Beautiful Monster
is a Rugrats fanfic written by GangGreenGhost. It is based on The Rugrats Theory, a Creepypasta theory that suggests that the titular Rugrats are actually dead and figments of Angelica Pickles' imagination.
The fanfic expands on the theory by showing not only just how much the Rugrats' deaths affected their families and loved ones, but how much Angelica struggles with her mental health and drug addiction (even starting with her funeral).
It's only a one-shot, but it's exceptionally long for a one-shot at over 10,000 words.
This fanfic contains unmarked spoilers. You Have Been Warned!
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Abortion Fallout Drama: As soon as Betty finds out she's pregnant by the unknown assailant who raped her, she decides to get an abortion. Her partner Harriet tries to talk her out of it at first, even going so far as to assure her that the baby won't turn out to be terrible like Betty's parents were. However, Betty is adamant about not wanting to raise a child she'd resent just for existing, and she ultimately goes through with the abortion. Harriet apologizes for her behavior soon after.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade: Unlike in the theory, Chas's second wife Kira is not addicted to cocaine. Plus, whereas she lost custody of Kimi due to her drug addiction in the original theory, she still has custody of her here.
- Adaptation Expansion: The fanfic goes into more detail about aspects of the theory, including what exactly happened to the Rugrats and how their deaths affected their families and loved ones.
- Adaptation Name Change: Howard DeVille's first name in this fanfic is now Harriet.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Betty DeVille is depicted as a lesbian who's in a happy relationship with Harriet.
- All Lesbians Want Kids: Averted, at least in Betty and Harriet's case. Betty has enough issues as is stemming from her terrible childhood, and she decides to get an abortion after she's raped during her evening jog.
- Alternate Universe Fic: The fanfic takes place in a universe where the babies are dead, Howard is a woman named Harriet, and Charlotte is not Angelica's mother.
- Canon Character All Along: Initially, Harriet seems like an Original Character who's replacing Betty's canonical husband Howard. It isn't until Angelica calls her "Howard" that it's revealed that she's actually a Gender Flipped version of him.
- Child by Rape: Defied with Betty, who gets an abortion after she's raped during her evening jog.
- Children Are Innocent: As a child, Angelica doesn't fully understand what's happening around her. Aside from imagining that the Rugrats are still alive, it doesn't seem to affect her too much... at least until she violently hits Dil in an attempt to get him to stop crying.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Drew has to bluntly tell Stu that Tommy will be born dead and to stop making toys for him in order to get him to accept his loss.
- Death by Adaptation: Just like in the theory, all of the Rugrats except for Dil, Kimi, and Susie are dead. In Tommy and the twins' case, however, it's more a case of Never Born In Adaptation (with Tommy being stillborn and Betty getting an abortion after being raped during an evening jog). Angelica herself eventually dies at the age of thirteen from a drug overdose.
- Death of a Child: Chuckie has to be taken off life support once it's clear he'll never wake up from his seizure-induced coma. Chas is utterly devastated, to say the least.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the original theory, Chuckie died along with his mother in a double tragedy (the original version of the theory specifically states that Melinda and Chuckie were killed in a car accident). Here, Melinda is the first of the two to die, albeit from cancer (bringing her death closer in line with how it happened in the original cartoon). Not that long after that, Chuckie experiences brain death after falling into a seizure-induced coma and has to be taken off life support.
- Disabled in the Adaptation: Dil's weird behavior around the time of All Grown Up! is the result of permanent brain damage from being violently struck as an infant by his cousin.
- Dying Alone: Just like in the original theory, Angelica eventually dies from a drug overdose without anyone there to comfort her while she passes away.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted with Betty, who gets an abortion after she's raped during her evening jog.
- Grief-Induced Split: Drew decides to tell Charlotte he wants a divorce on the same day as Angelica's funeral. However, it's implied that their marriage was already suffering beforehand; and that Angelica's death was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
- Junkie Parent: Angelica's biological mother Cynthia died of a heroin overdose when Angelica was an infant. Later, it's revealed that Angelica is the way she is because Cynthia used drugs while pregnant with her.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Angelica mistakenly assumes Harriet is a man and calls her "Howard" as a result. Drew urges Harriet and her partner Betty to go along with it because Angelica is just a child and doesn't know any better.
- Law of Inverse Fertility:
- Stu and Didi's planned and wanted pregnancy with Tommy ends in stillbirth. Their pregnancy with Dil (which was presumably unplanned but also wanted) ends on a much happier note.
- Despite not wanting kids, Betty becomes pregnant anyway after an unknown assailant rapes her during her evening jog. However, she gets an abortion soon after finding out.
- The Lost Lenore:
- Drew's first wife Cynthia died from a heroin overdose.
- Chas loses his first wife Melinda to cancer.
- Missing Mom: Angelica's birth mother died of a drug overdose.
- Morning Sickness: Betty getting up to vomit is depicted as one of the first signs that she’s pregnant.
- Mr. Imagination: Initially, Angelica imagines the Rugrats are still alive when she's a child. When she starts using drugs at the age of thirteen, though, that's when she starts hallucinating about them.
- Mythology Gag: Just before Chuckie dies, Melinda's nurse Kate reads aloud the poem Melinda wrote for him just before her death.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Just like in the theory, almost all of the Rugrats' parents lose their children in some way. Drew is especially hit hard with this after losing Angelica to a fatal overdose.
- Posthumous Sibling: Dil is born a year after his older brother Tommy's stillbirth.
- Recursive Fanfiction: This fanfic is one to The Rugrats Theory.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: In the original cartoon, Charlotte is Angelica's biological mother. Here, she's depicted as her stepmother instead.
- Sentimental Homemade Toy: Stu makes countless toys for Tommy while in denial about his son being stillborn.
- Someone to Remember Him By:
- Cynthia left behind her infant daughter Angelica when she died due to a heroin overdose.
- Chuckie fulfills this role for Chas after Melinda dies from cancer, though not for long...
- Starts with Their Funeral: The story begins with Angelica's funeral after she experiences a fatal overdose at the age of 13. It's there where Susie originally meets with Drew to tell him what had happened leading up to Angelica's death.
- Taken Off Life Support: Chas makes the difficult decision of taking Chuckie off life support after waiting in vain for months for him to wake up from his seizure-induced coma.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Just like in the theory, Tommy is stillborn. It deeply affects Stu and Didi, especially the former to the point that he's initially in denial about the loss and making toys for him.
- Wacky Cravings: Played for Drama. It takes Betty eating a peanut butter and prune ice cream sundae for her to realize she might be pregnant by the unknown assailant who raped her.
