19. Bad Reputation

A/N: So, in this chapter of 'Sister-Phobia', we will cover a character whose been on the receiving end of a near endless amount of hatred. It's often said that Lynn's character is the most static out of all of her sisters due to little episodes focusing on her, and the ones that did have ruined her reputation. There was a time this little sporty girl was the most likable character in the show people could relate to. She's very energetic, playful, well-versed in the world of sports, and is one of the sisters Lincoln has a close bond with. However, as the series went on, due to a lack of character development, people began to see Lynn as a brutish bully with an ego problem. An infamous episode amped this up by a factor of 10, making Lynn the most hated main character in the show. Such a title used to be held by Lola, but she has since regained some fans due to a few good episodes centered around her. Lynn has only had one episode centered around her that didn't quite soften the hatred towards her.

As such, we'll take a look into why Lynn acts the way she does. Not that she's a bad character, she just has issues expressing her love. However, it goes without saying that Lynn indeed has an ego problem.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

"Well then, I'm sure you may be aware of how our process goes?" Miranda asked the teen.

"Not really since I haven't been in here until now..." Lynn muttered.

"It's very simple. As the terms of confidentiality go, what we talk about in this room can remain a secret if you wish. I won't tell anyone, but you are free to make use of that information as you will."

The adolescent shrugged. "Ok, that's fine..."

"Now for the most obvious question of the day..." The doctor sighed internally, having went through this same process several times by now. "So tell me, considering everything that's happened, how do you feel about it all?"

Lynn's face contorted into a frown. "Like I said, crappy...my brother's afraid of me, I can't do any sports, all of my friends have left me, I got my butt kicked by an 11 year old last Monday, and the silver lining? I deserved every single part of it..."

"Would you say you've had a troubling relationship with your siblings before any of these recent events occurred?"

"It was rocky sure, but it didn't get like...all of this...I don't talk with my older sisters much, but we do get along well. My younger sisters on the other hand, two of them I kinda have a few issues with, but with Lucy and Lana, I get along with just fine. It's a bit disappointing almost none of them are into sports though."

"I see. In relation to your older siblings, is there a particular reason you don't associate with them?"

Lynn folded her arms. "...In all honesty, between Lori's bossiness, Leni's...not-so-smartness, Luna's loud tunes and Luan's lame jokes, they make me irritated a lot...and since you might as ask about Lola and Lisa, well one's a brat, and the other thinks we're her personal guinea pigs..."

Miranda could somewhat agree with that, particularly since the elder siblings already expressed themselves. "And why do you seem close to Lana and Lucy?"

"That's easy. Out of the twins, Lana and Lola are like total opposites. Lola likes to be 'prim and proper' and 'showing some class' or whatever it is she goes on about, but Lana...she's like me. She's not afraid of getting dirty, she's a bit tough considering that she likes to wrestle gators, and the best part is she loves play fighting. She's probably the closest thing to a boy in the house besides myself and...my brother..."

The doctor noted the sadness on Lynn's face upon mentioning Lincoln. She'd bring him up in a minute, as she wanted to know the relationship between Lynn and Lucy. "What about Lucy? What is she like?"

"She's an emo, plain and simple. Always dark, moody, and outright depressed. She loves the dark so much she always hides in the vents of the house writing poems." The athlete gave a snort. "She even spray painted the whole room black at one point. It was around the time we were supposed to start saving energy to save some polar bear. That made me really mad because it's not like she's the only one in there. I'm practically in the room whenever she's off hiding somewhere, and she keeps popping up out of nowhere, scaring the crap out of us! And don't get me started with her constant sighing. It gets annoying real fast. She's always like 'sigh'...'sigh'...'sigh'. Would it kill her to smile more for a change? Lucy always goes on with how depressing life is, but I hardly see it."

"She doesn't sound like an ideal roommate for someone like you."

"You're right. She's not. In fact, we had such a big fight at one point that I decided I couldn't sleep in the same room with her for a while." Lynn lied back on the chair, arms spread apart. "That was, until I realized I actually missed having her as my roommate...during the time I was staying with...another of my siblings...I saw her poetry book on the steps. I was about to just toss it elsewhere, but I decided to peek at it because I wanted to see what she gets so depressed about. That book...had some really deep stuff in there...I don't know much about poetry, but I could at least understand what it was mainly about. When Lucy says she writes poems to express her pain, it wasn't a figure of speech...she feels like she's always forgotten and no one cares about her. I even saw a poem where she just says hi to us and we all keep getting freaked out by it because we didn't see her coming...I guess that's a bad habit all of us do, but since she's so quiet in a house like ours, she often goes unnoticed...at that point, I forgot about why we were fighting and wanted to make it up to her, but...I just couldn't..."

Miranda was taking notes on this. "And what was the reason for your fight starting?"

Lynn paused for a moment. "After having repainted the room back to it's normal color, I found out she spray painted over some of my clothes and gear...she said I should get over it, and she's right, I should have...but that didn't mean she was allowed to paint our room black. It took forever to wash all of that paint off my stuff! I didn't want to give her that satisfaction of making it seem like I was being a big baby about it."

"So how did you two manage to reconcile?"

"My brother helped us make up...he was right about everything that happened then: me and Lucy missed each other but were too stubborn to admit it...I didn't think Lucy had much pride going for her, but I guess we aren't that different you know?..."

"I find it to be an interesting dynamic between you two. You seem to be energetic and joyful while Lucy seems to be more reserved and depressed, and yet you two still manage to make up even if it required an outside source. The love you both have for each other is probably still strong to this day."

Lynn looked tot he side. "I guess so..."

"Now, moving on, what do you think of your brother?"

Lynn gave a deep frown. There were a lot of things she could say to describe Lincoln, most of them being synonymous of each other: a nerd, wimpy, couch potato, lazy, comic geek, afraid to take a hit, doesn't exercise...afraid of his own sisters, living in a nightmare, a victim of circumstance, taken advantage of...those were the last parts Lynn thought about when picturing her brother the last time she saw him. She felt her eyes beginning to water as she reimagined Lincoln begging for mercy after seeing all of his sisters in the same room as him.

"H-He's..." Lynn's voice was breaking. "He's someone who didn't deserve any of this..."

Miranda frowned. She hated having to make someone revisit painful memories, but the best way to move past them, was through talking them out and letting them flow. "Do you have a close relationship with him?"

Lynn nodded. "...Ever since we were babies, I've always played with Lincoln. We both used to play fight with each other, pass the ball around, play on the see-saw and swings at the park...we even shared a room until the twins were born and I got stuck with Lucy...when I started getting into sports, I thought Lincoln might join in as well since he was a boy. I thought all boys wanted to do was get into something sporty, but Lincoln wasn't that kind of guy. As we got older, we started to hang less and less until the point we hardly hang out with each other. He's into comics and I'm into sports...I missed the times we used to play around, so I would ask him...sometimes force him to help me practice for something, even if I didn't need to...it was my way of trying to bring back those times we were close, but he'd just get annoyed and would want to go back to reading Ace Savvy. I even tried rough-housing him just to see if he'd fight back and remember the times we used to do that...all that did is irritate him, but I really wanted him to try to fight back for another reason..."

"Which is?"

"I've seen people similar to Lincoln around school a lot, and they are ALWAYS the main targets for bullies...I want to see if he has any fight in him. If he does, then it shouldn't be hard teaching him how to defend himself. I've chased off bullies for him before...but there was one who actually had a different motive than just tormenting him..."

Three months ago, school was running as normal as it typically would. The consolidated grades took on a load of newer students at the beginning of the semester, and with new students comes new targets for bullies. Naturally, those with the biggest egos would pick on the new kids and the nerds, as a way of trying to establish some sort of pecking order. Lynn wasn't new to any of this, as she herself had been subjected to the harsh treatment of bullying at one point. The jock had her fair share of boys and girls alike mocking her for her affiliation of sports. Even a few girls, mainly some fat kids who were larger than her in height and girth, tried to push her around (the boys refused to hit girls). But, with a few karate moves, Lynn taunt them to show some respect. That, and she was a quick learner in the world of sports, and needless to say the males were embarrassed to be shown up by a member of the opposite gender.

That was years ago. By now, Lynn Loud Jr. was well known to be one of the best sports players in the school, as well as someone you shouldn't mess with or her affiliates, particularly her siblings. Quite a few bullies learned this the hard way when they targeted Lincoln or Lucy. Today, Lynn was sitting in the cafeteria munching on a sloppy joe when she heard her brother scream out for some reason. Turning her head, she saw him digging such a sandwich from his pants.

The jock groaned inwardly. "That's just great..."

"Someone pickin' on Linc again?" Polly asked.

"Unfortunately...not that I mind stickin' up for Linc and setting the record straight, but it gets tiresome after a while. I thought every bully got that message the last time a group of boys picked on him."

"Well, it might be that new bully in the 5th grade class."

"And who would that be Margo?" Lynn asked.

"There's this new kid that joined recently. She's Mexican I think, wears a purple hoodie all the time. She goes by Ronnie Anne, and she's gotten quite the rep for being the toughest bully in her class. I heard that she climbed to the top of the food chain weeks after she arrived, and now no one messes with her."

"Well, she clearly hasn't met me. If it is her, she won't be thinkin' so high and mighty once I'm done with her." Lynn boasted.

"Just don't get caught, cause last time, you got suspended for it." Margo added.

The jock chortled. "Not my fault they were asking for it. I still got the lesser sentence, and my parents took me out for ice cream afterwards."

"Just saying. The principal isn't too fond of you right now." The lighter-shade brunette girl persisted.

As the day dragged on, Lynn went about her business like usual: boring old history, boring old science, and worst of all...boring, hateful, math. The 13 year old was practically ready to jump out the building when the final bell rang. But one harsh sight told her she had some important business to attend to. As she was heading towards the front of the building, she heard a large group of students laughing at something. From the sounds of it, some nerd was another victim of some bully. Normally, she wouldn't have thought much about it. However, Lynn could see some camera's flashing, meaning people were also taking pictures. Her curiosity peeked, and the jock made her way over to the group. Since she wasn't as tall as what would be considered average for her age, seeing as Luan was literally a head taller but only a year older, Lynn had to lean on one of the students in the back to get a clearer view. The second she saw what attracted the mockery of the student body, Lynn felt her blood boil.

Lincoln was pulling himself out of a pile of garbage that had been stuffed into his locker. He looked more annoyed than embarrassed, which made the situation ever so slightly less aggravating since it seemed Lincoln wasn't as spineless as Lynn thought. But from within that crowd, that's when Lynn saw the girl Margo was talking about. The female in question was dark-skinned, looked about Lincoln's age, had some slightly prominent buck teeth, wore a purple hoodie with blue shorts, and currently held a smug grin at her handy work. As soon as Lynn set her sights on the girl, she gave a glare so fierce that she might have had skulls and crossbones in the place of her pupils. The athlete had half the mind to take her on right then and there, giving the students something good to laugh at. However, remembering her friend's words, Lynn couldn't risk it. She was already on ice with the Principal at this point. Even if her intentions were noble, fighting during school hours wasn't allowed regardless of who started it. However, that didn't mean she'd be able to catch this bully after school.

A single thought ran through Lynn's mind as she formed a plan. "Once she gets out that door, that little bitch is gonna eat bricks..."

As such, Lynn stood out front of the school, waiting for her target to appear. She saw Lucy and the twins leave, her roommate questioning why she was still here. One look at her face told Lucy all she needed to know before leaving the sports fanatic to her own thoughts. Patience wasn't Lynn's best asset, but if it meant getting another bully off her sibling's backs, she could afford to buy her time. The 13 year old was thinking of ways of getting the message across to this Hispanic punk who had the audacity to pull that shit on her brother. Sure, she may be 11, but an 11 year old who thinks it's perfectly ok to stuff trash in someone's locker clearly needs to learn some manners. Obviously, she was going to leave bruises, and maybe knock a few teeth loose. Perhaps a black eye would do as well, and maybe some pulled hair? Lynn shook her head. That may have been too much.

The jock ducked out of sight when she saw Lincoln and Clyde leave, not wanting them to know of her presence. Lynn could see that Lincoln still looked irritated and had a peace of gum stuck to his hair, making her growl to herself. Hair ripping was definitely on the list now. Two minutes after they left, Lynn spotted the hoodie wearing girl. Right as she was passing her, Lynn wrapped an arm around the girls neck, nearly choking her and surprising the hell out of her. Dragging the struggling 5th grader to the side of the school, she hoisted the girl up and slammed her into the brick wall.

The Hispanic girl coughed to even her breaths, trying to pry Lynn's hands from her sweater. "What's your deal?!"

"Do you have any idea who I am?..." Lynn said in a low voice.

"Should I care?..." The girl replied in a nonchalant tone, earning her another smack into the wall.

"I'm the older sister of a certain white-headed boy who you thought was a good idea to prank. You may not know it here new girl, but if anyone messes with my siblings, they get a first look at how crazy Lynn-sanity can be!" The jock spoke through gritted teeth.

"Lynn-sanity?...what kind of name is-OW OW OW!" The girl was cut short as Lynn grabbed the ponytail of her hair and yanked it down, her head now stuck at an uncomfortable angle.

"Careful, I might just tear it off...what's your name?..."

"R-Ronnie Anne..." The girl winced in pain, losing her cool.

"Well Ronnie Anne, from what I've heard, you've made quite the name for yourself. Is it true you're the 'toughest girl in school'?"

"That's what everyone tells me." Ronnie Anne glared.

"Well guess what, you aren't. Maybe in your class, but in comparison to me, you're just another bully who needs to be taught a lesson." Lynn started to chuckle. "It's funny though. After all the bullies I've chased away from Lincoln, you're the first one whose a girl. So why the hell were you picking on my brother?..."

Ronnie Anne opened her mouth, but Lynn silenced her for a moment. "Oh, and if I don't like your answer, you can say goodbye to those buck teeth of yours. And be quick about it, because I don't like being around trash like you."

The 11 year old glared at Lynn for a few moments, before losing her defiant look. Whatever insults she would've spoke died in her mouth at that threat. Ronalda knew she could take on anyone in her class, but she doubted her ability to handle an enraged 13 year old with a knack for sports, especially when that person was very protective of their siblings. She knew the real reason as to why she kept picking on Lincoln, but she was quite embarrassed to talk about it. Her cheeks reddened a bit just thinking about the boy. Lynn shifted her weight a bit and removed her hand from the girl's ponytail, cocking her fist back.

"Time's up punk." Was all she said before launching the first punch.

Ronalda's eyes went wide and held her hands up to defend her face. "I-I like your brother ok?!"

The Hispanic girl never felt the impact of the teen's fist, as it stopped an inch from her face. Lynn stood there, equally baffled. "You what?"

"I said, I l-like Lincoln ok? I've...I've had a crush on him for a while but didn't know how to approach him, so...I thought maybe pranking would get him to notice me. I even left notes on the pranks so he'd know who it was. It seemed to work since he wanted me to meet him at his house at 3:30..."

Lynn was rather conflicted. It didn't make any sense. From what she knew, boys and girls didn't bully each other to show signs of affection. Granted, she did rough-house with Lincoln frequently, but only because they were siblings and she knew he could handle it. But for showing love to someone like that whose a complete stranger?...She was calling bullshit on this farce.

"That's ridiculous. And if you really liked him, why the hell did you stuff trash in his locker?!"

"My other pranks didn't seem to work, so I...did something a bit more drastic?" Ronalda smiled sheepishly.

Lynn wasn't too happy with that answer. "Really?...And who told you to do that?"

"It's what my brother said when he got his girlfriend Lori."

Lynn blinked twice. She thought Lori was joking when she described how she and Bobby got together. Guess that tale wasn't entirely made up. Looking over Ronnie Anne, Lynn could see the embarrassment on the preteen's face as well as the hesitation. She really ought to pound her for embarrassing Lincoln the way she did, but it seemed the 5th grader was just desperate for the attention of a boy she liked, even though her reasoning was questionable. While Lynn didn't agree with Ronalda's way of grabbing her brother's focus, she was just following advice given to her from Bobby. Lynn made a note to ask Lori some important questions when she got home.

Giving a sigh, Lynn released Ronnie Anne. "So, you really like my brother?"

Ronnie Anne nodded.

"Well, lucky for you, I won't carve your face into the pavement since you need to look good for him. But if I catch you pranking him again, you're not gonna like the outcome..." To enforce her point, Lynn put a fist to her own eye, implying the bruise it would leave.

With that said, the jock left the Hispanic girl to collect herself as she walked home.

"So what occurred after that?" Miranda asked.

"I got home shortly after Lincoln did. I saw him making a poor attempt to hide the gum in his hair, but didn't say anything unless he openly came out and said it. Turns out he told Lisa, so I told everyone else because at that point, they would've found out eventually. I had to put up a ruse to act like I didn't know what was going on, even dragging some boy off the street to act as his potential bully. I apologized to the kid and gave him $5 for putting up the act. After everyone hounded the information out of him, Lincoln finally said it was a girl. I acted happy at the moment, but wasn't entirely certain about the whole thing given what I knew. Lori told him, and I quote 'When a girl picks on you, that only ever means one thing: she likes you~.' Of course, I sighed inwardly because now I knew where Ronnie Anne really got that crap from. Long story short, we ended up convincing Lincoln to kiss her, which he did...and got punched in the face. Ronnie Anne ran off in a hurry right afterwards, either from the shock of what she did or because she thought I might kill her." The teen rubbed her nose.

Lynn shifted a bit on the couch into a more relaxed position. "Next day before school, she was practically scared that I was going to knock her head off, but instead I asked why she punched him. She just acted on impulse because she didn't expect the kiss. I was surprised Lincoln actually went for it...ironically, Ronnie Anne really was able to kick my butt..."

"Considering your affiliation for sports and how angry you seemed at the time, I find it quite hard to believe that." The doctor stated.

"Well, to be fair, she was only able to because I was depressed and felt like I deserved that ass-kicking...if I wasn't, I could've taken her. But that doesn't matter...no matter how many times I've defended Lincoln, I still failed to protect him...the only bully that was actually able to wound him...w-was me..." Lynn sniffled. "During that stupid f-fight...the only thing I cared about was hurting him as much as possible...I'm...I'm the reason he has a broken arm right now...any time we played around, I never went too hard on him...sometimes I got a little ahead of myself, but it didn't result in broken bones...I wanted to apologize to my little brother so bad that it hurt seeing him the way he was when I first visited him after getting my mouth checked...any time I look at him now, I can't help but stare at his damaged arm, knowing that I did this to him...and now...now he'll see me as nothing but someone whose bullied him for the last 4 years..." Hot tears began to run down Lynn's cheeks. "At first I thought he h-hated me after he smacked me with his food tray during that first visit...maybe that wouldn't be as bad cause the most he might do is refuse to speak to me...but he's afraid of me now!...He can't even look at me without thinking I'm going to...going to hurt him or w-worse!..."

Lynn sat up to grab a few tissues, her nose beginning to run. After cleaning her sinuses, she balled the used tissues up and tossed them into the waste bin, the tissues landing in perfectly. "...I'm no better than those idiots who picked on my brother...I've probably forced him to play with me because I knew he was weak, and an easy target...all of our fights were pretty one-sided cause I was always stronger than him...Lincoln no doubt thinks I just played around with him just to boost my own ego..."

Miranda jotted all of this down. "...When you said ego, would you say that you are a bit boastful?"

"...That would be an understatement...I've gloated in front of my siblings, doing a victory dance over a board game of all things if that gives you a picture. And trust me when I say this, it was not a good weekend for me..." Lynn grimaced, recalling her competitive nature being thrown into overdrive over losing one such game. "Technically, all of us have done a victory dance at one point or another over something small like being the first up the stairs, but thanks to my siblings, I learned to dial it back...I've also got some superstitious issues, mainly because Lucy is my roommate and she always claims she talks with ghosts or our great grandmother. Being around her has made me think doing certain things is good luck, but now that I think about it, it's just...stupid you know? I've had to pee or poop during several games and we still managed to win, and trust me, it's not easy having to keep a turd in for hours...it's not that bad right now, but it could be a whole lot worse...I might've done something idiotic and blame Lincoln as bad luck for a lost sports game for all I know..."

"But you have it under control now right?"

Lynn nodded.

"Now, recall what you said earlier about you being a bully. You told me that you've fought off other bullies to protect your brother and sisters. Now, before you told me the story of how you met Ronnie Anne, you were not only playing with him to not only relive past memories, but also get him to fight back, correct."

"Yes...but I don't think it's ever worked..."

"Possibly, but you are on the right step to teaching your brother how to stand up for himself. Bullies will often strike at any opportunity. While your actions have mirrored that to a tee, you never meant any ill-will towards Lincoln. All of the times you've caught him by surprise, does it seem like he's gotten better at expecting when you will wrestle him or toss an object at him?"

Lynn lied there in thought as she searched her mind for an answer. "I...I guess? He's gotten better at dodging, but not so much as using force like I would want him to."

"It's still a step in the right direction. While it is important to teach younger siblings how to defend themselves, it's not a good idea to enforce the idea upon them at a moments notice, nor force them to participate if they are not in the mood. What you could do is ask Lincoln if he wants to know how to defend himself. While I'm certain there may come a time when he will have to fight his own battles, it's also important to take things slow, especially if no one is in any real immediate danger. On that note, you aren't a bully Lynn...like your sisters, you just let yourself get caught up in a wave of anger. You still love your brother and want what's best for him, but you need to help him on his pace, not yours. It's much like trying to drive a tractor trailer and you just learned to drive a car. In the mean time, you could also help your sister Luan. I've noticed you seemed rather vexed if I'm assuming she told you about her bullying problem."

Lynn nodded, absorbing the doctor's advice. She wasn't one to take things slow, but for Lincoln's sake...she'd do whatever it takes to better her relationship with her brother. He's done a lot to help her in the past, even if it was for his own benefit. She did get a good laugh at the time when she bunked with him and he dressed as an emo to try to get her to leave. All it did was remind her of Lucy. During the whole football fiasco, she enjoyed playing the sport for him as well. Given his laziness, she knew Lincoln wouldn't last a minute out there. Lynn felt bad about that situation for weeks, especially since she got too cocky and had her ankle sprained. As a result, while Lincoln was taking responsibility for his actions, he still didn't know much about football and ended up scoring for the wrong team. And he got jumped by the Roosters afterwards. To ensure Lincoln wasn't harassed at school about it, she gave the Roosters a stern warning to leave the boy alone unless they felt wanted her attention. While it still irritated her that she couldn't quite fix Luan's past bullying problem, it did make sense to help her solve any future bully problems.

Thinking about her brother, Lynn remembered that Dr. Lopez spoke with him before talking to her. She had to know what was going on with him. It was killing her inside hearing about his nightmares getting worse, especially since she knew herself was involved in them. "...Is Lincoln doing ok?...Did you manage to help him out?"

Tense seconds passed in silence, Lynn unconsciously holding her breath as the psychologist looked over her notes. "Well, I have a good idea as to how far along his fears are, but I believe it's not too late to change his mind."

The athlete gave a small sigh. "I guess that's as good as it's gonna get..."

"So, is there anything else you have on your mind Lynn?"

"At the moment...no...but thanks for asking Ms. Lopez." Lynn got up from the chair and walked to the door.

"Oh and before I forget, could you ask the twins to come in?"

Lynn paused. "Wait, one, or both?"

"I would like to speak with them together."

A/N: When making this chapter, I found a few things could be a slight clichés given Lynn's character, such as being the one who would be most likely to protect Lincoln from aggressors, but it does make the most sense. Sure, Lincoln's other sisters could do it, but with Lynn being quite aggressive herself, she'd be an effective screen for not only Lincoln, but her sisters as well. As such, I added that scene taken from Heavy Meddle where she confronts Ronnie Anne about her pranks. Rather hard to hit someone when they thought their act of attention was innocent. Also I wanted to point out while Ronnie Anne did kick Lynn's ass in chapter 4, Lynn is still 13 and stronger than her. While this chapter may not stem the hate towards Lynn herself, I hope it does put some insight on her character.