by RawToonage.Gal Pals is a The Loud House fanfic created by Alex Veres on fanfiction.net, where he goes by Alexpv22.
It focuses on Lincoln Loud, where after a bad evening at the house, due to a golf game lost by Lori, plus the return of the infamous Sister Fight Protocol from "Brawl in the Family", Lincoln has to flee outside in the streets to escape the chaos and the mistreatment given by the Protocol. When his luck rans out, he gets spotted, not by the police, but by three high schoolers: Carol Pingrey, Becky and Whitney, who all gently take him to Gus' Games 'n' Grub so that Lincoln can relieve himself. From that event, many girls rejoin him, being Lincoln's Gal Pals, hence the fanfic's name. And from there, things turn into real chaos soon for the Loud family, minus Lincoln, once the words are spat...
A sequel came out, titled A Day in the Life of the Gal Pals, where it shows Lincoln's new life with his new caretakers after the trial.
Gal Pals provides examples of:
- Accusation Fic: The fanfic serves to make sure that the Loud Sisters receive comeuppance for their past behavior towards Lincoln, with everyone calling them out.
- Adaptational Seriousness: Constrasting the show's nature of playing the abuse Lincoln suffers for laughs, the fanfic plays it for drama and shows how Lincoln was really affected by it.
- Artistic License – Law: Hoo-boy, yes. As cathartic as it is, most of the things that go down during the trial would never be allowed to happen in a courtroom.
- Berserk Button: The Squirrel Suit become this for Lincoln, to the point that seeing it throws him into a blind rage that he tears it apart in the middle of court.
- Big Damn Heroes: During the huge park brawl against Lori and Lynn, Ronnie Anne and Carlota arrive in the nick of time to save Lincoln from Lori and Lynn's clutches.
- Central Theme:
- Karma will eventually reach anyone, even if they got away with many wrongdoings.
- Family can be born from blood or bonds. Lincoln faces the dilemma of his blood family and his found family, learning that family can come from anywhere, but to not dismiss his blood family too.
- Continuity Nod: Many episodes of the show up to the point the fanfic was written are mentioned, sometimes multiple times, and this trope is especially in use during the trial towards the end.
- Deconstruction Fic: The fic shows how Lincoln's Butt-Monkey status and tumultuous family have turned him into a depressed and meek wreck of a person. Once others gain insight into Lincoln's unenviable situation, they immediately intervene and try and pull him away from his dysfunctional family.
- Down on the Farm: The 16th episode takes place at Liam's family farm, where Lincoln and his friends arrive to help Liam with the farm chores. Hilarity ensues.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Half of the Gal Pals (Carol, Becky, Whitney, and Dana), are teenagers, but become great friends with Lincoln.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: In the 20th chapter, when Lincoln has to visit Dr. Lopez for his problems, but refuses to do so because he's shy, Dana tries this on him, coupled with Baby Talk, to convince him to go. He still refuses, leading all of the girls to do it. And when Lincoln refuses again, Haiku plays Moonlight Sonata. This combination finally makes Lincoln give up to the gals and accept to go, much to their joy.
- Social Services Does Not Exist: Averted hard. Once other people become aware of the trauma Lincoln has endured at the hands of his sisters, they immediately contact child services.
- Staying with Friends: Starting with Chapter 3, Lincoln stays at some of the Gal Pals' homes (Girl Jordan, Stella and Carol especially), switching between each girl in some chapters.
