After all had been said and done, Luan Loud casually strolled up to your device screen, so as to close the distance between you and she; this was her way to make the intimacy of her final, closing monologue addressed to you, dear reader, more effective… that, and she just likes getting into your face.

"What a year it's been, folks." The ponytailed and brace-faced comedian exclaimed.

"Now, I've got good news and bad news for you… show of hands, who wants to hear the good news first, and who wants to hear the bad news first?" She asked, until she realized something…

"Ya know what? Scratch that! I can't even see any of your hands! I'll just give you the good news first! The good news is Shannon and I found our soulmates, and we couldn't be happier!"

She paused ever so briefly to mentally fawn over her soulmate, who was one Benjamin "Benny" Stein, the boy she had a crush on since middle school.

"And now, the bad news: now that the year's over with, Principal Rivers was fired for the whole club-cutting fiasco, among other things. A shame, really… she was such an easy target… oh, well… maybe our new principal, whoever they are, can provide me with some fresh meat for me to prank next year!"

Luan may want to reconsider that; it could be quite possible that Royal Wood High's next principal may not be the pushover that Principal Rivers had been.

"Still, life goes on, and I can't wait to see where it takes me. Good or bad, I can bear it."

A moment of awkward silence soon followed as Luan stared at your confused face.

"What, you thought Lincoln was the only one who could talk to you guys?"

Breaking the fourth wall seemed to be a gift of sorts that each and every Loud possessed… remember the time Lynn, Sr. broke the fourth wall (and even acknowledged Lincoln's penchant for such) in Tears of a Clone?


The above epilogue was one final contribution from Albertson, just to offer some exposition on the outcome of Principal Rivers' employment with Royal Woods High after dealing with her incompetence throughout the year.

(Make sure you've read the closing chapter, "Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow," in case FFN brought you to this afterword while skipping the chapter).

At long last, we are finally finished with this monster of a story, and once again, I sincerely apologize that this story ended up going on for the same amount of time that it reportedly takes to complete a single episode of Loud House. I honestly had figured that this would last no longer than, say, The Missing Loud, or Loud Triangle, especially considering that these were incredibly minor characters who gave us very little to work with, but this story just took on a life of its own lo these many months of consulting between Albertson and myself; Shannon and Amy's feud, A Midsummer Night's Dream, getting Lori involved in Ruby and Spencer's drama, Tiffany's evolution into a full-fledged OC, all of these were elements that were born out of many brainstorm sessions during the writing process that did not even exist in the initial plans for the story, but admittedly, they did add some much-needed meat to the bare bones of this story's origins.

I also have to say that I am so very much pleased that not only was the overall response to the Sharuby ship generally positive and receptive, but that this story also managed to garner some significant readership, because truth be told, I did not expect such at all… with this story placing such incredibly minor characters that probably much of the fandom could care less about into such prominent and major roles, while actual major characters, like the Loud siblings, were relegated to minor, supporting roles, I really figured that readership would have been almost non-existent, which was one reason I was sort of hesitant to even write this idea into a story… but, I am glad that I did, because the end results far exceeded my expectations! I'm not even dismissing the possibility of writing more for this couple in the future, and in fact, I have a few scenarios for them floating around in my cavernous cranium, it's all just a matter of figuring out which of these scenarios hold enough water to write into actual stories (not to mention finding the time and having the energy to write).

Once again, this story would not even be what it has become without all of Albertson's input; his enthusiasm for writing for LGBT couples made him an ideal candidate to be my co-pilot on this flight of fancy, and I cannot thank him enough for his belief in this project. Just the same, I also cannot thank those of you who were willing to take a chance on reading this highly unusual story enough for doing so, including Angelwings2002 and wollyworld for their lovely little reviews, and special recognition to DreadedCandiru2 – who has been one of my regular readers from the very beginning, and anonymous789 – whose insightfully analytical (or, analytically insightful) reviews have been the highlights of my weeks. Lastly, I send Quiet Waters my best wishes in his efforts to try and catch up with this monster of a story.

In closing, I reiterate my thanks and gratitude to everyone who has joined us for the rollercoaster ride Shannon and Ruby's first year of high school, as well as their friendship have been these past several months, and I am glad that some of you were able to get some enjoyment out of this story of which my expectations were really not that high.

As one more final note, I will now be taking initiative from another reader on FFN, Rigerhit047, who had previously suggested that whenever I include songs in a fanfiction story of mine, that I also include something of a soundtrack listing for the benefit of the readers who may want to search for and listen to these songs for themselves, so below is exactly that: a soundtrack listing for every song that has been included within this story, whether in their actual recorded form, or as covers that were sung by the characters.


THIS WILL BE OUR YEAR (TITLE SONG)
by The Zombies

Chapter 2: Clubbed
I'M LIKE A BIRD
by Nelly Furtado (Lyberti cover)

SALA KEBA
by Papa Wemba (Lyberti cover)

THEME FROM RATS: THE MUSICAL
from the
Hey Arnold episode, "Quantity Time" (Shannon cover)

HELLO
by Adele (Lyberti cover)

THEME FROM THE PHANTON OF THE OPERA
by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Shannon cover)

Chapter 5: Refuge in Auditions
OOH, GIRL
from the
Loud House episode, "For Bros About to Rock" (Shannon cover)

Chapter 11: Becoming Juliet
SUPER FREAK
by Rick James (Mr. Coconuts cover)

Chapter 13: Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
RUBY TUESDAY (Chapter Title Song)
by The Rolling Stones

SO CALLED FRIEND (THEME FROM ELLEN)
by Texas

Chapter 14: Everyday I'm Shuffling
PARTY ROCK ANTHEM (Chapter Title Song)
by LMFAO

Chapter 15: Friday Night Football
PURE IMAGINATION
from
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Shannon cover)

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
by Francis Scott Key (The Moon Goats cover)

Chapter 20: The Show Must Go On
THE SHOW MUST GO ON (Chapter Title Song)
by Three Dog Night

Chapter 21: Cinemadness
O, TANNENBAUM
by Johnny Mathis (plus Amy cover)

Chapter 22: Give and Take
HEY, HO, THE WIND AND THE RAIN
by William Shakespeare (Spencer cover)

Chapter 26: Welcome Back
WELCOME BACK (THEME FROM WELCOME BACK, KOTTER)
by John Sebastian (Royal Woods High Theater Club cover)

Chapter 28: The Matchmakers
EVER FALLEN IN LOVE
by Pete Yorn

THAT'S AMORE
by Dean Martin (Lyberti cover)

TELL HIM
by The Exciters (Lyberti cover)

Chapter 31: Stand Together
STAND TOGETHER (Chapter Title Song)
from the
Loud House episode, "Deep Cuts"

Chapter 33: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
(THEME FROM) THE WAY WE WERE
by Barbra Streisand (Lyberti cover)