Line #21 Fanfic/Prerugrats


1	''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10731830/1/Prerugrats Prerugrats]]'' is a fanfiction of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}''.
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3	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 ''Fanfic/TheRugratsTheory'' (an infamous [[EpilepticTrees 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.
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5	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.
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7	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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9	----
10	!!''Prerugrats'' provides examples of:
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12	* AccidentalMisnaming: When Tommy and the twins are first born, they call Chuckie "Chubby".
13	* AnnoyinglyRepetitiveChild: One-year-old Tommy Pickles annoys his parents by listening to a song called "The Happy Happy Song" over and over in the car.
14	* BabyLanguage: 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.
15	* BabysittingEpisode: Didi and Stu, Taffy, and Peter have been mentioned to have babysat the kids.
16	* BabyTalk: The kids still talk in primitive childish vocabulary, such as "one-years-old" and "firstest".
17	* BaffledByOwnBiology: When Stu and Didi get severe cramps, neither of them know why, at one point wondering if [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident 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.
18	* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Phil and Lil were born around the time Melinda died.
19	* BrainyBaby: Unlike Dil, Phil and Lil could speak BabyLanguage since they were born. Tommy could also say a select few words.
20	* BrattyHalfPint: 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.
21	* CerebusRetcon: 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.
22	* CharacterDeath: If you don't count the stillbirth, there's still Melinda's death and the mentioned death of Charlotte's mother.
23	* ChewingTheScenery: 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.
24	* {{Continuation}}: Played with. It's set a year after the show but the main events happened before the show.
25	* ContinuityNod: The fic mentions past events that happened in episodes.[[labelnote: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). [[/labelnote]]
26	* CoolOldGuy: He might be a bit scatty, but Grandpa Lou is very good with the kids.
27	* CuriousAsAMonkey: Tommy explores in the touchy-feely way most babies do.
28	* DeathFic: Not in general, but Melinda's death does make up a plot point, as does Trixie's.
29	* DarkFic: 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.
30	* DeathByAdaptation: A subtle example; “Angelica’s Birthday” implies that Charlotte’s mom is still alive.
31	* TheDiaperChange: Tommy mentions getting his diaper changed for the first time. He later gets his diaper changed in "Sing the Happy Happy Happy Happy Song".
32	* DisneyDeath: In the epilogue, an older Angelica is mistaken for having killed herself.
33	* DistantFinale: The last chapter takes place when Angelica and Susie are in high school.
34	* EskimosArentReal: Stu tells Grandpa Lou that there's no such thing as "hoodlums".
35	* ExpressDelivery: Only moments after Charlotte's waters break, her contractions are apparently two minutes apart.
36	* ExtremeOmnivore: Phil and Lil eat worms.
37	* FilthyFun: Phil and Lil have liked mud since they first discovered it.
38	* TheFoodPoisoningIncident: 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.
39	* GoodParents: 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".
40	* HappilyMarried: All the married couples are just as successful as on the show.
41	* {{Heaven}}: Chuckie mentions that Melinda is up in heaven now.
42	* HeDidntMakeIt: The doctor describes the stillborn baby Spencer as "not having made it".
43	* HelpImStuck: Angelica gets stuck in a fence.
44	* HiddenDepths: 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.
45	* HowUnscientific: 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 BabyLanguage from a genie.
46	* ILied: The last chapter is about Angelica admitting that she lied about the babies not existing.
47	* InjuredLimbEpisode: Spike is found with a broken leg.
48	* InSeriesNickname:
49	** Drew calls Charlotte "Char".
50	** Angelica calls Tommy "Baldy" despite him having hair now. She also calls Dil "Drooly".
51	** Philip and Lillian are almost always called "Phil" and "Lil".
52	** Betty calls Howard "Howie".
53	** The younger babies seem to have a habit of calling Angelica "Yucky".
54	** Grandpa Lou calls Tommy "Scout".
55	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Even though Angelica spread the rumour about the babies not existing, she feels bad about it eventually.
56	* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Drew and Charlotte have no idea what to name Angelica until she gets born.
57	* LastNameBasis: Angelica calls Chuckie by his surname a few times.
58	* LovableCoward: Chuckie is still his normal sweet, jittery self.
59	* MeaningfulName: 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.
60	* MissingMom: Melinda, Chuckie's biological mom, is not around because she's dead. Her death is mentioned in some chapters.
61	* MistakenForAliens: At one point, Zack asks if Dil is an alien.
62	* MorningSickness: Averted for most of the pregnancies, but Didi did have some morning sickness when she was pregnant with Dil.
63	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: When Peter, Tommy and Dil tell Angelica off for making up the lie about the babies, she feels bad and cries.
64	* NatureLover: 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.
65	* NewBabyEpisode: This episode, being a prequel to ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', has several chapters focusing on the births of the kids:
66	** In "The Birth of Angelica", Angelica is born.
67	** In "The Birth of Chuckie", Chuckie is born.
68	** In "The Birth of Phil and Lil", the twins are born.
69	** In "The Birth of Blueberry", Tommy is born.
70	* TheNewTens: Apparently, Dil was born in 2013.
71	* TheNineties: 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.
72	* NotAllowedToGrowUp: This story explains why the babies didn't age despite the show being set in TheNineties and then later TheNewTens as being due to time travel shenanigans.
73	* OriginalCharacter: Zack and Jesse the kids and Peter the babysitter are not canon characters.
74	* PleaseWakeUp: When Melinda first died, Chuckie thought she was asleep.
75	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: 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''.
76	-->'''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 Website/YouTube, and with Peter's help, you tell the world that they don't exist? You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
77	* RupturedAppendix: Stu gets appendicitis while Didi is in labor.
78	* SeniorSleepCycle: The elderly Grandpa Lou often takes naps.
79	* ShoutOut:
80	** Lil mentions "that ''Series/HappyDays'' song".
81	** Phil mentions the comic strip ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.
82	** Zack mentions ''Literature/HarrietTheSpy''.
83	** Peter mentions "bouncing off the walls faster than [[Literature/WinnieThePooh Tigger.]]"
84	** Apparently, the author takes some inspiration for jokes from ''Series/FullHouse''.
85	** Angelica once claims that Tommy will live with gorillas like Carman, but Peter says, "It's WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}."
86	** At the slumber party, they see people dressed up as WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, [[Franchise/DuckTales Hughie, Dewey and Louie]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Mufasa and Scar]], the gorilla family from Tarzan, the cast of ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen\|2013}}'' and [[Myth/GreekMythology Hercules.]]
87	* SiblingRivalry: Downplayed for Phil and Lil. Just like in the show, they generally get along fine but have tiffs.
88	* SickEpisode: Melinda's terminal illness, which is said to be cancer in this fanfic, makes up a part of the plot.
89	* {{Sleepyhead}}: While Grandpa Lou doesn't always seem tired, he does take a lot of naps.
90	* SpeakInUnison: Phil and Lil apologize in unison for arguing about who should help who walk to Angelica.
91	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Grandma Shirley is referred to as grandma "Shirly", Grandma Minka as Gramdma "Minca", and Wawa the teddy bear as "Wahwah".
92	* StrayingBaby:
93	** In "Mommy is Gone", Chuckie thinks Melinda is asleep and sneaks off to wake her up.
94	** In "Tommy's First Crawl", Tommy crawls off and nearly drinks bleach.
95	** In one of the "Brotherly Preparedness" chapters, Tommy sneaks off at Big Sibling School to look for his "sister".
96	* SweetTooth: Angelica really likes cookies, cake and sweets. The other kids do too, but they don't go on about it as much as Angelica.
97	* TeenPregnancy: Betty's abortion happened in high school.
98	* TragicStillbirth: While it doesn't completely traumatize them or take over the plot, Spencer's stillbirth is pretty tragic for Stu and especially Didi.
99	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Chuckie is afraid of the unknown, clowns, the man on the oatmeal box

Context Fanfic / Prerugrats