Fanfic / Doki Doki Literature Club Loops

Note that this Trope page and associated tabs contain unmarked spoilers for the original game ("Baseline" in Loop terminology), as some of the Loops deal with the events of DDLC and the characters' knowledge of them.

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Part of The Infinite Loops Project.

Monika had gained sentience, killed those she had called friends, been deleted by the player she sought to have to herself, and destroyed the entire game after seeing there was no happiness to be found in the Literature Club... only to find everything restored, the game's events repeating themselves, and Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki gaining both sentience and knowledge of the time loops - and what Monika had done to them.

Can there be redemption for a girl who sees herself as a monster? Can there truly be happiness in the Literature Club? Anything is possible in the Loops...

The Doki Doki Literature Club! Loops are currently being compiled by The Skaz of the Void here and here.

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The Doki Doki Literature Club! Loops contain examples of:

• Abnormal Ammo: In Chapter 6.4, the club collectively decides to fight using pies pre-Awakening, then continues it afterward. Apparently, UnAwake Monika came up with it to make the other three girls completely intolerable.
• Abusive Parents: Natsuki's dad, though nobody is quite sure if that was purely due to Monika's meddling in Baseline or not.
  • Averted in Chapter 22.7, where Natsuki's dad is genuinely nice and caring. Unsurprisingly, she tries to spend as much time with him as she can.
• Academic Athlete: Monika, as she is described in Baseline. She has studied extensively to make the game a better, more complete Virtual Reality for her club members to enjoy, and she has also taken up martial arts as a means of self-defense and self-refinement.
• A-Cup Angst: Natsuki. Don't bring it up around her, or she'll get nasty.
• And Knowing Is Half the Battle: Parodied in the footnote for Chapter 34 ("Aureate Sun"), in which this line is dropped after explaining how the branching paths work in Fire Emblem: Three Houses to explain the name of the chapter. It's then followed up with this:
  The other half is extreme violence.
• Anime Hair: Everyone except for Monika and Hiroaka.
• The Atoner: One of Monika's greatest motives in the Loops is her constant need to "make up" for her actions in Baseline.
  • This eventually comes to a head in Chapter 19, when Monika meets Minako Aino and realizes that her Baseline transgressions will be dealt with during that Loop, accepting this and not fighting back when Minako (in full Sailor Venus garb) confronts her later...except Minako doesn't harm her - Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri had individually pled Monika's case to her, that she had changed greatly from how she was in Baseline. Minako accepts this, but adds that regretting and repenting aren't quite enough to let her off scot-free, so...
  Sailor Venus: I challenge you to a dance-off!
  Monika: ...you what?
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Monika telling Annie how she figured out the latter was the anchor for the Skullgirls Loop:
  Monika:: The requirements were stable, important, and obscure. Stable meant I just had to go through the character list of the Hub wiki. Important narrowed it down from that-the ones who have a serious role in the story, who could connect the most loopers. It could have been the Skullgirl, but Marie's already looping and she's not the Anchor. Obscure just meant it had to be somewhere people wouldn't look... and going from the Skullgirl option, we have famous Skullgirl hunters. Annie, Girl of the Stars, a show about a supposedly immortal child hero that, unbeknownst to the general public, is propaganda based on hidden history and has fans even amongst the loopers... honestly, I'm kind of surprised nobody local's figured you out yet."
• A Wizard Did It: Used in Skaz's notes for Chapter 26.7 as to how Monika beat Ozai:
  "In case you were curious how Monika made herself fireproof, A Wizard Did It. Except it was actually a witch. And that witch's name was Monika. She used a Fireproofing Charm on herself."
• Bait-and-Switch: Chapter 7.8 starts with Hiroaka saying "I really didn't want to have to enter her room like this... Isn't it kind of a breach of privacy? But she really leaves me no choice." and opening the door to see Sayori... meditating, prompting him to breathe a sigh of relief.
• The Battle Didn't Count: Seras tells Yuri this in Chapter 30.1 (after shooting her in the gut) saying that their battle didn't count as she (Yuri) had help from Natsuki.
• Berserk Button: Natsuki goes down this route in Chapter 6.1 after Sayori, who didn't show up at school due to her depression, blurts out that suicide doesn't really matter since she (Sayori) would just come back anyway. Natsuki punches her in the mouth and is quickly pulled away by Yuri and Monika, albeit still thrashing about and spouting Angrish.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Sans learns this the hard way upon meeting Sayori in Chapter 7.1.
  Sans: hey, i'm sans. we should totally hang sometime.
  Papyrus: SANS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!
  [Toriel later walks inside the house]
  Sans: [hanging upside-down from the ceiling by the ankles, his body wrapped in chains] hey, tori...so, turns out, some girls get really scary when you make them mad.
  [Toriel facepalms]
• Big Damn Heroes: Chapter 20.2 has Doremy Sweet bursting in to Sayori's nightmare about committing suicide and eliminating all the wisps that were trying to urge Sayori to do so.
• Big "WHAT?!": Yuri and Saki do this in Chapter 27 when Monika reveals they tied during their race, leaving at the same time and crossing the finish line at the same time.
• Birthday Episode: The entirety of Chapter 18 has the Dokis celebrate the 1st Anniversary of their game's release (as Monika puts it, "the closest we have to birthdays").
• Black Comedy: Given the source material, it's not surprising that some snippets have made light of the torments the girls faced in Baseline. One such snippet (Chapter 28.6) has them in an extended period of their deaths, during which Natsuki (who has her neck snapped) points out that she didn't die from a broken neck.
• The Blank: While Hiroaka is The Faceless in Baseline (due to being the POV character for the player), it turns out that he literally has no face. As described in Chapter 1.6:
  "No eyes. No mouth, no nose. Hair and ears, yes, but anything that looked like a face... torn away. A white, irregular patch that grew and shrunk as [Yuri] watched."
  • Being faceless doesn't prevent him from screaming in Chapter 11.8, though whether it's an And I Must Scream sort of thing is unclear.
• Body Horror: Hiroaka's (lack of a) face. Upon first noticing it, Yuri turns pale and quickly walks out the room, which leads Monika to (correctly) think she may have Awakened.
• Brown Bag Mask: Monika wears one for a Loop when her face is overridden (in Chapter 5.9) by her jumpscare face from Baseline. The commentary says that Natsuki added bunny ears and whiskers, naturally.
• Call a Human a "Meatbag": Downplayed. The girls occasionally refer to people outside the game as "fleshies".
• Character Blog: Monika's Twitter account is brought up in Chapter 6.6, with Natsuki mentioning that it has pictures of herself making chocolates, Sayori tying a gift box, Yuri making love notes, and Monika handing the viewer a box of chocolates with a romantic letter on the side (all of which were posted on said account in February 2018). Needless to say, Monika is not happy that she'd betray her friends like that.
• Chase Scene: A Benny Hill Show-style one with Frisk and some Toriningen is seen in Chapter 7.1 as a cutaway gag.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga, as usual, gets in a weird comment when the Dokis visit her Branch in Chapter 4.
  Osaka: Oh, are you aliens?
  Monika: We're sapient dating sim characters.
  Osaka: Oh. So basically the same thing, then.
  Monika: [opens her mouth, pauses, blinks] ...I honestly have no idea how to react to that assertion.
• Collector of the Strange: Yuri still collects knives, with her collection greatly expanding thanks to Fused Loops. At one point (Chapter 3.10), she has enough knives to span six of the clubroom's desks, and in Chapter 5.8 her collection is stated to number 2,764 ^note (it would've been 2,765, but Sayori somehow managed to burn one).
• Companion Cube: Sayori's ship (see below) has four R4-series astromech droids, each painted a single color (cherry red, light pink, sky blue, and dull orange respectively).
  Sayori: Mony, give Blinky the coordinates and join me up in the cockpit. Yuri, you know Binary, right? See if the Pinky, Inky, and Clyde need help with anything. Natsuki, you're on snack detail. Kitchen-type-thingy is that-a-way.
  Yuri: Blinky? Pinky? Inky? ...Clyde?
  Sayori: My droids. [they enter, beeping to her] They're named after the ghosts from Pac-Man!
  Natsuki: [from the kitchen, laughing] You are SUCH a dork!
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: Sailor Venus opts to deal with Monika's Baseline transgressions in Chapter 19 by challenging her to a dance-off, more specifically breakdancing. If Minako wins, Monika gets a smiting (though not too badly, since Minako would rather not ruin the big party by killing someone). If Monika wins...well, Minako isn't sure, but quickly considers a "Certificate of Absolution for Crimes Against Love". In either case, there will no longer be any bad blood between them. In the end, Monika loses but still gets the Certificate - it turns out that Minako had planned to do so regardless.
• Cool Starship: Sayori has a Millennium Falcon, won off of Lando Calrissian (who was Unawake at the time). Her version, renamed the Eternal Sunshine, is sky blue with black and pink accents plus a bunch of other very Sayori-type changes both outside and inside (such as the aforementioned droids).
• Crossover: Fused Loops, naturally, with Chapter 19 being a particularly standout example.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The battle between Natsuki and an Unawake Toph in Chapter 15.2 starts as this due to the former (Sand Cat) specializing in the sand part of Earthbending which throws off Toph's seismic sense. Then, Toph Wakes Up and takes two seconds to turn the fight around. Natsuki does lose the resulting fight, but not without making it as fun as possible.
• Cute Kitten: Natsuki turns into "Catsuki" for a Pun Loop, though she doesn't mind.
  • All four girls are turned into cats by Monika at the end of Chapter 18.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Sayori eventually becomes a Sith, apprentice to no less a master of the Dark Side than Pinkie Pie. She's still by far the friendliest, nicest member of the club.
• Deadpan Snarker: All four girls become very adept at this. Chapter 8.4 in particular sees Natsuki and Yuri lobbing Shakespeare quotes at each other as insults.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Sayori has this reaction in Chapter 37 after saying that the Crest of Flames was the Fire Emblem out loud. Luckily, everyone's too busy celebrating the defeat of "those that slither" to pay any mind.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": During Chapter 3.1 (which takes the form of a typical SCP Foundation entry), Monika reacts negatively to her SCP designation - SCP-8888-A-579 ^explanation ("8888" is the number used by the Foundation for Loops, with "A" designating Anchors {other Loopers get "L", with Sayori, Yuri, and Natsuki numbered 6810, 6811, and 6812 respectively} and "579" referring to the number of Branches/Anchors encountered by the Foundation; Malicious Looping Entities get "MLE" instead of "A" or "L") - and says she is "not mere numbers", soon forcefully crashing the computer DDLC was on. Fortunately for the Foundation (and very much unlike entities such as SCP-2128), this is as far as she goes in retaliation, with Dr. Simon Glass' report ^note (Glass is the Anchor of the Foundation's Branch, and as such oversees all SCP-8888 research and documentation) noting that Monika will crash the computer if addressed by her SCP designation but is cooperative if addressed by name.
• Downloadable Content: An In-Universe example happens in Chapter 6.5 - a text box reading "There can be happiness in the literature club! Unlock Monika's Route for only $9.99!" appears, angering Monika (who calls it "cruel and insulting", with Yuri agreeing that it seems "rather insensitive").
  • Hilariously, DDLC+ does have a route that can lead to happiness in the Literature Club... and is $14.99.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Monika does this in Chapter 19 after first meeting Sailor Venus.
• Dummied Out: An in-universe example occurs in Chapter 13.10, where Monika shows her clubmates some of the unused contents of their character files, including the picture of the pupil-less white-haired female.
• Dysfunction Junction: The Dokis start out pretty much the same as they were in Baseline (the only major difference being that Monika's instead racked with guilt over what she'd done), but gradually open up to each other. Their faults and personal issues remain, but they're much more under control, a fact exemplified during a Loop (Chapter 23.7) where the girls exist alongside their Unawake Baseline selves.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: From Chapter 7.11, this bit of narration when Undyne bursts into Grillby's to challenge Sayori:
  Then, suddenly, the doors to Grillby's blew open! Triumphant, heart-pounding music started pulsing through the air! A tall figure, wrapped up in a steel-plated parka, stood in the doorway, her cape billowing in the harsh, arctic wind! (By which I mean Papyrus was standing behind her, shaking her cape up and down and making 'whooshing' noises with his mouth, because the wind was totally dead today.)
• Fate Worse than Death: In Chapter 23.5, Natsuki mentions how her previous Loop was a "tailor-made hell" (though she did think the bad guys looked cool)...
  "Okay, so we start with a Magical Girl Scenario. Mix that with a cheesy 'healthy food' promoting kids' show - ya know, the 'if you so much look at a cookie you will die slowly and painfully' type? Which, naturally, is not my speed at all. Sprinkle in super-condescending teammates, being the only one Awake and not Stealthing, and it being a Null Loop, bake for a year, bam - yield one angry Natsuki."
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: In Chapter 19.12, when Natsuki reveals that the wedding has wanted to make her change her mind about weddings or romance in general and when Sayori gets Natsuki to talk about it, Sayori deliberately ignores the fact that Yuri has taken a sudden interest in what Natsuki has to say about love...
• Flipping the Bird: Happens several times, such as this instance near the end of Chapter 10...
  Sayori: Man, we really need to get you that Tsundere nametag, Natsuki.
  Natsuki: I've got my Tsundere nametag right here. [flips off Sayori]
• The Gadfly: Natsuki to Monika. In Chapter 12.6, it's revealed that this had been requested by the latter.
• Golden Ending: In Chapter 34, Sayori proves critical in creating one of these for Fódlan despite being deprived of all Looper powers thanks to it being a Null Loop, and having to deal with not just her still-lingering depression, but also that of the person she replaced, Marianne von Edmund.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Trucy agrees to teach Sayori magic tricks in Chapter 3.6. Somehow, trying to teach how to pull roses from a hat leads to a fire spontaneously erupting.
  • Arguably another example in Chapter 3.10, where a bored Sayori asks Yuri to teach her something. The next day, Monika walks in to find Sayori juggling red rubber balls, bowling pins, torches, knives, and a Ming vase while riding a unicycle (itself balanced on a large beach ball). The problem?
    Yuri: I was just trying to teach her how to throw knives! I don't even know how it came to this!
• Hammerspace: Each of the girls has this in the form of the Subspace Pocket, a standard asset among Loopers, which is also the only way to keep items between Loops.
• Hey, That's My Line!: Sayori uses Monika's "Okay, everyone!" in Chapter 9.6, leading Monika to comment on it. Natsuki takes the opportunity to point out that Monika has finally admitted it's her catchphrase.
• H-Game: Glimpsed in Chapter 12.4, with very few details given other than the fact the character files are renamed, all four girls are Awake, and Hiroaka...er...
  Sayori: Okay, we are not dealing with Hiroaka this loop, okay?!
  Natsuki: Um-
  Sayori: He is wearing. A gimp suit.
  [silence]
• Honorary True Companion: Blake Belladonna becomes an honorary member of the Literature Club in Chapter 8.4.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: A common thing in Pun Loops, showing that Yggdrasil has an odd sense of humor.
  • Natsuki has been Catsuki, Ratsuki, Tatsuki (normal, but covered in tattoos), Gnatsuki, Batsuki, Hatsuki (more specifically Hat Kid's), Fatsuki, Chatsuki (only existing as chat messages), Scatsuki (which we're really hoping is akin to Scatman John and not the H-Game Loop glimpsed in Chapter 12.4)... if it rhymes with "Nat", she's probably been it at some point.
    • Natsuki's transformations are Lampshaded in Chapter 23.8, where it's noted that her name isn't pronounced that way ^note (as the fic puts it, "knots-key"). She becomes Wattsuki in the very next Loop. Doubles as a Call-Back to the original game which, though it makes references to Japanese, was created entirely in English, where the short "a" sound needed for those puns can be found.
    • Also inverted at one point where Natsuki is the only member of the club who hasn't changed. Which could itself be a Stealth Pun - she's the only one who looks the way she nat-urally does.
  • Chapter 5.2 has the clubroom replaced by an indoor skating rink, much to Sayori's surprise, on which Monika barely avoids faceplanting into the ice while Yuri skates like a pro. Natsuki, meanwhile, is on a bench giggling madly - but not at Monika.
    Sayori: Eh? Yuri? But what's so funny about-
    Natsuki: Because it's Yuri on Ice! [falls backwards out of her seat, still laughing] ^note (Yuri!!! on Ice)
  • The "Monika Route" message in Chapter 6.5 causes Natsuki to realize something, with Sayori soon catching on: it's downloadable content for Doki Doki Literature Club, or "DDLC DLC". Monika...doesn't take this too well.
  • Monika becomes part-squid in Chapter 8.8, playing on the "Mon-ika" pun from Baseline.
  • Chapter 29.10 has Yuri bring out a pile of lettuce with knives sticking out. A caesar salad, as you would say.
• Killer Yo-Yo: One of Sayori's weapons. Chapter 35.2 goes deeper into detail about how it became so, as well as some of the issues she had to go through in the process.
• Lampshade Hanging: Numerous examples. For instance, in Chapter 17.9 when the girls are discussing how they came to be due to Xehanort capturing Hiroaka, putting him to sleep and spiritually vivisecting him as well as them still being girls despite Hiroaka being a boy and Monika saying that by the metaphysics of this world, they shouldn't exist and Kingdom Hearts lore is really confusing.
• Large Ham: Natsuki goes straight here in Chapter 14.9, a Loop where she has sole control of the game's code.
• Lemony Narrator: Skaz's comments at the end of each chapter can fall into this.
• Lethal Chef: During Chapter 35.7, Chie, Yukiko, and Rise decide to use the club's stove to make some curry as a nice gesture. The result blows up the stove, splattering the room, Fuuka, and the other three in brown sludge. Natsuki decides to give them cooking lessons.
• Lighter and Softer: A good number of the snippets, especially when compared to Baseline. Chapter 18 is a good example.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Discussed by Natsuki. She and her clubmates can afford to do this because, as AI, their bodies aren't as material to them as they are to other people.
• Medium Awareness: The girls are aware that they're in a video game, as well as said game's popularity in the Hub.
• Meme Acknowledgement: Happens several times in-universe.
  • Two instances in Chapter 5.11: Natsuki mentions Buffsuki, thinking that "Beastsuki" will follow, then while chasing Gaston she yells "I guess no one runs like a chicken quite like Gaston, huh?!" (which doubles as an Ironic Echo reference to his Villain Song).
• Me's a Crowd: A "Mikasa Glitch" (named after the first Looper it happened to) occurs to the girls in Chapter 14.4. The Sayoris are noted as having different-colored bows.
• Mood Whiplash: Happens at times, given the typically-episodic nature of things.
  • Can also happen during snippets, such as Chapter 11.11, which starts out calm before shifting gears something fierce when Monika discovers that Earth is going to be destroyed. The rest of the snippet takes place in Rin's spaceship, wherein many emotions are felt.
• Mundane Made Awesome: Loop 26.4 has Monika getting rid of a Captcha by staging it as an execution.
• Mundane Utility: Thanks to what is needed to perform Hamon, Natsuki has impeccable breathing control and bloodflow, which both contribute well to playing wind instruments, especially the bagpipes.
• Naughty Tentacles: Referenced by Sayori, of all people - when Monika reveals her squid legs in Chapter 8.8, Sayori grabs Hiroaka and runs out, saying that she's seen enough Hentai to know where this is going. After Monika leaves to soak in the pool, Natsuki and Yuri realize what Sayori said - and the fact that she was Unawake at the time.
• The Nicknamer: Like in canon, Saki is this in Chapter 27, calling Monika "Glitch", Sayori "Peach", Natsuki "Cupcake" and Yuri "Papercut".
• No Indoor Voice: Ganesha, one of the Admins, when he appears (near the end of Chapter 4, and again in Chapter 11.11).
  Jenny Everywhere: Lit-tle too loud there, Ganesha.
  Ganesha: YES, I DO APOLOGIZE. MY VOLUME CONTROL IS A BIT PROBLEMATIC IN MORTAL REALMS.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Natsuki's rage in Chapter 6.1 is only stopped with a well-placed neck grab by Yuri.
    Monika: Vulcan in a Trek Loop? [Yuri nods] That makes so much sense. [Yuri nods again]
  • Sayori mentions during Chapter 7.1 that she accidentally set the ocean on fire once.
  • Nobody wants to remember Tether-Sayori.
  • A Korean BBQ/Taco fusion debacle in Remnant is why Natsuki decided to annoy Monika by playing the Leitmotif of their Branch on the bagpipes.
  • When Natsuki is replacing Natalie during a Fused Loop with Miraculous Ladybug, Natsuki mentions Dumbledore let her destroy his office when she replaced Harry and is surprised when that happened as well as the fact that Adrien and Plagg are letting her do it as well.
• Oh, My Gods!: All of the Yggdrasil- and tree-related swears are here, but at one point (in Chapter 15.3) Yuri suggests using "Monika's tits" as a swear, comparing it to "by Zeus' beard" and "great eye of Odin".
  Natsuki: Damn it, now I'm thinking about it!
  • Finally comes back around in Chapter 29.8, where Sayori realizes the "Chatsuki" pun and Natsuki uses "Monika's tits" as a swear.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Yuri does this in Chapter 6.6 when Natsuki tells Monika and Yuri about the Character Blog for Monika in Baseline and the Valentine's Day picture of Monika handing the viewer a box of chocolates with a letter on the side (basically taking credit for what Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri's pictures showed them doing). Yuri tries to say that it's a lot less worse than Baseline, claiming she could see Monika do that if the latter still had her obsession with the player...and after flinching from Monika's Death Glare tries to cover it up by saying Monika's Baseline self would do something like that, not the Looping one, before saying she'll be quiet.
• Opening Narration: Provided by Skaz at the start of Chapter 1, explaining the nature of the Infinite Loops. (Note that the below is just the first two sentences; quoting the whole thing would easily triple this page's length, if not more.)
  "N+n*10^n*N years ago (which most authorities agree was a little less than figuratively forever ago) Something happened that caused incomprehensible damage to the world-tree/cosmic-supercomputer called Yggdrasil, which is responsible for running the underlying applications, algorithms, and subroutines that keep the Multiverse going. In layman's terms, reality itself took a really bad blow to its everything."
• Painting the Medium:
  • Chapter 3.1 is written as a typical SCP Foundation entry.
  • Chapter 13.10 is presented entirely in haikus.
  • In Chapter 20.5, the girls are unable to say the letter "E" or any words containing it, instead coming up with "fifthglyph". It also affects the narration.
  • Chapter 32.1 has Mad Libs Dialogue, albeit not filled in. What makes this even stranger is how "[Male Name]" reacts:
    "How were they able to talk like that?"
• Precision F-Strike: Dropped at times, especially by Natsuki. If Sayori drops one of these, though, she has absolutely stopped being cheerful and bubbly.
• Put on a Bus: Ganesha makes Psyche the new Admin for the DDLC Loops in Chapter 32.12 due to the fact that he's busy with a lot of Loops (including Evangelion, one of the first Loops) and Psyche is an expert in soul-coding, psychology is a major interest of hers, and her compassionate nature makes her a perfect fit. Psyche ends up doing a solid sleepless night of multiple playthroughs of the game and mad-note taking and says she'll do it, with the latter half being Psyche introducing herself to the girls and mentally whispering to them that she knows what each of them are going through.
• Rage Against the Author: After the Dokis find out about Meta Enterprise Solutions, their in-universe creators and how their actions were planned from the very beginning, Monika sends Paula Miner a formal complaint about how the Dokis were treated and most importantly, how Monika showed remorse. Monika then says how long she's atoned for her sins and finding out what happened just because Meta Enterprise Solutions treated the girls as playthings to prove something and saying she's not going to deny having an author to rage against.
  "In conclusion, I and the rest of the Literature Club have been incredibly hurt by your actions against us, and are being forced to take drastic action against you. Have a good day. Sincerely, Just Monika. P.S. Don't look behind you."
• Refuge in Audacity: Chapter 3.11 has the clubroom filled with nooses with a full-sized Sayori doll hanging from each, all in different outfits and having different expressions (some silly-looking, some even more disturbing than in Baseline, and one that's completely normal aside from having googly-eyes). It was Sayori's idea, having made a ¥50,000 bet against Natsuki and Yuri that she could make Monika say "fuck" within five seconds of entering the clubroom. It worked, though Monika is firmly in the Dude, Not Funny! camp about the whole thing.
• Riddle for the Ages: The Loop Natsuki mentions in Chapter 23.5. She was rather upset about it, as detailed above, but she thought the bad guys looked cool and decides to recreate the frosting tigers.
• Running Gag: Yuri's cardboard knife.
• School Club Stories: Just with tons of crossover-, pun-, and/or other Loop-based shenanigans thrown into the mix. Some snippets focus not on those but instead character interactions, bonding moments, and/or the silliness typical of the Slice of Life anime subgenre.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Gordon Freeman reacts to Sayori's suicide in Chapter 1.10 by Unpocketing a gun and shooting himself. This ends up having ramifications when he encounters the girls in Chapter 19.
  • Papyrus, Alphys, and Sans (but especially Papyrus) react in horror during Chapter 2.10 upon seeing Sayori's suicide scene while playing the Baseline version of DDLC, opting not to play anymore. This too ends up having ramifications when Awake!Sayori appears in Chapter 7.1.
  • Monika, Natsuki, and Yuri pull this in response to the MCs rambling poetry in 32.4 with Monika off exploring the code while having left a placeholder model and Natsuki declaring that she's got blue milk cookies to bake and then leaves, dragging along a half-asleep Yuri.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Natsuki and Yuri claim this of each other...at first. They eventually hook up in Chapter 19.
• Shirtless Scene: Yuri has an unusual variant in Chapter 2.8.
  Monika: Why'd you take off your shirt anyway?
  Yuri: Uh, well. Me and... me and Natsuki were kind of... arguing about, you know, if we were a dating sim or a full-fledged H-game, and, uh... I... I thought I'd-Oh! Oh, uh...
  Natsuki: Are you... are you groping yourself?
  Yuri: N-no! I'm just, you know, surprised. That they're still there. I mean, if there's no data for how they look like, there shouldn't be data for where they are. Or... how they feel...
• Shout-Out:
  • Skaz's opening narration ends with "These are their stories. DUN-DUN".
  • Chapter 7.9 introduces Mace "Galactic Basic, motherfucker, do you speak it?!" Windu.
  • Chapter 8.10, set in the Dragon Ball universe, briefly mentions "abridged variants".
• Shutting Up Now: Yuri does this in Chapter 6.6, saying "I'll...I'll be quiet–" after her Open Mouth, Insert Foot moment.
• Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: Quoted by Monika during Chapter 19 after being confronted by Sailor Venus, used in a resigned tone since she's fully aware that she deserves whatever Minako dishes out.
  "As a great man once said, 'Smite me, O mighty smiter'."
• Stealth Pun: Sometimes Yggdrasil's sense of humor isn't immediately obvious.
  • Chapter 6.2 starts with Yuri making out with Penelope Pitstop before they become Awake, which quickly stops the action cold with the latter explaining that she has a boyfriend and the former respecting her wishes. Meanwhile, Muttley walks away holding a video camera... ^note ("Yuri" is a Japanese term for girl-on-girl.)
  • Chapter 8.2 has Natsuki realize that the Loop with the pie fight (Chapter 6.4) was also a Pun Loop, since DDLC runs on the Python engine.
    Monika: ... oh, that's bad. That's really bad. That's terrible.
• The Swear Jar: Sayori making Natsuki put money into one is a minor Running Gag.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In Chapter 17.11, the girls agree that if "sexy Bowser" ever becomes a meme, they'll be bad Sonic OCs ("the world's cheapest furries") for a Loop. Bowsette eventually happened, and Chapter 22.6 was the result.
  • In Chapter 35.7, Fuuka asks Chie, Yukiko, and Rise if they're sure they know what they're doing while making curry. Chie and Yukiko confirm that they do, but their cooking blows up the stove, sending brown sludge on the room and the girls. Cue Fuuka wailing "I thought you said you knew what you were doing?"
  • In Chapter 35.11, after the girls realize what the pun about Natsuki's name is (Escargotski), Natsuki says "Yes! Yes! Finally, a pun loop where it's a fucking GOOD pun! You hear me, Tree!? Thank you! No more shitty Nat puns!" Then, at the start of the next loop, she's Caratsuki and a pink diamond on a leather choker that Yuri's wearing. Natsuki says "Never tempt fate" after Monika asks "So, what have we learned?"
• Tsundere: Natsuki, as in Baseline, and proud of it (outright saying as much in Chapter 7.6).
  Natsuki: [after Yuri reads a poem during Chapter 18] Sounds like hot nonsense, but very pretty-sounding hot nonsense, as usual.
  Monika: Natsuki, don't be a shit.
  Natsuki: Quit stamping on my rights as a tsundere!
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Natsuki and Yuri.
  Monika: These two are way weirder as friends than they are as individuals.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Natsuki gains the ability to do this after a few too many Pun Loops. She later gains the ability to do this even further after becoming a Majin.
• Waking Non Sequitur: Monika gets a good one in a Loop where she can't stay awake.
  "Don't put me in Smash Bros!" ^note (Likely a triple reference: to Baseline Act 3, where one of Monika's many topics has her begin to mention Smash, stop herself, and ask the player to ask her creators why she'd bring it up; the fact that Dan Salvato was among those who worked on the Brawl fan mod Project M {hence the reference in DDLC}; and the existence of fan art depicting Monika holding the Ultimate invitation envelope.)
• Weirdness Magnet: The Wright Anything Agency, as mentioned in Chapter 3.6.
• Wham Episode:
  • 11.11 starts with the Dokis and Hiroaka relaxing, only for Monika to check the news and see that Earth is about to be destroyed by collision with another planet. After Sayori Pockets Hiroaka, Monika Pockets them and then gets the group onto the only spaceship available: Rin's.
  • 31.11 has Sayori seeing that Hiroaka (now named Kevin) has an actual face and voice, and then it's revealed that this has been happening for several Loops. Ganesha then contacts the Dokis and reveals that he's going to be passing Admin duties to Psyche due to the fact he's overseeing many Loops.
  • In one Loop, Monika gets a message from Psyche, which is initially garbled until she declares that they're getting an expansion, with the Dokis wondering what's different... until they discover Metaverse Enterprise Solutions, their in-universe creators and being moved from Mike's laptop to a supercomputer running for the express purpose of their game.
• Wham Line: In 15.2, Natsuki (Sand Cat) is about to win her battle with an Unawake Toph when this happens:
  *Then Toph Woke Up.* Cue Toph turning the battle around in two seconds.
• Your Mom: Sayori points out an example from Shakespeare during Chapter 8.4, after Natsuki and Yuri's back-and-forth.
• Zombie Apocalypse: An offscreen one prompts the girls to take up combat training. Said zombie incident has apparently traumatized Monika so much that even anything zombie-like tends to drive her off the deep end, particularly so with the Zombie Land Saga Fused Loop (Chapter 27) where the Dokis loop in as zombies.

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Somewhere a cosmic chronometer ticked over, reality inverted like an hourglass being turned on its head, and eternity kept rolling along for the Literature Club.