Lincoln has brought along Luna, Lynn, Lola, and Lisa to read Scaring is Caring. It begins with Lincoln's sisters being oddly curious as to what he's doing in his room. They hear him say, "I'll finish them off tomorrow" and immediately assume that he wants to murder them, much to the surprise of the real Lincoln. In the story, Lisa realises that Lincoln also mentioned their parents being unable to help, so she goes out to find Lincoln walking out of his room and what appear to be Rita and Lynn Sr.'s disembodied heads. This leads the sisters to believe Lincoln killed them. Fanfic Lori decides to just not annoy Lincoln, which the real Luna and Lisa point out is a bad idea, since it would be wiser to call the police, or at least check that Lisa's eyes weren't playing tricks, first.
In the fanfic, Lori lets Lincoln go to the bathroom first, then Lola strips him so he can read in his underwear (which the real Louds point out the inappropriateness of), Lana takes a bath, Lynn gives up sports (which the real Lincoln notes is strange, since Lynn's sports never annoyed him) and plays video games instead, Luan gives him orange juice, Lucy writes him a poem, Luna avoids playing guitar (even though the real Lincoln likes guitar music) and plays the piano instead, Lisa experiments on herself instead of Lincoln (despite the real Lisa experimenting on herself all the time anyway), and Leni uses Clyde as a model instead of Lincoln.
Each time a sister tries to avoid provoking Lincoln, he asks her why she is behaving that way, prompting her to look nervous and then imagine provoking him. The imaginary Lincoln then looks bloodshot, smiles, says, "Oh, that's fine", and kills the sister and mounts her head on the wall as a bell chimes. The real siblings point out the monotony of this.
Then, in the story, the sisters do a head count and realise Lily is gone and go to the kitchen, where Lincoln cuts up something red and makes it into a smoothie. They assume this is Lily, then when he approaches them, they shake in fear, confusing him. They explain what they saw, and he explains that Lily is okay, the red substance was a blended-up jam donut, the "heads" are just sculptures for a school project, and Rita and Lynn Sr. are at Pop-Pop's. They hug, and the story ends.
With that, the real sisters assure Lincoln that they'd never assume he was a murderer, and Lincoln tries to get a grape popsicle, only for Luna to reveal she ate the last one. Lincoln says, "Oh, that's fine", disturbing the sisters.
This episode provides examples of
- Adaptational Dumbass: Downplayed. While they're not really stupid, the Loud sisters in the fanfic are prone to making leaps in logic, assuming Lincoln wants to kill them when he mentions "finishing them off" and when they think their parents are dead, automatically assuming he's the killer. Also, when they think he's a murderer, none of them thinks of calling the police.
- Affectionate Nickname: When fanfic Lincoln apparently kills Lily, Luan says, "And now Lil-Lil's gone!".
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Discussed when fanfic Lincoln, in the sisters' imaginations, mentions that one reason he's killing his parents is because they embarrassed him in front of his friends.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Justified since it's taking place in a little girl's imagination, but in the story, Lana imagines Lincoln being knocked out by a mud ball and being completely alert the moment he wakes up.
- Black Comedy: The whole story revolves around the Loud sisters assuming Lincoln is a murderer.
- A Bloody Mess: In the story, when the sisters see a red substance on Lincoln's knife, they assume it's Lily's blood but it's actually jam.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Story Lori borrows Lincoln's "think of a shorter name for this operation" catchphrase.Real Lincoln: "Hey! Overly long operation names are my thing!"
- Bound and Gagged: When the sisters in the story believe Lincoln killed their parents, they imagine the Loud parents tied up and gagged in the basement.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: In addition to the real Lincoln addressing the readers, he tells the readers in the story that something is up with his sisters.
- Captain Obvious Reveal: In-Universe, Lisa notes that nobody is surprised at the reveal that Lincoln never killed anybody.
- Conforming OOC Moment: The Loud sisters make a ridiculous leap in logic when Lincoln mentions "finishing them off" and they assume he means killing his sisters, and when they believe Rita and Lynn Sr. have been decapitated, they automatically assume Lincoln is the killer. This includes Lisa, who is very scientific.
- Continuity Nod:
- Lynn remembers "that one incident with the ties", which happened in "Ties That Bind". Lincoln points out that while they did make a false assumption then, it was way less of a stretch than the assumption the Loud sisters made in the fanfic, since Lynn Sr. specifically mentioned the number eleven.
- Lola remembers the "cover incident", which happened in "Cover Girls", and notes that they were all punished for it, not just Lincoln.
- In the fanfic, the sisters imagine Lincoln killing the parents for various incidents, like when they made him play football, which happened in "The Loudest Yard". The real Lynn notes that it wouldn't have happened if Lincoln had simply exercised when told.
- When fanfic Lincoln mentions the parents locking him out of the house and selling his furniture (which happened in "No Such Luck"), Lynn and Lola apologise for the incident.
- Contrived Coincidence: Pointed out when the siblings on the couch note that it's odd how the fanfic sisters are having the exact same imagining when they're thinking of Lincoln killing them.
- Dark Fic: While Lincoln never really killed anyone, it's still a story about the Loud sisters thinking that their brother is a murderer and imagining their own deaths.
- Death Glare: Fanfic Lincoln looks at his sisters sternly when telling them that Lily is okay.
- Death Fic: Subverted. The story seems like it's about the aftermath of Rita and Lynn Sr.'s murder, but then it turned out they were still alive.
- Death of a Child: Subverted when the Loud sisters in the story see Lincoln blend up a red substance and think it's Lily, but it's actually a jam donut he blended up for Lily.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- Discussed in the story. When the Loud sisters think Lincoln killed the parents, they think he's getting revenge on them for times they inconvenienced him over the years.
- Also discussed in the story when the sisters fear Lincoln will kill them for taking up the bathroom (Lori), tattling on him (Lola), being dirty (Lana), getting in the way when playing sports (Lynn), pranking him (Luan), scaring him (Lucy, which the real Lincoln points out would be especially unfair, since unlike the others, it's not on purpose), playing music he didn't like (Luna), experimenting on him (Lisa) or making him wear embarrassing clothes (Leni).
- Dissonant Serenity: While fanfic Lisa does shiver and look pale when she believes her parents have been murdered, she still uses the phrase "Afraid so" about their apparent deaths, which the real Lincoln points out is an oddly nonchalant phrase to use.Lincoln: "'Afraid so'? "Afraid so"?! That's something you say when the Flippee machine is broken, not after you just found out that your parents were killed!"
- Enfant Terrible: Subverted for fanfic Lincoln, who appears to have decapitated his parents and blended up Lily, but then it turns out that he didn't.
- Facepalm: Everyone on the couch facepalms when story Lana still thinks Lincoln may have killed the parents even after he reveals Lily is fine.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: The sisters in the story imagine an ominous bell tolling after they are killed.
- Goofy Suit: In story Leni's imagination, Lincoln kills her as punishment for making him wear a rabbit costume.
- I Can't Hear You: When Lisa says that football can cause head injuries, Lynn shouts, "I'M NOT LISTENING, LA LA LA LA LA!"
- I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: When Lisa's formula in the story is referred to as a "potion", the real Lisa says, "I'm a scientist, not a witch".
- Imagine Spot: The Loud sisters in the story have short daydreams of Lincoln killing family members, usually preceding it with the phrase "Oh, that's fine".
- I'm a Humanitarian: Subverted when story Lily is missing, then Lincoln makes a red smoothie that the sisters think is made out of Lily, and drinks it. As it turns out, Lily is still alive and the smoothie was actually made of jam donut.
- Joke of the Butt: In fanfic Lisa's imagination, she gives him a formula that makes his butt grow.
- Mistaken for Murderer: The Loud sisters in the story believe that Lincoln killed Rita and Lynn Sr. when they see what look like their disembodied heads.
- Not So Stoic: Lampshaded when fanfic Lucy squees and the real Lincoln and Luna can't even imagine that.
- Off with His Head!: Fanfic Lisa sees what appear to be the decapitated heads of her parents, then she and the others think he cut Lily's head off. He never actually decapitated anyone though; the parents' heads were fake and he was only cutting up smoothie ingredients.
- Out of Character:
- Implied when story Luna avoids playing guitar lest she annoy Lincoln. The real Lincoln likes guitar music, and his favourite band is SMOOCH, which has a guitar in it.
- Also implied in the fanfiction, when Lisa acts as though experimenting on herself isn't normal for her, which it is for the real Lisa.
- Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: In the fanfic, the sisters overhear Lincoln saying that he'll "finish them off tomorrow" and assume he's talking about killing them. As the real Lincoln points out, this is quite a leap in logic.
- Plot Hole: In the story, Rita and Lynn Sr. went to Pop-Pop's house, but only told Lincoln. They didn't tell any of their daughters, not even Lori, even though she'd be left in charge.
- Professor Guinea Pig: Fanfic Lisa tests a foot-enlargement potion on herself to avoid annoying Lincoln. This is odd, since the real Lisa experiments on herself anyway, which is how she got her extra toe.
- Pun: In fanfic Luan's daydream, after she pranks Lincoln by peeing in some orange juice, she says, "ORANGE you glad it's not Pranksmas? Or else, URINE trouble!".
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Fanfic Lucy says her "Sigh" catchphrase when Lily is apparently killed.
- Slipping a Mickey: Implied in fanfic Luan's imagination, when she makes a prank about "urine trouble" after Lincoln spits out his orange juice, implying she peed in it.
- Speak in Unison:
- In the story, during the roll call, the twins say, "Here!" at once.
- Later in the story, the sisters (excluding Lily) all beg Lincoln not to kill them in unison, then say, "Huh?" at once when he tells them Lily is fine.
- Squick: In-Universe, Lola is very grossed out when story Luan imagines herself apparently peeing in some juice.
- Stab the Salad: In the story, Lily goes missing and then Lincoln is seen cutting up something and leaving a red substance on the knife, then making it into a smoothie. However, the smoothie turns out not to contain Lily after all.
- Stealth Hi/Bye:
- Story Lucy imagines herself appearing in front of Lincoln and him killing her.
- Later, she appears in front of Lori and scares her.
- Stink Snub: Fanfic Lori claims Clyde smells bad.
- Tempting Fate: Subverted. When the Lily in the story doesn't imagine being killed by Lincoln, the real Lincoln is glad that he wasn't shown killing a toddler. However, it is then implied that the Lincoln in the story did kill Lily, however, it turns out he didn't.
- Toilet Humour:
- When Lori lets Lincoln go to the bathroom first in the story, the real Lynn points out that sometimes you can't control when you need to go.
- Lincoln claims that Lana cleans the toilet more often than she cleans herself.
- At one point in the story, Luan imagines peeing in some orange juice as a prank, which prompts the real Lola to threaten to mount her head on the wall.
- Waxing Lyrical: When fanfic Luna plays the piano instead of her guitar to keep fanfic Lincoln calm, the real Luna wonders why he would object to her playing the guitar at all, because Rock and roll ain't noise pollution.
- Would Hit a Girl: Discussed and exaggerated in the story, where the Loud sisters believe Lincoln killed Rita (and Lynn Sr.) and wants to kill them.
