Corpsejuice Extras - Tumblr Posts
The first chapter of Lonely Remnants, the fic about my CorpseJuice AU, is up! It’s called “Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in, In my head, in my heart, in my soul”.
CorpseJuice is an AU where Lydia’s mother dies in a car accident, and her adopted brother, Lawrence, goes missing and is presumed dead. A year later, she stumbles upon a demon puppeteering his corpse! She and the demon work together to find out what happened the night of the wreck, and who her brother really was.
Please read the warnings attached to the start of the chapter before continuing, this fic is a doozy!
Here are the extras for chapter one!
- The lyrics for this first chapter are from “Ocean Breathes Salty” by Modest Mouse! It is very literal for Lydia and her lost family members. I wonder if it’ll come back later?
- “Lawrence Graham” - Since his last name can’t be Shoggoth, I decided to pick a last name that has relevance to the plot! But I can’t tell you what sort of relevance yet. Because spoilers.
- “He could look at someone and know in an instant just what to do to scare the absolute shit out of them.” - This is a sort of joking reference to Beetlejuice’s line in “That Beautiful Sound”, about “clean white shorts turning brown”!
- “Talking Heads and MCR” - I listen to one of these. The other my best friend listens to and says he thinks Beetlejuice would be really into.
- “the ‘TinyTimes Hardware store’” - Thank you @jessicawesker83 for this whimsical suggestion. I love it!
- “Barbara Butterfield” - thank you @bjfinn and @ten-chocolate-sundaes for helping me figure out a good maiden name for Barbara!
- “Lydia remembered her mother cheering for Lawrence when he’d finally asked them to “hang out” with him, seeing some sort of cheesy horror comedy flick with them.” - IT’S MY FIC AND I GET TO PICK THE ANACHRONISTIC MOVIE THEY SEE IN THEATERS!! They saw “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil” because I said so
- “One moment, Lydia and her mother were laughing and singing along to ‘Jump in the line’ by Harry Belafonte.” - This is, of course, a reference to the line in the musical where Lydia says that this was one of Emily’s favorite songs.
- “Only a portion of his left arm, and six liters of his blood were found in his stupid, beat-up old green 2001 Volkswagen Beetle.” - the most blood a human can lose and still survive is two liters. Also, get it? A Volkswagen Beetle? A green buggy?
- “Charles refused to pay for a cemetery plot, and certainly not one next to Emily.” - What an ass! I wonder why this is.
- “Jumping off the old bridge at the edge of town, into frigid waters, letting them carry her to wherever her home was now.” - This is a reference to Barbara and Adam’s death, and how Lydia planned to kill herself in the original film. It is also a reference to how she often called her mom “home” in the musical.
- “They sat huddled together and watched his favorite movies. ‘Zombieland’, ‘Groundhog Day’, ‘The Mask’.” - Haha, “Zombieland”. ‘Cause he’s a zombie now. Also yeah “Groundhog Day” is a sort of reference to LoopJuice, sue me. Notice how Lawrence only really likes comedies! He was actually pretty squeamish with blood and gore that wasn’t for the haunted house.
- “Barbara and Adam helped Lydia find a counselor that same day. Her name was Kerry, and although she was resistant at first, she’d helped Lydia tremendously.” - The name ‘Kerry’ is, of course, a reference to Barbara’s actor in the musical, Kerry Butler! I just think she’d have such a calming presence, and that she’d listen to you so well.
- “They both wore a necklace each; a simple chain with a ring attached. They got them shortly after the accident. Lydia had never gotten a good look at them, but she could take a guess as to what they were. (In June, she got her hands on the police report. A box with identical engagement rings had been found in Lawrence’s glovebox, and were handed off to “next of kin”.) Barbara and Adam never took the necklaces off.” - Ouchie. Are we connecting the dots here? Because I don’t like the image they’re makin’.
- Bellflowers mean everlasting love, forget-me-nots are pretty self explanatory. Also, bellflowers are purple! Lawrence loved purple and green.
- Sunflowers obviously represent happiness, which is a little ironic, but Lydia chose them more because they were her mother’s favorite.
- “A dirty, stained, shredded grey trench coat, the arms caked in dark splotches she could only hope was just mud. (They were black and russet brown, so probably not.) The left sleeve of his trench coat was tied off, most of that arm obviously missing. His hair was wild, stained green from what seemed to be moss growing on what little she could see of his face, as well as on his clothing and down his neck. A… somewhat familiar red button-up underneath, patterned with beetles, and tattered black slacks- ” - Yeah, he is dressed like Beetlejuice’s cemetery appearance in the movie! But he is not a KeatonJuice. The button-up and pants were what Lawrence was wearing when the crash happened, and the trench coat… let’s say the demon stole it.
- “C’mon, Scarecrow, don’t be so glum. I’ll be back before you know it.” - This was the last thing Lawrence ever said to Lydia before leaving for his “family emergency”.
- “Lars!” - Lydia’s own nickname for Lawrence.
- “Like he’d gargled a bowl of nails every day for the past century without any milk.” - Sorry not sorry for the SpongeBob reference.
- “His skin was a sickly sort of green, with moss patches growing on his face, and various sickly bruises dotting all of his visible skin.” … “His movements were stiff and robotic..” - Sorry, I studied forensic science for a few years, so there is a lot of gross dead body stuff in this fic that I will do my best to tone down. The “bruising” is livor mortis, or discoloration of the skin after death. The weird, stiff movements is from the demon being a freak as well as rigor mortis, or the stiffening of the joints/limbs after death.
- “Number 88, to be specific. We’re part of a big collective, see? A big ol’… mishmash of primordial goop.” - The demon’s true form is goo. The black stains on Lawrence’s face is it leaking out. This Beetlejuice is more Lovecraft than Dante’s Inferno. Also, #88 is a reference to the year the original film came out!
- “Let me take the driver’s seat!” - This is a reference to the song Alex Brightman sings in “Dead End: Paranormal Park” as his characters Pugsley and Temeluchus. The similarities were an accident.
- “Shuddering twitches wracked through it’s body, moving up from it’s legs, to it’s torso, to it’s shoulders, then it’s head, but it didn’t seem to care.” - The twitches and shakes are from both the demon being a weirdo (and AuDHD but we don’t have time to unpack that) and from algor mortis, or the body cooling after death.
- “Whatever-the-fuck. The.. it’s a chemical only found in brains. Gotta eat it or risk total rejection from the host.” - Yeah I kinda stole the idea from “Venom”. Yes there will be more things I stole from “Venom”. Let a creature (me) have fun and borrow things from their favorite rom-com!
Chapter two of Lonely Remnants, “I wish I'd find all the lonely remnants, Of you that left when your head cracked open”, is here! Short but wild. Surprisingly, no trigger warnings this time!
Here are the extras!
- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Coma Baby” by Nicole Dollanganger, and is also the origin of the fic’s title! I won’t go in depth as to how this song relates to the story, as that would be spoilers!
- “Painstakingly, she babysat the demon as it rinsed off the worst of what was left, then she used a pile of different washcloths and hand towels to wipe when she could off his face.” - If I had a nickel for every time a scene like this happened in my Beetlejuice fics, I’d have at least two.
- “My real physical form before I took this body was a bucket full of black goo. I could show ya, but I’d have to be qui-” - It was going to say it would have to be quick, because it wouldn’t have much time to return to the body.
- “It certainly hated the noise and the heat, growling and reminding her over and over that it needed to stay cool. She just rolled her eyes and kept doing her best to get the rotten little beast dry.” - IF I HAD A NICKEL-
- “A photo taken mid-snowball fight, Lawrence with an impish grin as he wound up to throw a rather large ball of snow at an unsuspecting Lydia. Lawrence, apparently having not grown up with snowy winters, sat bundled up in blankets on the couch, a cup of hot cocoa in hand. He was red-faced and obviously still freezing, but he was still smiling so brightly as Adam leaned down to kiss the top of his snowflake-covered head.” - Lawrence got absolutely decimated by Lydia for sneaking up on her like that. His ass got pelted with so many snowballs that Emily, Barbara, and Adam had to drag him inside so his southern-born ass wouldn’t get frostbite.
- “(Lydia’s passion for the arts seemed to have died with her mother, she thought. Just the idea of picking up a camera now made her sick to her stomach.)” - GUYS DON’T WORRY SHE WILL REGAIN HER PASSION FOR PHOTOGRAPHY!!!
- “ “That’s me and my dad, Charles. He used to take you golfing every summer to bond with you, but you sucked at it.” The Shoggoth gave her a funny sort of look as she continued.” - It was not prepared for her to refer to it as Lawrence.
- “ “Emily…” the Shoggoth echoed, some strange pained look flickering through it’s eyes.” - Hmm. Interesting!
- “There was a pair of photos of a family escape room trip. All of them, photographed by the employees, standing with bright grins and excited thumbs up. Then, in the same setting, with all of them staring angrily at an anxiously grimacing Lawrence, who held a sign that read “We did not escape”.” - It was Lawrence’s fault they did not escape.
- “Clusters of photos of nature, of them all in camping gear, of Charles teaching Lawrence, Adam, and Lydia how to fish. Lawrence diving in to the lake and then coming back up with a large bass in his hands, to the slack-jawed Charles’ astonishment, and cheers from Lydia.” - A little bit of foreshadowing to Lawrence’s country roots! My boy used to wade through the Everglades barefoot and grab pythons and such without batting an eye.
- “Lawrence hunched over a campfire, arms outstretched and face twisted and shadowed in a ghoulish grin as he recounted some ghastly horror story that seemed to especially petrify his partners.” - He has always been very talented at scaring people :)
- “Pridefest in a nearby town, Lawrence having Lydia sat on his shoulders as she flew a transgender flag high and proud for him. Adam, Barbara, and Emily smiling and flocking to their sides, touting their own flags. (Charles had taken the picture, it was amateurish and shaky.)” - Lydia is mad, hence why the narration/she is calling him ‘amateurish’ and not mentioning him as much. Also, ha ha, Charles is the only cishet one! Loser /lh
- “Fourth of July, where Charles, Adam, and Barbara followed Lawrence extremely closely each year, but somehow still never caught him before he could set off the disastrous “Fat Dragon” fountain firework that was captured in a bright, blurry photo of all of them running and screaming from it after it had tipped over and shot in their direction.” - Based on true events from my own life. Also “Fat Dragon” is a reference to “The Babysitter”, a movie I have a love-hate relationship with.
- “He looked… very different. It was almost startling. His face was clean-shaven, his cheeks were sunken, his hair was long and unmanaged. His features were almost… softer. Certainly younger. Very different from the bold, loud, scruffy thirty-something she knew.” - It’s because he went on testosterone after this!
- “He wore tattered clothes and had fake blood smeared all over his face. A zombie. How ironic. She held up the photo, eliciting a strange, grating chuckle from the Shoggoth.” - The Shoggoth also sees the irony. It finds it very funny.
- “Lydia pushed the album aside to ensure a sudden deluge of tears didn’t ruin it’s pages. The Shoggoth flinched, brows furrowed in a sort of pained expression. “… y-… you alright, kiddo?” ” - Oh? What’s this? The freaky creature already showing signs of caring??
- “Lydia raised an eyebrow and tilted her head hard to one side. She could swear she saw Barbara flinch at the movement, but the pained expression was gone in a moment.” - That particular gesture reminded Barbara of Lawrence.
- “ “… is that why they never came to…. Visit?” She got the implication in an instant, it seemed, as Barbara solemnly nodded her head.” - By “visit” she means come pay for a gravesite.
- “It isn’t our story to tell, sweetheart. Especially not..” - She was going to say ‘while you’re so young’, as they had an agreement with Lawrence to have him tell Lydia what happened before he came to their town when she was older.
- “ “Oh my god, that explains the weird accent!” Her second mom nodded fervently, leaving the rag where it was as she went to make her way around the counter to Lydia. “He tried his best to hide it, but it always slipped out!” She lowered her voice in her best approximation of her brother’s own cadence as she mockingly drawled out, “now, pardon me, ma’am, but I do believe he did a right shit job of hidin’ it!” ” - Partially based on my own experience of being clocked immediately for my own stupid yeehaw accent, although mine is not from Louisiana. Lawrence hid it very well, but it came out on certain words like ‘pardon’, and he let it slip more in front of his loved ones.
- “All the while the Shoggoth hissed and shied away, but Barbara pursued it and demanded it get out of their home as she continued to hit it.” - Hehe, she wants it to leave but she’s not letting it leave
- “Lydia called, surging forward and going to grip the woman’s arm, but she was stoped by Adam suddenly returning to his senses and lifting her up under her armpits and trying to carry her away.” - Adam dad reflexes!!!
Hey Blue! In corpsejuice, was Lars' hair color green even before his death? I can't find it written specifically and it left me wondering
Kinda funny if it was green before and he just preferred to spend money on dye and not new clothes,lol
Thanks!
Hello! It was brown, but honestly? The idea that he spent his money on hair dye rather than new clothes is pretty funny!
I’d say when he was first moving around and for the first few years of knowing the Deetz family he dyed his hair every color of the rainbow, and only within the last couple of years or so before the crash did he let his hair go back to it’s natural brown. It was definitely brown in that last photo album while he was growing it back out.
What a fun question and suggestion! :) thanks!
Posts I want to make as extras for my fics:
- Differences between Lawrence and the Shoggoth, in terms of appearance, voice, mannerisms, etc. (CorpseJuice)
- Explanations to the town and more on backstories that won’t show up in the story itself (CorpseJuice)
- The demon hierarchy and society explained, kinda (the afterlife too) (LoopJuice)
- A list of scenes that were cut from LoopJuice, so y’all can pick which ones I write when (ie Beetlands date nights, Lydia and Ash’s talk in the woods, Charles and Beetlejuice bonding, etc) (same will probably apply to CorpseJuice later on)
- Backstory on Deb, Larry, Bela, and other demons (LoopJuice)
- More info about Lydia and the witchcraft she practices (LoopJuice)
- Break downs of playlists / specific songs (both)
- Break downs of themes / referenced literature (both but especially LoopJuice)
Will take suggestions to! Anything you’re confused about and/or want me to expand upon? I’ll answer just about anything, as long as it’s not spoilers!
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
(Want to be tagged in future CorpseJuice and/or LoopJuice updates? Let me know!)
it’s Cosmo. I have a headcanon that when the Shoggoth was in Lydia’s room and told not to touch anything, he started fiddling around with some of Lydia’s perfume and accidentally sprayed himself in the eyeballs with it.
Fuck. That’s so much funnier than what I had in mind, honestly. I love it! It may be canon, since we never saw what actually happened hehe
Thank you!
New Lonely Remnants chapter, “Didn’t give me time to say goodbye in the way that I wanted to, So honey, close your eyes and stay like you’re supposed to do”, is out!
Short but fun trip montage! Sorry I lied about the meat. The real meat is next chapter…
Here are the extras!
- The lyrics for this title’s chapter are from “Pigeon” by Cavetown! They are not meant to be from the perspective of Lydia, or Barbara, or Adam. I will not elaborate! :)
- “…Adam’s blue 2010 Chrysler Town & Country.” - I chose the most Adam lookin car I could find on short notice.
- “It was dressed in another old hoodie, this one belonging to Adam and read “Luck of the Irish” in green with a giant shamrock. (Was Adam Irish? Lydia doubted it.) The sleeve that wasn’t tied off was rolled up, as were Lawrence’s old khaki shorts it had on, revealing the tattoos peppering his skin.” - Adam is not Irish! Lawrence thrifted that for him as a joke. And yep, he had lots of tattoos! There’s been no organic way to point them out/explain them in story…
- “C’mon, ‘Goth.” “Gogo.” - Lydia’s trying to think of names for it!
- “… it huffed, ears… did his ears just move?” - Hmm!! Maybe more demonic features on the horizon perhaps??
- “The Shoggoth suddenly released her hand to punch a well-worn dent in the car’s ceiling. “.. not you too,” Adam sighed, shutting the trunk once everything was packed and secured. “Hm?” The Shoggoth slowly lowered his hand. “Nothing, just… please do not punch the roof of the car.” “.. what if we pass under a red light?” Adam exchanged a strange little Look with Barbara. “… okay. Only then.” The creature smiled, wide and toothy and crooked.” - that dent is from Lawrence punching the roof of the car whenever Adam passed under a yellow or red light, which is a fun American tradition I also participate in! I bruised my hand badly doing it once. The Shoggoth has foggy memories of punching the car ceiling.
- “ “I just didn’t see any light before comin’ up here.” “… like.. none at all?” “Mhm.” It looked out the window. Lydia could tell it didn’t want to talk about it anymore.” - Hmmmm. Poor guy.
- “The Shoggoth was horrible at 20 questions, not really knowing most of the things the others thought up. (Seriously, Adam, why would a demon know who Legolas was?)” - Nerd Adam!! Both LoopJuice Adam and CorpseJuice Adam are huge Tolkien fans.
- “They eventually brought out the Mad Libs Adam had packed. Lydia’s chest clenched at the uproarious, ridiculous laughter the Shoggoth let out at “computers can add, multiply, divide, and kill.” It wasn’t that funny, but… his laughter had always been so contagious.” - Based on a true story of my sister losing her shit over this exact madlib.
- “ “No worries, A-Dog. I’m perfectly content on the floor.” Lydia heard the way Adam stuttered as he repeatedly asked the demon if it was sure, then as he thanked it repeatedly. She caught the way he lifted his glasses to wipe at his eyes while he prepared for bed in the bathroom.” - A-Dog used to be Lawrence’s nickname for Adam, before they started dating.
Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox
(Want to be tagged in future updates for CorpseJuice / LoopJuice? Let me know!)
Whoop. Oops. I got too excited to write the next chapter…
Chapter 5 of Lonely Remnants, “Now you remember where you came from, Now you remember where you’re going, You’ve got to keep it flowing” is here!
I promise I’ll work on the next chapter of Time’s Arrow after this besties.
PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS BEFORE PROCEEDING. THIS CHAPTER IS PARTICULARLY ROUGH.
Here are the extras!
- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Spiral of Ants” by Lemon Demon! I’m sure the meaning is obvious, especially by the end of the chapter. :)
- “The lights were off within, and she could hear a faint, familiar humming resounding throughout.” - The Shoggoth doesn’t need to turn the lights on because it can see in the dark better than in the light.
- “It had changed into some sort of D.A.R.E. hoodie that used to be Lawrence’s, the left sleeve having yet to be tied off.” - I wonder why Lawrence has a D.A.R.E. hoodie?
- “She jolted in surprise when a tail swished anxiously behind the Shoggoth. It was long and thin, reaching down to his ankles, covered in black fur with a large tuft at the end.” - based on a medieval unicorn’s tail! Mostly for funsies with the design. And, y’know, thematic reasons. Like all the other features. ;)
- Car games - thank you to my mutuals in the discord server for the help picking them this time!! <33
- “ “What type of name would you like?” Barbara asked, glancing back at the demon. “Masculine? Feminine? Something ambiguous?” The demon blinked at her, furrowing his brows. “… huh?” ” - the Shoggoth has no concept of gender, hence why it uses it/its pronouns right now! (Eventually, it will shift to it/they.)
- “It seemed them pulling in past the sign that welcomed them to the town of ‘Hatchet Springs’ made something click in it’s mind.” - The name of the town is a mixture of two of my favorite fictional towns, both of which are thematically relevant! Hatchetfield from the Hatchetfield trilogy and Possum Springs from “Night in the Woods”.
- “ “… it looks so dorky.” The Shoggoth shrinked in on itself a bit, and the preteen held her hands up. “In a good way! I would totally not suspect you’re a demon. You fly under the radar.” ” - the Shoggoth really, really cares what Lydia things.
- “It kept insisting in a hissed whisper that someone was following them, but every time Lydia looked where the demon had indicated, there was nobody there.” - It wasn’t Juno! :)
- Collette - The last name has a specific thematic purpose beyond being a reference to Justin Collette!
- Thank you again to my homies for helping with the math on the poster!! Math is hard!!
- “Hair long and wild, unstyled and dyed with streaks of purple.” - Juno never taught him how to brush his hair or care for it, hence why it was wild here and when he first came to the haunted house. Emily and Charles taught him how to properly care for it!
- “Hhh- th-that explains the bits.” - The Shoggoth noticed a difference between the body and the way people referred to Lawrence, but just went along with it. It’s starting to understand what it all means here. (Imagine discovering transphobia for the first time…)
- “Lydia caught sight of dark green scales on his nose, glistening in the sunlight.” - Hmm! Weird. Perhaps thematic. (Definitely.)
- “Barbara and Adam exchanged a Look, and the Shoggoth let out a soft whimper.” - The Shoggoth understood the Look this time.
- “He ha-… has a heart condition.” - Adam was trying not to give away that Lawrence was dead, since it seemed like Juno didn’t know. Also, I will probably make a post about Lawrence’s first date with the Maitlands where he first brought up his heart condition!
- “Lydia strained to hear them, reaching up to adjust her hearing aid- ” - Hearing aids don’t actually work like that. You can’t just turn it up to hear better at a distance. Lydia was just a wee bit desperate and confused.
Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox
(Want to be tagged in future updates for CorpseJuice / LoopJuice? Let me know!)
New Lonely Remnants chapter, “But you see, it’s not me, it’s not my family”, is here! Please read the warnings before proceeding!
Here are the extras!
- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Zombie” by The Cranberries! Heheh, zombie. It is meant to be from the Shoggoth’s perspective as it sees all of these memories and is disoriented by them.
- “There were other various items as well; a few faded colorful thread friendship bracelets, a raggedy old plush cat, a few colorful rocks, and many more buried under the photos.” - The friendship bracelets were mostly from his twin sister, but one of them was one Lydia made for him when they first met. The plush cat is his favorite childhood stuffed animal (his name is Binx!), and the rocks are from all of the various national parks he’s visited.
- “That stack seemed to be a bunch of family get-togethers. Dozens of kids and adults having cookouts, dressed in similar formal outfits. Photos inside and just outside churches, many people smiling brightly at the camera. Lydia found herself softly frowning as she and Barbara both leaned in close on either side of Adam to get a good look. “… is that… his family?” ” - Lawrence was part of a large extended family that met up often, and went to church together every Sunday.
- “The one on top seemed to be someone taking a picture with.. Lydia thought maybe an old Sony Cyber-shot in a mirror, their face primarily obscured by the camera. They seemed to be wearing dark baggy clothes, posing awkwardly with a peace sign from their free hand.” - Lawrence got that camera for his 13th birthday, most of the photos in the box from that point on were taken by him! It stopped working, but Emily insisted on keeping it for the memories. It’s in her office at Lydia’s house.
- “Bella. Her name is Bella.” - Readers of both my fics, yes his twin is this universe’s version of Bela! She is very fundamentally different in this fic. She and Lawrence were inseparable before he left. They never fought or anything, he just left without a word. She never really found out what happened to him.
- “It was a very young Lawrence, posing in front of a roadside sign that read “Now leaving Louisiana”. It was obvious he was the one holding the camera. His hair was cut horribly choppy and short, with random longer patches and a horrible purple dye job. His eyes were glassy, and he had deep bags and dark circles prominently under them. He had one small tattoo on his arm as opposed to the many he later had, his nails were painted black as per usual as he held up his free hand in the universal ‘rock on’ sign, and he was sticking his tongue out, revealing a tongue piercing.” - He is 16 here, the day of him running away! He cut and dyed his own hair, did his own stick-n-poke tattoo, and even pierced his own tongue. Don’t do all that, folks.
- “ “… Juno got loud. Belligerent. More so than usual.” It reached out to fidget with the end of it’s tail, wringing it in it’s hand. “I-.. he-… Lawrence always had a smart mouth. Knew it would get him in trouble, but I-… he did it anyways.” Lydia saw his shoulders begin to lightly shake. “She grabbed the clothes iron. It hurt… so bad.” ” - It won’t really be specified in story what happened, so I will say it here: Juno was drunk as per usual, but so was Lawrence. Juno was saying rude things and Lawrence kept talking back. Juno got angry and decided to burn him with a clothes iron. He immediately packed his bags and left.
- “… couldn’t stay another second after that. He knew he’d die if he did.” - GOTCHA WITH ANOTHER “I Saw The TV Glow” REFERENCE!
- “There were many of what seemed to be Lawrence on the road for a few years. Pictures of random roadside attractions, at the signs of various towns, of him at bars and concerts and even camping in national parks. His hair varied in style and color, and dark circles were always present under his eyes. A concerning number of the photos had him with a bottle of half-drunk cheap vodka in his free hand. His clothes were always raggedy, and he always looked at least a little bit grungy.” - He didn’t have very much money, but what he did spend was on hair dye, tattoos, and alcohol. Hence why he was always dirty and in old clothing. He briefly joined a band and toured with them, but ditched them after a year or so to keep drifting.
- “One photo had him proudly showing off a bright green binder in the middle of a crowd of colorfully dressed people, his smile more genuine than it had been in any of the previous photos.” - Baby’s first Pride!!! He was 20.
- “Someone who sounded rather… sassy, let’s say.” - It’s Otho. I don’t know how to politely describe the way that man talks. It’s movie Otho, btw, not musical Otho!
- “… always were the most… potent out of all of us, little brother.” - I wonder what this means? Hmmm. Also misgendering wtf Otho
- “With that, the man turned on his heel, clacking away in his pristine black dress shoes until he rounded a distant corner. The sounds of his footsteps suddenly halted then.” - Otho teleported away once out of sight. Our Shoggoth can do that too! If it had enough energy and harmony with it’s host, which it does not.
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