#today on: drawings that made my graphic design buddy really mad at me <3< /div>
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today i offer you prompts 11-20 for isat month!! ignore your calendar THANKYUUUU <3
#isatmonth#isat#isat siffrin#in stars and time#isat loop#isat mirabelle#isat isabeau#isat sadness#isat change god#isat spoilers#two hats spoilers#technically#is-at all the tags????? idk im tired!!#id in alt hope it makes sense im sorry in advanced!!#eyestrain#potentially#*looking at horizon DRAMATICALLY* i am no longer the person i was before i started this piece... (i hurty my hand </3)#maiora draws#today on: drawings that made my graphic design buddy really mad at me <3#i have developed so much beef with the favor tree while drawing this#i would fight the shit out of this fictional tree#and i would LOSE but whatever <3<3<3#i have so many nitpicks over this image but its OKAY its FINISHED now im FREE!! IM RUNNING AWAY#BUHbye have a nice day or night or whatever your hair looks amazing ok ciaociaoOOOOOO!!!!!!!
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Midnight Rendezvous - Short Story for Halloween
Itâs hard to make a good living as an actor. Unless youâre an A-lister, chances are youâve probably got a second job on the side to make ends meet while you try to live out your dreams. That used to be me, too: a plucky little kid eager to take on any role he could get. I was more than willing to bust my ass in the meantime if it meant getting to do what I love, knowing that all the long hours and back-breaking work would be worth it in the end. When I got my big break.
Life has done a great job of beating that enthusiasm out of me since then.
Now, Iâm a graphic designer. The work is interesting, donât get me wrong, and it puts bread on the table, but it was never my real passion. Ever since I was a little kid, all I ever wanted to do was play pretend, and itâd been my greatest goal since then to do it professionally - even though I hadnât scored a real acting job since the Nineties.
Thatâs why, when in mid-October I was contacted by my old agent, Sean Harrell, for the first time in a decade, I didnât hesitate to pick up the phone.
âTravis! You son of a bitch, you!â He said in the cheerful, endearing way only a talent agent could get away with calling someone a son of a bitch, âshit, whatâs it been, eight years? God, itâs crazy how time flies.â
âWhat do you want, Sean? I didnât even know I still had you on retainer.â
âOnce your agent, always your agent, baby,â he said with a laugh, âif youâre wondering why Iâm so chipper, itâs because I just got handed a big, juicy opportunity for you, my man.â
The last alleged âbig, juicy opportunityâ Sean had gotten me was a commercial for breath spray running on a few major networks back in the day. I couldnât get a date for a few weeks afterwards, thanks to my newfound reputation as âMan With Halitosis Number 3.â Sean was one gift horse who was occasionally filled with bloodthirsty Trojan soldiers, so Iâd learned to look at his offers with a healthy sense of scepticism.
âWhatâs this big opportunity?â
âYouâve been offered a guest spot on a major talk show,â he said, giddy as a kid on Christmas morning, âIâve been speaking to the reps all morning, theyâre practically begging to have you on.â
I scoffed and shook my head, though I knew Sean couldnât see it. Even when I was acting, it was cult stuff - B-movies and little indie films where the work was varied but the pay was crap; none of them ever broke out of the indie circuit and made it big. In short, it was all nothing that Conan O'Brien or Jimmy Fallon would give two shits about.
âWhat talk show is this?â I asked.
âMidnight Rendezvous, with Julie Forrester. It goes out live to a few million people every week.â
âNever heard of it.â
âThatâs funny,â he said, âbecause the reps told me that if I mentioned the name, youâd know it immediately.â
âWell,â I said, feeling irritated, âI guess theyâve got the wrong guy. Why would they want me, anyway? I donât even act anymore, itâs not like Iâve got anything to promote.â
âApparently,â Sean said, speaking uncharacteristically slowly, as though trying to choose his words extra carefully, âdonât get mad, but they want to talk about The Red Weekend.â
âShit.â
âYeah, I kinda figured youâd say that. Theyâre recording on the 31st.â
âHalloween? Oh, for fuckâs sakes, Sean. Could it get any tackier? Look, if they call again, tell them I donât wanna talk about that stupid movie, and if that doesnât get them to shut up, tell them they can take their offer, and shove it up theirââ
âThe pay, Travis. Let me tell you about the pay before you get allâŚheated.â
âWhat are they offering?â I grumbled.
âFifteen thousand, for just a couple of hours on set. Still feeling crabby, Trav?â
Yes, I was, but I didnât feel I could show it. Fifteen thousand for a few hours sitting on a couch in a studio, being asked questions about some stupid B-movie I starred in when I was in my twenties, seemed like a deal only a proud idiot would turn down. I may have been proud, perhaps unreasonably so, but I was no idiot.
âYou sure these guys are legit?â I asked, not wanting to say yes right after hearing the number, âtheyâre not just gonna lure me out to some vacant lot, beat me over the head, and harvest my organs?â
Sean groaned into the phone. It was like weâd never stopped speaking. Truth be told, Iâd missed the slimy bastard. At least he gave it all to you straight. When you spoke to Sean Harrell, you knew what you were in for.
âLook, Travis, thereâs no way to ever really be sure theyâre not organ traffickers - hell, Iâm sure Kimmel fenced a kidney or two when he was starting out - but I can give you at least a strong 80% certainty that these guys are the real deal,â he said, âI spoke to the host for a little while, uh, Julie! She seems nice, you know, a personality. Iâm sure you two will get along just fine.â
âYou said the exact same thing about that Fairweather woman, but that fell through, too. How do I know this is gonna be any different to that?â
âOh, come on, Trav, thatâs not fair. You know the Fairweather thing couldnât be helped. Besides, it was ten years ago. This? This is now, and now Iâve got this offer on the table for you and you only. Do you think I would have called if I thought this was just gonna be bullshit? Hell no. So, whatâll it be, buddy, you in or you out?â
I gave a reluctant sigh, before finally saying, âfuck it, why not. Sign me up.â
âGreat! Iâm so glad you said that, Travis, because truth be told Iâd already said yes on your behalf.â
âJesus Christ, Sean.â
âWhat? Itâs my job to make decisions in the best interests of your career, even if you donât. Iâll keep in touch and feed you the details in the next couple days. Itâs shaping up to be a real happy Halloween, Mr. Norton.â
âDonât push it. Speak to you later, Sean.â
âLater.â
He hung up after that, and I was left with nothing but silence and my thoughts.
The Red Weekend. Itâd been a while since Iâd heard that name, and that was no accident. It wasnât an exaggeration to say that it was the movie that destroyed my credibility, and my acting career, so just thinking about it made my blood boil. Plot-wise, it was nothing special. Just a derivative 1985 monster movie cashing in on the slasher formula that was so popular at the time, with a few stolen shades of âCreature from The Black Lagoon.â A bunch of hapless teenagers decided to spend a weekend in a cabin on the edge of a lake, only to have their fun spoiled by a creature rising up and slaughtering all of them except one - who then goes on to turn the tables and slay the monster, avenging the fallen. Simple, cheap, and cheesy.
I played the creature from the lake, affectionately dubbed by the cast, crew, and all five-or-so fans of the movie as âThe Bog Man.â If I took the role today (which, by the way, I wouldnât) Iâd have gone uncredited and collected my pay check, before moving on with my life. But I was star-struck, by the one person on the production team with what you might call genuine prestige.
Richard Upton PavloviÄ, the most iconic special effects artist youâve never heard of. All the greats - Savini, Baker, Rambaldi, and a laundry list of others - all studied under PavloviÄ at one time or another, since he immigrated from Croatia in the forties. But he was a famously private man: nobody outside the business had ever heard of him; he was one of B-cinemaâs best kept secrets. While the number of special effects artists whoâd studied under him was vast, he only chose to work on a handful of different films personally: one of which, for reasons I doubt Iâll ever understand, was The Red Weekend.
The reason I took the role, and the reason I chose to be credited, was that in playing The Bog Man Iâd be working one-on-one with PavloviÄ in the makeup room. It was my only chance to really interact with a living legend, before his death from a sudden heart attack back in 2007. PavloviÄ was a man with extraordinary vision. His one condition for working on a project was full creative control over creature designs, because he needed to be unstifled to truly work his magic. And it was magic: he could string together blood and gore with the best of them, sure, but when it came to monster design, PavloviÄ was the master.
When I met him in person for the first time, in a makeup trailer during a bitterly cold day in September, I was surprised by how small he was. PavloviÄ was a squat, wiry man with a silver horseshoe of hair and thick half-moon spectacles, looking like a cartoon shrew from a mid-30s Disney short. His design for The Bog Man was assembled in a thick stack of papers he carried in the crook of his arm, and started pinning around the makeup chair I was sitting on.
âHave you been under heavy prosthetics before?â He asked, with a soft, frail voice that still carried the echoes of a Croatian accent.
âNo,â I said, âbut Iâm open to new experiences.â
PavloviÄ gave a quiet, good-hearted chuckle at my naĂŻvetĂŠ and continued pinning up his pictures. They were all hand-drawn pencil illustrations, some of parts of the creature, others of the entire thing. It was a huge amphibian, a little bigger than a human, with features somewhere between an axolotl and a triceratops, with the addition of a long, whipping tail. It was a hunched, slimy, pot-bellied creature with green skin and long arms ending in six thick claws. There was a strangely childlike nature to its head: wide and flat, largely smooth and featureless, with beady black eyes and three horns sprouting from either side of its head. In the illustrations with its mouth closed, it seemed more like a frog, with its lipless gob stretching from one set of horns to the other. When the mouth was open, it reminded me more of a shark, with multiple rows of switchblade fangs.
âWhat is this thing? Iâve never seen anything quite like it.â
âIt is Rugoba,â PavloviÄ replied, gravely, âhaunter of shadows, devourer of man.â
âDid you draw all these yourself?â I asked, âthe detail is incredible.â
âSome I drew, yes,â he said, unpacking his equipment now, âothers I inherited, from family members back in the old country. Creatures in the movies these days, theyâre too tacky, too homogenised. I like to draw inspiration from older sources. It looks better, donât you agree?â
I nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to do.
What followed was nothing short of gruelling. Seven hours in the makeup chair every morning and every night, and layer after layer of paint, putty, latex, slime, and false skin was packed onto me, until I felt like Iâd been shrink-wrapped. PavloviÄ was a perfectionist, and I canât imagine anyone ever felt that better than me. The head was a mixture of latex and animatronics that I wore like a helmet, with extremely limited visibility. My hands and feet were bound and fitted with claws, and a multi-jointed wire wrapped in latex became my whipping tail, that moved of its own accord.
For all the layers theyâd packed onto me, it didnât do anything to insulate. During the shoot - a lot of which I spent emerging from water and chasing down drunk, horny morons - it was a miracle I never came down with hypothermia. Day after day after day in PavloviÄâs makeup chamber of horrors, all for a film I knew nobody was going to see. It was only when I got the chance to see the first proper cut of the film that I started to truly understand all the mythos behind PavloviÄâs supposed mad genius: when I watched the film, waiting to see myself in a hokey monster costume, prancing through the woods, I never got what I wanted. When I was on screen, there was no recognising me, because I was not there. It was only the Rugoba, as if itâd been ripped straight from PavloviÄâs nightmares and spat onto the screen, hunting its prey.
I remembered performing all the actions Iâd see on screen, but I couldnât - no matter how hard I tried - see myself doing it. PavloviÄ had turned me into his monster, and heâd done it flawlessly. The movie, as anticipated, was hot garbage, with plotting and characters as thin as wet toilet paper, unbearable dialogue, and thoroughly incompetent cinematography. But the Rugoba? That, I think I can say without a doubt, was the greatest, most realistic monster to ever grace the silver screen.
However, there was another element of the PavloviÄ legend which made him a little less desirable to work with. Actors, in one regard, are a lot like football players: theyâre a superstitious bunch. The little superstition that Richard PavloviÄ carried around his neck was that he was cursed: any film he chose to work on was doomed to fail, and if you were unlucky, that failure would spread its tendrils out to the cast and crew as well.
Ian Barker, one of my co-stars, once told me in confidence that he felt the whole production just reeked of doom to him, like some invisible axe was hanging over all of our heads, just waiting for the right moment to drop. Thanks to being in full Rugoba makeup for almost my entire time on set, not many of the cast interacted with me - I was the amphibian social leper - but Ian was different. He was at least someone I felt like I could talk to, even if most of what we discussed was PavloviÄâs curse.
To me, it was all stupid, baseless hokum, but towards the end of the shoot, I started getting worried. Maybe it was the fear that rattled me, but after The Red Weekend, I never nailed another audition: not for movies, not for TV, not for Broadway. Sean netted me a few commercials after that, but for all intents and purposes, my serious acting career was kaput. Looking back, I probably never had the nerve for stardom anyway, but just thinking about that movie had the power to leave a sour taste in my mouth.
And this Julie Forrester wanted me to talk about it on live TV. Part of me, honestly, was afraid of what Iâd say, under pressure, and under the intensity of all those studio lights. My best guess for what they were trying to do was a Halloween retrospective on the life and work of Richard PavloviÄ, monster movie maestro, and seeing as I was the last actor to officially work with him, my experiences held some weight.
In the end, if I could take home fifteen grand for a talk show appearance a couple decades after my fifteen minutes of mild fame were up, who was I to complain?
Sean got back to me a few days later, saying a chauffeur paid by the studio would be taking me from my bungalow on the edge of L.A. to the studio. It all felt a little much, considering my credentials, but Sean just encouraged me to put my feet up and enjoy it. After all, I didnât know when Iâd get another experience like this, if I ever did. Might as well soak it in while I still could.
It was about eight at night, and trick-or-treaters were already prowling the streets, when a black BMW parked in front of my home and dimmed the lights. It felt less like a talk show valet and more like a mafia hitman, but I walked up to the car nonetheless, and the driver rolled down the window. It was a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties, wearing a classic chauffeur hat and a wide, inviting grin.
âYou Travis Norton?â She asked.
I nodded.
âHop on in, Sir. Iâm Mary, Iâm gonna drive you down to the studio.â
The car was comfortable, and there was a small bottle of champagne in a little icebox on the seat next to me, with a smiling jack-o-lantern painted onto it. The temptation was there, but I didnât touch it - probably wasnât wise to get loaded before a TV interview. Once I was belted up, Mary fired up the ignition and drove.
âEverything okay back there, Mr. Norton?â Mary said.
âOh yeah,â I replied, âitâs wonderful. I feel bad for making you come out, I could have driven down myself.â
Mary laughed to herself in the front seat.
âNonsense, Mr. Norton,â she said, âIâm honoured to have you in my car. I never thought that Iâd be in the company of the star of The Red Weekend. If itâs not too unprofessional of me to ask, would I be able to have your autograph when we arrive? Iâd just like to show my kids.â
âYou let your kids watch The Red Weekend?â I asked, remembering its plethora of gory death scenes.
âAre you kidding?â Mary said with another hearty laugh, âitâs their favourite movie. Theyâre crazy for it.â
For the rest of the journey, I remained largely silent. Mary seemed nice at face value, but the more you spoke to her, the more you realised something was off about her. But it wasnât just Mary that was a little odd: the car, upon closer, more sustained inspection, was strange too. The back windows were so tinted you could barely see out of them, and before I knew it, I was hopelessly lost. Iâd lived in L.A. for most of my adult life, but the neighbourhoods Mary was driving us through felt totally alien to me.
The studio was like an anthill, pulsing with life, and dotted with more rictus pumpkins. Assistants and stagehands shuffled to and fro in steady streams, the pumping lifeblood of the whole big, complicated affair, as Mary pulled us into the parking lot. I got out of the car, gave a small, reluctant autograph in her pocket book - dedicated to her kids, of course - before being ushered away by another little detachment of stagehands. The place seemed to run with almost military efficiency, with everyone around me constantly checking their watches before moving at a quickened pace.
It was this aspect of a life in show-business that I never missed.
âMr. Norton,â said a shrewd-looking studio rep whoâd materialised from a crowd of scurrying assistants - heâd never be on camera, but his suit looked far nicer than mine, âIâm Michael. Splendid to see you accepted our offer. Please, follow me, Iâll see to it that you get to Miss Forrester.â
Ten years out of the media, and here, I was a babe in the woods. I blindly followed Michael further into the bowels of the studio, away from packed crowds of excited guests being corralled into queues. Most had won contests to be here, and the rest had probably paid their way in. Theyâd be the ones watching me, reminding me that I was being watched, not just by them, but by millions of others whoâd all tune in to a show Iâd never even heard of. Itâd been a strange and eventful Halloween.
Before I knew it, in the haze of yelling directors and baking studio lights, I was backstage. They ushered me into a makeup room, where I was given the most minimal makeup job Iâd ever seen, even more so considering my work on The Red Weekend for comparison. I was about half way through deciding whether it was a compliment when the door opened behind me, and a strange, kinetic energy seemed to fill the room, as though someone had just turned on a generator.
âTravis Norton,â said a shrill, excited voice coming from a shape I could only just catch in the corner of my mirror, âyou have no idea how long Iâve waited for this. I feel like I need someone to pinch me.��
Julie Forrester, like most television hosts, was a font of untapped energy, constantly bubbling beneath the surface. She was a little shorter than me at about 5"8, decked out in a tasteful grey suit, with a broad smile that seemed to flash the majority of her paper-white, perfectly-aligned teeth. Sheâd been prepped and polished by countless stylists and makeup artists, because I couldnât for the life of me tell you how old she was - you could peg me as a middle-aged bum at a glance, but Julie seemed to stand outside age, just looking in and smiling at the rest of us. Her hair - black, silky - was cut fashionably short.
âHey Julie,â I said, with the awkward, feigned familiarity of meeting TV personalities, âthanks so much for having me on. Iâm incredibly grateful for the opportunity.â
She gave an excited little squeak, like a teenager at a boyband concert. This was all feeling more and more like a big, sinister practical joke. Trick or god damn treat.
âHearing you say my name is so surreal,â she said with a laugh - no, a giggle, âyoung me would have exploded at just the thought of it. You should know, I donât normally do this, but with you I just couldnât resist. Youâve been a hard man to track down, you know? Extraordinarily private, for a celebrity of your stature.â
I laughed back, acting like I was in on the gag.
âYeah, well,â I said, âI have always been pretty low-key.â
âAre you a fan of the show?â She asked, clearly hoping the answer was yes. Julie reminded me of the kid in class who was always trying to impress the teacher - searching for some kind of validation from someone she perceived as an authority figure. You donât get into this line of work unless validation is part of what drives you.
Iâm ashamed to admit it, but I thought about lying, about humouring her. It was only when I realised there might be a follow-up question that I decided to give her my slightly-sanitised version of the truth.
âIâm sorry,â I said, âbut I donât really watch much TV. But Sean, my agent, he told me this show was excellent, so I jumped at the chance to be a guest.â
Julieâs face fell slightly, as though my words had wounded her, but she stayed positive. Outwardly, at least.
âIn that case, Travis, you are in for a real treat tonight,â she said, âIâve got some great questions lined up, thereâll be a brief Q&A with some audience members - donât worry, itâs all screened, so there wonât be any curveballs - and weâll have a few fun little segments mixed in to break stuff up. Is this your first time doing a live TV interview? My researchers couldnât find much footage of you online.â
âNo, uh, this is my first time. Iâm a little nervous, actually.â
She gave a friendly, comforting chuckle and patted me on the shoulder.
âDonât worry, youâll be just fine. You can pretend itâs only you and me, if that helps, but everyone out there loves you, Travis. Theyâll be hanging off your every word.â
âI never knew The Red Weekend had such an ardent fanbase.â I said, trying to play off all the uncomfortable praise that seemed to be bombarding me from every angle.
Julie laughed again, as though Iâd said something funny and missed it.
âDonât be so modest, Travis, everyone remembers their first time watching The Red Weekend, itâs a rite of passage,â she said, walking towards the door, âif you need to do any last-minute psyching yourself up, nowâs the time. Youâll be on in ten.â
The sudden, strange realness of it all hit me like a haymaker as Julie closed the door behind her. What the hell was I doing? I wasnât an actor, not anymore, I designed logos for small businesses and occasionally made a poster or two. The freakish contrast between the world Iâd known for the last two decades and the world I was being pulled back into was jarring. It barely felt like I had time to blink, when Michael, the rep, was knocking on the dressing room door.
âWeâre ready for you now, Mr. Norton, do come out and join me. Recording will begin soon.â
I gulped down my final misgivings like cheap scotch, and gave a long sigh. It was now or never, but truth be told, even for fifteen grand, âneverâ was looking more attractive.
The set was, in a word, generic. A large red couch sat across from a wide desk, bearing the title âMIDNIGHT RENDEZVOUSâ in large but tasteful lettering. The background was the standard plywood fare covered in a large facsimile of the L.A. Skyline up in lights. Julie sat at her desk, beaming, while a skinny warmup comedian stood centre stage, making anodyne jokes about West Hollywood traffic to the softly-laughing studio audience. They sat in near-darkness, compared to the bleached whiteness of the set, but the longer you looked at them, the more you could make out all their shapes.
I took a seat across from Julie, not wanting to upstage the comedian, but the second I entered the view of the audience I felt a hundred pairs of eyes pierce me. For whatever reason, I was the centre of attention.
âThis will be over soon, and weâll get started,â Julie said with a wink, âthis might be my most anticipated episode. No pressure, though, youâre gonna nail it.â
The warmup comedian was finishing his set, his brow now dotted with glistening beads of sweat, like the damp patches glaring through his cheap suit. None of his stuff was particularly funny - all broad observations and reheated takes, the TV dinner of comedy. Most of all, he just seemed surprised and giddy to be there.
âThank you!â He said, âyouâve been a wonderful audience, but now Iâm gonna hand you over to Julie and Travis, who I hear have got an excellent show for you tonight! Have a happy and safe Halloween, guys!â
He laughed as the crowd cheered, and then started to head for the exit, when Julie called to him.
âJosh!â She called, âyou did a great job, really awesome stuff. Would you mind sticking around a few minutes longer? Thereâs a few last little things we need to do.â
Josh nodded politely and returned to centre stage, delivering a few more inoffensive little quips to the crowd, and receiving small bouts of friendly laughter in return. I didnât notice at first, but Michael the rep had appeared at Julieâs side, and I caught the tail end of their conversation.
âIs the perimeter secure?â She asked him.
âYes, ma'am,â he replied, âwe should be all good to go, when youâre ready.â
She nodded, and Michael disappeared backstage. Seeming to just arbitrarily come and go was Michaelâs whole thing, I gathered, but before I could think about it any longer, Julie stood up and joined Josh, centre stage.
âItâs looking like we have a beautiful audience tonight!â She said, with the practiced, theatrical flair of someone whoâd said this a million times, âand how appropriate, because I think tonight we may have my favourite guest of all time. Do I even have to say his name, folks?â
There was a cheer from the crowd. I gave an awkward smile, and Josh just stood there dumbly, next to Julie.
âI have been informed by the producers that all the perimeters are secure now,â she said, âso, with that in mind, itâs time to change.â
It happened so quickly, but it felt like it took a million years. The hue of Julieâs skin began to change from a pale pink to a deep, murky green, as her shape began to shift, bloat, and elongate. But, it wasnât just Julie: the camera men, the stagehands, and the audience began changing too, all slowly warping themselves out of humanity and into something else entirely. Six claws, those big amphibian faces, those long, whipping tails and terrible jaws full of thousands of teeth.
If I wasnât almost entirely sure it was all fake to begin with, I would have screamed until my lungs burned up into prunes in my chest cavity, but as it was I couldnât summon a single sound. The host, the crew, the studio audience: they werenât human, not even close. They were PavloviÄâs monster. They were the Rugoba.
All of them except Josh, who stood next to the seven-foot-tall monster that Julie had become - still somehow wearing that sleek grey suit over her freakish new body. He was quaking in terror, only letting out occasional whimpers of fear. Both were standing in front of me, so I couldnât get a good look at their faces, but beyond them I saw a legion of grinning Rugoba filling the stands. All here to see me.
âBut, before we get this show on the road,â Julie said, her voice startlingly similar to when she still seemed human, âsome free concessions for the first few rows. Remember to share!â
With a huge, clawed hand, Julie gave the quaking Josh a push. He pitched forwards, screaming, into the midst of the studio audience, and they set upon him in an instant with claws and teeth. Ripping, tearing, devouring. Those panicked yells soon just become bloody gurgles, and then nothing but the sounds of feasting, and of Julieâs laughter. When Joshâs head came away from what was left of his body, several Rugoba seemed to fight over its contents.
Had I not have been desensitised by spending my young adult years working in crappy, exploitative horror movies, Iâd have thrown up. Instead, I just sat and watched, feeling like someone was taking a weed whacker to my soul. Human beings werenât meant to witness things like this, and now, I was the only one here.
âSettle down, folks,â Julie said with a good-natured chuckle, âweâll have more snacks distributed throughout the show. Everyone ready to begin? If you are, give me a big cheer!â
And she got one. The creatures thatâd eaten a man alive a few seconds before just took their places, all looking as excited as their inhuman faces seemed to allow. The better part of me knew that I should have tried to run - I wasnât paralysed by fear or anything like that, no, I just knew that if they were eating Josh but sparing me, there had to be a reason.
A Rugoba director, wearing an abnormally large headset to fit around his horns, called lights, camera, action.
What I assumed must have been the theme tune began to play, as Julie turned to me, a look of confusion spread against her wide, froglike face.
âWhy havenât you changed, Travis?â She asked.
Thatâs when it all hit me: why I was here, what all this was about. PavloviÄ - that mad, genius son of a bitch - his makeup job wasnât just good, it was utterly flawless, a perfect representation of a creature his family always knew truly existed. The costume was so good, it even fooled Julie and the others. For all these years, they genuinely thought I was one of them.
âI canât.â I said, without thinking.
âWhy?â She asked in a harsh whisper.
I could tell the theme song was drawing to a close, and I needed to spin good enough bullshit to not get eaten by a talk show host. It wasnât my best work, in hindsight, but what I said was:
âIâm a method actor, and Iâm playing a human in my next role. I donât want to compromise the integrity of the character.â
What I expected was getting a face full of gnashing monster teeth, but no, Julie just laughed and smiled at me. As the theme song played its last few notes, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing sheâd bought it. And with the audienceâs undivided attention, Julie began her little monologue.
âWelcome, welcome, welcome to the good people at home! You know me, Iâm Julie Forrester, and this is Midnight Rendezvous - the most popular talk show on Rugoba TV!â She said, before presenting her middle claw to the camera, âso pogo on that, Morning Chitchat. And boy, do we have a special guest for you tonight, folks, a guest quite unlike any other. You know him, you love him, itâs the one and only Mr. Travis Norton!â
The studio audience exploded into deafening cheers and applause, like none Iâd ever heard in my lifetime. The response was so overwhelming, I nearly forgot Iâd just seen them all eat an innocent man alive.
Julie walked back and squeezed herself behind the desk, making it look comically child-sized now.
âNow, Travis, Iâm thrilled to have you on.â She said, leaving a pause for me.
âIâm thrilled to be on,â I said, my voice quivering, âsorry, Iâm not used to all this attention. Itâs a little overwhelming.â
She laughed again, and said, ânow, in many ways, youâre a guest that needs no introduction - but Iâm gonna introduce you anyway, because thatâs how I make my living.â
The crowd laughed, and I decided to join in. Slime was dripping in liberal dollops from Julieâs massive jaws, coating the top of the desk. Itâs a miracle I didnât relieve my bowels just looking at her.
âI know Iâve been a fan of you for a long, long time, Travis. Having a Rugoba celebrity on the show is nothing new, of course, weâve had plenty here: BjĂśrk, Kanye West, Ryan ReynoldsâŚbut Travis, you, to this day, are the only Rugoba in living memory whoâs had the guts to show their true form on film,â she said, a genuine note of pride in her voice, âand I think that deserves another round of applause, donât you, folks?â
More applause, and I forced a smile. It was becoming clear to me that this whole thing was just a tightrope act: I was a folk hero to them for now, but the second they realised I wasnât one of them, Iâd be devoured, just like Josh. In that moment, I wished that Richard Upton PavloviÄ was alive again, so I could have a go at beating him to death myself.
âIf youâre wondering why Travis is looking so tasty tonight, folks, itâs because - and this is a Midnight Rendezvous exclusive - heâs going to be starring in a new movie soon. How exciting?â Julie said, playing up every word for the eager crowd of monsters just beyond the edge of the set, âheâs a method actor, so heâs trying to stay in character. Can you tell us a little about the film, Travis?â
Great. I was on the spot again, one lie leading to another. A good piece of advice to take to heart is that when youâre already in a hole, itâs best to stop digging, but I was already half way to China.
âItâs called Mirrors: Reflecting,â I said, completely pulling it out of my ass, âitâs a comedy-drama about a has-been actor who ends up getting way in over his head in a situation he doesnât understand. Itâs in pre-production.â
âOooooh,â Julie said, âsounds exciting. Now, Iâll start with the question I think weâve all been thinking since we first saw The Red Weekend: how did you find the willpower to never eat any of your co-stars?â
The general rule seemed to be that anything I found morally repugnant would get a big laugh out of the crowd. The Rugoba sense of humour seemed to be mainly based around terrible things happening to humans, so I chose my words as carefully as I could, given the circumstances.
âItâs, uh, itâs all about self-control,â I said, âyouâve just gotta tell yourself to stay in the professional zone, and that you canât eat any of them, because itâll, uh, compromise the production.â
âGod,â Julie said, âcheck out this guy here, making me feel like a slob. Youâve gotta give me the number of your dietician after this, Trav. I ate mine last week.â
I laughed out of politeness, but I genuinely wasnât sure whether it was a joke or not. For my own sanity, I chose to believe the former. The crowd found it hilarious, either way.
âDid any of your co-stars know the truth? You know, about who you really are?â She asked.
âNo,â I cut in, worrying that revealing the truth would be a secret death sentence, âthose dumb humans believed it was all just makeup. You know what people are like, easy to trick.â
Julie slammed a claw down on the slimy desktop and gave an over-the-top laugh.
âSo true, Travis, so true!â She cackled, âin fact, half of the folks at home are probably enjoying a trick or treater as we speak. Halloween, what a holiday, itâs like getting free home delivery - and they bring your dessert in a bag with them! So considerate - who says humans arenât good for anything?â
How many of these things were there? How many facets of society had they invaded, if they had their own TV shows? Sean said this show went out live to millions of viewers, and surely not all of them would be watching. There must have been Rugoba everywhere.
âNow, a couple more serious questions, before we get to the fun stuff,â she said, licking the slobber off her fangs with a long, purple tongue, âyour filmography has some strange gaps. You get plenty of work in the eighties, and a little going into the nineties, but then a huge episode of silence until now. Why the return to film?â
It probably shouldnât have rattled me, given what was going on, but it did. Somehow, the fear of failure ran even deeper than the fear of monsters, and Julie had opened the floodgates.
âItâs not been for lack of trying,â I said with a laugh that undermined my sadness, âitâs hard to make a good living as an actor. Unless youâre an A-lister, chances are youâve probably got a second job on the side to make ends meet while you try to live out your dreams. Iâm a graphic designer in my spare time. Just lately, I got lucky, and was offered another big break. It wasnât what I expected, but Iâm trying to play it out as best I can.â
The crowd gave a sympathetic âawwwwâ that felt good in spite of them being a horde of carnivorous beasts. Julie seemed similarly sympathetic, looking at me with those big, black shark-eyes that somehow communicated a warm depth of compassion you couldnât imagine coming from a creature like her.
âWell,â she said, trying to reclaim the room, âIâm sure I speak for everyone in this room when I say that weâre glad youâre getting work again, Travis, youâre a talent like no other. Thatâs why I thought Iâd get you a fun little Halloween treat.â
All the lights around us began to dim, as several excited âoooooohsâ issues forth from the crowd. I could hear sudden movement backstage, and the scraping of metal against metal.
âBut,â Julie said with glee, standing up from her desk and trotting to centre stage, âone personâs treat is another personâs trick, quid pro quo, thatâs the way the world goes. Travis isnât the only special guest weâve got tonight, courtesy of some fine work from our producers.â
A group of Rugoba in dark uniforms dragged a huddled, chained figure onto the stage. Heâd been either beaten or drugged, but whatever the case, the guy was totally out of it. Half-naked, covered in scratches where his handlers had been too rough. Itâd been so long, but after a moment or two, I recognised who it was.
Ian Barker, my old Red Weekend co-star.
âAs you all know,â Julie said, addressing the crowd, âthe one blemish marring the perfection of The Red Weekend is the downer ending. The rest of it is such an uplifting story of Rugoba conquering and devouring humankind, as nature intended, until the character played by our new guest Ian Barker here slays our champion!â
The crowd entered a state of vicious booing, all directed at Ian, who was too dazed to even respond. He remained on his knees, with a heavy metal collar bound around his neck.
âBut, today, as a Midnight Rendezvous Halloween special, weâre going to right that wrong, folks!â She said with a laugh of shrill, sadistic excitement, âour dear friend of the show, Travis Norton, will devour Ian Barker live for you and the folks at home, and all the wrongs will be right again. Is everyone excited?â
As the volume of the cheering went up, my heart sank. Before I could even think to stop myself, or formulate a plan, I was up on my feet and charging towards Julie with an excuse.
âJulie, you donât understand,â I pleaded, âI have to stay in character, I need to seem human.â
Julie scoffed and shook her head - more for the audience than me.
âWhat? Humans eat other humans all the time! Jeffrey Dahmer, Andrei Chikatilo, and a whole bunch of others,â she said, âyou donât even need to change back. The producers got you this handy little tool.â
A fourteen-pound framing hammer was forced into my hands, crushing my last attempt at an excuse. Everyone but Ian was looking at me, as I stood there with the hammer, all grinning and egging me on with their eyes.
âYou only have to eat some of the brains, itâs the best part anyway,â Julie said, âIâd hate to break you too far from character.â
Then the chanting began: kill, kill, kill. I donât know who started it, but now there was no stopping it, not until Iâd made up my mind. I gripped the hammer, hard, and looked at the back of Ianâs head. If I fessed up, and told the truth, would they kill him and me anyway? Did it make more sense to just kill him and get it over with, then try to live with the guilt afterwards?
Maybe it did make more sense. But thatâs not what I did.
âStop! I yelled, the hammer clattering to the ground, "and please listen!â
The room fell silent, and Julie started looking at me like she knew something terrible was about to happen.
âI have a confession,â I said, âyouâre not gonna like it, but you have to listen to me, and hear me out. Iâm not one of you, okay? Iâm not a Rugoba. Iâm a human being, it was all a big god damn lie.â
Julie stared at me, devastated, and said âwait, Travis, what do you mean? The Red WeekendâŚâ
âThe Red Weekend is a shitty movie that ruined my life!â I blurted out without thinking, âit was all special effects makeup, none of it was real. The guy just knew about you, somehow, and youâre what he based his design on. I was never a Rugoba. Iâm sorry for misleading you all like this, itâs just a huge misunderstanding.â
In an instant, the crowd devolved from low, worried murmurs to riotous shouting. Julie tried in vain to comfort the yelling crowd, to stop them baying for my blood, but it was too late. Iâd taken one of their greatest living legends, and torn it apart in front of them. Iâd gone from being a hero to the devil himself.
Running was the first thing on my mind, but before the thought even properly formed, something had struck the back of my head - and everything went black.
***
When I finally came to, I was staring out of thick, iron bars into the furious amphibian face of Julie Forrester. The room was dark, so I could barely see beyond her, staring into the cage and mugging at me. Sheâd lost her grey suit, and was wearing a white outfit with a skirt instead, her whipping tail protruding from the back, lashing at the air.
âI bet you feel really clever right now, Travis, well done,â she said, her voice devoid of the lightness and humour Iâd known it for, âyou made me look like an absolute clown on my own show. I trusted you, I invited you on, and you just humiliated me.â
âIâm sorry,â I said, my thoughts still returning in brief snatches, âI really am, Julie, I didnât mean for it to happen like that. Aside from the whole âeating humansâ thing, I like you as a person. I wouldnât want your credibility to take a hit.â
She ran her claws across the bars of the cage, and shook her head.
âToo little, too late, Iâm afraid,â she said, âbut you can still make it up to me, in other ways.â
âI want to, Julie, I really do.â
Julie pulled back from the bars a little and seemed to pace around the cage, her footsteps heavy and wet, but as regular as the ticking of a clockâs pendulum. Itâd drive you mad if you listened for long enough.
âWhat you said earlier about the entertainment industry is true, Travis, even if the rest was all lies,â she said, her tone gravely seriously, âif you want to make a good living, one job wonât cut it. You need to be a real polymath to put bread on the table. Thankfully, Iâm a Rugoba of all trades: Midnight Rendezvous is just one of the shows I host.â
âWhatâs the other one?â I asked, out of morbid curiosity.
She stopped, pressed her terrible amphibian face against the bars, and grinned.
âYouâll see,â she said, âyouâll see real soon, Travis. Iâm gonna make you into something so much betterâŚâ
As Julie started to walk away from the cage, one by one the studio lights began to turn back on, cracking into life. The couch and L.A. backdrop was replaced by a homely-looking kitchen, fitted with a gorgeous array of utensils and hardware. Julie produced from the front pocket of the white apron she was wearing a long and magnificent chefâs hat, and placed it onto her huge, slimy head.
The words âCOOKING WITH JULIE!â were emblazoned across the front of her kitchen unit.
My fear had already passed, all that remained now was that kind of dissonant, slaughterhouse calm that sets in when you already know youâre finished. All thatâs left to do is wait. But, I took a strange comfort in knowing that this Halloween night The Red Weekend would finally be coming to an end.
I closed my eyes and exhaled, as the director called âlights, camera, action.â
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