thefriendlyvandal:

some observations on that one specific kind of scp writing that i pulled from an unfinished answer in my drafts: 

scp comes from 4-chan, as you may be aware; more specifically from 4-chan at the height of creepypasta culture in the late 2000s. the 4-chan style of storytelling at this time is very interesting to look at from a literary standpoint (although i’m by no means claiming to be an expert in the field, lmao). there’s a very distinct campfire story vibe that comes from 4-chan stories of this era, and in it’s form it’s very effective. a good example is anasi’s goatman story, posted on the /x/ board in 2012. overall it has a very literary mumblecore/mumblegore kind of feel, where the story 1. is centered around younger characters of the same age as 4-chan’s demographic of the time, 2. is centered around interactions between these younger characters and their mannerisms, and 3. feels very natural and believable in how they interact, and centers the horror of the story around this natural vibe. you and ur online friends sit in a thread-turned-virtual-campfire in the dark of ur room, only lit by the light of your screen, and you read a greentext story that feels just believable to be real told by someone you have never met before. it fits into the space of a longer post, is often accompanied by an image and/or associated online content, and you are thrown into it with little knowledge of what’s about to come.

on scp specifically, this kind of fast-paced open-ended online story starts in the same campfire form and morphs into a more adventure-based vibe in the tales that start being written. some have reoccurring characters and spaces; this is a big change from the one-off 4-chan style (side note: you’ll see that the ‘jump in and be freaked out along the way’ one-off 4-chan style persists in the modern scp format, where each scp is a separate snapshot of a different situation and time in a unique unified creepypasta format). a lot of the writers are young amateurs and many of them, at least initially, are from 4-chan. many are just looking for a good time. this gives birth to a very unique kind of adventure story that has a really unique literary style all of it’s own, and is usually portrayed through tales; if i may take a moment to coin a term, i call it ‘skipcore’.

skipcore stories will be 1. fast-paced and exciting, 2. utilized on a digital format, occasionally more creatively, 3. very creative and ambitious (many skipcore authors are amateurs, which gives them the advantage of an unbiased kind of excitement that really works with this kind of story), and 4. set in the scp universe to some degree. stories will often encompass a variety of characters with different ethnic and social backgrounds. some may dip back into mumblecore territory with focusing on relationships of people in their late teens, 20s, and early 30s, with worries about their careers, gender, sexuality, and livelihoods. from a literary perspective, these stories often use shorter paragraphs with a lot of dialogue, which is a remnant from the digital format and the 4-chan roots of the site’s writing style. some stories will switch between multiple formats of displaying the action. many stories focus about being short and effective. 

when you read skipcore, you’re in it for the ride. a lot of people on scp will approve of skipcore because it’s fun to read in the way that 4-chan stories are fun to read, and because it’s in the ancestral vein of how the site writes in general. it’s a very different type of literature than if you say, read a book or professionally-published short story, although that’s not to say that it’s better or worse than one. i’d even venture to say that just like the story dictates the form in traditional prose, the same kind of thing has evolved here, and it fits perfectly. 

i’m…actually not very good at writing in the skipcore style, which is something i’m kind of disappointed by. it’s a very different kind of writing that personally, i kind of admire. one of my fave examples of this is the antimemetics division storyline(s), which i remember burning through in a few hours in high school, completely transfixed and caught up in the story; i had the same experience with the bellerverse, the gulf, and a few stories in resurrection. although i haven’t read the cool war myself, i suspect from what i’ve heard that it’s very much the same kind of writing. it’s lovely and in my opinion very under-appreciated. 

thefriendlyvandal:

v1als:

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

part one: of all the online communities I’ve ever been a part of, the SCP Foundation has been the fucking wildest. never before in all my time on the internet (which began when I was very young) have I ever, ever been in a community as absolutely batshit insane as the SCP Foundation. I am not sure what it is about the community but it seems to attract the fucking weirdest people I have ever come into contact with, and for the entirety of its time as a mostly organised hierarchical system (a community with active admins and mods) it has been loosely roleplaying some kind of dictatorship. never before have I ever witnessed such a perfect miniature sample of bureaucracy and all the bullshit it entails. never before have I ever witnessed such a perfect example of what power can do to someone. in no other community have I witnessed lawyers being threatened and police literally called over internet drama. I have never seen, in any other online community, the kind of vitriolic hatred that some users have displayed towards one another. and I don’t think there’s a community out there that has the Foundation’s specific brand of pretentiousness. 

don’t get me wrong: I’ve met a lot of cool people through the community, and my carefully curated group of friends who are into it have great ideas, hot takes, and incredible story-telling abilities. but out of all the people I’ve met through SCP stuff, most of them have turned out to be completely balls to the wall insane. and not in the fun way. in the “these people are actively harmful to themselves and others” way. there are so many people I look at in the community and sincerely wish that they receive help, or that they’re kept away from impressionable young newbies. it is a fucking jungle out there.

part two: if you’re new to the SCP Foundation, please don’t let the obsession with fame get to you. a lot of people will deny it but there is an obsession with fame and power in the community. I don’t know if it’s because the initial well-known characters in the Foundation made everyone think that was the norm, but for whatever reason it’s a highly competitive area where everyone seems to act with power they don’t have. people seem to forget it’s just the fucking internet. people base their entire personalities and concepts around their influence on the SCP wiki and as a result, people are so cruel to newbies. critique is unbelievably harsh, standards are ridiculously high, and perhaps most confusingly of all, any new approach or experimentation (in a collaborative writing environment) is often violently opposed. the wiki is a very toxic environment and the scores of newbies who never post again are testimony to it, as are the frequent mental breakdowns of staff members or well-known writers. 

unfortunately the wiki has a long history of denying all these problems, too (it’s been going on ever since I can remember, and I have been around for A Long-Ass Time), so really it’s a case of developing your own self-confidence and doing whatever the fuck you want. some people are like me, and do not post on the main site at all and instead just interact with off-site fandom, and some people are like one of my friends, who just writes whatever and doesn’t care so long as the writing is up to his (incredibly high) standard. but both of us reached these decisions through tough lessons that hurt. and what’s more, we both had the advantage of not going in it hoping (or even aiming) for fame. sincerely at this point I couldn’t in good conscience recommend anyone join the mainsite. it’s a shame, because most people aren’t like this at all. but the ones who are define the entire community, and it sucks.

tl;dr everyone on the SCP wiki needs to chill out because it’s literally just the fucking internet

tis true, lads. tis true. 

i’ve said it before, but i think the point was missed seeing part of it was taken out of context and made into a bumper sticker, which in an ironic twist of fate is exactly the kind of shit that seems to be uniquely scp and uniquely strange behavior. the scp wiki is the only site i have ever seen where mental breakdowns among authors are routine and obsession is the norm. this is not a ‘write whatever u want uwu!!!’ problem, nor is it a ‘ew sjws are ruining ess see pee!!!’ problem, nor is it anything in-between; for some inexplicable reason, it is a problem with scp and fame. 

you cannot write for scp hoping for internet popularity and validation through the in-site upvote/downvote system just like you cannot write irl novels for money. it doesn’t work out. it stresses you to the point of collapse. some people fall into this obsession with validation through the wiki without noticing, so it isn’t always something that happens consciously through narcissism; there are plenty of perfectly good people who fall into this. it’s also a thing where scp becomes a coping mechanism for people, and i totally understand that; it was for me all through middle and high school. 

but there is an obsession problem with scp. i don’t know how it happens or why. the only solution that i have come to about how to stop this obsession once it starts it complete and immediate detachment from the wiki. this means cold turkey. drop everything and run. if you realize that you are unable to function without scp, i’m sorry, but you are about to have a mental breakdown. if you are able to go through the day without thinking about scp- meaning, of course, that you aren’t using scp as your main coping mechanism- then that’s a good indication that you’re doing alright and to keep doing what you’re doing. 

‘but van!’ you may say. ‘why are you insisting upon immediately disconnecting yourself from the wiki once you realize that you’re obsessed with it and think about it every day?’. well, you see lads, there is a certain pattern with wiki authors and scp. the following is my hypothesis, based both on what i have experienced and what i have seen. it is a preemptive analysis that goes as follows: 

an author will write for 2 or 3 years, become obsessed, fall into the pattern with obsession with wiki upvotes and responses, drive themselves up the wall with increasing mental distress, then will reach a mental breakdown where they are either 1. banned, disciplined, or otherwise taken into the pits of a disciplinary thread for a showdown with wiki staff (even if they are wiki staff), 2. have an altercation with other wiki users that doesn’t come to a staff showdown but is still fairly volatile, or 3. come to the realization of their own accord that something doesn’t feel right. here i am advising the third option. 

once these points are hit, tears are shed, self destructive tendencies may arise, police may be called (yes, it has happened), or otherwise batshit behavior will go down. people in this position take scp deathly seriously, because they are obsessed and view it as part of themselves. it is at this point where the person decides ‘fuck it’, and quits scp altogether. it’s very hard at first. they’re forced to flounder to find a new coping mechanism to work with, but more often then not they settle on conclusions like ‘hey, i think i was being an asshole to x person’, ‘i don’t think how i’m living my life right now is healthy for me’, ‘i think i have some untreated mental illness i need to seek help for’, or ‘i want to change myself to become a better person’. i know it sounds ridiculous, and different people will experience this in different amounts, but it’s very helpful- if not tough to do- for those who do experience it.

from here, some people come back. some don’t. the people who do come back often keep the wiki itself at an arm’s length while continuing to write for the universe, sometimes on different sites, but always for fun. many have a very different view on the wiki from when they first got involved, and usually it’s a much healthier view. some don’t come back at all, or hang around a little for emergencies. 

you’ll notice people of all three of these types around the wiki, and sometimes even in the fandom. 

(side note: the wiki is not god. do not trust the wiki above your own judgement and do not take it upon yourself to carry out the wiki’s will outside of the wiki if you are not staff, if that makes sense. this is another thing i see happen that’s a symptom of….whatever this is. it’s very specific and very weird.) 

but if you see it in yourself……back down. take it easy. drop it altogether, take a couple months to find other hobbies and to reconcile with yourself and anyone you may have hurt, and come back if you want. the deeper you are, the harder ‘the drop’ will hit you. i was miserable for a good three months, but goddamn if it wasn’t one of the healthiest things i’ve ever done for myself. 

queensparklekitten:

You are about to lose The Game.

You just lost The Game.

You are now aware of your breathing. 

There is a chance you will yawn in 3… 2… 1…

You will be blinking manually starting now.

You are blinking manually.

You now have “Toxic” by Britney Spears stuck in your head. 

Which coincidentially is the ultimate theme music for the SCP Foundation.

The Foundation is full of infohazards.

Like the mundane ones I just exposed you to.

You are still breathing manually. 

scp-l4-clef-alto-001:

thefoggygolem:

scp-wiki-official:

scp-wiki-official:

scp-wiki-official:

scp-wiki-official:

scp-wiki-official:

I’m….

*drops the cheese* …..

EVERYONE. Grab a slice. AT ARMS ON MY COMMAND.

LIGHT ‘EM UP, COWBOYS. LETS GET THIS CHEESE.

ALL TEAMS OPEN FIRE

blaruu:

o5verthinking:

BE CAUSE SEVEN 8 NINE HSHAHSGDHDHGHGGHG

AHAAAAAAAAAA

[Input security credentials to continue]

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