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The Message

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 TVTItem
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 First published in The Magazine Of Fantasy And Science Fiction (February 1956 issue), this Short Story by Isaac Asimov is focused on explaining an Historical In-Joke; who first wrote "Kilroy was here"?The story opens with three unnamed war veterans drinking and celebrating their past. Discussion turns to a Memetic Mutation, first seen in northern Africa. Switching to that instance, we also change perspectives, telling the story from George's view. George has come from the future to collect original research on infantrymen in World War II. Unable to resist temptation, he leaves a tag for anyone who passes by to see; Kilroy Was Here.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })This story has been reprinted five times; New Worlds Science Fiction (issue #54, December 1956), Earth is Room Enough (1957), The Far Ends Of Time And Earth (1979), Isaac Asimov Der Tausendjahresplaner (1984), and The Complete Stories, Volume 1 (1990).
 The Message
fetched
 2020-01-18T14:32:32Z
 The Message
parsed
 2020-06-24T08:19:34Z
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 DBTropes
 The Message / int_2ec219ee
type
 Butterfly of Doom
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 Butterfly of Doom: (Implied Trope) A lot of effort is spent to make a time traveller the "pure observer", meaning they leave zero impact on events. George Kilroy wasn't content with that, and wrote Kilroy Was Here. The story ends after that transgression.
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 The Message / int_91a34e4e
type
 Field Trip to the Past
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comment
 Field Trip to the Past: The protagonist is from the thirtieth century, collecting original research for an academic paper on infantrymen in World War II.
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 1.0
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 The Message / int_a1d753b6
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 Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue
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 Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue: This story is written with very clear imagery for the setting and emotion, but the character descriptions are, as usual, treated as sparse and unnecessary.
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 1.0
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 1.0
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hasFeature
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 The Message / int_name
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 ItemName
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 The Message

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The Message
hasFeature
 Butterfly of Doom / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
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 Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
hasFeature
 Flash Fiction / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
hasFeature
 Good Is Boring / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
hasFeature
 Intro-Only Point of View / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
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 Short Story / int_e2ac1023
 The Message
hasFeature
 Switching P.O.V. / int_e2ac1023