37Here's a new story for the Loud House fans! This was boiling in the back of my mind and well, figured I do a bit of a take on this concept! Anyway, enjoy!
Every day in the living room, there was always a battle on who would get the TV for a limited time. It was always like that around the Loud family home. But... today was a very... unusual day because the time they take to fight... had to be delayed when all ten Loud sisters and Lincoln were looking from down the stairs to see what was going on.
Downstairs, they watched as their parents were talking to a man downstairs as he seemed to be connecting a box.
"Who do you think that is?" Lynn whispered.
"No idea." Lincoln said.
"You don't think that man is going to take away our TV, do you?" Leni said in worry.
"I'm sure the TV's going to be fine. He looks more like a repairman to me." Luna whispered.
"Please, since when does a repairman come over and..." Lisa started to roll her eyes.
"Ahem..." All the sisters said as Lori pulled out a book entitled 'The Times A Loud Sibling Broke Anything'.
Lisa paused. "...point taken."
"I think we're in trouble, but the question is... which one of us even broke the TV?" Lori asked, worried.
"It depends on who used it last." Lucy said, causing everyone to quietly yelp, seeing that she was in the middle, watching.
"...well... I know I didn't use it last." Leni said. "Lori and I were watching a fashion show for an hour before we gave the remote to Lola."
Everyone turned to Lola, her eyes widened in shock. "It wasn't me either. I only tuned into the program to see when the announcement for the next beauty pageant would be! I gave it to Lana afterwards."
Everyone turned to Lana, who shook her head. "Watched a half hour of classic cartoons, then gave the remote to Luan."
"Comedy for me." Luan said. "Then handed it to..."
"All right, I think we get the idea." Lincoln said. "Look, whatever happens, we're being cool. Just act calm, but guilty as if not knowing what you did... even though we really don't know what we did."
Everyone looked at Lincoln before Lisa said, "Lincoln DOES have a good idea."
Everyone nodded as Lincoln gave a sigh of relief.
"He's leaving, he's leaving!" Lynn whispered as everyone turned their heads to see the man leaving as the parents waved good-bye at him.
After a moment, all the Loud siblings heard Mr. Loud calling, "Kids? We need you all downstairs."
"All right, here goes nothing." Lincoln said as he and the Loud sisters started marching down guiltily.
That raised a couple eyebrows in the Loud parents as Mrs. Loud coughed, "Kids, what's with the guilty looks?"
Lincoln looked up. "What did we do?"
"Do? Whatever do you mean, Lincoln?" Mrs. Loud asked.
"Well... you had a repairman come over to look at the TV and..." Leni paused as she noticed the new box sitting atop the TV. "Uh... what's this?"
The other kids noticed the box sitting atop the TV too as Mr. and Mrs. Loud laughed. "Kids, you're not in trouble. We have some good news for you. That box you see here is a Nielsen box. And the Loud family, for only two months, are going to become a Nielsen family!"
Everyone gasped as they looked at each other. Lori said in excitement, "You mean, we're going to be..."
Mr. Loud smiled and said, "Yes."
"Wait... we're changing our names to Nielsen?" Leni asked. "I just learned how to spell Loud!"
Everyone looked at Leni as Lynn shook her head. "No, Leni, we're not changing our name to Nielsen. See, that box over there is a Nielsen ratings box... a people log, if you will."
"Exactly." Lisa nodded. "Anybody knows that this box measures what we watch on TV."
"Always the smart girl you are, Lisa..." Mr. Loud said as she shuffled Lisa's hair. "Anyway, our family got selected for a two month free trial for the Nielsens' rating system, so when we watch TV, it'll record what we watch every day."
"Cool!" Lincoln said in surprise. "So, if, say, I were to watch one of my shows, that box there will know I watched the show?"
"Indeed. And each week, someone will come by and take the ratings from the box and deliver them to a nearby network and configure how much the whole world watches your particular show... and if the show is good, that means it's pretty high up." Mrs. Loud said.
"Wow..." Everyone said in amazement... before immediately starting to turn on each other as they began to jump each other.
"IT'S MINE!"
"I WANT TO WATCH MY SHOW FIRST!"
"MINE!"
"COME ON! I WANT MY FAVORITE SHOW TO BE PART OF THE RATINGS SYSTEM!"
"KIDS!" Mrs. Loud yelled, causing every Loud sibling to stop fighting. Mrs. Loud took a deep breath. "That's... also another thing we wanted to talk to you about... I know lately you've all want to see what show you watch and what not... but we have cleverly devised a system... that's why, for each Loud sibling here... we're only allowing you to watch two hours of TV. Every day, two hours. No more, no less, UNLESS something important is on that we all want to see, but other than that, those are the rules."
All the Loud siblings looked up in surprise, then groaned as they looked down.
"So, we're going to be setting up a schedule, so... don't touch the Nielsen box or even turn on the TV... not that that's possible, since you need to know our log-in number, so... until we figure out a schedule, find something to occupy yourselves until we figure it out... fair enough?" Mr. Loud said.
Everyone looked down, but knew they would be fighting a losing battle if arguing with their parents, so they just gave a nod.
"Very good." Mr. Loud said with a grin. "I think that's all for now, you go on ahead and we'll let you know about the schedules..."
Everyone sighed as they started to go back upstairs.
The Loud siblings were later seen gathered around in Lori and Leni's room as Lori coughed. "Okay, so I think we know it's pretty obvious why I called you all here."
"Yeah, kind of obvious..." Lisa nodded as Luna held Lily close.
"So... do you really think we need a schedule?" Lola asked.
"Well, I think it's a pretty good idea." Luan smiled. "I mean, we all have to suffer if at least one of our shows is on at the same time as the other... and maybe it'll lessen the fighting around here..."
"I guess it would be a little healthy for us." Leni said. "But still, two hours a day?"
"It's just parents' idea of saying, 'Let's show some control and restraint'." Lincoln said. "And why not? This Nielsen box is here, so whatever program we watch is part of it."
"I suppose so, Lincoln, but still... how will we know which shows to watch?" Luna asked.
"I don't think we will... I guess the only way to know is the Nielsen ratings... I'm sure they'll know for themselves." Lincoln said.
"Oh, you know, this might not be so bad." Lana smiled. "I mean, I only take about an hour to watch TV, so I can live with that."
"I just hope I can still watch my sporting events..." Lynn sighed. "I know there's a big football game coming up..."
"I can give you my extra hour." Lana smiled.
Lynn paused. "Sounds like a fair deal."
"Then it's settled. I guess we're just going to have to adjust to the new rules, then." Lori explained.
"Awesome!" Lana said as all the Loud siblings nodded to each other. This looked like it was going to be an interesting two months for the Loud House.
And with that, the first chapter is done! How did you guys like it? Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!
