#Beetlejuice BoaF

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 7 of Birds of a Feather.

Chapter 7- A Tender Moment

@possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless @crawlingcarcass @katslitterbox

“Shilo picked tonight’s movie. A human monster romance movie. She was always good at finding those.”

I didn’t have a specific movie in mind for this one. If anyone’s got some recommendations, lmk.

“Shilo was cut off by Beetlejuice roughly shoving his lips against hers. He rested one hand over hers and placed the other on her waist. Oh my god we’re kissing and it’s actually happening and I don’t hate it and he doesn’t hate it and jesus christ is that his tongue getting shoved down my throat—“

Woo they kissed! I’ve been planning on writing this scene for a long time. It’s also my first time writing anything with romance, so that’s neat.

“Remember when I said harpies don’t kiss in our culture?”

”Yeah?”

”I lied.”

He had to convince her somehow

“he jumped off the couch and scampered away, pink feathered and blushing and giggling like a schoolgirl. The blush on his feathers matched the pink on Shilo’s face.”

Not pictured is him tripping over a rug running to the stairs. He jumped into bed and screamed for two minutes straight after this.

“She changed into some warm sweatpants and a tank top.”

Also not pictured is the fact that he secretly watched her change. I decided to omit that. I de-perved him a lot in this fic.

“As she walked to the side of their bed, she dragged her fingers along Beetlejuice’s back, watching in amusement as his wings fluttered and he jerked his head up with a high pitched trill, forgetting he was supposed to be sleeping.”

Another action that’s based off my cats!!

[c0zmo-writes-archive]

Hello! I was inspired by the always amazing @possum-quesadilla to write some details, background stuff, and other little notes for my harpy Beetlejuice fanfiction, Birds of a Feather. This is just chapter one for now.

Chapter 1- Feathered Finds

“It had what was either a scraggly beard or lichen on its face. Maybe both?”

Beej has plant life growing on his body! He could be his own little forest if he wanted to.

“My name is Shilo. I study cryptids and monsters. Ever since I found out that a harpy lived in the deepest part of these woods eight years ago, I dedicated my life to finding it! Yes, I moved to the woods and built my own house here, and yes, all my friends and family think I’m crazy, and yes, they tried to get me diagnosed with something, but it’s all been worth it! I knew you were real! Oh, what’s your name by the way?”

Fun fact: Shilo is autistic and has ADHD! She is also a big infodumper. She either talks to herself a bit, doesn’t talk for three days straight, or never stops talking. She’s just like me fr.

“And to answer your other questions, first, because when I get focused on a project, I get focused, and I’ve been interested in cryptids and monsters my whole life.”

Special interest moment !!

“Shilo wanted to fight back, wanted to argue that she didn’t wait this long searching for him just to not be able to publish her findings,”

By “publishing her findings”, Shilo was really planning on screaming about Beej on Reddit. I love this nerdy mad scientist loser girl <3333

“Before she could change her mind, Shilo wrapped her arms as far as she could around the harpy. He smelled of roadkill and pine sap. His soft chest feathers tickled her nose and she held her breath as his body stiffened.”

Is it a good idea to hug a large forest bird monster that you’ve just met? Probably not. Not that Shilo cares. 

“You, my feathered friend, are a whopping seven feet and two inches tall!”

He’s a tall boy!! Even larger than the average male harpy (based on my slightly modified version of the species at least)! I wonder if there’s a reason behind that…

“Yeah? What, is parrot Shilo comin’ back again? If she is, you should dress the part. You’d look good in a bit of color.” He gestured to her current attire, a long sleeved black undershirt, ratty lab coat that looked older than time itself, and some black pants, stained with grass and grime”

All of her clothes are either stained or dirty. This girl is Not Good at keeping up with laundry.

“I dunno about immortal, ‘cause my mom definitely wasn’t. I guess I just have a long life span? I never really questioned it.”

…

“Wow!” Shilo stretched the word out, speaking a few octaves higher than normal. “That’s… such an interesting answer!” Beetlejuice didn’t seem to see her discomfort.”

Shilo isn’t amazing at picking up social skills, but Beetlejuice is worse.

“It was populated with tables, corkboards, and journals. So. Many. Journals.”

She has around 50-ish journals. She’s written in about 34. She’s actually completed about 10.

“He kept roaming the lab, sniffing at books, tables, and walls. From upstairs, he could hear the quiet clattering of what he assumed were pots and pans. He crawled onto the mattress and inhaled deeply. It smelled like her. Sweat, earth, and something vaguely floral. He liked that. He nuzzled against her pillow a bit,”

Sensory input is incredibly important to him, especially scents and sounds! He’s got a very sensitive nose and ears.

“SALMON!!!” Beetlejuice leapt up from his spot on the floor and lunged for Shilo. In his rush, he bit down on both the salmon and the plate, narrowly avoiding Shilo’s finger.”

Poor guy was starving :(

“He tried to sit down the way Shilo did, but his wings got in the way. After a bit of struggling, he stood up, made a low growling sound in the back of his throat, then kicked the chair over in a rage, sending it flying.”

When you try to fit in with your new friend but you’ve got two heavy duty feather dusters permanently strapped to your back.

“He jerked his head up, face smeared red with raspberry carnage.”

I picture him looking like a baby eating cake for the first time. 

“A soft purring sound emitted from him as he dozed off again. Shilo made a mental note to write about that as she ran her fingers through his crest of hair, eventually joining him in slumberland.”

Despite being half bird, Beetlejuice purrs like a cat!! His feathers and hair are also very soft and fluffy! 

[c0zmo-writes-archive]

Hello! Here are some notes/background info/etc on my Harpy Beetlejuice AU, Birds of a Feather! Here’s chapter two.

Chapter 2- Boredom

“It was hard to tell in the low light, but it appeared to be a translucent green color. After a few moments, her brain connected the dots. It was drool.”

Fun fact- all of Beej’s bodily fluids are some shade of green. His blood also glows in the dark, so he’s sorta like a glow stick!! A feather and flesh covered glow stick.

“You’re gettin’ all this stuff for me?” He was confused. Wasn’t he just some lab project to her? Why was she being so nice to him?”

Poor Beet has never had someone go out of their way to get things for him. My guy does NOT know how to handle care and acts of service being thrown his way. 

“Then his hand met the light switch. Perfect. He played with the lights for a bit, until his attention flitted to an open door. He dove to the floor and batted the door between his hands, eyes wide and pupils large. That kept him entertained for a good five minutes, before he got bored once again.”

Cat Beetlejuice strikes again. He’s got ADHD in this AU! I might be projecting onto these characters just a bit…

“He unfurled his large wings and jumped up, prepared to fly, but he misjudged how much space was between him and a large stack of loose papers. The force of his wings flapping sent the papers flying in a frenzy around him. The sudden stationery storm made him panic. With a distressed screech, he flew up and clung to the bookshelf. To his dismay, the shelf creaked and leaned forward, bringing him down with it.”

While his hand-eye coordination is pretty good, he has pretty poor impulse control and doesn’t really take a minute to think: “Will the force of flapping my wings send everything around me flying?” He also loses a lot of skills when he’s in a panic. Like basic reasoning. Also shoutout to alliteration. I fucking love using alliteration. 

“Dammit. Now Shilo’s definitely gonna kill me.” He tucked his wings back, slowly approaching the reason he was about to get his ass beaten.”

Shilo would never intentionally hurt him, not that he’s aware of that.

“Ok, ok. Gotta fix this. God, I wish there was something I could use to just glue this thing back together!” It seemed the lightbulb in his head hadn’t clicked on yet. After a worryingly long amount of time, he snapped his fingers and bounced up. “Oh yeah! Glue!”

Inspired by this scene in The Cuphead Show.

“The label read “Glow-In-The-Dark Glitter Glue: Neon Green color! (now with 98% less radium!)”

Just pointing this out because it made me chuckle while writing it.

“After a few seconds, nothing came out, so he bit into the top of the container and ripped it off. He squeezed the bottle harder. With a loud, splattery slop, half the glue bottle dumped onto the pages. Shit. That’s too much, isn’t it? He thought to himself as glue dripped onto his hand. He licked it off.”

Probably not a great idea to put the radioactive glitter glue in your mouth. 

“She stumbled over a pair of shattered glasses. Oh. That’s what that crunching sound from earlier was. Beetlejuice realized.”

Thankfully, those glasses were old and not the right prescription!

“Shilo’s shoulders and jaw tensed. She held her face in her hands and sighed. Counted to ten in her head. Did everything she could to not scream in the face of the harpy.”

When your new science experiment breaks one of the only rules you’ve set for him in a three hour span. 

“Beetlejuice tilted his head and furrowed his brow. What’s wrong? Why isn’t she happy? He wondered. He decided he’d point her in the right direction. He swooped past her and grabbed the sticky, glittery journal. He thrust it into her face with a smile. “Beetlejuice,” her voice was scarily quiet, “I’m going to ask you this again. What did you do?” Beetlejuice stepped back. “What’re you so pissed about? I fixed it!” He beamed.”

He has lots of trouble reading social cues!! He thinks he did something really great, he doesn’t know why Shilo seems upset at him :(

“Beetlejuice flinched at the loud noise and scampered away like a little rodent into the closest room with a door, which happened to be a dark bathroom. Shilo cringed at her outburst. She sighed and hung her head.”

Beetlejuice really hates it when he’s being yelled at due to a mix of trauma and sensory issues. Both Shilo and Beetlejuice struggle with occasional outbursts of anger. Shilo especially hates them. She doesn’t like feeling that she doesn’t have control over herself. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a support system or someone to help her with her mental health.

“and dug through the couch cushions until she found a pen.”

She keeps writing utensils everywhere. Couch cushions, empty flower vases, drawers, lying down on the floor waiting for an unsuspecting victim to step on it and become great friends with the wooden floor…

“Maybe it was just the lighting, but Shilo swore she saw his hair and now ruffled feathers tinted crimson red.”

His hair changes color based off his mood, as do some of the feathers on the underside of his wings (primary converts, primaries, and secondaries).

“Shilo made them both sandwiches, as Beetlejuice kept trying to plunge his fist in the jars and smear condiments on the bread with his hand. They ate in silence, both feeling a bit better. Beetlejuice once again wolfed down his sandwich. Then the next one. Then the next one. Then he tried to lap at the grape jelly, which Shilo had to shut down.”

Beetlejuice isn’t used to utensils, and prefers to grab/dig through stuff with his hands. He’s also a pretty messy eater overall. 

“Shilo only hearing a chorus of happy chirps when Beetlejuice saw his dessert – a bag of live beetles, worms, and a scorpion lollipop.”

He loves his bugs!! Beetlejuice also makes lots of bird sounds.

“Stay with me again?” He asked. Shilo settled down next to him, and they took a similar position to the previous night, with his head resting on her chest.”

He likes this position because it means he can listen to her heart beating. He also likes to sniff her. But the first reason is less creepy.

[c0zmo-writes-archive]

Notes and stuff for chapter four of Birds of a Feather.

Chapter 4- If You Give a Bird a Cellphone

“Today, he sat criss cross applesauce on the living room floor, a chewed pencil in one hand and some loose leaf paper in the other.”

Beetlejuice loves to chew on things. He mostly bites his nails, which can lead to bloody fingers, due to his sharp teeth.

“What’s this called again?” Beetlejuice asked after some time. “Gravity Falls.”

Shilo’s a fan of Gravity Falls! She watched it as a teen, and I’d like to think that the show is one of the things that sparked her love for cryptids and middle of nowhere houses in the woods.

“It took a while, but after an hour of giving him directions, then giving them again, then giving them a third time, just to realize he wasn’t even listening, Beetlejuice now knew how to call Shilo if he needed to.”

The sensory processing disorder and short attention span combo is absolutely brutal when someone’s trying to explain something completely new. I would know.

“What kinda pink? ‘Cause it shouldn’t be turnin’ hot pink yet,” Beetlejuice said.”

In the springtime, his feathers and the roots of his hair are bright magenta. I drew out what it looks like, but I’m not sure if I’ll share it or not. It’s a little bit suggestive. 

“She opened the message up and it was a photo of her a few minutes ago, accompanied by the caption: “  hieyi. tvhesyu” . She chuckled and typed back: “ hieyi. tvhesyu to you too beej” .”

This is based off of my sibling, who types shit like “prom@t”, “TALL YALKIJG ABOT”, or “rip foege”. I love em, they just type oh so quickly. Also all three of those quotes are things that they’ve actually typed out to me. He was trying to write “hey shilo”.

“My flock has a kinda dominance hierarchy thing goin’ on, and since my mom was the oldest and the strongest, she was pretty much the leader. She was a no nonsense kinda gal, which didn’t really pair that well with me. She got angry at me a lot, yelled at me, shit like that,”

His description is putting it pretty lightly. Also side note, but I’d absolutely love to go into detail about how his flock works. I don’t think anyone but me would really care about fictional harpy hierarchy. Someone please tell me if you want to hear about that, I’d love to rant about it. 

“He pulled out some ruffled feathers on his wrist with his teeth.”

He plucks his feathers when stressed. 

“Shilo accepted defeat and let Beetlejuice lie on her. After all, he did just spill his guts to her. He deserved to be held.”

I love the idea of putting him through horrible situations but at the same time I need him to be held and loved and comforted. 

“They were sweet to look at, especially to the beady eyes that were watching them sleep. Shilo shouldn’t have forgotten to close her curtains that night.”

I wonder who that could be…! :)

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for Chapter 8 of Birds of a Feather.

Chapter 8- Conflagration

@possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless @crawlingcarcass @katslitterbox

“Mmhr?”

Cat trilling noises !!

“We’re gonna have to have a conversation about last night eventually,” she said. “Ugh. ‘M not ready to have that talk,” he groaned. “Well then, we’re gonna have to have a conversation about how to defeat your mom.” “I’m not ready to have that talk either.”

Denial only gets you so far, bud.

“She took a deep breath, walked out the front door, and stepped into her hearse.”

Shilo drives a hearse!! I’ve wanted to drive a hearse for years.

“Beetlejuice (11:36): “i lpbw u”

Beetlejuice (11:36): “libe”

Beetlejuice (11:36): “kobe”

Beetlejuice (11:37): “live”

Beetlejuice (11:37): “close enuff”

His fingers are too big for him to properly type on the screen. He’s also not great at spelling.

“Bug? If I walk in there and you’re sticking my pads to your face again, I’m really not gonna be happy,”

This has happened before. Twice overall, but Shilo only walked in on him doing it the second time.

“Thankfully, she was only a bit taller than Shilo.”

Juno is 6’3” currently. Shilo is 5’10”. Juno can get to be over 7 feet tall after a rebirth.

“She had gray hair that coiled and floated around her head in a cloud.”

Her hair is like smoke! When she was a lot younger, it used to be black with orange-red streaks, but it gradually changed into what she has now.

“With the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a rollerskating ferret on crack, she grabbed a trash bag, threw it over Juno, sprinted down the stairs and outside, spun the bundle of bird above her head, and chucked Juno far into the woods, all while silently thanking her parents for forcing her to do track and field from middle to high school.”

My beta readers thought this part was funny. That last bit is based off of my own parents who tried (and failed) to get me to participate in sports back when I was in middle school.

“Did somethin’ happen?” He asked groggily.

Poor guy was sleeping in the basement during all of this.

“There was a sudden spread of warmth around her head. The injured area tingled, then the pain faded away. Now, she only had a dull throbbing pain in her head. Not completely fixed, but some of the pain was definitely relieved.”

Healing powers !!!

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 6 of Birds of a Feather.

Chapter 6- Calm Before the (Fire) Storm

@possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless @katslitterbox @crawlingcarcass

“his wings were stained a garish blend of orange and indigo. He was the world’s most depressing sunset.”

Orange- anxious, indigo- depressed

“(although, if he was being honest, he really just loved the feeling of Shilo's hands in his hair.)”

Poor guy is so horribly touch starved.

“They’d started watching a new movie every night. Tonight’s film was Little Shop of Horrors.”

Added this in because I love this movie!!!! I will go insane if I can’t shout out my other interests in my work.

“HE IS!!! I love shy, clumsy dudes with glasses,” he swooned.”

I think he’d be pretty fond of Adam if they met.

“Beetlejuice hummed in thought. “I guess I like a gal who’s self sufficient. And funny. And shows me the stuff she writes, even if I can’t read it. And lives in a remote cabin. Oh, and I love when a pretty girl tranquilizes me, ties me up, throws me in her car, and kidnaps me. I swear, that’s the hottest shit. Wouldn’t you agree, Shi?” He smirked. Shilo rolled her eyes.”

The story of how they met isn’t the cutest depending on how it’s told.

“Beetlejuice had taken a liking to fake flirting with Shilo. She loved to brush it off and scoff, but deep down… She didn’t hate it.”

…!

“Beetlejuice, what did I say about smelling me? It’s creepy.”

This is a semi regular occurrence.

“Experimentally, she dragged a hand up and down the feathers on his back... Immediately, he leapt up, the feathers on his back and wings blossoming into shades of light pink and yellow.”

Back touching is a very intimate gesture in harpy culture.

“He fought to free himself from the fuzzy fabric, but his feathers fluffed up and sent him further into his frenzy.”

I FUCKING LOVE ALLITERATION. Is this sentence a bit much? Probably. Don’t care though.

“Shilo picking at her hair.”

She’s got some hair pulling problems (just like me !!!)

“I did. When I told you about her, there was a… tiny detail I left out. Real small, don’t even matter that much! Honest!”

…

“If you had asked a seventeen year old Shilo if, in eight years, she saw herself planning out the murder of her best friend’s psychotic mother, she would’ve asked if you were mentally disturbed. But now, here she was, looming over a whiteboard with a marker in hand, writing the title: “how to kill beej’s crazy fire bird mom”.

Safe to say she’s had a bit of character development in those years.

“They swapped ideas between each other, until they eventually created a list that consisted of: “water?”, “stab !!”, “wait until she’s senile (may not happen within Shilo’s lifetime)”, “feed her to a wild animal”, “iron”, “holy water”, “garlic”. As much as Shilo insisted that garlic was for vampires, Beetlejuice was set on adding it as an option.”

Beetlejuice has already used a few of these options, but it never hurts to try again!

“Even though he was asleep, his head still shuffled until it rested in its favorite spot— right over her heart.”

He loves the sound of her heart beating <3

[c0zmo-writes-archive]

Some notes and stuff for chapter three of Birds of a Feather. 

Chapter 3- Frolicking and Friendship

“She froze fruit and water into ice cubes, which she would throw around the lab for Beetlejuice to chase. It was hilarious watching him stumble over his own feet as he chased the little ice cubes, but she always had to stifle her laughter whenever he fully flipped over, since it made him grumpy.”

This is based off of my own cats, who would always chase after ice cubes when they were younger. A lot of Beetlejuice’s mannerisms are based off my cats.

“he was busy devouring his lunch, a sandwich with potato chips, spicy pickles, honey mustard, raspberry jam, and some turkey slices.”

The pickles he’s eating are these spicy dill pickles from Trader Joe’s. They’re pretty good in sandwiches. 

“feathers taking on a bright shade of sunflower yellow.”

Bright yellow feathers means he’s super happy/excited!!

“The house smelled like pine and coffee, which was odd because Beetlejuice had only ever seen Shilo drink tea in the mornings.”

Shilo’s got a coffee scented candle. 

“Yeah,” he continued, “I molted kinda recently, so I can’t fly all that good right now. Not for far distances, at least.”

He molts twice a year, once in the summer and once in the winter. His summer molts are more intense, and he looses some flight ability for a bit afterwards.

“Shilo pulled herself up and grabbed his shoulders, dragging him down as she fell back into the warm summer stream. His wings splashed in the water with shock. Shilo tried to crawl out of the water, before being dragged back in by Beetlejuice. They both tussled with each other as they tried to escape.”

When your idea of bonding is attempted drowning <3

“Shilo went into her room and changed into a white blouse with a long, olive green skirt.”

Her outfits range from Reddit conspiracy theorist to wannabe mad scientist to cottagecore wood nymph. 

“Now to figure out what pink feathers meant.”

;)

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 6 of Flock Together.

Warning for animal death, gore, implied abuse, and weird body horror!!!

Chapter 6- Dear friends in higher places, carry me away from here

@crawlingcarcass @katslitterbox @raineisinkless @possum-quesadilla

There’s art at the end of these notes btw!!

Chapter title is from “To the Sky” by Owl City.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. We’re here,” he said, shaking her with more aggression than necessary.”

He doesn’t mean any harm, he just isn’t always aware of his own strength. And Lydia is a lot weaker than he’s used to.

“Hey Shilo! You know how we agreed we didn’t want kids?”

As much as I would love to give them a life where they have cool harpy kids, that would never happen in this universe. Perhaps in another world, they have children.

“She was young and quite tall,”

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this yet, but Shilo is 5’10”

“Oh my god, please don’t tell me you can smell that I’m pregnant or something.”

He can tell if someone is pregnant before they can. He can also detect stuff like cancer.

“We got one now,” said Beetlejuice, stepping away to reveal Lydia.”

When your boyfriend leaves to roam the woods for a few hours and comes back with someone else’s child.

“I’m fine with you bringing me sticks or bones or dead animals. Hell, I’m somewhat fine with you bringing me things that are still alive!”

Beetlejuice loves giving Shilo gifts! Sometimes those gifts are rats and birds that are still alive. And sometimes Shilo finds those gifts in her bed. Or her shoes. Or actively crawling on her.

“Shilo Brooks”

Shilo’s last name! Her full name is Shilo Mary Brooks.

“Her mind flashed to the Maitlands. Had they read her letter? Had they run up to her room to see if she was still there? Did one have to hold the other back from running into the woods to search for her? Were they sitting on the floor of her room right now, mourning the loss of the girl they met over a week ago as if she was their own daughter?”

Hey guys. If anyone was wondering, this is exactly what happened when they read her suicide note.

“She had everything from vintage recipe books to school textbooks to grimoires.”

She got a lot of these things at various thrift stores. A lot of her clothes are either thrifted or sewn by her.

“What Lydia loved most, however, was the giant collection of animal bones in the basement. Cats, birds, possums, squirrels, deer, rabbit, Beetlejuice claimed that they were “naturally sourced”, but the hungry gleam in his eyes suggested that some were definitely not ethically sourced.”

The bones collected by Shilo were from roadkill and deceased animals she found in the woods. She also has her childhood cat’s skeleton. The bones collected by Beetlejuice are from his kills.

“Shilo patted her on the back.”

She is not great at comforting people who aren’t Beetlejuice.

“Shilo hummed along to an old love song while she cooked.”

She was humming “Chances Are” by Johnny Mathis, which also happens to be the song Adam and Barbara were singing along to in one of the earlier Beetlejuice scripts.

“He told Lydia as they went up the stairs that he was indefinitely banned from cooking, baking, and using the microwave without close supervision after some events such as, “The Bacon Incident”, “The Carrot Cake Incident”, and something called “The Grape Incident”, of which the name alone sent shivers down both Shilo and Beetlejuice’s spines.”

Another mention of The Grape Incident.

“we’re still tryin’ to figure out what to name Shilo’s hearse. Every time we refer to it, we cycle through different names to see if anythin’ sticks.”

Other names for the hearse include: Sarcarphagus, Vulture, BoJack Hearseman, The Fun-eral, Cary the car, Car-nage, Car-nivorous Beast, and The Ra-Van.

“The Dragster of Doom”

Cartoon reference

“Beetlejuice washed the dishes (he broke a mug, but what was breakfast without a few casualties?),”

He cannot be trusted around fragile things.

“You took your meds, right?” Beetlejuice asked.

Shilo faltered. “I think so? I’m pretty sure I did.”

She did not take her medication. She has trouble remembering to take her meds. Hopefully that won’t be a problem in a future chapter! :)

“Before he could properly process what he was doing, Beetlejuice was aggressively flapping his anxiety orange wings and screeching at the top of his lungs.”

Bird instinct is taking over. He’s giving off an alarm call.

“the second her hands moved away from the squirrel, a glowing, blue, two and a half foot long hunters knife sunk right into the squirrel’s back.”

If he hadn’t freaked out, Lydia would have lost her hand.

“easily standing at around eight feet, maybe more.”

He’s exactly 8 feet tall.

“Lydia tugged at Shilo’s sleeve and whispered, “have we ever addressed Beetlejuice by his actual name in these woods?”

They have not.

Here is art of the new character! I am very excited for you guys to meet Rigel. First drawing was made by the absolutely incredible @possum-quesadilla, and the second drawing was made by me.

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 10 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning!! This chapter is a bit rough! Includes intrusive thoughts, one mention of throwing up, and disordered eating.

Chapter 10- Mindless Misery

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

“An’ I’m an impulsive guy, ya know that, but don’tcha think maybe we should just sleep it off?”

You know it’s bad when Beetlejuice is the voice of reason.

“She didn’t stop sprinting until a tree root sent her (and her knife) flying a few feet forwards.”

Just like the beginning scene in chapter 1. Shilo and tree roots do not go together.

“Beetlejuice?” Shilo called out to the air with the little strength she had left. She got no answer but the quiet sway of trees. He was gone.”

Haha she is… not seeing him for a while!

“After a few hours, Shilo picked herself off the ground with great difficulty.”

She laid on the ground for about 2 hours. Her poor back.

“Two weeks passed. Shilo drove for hours. Flipped off more than a few leaf peepers.”

When you’re trying to find your boyfriend but you live in a Vermont forest and it’s peak foliage 😔

“Her house became surrounded by mourning doves and corvids.”

How fitting.

“That night, that cold Halloween night, Shilo considered driving back home to Connecticut. Seeing her parents again. She hadn’t thought about going home since she left all those years ago, but now, she craved company more than anything.”

Shilo does not visit her parents in this one. I’m thinking of writing a part three to this series that’s centered on her going back to Connecticut.

“She couldn’t do it. As lonely as she was, the thought of Beetlejuice coming back to an empty home saddened her more than anything.”

Imagine you fight you fight your way through hell trying to get back home and your girlfriend just. isn’t there.

“The next day, Shilo put on her old ratty lab coat, the same one she used to wear when she was first searching for Beetlejuice.”

Full circle babyyyyy

“She whistled little tunes to the birds and tossed them birdseed.”

She whistles the same tune every time she feeds them. She’s training them to flock to her when she calls.

“Tuscan bean soup”

I had this soup in December of last year when I caught a horrible cold. I had it almost every day for a week. It was so good that I had to pay tribute to it.

“She had a specific whistle that she made every time she went out with food, in hopes they would recognize it and follow her around like some kind of morbid Disney princess.”

It’s a dream I share with her.

“It placed a single packet of Skittles at Shilo’s feet before morphing back into the harpy she knew and loved. He stumbled and winced as he tried taking a step forward. “Howdy, babes. Miss me?”

He’s back!

Sorry that this chapter was more depressing than usual. I wrote this in February when I was incredibly depressed and also getting over a breakup. Gave me great writing inspo though!

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 13 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning for violence, description of animal injury, animal death, general death, and abuse!!!

Chapter 13- Inferno

@possum-quesadilla @katslitterbox @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless

“While he had lived through many winters, it didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t born for snow.”

His nest is located in northern Argentina and he didn’t experience snow for centuries. It took him a while to get used to winters, especially New England winters. They can be brutal.

“He came bounding out of some snowy brush, a fawn in his arms and a pissed off doe on his tail.”

I’m aware that bucks are the ones that can be aggressive, but this doe is aggressive for storytelling purposes.

“He was towering over the fawn. It stared at him, a literal deer in the headlights. In the blink of an eye, he pounced. Shilo hesitantly looked back at Beetlejuice, who was using his long tongue to lick deer blood off of his lips and chin. He caught her gaze and gave a barely apologetic smile.”

He’s a bit of a feral creature at heart.

“Shi, you look like a marshmallow.”

She does, in fact, look like a marshmallow.

“She jumped to her feet (and not too gracefully, to Shilo’s delight)”

He managed to stab into her legs.

“One of the scariest parts was how deadly silent they were. Aside from the thumps of their bodies hitting the ground and the crunch of the snow under their feet, they didn’t make much noise, save for the occasional hiss and squawk of pain.”

This is based on harpy eagles, who are pretty quiet creatures.

“Shilo took the rock and cut into Juno’s arms, yellow blood flowing out like warm honey.”

Juno has yellow blood! It used to be a blackish color before she was turned into a phoenix.

“A scream came from Shilo’s mouth. Red flaming tendrils snaked around her limbs.”

They’re not made out of fire, but they burn like they are.

“Juno raised an eyebrow at her. “Did you really think that would work?” “I mean… yeah, kind of,” responded Shilo. That was the wrong answer, apparently, as her face was swiftly dumped in the snow. Now her body was burning from both flaming heat and freezing cold. Fun.”

Maybe don’t sass the person who can murder you and your boyfriend.

“And then they were gone. And Beetlejuice was gone. And Shilo had never felt colder. There was no telling how long she stood in that one spot, waiting for Beetlejuice to come back, but she eventually started looking around the area to locate any things she left behind.”

There’s a bit of a pattern here.

“When she was a good twelve feet in the air, light started emitting from more spots in her flesh, like it was fighting to escape. Finally, she let out one shrill, inhuman screech as she exploded into flame. It was like watching a firework show.”

Inspired by what ender dragons look like when you kill them.

“All that remained was one glowing orange feather and a pile of ashes.”

Juno’s dead!! Sort of. She’s in a limbo of sorts. There are very few things that can permanently kill her.

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 9 of Birds of a Feather.

Warning!! This chapter has some references of abuse.

Chapter 9- Flash Fire

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @katslitterbox @raineisinkless

“But my first little murder attempt didn’t work, and when she found out, she cursed me so I couldn’t use my powers. It was a whole thing, really annoying, had a patch of feathers that wouldn’t grow back for a few years. Thankfully, when I actually managed to kill her, the curse broke. I just got pretty anxious ‘bout usin’ my magic after that. It’s been so long, guess I forgot what I can do.”

Beetlejuice’s curse is a bit different in this one! Thankfully, he’s no longer bound by it. Also, the reason he had a patch of feathers that wouldn’t grow back is because of how badly Juno burned him.

“She grabbed a pen off the floor”

She keeps writing utensils everywhere but an actual cup/bag/drawer.

“Beetlejuice sighed and flopped limp to the floor. Shilo looked down at him with concern.

 “Bug? Are you alright?”

 “Duh. I’m groundin’ myself,” he said, like collapsing to the floor was completely normal, “you read me some article on how to focus a few days ago, and it said ‘ground yourself’, so that’s what I’m doin’.”

He’s trying his best. And he paid attention to the article :)

“And so, Shilo was covered with water, the floor was covered with glass, and Beetlejuice’s face was covered with an embarrassed blush.”

Poor guy’s ready to die in a hole rn.

“I’m proud of you. Four words Beetlejuice had never heard before. Four words that suddenly turned him into a blushing flustered mess.”

He is not used to being praised! He is not used to people being proud of him! He’s going to lie awake thinking of that for a while!

“Her first thought was: “OH MY GOD IT’S A KITTY!” Which was slowly followed by: “…I definitely don’t own a cat.” She didn’t even notice the small, inky black wings on its back.”

The level of excitement she feels when seeing a cat trumps any rational thoughts. Also any animal Beetlejuice turns into has a little pair of wings on its back! He does not know how to get rid of them.

“Happy Sat- purr -day, babes!”

I’ve been tracking the exact days of when events in this story take place. He said this on September 7th, 2024. A Saturday! This is one of the only things I use my calendar for. I can make a post talking about when every chapter happens if anyone would care to hear about that.

“Suddenly, she was filled with the overwhelming feeling that she was being watched.”

Juno is actively watching her!

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show was on in front of them.”

ROCKY HORROR I LOVE YOU ROCKY HORROR !!!! Shilo watched this movie a lot as a teen. It resonated with her a lot as someone who always felt out of place.

“I would do the most unholy, atrocious, unspeakable things if it meant I could take a bite of that man’s thigh,”

Who wouldn’t?

“Grab it. And get a butcher's knife from the kitchen while you’re at it. We’re going bird hunting tonight.”

She’s ready to get this girl.

[c0zmo-writes]

Merry Christmas from Rigel!

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 1 of Flock Together.

Chapter 1- So carry me from these walls, brother of mine.

@possum-quesadilla @crawlingcarcass @raineisinkless @katslitterbox

The chapter title is from “Rule #4- Fish in a Birdcage” by Fish in a Birdcage.

“The woman in the passenger seat— Delia— wrinkled her nose at the fetid stench of death.”

Unlike Delia and Charles, Lydia is very unbothered by the smell of roadkill.

“Maybe there’ll be a psycho hiding out in the woods. Maybe he’ll break into our house, brutally murder us in our sleep. That would be exciting.”

Maybe something to keep in mind…

“...I’m excited to do some birdwatching,”

Poor Charles just wants to watch his birds.

“Delia seemed so distracted by the state of the cabin, that she didn’t even notice when Lydia slipped the millipede into her bright red hair.”

Gotta keep Delia on her toes.

“The stairs in this house were steep, uneven, and seemed just a few pounds of pressure away from breaking, the kind of stairs designed to break your ankle and send you straight into cardiac arrest as you slipped down them.”

The description of these stairs is entirely based off of the stairs in The Conjuring House. Walking up and down the stairs was the scariest part of being there. I was terrified. I hit my head on the ceiling twice.

“The wallpaper was plum purple, strewn with carnations, hyacinths, and dark red roses.”

The wallpaper color is based off of the color of her bedroom walls in the movie, and the flowers on the wallpaper are symbolic. Carnations for love, hyacinths for sorrow, dark red roses for mourning, all representing her feelings for her dead mom.

“There were wooden carvings of cryptids and unicorns and mushrooms on a large dresser.”

I wonder how those got there…

“A scream echoed from downstairs. Looks like Delia found the millipede,”

Delia did, in fact, find the millipede.

“Lydia, if you don’t grab the damn broom and help me dust this hellhole right now, I will go insane, and I will take everyone in this family with me.”

Movie reference!

“Come back up. The landlord specifically said she didn’t want us going into the basement.”

Perhaps there’s a reason for this :)

“Come on, it’s just one song. You loved it too, remember? Shake, shake, shake, Senora—“

Musical reference.

“She huffed and trudged upstairs, gripping the railing so as not to become a victim of gravity.”

She’ll become a victim gravity soon enough.

[c0zmo-writes]

Voice headcanons for HarpyJuice characters!

@possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless

Beetlejuice

• Beetlejuice - Stephen Ouimette (Beetlejuice the Animated Series)

• Beetlejuice - Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice 1988)

Shilo Brooks

• Diane Nguyen - Alison Brie (BoJack Horseman)

Juno

• Beatrice Horseman - Wendy Malick (BoJack Horseman)

• Lilith Clawthorne - Cissy Jones (The Owl House)

• Dorothy Zbornak - Bea Arthur (The Golden Girls)

• Juno - Sylvia Sydney (Beetlejuice 1988)

I had lots of different ideas for Juno’s voice lol. Part two will come out after Flock Together gets posted! No clue when that will be, unfortunately.

[c0zmo-writes-archive]

Notes for chapter five of Birds of a Feather.  This one is fun :)

Chapter 5- Picnic, Panic, Pandemonium

“He stepped into Shilo’s bathroom and drank some water from the tap.”

You know those videos where dogs wildly chomp at hose water? That’s how he drank the water. 

“As he went to lay down on the couch, he smelled something. Woodsmoke. A shiver of anxiety crawled up his spine. He sniffed the air. Definitely the smell of burning wood. He walked around the house, making sure the smell wasn’t coming from inside the house. Thankfully, nothing in the house was on fire.”

I wonder what that could be…!

“Have you eaten breakfast yet?” Shilo asked. “Yep.”

Someone tell this man that 11 insects isn’t enough breakfast for him. 

“Shilo had started reading books aloud to Beetlejuice to help with his literacy skills. She wasn’t sure how well it was working, but it was still a nice activity that they both enjoyed.”

I would give an arm, a leg, and both of my tits to read a book to a freaky bird cryptid in the middle of the woods. That’s the main reason I added this in the first place tbh. Aside from the family issues and mental illness, Shilo’s living my dream.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Shilo responded, selecting a nice peppermint tea.”

Peppermint is her favorite kind of tea!

“Shilo started to read. It was a romance book about a human and a monster. It seemed fitting, besides the romance part, of course.”

Whatever you say, girlie. I didn’t really have any specific book in mind when I was writing this, but if anyone’s got some human/monster story recs, feel free to send em my way (for research purposes, of course /j)

“Mind if I take this off?” She asked, gesturing to her shirt...“Why would I care? Do whatever the hell ya want. I don’t wanna hafta fly ya back home if you get heatstroke.” He’d learned a few weeks ago all about how nudity was a big taboo for humans,”

Harpies in this story aren’t bothered at all by typical human taboos, like sex, nudity, and violence. Makes for some awkward conversations at times. Awkward for Shilo, at least. 

“Had her hair always looked so soft? Touch her hair. Touch her hair. Touch her hair.”

It’s safe to assume that Beej’s impulsive thoughts are almost always screaming at him to do shit. 

“Shilo’s sandwich had turkey and cheese, while Beetlejuice’s had a fucked up combination of overripe banana, mayonnaise, blue cheese, marshmallow fluff, and tuna.”

Beetlejuice sometimes eats like he doesn’t have tastebuds. 

“He swiveled his head an inordinate amount to look at her.”

He can turn his head like an owl! Also shoutout to A Series of Unfortunate Events for teaching me what the word “inordinate” meant. 

“A bird about the size of a harpy eagle hopped up to Shilo. It had brick red plumage, a black beak and feet, and smelled overwhelmingly like a burning forest…He was frozen to the spot. The bird cocked its head. The sudden movement made Beetlejuice scramble back in a panic. He let out a blood curdling screech, haphazardly snatched Shilo (he didn’t bother grabbing the picnic basket), and took off flying at breakneck speed.”

!!

“Although they had left the forest, Shilo and Beetlejuice were not out of the woods just yet.”

A vague reference to a quote in A Series of Unfortunate Events!! I love you Lemony Snicket.

[c0zmo-writes]

Notes for chapter 7 of Flock Together

Chapter 7– We’re staying at the lotus inn / tomorrow we can press rewind / I never want this night to end

@katslitterbox @possum-quesadilla @raineisinkless @crawlingcarcass

Chapter title is from “Lotus Inn” by Why Don’t We.

“Oh! You’re a hugger— ok!” Rigel awkwardly wrapped his arms around Beetlejuice,”

He hasn’t been hugged in a LONG time.

"Sorry, Rigel. It's nothing personal, I just don't really like making deals with demons." Shilo gave him an awkward smile.”

Shilo’s smart.

“The ink was bright green and glowed in the low light of the forest.”

That’s his blood! It glows in the dark. He’s like a feather covered glowstick.

“Shilo tried to catch him, but only succeeded in grabbing a handful of his wings, making him hiss.”

His wings and back are sensitive.

“A glance at Lydia confirmed her nose was bleeding too, albeit much more heavily.”

She’s more affected by everything because she’s a human.

“Rigel tutted. "That won't do." He flicked his tail towards a clearing and a large blue tent appeared. "You three go in. Sleep, drink, eat, whatever you need."

He’s such a worried parent.

“A fish tank stood off to the side, holding catfish, pufferfish, and more.”

These fish are here for symbolic but also spoiler reasons.

“The table and food were decorated with lotus blossoms, sweet and fragrant.”

Reference to the lotus-eaters in Greek mythology. When they ate the flower, they no longer cared about leaving and going home. Rigel feeds the others lotuses because he doesn’t want them to leave. He’s a lonely guy. Thankfully for the others, these flowers aren’t powerful enough for them to never want to leave.

“Jazz music played quietly in the background.”

I listened to a lot of jazz while creating Rigel. The song that was playing was “The Maddest Kind of Love” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. It’s one of the songs I frequently listen to while writing Rigel.

“Something poked her ankle. Shilo leapt up and almost fell out of her hammock, ready to fight whatever had just touched her.”

Rigel poked her with his tail.

"Huh?" Beetlejuice glanced up at Rigel with a small trill. "Oh, uh, yeah. They are."

More CatJuice

“Rigel laughed and ruffled Beetlejuice's hair. "Flattery will get you everywhere, son. And so will begging! Lots of it.”

Life lessons with Rigel.

"Yikes," Beetlejuice said. "You must've been really desperate to get laid then." he grimaced immediately afterwards. ''M sorry. Dunno why I said that."

Unlike canon Beetlejuice, HarpyJuice is capable of feeling shame lmao. He’s not wrong though.

“Juno was like that sometimes, just saying whatever was on her mind. You remind me of her a bit."

Beetlejuice's stomach dropped and his eyes and the back of his throat burned.“

He does Not like being compared to his mother.

"Yes, Adam and Barbara Maitland. They left their cabin once… I sensed them and ran up to talk, but when they saw me, they just ran away. I haven't had to deal with them since."

Here’s Rigel’s side of the story!

“Rigel situated himself under the hammocks, close enough to feel the body heat radiating out from his new humans. He smiled and rested his face on his hands. He could get used to this.”

He just wants friends :(