"According to SCP-3999's original design, Talloran was to die with 3999 without anyone knowing, and in this story, he managed to overcome all obstacles and return to reality, and was awarded the 'Foundation Star'. "You Wei contrasts the two endings.

Emotionally, the latter ending is better.

No matter how desperate the situation is, human beings always look forward to perfection.

But think about it in terms of artistic creation......

An idea gradually came to his mind to combine the two, "Let the audience think that Tarolan has broken free from death and return to reality, and the moment they see the light of hope, move on to the final plot of the original SCP-3999 file." ”

What is the end of a 3999 file?

It was the only part of the entire work that was written in a regular archival format, and was written by Foundation personnel after Talloran's body was found at the bottom of Site-118's Keter containment chamber.

"The body of Level 3 Researcher Talloran was found at the bottom of SCP-3999's containment chamber, and Researcher Talloran disappeared almost immediately upon assignment to Site-118. He was found with a standard Foundation cell phone, containing a text suspected to be SCP-3999's containment procedures, but the text and content were full of errors and were completely inconsistent with the usual [REDACTED] language and format of the Foundation. ”

The text on Talloran's phone is the chaotic text that accounts for the vast majority of the front of the file, and it is also the key to showing the spiritual core.

In that text, 3999's original object was classified as Apollyon.

This is a more dangerous and rarer rank than Keter, meaning "Apollon", and in the Christian biblical book of Revelation, a messenger from the bottomless pit, that is, a devil from hell, with the meaning of Satan, demon.

However, in the Foundation's rewritten archives, it has been reassessed as Neutralized.

Neutralized - Neutralizes, cancels, and disables, representing SCP objects that have been destroyed.

Taroran destroyed 3999, reversing the end of reality at the cost of his own death.

That's the perfect ending!

According to the idea of combining the two, the final production of the animation should be as follows-

When Talloran finally voiced all his fears and worries under Draven's comfort, and tried to believe that the world he was in was reality, there seemed to be a moment of light ahead.

The camera then cuts to another location, and the viewer's perspective follows a guard in Foundation uniform as he steps into a dusty Keter containment cell.

There was nothing anomalous in the empty room, and the Keter-class SCPs that were supposed to exist there were nowhere to be found.

There was only one person, a young man who had long since died, lying here quietly.

Only the identity tag on his chest, which was also dusted, announced to the comers the name of this hero who saved the world-

SCP Foundation, Level 3 Researcher, James Martin Talloran.

The final frame is fixed on the Foundation's logo and Talloran's name.

With a crisp "click" of a keyboard tap, the list of credits rises in the shadows.

This concludes the feature film.

"How do you feel?" You Wei asked the only audience behind him.

Ni Xianshen asked back quite politely: "Are you the devil?"

Stuff the audience with a mouthful of candy first, and then at the moment when their vigilance drops to the lowest point, they backhand pick up a forty-meter knife and stab it in.

It is worthy of You Wei, this knife insertion technique is really not ordinary skill!

"It's just an open-ended ending, and the audience can also think that Talloran has really been redeemed. You Wei chuckled, "And if I'm the devil, you can't escape, the devil's accomplice." ”

Breaking free from the never-ending cycle of death and rebirth and falling into eternal slumber can indeed be counted as another form of "salvation".

Anyway, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was more cool to animate in this direction.

As for whether the audience will be happy......

Mind them, just do it yourself!

Isn't the audience or something, fans or something, just for the pit?

Regret can create an epic, and only tragedy can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people!

Ni Xianshen knows this very well, as You Wei said, he is an accomplice of the devil.

Those works of the pit man's skillful knife insertion skills have his help.

So the ending is set according to these lines for the time being, and there is another problem-

"What's the sound of the keyboard at the end?" was also highlighted by You Wei.

"The sound of the enter key is an easter egg combined with the end of 3999. ”

After the Foundation found Taloran's body, there was one more passage.

Eight words, to be exact.

- "[DATA EXPUNGED]"

- "I'm done. ”

These eight words do not belong to the chaotic world that Talloran experienced, nor are they part of the records that the Foundation later joined.

They are the author's last message, the brushstrokes of 3999's writer who broke through the narrative barrier and appeared in the archives.

"Meta, the 'meta' element. You Wei explains it with a more precise definition.

This is a concept derived from classical Greek philosophy, the meta.

When compiling the Anthology of Aristotle, the famous writer Andronicus put the volume of philosophy after the volume of natural sciences and named philosophy "metaphisics".

In his view, philosophy is a reflection on the deep laws of natural science.

In this way, the meaning of the word "meta" means "primordial", "regular", and "system" gradually became clear and finalized.

In today's cultural system, "yuan" represents a specific creative element.

— that is, "breaking through the narrative".

Emphasizing the fictional nature of creation, so that the characters who are created know that they are in a fictional story.

To put it simply, it's a book that takes the writing process that I'm racking my brain about how to explain this concept to you, and makes the act of narrative itself a part of the narrative.

Breaking out of the frame, this is "meta-narrative", "hyperfiction".

While most people may not have heard of the specific definition, "meta" is not a very rare element.

Many authors have unconsciously written about content that contains a "meta" nature.

- For example, those who write books where characters break through to the real world and kill the author.

- Another example is those who have to insert a narration in the writing process to include a paragraph of "what the author said".

- For example, those who put themselves in books as characters......

Yes, the last one to talk about is the zhttty who wrote "Infinite Horror"!

And the last paragraph of 3999 is different from those.

Metafiction completely overturns the authenticity and sense of substitution of the story, and makes readers who should be immersed in the fictional world wake up in an instant. You Wei is well aware of the pros and cons of this technique, "A devastating blow to the narrative is tantamount to pouring ice water on the reader's head." ”

It's like reading a book and reading it with energy, substituting yourself into that fantasy world, and being happy or sad for the sincere feelings of the characters in the book.

At this moment, the author suddenly came out and slapped you, "Wake up, it's all fake, I made it up!"

Let's just say that it is not angry?

The four words that are simply written: "I'm done" are a slap in the reader's face.

The story of Tarolan is fictional.

There is no such thing as SCP-3999 that is capable of ending reality.

But the struggle that erupts from the words is real.

All the people who were, are, and will be in deep pain, all the mortals who are haunted by despair, are a realistic portrayal of Talolan.

He conquered all things.

What about you?