SCP Foundation

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SCP Foundation
The logo of the SCP Foundation
Available inEnglish[a]
URLwww.scp-wiki.net
CommercialNo
RegistrationRequired[b]
Launched
  • January 19th, 2008 (original)
  • July 19th, 2008 (current site)[2]
Current statusActive
Content license
CC Attribution / Share-Alike 3.0[3]

The SCP Foundation is a fictional organization that is the subject of a web-based collaborative writing project of the same name. The stories generated by the project describe the exploits of the Foundation, supposedly responsible for containing individuals, entities, locations, and objects that violate natural law (referred to as SCPs). The main written works on the SCP Foundation website are articles written in the style of structured internal documentation about the contained SCPs. The website also contains thousands of "Foundation Tales", short stories set within the universe of the SCP Foundation.

The SCP Foundation series has received praise for its ability to convey horror through its scientific and academic writing style, as well as for its high quality standards. The SCP Foundation has also inspired numerous spin-off works, including the video game SCP – Containment Breach.

Overview of series

In-universe, the SCP Foundation is a secret organization entrusted by governments around the globe to contain and study anomalous individuals, entities, locations, objects, and phenomena that defy natural law (referred to as SCPs).[5] SCP objects, if left uncontained, pose a threat to humans — or, at the very least, to humanity's sense of reality and normalcy.[5]

The existence of SCPs is kept secret by the SCP Foundation to prevent mass panic and related chaos, and to allow human civilization to function normally. When an SCP is discovered, the SCP Foundation deploys agents to either collect and transport the SCP to a Foundation facility, or to contain it at its location of discovery if transport is not possible. Once SCPs are contained, they are studied by Foundation scientists. Prison inmates acquired by the Foundation (referred to as D-class) are used to interact with dangerous SCPs due to the danger posed by those SCPs and the expendability of the D-class.[5]

The SCP Foundation maintains documentation for all of the SCPs in its custody, which can include or link to related reports and files. These documents describe the SCPs and include instructions for keeping them safely contained.[5]

Examples of contained SCPs

SCP-087, with SCP-087-1 in the background.
  • SCP-055 is something that causes anyone who examines it to forget its various characteristics, thus making it indescribable except in terms of what it is not.[6]
  • SCP-087 is a staircase that appears to descend downwards forever.[7] The staircase is inhabited by SCP-087-1, which is described as a face without a mouth, pupils or nostrils.[8]
  • SCP-108 is a Nazi bunker system that is only accessible through a portal found in a woman's nose.[9]
  • SCP-173 is a humanoid statue composed of rebar, concrete and Krylon spray paint.[6] It is stationary when directly observed, but attacks people when line of sight with it is broken.[7]
  • SCP-294 is a coffee machine that can dispense anything that does or can exist in liquid form.[7]
  • SCP-426 is a toaster which can only be referred to in the first person.[7]
  • SCP-1171 is a home whose windows are always covered in condensation; by writing in the condensation on the glass, it is possible to communicate with an extra-dimensional entity whose windows are likewise covered in condensation. This entity bears significant hostility towards humans, but does not know that the Foundation members are humans.[6]
  • SCP-1609 is a mulch that teleports into the lungs of anyone who approaches it in an aggressive fashion or while wearing a uniform. It was previously a peaceful chair that teleported to whichever nearby person felt they need to sit down, but it entered its current aggressive state after being inserted into a woodchipper by a rival organization.[6]
  • SCP-3008 is an IKEA retail store that has an infinite interior space with no outer physical bounds, causing those inside to be trapped. It contains a rudimentary civilization based around those stuck inside.[10]

Writing style

On the SCP Foundation wiki, the majority of works are stand-alone articles that claim to be the “special containment procedures” of a given SCP object.[6] In a standard containment procedure article, each SCP object is assigned a unique identification number; occasionally sub-numbers are assigned to items related to a particular object.[11] The various SCP objects are then assigned an "object class" based on the difficulty of containing and the danger posed by the SCP.[12][13][c] The documentation then outlines proper containment procedures and safety measures, and then describes the SCP object in question.[6] Addenda, such as images, research data or status updates, may also be attached to the document. The reports are written in a pseudo-scientific tone and often "redact" information.[14] As of July 2017, articles exist for over 3,500 SCP objects;[15][d] new articles are frequently added.[6]

The SCP Foundation contains several hundred short stories referred to as "Foundation Tales".[6] The stories often focus on SCP employees and their interaction with one or more items in the collection. Gregory Burkhart, writing for Blumhouse Productions, noted that some of the Foundation Tales had a dark and bleak tone, while others were "surprisingly light-hearted".[12]

The SCP Foundation lacks a central canon,[6] but stories on the wiki are frequently linked together to create larger narratives.[16] The genre has been described as science fiction, urban fantasy and horror.[17][5]

Community

The SCP Foundation series originated in the "paranormal" /x/ forum of 4chan, where the first special containment procedure, SCP-173, was posted in 2007. Many other special containment procedures were created shortly after, inspired by SCP-173.[6] A stand-alone wiki was created in January 2008 on the EditThis wiki hosting service to display the SCP articles.[18][2] In July 2008, the SCP Foundation series was transferred to its current Wikidot website due to restrictions present at EditThis.[6][18][2]

The current Wikidot website contains numerous standard wiki features such as keyword searches and article lists. The wiki also contains a news hub, guides for writers and a central discussion forum. Wikidot users are required to submit an application before they are allowed to post content.[6] Every article on the wiki is assigned a discussion page, where members can evaluate and provide constructive criticism on submitted stories. The discussion pages are frequently used by authors to improve their stories.[19][16] Members also have the ability to “upvote” articles they like and to “downvote” articles they dislike. [19] Writers from the Daily Dot and Bustle have noted that the website maintains strict quality control standards, and that sub-par content tends to be quickly deleted.[6][20]

The Wikidot website routinely holds creative writing contests. For example, in November 2014, the SCP Foundation held a "Dystopia Contest" in which its members were encouraged to submit writings about the Foundation set in a bleak or degraded world.[21]

The SCP Foundation maintains a forum on Reddit and a role-playing community.[6][22] Notable contributors to the SCP Foundation include screenwriter Max Landis.[23]

Reception

The SCP Foundation has received largely positive reviews. Michelle Starr of CNET praised the creepy nature of the series.[7] Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, writing for the Daily Dot, praised the originality of the SCP Foundation and described it as the "most uniquely compelling horror writing on the Internet".[6] She noted that special containment procedures rarely contained gratuitous gore. Rather, the horror of the series was often established through the reports' "pragmatic" and "deadpan" style, as well as through the inclusion of detail.[6] Lisay Suhay, writing for the Christian Science Monitor, also noted the SCP Foundation's "tongue-in-cheek style".[21]

Alex Eichler, writing for io9, noted that the series had varying levels of quality and that some of the reports were dull or repetitive. However, he praised the SCP Foundation for not becoming overly dark, and for containing more light-hearted reports. Additionally, he praised the wide variety of concepts covered in the report, and noted that the SCP Foundation contained writings that would appeal to all readers.[9]

Winston Cook-Wilson, writing for Inverse, compared the SCP Foundation to the writings of American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). Like Lovecraft, SCP Foundation case files generally lack action sequences and are written in a pseudo-academic tone. Cook-Wilson argued that both Lovecraft’s works and those of the SCP Foundation were strengthened by the tensions between their detached scientific tone and the unsettling, horrific nature of the stories being told.[24]

Bryant Alexander, writing in The New Digital Storytelling stated that the SCP Foundation is possibly “the most advanced achievement of wiki storytelling” due to the large-scale and recurring process through which the SCP Foundation’s user-base creates literary content.[25]

Spin-off works

The SCP Foundation has inspired multiple independent video games. One of these games is SCP – Containment Breach. In the game, the protagonist is a member of D-class personnel who attempts to escape the facility he is stationed at during a containment breach. During the escape attempt, the protagonist is forced to avoid numerous SCPs, including SCP-173, a concrete statue that moves towards and attacks the player when not observed or SCP-106 which is an old man covered in a black substance which can pass through solid matter and teleport the player in a "pocket universe".[6] Other SCP Foundation video games include SCP-087 and SCP-087-B, both based on SCP-087, with the latter being loosely inspired by it.[26]

In addition to video games, a stage play entitled "Welcome to the Ethics Committee" was performed in Dublin during 2014. The play focused on the SCP Foundation's Ethics Committee and its task of limiting unethical tactics utilized by the SCP Foundation to contain the paranormal.[27] A live-action web-series also entered production in 2013 which was based on the SCP Foundation.[7]

Other spin-offs include The Wanderer's Library, a similar writing project focusing on another organization in the SCP universe, the Serpent's Hand.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ Separate SCP Foundation wikis also exist in Chinese, German, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Thai, Spanish, Polish, Italian, and French.[1]
  2. ^ Registration is only required to submit works and projects. The site is free to view to people without an account.
  3. ^ The most commonly used object classes are:
    • Safe: SCPs that are understood enough to be reliably contained.[13]
    • Euclid: SCPs that are either not understood enough to reliably contain or that behave in an unpredictable manner.[13]
    • Keter: SCPs that either cannot be fully contained or that require overly complex and elaborate procedures to contain.[13] Keter-class SCPs tend to pose a major threat to human life.[12]
    Other frequently used classes include:
    • Thaumiel: SCPs used to contain other SCPs.[12]
    • Explained: SCPs whose anomalous effects can be fully explained by conventional science.[12]
    • Neutralized: SCPs that are either destroyed or cease anomalous behavior.[12][13]
  4. ^ Including deliberately humorous "joke" SCP objects and SCP objects that were archived in lieu of deletion.

References

  1. ^ a b c Roget. "History Of The Universe: Part One". SCP Foundation. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. ^ DrClef. "Licensing Guide". SCP Foundation. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  3. ^ "scp-wiki.net Site Overview". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 20 Apr 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e The Administrator. "About The SCP Foundation". SCP Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (January 9, 2014). "Meet the secret foundation that contains the world's paranormal artifacts". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Starr, Michelle. "SCP Foundation web series coming to YouTube". CNET. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  7. ^ Zaeyde. "SCP-087". SCP Foundation. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  8. ^ a b Eichler, Alex. "Enter the SCP Foundation's Bottomless Catalog of the Weird". io9. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  9. ^ Bechizza, Rob (29 June 2017). "Brilliant short story about being trapped in an infinite IKEA". Boing Boing. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  10. ^ Newsom, p.152
  11. ^ a b c d e f Burkart, Gregory. "Creepypasta: The Story Behind "The SCP Foundation"". Blumhouse Productions. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d e Aelanna; SCP Foundation Staff. "Object Classes". SCP Foundation. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  13. ^ Dinicola, Nick. "Creepypasta Gaming: Where the Internet "Learns Our Fears"". Pop Matters. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  14. ^ List of pages tagged with scp, SCP Foundation. Retrieved 31 July, 2017. Archived from the original on 31 July, 2017.
  15. ^ a b Alexander, p.72
  16. ^ "SCP-087: Escaleras a lo desconocido". NeoTeo. Retrieved Mar 26, 2015. "Esta es una comunidad de usuarios y de fanáticos del sci-fi y el terror..." (translation: "This is a community of users and of sci-fi and horror fans...")
  17. ^ a b Pedullà, Lorenzo (25 July 2017) Cos'è la SCP Foundation?, Fantascienza.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  18. ^ a b Newsom, p. 154
  19. ^ Peters, Lucia. "The 10 Scariest Urban Legends on the Internet to Bring a Shiver to Your Spine This Halloween". Bustle. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  20. ^ a b Suhay, Lisa. "Urban Druid writing contest: What's behind the dark-side fiction?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  21. ^ Sitterson, Aubrey. "The 11 weirdest subreddits". Geek. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  22. ^ MY #SCP! If you like it, please upvote! http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2137, by Max Landis, on Twitter; posted 9 September 2014; retrieved 17 July 2015
  23. ^ Cook-Wilson, Winston. "Scare Season: SCP, the Creepypasta for 'X-Files' and H.P. Lovecraft Fans". Inverse. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  24. ^ Alexander p. 73
  25. ^ Smith, Adam. "The Neverending Stairway: SCP-087". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  26. ^ "Welcome to the Ethics Committee", at Belfield FM/UCD Student Radio (via archive.org); by Una Power; published 8 October 2014; archived 11 August 2015

Bibliography

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