"The Sky is Falling" (Seeking Greenlights)

Summary:

A SCP about planes appearing in photos before disaster. The name is a work in progress.

"The Sky is Falling" (Seeking Greenlights)

BShanders_ 23 Feb 2021 22:59

Seeking Greenlights: Yes

Page Type: SCP Article

Elevator Pitch: An anomaly that manifests in photographs, in which an airplane will appear in the background after the photo develops. The anomaly only appeared for soon-to-be plane passengers, in which the plane would end up being destroyed, killing everyone on board.

Central Narrative: The phenomena was discovered in 2013 during the investigation of the Lao Airlines Flight 301 Disaster, in which the previous day, passenger Noelani Xayavong posted on Facebook noting that a photo she had took of her daughter had developed with a plane in the near background. Further instances noted through other social media posts following other plane disasters, with the foundation being able to locate instances from other tragedies dating back to the 1930s.

Hook/Attention-Grabber: There aren't many SCPs that focus on image alteration, and the idea of the anomaly being a premonition opens the door for it to be more fleshed out.

Additional Notes: I would like to know if the concept is interesting, and if it could be expanded upon to be made into a solid SCP.

Re: "The Sky is Falling" (Seeking Greenlights)

Dr BlueSpot 24 Feb 2021 14:56

Okay then, let's take a look at this, I am a bit newer to this so this may not be butterfly squad quality but hopefully it helps!

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An anomaly that manifests in photographs, in which an airplane will appear in the background after the photo develops.

When I read this I think of older camera's where the photo had to be developed in a red room before you could see it, it is a nice concept but maybe you should also try to explain if and how it manifest's in a digital photo.

General Advice: The way this concept was done is a bit limiting in it's current form, you didn't leave yourself a lot of room to expand on the story or narrative, I think it would be better instead to make it so rather than just plane's, perhaps this can manifest in other form's to predict thing's other than plane crashes', IE boat's sinking, car crashes, murder's and much more. You could really free yourself some room for experimentation if you did this. Another thing I have a concern about is that you really don't explain what causes this anomaly to manifest. It would also be nice to know something, does this anomaly cause or predict the accident happening? if it does cause it, how does it do so.
I would advice that rather than this being a anomaly that can just happen, make it a actual item, perhaps a polaroid camera that has this same effect, if you did something like that you could then go down the line's of perhaps it is being used as a way to kill people by a GOI or a cult of some sort, then you could branch out many ethical dilemma's from there, once the foundation has recovered it is it ethical to use it? even if it mean's killing a high profile person from a dangerous GOI, this concept is in concept a great idea, but I feel that you need to open up a bit more wiggle room for yourself so you can create a good narrative that is enjoyable to read.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or if you want to do a follow up, Good luck with your concept it seems like it could work.

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-Dr.BlueSpot

Last edited on 24 Feb 2021 14:57 by Dr BlueSpot Show more

Re: "The Sky is Falling" (Seeking Greenlights)

Dr Hajovsky 24 Feb 2021 04:16

Hi there BShanders_, let's take a look at your concept.

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Overall:
I agree that image alteration SCPs are interesting and not done too often from what I've seen. However, I feel this concept is missing both a compelling narrative and a hook of some kind. Simply detailing the earliest known appearance of the phenomenon isn't quite enough to be called a narrative. Generally, a narrative is simply a plot that progresses over the course of the article and explores themes or questions that your concept brings up.

There's also the question of what happens if the person takes the anomalous photo and decides for whatever reason to NOT fly on a plane the next day/hour?

Specific:

An anomaly that manifests in photographs, in which an airplane will appear in the background after the photo develops.

'Develops' makes me think the camera is a pretty old. Like one of those ones that you have to take a picture and then let it cure in a red room before seeing.

Advice:
I'd have to say the concept is pretty limited in its current format. There's not a lot of room to expand with characters or narrative with a random phenomenon involving photos. In this light, perhaps changing the nature of the anomaly would be best. I know you wanted to focus on image alteration, but I think the concept works better if it's a phenomenon or a specific camera that causes the planes in the pictures it takes to crash. Or, alternatively, the SCP is an older camera that produces photos out of the front. Any contact made to the plane in the picture is then mirrored in the real life plane, voodoo style.

This could then lean into some debate over what to do with it after it's recovered. The ability to easily take down planes while making it look like an accident could be somewhat useful in taking down commercial planes that are suspected of carrying anomalous weapons, cult leaders, etc. This does however raise some ethical questions, as some/ one researcher/s are opposed to the Foundation utilizing the object in the way. To wrap it up, you could detail the messy situation of having a known dangerous group/individual on a plane with other passengers. If the person is allowed to go free they may end up killing many more people than are on the plane, but if the Foundation acts, then innocents will die. The end result is up to you, but either way, this could present a good opportunity to comment on the purpose of anomalous power and what a human life is worth.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like me to do a follow up, as I might not see it otherwise. Good luck with your concept!

Last edited on 25 Feb 2021 02:15 by Dr Hajovsky Show more