Small correction to SCP-001 (S Andrew Swann's Proposal) page

[LoliPower]

In the page it is claimed that "if it dies it would cause the total metaphysical annihilation of the multiverse". However I don't think this is the case. The Foundation merely speculates that "it is unknown if the universe can continue to exist without interaction with SCP-001", hence the non-zero risk of a ZK Reality Failure event. It's just conjecture, not fact.

 

[Antvasima]

I suppose that this seems reasonable, but we need more input.

 

[LoliPower]

I'm going to have to bump this due to it still being relevant.

 

[Antvasima]

You can ask WeeklyBattles, Azathoth, and Kepekley23 to give further input here.

 

[WeeklyBattles]

This has been brought up before and the conclusion to said discussion is the reason that said statement is on the profile in the first place. Swann's death would be similar to what would happen to the Cthulhu Mythos verse should Azathoth wake up or if it had never existed.

The Foundation already tried to kill Swann with Project Cygnus and it didnt work.

 

[LoliPower]

Why would it be similar to that? The Foundation is merely speculating that the SCP-verse may not be able to continue existing without Swann. It's not a fact, this is the Foundation's guesswork only from their limited knowledge of Swann. Their attempts to kill Swann are also a different matter entirely.

I mean, I can see how one could draw that as a final conclusion from the rationale that Swann is the driving force behind the verse, but at the very least it is true that from the page itself the Foundation is merely guessing from an in-universe perspective.


I see two ways to look at this:

One is taking Swann as a definitive driving force behind the entirety of the verse, meaning it is responsible for every single thing/event that happens/has happened/has not happened, from the appearance (and disappearance) of SCPs to the birth of the multiverse, what Clef ate every single day of his life, you get the point (everything whether it was stated or not).

Another is taking Swann as a driving force that, while not necessarily responsible for every single thing, can create, change and warp as it sees fit in any plane. Meaning Swann does not have to define what Clef ate yesterday or what he will eat tomorrow for him to have eaten/will eat, if you get what I'm saying.


If you take Swann as the first, then yes, I suppose his death would be indeed the total metaphysical annihilation of the SCP-verse. But if it is the second, that's not the case. I personally see Swann as being a bit more faithful to the second definition, generally speaking.

 

[WeeklyBattles]

Swann is the writer of the SCP verse, the first definition you gave is the more accurate one. You cant just start writing a story and then put it down and leave it alone for a week and expect it to play itself out on its own

 

[LoliPower]

I don't consider Swann as being a mere writer. It's an actor, a force that acts upon the verse as it sees fit, and it doesn't have to do anything from an in-verse perspective. Yes, Swann created the verse technically, but it doesn't need to apply further action for everything else to happen via the natural course of things, so to speak. It can and will, however, rewrite and retcon whatever it feels like. So I don't see any problem if Swann wanted to put down the pen or whatever and resume later, that seems perfectly possible for it to do if it wanted to, it has the power to do that.


Consider this: an author is writing a book, and suddenly he decides to take a vacation. When he comes back he resumes writing his story, and begins with "a week later...". Now, between this point and the last point the author wrote about, a whole week's worth of time elapsed. What happened during this week? If the author doesn't define it, we don't know, but the fact of the matter is that week is there and it existed. And if the author decided to end his work right then and there, the verse wouldn't just suddenly uppity and disappear either. We, as in actually us, simply would not know. Swann isn't some character doomed to write and write and write and define define define for all eternity or else the SCP-verse literally ceases to exist, it doesn't work that way. Most other omnipotents/night-omnipotents/beings who have complete authority over their verses don't, either.

 

[WeeklyBattles]

No, Swann is the writer. Everything that happens is because the writer makes it happen. If it put the pen down and resumed later the verse would stop in accordance.

 

[LoliPower]

Well I disagree with your notion. Swann is not merely a writer in-verse and can simply will everything to go on without its influence (or simply do nothing at all), it literally has the power to do that.

 

[Kepekley23]

One can easily argue, from the same Swann-like meta point of view, that Swann's death would still leave the multiverse existing, it would merely make it no longer grow and just slowly rot, since there are no longer any SCP Writers to create SCPs and keep the site interesting.

The entire purpose of the Cygnus tale is to slightly scare the reader with the end memetic pic and tie that metarealistic jumpscare into the story.

 

[Kepekley23]

Also:

"The Foundation already tried to kill Swann with Project Cygnus and it didnt work."

This, no offense, shoots itself in the foot. Why would the O5s authorize Project Cygnus if they knew Swann's potential death would result in the collapse of reality?

Perhaps it's because the assertion that it would is mere speculation and they knew better than trusting it, and decided to try and kill h[er]im anyway.

Let's look at the tale itself.

Are we sure we want to do this? There's a good chance that the ramifications could be far further stretching than we originally considered.

It is outright stated that Swann's possible death could result in several ramifications. How can that be if the multiverse would cease to exist? You can't have new possibilities if everything is gone.

"Perhaps, but then, we'd also run the risk of something worse. Stagnation is always better than deterioration. I wake up, look at the notes, and realize that I've got new memories… New things that I've done that I couldn't have. I just… couldn't.

Here it is stated that the multiverse might become stagnant, which means it'd stop flowing, growing or developing, which ties in with Swann's death destroying the possibility of new SCPs appearing, as opposed to the multiverse itself.

Regardless, all of these things are speculative, as stated by the tale itself, and we have strict regulations against SCPs being rated based on speculation. In that case, I agree with the OP.