Seeking Greenlight: A Towns Labyrinth

Summary:

An MTF Agent gets trapped in a seemingly infinite town and must come to grips with his fate

Seeking Greenlight: A Towns Labyrinth

NullnNow 26 May 2020 17:09

Seeking Greenlights: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Genre (Optional): A critique of the options one faces when presented with a difficult challenge, as well as a humanization of MTF agents

Page Layout (Optional):

Elevator Pitch: There is a town that goes on forever, wherein a MTF agent gets trapped and slowly goes insane while meeting strange characters.

Central Narrative: The journal of an MTF agent trapped inside the town and depicts his slow decent into madness.

Throughout his journey he comes across the following characters:

• An optimistic musician who refuses to lose hope
• An alternate version of Romeo and Juliette fueled by hate instead of love
• A person who has deified the town
• A person who has given up and refuses to walk any further
• A person who has forgotten about everything else and only knows about the labyrinth

Hook/Attention-Grabber: The only source of knowledge about the town comes from the journal of a deceased MTF agent. The journal was found in the Wanderers Library and is classified as SCP-XXXX-X despite having no anomalous features.

Additional Notes: I want to humanize the MTF agents that work at the Foundation while having a nonsensical setting akin to Alice in Wonderland.

Last edited on 31 May 2020 21:37 by NullnNow Show more

Re: Seeking Greenlight: A Towns Labyrinth

NullnNow 26 May 2020 18:14

• A person who has forgotten about everything else and only knows about the labyrinth

I misclicked, I thought I was editing the original post instead of making a new comment, sorry about the confusion.

Last edited on 26 May 2020 18:16 by NullnNow Show more

Re: Seeking Greenlight: A Towns Labyrinth

cybersqyd 05 Jun 2020 14:20

This feels, like it has a lot of really interesting elements, but also like it's lacking some kind of connective tissue linking it all together? Like, at the moment, it's Alice in Wonderland except she's just happy to be there and wandering around, and not Alice in Wonderland where she's on an adventure because she's trying to escape?

I,,,assume the trapped means the MTF agent is like, trying to get out and recording stuff in a journal but how does this end? I guess the implication is they die and someone from the Wanderer's Library recovers it but it feels, perhaps like that'd be underwhelming unless there was a strong running narrative through this?

I guess my concern here is that it ends up feeling narratively like it might end up a lot like SCP-4000 except without anywhere near as satisfying an ending.

Re: Seeking Greenlight: A Towns Labyrinth

NullnNow 06 Jun 2020 04:59

First and foremost I would like to thank you for your critiques! I totally agree that there would have to be a very strong running narrative in order for this to work. Below is the planned running narrative I am hoping to achieve. I should probably also clarify/update about a few things in order to provide a bit of context.

Clarifications/Updates:

• The MTF Agent doesn't die - Originally he did die, but I felt like it didn't work with the overall story. What is more is that by not having him die I can 'answer' the question infinite Ikea prompted at the end of its article: "What happens if I wake back up in here?"
• The town basically consists of nonsensical and infinite cobblestone paths that stretch on forever. When walking down these paths one can occasionally meet another person who has been trapped in the town.
• My approach to an Alice in Wonderland-esque setting isn't so much the physical setting itself, but rather a world with a series of random and bizarre rules. This can include things such as things being bigger/smaller on the inside than they appear on the outside, puddles being as deep as the ocean, stuff like that.
• The MTF Agent originally starts wandering around because he is trying to escape. However, he eventually realizes that it is most likely impossible to escape the town. This eventually leads him to ask, and ultimately answer, the question of "Do I keep wandering despite the odds of never being able to leave this place? Or do I just stop walking, and do nothing?"

The Running Narrative

I am hoping to have a running narrative between the MTF Agent and his memories (if that makes sense). Essentially the first entry in his journal starts with him writing about his family. Around halfway through the journal he begins to forget about them, and as he forgets them he has to struggle with a loss of hope. The journal ends when the MTF Agent runs out of pages, and rereads his journal. When he remembers the life he forgot he decides to keep wandering the town.

This decision is the product of both remembering his family and meeting various different characters who have also gotten trapped in this town. These various characters have dealt with the realization of never being able to escape the town in the following ways:

• By giving up and just stop walking
• By doing the things they did before getting stuck in the town
• By ignoring the town, and desperately trying to relive old memories
• By worshiping the town in the hopes of convincing their deity to let them go free
• By just walking in a straight line because they have nothing better to do

Upon rereading his journal and reflecting on both his family and the various people he met while in the town, the MTF Agent is able to come to terms with the fact that he is now trapped, unable to escape. However, instead of giving up or lying to himself, the MTF Agent decides to continue walking. This is because he has something worth fighting for, with the last journal entry being a reminder to himself of this.

---

I am also considering having the MTF Agent that found the journal be one of the field agent's children. Growing up they never actually knew what happened to their father, and this could serve as their closure, although I am not sure as to whether or not that would be a bit too on the nose.

I would once again like to thank you for your time and your feedback! (Also, I apologize if like nothing in this response made sense. I am going a bit stir crazy from quarantine and the struggles that come with it.)