I believe it’s customary here to write a giant essay’s worth of useless and boring trivia about yourself, as well as list all of your favorite TV shows, movies, video games, fictional characters, character ships, ect. Luckily for you, I’m not gonna waste your time with that XD

As you can infer from the fact that I’ve written a bunch of PG-13-ish fics based on a subpar Nick cartoon with all the depth and nuance of a kiddie pool, I am one of those people who really enjoys animation even in my old age and I enjoy searching the internet for some good fan content paying tribute to my favorite animated characters. Fanfics are such a thing. If handled well, they can provide intriguing, imaginative and entertaining works of fiction, sometimes even surpassing canon (usually when the professional writers have ceased caring while the fans didn’t). If not then……well, then they provide exactly what the average joe perceives fanfiction as (which is true for 90% of fanfiction out there to be fair). I try my hardest not to be part of that 90%, though quality is kind of subjective XD

I appreciate constructive criticism more than anything. An author can only improve so much on their own without the aid of an outside critic's perspective. I'm not the kind of guy who will cry and bitch over someone talking negatively about my work and "threaten" to quit writing because of it. I don't care much about short and vague comments (be it insane praise or immense hatred) as they are of little use in helping a writer better themselves.

I am someone who values creativity and originality, which is why I, by default, tend to dislike “fandom specific fads”, things such as specific plot lines, specific pairings, response fics directed at specific episodes of a show and so on, that repeatedly pop up in a virtually every fandom thanks to creatively-stagnated writers who prefer to simply follow a popular fad instead of doing anything remotely original. Good fanfiction is born out of your own imagination, not by copying other peoples’ ideas.

For the last few years, I’ve been busy writing Loud House stories. While I originally thought that this was a decent but still flawed cartoon, my opinion of it has greatly changed since Season 1. I defiantly wouldn’t call this a good cartoon, the characters are too one dimensional, inconsistent and lack any interesting interpersonal dynamics, the animation is stiff and unexpressive, the plotlines are bare-bone and predictable as hell, the pacing is incredibly rushed and rarely allows for any emotional moments to sink in, concepts such as morals and karma are often handled in questionable if not backhanded or flat out hypocritical ways, and ever since the start of Season 3 it has suffered from a ludicrous lack of focus, thanks to a misguided attempt at world-building. Lincoln’s relationship with sisters has suffered the most from this, with them having practically drifted apart in favor of Lincoln hanging out with his boring clique of friends. When a show flat out forgets its own main premise, you know you’re in trouble. To say nothing of the fandom….shudders…..

So, why the hell am I still writing fanfics about this cartoon? Sometimes I ask myself the exact same thing. At the end of the day, it’s mainly because I find the characters (some of them anyway) intriguing and want to explore their potential for being more than one-note cartoons. In other words, I fell in love with the show’s initial concept, but not so much with the path it took in terms of execution. Also, I don’t peg myself as a particularly talented writer, hence why I picked a subpar cartoon with a bland esthetic but enough potential that it could be molded into something more worthwhile, instead of taking a shot at an actually good animated show where lots of talent and passion has already been put in by the actual creators, of which there are plenty.

Therefore, my stories are strictly AU, and a combination of canon as well as my own take. I take things that I think work, or at least have potential, while fine-tuning and ironing out things that don’t work, and outright discarding the show’s most annoying elements (of which there are several).

So what to expect from my fics? Here are some of the prevailing themes in my stories:

1. What if the Loud kids’ actions had consequences? Not just Lincoln’s?

2. What if the Loud sisters played off each other in a way that made sense for their characters? Including big sister/little sister bonds and sibling rivalries? Not just bland bickering or bland getting along?

3. What if the stories kept their focus on the family proper, or rather a specific group among the siblings yet Lincoln wasn’t the center of attention? What if the siblings had real camaraderie?

4. What if they stayed true to their default personality without random OOC moments? And they never got reduced into an interchangeable hive mind?

5. What if everyone acted more in accordance to their age, sans some obvious exceptions?

6. What if there was a prominent friend character/love interest, who also wasn’t just a carbon copy of one of the Louds, like Clyde, Sam, Haiku, Benny, ect., or just completely vanilla like Bobby, Margo, Stella, Fiona and so on? And who wasn’t just tied down to one Loud and we actually explore his relationship with many of the others?

7. What if there were recurring antagonists who were more nasty than mere playground jerks?

8. What if there were actual stakes in the story? More severe than first world problems?

9. What if the stories put more emphasis on and cut looser with Lisa’s science experiments?

10. What if there was more Lynn-ja? Purely for coolness?

That’s just some of them.

And as of the time of this writing, my AU has split into two diverging timelines (thanks to time travel, courtesy of Lisa), and has experienced a little retconning after I dropped my unfinished third fic, both in-universe and out of universe. If you need an explanation, well...the plot of Second Chance is kick-started by Lisa time traveling to fix the future, so perhaps that wasn't her first trip, and her previous ones had an unforeseen butterfly effect XD

Originally, I jumped on the bandwagon of doing dark, self-serious LH stories but I eventually dropped that pretense and started leaning more towards dramedy, stories that try to play some of their content straight but also have more absurd moments as well as a snarky, tongue-in-cheek satirical edge. Seriously, who could ever take these dumb and absurd characters seriously without some much-needed levity and silliness coursing through every chapter? XD

And of course, it wouldn’t be fanfiction without some OC. I'm usually not one to advocate the use of them when you have an interesting cast of canon characters at your disposal. But since the Loud House doesn’t have much of a supporting cast, and the few it does have, tend to be quite bland, some OCs are necessary to flesh out this world. Most are antagonists anyway.

These OC are split into two main categories, good and bad, relatively speaking at least:

The Taylor family

Ryan Taylor, age 12/13, if you want to read any of my stories then you’re going to have to put up with this guy, since he’s in most of it. Originally introduced as a bully who gave Lincoln trouble and came into a scuffle with Lynn, one disastrous camping trip later he made peace with the Louds and became something of a friend to them, greeted with varying degrees of forgiveness. He mainly wanted to hang out with Lynn, but eventually found himself enjoying the company and forming bonds with some of the other Loud girls, namely Lana, Luan and Lucy.

With Ryan, I tried to avoid the usual trappings that make OCs so despised (especially if they're also a love interest), that is, make them generic nice guy/average joes or idealized, perfect matches. Not Ryan. Right from the get go he was established as another extreme personality much like the Loud sisters themselves, and one that inspires antagonism from most people rather than instant acceptance XD

Deadpan Snarker and Mr. Vice Guy are the best tropes to describe him. Sarcasm accompanied by an ever-present smirk are his default mode, he rarely reacts with seriousness and tends to make snarky comments in almost every situation he finds himself in. He’s also very pragmatic and morally lax when dealing with a problem or trying to accomplish a goal, but for the shortlist of people he feels close to (mainly the main Loud siblings) he shows surprising loyalty and a willingness to help them despite his insistence that he’s not nice and that all people are just looking out for themselves. In other words, he’s a jerk with a hidden heart of gold. His cynical and jaded outlook is the result of being bullied and ostracized by his peers when he was young, and also due to his absentee parents and emotionally distant sister. He doesn’t angst about it but shows it through his mistrust of other people and a tendency to belittle them and push them away before they can get a chance to do it to him. Amongst his more extreme quirks, he's also an accomplished ninja and outdoors survivalist XD

In spite of that, he, along with Lincoln and Lucy, is one of the most rational characters present, a given when acting opposite the Loud sisters. His main relationship is with Lynn, who can take his abrasive attitude in strides. Although she was the one Loud who initially despised him the most, after helping her save her siblings' lives they became close friends, and it’s never been a secret that Ryan finds Lynn very attractive, both physically and for the fact that she can kick ass. With my later stories, Lynn has started to return the feelings and they are heading towards a relationship upgrade admits some grander plots.

His pragmatic tough guy attitude puts him at odds with the nerdy, morally uptight Lincoln, who doesn’t shy away from expressing his annoyance and disdain for the former. Ryan, in turn, relishes in making fun of him (especially for his lack of masculinity) and seeing him get triggered, though the two can work extremely well together if they have a common goal, or if Lynn appeals to Ryan’s better side. In other words, their dynamic is that of in-laws but as kids XD

In terms of appearance, Ryan is not a pretty boy. He bears a remarkable likeness to Lucy, with black hair, pale skin and dark eye-rings, and eyes that are always bloodshot. He’s lanky and sports crooked teeth, and his appearance tends to scare people. His wardrobe consists of a red backward cap, black t-shirt with a snarling tiger head, dark blue jeans and white sneakers, and at some point, he also picks up black bicker gloves and for winter, a leather jacket. Rest assured, Lynn has mocked him for being a try-hard bad boy XD

Renee Taylor, age 14/15, Ryan’s older sister, who has been a minor character so far. In contrast to her brother, who has always been something of a loose cannon, Renee is scholarly, well-disciplined and mature, too much so one might say. Unfortunately, she shares her brother’s cynicism and condescending attitude, minus any sense of humor. Renee is dour, humorless, stoic and a typical example of a minor trying too hard to be an adult, and is just an all-around killjoy XD Naturally, the two siblings don’t get along and don’t even entertain the pretense that there is some sort of sibling bond between them. Their dysfunctional relationship more or less mirrors that of the Louds, only these two are more open about it and aware of it.

In contrast to Lincoln’s sisters’ tendency to meddle, Renee couldn’t be any more disinterested and apathetic about her brother’s affairs, unless they directly affect her life in a negative way, and treats him as a lost cause, though they are capable of sometimes making some kind of deal to make living with each other less excruciating. If not, it can result in some nasty family disputes. Despite her superficially nerdy appearance, Renee’s as tough as Ryan and can hold her own in a fight. Growing up with him made her that way. Recently, she has earned the spot as the Louds’ babysitter, and has made it no secret that she views the family as a bunch of socially-unacceptable freaks. Naturally, it that didn’t endear her to the family, compared to their mixed reaction to Ryan.

Renee is similar in appearance to her brother, but lacks his odd “ghoulish complexion”. She has shoulder-length black hair, has a small mole on her chin and, although it’s hard to notice due to her aversion to smiling, she has the same crooked teeth as her brother. She tends to dress plain and practical, usually in simple jeans and polo shirts.

Marceline, Ryan’s Savannah cat, half domestic cat, half serval, and the only character besides some of the Louds that Ryan has shown indubitable compassion and concern for. Being in tune with her natural feline instincts, she’s feisty, tough and independent, but generally friendly and approachable, and enjoys being pet. Even the Loud kids that aren’t fond of Ryan wound up licking her. Being half-wild, Marceline prefers to do things the old fashion feline way, from hunting her dinner to using the world as her litter box.

But as her interactions with Charles and Cliff in Second Chance have shown, she is not as nice as she appears to be and seems to share some of her master’s negative traits. Though she has shown to get along with Charles to some extent, to the point of implying a budding friendship, poor Cliff, on the other hand, quickly became a scratching post for her, and is now terrified of her, though wheatear Marceline roughed him up out of malice or if she was being playful but oblivious to her own strength is anyone’s guess. Other pets like Fang and Geo are nothing but prey in her eyes, and she ended up eating Walt. Not a good idea to keep her around them XD

She’s tall and sleek, has tawny fur with wildcat-like fur patterns, and striking emerald eyes.

Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Ryan’s and Renee’s absentee parents, who have never appeared on screen and are always away on some business trip. They never seem to be at home and pretty much left their children to raise themselves. Ryan, however, doesn’t ostensibly seem to mind it, as it gives him free rein and claims that it helped him become more independent and resourceful.

Antagonists

Lyle Owen, age 12/13, a local asshole who gave the Louds some serious grief. Called a bully by the protagonists, but has shown to be much more dangerous and callous than a mere bully. Originally introduced as Ryan’s lackwit lackey who showed none of the former’s moral standards, Lyle became consumed by revenge after having his ass creamed by Lynn and tried beating her up with a baseball bat, but ended up running into Luan and Lana instead, and decided that revenge by proxy was good enough. Unfortunately, that stunt got him in trouble with the law and forced him to go on the run from juvie, ending his partnership with Ryan after the latter refused to help him. He’s currently hiding at his cousin Maggie’s house, blaming Ryan and the Louds for his troubles, while growing fatter from all the junk food he devourers. Doesn’t make much sense, given how everyone sans Ryan and Lynn was his victim, but then again, kid bullies were never known for their rationale XD

Since Lana is Lynn’s favorite sister in my AU and Lyle beat her to a bloody pulp and broke her arm, Lynn hates Lyle the most out of all the siblings. In Second Chance Lynn wasted no time kicking his ass in retribution, earning his ire and desire for payback once again. Lyle’s not the brightest bulb in the shed and prone to impulsive and short-sighted behavior but makes up for it with raw strength. He’s a cruel thug who doesn’t mind assaulting a 5-year old, and shows no remorse for it and only looks out for himself.

He has acne, bad teeth, a monobrow and sports a brown fauxhawk, which is why Ryan’s insult of choice for him is “Mohawk Moron”. His wardrobe involves a black denim jacket with torn sleeves over a black-and-white t-shirt together with grey, torn jeans and combat boots.

Kathleen Tisdale, age 13/14, Luan’s classmate and sworn enemy from middle school. Being a stereotypical alpha bitch, Kathleen’s got it all; she’s filthy rich, stunningly beautiful and the head cheerleader, which naturally makes her the most popular and influential student at school and has most boys going gaga for her, and by extension has most of the student body eating out of her hand despite doing little to hide her true nature. She is a cruel bitch who enjoys putting other people down and finds sadistic glee in abusing the school’s resident outcast Luan as much as possible, eventually forcing her to take up homeschooling. She is usually accompanied by two girls named Amber and Jenny, the former is a bit on the dumb side while the latter is shown to be more level headed but still puts up Kathleen’s abuse anyway cuz money and popularity.

Kathleen can put on a façade of faux affability, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience her, at which point her spoiled attitude will cause her temper to flare up. In spite of that, she knows how to pull strings and be manipulative. Lynn and Ryan quickly earned her wrath by standing up to her and mocking/flirting with her respectively in the latter’s case, and for not being obedient little sheep like everyone else at school. In Second Chance Kathleen comes asking for Luan’s forgiveness and tries to befriend her and her family, having seemingly reformed, something Lynn, Lincoln and Ryan, knowing Kathleen the way they do, don’t buy for a second. But getting the rest of the family to see past all the luxurious gifts is anything but easy.

Kathleen has wavy hair which is naturally brown but she tends to dye it into other colors, like chestnut, frequently. She sometimes wears a blue denim jacket over a white, pearl embellished shirt together with tight-fitting black jeans and high heels, along with some expensive-looking bracelets and necklace, but frequently wears all kinds of outfits, depending what’s fashionable at the moment. She’s also commonly seen in her red and white cheerleading uniform.

One Eye, a rogue, man-eating wolf residing in the forests around Royal Wood, presenting an ever-lurking danger to anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. Where he came from is unknown, but he likely arrived from the Great White North. As his name implies, he received damage to his left eye in both timelines. Outside of our protagonists, nobody knows about his presence or the danger he represents to anyone straying out of town. Vicious, powerful, persistent, crafty, very impervious to pain and showing no fear of humans, he’s a cold-blooded killer with only one goal: to quell his hunger. If they run into him, the kids must band together and literally throw everything they have at him just to keep the beast at bay.

The protagonists first met the lone wolf when he attacked them on their camping trip, forcing the Louds and Ryan to work together, resulting in Ryan turning over a new leaf after his near-death experience. Although One Eye wound up dying at the end of the story, in Second Chance he is back in action, as the kids continue bumping into him again and again, and where he devourers Geo, and grievously mauls Charles before causing him to plummet into a raging river.

He’s a robust, grizzled timber wolf with jet-black fur, and who sports numerous ear notches and plenty of scars, implying he’s probably been through a lot.

Hope that wasn’t too much useless trivia for ya.