Fanfic / Prerugrats

Prerugrats is a fanfiction of Rugrats.

It is set a year after the events of the show, where the Rugrats are hanging out with original characters Zack, Jesse (toddlers) and Peter (a babysitter). The events of The Rugrats Theory (an infamous fan theory where the babies died and became figments of Angelica's imagination) are re-imagined as a story that Angelica made up and put on the Internet and people are showing videos of the Rugrats' actual backstories to prove that they do exist and Angelica's story is wrong.

Interestingly, Angelica's Rugrats Theory was not completely made up in this fanfic. Certain aspects really did happen, just not to the Rugrats themselves. Didi, for example, really did have a stillborn baby, but his name was Spencer and thus was not Tommy; Betty really did have an abortion, but it happened while she was in high school and before she'd even gotten into a relationship with Howard; the person named Cynthia who died was actually Charlotte's mother, not Angelica's; and Melinda had been pregnant at the time of her death, so her unborn child was the one who died with her, not Chuckie.

Most of the chapters are about the babies' pasts, but the bonus section is about the events around Dil's birth.

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Prerugrats provides examples of:

• Accidental Misnaming: When Tommy and the twins are first born, they call Chuckie "Chubby".
• Annoyingly Repetitive Child: One-year-old Tommy Pickles annoys his parents by listening to a song called "The Happy Happy Song" over and over in the car.
• Baby Language: Just like in the show, babies under three can't talk to the adults, but a lot of them can talk to each other. Peter can also understand baby language.
• Babysitting Episode: Didi and Stu, Taffy, and Peter have been mentioned to have babysat the kids.
• Baby Talk: The kids still talk in primitive childish vocabulary, such as "one-years-old" and "firstest".
• Baffled by Own Biology: When Stu and Didi get severe cramps, neither of them know why, at one point wondering if the tacos they ate were bad. As it turns out, Didi was in labour (and she even knew she was pregnant), and Stu had appendicitis.
• Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Phil and Lil were born around the time Melinda died.
• Brainy Baby: Unlike Dil, Phil and Lil could speak Baby Language since they were born. Tommy could also say a select few words.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Angelica is her usual bratty self, exaggerated when she tells the world that the babies don't exist and at age one, she was even brattier, punching Chuckie.
• Cerebus Retcon: In the episode "Chuckie vs the Potty", Chuckie mentions that getting potty-trained was the worst thing that happened since his mom put him on the bottle. It's meant to be a joke line, but in this fic, Chuckie reveals that he thinks being put on the bottle was the worst thing in his life because he associates it with Melinda's death.
• Character Death: If you don't count the stillbirth, there's still Melinda's death and the mentioned death of Charlotte's mother.
• Chewing the Scenery: When Chuckie prepares to tell about Melinda's death, he mentions that it's "not a pretty story" and that he was "doomed", which is pretty dramatic talk for a toddler.
• Continuation: Played with. It's set a year after the show but the main events happened before the show.
• Continuity Nod: The fic mentions past events that happened in episodes.^{Full list}  "Garage Sale" (Stu's first invention), "I Do" (the honeymoon in Wisconsin), "Princess Angelica" (Angelica thinks she's a real princess), the movie (Angelica lies that Tommy's older brother turned into Spike), "Mother's Day" (the death of Melinda), "Chuckie vs the Potty" (Chuckie gets put on the bottle), "Bow Wow Wedding Vows" (Fifi has puppies) "Moving Away" (the babies' reunion), "The Family Tree", (Didi finds out she's pregnant with Dil), "The Mattress" (Tommy thinks a monster is in Grandpa Lou's mattress).
• Cool Old Guy: He might be a bit scatty, but Grandpa Lou is very good with the kids.
• Curious as a Monkey: Tommy explores in the touchy-feely way most babies do.
• Death Fic: Not in general, but Melinda's death does make up a plot point, as does Trixie's.
• Dark Fic: Downplayed. Some moments (such as Spike being found with some dead puppies, Melinda dying and the whole stillbirth thing) are certainly dark, but the fic itself is not a complete gloom fest.
• Death by Adaptation: A subtle example; “Angelica’s Birthday” implies that Charlotte’s mom is still alive.
• The Diaper Change: Tommy mentions getting his diaper changed for the first time. He later gets his diaper changed in "Sing the Happy Happy Happy Happy Song".
• Disney Death: In the epilogue, an older Angelica is mistaken for having killed herself.
• Distant Finale: The last chapter takes place when Angelica and Susie are in high school.
• Eskimos Aren't Real: Stu tells Grandpa Lou that there's no such thing as "hoodlums".
• Express Delivery: Only moments after Charlotte's waters break, her contractions are apparently two minutes apart.
• Extreme Omnivore: Phil and Lil eat worms.
• Filthy Fun: Phil and Lil have liked mud since they first discovered it.
• The Food Poisoning Incident: Subverted. Didi and Stu eat tacos and both get cramps. Initially, they think the tacos must have been bad and have given them indigestion, but it turns out that Didi is in labor and Stu has appendicitis.
• Good Parents: All the Rugrats' parents (despite their flaws such as Charlotte being very busy, etc) are generally good at raising their kids. Chas even promises to be the "best daddy he can be".
• Happily Married: All the married couples are just as successful as on the show.
• Heaven: Chuckie mentions that Melinda is up in heaven now.
• He Didn't Make It: The doctor describes the stillborn baby Spencer as "not having made it".
• Help, I'm Stuck!: Angelica gets stuck in a fence.
• Hidden Depths: At first, Peter just seems like a normal babysitter, but then it's revealed that he's a king of the Confederacy, is friends with a genie, and knows how to build time machines.
• How Unscientific!: Most of the fanfic is standard Rugrats, but the first chapter of the bonus section reveals that Peter has built a time machine and gained the ability to speak Baby Language from a genie.
• I Lied: The last chapter is about Angelica admitting that she lied about the babies not existing.
• Injured Limb Episode: Spike is found with a broken leg.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • Drew calls Charlotte "Char".
  • Angelica calls Tommy "Baldy" despite him having hair now. She also calls Dil "Drooly".
  • Philip and Lillian are almost always called "Phil" and "Lil".
  • Betty calls Howard "Howie".
  • The younger babies seem to have a habit of calling Angelica "Yucky".
  • Grandpa Lou calls Tommy "Scout".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though Angelica spread the rumour about the babies not existing, she feels bad about it eventually.
• Last-Minute Baby Naming: Drew and Charlotte have no idea what to name Angelica until she gets born.
• Last-Name Basis: Angelica calls Chuckie by his surname a few times.
• Lovable Coward: Chuckie is still his normal sweet, jittery self.
• Meaningful Name: Angelica was named because Drew thought she looked like an angel and Spike was named because he used to look like a spike of fur when he slept.
• Missing Mom: Melinda, Chuckie's biological mom, is not around because she's dead. Her death is mentioned in some chapters.
• Mistaken for Aliens: At one point, Zack asks if Dil is an alien.
• Morning Sickness: Averted for most of the pregnancies, but Didi did have some morning sickness when she was pregnant with Dil.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Peter, Tommy and Dil tell Angelica off for making up the lie about the babies, she feels bad and cries.
• Nature Lover: Apparently, before her death, Melinda "loved grass and flowers, and loved being outside". Chuckie himself likes jumping in leaves and picking dandelions and wonders if he inherited that from her.
• New Baby Episode: This episode, being a prequel to Rugrats, has several chapters focusing on the births of the kids:
  • In "The Birth of Angelica", Angelica is born.
  • In "The Birth of Chuckie", Chuckie is born.
  • In "The Birth of Phil and Lil", the twins are born.
  • In "The Birth of Blueberry", Tommy is born.
• The New '10s: Apparently, Dil was born in 2013.
• The '90s: The babies were (according to this fanfic) originally from the 1990's, but then, due to time travel, ended up being born in the new tens instead.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: This story explains why the babies didn't age despite the show being set in The '90s and then later The New '10s as being due to time travel shenanigans.
• Original Character: Zack and Jesse the kids and Peter the babysitter are not canon characters.
• Please Wake Up: When Melinda first died, Chuckie thought she was asleep.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Zack tells Angelica off after finding out about the babies saving her from being stuck in the fence. The rest of them continue to be very mad at her, even when she cries.
  Zack: "OK, Angelica, I have a bone to pick with you. Your cousin and his friends saved your life, and you repay them by not only tricking them for the past, oh I don't know, one to two years now, but then, you go on YouTube, and with Peter's help, you tell the world that they don't exist? You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
• Ruptured Appendix: Stu gets appendicitis while Didi is in labor.
• Senior Sleep-Cycle: The elderly Grandpa Lou often takes naps.
• Shout-Out:
  • Lil mentions "that Happy Days song".
  • Phil mentions the comic strip Peanuts.
  • Zack mentions Harriet the Spy.
  • Peter mentions "bouncing off the walls faster than Tigger."
  • Apparently, the author takes some inspiration for jokes from Full House.
  • Angelica once claims that Tommy will live with gorillas like Carman, but Peter says, "It's Tarzan."
  • At the slumber party, they see people dressed up as Mickey Mouse, Hughie, Dewey and Louie, Mufasa and Scar, the gorilla family from Tarzan, the cast of Frozen and Hercules.
• Sibling Rivalry: Downplayed for Phil and Lil. Just like in the show, they generally get along fine but have tiffs.
• Sick Episode: Melinda's terminal illness, which is said to be cancer in this fanfic, makes up a part of the plot.
• Sleepyhead: While Grandpa Lou doesn't always seem tired, he does take a lot of naps.
• Speak in Unison: Phil and Lil apologize in unison for arguing about who should help who walk to Angelica.
• Spell My Name With An S: Grandma Shirley is referred to as grandma "Shirly", Grandma Minka as Gramdma "Minca", and Wawa the teddy bear as "Wahwah".
• Straying Baby:
  • In "Mommy is Gone", Chuckie thinks Melinda is asleep and sneaks off to wake her up.
  • In "Tommy's First Crawl", Tommy crawls off and nearly drinks bleach.
  • In one of the "Brotherly Preparedness" chapters, Tommy sneaks off at Big Sibling School to look for his "sister".
• Sweet Tooth: Angelica really likes cookies, cake and sweets. The other kids do too, but they don't go on about it as much as Angelica.
• Teen Pregnancy: Betty's abortion happened in high school.
• Tragic Stillbirth: While it doesn't completely traumatize them or take over the plot, Spencer's stillbirth is pretty tragic for Stu and especially Didi.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Chuckie is afraid of the unknown, clowns, the man on the oatmeal box

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