Were intended to be:

1. The price you pay for getting an Elder Creature involved in anything. The Shoggoth tends to be more humourous about things. Nyalurkhoptep is'n at all funny.

2. To reflect the fact that - despite everything - Nyalurkhoptep and the Shoggoth have an awful lot more in common with each other than they do with the rest of reality.

And, of course, I was trying to put something of an "appreciating bad art" vibe into things - the same way prople go to films that they know are going to be awful, just to laugh at them.