#LoopJuice chapter

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter 9 of Time’s Arrow, “I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel, I am all the things they might have said to you” is here! Woof. Sorry everyone. Happy Beetlejuice 2 premiere! :,)

THIS CHAPTER IS PARTICULARLY ROUGH. PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING.

Extras below!

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title is from “Never Love An Anchor” by The Crane Wives.

- “The next ten months moved at the speed of a dream.” - A call back to a line from Time is a Flat Circle, which itself is a reference to “Asteroid City”! Gotcha again!

- “They read ‘Flowers for Algernon’, ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’, and… some sort of Jane Austen novels.” - I wonder if those stories are thematically relevant to this chapter?

- “He had no idea what to do about his fur anyhow. It had never grown in that long and thick before, how was he supposed to know it would do that?” - It was growing properly because he was finally happy and healthy enough for it to do so!

- “She was tall. Well, at least taller than him. Damnit.” - Bela is 5’9”! She is on the shorter side for demons. Beej is just especially small, since he was malnourished.

- “Her roots were black, the rest of her hair cascaded down to her shoulders in similar curls to his own, colored with a gentle lavender hue.” - Bela’s resting hair color is purple instead of green like Beej!

- “She had an orange-jeweled nose ring.” - Bela and Deb have matching nose rings, since exchanging jewelry is how demons court each other!

- “Shades of a gentle maroon red flickered through Bela’s hair.” - Bela has different colors for her emotions than Beej does!

- “Most were “whales”, stolen away in malevolent Deals to forever be a supply for the demon they were tied to. Slowly withering away to nothing.” - this is inspired by “Doctor Sleep”, because I’m a huge Mike Flanagan fiend.

- “They were all strange, all lacked the innate ability to socially adapt that the other demons thrived off of.” - Autism can run in a family, and it sure does run in the Shoggoth family!

- “He didn’t know why she was upset, but he knew it was up to him to make it better. (Why else was he here?)” - Still partially believes his only purpose is to make others happy, or they wouldn’t want him around.

- “… she hesitated, still firmly grasping the bright green fleece blanket he’d summoned from his room around her shoulders.” - The same blanket Charles got Beej for his room!

- “ “I watched this movie last night, since I couldn’t fall asleep. It was..” their voice caught in their throat, and their breath hitched. Beetlejuice slowly rose from his chair, setting the ice pack on the counter. “… lotta.. big feelings about it, huh?” They rapidly nodded, wrapping their arms around themself. “I don’t… I can’t keep living the way I do.” ” - Ash watched “I Saw The TV Glow”, which is a horror movie about being trans. It gutted me the first time I saw it. Ash had a similar visceral reaction, and it made her rethink how she is living. It also informs a lot of this chapter’s theming, but it is not required viewing for this fic. It is very, very difficult to watch for neurodivergent queers.

- “The living need attention too, Ash. It’s okay.” - This line is partially taken from “Dead Girls” by Penelope Scott, which is a very important song on Ash’s playlist.

- “You feel like you’ll die if you stay there. Or… worse.” - An “I Saw The TV Glow” reference. There’s quite a few in here.

- “Thank you, Beetlejuice.” - the first time they’ve called him by his actual name!

- Anyone spot more Time is a Flat Circle parallels?

- “It was then that Beetlejuice got hit by his first car.” - This is mostly a joke about how I, the author, have been hit by 4 cars. I feel like Beej would be similarly unlucky.

- “… it’s like being a wolf dog.” - This is based on how I’ve explained what it was like to grow up in my household.

- “Memories washed away like chalk on the sidewalk.” - Another “I Saw The TV Glow” reference.

- “Adam and Barbara celebrated their birthdays, which landed a couple days apart from each other, by smelling wine and watching ‘Lord of the Rings’ together. Beetlejuice was invited to join them.” - Based on something Adam made Beej he would promise to do in an earlier chapter!

- “June was full of beautiful sunsets he watched with his family.” - This was, like the previous thing, also listed among the reasons Beej should keep “living” in a previous chapter.

- “At the end of the month, walking to school and the store with Lydia, Beetlejuice realized with horror that Lydia was taller than him. Like, at least half a foot taller.” - Lydia is 5’7” now, he’s just being dramatic.

- “(How could no one see it? He felt so happy, but still he felt pieces of him slowly dying and rotting away. How could no one see that he was rotten? That he was dying?)” - This is partially another “I Saw The TV Glow” reference, and a reference to the ending of the song “you smell of dead flowers” by vslush and cliesel

- “August came like a thief in the night.” - A callback to Time is a Flat Circle! Which is itself an Edgar Allen Poe reference.

- “… they say old man Hirsch signed up for it right before he went missing.” - Yes he is named after Alex Hirsch, creator of “Gravity Falls”. Love ya Alex!

- “ “I managed to talk him down from another viewing of ‘Pride and Prejudice’!” (Another? What was that? They’d seen it before?)” - This is meant to alert the reader that something is very wrong, as “Pride and Prejudice” was brought up before by Beetlejuice himself.

- “Beetlejuice scratched at their left arm. The scars had started to fade.” - He was resorting to self-regulating self harm less enough that his arm was healing before this point.

- “I… I couldn’t.. I didn’t have enough energy to resist the Seal w-.. without a cult.” - Beetlejuice was tricking people to sign up for his cult under the guise of a “Loyalty Program”.

- “Why have they been going missing, then?” … “They swore they were choking on the taste of blood, bile rising in their throat as they felt their flesh between their teeth.” - Beetlejuice ate a few members of his cult. That’s why there’s missing persons in the town.

- “Someone’s hand gripped the back of their shirt, trying to pull them out of the kitchen. Panic spiked within them. Beetlejuice felt the blow to the back of their head, the horrible stabbing agony in their chest. That familiar, terrifying sensation they’d felt over and over and over and- ”- Beetlejuice had flashbacks to being killed during the loop over and over because Charles touched his old wound and it scared him, hence why he lashed out.

- “There’s still time. There has to be.” - Yet another “I Saw The TV Glow” reference.

- “ “Hello, pet.” Time’s up.” - Meant to envoke a terrifying line in “Yo, Girl” from Heathers the musical.

- “I’ll make you wish you could die!” - This line was originally going to be a more blatant reference to a line that Circus Baby from the FNAF series says often, “You won’t die, but you’ll wish you could.”

- “You always bounce ba- ” - Meant to be a reference to this scene from “Adventure Time” which I’ve… never seen…

- “Beetlejuice was distantly aware that Cyrus brought his claws up to his mouth to lick some of the blood off of them. “Choke on it,” they sputtered, although they weren’t sure if Cyrus could understand them through all of the blood that bubbled out of their mouth.” - Meant to be a reference to the horrific death of Captain Rhodes from “Day of the Dead”!

- “Beetlejuice wheezed out a last croak as Cyrus once again gripped their hoof and continued dragging them towards the portal.” - This is meant to evoke the gut-wrenching opening scene of “Scream”. Specifically, the part where Ghostface is dragging Casey away, and she is wheezing out her last breaths, which her parents can hear over the phone. The music in that scene never fails to make me cry. (I cried my eyes out rewatching that scene and imagining it playing when the Maitlands see the basement, but that’s not how things will happen…)

- “I’m sorry I was the one you loved.” - From “I’m Your Man” by Mitski.

[xufyabuff]

He's old and stinky and sad

( @possum-quesadilla )

Difficult times for the loop demon

Ly Blue <3

[possum-quesadilla]

HEHEHEHE TRUE!!!

(x)

[ten-chocolate-sundaes]

Ezri I hope you know I am very excited for you in particular to read a certain scene or two in the upcoming chapter of LoopJuice. It has something I know you will be very hyped for (/nf if you don’t wanna read it obv!)

oh. oh no. it’s gonna happen, isn’t it? holy shit. blue I love you forever /p

[possum-quesadilla]

Heyyy. I couldn’t wait any longer!!! The next chapter of Time’s Arrow, “Flowers, I remember fields of flowers”, is here. We’re back to a Beetlejuice POV!! Yay!! (Kinda..)

Please read the warnings carefully before proceeding.

Here are the extras! Not too many of them, surprisingly.

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Flowers” from Hadestown. Now we’re seeing our Eurydice’s perspective! Very literal. At one point, all Beetlejuice can remember is flowers.

- Songs for this chapter: “Flowers” from Hadestown, “Goodbye” by Bo Burnham, “The Moon Will Sing” by The Crane Wives, “Francis Forever” by Mitski, “Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus” by Nicole Dollanganger, “Our Word” from 36 Questions (again), “Doubt Comes In” from Hadestown.

- “Turns out seven thousand years of whatever the hell he found himself in now was a lot worse.” - Haha, surprise Ezri and Raine! This is what number you/Barbara picked for :)

- “He was not a participant, like in the last time loop he was stuck in. He was an invisible observer, unable to be heard or seen or to touch anything. But he felt it all.” - The worst of all worlds! Time loop, trauma, invisible. All of the things Beej hates. Also, the inability to be seen is inspired by a scene in “The Haunting of Hill House” where Nell is ‘missing’, but she was right there. They just couldn’t see her.

- “Had he really looked that bad during the fight? No wonder they were scared of him now.” - Yeah he looked pretty insane, as mentioned in Lydia’s POV in chapter 10.

- “What did they think of him, now that he was gone? What were they saying?” - This line, along with a few later, are inspired by the songs “Who Was She” and “Who Is She (Reprise)” from “Centaurworld”.

- “(The words ‘I love you’ don’t leave his lips. He didn't know them yet.)” - Yeah he didn't really hear the words “I love you” for a long, long time.

- “The demon-… They-…. Beetlejuice knew there was more, but try as they might, they couldn’t remember it.” - This was Beetlejuice starting to forget his own name/identity.

- “Panic coursed through the demon as they wheezed out unsteady breaths.” - Him unable to breathe and wheezing the whole time is meant to emulate the ending of “I Saw The TV Glow”.

- “They… remembered… flowers. Purple, yellow, green, red, orange, and blue.” - This, of course, calls back to the first chapter of Time’s Arrow, as well as the title lyrics for this chapter. Also the new blue is for Ash :)

- “Oh well. You made this bed. Now lay in it.” - This is meant to be a reference to the ending of the title song for this chapter.

Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox

(Want to be tagged in updates to LoopJuice / CorpseJuice? Let me know!)

[possum-quesadilla]

The final chapter of Time’s Arrow, chapter seventeen, “You Can Always Come Home”, is here! Woof. I cried a lot. Please make sure to read the warnings and proceed with caution!

Here are the extras, along with an afterword!

- This is the first and probably only LoopJuice chapter to not have lyrics for the title! Instead, it’s from a song title. “You Can Always Come Home” by Toby Fox. It’s meant to be Beetlejuice to Lydia, as well as myself to the reader. You can always return to this fic, if it brings you comfort. It will always be here for you. I highly recommend listening to this song while reading.

- “Beetlejuice was unlike the majority of the demons inhabiting the Netherworld, in a multitude of ways.” - Did you catch that this whole introduction is a reworking of the opening of Time is a Flat Circle?

- “The once-brown roots of his hair was now peppered with grey, and a white streak grew in stark contrast with his constantly fluorescent pink and green tips in a spot at the front.” - his hair is somewhat permanently switching between pink and green, aside from the white and grey, since he is mostly always feeling loved and happy.

- “(And himself, somewhat. It was a slow process, and some days all he wanted to do was give up on the bastard, but he was learning. Learning to care about himself, more and more, bit by bit.)” - it’s a tough road, but it’s one that’s certainly worth it.

- “Their paws were hot, and the fur on them was patchy.” - Larry was rubbing their hands together due to anxiety, and rubbed some of their fur off.

- “But he was fading.” - this is closely based on my own personal experience, with memory issues and other chronic health issues. Perhaps the very end of my life will be sad, and so will Beej’s, but that doesn’t mean he can’t “live” in the present, and enjoy what it has to offer.

- “Now you two get to marry this creepy old guy!” - thank you @raineisinkless for the joke idea <33

- “After all, time’s arrow marches on.” - roll credits! /ref. I actually got this fic’s title from the episode of the same name from “BoJack Horseman”, if you hadn’t picked up on it by now.

- “( And so do you. )” - It can be hard to believe sometimes, but you do. You really do.

Afterword (sorry, I get pretty personal here)

Hello!

I just wanna say thank you. Thank you for making it here, to an end of my ridiculously self indulgent and long winded Beetlejuice fanfic. It’s quite funny, when you think about it. Just how much watching one musical spiraled into… this! For myself, for you.

This fic series and it’s reception reignited a passion for writing I had let fade out as I marched on into adulthood and all the dreadful responsibilities and horrors it entails. Writing this, reading the comments, seeing the fanart, and the reactions, my goodness. It was invigorating, it was draining, it was wonderful and agonizing and spectacular. I thought I’d have to leave it behind in my adolescence, but now I can’t wait to continue writing.

This is not the end of Loopjuice! Far from it. However, this will be the end for the majority of you, I expect. I did my best to leave it open ended for part 3, while also being a satisfying conclusion if anyone wants to hop off here. I completely understand if you do. Hell, I wasn’t sure about even posting part 3 until a month or so ago! It will be mostly a slice of life, with the usual angst and agony sprinkled in. I understand if that is not for you.

This story was a labor of love. Also, I’m fairly certain anyone can tell, even without looking at the extras or chapter notes, that it is very personal to me. LoopJuice very much became a mirror as time went on (heheh). As an audhd (autism and adhd) nonbinary polyamorous person with sensory issues, severe mommy issues (thank you mom for being my own personal Juno and inspiring scenes in this fic /sarc), hearing loss, separation anxiety, etc etc etc, it was really an outlet of sorts. Hell, LoopJuice and I have the same scar from the same cause! (Kinda. His is on his ear, mine’s on the back of my head.) I’ve been hit by more cars than him, though.

I was touched to see others connecting with some of his struggles. And I was honestly very moved to see people sympathizing with him. At first, I intended him to be morally reprehensible. I thought I was. But seeing readers understanding and still caring, it… woof, that was crazy for me! To be completely honest? LoopJuice is ahead of me in terms of character development. He’s already on the ‘accepting help’, ‘accepting you are loved and cared for without an exchange’, and ‘learning to love yourself’ phases, but I’m not quite there yet. (Here’s to hoping I will be, someday.)

This story, in the end, I wanted to be about love and hope, and found family.

And, well, of course, a stupid green-haired demon.

I tried to make the ending to be unambiguously happy, but it came out bittersweet. For that, I apologize, but that is how it must be. I have very similar memory issues to LoopJuice. I often forget my own birthday, or a conversation that was had not long ago, or a family member’s face. It’s scary. And I am chronically ill. One day, long before most of my loved ones, I will ‘fade away’. And I have made peace with that. And so, LoopJuice, in a similar situation, has too. It’s in the distant future for myself and for him, so why fret about what you can’t change in the future? You have to enjoy the present, and all it has to offer.

This story is important to me, and I’m happy it’s touched a few people’s hearts. It feels like it took a part of me with it when I made it, but not quite in the bad way. Like a piece of me is out there, causing laughter and tears and fuzzy feelings.

I guess all of this is to say; thank you, and farewell to those who won’t continue on with this story and other, and I love you. You deserve love and warmth, and you will get there one day. If this fucked up demon can, so can you.

Thank you so much for reading. I really hope you enjoyed.

Time for me to get some rest, before I’m back to it with Part Three: “Living” in the Present Tense!

(As well as my summer camp AU, and my book, eventually!)

Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox

(Want to be tagged in updates to LoopJuice / other fics? Let me know!)

Songs for this chapter:

“Army Dreamers in 29edo” by Deister Orchestra ; “L’amore dice Ciao (Main Titles) - Remastered” by Armando Trovajoli ; “Love Story” by The Newton Brothers ; “You Can Always Come Home” by Toby Fox ; “In Our Bedroom After The War” by Stars ; “Will You Remember?” by The Cranberries ; “It’s You, It’s Me, It’s Us” by Reinaeiry ; “Remember Me (Lullaby)” from Coco ; “Pilvet liikkuu, minä en” by Yona ; “Love Like You (feat. Rebecca Sugar)” from Steven Universe ; “Everything Stays (feat. Olivia Olson)” from Adventure Time ; “That Distant Shore (feat. Jennifer Paz)” from Steven Universe ; “Strawberry Blond” by Mitski ; “Pink in the Night” by Mitski ; “Ready Now” by dodie ; “Samson” by Regina Spektor

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter 10 of Time’s Arrow, “Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that, Now you're all gone, got your make-up on, and you're not coming back”, is here! Lydia POV time! Sorry it is short… that is for literary purposes.

As always, here are the extras!

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” by Yeule! Haha, get it? Because this chapter’s from the POV of a 17 year-old demigirl? Also, it is meant to reflect their relationship and her mental space throughout it. The dream-like quality of the song is meant to mirror how confused and adrift Lydia feels here.

- The chapter is much shorter because less happens, and adding the next chapter on to this would make the pacing off, and because Lydia’s POV is very different from Beej’s! Also different from how it used to be. She’s older and more put together, and her thoughts are more concise. She takes less time to ponder than Beej does.

- “And she felt like she couldn’t breathe. … Lydia’s throat burned, which she’d assumed at first was from crying. But now it still ached horribly, and it felt like it was constricting.” … “Lydia’s hand drifted up to her throat. So red. Her hand flinched away as she swore she felt something warm and wet, but there was nothing there.” - Lydia’s connection with Beej is making her feel an echo of what he is currently feeling. It only really happens when something major happens to him, so she didn’t feel every car accident and shin-banging. Just the catastrophic things.

- “Normally, she’d go to Beetlejuice on nights she was plagued with nightmares and insomnia. Either he would curl up at the foot of her bed, or she would join him in his own bed in the basement. His presence somehow always chased the nightmares away.” - Because Beetlejuice always uses his demonic powers to will the nightmares away. Bc he’s a good big brother sometimes.

- “The image of her brother, trembling and snarling, just about frothing at the mouth, hunched over with stark-white hair, growling wildly as he turned and lashed out at- ” - A bit of the physical description we missed out on from Beej’s POV! He looked just as wild as he felt.

- “It was surely one of their… ‘episodes’. They’d been having them less and less as time went on, as they grew and healed and adapted to their own traumas and triggers. (Afterwards, she’d realized it was the yelling and touching of his old back wound that had set him off. It was understandable, she supposed, but still… scary. He’d never lashed out like that before.) She and Adam had theorized it was PTSD, but they couldn’t be sure. The idiot wouldn’t see a therapist.” - Beej was learning and healing and growing, but only so much can be done without professional help.

- “… promising she’d whip him up a healing spell as soon as she could gather the ingredients. (Healing wasn’t her sort of spell. She was more interested in scrying, curses, and hexes, but she was certainly willing to try it out for her father.)” - A peep into Lydia’s studies as a witch! One of the things that is regretfully lost in the last few chapters due to Beej’s spiraling POV. He was having trouble holding on to all the details in his mind.

- “She huffed out a laugh, halting to turn her head and cough.” - Lydia is much more polite than Beej. He would just cough in people’s faces.

- “ “Oh dear.” Delia placed a hand on her chest. “I still have my old inhaler. Do you think that would help?” ” - Delia lore! She had childhood asthma.

- “The morning came at a snail’s pace, but in just a breath at the same time. It was staggering.” - Lydia experiencing a little bit of what Beetlejuice usually did. It is rather upsetting, especially since she’s not used to it.

- “Her girlfriend readily offered a sympathetic listening ear, offering to put up signs for the store and then come to the house to be a sort of moral support. (That’s why she l- liked her so much.)” - Another thing that was regretfully lost with Beetlejuice’s POV is the full development of Lydia and Ash’s relationship. I hope to do an extra side chapter on them in the future! Also she almost slipped up and admitted she loves them here.

- “Pluto and Percy were sat staring at the door, their legs tucked under themselves.” - They could tell something was wrong, and were waiting to be let in to go check.

- “ “H-he left a note,” they eventually managed. ” - This is one of two key differences that sets this version aside from the bad ending: Ash found Beej’s note left for them.

- “If you’re reading this, I have to go away for a while. I don’t know if I’ll be able to bounce back this time. Be nice to Chuck and Delia. Give Adam and Barbara a hug. (I know you hate those, but just one for me, alright?)” - Oops! This accidentally referenced Eda’s speech in “Agony of a Witch” from season one of “The Owl House”.

- “ - Beebleboose’ ” - The curse’s lingering effects still won’t let him say or write his own name.

- “ ‘Go away’? What the hell did that mean? If anything, it read like- Lydia gasped, gripping Ash’s arms as she stood up straight.” - Lydia realized it reads like a suicide note here.

- “ “.. she woke up screaming, calling his name.” Her expression softened with concern, brows creased together. “She was clawing at her throat and begging to come see him, but I was worried it was just… one of her fits. Made her wait it out, see if it would pass. But-” “Wait, ‘clawing at her throat’?” She nodded, some sort of dark fear clouding her eyes. “.. yeah. Saying she couldn’t breathe, that.. something was wrong, that she needed to…” she swallowed hard. “That she needed to see Goose, and she… she couldn’t stand to lose another sibling.” ” - Bela watched a lot of the Shoggoth spawn fall prey to other demons. She is similarly connected to Beetlejuice, but she chose to be since she can tell he’s not very smart and she wanted to keep an eye on him. She felt a more extreme version of what Lydia did, and had an anxiety attack thinking he was dead-dead. She is devastated to think she lost the little brother she just gained.

- “Lydia was startled by the sound of Pluto growling. She’d stopped at the base of the stairs and was now frozen there, back arched and fur standing, her one golden eye round and wild.” - Pluto could sense Cyrus’ lingering vibes, and she decided they were rancid.

- “There. A gentler, hazier voice pulled their awareness to the far wall, where a piece of paper was taped to it.” - This is the insight from her scrying pulling her in the right direction.

- “She lifted the hefty cat up, draping him over her shoulders. Fuck, he’s getting huge.” - No longer a runt, he’s a giant boy now!! He has long fur too.

- “She closed her eyes, speaking the ancient words she’d rehearsed over and over again. She pressed her forehead to Percy’s, feeling the boost in power her familiar granted her flowing through her, buzzing and melodic.” - A peep into a scrying ritual! No blood required, thanks to Percy’s help.

- “She was standing in a pool of blood. It nearly covered the entire basement floor.” Cyrus cleaned up after himself. (Aside from one thing, which we will see in the next chapter)

- “ “B-” Lydia dug deep within herself, finding the rooted connection within her. She tugged hard at the thread that connected them, but found it went slack. Like there was nothing on the other end.” - This thread was referenced in the second chapter of Time’s Arrow, where she used it to find Beetlejuice in the woods. It can’t help her now.

[possum-quesadilla]

WE ARE SO BACK! Chapter fifteen of Time’s Arrow, “But my heart is like a claw machine, It’s only function is to reach, It can't hold on to anything”, is here! Make sure to read the content warnings before proceeding!

Here are the extras!

- The lyrics for this chapter are from “Claw Machine” by Sloppy Jane, from the “I Saw The TV Glow” soundtrack! This song works well for both LoopJuice and Corpsejuice. I wanted to tie the ‘TV Glow themes back in again, and to reflect how Beej still holds a negative image of himself and his ability to hold onto relationships. Hopefully, that image changes soon, wink wink! Also this song fucks. It goes so hard. The whole soundtrack for that movie does.

- “Beetlejuice just laid there, mostly paralyzed, staring up at the strange glowing shapes dotting his ceiling.” - the ‘laying there, mostly paralyzed’ phrasing was inspired by a similar line in “The Bed Song” by Amanda Palmer (who I don’t condone the actions of, of course). Mostly meant to parallel how Beej is stuck in a place where he could easily get out with help. Like the ending of the song, “I would have told you, if you’d only asked me”.

- “He let out a little “grrk” of surprise as he was squeezed.” - inspired by Crowley from “Good Omens” and his weird noises, but also a comic panel of Toonjuice making this same sound that I am having trouble locating.

- “He was still in his sleepwear, which was quite unusual for him. He usually changed as soon as he woke up, even before his coffee.” - Charles rushed to check on Beetlejuice as soon as he woke up. Also, as evidenced by chapter 13, his whole sleep routine has been thrown off due to his worry over his adopted son.

- “The bottle of turpentine tasted horrendous. It fought it’s way down, causing the demon to shiver and grimace. It burned their throat like crazy. But it did it’s job.” - last bit of unhealthy coping mechanisms before deep healing!! Also, inspired by that scene in “The Lighthouse” where they drink turpentine mixed with honey, because I wanted to sprinkle in a bunch of references to other Willem Dafoe works.

- “Hello, pet.” - SORRY I LIED BEFORE. I PROMISE THIS IS THE LAST TIME FOR SURE HE SHOWS UP IN THIS PARTICULAR FIC.

- “ “You defile beautiful things, Betelgeuse.” They let out an involuntary whimper as cold, clawed hands gripped their chin. “You will ruin this one, too. Like you ruin everything you touch. And once it’s soiled by your rot and filth, you will come crawling back to me.” ” - This dialogue and Beetlejuice’s whole thing about “rot” was inspired very heavily by the character Stede Bonnet in “Our Flag Means Death”. “You defile beautiful things” is a direct quote a villain says to him at some point. As Loopjuice has become something I use as a mirror, I wanted to include this because I have also had something extremely similar said to me. It goes along with the whole theme of “rot” and whether or not one is “too broken”, or even “broken” to begin with. (It pains me that Stede never got an end to his character arc. I would’ve loved to see a character I related to so deeply get closure.)

- “That is when they woke up. Rather violently so. All of the struggle and panic being trapped inside their useless body exploded out, and they threw themself backwards with a loud, pathetic, fearful cry. They had been laying their head on the front counter of the store. They fell backwards out of the chair and landed square on their ass.” - this was heavily inspired by the scene in “Hereditary” where Peter snaps out of the control of a demon after it made him slam his head on his desk. It really stuck with me!

- “You can’t get away that easy, pet. I will shadow you forever.” - I didn’t realize until after I’d written and then re-read it, but this line is accidentally taken from “Fear Street Part Three: 1666”. However, the line is said to a villain, and is about how he will never escape the truth. I also wanted to highlight that Cyrus is not gone. He has hurt Beej, and left him with mental and physical scars. He will still try to hurt him, and his presence will continue to haunt Beej for a good while. This was meant to reflect the unfortunate reality most abuse victims face.

- “Bela had a ridiculous and… familiar white cowboy hat sitting suspiciously high above her head, no doubt held up by her striped horns.” - She borrowed the hat from Lydia! It’s the hat Beej wears the end of the musical. She meant to give it back to her, but keeps forgetting.

- “The black dress she seemed to wear nearly every day…” - Bela has dozens of the same articles of clothing, due to her only liking a limited number of fabrics and fits. Autism, yay!

- “Her usually lavender hair was now tinted a strange, sickly shade of green.” - again, Bela’s mood ring hair has different meanings for different colors than Beej’s does!

- “Yeah! I can’t wait to get elbow-deep in some real ribcages, man.” - inspired by something I said when I was in school for forensic science, right before an autopsy. I got in trouble for it lol

- “(They gently reminded him they were waiting for Lydia to walk home with them when he asked why they were lingering.)” - Beej will, unfortunately, likely always need some gentle reminders about a few things. His memory is forever altered. But, thankfully, his loved ones are patient and understanding.

- “Lydia came in shortly after, face red as she panted.” - she ran to see them!

- “Ash filled the stagnant air of the walk home with excited jabbering about their harebrained ‘Adam is definitely alive and totally an apprentice’ theories. (Beetlejuice couldn’t quite remember what they were talking about, but they faintly knew it was probably bullshit.)” - Ash still has ‘Sawtism’, like yours truly! She's talking about, of course, the theory / AU of Adam from the first movie being alive and well. Beej can’t remember what they’re talking about, but he has instinctual sibling urges to contradict them.

- “ “No more bombshell secrets, right?” He shrugged, then swiftly nodded when she narrowed her eyes. “Yeah! Yeah. None that I’m, like, aware of.” ” - ;)

- “He sat slouched next to Beetlejuice, not yet used to the new height the disguise had added on. Truly, it wasn’t that much different from original Adam, at a glance. Just another nerdy white guy with brown hair, glasses, and a horrible, plaid-clad fashion sense.” … “Slowly but surely, a disguise melted on. Her hair became dark and even curlier, and her horns and deer-like ears vanished, along with her other demonic attributes. Her features became sharper. By the time she opened her eyes, Barbara looked like an entirely different human person.” - Their disguises are based off of how they looked in the 1988 movie!

- Kerry Davis - a mixture of the names of her Broadway actor, Kerry Butler, and her original movie actor, Geena Davis.

- Beej’s advice - Based heavily off of something I read from the actor Michael Sheen, when he was asked for acting advice. It really stuck with me. I think of it often and usually use this method in my writing.

- “Beetlejuice was afraid what he’d dig up. What ugly truths, what raw, still-bleeding painful memories? What hideous realities about himself? What if it really was all his fault? What if he couldn’t be helped? What if he was broken beyond repair?” - Meant to reflect common fears a lot of traumatized people have when thinking about therapy. I had pretty similar thoughts. None of them are true, of course!

- “(The old owner, of course. He’d dug up the man’s bones from where they were buried out back, out of curiosity long ago, only to find a second, much older body buried alongside him. Beetlejuice had covered them back up shortly after. The smell of the man’s sick and impending death stuck around for years after his passing.)” - this is meant to be a reference to Bill and Frank from “The Last of Us”, because. Y’know. ;)

- “A voice, low and drawling and twinged with delight, large teeth glinting in the darkness.” - Heyyyy Wolf!! He, of course, is based on Wolf Jackson from “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”. His voice and face is Willem Dafoe’s, who I ADORE. Ask any of my friends, I am obsessed with this man. I tried my best to portray the way he talks, laughs, and his mannerisms from a few different roles, but I’m worried it doesn’t come through properly! I originally was going to make an OC for the therapist character, which I’ve had planned for a while, but once I saw the new movie I JUMPED at the chance to write my best friend Willem.

- “I’ve heard so much about you from many a demon.” - yeah, several demons were either traumatized by Beej or holds a grudge against him, lol

- “His laugh was sudden and jarring, barked out with some sort of manic humor.” - based on the way Willem laughs, but also Wolf Jackson himself. Very jarring!

- “Mr. Juice” - I didn’t really want him to call Beej the same nickname as Charles did, but the use of it in the movie was just too funny and tempting. Also, Charles has mostly moved on from that nickname, so Wolf can have it, lol.

- “You gotta build it, slow and steady, like domesticating a wild animal.” - this is advice one receives when working with wild animals, but especially wolves and wolf dogs. Once you lose their trust, it’s gone forever. This is a lowkey call back to Beej comparing his experience as a demon to being a wolf dog.

- “You were definitely a human, weren’t you? Born-demons know better than to compare us to animals.” - Beej has a bit of societal prejudice towards demons who were born human that he hasn’t really addressed within himself.

- Wolf’s whole deal - demons are volatile creatures. They are not used to therapy, it’s a brand new idea for them. Wolf hides his name and appearance for his own safety, and to avoid other demons seeking him out to gain information on his patients. He genuinely cares for his patients, and most of demon-kind, but he understands that they are not suited for full emotional honesty and the like.

- “Still is, poor thing.” - a lowkey reference to “Poor Things”, another movie Willem Dafoe is in! Don’t look it up, minors.

- “He heard a pen click, somewhere. “Care to tell me about it?” ” - I was originally going to have a few of their therapy sessions be shown within the fic, being long and wordy and all that. But I realized I’m not a therapist, and I don’t really know what would be said, aside from what I’ve been told in similar sessions. I don’t want to pretend to be an expert, and honestly? Having all of Beej’s extensive healing be “on screen” would be exhausting and a slog to read.

Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox

(Want to be tagged in updates to LoopJuice / other fics? Let me know!)

[possum-quesadilla]

The penultimate chapter sixteen of Time’s Arrow, “So for once in my life, Let me get what I want, Lord knows, it would be the first time”, is here! AAHHHH!! I’m going to freak!!!

Here are the extras!

- This chapter’s title comes from “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths. He gets what he wants in this chap :) (Also listen to that song and think of LoopJuice if you wanna cry a bit.)

- Beej’s ‘homework’ - based on something I had to do! Something about listing your traits, and figuring out what was a ‘gift’ that can be given back. (I.E. my mother’s thoughts on work ethic and how you should work yourself into the ground)

- Therapy - Beej has consistently been going to therapy twice a week since the last chapter! I don’t really feel qualified to write out entire therapy scenes though, haha. Also that feels too.. personal and invasive, since they would mostly just mirror my own therapy sessions.

- “After we’re done, we’re gonna go set old tomatoes in the road.” - based on something I used to do, but with oranges instead! Don’t do this.

- “They went on numerous dates with their partners, to restaurants (although not often after the first incident)… ” - Beetlejuice climbed into a lobster tank.

- “They often think perhaps Barbara and Adam, and the whole rest of their family should’ve been actors.” - heheh.

- “I’ll have to remind Delia to get you more flea medicine when we get home.” - yep, he still has to take it!

- “Once he’d rolled out of bed, he spent Delia’s lunch break with her, painting each other’s nails and yapping about the shows they watched together. (Wasn’t she so excited for the season finale? Who would Jane choose? The anticipation was killing them both!)” - Callback to a previous joke about them watching “Jane the Virgin” together!

- “… before giving the less scaring-inclined members a quick crash course on ‘haunting’. (Beetlejuice felt like the scene was oddly familiar.)” - This is, of course, a reference to “Fright of Their Lives”.

- “Sure, he’d done a pretty good job (almost too good) faking a man terrified for his life as Fortunato the night before…” - he was genuinely pretty spooked about the possibility of being walled in, haha.

- Barbara and Adam’s costumes - thank you to Ezri ( @ten-chocolate-sundaes ) for the idea!!! It is so darn cute.

- Deb and Bela’s costumes - thank you Cosmo ( @c0zmo-writes ) for the idea!! Wow. Women…

- “… and her lip was perpetually curled the entire night due to the discomfort of the makeup and the fake blood smeared on her chin.” - honestly, that expression was inspired by Yeti the Cat.

- “They were dressed rather ornately. Apparently, as some sort of ghost of some music venue.” - the Phantom of the Opera, of course.

- “Look at you! You’re gorgeous!” - a quote from my favorite show, “Good Omens”.

- “Impressive chompers.” - sound familiar?

- “ Ash perked up. “You’ve seen ‘Saw’?” Larry scoffed, brushing off their gloved-paws on the front of their suit jacket. “Of course. What self-respecting being hasn’t?” ” - they get quite bored, with eternity on their hands. Also, it’s macabre! So Larry gets sawtism too. Surprise!

- Larry’s behavior towards Ash - Larry has a soft spot for children / younger people, and those with a passion for strange things, like themself. Also, Ash and Larry have the same flavor of autism. Ash just knows how to manage it / got therapy!

- “ “Why’d you dress as the Phantom?” The bear demon’s ears twitched as they looked away, letting out a puff of air. “I was talked into it, as you were. Group costumes, and all that.” “By who?” They went quiet for a short time, keeping their gaze on a fixed point on the wall as they stewed. Then, they waved a gloved paw dismissively. “I would like a tour, if that isn’t too much of a bother, Ms. Deetz.” ” - Hm! Interesting.

- “Deb and Bela kept their distance. Beetlejuice caught his sister and the bear demon exchanging strange, forlorn glances from across the room every now and then.” - weird!

- The books - I wonder if these have any implications to the themes?

- Karaoke - thank you again Cosmo for the idea for Lydia’s song!

- Tarot - aaaaand thank you once more Ezri for the tarot cards! I ended up not saying who got what card specifically (other than Beej) to avoid accidental spoilers. Good luck deciphering, folks! ;)

- “Okay, that makes sense.” - Lydia knew the Maitlands were going to propose to Beej!

- “ “… wonderful to meet you all. Thank you for having me.” Their voice sounded strained. “It’s rather late. I must be going.” ” - wonder what has them so shaken?

- “They ruffled Ash’s hair, wishing them well and telling them to reach out if they ever needed ‘demonic help’. (Beetlejuice saw Deb and Bela tense at that.)” - yikes!

- “Of course, little witch. I was invited. I had to come.” - demons sometimes works by Skyrim dragon rules, lol. You invite them, and they feel obligated to come.

- “I am not a polar bear, and you know that.” - yep, not a polar bear! Just a grizzly bear with albinism.

- “Before Beetlejuice could argue, the bear demon waved, a wave of some sort of demonic power radiating off them as they ducked down to step back out through the sigil. “Happy Samhain, Beetlejuice. And happy birthday.” Beetlejuice wish he knew what on earth the ‘gift’ was, especially as he heard Larry let out a wet cough as the sigil closed behind them.” - wonder what that was about? And yeah, giving away a ‘gift’ without a Deal or anything to gain is physically harmful to demons, hence the bloody coughing.

- “Deb readily gave out hugs and promises of visiting again soon, while Bela waited at her side with a vacant thousand-yard stare, occasionally flashing a quick smile or politely nodding.” - Bela is so thankful for her ADHD wife. My girl is sooooo drained and overstimulated. She had fun, but now she wants to go home, lol

- “The teen eagerly agreed, frantically fixing her brother’s hair as he rose to his hooves, following his partners with a tired, confused expression.” - Lydia knew they were going to propose and wanted him to look nice! As nice as he could covered in fake blood and wearing a grungy t-shirt and short-shorts, anyways.

Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox

(Want to be tagged in updates to LoopJuice / other fics? Let me know!)

[possum-quesadilla]

BARKBARKBARKBARK I AM GOING INSANE!! THANK YOU AGAIN THEY LOOK SO GOOD!!!

Look at my son…. <3333

silly warm up page before locking in on anatomy and character designs

timeloop-juice belongs to @possum-quesadilla, not me‼️‼️

[possum-quesadilla]

Oops! I’m writing a Beetlejuice fanfiction now. Here’s the first chapter of ‘Time is a Flat Circle’, part one of an AU where B-Man is trapped in a timeloop! Being stuck in act 2 of the musical wouldn’t be so bad in my opinion.

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter 14 of Time’s Arrow, “So please hurry leave me, I can't breathe, Please don't say you love me”, is here! It’s a doozy.

PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS AT THE START OF THE CHAPTER BEFORE PROCEEDING. THIS CHAPTER IS ROUGH.

Here are the extras! (Also I’m so sorry CorpseJuice fans, I promise a new chapter is coming soon!)

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “First Love / Late Spring” by Mitski! It’s meant to reflect Beej’s crushing guilt and turbulent mental state.

- A lot of these notes were almost just me pointing out things that Beej forgot, but that would take forever. I can certainly make a separate post about it, if anyone wants it!

- “Adam pressed a gentle kiss to their cheek, causing a strange rumbling sensation to build in their throat.” - I will point out that they completely forgot about their ability to purr here.

- “They tensed up, tightening their holds on Barbara and Adam. They heard them both let out little surprised wheezes.” - If they were humans, this would’ve probably broken their ribs!

- “Lydia barged in as soon as Adam opened the door, dressed comfortably with her hair all mussed.” - She and Ash were just waiting around for Beej to wake up, watching TV in their comfy clothes!

- “‘Breakfast’ (as Delia had called it) was some sort of.. weird, fruity, crunchy soup. It was delicious.” - it was Fruity Pebbles! Beej just doesn’t remember what cereal is.

- “At his tired, snake-like golden eyes, weighed down by dark eye bags. (Why were those eyes so.. uncomfortably familiar?)” - He loathes his eyes because they’re the same as his mother’s. He still remembers that subconsciously.

- “At his hair, wild and untamed, grey and brown at the roots and the rest tinted a dark indigo. Aside from a white streak in the front, that is. (Geez, how old was he? He certainly felt old.)” - SORRY FOR ALL THE CONSTANT CHANGES, THIS WILL PROBABLY BE THE LAST UPDATE TO HIS DESIGN IN TIME’S ARROW!!

- “It’s what they called… ‘Beetlejuice’.” - This is a reference to a line from “Undertale”! There will be another reference later :)

- “It was as natural as… well, not breathing, he didn’t need to do that. Blinking, perhaps? No, he didn’t have to do that either. As natural as… sleeping, then. (What else did he do? He couldn’t recall.)” - Him slowly remembering what he does and doesn’t have to do. (Also another mention of him just wanting to sleep, which… isn’t actually sleep)

- “That… he wasn’t - ” - The ‘he’ is Cyrus.

- “ “The, uh… sure. My favorite.” “… which is..?” Beetlejuice’s ear twitched as he frowned. “What you, uh… whatever Ash just said.” The other teen raised their eyebrows. “What, ‘Saw’?” ” - Ash is flabbergasted that he would imply his favorite movie is “Saw”. Sure, he likes it, but certainly not as much as his favorites.

- “The girlfriends exchanged a sort of… Look that Beetlejuice couldn’t decipher.” - They’re starting to have their own understanding like Barbara and Adam!!

- “Lydia was suddenly gripping his arm and tugging him to his hooves, a frown still fixed on her face as she mumbled something about ‘enough is enough’.” - Beetlejuice had been giving weird answers the whole time, Beej just didn’t notice.

- “It smelt like meat and vegetables and… something thick and aromatic. He couldn’t quite place it.” - Chicken Alfredo! He’s had it many times before.

- “(Beetlejuice couldn’t help but marvel, briefly, at how stunning his partners both were. Even with their faces covered in some sort of white powder, they were two of the most dazzling creatures he could remember seeing. How did he get so lucky?)” - The powder is flour. Also just wanted to highlight this bc I love this lovestruck idiot

- “ “H-… he… stretched his arms out towards the.. dark… water in a curious way,” the demon began, hesitantly. Beetlejuice lightly tilted their head as she continued, “and, uh… and a-… far as I was from him I c-.. could have…” she trailed off, staring at them expectantly, her cobalt eyes burning into their own. “… that… sounds lovely, Babs. What, uh..” Beetlejuice grinned, awkwardly, shrugging their shoulders. “What’s it… about?” They couldn’t fathom why she suddenly looked so disheartened. They began to purr softly (purring, right. She loved it when he purred, didn’t she?) as she took in a shaky breath and pressed her forehead against theirs, in an attempt to offer any sort of comfort.” - Barbara is attempting to quote one of Beetlejuice’s favorite passages from one of his favorite books, “The Great Gatsby”, which he used to have memorized and could quote on a dime! Barbara is saddened when he doesn’t remember, because she knows it means parts of him are gone. Also using purring to comfort her like a cat would haha

- “A surge of energy flowed through them both, and Beetlejuice felt some sort of strange… prying, uncomfortable weight within his foggy mind.” - Surprise! Lydia can use her scrying abilities to read memories. But it causes her quite a bit of pain without Percy’s help!

- “It felt like teeth were being pulled, like his eyes were being plucked from his skull.” - Both of which he has experienced!

- “Beetlejuice’s tail shook, and his head spun and ached like someone had taken a hammer to it.” - He has also experienced this.

- Beej is less angry about the invasion of his privacy (which is what I would be mad about lol) and more about the fact that he can’t bottle it up and be a good little demon roommate / brother (in his own eyes at least) now that Lydia has the ability to look through his memories and hurt like that.

- “Lydia blinked, frowning hard as she seemingly struggled to decipher his quick words.” - Lydia hadn’t been studying up on sign language because Beej was having less frequent meltdowns, so she didn’t need to use it as much.

- “ “Beej, please slow down, I can’t understand you!” A few stray tears slipped free of his sister’s eyes.” - Lydia isn’t understanding most of what Beetlejuice is saying here, but what she can understand hurt her.

- “Adam’s hands are grabbing his own, and the man- no, demon now, is suddenly inches away from his own face.” - Don’t do this to someone signing!! It’s very rude. Beej was having a mental breakdown so Adam gets a pass

- “(Can he hear glass breaking somewhere, far away?)” - Nah, he’s just distantly remembering trauma from his mom.

- “He thought he heard Barbara say the word ‘walk’.” - Beetlejuice thought she said something like “walk, now” but she really said “how about we go on a walk to clear our heads”

- “Adam patted his arm, his ears twitching repeatedly. (Was that a new nervous tic?)” - Sure is!

- “She then took a deep breath, exchanging a Look with her husband. ‘Ready set?’ Adam nodded firmly in response. ‘Ready set.’” - Both a reference to “Ready Set” and to highlight that Beej can understand their ‘Looks’ for the most part now!

- “Before he could even manage to shout in surprise, he was being tossed like an unwanted infant into the leaf pile she had just emerged from.” - Unwanted newborn children used to be thrown out, which is what Beej is referencing here.

- “He was being scooped up into Barbara’s arms again before he knew it. (Had she always been this… touchy? Needing to hold him? …” - Barbara is getting cuteness aggression from him now, and since she is much stronger she can just. Pick him up and toss him around like a house cat!

- “She snapped her finger, pointing firmly at the ground where he had just been sitting.” - Treating him somewhat like an animal, which he does not like

- “The white hot anger was back, full and foul in it’s fury.” - Both a reference to “The Lighthouse” and how his trauma responses have been referred to as before.

- “They both looked to find Adam hugging his legs to his chest as best he could, his new claws digging into their fur as he hyperventilated, eyes wide.” - PTSD sucks :(

- “ “… y-you… you do, don’t you?” He could recall, despite the permeating fog, the long conversations they’d shared about her past. About her parents, about her despicable father and cowardly mother. It made his blood boil just at the thought.” - we won’t really get a full in-story explanation for Barbara and Adam’s full backstories, so I’ll explain a bit here. Adam had an alcoholic father who abused him and his mother, but he died in a drunk driving incident. This is why Adam despises substance abuse/drinking, as previously mentioned in the story. His mother remarried to a stepfather who was very kind to him. Barbara’s parents were horrid, her father abusing her in many ways while her mother did nothing to help. She tried to make them see the errors of their ways for so long, but eventually gave up and ran away to live with Adam, who was a very good friend of hers in middle and high school.

- “ “.. thank you, Bug,” Barbara murmured, pressing a quick kiss to their cheek.” - This is the first time since they started arguing that Barbara didn’t call him by his full name

- “ “… you… you t-two didn’t ge-get them in wri-writing?” Adam frowned hard. “Were we supposed to?” Barbara narrowed her eyes at them. “Let us see yours, then.” ” - Heheh, Barbara immediately calling him out.

- “Charles shot them a strange look. (Was it worry? Annoyance? They couldn’t be sure.)” - IT’S FATHERLY LOVE

- “They ignored the little sting that came with their loved ones murmuring in agreement.” - Sucks to suck…

- “ “I wa-was… stu-stuck for se-seven thou-thousand years, to m-me. Only a f-few hours ou-out here.” Beetlejuice heard Barbara stifle a sob. (Geez, they hadn’t expected that to hit her so hard.)” - This was Barbara realizing what the number Cyrus made her pick led to.

- “ “… yeah. Some Orpheus and Eurydice shit,” Lydia murmured, voice quiet. They looked at her, briefly, to raise an eyebrow. “Wh-who?” No one responded.” - Lydia knows it used to be one of his favorite tales ever. Everyone is saddened that he doesn’t remember.

- “I-I… I cou-couldn’t b-be su-sure it wa-wasn’t a tri-trick he la-laid for m-me. Or a cr-cruel trick.” - Directly referencing lyrics from “Doubt Comes In” from Hadestown!

- “Here goes nothing. Hope I don’t, like, explode.” - this is a result of me watching “Ready or Not” while writing this.

Tag list: @raineisinkless @c0zmo-writes @musical-fiend @katslitterbox

(Want to be tagged in updates to LoopJuice / CorpseJuice? Let me know!)

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter seven of Time is a Flat Circle is up and boy oh boy is it a doozy! Here are the extras for this chapter! <3

- This chapter’s title is from “Nobody” by Mitski. She was my rock throughout writing this chapter. If I had less self restraint, the entirety of both of the LoopJuice playlists would be all Mitski. I feel like this song, and the line I chose for the title in particular, really reflect what our sweet little demon wants deep down.

- “Christ on a fuckin’ bike” is taken straight from a coworker’s vernacular.

- “When did I teach him how to summon new clothes?” He did! It was mentioned in passing in a previous chapter that he showed both Adam and Barbara how to conjure new clothes. This is to show how shoddy his memory has gotten.

- “‘Beebleboose’” is, of course, a reference to everyone’s favorite sad puppet show. Also, he can’t even type out his own name due to the curse.

- “.. that erotic Colonel Sanders romance novel..” this is a real thing, unfortunately.

- “The idea of eating brought the bitter taste of bile to the back of his mouth.” One unfortunate possible side affect of burnout is an aversion to food. Everything suddenly seems disgusting, and just the idea of eating sickens you.

- “His lips remained still. It felt as if his whole mouth was coated in cotton.” This is sign of overstimulation I personally experience quite regularly. Your mouth just refuses to work!

- On that same note - a side effect of persistent autistic burnout is significant memory loss and/or brain fog. Hence why Beej forgot (and still continues to sometimes) that the humans can now remember everything.

- “Can I touch you, Bug?” Always ask permission before touching someone who you believe to be having some sort of panic attack or meltdown. Barbara knows to do this due to her experience with Adam!

- “Look at those chompers!” Indeed! Beetlejuice’s teeth are based on that of a spotted hyena, like Adam theorizes later. They have a specialized premolar that can break bone. Here is a pic for reference!

- “How come your tears are black?” It’s actually because they’re mixed with soot from the hellfire in his chest! Beetlejuice’s tears smell like a campfire.

- “Sometimes he still felt like roadkill again.” He has yet to be hit by a car, but he has been trampled by horses.

- “He was a bit taken aback at how curly and.. fluffy his hair had gotten.” They have hair that naturally curls, it’s just been so long since it was clean enough for them to see it. After this point, Beetlejuice’s hair is curly and voluminous! That’s why the other characters find it hard to resist playing with.

- “.. odd rumbling sensation..” Beetlejuice doesn’t know what purring is, or that they do it. They just find the noise embarrassing.

- Adam had a hyperfixation on animals at large when he was young, and spent his free time as a wee tot rereading books of animal facts. This is why he is so knowledgeable and enthused about BJ’s animalistic traits.

- “I met a real foxy witch in a swamp who had an alligator familiar once.” This is a reference to the webcomic Muted, which is about queer witches in New Orleans. Give it a read!

- “C’mon Beej, don’t be like that! You’re, like, the Mike to their Debbie and Dave!” “… what?” “You’re the Gonzo to their Kermit and Miss Piggy!” These are references to my (and Lydia’s) favorite throuple ships in media, besides Beetlands. Mike, Debbie, and Dave are from “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”, and Gonzo, Kermit, and Miss Piggy are, of course, from The Muppets.

- Beetlejuice’s frantic shrimp pocketing is based on another character I deeply relate to, Eleanor Shellstrop from “The Good Place”.

- “‘who in this wide world does not know the great B-” This line is a reference to the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”, specifically the song “Pretty Women”. I cannot stop the musical references unfortunately

- Ms. Keaton is supposed to be the old woman who tries to bring a pie to the Deetz family in the musical, but her name is, of course, a reference to Michael Keaton, the original actor for Beetlejuice in the Tim Burton film.

- On the surgeries Beetlejuice mentioned - he has gotten top surgery! He is very proud of his top surgery scars. They are not the scars he mentioned being ashamed of in a previous chapter.

- As stated, Lydia is a demigirl! She uses she/they pronouns, and Beetlejuice is nonbinary and uses he/they/it pronouns.

- On the head bumping - Lydia picked it up shortly after Beetlejuice first did it to her. It’s how cats and Beetlejuice show affection. Barbara and Adam are slowly starting to adopt it over time as well.

- Beetlejuice’s horns are, like Adam theorizes, based on a sheep’s. Here is a little sketch of how they used to look, and how they look now! (Also, a peek at his ears. I’m not entirely happy how they came out in the drawing, so this may change.)

- The tail!! Here is a rough drawing of how it looks.

- It is not scaled like a snake, but rather like a possum’s tail. It is prehensile, meaning it can grip things and even support his weight if he used it to hang upside down. It reaches down to about his ankles. The tip shakes like a rattlesnake’s (no noise, though) when he’s nervous or deep in thought, or just as a self-soothing thing. This is based on what my own cat’s tail does when he’s nervous!

- The ear-piercing scene is meant to evoke a similar one in “The Parent Trap”, since it is a sibling bonding scene I really enjoy and find very affective.

- On the demons of their past - each demon’s name is based on a star, like Beetlejuice’s own. They are unafraid to envoke Rigel’s name because he is dead. Deb and Cyrus are nicknames based on their true names, like Beetlejuice and Betelgeuse. I am excited to have Deb and Cyrus to show up in Part 2!

- Beetlejuice’s first marriage was by choice to someone he knew. Their second marriage was an arranged political union.

- Deb is a trans woman!

- “I’ll talk more, just cut it out with the weird… teary eyes!” Not even demons are immune to puppy-dog eyes.

- Beetlejuice’s favorite meal was a bone broth made from meal scraps and various herbs.

- “Chari-sard” Adam was comparing Beetlejuice to a Charizard. Both the demon and the Pokémon have flames that are connected to their life force, and they will die if it ever goes out.

- The whole scene describing Beetlejuice’s favorite meal is based on a similar scene in “Isle of Dogs”, where a stray dog describes the only time he was ever adopted before. He bit a member of his new family so hard he had to be hospitalized, and he doesn’t know why he did it. He says he thinks maybe he was scared. The grandmother of the family brought him a bowl of chili while he was locked in the garden shed, which he says he likes to imagine was for him. He escaped after that and went back to being a stray. This scene strikes a chord with me, and reminds me very deeply of Beetlejuice. He doesn’t understand why he lashes out. He doesn’t want to. He’s not a violent demon. He’s just… scared. (Highly recommend “Isle of Dogs” if you enjoy this fic! It, along with Wes Anderson’s other films, really resonate with me and my experience as an autistic/neurodivergent person. There will be references to “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Asteroid City”, as they also greatly influenced how I think and write.)

- Barbara enjoys cooking, as she has a very perceptive palette and likes to experiment. Adam is more adept at baking, because he likes to follow instructions.

- The “shrimps is bugs” hoodie is a real one that one of my good friends has. He is studying etymology.

- “Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious-” this is based off of a popular gag in “Parks and Rec”, one of my favorite shows. (And Adam and Barbara’s! The millennials in my life love a good workplace comedy.)

- “Why couldn’t he just he just grip the spoon the same way he had with his left hand?” Beetlejuice is unaware that dominant and nondominant hands are a thing.

- Like my beloved millennial dad figure, Adam has a deep love for a random movie from the 80’s. I feel like every dad’s got one. His is, of course, “The Terminator”. Arnold Schwarzenegger was his bisexual awakening. All of the factoids he shares about the film are true!

- Finally, the legs! Like his horns, Beetlejuice’s legs resemble that of a sheep’s own back legs. His hooves are cloven, like stated, and his fur is black with brown undertones, like a black cat, or this sheep below! The fur doesn’t grow out much due to stress, but he used to have to shear it often by himself as a child. He probably will have to start doing so again the healthier and happier he gets!

- Nurse Ratched is a villainous nurse from pop culture. Research her with caution, as she does some rather heinous things. Barbara likes true crime!

- A “Texas Switch” is a technique used in filming, and is used in “The Terminator”. My favorite example is in “A Quiet Place Part Two”!

- “Odd, reattached limbs had never healed that quickly before.” That is because they are getting proper care!

- “To distract from the odd little sound they involuntarily made, (seriously, what was that? A chirp?)” It was a trill! Or as I call it, a ‘mrrp’. Some people call it the “cat activation noise”.

- “Some strange show about people working for the government” this is, of course, “Parks and Rec”!

- And that’s it, nothing else happened in this chapter and it ended happily :) (The flashbacks BJ had while having a panic attack are from his mother, Rigel, and Lydia stabbing him, obviously. Yes, all of them stabbing him in some way.)

[possum-quesadilla]

NOOOO DONT

im jumping

@possum-quesadilla

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter four of Time’s Arrow, “Suddenly, nothing is as it was, Where are you now, Orpheus?” Is out now! Goodnight. Make sure to read the warnings carefully!! This one is a doozy!

As always, extras!

- The lyrics for this title’s chapter are from “Hey, Little Songbird” from ‘Hadestown’! I’m sure we can all connect the dots with this one, hehe.

- “Are ya finally takin’ me out back to give me the Old Yeller treatment?” “Not today.” - based on a real conversation I had with my sister one morning as she dragged me out of bed!

- “He went to hop up out of the bed, squinting at the horrible, pounding migraine that was slowly blossoming in his skull. Christ on a boat, has the room always been this bright?” - It has! He’s just struggling with enhanced sensory issues.

- “sipping from a coffee mug that read ‘Happy Father’s Day from your favorite financial burden’.” - Based on a mug my friend got for their dad!

- “Ah, shit.” … “C’mon, Chuck, conversation is not mandatory.” - To clarify: Beej is not irritated that Charles is trying to speak to him! He just thinks that he feels obligated to talk to him, and that that’s really awkward.

- “Beetlejuice grit his teeth as Charles paused to take a sip of his coffee and swallow louder than he was sure any human ever needed to.” - again, sensory issues! Charles didn’t swallow that loud at all.

- The oatmeal cream pie incident - based on a real incident with my own sister. The same sister as before. Yes, word for word.

- “Goodness! I was worried I’d have to grab my bear mace!” - Based on something my own stepmother said, oh my god.

- “Delia’s ‘organically’ cherry-scented chapstick” - Beej can smell that it’s not actually organic! But he won’t break Delia’s heart by telling her that.

- “… on second thought, Beej, why don’t you stay here?” Lydia finished up tying her boots, hopping to her feet. “Wh- huh? Why?” “I don’t wanna overwhelm the poor cat with too many people at once, y’know?” Beetlejuice frowned a bit. What did I do wrong? “.. I guess.” I would scare the cat, wouldn’t I? I can be less scary.” - Misunderstanding, woo! Beej thinks Lydia thinks he is too scary to go with them to get the kitten, and that she may be embarrassed to be seen with him in public. Lydia understands he is spooked at the idea of being in a car and doesn’t want him to experie nce that while he’s already going through something else.

- “ “Oh! Hey, give me your jacket.” The demon immediately went to remove his jacket…” - Too bad Barbara and Adam were too busy to witness jacket-less Beetlejuice!

- “… clacking his teeth a few times. He halted when Charles raised an eyebrow in his direction.” - Charles isn’t perturbed by this stim, Beej just assumes he is. It’s just an odd noise to hear out of nowhere!

- “ “Sorry, Bug, we… have some cleaning to do in the basement!” Barbara called from… Beetlejuice squinted. Why was she and Adam walking towards the stairs from the garage like that? Were they… sneaking? Don’t they hate the basement?” - I wonder what the Maitlands are doing in the basement?

- “ “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Beetlejuice halted, furrowing his brows. He wasn’t quite sure what she’d meant. Maybe he didn’t say goodbye properly? Did she want more affection? He then slowly stepped back over to Lydia, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead once he reached her. He then turned to bolt towards the stairs once again. Lydia groaned loudly. “No, clean up your mess in the kitchen!” She turned to open the door, shaking her head. “Damn, who raised you?” ” - based on a splendid scene from one of my favorite shows ever, Brooklyn-99.

- “Beetlejuice, totally not enjoying an episode of ‘Jane the Virgin’ with Delia as they sat together on the couch…” - he absolutely was enjoying watching ‘Jane the Virgin’ with his new bestie.

- “Lydia reached into the box and pulled out a scruffy, disheveled little black kitten. He had small white patches on his face, paws, and stomach, and looked like he was born in a dumpster.” - based on my sister’s kitten, Pinto Bean! He is more white than black, and we got him from a farm. He looked like a little garbage baby.

- “ “‘Percy’?” “Yeah, he came with that name. Apparently they were themed? I’ll probably change it.” ” - The whole litter was, unfortunately, named after the Weasley family from (ugh) Harry Potter. Also, yes, he is partially based on Lydia’s cat from the animated series!

- “ “Why? You are small.” “I’m taller than you!” “Not for long. I’m due for a second growth spurt soon.” ” - Beetlejuice is 5’3”! Lydia is too, but not for long.

- “It reeked of some aromatic herb he couldn’t discern.” - he does not Know His Herbs.

- “You’ll have to send me away to a remote cabin by the sea to ‘clear my mind’, like they did to women back in the day. I’ll go even more insane and rip off all the wallpaper. Maybe set the place on fire.” - another ‘Yellow Wallpaper’ reference!

- “.. either up from the secret project in the basement…” - hmm, once again, I wonder what this is!

- “… while she was taking a break from… Y’know. Downstairs.” - being downstairs for too long freaks the Maitlands out. Y’know. ‘Cause their bodies were down there.

- Lydia’s questions - some of the proper questions to ask while someone is having a meltdown! Never touch or approach someone without permission. Ask if they want to be alone or not.

- “.. I like ‘Frankenstein’ as much as the next guy, but three times? Overkill.” - Based on my experience with ‘The Great Gatsby’. I read it three years in a row. My sister read it two years in a row. I now own five copies of that book.

- “I heard the other class is reading ‘Flowers for Algernon’. And that it totally sucks. Super depressing.” - don’t read ‘Flowers for Algernon’ unless you wanna cry.

- “Barbara nodded a little. “I know how to get blood out of wool. It’s really easy.” ” - both because she likes true crime and ‘cause, y’know, she’s a woman! People with periods know how to get blood stains out.

- “ “M-my hair’s starting to grey. Sometimes, I look in the mirror and I see-” he halted, a shudder wracking through his whole body.” - sometimes, he looks in the mirror and sees his mother. It terrifies him. (Based on personal experience)

- “I’ve never been this tired before. Not since… I was alone, in the loop. I feel like if I let myself lay down, if I stop.. performing, pretending I’m doing great, I’ll… I’ll never wake up again.” - oop. Based on personal experience yet again.

- “ “… Bee, I… it sounds like you’re burnt out.” The demon whirled around to face Adam suddenly, eyes wide. “… b-.. burnt… out?” ” - Beej is terrified here because he thinks Adam means the other meaning we find out about later!

- “ “When we push ourselves too much, sometimes our minds and bodies push back. If you don’t let yourself properly rest and recuperate, your body will make you.” Adam glanced down as he went to wrap Beetlejuice’s arm, but otherwise kept his eyes on his face. “It feels like you’re sick because you are. You haven’t been properly taking care of yourself.” ” - just gonna put this here, for those that need to read it. Your brain is an organ, and can get sick just like any other organ.

- “… excuse me for a moment. I’m about to lose my temper.” - based on a line from ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.

- The scream - based on the scream from the touring version of the show. You know what I’m talkin’ about.

- “crunching of leaves under his shoes.” - back on his illusion bullshit already

- “Autumn is on it’s way, his mind gently supplies, the thought drifting in slow and sluggish. The cold will come. It is inevitable.” … “Steady now. It will only consume you if you let it. But the cold will come.” - wow, foreshadowing? In my fic? Sure is!

- “I let you in.” - although I’ve heard it in many pieces of media with demons, the most famous use of this phrase is in ‘Talk To Me’.

- The art is once again done by the fabulous @/splasharooni !! Here it is again bc I love it so much <33

- “They stand up straight, trying not to cower as he rises to his full height, towering over them by a good foot, at least.” - Cyrus is 6’4”!

- “his long cigarette holder” - like they had back in the ‘20’s, ‘cause he’s a classy old bitch.

- “If they had held them for too long, Beetlejuice’s felt their own limited warmth be slowly but surely sapped away. But now, he was… warm. Goosebumps chased up their arm as he gently turned their hand over, inspecting their purple-ish-blue-hued fingers with his cool gaze.” - I wonder if this has any thematic implications.

- “ “.. couldn’t leave... the house that breather lived in.” They briefly chewed on the inside of their cheek. Careful. Careful.” … “The mark burned into Lydia’s arm, although they are very careful not to say her name, or who she is.” - Demons work by Fae rules, Beej has to be careful not to let their names slip in front of them!

- “Beetlejuice sees hints of starlight through the canopy. They wonder if the sky is clear enough for them to locate their own star. Or Cyrus’. Or-” - Each demon’s true name is based on a star! Like how Beetlejuice’s name is actually Betelgeuse, Cyrus’ name isn’t actually Cyrus.

- “His gaze is gentle and understanding and… alluring. (Was he really that bad? A voice whispers in the fog.)” - YES HE IS. GET A JOB. LEAVE MY BOY ALONE.

- Burning Out / Extinguished - when a demon is killed/dies, these are the terms used to refer to it. ‘Burning Out’ means their internal flame is dying due to any variety of circumstances.

- Seal vs. Ward - a seal is to keep a demon tied to one place/thing/person, a ward keeps demons away from one place/person/thing!

- “Of course. I’m never outside of her control, am I?” - based on my own personal experience once again. Sometimes, no matter what you do, a part of you is unfortunately always influenced by your abuser.

- “ “I know you don’t… partake, still.” Cyrus looks down at Beetlejuice again, raising an eyebrow mirthfully. “You never could stomach it.” A shudder ran up their spine once more. Beetlejuice cast their eyes down to the ground. “.. no.” The thick, sticky taste of iron stings in the back of their throat. Guilt creeps into their hazy mind.” - by ‘partake’, he means consuming human blood, or even flesh. Beej never had the stomach for it. He had to do it once, and he regrets it.

- “Darling, I only want your time.” - Yes, the perfect Deal. Surely there are no exploitable loopholes.

- “So it is done.” - another ‘Late Night with the Devil’ reference!

- “Unlike then, however, Beetlejuice could see the shape of his tail wagging underneath his skirt.” - I wonder why he’s so excited this time?

- “His right ear panged, and he instinctively reached up to fidget with it, halting when he was met with.. something new, some sort of earring now piercing that lobe. It was cool to the touch.” - yes, Cyrus straight up pierced Beej’s ear without consent. But he got a cool little piece of gold jewelry out of it!

[possum-quesadilla]

Chapter 11 of Time’s Arrow, “Wait for me, I’m comin’, Wait, I’m comin’ with you”, is here!! Yeehaw!!!

Extras below!!

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are either from “Wait for Me” (live version) or “Wait for Me (Reprise)” (album version) from Hadestown, for obvious reasons. Pick your poison!

- “The air around her felt so cold. She was sure death had never been so cold before.” - Once again, my silly theme of warmth. Beetlejuice didn’t realize he was giving off warmth and love just as much as he was receiving it.

- “Percy lay a short distance away, one paw outstretched to gently touch Lydia’s knee.” - Based on a weird, silly thing my own cat does.

- “None of them really seemed to mind as the cat strolled over to the rug, his nose loudly whistling as he sniffed at the air.” - Percy has a deviated septum that makes him snort when he’s excited, and whistle when he breathes through his nose! It doesn’t bother him too much. Partially based on my own cats.

- “ Lydia’s gentle whimpering sobs quieted when he raised his head and let out a loud, strange meow. (That kitten really did have one of the strangest voices she’d ever heard from a cat. Perhaps Beetlejuice had some sort of influence on him?) “… what is it?” She whispered, voice hoarse from crying.” - He’s got one of those weird, long, creaky meows. He did take after Beetlejuice. Also, familiar communication! He’s alerting her to Cyrus’ fur.

- “What’s up, Soos-” - She calls him ‘Soos’ as a nickname. It is one of those fun, weird pet nicknames that evolves over time. Also a reference to “Gravity Falls”.

- “She froze, letting out a loud gasp when her hand made contact with the carpet in front of Percy.” - She can use things like strands of fur to scry.

- “It felt like mere moments, it felt like it stretched out for weeks.” - Another instance of a character feeling how Beej often feels and being unsettled.

- “Deb could not guide them. “… I’m sorry, little ghosts. I care for you all and for Goose, but..” something dark clouded her eyes as she averted her usually bright eyes away from them. “… I can’t help you any more than preparing you. I can’t risk losing the precious, peaceful, fragile existence I carved out for Bela and I.” ” - The last sentence is a reference to “Good Omens”! Also, yeah, Cyrus is very powerful in the Netherworld and could ruin Deb and Bela’s unlives.

- “She nearly wretched as a pungent odor hit her open mouth, revolting and… familiar.” - Beej used to reek of the Netherworld.

- The various dead people - I made them up! Not based on any real people. They were fun to think up.

- “ “You two again?” She groaned, shaking her head. “What part of ‘pick a number and wait your turn’ do you people not understand? You cannot skip the line!” ” - This is a joke at the fact that they met in the movie, but not the musical. This version of Adam and Barbara have not, in fact, met Miss Argentina.

- Huge shoutout to @raineisinkless for her help with Miss Argentina’s dialogue <3

- Miss Argentina and Beetlejuice - Time works weird in the Netherworld. Beej was cursed and cast out long before she died, but since time there is nonlinear, he was in the Netherworld for when she first died and started working there. He was very nice to her.

- “She turned to the pale woman sat next to her, dressed in a beautiful blue figure skating gown stained red with the blood that constantly flowed from the gaping wound in her neck. “Patrice, take over for me. I’m taking my lunch for the year.” ” - Yes, she only gets one break per year. And Patrice is a reference to Miss Argentina’s original actor, Patrice Martinez!

- “Is she living it up on top?” - This is a reference to the Hadestown song, “Livin’ it Up on Top”.

- “The room they stepped into was pitch black. Not even the dim lighting from the hallway could permeate it’s darkness.” - It’s kept dark because demons have sensitive eyes. And they can see in total darkness! Well, most of them.

- “They growled again, the little supply closet suddenly feeling much hotter. “Shut up.” ” - They got very embarrassed at the implication that they care about Beetlejuice.

- “The other demons would swallow your souls whole if they knew you were here.” - Partial joke reference to “Evil Dead”.

- “I know it’s not like how we talked about, but-” - Surprise! Well, maybe not to some of you. They’ve been discussing becoming demons for a while now!

- “She heard their bones creaking as they did.” - They got bad joints.

- “Something brushed up against Barbara’s arm. “All you two have to do is shake my hand.” ” - Larry was being nice and showing Barbara where their hand is here.

- “Your souls need time to create and bond with your new bodies.” - Demons have their bodies and souls combined, which is why they don’t pass on to an afterlife! Their soul dies with their body.

- “Barbara gasped as a warmth flooded through her, hot and exhilarating in her veins.” - Hellfire!

- Altair and Vega - Their demonic names! Yes they have meanings behind them. No I will not elaborate currently. I will in a different post if I remember (or if someone asks me/reminds me)

- “Barbara yelped as it seemed fabric was passed over her head.” - Larry straight up tucked them under their coat here.

- “There were no stars or moon above to light their surroundings, just the dim glow of humming pink fluorescent lights somewhere just outside the alley.” - There are no stars in the sky because they’re all wandering the streets.

- “It was out of the kindness of my Hearth that I brought you two here.” - hehe, yeah, they say ‘Hearth’ instead of ‘heart’. As a joke on the fire in their chests.

- “He looked down at himself, glasses briefly slipping down his nose.” - A little bit of foreshadowing to his ears changing.

“‘Pollux’, in bright yellow. It seemed like half the sign had burnt out, and Barbara could just barely make out that it used to read ‘and Castor’.” - They were besties that made Deals and ran their Covens together. Then Castor died. Whomp whomp.

- “Barbara had to shield her eyes. Had neon lights always bothered her eyes that much? Maybe being stuck inside for so long had made them sensitive.” - Her eyes are getting more sensitive to light as she changes!

- “Adam was covering his ear with his free hand, gritting his teeth and softly complaining about how loud the lights were.” - Similarly, Adam is getting more sensitive to sound.

- “Thick, blue smoke, pungent and noxious. It smelled… herby, but Barbara could not quite place her finger on which herb it was.” - The blue smoke Cyrus and other demons smoke is actually something of his own creation! It’s how he gained so much power among demons. Perhaps I will elaborate in a Cyrus lore post since this is the last we’ll see of him in this fic! She knows her herbs, but not this herb.

- “It was dim, lit only by the sign outside, but somehow still Barbara could make out nearly everything.” - Again, demon changes! She can see in the dark now.

- “A particularly short demon manned the bar, ignoring one demon quite literally barking at them as they wiped a glass clean.” - Author demon sona cameo! I didn’t halt to describe them so I didn’t break the flow of the scene.

- “(Although, he wasn’t wearing blue like they’d said he was. He was instead wearing black wool cloak.)” - Uh oh. Where have we seen black wool before?

- “ “Where is he?” Adam repeated, gripping his wife’s hand tighter.” - A reference to the live version of “Wait for Me” from Hadestown.

- “You won’t find him. You could look for the rest of your un-lifetimes and you’d never find even a hint of him.” - A reference to the song “Home”, how Lydia mentions she could search the afterlife for an eternity and never see her mom.

- “Barbara wanted to punch that smug look off his face.” - Foreshadowing.

- “It was then that Barbara realized he was missing three fingers on the hand not holding the cigarette.” - HE FUCKIN’ GOT HIM GOOD!!

- “Barbara just about growled, the words coming out with a throaty noise.” - She can actually growl now!

- “The demon only paused when Adam involuntarily let out a strange little growl of his own. Cyrus slowly looked between the two of them, something glinting in his eyes. His smile wavered for a few moments. (Barbara thought perhaps she recognized… fear?)” - He is afraid of the power they both now wield. Perhaps this will be elaborated on later? Also Adam can growl now too hehe

- “His smile widened as his eyes flicked over to the Maitlands. “It was only made tolerable by the feeling of his intestines snaking between my claws.” ” - He said this to rile them up. Also, this has been previously mentioned by Beetlejuice as something Cyrus did! Just not directly.

- “Ah. Shit. Lydia didn’t mention how tall he was. That’ll make it much harder to reach him.” - Foreshadowing!!

- Adam recognizes the tale they’re recreating, hence his apprehension at first; Orpheus and Eurydice. Just with added stakes, since all three of them have to not check, not just Adam and Barbara.

- “She swore she heard the bartender whisper, “good luck”.” - :)

- “Yeah, well, die mad about it,” - A joking reference to a scene in “The Owl House” I accidentally mirrored here.

- “ “S-seven,” Barbara stammered, picking the first one that came to her mind.” - thank you @ten-chocolate-sundaes :) I wonder what he’ll do with this number

- “It seemed like days passed.” - because they did! Thirteen days to be exact.

- They’re deers!! Surprise!! All of the deer and star foreshadowing for Adam and Barbara is finally paying off!!!