User blog:SentaiRiderFan/The end of the "Chandler the bully" cliche?

We had to wait for it a long time, but finally Chandler played another major part in an episode.

Now, as many faithfull readers of Loud House fanfics can tell, Chandler has had it tough since his first, and untill recently only, apperance in “The Waiting Game ”. Yes, he was kind of a jerk in that episode, using Lincoln to get free food and tokens from the arcade in return for inviting Lincoln and Clyde to his party. But ultimately, he kept his promise. Lincoln decided for himself not to go since his actions got Lori into trouble.

But where the show only gave us a jerk, many fanfic writers saw a potential antagonist for their stories. So in the months that followed, Chandler was severily flanderized into Lincolns personal nemesis, with his behaviour ranging from a massive jerk, a barbaric bully who wouldn’t hesitate to brutalize younger children, an arsonist who framed Lincoln for setting the school on fire, and  much, much worse. Any fanfic writer who wanted a bully for Lincoln would immediately pick Chandler, to the point that it has become a tiresome cliche on par with tropes like “nice sisters vs mean sisters”, “saint Lincoln”, “Lincoln running away”, and “NSL revenge fics”. Even the introduction of Hank and Hawk in “Tricked”, who are much more suitable for the role of bully, didn’t stop the trend.

But now, in Jeers for Fears, we finally got to see Chandler again the way he was intended to be; certainly not the nicest kid ever, but a far cry from the monster that writers like to turn him into. And as of the end of the episode, his jerkass nature has been toned down severely and he is even on friendly terms with Lincoln and Clyde.

So, fanfic writers. Can we finally put this cliche to bed once and for all? You want a bully for your story, either use a character that actually fits the part or come up with an OC. Flanderizing Chandler into one is now high on my list of signs that a fanfic is poorly written.