SCP-3043 / Discussion

This is the discussion related to the wiki page SCP-3043.

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Author Post

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 18:07

For your consideration.

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She's the dedicated researcher with nothing to lose. He's an anomalous typewriter with dreams too big to last. And in the middle of it all is Murphy Law — the man you call when everything that can go wrong… does.

Watch them explode across the silver-screen in tonight's premier: Murphy Law in… TYPE 3043 — FOR MURDER!

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SOURCES:

• Image is from here.
• Inspired by a Marauder of mine from a Mage: The Ascension campaign, my childhood love for Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett novels, and — most of all — Calvin and Hobbes for providing the prototype of Murphy Law: Tracer Bullet.
• Additional credit should go to Taffeta's To Be Noir Not To Be, which was another inspiration for Murphy Law's whole schtick.

FEEDBACK:

• Decibelle ([SCP-3090] - This girl's gone bad on a game attack!) (blame her for the final credits scene)
• Modern_Erasmus ([SCP-3940] - Biblical Vengeance Upon Bugs Bunny)
• Taffeta ([SCP-2495] - The Well and the Pit)
• Tufto ([SCP-3722] - The City That Was Half the World)
• Mortos ([SCP-1798] - Children of the void)
• A Random Day ([SCP-2350] - From the Mind of Malinalxochitl)
• communism-will-win ([SCP-3024] - The Doxx Ghost)
• shaggydredlocks ([SCP-3247] - A Magic Mime and his Mighty Morphin' Method Acting Spider Kids)
• Anyone on FaiD who's reading this, for also reading the draft and suggesting several changes / expansions.

Also, check out the audio recording by Theesherm!

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Like the article? Click here for more of The Great Hippo's Skippos!

Last edited on 08 Jun 2018 17:06 by Leveritas Show more

On Murphy Law

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 18:23

If this article succeeds, and you want to use Murphy Law for your own skip, go right on ahead. Just keep in mind four things:

• If this article succeeds, I'm probably going to write an SCP document on him at some point in the near future.
• Murphy Law plays by his own rules. He's out of control! He's a loose canon!
• Whenever you include Murphy Law in a story, you must write that story while smooth jazz is playing. Also, it helps if you're at least slightly drunk.
• If you write Murphy Law without his trilby, he will find you. He will find you, and he will make you add the fucking trilby into your goddamn story.

Last edited on 27 Jun 2017 18:23 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: On Murphy Law

DrHematite 07 Nov 2017 22:11

Loose Canon. I see what you did there and I love it.

Re: Author Post

(account deleted) 28 Jun 2017 11:01

Based on shaggydredlocks and communism-will-win's posts, I performed a significant update/rewrite of Murphy's storyline; one that actually makes the story a mystery that Murphy has to solve.

Re: Author Post

Communism will win 28 Jun 2017 12:58

Much better! Glad you took the changes to heart.

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if your reading this your gay

Re: Author Post

Shaggydredlocks 28 Jun 2017 15:58

Definitely an improvement! I'm back to an upvote!

Upon rereading this discussion, I just noticed Deci's comment about the credits scene. Perhaps you could try with a meta-hidden collapsible (such as in SCP-2316) as an easter-egg after the 'revised SCP' doc?

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 17:55 by Shaggydredlocks Show more

Re: Author Post

(account deleted) 28 Jun 2017 16:10

I'm not seeing a hidden collapsible on that page (but I guess that's the point?).

I am super-tempted to have a hidden collapsible with a closing credits scene where…

+ show block

O5-5 and Murphy meet on the docks with O5-5's bodyguards; Murphy tells him it's done — O5-5 asks how they'll get in contact with him if they ever need him again, Murphy just says "I'll be around", and starts to walk off into the distance…

…then one of O5-5's bodyguards step forward, drawing his firearm, saying "We can't just let him go, he's an anomaly, we have to contain him—"

And the O5-5 stops him with one hand — lights his cigarette — and says — "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

Camera fades on Murphy's silhouette walking away. Credits roll. O5-5 name is censored.

ETA: Oh, you meant SCP-2316! I remember how that one works.

ETA 2: Here's what I came up with. Little worried it would push this deep into 'SCP-J' territory, but it fits Murphy's style:

(would be hidden)

FADE IN:

EXT. DOCKS - SUNSET

MURPHY stands at the edge of the docks, watching the sun go down on just another day. Behind him, two sleek black cars roll up. A dozen men start pouring out of them, but he doesn't bother to look back.

The men are smartly dressed in black suits; they crowd around a short old woman dressed in white. She slowly approaches MURPHY, leaning heavily on her cane. One man follows her closely — her personal secretary and bodyguard.

The man is AGENT JULY; whatever it is, he does it by the books. The woman is O5-5 — and if we told you anything else, we'd have to kill you.

O5-5 moves to watch the sunset besides MURPHY. AGENT JULY is clearly displeased; he'd rather her not get too close.

O5-5

You did some good work today, Mr. Law.

MURPHY

Yeah.

O5-5 reaches to pull a cigarette out of her pocket, placing it between her lips.

O5-5

If we ever need your services… how might we contact you?

MURPHY leans forward and plucks the cigarette out of O5-5's mouth. AGENT JULY immediately reaches for his firearm, but O5-5 lifts her hand to stop him.

MURPHY

I'll be around.

MURPHY turns, sliding the cigarette into his mouth and pulling out his lighter. As he walks away, he starts to light it — and a fog begins to roll in.

AGENT JULY steps forward, as if to go after MURPHY. O5-5 grabs him by the shoulder.

AGENT JULY

But — he's an anomaly. We can't let him go. We have to contain him—

O5-5

(shaking her head)

Forget about it, July. It's Chinatown.

AGENT JULY slides his hand away from his firearm. Together, they watch MURPHY walk off into the foggy night.

The camera focuses on MURPHY's silhouette as the view fades to black.

FADE OUT.

CREDITS ROLL:

DR. LEWIS played by…
MICHELLE LEWIS

SITE DIRECTOR AUGUST played by…
JEREMIAH AUGUST

SCP-3043 played by…
A 1937 OLYMPIA ELITE TYPE-WRITER

MURPHY LAW played by…
HIMSELF

AGENT JULY played by…
JULIAN JULY

O5-5 played by…
[REDACTED]


WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO SITE-95

LOOK FOR MURPHY LAW TO RETURN IN…

…THE FOUNDATION ALWAYS RINGS TWICE!

THE END

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 16:50 by (account deleted) Show more

Re: Author Post

Shaggydredlocks 28 Jun 2017 17:56

Yea, I meant 2316 - and I feel like that suits the tone of the piece just fine.

Re: Author Post

Timothy wilcox 12 Sep 2018 21:18

So I read "Never metafictional character I didn't like", and I was super confused what the other person was supposed to be, then I read this, and I realized it was the typewriter in this story! Now I am a lot less confused, but still completely on board with this absurd concept! +1!

Decibelles 27 Jun 2017 18:42

<3

But if you do write another thing with Law in it Hippo, you gotta write that closing credits scene with him and the O5.

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 18:44

YES! Oh man, I was so sad I couldn't figure out a way to work it into this. I really, really tried! But…

Spoiler

…when the scene with the typewriter came in, I was like… 'OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO END IT WITH A ZOOM IN ON THE PAPER, WITH MURPHY HAVING TYPED 'THE END'.

Witryso 27 Jun 2017 18:51

This is…one of the awesomest skips I've ever read. You, sir or madam, win all the internets.

Weryllium 27 Jun 2017 18:57

Anyone wishing to do a format screw in the future should read this skip first. This is your new gold standard. Let me break it down.

• Actually interesting base anomaly.
• Fun screw that's not overly annoying to read.
• The screw isn't a copy paste job; this took major effort.
• Good story, with interesting characters.

+1 with gusto.

Shaggydredlocks 27 Jun 2017 19:07

…aaaand you have my upvote by the first collapsible.

Scorpion451 27 Jun 2017 19:23

ditto

Shaggydredlocks 27 Jun 2017 19:28

Unfortunately, swapping to a downvote after reading the rest. This is charming as all hell, but I can't help but feel like everything was overly convenient to the point of contrivance, which made the story overall much less satisfying than it could have been.

Murphy just so happens to know everything, just because - everyone goes along with it, just because, everything simply works out, again, just because. I realize this is lampshaded a bit, but it's not really doing it for me.

As an aside, I can't help but feel like the revised SCP documentation should have preceded the story, if only so you could have ended on the final fade out.

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 19:35

Spoiler

Oh, no; Murphy literally knows nothing about this SCP. Like, the bit where he mentions them having history is meant to indicate that — they don't. Like, he flips out a bunch of photographs of SCP-3043 posing with politicians… but SCP-3043 is a fucking type-writer. How the hell did it 'pose' with anyone?

He's just making all this shit up — like a little kid who's playing a game and changing the rules around to fit whatever he's encountering. It all 'becomes' real, because that's what he does: His narrative overwhelms everything.

Fair cop about the revised SCP document, though; I waffled a lot on whether to have the revised doc at the front (in which case, it wouldn't be a format screw at all).

WrongJohnSilver 27 Jun 2017 19:40

Yes, that's what I got out of it. It's an SCP that can rewrite its own documentation; how can we even be sure that anything we read here actually happened in universe?

Compare to SCP-2284.

This is far more enjoyable to read, though, in my opinion.

Shaggydredlocks 28 Jun 2017 00:51

spoiler

He's just making all this shit up — like a little kid who's playing a game and changing the rules around to fit whatever he's encountering. It all 'becomes' real, because that's what he does: His narrative overwhelms everything.

This just kind of exacerbates my issue - it's an OP OC b.s.ing its way through the plot-points, and while I recognize that it's part of the character, I can't help but be disappointed that there's not a whole lot of substance to the story beyond a skip's noir wish-fulfillment. The actual format screw is well-done, the prose is right on-point and deliciously hammy, but I'm not sold on the narrative.

ETA:

I waffled a lot on whether to have the revised doc at the front (in which case, it wouldn't be a format screw at all).

Well, I'd say it'd still be a format-screw regardless. I'd be less worried about qualifying as a screw, and more concerned with whichever setup works best for pacing. I happen to think the 'The End' but would have been best saved for the end.

If you're not too sure about having the SCP file up-front, perhaps you could weave the two together: start with the Item Number (followed by the SCP's collapsible for the Iten Number) then the SCP Object Class (followed by the SCP's Object Class collapsible) etc, etc, etc. Maybe toy around in the sandbox and see if that suits you?

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 00:59 by Shaggydredlocks Show more

Communism will win 28 Jun 2017 07:54

I'm inclined to agree. Why did Murphy win? Because he's immune to the anomaly. Why doesn't 3043 make somebody stop him? Because he made them immune too. How does he have these capabilities? He just does.

There isn't a conflict here. Murphy struggles with nothing, and requires no visible effort to complete his mission.

But you have the style down pat, so I have hope for this yet. Perhaps he himself is immune to its effects, and can institute his Noir Override, but the typewriter can overwrite everything else. So he's left with a 'client' who insists that nothing is going on, falsified documentation that shows nothing suspicious, and site personnel who are only tolerating him because of a general sense that he "fits in" with this noir stuff… But he's still been called there, so clearly there must be work for him to do. So, you know, he has to properly hard-boil his way through a real mystery. That would be fun to read!

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if your reading this your gay

(account deleted) 28 Jun 2017 08:08

I'll think about this; part of the reason I decided not to make it a mystery is because of the limited format (and I was deeply worried that both Murphy and the writing style would start to grate on the reader if it went on too long, so I wanted to end things quickly before that happened).

If I did expand this into a genuine mystery, though, I'd probably need some help figuring a few things out.

ETA: I really like the suggestion with the type-writer overwriting everyone but him, leaving only Murphy with the sense that something's wrong, as I can see how that would work incredibly well — while simultaneously maintaining the possibility that Murphy is just making all of this up.

Last edited on 28 Jun 2017 08:09 by (account deleted) Show more

DrSevere 27 Jun 2017 19:14

This is borderline -J material but goddamn was it a fun read. Easiest +1 in a while.

WrongJohnSilver 27 Jun 2017 19:25

…I'd call this noir, but then you stuck Law in a trilby. A trademark trilby.

You monster.

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 19:48

Was not expecting to laugh that much when I opened this. Fucking A.

Genshed 27 Jun 2017 20:08

A non-joke SCP that actually made me laugh out loud.

Recommended musical accompaniment that I'm already familiar with.

A format screw that I can follow without a flashlight and a roadmap.

An entirely satisfying conclusion.

Take my +1, you magnificent bastard.

(account deleted) 27 Jun 2017 20:18

I can only reiterate what I said in the chat: you have outdone yourself this time.

+1 for what is quite possibly the best of series 4 so far.

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