The study of AGN variability on timescales of 10^4-10^5 years is important in order to understand the BH – host galaxy interaction and coevolution. The discovery of “Hanny’s Voorwerp” (HV), an extended emission line region associated with the nearby galaxy IC 2497, provided us with a laboratory to study AGN variability over such timescales. HV was illuminated by a strong quasar in IC 2497, but this quasar significantly shut down in the last 200 kyrs. Thanks to its recent shutdown we can now explore the host galaxy unimpeded by the presence of a quasar dominating the observations, while the Voorwerp preserves the echoes of its past activity. Recent studies on the optical properties of hard X-ray selected AGN suggest that AGN may flicker on and off hundreds or thousands times with each burst lasting ~10^5 yrs. Systems similar to IC 2497 and HV, the so-called Voorwerpjes, allow us to constrain the last stages of the AGN lifecycle. On the other hand, we recently suggested that the switch on phase may be observed in the so-called optically elusive AGN. In this talk I will review both observational evidence and results from simulation work which support this picture, and explain how optically elusive AGN and Voorwerpjes galaxies can help us to understand different phases of the AGN lifecycle. Moreover, I will discuss possible implications for AGN feedback, BH - host galaxy coevolution, and the analogy between AGN and X-ray binaries accretion physics.