#yeah the horrors are here but you know what'd be funny <- the protagonist

[aceofspadegrass]

You know those Time Loop AUs? Yeah, so. Same premise, random thought occurred to me.

Imagine a fanfic series that effectively runs like a game. Like Undertale or really any RPG where you can choose your path every run through. So the fic runs through one version.

Then the next part in its series is, effectively, the same events, but ever so slightly different. You, as the reader, know what happens at the baseline level. You know the story. Hell, you know the protagonist. But this round the protagonist does something different.

Maybe it ends earlier, because the protagonist is a wet sack of bagels soaking in the bottom of a dumpster and fucks up earlier. Just fucking bungles it, dropped the buttered toast face side down.

Doesn't matter, the protagonist returns to the 'start' of the timeline, and they run through it again. Nothing at its story base line changes, other than a butterfly effect. If a monster is in an area, it'll be in that area unless forced otherwise. If there's an important item laying somehow, good chance it hasn't moved.

The protagonist knows this. They are aware that they're reliving everything, and either they go a little mad trying to break the loop, or they just have a nice time seeing what exactly else they could do. They know what happens, they may even already know the good ending.

Why not see if they can fuck shit up. You know, as a treat. It's not like they're going anywhere.

Yeah, it'll suck that any friendships they make will reset, but if you don't care enough you can just see what other kind of relationships you can make, can't you? Why not see if you can speed run an enemies to lovers trope? Why not see if you can stop your once best friend from seeing the Horrors?

A Fuck Around and Find Out Time Loop.

Hell, maybe the protagonist breaks the fourth wall one run-through. Just has a little 'Mind letting me NOT get eaten by rabid squirrels?' moment with the author.

So much can happen in one event timeline. A wibbly-wobbly 'Imagine if we just spent the entire time side questing while the main plot is right there' kind of series.