Per 
DrZinc
Lantern2814
OwlDude
Boogey_Man23
Put your link to your sandbox here:
Zinc's
Owl's
Boogey_Man23
Lantern2814's
Plot Synopsis
The anomaly in question is in the posession of a CotBG sect at some secret/isolated location. Coming under attack by The Chaos Insurgency, attempting to seize control of the anomaly for themselves, a member of the Church uses the anomaly to reset everything as it was.However, this doesn't prevent the CI assault from occuring. So the attack unfolds the same way, leading to the Church member resetting things again, thus creating a recurring time loop.
It falls to The Foundation to recognize the situation and intervene so that the world can finally continue.
Act I
Introduction
- …
Act II
Rising Action
- …
Act III_
Climax & Ending
- …
My initial thinking is that the SCP document will belong at the ending, the GOI Format probably in Act II (unless it might be an effective opener), and tales will fill the rest of the larger narrative out. We can put them in place as we go, but let's discuss overall storyline planning and specific plot elements here.
I'm thinking the GOI article would be first, being slightly vague about it, this should establish the idea of time screwing, but not exactly say what it is. Like "this will help us retrieve the other parts of the great MEHKANE" and stuff like that.
The next act can have the first tale, how the Foundation finds out. As said before, I can write this one. We could also (If we want to include another GOI) have the GOC in another GOI article, on how they figure it out. Or we could have the Library have a GOI article from thier perspective from outside the event.
The 3rd act can have the tale with the C.I. attacking the Church and have one loop of that (from C.I. pov?) And then have the next loop be the one where the Foundation (and maybe GOC?) Stop the loop. Finally we have the SCiP article detailing the time machine itself.
What do you think?
Yeah, as I think on it more I feel like something kinda obscure in meaning + epic in scale, like a Church GOI Format, could be a good hook to the beginning of things. The first tale, then, introducing our Foundation characters and their uncovering of the events / its cause - and the lead-up to the main conflict in getting involved at the scene of the battle? Then the part where all the competing parties come to a head can have a tale dedicated to itself (including characters/perspectives from other GOIs there). Then with a SCP article to conclude with the anomaly contained, that makes up our minimum four articles. We'll then consider buffing up with supplemental pieces and additional entries later on, based on how progress goes. How's that for a plan?
Since Boogeyman is having doubts about the church (Not saying that's a bad thing, just need to propose an alternative)
Alexylva University- I don't think we could use this one
Anderson Robotics- not really their MO, but could work
Are We Cool Yet?- Possibly? The CI would need to find out about a time based art piece somehow
Black Queen- I don't think we could use this one
the Chicago Spirit- I think they're defunct, so no
Doctor Wondertainment- How would anyone even find a Wondertainment time machine?
The Factory- Don't know, probably not
The Fifth Church- Usually more space based things, don't think so
Gamers Against Weed- See AWCY?
The GOC- Maybe? They would have to somehow have the machine
GRU Division "P"- I don't think so, I think they're defunct
Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting- Not their style, I think
The Horizon Initiative- if we want to make it religious
Manna Charitable Foundation- Don't know enough about it
Marshall, Carter, and Dark Ltd.- Possibly, could work
"Nobody"- Nope, can't work
Oneiroi Collective- no clue
Prometheus Labs, Inc.- Already stuck in a time loop? no, defunct anyway
Sarkic Cults- If we want to deal with this, maybe
The Serpent's Hand- Could work, but how?
UIU- See GOC
Wilson's Wildlife Solutions- If its a time manipulating animal
I think the most natural fit is CoTBG, but if it posses a problem or doesn't work narratively, then here are the options.
I'd go with CotBG, but I also like the idea of a spanning story— it would certainly help with the tales, but possibly we have a official MTF log on the SCP page, perhaps with a more emotional tale before? That certainly sounds like a good idea. Also, with the church manuscript, maybe it could be split up into parts? I'm not sure how much it would give away, but I think it would be good if we kept the reader in the dark for as long as possible.
-Owl
Right. So, possibilities may include placing the anomaly in the hands of one GOI (Chaos Insurgency feels like a natural pick for parties who might actually hit this button repeatedly without awareness or care for the consequences) and then writing our GOI-Format article from the persepctive of another Group who comes into play. Considering that angle…
- GOC - Operational Plan for launching their own intervention on the situation.
- Nobody - Could be immune to the time-reset/memory-wipe effect, though may come off as 'Deus Ex Machina'-like depending on how they're implemented.
- Serpent's Hand - Another group reasonably beyond the effect's influence - involvement in alternate dimensions / resalities and whatnot. Article discussing their notice and concern (if any) for the situation?
If anyone else in the group might feel more comfortable / confident tackling a CotBG Format article, I'll tag out and write a tale or something. Or if there's maybe some way of spinning this into reasonably being considered some piece of Broken God? I'm not seeing any human-physiological analogue to compare the anomaly with, but maybe something more machine-like could do? Also, it's looking at extant CotBG GOI-Formats that makes me feel the style might be beyond my range… 'Religious Doctrine - Induistrial Mechanical Manual' mashup style is not coming easy to me. Pe
Hm. If your having trouble with that, you could frame a Serpent's hand article like they are outsiders who look at it and say "that really isn't normal" and try to investigate exactly what's happening, but not really interfering until they learn all the facts of the event (maybe even interact with the protags). Basically, it is an incident document.
I've been thinking on what precisely the object could be in the god, and I'm also coming up dry on ideas. We could drop the CoTBG and change their role to just a random laboratory that the C.I. is attacking.
Hey, if you guys ware trying to do something with Serpent's Hand, maybe they are the reason that the loop isn't perfect? Maybe through some of their power, they are able to keep some items in a state of existence, maybe leading the main protagonist to uncover things?
-Owl
I'm digging the Serpent's Hand angle, I'll be pursuing that.
My thinking is that there'll be some contention between the SH members as to what should be done (if anything) about the situation. Ultimately one or two members will act to try and resolve the issue, but are limited by some factors (i.e: They must return to the Library before the rewind at the end of the loop occurs, their main efforts are gathering information without causing drastic changes - keep the loop events predictable until they have a plan that will work). So they're acting from outside the loop situation, while realizing they can't just stop it all themselves - they need to manipulate the parties in play (like the Foundation) to set things right.
…
As the writers/creators of this 'Reset Button', we should know and understand as much as possible about it and how it works. This is mainly just to get the ball rolling, anything here can be revised as necessary.
Anomalous Reset Button
- Limited area of effect.
- Limited capabilities in length of time to be undone.
- Limited in utility before its effects destroy the world around it.
When the button is pressed, the surrounding environment and everything within it is reset to its place and condition as it was some time ago.
QUESTIONS
1. How big an area is affected? The size of a room? The size of a building? Multiple acres of property?
2. How far back does the button work? Minutes? Hours? Days? Is there a way to press it multiple times and stack resets?
3. Do affected subjects remember the events before a reset?
4. What about someone who enters the area more recently than the reset timeframe? Do they go back to where they were outside the area?
5. What about someone leaving the area after being reset? Do they realize the lost time from being reset?
6. What does the device actually look like/how does it operate? (Something physical-mechanical could serve as a reason it takes a certain amount of time to be used again / prevent 'stacking resets')
These are just some of the basic and natural thoughts and questions that come to mind for the idea, and which I expect we're most likely to face in writing around it. So.. let's all ponder them and weigh in with some possible answers, additional questions, and other comments. Bearing in mind we'll want to invent the anomaly that best serves the rest of our story.
-B
I don't think it should be a button per se, especially since were doing CoTBG, it should be some sort of clockwork device, on the levels of DrGears, I'm thinking.
1. I think, because this needs to qualify as a doomsday, it needs to be at least be the entire earth,
at most, and what I suggest, the galaxy.
2. For narrative purposes, I think 2 1/2-3 days would be an appropriate amount, especially if the Broken God church rushed to activate it (like it takes time to set up and stuff like that)
3. No. No one remembers. Maybe other anomalies that are time based and the Library
4.+5. given my previous answers these are irrelevant, but I don't think they could enter or exit the area during the period of time of the reset.
6. As noted above, I think we should do something that is a seemingly jumble of interconnected parts, but it has some sort of pattern to it. Hard to "program" as it were but the church find a way.
I like the idea of enveloping the entire galaxy— it makes it have fewer plotholes in the sense of position of satellites or planets. Having it be more than one day seems interesting, I didn't consider it, but would it be more difficult to write that much? As I knew, I thought the plan was to maybe repeat the "events" once or twice. Also, I like that idea of something clockwork! It makes it sound much more ominous!
-Owl
Not that I don't admire the aspiration, but unless there's any actually substantial story you have in mind for this, I think 'the galaxy having been repeating last weekend forever' is too large in scope to do within this project's constraints. If we say an area the size of a shooter game's multiplayer map is respawning the same TeamDeathMatch between two hostile factions over and over and that that might end the world - what seems so exaggerated about that concern? It sounds like a legit enough problem, I think.
If you do have a broader vision for that galaxy-wide plotline, please share; but otherwise let's not overload our plates with how big our doomsday is.
It isn't as much as we are addressing the whole "Galaxy-wide" thing, as much is it is a fact if the anomaly. It is a background detail which facilitates the story, allowing it to be told in such a fashion. For example, in "Groundhogs Day", the main character wakes up on the same day every morning. It is never stated that it effects such and such area, it is simply a full day restart. It is safe to assume that in "Groundhogs Day" the entire universe is resetting every day, since there is no evidence otherwise. This, however, doesn't effect the plot in a way that causes problems about a full universe reset would cause. Does this make sense? Do I need to elaborate in some fashion? I can't really see 1. any way to resolve the issues with the area specific area reset 2. how the specific area reset would constitute a doomsday scenario.
But Groundhog Day isn't a story about Bill Murray's character finding the source of the day resetting and putting a stop to it; he just screws around with people and learns to play piano and stuff while it goes on for years. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think the cause for that time loop was ever addressed or revealed in the movie.
I think, if anything, a time loop situation something like that Tom Cruise Edge Of Tomorrow movie might be more suitable to emulate (though I've not actually seen it, just read on it in the course of studying/research for this). If we're resetting the world, we need characters with Ripple-proof Memory or something (see Q3) because having to start entirely from square one or with the barest of clues they can leave for themselves by manipulating flaws in the reset, it's a lot to unravel: 1. Something unusual is happening, 2. It's the past day or two repeating over and over, 3. Determining the cause for this + where to find the source + how to stop it, 4. The actual act of going and resolving the problem.
Working through re-learning all those facts and details from scratch is too much for any character to do, and, being Act I of the grander story, will bog it down early if it's too grand in scope. From a narrative perspective, this discovery phase is meant to kick off the story - introduce the conflict and get the plot moving. If we make just learning about what's happening into the main focus, that relegates the actual "go out and save the day" action to just an afterthought.
Unless a gimmick like sticking entirely with our Dr. Main Character' POV, and the ending goes like: "Then badass dudes who can shoot good went out and contained the anomaly, but I was not present in the field for that so it will not be written about. The struggle of problem-solving in the lab/library was the real story all along." Unless we play some angle like that, recognizing that Doomsday is even happening at all should not be taking up so much of our story.
Consider a parent telling the kids "That garage door opener isn't a toy, you keep messing around with it and it'll break." But the kids don't listen and they keep pressing the button over and over and sure enough the motor for the thing stops working. Now picture instead of a garage door, it's the dimensions of space and time themselves being dicked around with. I don't think selling space-time disastery as leading to a potential world-ending situation is exaggerated.
The answers to those questions aren't actual obstacles to overcome, just things we have to invent ourselves to make use of within our story. But, for reasons of efficiently crafting a storyline, I don't believe a galaxy-wide scale serves our purposes.
Then can you propose a story structure to fit that?
Sorry if I sound combative or I'm railroading some other story and plot you haven't yet told me about. But I'm thinking, basically, maybe something along the lines of:
Act I - Introduce some characters, maybe a couple field operatives investigating some comparatively minor thing that's like a small effect of the main anomaly nearby. They look into it and it leads them to the location of the main conflict.
Act II - More characters come into play, there's exposition about the current situation, about the anomaly itself, about what's at stake if it goes on much longer, etc.
Act III - Rising action, the climax, a tale about how it goes down and what happens in the end. Wrap things up.
Super formulaic, I know. But something like a psychological suspense-thriller about a doctor freaking out over being Bill Murray in Groundhog Day doesn't feel like a good Doomsday Scenario story to me. I'm trying to work on thinking up some specifics to go in there, should be able to lay out everything I can come up with some time tomorrow night.
The big issue I have with it not being a global reset is that it no longer feels like the end of the world. With a day repeating forever, that seems like a bad ending, but a repeating battle? That just starts sounding a little too much like SCP-176. Our story doesn't have to be suspenseful, but maybe more like a situation where the reader knows a lot more then the main character. Personally, I'm a fan of the whole world resetting, as it would seem much more like the end of the world. The only situation I can see a small area reset becoming a issue is if the groups band together, which they wouldn't, and then it wouldn't be a issue of time anymore, rather clones. With the planet resetting, it leads to a whole variety of narrative choices, and, as I said, it would feel much more like the end of the world.
-Owl
UPDATE
1. Area of effect: Universal / All-encompassing
2. Time: Between 24 and 72 hours?
3. Effects on memory: Still undetermined.
4. Irrelevant
5. Irrelevant
6. Appearance/Construction: A large mechanical device (Small enough to be portable at all? So large it's built into the structure of its surroundings?)
I think this is the direction we're heading with answering these questions then? Most prevalent now will be the memories issue, I think. How do our Foundation characters retain enough to recognize the loop is repeating? What is there, if anything, that prevents anyone in the general public from catching on to it?
My idea is that maybe people's brains naturally try to find a excuse for things that are out of the ordinary, so a extra post-it note, or a misplaced sock may seem normal for near anyone, but not for a paranoid member of The Foundation. Perhaps there is nothing keeping the public from noticing, though, maybe just a lack of time to organize? The idea for people retaining memories has been fairly though out, as well, and the idea seems to be where everyone forgets everything, perhaps except for a feeling of deja vu, with them eventually learning that something is up from a series of things not changed since the last reset…probably. Idk tho, the idea is still malleable, what do you thing we could do?
Owl
I think that kinda stuff seems normal because it is pretty normal. Generally speaking, human memory tends to be not really all that good or accurate. Like, if someone misplaces their keys or whatever, claiming that space and time being tampered with is what probably caused it to happen is a big leap. One person saying it sounds like they're just losing their mind. If enough people start to say similar things, I imagine it'd more readily be treated as some form of massive shared delusion than a legitimate space-time problem. (Possible red herring device? One of those SCPs with multiple iterations, each one scaling up the spread of this delusion. Someone working on that assignment eventually somehow figures things out?)
Hmm… What about doubling down on pseudo-science to solve the problem? Like, some kind of mnestic treatment dealy that lets subjects hold memories from undone timeloops? Our protagonists just happened to be getting dosed with it around the time the event occurs? This was my chief concern with the all-encompassing scale, that the challenge of just unravelling the problem may become bigger than the challenge in solving it. But Zinc plans to write the tale where our Foundation character figures it out and moves the plot on to the problem-response phase, so I expect they have something in mind.
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BoogeyMan23
DrZinc
Owldude
Alright! I'm adding this tab dealy down here for any of us to leave messages for the group. I think using coloured text will help each of us stand apart. I'm looking forward to us all linksing up in chat to discuss our plans for this project!
B_Man23
Sounds good!
Owl
Look this team! we're going to do great!
Zinc
Added tab 'Logic 1' above. Please everyone take those and similar ideas into consideration and let's nail down some of the logistical issues we'll be working through.
So are we sticking with "RE-class Time Loop scenario"?
Zinc
Well, I didn't get my article done and submitted before deadline. I guess Team Underdogs won't be putting in an appearance at the finish line for this contest.
Oh well. I hope nobody is upset by this - it is what it is. Best wishes for all in the future.
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