YMMV / What is a Person Worth?

• Angst Aversion: Even though the fic is about the Loud family earning Lincoln's forgiveness and improve themselves so they will not make the same mistake again. It did begin with having Lincoln finally stand up for himself after having to repeatedly deal with his family's behavior towards him as well as getting the rest of the family to realize that turning someone into their Designated Monkey is going to have consequences.
• Ass Pull: Mr. Santiago's sudden death in chapter 26. While his death gives a reason for the surviving Santiagos a reason to move, killing the patriarch of the family felt spur of a moment and rushed.
• Awesomeness Withdrawal: The update schedule was incredibly erratic, with various readers getting impatient over the long waits. Of course, it should be noted that the author was also working on Syngenesophobia at the time, which is just as long as this story, as well as having to deal with college at the moment.
• Broken Base: Similar to canon, the fan-fiction is split among the readers:
  • Was Lincoln right in deciding not to call the police? Opinions are split on whether it's a nice break from the usual cliché and a heartwarming moment (see below) or a stupid way to have the Louds get away without a proper punishment. The fact that he outright states that if the family doesn't give him space until they've proven to his satisfaction that they've learned their lesson, he'll get the police involved helps a little but again, there's still a division of opinion.
    • Related above from Chapter 16, was it right for Lincoln to feel remorse for calling Luan out for her cruel pranks to the point of hating herself? Some agree, but others think he shouldn't and felt it was necessary to make Luan see the error of her ways. Though the latter is mitigated with Lincoln having no regrets on calling out Luan in itself. What he regrets is that his speech was too effective, as he didn't mean to make her cry for it.
  • Ronnie Anne and Lincoln receive a minor Relationship Upgrade later on in the story, namely in that Ronnie Anne feels bad for all the times she bullied Lincoln and starts showing more legitimate respect towards him, but some readers thought that it was another cheap excuse for there not to be any consequences for the overall bullying Lincoln received from her. Others, however, are more willing to forgive Ronnie Anne and found the entire scene adorable.
  • Really, the whole ordeal with the Louds over whether or not they truly deserve Lincoln's forgiveness and respect after all the times they've neglected him is so far the story's biggest debate. The later chapters finally opened up and earned not only Lincoln's forgiveness but the same readers as well. However, as mentioned Never Live It Down below, there are some grudge-holders who see this as too little, too late.
• Catharsis Factor: Quite a lot of it.
  • Admit it, when Ronnie Anne ordered Lola to apologize to Lincoln, you were cheering in delight.
  • Although it didn't end well whatsoever (kinda predictably), Lincoln giving his family a "The Reason You Suck" Speech is very satisfying to read. Especially since it addresses the Double Standard when it comes to dealing with both Lincoln's mistakes and his sisters' mistakes. It also lists most of the times Lincoln was treated unfairly in previous episodes as well.
  • Luna chewing out the rest of the family for the way they've been treating Lincoln (after having a horrified reaction to realizing that Lincoln doesn't have a bed anymore) before going to find her little brother was great for steam release too.
  • Lincoln's experiences at the Santiago residence, mentioned under Heartwarming Moments, were definitely a needed change of pace from the rest of the story.
  • In Chapter 10, Lincoln finally gets to teach Chandler a lesson and gives him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown after the latter hurt Lana. Before that, Lana tried to help her brother when Chandler and his friends harassed him. The chapter ends with Lincoln hugging Lana to comfort her.
  • In Chapter 22, Lynn not only calls out Ronnie for both her easy belief that Lincoln would cheat on her and her past bullying of him but admits that she's been messing up her relationship with her brother for a long time by ignoring his discomfort with wrestling and other rough play.
  • Chapter 23 features Ronnie admitting she was a bitch and while she confesses that she turned into a terror because of her Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! bullies, she also admits that she went too far. Also, within the backstory, it's very satisfying that while Ronnie does get suspended for beating up her bullies, once word got out about how they treated her, one got punished by their parent while the other's mother got fired for trying to blame Ronnie over her daughter.
  • In Chapter 25, Lynn, Ronnie, Lori and Carol all being involved in saving Lincoln and Conner from Chandler's hired thugs is extremely satisfying as is the final reconciliation of the Loud siblings.
  • In Chapter 26, The Louds put Chandler through a huge Humiliation Conga to pay him back for everything he did. It's unlikely anyone will feel sorry for him.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The appearance of Mr. Santiago, a decent man who appears to be a good father in this AU, becomes this when "Shell Shocked" revealed that Bobby and Ronnie's father is canonically out of the picture ^note Although the chapter he appears in wasn't posted until after the episode aired, it was still being written before "Shell Shocked" premiered, and in the final chapter of the story he is killed off.
  • In-universe, after watching the video of Lincoln's fight with Chandler, Ronnie feels sick when she realizes how Lincoln must have felt when she was bullying him, especially since Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male was in full effect at the time. Not to mention the pranks and such she's done since then to keep up appearances.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Chandler being the Arch-Enemy to Lincoln and being a Barbaric Bully who's not above hurting Lana. Given how it's been two years since Chandler was used in the show and how he was left off, it's not hard to imagine him being an antagonist. When the episode "Jeers For Fears" debuted however, it showed Chandler and Lincoln on friendlier terms. Then, when "Schooled" debuted, it showed the two as rivals again.
  • Mr. Santiago's death becomes this, surprisingly, after a press release for the Casagrandes spin-off revealed he is indeed alive, he's just working abroad in Peru as a doctor.
• Misaimed Fandom: Or rather, Misaimed Fandom of a Fandom. The author made it clear to defy the tropes and cliches of the other NSL fics such as having the parents arrested and the girls sent to juvenile hall and foster care. Ironically, despite Forgiveness being the theme and the story ended with the family earning Lincoln's forgivness, some viewers are too vindictive to see the story's theme.
• Moral Event Horizon: How vicious Chandler and his friends are with bullying Lincoln, ultimately going as far as to physically attack Lana, a six year old girl, when she tried to stick up for Lincoln. It makes the following beatdown very much warranted. And unfortunately it doesn't slow him down as he ends up using Conner to set Lincoln up to be Mistaken for Cheating by Ronnie after Conner accidentally dyes his hair white and gets close to Cristina.
• Narm: Like Syngenesophobia, much of the drama in the story can get ridiculously over-the-top at times, and the characters often monologue to each other with dialog that doesn't quite sound like things you'd expect their canon counterparts to say (especially the occasional profanity). A good example is Lincoln's Precision F-Strike in chapter 3; while he had every right to be furious, him cursing came off as very forced.
• Never Live It Down: Ironically, even though the later chapters involve the Louds doing their hardest to earn Lincoln's forgiveness and Albert telling his grandson about why he should forgive them, and the family finally reconciling in the end, some readers see them beyond forgiveness, and wish bad things would happen to them.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The narration doesn't shy away from showing how violent the fights can be when the fighters are really pissed off. After reaching his Rage Breaking Point, like with Lynn in chapter 4 or Chandler in chapter 10, Lincoln basically becomes an 11-years-old version of The Unfettered. And the injuries he intended to give to Lynn, and those he actually gave to Chandler, are rather severe compared to what an average kid can do. Even a 6-years-old like Lana can be scary when she gets mad. In chapter 8, in a fit of mad rage, she nearly strangled her twin sister after the latter struck a personal nerve by saying that Lana would not have cared if Lincoln got eaten by the gator that attacked him earlier in the story, something that gave Lana nightmares.
  • A lower key one than the above but Lynn's lack of care for herself (namely skipping out on a lot of sleep and not eating well) in the most recent chapter is a pretty unnerving scenario since it's quite possibly interfering with her physical recovery and if that's the case, could cripple her permanently.
  • Lincoln's encounter with the junkyard dogs before the fight is made of this as he is just a small boy forced to fend for himself in a dangerous part of town while simply trying to get home safely, struggling with his squirrel suit the entire way. Not only does it nearly get him killed, but he is forced to kill one of the dogs in self-defense, knocking the poor creature into a pile of sharp debris. If his encounter with the alligator wasn't enough to send him over the edge, it was this near-death encounter that finally drove him beyond his breaking point.
  • Lynn's first nightmare when she goes looking for Lincoln only to walk into a house where she's told that he was never born, during which she is confronted by an evil version of herself who explains that she gave Lynn exactly what she wanted, showing Lynn as a toddler hitting her mom with a ball so hard it causes her to miscarry, thus erasing Lincoln out of her life. It takes Lucy to snap her out of it, and from then on Lynn is an emotional wreck who cannot bring herself to fall asleep for fear of facing her double again. And if that weren't bad enough, she's still wrestling with what her pride and selfishness nearly did even after she finally earns Lincoln's forgiveness.
  • Lynn's nightmare in Chapter 15 where Lincoln dumps all his anger and blame on her shoulders and then leaves forever is very unnerving, especially since she's clearly regressed badly from the small progress she made after Lucy's pep talk. A 13-year-old is blaming herself for all of her family's actions and the story doesn't seem to be leaning towards her getting the help she needs.
  • Lincoln's deconstruction of Luan's pranks in "Fool's Paradise" is very unnerving, especially since he says outright that it was lucky that Lana's allergy to rhubarb is a mild one (and even then he was freaked out by the swelling that resulted, even calling it the worst he had ever seen on her) and that the prank Rita fell for would have killed Lily. And even without him pointing out all the ways it could have gone wrong and Luan's imagination running away with her, the fact that she intended to tar and feather him is very disturbing.
  • Chapter 25 features an entire band of Barbaric Bully thugs after Lincoln and Conner plus the bullies from the Dairyland trip and Lynn and Ronnie both losing badly to said bullies, with Ronnie getting Stuffed into a Trashcan and getting sick from it and Lynn literally a bloody pulp. Then when Lori and Carol show up, the latter nearly breaks one of the bullies' neck in her protective fury.
• Once Original, Now Overdone: More like, "No Such Luck Fics Are Unoriginal". While this fic wasn't the very first Deconstruction Fic towards No Such Luck, many other fics tend to copy the formula. With the family going too far with their actions, feeling remorse for it, and Lincoln forgiving them in the end. One of the major reasons why No Such Luck Deconstruction Fics are looked down upon is how often predictable most of those fics are.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Or rather, Killing Off A Perfectly Good Character, Marcus being suddenly killed in a car accident is this. Since he could've served a decent foil to Lynn Sr and served a purpose in this universe.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • While the author made it clear he wants to avoid getting the police involved, imagine if Chandler found out and used that information as an advantage?
  • Chapter 25 ends with Lincoln finally forgiving his family and reconciling in the end. But wouldn't it be great to have a chapter involving Lisa and Lola earning their forgiveness? Granted, the latter did have Lincoln attending her ballet recital and sent a letter to tell her why Lincoln should return. Chapter 26 mitigates this with Lisa helping out in Lincoln's revenge against Chandler.
  • The sequel had a Time Skip two years in the future, where Lori lives with Bobby and the Santiagos have moved on. Though it would have been great to see Lori and Bobby's relationship improving between those two years along with the Santiagos learning to move on.
  • Mr. Santiago's death felt rushed in the final chapter, while this was probably to avoid Ending Fatigue, another chapter or two would have brought some closure about the Santiagos moving out.
• Tough Act to Follow: Not to the author's work, but to No Such Luck Deconstruction Fics in general. While it might not be the very first fanfic to tackle the issue of the infamous episode, but with over a 1000 reviews and over 600 faves, any following fics after this one will have a rough time to catch up to this one.

---