-style scenario, for example, you would have to include the starting point of World War II, or whatever earlier point you choose as the divergence from real history.

Q: Does history just mean historical events or can it also be history as a concept? An example would be something that could change history or create false history.
A: It's not against the rules, although I think that a story written about history as a concept rather than a historical event/figure/etc goes against the spirit of the contest.

Q: Does the historical event/person have to be the center of the story or can I do something with a historical backdrop?
A: You can use it as a historical backdrop, as long as you couldn't just set the story in the present and have it be no different. It doesn't need to inform every aspect of the narrative, but it can't also be trivialized.

Q: How far back does something have to be to count as a historical event? Does something that happened last year qualify?
A: Anything historically significant, so stuff like the Arab Spring, the election of Obama, stuff in the recent past is okay. Just don't make your story about current events more than history and it should be fine.

Q: Could we do future history as long as there is an emphasis on the history part? Like a "historical" event that hasn't happened yet?
A: The future is not history yet, so no. It has to be from the past.

Q: If we do alternate history do we have to make it a major alteration? Like could it be about some minor fictional war that has no real bearing on modern life?
A: You can make it anything you desire, as long as the real historical context is there.

Q: Can I write something based on an existing canon on the site?
A: Yes, you may. As long as it meets the historical requirements.

Q: Is pre-history okay?
A: Yup! As long as you give context, pre-history is still part of history.

Q: What if I want to do a page that uses smaller fragment pages to generate content on a main page?
A: The three page limit is for pages which can stand on their own, fragment pieces like that are understood not to be stand-alone articles in their own right but a necessary element to get a technical aspect of the main page working. They would not count towards your page total.

If any more questions come up, they will be answered here. Post any questions you have in the discussion page and I will add any pertinent ones to this page. You can also pm RogetRoget for more information.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License