Tsercele's Author Page

Link to article: Tsercele's Author Page.

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[[include :scp-wiki:theme:scp-trans-pride |trans-pride-logo= --] |trans-pride-footer= --]]]
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[[>]]
[[module Rate]]
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[[tabview]]
[[tab About The Author]]
Howdy! I'm **Sarah K. Szell**, also known as **Tsercele** (she/her, they/them). I'm a transgender author/editor with a keen interest in sci-fi, cosmic horror, and weird cultural artifacts. I started reading SCPs around 2012, but once I discovered Gamers Against Weed, I knew I wanted to contribute.

* **[*https://linktr.ee/tsercele Sarah Szell] on Linktree** -- all my links in one place.
* **[*https://mxmasters.tumblr.com/ MxMasters] on Tumblr** -- in-character goofs and series updates for the Eternal MxTape.
* **[*https://scpper.com/user/2891035 Tsercele] on ScpperDB** -- ha ha numbers go ,,sccppp,,

[[/tab]]
[[tab My Work and Commentary]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="SCP-4581"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[SCP-4581]]] -- [[[SCP-4581|Anti-Racist Audiocassette]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
A counter-propaganda tool wreaks unintended havoc on Foundation servers.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide="TRACK 6 FOREVER"]]
[[<]]
* My first mainlist SCP! Way more successful than I could reasonably have hoped.
* Primarily inspired by a Canadian propagandist getting copywrecked in public, circa April 2019.
* "Foundation webcrawler I/O-GASNIER" is named after the director of //[*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_Madness Reefer Madness]//.
* The "MxMasters" alias was inspired by one of [https://twitter.com/mcclure111/status/722962790470803456 @mcclure111's jokes on Twitter].
* Since this was my first article, I didn't want to step on any toes by claiming that Wren was super close with established members of GAW. That's where the "terrestrial years" joke came from -- to demonstrate that steakshift genuinely doesn't know that bones is an alien satellite.
* During the interrogation scene, Wren's "Handycam" trick is activated with a short phrase and a distinctive whistle. There are a couple other triggers, all of which are nerdy and uncomfortable.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="Smile! You Are Being Watched!"]]
[[size larger]]**"[[[Smile! You Are Being Watched!]]]"**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Bad news: Wren Masterson doesn't remember getting caught. 
Good news: now they can riff on the interrogation footage!
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""Everything old is new again.""]]
[[<]]
* In the course of writing SCP-4581, I got a pretty solid grasp on where Wren was coming from as a character, and built in some plot hooks for future expansion. When the article took off, I was eager to elaborate!
* I'm hoping to expand on the "ReTerminal" Way network and the "Restricted Shelf" in future articles.
* Wren tries to signal Jude by quoting //"Three Days of the Condor"// (1975), which is about a think-tank bookworm forced to put his research into practice. This appeals to Masterson, who fancies themselves an autodidact.
* I wasn't sure how comfortable Jude would be during Wren's meltdown, so I mostly had him respond with silence and platitudes. Rereading it now, I don't think Wren knows Jude is trans at this point!
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="Start the Music"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[Start the Music]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
This is how Penelope Gore tipped the first domino.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""'NEMO' is asked (i.e., told) to join the team.""]]
[[<]]
* This story was written as the youngest employee of an intensely bureaucratic organization with distinct cultural divides. Sometimes, you're assigned extra responsibilities because of your age bracket, and there really isn't a way to say "no".
* //"Don't Look Any Further"// appears in a (much-reviled) episode of //"The X-Files"//. Penelope watched it back in the day, which is why the song seems familiar.
* I like the idea of GAW being politically radioactive at Foundation offices. Nobody wants anything to do with those clowns!
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="SCP-4784"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[SCP-4784]]] -- [[[SCP-4784|Nature Abhors a Vacuum Tube]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Nihilist anart gone awry, intertwined with inexplicable small-town Canadiana.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""wtf is Tilford's folly?""]]
[[<]]
* Distantly descended from a high school art project, where I wheeled a TV out into a tree-lined pathway. Can't find the photo anymore, but I still like the mental image.
* Reading about Jude's escape from AWCY got me thinking about how different Critics might run their operations, and how those cells might interact. I figured that they would be competitive, with low-level anartists vying for attention and Critics working their own agendas. In short: a pressure cooker waiting to blow.
* By the same token, I wondered how other ex-members of AWCY might be haunted by past misdeeds. In that way, SCP-4784 is kinda like Wren's version of Jude's SCP-3420, "Too Many Ghosts".
* Jude was not involved with the Deer College anart scene, but the idea that "The Roller" heard about it through the grapevine has haunted Wren for years.
* I take a lot of inspiration from historical anecdotes, because history is wild as hell sometimes. "Luring an immigrant into the woods with the promise of a farmstead" was apparently a real threat back in the day.
* I hesitated to tag 4784 as a pattern screamer, since the logic of it is so obtuse. Still: the inspiration is there! Arbitrary number sequences, fractals... and an eye that never closes. A lens that's always watching the outside world. A pinhole, if you will.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="The Not-Too-Distant Future"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[The Not-Too-Distant Future]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Neither of them know what happened yesterday, but somehow, they're in it together.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""Whoever and wherever we are, we are not alone.""]]
[[<]]
* In hindsight, going "fuck it, let's tell this story backwards!" may have been overambitious. Chalk it up to "nothing ventured, nothing gained".
* The idea of leading with Felix Kipp's death and exploring his legacy after the fact was inspired in part by //One Piece//.
* The interstitial segments represent the pattern screamer deducing its own existence. It starts with a wall; then there's a hole; then it figures out the existence of zero, and things start snowballing. Soon, it's piecing together the idea of "dead" and "alive". Then it starts remembering things, assembling itself from junk data, and oh boy, it is pissed!
* Anna's use of "I/we" and "me/us" has led people to speculate that Wren is a multiple system. That wasn't my intention -- it's more that they're displaced from their sense of self -- but at the same time, I think that's a very valid interpretation.
* Penelope is motivated by two completely contradictory things: professional obligation and personal trauma. She's supposed to be on top of her game in every possible capacity, but she's also terrified of her own lapses in judgment. What if she fails to act and someone gets hurt? It's not an unreasonable fear, but it's also not completely rational.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="The Eternal MxTape"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[The Eternal MxTape]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

A story about coming back from the brink, finding comfort in community, and fighting back against a harsh world -- brought to you by Gamers Against Weed.

//Translated into [*http://fondationscp.wikidot.com/the-eternal-mxtape French] by [[*user Lunamiou]]!//
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="extra-salty"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[extra-salty|Salt and Pepper (Extra Salty)]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Two spies, a liberal and an anarchist, walk into a punchline. They hold a meeting.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""'Genre-savvy' implies that life has a genre.""]]
[[<]]
* Meeting up in a public space is a pretty standard thing in espionage fiction -- so of course, there had to be a twist. Given the overall tone of GAW, shielding a diner conversation within a comedy routine came to mind immediately.
* At the beginning of their conversation, Wren doesn't actually know that Penelope resents her nickname, because they only activated their Handycam trick //after// she introduced herself. From her perspective, Wren remembers the whole interrogation, and now they're gloating! Of course she socks them one.
* The "red light, green light" coghaz is triggered by hex codes. Challenge code "a3a11f" is yellow.
* As soon as I typed out, "I would literally never fuck you", I realized that Penelope was an asexual lesbian. That's just how the process works sometimes.
* The debate over the relative safety of SCP-4581 is a follow-up to some of the feedback I received in the comment thread. I like writing arguments where both characters are technically right.
* Wren doesn't like to think of themselves as a reality bender, because in this universe, reality benders frequently get shot in the face without warning. In their mind, that is a "genre convention" to be avoided at all costs.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="alto-clef-jr-doorcrasher"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[alto-clef-jr-doorcrasher|Alto Clef Jr.: Day of the Doorcrasher]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Rated R for RIDICULOUS VIOLENCE, VEHICULAR CARNAGE and KILLER GOOSE.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""Engorge your membranes on this atrocity, broheim.""]]
[[<]]
* I read through the [[[goc-act-hub|GOC ACT]]] for the first time because of Underread & Underrated, and finished it in one sitting. A matchup with Murderer™ seemed like a perfect fit.
* In GOC parlance, "Velveteen-Typhon" refers to an "animate object, kinetic threat"; "6684" is just [[[SCP-4866]]], backwards.
* When the narration says "some of their programming is predictable", I was referring to Murderer™ grabbing stuff out of the air, like Mark's cell phone and Buck's grenade.
* I want to write more Buckchamp someday. What a silly (scary) goose.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="Somewhere Empty"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[Somewhere Empty]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
Wren hitches a ride into Utah to settle the score with two anomalous terrorists.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""You weaponized a human soul.""]]
[[<]]
* [[*user Zer0Ne0phyte]]'s rewrite of SCP-285 (Mr. Hax) explored how GAW's projects can be subverted by people they (wrongly) considered friends. Since the specifics were left ambiguous, I found myself wondering how GAW might have "dealt with" Ken and Jordan... and then I remembered an offhand reference to "Hand assassins" in Phantom Blunt. Bingo!
* Based on his dialogue, Ken seemed like an odd fit for GAW. How did he get into the group in the first place? Simple: Wren invited him. Obviously, that was a bad decision.
* Banjo, Skye and Clark are broad parodies of Piccolo, Krillin/18, and Goku. (I was tempted to make his name "Gary", but my friends agreed that "Clark" was funnier.) In this scenario, Kenneth and Masterson represent the spectators who are always off to one side, commentating on the fights.
* I always figured that Wren's higher-level abilities would make them nauseous. The fact that Jordan had a similar weakness was a happy coincidence.
* Not every anomalous individual can bust out offensive magic anytime they want. Ken needs tools (like Hax) to deploy cognitohazards, and Masterson's tricks are all tied to physical or conceptual control systems. Unfortunately for Kenneth, I established that Wren carries a folding knife in "The Not-Too-Distant Future", and their commitment to pacifism is... conditional.
* Masterson isn't too comfortable with the "Misters Against Weed" project. Something about rehousing dead souls hits a little close to home.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="SCP-6476"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[SCP-6476]]] -- [[[SCP-6476|Let A Die Be Cast!]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

Codename NEMO infiltrates a TTRPG group that plays with probability-bending dice.

------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""rawr!! XD""]]
[[<]]
* Sometimes an anomaly is just a lil --guy-- inconvenience.
* I did Penelope Gore (whistl_stahp) a disservice by starting at the arbitary "end" of the story in Hornor's Crossing. The next few MxTape anomalies are deliberate attempts to remedy that, and explore what she's like on the job.
* I have plans to flesh out all the supporting characters mentioned in this chat. Here's a few tidbits.
 * Doreen Gray (alwaysbpositive) was always key to this story. The idea of a teen vampire has always seemed sad to me, but someone getting turned around 2005 makes it comical, and grounding her (admittedly extreme) reactions to stress in the language of social justice makes it more relatable. Doreen is out of step with the group, but shares that state of perpetual adolescence common among GAW members. Oh, and her PoI number is "1337" backwards. It was a different time.
 * meatgerm / PoI-6660 might be demonspawn, or perhaps a half-baked Antichrist. Plays a mean fiddle, though.
 * Tanya Miller (twilight_tone) is an indie anartist and Dreamer. Her attitude towards role-playing games ("keep the story moving") is very much inspired by one of my dearest friends!
 * Louis (WHEREISMYHOG) is so named because he stole an 1100-lb blue ribbon boar using magic. I don't know whether he brought it back. Hope so.
 * Based on their class skills and motivations, Penelope (whistl_stahp) obviously had to play a Cleric. It just made sense. At the same time, "whistl" can't come across as overly zealous or invasive, lest she raise the group's suspicions. Instead, she tries to be moderate. Hence her role as a mediator.
* CLOWNFISH is set up as a two-tier, double-blind operation. Each local working group has its own approach to the mission, but they all share the same security protocols, which dictate total compartmentalization. CLOWNFISH assets at Site-76 can see each other's chosen handles, so they can pretend to be friends online, but every effort is made to keep handles divorced from code names. Peers in a CLOWNFISH working group can probably infer each other's codenames from the Level 3 documentation, but operatives working from other sites are kept in the dark.
 * Incidentally, Penelope's PoI number has 13 in the middle, and the digits add up to 13. That's because she is very, very unlucky. There's also a 17 and a 23 in there, but don't worry about that, it's meaningless.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="NTE-2858-Cyan-Blaecca"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[NTE-2858-Cyan-Blaecca]]] -- "[[[NTE-2858-Cyan-Blaecca|Village Jeweler]]]"**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
The GOC fights for control of "Other London", a Victorian-era asteroid colony populated by anarcho-syndicalists.
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""HOOPS.""]]
[[<]]
* My first GoI format! 
* When I started writing for the SCP Wiki in 2019, there wasn't very much in the way of Canadian content. No Nexus communities, no major Ways -- basically nothing for my characters to bounce off of. Then I read ch00bakka's "Australian Rules Drag Racing", in which 8837 London was first mentioned! I reached out to the Third Law Discord, and the rest is (fake) history.
* No hidden 23s in this one! Instead, there are a few veiled allusions to socialist history, and a bunch of plot hooks I'm planning to expand on.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

A hard-nosed Union investigator and a merrymaking veteran haggle over a miraculously compelling one-man band.

//Co-written with [[*user ch00bakka]] for [[[Remixcon2023]]]!//
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide="Hurrah! Hurrah! we bring the jubilee!"]]
[[<]]
> [[*user ch00bakka]]: i think when two people orbit around each other in a mildly to majorly antagonistic way in every possible universe, that's yuri
* My first idea for "Somewhere Empty" was set in the Aces and Eights canon, since life was cheap and guns were fast in the Old West. Obviously, that didn't pan out, but the idea of the "Merry Messengers" stuck with me.
* ch00bakka and I brainstormed a bunch of backstory for these characters, so we'd have a clearer idea of what motivated them. Most of it is left implicit, but maybe we'll circle back and expound upon the Merry Messengers in future! Time will tell.
 * "Brother Smoke" is Jude Kriyot, who we decided is a former nun turned (unordained) preacher. Does he have a tonsure, or a bald spot? You decide.
 * "Frankie Rucker" is _FuddruckeR_, GAW's resident gun wizard! Seldom mentioned, never featured. I want to write about him properly sometime.
 * I considered adding verses for JJ ("the Golden Boy is gambling on the rivers and the shore") and Esther, but they didn't come together as easily, and I didn't want to overstay the story's welcome.
* This version of Wren is not "genre-savvy", because 1) there's no AWCY, 2) no Unwinding exhibition, and 3) self-reflexive narrative isn't really a thing... at least, not yet. Even so, I managed to sneak some music references into their dialogue: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" fits the meter of [*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_of_Harlech Men of Harlech], and "[*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_They_Drove_Old_Dixie_Down drove Dixie down]" is a riff on The Band.
* "I may have done" and "I'd rather not" are dialogue beats adapted directly from SCP-4581.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="SCP-2444"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[SCP-2444]]] -- [[[SCP-2444|Flea Circus]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

"While active, SCP-2444 resembles an indoor flea market stocked with anomalous merchandise."

//Rewrite of a Series III article by Anonymous.//
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""where worthy of being loved to""]]
[[<]]
* I read the original version of this article years ago, and it really stuck with me. Once I got back on the site, I had an idea for a Tale, so I circled back around to check on 2444 and found it on the rewrite list. An article about abandoned things had, itself, been abandoned.
* SCP-2444's internal timeline (1960s through 1999) is meant to coincide with the rise of Oneiroi Incorporated and the collapse of Prometheus Labs.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="SCP-7492"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[SCP-7492]]] -- [[[SCP-7492|No Matter Where You Live]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

"SCP-7492 refers to the spontaneous manifestation of human body parts in residential properties across the United States."

//Translated into [*http://scp-wiki-cn.wikidot.com/scp-7492 Chinese] by [[*user ashausesall]]!//
//Translated into [*http://scp-vn.wikidot.com/scp-7492 Vietnamese] by [[*user Kairento154]]!//
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""Retention is considered a low priority.""]]
[[<]]
* College wasn't a great experience for me. Since then, I've had a lot of dreams about moving out of campus housing -- one of which involved a severed hand in a box. I rolled out of bed, started putting it to paper, and here we are.
* I considered adding dates to each entry, to orient the anomaly relative to education cuts and the student loan crisis, but ultimately decided that was too on-the-nose.
* This piece includes a couple of cultural references, because I couldn't resist:
 * Standard Cover Story 843 is named after Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 story "[*https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mystery_Tales_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe/The_Tell-Tale_Heart The Tell-Tale Heart]".
 * SCS 986 is an homage to Fred Dekker's 1986 horror film //"Night of the Creeps"//, in which a fraternity pledge prank goes terribly wrong. 
* First time [*https://www.reddit.com/r/DankMemesFromSite19/comments/172fc6j/this_was_their_canon_event_scp7492/ getting memed] by the community! Thanks for the honor, [[*user Dr Shoulder]]!
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="Nightmare on Archer Row, Part 2"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[Nightmare on Archer Row, Part 2]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]
"Every year, as the leaves burn orange and the days grow short, there comes a time when spirits roam."
------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""brb getting murdered""]]
[[<]]
> **ikksnay:** and then everybody clapped
> **tsercele:** lol gdi. 
* I stumbled across [[*user DrZinc]]'s "Nightmare on Archer Row" in 2019, while doing background research on GAW. As a fan of the subgenre, I seized on it as a challenge: "how do you write a slasher story where //nobody dies?"// From there, it became a question of how many tropes I could set up and subvert in entertaining ways.
 * Wren may be the point-of-view character, but they're not the sole protagonist, and they don't come out smelling like roses.
 * Penelope is a "Cassandra" type: she's aware of the threat and tries to warn people, but she's not an expert, and she's never seen this anomaly in person. (Her experience with "boogeymen" is a story for another day.)
 * Zane Castle was created as a deliberate inversion of how Black people are tokenized, instrumentalized, and targeted first for death. He's got a life, a job, and goals outside this story -- although I was surprised to discover that one of those goals //might// be a fling with Armand. Writing takes us unexpected places, sometimes!
 * Armand Delassixe is a flamboyant goofball, but he's got an absolutely wild set of anomalous abilities (as demonstrated in [*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-assassination-of-beleaguered-normalcy-by-the-coward-game The Assassination of Beleaguered Normalcy]), so he can't be pigeonholed as mere comic relief.
 * Bobby Birack seems blissfully ignorant of the dangers around him. He would be the perfect victim -- except he's dead already.
 * Rhona Nic Riada is a promiscuous party animal, but she's also an ICSUT graduate, meaning that she's both intelligent and capable.
 * Esther Kogan is the group's "final girl", but not by virtue of moral superiority; she's a [*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/prank-war-two known prankster]!
* As I've said elsewhere, I think pure referentialism is boring. In storytelling, everything ought to serve a purpose -- which is why every stage of the resolution is foreshadowed through discussion in the first act. "Scooby-Doo" becomes a door-slamming chase sequence; Zane gets his wish for practical effects; the entire cast is a mix of "lesser-known actors" and familiar faces!
* Lots of 23s in this piece, obviously! It's in the apartment number, the card trick, and the total number of guests (including ghosts) in attendance. Plus... if you take the time (time, time) to read the introduction closely... you might see a hazy shade of the Entity's motivations.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="pullquote"]]
[[module ListPages name="The Lambton Ghoul"]]
[[size larger]]**[[[The Lambton Ghoul]]]**[[/size]]
[[size smaller]]**+%%rating%%, %%comments%% comments -- %%created_at|%e %B %Y%%**[[/size]]
[[/module]]

An eccentric groundskeeper is pushed to his breaking point... and beyond.

//Winner of [*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-16423302/unofficial-paracon-2023 Unofficial Paracon 2023]!//
//Translated into [*http://scp-zh-tr.wikidot.com/the-lambton-ghoul Traditional Chinese] by [[*user feitag]]!//
//Translated into [*http://scp-jp.wikidot.com/the-lambton-ghoul Japanese] by [[*user C-Dives]]!//

------
[[collapsible show="Commentary" hide=""No man ought to be born under thirty.""]]
[[<]]
* Vernon Frost is loosely based on Ephraim Convay, a farmer convicted of manslaughter after killing a young prankster in 1897. I learned about the case through the memoirs of John Wilson Murray, who was one of Ontario's first professional investigators and the inspiration for Maureen Jennings' character [*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murdoch_Mysteries Detective William Murdoch]. 
* I recently watched //Halloween Ends// and came away disappointed. With its focus on an aging boogeyman and a young, hungry thrall, it struck me as more of a vampire film than a slasher movie, and that got me thinking about how I could do better. I started blocking out a modern narrative outline, got deep into the historical backstory, and by the time that was finished... well, I didn't need the modern frame story after all! All that remains is "Missing Athlete Drowned in Culvert". Perhaps I'll circle back to that someday.
* In my mind, Frost was a Type Red: a Flawed/Limited Regenerator who got progressively worse every time he healed from fatal injuries. This owes a great deal to Clark Ashton Smith's "The Testament of Athammaus", a story about a malicious demigod who refuses to die permanently.
[[/<]]
[[/collapsible]]
[[/div]]

[[/tab]]

[[tab The Editor's Desk]]
I have a lot of experience with proofreading and editing, which I like to share with the community! Here's a list of projects I've helped critique:
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/taking-care-of-the-kids Taking Care of the Kids]**, by [[*user kinchtheknifeblade]]. [!-- 01 January 2020 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/kyoufu-0 Kyoufu-0]**, by [[*user NatVoltaic]]. [!-- 11 Jan 2020 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/true-trans-soul-rebel True Trans Soul Rebel]**, by [[*user NatVoltaic]]. [!-- 27 Feb 2020 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/diamond-is-not-kush Diamond is Not Kush]**, by [[*user kinchtheknifeblade]]. [!-- 14 July 2020 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7977 SCP-7977 - Rewritten Livelihoods]**, by [[*user DianaBerry]]. [!-- 29 May 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/dead-mans-switch Dead Man's Switch]**, by [[*user Anorrack]]. [!-- 03 Jul 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/disgusting-things Disgusting Things You'd Never Anticipate]**, by [[*user ch00bakka]]. [!-- 15 Jul 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/you-have-a-doppelgaenger You Have a Doppelgänger]**, by [[*user Mew-ltiverse]]. [!-- 7 Aug 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/voice-of-rage-and-ruin Voice of Rage and Ruin]**, by [[*user Anorrack]]. [!-- 28 Aug 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7929 SCP-7929 - Nine Bars of Pressure]**, by [[*user IndustryStandard]]. [!-- 17 Sep 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/a-crooked-brow A Crooked Brow]**, by [[*user Anorrack]]. [!-- 06 Oct 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/procurement-orders-hells-heart 1981 COLLATED PROCUREMENT ORDERS BY THE DOD IN REGARDS TO TOP SECRET PROJECT: HELL'S HEART]**, by [[*user psychicprogrammer]]. [!-- 06 Oct 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-6756 SCP-6756 - DUMP YOUR PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN]**, by [[*user Anorrack]]. [!-- 08 Oct 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-7481 SCP-7481 - Store Bought Evil May be Substituted]**, by [[*user psychicprogrammer]]. [!-- 16 Oct 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/heavenly-body Heavenly Body]**, by [[*user Anorrack]]. [!-- 14 Nov 2023 --]
* **[*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/i-went-to-hong-shing I went to Hong Shing, and All I Got Was This Radioactive Crystal]**, by [[*user newnykacolaquantum]]. [!-- 28 Dec 2023 --]
 
[[/tab]]

[[tab Trophy Case]]
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[[size larger]][*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-achievement-badges SCP Achievement Badges][[/size]]

**Certificate Of Attendance** 
Authorpage + Anomalous Item #1268 + Remixcon2023

**Participation Trophy** 
SCP-4581, rated >100

**Look Ma! I'm On TV!**
[*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUzC3ovkfu4 SCP-4581] and [*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBwMmhmNYr4 Start the Music], as read by Manuel Reingen on YouTube

**Level Up!**
Member for one calendar year
[[/div]]

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[[size larger]][*https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/dark-achievement-badges Cool Achievement Casefiles][[/size]]

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[[include component:sybadge code=scl]]
[[include component:sybadge code=lgbt]]
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[[div class="blockquote"]]
If you enjoy my work and it's within your means, consider supporting me on **[*https://ko-fi.com/sarahszell Ko-Fi]**!

[[size smaller]]**REMEMBER:** Payment services may reveal information such as your real name, email address, and other personal information when you donate. Be safe, everyone![[/size]]
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