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A fanmade continuation of an annual series posted to the SCP Wiki!
Black Autumn IV.5 is an unofficial and fanmade continuation of the Black Autumn series, originating on the SCP Wiki, specifically the S&C Plastics Canon. Black Autumn takes place annually in an odd town called Sloth's Pit, Wisconsin, a Nexus and hotspot for stories that are narratively motivated. The Black Autumn Series is a vital part of the S&C Plastics canon, ever since its first installment in October 2017.
Since the past year has been devoid of a proper continuation, and there won't be one on-site this year (2022), I decided to take up a challenge and attempt to continue the stories of these characters!
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I'm so embarrassed that I didn't address this sooner.
In short: You can read this as a complete newbie, and you'll likely be on the same side as people who are already familiar with S&C!
Not only is absolute blindness welcomed, it is sought after!
One of my biggest concerns whenever I write is to be able to easily introduce people into the life and world of characters, no matter their prior knowledge of them. There are a lot of events factors that I'm intentionally going to obscure at the beginning-- especially what in the world happened in October 2021 (both because Black Autumn IV ended in September 2021 and the time frame just wasn't working, and IV.5 takes place in 2022). Mini Spoiler since Chaper 1 isn't out yet as I write this: Whatever happened in 2021 is immediately spoken about tacitly, and regardless, the events that occur are not entirely relevant to the current plot. Rest assured that my vagueness will be a deliberate descision, and that in the meantime I will be writing the story to be as accessible as possible. If something isn't clear, put your thinking cap on, there's a high chance it's intentional and it's gonna come back to bite later.
Also, because... I'm willing to bet that other S&C Readers aren't nearly as deranged as I am in terms of their S&C Knowledge, and will need some concepts reintroduced-- like, hell, some plot-relevant stuff is based on throwaway comments, that automatically necesitates some form of recap. A friend of mine who I met through our mutual interest in S&C has asked me to re-explain certain aspects because his responsibilities are always on his mind.
I'm also writing these parts under the design philosophy that they can be read as standalones AND contribute to the plot when read in order, with some exceptions being the Beginning, the End, and presumably some sparse chapters in between.
TLDR: Accessibility is Key.
That being said, feel free to ask if something is deliberate or a mistake. Worst that can happen is you get an ominous winky face.
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Oh shit, probably should've done that part first.
Hi! I'm nomoretears! Otherwise known as Tears. I care very much about the S&C Plastics canon, to the point that the current site age limit is not going to stop me from trying to continue where everyone's stories left off.
I fall a little under 70 days under the age limit. By the time it occured to me I should just lie about it because the margin was so small, I had foolishly already told too many people how old I was and I knew I wouldn't reasonably be able to get away with it. Uh... See y'all on site on July 6th, 2023!
That aside-- I've been writing for as long as I can remember, been drawing semi-seriously for a big chunk of my life, and been coding for roughly... uh, it's October 2nd 2022 right now, so... like, 5 days? Forgive me for the weird HTML/CSS job, my areas of expertise tend to lie elsewhere, and my friends who have much more experience with CSS have better things to do than constantly hold my hand and guide me around big scary computer land.
No, Black Autumn IV.5 isn't going to be written like this, this is just the way I talk.
The easiest way to contact me is through my Discord, (hakureimus #4162)
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It's going to be much more different compared to the other parts.
It's difficult, trying to follow up the constant mental toil that coated Black Autumn IV. I'm both excited and worried about following it up, even if this is still unofficial and I'm giving myself some more free reign.
The S&C Canon feels like it's gone through a bit of a character arc-- Not long after BA II and the tales that followed it up (BA 3 as well) the canon has noticeably been a lot... sadder, to keep it short. I'm not saying that everything I like about the Canon just hasn't been there, but I do feel as if it is missing a lot of the prior spirit that attracted people towards it in the first place. Like it's scared to embrace that it's more comedic with the occasional darker undertones. I'm saying that as someone who isn't into Slice of Life whatsoever, unless you count The Holy Trinity (Azumanga Daioh, Yotsuba and Nichijou). I count them, but just because I like the most popular works from said specific subset of Slice of Life doesn't mean I would call myself a general fan of the genre. Character development, baybey, here I am!!!
S&C is something very personal to me. The much lighter points of the canon brought me joy in a period of my life where I desperately needed it, but I don't want to just push its mild identity crisis out of the way (at least, 'identity crisis' for the lack of a better term, the intent is neutral) and ignore all that's happened circa 2019 and onwards like none of it matters-- it's not bad or poor quality, but I have noticed an overrall tonal shift and I want to acknowledge it. I don't want to invalidate the very much real consequences in the canon, both the obvious ones and the ones that haven't gotten properly brought up in years. This is an attempt at a balancing act between old and new first and foremost, and I hope that'll be obvious by the time the story begins.
Black Autumn IV.5 occurs in October 2022, from the early hours of the 1st to the final minutes of the 31st.
What the residents of Sloth's Pit expect--Foundation, Civilians, and Unclassified Anomalous Entities alike--won't necessarily be what they're getting this year.
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Ah, this is a good time to make that disclaimer. For the most part, everything is canon compliant!
Err, Spoiler Warning just in case, coming up...
Like I said, a lot of the events in the canon still happen. Sinclair's still missing her eye, she and Monty still had their baby, Alison (if you could calll her that) is still a part of Nobody, Robert still has his Type-Green Properties, Bailey is Site Director, King has rejoined the site, so on, so forth.
A lot of the much more canonically incompliant portions of IV.5 are minimal in relevance to the bigger plots and have more to do with character relationships and the status of Sloths Pit itself. For instance: The circumstances regarding Blake and Alejandro's relationship is remarkably different, alongside Alejandro's past as a whole. Hennessy isn't here as always, but the circumstances regarding her lack of prescence is different, etc (actually i havent decided how thats gonna come up but i digress).
However, a lot of the canon-incompliancy is the product of my conversations with Ihp (see below). They got plenty familiar with a lot of the characters I'm introducing here, and we had lengthy conversations about certain ideas in the canon, including the two previously mentioned.
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It's more work, but I have more control over how the site looks.
On a much more self indulgent note and truthful to the real reason I chose it... Neocities sites have always been pure eyecandy to me! The amount of dedication and knowledge that coders as a whole have genuinely blows my mind. I wish I was yall! hopefully I'll get more comfortable with it soon. I'll take any help I can get!
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Original Characters being defined as 'characters created by myself who have not yet formally appeared in the canon'.
And the answer is yes! But the story will still mostly be comprised of preexisting characters in the canon. I'm looking to make a character chart to make characters a lot easier to keep track of-- it's easy for me to keep track of every character, I hope not just adding art but additional visuals may make that easier. Ihp (again, see right below) said themselves that they wanted to make one so that people like me don't have to go rabidly hunting for a character that got mentioned once back in like 2014 or something and was never mentioned or alluded to ever again.
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Yes! I've gotten permission and insight from a couple of writers and creators.
As to who will be on our horizons... you'll see ;)
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For the uninformed: Ihp has written a good majority of the stories in the canon, created many of the characters, developed a lot of later worldbuilding, and orchestrated all of the (official) Black Autumn parts. Djoric technically created the canon, but Ihp has stuck with it the longest.
Now, for an actual answer to the question:
No.
They're on break as I write this, and they'll definitely still be on said break by the time I finish this. I don't want to put words in their mouth, or invoke their name without asking, but I do say this with the intent of clarifying that I want to respect their privacy and space while also affirming that this work is wholly my own to the point I cannot fact-check anything with them. Which is another great reason this is unofficial!
While I never talked to them about an unofficial continuation to the series hosted off the mainsite, they did trust me with continuing the storylines residing within S&C, alongside a lot of information and lore that hasn't been clearly stated/fixed within the canon as it exists currently. With them or without them, I want to continue the stories of these characters! They gave me the green light in the first place, so.
It is what it is!
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Despite the fact I've actually been thinking about this for a while, I'm afraid I don't have an answer right now.
Consider it under AO3 rules for the time being, I should have a concrete answer in coming weeks.
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I am not a member of the wiki yet. Writing an explicitly unofficial continuation feels a lot safer than trying to genuinely continue the series to a T when I'm not in the place to do so right now. Putting stuff on the Wiki has a very official feeling, this work is intentionally supposed to have 'fanmade' written all over it. Whether or not these events end up being fully canon will be seen in the future.
The label of 'Unofficial' is moreso to define the dubious canon developments, not the intended quality.
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I have actually had a pretty concrete idea for what I've wanted BA V to be about since about April 2021. But despite how long it's been in my head, I rather I be much more comfortable with writing these characters (not just drawing them) to be able to tell that story. Additionally, as mentioned, imagining myself trying to write a story as demanding as this within a single month or even three, starting during the month I have to get my college apps in order while also trying to deal with other IRL responsibilities sounds... awful.
TLDR: Because of my sanity.
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