SCP Wiki’s Impressive Xenophobia
NEWS/OPINION — SCP is now losing its grip, in more ways than one.
In response to the recent explosive popularization of The Backrooms (Wiki), a second-generation confic (aka “limfic”) WikiDot-based collaborative fiction project, long-time successful SCP Wiki author and space-influencer qntm had this to say on his Twitter:
The foldless ideological typology created by and for anyone who has any regular contact with the SCP Twittersphere showed its near-uniform support of this pro-SCP and anti-anything-else mentality, but it did so with a tremendous amount of cognitive dissonance on display. Some commentors noted through the peer pressure that SCP’s basic premise could likewise be thought of as “thin, conceptually”, while others noted that such simple premises — — for example, as carbon-carbon bonds are to organic life — are often the ingredients for an infinite variety of creatively valuable permutations. I would add that such roots of infinite variability have to be conceptually simple by necessity and definition. These counter-arguments did not receive much validation and were all but handwaved out of view, despite having a clear point.
qntm’s assessment of Backrooms itself was in turn memed to make the point more succinctly, for example:
Of course, the point being is that qntm is not wrong — it is conceptually “thin”, but so are the building blocks of all infinitely-variable things — but that it’s idiotic and hypocritical to try to pass this off as a shortcoming for a literary framing device, especially given that SCP’s own can be reduced to as “thin” of a concept. That a mirror image of itself is lost on the supposed intellectual leaders of the SCP Wiki’s stomping grounds is not a surprise. The culture and community have become increasingly intolerant of other projects in past years, and truly always have been (e.g. RPC Authority). However, as these alternative communities grow and become more notable and successful, so too does the animosity and resentment from the general SCP Wiki community.
That a mirror image of itself is lost on the supposed intellectual leaders of the SCP Wiki’s stomping grounds is not a surprise. The culture and community have become increasingly intolerant of other projects in past years, and truly always have been (e.g. RPC Authority). However, as these communities grow and become more notable and successful, so too does the animosity and resentment from the general SCP Wiki community.
Take for example a trend we in the Society of Containment Fiction have observed on numerous occasions by now: the extortion of current members by entities like SCPD and now the Official SCP Discord server to leave our Discord server in order to gain access to theirs. Here are a few instances that have occurred over the months:
There are other examples. Virtually all the people in Harmony’s Discord server who applied to the SCP Discord were rejected. If an exception exists, I don’t know of it; and I’m paying attention. Some were rejected without reason, but some explicitly because they are in “anti-harassment associated groups”. These people have not done anything to merit that treatment; they are simply fans of SCP, RPC, Backrooms, Liminal Archives who recognize a commonality between all of them and appreciate the wider genre. Yet the SCP staff are telling them that because they are in casual digital proximity with one (or two) of their boogeymen (or boogeywomen!), they are thought-infected and in cast of untouchables; guilty of the crime of unsavory association. Meanwhile, sexual pest extraordinaire AdminBright remains active on TikTok with a clueless preteen-teen audience who are thanks to SCP Wiki staff’s suppression of their homebrewed scandals, none-the-wiser to his actual dangerousness; no one is banned or given ultimatums for associating with him or other anti-harassment-banned individuals — certainly not the SCP members and staff who still interact with him, or who vocally support other known sex pests in the community.
The tribal ultimatums extend to the official SCP Wiki website & Staff proper, as if there was any doubt remaining over any assumed malevolence towards neighboring, outside groups that we might expect them to be minimally diplomatic to. While there is doubtless variety in the ranks and userbase of the SCP Wiki, this hasn’t stopped official and staff-sanctioned statements to the contrary. Here is an instance of a member of the SCP Wiki Chat Staff explicitly telling an individual that they are not allowed to both be a member of the RPC Authority and the SCP Wiki:
And more recently, extorted even more officially by SCP Wiki Staff Administrators, is someone who was told in secret that their ban would be lifted if they renounced involvement with both RPC and the SCF:
Atypically, this didn’t go the way the SCP Wiki Staff thought it would. In disgust, the author posted this naked message from the admin publicly onto one of their SCP Wiki tales (archived here). The same administration was quick to revert the page’s edit and lock it to futureproof their image against any other exposure. The disciplinary records had not indicated that the Admin sent this message, and after it was made public, the staff can be seen panicking in their characteristic bureaucratic speak, and couching it in terms of “community safety”, as if for the greater awareness’ own good::
But perhaps the most alarming and salient example has occurred in the last days. We are all aware of the Russo-Ukraine War. A Ukrainian resident member of the SCP Wiki community was reportedly in need of financial assistance in order to flee the country, and so a GoFundMe was set up for this, and has raised $5k in almost two days, now at almost $6k at the week mark. Two members of the SCF who also write for Confic Magazine decided to donate their pay to the drive, and the LLC decided to match them in a show of support and thanks for the strong initiative. The total donation was large enough to take the “Top Donor” spot. Not only was this accolade previously displayed prominently on the GoFundMe page, it had become, even in the short time the fundraiser went live, something of a competition slot, with individuals one-upping each other by the dollar:
Here is a screenshot of the Society for Containment Fiction’s contribution:
But wouldn’t you know it, just a little while later, the organizers of the GoFundMe have removed the display identifying the Top Donation. It now only shows those who recently donated:
The organizers of the Fundraiser are in close proximity with the SCP Staff and are themselves influencers in the social media spheres of the site. It seems as though disproportionate action was taken specifically to deny any credit or any positive publicity reflected on a group they deem to be outsiders, and in this case, religiously evil. This is some petty shit. Not even the context of a war aid can stay their xenophobia. It’s as if we are not allowed to donate or be recognized for the resources because muh politics. Their response is it’s own commentary.
What is most alarming about this spiteful and petty move is that doing so killed the friendly competition that had previously been going on for the top donation slot; something that was directly benefiting the individual for whom these donations are for. The back-and-forth created a sort of bidding war with a helpful pride and publicity being the door prize. Oddly, the organizers and the SCP Wiki elite who have doubtless been in communication with them over the identification of the xeno-group’s publicity would rather smother the competitive process that was aiding the individual in need who they are intending to support. Denying out-groups any positive light is more important than helping a community member in the midst of a war.
This example, but all of them really, go beyond mere political or ideological disagreement; this is hate. Childish and petty, it is the state of emotional maturity now leading the SCP Wiki and its areas of influence. Their primary aim is not to compete, but to erase the potential for competition. The final-say leaders of SCP — both those official and its thought leaders — are cowards. Their utopia is an emotional daycare. In pilfering members from rival communities orders of magnitude smaller than they are, their goal is not to better their own selves, but tear down and injure their ideological opponents; they are fine with innocents as collateral.
Why does the community feel the need to thin out, bully, pick on, and sabotage communities that are, in cases, 1/10,000th their size? Why the xenophobia and hostility to anything unorthodox to their religious attitude? Why do otherwise intelligent people become so dismissive of their resident qualities when seen in others?
These are questions that are their own answers.
