#scp-7777

I've never experienced or directly witnessed any abuse of the kind described in the story, but reading it raised the dreadful possibility that I might have, at some point in my life, been like one of the many people who looked the other way. I'll never know for sure, but hopefully this will inspire me to be all the more vigilant in the future. It also spoke to my discomfort with my own gender, which I have trouble identifying with when I have to share it with the likes of Dr. Byrnes.

All this is to say that you are an amazing writer, and I deeply admire your strength for tackling something so personal to you in such an uncompromising way.

If you don't mind, there are a couple questions that came to mind while reading it that I'd love to have your thoughts on:

1. About the concept that Byrnes erased (I know you don't want to reveal what it was and I totally respect the artistic choice). Am I right in thinking Lilian could reacquire the concept if put into a supportive environment? My logic is that amnestics can erase memories, but can't permanently remove cognitive faculties. So if Byrnes took away, say, her self-worth, she could recover it after spending time with people who respect and value her? Of course it's going to be a long and difficult process, but I'd like to know there's hope (especially once she's moved away from Site 17 following the 7777 events).

2. How do you feel about the ethics of punishing Byrnes when he's forgotten everything he did? Of course the ideal solution here would be to administer him mnestics, but I'm sure the Foundation would consider it a waste of resources... So barring that, what do you think should be done with him? It's a really tough question for me, since on the one hand, there is something dystopian about being punished for crimes you can't remember (there's a whole Black Mirror episode about it!) but on the other hand, there's a good chance his abusive tendencies have survived amnesticization and he might hurt others in the future. (I'm also aware that Byrnes is ultimately secondary to the systemic failures that allowed him to get away with it and still prevent any meaningful changes, but I'm still curious).

3. Finally, is there a directory where I can find the rest of your work in the SCP universe? I've read 8980 and 7777 and I'd love to read more of your writing (although if you've written anything as dark as 8980 I'll have to pass lmao).

Again congratulations on a truly impressive work, and thanks for reading through this very long ask!

I'm never disappointed to get a nice message about 8980, so there's no reason to fear. I am very happy the article had such a tremendous and positive impact on you.

Regarding your point on trouble identifying with your gender because of people like Byrnes, it is a very common feeling for those who know what atrocities men can and often do commit. It's something that eventually you will come to terms with after much self-reflection. Regardless, as you mention yourself, it is essential for men to embody the positive aspects of masculinity and use the privilege society affords them to help others. As it says in the ancient text Pirkei Avot, "In a place where there are no [good] men, strive to be a [good] man."

To answer your individual questions:

1. Your assessment of how amnestics work is — at least in 8980's continuity — fully accurate. As the amnestics only dissolve targeted engrams, concept-related engrams could be theoretically reacquired in the correct environment.

2. This is a question with no true answer. As you mention yourself, either option results in an injustice of some form. However, under the assumption that Byrnes's abusive and misogynistic tendencies have survived amnesticization, I would believe it to be more ethical to — in some capacity — restrain his movements to prevent him from inflicting further suffering on others.

You mention Black Mirror in your question, and I would like to follow up with that offhand reference with another: Severance. I have recently finished watching it myself, and believe it would be insightful for you if you choose to delve into topics of identity, memory, and culpability.

3. There is indeed; you may find it here:

Do be aware, however, that a majority of my articles are not of the same quality of 8980/7777, nor are most in a similar genre. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my past works, and feel free to send me more asks in the future if you have questions about those.

Link here

1. Was 8980 sort of a "final straw" where she went: "alright buckaroo, no ms. nice girl"

2. Do you have an appearance for her in mind?

3. Was she also a target, who might've gotten killed by O5-6?

4. What age would you give her?

5. So, at the end of SCP-7777, Jones says that there are too much coincidences, does that mean that SCP-7777 is not only a conspiracy, but also an anomaly? Perhaps the wish for Foundation to face their crimes created an anomaly?

6. Would Marinos and Lillian have a good relationship if they knew eachother? And what dynamic would they have?

7. Do you think its possible for the Ethics Committee to actually fight against corruption, atleast after SCP-7777

8. Is Marinos cool as fuck?

Oh goodness, I completely forgot I had this in my asks. Sorry I took so long to write this.

1: Yep. SCP-8980 was the despair event horizon for Marinos.

2: Nothing beyond that she's older (and it shows) and white.

3: Possibly. I personally headcanon that Silverstein just got sloppy with one of the jobs and outed himself, but Marinos had experience and could stay mostly hidden.

4: Prooobably late 60s?

5: You can headcanon it, though I intended it as an entirely non-anomalous conspiracy.

6: Marinos would probably be someone Lillian goes to for advice. I'd think they'd have a good relationship.

7: Not really. They were largely complicit in the Foundation's corruption. If I rewrote 7777, I would probably have the Ethics Committee reinstate the O5 Council with new members to ensure a "balance of powers", which would emphasize their nature as faux-resistors.

1. If you're not uncomfortable with answering, what is your mistake which you regret the most on the scpwiki?

2. What are your favourite works from other SCP authors?

3. If Lillian (after containment) would end up in another GoI's hands, which one would you want it to be, and how would they treat her? (For me: it would be cool for her to get transported into VANGUARD or 6001 universe... wait i have an idea for a fanfic)

4. What's your opinion on minors getting into the SCP community?

5. When writing 8980, did you feel guilt for making Lillian suffer? And did you want to flay byrnes alive?

6. Do you think it would be possible for Lillian to develop androphobia due to her abuse?

7. I noticed that Byrnes was amnesticised with class E amnestics, if we follow the upgraded amnestics guide that means he remembers everythinf, but just doesnt care about it, was this intentional?

8. Would Flora Marinos beat up Byrnes if she had a chance? (I need confirnation)

9. What would be Marinos' reaction after reading 8980? Like, how did she feel like?

10. Opinion on r/fuckdrbyrnes?

1: Definitely uncomfortable answering that one in terms of non-fictional stuff, but in terms of writing... probably putting that email at the end of SCP-5545. It was a super clunky "here's the solution, reader!" instead of letting the reader sit with a more surreal, disturbing ending. I don't plan to rewrite it at some point, but I still kick myself at how much I mishandled that article lol

2: I actually am in the process of going through everything I've written on the Wiki and compiling the best articles into a recommendations list! If you want to read what I have so far, you can check it out here!

3: This is really tough because most of them are not all that nice. If I had to pick, probably the Serpent's Hand. I feel like they'd be sympathetic.

4: This is really tough for me to answer. I joined the community as a minor myself, but had some... not so great experiences with the adults in the community (all permabanned now, thankfully). I don't know what to think about whether the Wiki should allow minors; I have deeply conflicted feelings on the topic.

5: Ouch. But yes, I did feel guilty, the entire time. Part of why it was so hard to write. I still feel guilty about it, a bit, even though I know she's a fictional character I conjured up in my own brain. I do still hate Byrnes though.

6: Absolutely. She probably did.

7: Ah, I didn't really follow the amnestics guideline. Not enough flexibility for my setting to stay faithful to it.

8: Depends how old she is and how old Byrnes is. Probably not but I wouldn't rule it out if she got mad enough and he was weak enough.

9: Dread, anger, and despair. Basically whatever my readers felt when they read it the first time :p

10: Eh. I'm glad the story was compelling enough that it got people mad enough to make a subreddit about hating its primary antagonist, but at the end of the day it does kind of miss the point about how Byrnes was enabled by systematic negligence and patriarchical tendencies. Though I guess r/fuckthesystemthatsupportedbyrnes is less catchy.

1. What was the hardest thing about writing 8980?

2. What inspired you to write 7777 and 8980?

3. Will you write more about the foundation after 7777?

4. How did you get into writing in general?

5. Is there any advice you want to give to new writers?

It's all good, though I try to take a break from answering every few days so people that follow me don't get bombarded by 8980 posts constantly haha.

1: I think all of it was very difficult to write, but the hardest part was — unsurprisingly — the amnestics scene. Not just because of the subject matter, but also how to convey the horror of it properly.

2: SCP-7777 was inspired by my real experience working with and in HR-like bodies. My background in psych made me come to hate Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and 7777 was basically a vent piece about how evil HR can be sometimes.

SCP-8980 was inspired by like, a bajillion things. I think I've spoken about it elsewhere, but if I went into everything that inspired SCP-8980, we'd be here all day.

3: Perhaps. I know I keep saying "maybe", but it largely depends on if I feel inspired to.

4: The SCP Wiki! Discovered it when I was young, and always wanted to write for it since then. All it took from that point was a lot of practice.

1. Would FSD be limited in their power or disbanded altogether after the events of SCP-7777?

2. Would Flora Marinos be a good Ethics Committee chairman if she was one?

3. Do you have anything in mind about Flora Marinos' personality? Or do we just go wild with it?

4. Let's say, after Lillian began to heal and slowly comprehend what the fuck happened with her over the course of a decade, would she begin to hate the foundation?

5. What dynamic would Lillian and Marinos have if they knew eachother?

6. WHAT IS THE CONTEXT BEHIND THAT "Your author page is allowed to vore me" OFFSET FROM YOUR AUTHOR PAGE??😭😭 (if it's not a secret)

1: Nope! The FSD works strictly under Ethics Committee Guidelines limitations. They are, by and large, an extension of the Ethics Committee. Admittedly, though, most of their articles are too over-the-top for me to consider canon; I might write an FSD article in the future to demonstrate my own interpretation.

2: Definitely, but she'd hate the stress that would come with it.

3: Old and tired.

4: Almost definitely. She probably did while in containment, too.

5: I have no clue, to be honest.

6: Ah. That. Well, I did call it an authorphage...

7777: Can guess this myself, but if you wanna answer this (mystery purposes). Was there a specific reason 7777 brought up 4051's situation instead of directly saying Graham's crimes. Could just be wanting to mention him in the article, or maybe it was used so the Ethics Committee could "accidentally" uncover Graham's crimes.

8066: Did the research team in 8980 do experimention related things with 4051, or is it just there. Its got me thinking that if they didn't do work relating to 4051, why would Byrnes bring him up in his nightmare scenario

The consistent SCP-4051 references are mainly just homages to the original Site-17 Deepwell article (which is 4051). That said, to answer your questions:

7777: I've mentioned this once before, but originally there was no reason for this beyond it being funny. I later retconned this through 8980's implications on the combined setting, by making it so that the reason this crime was highlighted was because it was impossible to justify as serving the Foundation's mission, and therefore warranted a full investigation by the EC that the O5 approved.