You know what I absolutely eat up as a whump/angst premise? Timeloops.
Looping character not flinching at danger anymore because they’ve come to expect it.
Similarly: flinching at EVERYTHING or completely random triggers once they’re out of a loop, because a certain innocuous thing always meant disaster.
“You said that last time.”
“You… did not say that last time.”
Forgetting what day it’s supposed to be
Openly breaking down in front of people because it’s not like they’ll remember it tomorrow (bonus points if this is the day the loop breaks and they do, in fact, remember it tomorrow)
Having a cold or migraine on the day they wake up into the timeloop and just being stuck with it indefinitely
Letting themself get hurt because no permanent consequences or scarring, developing a freakish pain tolerance as a result
Chasing dangerous or harmful behaviours just for the thrill of something new
Going to bed with bruises or broken bones, knowing tomorrow there’ll be no evidence of what they’ve endured
Over time, their loved ones becoming scripted characters whom they feel like they’ll never really see again
Loops where they spend the entire duration in bed without tangible consequence
Post-loop they go days without sleeping or eating because they’ve forgotten they need to do things to stay alive
Never telling anyone about the loops after they’re over because who would believe them?
They let it slip one day and maybe somebody doesn’t believe them.
Or maybe somebody does.
