Chapter 10 of Lonely Remnants, “Wildfires have been eating you inside my head, Trying to smoke you out or burn you alive in it”, is here! Strap in, folks. I can’t tell you how excited I am to share this one with you all.
PLEASE READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS ATTACHED TO THIS CHAPTER AND PROCEED WITH CAUTION. THIS CHAPTER IS PARTICULARLY ROUGH. I KNOW I SAW THAT A LOT, BUT IT IS VERY TRUE HERE.
Extras! :)
- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Please Just Stay Dead” by Nichole Dollanganger! They are meant to reflect how Lydia’s image of her bold, strong brother is being irreparably altered, maybe even ruined.
- “Like a doomed man trudging towards the gallows, sure but unsteady. Like a dead girl walking.” - Heheh, foreshadowing.
- “The trail led into the road. It ended on the other side, next to the memorial. Not before it was… smeared on the road. Splattered all about, like the cause of it had been… impacted. Her fears were confirmed when she found one of those strange paw / feet among the large, dark smudge of blood and goop in the road.” - Yep, they got hit by a car! Karma, I guess.
- “It was… feasting on some festering roadkill with a terribly feral and manic fervor.” - That was Lawrence’s last ditch effort to try and regain control and heal their body.
- “The side of his face the ear had fallen off of seemed to be following suit. It was starting to turn to the goop and slough off, part of the flesh hanging limply off the cheek and exposing his blackened, cracked jawbone.” - While the whole rejection idea is based on the ending of “Bride of Re-Animator”, this particularly horrific mental image is based on an effect from “Smile 2” that really stuck with me!
- “His dad and twin loved him, but it… it weren’t enough to counter the hatred of his mother.” - Lawrence’s accent fades away as the Shoggoth talks more and gains more control as he gets weaker.
- “Lousy bum’s been drinkin’ since he were ten years old.” - Not by choice! But the Shoggoth is being really judgy regardless.
- “Joined a band, saw the country, got his wrist broken by a boyfriend.” - Band mention! There’s a whole bunch of fun lore surrounding them that lives in my head. Also, the rotten boyfriend who broke his wrist was Cyrus! Can’t escape that fella.
- “It suddenly reached up, placing a hand over the left side of it’s face, covering up the exposed bone and one of it’s eyes.” - This was it trying to stop it’s face from falling apart more. It didn’t work.
- “Mrs. D helped him fix himself. Clean up all the broken pieces ‘n make somethin’ outta them.” - A reference to “Dead Mom”!
- “Of all of the moments in his long drive, of all of the cars he passed, he had to hit the one containing two of the people he loved most.” - This bit was inspired by a similar moment in the movie “Signs”.
- “She remained still as the grave.” - heheh, more foreshadowing.
- “No, Scarecrow. You died too.” - Woof. There’s been hints throughout. Hell, even in the start of the first chapter! - “She was the lucky one. By some miracle, she made it out with only some minor head trauma and the loss of a substantial amount of her hearing.” - I even put “Living Dead Girl” on the Lonely Remnants playlist for this purpose, lol.
- “ “I haven’t been very truthful at all.” It’s fingers brushed over the scales dotting it’s nose.” - Every time it lied, it gained a snake scale, since snakes represent deceit.
- “We are… human suffering, given form. Anguish and agony, writhing deep below the earth. I am of Lawrence’s. Of all the pain and hurt he felt.” - Yeah sorry it was a metaphor for trauma and self repression this whole time. Mostly. Also, this is what Otho meant when he said “… always were the most… potent out of all of us, little brother.”
- “No more watchin’, no more peepin’, and…” - This is a reference to “Bigtop Burger”. I couldn’t help myself. Cesare was my main inspiration for the Shoggoth.
- “… I could always feel him, faintly, in the back of my mind. Breathing in the dark.” - GOTCHA WITH ANOTHER “Asteroid City” REFERENCE!
- “I… I am just a beast of the stony soil.” - This is inspired by a famous line from “Pet Sematary”, which inspired Lonely Remnants! It’s the first horror story I read at eight years old, lol.
Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox
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Adam and Barbara both know how to sew, and they both made little dolls of themselves for Beetlejuice to hold on to. Both dolls have a little packet of stuff that reminds Beetlejuice of their scents and they are also weighted!!
One time, Beetlejuice and Lydia went to the beach. Beetlejuice dug a hole and laid in it, while Lydia covered him with a blanket. They put a cup of French fries over the towel and spent all afternoon trying to catch a seagull.
The Shoggoth once drank some shampoo “just to see what it would taste like”. Cue Barbara and Adam frantically trying to wash its mouth out. Every time it tried to talk, all that would come out was garbled words and bubbles.
Beetlejuice kicks in his sleep. The only thing that calms him down is Adam or Barbara petting his hair
That’s all I’ve got right now, I’ll think of more stuff!! Hope things get better for you
-Cosmo 🖤✨
Fuuuuck these are so cute!!!! Thank you….
- THAT. IS. SO. CUTE. LITTLE DOLLS TO KEEP THEM CLOSE WHEN THEYRE NOT PHYSICALLY THERE. IM GONNA CHEW OFF MY CAR BUMPER!!!! /pos
- Imagine the chaos if they ever actually caught a seagull… what was their plan? What were they going to do with it?
Hehe I’m just imagining the like ten seconds of celebration followed by “oh god what do we do with it now”
- GOD. YEAH. PROBABLY. That doofus will eat anything that might smell or look appetizing… the bubbles coming out every time it bickers with Barbara and Adam about “but it smells so nice!!” hehehe
- Absolutely. I think that guy probably even sleep fights or sleep walks. But yeah head pets from their partners calm them right down :)
Chapter 3 of Lonely Remnants, “I'll save you from that fate, If I have to kill every angel in Heaven, I will snatch you back from the grave, And you will live to see my bed another day”, is here!
Here are the extras. Make sure to read the warnings before proceeding!
- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Over the Moon” by Penelope Scott! (Thanks Cosmo <3) It’s meant to reflect the mindset Lydia has from the start, and the pivot to being all in Barbara and Adam experience.
- “They corralled it into a bathroom to change on it’s own, but it struggled to even get the trench coat off.” - It’s hard to do things with one arm!
- “She heard both of her adopted parents shriek after a minute or so, and the Shoggoth let out a startled yelp. Before she could go to assist them, Barbara and Adam were both scrambling out of the bathroom, looking rather green in the gills. Adam dry heaved in the kitchen sink while Barbara returned to the bathroom, having retrieved a first aid kit from under said kitchen sink. Lydia gently patted the man’s back, brows furrowed in concern. “… what happened?” Adam managed to say “his arm” between gags.” - His arm is suuuper gross. Lydia was shielded from it by her oh so brave guardians. (Also, the yelp was because Barbara and Adam freaking out startled the Shoggoth hehe)
- “.. the Shoggoth was finally dressed in an old band hoodie (Lawrence still had an MCR hoodie?) and basketball shorts.” - Of course. Once an MCR fan, always an MCR fan.
- “It was then that the three living humans realized his feet were now replaced with… some sort of paws. The Shoggoth seemed to catch them staring, as it titled his head and looked down to follow their gaze. “Oh!” It chuckled, once it had caught on. “Don’t worry about that. Ate one too many raccoons.” ” - Hmm. Weird! Perhaps this will come up later. Also it’s feet are a weird mashup of raccoon paw hand things and human feet
- Nails - Lawrence used to use sharpies to “paint” his nails instead of actually painting them.
- Dog - his childhood dog’s name was Kevin, a reference to Alex Brightman’s dog, but unfortunately I don’t think he’ll be brought up again.
- “Lydia saw her hesitate before she reached out to wrap her arms around the Shoggoth, using one hand to gently pet the top of his head. It melted into her arms, eyes slipping shut.” - This is something Barbara used to do to comfort Lawrence. The Shoggoth sort of remembers and is comforted by it.
- “Barbara lightly patted his back. “… we’ll figure it out.” ” - This is the moment Barbara and Adam decided they were all in with this strange zombie demon stuff.
- “The Shoggoth called a ‘see ya later!’ from the kitchen, mouth obviously full. Lydia heard Adam shouting for it to spit something out as the door shut behind her.” - The Shoggoth took a bite of the plate.
- “Lydia absolutely flunked the math test, despite how hard Adam had helped her study for it.” … “ “I think I failed the math test.” “Oh, honey, I’m sorry! After you two studied so hard for it and everything.” ” - this is a reference to the end scene in the original movie!
- “Lydia called out a loud “I’m home!” once she came into the townhouse, as per usual. Barbara called a quick little “in here!” in response from the living room.” … “It was then that the front door unlocked again, and Adam called out an “I’m home!” as he stepped inside. … Adam stepped into the living room shortly after Barbara called “in here!”.” - This tradition was started by Lawrence, because he was always paranoid his loved ones wouldn’t be there when he got home. Yay trauma!
- “Barbara and the Shoggoth were sat on the couch, both staring aptly at the TV screen. Her eyes were tinged with red. Lydia recognized the chaotic sounds of ‘Zombieland’ in an instant.” - Barbara cried and hugged the Shoggoth for a while before she showed it the movie. Adam did something similar.
- “The Shoggoth perked up, head whipping around in that direction. It flexed and unflexed his fingers over and over, eyes wide and a weird little smile tugging at his lips.” - It’s like a happy little puppy… it’s already so attached to the three of them!
- “ “There’s a chemical in brains that helps keep the body from decomposing,” the Shoggoth explained, and Lydia could swear it looked a little.. proud.” - It wanted to show off it’s knowledge to Adam.
- “ “And, um… just.. Lydia, dear, could you grab the Reese’s in the freezer?” Adam removed his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Those are probably expired by now.” ” … “The Shoggoth really, really liked chocolate, apparently. (So did he.)” - Lawrence LOVED chocolate, especially Reese’s. Barbara and Adam didn’t have the heart to throw away the bag of them he left in the freezer after the accident, so it’s been there for about a year.
- “ “Like I said, we have an old cage from when I had Daniel-” “Your hamster,” the Shoggoth murmured, eyes still fixed on the container.” - ‘Daniel’ is a reference to the main character’s name in “Mrs. Doubtfire”, one of my favorite films ever but also the musical Adam’s original broadway actor is in now!
- “(They named the four of them, although Barbara told them not to get attached. Tallahassee, Columbus, Little Rock, Wichita.)” - After the main four characters in “Zombieland”.
- “The Shoggoth paused in it’s struggle with it’s fork to give her a perplexed look.” - It’s hard doing things with one hand!!! Help it please
- “Barbara and Adam exchanged a Look. The Shoggoth glanced between the two of them with furrowed brows.” … “Another Look. The Shoggoth seemed a little irritated.” - Lawrence used to be included in the Looks. Some part of the Shoggoth recognizes that, and it frustrates it that it can’t understand them now.
Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend
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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
(Want to be tagged in future updates for CorpseJuice / LoopJuice? Let me know!)
