User blog:Justsomeordinarydude/Loud House Discussion: Sibling Relationships

Which sibling relationships are strongest in terms of how they are portrayed, and which ones should have more prominence?

By popular demand, here’s another discussion post, this time on what is probably the main appeal of the series itself; the relationships between the different Loud siblings. Even at the length some of my discussion posts can be, it is unlikely I could cover the entirety of every sup-topic related to this discussion, but I can at least analyse, evaluate and devise thoughts from the just of the substance surrounding this subject matter.

In other words, I’m certainly not doing an exhaustive list of all the sibling relationships, because then we’d be here all day!

So, let’s take a look at what notable examples there are of well developed and portrayed sibling relationships in the show, as well as which ones could be given more screen time.

Luan and Lucy

I’m probably just going off the hype of positive praise of the relatively recent episode Head Poet’s Anxiety, but Luan and Lucy are a sibling pairing I’m becoming increasingly fond of. They were first paired together in Room With A Feud, where it became apparent they shared a common interest in surreal creativity (for example, Luan with Mr Coconuts and Lucy with Edwin) as well as a sense of artistic direction. Luan is focused on the comedic arts, while Lucy pursues a darker pathway (quite literally), being into gothic “culture” and poetry. Because they are both into the performance arts, they happen to have a lot of chemistry together, and HPA utilised that to its fullest potential, and created one of the most emotionally powerful narrative conclusions in the show so far. I’ve really liked the moments and stories told between these 2 characters, and I like that 2 characters are able to bond so well and demonstrate many commonalities and compatibilities between them despite being radically different on the surface (happy and bright coloured versus dark and gloomy). Indeed, this is the happy/sad duo that exists in the show’s canon (sorry Luaggie fans).

Leni and Lori

Poor moments like their meaningless fight in BITF aside, these two have a pretty strong relationship. Lori and Leni are the two oldest sisters, and they are both very close to each other. While they can occasionally get on each other’s nerves (Leni’s stupidity can annoy Lori while Lori’s slight meanness and occasional selfishness can upset Leni), they are overall very close and share a lot of common interests. In Friend or Faux, there was a scene which confirmed these two are not just close sisters, but also genuine best friends. In a world where so much media portrays sibling relationships as brewing grounds for rivalries and hostile contrasts, it’s actually somewhat refreshing to see two sisters being portrayed as best friends. They even share a couple of the same background friends, if my memory serves me correctly. They do a lot of things together, given their common interests, and are very supportive of each other when it matters, like when Leni comforted Lori all those times in the past after the latter lost in various contests to Carol. While they have their disputes, as all siblings realistically will have, you can tell they’re pretty close, and it’s the similarities as well as the notable differences between them that make them a sound duo.

Lana and Lola

The twins have had a lot of screen time together, naturally, and thus their relationship dynamic is fully developed and enhanced at this point. They’ve spent many scenes and even entire episodes together, which have served to demonstrate how well they work off each other simply based off how dissimilar they are. Lana is rough, dirty and tomboyish, but also relatively nice, calm headed, and reasonable, while Lola and pretty, clean and prissy, but also incredibly hot headed and violent with a short temper. The amount of ways in which they serve as foils to each other is vast, and this enables their interactions to be usually very entertaining. Both of the twins are among the group of siblings who have received more focal episodes and development, so both serve as examples of good characters individually as well as a pair.

Lincoln and Luna

Lincoln, being the main character, actually has a strong bond with many of his sisters, primarily because of his large involvement in the majority of the show’s plots. For the sake of this list, I’ll just pick one to elaborate on, so why not the fan favourite one? Luna is seen (along with the generally kind hearted Leni) to be one of the sisters Lincoln is closer to, and though this is partially due to Luna’s status as the fan favourite, there is plenty of canonical material to justify this P.O.V as well. In For Bros About to Rock, Luna goes out of her way to give Lincoln (and Clyde) the best first concert experience possible, and the two bonded really well in said episode. In Yes-Man, Luna was the first sister to ask Lincoln for help, and she was also the second sister (after LJ) to be let in on Lincoln’s secret relationship with the McBride parents. While she does get angry with him sometimes like the other sisters, they do seem to have a pretty close brother-sister bond. To be fair, at this point in the series, Lincoln has a fairly well developed sibling relationship with pretty much all of the sisters, though some to greater extents as others.

Lynn and Lucy

While Lucy has received a moderate level of care from the writers and thus has been given a decent amount of opportunities to connect with some of her siblings, like Lincoln, Luan, Lori and Leni, Lynn hasn’t received the same level of care from those higher up, which is a huge shame, because when she is given a chance she hits it out of the park (pun intended). Case in point, her relationship with Lucy. Space Invader’s conclusion proved the two genuinely love each other and even appreciate each other’s differences, as they began to miss each other for their character nuances and habits after they fell out and Lynn moved in with Lincoln. Another episode shown that Lucy confides in Lynn, as the two sometimes have (what are intended to be) private conversations, albeit one’s which backfire in intention because of the paper thin walls of the house. Like many other examples, these two partly work so well together because they are so different. Lynn is an energetic sports nut, while Lucy is a gloomy goth. Aside from arguably the twins, these two sisters are the roommates with the biggest level of personality difference, which actually allows for a very interesting relationship dynamic within the room of the middle children (they’re also the roommates with the biggest age gap). Lynn hasn’t had too many opportunities so far to bond with many of her other siblings that strongly, so it’s nice that given the fact that she’s roommates with Lucy, that has enabled her to develop at least one notably strong sibling bond (so far, she has progressed leaps and bounds as a character in season 3, and I hope that continues looking forwards…).

…and now, for some sibling connections which need some work…

Lincoln and Lynn

Okay, you probably all suspected this one. For me, the Lincoln and Lynn relationship is a mixed bag. Sometimes, I honestly enjoy watching them interact, mainly when the main focus of the narrative is based around both of these two characters. Space Invader is one of the most entertaining episodes to date, and Middle Men managed to show how much the latter cares for the former and explained why she behaves like a ruffian towards him and others. Also, while not the strongest story, The Loudest Yard also shown how LJ is willing to go to great lengths to help her brother out, which is great. However, it’s the rest of the time when their dynamic portrayed in the best light. Too often is Lynn seen just roughhousing (or bullying, depending on your perspective) Lincoln in various episodes where their relationship is not the main concern, and too often is it made to seem as if she enjoys abusing him. As I’ve said before, I actually like LJ’s rough behaviour, to an extent, but even I will admit they sometimes take it too far and make her behaviour come across as frustrating to watch. Plus, I don’t think I need to bring up what happened in the episode that shall not be named. Anyway, I don’t mind LJ being the roughhousing older sister/honorary big brother to Lincoln, just show some more positive moments between them to provide balance against the hostile ones. That’s all that is needed. They're both my two faves, so naturally this is one bond I want to see more done with, not that they haven't already done some decent stuff with it.

Lisa and Leni

There is a great contrast which can be found between these two characters. One is ridiculously intelligent, but struggles socially, is sometimes near emotionless and careless of others. The other is dim-witted and intellectually limited, but incredibly nice, kind-hearted, and even quite popular with others. These two have a lot of potential when it comes to character interactions, yet I can think of very few scenes, let alone stories, where they have spent a significant amount of time with one another. One of the standout moments between them, back in season one, saw a hypothetical alternate world where Leni became smarter than Lisa. The payoff to this turn of events lead to a funny and entertaining aftermath. Honestly, we could probably do with more material between these two characters. Leni is a likeable character as it is, and Lisa has been treated to some exceptionally strong episodes of the show so far, most notably, Friend or Faux. Her relationship with Darcy was portrayed really well, and the differences between the two actually enabled a really strong bond to be created. A similar process could happen between these two sisters. We’ve seen glimpses of promise. Now let’s capitalise on it. Give these two a story together.

Luna and Lucy

While I find a lot of sibling relationships (or potential ones) to work so well because the two individuals in question work as such great foils to one another, these two could work because they are somewhat similar. Not emotionally, as Luna is loud and energetic while Lucy is gloomy and deadpan, but they both seem to have a somewhat ‘dark’ vibe to their personalities. While one is gothic and the other is a rock chick, there is some common ground that I think these two could find. I can’t think of too many instances where these two shared a one to one moment of any kind, so maybe it’s time that changed. Maybe the two could perform gothic music together, or do something that merges their individual interests. Either way, I believe this is a sibling relationship that could do with more exploration in the future.

Lori and Lily

Polar opposites as far as age and birth order are concerned when it comes to the Loud siblings. Lori is a responsible if commanding big sister to the rest, while Lily is an innocent baby. As the oldest, she is one of the siblings most likely to babysit Lily. Lori’s strictness, temper and the stress of the responsibility that comes with being the oldest could be a neat comparative point against Lily’s status as the baby. If nothing else, this could be a cute occurrence. It could also provide Lori with a chance to let her softer, more relaxed side show, as spending time with Lily may help to remind her that she doesn’t always need to be the bossy older sister. Though to be fair, given she has already had so many focal stories, I can think of occasions where anything she could learn by spending more time Lily, she already has done at this point. Still, it would be cute, though.

But all those were just brief examples. Really, I’m posting this discussion piece to encourage, well… exactly that. I will now let you guys discussion the subject matter amongst yourselves. Which sibling bonds do you think have been handled really well? Which ones do you think need/deserve more time to be worked on? Which siblings are your favourites and are ones you want to see interact with one another more? Let your thoughts be heard in the comment section below.

'P.S: Apart from my Really Loud Music reaction, I don’t know what else LH related I’ll be doing for a while. Still got some heavy life commitments to deal with for now. We’ll see…'