#Lizzie would put Beetlejuice in his place when necessary

[skwangly-fingers]

au where instead of hiring Delia to be Lydia’s life coach, Charles hires Lizzie from DFD

Lizzie grew up with Drop Dead Fred, so she knows all about chaotic beings that only you can see. Granted, she might assume Beetlejuice is just Lydia’s imaginary friend at first, but at least she wouldn’t delegitimize her experience (especially if she learns about Barbara and Adam).

Note: in this au, Fred is still with Lizzie because I said so. Also, I am basing this on Beetlejuice: The Musical.

I feel like Fred would be able to see all of the ghosts, mostly because I think the shenanigans would be funny. But also, for a slightly more “logical” explanation, he’s an imaginary friend, so there’s no reason he would have to be constrained by the usual rules for seeing ghosts.

I’m undecided on if the ghosts can see Fred. On the one hand, very funny if they can’t but Fred is still able to mess with them. On the other hand, I think Barbara and Adam would be exasperated to have another chaotic entity bothering them, and Fred’s and Beetlejuice’s energy is so similar in my mind that I feel like there’s too much potential that would be left on the table if they can’t see him. My current solution to this would be to just have them not be able to see him at first, but eventually they are? I don’t have a logical explanation for this—I just want to have my cake and eat it too.

Can the girls see each other’s gremlins? I’m leaning towards a similar situation with the ghosts, although because both Lydia and Lizzie are able to see one or more entities no one else can (ghosts/demons and imaginary friends respectively), maybe they would both be able to see both entities right away? My current idea here is that Lydia can see Fred, but he kinda keeps out of her sight at first. Meanwhile, Lizzie can’t see Beetlejuice (or the other ghosts) until Lydia and/or Fred tell her about them.

so, just to recap:

Lydia = can see Fred from the start, but at first he mostly causes his mischief where she can’t see

Lizzie = cannot see the ghosts at first but is later able to

Fred = can see everyone from the start

The Ghosts (Beetlejuice, Barbara, Adam) = cannot see Fred at first but are later able to

Charles = cannot see Fred or the ghosts

Delia is just…not in the picture in this au. This is not a slight against her, she’s great, she just can’t be in the picture for this to work. I’m imagining Lizzie is around the same age she is at the end of Drop Dead Fred though, so she and Charles are not romantic with each other. (also bc I ship Lizzie x Fred. No I don’t take constructive criticism on this, but whether or not they’re romantic in this au can be up to your interpretation)

I feel like it makes the most sense if Charles and Lydia are already moved into the house (even if only briefly) before Charles hires Lizzie. That way Lydia can already be acquainted with the ghosts and then there can be shenanigans with her (likely with the ghosts’ help) trying to scare Lizzie off while Fred also causes his own mayhem.

Anyways yeah, that’s kinda all my ramblings on this au atm. Not sure what made this come to mind, I just randomly had the thought that Fred and Beetlejuice had the same vibes and my thoughts spiraled from there. Feel free to add your own thoughts if you have any, or ask me questions if you want to make me spiral further into insanity considering this.

thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.