Cavalcade

Welcome to Cavalcade!

A reasonable question you might have: What in the gosh-dang heck is Cavalcade?

According to Wikipedia:

A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass trail ride by a company of riders. The focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display. Often, the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. Often, a cavalcade re-enacts an important historical event and follows a long distance trail. A cavalcade may also be a pilgrimage.

Of course, the question then is what we actually mean here when we're talking about Cavalcade. In the context of this page, Cavalcade is a theoretically endless collaborative tale project. The purpose of Cavalcade is to explore the entire SCP universe, not just bits and pieces of it. It is a heavily nonlinear project, with little to no advance planning of plot or stories. However, this allows for emergent, character-driven plotlines to evolve naturally, and hopefully be a fun collaborative writing experiment.

The Cavalcade hub page is available here.

The Rules Of Cavalcade

NOTE: If you do not write your Cavalcade tales according to the rules below, you may be removed from the Cavalcade. Make sure you read them all!

Rule 1: Everyone who is writing for Cavalcade is put into a rotation. After one person completes their tale, the next person is picked in order from this pool. For one week after being picked, that author has absolute control over the next tale in the Cavalcade. They can do whatever they want in their tale, provided it doesn't violate the other rules below. That author is also welcome to post their tale earlier than the hard limit, i.e. before the one week limit has passed.

The week-long period for the next writer begins immediately after the previous writer posts their tale, even if they post early. Anyone who has written at least one successful story or SCP (successful here defined as a rating of +25 or more) can be put into the rotation on request. It's not a huge hoop to jump through, and ensures a minimum level of writing competency. If you are the current author, you must complete your story within the week, or the rotation will move on to the next person. If you do not respond to Wikidot PMs after missing the Cavalcade schedule, you may be temporarily removed from the rotation. If you're busy a certain week, you're free to request a later position in the rotation, or if you're going to be busy for an extended period of time, temporarily remove your name from the pool. This ensures everyone gets to write an equal amount, and it also ensures a minimum writing output from the project. Ideally, at least one Cavalcade story will get written every week!

Rule 2: Every tale must introduce at least one character who has not appeared in any previous tale in the Cavalcade. This can include characters which exist outside of the Cavalcade but have not yet been used in it; however, novel characters are preferred. This ensures that we have an ever-increasing cast of characters to use.

You are allowed to use real people as characters. Doing so can add a sense of immersion, provided it's not overdone. Sentient SCPs can be used as characters, and are subject to the same rules as any others.

You are not allowed to use any fictional characters which are from non-SCP fictional works. Characters which are fictional in the real world are also fictional in the SCP universe (except those characters within the SCP universe). You can mention them as fictional characters within your tales, but not as real people.

Rule 3: Every character that you use has to be named and, at minimum, have a two sentence long backstory. Even incidental characters must meet this criteria. You don't need to write summaries for all the people in a crowd, but if you have one person in a crowd shout something out, you must name them. It's important enough to say again: Every character must be named. Their name does not have to be stated explicitly in your story, but all characters' names and descriptions must be added to the Cavalcade Character List. This list is currently located at the bottom of this page; as it grows, it may be relocated to a page of its own.

Named characters which are only mentioned in a tale (without having any actual presence within the story) are not to be written up as part of this rule. They can therefore count as the new character for Rule 2 in a later tale.

Rule 4: No tale can include a character who has appeared in either of the previous two tales. It is acceptable to use characters who were only mentioned in either of the two previous tales without actually featuring in person; similarly, it is acceptable to mention characters used in the previous two tales without featuring them in the current one. While continuity in Cavalcade is important, the whole idea is to show the whole gamut of the Foundation universe. If you want to return to a previous story and tell more of it, that's fine, but you can't continue it in a row.

Rule 5: Every tale must include at least one character who has been used before in the Cavalcade. This makes sure that, at the very least, some continuity is guaranteed. Their characterisation in your story must be consistent with their previously recorded backstory and description as required from Rule 3. Of course you are free, and indeed encouraged, to expand their story when you use them. When you do so, you must adjust their summaries accordingly. This rule does not apply until after the fifth tale is written.

As a corollary, you are not allowed to include more than 40% of the established Cavalcade characters in any given tale (rounded down). If this was not in place, someone could write a tale using every character introduced so far; then the next person couldn't use a character from a previous tale (Rule 5) without including a character that was in one of the previous two tales (Rule 4). You will always be able to choose from at least 20% of the established characters.

Rule 6: All stories must be at least 1000 words long. While there are some great stories on the site under 1000 words, this project's focus is worldbuilding, so longer stories are desired. There is no maximum number of words per tale.

Rule 7: At least one out of every three consecutive tales must include or reference a non-Foundation Group Of Interest (GOI). If neither of the previous two tales did, then you must include or reference at least one GOI in your tale. This ensures we see the Foundation universe from every angle. Which GOI(s) you choose to explore is, of course, up to you. You're also entirely welcome to invent your own just for Cavalcade. There is no restriction on how frequently any GOI can appear.

Rule 8: At least one out of every three consecutive tales needs to include or reference an extant SCP. It doesn't need to be under the control of the Foundation in-story, nor be referenced in the tale as the designation SCP-XXXX, but it needs to be done. Same as Rule 7, if nobody's used an extant SCP in the last two tales, pick one and use it in the next.

Rule 9: Every Cavalcade tale must link to the Cavalcade Hub, the previous tale written, and the next tale. The relative address of the page must be of the form cav-XXX, with XXX replaced with the number of the tale. For example, the seventeenth Cavalcade tale would be at the address http://www.scp-wiki.net/cav-017. The actual title of the page can be anything that you choose.

Let's say you've written the twentieth Cavalcade tale. The following text should be at the bottom of your page:

Use the above as a template, changing the numbers to suit.

When you post a new Cavalcade tale, you must edit the Cavalcade hub page and add your tale to it. With the new standardised addresses of the form CAV-XXX, linking to your tale from the previous tale is no longer neccessary, as it should already link there. You must also send a Wikidot PM to the next person in the queue, informing them that it's their turn, and update the bolded name on this sandbox page.

Furthermore, you must make the parent page of any Cavalcade tales be the Cavalcade Hub page. This is done by going to the bottom of the page, expanding the options, clicking on the "Parent" link, and then typing in "cavalcade-hub".

You must leave a comment on your own tale when you post it, stating:
1. The name(s) of the new character(s) you introduced. (Rule 2)
2. The name(s) of the old character(s) you reused. (Rule 5)
3. If you used or referenced a GOI in your tale, and if so, which one. (Rule 7)
4. If you used or referenced an extant SCP in your tale, and if so, which one. (Rule 8)

This information must also be added to the Cheat Sheet section at the bottom of this page.

This makes it easy to figure out if the next person to write must use a GOI or SCP in their tale, and ensures that you've successfully met Rules 2 and 5.

FAQ

Do Cavalcade tales all need to take place in the same universe/continuity/canon?
No! It's totally possible to have a lolFoundation tale in one week, an S & C Plastics tale the next, and a Bellerverse one after. If you write a tale for Cavalcade that is part of an existing Canon or Series, you're free to add it to the suitable Canon or Series hubs (in addition to the Cavalcade hub), and link to next/previous tales in the Canon/Series if appropriate (again, in addition to linking to the next and previous Cavalcade tales). However, all characterisations within Cavalcade must be consistent across tales. If you have a lowly Foundation researcher working on something in one tale, then show the same character in a later tale being a cackling Chaos Insurgency villain, you'll need to be able to defend how they got from point A to B.

Do alternate-universe versions of a character count as the same character?
Yes, for the purpose of applying the rules above. You can't use lolFoundation Dr. Gears in a tale immediately after someone used Dr. Gerry from the Classical Revival series. They do not count as new characters for Rule 2, and do count as old characters for Rule 5. If you use an alternate-universe version of a pre-existing character, you must not change the original character's description or life story in the Character List. The "baseline" version of the character is the description that should be kept and monitored.

So I could even write Project Crossover tales?
No. From Rule 2:

You are not allowed to use any fictional characters which are from non-SCP fictional works. Characters which are fictional in our universe are also fictional in the SCP universe (except, of course, those characters within the SCP universe). You can, of course, mention them as fictional characters within your tales, but not as real people.

But those Canons are so different! Rule 5 means I need to use a character that has appeared in a previous Cavalcade tale. How can I fit the characters established in earlier Cavalcade tales into different universes?
There are many SCPs which allow people to enter alternate universes, just use them!

Do Cavalcade tales need to take place in chronological order?
No! You can bounce around through timelines as much as you please.

Can I write a tale, end it on a cliffhanger, and then continue it when it's my turn again where I left off?
Yes… however, it's possible that someone before you in the Cavalcade order will continue your story, so don't depend on being able to write the next part yourself. Furthermore, if someone uses any of the characters you're intending to use in your tale in the previous two tales, they've effectively blocked your ability to continue your story.

Can I use characters that I've used in non-Cavalcade tales as my new character for Rule 2?
Yes!

If a character is discussed substantially but not actually present in one tale, do they count as a new character when they actually show up later?
Yes; see Rule 3.

The Cavalcade Order

Don't add your name to this list! Instead, add your name to the list below this one, and you'll be slotted into the order when possible. When we get to the end of this list, the rotation wraps around to the beginning. The bolded name in the list below is the person scheduled to write the next Cavalcade tale.

RandominiRandomini
TwistedGearsTwistedGears
CrayneCrayne
BryxBryx
rumetzenrumetzen
SilberescherSilberescher
DrewbearDrewbear

Retired for Inactivity:
ksaidksaid
ScantronScantron
UraniumEmpireUraniumEmpire
RejectReject
giant enemy spycrabgiant enemy spycrab
ZolgamaxZolgamax
ChubertChubert
DevereauxDevereaux
BenningsBennings
Dr YucatanDr Yucatan
Captain CainCaptain Cain
weizhongweizhong

I Want To Join The Cavalcade!

Add your name below! You must read the rules before you do so.
<No Current Applicants>

The Cavalcade Character List

In accordance with Rule 2, every tale must introduce a new character, and as stated in Rule 3, they need to have a name and summary associated with them. This is where those names and summaries get collected, for the sake of reference and crossreferencing. When adding new entries below, use the template provided.

Open Character List

The Cheat Sheet

When you write the comment for Rule 9, also record the Characters, GOIs, and SCPs in this section as done below.

+ CAV-001 - A Defection
+ CAV-002 - Nucleation
+ CAV-003 - An Inspection
+ CAV-004 - Ouroboric Tango
+ CAV-005 - A Series Of Changes
+ CAV-006 - Stuck
+ CAV-007 - A Crossing

Comments and Questions

Got a comment or a question? Edit the page and leave it down here tagged with your username.

So if you wanted to, you'd do it like this. ~ RandominiRandomini

Hey Rando, could we add a cheat sheet? So that we don't have to go running back to the previous articles to check. Something like this thing below. ~ ksaidksaid

Good idea; moved your examples into their own section and adjusted the rules to suit. Thanks! ~ RandominiRandomini

Suggestion for authors: Now that we've got seven whole tales set up and the character reuse clause is in effect, can we make an effort to have new tales have a more than tangential tie to an existing plotline? I think it'd be better for both narrative cohesion and for people getting engaged with the material. ~ ScantronScantron