bakerstreet | That's right woodchuck chuckers: it's GROUNDHOG DAY

That's right woodchuck chuckers: it's GROUNDHOG DAY

The Time Loop Meme

Your character woke up this morning stuck in a time loop! Today isn't tomorrow like it should be... They're now repeating one day of their life (boring, average yesterday? or a more memorable day from their past?) over and over again until... something. What will break the curse and free them from this hell? Is it becoming a better person? Falling in love? Confessing something they've always hidden? Or maybe they just need to make it to midnight 10, 100, or 1000 times and the curse will break automatically? They have no idea, and it's up to you, their player!

Frustratingly enough for your character, the person who tags your character is NOT stuck in a time loop! They have no idea your character is repeating one day over and over. Maybe this new person was never in the previous day, and they're the key to ending this curse! Or maybe they've always been there, and now your character knows way more about them than they ever remember sharing...

Plot it out and have fun!

The Time Loop Meme

Your character woke up this morning stuck in a time loop! Like me! We're stuck in this now together, buddy, repeating the same memes over and over again every year no matter what we do. At least it's only for one day, once a year, in my case. Think I'll go watch a movie between tags until this is over tomorrow.

Have fun, campers! And remember to bundle up because it's cooooold outside!

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[ ”is this legal?”

it’s the fourth time max has asked this question and nancy finds herself going through the motions, like she’s reciting lines from a script.

the first loop back after hawkins was destroyed, nancy thought it was just vecna. like maybe the first time had all been in her head, and this was the real runthrough. the one where they’d win.

but hawkins still fell, and nancy woke for the third time staring up at steve’s face in the upside down as if she’d just snapped out of her vecna trance. she spends this cycle watching the others in hopes that she might be able to pick up on anything strange, but there’s nothing. things happen exactly as they had the first two times.

max dies. eddie dies.

hawkins crumbles.

now, she's decided she'll talk about it, because she can't solve this on her own and if there's a chance to fix this? save everyone, save the town? she'll do anything.

she watches as steve and robin craft their molotovs, apprehension spooling in her belly like a steel coil, ready to snap. it has to be steve. there’s no one else. he can be … well, steve, but she knows if she goes to him withs something serious, no matter how crazy it might sound, he’ll listen.

or, she hopes he will.

when robin finally wanders away, nancy grabs her chance and heads over, flashing a tight smile that doesn’t reach her eyes as she claims robin’s seat. ]

Hey. You okay?

[ Robin's assessment of the situation leaves Steve with a pit in his stomach. Not that the pit wasn't already there, but it's as though her terrible gnawing feeling like it might not work out for us this time - yes, the words echo in his brain - is catching. Despite the unspoken promise they seal with a clink of the glass bottles, Steve's sufficiently discomforted by the whole thing, and the wound on his side twinges, as though it wanted to remind him just how painful and bloody it not working out could be.

Robin disappears back into the RV carrying the bottles, and Steve runs both his hands through his hair, blowing a long breath out. God, when would it end? Could Vecna - the Upside Down, all of it - could it ever really be stopped? Steve never regretted running into Jonathan's house that night, what feels like eons ago - wished it had never needed to happen, sure, but regretted it? No way - but sometimes the weight of it just felt heavy.

He senses Nancy sit down before he actually sees her, and Steve lifts his head, offering a tight smile. The kids know how dangerous this is, but they don't know, really, they always find a way to treat it like a game. Eddie and Robin - they get it, to a certain extent, but Nancy - yeah, Nancy knows it in her bones the way Steve does. He can see the truth of it in her eyes, and the way the lightness doesn't quite touch them, or wipe away the truth.

It reminds him why he brought up Fast Times in the first place; to distract them both from the reality. ]

I'm alright. [ Steve folds his hands, resting his forearms on his knees, ignoring the way it torques his wound. ] Good as I'll be able to get, considering. You?

Oh, yeah, [ Nancy answers with a slight shake of head and a touch of a frown in spite of her smile. Her tone sounds genuine enough, but she has trouble, sometimes, keeping her body language from betraying her true feelings. ] Good as I can be.

[ She falls silent and glances down at her lap, smoothing her hands over her thighs as she considers how to broach this topic. One might think it would be easy after all they've seen. It's just one more impossibility to add to a growing list.

The brewing anxiety that this could be him doesn't help. She knows there's a solid possibility that Vecna is in her mind, causing all of this, but when she really thinks about it like that it's all she needs to steel herself and get her confession over with. When she glances back up to meet Steve's eyes, her smile is gone, grim determination in its place. ]

Steve. I'm going to tell you something, and it might sound crazy... or it might not. [ It really might just sounds like run-of-the-mill Hawkins. It's so hard to tell these days. ] Either way, I need you to listen. Can you do that?

[ Steve can tell something is on Nancy’s mind as they lapse into a brief moment of silence - from the hunch of her shoulders, the set of her jaw. She wouldn’t have come over here for any other reason, though Steve wonders if they shouldn’t wait for Robin to come back out. It has to be about their part of the plan, surely?

All speculation is quieted as Nancy finally starts in, as tense as Steve’s ever seen her. He listens quietly, furrow in his brow deepening at her words. She’s serious - not that Steve thinks Nancy would ever really joke about this kind of thing - but it’s also hard to imagine anything sounding crazy after everything they’ve seen. ]

…you know you can tell me anything. [ Steve affirms it slowly, meeting Nancy’s gaze head-on. ] I’ll always listen. What’s going on?

[ The first time it happened was strange. Or was it the second time? The first time it looped, when he woke up to July 2nd, 1985...again. It felt like a dream, even though everything that happened the first time had felt so vivid and real. And when things started happening the exact same way as the supposed dream, he started to suspect something wasn't right.

The thing is, the night ended the same way, too. With a car crash, with a Camaro slamming into his van, and Eddie blacking out. Only it doesn't loop exactly after the airbags jettison. Something else happens, but he can't remember, and the more he tries to remember the more his throat starts to close up and he feels himself panicking for his life.

The thing is, it doesn't stop after one loop. It keeps happening, so it gets pretty clear after a while that the thing that causes the loop to reset is his own death. Which kind of sucks, because he really thought 1985 was his year. Maybe he had pleaded with some higher power to give him one more chance one time too many and it took him a little too literally. Whatever the case may be, he's starting to lose it.

And wants to be nowhere near the pool tonight, which is where the accident with the damn Camaro keeps happening, so he veers as far away from there as possible. Maybe he can trick the time loop into not resetting if he doesn't die.

Which is how he ends up at Starcourt Mall, the last place he ever expected to go. But it's safe here, right? No Camaro, no possible way he can die with the crowd here. He wanders around for a while, a man without a plan beyond stay somewhere in public, which...is find until the mall closes. He has no idea what he'll do when the mall closes, but one step at a time, right? He's feeling a little overwhelmed by the time he gets to Scoops Ahoy. So overwhelmed that at first he doesn't even notice it's Steve fucking Harrington at the counter who looked like he would rather be literally anywhere else, and Eddie slams a hand down on the counter, seemingly out of breath. Which is more from panic than from any attempt at physical activity.

Of course now that he's here, he has no idea what to say, but he kind of wants to come clean to someone? It's been suffocating, being the only one aware that he's reliving this day over and over and over, and sure Harrington is the last person he would have expected to come clean to, but beggars apparently can't be choosers. ]

Please, man, you've gotta help me, I think I'm losing my goddamn mind.

[ It’s only Tuesday, and Steve feels like it’s been a goddamn week indeed.

It probably doesn’t help that he doesn’t have any days off. Scoops has been sorely understaffed ever since Trevor quit in a blaze of glory two weeks ago, so it’s just him and Robin, and the occasional visit from Leo, the overworked regional manager who breezes in to tell Steve to tuck in the back of his shirt and panics about not having enough mint ice cream for their seemingly ever-increasing demand. It’s not too bad, considering Steve didn’t have much else to do until Dustin came back last Friday, which is honestly a little pathetic if he thinks about it for too long.

Of course, as soon as Dustin gets back, things take a turn for weird city.

There’s the weird Russian transmission that takes them several days to crack, and Robin gets involved which is - shockingly not the worst thing in the world, actually, considering how hostile she’d been towards him the entire summer - but then the stupid riddle starts to make some bizarre kind of sense -

And then there’s last night. Shortly after closing up shop, on the roof across from the loading bay. Definite suspect behavior.

So Steve’s sleep-deprived, doing a job he’s really starting to hate in an outfit he hates even more, mildly irritated and wondering why he’s getting the short end of the stick - Robin having run out of the place with their tips like a bat out of Hell, yelling a garbled something that sounded like she was coming back - but it’s the after lunch rush okay and there are only so many sundaes a man can make.

Dustin, little bastard, abandons him too to go look up something in the library. Steve’s just finished cleaning the tables from the last wave of customers, his annoyed murmuring getting louder and louder to himself, when wouldn’t you know it - the week actually gets weirder.

Steve’s gaze flickers up to the other boy when his hand comes down on the counter, fully prepared to open his mouth and give the droning Ahoy, my name is Steve speech - but the actual, like, manic look in Eddie’s eye (and it is Eddie, right? He’s pretty sure. Eddie Munson?) stops Steve short. The beat of silence goes on just a little too long, but Steve just blinks at him. ]

What’s…up? [ Steve asks slowly, eyes narrowing just the slightest bit as he assesses Eddie. It wouldn’t be the first time someone a little too toasted from various substances walked into the store - it’s a fuckin’ mall, after all. Run by Russians apparently. ] …Eddie, right?

[ On the one hand, Eddie should probably not be all that surprised that Harrington remembers his name. They did, after all, go to school together, and Eddie repeated his senior year with Harrington's graduating class. Even if Eddie did not also graduate. It's kind of hard to not notice Eddie in all his dramatics. Hell, he's also known for being the resident drug dealer for all the rich kids in need of a quick fix.

Yet, he kind of figured that after Steve graduated, Eddie would have immediately been stricken from his memory.

Then again, he also never would have expected to see Steve working here in a thousand years. Not when he had access to daddy's money. At least, that is the assumption, and Eddie should probably know better than to assume.

Still. ]

At your service. [ He throws in a quick grin and bow to cover up how absolutely insane he feels right now, about to launch in the craziest story to Steve fucking Harrington of all people. All while the guy is wearing the world's most ridiculous work uniform. ]

You're gonna think I'm crazy. I promise you, cross my heart and hope to die, I am telling you the truth when I say I keep reliving this day over and over again and I think it resets when I die? [ He hasn't really tested it, but he knows for sure he's died at least ten times and woke right back up at home in the sweltering summer heat back in his trailer. ]

[ They haven't crossed paths all that much, Steve and Eddie, but it would be hard to forget Eddie. Especially with swirling rumors - not that Steve's ever bought pot from Munson, actually, he's never bought pot, Tommy was the one with the hookup - and the general zany air. But if there's one thing that Steve can remember, it certainly isn't facts or figures - it's Hawkins drama.

Steve just raises an eyebrow, wondering if Eddie really is going to try to sell him drugs at his place of work, or something equally ridiculous. He's pretty sure he's the one that supposed to be at Eddie's service, considering which side of the counter he's on, but there's no line behind Eddie for once in the past two hours, so Steve's willing to entertain it for a minute. ]

...when you die. [ He repeats the words slowly, brain trying to catch up with the sentence. Steve can't believe he's the only one here dealing with this - he also can't believe that he's unable to dismiss it out of hand.

Living in Hawkins, having seen the shit he's seen - there are tells when a person is making shit up for a lark, and Eddie doesn't have those. Despite him pasting on his usual devil-may-care attitude, there's a kernel of something real behind his eyes that Steve knows, when shit is so totally fucking crazy and you're being dead goddamn serious.

So Steve considers him for a beat, making that assessment, and he taps two fingers on the counter for a moment before he nods once and meets Eddie's gaze seriously. ] Alright, Munson - fuck, look, I am not fucking with you, okay, so you better not be fucking with me. Deal?

[ Steve blows out a breath, wishing to high heavens Dustin or Robin or hell, even Nancy, someone more equipped to deal with this was here, but Eddie lucked into Steve. ] Let's continue this conversation under the assumption that I believe you. How do you die? When it resets - how does that happen?

( When Steve isn't chasing him off, Eddie's immediate response is to fix him with a look of utter shock. He thought for sure Steve would be calling security or getting his manager to deal with Eddie's lunacy, but he's actually entertaining Eddie's admittedly crazy claims.

Which, given the string of days he's been having, one day over and over again, is something he can't take for granted. Not when he could die at any moment and restart the loop again. )

I'm not fucking with you, I swear on my fucking guitar. ( Which probably doesn't mean much to Steve, but she means the world to Eddie. )

Over by the pool. It's -- I've got a sale I'm supposed to make just before ten so I'm always over there and then this car comes out of nowhere. I started trying to take different routes, but it's like, whoever the driver is, it's like he's hunting me down. The car slams into my van, and after that it gets blurry until I wake up again and it's like the day never happened, I'm back to square one again.

( As Eddie talks, he can't help but start shaking as he remembers the details. He still has some time before the sale is supposed to take place, but Eddie is tempted to see what happens if he doesn't show up at all. Would he still run into the asshole with the Camaro that is dead set on ending his life? He might be desperate to make whatever sales he can over the summer considering he doesn't have the usual business, especially with the rise of Starcourt, but maybe that's the only way he can break the loop. )

I don't know what to do. I'm kinda -- ( He pauses, looking around as if worried someone might overhear him admitting this to Steve of all people. ) scared that even if I stayed home whoever it is, they're still gonna come for me, you know?

[ Eddie looks surprised, but not stumped, like he might if he were playing some kind of elaborate joke on Steve; which, Steve guiltily thinks, if the situation were reversed he'd probably have stolen the stupid sailor hat and run away.

Eddie's intensity definitely lends to his air of gravity, and Steve just blinks at him, watching unsteadily. He doesn't do anything crazy (look, it's a public mall, Steve's seen some shit), and Steve - God help him, it's not the craziest thing he's heard all week. ]

...Right. [ It's a lot of information, and Steve once again wishes someone more adept at handling this shit was here to help. There's something in Eddie's eyes, though, in the way his hands shake, that makes Steve think maybe Nancy wouldn't be the best choice - maybe there's something Steve can do, even if it's just giving him a place to lie low and calm down. ] Just...you can - fucking christ.

[ The mother with her toddler at the corner table gives him a dirty look, and Steve lowers his voice, leaning across the counter. ] Stay here, okay? Just - you can stay here, we don't close till 9:30 and then I have to lock up, so we'll be here till 10 anyway. There shouldn't be any cars coming through the walls around here.

[ Hey, at least this way if Eddie is tripping, maybe whatever he's on will wear off by that point? Steve reaches under the counter, pulling out one of the aprons - a cheery, sailor-trimmed apron they're supposed to use when restocking so their uniform doesn't get dirty. It is, arguably, worse than the uniform, so Steve and Robin unilaterally decided to only wear it when management was around. ] If anyone asks, you're training, okay?

And...I've got a kid, coming around, his name is Dustin Henderson. [ Steve points a finger at Eddie seriously, or, as seriously as anyone could possibly manage in that stupid, stupid hat. ] He's...playing a make-believe game about Russian spies, alright, and if I hear one word out of you about it, I'll kick your ass. Got it?

( Immediately Eddie finds himself deflate when Steve offers him the chance to stick around. The tension eases and he practically collapses against the counter, feeling a sense of relief that maybe, just maybe he'll get through the night. He isn't sure the danger won't somehow follow him here, but if there's even the slightest chance this might break the loop, Eddie is going to take advantage.

Besides, at least now that he no longer feels like he's about to spiral out of control, he can really appreciate the way Steve looks in the outfit. Although...maybe he should be appreciating it less, especially if he wants Steve to let him stick around until closing. )

Right, yep, training, totally. ( He does not look the part at all, but he's not going to argue with Steve when he could very easily rescind his offer. He reluctantly puts the apron on, making a face at how silly it looks, but maybe if whoever wants him dead strolls through the mall the apron will help him blend in. He has to hope, anyway. )

Dustin Henderson, ( he repeats, with a cocked eyebrow, ) you his babysitter or something? ( Well, it sounds like a babysitter relationship if there's a make-believe game involved. ) You can count on me, won't say a word. ( He makes a gesture like he's zipping his lips and gives Steve a very enthusiastic thumbs up. )

[ It's definitely a new path, one Eddie hasn’t been down before, and that’s worth trying, in and of itself. If a car flies through the wall of the interior food court - Scoops’ storefront faced inwards, and the back faced the supply hall, which had Macy’s on the other side - well, at that point, Steve would just be impressed by the dedication.

The apron looks just as ridiculous on Eddie as Steve’s outfit, so maybe he does fit in. Anyone who looks like they should be working at Scoops sounds like a nightmare. Steve lets Eddie step behind the counter, pointing him towards the utility sink; somewhere he could look busy, if he needed to. ] Good.

Yeah…sort of. [ Steve squints suspiciously at how relaxed and genuinely pleased Eddie is at Steve allowing him to stay. ] I’m serious, dude, you make fun of him and you’re out.

[ Steve will admit, he doesn’t know much about Eddie Munson, but they’ve got enough going on without Steve adding extra stress to the situation. Plus, Robin already beat him to the making-fun-of-Steve-for-hanging-with-kids thing. ]

…and if you want some ice cream. [ Steve offers, feeling a little bad, and he takes his scoop out of his sling, flipping it in his hand. Endless hours in this fluorescent hell had honed that skill. ] The butterscotch is overrated, but the mint’s pretty good.

( If there's one thing Eddie is good at, it's playing pretend. So if he has to pull together a character for the sake of making it look like he works there, so be it. What he isn't good at is taking orders, especially from the likes of Steve, but for the sake of making sure he avoids whatever or whoever apparently wants to kill him, he can make do for one night. Maybe it'll break the time loop and he and Steve can go on their separate ways.

He raises an eyebrow at the not-so-thinly veiled threat. ) I'm not gonna make fun of him, man. That's not my style. ( He doesn't want to point out that it would have been Steve's style, or at least his friends' style, because he really does want to stay here if it's the key to making it through the night. )

Mint? I like mint. ( He perks right up at the idea of free ice cream. He looks up just in the nick of time to see Steve's little scoop swirl and, goddamit, that shouldn't be so impressive. Or attractive, even. He'll blame it on delirium caused by reliving too many time loops. )

( info. interested in doing a riff on the 7½ deaths of evelyn hardcastle where they wake up in a different body every day. )

[ Character info. ]

[[On her end most of the days that come to mind involve death or near-death, so it's likely to be a heavy one, but open to other ideas if you have them.]]

[[OTA and up for any scenario, but I will say I am super into the idea of looping around one of the notable days/decisions of canon until he learns to handle it.]]

[[Bio + preferences. He's gonna hate every minute of this supernatural bullshit, so that's fun. Alternately if you'd like a skeptic who needs to be convinced to help, he's good for that.]]

[ interested in casemates for a scenario with where he doesn't get shadowbringers right first time and has to reload a few saves ]

[ I feel like there might be some fun to be had here with NG+? ]

((oh my gosh yes, that sounds perfect!! c: was there any canon point you were feeling, or should we just start off towards the beginning?))

( Towards the beginning is totally okay with me! It'll be interesting for Akira to have the information he has from third semester while she's... you know, off in her own head. It'll make things different for sure!

Did you want me to start, or would you like to? I'm good either way! )

[Akira can endure a lot, but it still took a great deal to come to terms with the fact he's living through 2016 all over again.

He goes through the motions as best he can - Sojiro's harshness, his awakening, meeting his friends all over again and trying to accept the fact that they don't know him. If nothing else, he doesn't have to bear the stinging hope that his parents will give him a phone call, because he already knows that outcome.

No one remembers, no matter how many hints he tries to drop. Not even Morgana. Not even Lavenza - no, she is two people right now, Caroline and Justine. He works with "Igor" because he has to, because he knows his body and Persona are both too weak to face off against the false owner of the Velvet Room, and tries not to let his jaw give away how tight his teeth are clenched.

There is really no reason to expect that anyone will be different, and yet in the middle of May, Akira finds himself slipping past all of his other obligations and making his way to the gym. He has to deal with the normal slew of students gazing at him suspiciously, but it's not anything new that he can't handle. He waits patiently on the sidelines until Sumire is done, and doesn't approach until she's already changed.

His mouth feels dry all of a sudden.]

Hi, you're Yoshizawa-san, right? You don't... remember me from anywhere besides the train that time, do you?

[Will she think he's strange, asking so suddenly like this...? Maybe, but- he has to know. He has to be sure.]

[ Where others in the gymnasium might have their attention focused on the newcomer, hers is on her routine the whole time she's out on the floor, the whole time she's getting changed. Technically it's still on her mind when her senior approaches her, snapping her attention out of her frustrated funk and to him instead, her mouth forming a ring of surprise. ]

O-oh! Yes, that's my name! And you're, um, Kurusu-senpai, right?

[ The troublemaker, is the dull echo in her head, the forceful insistence of Kamoshida-sensei's words later that week. And yet, on the train at least, he seemed to her not like someone out to cause trouble, but someone trying to help...

But, oh, that doesn't answer his question, does it? Although it's a puzzling, strange question. Remember him?

The girl who believes her name to be Kasumi is quick to bow, in part out of her usual politeness and in part to attempt to cover the confused expression on her face for long enough that she can find the right words to say. It doesn't work, although at least she's able to add something apologetic to her smile as she shakes her head. ]

I'm terribly sorry, but I don't... Is there, um, something else I'm supposed to remember, senpai?

[You all have NO idea]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's right woodchuck chuckers: it's GROUNDHOG DAY

Steve Harrington | Stranger Things

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Marc Spector/Steven Grant | Moon Knight | ota

nadia vulvokov (russian doll)

xue yang • mdzs / the untamed • m/m for shipping

Wynonna Earp | OTA

kaeya alberich — genshin impact (ota).

wilma clements | original.

ruby lucas/red | ouat | ota

Hibiki Fujiwara | Original | OTA

carol danvers | mcu | ota

Abigail Hobbs | Hannibal | OTA

Jason McConnell | bare: a pop opera

Nate Boyd | original | ota

sam beckett | quantum leap

elia martell | asoiaf | ota

Billy Loomis l Scream l OTA

Sidney Prescott l Scream l OTA

Makima | Chainsaw Man

Junko Enoshima | Danganronpa

pyrrha nikos | rwby

G'raha Tia | Final Fantasy XIV

sansa stark | asoiaf/got | ota

Chrissy Cunningham (AU) | Stranger Things | OTA

Eddie Munson | Stranger Things | OTA

Steve Harrington + Stranger Things + OTA

nanami chiaki | dangan ronpa 3 | ota

akira kurusu | persona 5 royal | ota

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I am SO SORRY for the wait, let me know if this starter works if you were still interested!

very much so! I also had a delay, so apologies here too ♥

akechi goro | P5

N | Xenoblade Chronicles 3 | OTA

Walter Sullivan | Silent Hill 4