So many people I met. Crazy much? Sure is, but I am glad I've met them. Anyway, after another round of filming the Mickey Mouse series, I went back home to my house where Stella was waiting for me. She did some welcoming gestures to me, like rubbing on my leg, and jumping into my arms.
"Did you miss me, Stella?" I asked, then Stella purred. "I thought so." I petted her and put her down. I then went into the living room and turned on the TV, looking for some good movies to watch. "Hmm, Despicable Me? No, I saw that last week. Mars Needs Moms? No, that one should go to the Uncanny Valley." Then I saw a channel that has Watchmen in its listings. "Hmmm, that one looks pretty good." I thought, as I turned it on.
Later, while I was still watching the movie, my phone rang. I paused the movie and picked up the phone. "Hello? This is Lincoln Loud."
"Lincoln, this is Savino," my agent called. "I have been considering the fact that you wanted to be in a show, and I figured that you should come to the Nickelodeon Studios in Burbank tomorrow morning at 7:00 A.M. and we'll discuss some things."
"Alright, then," I said. "Is there anything else I should know about before I get back to watching my movie?"
"Nope," Savino said. "You can continue your movie and I'll be right at the main entrance to Nickelodeon Studios when you come around."
"Alright then," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then I hung up, and continued watching the movie. I turned off the TV the second the credits started rolling and was just about to go to bed when I saw Stella sleeping on my bed.
"Stella," I said as I picked up the car and put her down on the floor. The next morning, I drove all the way to Nickelodeon Studios where Savino was waiting for me.
"Lincoln," he said. "Glad you can make it."
"I mean, the other companies didn't give me anything else to do," I said, then we went into an office and sat down on some chairs. "So what is the plan?"
"Knowing that you love superheroes and paranormal activity, we're thinking we'll combine both for one show. How about Lincoln Loud: Ghost Fighter?"
"Ghost Fighter?" I said. "For Nickelodeon?"
"Sure," said Savino. "Just think of this, you are a young man who always loves the concept of the movie Paranormal Activity, and wants to hunt anything supernatural. So you joined a squad that does exactly that. You would be the brains of the group and you would go through an arc that sometimes brains aren't everything."
"Why brains?" I said. "I suppose I was pretty clever in my childhood years, solving problems with my friends and all that good stuff but isn't that exaggerated much? I mean, it is true that I love supernatural stuff, I guess, but don't you think we should make things a bit more realistic?"
"Realistic?" Savino scoffed. "You're a Toon. Toons are never realistic."
"Hey Arnold! was a little bit realistic," I pointed out.
"Morals? Yes. But activities? No," said Savino. "Maybe you should audition for that show, Man with the Plan?"
"Man with the Plan?" I asked. That was my childhood nickname. "Is that the name for my character?"
"Nickname," Savino said as he got up. "You can still be Lincoln Loud in the show."
"I guess," I said. "Little meeting adjourned?"
"Adjourned," Savino finished as he walked out. I got up and walked out of the studio. Me as a supernatural fighter? That did sound cool, but something felt off about that concept. I can take that it is a bit unrealistic, but I guess that's a bit hypocritical of me to say that, knowing that Toons are very unrealistic, except if they're CGI, but that's not saying much.
July 5 came faster than it seemed. Tons of toons of all animation styles were all there. Santa Monica State Park had never looked this beautiful. As I walked around, I saw Cat, Coconut Fred, and Spot chatting with my childhood idol, SpongeBob! My mind went off of the concept as I took a glimpse of SpongeBob. I walked over to the group as they saw me walk over.
"Lincoln, glad you can make it!" Cat said. "How are you?"
"Just fine!" I said before smiling like a doofus is in front of SpongeBob.
Coconut Fred whispered to SpongeBob, "He's a big fan of yours."
SpongeBob laughed. "Everyone says that and I believe them!" He reached for my hand. "Hiya, kid! How are you?"
I shook his hand very quickly and a bit roughly. "SpongeBob! I am a big fan of your show! Watched your movie, collected the toys, and watched a good chunk of your episodes!"
"I can tell!" SpongeBob smiled. "Always a pleasure to meet a fan! Is your name Lincoln?"
"Yes, it is!" I said. "You're an inspiration to any Toon made after 1999, even me. I actually wanted to make a cartoon because of you."
"Well, I am glad to hear that!" SpongeBob said, then looked. "Oh, barnacles. Patrick, I told you 5 times now. Frosty is not a popsicle. He's a snowman. Sorry." He walked off, then my mind went back to Savino's concept mood mode again. Cat noticed this.
"Are you okay, Lincoln?" he asked.
"Not really," I said. "My agent has a cartoon planned for me, but it wasn't my ideal one. It was about supernatural and fighting and arcs, which is cool and all but there was something missing about it."
"What was it?" asked Spot.
"I don't know," I answered. "It lacked something yet I don't know what it is."
"Is it the humor?" said Coconut Fred.
"No, I'm sure the humor is pretty good," I said. "But it's something."
"Well, for now you should get your head out of it," said Cat. "It's a beautiful day. Have some fun! Clear your round head! Get a sunburn somewhere embarrassing or something. I don't know. Do something."
"You know what?" I considered it. "Sure. Fun, here I come!" I ripped off my clothes, revealing swim trunks and ran into the water. The others looked.
"Does he always wear those underneath?" Coconut Fred said.
As I was swimming, I saw Lynn Sr. swimming with Lana and Lynn. Lana noticed. "Hey, Mr. Lincoln!" she said. "How are you?"
"Doing great," I said. "Beautiful day, huh?"
"Sure is, Lincoln," said Lynn Sr. "Those days where Toons get a day off of school and work to enjoy the sunshine. And every year, they come here."
"It's tradition," said Lynn. "Going back generations."
Then someone splashed me from behind. It was Luan. "Hi again, Lincoln! Water you doing here?" She laughed.
"Joining the party, Luan," I said, then looked around. "Where's Lucy?"
"Oh, my sister is not a big fan of the water so she stayed on shore and is currently reading poems," Luan pointed to Lucy, who was reading some of her favorite poems to other dark Toons. I smiled.
"She really likes poems," I said.
"No kidding," Luan pointed out. "She is like the opposite of me. While I'm all happy and goofy, she's sad and sensible."
"Yeah, would have made a great TV show," I said.
"It sure would," Luan said.
"So how is your work process coming along?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"Well, my agent pitched a new idea that I am not really a fan of," I said.
Lana asked, "What is it?"
I explained everything, but then Lana said, "You being a supernatural fighter sounds cool!"
"It does remind me of the Ghostbusters," said Lynn Sr.
"Mixed with Steven Universe," added Lynn.
"Yeah, I…" I stopped when I saw the Moon Goats relaxing on the beach. There was Luna relaxing in a chair with a purple bikini on. "Bah….bah…bah….bah." I murmured as I blushed hard.
"That's the blushing look from a couple days ago," said Luan.
"Oooooh!" Lana said. "You have a special woman in your life?"
"Now Lana," Lynn Sr. said. "Let's leave Lincoln be. He'll have her in no time if you just stop stressing him out."
"He's spitting facts," said Luan.
"One of Lincoln's new friends, huh?" asked Lynn Sr.
"Yep!" Luan smiled. "Name's Luan. Luan Ashmore. And you guys already know Lincoln."
"Met him a good while ago," said Lana. "He works on Gravity Falls!"
"Yeah, he does," said Lynn, then she looked around. "Lincoln? Stinkoln?"
"Stinkoln? Really?" asked Lana.
I didn't pay attention to that. I just stared at Luna while she was reading a book. I smiled like a doofus.
"Oh, yeah. That was the face of love," said Luan.
"I gotta go," I said as I swam over. I walked onto shore and then sat next to Luna. "Hey, Luna. Funny seeing you here?"
"Oh, hey, Lincoln! Great to see you again. Saw that face you were making just now. Hilarious! You looked like you were on a love rollercoaster, brah," Luna laughed.
I laughed too. I remember that song playing on the radio one time.
"So how are you, Luna?" I asked. "Anything exciting?"
"Not really," Luna said. "Just been jamming with my mates. We sure know how to play a mean song."
"Bet you do," I said.
"Hey!" a voice called. "Chatting with our lead singer, huh?" It was Sam Sharp.
"Oh, you must be Sam," I said. "I'm Lincoln Loud."
"You've heard about me, huh?" Sam laughed as she shook my hand.
"Well, I went to that restaurant where you guys were singing," I explained. "Felix told me a lot about you guys and Luna here said great stuff about you."
"Oh, the cat has been out of the bag for that one," Sam chuckled. "He knows a lot."
"Hey, brah," Luna said. "What have you been doing?"
"Well, my agent said stuff about me fighting ghosts like I'm a Ghostbuster," I said. "Which sounds cool, but I felt something was missing from that."
"Maybe since like you said, you're a Ghostbuster," Sam said.
"You don't like being part of a rip off, so you?" asked Luna.
"No. Not in the slightest," I said. "I just want a show that is something special?"
"How about since you like us so much," suggested Luna. "Why not write a biography of us?"
"Yeah," said Sam. "That can work."
"Listen," I said. "I'm not a biographer. I'm an actor. Well, a potential actor."
"You'll figure things out," said Luna.
"Maybe," I said. Then we heard a crash. We looked and there was a little Toon baby who had a tall poofy tuft of hair on her head. She was cursing out some boys.
"I want my baby food, and give me some shit to drink, Mr. Sexy!" the baby yelled.
Disgusting. I had never seen a baby act this turned on since Baby Herman, but while Herman had gotten better, the baby just acted like him up to 100 as far as I can tell. I walked over to the scene.
"Uh, what's going on here?" I said.
"Lily was trying to slap my butt!" a Toon hippo yelled.
"Is she yours?" a CGI fox asked.
"No," I said. "But I'll take care of her."
"No, you freaking won't, complete stranger!" Lily shouted as I picked her up. "I want my lawyer! I wanna! I wanna! I'm calling the police! I am calling the CIA. I'm calling the LAPD!"
"You'll be thrown into prison if you don't stop," I retorted.
"Shut it, Captain America," Lily snapped back.
"My name is Lincoln," I growled.
"Whatever," Lily scoffed.
"You need to see some help, woman," I pointed out. "If I recall, Warner Brothers still has a psychiatrist."
Lily shuddered in fear. "No! Not a psychiatrist! Anything but him!"
"Then cut the act!" I said as I put Lily down. "Now go play with those Rugrats. They seem to have a good influence."
"Fine!" Lily said as she crawled over to the Rugrats. Sam and Luna walked up.
"You really know how to keep charge, Lincoln," said Sam.
"If you weren't an adult, I would have said you would be a good big brother," added Luna.
I smiled at the comments. "Thank you two. I really appreciate that."
"You're welcome," they both said in unison.
"Back to that whole concept thing," said Luna. "Why not just make your own concept and make it would impress the studio and your agent and they'll consider giving you the show."
My eyes widened. "Luna! You're a genius! All I've been doing is speaking about the ideas without putting much thought into it." I hugged Luna tightly. "Thanks, Luna!"
Luna was surprised by my quick gesture, but she hugged me back. "You're welcome, man. Maybe you can pitch the idea to Savino when you're ready. But for now, let's just have some fun."
That's similar to what Cat said to me earlier. "You know what?" I said, then I put on my child voice, which is so good, it sounds like I've never hit puberty. "Let's do this!"
We then had some fun. Playing volleyball with a couple other Toons, swam more with my new friends, helped Lana build her sand castle while Lynn Sr. took Lola to the bathroom, sang Part of Your World at a karaoke, managed to get my new friends' phone numbers, ate some food, and talked some more with my other friends. All of that good stuff lasted until the sun went down and everyone went home.
"Bye, Mr. Lincoln!" shouted Lana as she, Lola, and the two Lynns pile into their van, which looked like a mix between a 1964-1970 Dodge A100 and a 1962-1967 Ford Falcon Club Wagon. "Good luck on your new show!"
"You know what?" I said. "Lynn?" Both Lynn Sr. and Jr. looked at me. I then cleared my throat. "Lynn Sr.? Can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Yeah, Lincoln?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"I have been thinking about pitching my own idea for a show, so when I'm finished, can you and your family come and help out?" I asked.
"Sure, Lincoln," agreed Lynn Sr. "Me and my fam are tighter than caramel on a candy apple?" I stared. "It made more sense when the orange pony said it."
"Her name is Applejack, dad!" Lola shouted, annoyed.
"Right. Right," the paternal figure said, as he climbed into his van and started it. "See you later, Lincoln!" Then he drove off with his daughters. I waved goodbye, climbed into my car, and started driving myself home. While I was driving, I started brainstorming some ideas. Maybe a spy show or a superhero show. Or maybe a historic show about David Bowie portrayed by Toons? Those sounded like great ideas in my eyes as I pulled into the driveway.
