If I was to bend a loop with a roll, I would prefer to do it on the back side so that the show-line runway was always in sight.
Indeed. All aeros I've been trained in, or seen demo'd, the loop is simple and any line correction is made after the apex on the way down. If the climbing loop is combined with rolling it is a proper quarter roll, or more usually a half roll, even full roll to a predetermined datum then pull through. A line adjustment on the climb seems a guess at best.
Many questions, so few answers.