Beetlejuice/Lydia Deetz
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Beetlejuice/Lydia Deetz |
| Alternative name(s): | BeetleBabes, Beetz, Betelyds, Beetz and Deetz |
| Gender category: | M/F, F/F |
| Fandom: | Beetlejuice (TV series), Beetlejuice (film), Beetlejuice (musical) |
| Canonical?: | Best Friends / Main Squeeze |
| Prevalence: | Fandom OTP |
| Archives: | It's A Ship - Literally Blog, Fanfiction Collection |
| Other: | Are They Canon? |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Beetlejuice/Lydia Deetz is the pairing of Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice's film, musical or TV fandoms.
Canon
Beetlejuice and Lydia exist in the same timeline in all universes. In each version, their relationship differs depending on circumstances, and target audience.
Film
Betelgeuse spies Lydia and gets a good look at her when he is in the form of a deadly snake. She flinches from him after watching him drop her father from the second-floor landing. Later he expresses his interest in her by saying "The only one I think I can deal with is Edgar Allan Poe's Daughter. I think she understands me."
This is not appreciated by the Maitlands who try to protect the girl but in the end, Lydia summons the Bio-exorcist to save her friends in exchange for marrying him. He keeps his end of the deal by stopping the exorcism and instantly summoning up a wedding ceremony. He dresses Lydia up with his magic in a red wedding dress while he is in a burgundy, and dirty, tux.
There is only one word left in the ceremony when the wedding is interrupted leaving the fans to choose whether or not Lydia and Beetlejuice did indeed get married.
TV series
At the beginning of the series, it is established that Lydia and Beetlejuice met one year prior to the pilot. He starts the show complaining that he has to buy a gift for their anniversary but seeing as she is only a seventh-grader we are led to believe they are only friends.
There are several canon moments that indicate they are more than just what they seem. In one instance, a villain refers to Lydia as BJ's "Main Squeeze" while BJ's uncle refers to her as "Your girlfriend." Neither ever correct people about the nature of their relationship.
Musical
During the opening scene, Lydia is singing a ballad about being alone and invisible because she is sad over her mother's death. Beetlejuice interrupts to give us a more lively intro about death.
Later, BJ reprises Lydia's ballad to talk about why he is alone and invisible only to discover that Lydia, the living girl, can see him. He then pursues her to "Say his name" so they could get revenge on her father and take over the house. Lydia is onto him and his con through the entire scene where she ends up pushing him off the roof. Upon the Maitlands shock over Lydia's ability to murder, she calmly explains, "What? He was already dead."
By the end of the first act, she realizes she needs Beetlejuice and summons him. At the start of the second act, we see that they spent three days together, scaring the neighbors and any visitor. They run the house and they are happy until Lydia discovers she may be able to see her mom again. Beetlejuice takes this as a rejection and manipulates the situation to trick Lydia into marrying him.
Unlike the film, Lydia tricks him. She agrees to marry him then runs straight into the Neitherworld to find her mom. BJ is enraged that he will be alone forever and attempts to murder the family. Luckily Lydia comes to her senses enough to return to the land of the living with a con of her own.
She gives Beetlejuice exactly what he wants. She marries him and for a few moments, he is alive. Unable to handle the emotions of a living body, he starts to go crazy and Lydia, once again, kills him. Surprisingly, this impresses him but before he could move on to the afterlife, his mother returns from hell to drag Lydia back into hell. Beetlejuice kills his demon mother in order to protect Lydia's life before saying goodbye and leaving the family to clean up the mess.
Shippy Musical Numbers
*Invisible / Invisible Reprise Parallel songs about being invisible and alone.
Is it being greedy to need somebody to see me And say my name? Seems when you lose your mom, No one turns off the sun. Folks carry on, that's that. You're invisible when you're sadLydia "Invisible"
Nobody said life's fair, Guess they will never see The demon who isn't there. You're invisible when you're... Me"Beetlejuice "Invisible Reprise"
*Say My Name An entire number with them playing cat and mouse over saying the words that would release his powers.
L: Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Be a doll and spare the lecture B: I'm offering you a full-time specterL: Are you any good? B: You bet'cha Trust me, baby
L: I just met ya. Really it's a flattering offer B: Don't you wanna see dad suffer?
L: I think I'd rather just jump off B: No
L: I may be suicidal but Betelgeuse, it's not as if I've lost my mind
That Beautiful Sound Lydia and Beetlejuice bond over their love of traumatizing people.
The sound of a scream is music to meA sound that says fifteen years full-time therapy Trauma and fear, it sings in my ear
Ain't it the sweetest noise around, that beautiful sound?
*Creepy Old Guy Lydia tries to convince Beetlejuice that she really does want to marry him in an effort to enact a con.
They make me blush (Can't get enough)Now one of 'em loves me, wants to be mine (That's right) Marrying my own creepy old guy! (I'm a creepy old guy) My creepy old guy, my creepy old guy I'm so happy I could cry Girls may seem disgusted, but we're actually just shy My creepy old groom (creepy old groom) Play that wedding tune
Hey folks, step aside 'Cause here comes the bride
Fandom
Fandom Overview
Film
Most shippers in the movie universe prefer Lydia to be older, having had some experience before reuniting with her dearly departed ex-betrothed.
Due to the ambiguity of the ceremony rules, the fans have taken different views on the relationship. However, regardless of this detail, many real-life Brides To Be and their Gruesome Grooms have had replicated Beetlejuice inspired weddings (Minus the sandworm).
Every Halloween the costumes for "Juice Demon" and "Dead Bride" resurface as a classic couples costume.
TV series
Beetlejuice and Lydia are shipped in both platonic and romantic narratives in the Animated Series fandom. This was deliberately invoked by the writers and animators who participated in in-jokes and contests of trying to get away with drawing Adult Content behind the scenes.
There is speculation on the existence of this content, however several of the veteran fans have spoken to show cast and creators who have unofficially, due to Non-Disclosure Agreements, shared in private these relics of surprisingly on model NSFW.
In the Animated Series, Beetlejuice and Lydia are the best of friends. Partners in slime. A dynamic duo and, according to many in the Neitherworld, inseparable. There are many instances of fandom shipping within the cartoon alone. See Are They Canon? for a breakdown of the series.
This ship is controversial due to Age Gap, Living and Dead, and Beetlejuice’s ability to stink the fur off of a skunk. This is still the top ship in this portion of the fandom.
This pair is marked both M/F and F/F since Beetlejuice can become Betty Juice at any time.
Musical
In the Musical, this ship has the most potential and the most controversy in the fandom. Beetlejuice is a demon who is unseen and apparently starved for attention while Lydia is a girl who is jaded by her mother's death and feels much the same. Both have a song detailing their invisibility. Both find a use for the other and both love to drive people up the wall with their crazy antics. In this universe, it is Lydia who tricks Beetlejuice into the marriage ultimately killing him when he comes alive after their "I do's". They end the show on an amicable parting. Almost as if murder were just a bump in the road.
Ship Wars & Controversy
- 2012
- Creation of Freshly Squeezed Juice - The creator of the site brings up the controversy of the age gap between the characters [1]
- 2019
- Introduction to Beetlelands - With an influx of new Musical - Verse fans came a surge in Anti-shipper activity. This lead to a split in the fandom between Beetlejuice/Lydia Shippers and the new Beetlejuice/Maitland Shippers.
- March 2019 - Current - COVID -19 lockdowns bring out the trolls and various Anti blogs are created to harass the shippers. Dummy accounts on Tumblr, Instagram, and Reddit surface to "address the problem with Beetlebabes". They recite claims of child endangerment, often slandering shippers. The conflict reached a point where one minor shipper was assaulted in school, another self-harmed, and others were triggered into reliving traumatizing events. Blog Nether Receipts on Tumblr
- 2020
- Copycat and Harassment Blogs - After the creation of several pro ship blogs and discourse topic blogs "Copycat blogs" began to appear to put shippers in a bad light, specifically the same few shippers. Harassment blogs appeared around the same time to target the shippers and provoke interaction. - I.e. BadBabes ewbabes Isbeetlebabesvalidtoday urfaveshatebeetlebabes
- MARCH 2020 - The Winner of the Playbill contest [2] was announced and when fans realized the winner was a shipper they attempted to get the price rescinded to no avail. AngelQueens fanart playbill still holds the title of winner out of 850 entries.
Common Tropes in Fanworks
- Pining - These two will alternate in pining for the other due to fears of ruining their friendship or of what others would say.
- Futurefic / Aging Up- Most writers will age Lydia up and have the two reunite or they will write about an established relationship.
- Reunion - This is a common trope in all universes for Beetlejuice and Lydia.
- Marriage / Forced_Marriage - Depending on the universe Beetlejuice and Lydia involved in some sort of marriage. In the movie, it's a forced - quid pro quo - Marriage of Inconvenience, and in the Musical, it is a Green Card Thing. Either way, shippers will headcanon a marriage between these two.
- Character Death - There is a small group that headcanon a relationship between Beej and Lydia only after Lydia dies.
- Role Reversal - Some fanfics and comics will switch Lydia and Beej's living status to where Lydia is the ghost and Beetlejuice is alive.
Fanworks
Fanart
Movie
- Halloween 2016 by Cobweb and Stripes
- Hi Beetlejuice by BeetleBreakfast
- Graveyard by nitaniel-art
Toon
Musical
- Till Death Do We Start Fanart by Imposible Kat
- Musical Beej/Lyds by GuideBeetlejuice
- Creepy Old Guy/Underage Bride by Tamatoris
- First Kiss by Zellykat
Other
- Beauty and the Beetle by Zellykat
[Halloween BeetleBabes Contest Entry] by Jeupe
Cosplay
- Beetlejuice and Lydia by LaisAbove
Fanfiction
Fan Vids
- Beetlejuice and Lydia: Caught Up in You by Hannah (Satsuki-Chan) on Youtube
- Something that I want by Hannah (Satsuki-Chan) on Youtube
- Beetlejuice & Lydia Call Me by RawkingBunny on Youtube
Playlists
Beetlejuicing Playlist Blog Post by Hannah (Satsuki-Chan) Multiple Spotify Beetlejuice/Lydia Playlists by Zelly on It's A Ship - Literally
Meta
- Why is Creepy Old Guy Shippy? - By Alljuicedup on Tumblr