I've seen a few episodes of the Loud House where Lincoln is treated pretty badly, by his family and his peers. There was "The Loudest Yard," "Making the Case," "Sleuth or Consequences," "Funny Business," "Brawl in the Family," and pretty much the worst of them all, "No Such Luck." Some of these episodes have one thing in common, they show how Lincoln is pictured when compared to his sisters, and not in a good way. I almost forgot "Kings of the Con," of course. So, I've thought of this story about Lincoln's inner struggles with his family. I hope you enjoy. (I'm not so great with summaries)
Disclaimer: I don't own The Loud House
It was a bright, sunny day in the town of Royal Woods as most of the neighborhood was enjoying the blissful afternoon. The weather was great and it was the perfect temperature for some outdoor fun, like sports. And no one else in Royal Woods enjoyed sports more than the Loud family's resident star athlete, Lynn Loud.
Lynn Loud was the best at practically every sport she tried. Basketball, soccer, hockey, football, lacrosse, baseball, and even tennis. It was true, Lynn Loud conquered every kind of athletic event she participated in. There weren't too many people who shared Lynn's vast enthusiasm for sports, except for, maybe, her father, Lynn Loud Sr. The two of them always liked to hang out with each other and play sports whenever they could. And today was no exception.
It was another day at the field for Loud family. Lynn Jr. was playing her heart out in her team's next soccer game. As always, everyone was counting on Lynn to lead the team to victory. And in the stands was her father, Lynn Loud Sr., who was once again cheering his heart out for his daughter while she played at one of her sporting events. It was a tough game with Lynn's team playing against their rival team from Hazeltucky. But in the end, it was a no-brainer as Lynn, as usual, won the game for her team and another soccer trophy to add to her spot in the family trophy case.
Everyone cheered and chanted Lynn's name loudly as her team carried her around for their big win. Lynn then walked to her dad to hear what he had to say.
"That's my girl! I knew you'd pull it off LJ!" he said proudly. "You know it, Pops!" Lynn responded with joy.
After the game ended, Lynn Sr. and Lynn Jr. were about to head to the car and go home. They got in the car and drove off with smiles on their faces, still content about how the game went. "Another great win, LJ. You do your old man proud," Lynn Sr. said. "Naturally dad. Was there really any doubt?"
Once they finally made it home, the two were greeted by the happy faces of the matriarch of the Loud family, Rita Loud, and all of Lynn's many siblings, who showered her with praise. "Yeah, yeah guys. I know, I'm awesome," Lynn said in a cocky manner. But it was nothing they weren't used to.
However, while Lynn was getting the praise from her family over her latest athletic accomplishment, there was one member of the Loud family who wasn't present for it. And that was none other than her only brother, and the only son in the family, Lincoln Loud. Lincoln was up in his room playing video games as he often would on a good day like this when most kids around his age would prefer to play outside and get active. But apparently, Lincoln wasn't like those other kinds of kids who actually enjoy physical activity. He was more into indoor activities that didn't involve much effort, like playing video games and reading comic books. Not exactly something his parents acknowledged very much like they do with the things that his sisters partake in.
As Lincoln was playing games in his room, someone came up to his door and knocked. "Come in," he said. It was his father who came into his room wondering why he wasn't there to greet Lynn after her big win at the game. "Hey, Lincoln. Guess what, son," he said. But Lincoln was too invested in his game to pay much attention, even so, he still had enough sense to answer his father. "What is it dad?" he asked in a less than pleasing tone, which his father didn't appreciate very much.
"Okay," Lynn Sr. said awkwardly. "Lynn won another soccer game. Isn't that great?!" But Lincoln didn't match his enthusiasm. "Yeah. That's great dad," Lincoln responded in a low tone, still focusing more on his game. "Well, anyway. We're all going out to dinner to celebrate. Come on and get dressed," the patriarch said, but Lincoln still didn't feel like looking away from his game. "No thanks, dad. Kind of busy right now." Lincoln's choice of words didn't sit well his father as he was unamused by how much he cared about playing one his video games more than supporting his sister.
"Busy with what, Lincoln?" he asked in a stern tone with his arms crossed in annoyance. "Playing your silly game there? Come on and let's go." Lincoln finally looked away from his game screen and didn't like what his father had to say. "Hey! It's not silly dad. It's fun," Lincoln responded, only to get the same unamused, sore face from his father. "You call that fun, Lincoln?" Lynn Sr. said in annoyance.
"Yes, for me anyway," Lincoln said, only to see his father didn't take kindly to his attitude. "Lincoln, we're going out to celebrate Lynn's big victory at the soccer game. And we should all be there to support her," Lynn Sr. said. "Dad. Lynn always wins at her sports, it's nothing new, so why get excited about it?" Lincoln asked. What he just said only made their conservation more unbearable as his father was accustomed to hearing his son so uninterested in supported his sister's achievement as he felt it wasn't something to be excited about.
"Lincoln! I do not like your tone, young man. Now, come on! We're all going out for dinner because I didn't make anything for us to eat here," he scolded his son and in the process, was given another stone-cold look that the father returned. "Fine. If there's nothing to eat here, I guess I'll go," Lincoln said finally putting his game down and coming out of his room.
As the family got in the car, Rita was sitting in the front seat waiting for the only two men in her house to come out. When Lincoln and his father finally came out of the house, Rita was surprised to see a blank expression on Lincoln's face, like he wasn't interested in going out to dinner, and was even more surprised to see that her husband's face had also changed from one of great pride to a face that looked like it was filled with rage and that that enraged face was directed toward her son.
Once they were both in the car, Rita just had to ask Lynn Sr. about his sudden change in mood, "Honey, what wrong?" Lynn Sr. didn't feel like answering but decided to anyway. "It's nothing, Rita. Lincoln was just being a tad difficult with getting ready." Rita was confused by his response but felt it wasn't the best idea to talk about it too much. "Well okay. Let's go then," Rita said as they drove off on their way to a restaurant.
Once the Loud family made it to the restaurant, they were all sat down at the table enjoying their dinner. During that time, most of the family was talking about how their day went while others were talking about how Lynn's game turned out. But in that time of the noise that the Loud family is known for, the only one of them that mostly stayed quiet during that time was Lincoln. He didn't feel like talking much so his father decided to break his silence.
"So Lincoln, did you do anything interesting today?" Lynn Sr. asked in an awkward tone waiting for his son to give an answer. "Not much, dad. Just the usual," Lincoln said unenthusiastically.
"Did you maybe play any good sports today, son? Today was a pretty good day to go outside and get active, you know," Lynn Sr. said trying to break the tension. "Not really, dad. I was mostly on my game today," he said. But Lynn Sr. and Rita both seemed unamused by his answer as they both were hoping to hear if any of their other kids had done anything worthwhile on such a lovely day.
"Uh, Lincoln. Is that really all you did today? Now come on, son. You didn't really spend a beautiful day like this inside playing video games all day, did you?" the father asked only to feel his wife put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at Rita to see a worried looking on her face and shaking her head, clearly telling her husband to stop this conversation before it got any more awkward.
"Well okay then, Lincoln. If you say so," Lynn Sr. said as he decided to drop the subject and continue with their celebration dinner.
When the family returned home from their big dinner, everyone immediately returned to their rooms to call it a day and get ready for bed. Even though Lynn Sr. did put that conversation with Lincoln to rest like his wife told him to, he still couldn't get over the fact that Lincoln acted so differently towards sports than Lynn did. To Lynn Jr., sports were like a part of who she is and she just loved them so much, which Lynn Sr. always supported. But for his one and only son, sports were more like a pointless endeavor that he barely had any good feelings for.
Lynn Sr. loved how Lynn Jr. and all of her sisters always brought home a trophy and made him and Rita so proud of them. He just couldn't understand why Lincoln couldn't (or wouldn't) do the same. He liked it when he and his friends were going for a good exercise jogging in the mall, along with Lincoln. But that joy quickly dissipated once he found out that Lincoln ditched them to go play video games at the mall arcade instead.
On top of that, he was so proud of Lincoln when he thought he was playing football, until he found out it was really Lynn Jr. playing while Lincoln cheated his way out of playing by having Lynn take his place. Things only became worse after Lincoln finally played football for real and ended up losing the game by scoring for the wrong team. After today, he realized just how much Lincoln preferred video games and comics over sports, practically crushing any hope he had for his son to be more active like his daughters, and frankly, he didn't know how much more of it he could take.
The next day
Lynn Sr. had just left for work still pondering over his feelings toward Lincoln's laziness. But for the sake of his job, he had to put that aside and let it go for now. And during work, that is exactly what he did when he was working in his family restaurant. He always loved cooking and working at his restaurant, 'Lynn's Table,' always made him happy. But by the end of the work day, as Lynn Sr. was heading back to his car to go home, someone came to approach him. Someone whom he thought he would never see again.
"Hey there, Loud. Long time no see," the person said. Lynn Sr. turned around and quickly recognized the person who came up to him. "Stan Stankco?!" Lynn Sr. said in shock as he remembered the man from when he and Lincoln played against him and his own son in their favorite game show, "Legends of the Hidden Temple." Unlike the outfits they wore for the show, Stan was wearing a pair of black pants, a white, short-sleeved, T-shirt, and white sneakers, the very same clothes that he and his son wore at the airport to make fun of the Louds.
"What are you doing here, Loud?" Stan asked. "This is my restaurant, in case you couldn't tell. It's called Lynn's table," he answered, unhappy with seeing his old rival from the game show that he so richly enjoyed. "This is your place, huh? That figures," Stan spat back. "What's that supposed to-" Lynn Sr. said, only to be interrupted by Stan moving his hand in front of his face.
"Alright. Enough of that," Stan said. "I was just in the neighborhood when I just happen to spot you here. And I thought I'd give you a little something." Stan pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and gave it to Lynn. "What's this?" he asked. "It's a flyer for the big Royal Woods, Manliness contest. It's gonna be awesome!" Stan said in a tough tone while flexing his big biceps, causing the Loud patriarch to flinch.
"Manliness contest?" Lynn Sr. asked in confusion. "That's right. It's a big contest where tough guys compete against each other to see who's the most manly. Oh, and did I mention it's a contest for dads and their kids?" Stan explained. "Really, my daughter would love this kind of thing," Lynn Sr. said.
"Daughter?" Stan said and then laughed at Lynn's comment. Lynn Sr. didn't know what the big brawny man found so funny as he was certain that his daughter, Lynn Jr., would be more than a match for anyone in such an event. "You think your 'daughter' can play in this, Loud? Ha! Yeah right!" Stan chuckled, much to Lynn Sr.'s annoyance.
"Maybe I wasn't clear when I said it was for dads and their kids? I meant that it's a contest only for dads and sons," Stan clarified. "That's why it's a contest of manliness. No girls allowed. I feel so sorry for you, Loud!"
"Sorry? For what?" Lynn Sr. asked. "Sorry that you've got a son who could never hope to qualify for something like this!" Stan said cackling in Lynn's face, making him more irritated.
"Hey! My son would do great in this contest!" Lynn Sr. exclaimed only to get another laugh from the big, burly, bearded guy in front of him. "Your son? Get real, Loud! I remember your son from the game show. He's nothing but a pathetic, spineless, scrawny, un-athletic, wimpy, weakling!" Stan insulted Lincoln which only made Lynn Sr. even angrier.
"Hey! Don't talk about my son that way! He's not a wimp!" Lynn Sr. shouted back. "You wish, Loud. You know, I heard of how your boy played football. Or tried to." When Stan Stankco brought up the time Lincoln had Lynn play football for him, his anger started to diminish a little bit. "Your boy got his sister to play for him and then when he played, he screwed up the whole thing and got pounded by the 'real' football players," Stan scoffed. "He wasn't playing football, he was running scared with the ball and messed everything up."
"Why, with your boy's noodle-like arms and puny body, I wouldn't be surprised if he was lucky enough to be the team's water boy!" Stan laughed again, but instead of making Lynn angry, Lynn Sr. grew nervous and didn't know what to say to counter.
Stan stopped laughing and puffed out his chest for more verbal torture. "You know, my son played pea-wee football before and he could actually crush the competition and I do mean 'crush,'" Stan said punching his fist into his open palm for emphasis. With Lynn Sr. standing silently, Stan Stankco knew he had already won their argument hands down.
"So tell me, Loud. How does it feel? It must be awful to have a son who's such a complete disappointment!" Stan scoffed for the last time as Lynn Sr. had nothing to say, hanging his head down shamefully.
"I thought so. I wouldn't to see you and your pathetic runt of a boy at the contest. But if you do come, me and my son, Steak, will be there too. And we're gonna crush you two just like we did on 'Legends of the Hidden Temple.' You probably won't enter, Loud. But it would be funny to watch you try! Ha ha ha!" Stan Stankco said as he finally left Lynn Sr. in the parking lot holding onto the flyer he gave him.
Lynn Sr. lifted his head up aggravated by the man's harsh and disrespectful words. And after Lincoln acted last night at dinner, he just couldn't get the thought out of his head. As he drove off in Vanzilla, Lynn Sr. just couldn't stop thinking about what he said about Lincoln being a disappointment to his family. He knew that the big guy was just a big jerk and tried to ignore him.
However, considering Lincoln's past with sports, the Loud father knew, deep down, that Stan was right. But then he shook his head to purge the thought from his mind. "Ah. What am I thinking? That guy doesn't know anything about me or my family. Lincoln could do great in this contest. Yeah, I know it," Lynn Sr. said to himself while driving with a sense of confidence. "Come Lynn Sr., don't listen to that big galoot. Lincoln's just as tough and manly as anyone else," he said as he pulled up to his house's driveway.
As he left his car and was ready to start making dinner for the family, Lynn Sr. kept his confident grin on and made his way for the front door. "I know Lincoln's just as athletic as anyone-," Lynn Sr. opened the door to his house, but his confidence instantly vanished and his entire train of thought was cut off by the sight that he saw the moment he opened the door.
Lincoln was sitting on the couch playing video games on the living room television again. Only this time, he looked like a complete mess. His shirt was wrinkled and stained, his hair was a mess, and his eyes were pink and bloodshot as if he had been playing that game for more than half of the day, which pretty seemed like the case.
And it wasn't only Lincoln, the living room table was pretty cluttered as well. On the table were various junk foods that any messy video gamer would gorge on while playing games mindlessly. There were open bags of potato chips (both on the table and on the floor), pizza, sugary soda, cheesy snacks, pork rinds, even some candy, which Lincoln was currently noshing on while obsessively playing his game as if it was possessing his very being to play it for hours and hours on end.
Basically, Lincoln looked like the epitome of a completely lazy, un-athletic, couch potato who would much rather sit on the couch stuffing himself with unhealthy foods instead of going outside to get active. And Lynn Sr. did not like it one bit.
He was beginning to believe that Stan Stankco was right and that Lincoln really was just a lazy boy who didn't enjoy sports, embodying everything that is the exact polar opposite of manliness. Lynn Sr. walked right up to Lincoln and stood right next to him with a nervous look on his face. "Oh boy," the Loud father said worriedly as he facepalmed at his son's current disposition.
He took a deep breath and stood up straight. Maintaining his composure, Lynn Sr. went to break the ice, "Hey there, Lincoln. How you doing?" Lincoln took a few seconds to respond as he was still too focused on the game to even look in his dad's direction. "Can't talk, dad! Busy!" Lincoln exclaimed very quickly as if he was running on high caffeine. But it was only the sugar from all of the candy that was making him hyper. Sugar was a good substitute in kids for the caffeine that made adults act hyper.
Lynn Sr. was not thrilled to hear his son ignore him like that and began to grow concerned for him. "Lincoln, how long have you been playing this game?" his father asked. "I said I'm busy, dad. Leave me alone," Lincoln said in an irritable tone, probably grumpy from all of the junk food and lack of sunlight, especially considering that the lights were off. Lynn Sr.'s eyes widened in surprise at Lincoln's less than desirable attitude, which quickly turned to anger as he couldn't take anymore of his son's laziness and lack of respect for his dad.
"That does it, Lincoln!" Lynn Sr. stomped, but Lincoln still didn't pay any attention to him so he decided to do it the hard way. Lynn Sr. walked over to the TV and put his son's gaming spree to an abrupt end by unplugging it. The TV screen shut off and put Lincoln's game to an end, much to Lincoln's aggravation. "Hey! Dad, I was about to win that game!" Lincoln shouted. "That's enough, Lincoln! Look at yourself! You're a complete and utter mess!" Lynn Sr. scolded.
Lincoln looked at his shirt to notice a few big, greasy stains on it to add to its wrinkles. "Yeah, so what? I'm fine," Lincoln said. "No you're not mister. You've spent all day inside playing these mindless video games when you could've been outside playing sports and getting some good exercise. Look at the mess on the table. Junk food, soda, and candy?! Is this your new diet, Lincoln?! Because if it is, it is not gonna get you anywhere," Lynn Sr. scolded his son even harder, but Lincoln still didn't take him seriously.
"As if dad. You just want me to play sports again, like before, but it's not gonna work," Lincoln scoffed, turning his back to his dad and giving him a cold shoulder. Lynn Sr. then turned on the living room lights causing Lincoln to cover his eyes like a vampire with a fear of light would. "This is unacceptable, Lincoln. I've had enough of your lazy attitude and your complete contempt for sports and exercise. Now go to your room!" Lynn Sr. said angrily. "Fine," Lincoln said, unhappy with his father's tone. But then he smelled Lincoln as he passed by and didn't like the stench emanating from him. "And Lincoln, while you're up there..." Lincoln turned to face his father before heading up the stairs. "Go and take a shower for goodness sake, son. You smell awful." "Alright, dad!" Lincoln said irritably as he trudged up the stairs.
As Lynn Sr. was cleaning up the mess Lincoln left in the living room, he could hear the shower turning on upstairs, meaning that Lincoln was showering like he was told. This gave his father a small bit of satisfaction, but still. The Loud family patriarch sighed in defeat as his tenseness faded with him now realizing how he was acting with Lincoln. He didn't like it but he knew it was necessary to get Lincoln to stop playing the game and listen to him.
Lynn Sr. sighed sadly, "Who am I kidding? That Stankco jerk was right. Lincoln really isn't athletic or manly like many other kids. I've got to do something about this." He thought for a few minutes until an idea came to him. "Well, if Lincoln isn't going to go through with it, I guess I'll just have to prepare him for the manliness contest the hard way. Don't worry Lincoln, in time, you'll be a different person and you're going to like the person you've become. I hope."