 Something like that happened to me, you know. I'm not exactly sure what it was, sometimes I remember one way, sometimes another. If I'm gonna have a past, I'd prefer it to be multiple choice. The Joker. The Killing Joke. Welcome to Episode 004 of The Foundation. Today we're gonna examine a concept that's not unique to the SCP Wiki, but quite rare in shared fictional universes. The idea that there is no canon. If I sound a little different today, it's because I've had a bit of a cough for the last month or so. I'm well enough now to record, but you're gonna notice my voice is fairly rough. Still, I wanted to go ahead and get this out. As always, the majority of this podcast necessarily includes my own opinions and thoughts about the Foundation and the SCP Wiki. After all, there's only one real rule in the SCP universe. There is no canon. And now we're gonna talk about what that means. Part 1. There is no canon. The first experiment when the subject proved uneventful, with routine medical examinations revealing no untoward effects. When the subject returned to their quarters after debriefing, however, it appeared to them that their furniture had been altered, which they reported in keeping with standard procedure. No evidence could be found to support their claim. Consequently, the subject seemed confused about their shifts of duty when they were scheduled and to whom they were to report. After the second experiment, the subject appeared alarmed and confused. The laboratory where testing had taken place seemed to change to them. The subject also professed that personnel appeared to be missing while others were completely unfamiliar. Interrogation of the subject showed that they were in the possession of drastically different memories, encompassing such areas as diverse as their personal history. The nature of foundation assets, and the historical record. At first it was assumed that the artifact had in some unknown way affected their mind. Interrogation of the subject, however, showed that their memories were extraordinarily detailed and self-consistent. Furthermore, the subject demonstrated knowledge of classified material, to which they could not possibly have been exposed. SCP-1968 Global Retrocausality Taurus By Requite Fahrenheit SCPs do not all exist in the same universe. There can only be so many ends of the world, after all. But SCP articles are often interlinked in some way, and certainly have the same basic ideas. So how does the Wiki deal with such blatant contradiction? By settling on the mantra, there is no canon. This is perhaps most aptly demonstrated by the 001 proposals. Many of them are blatantly contradictory. The page which houses them says that the content could all be true, none of it could be true, or some of it could be true. As a writer, this mantra is designed to give you options. There's a basic framework to SCP Foundation works. A secret organization exists which keeps anomalous objects out of public view. And that's about it. Let's take D-Class, the disposable testing staff, as an example of a differing detail. Are they death row prisoners from the US? Political prisoners from third world countries? Clones? Alien refugees? For the context of most articles, it couldn't matter less, but if you want to write an article that dives into what the D-Class are, you can. And there are people who certainly will be bothered if their idea of what a D-Class is is challenged. But the best rule of thumb is this. Write it well, and no one will care how different from the baseline it is. All these stories, unless otherwise noted, exist in their own universe. And that means they can be whatever you want them to be. Of course, not all works are independent. Some explicitly reference the other, especially early on in the Wiki's history. SCP-073 and SCP-076 are literally cane-enable. Take one of the SCP-500 Cure All Pills, put it in SCP-963 on Fine, and you get SCP-427. The idea of no canon does not preclude interconnected SCPs, in fact, it encourages it. This as to you is this. When something is interconnected, it exists in the same universe. When it contradicts what you know, it exists in its own universe, away from the contradictory elements. The freedom to build your own world exists because of this, and build them we have. Part 2 Infinite Canons A voice normally silent spoke, and it's simple enough, we vote, as is proper, yes? The gathered council nodded silently to the one in charge. All opposed to 12 retiring. Hens went up, 7, 5, 8, 9, 4. Eight looked expectantly at the others, as Glare intensified, when they clearly did not move. All in favor, 6 and 2 shot up like they were fired out of a cannon, both eager to support their… friend? Nine's hand raised at a more sedate pace. 11 wobbled, then shook her head. She wouldn't support, but she wouldn't negate. 12 moved to raise his hand, then lowered it again at a glare from 1. Clearly his own vote would not count. 3 shook his head in negation. Had no dog in this fight. 10 was clearly deep in thought, but her hand rose as well. To the shock of all, one's hand rose. 5 to 5, 8 said. The ties go to the opposing side, you stay. 12 sat there, his gaze locked on the table, as if all his broken dream were laid open there. Until someone coughed behind him, 12 didn't move, just watched as the eyes around the table both lit up, in the case of his supporters and squinted shut, in the case of his detractors. He didn't need to turn around to know who would be there with his hand raised. 12 no more, jumped from his chair, spun around to grasp the hand of the tall, lanky man behind him and pumped it vigorously. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're welcome. 13 pried his hand away, and held out a small box to the first ever retired overseer. I hope you don't mind, but I got you a watch. I quit, by the Duckman. There are essentially a total of 12 major canons of the Bible, all of which exclude or include books of the Bible that are excluded or included from the other canons. When it comes to the Bible, what canon you follow depends on where you were raised and under what tradition. For the SCP Wiki, it's a bit simpler. As of this writing, the SCP Wiki has a total of 23 established canons. Some are large, Resurrection has a total of 45 pieces written in it, some are smaller, the oldest canon on the site, unfounded, has just 7 pieces written in it. Both of these exist with their own rules and structure. Resurrection is a kind of continuation of the looser interconnected canon of the site's earliest days, while unfounded takes a single conceit and runs with it. The rest of the SCP world is exactly the same, but the foundation was never founded. As you can imagine, these universes are drastically different and cannot coexist, but there are also canons, like Straight On Till Morning, co-founded by myself and von Penzier, for full transparency, which has this as a central conceit. The Earth has been transported to another solar system, but history and memories have been rewritten to match the new solar system, and we're going to follow the stories of the people who were off-world when it happened. These stories could take place concurrent with most of any of the other canons or with almost any SCP object you can name. The base requirements for something to qualify as an official site canon is simple, five tales by at least three different authors. The idea is that these works need to represent a concerted effort by multiple people to establish a shared universe, and for something that official it makes sense. But we're going to shift gears for a second because this is where it gets fun. The old mantra, there is no canon, has actually led to an infinite number of canons with each tale and SCP essentially its own story, with its own SCP foundation, its own groups of interests, and its own anomalies. It also means as a reader or writer that you can disregard the bits that you don't like and still be fine. This goes for all in-universe elements. If you find sarcasm silly, you can ignore it. If you feel like D-Class are paid well and treated kindly by the foundation, then that's how it is. If you think the ethics committee doesn't exist in the SCP universe, then it doesn't. And if you prefer the Church of the Broke God to the Church of the Broken God, then you get to decide that's how it is. A lot of writers will hate that, the idea that the universe their building can be disregarded at a whim isn't a fun idea, but ultimately it means that the best works and interpretations will win out. The prevailing notions of what is and isn't true in the SCP universe is settled by the voting module at the top of every page containing something that goes against the established concepts. If it's good enough, it won't matter how much it differs, and if people really enjoy it, they might start adopting the same ideas and form a new canon out of it, or it could become the new reality on the wiki. The possibilities, like the number of cannons, are endless. So now I'm going to suggest you several articles from Cannons I Enjoy. They're things I like, and therefore things that I think you'll like. That means that it's inevitable a little bit of favoritism is going to creep in. These will be things that I like. An explosion, a breach, and a girl with a gun. Read immediate actions from the resurrection canon by Dr. Everett Mann to find out what happens next. What happens when there's a hole between worlds and no foundation to keep it from the public? All things considered from the unfounded canon by Photosynthetic explains. The earth is gone, and the Russian ghost ships think it's our fault. Read All Long and The Watchtower, from Straight On Till Morning by Dr. Sumerian, which is me, for the first battle of the Foundation Space Forces. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Read Apoct from Competitive Eschatology by the Deadly Moose if you're not fine with it. The SCP Foundation has underestimated both humanity's survival instincts and the tenacity of the monsters that want to kill us. Read The List of Wonders from the Bellerverse canon by Dr. Everett Mann to see what the SCP verse looks like after the end. Site 88 has gone dark and the Gulf is aflame. Read The Prologue from the Gulf canon by Kate McTarras to see more. The Age of Containment is Ended. Read Welcome to History from A.I.A.D's canon by Sunny Clockwork if you'd like to experience the future. And if you want to explore the canon page on your own, check out the canon hub page. Links to all of this and more will be in the description. My name is Christopher Clayton Moores, though you may know me better under the pseudonym Dr. Sumerian. This podcast is licensed under a 4.0, share-alike, attribution, unported license. All written works from the SCP Wiki referenced in the podcast itself are under a Creative Commons 3.0, share-alike, attribution, unported license, including the following SCP-073, Cain, SCP-500, Pansia, and SCP-963, the Clockworks, all transferred to the Wiki by far too, SCP-076, Abel originally posted on the Wiki by an anonymous user, SCP-427 by Dr. Oros, the Church of the Broke God by Dr. Sumerian and DJ Cactus. This podcast contained the following audio works under a variety of licenses. A Human Being by Andy G. Cullen, off the 2016 album Through the Lens, licensed Creative Commons 4.0, attribution, unported, Journey by Bortex, off the 2017 album Courage, licensed Creative Commons 4.0, attribution, non-commercial, unported. The Introduction with No Word by Springtide, off the 2017 album Sounds Strange, Weird, but Unmistakably Romantic, Beta, licensed Creative Commons 4.0, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike, unported. Ladies, Take Me With You by Dr. Turtle, off the 2017 album The Double Down Two Step, licensed Creative Commons 4.0, attribution, non-commercial, unported. You're currently listening to Saltines by Pottington Bear, off the 2017 album Piano One, licensed Creative Commons 3.0, attribution, non-commercial, unported. Thanks for listening. The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real. They form a world of potentialities or possibilities, rather than one of things or facts. Werner Heisenberg.