SCPs for COVID-19

SCPs May Not Comply with Social Distancing:

(Because fear of imaginary things is so much more fun than fear of real things)

As contagion spreads throughout the world, and we hunker down in our apartment, pathetically bickering with one another and eyeing our diminishing stock of toilet paper, it is amusing to think about fictional threats.

I had been unsuccessfully trying to understand my sons’ interest in SCPs for quite a while before the current pandemic.

As usual in these sorts of posts: either your eyes have just rolled up in your head because how slow can this old napkin lady be?  or, you don’t have the vaguest idea what an SCP is and are pretty sure you don’t want or need to know. 

But to soldier on, despite your reasonable reservations: 

As far as I can tell, the SCP thing is a more recent instance of the online “Creepypasta” phenomenon: scary stories based in a basic organizing concept, collaboratively posted online by many people.

For the sake of expediency, I will quote from the knowyourmeme page: “SCP is a creative writing wiki centered around documenting descriptions and containment procedures of fictional objects and entities that are considered scientific anomalies and often pose a threat to society or the personnel containing it. Every entity has its own entry is labeled with a number, with "SCP" as a prefix”

SCP-049 resembles a medieval plague doctor, though the clothing and mask are somehow part of the entity’s physical body. Sadly, we can’t grow our own masks to prevent COVID-2.

SCP-096, or “Shy Guy” on the right, is often pictured with a huge gaping, muti-toothed maw. So he needs an extra large 3M mask.  I won’t attempt to detail his characteristics here, but it seems he is compelled to kill anyone who catches a glimpse of his face (even, perplexingly, represented in a photograph.... but drawings are ok- so we are safe!) 

Perhaps Shy Guy is enjoying all the social distancing.