YMMV / The Loud Sim Date

• Accidental Aesop: It's entirely possible to learn the lesson of "You shouldn't take something without verifying it first", seeing as how the entire plot happened because Lincoln took the VR game, saw it was meant for his family, and took it without a second question.
  • You could also get "Be careful about your promises" and "Choose your friends wisely" with the whole situation with Ronnie Anne and Cristina.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Cristina and Leni, though mostly the former, since her actions in the story are fairly ambiguous.
  • For Cristina, what was she doing with the helmets, and why are the helmets made with the ability to brainwash people?
    • There's also the matter of why she needs to assemble the Four Lovers for her plan. Did she assemble them because she knows she's weak and wouldn't be able to get anything done on her own? Or because she needed scapegoats just in case something wrong happened?
    • Are she and Ronnie Anne even friends? Certain flashbacks do show that they used to at the very least be close, but in the present, it's a little more ambiguous.
    • There's also her sociopath traits. Were they there from the start, or did she get them after learning about "the truth"?
    • Her absolute willingness to torture and hurt the sisters so much, all for the sake of Lincoln. Is she well-meaning at all?
    • Is she actually aware that her plan is bound to fail no matter what? Does she keep trying because the alternative is much worse, or because she wants to gain catharsis first?
  • For Leni, what exactly does she want to do with her family?
    • On whose side is she even on?
• Arc Fatigue: The Aloha Beach Resort Arc, despite only lasting around 7 chapters, has been criticized for a rather slow pacing compared to what came beforehand.
• Angst? What Angst?: Averted during the Aloha Beach Resort arc, where both Lynn and Lana show realistic effects to the former molesting the latter.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Luan playing the kazoo with the band at the Star Cafe. It happens, and then it's not mentioned again for the remainder of her visit there with Luna.
  • The phone call Lynn gets in chapter 27. It comes out of nowhere, and is never mentioned again.
• Catharsis Factor: After screwing over everybody in the entire story and generally getting away with it, Cristina being beaten up by the sisters, her arm broken by Lincoln, stabbed repeatedly by the boy, then finally being stabbed in the head, stomach and crotch by stalacmites before being sent to a maximum security jail is really satisfying.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Lana being given a jack-in-a-box with a demonic Lynn head? Not funny, specially given what happened to her before. Her saying that she's glad that Luan's sense of humor still sucks (long story)? Kinda funny.
  • Cristina torturing Lola by shoving things up her crotch? Utterly horrifying, specially if you're a Lola fan. Her later essentially fisting her and using her as a hand-puppet? Hilarious in the worst way possible... Or simply more horrifying.
  • Cristina shows Leni a jar of what seems to be torn clitorises, then says it's pink fingernails. That's kinda funny. Her then saying they're torn clitorises would be horrifying... If she didn't call them as "Crotch pimples".
• Epileptic Trees: At least one reviewer has stated that they believe the story is connected to the webcomic I Love My Brother, mostly going by Cristina's line in chapter 20. However, it's quite safe to say that with what happens in later chapters, this theory is most likely thrown out the window.
• Fan Disservice: Lori and Carol Pingrey kiss after the former's torture. This would normally be hot, except that not only did Lori just come out of a brutal torture session, but the kiss isn't even passionate, as it only serves to seemingly transfer Carol's powers to Lori and nothing else.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In chapter 15, Lincoln has a nightmare where, among other things, he gets stabbed by Lisa. That's bad enough, as it clearly demonstrates how guilty he feels about the whole thing, but in chapter 33, that becomes a reality.
• Moral Event Horizon: Cristina crossed it, there's no doubt about that. It's when she crossed it that's the question. Either she crossed it when:
  • She delivered the mind-controlling helmets.
  • When she mind-controlled Bobby and Carol into doing things to Lola.
  • When she tried to force Lincoln and Ronnie Anne to get together.
  • When she turned Lori into one of her lackeys, and made her send the friendship bracelets.
  • Then she tops herself by, after becoming a ghoul, she tortures most of the Louds sisters to the point of leaving them hospitalized, breaks Leni as hard as she can before ripping off her arm and cannibalizing it, and this was after forcing her to fight both her clones and Lori herself, and shortly after she's beaten up and has her healing factor regenerated, she proceeds to grab and squeeze the Hard Light sisters until they explode. Is it any wonder Lincoln's Last-Second Chance did absolutely nothing?
• Paranoia Fuel: Cristina, and to a lesser extent Leni, can mind control people by saying "would you kindly?", followed by their request. Let that sink in for a moment.
  • A family of sisters play a sim dating game about themselves, and start acting weird soon afterwards. It later turns out that the helmets have chips that mind-control people into changing behavior. Yes, that perfectly innocuous helmet and game could potentially brainwash you, and you would be none the wiser.
• Shipping: A whole lot of it. The plot does involve a sim dating game, after all.
  • Crack Pairing: Cristina writes Cristina/Clyde in one of Lisa's papers, presumably for laughs. Not only have the duo not have had that much interaction in the story, but pairing anybody up with Cristina is bound to come out with No Yay undertones.
  • Gotta Ship 'Em All: Seemingly what the helmets' purpose is: brainwash all users into loving a specific someone else. Cristina even upgrades them half way through the first arc to increase their power!
  • Incest Yay Shipping: Everybody but Lincoln, basically. And even then, Lisa seems to have a one-sided attraction to Lincoln.
  • Les Yay: Basically everywhere with the Loud sisters pairings, but most prominently with Luna and Luan, who have most definitely the biggest Romance Arc out of all the pairings.
  • No Yay: Cristina and Lola share a bit of a moment in chapter 29, right before Lola is subjected to "the truth". Problem is, Cristina at this point is an insane sociopath bent on destroying physically and mentally all the Loud sisters, and Lola is completely terrified of the situation, destroying any sensuality this moment could have.
    • Cristina and Ronnie sharing a bed in chapter 20. Cristina is still Cristina, and Ronnie is trying to go to sleep while knowing that not only is she part of her plan, but she just dragged Clyde into the mess. The smile the redhead gives Ronnie as they fall asleep doesn't help.
  • Really, anything with Cristina in it is bound to be filled with No Yay undertones.
  • A non-Cristina example is the kiss between Lori and Carol Pingrey after the former's torture. Even Bobby and Cristina find it unsettling.
• So Bad, It's Good: Luna's pun about a cowbell is apparently bad enough to get Virtual Luan to laugh. Then again, it's a version of Luan.
• Take That, Scrappy!: Luan, Lola, Lori, name a Loud sister you don't like, and there's probably a moment in the story where they wind up suffering quite a lot of misfortune. And if you dislike them, you might end up enjoying these moments, but if you like them...
• What Could Have Been: With the helmets initial effects negated, the idea of Lincoln X Lynn and Lucy is officially buried.
• The Woobie: Basically the Loud sisters in this story. Excluding Lily, each and everybody of the sisters have had to deal with emotionally exhausting and hurtful moments that would make a person break down, all because of Cristina.
  • Luan, in particular, will make you want to give her a hug. To count the things that happen to her: She's told by Luna, the sister she's dating, that not only are her jokes not funny, but everybody else laughs out of pity or another reason, she's then struck in the face with a guitar by the same girl, her date with Luna is basically ruined thanks to Storge/ Carol Pingrey, then she learns and goes through the plan of becoming heart broken in order to turn back to normal, and as if that wasn't enough, when she does finally manage to get heartbroken, the resulting attack from Virtual!Luna is not only real enough to actually, physically hurt her, but her mouth starts bleeding from the attack, and she has to be taken to the hospital.
  • Ronnie Anne. She's basically stuck as Cristina's lackey due to a promise she made to her, and only calls it quits when it's basically too late and Lincoln gets hurt, the very thing she was trying to prevent. As if that wasn't enough, she and Cristina have a very bad falling out that ends with the two basically becoming enemies, so not only did she fail to protect Lincoln, but she lost a friend. And to make matter worse for her, said "friend" has now trapped her in a VR where she meets Lincoln again, but he doesn't love her, and gets taken away by someone else. For a week. Poor girl can't get a break...
  • Lincoln is left out of the whole mess, so he doesn't fit this, right? Wrong. He doesn't only feel guilty about essentially causing the whole mess in the first place, but he winds up being stabbed by his younger sister, Lisa, in an attack meant for Ronnie Anne, which leaves him hospitalized.

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