News for May, 2024

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DISCLAIMER: This is the Site News for the English Branch of the SCP Wiki. The opinions of the individual members of the Site News team that are presented in each edition of the Site News are their own thoughts and are not meant to be representative of the Site News team as a whole nor are they representative of the staff body as a whole. If you take issue with any of the contents, then feel free to reach out to the editor(s) and they will review the contents to see if there are any edits that need to be made. We intend to always deliver interesting content to you, and we understand that there may be times where controversial or unpopular opinions will be presented whether by our writers or our editor(s). Thank you for your understanding!

Editorial


SCP-8000 by PlaguePJPPlaguePJP undoubtedly touched the hearts of many on the wiki. With such a successful article, we at the Site News team were curious as to what the author had to say. So we are bringing you an interview with the author!
1. What was your inspiration for your article?

Plague: There were a few things. First, I viewed SCP-7001 as a failure and the antithesis of what someone should write for a K-Contest. It was artificially written to meet a quota, not written out of love for the site or the concept. 7001 was my first time writing something "big," with stakes and lore development; it was not a PlaguePJP article. Anyone could have written SCP-7001. That lingering failure has inspired many of my works, most famously my SCP-001 proposal. That brings me to my next point of inspiration, the question of "What the hell do I do after I post this proposal?" I view SCP-001 proposals as the culmination of an author's work, and for me, it was bittersweet because it felt like I had nothing left to achieve on the wiki. I wrote three or four short shitpost-ish articles after my 001 Proposal was posted, but all of it felt hollow because I had this achievement, and now it's just gone with the wind. Time moved forward, and I had to keep up or be forgotten. I also felt like I had a new standard to reach; no one pushed me to have this standard; it's just that ever-lingering insecurity that creeps on me occasionally. SCP-8000 is meant to be me bearing those feelings raw and showing myself and everyone else that no matter what you may think of yourself, you set your own standards and your own pace, you have been successful, and nothing can change that.

On top of this, I was inspired by A Christmas Carol, one of my favorite books as a kid, and a movie my family always rewatched around Christmas time. I'm also infamously known for the SCP-001-J proposal "The Great Seal." In my efforts to craft the most PlaguePJP piece, it felt wrong not to make the anomaly another seal.

DianaBerry: That’s very interesting! I like how you wanted to write something out of love for the site this time.
2. What made you write the seal the way did? Did you have any other personality in mind before you stuck with the one you went with?

Plague: I'm known on the wiki for my very loud, boisterous, sarcastic characters. I wanted to diverge a bit from that, subvert some expectations, and write an all-good character. The fantasy theme helped this out, as mentors are a genre staple. Think of your Gandalfs or Dumbledores. A seal wasn't my original idea; I actually came up with what became the SEEKER machine before so the character of the seal was something I had to work out as I was writing. Coming up with the character voice was easy, though; I love sewing in small dialogue quirks, such as the seal calling Lague Mr. Paul instead of Mr. Lague. From there I just tried to imbue that character with other elements past just being a mentor. Yes, he does care, but he's also a little chill and can be jokey or sarcastic. He does his job a lot, so he knows all the little tricks and how to play people to make sure they trust him. In total, it was giving this character a history and confidence without outwardly stating it.

DianaBerry: It’s nice that you wanted to break off from your typical character type. I think it turned out very well!
3. You mention that your mother passed away last year and we are sorry for your loss. Based on your author post, its obvious she meant a lot to you. Would you say that the character Wallace (the Seal) is inspired by her? If so, what character traits did you draw from your mother in the creation of Wallace?

Plague: Thank you for the condolences. I wouldn't say Wallace was inspired by her; more so, the piece and overall moral of the story were inspired by her. Many of the little memory vignettes are direct events that have happened to me with some more dramatization to oomph them up. The main similarity between her and Wallace is how Lague reacts to advice. I am a bit of a hardhead, and my mom would always point this out to me. We'd argue when I was a teenager, and I'd make my choice, but in the end, she was always right regardless of whether I agreed with her or not. As I grew older, I found myself seeking her advice more and more, so losing her was losing a major guiding force in my life. I worry if I'm able to make the correct decisions without her input or opinion. Having Wallace serve as that figure for Lague lets her be a constant reminder to me and also shows me that she taught me how to make my own decisions and be confident in them.

DianaBerry: My condolences once again, and you’re very strong for being able to well, stay strong during something so difficult. I think that shows in the piece very well, and it’s something many of us can also relate to as readers.
4. Do you wish you had done anything differently in SCP-8000? If you could change anything, what would it be?

Plague: I wish I had more time. I had heard a rumor that the theme would be Infinity, so I concocted an idea with that in mind (the SEEKER machine), but when the Fantasy theme was revealed, I had to toss the story I had in mind. It took me around a week to develop the base idea of an interdimensional seal therapist. The writing process for this one was difficult for me since it was so divergent from what I usually write. I mention this in my author post, but I was extremely unconfident in this article and sent multiple WIP drafts to critiquers to get heat checks. If I had a little more time, I think a few kinks in the story could have been worked out, like the character development of Lague. While I think it's strong, I also think it could be stronger. The main change I want to make and probably will make is extending out the opening dialogue between 8000 and Lague. I cut a lot out for pacing and I didn't have enough time to get as deep into that part as I would have liked since I was so focused on the ending.

DianaBerry: I believe it still comes across as a very strong article, and considering the fact it won I think many people would agree! It’s interesting to know this wasn’t your first idea though!
5. What is your favorite aspect of this article and why?

Plague: I'll give you two. First and more lighthearted, the intervention transcript was so much fun to write. This was part of the original SEEKER machine focused SCP I would have written if the article was Infinity. I wanted to parody Christopher's intervention in The Sopranos, and my god, it was a blast taking characters I've written before along with my friends' author avatars and putting them in this situation. Coming up with unique character voices and jokes and moving the story through that one transcript was a smooth process and is still one of my favorite parts of the article. It was the first thing I wrote for this draft.

I think the emotion I was able to put out with SCP-8000 is what I'm most proud of. Like I said, I had a very hard time writing this article because it's a complete tonal shift from what I normally produce and post. I always have a small sense of nervousness when I post any SCP, as you're depending on a lot of factors for an article to do well, and banking on that after spending days or weeks on a piece is slightly nerve-wracking. I was sick to my stomach as I clicked the save button for SCP-8000. I almost psyched myself out of posting it, but seeing the outpouring of compliments as the days of the contest passed by was so incredibly touching. The number of people who cried, were moved, or felt like they saw themselves in Lague was overwhelming. Every insecurity I had about this piece was dashed as more and more comments told me that this article really meant something to people, enough for them to let it start a series. I always felt like my catalog of entries was never groundbreaking. Yeah, many of my articles can make someone laugh, and they may walk away with a smile on their face, but that ever-lingering feeling of wanting to leave a mark remained a constant insecurity with me and inspired this piece heavily. Being able to prove myself wrong and move people is something I'll cherish.

DianaBerry: Well I think you definitely did prove yourself wrong. Thank you so much for doing this interview! And final thoughts?

Plague: Final thoughts: Go birds. Go Phils. That's a great seal. PlaguePJP.


And there you have it! If you haven't read SCP-8000, The Seal of Approval, you can check it out here!


- By DianaBerry

The Russian SCP Branch recently held a shortform contest! Featuring articles with less than 500 words, these short pieces are sure to be an excellent story if you're looking for a quick yet good article to read. The winners of the contest were SnorriMath with "SCP-1278-RU - Is there life on Mars?" and John_Lyetacker with The Polycat! You can check out the contest here!

- By ParallelPotatoes

Writing and Art Prompts

Site News is bringing you monthly writing and art prompts! Every month there will be user-submitted prompts to help inspire new pieces. Participation in these prompts is completely optional, and any pages based on the prompts will be featured in the next issue of Site News! If you're interested in submitting a prompt for next Site News, send a wikidot PM to ParallelPotatoesParallelPotatoes. One prompt submission per person, and up to five prompts will be shown in each edition of Site News.

This month's prompts are below!

You just got kafka’d loser! Submitted by GinAndVodkaBreakfast
Write about a character turning into a bug!

Design a character's outfit based on an anomaly they're associated with! Submitted by RiotousRaven
Ex. if Researcher A is studying a weird bug, give them an outfit based on the bug. If Researcher B is studying an antimemetic seven-dimensional being, do your best!

Draw Site-___'s Karaoke Night! Submitted by Queerious
Choose a foundation site and draw their karaoke night!

If you write an entry inspired by this or a previous month's prompts, feel free to send a wikidot PM to ParallelPotatoesParallelPotatoes to have it featured in the next Site News! There isn't a time limit on getting prompt submissions featured, so feel free to write for a previous month's prompts as well!1

Features Last Month

Top Articles of the Month

Ratings of course do not mean everything, but they are representative of what people happened to like seeing at the time. With this in mind, the following are the top-rated works last month, so if by some chance you haven't encountered them yet, be sure to check them out!

Top-Rated SCP

SCP-8043 by Tahony: On and On and On and On

SCP-8043 is a phenomenon in which a short, simple task is perceived by the victim as taking place over an exorbitant amount of time.

Top-Rated Non-SCP

Pony Posting is Now Banned at Site-19 by AstersQuill, FlyPurgatorio and sailorenoch

Classified documentation pertaining to several SCP objects has been circulated along the senior staff offices of Site-19’s East Wing. There appears to be a picture of a cartoon horse included in each of them.

Front Page Features

Every month, an article is selected from each of the three common article types: SCP, Tale, and Group of Interest Format. These three articles are displayed on the front page for the month to bring further recognition to them.

If you would like to view the previous front page features, you can view the archive for the SCPs here, the archive for the Tales here, and the archive for the GoI Formats here!

SCP Article

SCP-7522 by J T K C: Jamie Goodworth Mcdonald Sr: Finance Expert, Celestial Construct

SCP-7522 was discovered after deep space Foundation telescopes had reached within relative proximity to Lambda Orionis.

Tale

Ricky Vasquez by Mr Carbon and DrowningDutchman

"So." Alto Clef leaned back in his chair, fingers drumming the armrests. "This MTF. Rho-5. 'Ricky Vasquez'."

GoI-Format

The Lambton Ghoul by Tsercele

The penultimate incident took place in the autumn of 1891

Reviewers' Spotlights

Works are featured on the site’s front page as part of the Reviewers’ Spotlight, which acknowledges the time and effort spent by forum reviewers helping other authors develop and edit and their works for the mainsite. Each month, community members are encouraged to nominate forum reviewers who have been both particularly helpful and active. Members of the Forum Criticism Team will then discuss the nominations, and select four prominent reviewers to choose the month’s Reviewers’ Spotlight front-page features.

If you would like to view previous spotlights, you can view the archive for them here!

1st of April

SCP-8166 by AstersQuill, FlyPurgatorio, and sailorenoch [Featured by kblacke]

At the time of this article's creation, SCP-8166 has been activated by GOC thaumaturges during a routine inspection of low-threat anomalous items.

9th of April

The Deadname Meme by Queerious [Featured by Queerious]

This email is to inform you of your transfer, effective immediately, to the Memetics and Countermemetics section at Site-43.

17th of April

SCP-7886 by RadiantGold [Featured by Doctor Fullham]

Being ignored can feel worse than being hated…

25th of April

SCP-7489 by Mew-ltiverse [Featured by ecthelioffd]

As of 1/1/2023 the following containment procedure document has been revised to fit the Humane Standard of Documentation…

SCP Data & Trends

All the goings-on of the site condensed into bite-sized takeaways! Is there a statistic or figure you would be interested in knowing? Let us know and we can feature it next time!

may2024-1.pngmay2024-2.pngmay2024-3.pngmay2024-4.pngmay2024-5.png

Like before, we are still renovating this section. It will likely be a couple months, but we will soon have a nice little stats section here. In the meantime, please enjoy our monthly charts.

Also, what do YOU want to see in the monthly stats section? Any data you want to know about? Please leave a comment about it in the Discussion page or use this anonymous google form.

- By Data Analysis Team

New Content this Month

There is a multitude of wonderful works that are posted to the Wiki every month whether they be SCP articles, Tales, GoI Formats, Art pages, Author Pages, Essays, and more! Below, we have all of the creations for this month listed out by week and type (except for art pages, we did that earlier!) We have added little emojis next to articles that qualify to add some additional content. Below we have listed out the emojis we use and what they mean. Be sure to give them a look!

🤝 = Co-authored works - It is always interesting to see the dynamics of how people work together!
🌐 = International works - Articles translated from one of our international branches!
💯 = Articles rated at +100 and higher - These are articles that have seen success and should be celebrated for it!
📈 = SCP articles rated under +30 and Tales and GoI Formats rated under +20 - Let's show these a little love!

Week of April 1st

SCP Articles

Tales

GoI Formats

Art

Miscellaneous Pages

Week of April 7th

SCP Articles

  • 💯 SCP-8055- Written by PeppersGhost.
  • 📈 SCP-7237- Written by Pamby.
  • 🤝 SCP-8424- Written by IndustryStandard and J_V_G.
  • 📈 SCP-8051- Written by Tanhony.
  • 📈🌐 SCP-295-KO- Written by thd-glasses. Translated by fluxman.
  • 📈 SCP-7519- Written by alanthechair.
  • 📈 SCP-8250- Written by FreezerMonkey.
  • 🤝 SCP-8059- Written by BobDeblone and DrRichardMortis.
  • 📈 SCP-4666-J- Written by JamesPond008.
  • SCP-8413- Written by Cathy Autumn.
  • 💯 SCP-8399- Written by MisterFrown.
  • 📈 SCP-8709- Written by Petdoc1991.
  • 📈🌐 SCP-953-KO- Written by thd-glasses. Translated by fluxman.
  • 📈🌐 SCP-341-KO- Written by igangsu. Translated by fluxman.
  • 📈 SCP-8069- Written by MisterFrown.
  • SCP-8155- Written by Nethermoose01.
  • SCP-8145- Written by Monkeysky.
  • 📈🌐 SCP-ES-115- Written by Dr Reach. Translated by Uncle Nicolini.

Tales

GoI Formats

N/A

Art

Miscellaneous Pages

Week of April 14th

SCP Articles

Tales

GoI Formats

  • 🤝 SPC-7000 - Written by Uncle Nicolini and Grigori Karpin.

Art

Miscellaneous Pages

Week of April 21st

SCP Articles

  • SCP-240- Written by macro_au_micro.
  • 📈🌐 SCP-PL-390- Written by BlazingPie. Translated by KubKac.
  • 📈 SCP-6534- Written by Jiwoahn.
  • SCP-396- Written by Felixou.
  • SCP-1841- Written by Uncle Nicolini.

Tales

GoI Formats

N/A

Art

Miscellaneous Pages

Week of April 28th

SCP Articles

Tales

GoI Formats

Art

Miscellaneous Pages

N/A

Thank you so much for reading the SCP Wiki's Site News!

Footnotes

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