#In my head he gets rly mad at homophobes (as outlined above)

[quodekash]

TW: mentions of death and stuff but it’s not too morbid/detailed, but like dead bodies are mentioned.

What happens when Emily and Mitch eventually find Julie’s YouTube or smth. Like. They just see their dead son. Singing with the girl who gave his song to them a few weeks back. And they’re in the place he ran away to. And he’s just right there. 

What would they do? 

I think they’d be amazed and devastated and a little angry, cos the natural assumption (especially with him being at the house he literally ran away to) would be that he never left, his spirit just went to - what they would assume is - the only place he ever felt truly at home. 

If that were me, I’d feel pretty horrible/angry that he never came to visit or give me a sign that he was (kind of) okay, and he just fully ignored me. And I know he didn’t actually ignore them, he just wasn’t around at al for 25 years, but they wouldn’t know that and I wish we could have a season 2 for them to explore the angst and feels and stuff around that situation. 

Adding on to that, possibly the way that they’d find out is through Bobby. He’d see they’re all somehow still alive in a way, and he’d tell anyone he could that would listen to him. Including the devastated parents of the kids he was in a band with. 

I’d also just like to add here that Bobby would’ve been pretty gosh darn traumatised by the events. Like any normal person who’s in a band with three of their closest friends and then they find out all three of them literally died and now they’re completely alone? They’d be pretty traumatised. He mentions to Carrie at one point “I’m gonna go see my therapist”, and it makes sense that he’d have a therapist, cos three of his friends literally died when they were all teenagers. 

I also think that Bobby would’ve been one of the first people to discover they’re dead. Like either it would be those random people in the background at the start, or the hot dog vendor guy, who would realise these kids are dying and call the ambulance, in which case Bobby probably wouldn’t be notified (cos he wasn’t with them at all) until he’d come outside eventually to tell them they’re on in five or smth and either find no one there at all, or find an ambulance speeding away, or see a bunch of paramedics lifting his friends’ bodies into an ambulance. Orrr he would go outside to find them, and then he himself - a flipping 16-18 year old, a literal teenager, minor, child - sees them asleep and tries to wake them up and nothing happens and he checks their pulses and fear grips his chest and he grabs out his phone (under the assumption that the garage/house is his family’s, and it’s a really nice house, so the conclusion there is that is his family is pretty rich, so I’d assume he’d have a phone with him) and calls emergency services, and that’s the last time he ever sees his friends. 

And then the guys go and haunt him, and he’s probably already been haunted by memories and the thought of their still, lifeless bodies, without the help of actually being genuinely haunted. 

And yeah, it was rly messed up that he stole their songs and gave no credit - or even mentioned them to Julie or rose or even Carrie. But also the guys doing that is messed up. It’s no wonder he never gave them credit or mentioned them to anyone, cos doing that would presumably awaken bad memories inside him, which he very much would not want. Poor guy is bloody traumatised. And carrie basically not reacting at all to her dad going to see his therapist implies that he sees his therapist a lot, probably frequently like once a week, so not only is he traumatised but he’s getting constant therapy for it and still needs more. And yeah, it’s possible those are just regular checkups cos everyone should get therapy whether they’re in a bad place or not, but the fact that he was clearly verbally and visibly distressed, and Carrie still doesn’t react, implies that he might have episodes a lot where he remembers the guys or thinks about them or whatever. 

AND ALSO HE DOES MEDITATION, which could be a coping technique from his therapist, or a way for him to clear his mind and thoughts. 

Whatever happened right after the guys died, whoever it was to find their bodies, it would be bloody traumatising for a group of four to suddenly be a group of one. He’d need extensive therapy and help for that, he’d be very much not okay, anyone in his shoes would be very much not okay. 

He might’ve contacted his friends’ families immediately, to tell them what happened, cos the guys didn’t like their parents at all. Reggie’s we’re right about to divorce. Luke’s didn’t want him in the band. Alex’s were homophobic. They all probably escaped from all of that every single day by going to Bobby’s house, to the one place where they could all be themselves without hate. So not only would it be horrifying to have a suddenly empty garage every day, for your friends to no longer be there, to know that they’ll never come back, Bobby would also probably have possessions from all of them, and no one other than Bobby would be able to give those to their families. Not only that, they probably wouldn’t even know for a while, because of how much their kids hated them. It’s possible they didn’t know for literally days, and they just assumed that their kids were staying overnight at Bobby’s. They wouldn’t think to contact their kids, or their kids’ friends and friends’ families, they’d just assume they’re okay. It was probably Bobby who had to break the news to all of them. So there’s some extra trauma and horrible-feelings piled on top of that. And he’d break the news to them as well as probably give them some things to remind their parents of their kids or something. Imagine an entire fic or episode or something based on Bobby’s experiences after the guys died. 

He’d go to Reggie’s place, interrupting a fight between his parents. He’d tell them their son is dead. He’d give them Reggie’s favourite pick or something. Reggie may be a mess, but something tells me he doesn’t leave his stuff lying around, like both physical objects and real things. He probably always thought he could just internalise it all, make it into jokes, not go into detail about how much his parents’ fights affect him and how scary it is, how he has to shield his younger siblings when he’s at home, to try and keep them safe and happy. Same with physical things: he would seem like the kind of person to forget to clean up after himself, who would leave it all lying around. But he keeps it clean, cos if he can’t clean out his mind and his own house, can’t get rid of the fighting, he might as well get rid of the things he could, take control of what he could. So he probably wouldn’t leave much lying around the garage, wouldn’t even own that much stuff to leave around the garage. He’d give it to Reggie’s parents and they would fight more, saying that it’s his fault Reggie died no it’s her fault and the other kids would cowed behind a corner and Bobby would hug the kids, try to protect them how Reggie used to, but knowing there’s no use. 

He’d go to Luke’s house, tell them their son is dead. They’d cry, they’d scream. Emily would be sure it’s her fault. Mitch would break down and fall to his knees. Bobby would stand there, unsure what to do. 

He’d go to Alex’s house. He’d hesitate at the door, not wanting to interact with these horrible people. Then he’d knock. He’d tell them the horrible news. He’d say he’s sorry. He’d say he wishes Alex could still be alive. Alex’s dad would stare at him menacingly. Alex’s dad would say “serves him right, doing the devils work”. Bobby would fill with anger. Alex’s mum would say “I’d feel sorry if he could’ve brought us a girlfriend rather than that boy. And a rebellious boy at that, he ran away from home to be in your little band.” Bobby would crack, the rage spilling over. He’d yell at them, scream at them, say they’re horrible parents, they didn’t deserve a beautiful amazing child like alex, that it wasn’t his choice, that they should be at least a little bit sad that their only child is gone, that someone they raised is gone from the world and he was only 17, that they could’ve had an ounce of respect or kindness in them to make alex actually feel like a person. He’d take a small pride flag out of his pocket, the one Alex left behind, shove it in their faces and say that everyone is a person. He’d storm away, going back to his home. He’d hang up the pride flag in his room, bright, proud, loud. He’d fall to the floor, crying, lost, terrified. He’d be horrified that someone can hate another person because of who they love, even when that person is their child, the literal result of their love, and they hate him because of love. He’d reflect on hate and love, two very different but very similar things, how they intertwine with one another, like some messed up but beautiful and entrancing dance.