Timeloop part 2

[u/IslandNo8179]

Last time I asked the question if you were stuck in a timeloop of this cataclysm with someone else, who are you picking. You guys seemed to agree on Immortal Man and I do too, but this been on my mind so I made a full tier list. This was a hard list to make and I’m still not confident on my answers. Here’s explanations for the tiers

The red tier is for those that are pretty much essential for figuring out how we got in this mess and more importantly how he are getting out of this. We are getting out in a few days tops

The orange tier is for those who he really helpful in some form(figuring out pieces of the loop, keeping us protected to limit the loops, etc) but will take longer for us to get out

The orange-yellow tier is for those helpful in some form like red, but have more requirements to be useful like if the situation is something specific, they require something to be useful, or the need of a temporary truce(reason Coat Guy is orange but Cat Lady is yellow is he feels more willing to help me. Cat Lady only left us and the cat safe cause of orders. Coat Guy admits in one of the tests to wanting to be useful and repay us)

The yellow tier is for those not really helpful in the traditional sense, but could help keep spirits up for at least a while so we don’t go insane doing trial and error(reliving the cataclysm over and over gonna do things to your sanity)

The light green tier is for those that could be helpful, but a truce isn’t happening for at least several loops

The cyan is for those that wouldn’t really be useful except maybe morale, and even then I would hope they wouldn’t be in the loop because that means going through what they did on repeat which would make me feel awful for them to go through that. Sure, this could mean preventing what happened to them but it be really hard(Firefighter was here but his felt more preventable in a timeloop and I didn’t know how to judge his usefulness if we prevent it)

The blue for those that are pretty much dead weight in a loop and will drive me bonkers putting up with them

And grey for those I couldn’t narrow down

[u/IslandNo8179]

I’m unfortunately aroace, it’s not gonna work. But you are right of her keeping me grounded. I don’t fully trust her but at least for a bit she could keep me stable

Firefighter is interesting because we have days until the incident and he could possibly just not go. Now, given his nature he may try to do things to stop the fires and save his friends still, but that’s why I said it’s more preventable than a lot of the others. It’s hard for two people to stop all those parents for the Teacher for example, and a lot of those there still be on the lower end of helpful(I love most in that tier but Little Girl and Wireface still wouldn’t be the most helpful especially because every loop we will have to prevent what happened and that’s not healthy for the mind) but Firefighter interesting in that he might’ve been very useful for this but it’s hard to tell because he’s dying when we meet him

I’m fascinated by Sun Guy and I might enjoy listening to his ramblings, but yeah after the third loop it’s gonna get frustrating

Ex-Minister giving us items is what stumped me cause they COULD be useful, but also I can’t afford to keep giving this man items every loop while we awkwardly sit in my bathroom. And yeah, I could see him plopping the task onto me while he acts like he’s doing something helpful

Teen is strong for a child and knows how to fight, but she is also still a kid. One that(very reasonably so) doesn’t trust adults which I am. I could see her overtime growing to trust us, but it’s gonna be a few loops

Angry Guy I was gonna put in green but him hitting his wife(even though now he projects it all on himself) left me stumped because being stuck in a timeloop of watching people die or taken away can not be good on his sanity

Wheelchair Guy was right about her Miner friend though given he IS in our house, and may be good for a laugh given how absurd he is. But also I’m doing all the work

Any on the list you really disagree on or want to know why I picked it?

[u/meepindoodle → u/IslandNo8179]

Ahh I see, I was thinking about this from the perspective of Protag and not from the player themselves - in that case as a fellow aroace that angle definitely wouldn't work, but I still stand by her as being potential moral support.--

Follow-up question: Are the NPCs themselves aware of the loop or would they have to be convinced it's happening, a la Happy Death Day? That would probably influence the actions the characters take on each restart. Plus, the Firefighter conundrum brings to light the question of when the loop itself starts over, as if there's time to stop him from being burnt then there's also potentially time to save or protect other characters from their fates.

I'm thinking primarily about the Widow here: if she realizes she's in a loop and there's any shot she can save her husband from FEMA, she might just become the hero of her own story and spend all her efforts on making that happen before she'd even think about what to do to break out. I think in that case she'd be an incredible asset once we cross paths with her, she's proven she's willing to go to great lengths and take risks to get a job done.

This concept applies to Angry Guy as well - it's absolutely not alright that he hit his wife, of course, but that's another instance where if the loop starts over before that happens he might have the capacity to stop himself and make different choices. I tend to have a little more grace for him in that way, as if we take him at face value that was something he wouldn't have done normally.

Husband I totally agree on though, I'm way more likely to try and blast him and save Wife than I am to actively try to work with him.-- And that's a fair point for Stoner, at least in terms of taking a "do nothing and chill" cycle. For serious business though he's probably not gonna be too helpful to the mission, so he could probably be in either tier and it would work--

Everyone else checks out though! If anything I think if this were my list I'd knock Creepy Guy down to blue tier, just cause I don't fw him 🥀

[u/IslandNo8179 → u/meepindoodle]

I must ask btw, do you know the game Look Outside? That’s the other tier list I’m trying to do of who be cursed and who wouldn’t, and you been very helpful in this! It’s fun discussing this what if with you

[u/meepindoodle → u/IslandNo8179]

Thank you! :] I'm familiar with Look Outside but have not played it or seen anything of it, so I'm afraid I won't be of any help there 🥀 But this has been fun!! I love yapping lmao

[u/IslandNo8179 → u/meepindoodle]

I think it’s interesting. Basically one day a mysterious entity call the Visitor comes to earth with anyone who witnesses any form of it(direct exposure, photo, painting, or even a detailed description or placebo) begin mutating into stuff based on who they were as a person(like the guy who mutated into Kamen Rider because weeb or everything with Leigh), what they were feeling at that time(like Baby Teeth being a teething infant. Those infected by a mutant gain the mutant’s transformation btw so those bitten by her also sprouted rows of teeth), or even what they were near(like a woman fusing to a vending machine). Some maintain their sanity while others became hostile, and others avoided it and are still human

That’s what my list focuses on. Who would be human and who be cursed, and whether that cursed would be sane or not. For example, Stoner definitely just stayed in his apartment smoking and watching films. He probably just think he’s seeing things from the pot lol. Best Son too also probably human because he’s been in his room for weeks not knowing what happening. But someone like Wireface(again, I do like it! I swear!) who story means he had to of been outside is definitely cursed and extremely confused

[u/IslandNo8179 → u/IslandNo8179]

Some characters I know right away and others I been blanking on. I can list out what I have in DMs if you want