The Hospital Room Where Nothing Changes

Summary:

Would you rather your loved one die forever than live in a world where they're dead?

The Hospital Room Where Nothing Changes

Sonderance 11 Feb 2020 08:07

Please note: This is yet another time-loop SCP, so if it's too similar in concept to any that precede it, please let me know.

The gist of it is exactly as it is stated in the title: a room in a hospital whose anomalous property is a complete and total lack of change. It's occupied by two individuals, a man and his dying brother. The cup on the table is always half-full. The man in the bed is always breathing his final breath. And the man sitting next to the bed is always saying goodbye.
I have a few conceptual thoughts regarding the awareness of the conscious brother and his feelings regarding the situation, but I thought it was worth putting this out there first.

Re: The Hospital Room Where Nothing Changes

(account deleted) 12 Feb 2020 00:54

The idea itself isn't that bad, even though it's bearing some similarities to other time loops SCPs, mainly because the main theme of many time loop SCPs is that they exist due to someone's emotional struggles and are meant to induce empathy for the people trapped in them. This won't necessarily a problem if you can make the characters/situation within the loop itself feel original enough. That said, I don't think that, based on the initial summary, the concept provides enough substance for me to feel empathy for those 2 people. So I'd suggest expanding on that part, and adding the part about the brother's awareness too, because the characters and their story clearly will be the focus of the article, and are very important.

On the contrary, a scene like this can be perceived in a scarier way: being forced to relieve your last breath without a possibility to reach your destined end can feel like torture, in both physical and emotional sense.

So, I'm interested on where you intend to go with this, so feel free to respond here and PM me if I'll forget to check the thread (that happens too). Good luck.

Last edited on 12 Feb 2020 17:35 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: The Hospital Room Where Nothing Changes

Sonderance 12 Feb 2020 20:32

Ah! You've made some excellent points.
With your critique in mind, let's say that instead of being on his last breath, the dying brother is as close to death as possible while still maintaining consciousness, allowing us the complexity of two conflicting perspectives: the dying man who wants to leave his pain behind, and the living man whose focus is more on avoiding the looming grief for a few more seconds than allowing his loved one some peace.
So in that vein, I'd love to portray both of these perspectives! Both the brother who is treasuring every miraculous static second and the brother who is in the endless agony of deferred oblivion.
(Apologies for my purple prose / weird language, BTW; I'm very tired.)
If I decided to go down this route, both brothers could conceivably end up getting what they wanted. If the anomalous properties of the room faded in some way, the dying man could finally pass away while his brother would receive amnestics and be released, thereby fully avoiding the burden of grief he was afraid of.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Re: The Hospital Room Where Nothing Changes

(account deleted) 13 Feb 2020 10:23

I think that's not a bad route to take here. It elevates a simplistic "sad stuff" moment into something that can potentially be thought-provoking. Of course, the topic still needs to be handled carefully to not seem too melodramatic, especially if some dialogue will take place, but I think it's worth trying out.

UPD: oh right, I think I'll greenlight this as well.

Last edited on 13 Feb 2020 10:46 by (account deleted) Show more