Fanfic / Burning Secret

Burning Secret is a Dark Fic based on The Loud House, authored by someone with the username Samtastic 3.0

It stars Lincoln, who accidentally starts a fire at school, but the people on the news say that it can't have been an accident and had to have been arson, which causes Lincoln to keep it a secret out of fear that if he told his sisters and parents, they wouldn't believe him when he said it was an accident and would thus disown him.

Keeping this secret gnaws at Lincoln, especially since he everyone thinks he's a hero because they think he pulled the alarm, and someone claims to know he was the fire-starter and is blackmailing him over it.

Burning Secret provides examples of

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• Accidental Hero: Lincoln is hailed as a hero by the school personnel for seemingly being the one who pulled the alarm, even though he was the one who started the fire to begin with (albeit by accident) and he didn't really pull the alarm.
• Adaptational Explanation:
  • It’s explained why the “grown-up” table used to ban jokes – the parents were trying to get “peace and quiet”.
  • Lisa reveals that the reason she stopped using Lincoln’s diaper-powered generator (from “The Green House”) was to spite him because she found his project stupid.
• Adaptational Friendship:
  • Lincoln and Cristina end up making friends after she forgives him for the video of him wanting to kiss her.
  • Lincoln also ends up making friends with Kirby the limo driver.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Lincoln thinks of Luna as his “closest” sister, whereas there is no evidence in canon that he sees any of his sisters as the closest.
• Adaptational Villainy: Chandler was certainly mean in canon, but he was just a generic schoolyard bully. Here, he’s an arsonist.
• Age-Stereotypical Food: Rita and Lynn Sr. decide to eat fancier food while the kids eat pizza, then later Lincoln asks for pizza at the hero party because there will be little kids there.
• All for Nothing: After all he's been through, it turns out that Lincoln didn't need to feel guilty about the fire, as he was being set up by Chandler, the real arsonit. This is even lampshaded by Lincoln:
  Lincoln: It's stressful having to relive the fact that I accidentally burned down the school. It's stressful having to think about the fact that everyone I love could end up turning against me. But what's most stressful is the fact that after all I've been through, I MAY NOT HAVE NEEDED TO WORRY AT ALL, BECAUSE I MAY HAVE BEEN SET UP! AND THE SCUMBAG WHO MAY HAVE SET ME UP IS STANDING RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME, LYING AND TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A COMMON CRIMINAL!"
• And Call Him "George": Lori, when feeling protective, hugs Lucy so hard it’s painful.
• Angst? What Angst?: In-Universe, Lincoln is surprised that Lucy and the twins are so unfazed by the fire, considering that they attend the same school.
• Anxiety Dreams: While most of Lincoln’s nightmares are more about his guilt than about things he fears will happen, he does have one nightmare about his sisters yelling at him for starting the fire, which is something he was worried about happening.
• Accidental Good Outcome: Chief O’Bannon recounts a story where his brother-in-law accidentally hit a man with his car, and then that man went to the hospital where a DNA scan revealed that he was a wanted murderer, getting the guy arrested.
• Bathroom Search Excuse: Chandler’s excuse for having seen Lincoln at the time of the fire was that he was looking for a bathroom.
• Big Brother Bully:
  • Not in reality, but in one of Lincoln’s nightmares, he ties up Lucy and the twins (three of his younger sisters) and tries to burn them to death.
  • In another of his nightmares, Luna turns out to have been the one blackmailing him the whole time.
• Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Lana calls Tetherby “Beachball-head”.
• Big "WHY?!": Lincoln yells, “WWHHHHHYYYYYYY?!” at the end of his third nightmare when Luna reveals she was the one blackmailing him.
• Bizarre Beverage Use: The fire-starter has tequila as an ingredient.
• Book Dumb: Lincoln’s classmates groan at the thought of taking a test. Exaggerated for horror in Chandler’s case, since he set up the fire just because he hated school.
• Bound and Gagged: In one of Lincoln’s nightmares, he ties up Lucy, Lola, Lana, Clyde, Rusty, Liam, Zach, Ronnie Anne, and Mrs. Johnson.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Discussed when Lucy mentions a kid at the daycare, who she refers to as a “little monster” banging her on the head with a toy rabbit.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Lincoln tells the audience what he learned at the end of the episode.
• Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: At one point, Lincoln says, “Gotta use the bathroom” to himself.
• Catapult Nightmare: Defied – when Lincoln wakes up from his second nightmare, he almost shoots up, but Luna holds him back.
• Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: When Lincoln tries to get his mind off having accidentally started a fire, he goes to a gaming website, only to find three fire-related games and one game about escaping prison. He then goes to read a comic, only to find two fire-related comics and one that’s a whodunit.
• Collective Death Glare:
  • Luan’s siblings glare at her for joking about Lincoln being “the fire that lights up [their] house”.
  • In Lincoln’s fourth nightmare, his sisters all glare at him for starting the fire.
  • Everyone at the party glares at Chandler when they realise he was the arsonist.
• Comedic Work, Serious Scene: While it’s mostly a Dark Fic about Lincoln processing his guilt for accidentally starting a school fire, there is the odd joke:
  • At the beginning, Lincoln tries to put his mind off the fire, only to find games and comics about fire or crime.
  • Lucy buys a lot of garlic knots, since Vampires Hate Garlic, and she plans on becoming one, so she decides to eat as much garlic as she can before becoming a vampire.
  • When Lincoln’s sleep deprivation starts getting to him, he begins hallucinating goofy things, like his sisters dressed in crazy outfits and his classmates as Peanuts characters.
• Covered in Mud: Lana appears covered in mud in one of Lincoln’s hallucinations.
• Crush Blush: Lincoln blushes when Ronnie Anne hugs him.
• Dark Fic: The story is about Lincoln accidentally starting a fire at school, and being very shaken and paranoid that he’d be mistaken for an arsonist.
• Deadly Prank: Discussed when Lola, then Luna, thinks the fire was started as a prank. It didn't kill, or even hurt, anyone but it sure could have.
• Death Glare:
  • In Lincoln’s second nightmare, he gets glared at by Ace Savvy, then glares at Rita.
  • Rita and Lynn Sr. glare at Lori for teasing Leni for being a Forgetful Jones.
  • Subverted when Lincoln thinks Lori is going to glare at him when he tells the truth, but she doesn’t.
  • Rita glares at the cops for trying to arrest Lincoln.
  • Leni gives Chandler the evils when he’s accusing Lincoln of lying, then he glares back.
  • Lincoln glares at Chandler after he tells the truth.
  • Chandler and Tetherby glare at the Loud sisters for correcting Chandler on Lincoln’s name.
• Delirious Misidentification: When Lincoln is becoming delusional from sleep deprivation he calls Kirby “Sonic”.
• Does Not Like Spam:
  • Exaggerated – Lincoln hates coffee so much, he outright shudders upon seeing it.
  • Discussed when Lisa mentions a hypothetical hatred of broccoli as part of her explanation on loss of appetite caused by guilt.
• Double-Meaning Title: The title refers to the secret involving a school literally burning, and to it metaphorically burning at Lincoln’s conscience.
• Dramatic Irony: For most of the story, Lincoln’s family does not know that he started the fire, and so don’t understand why he’s shaken up.
• The Dreaded Pretend Tea-Party: Discussed when Lincoln remembers Lola “forcing” him into play tea parties.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Lincoln is put through the wringer with his guilt and fear, but eventually, his name is cleared, he gets to sleep, and he gets his appetite back.
• Eating Lunch Alone: The story begins with Lincoln having to eat alone at the cafeteria, since his friends are busy with their girlfriends, and Ronnie Anne (who he is dating in the fic) is busy with her friend.
• Enfant Terrible:
  • In Lincoln’s (an eleven-year-old boy) first nightmare, he tries to murder eleven people.
  • As it turned out, Lincoln’s classmate Chandler was the one who set up the fire to be started and was blackmailing Lincoln.
• Everyone Has Standards: Tetherby might be a snob, but he thinks crime is unacceptable.
• Evil Laugh:
  • In Lincoln’s nightmare where he’s the “Mad Arsonist”, he cackles evilly.
  • The blackmailer at one point “chuckles sinisterly”.
• Evil Sounds Deep: The blackmailer is described as having a deep voice. Subverted though, as he turns out to have been Chandler using a voice changer.
• Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy: Lincoln loses so much sleep due to his guilt that he begins having goofy hallucinations.
• Filthy Fun: Lana plays in some mud at one point.
• Flashback: Occasionally, we see what happened at earlier points in the story from another character’s perspective, such as what Lincoln said when he told the blackmailer off, and what Lisa was thinking on the day of the fire.
• Flat Joy: Lucy says that she is glad Lincoln is safe in a “monotone voice” (though she’s sincere; just deadpan).
• Food Fight: During one dinner, the siblings (except Lincoln and Lisa) start throwing food.
• The Food Poisoning Incident: Subverted – Lincoln has a weird sense of unease as if something is wrong, and he wonders if the combination of green beans and corn dog that he ate for lunch is disagreeing with him, but it turns out to be because something is indeed awry.
• Foreshadowing: Several things foreshadow that someone set up the fire to happen:
  • When Lincoln sees the beaker on the floor of the lab, he can’t see how it could have fallen.
  • Lincoln notes that it’s odd that one of the two paper towel dispensers isn’t on the wall. Then, when he takes the paper towels out, there is a “light scraping sound”.
  • The police are certain that it was arson and reveal that the liquid Lincoln cleared up was a fire starter. He notes that this doesn’t make sense.
• Fun with Flushing: Played for drama – the sprinklers aren’t working because the water system at the school has been turned off after some students flushed “a bunch of junk” down the boys’ toilets. Later, it turns out to have been Chandler and his friend deliberately breaking the water system as part of setting up the fire to be started.
• Gagging on Your Words:
  • Lincoln struggles to call himself a “hero” when talking to Kirby.
  • Later, Tetherby has trouble calling himself “generous”.
• Green-Eyed Monster: At one point, Luna is jealous that Lincoln told Lucy the truth first and not her.
• Guilt-Induced Nightmare: After accidentally starting a fire, Lincoln has many nightmares about it. In one, he tries to burn Lucy, the twins, his best friends, Ronnie Anne, and Mrs. Johnson to death, in another, he burns down his house deliberately and calls himself the Mad Arsonist, in a third, he finds out Luna was the blackmailer, and in a fourth, the girls yell at him for starting the fire.
• Guys are Slobs: Specifically, little boys, as it mentions a clean toilet is hard to find in an elementary school boys’ bathroom.
• Hazmat Suit: There are hazmat suits in Professor Thompson’s lab.
• Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: Chandler pauses when lying about what Lincoln did.
• Hope Spot: Lincoln extinguishes the fire with a fire extinguisher… only for it to reignite.
• Ignorant About Fire: Downplayed – the fire was accidental on Lincoln’s behalf, but later it’s revealed that it was set up to happen.
• I Have No Son!:
  • Discussed when Lincoln fears being disowned for starting the fire.
  • Also discussed when Tetherby threatens to disown Chandler if the latter doesn’t confess.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • Lincoln’s sisters reassure him that whoever started the fire will be caught, not realising he’s the one who started it.
  • Everyone at school hails Lincoln as a hero for pulling the alarm, but that just makes him feel even guiltier.
  • Lucy tries to ask the spirits what is wrong with Lincoln, not knowing that he doesn’t want her to know what’s wrong.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Lincoln (a preteen boy) and Kirby the limo driver end up making friends.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Despite it being an accident, Lincoln is still wracked with guilt at burning down his school.
  • When Lincoln’s sisters and parents found out that he was near the fire when it started, they guiltily hug him for brushing off his fears.
• It's Quiet… Too Quiet: In Lincoln’s third nightmare, he first gets the feeling something’s up when he can’t hear anything on his way to school, even birds.
• Jaw Drop: Lisa’s sisters’ jaws drop when she suggests Lincoln knows who started the fire.
• Lame Pun Reaction:
  • When Luan calls the hypothetical arsonist a “hot head”, her siblings groan.
  • When she calls Lincoln “the fire that lights up [their] house”, her sisters give her a Collective Death Glare.
• Little "No": Lincoln says, “No”, when his friends are texted by the blackmailer.
• Mama Bear: When the family finds out that Lincoln is being blackmailed, Rita threatens to strangle “the punk who was messing with her baby boy”.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": In Lincoln’s first nightmare, Lucy, the twins, Clyde, Rusty, Zach, Liam, Ronnie Anne, and Mrs. Johnson’s eyes all widen in fear when he threatens to kill them.
• Mistaken for Insane: Discussed when Lincoln wonders if the reason the blackmailer wants him to smash Flip’s window is to make him look like he went insane from the stress of the fire.
• Mood Whiplash: It’s said that “all was relatively calm” right before Lincoln screams.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Cristina’s last name is revealed as Savino.
  • Tetherby’s first name is revealed to be Alan.
• Noodle Incident: Lynn has apparently locked Lincoln out in his undies before.
• Not a Morning Person: The twins are both tired-looking in the morning, with Lola complaining about not getting “beauty rest”.
• Not So Stoic:
  • The usually deadpan Lucy looks visibly worried when she thinks Lincoln is being threatened by the arsonist.
  • When Lincoln tells her the truth about starting the fire, her eyes widen.
  • She later looks disappointed when Lincoln is about to do his speech.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • When the fire starts, Lincoln jumps back and yells, “HOLY COW!”.
  • When Lincoln realises that the sprinklers aren’t working, he yells, “CRAP!”.
  • Lincoln goes pale and trembles when the newsman threatens the guilty party with expulsion and juvie.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Lincoln’s sisters worry about him when he isn’t sleeping in for once.
  • In a flashback, it’s revealed that Lisa first knew Lincoln was troubled when he didn’t hug Rita, who was hugging him, back, since he’d always been a Momma's Boy.
  • Lisa is usually an atheist and hates being wrong, so it’s a sign she is very desperate when she prays that she’s wrong.
• Original Character: There are two teachers made up for the story: Mr. White, and Professor Thompson. There’s also Sylvia the therapist, Leni’s cousin Sammy Linton, and Chief Phil O’Bannon the police officer.
• Pet the Dog: Despite usually being a snob, Tetherby still throws parties for “heroes”.
• Platonic Declaration of Love:
  • When trying to reassure Lincoln, Luna tells him she loves him.
  • Lincoln, at one point, says, “Love you too, sis” to Luna.
  • When Lucy is worried about Lincoln, they both say, “I love you” to each other.
• Platonic Kissing: Luna kisses Lincoln on the forehead. Justified, since it’s generally socially acceptable for family to kiss as long as it’s not on the lips.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Luna gives Lincoln pleading eyes when begging him to see Sylvia.
• Prayer Is a Last Resort: Lisa is an atheist, but when she wonders if Lincoln did start the fire, she prays that she’s wrong out of desperation.
• Related in the Adaptation: Tetherby and Chandler are written as great-uncle and great-nephew.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • Luna is correct that the fire is deeply troubling Lincoln, but she thinks he has PTSD, when really it’s extreme guilt. Later, the same thing happens with Sylvia the shrink.
  • Lisa correctly concludes that Lincoln is lying when he claims he was assigned an essay on guilt, and she surmises that he’s actually feeling guilty, and that it involves the fire. However, what actually happened was that he started the fire (by accident) but what she thinks happened was that he knows who started the fire, and either they’re threatening him, or it was his friend. She later turns out to be right that whoever was truly responsible was threatening him, since he was being blackmailed, and the blackmailer turns out to have deliberately spilled the fire starter that led to Lincoln starting the fire.
  • Later on, she wonders if he did start the fire, but thinks he might have done it on purpose.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: “Heels” is misspelled as “heals” at one point.
• Ruder and Cruder: The Loud House is rated TV-Y, so has no swearing that isn't censored with a Sound-Effect Bleep. This story has several swear words, most of them mild, but one instance of "shit" (albeit rendered as "sh!t".)
• The Runaway: Discussed when Lincoln suggests running away and living in a different state.
• Samus Is a Girl: In Lincoln’s third nightmare, he sees a teenager in a trench coat and fedora, who he thinks is a boy because they’re speaking in a deep voice (the voice of the blackmailer). But then, the blackmailer takes off “his” fedora, revealing herself to be Luna.
• Sanity Slippage:
  • Discussed when Lincoln wonders if maybe the blackmailer is making him do bad things so it will look like he’s gone nuts from the stress of the fire.
  • Played straight when Lincoln’s sleep deprivation makes him see things.
• Shorter Means Smarter: Professor Thompson, the science teacher, is short.
• Shout-Out: When Lincoln is hallucinating from lack of sleep, he sees Lola dressed as Elsa from Frozen (2013) and his classmates as Peanuts characters. He also calls Kirby “Sonic”.
• The Shrink: Chunk’s cousin Sylvia is a therapist, and Rita and Luna set Lincoln up with her when they mistake his stress as PTSD.
• Silent Treatment: Discussed when, after telling the truth about starting the fire to Lucy, Lincoln fears the sisters will stop talking to him.
• Sleep Deprivation: Lincoln’s guilt over starting the fire gives him very bad insomnia, and sometimes he deliberately keeps himself awake so he won’t have nightmares.
• The Sleepless: Subverted- despite not getting much sleep, Lincoln initially doesn’t really feel tired. Lampshaded when he thinks that can’t be normal and considers asking Lisa for advice. However, later, he does start feeling tired and even hallucinates.
• Smart Ball: It’s Leni of all people who realises that if Chandler saw Lincoln allegedly starting the fire on purpose, he should have come forward.
• Speak in Unison: When Lincoln asks the twins how they’re doing, they say in unison, “We’re fine.”
• Spell My Name with a "The": In Lincoln’s second nightmare, he is a villain called The Mad Arsonist.
• Stress Vomit: When the school people call Lincoln a hero, his dread and guilt over starting the fire get so bad that he throws up.
• Symbol Swearing: Downplayed – Luna calls the blackmailer a “lowlife piece of sh!t”.
• Tears of Fear: Lincoln cries when he finds himself surrounded by news people who want info on the fire.
• Tears of Joy:
  • The twins cry when they’re relieved Lincoln survived the fire uninjured.
  • Later Lincoln cries when he’s glad his sisters and parents didn’t stop loving him after he tells the truth.
• Tears of Remorse: Lincoln breaks down crying several times over his guilt for inadvertently burning his school down.
• Tempting Fate: Lincoln asks, after being called a hero for pulling the alarm, “How could this possibly get any worse?”. It’s right after that that he starts getting blackmailed.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • When Lincoln is sent to a therapist, to whom he must lie to keep his secret, he mutters to himself that he’s “so screwed”.
  • When Lincoln’s friends get sent a video, he mutters, “Oh boy”.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • While Lincoln mainly gets his guilt exacerbated by having people remind him of the fire, at one point, he does get forgiven by Cristina, who even agrees to be his friend.
  • Lincoln has problems with loss of appetite (leading to a fear of throwing up) and insomnia, but one night, he at least gets some sleep and then he brings himself to eat breakfast (he does feel queasy afterwards but doesn’t throw up like he feared).
  • He finally gets a full night’s sleep without nightmares when he tells Lucy the truth.
• Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Lincoln feels so guilty about having started the fire and nervous about being mistaken for an arsonist that he has trouble bringing himself to eat; in fact, he even fears he will throw up. Lisa wonders if this is because food is seen as a good thing, and people who feel guilty think they don’t deserve good things.
• Tough Love: Lori slaps Lincoln to get him to pay attention when she tells him that she and the others won’t stop loving him.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behaviour: Lampshaded when Sylvia says that it’s especially scary the idea that the arsonist was a kid.
• Trying Not to Cry:
  • When Lincoln is revealing to his family that he was near the fire when it started, he tries not to burst into tears.
  • He later tries not to cry when the school people start calling him a hero and cheering.
  • Later, he tries not to cry when Luna tries to ask him what’s wrong.
  • Chandler pretends that he’s trying not to cry when lying about Lincoln starting the fire.
• Twitchy Eye:
  • Lincoln’s eye twitches when he lies to Lisa, which cues her in that he is lying.
  • Chandler’s eye twitches when he’s struggling to keep up with his lie.
• Unconventional Food Usage: Vegetable oil was used as an ingredient in the fire starter.
• Unexpected Kindness:
  • When Mrs. Johnson and Cristina piece together the events surrounding the fire, he thinks they’ve concluded he started it and are going to penalise him. ** Instead, they’ve discovered he pulled the alarm, and thus hail him as a hero.
  • When Lori slaps Lincoln after he admits he started the fire, he thinks she’s going to give him the evils, but she instead assures him that she and the others still love him.
• Vampires Hate Garlic: Lucy, who wants to be a vampire, eats a lot of garlic knots because she knows she won’t be able to eat garlic “when” she becomes a vampire.
• Waking Non Sequitur: After having a nightmare about his sisters disowning him, Lincoln wakes up yelling, “I LOVE YOU GUYS TOO MUCH!”.
• Water Guns and Balloons: Discussed when Lynn has something for Lincoln, and hopes that it’s to douse him with water balloons as he doesn’t want another reward.