News for April, 2021

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This is a series showing off news from the site, articles from the past month¹, and fan-content for you to check out and discover! Be sure to leave a comment with your thoughts!

From the Editorial Desk -

The SCP-Wiki is entirely run by volunteers. Without the tireless effort of many unsung and unnoticed volunteers, the site we all love and use (often daily) would cease to function. It is easy for Staff to disappear into our own little areas and just chug away at the minutia that makes this site work. As such, it's easy to see how there can be a disconnect between the Staff and the community we serve. It isn't always apparent to the general community the incredible amount of work that goes into keeping this site functional, and it is easy for Staff to miss trends and flows swirling through the broader community.

In an effort to address this disconnect, Staff has been involved in on-going conversation with several different sections of the broader SCP-Wiki community. Out of these conversations has been born the Town Hall Project. Over the coming months this forum will be open to the broader community in an effort to provide a bridge between the many different areas of the Wiki community. The hope is that this will allow the community a place to talk directly to staff and note their concerns / wants / criticisms. It will give staff a place to interface with the community and hopefully address/respond to those concerns.

Without conversation and communication, nothing can change. Nothing can exist long in a vacuum and hope to grow and adapt to the changing world around us. Even so, it is important to remember that as we move forward with this initiative, that everyone remember that we are all people, human beings with lives and concerns that exist outside of this community. No matter how difficult some of the conversations that need to happen become, it is good to remind ourselves that we all care a great deal about this site and where we go in the future.

The Site News team:
Editors: TSATPWTCOTTTADC & MalyceGraves
Reporters: Naepic, The Pighead, WhiteGuard, DrAkimoto, Edna_Granbo, Hexick, & Limeyy

Featured GoI-Format:

WANs_Image.png [Church of the Broken God] by Marcelles_Raynes [Featured by Pedagon, Dr Hajovsky, and Impperatrix]

If you look directly into the face of God, you will see nothing but his wrath.

Away From This Place [The Fifth Church/Fifthist Church] by GerrymanderBassist [Featured by Zyn and Tracque_]

Hey, how’d we get here again?
Oh right.

SC-02/000-22/000: Insurance [Chaos Insurgency] by Ethagon [JamCon prize feature, requested by Ethagon]

The thirteen-headed hydra will endlessly battle. Only stopping its rampage with our final defeat.

Project Proposal 2014-012: "Portraits of the Trees" [Are We Cool Yet?] by JakdragonX [JamCon prize feature, requested by JakdragonX]

Portraits of the Trees will be a performance piece in which visitors can gather a firsthand glimpse of the human mind and its response to elevated levels of stress.

Featured Tales:

How to Clean a Polyester Dress by UraniumEmpire [JamCon prize feature, requested by Oboebandgeek99]

The Violet Archon, as we now understand it…

Saturn's Corner by Lt Flops [JamCon prize feature, requested by Lt Flops]

Hello again, lurkers. It has been a while.

Whalefall by DodoDevil [JamCon prize feature, requested by DodoDevil]

The silence continued, unresponding.

Reviewer's Spotlight Articles:

1 March 2021 - selected by Zoobeeny
SCP-5696 ("One Last Ace.") by cwazzycwafter

When viewed upon immediate entry, the area surrounding "The Dying Roses" consists of empty space.

1 April 2021 - selected by Limeyy
SCP-5802 (Pollution and Industry) by TheAlienBaby

We're making money, Marshall. That's all that matters. When the fuck has anything other than that concerned you?

9 April 2021 - selected by Impperatrix
SCP-5368 (She Loves Me Not) by JakdragonX and Pedagon

SCP-5368 can only predict romantic attraction once a series of non-anomalous actions are performed…

17 April 2021 - selected by tawnyowljones
Clowncon, Time Clowns and preparations for general temporal tomfoolery: A Guide by Bambousio Starswinger by Tropinano

‘But Bambousio,’ I hear you say, ‘What on earth is Clowncon?’

25 April 2021 - selected by DornKoon
SCP-5402 (The Cosmic Courant) by Ferox Numine

Site ██ is to allocate six cents a week to a private account for a subscription to SCP-5402-1.

You will notice little '📈' emojis beside some articles. That denotes SCP articles which were under 30 and tales which were under 20 when this edition of site news was posted. Give them a little love! Speaking from personal experience, the most frustrating thing that can happen to an article is not deletion, but stagnating below 20 without any comments. So try to read, vote, and comment on these articles! They're often hidden gems :)

Week of April 1st:

SCPs

SCP-031 ("What is Love?") - "Team, I have an issue that needs immediate clarification." Written by DrClef.
SCP-5213 ("The Oracle of the Fae") - "My Father, Named from Kings and Stars, held court with the greatest minds of the Fae" Written by Cyvstvi13.
SCP-5614 ("We Didn't Start the SCP") - "SCP-5614's anomalous properties will manifest once the song We Didn't Start the Fire is played." Written by Dr Leonard.
📈SCP-5424 ("The Stranger") - "SCP-5424 is a human female, aged 36." Written by stanusbeki.
📈SCP-5359 ("The Poem of the Unknown Lady") - "MTF Chi-9 ("Page Turners") are to be deployed to all scenes where a death by spontaneous combustion has occurred." Written by EthanHanson.
SCP-5874 ("The Department of Human Resources") - "Audio emitted from SCP-5874 is to be ignored. Any proclamations made by SCP-5874 are false." Written by Marcelles_Raynes.
SCP-5416 ("The Lever") - "In the unlikely event that SCP-5416 still exists, its recontainment will not become necessary for approximately five billion years." Written by HarryBlank.
SCP-5542 ("Cake By The Ocean") - "SCP-5542 is a section of California coastline that is composed of cake to an average depth of 2.5 meters." Written by TheeSherm.
📈SCP-970-EX ("Evil Workgroup Printer") - "All directives from O5-9 regarding SCP-970-EX are to hereby be permanently dismissed." Written by AsukaOnna.
SCP-649 ("Matchbox Full of Winter") - "What a beautiful winter evening." Written by Sirslash47.
SCP-5681 ("Gehenna Arcade") - "He smiles at the camera; his teeth are bloody and stained yellow." Written by Grigori Karpin.
📈SCP-5293 ("Red. Rubber. Ball.") - "SCP-5293 is a red, rubber ball, measuring 0.5 meters in diameter. //" Written by Aron Christow .
📈SCP-5611 ("A Rabid Dog") - "Attempts at euthanasia mandated by the Ethics Committee revealed that SCP-5611 cannot be permanently killed." Written by AsukaOnna.
SCP-4730 ("Reinventive Design for Abnormally Dense Cars") - "Anything to get those cursed poachers away from the precious wild clown populations." Written by Tropinano.
📈SCP-5314 ("A fungal chance") - "Every infected animal must be terminated and the corpse put in a proper utilization process." Written by Arcydziegiel.
📈SCP-5292 ("Our Books, Your Library, Together United") - "I am David, son to Lamech, brother to a few." Written by Ralliston.
SCP-5867 ("Timber? I hardly know 'er!") - "One instance of SCP-5867 is to be felled by D-Class personnel in stereotypical lumberjack attire monthly" Written by Purplayoss.
📈SCP-1949-EX - "Each body was found in a ring of crushed mushrooms mixed with salt in local forests." Written by AsukaOnna.
SCP-5486 ("Conjunction Immemorial") - "By reading this file, you are agreeing to be an active participant in the testing of this proposed method.//" Written by Grigori Karpin.

Tales

Pattern Dwellers, An Exposé - "Pattern Dwellers are unique, as they have little use for a concept such as color, their words are left invisible, however all one must do to hear them is look a little closer." Written by Nitro147.
📈The Smell of Cellulose - "We’d met on the forums. The Parawatch forums, to be specific. He’d started a thread offering up his hometown to see if there was anybody nearby." Written by DarkStuff.
📈Escape From Your Deepest Fears, A Review - "Welcome to "Game On!" where I, the 15th Wandsman of Pasia, review all of the latest video games, board games and other interactive experiences from across the multiverse." Played by chaucer345.
📈Interview With a TTSP Member - "Well, I'm alright. But I never thought that Hamilton was deceiving me all this time. Damn, and I even thought that we were friends." Written by Lucas667.
📈Whack-a-Mole - Whether it's a real mole or a human one is up to debate. Whacked by HarryBlank.
📈OCT All Stars to the Rescure! - By the power of the old contests! Written by AWeirdBird.
📈End Of Deaf; or, In the Clutches of Dumb - What do you mean, it's not about people who lost their audition? Written by LordStonefish.
SCP-3 - double electric boogaloo goes brrrrr. Written by Raptie.
Clef Eats Ass: The Musical - Better than Hamilton, I tell ya. Written by Oboebandgeek99.
Tim Wilson KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!! - Because the world needs someone who slaughters a universe every ten years. Written by Calamari_Knight.
📈Polyester Woman (Epilogue) - "Caryn Walsh wasn't stupid. She may have been a counterfeit valley girl with a ridiculously spelled hippie name, but she wasn't stupid." Written by UraniumEmpire.
How To Remove Spinal Fluid From A Polyester Dress - Water will not be enough. Ask UraniumEmpire.
Red, White, & Blue Reality - No, it's not a reality when France controls everything, don't be silly. Written by Tyumen.
📈The Australian Church Of Australia Manifesto - These Australian evangelists wants to talk to you in the Australian way about the Australian way of life with their Australian statements they wrote using Australian paper. Written like an Australian by AnActualCrow.
Zyn Says The F-Word - And that's terrible. Written by JakdragonX.
fifthist family picnic - Be gay. Worship the Starfish. Do a picnic. Written by Lt Flops.
Danimals - "I come bearing news! This is happening everywhere. We've got confirmed reports of spontaneous monkification at 43, 95, 119 and 120, and several suspected cases to boot." Written by HarryBlank.
Dr. Cimmerian vs the Grinch - Who likes Christmas the less? A debate moderated by J Dune.
📈The Lizard and I - Step inside. Written by Dysadron.
37 Rat Movies Starring Lana Neal - Rats, contrary to the popular belief, are pretty skilled at acting. Written by Elenee FishTruck.
Babies First Conceptual Reconfiguration Array - "Hello SCP Wiki Foundation users, due to new scp taxes imposed by the evil JOHN WIKIDOT, we have had to pursue more cool, radical, and some might say "hip", monetization efforts." Written by Lamentte.
You. Me. Denny's Parking lot. Now. - I just don't know what I planned to do with you. I'll probably remember later. Written by Westrin.
Project: CLOWN - Geez, these fellows with silly make-up are pretty popular here? Written by Tropinano.
106 Takes Manhattan - But don't expect him to talk properly, he's an old man. Written by Rigen.
📈Who was Jared? - Not the leader of 30 Seconds To Mars, it's the only thing we know. Written by cold_Nights does not match any existing user name.
049 x minion x reader (reader is a minion) (blame varaxous im sorry) - In which Varaxous will not be blamed, because we're average crackfic enjoyers. Written by Ralliston.
I, Ihp - A moment of sincerity between some hours of tomfoolery. Written by Ihp.
I, Hub (April Fools) - I, Am Many Things. Written by Elenee FishTruck.
Talloran Shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand - In which Alex Kapranos don't appear at all and plays no role in the story. Written by Ellie3.
Inadvertent Neolinguistics - Blabeuleuhbalablahblah. Written by HarryBlank.
A containment proposal - Finally. Written by Jakuwoski.
Iteration G - Still saucy. Written by Joreth.

GoI Formats

UIU File: 2003-112 (OPERATION: PANDORA) - [FBI: UIU] "Good Morning, good sir and lady! Would you like to purchase some narcotics?" Written by Anorrack.
UIU File: 1997-024 - [FBI: UIU] "Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting arrived in a secluded part of Sarasota, Florida for a week stay." Written by BlueJones.

Misc

Wandsmen Hub - "Welcome everyone, please take your seats." Written by chaucer345.
April Fools 2021 - "i hacked into ur database!!!!!!!!!!" Written by UncertaintyCrossing.
How To Clean A Polyester Dress - If nothing else, fear your capacity for evil in the name of ideology. Written by UraniumEmpire.
Impp's Arts and Atrocities - Art page created by Impperatrix.
Underread and Underrated April 2021 - Produced by UraniumEmpire.
My own author-insert! - "Let's talk about deserts. Or rather, dunes." Written by Calibold.
Ion X Bumaro Forevurr - "Down in the American Southwest, amongst the tents and smoke, jealousy was brewing." Written by TopDownUnder.
Creck Fection Contest 2 (TWO DAY EXTRAVAGANZA!) - Produced by Varaxous.
* Fairydoctor Folio It's fairydoctor's Author Page!

Week of April 8th:

SCPs

SCP-5914 ("A Spider You Cannot See A Second Time") - "Testing Chamber 0772 is to remain sealed until further notice." Written by RockTeethMothEyes.
SCP-294-J ("Genesis, Freshly Brewed") - "SCP-294-J is an aquatic micro-civilization, located within a styrofoam cup of black coffee." Written by Penton.
SCP-5519 ("A Dark Timeline") - "And there’s the last of the garlic bread." Written by Kensing.
SCP-5709 ("In Heaven a spirit doth dwell") - "The Foundation has ascertained that the interior of SCP-5709 is not empty." Written by Elenee FishTruck.
📈SCP-5728 ("The Sarkic Uprising of 1947") - "It is to be fed 1.3kg of raw meat once a week." Written by thesilentking.
SCP-5922 ("Duress") - "I just want to go home." Written by RockTeethMothEyes.
SCP-5318 ("Los Ojos de Mi Padre") - "SCP-5318 refers to 315g of a batch of lysergic acid diethylamide." Written by JayKillbam.
📈SCP-5316 ("The Interrogator and the Music Box") - "It refers to itself as 'Kassar Ji'leth, The Fifth Wandsman of Xing, Scrivener of Secrets and Delver of Truth, SCP-5316.'" Written by chaucer345.
SCP-5524 ("The Insatiable Semantic") - "Personnel intentionally transmitting SCP-5524 to their colleagues will be subject to disciplinary procedures." Written by HarryBlank.
📈SCP-5341 ("General Rains' Mission") - "When a living organism activates the pressure plate, they will immediately experience an intense feeling of euphoria for 5 minutes." Written by ThePieisaPie.
SCP-5249 ("Kai") - "The song, titled 'Kai', is presumably a unique composition that was written by O'Malley." Written by Marcelles_Raynes.
SCP-5422 ("Logical Conclusions") - "Due to the location and nature of SCP-5422 direct containment is not currently possible." Written by Undercover Fly.
SCP-5768 ("The Voice-Taker Cometh") - "SCP-5768 is a mythical character originating in western European mythology, popularly known as the Voice Taker." Written by Dr Leonard.
SCP-5657 ("Nicki Knows") - "Thank you for your cooperation, USER_NOT_FOUND." Written by T Rutherford.
SCP-5697 ("Don Cavatelli") - "SCP-5697 is a victual humanoid entity residing in York, Pennyslvania." Written by J Dune.
SCP-5592 ("You're Really a Part of Me") - "Alright, just… you told me you didn't want me to do it in public." Written by PlaguePJP.

Tales

📈Frontier Psychiatry - "Cream cheese and bagels are in the brown paper bag on the table. Did someone bring them in? I can't recall." Written by Lynnbee.
📈Oh So Smart Or Oh So Pleasant - "We’ve actually got a copy of SCP-140, but that’s not for casual reading." Written by Grigori Karpin.
Before Twilight - "They gathered together and mingled, forming a three-story-high meat sphere, rolling forward." Written by TimeElapsed.
📈Online Dating - "It was my friend, Renard, who really got into it. The whole magic thing, I mean." Written by DarkStuff.
📈Bees? In My Cognitoaffective SCP? It's More Likely than You Think. - "Agent Teal had somehow forgotten that bees were attracted to flowers." Written by pennylanethereisa.

Misc

Cole 13's Drawing Hut - Art page created by Cole 13.
Modern Erasmus Author Page It's Modern_Erasmus's Author Page!
Researcher Phate's Personnel File It's TimeElapsed Author Page!

Week of April 15th:

SCPs

📈SCP-5796 ("The Weather Radar") - "All media regarding the event is to be confiscated and destroyed and all witnesses are to be administered Class B amnestics." Written by Phantom8.
📈SCP-5237 ("In My Head") - "REMEMBER NOT TO FORGET." Written by deathbygin.
SCP-629 ("Mr. Brass") - "SCP-629 is typically cooperative with questioning and testing but not amicable." Written by DarkStuff.
📈SCP-5217 ("3D-extinction") - "The testing of art, photography, and sculpture in any form upon SCP-5217 is restricted." Written by Doctor Rodes.
SCP-5894 ("La Luz de Yara") - "SCP-5894 has been a part of Cuban folklore since the 16th Century." Written by Limeyy.
SCP-5616 ("The Woman in the Incinerator") - "SCP-5616 must undergo one hour of psychological counselling per day." Written by HarryBlank.
SCP-5597 ("The Cetacean Connection") - "Hush, Irina, it is okay. We are safe now. It will be okay." Written by DodoDevil.
SCP-5417 ("'Cize Up!: A Vikander-Kneed Technical Media Program") - "This is my custom workout dance routine dedicated to getting those many limbs a-wigglin' and that heart a-poundin' for dear life!" Written by PlaguePJP.
📈SCP-5567 ("Poorly Loved, Poorly Lived") - "SCP-5567-1 is an emergent awareness embedded in the character of Detective Arikawa." Written by Mew-ltiverse.
SCP-5294 ("Granny Rat Tail") - "SCP-5294 was an anomalous entity, physically reminiscent of an elderly human female." Written by Dr Leonard.
SCP-5732 ("And I'm Thinking of What Sarah Said") - "You’ve got a weird way of helping." Written by Raddagher.
SCP-5694 ("The War Pigs, or Pygmalien") - "No means of preventing SCP-5694 manifestation has yet been discovered." Written by HarryBlank.
SCP-5651 ("Wretched Core") - "SCP-5651 currently serves as what is assumed to be a prison for SCP-5651-1." Written by Sirslash47.
FATHER ("FATHER and the ties that binds") - "Father should be protected in our family home with the doors, windows and chimney sealed." Written by Nickthebrick1.

Tales

📈Of Saarn and Jade Tongues - "See how they perish from the hubris of their own foul weaponry?" Written by Cyvstvi13.
📈The Junkers Saga - Trashcan's Eleven - "You really think working a desk in the bullpen beats being out here in the field?" Written by Nickthebrick1.
A Most Contentious Reunion - "I wonder, had I raised children, would I have been a good mother?" Written by Grigori Karpin.
O4's Summit - "Welcome to O4." Written by Ralliston.
The Mekhanozoic Era - "No one had any idea what Professor Patrick C. Wallace was doing." Written by Re_spectators.
📈The whole is more than the sum of its parts. - "Gestalt I." Written by fairydoctor.
The Lamest Story Never Told - "That would make you… a very good looking seventy-year-old." Written by Ihp.
📈Of Saarn and the Ozirmok - "Even the mortals claim that the world has grown smaller, in the last few hundred years." Written by OriCat.
📈Lucky Triple Sevens - "No, I swear, I saw a cat! Do you think we can tell them the good news?" Written by penguinpyro.
Of Orok And The Ozirmok - "There can be only one to lead the host, and I will not be led." Written by MalyceGraves.
📈The Transfer - "So that we're clear, you licked it." Written by CityToast.
📈Interlude: Famous Last Words - "Director King of the Plastics Facility has ordered that all citizens are to be wearing some form of costume, on pain of arrest." Written by Ihp.
📈Of Nadox and the Ozirmok - "Everything is dark and cool and still. Your other body envelops you both." Written by Indices.
📈Evolution of Mind - "Prometheus stole fire from the gods to bestow upon mankind." Written by AsukaOnna.
📈All the Details - "There are moments, I've found, where something you already know becomes known." Written by DarkStuff.

GoI Formats

SPC-126-J - [Shark Punching Center] "Viewing SCP-126-J has a non-zero chance of causing Deviant behavior. Do you wish to view it?" Written by Ihp.

Misc

And Every Time We Meet Again Hub - "So until we meet again / I'ma keep smile, smile, smile, smiling" Written by Ralliston.

Week of April 22nd:

SCPs

SCP-5776 ("100% DEFINITELY A KETER") - "All expendable resources must be spent to resecure containment and prevent an XK-End of the world scenario." Written by OzzyLizard.
📈SCP-5773 ("Parasitic Line") - "All contaminated material found are to be incinerated." Written by AsukaOnna.
SCP-5794 ("Drowning") - "Kato hasn't done anything yet, he could do it." Written by Simartar.
SCP-5634 ("The Bones of Big Bartle") - "The axe recovered alongside SCP-5634 is currently on display at Site-17's Museum of Historical Abnormalities." Written by Dr Leonard.
SCP-5786 ("We Watch On (Even When We're Gone)") - "No one ever really leaves." Written by margssentif.
SCP-3051 ("Interactive Time Loop") - "Informing SCP-3051-1 instances of SCP-3051 is prohibited." Written by margssentif.
📈SCP-5179 ("Lostralia") - "We're in a desert- a really big one at that." Written by DrWoomywood.
SCP-5389 ("Deep Hounds") - "Staff are authorized to terminate any that persistently attempt to enter SCP-5389-B." Written by Agisuru.
SCP-1573 ("Kids These Days") - "Subjects within SCP-1573 that are attempting to exit the region are to be amnesticized and reinserted." Written by JakdragonX.
📈SCP-5723 ("Welcome to The Clubhouse") - "O5-1 is still considered missing, and no information has been found on their current location and status." Written by TopDownUnder.
SCP-5882 ("A 0 Bedroom Apartment") - "Until the revocation of Emergency Protocol Aleph-4, staff work-hours have been increased from 40 to 120." Written by weizhong.
SCP-5698 ("Economic Migration") - "It is unclear what happens to the products stored within the business that is overwritten by SCP-5698." Written by Grigori Karpin.
SCP-5248 ("AJAX ERROR (0)") - "It is currently unknown how SCP-5248 remains alive despite signs of severe malnutrition." Written by basirskipreader.
📈SCP-5764 ("There is nothing here.") - "Don't click." Written by Dr Brooks.
SCP-5934 ("The Entangled Webs We Cleave") - "Procedure dictates we identify the source of any human remains we discover, including teeth." Written by quickestsilver.
SCP-5488 ("Ratings That Stick") - "Do you think we can get approval to utilize a popcorn maker during the screening of SCP-5488 affected media?" Written by HarryBlank.
📈SCP-5561 ("The Hunter and the Selkie") - "The area surrounding SCP-5561 has been cordoned off with iron fencing, and no civilians are to enter within 100 meters of the perimeter." Written by Dr Leonard.

Tales

Say Cheese - "I’m just a mortician. I’m not paid to ask questions about the dead bodies, just pick them up and move them back to the morgue. It’s not my place, right?" Written by DarkStuff.
📈The Junkers Saga - Trash, Cash, and Two Smoking Tailpipes - "'You are shooting a .45 caliber handgun,' Polk shouted over the noise, 'at a ten ton truck. Will you get real!'" Written by Nickthebrick1.
📈Journeys: The Story of Dane - "'Yes,' Scranton replied. 'You are here. You've gone quite literally to hell and back.'" Written by CityToast.
📈The Junkers Saga - Gone In Stinky Seconds - "The Feds insisted that the Skippers pay for the coffee, so the meeting took place in a corner booth at the nearest Spicy Crust Pizza cafe." Written by Nickthebrick1.
Responsible Promotion - "Cal ran. A small, fantastical part of his imagination envisioned himself bravely staying behind to help, but it was as fake as the vampire was deadly" Written by Calibold.
Smoking on Company Time - "My reflection, on the black screen. It was different." Written by DarkStuff.
CAST - "'Holy shit,' Isabi exclaims. 'We're going to space? Seriously?'" Written by Placeholder McD.

Misc

SCP-6000 Contest - The SCP 6k Contest produced by ProcyonLotor & Taylor_Itkin.
Fortune Favors - "Cal Bold is afraid. Unfortunately, the Foundation is not a place where being afraid is valuable or useful." Written by Calibold.
Dr. Marcus L. Crassus's Personnel File It's MarcusLCrassus's Author Page!
TOP It's TopDownUnder's Author Page!

April spotlight: The Disciplinary Committee
Featuring: DrEverettMann
Interviewer: MalyceGraves

Interview:
Thank you for interviewing with me today about the Disciplinary Committee! Do you mind giving me a brief overview of the team? What role it plays in the site administration, and maybe something you view as an accomplishment the team has done?

Disciplinary is the rules enforcement branch of staff. We're responsible for making sure that behavior that is in breach of the rules is addressed, whether through warnings, short bans, or permanent bans. We prevent disruptive or abusive users from taking a way from our user's ability to write and create on the wiki, or to enjoy the things others have created. It's not fun, but it's satisfying to see people able to enjoy the site despite others trying to keep them from doing so. It's also satisfying when someone realizes that their behavior was wrong and makes an effort to fix it. In general, we would much rather someone fix their behavior before the ban step comes in.

So, you would say that Disc tries to take a "reform" approach rather than a "punishment" one, when it can?

When possible, when we believe it's simply a misunderstanding of the rules, or behavior we think can be fixed. There are some actions that are given an immediate permanent ban, such as harassment, vandalism, or plagiarism. We have to keep a balance between keeping the site working for other users and helping those willing to improve on the site.

How do you fit into the team? As in, could you share with me a bit of what you do, personally?

Like other members of Disc, I take reports from members, and we discuss these together. We try to examine cases both from a legalistic standpoint (does this, in fact, break any rules we have established) and a pragmatic standpoint (is this actually hurting people). We'll discuss things among ourselves and decide what action needs to be taken. I like to think that one of the things I personally bring to the team is experience. I've been staff on the wiki for most of its lifetime, and how policy has changed in that time. I can look at how similar behavior has escalated or de-escalated in the past and make recommendations based on that.
I also got to call the mother of a troll once to let her know what her son had been doing. That was pretty great.

I bet that conversation wasn't what she was expecting at all. Are there parts of the job that you find less pleasant than others? Has that changed over time, given your long history with the site?

Some parts are never pleasant. Sometimes, someone you got along well with just isn't able to play by the rules. A lot of older users had trouble getting used to a site where they weren't allowed to flame newbies. It sucked having to enforce the rules against them, but we had to do it to help the site grow and make it more than just a good old boys club. Also, sometimes people you think are great turn out to be awful in ways you never expected. You have to be able to deal with that in Disc. The former has changed a bit as most of the older users have either adapted or left, but the latter is always going to be an issue.

I can imagine. It can't be easy having to deal with that, day in and day out, so what keeps you involved in the Team? I'm sure you've seen a lot of turnover, but you've stayed. Why?

For one thing, admins are pretty much automatically in Disc. For another, it's something I'm somewhat good at, and I get satisfaction when the job goes well. And when it doesn't, well, I think it's important to try and fix things. We're not perfect in Disc, but we've got to keep trying to improve. I wouldn't be able to do that if I left.

Does that tie in with why you're still around on the site? You've watched it grow a great deal and a lot of the "old guard" have moved on for various reasons. What keeps you coming back?

I love the site. I love our community. I love how much it's grown and improved. I keep meeting people outside of the wiki who know about us, and I get to tell them I'm one of the people who keeps it running. That's pretty great.

My last question is in two parts: First, do you have any advice for new staffers or people just getting into staff? And, more broadly, do you have any advice for users who just want to get more out of their experience on the site, but aren't interested in joining staff?

For the first, communication and trust are both key. If you don't understand something, by all means ask. But also understand that sometimes there are things we can't talk about, either because there are other peoples' sensitive information involved, or because there are things we're not quite ready to share. We're all trying to help the site, so please try not to get frustrated at the parts you can't see.
For the second, there are a lot of things that users can do. The biggest is just writing. SCPs, tales, whatever you think is great. Reading things other people have posted and commenting on it is huge as well. You can also do things off-site. Start a podcast. Make videos on youtube. Draw SCPs. These are all ways you can try to make your mark on the community.

Staff News:

New Staffers:

MAST has brought on three brand new Junior Staffers in EstrellaYoshte, Nykacolaquantum, and Vincent Van Gone!

Staff Changes:

Moderator ManyMeats has joined the Anti-Harassment team.

With MAST's adoption of the Collections subteam (more coverage is in the Updates from 05 Command section), Moderator gee0765, Junior Staff HarryBlank, Operational Staff Lazar Lyusternik, and Operational Staff weizhong have all joined MAST.

Additionally, with MAST's addition of the Collections subteam, the MAST Junior Staffers Cyvstvi13, EstrellaYoshte, Limeyy, and Vivarium decided to join the Collections subteam to help them in their goal to bring further attention to tales.

Junior Staffer HarryBlank has joined the Licensing team.

Updates from 05 Command:

Moderator Elenee FishTruck began the Published Works Review and Discussion Team proposal. This would introduce a restructuring of our current and mostly inactive Site Criticism team. This new PWRD team would "endeavor to engender discussion of any given "finished" work's voteable elements and moderate or shepherd that discourse". The proposal was met with a positive reception from staff. Further steps are currently in the works.

Moderator taylor_itkin started the Town Halls proposal which was brought forward to open a more transparent and direct route of communication between the staff team and the user base of the wiki in regards to policy and site content. Originally, the proposal was to host Town Hall meetings over our IRC network; however, this was decided against and the Town Halls Part 2 proposal came to be which suggested we utilize the forums instead. This idea was met with support and later unanimous approval from the 29 staff members who voted in the related voting thread.

Administrator DrBleep started the Harassment Team Ban Reasons Update discussion regarding an update to Harassment team policy. To quote, "In the name of transparency and to correct recent issues with community perception, and to ensure that bad actors can no longer take advantage of a lack of information being provided, AHT is looking to revise the way it announces harassment bans. To do this we would like to add the following to the AHT policy." After discussion of the proposed changes and some improvements which were enacted, the proposal was met with unanimous support and was enacted.

Moderator MalyceGraves brought forward the Defining Vandalism proposal to address the need to define exactly what vandalism is in the Site Rules. After discussion, the proposal moved to the voting phase where it was passed with 20 staff members unanimously approving of the changes.

Administrator DrBleep brought to everyone's attention that the Collections Team which was previously a subteam of Community Outreach had been moved to the Maintenance and Ancillary Staff Team as its goals aligned more with MAST and that MAST has more resources in terms of manpower to afford to them.

Moderator TheMightyMcB brought forward the Archiving the Expert Witnesses Guide. This was an old guide of a bygone era and staff decided to go ahead and delete the page rather than archival.

Administrator Dexanote opened up the Administrator Promotion Thread - April 2021 with the intention of having aismallard and TSATPWTCOTTTADC be promoted to Administrator. The vote ended with unanimous votes in approval, so please welcome our new Administrators!

Moderator MalyceGraves started the Updates to the Appeals process proposal after a discussion had ensued about clarifying our appeals process. It is poorly defined in the site rules and it is set up in a way that some users have claimed is frustrating and unwieldy. The proposal has been met with a positive reception from staff thus far.

Q&A:

Q: Can I replace a blurb that you wrote for one of my articles with my own? I'm not satisfied with it.

A: Absolutely. You will always have that option at any point.

Q: I noticed an error/typo/incorrect information and wish to correct it. May I?

A: Sure! If the changes are not limited to your own article(s) and/or are substantial changes across multiple entries, you should post in that month's discussion page and then make the changes.

Q: I wrote an article and it seems to have stuck. Can I send a blurb of mine to one of the frequent collaborators?

A: Yup! It's much easier if you come to us about it, and it gives you the control over what you want shown on the news page.

« March 2021 | April 2021 | May 2021 »

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Here you will find a selection of artists whose art output is worth following. Click on the cropped thumbnails to go to pages with full artworks.

Q&A:

Q: Can I replace a blurb that you wrote for one of my articles with my own? I'm not satisfied with it.

Q: I noticed an error/typo/incorrect information and wish to correct it. May I?

Q: I wrote an article and it seems to have stuck. Can I send a blurb of mine to one of the frequent collaborators?