FanChats💬submit your prompts!It's trope discussion Monday! What do you think about Time Loop fanfics? What makes them work for you? Can you recommend a great fic where time keeps turning back? 
NullNoMore@FandomChats - I like time loop fics. I like characters trying new responses, plus the geeky figuring it out process. It lets serious characters be a little goofy, shy ones be a little bold, secretive ones be honest. Ending a loop with "I'd never tell you in real life but I have always loved you" gets me every time om nom nom.
Forestofglory@FandomChats I love time loops!
Time loops are like a combination of puzzle solving and character development. Plus they are kind of isolating for the person or people trapped in them -- so in a romance context they often work as "trapped together" trope -- plus thematically time loops are often about making connections other people as the solution to the time loop
Time loops can also be fun for worldbuilding as you get to see different parts of the same places during different loops
@FandomChats Time loop rec:
"you're the trouble that i always find" by sundiscus
Not a time loop in the classic sense but features the same things happening over and over. An excellent example of time loop as trapped together scenario
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31216484
(link goes to archive locked fic)
Dr. Anne, PhD@Forestofglory @FandomChats oh that's a good one!
Cole Minor@FandomChats I can't stand time loop episodes let alone fanfic
Katriina (at Bluesky 🦋)@FandomChats
I've never really liked any sort of time loop stories, fics or otherwise
I've never really liked any sort of time loop stories, fics or otherwise
Soph (they/them)@FandomChats I adore time loops! I like the classic flavour, I like outside pov, I like ones that just show you a single day from the middle of the timeloop adventure without showing how it ends, I like ones where more than one person is looping and knows it, etc etc. There are so many fun variations you can do! It's a great way of shaking things up and giving a character opportunities to show different sides of themself, as well as to play with ideas of narrative destiny.
@FandomChats some timeloop recs:
- the power of love, by pallas_rose, a bingqiu fic that goes to some very interesting places https://archiveofourown.org/works/50131621
- a long day in yong'an by threeplums, a hualian canon divergence fic that gives many feelings https://archiveofourown.org/works/33039559
- time enough by anecdotalist, a nif fic about mei changsu with an impressively satisfying https://archiveofourown.org/works/22618825
- A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers, by Alyssa Wong, an original short story that conceptualizes timeloops differently than fandom usually does, but when taken on its own terms is really good. (and one of the leads is trans!)
Julia@FandomChats I'm not a fan of time loops although, after reading Forestofglory's post, I wonder if I simply haven't found the right ones? I can see the potential but the loop lends itself to angst, hurt and frustration, which I prefer not to make up the majority of the story atmosphere. Maybe the problem is specific for WangXian fics, amplifying the canon angst around wwx losing almost everyone and dying is just profoundly not fun.
villainous friend@thalassa @FandomChats yeah, there’s definitely only so much of that I can read! Maybe there are post-canon time loop casefics that are more fun? But then, I expect that a lot of them would be about wangxian getting together post-canon, which is a trope I’m personally not fond of. 😅
Maybe they could be already together, solve a case with a time loop, and have to help fix up someone else’s personal business to get out (the juniors? Or some OCs?).
@villainousfriend @FandomChats Yes, I'm sure it can be done in a more lighthearted, even funny way, more like Groundhog day. I must have missed such fics? The only one I remember was profoundly depressing, wwx himself became a depressed alcoholic, and I have another 1 or 2 on my list where wwx dies over and over... :/
westie@thalassa @villainousfriend @FandomChats oh nooooo yeah sometimes they really lean into the futility of the worst moments of canon in a way that's just... heartbreaking
Dr. Neon, PhD in Tragedy@FandomChats I have definitely read time loops I enjoy but I'm bad at bookmarking and bad at saving so hm can't rec any
There's one I read that was about accepting death: time loops, with the character trying to save this other character but every way leads to a different death, and it ended when they accepted it. I thought that was interesting
(Note: I tend to read for a wide variety of reasons, and "interesting implementation/execution" is one of them)
There's a lot of potential in time loops, for reasons others have stated. I enjoy it
There's one I read that was about accepting death: time loops, with the character trying to save this other character but every way leads to a different death, and it ended when they accepted it. I thought that was interesting
(Note: I tend to read for a wide variety of reasons, and "interesting implementation/execution" is one of them)
There's a lot of potential in time loops, for reasons others have stated. I enjoy it
⚜️Samifer@FandomChats i love time loops! it's one of those plots i keep telling myself i want to tackle someday but still haven't found the right angle... i love angst and i love stories where everything feels hopeless (whether it turns out well in the hand or not) so time loops are perfect for me!
@FandomChats here are 2 recs with different vibes:
Sisyphus by esama, Harry Potter gen https://ao3.org/works/1113651 i won't spoil it, but let's just say this one isn't for those who enjoy happy resolutions, lol.
And Again by Riona, Danganronpa gen https://ao3.org/works/663904 i won't spoil this one either, but it left a big impression on me back when the first DR was getting big in western fandom!
@FandomChats ...these make me realize i guess i haven't read many time loops with romance, lol. maybe this'll get me to write some... pokémon does play well with these sorts of shenanigans (as someone who has written pokémon fic involving time travel, i would know..!)
Em (Serenade)@FandomChats I tend to like it as an idea in a toot rather than a fleshed out fic. It's interesting to think about all the emotions doing something over and over again would pull up but it's hard to actually execute that!
gnocchi@FandomChats I can’t stand time loops outside of fanfiction, they fill me with so much anxiety and hopelessness. but I wonder if I might enjoy some time loop fics? I do love completion and hate how little time there is in life... I think the time loops would have to be very clearly not Eternal Hell, and I guess they might need to be able to take lots of notes because I can’t stand everything disappearing 
unforth | Duck Prints Press@FandomChats ngl I hate time travel of basically all kinds in fiction. 😅 tho some time loop stories are fun, they avoid some of the issues that to make me not like other kinds of time travel
Lumi@FandomChats I generally don't like time loops unless the fic is really well-written. Would never seek it out
FriskybizFan@FandomChats I read an OFMD one and was surprised at how much I liked it! I’ll try any concept once or twice! https://archiveofourown.org/works/51404974
Izzy/Lucius modern AU.
Izzy/Lucius modern AU.
Hamykia@friskybizfan wow, that one sounds intense and interesting. Saving it to my TBR