Xian was an early containment fiction author who wrote several lasting contributions to SCP Series 1, including SCP-002 and SCP-003. While there is no explicit record of Xian writing/publishing SCP-002 on EditThis archives, records show that SCP-002 and SCP-003 were written by the same anonymous author on /x/.^[1]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.0-7983.63

Works

SCP-003 (“Biological Motherboard”)

SCP-003 is Xian’s earliest known work, and was posted to 4chan’s /x/ board on January 20, 2008.^[2]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-2177.69-2177.84 It is divided into two subdesignations, SCP-003-1 and SCP-003-2. The former is a circuit-board like object made of chitin, keratin, and other tissue, the latter is a stone tablet that SCP-003-1 was found attached to. It was noted in-document to be discovered alongside SCP-002 and SCP-001.^[3]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-2177.498-2177.542

According to EditThis page edit history archives, SCP-003 was either written by (or merely ported to EditThis by) Xian, on the 21st of January, 2008; one day after it is created on /x/. Xian is credited with it as the author on the current licensing information for SCP-003 on WikiDot.^[4]http://web.archive.org/web/20080418155343/http://www.editthis.info/scp_wiki/?title=SCP-003&action=history^[5]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-003

SCP-003’s invocation of SCP-002, which would be written with the context of SCP-003’s use of it in mind, is the first lasting & notable instance of cross-prompting.

History

According to available archived links, the first appearance of SCP-003 is in thread #448755 ^[6]https://archive.ph/QNbYp, though the thread states that it had been posted previously.^[7]https://archive.vn/QNbYp#selection-2177.10-2177.83 Its author is anonymous, though the author also wrote SCP-002.^[8]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.0-7983.63

SCP-003 was added to the EditThis, given a title (as most nameless SCPs were at that time^[9]https://archive.vn/QNbYp#selection-22909.0-22909.162), and eventually ported to the WikiDot.^[10]http://web.archive.org/web/20080410074941/http://www.editthis.info/scp_wiki/SCP-003^[11]https://web.archive.org/web/20100830125530/https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-003 It was archived, and rewritten by WikiDot user and SCP author thedeadlymoose in 2011.^[12]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-346689/newbie-rewrites-scp-003-biological-motherboard^[13]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-347119/scp-003#post-1122410^[14]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-347119/scp-003#post-1122291 This version introduced subdesignations -1 and -2, and significantly expanded the article’s contents, functions, and narrative, relative to its prior version.

SCP-003’s original image was replaced in 2020 with a Creative-Commons compliant image.

Contributions

Like SCP-002, SCP-003 is significant as an early SCP for its primitive cross-referencing of other SCPs, namely with SCP-002 and SCP-001. In SCP-003’s case, this was the first pseudo-canonical invocation of an SCP-001. By this point in the genre’s development, cross-referencing was not wholly novel,^[15]https://archive.ph/jmVa6#selection-5257.34-5257.48 nor was presenting two accompanying SCPs in an immediate, tandem-like canon alongside one another, e.g. SCP-314 and SCP-497 (non-viable). However, SCP-003, along with SCP-002, are the first notable and lasting SCP pairing created by way of cross-reference/testing.

SCP-002 (“The ‘Living’ Room”)

SCP-002 is an early containment fiction article and SCP from 4chan’s /x/ board on January 20, 2008.^[16]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-3241.10-3241.24 It was later given the title “The “Living” Room” on EditThis. The article is about an anomalous room whose furniture is made of bones, chitin, and etcetera biological tissues, and that seemingly is carnivorous.

SCP-003’s invocation of SCP-002, which would be written with the context of SCP-003’s use of it in mind, is the first lasting & notable instance of cross-prompting.

History

SCP-002 was first posted on January 20, 2008 to thread #448755,^[17]https://archive.ph/QNbYp and was transferred to the EditThis Wiki the next day by an anonymous user.^[18]https://web.archive.org/web/20080615175523/http://www.editthis.info/scp_wiki/?title=SCP-002&action=history It was ported to the SCP Wiki on WikiDot on July 19, 2008 by The Administrator.^[19]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-002 Its author is anonymous, though the author also wrote SCP-003.^[20]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.0-7983.63

In keeping with the early-SCP push for canonicity (as with SCP-003), SCP-002 was noted in-document to be discovered alongside SCP-003 and SCP-001.^[21]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-3241.792-3241.909 These references, as well as those in SCP-003, would be removed from the eventual WikiDot version.^[22]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-003^[23]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-002 The WikiDot version is heavily changed from the original and EditThis versions, including a discovery section (“Mulhausen Report”).

SCP-002 was put up for rewrite by the SCP Wiki Rewrite team in January 2015.^[24]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-002, rev. 47 The “in-rewrite” tag was removed three days later, without any changes to the document.^[25]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-002, rev. 48. A moderator comment in the discussion section explains:^[26]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-2210643

“For clarification: there is an effort being made to rewrite or touch-up the article, but it’s a private user’s project, not a formal Rewrite Team project. I’m removing the tag to clear up the confusion.”

A later post notes that it is unlikely to ever be rewritten.^[27]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-4221683

Its original image^[28]https://web.archive.org/web/20130225123947/http://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local–files/scp-002/800px-SCP002.jpg was replaced with a Creative-Commons-compliant alternative on April 23, 2020.^[29]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-4611609

Contributions

SCP-002 is significant as an early SCP for its primitive cross-referencing of other SCPs, namely with SCP-003 and SCP-001. By this point in the genre’s development, cross-referencing was not wholly novel,^[30]https://archive.ph/jmVa6#selection-5257.34-5257.48 nor was presenting two accompanying SCPs in an immediate, tandem-like canon alongside one another, e.g. SCP-314 and SCP-497 (non-viable). However, SCP-002, along with SCP-003, are the first notable and lasting SCP pairing created by way of cross-reference/testing.

SCP-002 was one of the first SCPs to establish a suggested mechanism of action that went under-explained for the sake of mystery and intrigue. Specifically, each time an individual was killed by the object, new furniture appeared. SCP-002 was novel and relatively progressive for its time, in that it suggested causality via this mechanism; other early SCPs on /x/ were relatively one-dimensional in their exposition about an anomaly and its action, without suggesting anything further. SCP-002 is one of the better instances of “Show, Don’t Tell” in the pre-EditThis SCP Series, and was a more refined version of “a thing that does a thing” for its time.

SCP-847 (“The Mannequin”)

SCP-847 was first published by Xian to EditThis on January 21, 2008 (the same day SCP-002 was written).^[31]https://web.archive.org/web/20080423043239/http://editthis.info/scp_wiki/?title=SCP-847&action=history It is about a female mannequin that attacks women.

SCP-847 was ported to Wikidot, and persisted until 2016, when it fell into deletion range, and was rewritten by user WrongJohnSilver.^[32]https://web.archive.org/web/20150919093654/https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-847 Numerous media (YouTube videos, readings, video games) have been made about SCP-847, which contributed to the decision to rewrite it, as opposed to outright delete it.^[33]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-1686384/scp-847#post-2495233^[34] … Continue reading

SCP-243 (“Viral Mercury”, Non-viable)

The initial SCP-243 was published to EditThis on January 20, 2008 (the same day SCP-003 was written).^[35]https://web.archive.org/web/20080611150112/http://www.editthis.info/scp_wiki/?title=SCP-243&action=history It was a meteorite that leaked a mercury-like substance from internal pores when opened. SCP-243 was ported to Wikidot, and was slated for editing in 2009 during the Mass Edit.^[36]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-183010/the-mass-edit-workbench-scp-200-299#post-588026 It persisted until at least October 2009 before ultimately being deleted and replaced.^[37]https://web.archive.org/web/20091005024828/http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com:80/scp-243

Trivia

Xian wrote all of their known SCP articles in a matter of two days. Of those, two (SCP-002 and SCP-003) exist without rewrite on the Wikidot; one exists on the Wikidot as a rewrite (SCP-847), and the last did not survive on Wikidot (SCP-243).

The comment following SCP-003 recommends the author “post up” the SCPs mentioned in the document as cross-links, including a SCP-1194, SCP-002, and SCP-001.^[38]https://archive.vn/QNbYp#selection-2281.30-2281.99 A user replies that they were not going to write SCP-000 or SCP-001 due to them being “the origin pieces for the SCP list”, unable to be defined.^[39]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-2531.6-2539.234

The author of SCP-003 was an enthusiastic cross-tester (of their other SCPs) and made numerous strides to make cross-referencing other SCPs in SCP documents a trend.^[40]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.978-7983.1020 The author of SCP-002 wrote a non-viable, early SCP-2754, which cross-tested with SCP-002 and SCP-003 “persumably [sic] to interface between the two and upload information contained in SCP-003 into the production womb of SCP-002”.^[41]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.73-7983.89^[42]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-8173.55-8173.270

SCP-002 was the first SCP added to the WikiDot. It was the only SCP on the new site for almost a week; the next SCP, SCP-004, was added 6 days later.^[43]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-calendar/date/2008.7/p/2

SCP-002 was likely written thanks to a comment following SCP-003, that recommends the author to “post up” the SCPs mentioned in the document as cross-references, which included a SCP-1194, SCP-002, and SCP-001.^[44]https://archive.vn/QNbYp#selection-2281.30-2281.99 SCP-002 appears shortly thereafter. A user replies that they were not going to write SCP-000 or SCP-001 due to them being “the origin pieces for the SCP list”, unable to be defined.^[45]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-2531.6-2539.234

SCP-002 and SCP-003 were written by the same anonymous author on /x/.^[46]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.0-7983.63 As twin articles, SCP-002 was released just after SCP-003.^[47]https://archive.ph/QNbYp

The discussion page for SCP-002 is archived.^[48]http://web.archive.org/web/20080617060057/http://editthis.info/scp_wiki/Talk:SCP-002 It has user Eberstrom praising it, along with others.

The article’s text has come under some scrutiny from modern readers for suggesting Portugal is a primitive land, as well as the use of the phrase “the village elder”.^[49]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-5162542^[50]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-5296007^[51]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76632/scp-002#post-5222957

Xian was an enthusiastic cross-tester (of their other SCPs) and made numerous strides to make cross-referencing other SCPs in SCP documents a trend.^[52]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.978-7983.1020 The author of SCP-002 wrote a non-viable, early SCP-2754, which cross-tested with SCP-002 and SCP-003 “persumably [sic] to interface between the two and upload information contained in SCP-003 into the production womb of SCP-002”.^[53]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-7983.73-7983.89^[54]https://archive.ph/QNbYp#selection-8173.55-8173.270

SCP-847 was rewritten in 2016 after falling into deletion range. The rewrite author, WrongJohnSilver, noted that the original “… reduces women to victims and is a literal symbol of objectification itself. Due to the popularity, it had to remain much intact in its form. However, this inherent misogyny had to be acknowledged and addressed.”^[55]https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-1686384/scp-847#post-2495233

When rewritten, SCP-003 was uploaded as a new page on the wiki. No archive of the previous version’s comment section exists.^[56]https://web.archive.org/web/20081230213151/http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-76905/scp-003