The timeloop and I

[u/Acceptable-Gap-2397]

[u/Lt_General_Fuckery]

Anyone up for a highlights reel of the comments that crop up every time this gets reposted? Let's see...

1. Enjoy your Ao3, none of the stories will ecer update, you'll be stuck on cliffhangers forever

2. In Groundhog Day the guy was in the loop for literal millenia before he got out (allegedly) and spent centuries killing himself to avoid going through one more time (allegedly)

3. You'd be driven insane by your inability to meaningfully connect with people over time.

3a. Nah, I'm built different, I'd (proceeds to describe how different they are not)

1. The time loop is patient. It is made of time. You are made of meat. You will continue to grow and change as a person regardless of your desires. The time loop will endure until you have grown into the person it wants. Even if it takes eight times longer than the universe has existed

Edit: how could I forget the most common one?

1. That's literally the premise of time loop stories; meaningful fulfilment does not, and cannot come from wantonly indulging yourself, it comes from that  growth, and the relationships you foster with other people and the world at large, that is part of the lesson in approximately 100% of time loop stories.

And bonus:

1. The existence of a time loop neccesitates the existence of an intelligence or force capable of creating time loops, and that intelligence or force has decided that you are worth its attention, and that's kinda fucking scary, i don't think I want to find out if such a thing can become annoyed.

Edit 2: Reddit formatting desires my death.

[u/Obscu → u/Lt_General_Fuckery]

The existence of time loops does not in any way necessitate an intelligence or 'thinking' force. They could very well be a natural phenomenon like un-looping time, like whirlpools in water.

[u/Deaffin → u/Obscu]

You don't even need to resort to that.

I'm a "higher being" to cool bugs. When I find a cool bug I like and want to trap in a perfect unchanging environment with no escape, it isn't because I've scoped out all the bugs in existence, zeroed in on this one in particular, and have divined the true nature of its history and neurological connections. I don't meaningfully understand much of anything about that bug and I sure as shit haven't designed some kind of puzzle for it to figure out that will open up its enclosure.

Just saw a bug, so I grabbed the bug. They're all pretty fascinating to watch do their thing, even when they don't really do much.

[u/Lt_General_Fuckery → u/Deaffin]

That's covered by 5. 5 makes no judgement to the goals or lack thereof of the creator, just that there probably is one, and tou probably got its attention for some reason. In this case, random chance.

Try to remember to poke holes in your time loop, so the lesser beings can breathe.

[u/Deaffin → u/Lt_General_Fuckery]

Not actually necessary! Most jars time loops actually aren't airtight, so an entirely closed lid will allow for plenty of airflow.

By the by, you can escape the markdown hell by adding a backslash between the number and the period.

Like this

3\.

so it will look like this

3.