#LoopJuice extras

[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.

[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]

Hi again hi :]

Hadestown references making me lose my shit. I'm in a production of Hadestown right now as an understudy for Orpheus, and the cast just got the dramiturg's musical influence presentation. I need you to know how well that show, its motifs, its musical style, its small details and metaphorical techniques fit your fic. It is absolutely insane how well they fit. Did you know that there are onlu two characters in Hadestown who sing folk? Only Euridyce and Orpheus ever sing it: it's the main style that Orpheus sings in for all Epics and ballads, and Euridyce sings folk only once: when she's calling out to Orpheus to return to her. She was trying to sing in his own "language" to get through to him, hoping he'd hear her pleas in his own musical style. Heart wrenching, and reminds me of chapter 11 of Time's Arrow so much. The way Adam and Barbara search for Beej in his home turf, regardless of how unfamiliar and new it is to them, because they know they can only reach him in his way.

I feel like Adam and Barbara would be acoustic music, and Beej would be classic rock if they had musical motifs. Thoughts?

Hello!

FUUUUUCK. THANK YOU. I WAS MIDWAY THROUGH A RELISTEN OF HADESTOWN WHEN I READ THIS. And oh my god that’s so fun!!! Yippee for you!!

Omg thank you. It makes me feel all fuzzy to read that it fits so well :)) AND NO I DID NOT KNOW THAT BUT I WILL NOW LISTEN FOR IT. THAT SLAYS ME. YOU HAVE SLAIN ME. /pos

You are absolutely right. I usually do have genres/instruments tied to each character I write about in my head, because I love to categorize and associate things like that. (I do the same with colors, animals, horror characters, etc) Acoustic definitely fit Adam and Barbara, and I never tied a specific genre to Beej but classic rock totally fits. You are so big brained. God, imagining them trying to sing in a classic rock style to call out to him…. OUGH

[possum-quesadilla]

I CAN'T FIND THE PLAYLISTS THE LINKS WON'T WORK I'M GOING TO EXPLODE..

Hehehe, sorry, I’m very bad with technology and link stuff, lol.

Here they are again!

Beetlands

Time is a Flat Circle

Time’s Arrow

You And I Will Always Be Back Then

You Can Always Come Home

“Living” in the Present Tense

(Eventually I’ll put the playlist for the bad ending of LITPT here)

Corpsejuice!

Lonely Remnants

Forever Lost Together

[possum-quesadilla]

Playlist dissections for Time is a Flat Circle, Time’s Arrow, and You Can Always Come Home!!

TIME IS A FLAT CIRCLE

Titles:

- “The Heroine” by Unwoman

Used twice, for the title of chapter one, “Go through the emotions again and again”, and chapter six, “And this time I actually feel them”.

The first chap’s title is fairly obvious, He has to go through all of the emotions of the loop over and over again. The rest of the song is about an actress lamenting how she has the sympathies of the audience, but that someone who promised to come see her show never did. I feel like this is prevalent for our rancid little fella!

For chapter six, it’s a continuation of chapter one’s title. Beetlejuice actually has to start facing and feeling all of the emotions and hurt from the loops!

- “In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)” by David Lynch

For chapter two’s title, “In Heaven, everything is fine”. It is from the movie “Eraserhead”! The movie itself is rather dark, and the song comes at a moment that the main character is considering that maybe heaven would be better than his current situation. For Beetlejuice, this pertains to how he is trying to convince himself that this is as close to happy as he’ll get, and that everything is indeed fine, even though it isn’t.

- “Dinner Is Not Over” by Jack Stauber

For chapter three’s title, “I’ve tasted dying and it tasted good!” The song actually promotes suicide prevention. The song talks about having many experiences, including a brush with death. The idea of death is very tempting to the person singing, but he says it’s “for desert” and he can “have it when dinner is done”. (Basically, yes death is tempting, but there’s so much more to your life to experience and look forward to.) It’s a hauntingly beautiful song, while also being uplifting and catchy! The lyric for the title in particular refers to how Beetlejuice’s own constant brushes with death and eternal rest is seeming more and more desirable with each passing loop, but he keeps going for Lydia and the Maitlands.

- “Devil Town V2” by Cavetown

For chapter four’s title, “Falling doesn’t feel so bad when I know you’re falling this way too”. SPECIFICALLY specifically V.2 because that is my favorite version. It’s about growing up in a tumultuous home, specifically being a child of divorce. The cyclical and downtrodden nature of the song reflects BJ’s outlook at this point in the story, but the title line specifically refers to how his pain is being lessened by no longer being alone in his suffering.

- “So Long” by Tokyo Elvis

For chapter five’s title, “Try to hold the breeze within your fingertips, It’s hopeless”. I can’t find much online about the song, but it has that good cyclical feeling I look for in songs for this fic. This line specifically refers to how Beetlejuice is trying to hold on to the fleeting joy he finds among the routine of the loop, but he can’t hold on to it forever. This song is also just soooooo time loop core, it’s insane.

- “Nobody” by Mitski

For chapter seven’s title, “And I don’t want your pity, I just want somebody near me”. Mitski was my rock throughout writing this chapter. (And the whole fic) 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.

- “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush

AUUUGH. This song destroys me. For chapter eight’s title, “I know you have a little life in you yet, I know you have a lot of strength left”. Heavily inspired by a scene using this song in “Our Flag Means Death”, I listened to this song endlessly while writing this chapter. I believe it fits it so well for obvious reasons. My brain associates it very heavily with Barbara, but also Beetlejuice and his struggles to have “a little life” in him yet.

Non-titles:

Time loop core

These songs mostly just generally fit the vibe of “stuck in a time loop and it sucks”!

- “Look Who’s Inside Again” by Bo Burnham

It’s hard to explain how Beetlejuice core AND time loop core this is without just. Explaining the entire song.

- “taixu” by lasah, sasakure

One of the songs that actually helped me come up with the plot of this fic! I like imagining the first “crow” as Juno, in my mental animatic. Then the Maitlands as the second “crow”, with him banishing them to the attic. (Fun fact: I originally planned on making a chainshipping animatic to this. I still have it partially plotted out.)

- “Any Day Now” by Bo Burnham

I imagine this is him being in hard denial about the time loop. Or about his feelings.

- “Charlie’s Inferno” by That Handsome Devil

I think this one is fairly obvious in a way maybe

- “Rain” by Jack Stauber

Just listen to this one, and it’ll make sense. Ouch. “Why’s it still raining? I did what I was supposed to. That’s not fair.”

- “You’re at the Party” by Lemon Demon

A song about a man who’s stuck in purgatory after dying in his sleep. Fitting!

- “There’s Something Happening” by Jack Stauber

Vibes, man. Also him pretending everything is hunky-dory

- “Spiral of Ants” by Lemon Demon

Idk how to put this into so many words. This song fucks.

- “Once I’m In My Head” by Jack Stauber

Him being a dumbass struggling to think of a way out.

- “4379” by Jack Stauber

Beetlejuice falling in love over and over, doing the same things over and over.

- “Is Anyone There” by Jack Stauber

Pretty self explanatory!

General Beetlejuice core

Songs that fit Beetlejuice as a character in general to me, as well as loopjuice specifically.

- “Hansel” by Sodikken

A song about a character who was ignored so hard he did something drastic that got him killed. That’s our guy!

- “People Eater” by Sodikken

Love this freak energy. Also, “I think there’s something wrong with me, why can’t I just live happily?” And “Why do you still believe in me?”, and “And I’m baffled why you choose to stay with me, you’re completely free, yet you refuse to leave”. Yikes.

- “Mirror Man” by Jack Stauber

Desperate for attention and approval!

- “A Mask of My Own Face” by Lemon Demon

Adaptable! Will be anything for anyone! Please just stick around, I’ll be anyone

- “Soft Fuzzy Man” by Lemon Demon

Heheh. Fits his weird flirty side.

- “The Mind Electric” by Miracle Musical

A classic Beetlejuice core song.

- “Eighth Wonder” by Lemon Demon

Creature energy. Love him.

- “Sense, Sensibility” by AJJ

Funky demon who doesn’t understand human bullshit!

- “Friends In Low Places” by Worthikids

Mostly referring to how he’s a demon, but also how he could “vanish with no traces” etc.

- “A Human’s Touch” by TWRP

Again, desperate for attention and approval.

- “My Time” by bo en

I feel like this just exudes the same manic energy he does.

- “Fighter” by Jack Stauber

“Call me fighter, I’ll mop the floor with you, call me lover, I’ll take you for a drink or two” and “If you truly loved me, why’d you train me to fight?” Specifically. The second one is a sort of begging call-out to his mom, in my mind.

Beetlands

Mostly from my Beetlands playlist, so I won’t really explain these! I will eventually if I do a dissection on my Beetlands playlist. Maybe

- “It Will Come Back” by Hozier

- “Curses” by The Crane Wives

- “Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives

Beej trauma

- “Mama’s Boy” by Dominic Fike

I guess this only really works if you’ve seen the animation memes…

- “Abbey” by Mitski

He doesn’t know what he’s wanted, but he just knows he was born wanting. (It was love and warmth)

- “The Wolf Song” by Amanda Palmer

Pretty… self explanatory with the lyrics, but for his mother instead of his father.

Specific

- “Goodbye” by Bo Burnham

This song very much fits his mentality of chapter 8, in my mind. Especially “I swear to god that all I’ve ever wanted was, a little bit of everything all of the time, a bit of everything all of the time” he wanted so little, but to him, it was still too much. Too “everything”.

- “The Sword of Damocles” from “Rocky Horror Picture Show”

He talks about the sword of Damocles in the original show, and he feels a sort of constant dread in the fic, heheh.

- “What If Tomorrow Comes” from “Black Friday”

Funny story, this was almost the title of chapter 8! Originally, I had the idea of it ending on a cliffhanger of whether the time loop actually ended or not. That was in very early stages of Loopjuice’s development though, before I decided on making Time’s Arrow. Still holds up to me, with their anxious countdown there at the end!

- “Last Words of a Shooting Star” by Mitski

If you know what this song is about, it makes quite a lot of sense for chapter 8.

- “I Guess” by Mitski

Him thinking this is the end of himself, expressing his care for the others, especially Lydia.

- “Pearl Diver” by Mitski

For when he was so sure he was dying! Also some of the lyrics hurt hard if you think of them from the others’ POVs.

- “Pale Machine” by bo en

In my mental animatic, this is him singing with Lydia, forcing himself to go through the motions each loop to keep her happy. Also, “Hold me, I’m a pale machine, life is just okay out here, anyone can see, I’m lonely”

- “Choice” by Jack Stauber

Ough. It’s hard to elaborate on this one without going beat-per-beat with the animatic I’d make if I had the skills.

- “Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart” by Mitski

Very much fitting with Beej’s thoughts leading up to the ritual in chapter 8. How he’s grown, but how he feels he has to go and how he deserves to be forgotten.

In story references:

- Chapter 8: “So Long” by Tokyo Elvis

Line: “They tried, desperately, to hold it all within their grasp, to savor it, to hold it close. But it’s hopeless. The last day with their BFFF passes like sand through his fingers.”

Original lyric: “Try to hold the breeze within your fingertips, It’s hopeless”

A sort of call back to chapter five’s title, and to allude how he thinks him holding onto these things is hopeless.

- Chapter 8: “Last Words of a Shooting Star” by Mitski

Line: “He empties out their belongings from his hammer space and leaves them in tidy piles in the basement.”

Original lyric: “And I am relieved that I'd left my room tidy, They'll think of me kindly, When they come for my things”

See previous note about this song, how the song is about someone dying in some way, and is looking back at how they left things and how they lived.

TIME’S ARROW

Titles:

- “Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart” by Mitski

For chapter one, “There’s some kind of burning inside me, It’s kept me from falling apart”. The song itself fits more with Time is a Flat Circle and chapter nine of this fic, but the selected line specifically is meant to refer how to Beetlejuice is unknowingly reflecting on his deep yearning to be seen and heard and understood, and how it impacted his relationships and his self worth.

- “Mt Washington” by Local Natives

For chapter two, “Digging like you can bury something that cannot die, We could wash the dirt off our hands now”. Both literally relevant and thematically relevant! Beetlejuice is digging for no apparent reason, to Lydia. She doesn’t know he can die, so to her, it’s useless, and they should just go home and wash up. For Beej, he’s trying to “bury something that cannot die”; his guilt, his dread, all his Feelings. You can wash your hands, and try to bury it, but it will not die.

- “A Mask of My Own Face” by Lemon Demon

For chapter three, “A mask of my own face, I’d wear that”. I feel like this one is perhaps the most self-explanatory of the chapter titles, haha. He’s wearing a “mask of his own face”, or putting on a show of a version of himself for the others.

- “Hey, Little Songbird” from “Hadestown”

For chapter four, “Suddenly, nothing is as it was, Where are you now, Orpheus?”. I’m sure we can all connect the dots with this one. Rattlesnake vs songbird, but really, wolf vs lamb.

- “Good Luck, Babe!” By Chappell Roan

For chapter five, “Good luck, babe! You’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling”. Pretty literal and self explanatory. Beej is trying to bury all of those pink fuzzy Feelings, but that’s impossible.

- “No Children” by The Mountain Goats

For the first half of chapter six’s title, “I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow, I hope it bleeds all day long”. Two songs for the two very different vibes! This first half reflects how Beetlejuice was relying on pain to distract him from his Feelings. Also, “No Children” is a good song for Beej in general, for a few of his past relationships.

- “Samson” by Regina Spektor

For the second half of chapter six’s title, “You are my sweetest downfall”. Basically, Beej admitting to himself that the Maitlands are his “downfall”. His Feelings for them are fatal, in his head. Also this song just fits Beetlands so well to me, oh my god.

- “Strawberry Blonde” by Mitski

For another split chapter! This is the first half of chapter seven, “I love everybody because I love you!”. That fits the majority of the chapter, and how his new official relationship with the Maitlands fills him with so much warmth and joy to spread to others.

- “Gross” by Penelope Scott

For the second half of chapter seven, “But I’m just a chemical compound, You’re just the gun in my mouth”. Good contrast to the other song, and between his relationships. Beetlejuice is just a being, trying his best, and he knows Cyrus will be the “death” of him. This whole song is sooooo Beetlejuice and Cyrus core, it’s insane. Also it goes HARD.

- “October Passed Me By” by girl in red

For chapter eight, “October passed me by just like any month”. Very extremely literal. October passes him by in a blur, as does the rest of the year shortly after. This song is also a personal dagger to the heart for me, and LoopJuice is based on me, so it hurts him too, lol.

- “Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives

For chapter nine, “I am selfish, I am broken, I am cruel, I am all the things they might have said to you”. This song is sooo. Beetlejuice. Beetlands. LoopJuice. I’m obsessed with this song. This title is him worrying about what the others think of him, and what they will say about him after he’s gone. How he feels so horrid for what he’s done, and believes wholeheartedly that he deserves it for his actions and such. I love you The Crane Wives!!

- “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” by yeule

For chapter ten, “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”. 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. Also, “I Saw The TV Glow” is very important to me and to this fic series in general, hence the constant references to it.

- “Wait For Me (Reprise)” from “Hadestown”

For chapter eleven, “Wait for me, I’m comin’, Wait, I’m comin’ with you”. Either from “Wait for Me” or “Wait for Me (Reprise)”, both work! Mostly the first one. Pretty obvious, and blatantly connected to the “Hadestown” / Orpheus and Eurydice through line!

- “Flowers” from “Hadestown”

For chapter twelve, “Flowers, I remember fields of flowers”. Now we’re seeing our Eurydice’s perspective! Very literal. At one point, all Beetlejuice can remember is flowers.

- “Everything Stays (feat. Olivia Olson)” from “Adventure Time”

For chapter thirteen, “Everything stays, But it still changes, Ever so slightly, daily and nightly, In little ways, when everything stays”. Thank you Cosmo! The vibe of the song “Today Today” by Jack Stauber really fits this chapter, as I hear the ending as a happy reunion, and I’ve been planning to use it for this chapter for forever. Unfortunately the lyrics don’t fit, so I went with the next best song! Also, Beej has changed quite a bit. In little ways and big ways, but still he (and everyone) stays.

- “First Love/Late Spring” by Mitski

For chapter fourteen, “So please hurry leave me, I can't breathe, Please don't say you love me”. It’s meant to reflect Beej’s crushing guilt and turbulent mental state.

- “Claw Machine” by Sloppy Jane

For chapter fifteen, “But my heart is like a claw machine, It’s only function is to reach, It can't hold on to anything”. This song works well for both LoopJuice and Corpsejuice. I wanted to tie the “I Saw 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.

- “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths

For chapter sixteen, “So for once in my life, Let me get what I want, Lord knows, it would be the first time”. Because gets what he wants in this chap :) (Also listen to that song and think of LoopJuice if you wanna cry a bit.)

- “You Can Always Come Home” by Toby Fox

For chapter seventeen, of the same title. This is the first and probably only LoopJuice chapter to not have lyrics for the title! Instead, it’s from a song title. 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.

Non-titles:

Repeats:

- “Love Bug” by Jack Stauber

- “Abbey” by Mitski

- “4379” by Jack Stauber

- “Friends In Low Places” by Worthikids

- “Look Who’s Inside Again” by Bo Burnham

- “Pearl Diver” by Mitski

- “Goodbye” by Bo Burnham

- “Remember My Name” by Mitski

Angst?:

- “Blood Pump” by Jack Stauber

:(( Just look at the lyrics. That’s my boy.

- “Ocean Breathes Salty” by Modest Mouse

On here for very similar reasons as to why it’s on the Lonely Remnants playlist.

- “Cry Baby” by Melanie Martinez

He is such a piss baby, compared to the other demons. They all think he’s soooo emotional.

- “Bugbear” by chloe moriondo

Sooooo loopjuice coded. I love you “Bugbear”

- “A Deer Mistaking Candles for Headlights” by Crywank

Ooooough. A many lyric song. Hard to dissect this one without going lyric by lyric. I just… listen to it and think heavily of him.

- “Icarus” by Bastille

“Look who’s digging their own grave”, etc. Y’know!

- “Achilles Come Down” by Gang of Youths

Y’know. Y’know.

- “Lonely Day” by System Of A Down

Vibes. Thank you Cosmo!

- “Richter” by Jack Stauber

This one is sooooo. Vibes. “Baby’s in the basement”. He sure is

- “Francis Forever” by Mitski

Mitski my beloved. This one is mostly vibes tbh

- “Dog Nightmare” by Jack Stauber

Vibes. Oh my god. Dread…

- “Mr Backwards” by Jack Stauber

About how he views himself.

- “Feel Better” by Penelope Scott

:( yeah… the lyrics….

- “Bug Like an Angel” by Mitski

My fucked up lonely man. About how he feels about himself being a fuck-up.

- “Moonsickness” by Penelope Scott

This song very much reflects Beej’s mentality on how he sucks and all. And how he loves his family.

- “Dead Weight” by Jack Stauber

He feels like dead weight! This is mostly vibes.

- “Furniture” by Owen Pallett

Fits poor Beej’s trauma with his mother and avoidant tendencies!

- “Coyotes” by Modest Mouse

This song. I can’t. Go into too many specifics. This song is everything to me. I don’t know how to explain it

- “A Sadness Runs Through Him” by The Hoosiers

Pretty self explanatory for our boy! “He could not break surface tension, He looked in the wrong place for redemption”

Beetlands

Same with the Beetlands stuff from the previous playlist!

- “In The Middle” by dodie

- “Sweet Tooth” by Cavetown

- “Honeybee” by Steam Powered Giraffe

- “Would You Be So Kind” by dodie

- “I Do Adore” by Mindy Glendhill

- “Linger” by The Cranberries

- “Strawberry Blonde” by Mitski

- “When He Sees Me” from “Waitress”

- “Parrot” by Stepdad

- “Lemon Boy” by Cavetown

- “Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives

- “I Bet on Losing Dogs” by Mitski

- “Cosmic Love” by Florence + The Machine

- “Tongues & Teeth” by The Crane Wives

- “I’d Like To Walk Around In Your Mind” by Vashti Bunyan

- “She Wants Me (To Be Loved)” by The Happy Fits

- “Stray Italian Greyhound” by Vienna Teng

- “First Love / Late Spring” by Mitski

- “Harness Your Hopes - Sped Up” by Pavement

- “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)” from “Hercules”

Lydia:

- “Class of 2013” by Mitski

She misses her mama.

- “Skeleton Song” by Kate Nash

This has always been a Beetlejuice and Lydia’s friendship song for me. Fuck. The ending, for me, is about the ritual.

Cyrus:

- “Me and My Husband” by Mitski

To me, this is a song about a woman from the 50s trapped in a loveless marriage, where she’s basically just an accessory for her husband. Fits Beej and Cyrus’ relationship!

- “maggot belly” by awfultune

Oof. This song is… rough. I won’t say too much about it. It is a pretty triggering one for some folks.

Specifics:

- “Lima Bean Man” by Jack Stauber

Remember those scenes where Beej thought Cyrus was going to / had killed Barbara? Yeah…

- “STRAIGHT DOWN” by Worthikids

I can’t tell you much about how this applies to LoopJuice without spoiling the series it comes from, so I won’t say anything. Because I need more people to watch it.

- “Leopard” by Jack Stauber

In my head, very vividly, this song is Beej stumbling and suffering through the second time loop stuff.

- “Our Word” from “36 Questions”

Specifically the ending part, in my head, is Beej being taken, and imagining what the others would say about him. Ouch.

- “Who Was She” from “Centaurworld”

I feel like this one is pretty clear, hehe.

- “The Moon Will Sing” by The Crane Wives

This is specifically about Deb. “I shine only with the light you gave me”, etc.

- “Today Today” by Jack Stauber

Everyone going through the motions while Beej is missing, sort of mentally not there. The happy-sounding ending is him returning.

- “Neath the grove is a heart” by Yaelokre

About Beej slowly forgetting everything in the second loop, mostly. Poor boy.

- “Pink in the Night” by Mitski

RAAAH. I love you Mitksi. There’s so many little things in this song I connect to loopjuice, it’s insane.

- “Coma Baby” by Nichole Dollanganger

Post Beej returning from his second time loop. “You’re just a shell of the boy that you’ve been”. Ouch!

- “I’d Rather Sleep” by Kero Kero Bonito

Reflects what the title says. For a while after his return, all Beej wanted to do was sleep.

- “What Did You Do” by Jack Stauber

“Thanks for taking the time to know my name”.

- “Who Is She? (Reprise)” from “Centaurworld”

This is right before Cyrus takes him.

- “Darren” by Jack Stauber

THIS IS. SO HIM. ALL OF IT. AHHH!! Oh my god.

- “Crocodile Tears” by Jack Stauber

How he feels everything is his fault, and his pain is not deserved.

- “Premonition” by Toby Fox

Okay. Kinda crazy. But I specifically think of this one as right after Beej finds out the terms of his and Cyrus’ Deal, when he’s stumbling through the forest.

- “Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus” by Nichole Dollanganger

Mostly for the title. And the vibes, for right after Beej took off his blindfold, before Larry found him.

- “Undertale” by Toby Fox

It feels nice. Like Home.

In story references:

- Chapter 1: “The Moon Will Sing” by The Crane Wives

Line: “She was light. He shone only with the light she cast. She was everything.”

Original lyric: “Bore the shadows that you made, With no light of my own”

This song greatly embodies Deb and Beej’s relationship, and how it was very one-sided and draining for him. He basked in the limited attention and affection she showed, and allowed his own needs and wants to be pushed aside in favor of Deb’s.

- Chapter 1: “Cop Car” by Mitski

Line: “He is cruel. He is gentle. He makes him laugh.”

Original lyric: “I am cruel, I am gentle, I can make you laugh”

“Cop Car” really embodies parts of this chapter and Loopjuice’s character as a whole. He also genuinely saw Cyrus as gentle, until he just… wasn’t.

- Chapter 1: “Gross” by Penelope Scott

Line: “(It was so easy, so salty and gross - )”

Original lyric: “It was so easy with you, so salty and gross”

Like I said before, really embodies Beej and Cyrus’ relationship. It was so much easier to give himself into something “gross”, something “salty” and painful, than to face his real Feelings.

- Chapter 1: “Tongues & Teeth” by The Crane Wives

Line: “I will ruin you. I know that you mean so well- ”

Original lyric: “Oh, I will ruin you” … “I know that you mean so well, But I am not a vessel for your good intent”

An extremely Beetlejuice / Beetlands coded song, fairly literal. I listen to that song sooo much and think of them.

- Chapter 1: “Curses” by The Crane Wives

Line: “But rain is washing the blood away. The smoke clears.”

Original lyric: “Every word I say is kindling, But the smoke clears when you're around”

The Crane Wives in general are very LoopJuice / Beetlejuice / beetlands coded to me. This was meant to be a nod to the song, but it and the song in general also applies to him very heavily.

- Chapter 2: “Feel Better” by Penelope Scott

Line: “Lydia could tell, then, that she certainly had a heart.”

Original lyric: “But when my head hit my cheap pillow, I could tell I had a heart”

This song as a whole fit both Beetlejuice and Lydia so well. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell you have a heart. Then it reminds you.

- Chapter 2: “Just For Once” from “Black Friday”

Line: “Just for a moment, your life could be just what you wanted.” … “Just for once, just for a moment.”

Original lyric: “But just for once, my life could be just what I wanted”

Mostly just because the song goes SO HARD, and is thematically relevant here.

- Chapter 2: “When He Sees Me” from “Waitress”

Line: “You give your all, and you get so much given back.”

Original lyric: “What if I give myself away, to only get it given back?”

Suuuuuuuper Beetlands song, for obvious reasons. Also, again, thematically relevant.

- Chapter 2: “Love Love Love” by The Mountain Goats

Line: “The things you do for love come back to you one by one.”

Original lyric: “But the things you do for love are going to come back to you one by one”

It is one of the gentler songs on the LoopJuice playlists, and reflects more feelings of acceptance and uneasy peace.

- Chapter 2: “Personal” by Stars

Line: “Don’t be too much. Heavy is the cost.”

Original lyric: “Sorry to be heavy, but heavy is the cost, Heavy is the cost”

Give this song a listen. It doesn’t quite fit LoopJuice, but the idea of “heavy is the cost” fits well.

- Chapter 2: “Please Eat” by Nichole Dollanganger

Line: “Parts of you are already gone.”

Original lyric: “There's parts of you already gone I can never revive”

LoopJuice doesn’t have an eating disorder similar to the one this song is about, but the line hits hard and is very thematically relevant.

- Chapter 3: “Stray Italian Greyhound” by Vienna Teng

Line: “Oh no. … Oh no, not now. … Please, not now. … But, of course, some sort of ridiculous “Feeling” had to come along.”

Original lyric: “Oh no, not now, Please not now, I've just settled into the glass half empty, made myself at home, And so why now?, Oh, please not now, I just stopped believing in happy endings, harbors of my own”

A very pivotal song in the playlist, and a very pivotal moment. That “FUCK I just settled for a shitty life, and now I’m feeling Feelings??”. Y’know!

- Chapter 7: “Like Real People Do” by Hozier

Line: “Not just slightly sardonic or glibly nihilistic, but happy. Like real people do.”

Original lyric: “We should just kiss like real people do”

Mostly just a reference, since it’s a Beetlands song to me, and I love Hozier.

- Chapter 8: “Sweet Hibiscus Tea” by Penelope Scott

Line: “Exhaustion weighed down their limbs, the heaviness of it all threatening to crack their collarbone as it settled down heavily on their shoulders.”

Original lyric: “The bones are melting, the skeleton is ash, The clavicle detaches and falls with a deafening crash”

This song is very Beetlejuice, but also the dread of this part fits very well.

- Chapter 8: “Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives

Line: “Exhaustion weighed down their limbs, the heaviness of it all threatening to crack their collarbone as it settled down heavily on their shoulders.”

Original lyric: “There is love that doesn't have a place to rest, But it would have buried you if it had settled on your shoulders”

Beetlands. Beetlejuice. What else can I say?

- Chapter 8: “The Bed Song” by Amanda Palmer

Line: “They all sat in a semi-comfortable silence, the ghosts’ arms wrapped around his midsection, Adam’s lips in his hair while Barbara rested her cheek on his collarbone.”

Original lyric: “We have one filthy pillow to share and your lips are in my hair”

Used to be one of my favorite sad songs, but now I know the singer’s a piece of shit. I wanted to highlight the sweet intimacy of the scene.

- Chapter 9: “Dead Girls” by Penelope Scott

Line: “The living need attention too, Ash. It’s okay.”

Original lyrics: “And if all you ever see are dead girls, If all you hear is terrible news, Maybe it's not all about the dead girls, Maybe it's more about you, The living need attention too”

A very important song on Ash’s playlist. Can’t say too much more.

- Chapter 9: “you smell of dead flowers” by vslush, cover by Cliesel

Line: “(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?)”

Original lyric: “Wanted to scream, wanted to shout, how did you not know?, How did you not realize I was rotten?”

- Chapter 9: “Yo, Girl” from “Heathers”

Line: “ “Hello, pet.” Time’s up.”

Original lyric: “Too late, he got in” … “Knock knock!”

Just a reference to a musical I love and also to highlight the dread Beej feels here!

- Chapter 9: “I’m Your Man” by Mitski

Line: “One day you'll figure me out, I'll meet judgment by the hounds” … “I’m sorry I was the one you loved.” … “People always gave me love, Others were never to blame after all”

Original lyric: (just the same thing!)

This song is. So many things to me. These lines are very literal for Beej at the time, but also. Auuuugh. Oh my god. So Beetlejuice core.

- Chapter 11: “Livin’ It Up On Top” from “Hadestown”

Line: “Is she living it up on top?”

Original lyric: “Where are we livin' it?, Livin' it up on top”

Just another “Hadestown” reference! :)

- Chapter 12: “Who Is She (Reprise)” / “Who Was She” from “Centaurworld”

Line: “What did they think of him, now that he was gone? What were they saying?”

Original lyric: “I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Rider. I'm sorry I left the way I did. If you knew what I was gonna do you would've tried to stop me. At least all of you are safe now. It's over. I wonder what you all must be thinking. What are you saying about me, now that I'm gone?”

Those songs heavily inspired these scenes, so I wanted to give them a little reference!

- Chapter 15: “The Bed Song” by Amanda Palmer

Line: “Beetlejuice just laid there, mostly paralyzed, staring up at the strange glowing shapes dotting his ceiling.”

Original lyric: “Now we're both mostly paralyzed, Don't know how long we've been lying here in fear, Too afraid to even feel”

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”

You Can Always Come Home

- “Army Dreamers in 29edo” by Deister Orchestra

Purely vibes. “Army Dreamers” isn’t really a Loopjuice song, more Corpsejuice. (Perhaps in LITPT tho)

- “L’amore dice Ciao (Main Titles) - Remastered” by Armando Trovajoli

Again, vibes. Gentle and happy and twinged with a little sadness.

- “Love Story” by The Newton Brothers

I won’t explain this because that would be spoiling “The Haunting of Bly Manor”, and I refuse to do that. If you know, you know.

- “You Can Always Come Home” by Toby Fox

Both for the title and the gentle, welcoming feeling the song gives.

- “In Our Bedroom After The War” by Stars

For all of the characters as a whole. I have a fun mental animatic for this one. About finally feeling like the “war” is over, and things are “beginning”.

- “Will You Remember?” by The Cranberries

A bit of a reminder about Beej going to forget everything, even his wedding and his beloved sister.

- “It’s You, It’s Me, It’s Us” by Reinaeiry

Again, “The Haunting of Bly Manor”.

- “Remember Me (Lullaby)” from “Coco”

Vibes once again. Also, because Beej and Lydia have to be apart from each other.

- “Pilvet liikkuu, minä en” by Yona

I don’t know any of the words to this song because I don’t speak the language, but the vibes fit Loopjuice so well. The last line translates to, “And I don’t wish anything else on my journey but, Happiness”. Oough.

- “Love Like You (feat. Rebecca Sugar)” from “Steven Universe”

C’mon.

- “Everything Stays (feat. Olivia Olson)” from “Adventure Time”

C’mon.

- “That Distant Shore (feat. Jennifer Paz)” from “Steven Universe”

C’MON! Sooooo loopjuice core, the lyrics are. Oh my god.

- “Strawberry Blond” by Mitski

Repeat for Beetlands reasons.

- “Pink in the Night” by Mitski

“I glow pink in the night in my room, I've been blossoming alone over you”. Need I say more?

- “Ready Now” by dodie

BEETLANDS. THE WORDS. THE GENTLE MUSIC. AHHH!! “You saw through me all this time, I'd forgotten people are kind, I was hurting and you knew, So you showed me what to do” … “You said "I will listen, tell me it all, You don't like the ending?, Then we'll find one that's yours", Oh, how did you know?, That's all we need?, A promise of hope, Is enough to feel free��

- “Samson” by Regina Spektor

Mostly for the sweet, loving tone. Also Beetlands as fuck.

[possum-quesadilla]

if loopjuice beej actually grew up happy and never met cyrus, what would he look like and where would he be now

(I am doodling this as I type, so expect a doodle at some pint either today or tomorrow)

Ooooo. Hm. That’s a great question!!! Thank you!

I think to have grown up ‘happy’, he would’ve had to have had a different mom and to have not met either Rigel or Cyrus, bc those three are the main components to really messing him up. Let’s say he was raised alongside Bela, since they’re similar ages! Juno dumped him onto Bela’s caretaker and she took over when he passed on. He never married Deb or Rigel, and Cyrus never met him at that party.

He would be fundamentally a different demon! He would still have AuDHD and be nonbinary and such, of course, but he would have a much better handle on all of it. I also imagine he’d be much more in tune with his Shoggoth side and much more accepting and loving with his demon features in general! His horns would not be cut, his ear wouldn’t have the notch/be cut off, and he would display his legs and tail more proudly! Honestly probably wouldn’t wear pants that often.

I think he would still certainly have the striped suit!! Making the suit was very pivotal in his journey, it was his first real way of expressing himself. He would be more covered in moss (a sign that a Shoggoth spawn is living well) and his hair and fur would be shaggy, and he wouldn’t have the permanently tired eyes he has in loopjuice! Beej would more outwardly and proudly express his emotions with his hair color and stims, and would definitely have a lot more control over his powers. I feel like he’d be more of the jokester he used to be at the very start of Time is a Flat Circle.

They would definitely have their own Cult and Coven that would be very successful, and wouldn’t have to be a Guide. But they still would bc they love humans and want to be around and learn about them! They’d probably be one of the most active demons when it comes to interacting with people, and they would be coveted as one of the more benevolent ones.

But also Beej would not have met Lydia, the Maitlands, and the rest of his adopted human family. He wouldn’t have been cursed, he wouldn’t have the insatiable desire to be seen and heard and cared about. He would already have that! I like to think they’d eventually find each other, though. In every universe (of mine at least), he and Lydia are destined to be siblings, and he and the Maitlands are meant to be together. He’d just meet them already happy with himself and ready to accept their love.

Thank you again for the question! I hope you liked the answer. I’ll probably go more in depth about his appearance in this AU in a different post. Can’t wait for that art!!! /nf

[possum-quesadilla]

🎁🎁🎁🎁 RAAAHH!! I wanna see Living in the Present Tense >:3

Heyyyy Xufya! Thanks for the kick in the keister to get writing, hehe. You get a little Barbara and a little bit of scenery!

(For context, Barbara is sitting on his shoulders here)

[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]

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]

Hey all! Here is Cyrus’ backstory, including his human life and then his time as a demon up until his first appearance in Time’s Arrow!

Note: this is not meant to sympathize him, he sucks. Just wanted to share some backstory that’ll never come up in the fic!

TW: He grew up in the 1800s, where plenty of nasty stuff happened. Warnings for child labor, work incidents, mentions of homophobia and sexism, blood and violence, rampant substance abuse (including alcohol and drugs), gambling, murder, manipulation, emotional and physical abuse mentions. He’s a nasty dude.

Cyrus is a younger demon, having lived in America in the 1800’s. His real demonic name is “Sirius”, which is the brightest star in the night sky, also known as the “dog star”, and part of the constellation Canis Major. Canis Major is meant to be the hunting dog of Orion the hunter.

His human name was Jack Patrick Howard, and he was born and raised in Maine. His father was an immigrant from England, and his mother was a Maine native. He has a strong drifting accent (either Maine farming or cockney) that he does his best to cover up.

Jack grew up on a sheep farm with his folks, and was sent off to do small odd jobs for neighbors and local businesses by his father to make a quick penny for his poor family.

At the ripe young age of eight, he started pocketing half the money he earned from his odd jobs and just told his parents that people were paying him less.

At the age of thirteen, he took on a full time job in a factory and moved away from his parent’s farm.

He met a boy at age fifteen, and the two were seen as the best of friends by everyone around them. Really, he and that boy were dating, but that obviously was an issue back in 18-whatever.

That boy died mysteriously in a factory accident, purposefully caused by Jack when he realized people were starting to get suspicious of their close relationship.

Jack fled the factory shortly after, moving from job to job, drifting between towns. He became a grifter.

He worked a lot of odd jobs; factory worker, farm hand, logger, bartender, etc. He stole often and loved to spend the money on drinking and smoking and gambling, and he would just flee the town when he was caught.

Eventually, when he was 25, Jack got a letter: his aging parents needed help caring for themselves and the farm. So he traveled there, treated them all nice and sweet whenever company was over.

But once he’d settled in, he killed his parents and blamed it on their age/poor health. He inherited the farm and all their money, which wasn’t much.

Not able to hold down a farm by himself, Jack let his family farm go to ruin and then sold it for much less than it was worth within a year.

Jack continued to be a grifter, drinking and smoking his money away and stealing whenever he could, until he was about 33 years old.

That is when his crimes caught up with him.

A furious woman whose husband was driven to drink himself to death after their business went under due to Jack’s stealing their money and driving customers away came after him with a flintlock pistol while he was asleep.

He managed to escape, but not without grievous injuries.

Jack was going to die.

“I’d sell my soul for one last drink,” he said, as he hobbled along into the woods.

“That can be arranged,” a voice answered.

A demon named Canis came to him, offering up one last drink in exchange for his soul.

Jack thought quickly. He was always very clever.

He asked, instead, for the demon to retrieve an apple from a nearby orchard. He was too weak from blood loss to climb up and get one, and he would certainly exchange his soul if he could have just one last refreshing bite of an apple.

The demon grumbled but acquiesced, scaling the tree to get Jack an apple.

The man carved a crucifix into the bark of the tree with his pocket knife before the demon could come down.

Furious and trapped, the demon demanded he scratch off the cross and let him down.

Nope, not unless Jack got to drink and smoke and do as he pleased forever.

After much growling and grumbling, the demon agreed.

They shook on it, and Jack allowed the demon down.

Still quite angry, Canis said he would make him a demon, so that he could trick and scheme and lie for eternity. Sure, he wouldn’t “live” forever, but it was close enough. Jack hadn’t thought it through and set out the proper parameters of the Deal.

Canis had another stipulation: Jack would not get hellfire in his chest like every other demon. He would get only embers, and forever feel the chill of death unlike every other demon.

With that, Canis granted him his new name and led him down to the Netherworld.

Sirius.

He was fuming. He wanted to live forever, and now he was stuck in the Netherworld for eternity?

Now going by ‘Cyrus’, he immediately sought a way to scheme and climb the ladder.

Being on the bottom rung of the demon social ladder was horrendous. (May elaborate on that in another post if desired)

Being born a human was looked down upon among demonkind, despite the majority of them being born as humans.

He heard whispers of the Shoggoth spawn, and the power they wielded.

He then heard about a Shoggoth demon named Beetlejuice, and how he was unhappily married to a cruel demon named Rigel.

How he sought after attention and any crumb of affection by almost any means necessary.

He found his mark.

While Cyrus charmed and manipulated Beetlejuice, he searched for other ways to help him grow his power.

As he was schmoozing up a newly-dead in one of the waiting rooms, trying to strike up a Deal, Cyrus discovered something interesting growing from the carpet and the moldy corners of the ceiling: a strange little blue-leafed plant, with an alluring aroma.

It was called the ‘Tears of Prometheus’, and it grew in places where human despair was in great abundance.

Cyrus learned it had a wonderful warming affect on him when consumed, even more so when ground up and smoked.

It had other effects on the rest of demonkind.

It was highly addictive, but in very short supply.

Cyrus decided to seize control of that supply, plucking all of the plants and storing them away to grow himself.

His power and influence in the Depths grew rapidly overnight.

He was a nobody, a demon without even a building to his name.

Suddenly, he was rivaling the other higher level demons.

He had the power and influence he always wanted.

But he wanted more.

Cyrus convinced the members of his Cult to set up an exorcism ritual, and convinced Beetlejuice to lure his terrible husband at the time to it.

They watched him be Extinguished together.

Cyrus gained all of the Cult members that had belonged to Rigel.

(Cyrus does not have a Coven, only a Cult. He is hella sexist.)

Unfortunately for him, his little stunt got Beetlejuice in serious trouble with Juno, and he was cursed and banished to the surface.

So Cyrus waited for his return, all the while searching for another Shoggoth to steal power from, but he found none.

So he waited.

[possum-quesadilla]

2 for ash

2. what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

Ash loves punk, general emo stuff, and.. I guess “weirdcore”? Their playlist is partially made up of songs they enjoy. They also love music from horror movies.

They mostly listened to the common “scene kid” stuff of our time. My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Mitski, girl in red, Twenty One Pilots, etc.

Along with Beetlejuice, however, they recently went through Emily’s old records and got really into a few older-ish artists. Talking Heads, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Brian Eno, The Cranberries, etc.

They also like “weird” artists like Lemon Demon, Penelope Scott, Tom Cardy, Brain David Gilbert, Disasterpiece, Jack Stauber, Cavetown, etc.

Horror soundtracks from “Saw”, everything done by Disasterpiece (like “It Follows” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies”), stuff by John Carpenter (especially “Christine” and “The Thing”), the theme from “Re-Animator”.

They like to just get in their car and take long drives listening to music, or to lay in their bed with big earphones on and blasting the saddest stuff while staring at their ceiling.

[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]

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!