#beetlelandsweek

[hawaiian-has-moved]

Day Five: Wedding

Beej is having the time of his afterlife, finally being wed to his two favorite ghosts. Though he is not exactly alive this time around, he feels and looks more alive than he has in his entire afterlife.

I went around, researched, and received feedback for this post so that I could do the culture justice. This piece went through many revisions to get to this result. I wanted to keep with my theme of the cartoon’s style, but I did not want to make it seem as if I were making mockery of Jewish culture. The end result became true to my goal, and also was accompanied by a lovely story. I hope everyone else likes it as much as I do. Adam and Barb’s outfits are also loosely based off of the wedding outfits of their movie counterparts. I tried to bring a lot of elements into this piece. :> @beetlelandsweek 

[maitlandmischief]

Its been AGES since I posted here but its #beetlelandsweek2020 and I can't sit here and NOT participate somehow! Here's a mashup of the prompts from days 1-3: one bed/hurt-comfort/angels-and-demons

Day 1-3 prompt mashup!

The Demon and his Angels

Everyone's favorite ghost with the most was perched outside on the roof overlooking Winter River. It was 3am and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A beautiful view.

He stared up at the star that bore his name sake. He often searched for it when he was feeling particularly lonely. Tonight was one such night.

He liked to brush off his feelings. He was the Ghost With the Most. Nonchalant. Horny. Mischievous. Carefree. Not weak.

But sometimes, when no one was looking, when the whole house was asleep and his thoughts got loud, he let his sharp-toothed grin crumple away as green-tinted tears threatened to spill over his pale cheeks.

It had been 6 months since the incident. Friendships had been forged from the flames and the family had strived to move on. He even found himself being scooped up by the vanilla couple and accepted into their relationship.

For the first time, he had a home.

Mother's day had come and gone. It had been rough for Barbara. Bj had scoured the netherworld library and nurseries for any sign of the baby that almost was, to no avail. For her sake, he had brushed aside any sappy emotions he had felt and tried to be strong for her. And for Lydia.

The sun had rose and set, the event consisting of a trip to Emily and Barbaras Graves and dinner out for the Deetzes.

Adam and Barbara had treated Barbara to a special dinner. Her husband had made up her favorite meal, and BJ had used his ghost magic to shower the attic in her favorite plants and flowers.

The trio ended their evening in cuddles. The Maitlands had drifted off to sleep in BJ's arms on the couch. Until Beej was left alone with his thoughts. And now here he sat on the roof. Alone with the memories of his now deceased (again) demon mother.

The memories kept him up and seemed to replay in his mind. He choked up and finally let the tears spill over.

'I was never good enough for you.'

'You left me to rot alone.'

'What did I do wrong?'

These thoughts and more echoed in his skull so loudly it reached the minds of the maitlands.

His shoulders shook and he hugged his knees, burying his face in his tattered, striped slacks.

Had a heaven existed in this world, the Maitlands would have been reincarnated as angels. They had a warmth about them despite their eternally cold state. They could sense the energy of their loved ones and always knew when they're light was needed.

They blinked their eyes open as the demons thoughts echoed in their supernatural subconscious. They looked at each other and, without a word, nodded knowingly and floated up to their precious demon.

They wrapped their arms around him and held him close without a word. He let himself break and be held. He cried for what felt like an eternity, Adam tracing circles on his back and Barbara whispering soft words of love and healing. If one paid attention, one might have noticed a hint of a faint glow over the heads of the newlydeads as they comforted their lover.

Eventually BJ felt himself being moved by them into the attic. He felt himself laid down and held between them on something soft.

They'd been together for 2 months, and BJ had never shared their bed. Despite his obnoxious teasing, he was actually rather shy about it. Though he had also never felt as though he belonged there.

Now there he was, wrapped in the surprisingly chillingly warm embrace of his lovers. He curled up close against Barbara's chest as she ran her fingers through his purple turning soft pink hair. Adam holding him from behind and continuing to rub his arm gently and lovingly.

Yes. He belonged there. The three of them. In one bed. The demon and his angels.

[paperpaperowl]

I’m so late for @beetlelandsweek but time does whoosh by when you’re dead...

Here is “Day One: one bed” ... a hammock totally counts right?

[upperstories]

I’m sorry for the lack of art lately!!! Been really busy getting ready for @beetlelandsweek

Here are some previews of some pieces I’m working on! 💕💖

[hoodoo12]

Ship in a Bottle

Here is a my contribution to Beetlelands week. A small thing, mostly character study.  SFW

@beetlelandsweek

Enjoy! ~

Ship in a Bottle

More like a maelstrom in a teacup, Barbara would say. 

Adam had once started crafting a ship in a bottle, before they died. He was good with his hands, enjoyed the fiddly miniature work, and had the patience for it. Despite the care he took with it, however, some of it was not perfect; the keel was slightly crooked and the masts weren’t straight. Without breaking the bottle, there was no way to remove it to fix those pieces. He never completed it. It sat dusty and half finished on a shelf in the attic. 

Beetlejuice came into their (after)lives in with zeal and pageantry. They’d been overwhelmed--rightfully so, they agreed privately--and then with the clarity of hindsight, they’d been rude to him. From the start he’d been clear about what he wanted, even if his over the top enthusiasm had very few boundaries and was politically incorrect at times. When his schemes and the con he tried to pull by forcing a teenager to marry him at first seemed to go his way actually failed and he was speared like a fish on the living room floor--Lydia’s counter con job helped in no small part by the two of them--Adam turned away at the violence of it. Barbara, however, couldn’t drag her gaze off Beetlejuice, collapsed on the floor with a pole jutting out of his chest. His expression was pain: deep pain of having taken the first sips of sweet air and then trying but failing to fill his lungs again. His expression was shock: nauseated shock that everything he had wanted been torn away from him only moments after he’d been given it. His expression was disbelief: utter disbelief that he’d been so lied to and betrayed, and that he’d been such a fool to believe.

The Deetz, nee Maitland, house gained a new newly dead resident. 

After his initial bluster and bravado to get rid of the horrible being called his mother, now that he was trapped in the house, Beetlejuice became withdrawn and small. He couldn’t be bothered to speak and spent literal days on the roof, laying flat on his back staring into the sky, not moving. The Maitlands weren’t upset with the situation--he had put them through a lot--until one day, they were. It wasn’t right that someone so vibrant had been reduced so much. Occasionally Barbara would go up there to check on him, to brush off the leaves that fell onto him and to comb out the dust that settled into his bruise-colored hair. He never seemed to care. Eventually she and Adam would find excuses to join their new housemate on the roof. They’d sit and talk. They tried to engage him. Whether he responded or not, they continued. And gradually, because they worked to make it normal, and worked to make him understand they cared, he came around. Finally he was almost back to the high spirits and pushing the less-than-appropriate boundaries they’d first known from him. He only had brief lapses of the purple hair that heralded his melancholy, and if he saw they saw, he either swiftly brushed it off or escaped back to the roof again. It took a long time before he would just accept a hug and quiet company when they found him in that state. Those days were fewer and further between, now. 

Now he was back to being full of piss and vinegar, and once again eager to cause havoc. Everyone living and dead learned to put up with him. Adam said Beetlejuice grew on them like a fungus, which pleased him and gave him the opportunity to use the dumbest, most clique response possible (“I’m a fungi!”) (No one laughed but him.)

Maelstrom in a teacup was accurate. But more accurate was a ship in a bottle: stuck with no way out except to break what contained them, and face the Netherworld or Sandworms. Neither of those were an option they were willing to try. As they grew used to the chaos and the exuberance that Beetlejuice tackled them with, they eventually realized how dull their (after)life would be without him. Their (after)life with him was wonky and slightly off kilter, like that wooden ship in its dust-smeared bottle. 

And just like that wooden ship in its dusty bottle, their (after)life wasn’t finished either. As Beetlejuice liked to remind them, death was a really long time. But at least they had each other, and him.

 fin.

[leeferal]

Title: Muted Grey Nightmares

Link: [here]

Rating: General

Summary:

Barbara rolls over in bed, unsure of what woke her up.

Adam's still happily asleep. So it wasn't him ... but then what was it?

Notes: Written for @beetlelandsweek day one

I couldn’t let all the fills for it be happy, after all

[haunt-till-it-hurts]

Day 2: Datenight

@beetlelandsweek

[seizetheday-o]

so i know i didnt participate much in beetlelands week but i just wanna shout out and say thank you to the mods of @beetlelandsweek !!!

its always such an amazing feeling to see that the ship you love is big enough to get a ship week and they did such a good job of organizing it. plus the prompt list was sooo good and the dedication to adding a comment to each entry was incredible

everyone say thank you beetlelands week mods!!!!

[shipdest]

Last day of beetlelands week!

Just a study of beej mood ring hair, and the maitlands.

So, wanted to thank @beetlelandsweek , bcs this event inspired me like, so much(? I went from drawing like, once a week, to every day for, like 10 hours per day (maybe i almost give myself tendinitis, but, who knows?). Also, i downloaded autodesk sketchbook on my phone, so i learned like, everything during this week(? But is just so freaking awesome to use, i can make everything look so...clean.

Anyways, just thank to the mods for the nice comments! Thank to the artists, for making freaking awesome drawings, and to the people who rebloged and liked my art 💙

[beebleboosuwu]

@beetlelandsweek: Day One - One Bed

Wooo!!! I am so psyched to participate for Beetlelands Week 2020! Hope you guys enjoy this!

[hawaiian-has-moved]

Day Four: Demons and Angels

Two angels on his shoulder and he's still a hell of a trouble maker.

@beetlelandsweek

[filmcityworld1]

ok i know this is old but i feel like this would fit for the @beetlelandsweek thing yesterday  about hurt since it’s about bj helping the maitlands get there baby back that they lose years ago 

[totallycorrect-beetlejuice]

Fanfic/Art: Child’s Play

Lilith is a bubbly and hyperactive seven year-old demon/ghost hybrid. She loves goofing off, making her family smile, having fun, and playing games (her favorite being hide and seek). She loves causing trouble with her demon father and living “sister figure” Lydia and sometimes her ghost parents and living family like to join in on the fun.

@beetlelandsweek

Written/drawn for day six: Parenting.

Despite being the only one of her kind, Lilith was an easy young demon-ghost hybrid girl to take care of. She loved her mother and fathers and her living family equally and they all showered her with as much love as they did Lydia. Other than her parents, Lilith was obviously close with Lydia and considered her her sister (even going as far as calling her her sister, which Lydia just loved to joke about).

Barbara’s becoming pregnant with Lilith became quite a shock to the whole family because they didn’t know the dead could even become pregnant. So when Barbara, Adam, and Betelgeuse returned home from the Netherworld with a new addition to the family in Barbara’s arms, the Deetzes immediately became attached.

Lilith was also hyperactive and loved to help out her demon father and her “sister” with their daily chaos and pranks, which was usually okay considering she couldn’t get hurt (though she also often tried to stay out of trouble).

One day, when Charles and Delia were away and Lydia decided to stay and help her deceased “family” with taking care of Lilith, the seven year-old had gone missing and they didn’t know where she was. They’d looked all over the house for her but there was no sign of the youngster. They had given up at this point and were about to sit down at watch tv when they heard the sound of giggling coming from a blanket that wasn’t on there before but was now.

Barbara floated over and lifted it up, revealing the giggling hybrid underneath. Lilith looked up at her amused mother and smiled at her. Barbara sat down on the couch next to her and she moved to sit in her lap, clinging to her tightly.

“Mother! Fathers! Big “sister”! You found me!” she cheered.

Adam booped her on the nose. “Were you trying to get us to play hide and seek with you, you silly girl?”

“Hide n seek! Hide n seek!” she cheered, teleporting off her mother’s lap and running upstairs.

“Alright, guess we’re playing hide and seek today.” Adam laughed. “Who else wants to hide?” In response to his question, his husband and wife and Lydia ran off as well, leaving him alone in the living room. “Alright,” he sighed. “Guess I’m going to be the one counting. One...two...three...”

[upperstories]

Me preparing for @beetlelandsweek

[hawaiian-has-moved]

Day 6: Parenting

I couldn't really decide on one way to show the family hanging out, so I drew multiple stages of their life!

This is Leaf. Who was named leaf in a text between @aquatic-juice and I at 3am where we were both very tired. They are non binary and strictly go by They/Them. They look and act a good bit like Beej, but also share similarities with Adam and Barbara.

They're a trouble maker at heart, and have learned a whole ton from Beej, but they also know when not to do other things that Adam and Barb have told them are off limits. Even if Papa Beej tries to convince them into doing something they aren't allowed to do.

@beetlelandsweek

[hawaiian-has-moved]

I’m behind on Beetlelands week a bit, but I’ll attempt to catch up.  Here’s day one!  Just the three cuddling in bed watching the exorcist. Adam and Barbara aren’t really paying attention, they’re just happy that they get to cuddle with their favorite stinky ghost boyfriend. UvU @beetlelandsweek