The bonus chapter for Lonely Remnants, “Forever Lost Together”, is here! Yippee!!!
Please read the warnings before proceeding. This chapter is also very rough.
Here come the extras! There’s a lot of them.
- The lyrics for this bonus chapter are from “Howl” by The Family Crest! This song is what gave me the idea for this chapter, and I like to imagine the Shoggoth singing it as it tosses Lawrence around and dances with him, lol. And after this, they are literally ‘forever lost together’! They are now one being.
- The cover art for this chapter was done by the lovely @katslitterbox ! Thanks again, Kat!!! I attached it to the bottom of this post also hehe
- “That’s when Barbara reaches up to ruffle his hair, as he absently chews on a french fry. (Why was is so flavorless?) “You’re so silly, Bugaboo!” ” - This action and the nickname is what triggered Lawrence to resurface back in chapter eight!
- “This isn’t real. The realization rocks him to his core. The air is sucked out of his lungs. His loved ones have all frozen, slumped like marionettes with cut strings.” - This is a reference / inspired by the ending scene in “I Saw The TV Glow”. I cannot stop.
- The band - the band Lawrence played with has only been briefly referenced in passing, but in my head they have a lot of lore and such lol. The members are taken from the LoopJuice AU and repurposed for this AU.
- Kai - Kai is this universe’s version of Larry. They were the drummer of the band. They hoped the extra income would help them pay for med school.
- Merrill - funny story. Merrill exists in LoopJuice, but he will likely never ever show up. He is Larry’s tragic dead human boyfriend. He has a whole fun backstory and plot line with Larry that won’t really ever be touched on. He is inspired heavily by Eddie Munson from that show I never watched.
- Cyrus - you know who this is. If you don’t, don’t look into him. He sucks. Beej cannot escape him in any universe of mine.
- “(Why was Kai’s face so red? Weren’t they already together? He supposed not.)” - Kai and Merrill got together a week after this memory.
- “(Why was he letting the bastard anywhere near him? His wrist still ached.)” - It was briefly mentioned, although not directly, that Cyrus broke Lawrence’s wrist. This led to the band breaking up and Lawrence moving on to a different state. That was after this memory.
- “He was startled by a body plopping down by his side, choked by the overpowering smell of body spray and… something sickly sweet, underneath it all.” - the “sickly sweet” smell is actually the Shoggoth’s goop!
- “Our next show would’ve been great.” - this was inspired by a scene in “BoJack Horseman”, where a character says she’s “just thinking about how great it would’ve been if you had chosen this life”.
- “God, he missed his dad. His heart clenched as he yearned for the faint whiff of a memory, of his favorite cologne and his starched shirts. He wants nothing more than to hug him tightly and never let go.” - Inspired by my own feelings. I miss my dad and I miss the smell of his cologne. He’s not dead, he travels for work, and I only see him a couple of times a year.
- “He’d known exactly how much of their mother’s whiskey would redden his complexion and warm up his skin.” - I don’t know if it’s ever been directly stated anywhere, but Juno made Lawrence drink since he was very small so she would have a “drinking buddy”. Hence why he knows so much about alcohol and how it affects him so young.
- “She grins at him, crooked and conspiratorial in a way that’s so painfully familiar.” - They both smile the same.
- “It’s then that she pauses, one hand on the doorframe. “… ain’t it so strange how that was our last conversation?” ” - This was inspired by a scene from the podcast “The Adventure Zone”, where the narrator talks about a character’s last conversation with a sibling. I’m being vague for spoiler reasons.
- “Memory returns.” - This is a reference to “Slay the Princess”.
- “I know we weren’t made equal. I know… I know there was somethin’ wrong with you. We all did. I musta… took somethin’ from ya in the womb. That’s why Ma always looked at you that way. The way she… she never looked at me.” - This is all Lawrence’s own thoughts. He thinks he must lack something Bella has, and that’s why their mother treated him so differently, and why he struggles so much while she thrived.
- “He felt his heart, his own personal heart, breaking all over again.” - A reference to “Asteroid City”. :))
- “She’d normally used the cigarette she was now pressing to her lips.” - She used to burn him with her cigarettes.
- “He gripped at his throat, allowing himself to slip into that old nervous tick.” - Based on a weird tick I have.
- “ “You… you killed yer own son.” Juno sighed. The water had reached her shoulders, but she didn’t care. “Lauren, I ain’t even really your Ma. She don’t even know you’re dead.” ” - this was inspired by a scene with similar dialogue from “The Haunting of Bly Manor”, which I reblogged here. A whole lot of this bonus chapter was inspired by that show.
- “ “… what are you doing?” He was standing on the couch.” - Heheh, this was inspired by a scene in “The Owl House”. Specifically “Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door”.
- “Emily released his face with a gentle, heartbroken sigh, once again wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. “Oh, my poor baby,” she whispered, one hand cupping the back of his head.” - Listen to “I Bet on Losing Dogs” by Mitski or “Danny” by Nichole Dollanganger and think about Emily and Lawrence and you will maybe cry. I do.
- “ “You’ve been letting yourself… bleed all this time. You wouldn’t show anyone that you were still hurting, still bleeding, still-…” the next word catches on her tongue. She seems to think better of it.” - she almost said “still dying”, but, uh… yeah.
- The water - The water rising was inspired by several scenes in “The Haunting of Bly Manor” I cannot discuss without spoiling it. I’ll just say the scenes with Miss Jessel in her room, the ones with Hannah Grose talking to Owen Sharma, and the ending. The phrase “it’s you, it’s me, it’s us” heavily impacted me emotionally and inspired this whole AU.
- “ “You know why?” “.. wh-why?” “Because you’re a fuckin’ Deetz. And Deetzes never give up.” ” - this is a reference to a line from “Gravity Falls”.
- “Not even ten feet away, a familiar figure was sat, arms outstretched. Like it was embracing someone who wasn’t there.” - They thought they were still hugging Lydia.
- Arms outstretched - the repeated phrase is both to point out the importance of physical contact in this chapter and another reference to “The Adventure Zone”. Listen to that song for this chapter! If you want.
- “ “You ain’t in control!” He shakily made his way towards the sitting demon, angrily jabbing a finger in it’s direction. “I am!” ” - This is a reference to a scene with similar themes in the movie “Upgrade”. It ends… very differently for the main character in that movie.
- “It brushed itself off, briefly halting to stare at it’s left clawed hand with a hum.” - It’s never had a left arm before! It was admiring it for a sec.
- “ “… fuckin’ hell, you really are rotten, aren’t you?” It’s golden eyes suddenly snapped to him, and it’s lips curled back in a snarl.” - It’s a bit tired of Lawrence and itself being called that word.
- “Lawrence didn’t have time to ready himself for the creature rushing forward and shoulder-checking him, knocking him backwards right onto his ass.” - He’s very lucky it didn’t use it’s horns.
- “ “What did you say?!” The demon growled, large canines inches from his face.” - inspired by the title song from “Nerdy Prudes Must Die”.
- “Days in here are seconds out there.” - inspired by the concept of the Midnight Realm in “I Saw The TV Glow”.
- “It reached up to grip at it’s neck, anxiously.” - the Shoggoth mirroring Lawrence’s tick(s)!
- “It grinned at him a stupid, big, lopsided grin, holding one hand out.” - “The demon threw it’s head back in a relieved laugh that swiftly evolved into a ridiculous cackle. (Did he really laugh like that?)” - This is Lawrence being critical of his own smile and laugh.
- “… it’s all going to be okay, isn’t it?” …. “… I appreciate it.” - accidentally inspired by The Bathroom Cowboy from “Tales from the Gas Station”.
Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox
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