Chapter 8 Of Times Arrow, October Passed Me By Just Like Any Month Is Up! Enjoy The Spooky Festivities!!

Chapter 8 of Time’s Arrow, “October passed me by just like any month” is up! Enjoy the spooky festivities!! (Because next chapter will not be as fluffy as this one.)

As always, details!

- The lyrics for this chapter’s title are from “October Passed Me By” by girl in red! It’s perhaps the most literal title lyric.

- “Shaking as they poured over their every option, over all of the possibilities laid out before them.” - They have accidentally picked up on some of Cyrus’ speaking patterns.

- “Exhaustion weighed down their limbs, the heaviness of it all threatening to crack their collarbone as it settled down heavily on their shoulders.” - Kinda referencing the song “Sweet Hibiscus Tea” by Penelope Scott. Also “Never Love An Anchor” by The Crane Wives!

- “Beetlejuice?” - The first time he has not called him “Mr. Juice”!

- “The man asked, eyebrows creased in concern as he slowly stepped closer to the demon.” - FINAlLY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT IS CONCERN AND CARE! WE DID IT!

- “… as Charles returned with a package of mascot bandaids…” - Pokémon bandaids!

- “(He thought he heard him asking something about grey hair.)” - His hair turns grey when he is overwhelmed / overstimulated / burnt out. Charles does not have the color chart memorized yet.

- “He just wanted to go to sleep.” - By sleep he means hibernate.

- “Beetlejuice didn’t know who bandaged his face, or who gave him a warm mug of cinnamon tea. Someone kissed his temple, a cat jumped in his lap.” - Charles bandaged his face, Delia made him the tea and kissed his temple, and Pluto is in his lap!

- “Someone’s hands were on his shoulders.” - Charles’ hands.

- “He opened his eyes to find Lydia’s shoulders moving with each deep, purposeful breath she took.” - She is sooo super mad and is plotting Cyrus’ demise, but she is trying to hold it in for Beej.

- “He’d avoided discussing Cyrus with them for as long as he could. What they had was wonderful, but it was still new. Unsure. Fragile. He supposed this was as good of a test as any.” - It is not fragile but Beej has never been in like an actually stable relationship so it feels strange.

- “… he swallowed hard, staring down at the mug in his hands. ‘Happy Father’s Day to my favorite financial burden’. Huh. This is Chuck’s.” - Charles doesn’t let others use his favorite mug, but he is making an acception for Beej here.

- “The hands squeezed his shoulders, and someone kissed the top of his head.” - Again, Charles and Delia.

- “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.” - The “lips in hair” is from a lyric from “The Bed Song” by Amanda Palmer, one of my favorite sad songs. Wanted to highlight the sweet intimacy of this scene.

- “Barbara and Adam both had to step out of the room separately to take breaks, during which he heard them doing their best to stifle sobs. (They never left him by himself, thankfully.) He was sure he’d never seen the two of them so… angry. Adam’s face turned red, and he quietly clenched his jaw and nodded along. Barbara often stood to pace the room, swiftly returning to her chair after she’d gotten the bursts of rage out of her. He could still feel the rage boiling within them, even as they laid peacefully beside him. He hadn’t had anyone ever… sit and listen and care like that. Reassure him, over and over; “it’s not your fault”, “we’re here for you”. “We love you”. Over and over. They thanked him for sharing with them. They held him as he cried.” - Just kinda wanted to highlight this. The Maitlands are no strangers to trauma and a tough conversation like this, so they are unfortunately well-versed in how to handle them. They are furious, but they are going to rage about it later, when Beej isn’t there. Also, no, he did not tell them about the Deal, so they have no idea about his time limit.

- “Beetlejuice had seen the kitten choke on his own back paw before.” - Based on my friend’s kitten. Little guy is dumb.

- “Don’t talk about my son like that, Shoggoth.” - Based on a strange trait of mine, where I call people by their last names when I’m mad at them.

- “They frowned, tail tip shaking as they lightly tugged at their leg fur. (It was getting quite long, lately. They weren’t sure what to do about it.)” - Wool shearing is on the horizon!!

- “… her face flushing a light pink as Ash leaned in and scooped it up without a problem.” - Lydia has a type. This comes up several times in the chapter. Also, Ash is putting on lots of muscle mass thanks to Barbara’s lunches!

- “ “You were making weird.. pained dad noises with each step!” “Those were… normal noises!” ” - Shout out to my fellow non-dads who make dad noises due to pain.

- “Lydia crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “Do I have to call Barbara? Because I’ll totally call her.” Beetlejuice growled, a noise which his sister readily returned. “… no. I’ll stay put.” ” - The mere threat of telling Barbara is more than enough to convince him.

- “ “Yeah, it sounds like a proper hoot.” He ignored the way both teens raised an eyebrow at his phrasing.” - If I have been judged for using that word, so too will Beej.

- “ “Are we leaving soon? I think I’m going to chew my own arms off if I have to be stuck in this any longer.” Lydia groaned softly. “Not again, please.” She ignored Ash’s soft but disbelieving ‘again?’.” - They have yet to tell Ash the full details of the time loop.

- “Lydia had done their makeup before her own, carefully painting on skeletal features. The two of them were both flushed as she held the other teen’s face and leaned in close. Beetlejuice had to step out to chase Pluto around to escape the tension.” - Lesbians.

- “ “We can have plenty of fun together while they’re at school.” Slowly, he turned his head back to look at his boyfriend with wide eyes. “… oh?” Barbara nodded enthusiastically. “We still have to watch ‘Hocus Pocus’!” “Don’t forget ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’!” Ah. Okay. Not what I had in mind, but still fun, I guess.” - Beej thought they were gonna get freaky, but he is totally happy with not doing it for now.

- “Barbara tutted, quickly walking over to them. “You might think it’s gross now, but you’ll be all ‘gross’ with a lucky lady someday!” Beetlejuice was sure the teen’s face was flushed under all the makeup. “Ohh, you two look so cute! I wish I could pinch your cheeks!” She leaned to kiss Lydia’s forehead, then an astounded Ash’s. “You two be safe and have fun today, alright? We’ll start the festivities as soon as you get home!” ” - MOTHER BARBARA MOMENT!!

- “Barbara made him bacon and eggs.” - As mentioned in a previous chapter, Barbara makes bacon and eggs the particular way Beej likes them!

- “The next movie was some sort of weird animation. The visuals were nice and strange (and oddly familiar, somehow), and the songs were catchy.” - Hehe, it’s because it has the same aesthetic as his original movie.

- “He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he was woken by the sound of the front door opening.” - Knocked the fuck out by head scratches

- “He swiftly went to get up and phase down through the floor to meet his sister, but was halted by Adam gripping his face and pulling him in for a sudden deep, long kiss. Beetlejuice was reduced to a puddle of pink-haired (and faced) goo in his hands, stammering out false starts to sentences. (He even thanked him. How ridiculous is that?)” - A reference to how Adam tricked Beetlejuice in the musical! Perhaps not the best method to use here, in retrospect. I sure am glad Beej didn’t think on it too hard.

- “… a strange backpack was placed on his back.” - One that looks like Bowser’s shell!

- “She paused to kiss his cheek. (He wished, more than anything, that her lipstick would leave a mark.)” - Sad reminder that they are, indeed, dead.

- “Fuck, when did Lyds get so tall?” - It’s happening! She’s getting taller!!

- “Beetlejuice even somehow managed to squeeze into a storm drain and grab the ankles of an unlucky group of parents following behind their trick-or-treating kids. He’d never heard such a high-pitched wail come out of such a large man before.” - Based on a personal experience.

- “The fun only briefly halted when Lydia noticed a missing person poster that was posted around town for a local old coot. Beetlejuice hurried her along, pushing down the bubbling guilt in his throat. “It’s Connecticut, people go missing all the time!” He had no frame of reference for that, of course, but she seemed to buy it.” - Hmm. Weird! I wonder what this is about?

- “(‘They’ not including Beetlejuice. He wasn’t allowed to hold the knives and gouging tools, but he was allowed to direct Lydia on how he wanted his pumpkin to look. And eat all of the pumpkin guts.)” - Also based on personal experience. I was not allowed to eat the guts.

- “The latter two were in their own versions of the group costume, Charles wearing a green sweater and a fake mustache, Delia wearing a yellow dress and a plastic tiara.” - just wanted to highlight their cute Halloween costumes.

- “She released his tail, wiping her hand off on her pants afterwards. “Can’t have Mrs. D stealing all of your gratitude!” ” - Ash thinks Delia and Charles are already married. Also, she’s wiping her hands off because Beetlejuice’s tail feels weird.

- “ “Hey, I try not to judge you two on your hobbies. Maybe they were measuring me for a coffin!” Ash nodded, stepping back as Beetlejuice got to his hooves. “Yeah, I need practice, and if you’re not gonna let me do an autopsy on him, at least I can - ” ” - Ash plans to work in a morgue!

- “But Ash did a splendid job of distracting him, egging him on with insults about his driving skills. What are they up to? It was hard to pay attention to the stupid, colorful track. He kept falling off, his mind stuck on what Lydia could possibly- ” - Ash and Beej trash talking! Also yeah it’s Rainbow Road.

- “Those twinkling vermillion eyes shone brightly at him, dark skin and pretty freckles glistening gently with demonic power. (Geez, she’d gotten more powerful.) A purple-jeweled nose ring was the only addition to her appearance. Her corkscrew-curly hair was still untamed, matching russet-colored cow-like ears barely poking out from underneath. A tag hung from her left ear, her name inscribed in various scypts. Long, curved horns accented her face. She was tall and broad, hulking over him like always. He weighed nothing to her, like holding a handful of grapes. Russet-furred bovine legs hidden by dark dress pants, a plain black dress-shirt with wide sleeves.” - Say hello to Deb! Here is her description, so it’s all in one place. She is a beautiful buff woman, and she is 6’6”! All demons are tall, Beej is an exception. Also, “He weighed nothing to her, like holding a handful of grapes.” Is a reference to “Brooklyn-99”!

- “Beetlejuice squirmed futilely in her grip, pointing at each of the humans in turn. “Deb, that’s Chuck, (he ignored the man murmuring “Charles, please”) Delia, Ash, my partners Barbara and Adam, and my.. sister Lydia.” ” - notice how he trusts Deb enough to give her their real names?

- “ “She’s quite the talented witch! How long has she been a part of your coven?” Lydia’s face flushed, and she looked down at the floor. “Just, uh… just two months, Miss.” ” - I would act the same way if a giant, beautiful woman complimented my skills.

- Bela is pronounced “bay-la”!

- “ “There’s a two demon limit to this house.” Barbara and Adam exchanged glances as Lydia and Beetlejuice let out twin exasperated groans. “Daaad!” “Don’t ‘dad’ me, missy. Two demons is plenty.” ” - damn that sucks. I wonder if this rule will ever be broken!

It’s Cozmo again :D

I got some questions— who’s your favorite and least favorite character in LoopJuice?

Also

What’s your favorite sentence/scene you’ve written in the LoopJuice series?

Hey Cozmo! Excellent questions, thank you!

Hmmm. Favorite in general would be a split between Beetlejuice and Lydia, of course. I’ve put so much into their development, and I love the original characters dearly, so I’d say either of them! Least favorite? Cyrus or Juno. I loooove writing evil characters, and I also love hating on them along with my readers.

Favorite to write for is obviously either Beetlejuice, Barbara, or Cyrus! Beej’s inner dialogue is always so fun, and Barbara’s ‘do no harm but take no shit’ attitude is also very delightful. I have to revert in my mind to someone who has a very different vocabulary than me for her, so it’s always fun and engaging. Cyrus and the other demons (including the others yet to be properly introduced) have a very strange way of speaking that is a treat to write. They’ve very obviously learned to speak from observing humans and their media, but not really often actually engaging with them. They snipe and insult and make threats so nonchalantly, and always have their own agendas and repressed feelings. It’s fun!

Least favorite to write would, unfortunately, either be Delia or Charles. I have very little experience with straight-edged characters like Charles, and Delia is a fun type of person I don’t often interact with, so I don’t have much experience with. I always feel like I’m not doing either of them justice, or that readers will think they are OOC.

OOOUGH THATS A TOUGH QUESTION. I’ll have to think on that and come back to ya! Without actually looking back myself, I’d say perhaps either Chapter 3 of Time is a Flat Circle or one of the various strongly emotional scenes in Time’s Arrow. (or an upcoming scene in Time’s Arrow…) I am very proud of the dread and exhaustion that it gives off, and how many comments I received about people’s reactions to it. Time’s Arrow has a lot of very emotional scenes that I am proud of, but some I am not. I will have to give a quick re-read soon to give a proper answer!

Thank you again for the question, Cozmo! 💙

WHEHWGERHEHE STOPP

SAME TO YOU!! AND ALL THE OTHER ARTISTS!!

Shot out to ALL my artist moots

EVERY

SINGLE

ONE

And I dont mean just the ones who draw

I ALSO mean the writers *COUGH COUHH* @possum-quesadilla loop juice 🔥🔥🔥🙏

ALL OF YOU ARE THE COOLEST

I’m no good at knowing what’s socially acceptable and what isn’t but that’s pretty chill to me! Also sounds like fun!

Is it weird that I make up my own ideas for how online friends look? Is it odd that I’ve drawn a few mutuals (on tumblr and on other platforms) the way I imagine them to look?? Idk. Someone tell me if that’s a weird thing to do

If one more person asks if my Owl House tattoo is a Zelda tattoo I will. Sigh and say no for the thousandth time

I got a splendid question in the comments of my fic, so I decided to post my answer here as well! (I cropped out the question/username of the asker in case they didn’t want to be posted)

The question was if I had a voice claim/accent in mind for Cyrus, and I do!

(Also Frank-N-Furter sometimes, as fabulously suggested by another reader)

Here’s a bit of backstory that won’t really be touched on: Cyrus was born a human, not a demon like Beetlejuice. He chose to become a demon. He was alive during the 1800s, which is why his dialect is weird and all over the place. He’s learning the new dialect through dead humans and is covering up his real accent as best he can!