#Julie and the Phantoms au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

to-be-a-dreamer · 2 years

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Julie and the Phantoms AU

What's going on y'all I've been enabled so now y'all get some half-baked angst!

Huge thanks to @we-are-inevitable for helping me finish this AU because it's been sitting on the back burner for literal months and I could never figure out all the details on my own.

CW: death, homophobia, terminal illness, emotional abuse

Okay, so! Here's the characters we're working with (they're not perfect stand-ins, this is just the general role they'll be fulfilling in the story)

Jack Kelly - Julie Molina

Racetrack Higgins - Rose Molina (he's Jack's younger brother tho)

Charlie Morris- Carlos Molina

Medda Larkin - Ray Molina

Spot Conlon - Flynn Taylor

David Jacobs - Luke Patterson

Sarah Jacobs - Alex Mercer

Albert DaSilva - Reggie Peters

Katherine Pulitzer - Willie

Joseph Pulitzer - Caleb Covington

Bryan Denton - Tia Victoria

Don't ask about Nick and Carrie, we don't talk about them, they've caused me so many problems in this AU. There's a version floating around in my brain with Spot and Race as Nick and Carrie. I've been through some things.

ANYWHO I have no idea how to structure this post because there is so much going on so we're just gonna start and hope for the best. I think we'll go by character and talk about where each of them is at the beginning of the story because I don't 100% know how everything fits together yet. Fingers crossed that this is somewhat comprehensible.

(Also, in case you haven't watched the show, Luke, Reggie, and Alex are all members of the band Sunset Curve, who died in 1995 before manifesting as ghosts in 2020. So when I'm talking about David, Sarah, Albert, and Les, their backstories take place in 1995)

Jack Kelly

Jack loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He spends all his free time out in the garage writing and playing songs with his little brother, Race. They would always talk about making it big one day and becoming a famous singing duo. But really what Jack loved was being able to share something special with his brother. He never felt closer to Race than when they were making music together. The two of them would sit side-by-side at the piano with their youngest brother, Charlie, and their adoptive mother, Medda, listening to them play and joining in when they knew the words. Those impromptu little concerts with the three people he loved most in the world were some of the happiest memories of Jack’s life.

Then Race got sick. Then Jack had to watch his fun-loving, goofy, energetic little brother waste away in a hospital bed so quickly it made Jack’s head spin. Then Jack was left with a garage full of instruments he couldn’t bear to play and half-written songs he didn't know how to finish.

He's still close with his mom and Charlie, but there's been a... shift... in the air around the house. He's written some short poems, but nothing substantial, nothing like what he used to write with Race. Jack doesn't play the piano anymore. He doesn't sing in the car or the kitchen like he used to. He hasn't even so much as hummed since Race died. He can't. Every time he even considers making music all he can think about is Race using what little strength he had left to ask Jack to sing for him one last time. All he can see is his little brother taking his last breaths as Jack sang him a soft, desperate plea. ("You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Oh, please don't take my sunshine away")

Jack doesn't want to sing anymore. He can't sing anymore. So he doesn't. He tries to pretend that he doesn't need music anymore and just goes on with his life as best he can. He cheers at Charlie's Buddy Ball games and helps his Ma cook dinner every night and bothers his Uncle Denton at work and laughs with his best friend, Spot, and does everything he can to ignore the gaping hole in his heart.

He doesn't need music. Not really. He doesn't even want to make music without Race there to do it with him.

Jack Kelly does not need music.

He doesn't.

Don't ask why he still signs up to be in the music program the next school year. Don't ask why he can't bear to sell his keyboard like he told Medda he was planning to. Don't ask why he's so so disappointed in himself when he can't bring himself to just play when he's told he has one last chance to participate in music class before he gets kicked out.

It doesn't matter.

David Jacobs

David loves music, it’s basically his entire life. He loves singing, he loves playing guitar, he loves writing songs, he loves everything about it. He lives and breathes music, he doesn't want to do anything with his life other than make music to share with the world. That's the whole problem.

His parents have always told him he has great "potential". That he's smart enough to get into the top universities in the country and to get a full-ride basically anywhere. All he has to do is focus on his studies and fill out his resume with extracurriculars and work experience. Apparently, spending every waking hour of the day writing songs and rehearsing with his band doesn't count as "extracurriculars" to them.

He knows they just want what's best for him, he knows they just want him to get into a good college and get a good job one day. He knows that. But he just wishes they would understand that music is what he's passionate about, it's what he loves, and it's the only thing that makes him feel truly alive. David knows he's smart, he knows he could probably go to some big-shot college and become a lawyer or a doctor or something but he doesn't want to. He wants to write songs and share them with the world. He wants to do something actually meaningful with his life.

It's... tense... at home, to say the least. His parents get mad every time he brings home any grade less than an A, which is becoming increasingly more common as Sunset Curve, the band Davey started with his twin sister, Sarah, and their two best friends, Albert and Bobby, has started gaining some real traction in Hollywood. (I think Bobby is still Bobby, it doesn't really change anything about the story so he might morph into one of the Delanceys at some point, I dunno) His mom keeps signing him up for after-school activities against his wishes and then gets upset when he blows off the meetings to rehearse with the band. His dad keeps trying to get him a job at the company he works for but Davey never sticks around long enough for him to set up an interview. He manages to pacify them a bit by volunteering as an assistant coach for his little brother, Les's, little league team, but it barely helps.

The last straw for David is the day his sister, Little Miss Perfect Sarah, who had always followed every single outrageous rule and expectation his parents gave her, manages to work up the courage to come out to their parents and they act like she just confessed to a murder. There's a lot of yelling and, for the first time in his life, David worries that his mother might hit Sarah, she looks so angry. His sister leaves the house with tears streaming down her face and David moves to follow her before realizing he would be leaving Les alone with his parents looking absolutely murderous. He doesn't think they would actually hurt Les, but he's not taking any chances.

As David sits in bed with his little brother curled up at his side and trying to block out the sound of his parents fighting with each other over whose "fault" this was, David finally accepts what he's always tried to deny.

His parents would never truly accept him. He'd always wondered if he just did what they wanted, if he just worked hard to keep his grade up and joined all the clubs they wanted and got into a good college and got a good job that they would be proud of him. He had convinced himself that they would, that he was choosing their disappointment by pursuing a career in music.

But now he knew better. If they could manage to go from looking at his sister as if she'd hung the stars in the sky to borderline disowning her in a split second, they could never truly love him. Their love was and always had been conditional, and David had no intentions of fulfilling those conditions just to be accepted by the people who had never even tried to understand him.

Sarah came back after spending a couple nights at the studio (aka, Bobby's garage) but it didn't change David's mind. His mother kept insulting Sarah every chance she got and his father wouldn't even look at her. The twins spent a lot of time writing songs together at the studio, avoiding their parents together. Sarah insists that she's okay, that she had expected their parents to react the way they did and she just wanted to wait out the storm until they hopefully came around. David sees straight through her lie but doesn't comment on it.

David isn't sure what does it. But one day he's finally had enough. He comes home with yet another B- on an English paper and endures the lecture from his father and the screaming from his mother with a blank stare and no emotion in his heart other than mild disgust. Then he goes to his room, packs as much as he can into a duffle bag, and heads straight to Sarah's room. She knows exactly what he's doing without a single word exchanged between them.

"So that's it, huh?" "Come with me." "Davey, I can't" "Sarah, they're never going to change! Never. I know you want to fix things with them but there's nothing to fix. They never loved us. Not really. Not in the way you want them to." "Don't you think I know that? I'm not stupid, Davey, I know this isn't the way things are supposed to be but it's the way things are. And I- I know it's pathetic but I want them to love me. I want my parents back. So... so I have to try, Davey, just let me try." "...Fine. You know where to find me once you've had enough of their bullshit." "What should I tell Les?" "I- I'll figure that out later. I'll skip class and catch him at school before he gets on the bus and say goodbye then. I just. I can't stay here another second."

So Davey leaves and hides out at the studio. He never manages to catch Les in time to talk to him but Sarah tells him plenty of stories about what's going on at home. It took his parents three days to realize he was gone. They weren't happy. Davey couldn't care less about their happiness.

His parents don't even try to get him to come home, which just reinforces Davey's certainty that he did the right thing. According to Sarah, they're "waiting him out", expecting him to come running back to them within a week.

Davey never sees his parents again.

He's not particularly bothered.

Davey spends all of his time writing songs about anything and everything. Some of it meaningless, most of it not. He's never been that great at talking to people, so he pours every pent-up emotion he's been feeling for years into his songs. His anger towards his parents, his pleas to his sister, his regrets about his brother, his desperation to make something of himself. He writes about all of it. Some of the songs make it onto Sunset Curve's setlist, but most of them stay in his song journal.

His grades don't get any better or worse, but Sunset Curve gets big. Or, at least, big for a garage band of self-taught high schoolers with about $12 between the four of them. They start booking bigger and bigger gigs and they even manage to pull some favors and scrape together enough cash to self-record an EP.

Then their big break comes. A featured show at the Orpheum! It's everything Davey and his friends have been working towards for years. It's their chance to make it big, for real. Davey thinks about inviting his parents so they can see that he wasn't delusional, that his dreams weren't just stupid fantasies. But he talks himself out of it almost instantly. He doesn't need to prove anything to them. He doesn't want to prove anything to them. They already showed him their true colors and Davey didn't regret his choices.

The only thing he regrets is that he had to leave Les. His little brother didn't do anything wrong and he was one of the only good things about living in that house. He misses Les every single day and considers going back just for him. Sarah tells him that Les didn't handle his running away well and she can only do so much for him. Their parents haven't been taking out their anger on Les, that's the only thing giving David enough strength to stay away.

He knows it's for the best, he genuinely would have lost his mind if he had to stay in that house any longer. That doesn't make him feel any better.

His songs about Les stay private.

Sarah Jacobs

Sarah likes music. She likes her drums, even if her mother would prefer for her to spend more time practicing piano. She likes helping her brother write songs for their band and goofing off with her friends in the studio. But what she really loves is performing. There's just something about being on a stage in front of a crowd of people, buzzing with energy and knowing that she's about to blow them all away. It makes her feel absolutely electric and leaves no doubt in her mind that this is what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

If only she could muster up the courage to tell her parents that.

She admired Davey for how little he managed to care about what their parents thought. Maybe he just had a passion for music that Sarah lacked. Maybe there was more pressure on him to succeed, therefore it was easier for him to disappoint, and therefore it was easier for him to stop caring in the first place. Maybe she was just a coward.

As much as she knew that it shouldn't matter what her parents thought, as much as she knew she would be better off taking a page out of her brother's book and just doing what made her happy, as much as she knew she had what it took to succeed in music, Sarah wanted nothing more than for her parents to be proud of her. And that meant keeping her grades above a B, staying in ballet classes, going to a good college, and getting a "real" job.

Sarah hated herself for how well she played the role of Perfect Daughter. She hated how easily she slipped into the pleasant, kind, soft-spoken little girl her parents had raised her to be. She hated how she kept her head down whenever her parents ripped into David for whatever way he'd managed to disappoint them this time. She hated how no one knew who she really was, not even herself.

She wanted to be able to listen to the kind of music she liked and not be scolded for it. She wanted to wear clothes that felt like her and not like she was dressing up in a costume as someone else. She wanted to do and love and enjoy the things that she wanted to do and love and enjoy. She so was sick of pretending to be someone she wasn't. She wanted it to stop. Sarah Jacobs wanted to be herself more than anything else in the world.

Maybe that's why she did it.

Maybe that's why she had looked her mother in the eye and managed to gather up enough courage to be honest with herself for once in her life.

She wasn't sure what she had been expecting.

She knew what she had wanted. She had wanted her mother to prove her wrong. To look at her with the same amount of love and adoration she always had and to tell Sarah that she loved her no matter what she did, no matter who she loved.

Sarah isn't surprised to find herself sobbing alone, curled up on the couch in the studio after listening to two people who were supposed to love her unconditionally call her the vilest names in the English language.

And it hurts. It hurts so so much. She had always known, deep down inside, that her parents would never accept her for who she was. That was why she had always hidden her true self so deep down that even Sarah herself didn't know what her true colors were.

She had always known what would happen when she finally revealed those colors.

But knowing you're about to be stabbed doesn't make it hurt less. It doesn't stop the knife from piercing straight through your chest, making it impossible to breathe through the pain. It doesn't stop you from feeling the blade twisting inside your heart, destroying every last shred of hope.

She goes back home. David tells her to stay at the studio, that he'll take care of her there and that it'll be easier, in the long run, to cut their parents off then and there. She knows he's right. But she can't help but want her parents to love her again. If they had ever truly loved her to begin with.

So she goes back, she endures the anger and the hatred, she watches her brother leave her to pick up the broken pieces of their family all alone, she lets her parents blame her for David leaving, she lets Les scream that he hates her for not stopping him, and she lets him come back an hour later to sob through his apology.

She lets it happen.

And her parents stop screaming at her every time she walks by, resorting to ignoring her as if that meant she didn't exist. And Les stops begging her to convince David to come home, deciding he hates his older brother for leaving him and crying into David's pillow when he thinsk she wasn't looking. And Sarah plays her role of the perfect daughter when they're out in public, resisting the urge to flinch every time her mother puts an arm around her waist with a fake smile plastered on her face.

She had revealed one of her true colors and it had ruined everything.

She didn't regret it for a second.

Charlie Morris

Charlie is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his mama and his older brothers try to hide just how bad things are. He knows why Medda is constantly working overtime, but makes sure it's only at night so she can spend every possible second at home with her boys. He knows why Jack looks so sad and lost all the time and why he can hardly bear to let his little brothers out of his sight for longer than a few minutes. He knows why Race isn't going to school anymore and why he doesn't help out at Charlie's Buddy Ball games like he used to and why he keeps waking up in the middle of the night with coughing fits so loud Charlie can't sleep through them even though their bedrooms are on opposite sides of the house.

He knows why Medda and Jack look so frantic when they can't get Charlie's big brother to stop coughing and just breathe and why Medda makes him and Jack stay in the other room when the ambulance comes and why Jack is holding onto him so tightly while they wait for Uncle Denton to arrive. He knows why the doctors and nurses keep giving him sad smiles while he sits in the hard, uncomfortable chair of the hospital waiting room and why his mama looks so sad when she tells him he has to say goodbye to his big brother and why Race looks so unbelievably tired as he manages to give Charlie a small smile.

He knows why Race doesn't say anything when Charlie lays down next to him and just wraps an arm around his shoulders, letting Charlie ramble about everything and nothing. He knows why Race rarely even opens his eyes over the next few days and why Jack stops driving him to school in the mornings. Instead, Uncle Denton picks him up and brings him to the hospital where Medda and Jack had spent the night. He knows why everyone looks so heartbroken when Race finally manages to stay awake long enough to talk and his only request is for Jack to sing to him.

He knows why his mama is hugging him tight to her chest, her tears soaking into his hair, as the steady beeping that was always running slowed to a stop. He knows why Jack breaks down into heartwrenching sobs as soon he finishes his song. He knows why Uncle Denton doesn't even say anything, he just pulls Jack into his arms and stares at Race. At his body.

Charlie knows why he's never going to see his big brother again. He knows why Jack won't even hum along to the radio anymore and he knows why Medda can't bear to touch anything in Race's room, even though there's dirty laundry on the floor and he knows she hates that. He knows why Uncle Denton keeps bringing homemade dinners over every single night and why he keeps smiling and joking as if nothing's wrong. He knows why his teachers don't seem mad when he doesn't have any of his homework done when he comes back to school two weeks later.

He knows what Medda and Jack mean when they sit him down and gently explain that Race had to "go away" to "be an angel". He knows that Jack can barely drag himself out of bed every morning and that Medda is struggling just to hold herself together as it is. He knows that they don't need him to be having a breakdown every time he feels like it (which is fairly often, if he's being honest). He knows that at least one person in his family needs to be okay.

So he tries his best to go back to normal, to tell Jack all about this day like he always does, even when he just wants his brother to hold him close and let him cry. Jack smiles every time, so Charlie thinks it's worth it. He tells his mama jokes and stories while she cooks dinner, even though he wants to tell her about how much he misses his brother and how angry he is that he had to go. Medda laughs at his jokes every time, and Charlie knows it's worth it.

Uncle Denton gets him a tablet for his eleventh birthday, and Charlie discovered pages upon pages of stories, information, and videos about ghosts and the afterlife. Charlie thinks a part of him knows that none of it is true, but come on, can you blame him for wishing there was a way to know Race was still out there somewhere?

That's all Charlie wants. He just wants his big brother back.

Les Jacobs

Les is ten years old. That doesn't make him stupid. He understands what's going on around him, no matter how hard his older siblings try to hide it from him. He knows that Davey and his parents are always one wrong look away from the next fight. He knows Sarah would do anything in the world to make their parents happy, even though they treat her like garbage. He knows that as soon as he's old enough for his parents to start setting expectations of him, he'll be going through the exact same things.

He knows that it wasn't Sarah's fault that Davey left, and he'll feel sick to his stomach for the rest of his life every time he thinks about the things he said to her when he was too angry and hurt to think straight.

He knows that Davey would have moved mountains for him, that he never would have left Les if he had any choice. But he still can't understand why he never even said goodbye. He can't understand why Davey never came back for him. He can't understand why Davey would leave him and Sarah to fend for themselves.

He can't decide which of his siblings is being braver, David for having the strength to get out while he still could, or Sarah for having the strength to stay and try to fix things. Either way, Les is glad to have her around and, years later, when he knows that those three months were the worst three months of his life, his biggest regret in the world is that he never took a break from his forced anger to tell Sarah how much he loved her.

His parents dismiss Sarah's invitation to the band's show with an air of annoyance and indifference, but Les couldn't be happier. Davey would be there. And as much as Les has been trying to hate his older brother for more-or-less abandoning him, he can't help but feel giddy at the prospect of seeing him again. Sarah arranges for him to ride to the show with Bobby's parents under the guise that Les is spending the night with a friend.

Les is giddy with excitement the whole week leading up to the show and, as Sarah tells him goodbye before she leaves a few hours early to run a soundcheck, Les barely even gives her a second look, too busy digging through his closet to find the matching shirt he and Davey had gotten on vacation the year before.

It's not until days later that he realizes that was the last time he saw his big sister alive.

He's not quite sure why Bobby's parents seem so worried when they arrive at the theatre. It's a bit empty outside but they are kinda early. He doesn't like how Mrs. Shaw squeezes his hand tighter while she speaks softly to the worker at the ticket booth with a mixture of shock and horror on her face. He can’t understand why Bobby is sitting alone backstage or why he bursts into tears the second he sees Les or why he can’t stop crying long enough to answer him when he asks “Where’s Davey?”

His parents don’t show up at the hospital for nearly four hours. No one can get ahold of them, apparently. Les isn’t sure where they could be. He doesn’t know what could possibly be more important.

Albert’s dad and brothers are around somewhere, Les saw them come in but they didn’t exactly exchange small talk.

Bobby and his parents are the ones to tell him what happened. Mrs. Shaw is the one to pull him in close and wrap him tight in her arms while he cries. Mr. Shaw is the one to hold his hand when they finally let him see his siblings after hours and hours of begging. Bobby is the one to hold him close when he runs out of tears and can’t bear to do anything else.

Les is ten years old. That doesn’t make him stupid. He knows that his parents are the reason Davey never came home. He knows his parents are the reason Sarah was so miserable all the time. He knows that maybe they couldn’t have done anything to stop what happened that night, but they sure as hell took away Les’ chance to say goodbye.

So when his parents finally show up having the audacity to look like they’d been crying, Les doesn’t run into his mother’s waiting arms when she calls out to him. He buries his head back in Bobby’s shoulder and ignores her, just like she ignored every desperate plea Sarah ever cried. He pulls away from his father’s uncharacteristically gentle touch and begins to walk away. And when his father tries to follow after him, like he never, ever did for Davey, Les yells at them to leave him alone, in the coldest voice he can muster.

He never quite remembers exactly what he said to them, but he knows it was all true. That they were the ones who drove Davey away, that they never once believed in him, that he was right to leave them, and that Les is surprised he stuck around for as long as he did. That they treated Sarah like she was nothing, less than nothing, that she had done everything for them, that all she had ever wanted was for them to love her. He tells them that his siblings died hating them and that he would die the same way.

He’s pretty sure Bobby’s parents stuttered out something about grief and Les not really meaning it but he did. And his parents knew he did. Because they knew he was right.

They could spend the rest of his childhood honoring his siblings and pretending they were heartbroken. They could keep trying to have a relationship with him and keep trying to “learn from their mistakes”. They could give Les the entire world and it wouldn’t change what they had done.

They had stolen something from Les that he could never get back, and he had no intentions of ever forgiving them for that.

Yeah so those are the only characters I've put a lot of thought into, so we're gonna do a rapid-fire version of the last four that are important to the plot. They'll all probably develop more as the AU goes on, and feel free to send an ask if one of them catches your eye!

Albert DaSilva

Listen, I love Reggie Peters with all my heart, he's probably my favorite character on the show. But I could not for the life of me figure out what to do with him in this AU. Jac suggested Albert be the third member of Sunset Curve and while I'm super excited to explore this version of the character, I have absolutely zero thoughts about his backstory.

Like, I guess I could do what I did with David and Sarah and just. combine his Newsies fanon backstory with his JATP counterpart's backstory, but I'm not 100% sure how to do that. He's definitely got some kind of daddy(?) issues 'cause I'm giving him Reggie's one-sided friendship with Ray/Medda

As of right now, Davey and Sarah are having a shared crisis, and Albert's just having fun hanging out with Medda and messing around with Charlie. He is simply vibing.

I told Jac that he would probably gain some trauma as the AU progressed and they responded, and I quote, "i cannot WAIT for this"

Send me an ask if you want Albert to get trauma and/or daddy issues.

Spot Conlon

Spot as Flynn is probably the best decision I have ever made in my entire life because they're such different characters but also they are exactly the same.

He’s doing all the same things that Flynn does, he tries to help Jack stay the music program, he gets mad when Jack lies to him about the band, he helps Jack get through the ups and downs of life, and he’s Jack’s #1 fan (he’ll accept being tied for first with Medda and Charlie)

It’s just. He’s also Spot. If you know what I mean. I don’t know how else to describe his role in the story, he’s Jack’s ride or die and that’s all there is to it.

Spot’s still a DJ I think, but I feel like he’s got a funny story for how he got into doing that. Or just how he ended up in the music program in general. Also, yes, during the I Got The Music scene, Jack does daydream Spot rapping. He’s very confused afterwards but I think it’s funny so it stays.

Joseph Pulitzer

He's taking on Caleb's role.

He's a creepy magician guy.

He manipulates his daughter.

He sucks.

That is all.

(I mean like I'll give him a backstory if you want but yeah, his main character trait is: sucks)

Katherine Pulitzer

Katherine my beloved!!!!

Okay so her backstory is incredibly involved with Pulitzer's (duh) so I guess this is kind of like a 2-for-1 type thing here.

Anywho, Katherine and her father were a double act together performing magic! I'm thinking around the 1970s or 1980s ish. She enjoyed performing but she wasn't a fan of her dad. He didn't really care about her, he just cared about how he could use her to make his show better.

She's only seventeen, so she doesn't really have a choice, but she's been making plans to get away from him the second she can, and then... well... she's not really sure. She's going to start out performing on her own, just to make enough money to keep a roof over her head, and then she'll figure it out from there. Maybe she'll find something she's actually passionate about. Maybe she'll be a performer for the rest of her life.

Katherine doesn't care. All she cares about is getting away and making something of herself. She doesn't care what she ends up doing with her life as long as it's something she can call hers.

Yeah so then a few months before her 18th birthday, one of her father's magic acts goes horribly, horribly wrong and that's the end of her story.

And then she becomes a ghost.

And now she's stuck under her father's thumb for the rest of eternity.

If only someone would come along and help her learn that she doesn't have to let her father define her and that she does have the power to stand up to him and take him down. And if only that someone was also very smart and funny and pretty and was a drummer in a 1995 rock band and was also struggling with figuring out who she was without her parents around to tell her....

IF ONLY

So yeah! That's more or less everything I have for this AU so far! I do have some ideas in mind for different scenes and overarching plotlines, so please please do drop an ask if you want to hear more! Ideas include but are not limited to:

Unsaid Emily scene but with Les! (I have a song in mind :D)

Wake Up scene but with Jack!

Les growing up and having to watch his siblings' best friend getting famous off the songs he stole from them (see it's even Worse because most of the songs are about his family because Davey wrote all of them)

Jack and Charlie having a nice little heart-to-heart about grief and such (it is criminal that we never got a scene between Julie and Carlos talking about how his obsession with ghosts and the supernatural was his way of coping with his mother's death)

Sarah and Katherine meeting for the first time

Albert telling Jack about Les (That scene from episode 5 where Julie calls Luke selfish and Alex+Reggie tell her about his mom)

Sarah running off to the studio after coming out to her parents (I have an idea for this scene that involves Albert! Mans gets to actually do things!)

Once again, huge thanks to Jac for their help with this AU and I hope y'all like it! I have spent two days writing this post instead of working on a paper that's due in 2.5 hours! Haha send help :D

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ghostlyreggie · 1 year

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NICKREGGIE AU: two boys in high school, & a music class.

#nick reggie #nick jatp #reggie jatp #reggie peters #nick evans #julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms au #julie and the phantoms fanfiction #jatp au #julie molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #flynn jatp #carrie wilson #willie

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spookysweet-heart · 2 years

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All or Nothing

Request: No

Fandom: Battle Egos

Parings: Battle Egos x Fem!Reader

Warnings: none

A/N: This is Part Three! Part One and Two can be found here and here! This is a Julie and The Phantoms AU, with the Holloway Sisters (battle ego OCs) and Battle Boys! I hope you like it! The songs featured throughout the series are by their respective bands and artists, I’ll link each song that’s featured so you all can listen along. Each song I chose has significance to the story, so I hope you pay attention to them! The collage was made by me! Edited by @semiproeagle!

Back at the club, Phantom is watching one of the performers running a soundcheck. He looks over at Natemare who’s standing by. “What do you think of an all-girl band?”

“Interesting, but how would you fit another band in when you’re fully booked?” Natemare looks down at his brother curiously.

“Well, I’ll just have to make some sacrifices, won’t I?” Phantom stands up and pats Natemare’s shoulder as he passes by him. “Tell our girls I need to see them in my office, will you?”

Natemare only nods as he watches his brother head down the hall and disappear into a room. He looks at his wrist where a red symbol could be seen before disappearing into his skin. “What the fuck are you planning this time…”

“Hey!” Bones walks over to Mare. His smile turns into worry when he sees Mare looking at his wrist. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Natemare shakes off his thoughts and looks around. “Have you seen Lexi and Kimberly?”

“Uh, yeah, actually. They just got back. Why?” Bones raises an eyebrow, but before Mare can answer, the two girls walk into the room.

“Hey! What's up, you two?” Lexi smiles up at them.

“Nothing really, how was the thing you two went to see?” Mare smiles back and hugs them both after Bones does.

“It was a lot of fun! Got to see the girl Lexi wouldn’t stop talking about. She’s unbelievably pretty.” Kimberly pokes at Lexi’s cheek playfully.

“Shut up. Besides, did you see how her sisters were looking at you?”

“Shut up…” Kimberly playfully elbows her arm, making Bones giggle. Nervously laughing away her embarrassment, she looks over at Mare who’s staring off into space. “Smokey boy, you good?” She waves her hand in front of his face to get his attention.

Mare blinks before taking a step back. “What? Oh, yeah no, I’m fine. Uh, Phantom wanted to see you two in his office, by the way.”

“Right now?” Lexi looks over at him.

“Yeah, but hey, when you guys come out of there, can you find us and tell us what he says?”

“Sure thing. But are you sure you’re okay? You seem more off than usual.” Lexi gently squeezes his shoulder reassuringly.

“I’m fine, I’ll tell you two why when I know what he wants.”

“Alright, well, see you guys soon, then!” Lexi took Kimberly’s hand, leading her away from them and down the hall to Phantom’s office.

Knocking on the door, they hear Phantom tell them to come in.

“You wanted to see us, sir?” Both girls step inside, closing the door behind them.

“There you two are! My precious little gems!” Phantom brings them both into a hug. They feel a little awkward with how friendly their boss is being. “I was thinking,” He lets go of them and gestures to the two to take a seat by his desk. Picking up a flier, he hands it to Lexi. “Why don’t we welcome those newcomers? The sisters you told me about?”

He points to the flier that had an invitation to the club for their Friday night showcase. “Wouldn’t it be nice to introduce them to a place where they could come and relax when they want to take a break from things?” Phantom smiles as he pet and smoothes out Kimberly's hair. “I’m sure they’d love to see my leading lady perform on one of her biggest nights of the week.”

“This is for next week, it feels too late to say anything…” Lexi looks over the flier one more time before she looks up at him.

“It shouldn’t be an issue, it’s not like they have a schedule to uphold. They’re dead. What could they possibly have to do?” Phantom sits down in his chair. He rests his arms on his desk, looking up at them.

“Well no, they don’t really have much to do, but we can ask if they’d like to come. You know it’s up to them in the end.” Kimberly speaks up when she sees her boss grow more irritated by the second.

“You’re right. It's up to them in the end. Just make sure their decision is to come.”

“Yes, sir...we’ll do our best.” Lexi folds up the flier and puts it in her pocket. “Let’s go.” The girls make their way to the door, but are stopped before they can reach the doorknob. They hear Phantom speak again.

“Don’t forget! You two have a soundcheck bright and early tomorrow.” Phantom leans into the back of his chair, watching them leave his office.

------

Marie and Raven are sitting on the couch in the studio watching Anne pace back and forth. “Will you sit down? What’s up with you?”

“What’s up with me?! You guys know I don’t deal with change well.” Anne’s voice raises, almost becoming squeaky. “When you guys almost moved to go to college, when our puppy ran away, the fact that we died and came back?!” She looks at them on the brink of tears. “Then there’s the fact we can only be seen by this one girl until we find out we can actually be seen by everyone else when we perform with her?!”

Marie stands up, placing her hands on Anne’s shoulders squeezing them. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but can’t you see that this is an amazing opportunity? Anne, we can be the band we were always meant to be with (Y/n)’s help.”

“I know, you’re right, but- I just….it’s all too much to handle right now… how are you this calm?” Anne leans into Marie’s chest, letting herself cry.

“I’m the oldest, remember? My job is to worry about all of you first.” Marie gently pets Anne’s hair, kissing the top of her head and bringing Anne in closer to hold her against her chest.

Raven looks up at them feeling the same confusion as Anne. “You’re both right. It’s too much, but it’s what we have to work with. This could be a clue for our unfinished business.”

“A clue?” Marie looks over at Raven. “Maybe, but right now we gotta focus on what we can do to help (Y/n) before we help ourselves.”

Anne wipes her tears away with her sleeves. Taking a deep breath in, she nods. “Yeah, you’re right. She just ignored us when we got back to her…I think she was crying too…”

Raven glances at the door before she picks up her old stuffed animal. “We should go check on her. She just ran up to her room and didn’t say anything to us when we got back.”

“Alright, we’ll go check on her. Hopefully we can help in any way we can.” Marie looks at both of her sisters before they all disappear from the studio and reappear in your room.

When they look around, they immediately notice that your room used to be Anne’s room. The only thing that stayed the same was the yellow wallpaper with flowers on it. Everything else was yours.

“What are you guys doing here?”

The three girls look over to see you sitting in the middle of your bed with a bunch of papers in front of you. Anne is the first one to take a step forward when she sees your eyes are red from crying.

“We wanted to see if you were okay and maybe we could help cheer you up.” She looks down at you, giving you a warm smile.

You don’t know what it is about Anne, but she has a way making you feel safe around her. “I know you guys want to help, but Erica already made it clear she doesn’t want to be friends anymore. Even if I tell her the truth about you, there’s no way she’d believe me. I mean, who would believe I joined a ghost band? Erica would think I’ve gone off the deep end if I told her that.”

Anne looks around at the papers and picks one up when it catches her attention. “What are these?”

“They’re just notes and things we wrote to each other during middle school and high school. Like silly promises and stuff like that.”

Anne shows Raven and Marie the note giving them a look they both know very well. Anne definitely has an idea brewing in her head. Turning back to you, she grins. “What if you showed her we’re real? Ask her to come over to explain everything and bring her back to the studio. We can show her you weren’t trying to mislead her.”

“Okay, but exactly what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to use these notes and turn them into a song you can sing to her and we can perform with you!”

“Do you think this would work?”

“It’s worth a try, right?”

“I guess you’re right. Okay, I’ll text her and then we’ll get started on this song.”

After sending Erica a text asking her to come over in two hours, you and the girls head back into the studio, getting to work.

Back at the club, Lexi and Kimberly are walking out into the lobby when Bones and Mare spot them.

“Hey! So what happened?” Both boys look worried when their friends stay silent.

“Let’s get out here for a while. It’s our day off, let’s enjoy it.” Kimberly smiles, taking the lead and making her way out the front doors with the other three following behind.

“We should probably go to the park or anywhere else to talk about this.” Lexi looks around at the group.

They all agree and head to the park. It isn’t long until Mare starts asking questions again once they arrive at an empty table.

Pulling out the flier from her pocket, Lexi starts to explain the situation as much as she can. The boys stay silent, listening to every word, but still staying that way even after everything is said and done.

“I don’t trust it for a second, but maybe Phantom isn’t going to do anything at first. He’s evil, but smart. He’s not going to outright take them. He’d try to warm them up and convince them to come back again before he tries anything.” Bones looks determined, but a bit frightful at the thought of getting in Phantom’s way.

Mare looks at Lexi like an idea that popped into his head. “You’re friends with them, right? Why not go along with it? Convince them to stop by. Make it seem like everything is going his way, but we need to give them warnings. We can’t just flat out tell them everything, or else we’ll be put in orbs and on the shelf.”

“I don’t like that, it feels gross, honestly. I’d feel horrible.” Lexi frowns at the thought of actually going through with this plan.

“Try to do this. You want to help them, don’t you?”

“Yeah, of course I do.”

“Then we have to play the game and try to get a step further. Kimberly, why not talk to one of the other sisters? If one of them is a little hesitant about coming, the other one could probably convince the rest to come along.”

“Maybe I could try. I can’t guarantee anything.”

Bones smiles reassuringly, hoping the girls’ nerves will calm down a little. “We’ll give Phantom any updates he wants while you two are busy. We only have rehearsal tomorrow morning and you’re both free for the weekend. Use the time to talk to those sisters. We got this, okay?”

“Okay.” They both nod, still not completely agreeing with this plan.

“You guys should go right now, set up a time to meet up over the weekend and get this thing in motion.”

The girls look at each other and nod before disappearing.

Bones looks over at Mare, very concerned. “Do you think we’ll be able to do this?”

“Honestly? I have no idea.”

Standing outside of the studio, Lexi and Kimberly can hear someone talking. Peeking inside, they see (Y/n) and another girl sitting on the couch. Lexi looks around and spots the girls by their instruments.

Raven looks up and locks eyes with Lexi. Immediately grinning, she gestures for them to come in. Stepping inside, Kimberly waves at Marie and Anne, smiling at them. Raven points to a few chairs that are in the room. “Take a seat! We’ll only be a few.” She tilts her head over to you and Erica on the couch.

“I don’t know (Y/n), ghosts? If you’re not going to tell me the truth, you shouldn’t have called me over. Seriously, this isn’t funny. I’ve been trying to get you to play music again after what happened to your dad, but the thing that got you out of your block was a ghost band? I don’t believe it.”

“Erica, I know it sounds completely insane, but just sit here and I’ll prove to you I’m not lying. Please, you obviously still trust me since you haven’t given up at this point.”

Rolling her eyes, Erica crosses her arms over her chest. “Fine, but after this, I’m calling your mom and telling her everything because this is seriously concerning.”

You grin, nodding and standing up from the couch. “Alright, that’s fair enough for me. The girls helped me write this when I was looking over those notes and letters we wrote each other over the years. It’s simply called Best Friend.” Walking over to the mic you look at the girls and nod, signaling that you're ready to start.

Marie smiles as she starts playing her guitar leading the song. The other two join in soon after.

You smile looking at Erica when you start singing. “Remember when you broke up with your fucking ex? God, I'm glad you've finally gotten over them. Only took about a hundred million texts. God, I swear that bitch was such a narcissist. Everybody knows I love you so, so, so, so much'Cause every time they ask, I always tell, tell, tell, tell them.“ Seeing Erica’s eyes widen a bit when she’s able to see the girls again while they're playing with you.

“That's my fuckin' best friend, that's my fuckin' right hand. That's my fuckin' throw-up-in-the-bathroom-but-still-love-them. That's my fuckin' best friend, best friend. That's my fuckin' best friend, best friend. That's my fuckin' lifeline, that's my ride or die like. That's my fuckin' hate-you-but-you-know-that-that's-a-damn-lie. Baby, you're my best friend, best friend. Baby, you're my best friend, best friend” Taking the mic off the stand you walk over to Erica and pull her up to her feet, guiding her over to the group.

“Made a promise that I'm gonna marry you. If we're both still single by, like, thirty-two. And that shit is gonna end up bein' true 'Cause I hate, like, everyone except for you. Who else is gonna grocery shop with me at 2 AM? Who else will take that picture for you just to get revenge? You're just as psycho as me, just as sick inside the head So when they ask, I've always said”

Wrapping arm around her shoulders you pull her into your side as you finish the song. “That's my fuckin' best friend, that's my fuckin' right hand. That's my fuckin' throw-up-in-the-bathroom-but-still-love-them. That's my fuckin' best friend, best friend. That's my fuckin' best friend, best friend. That's my fuckin' lifeline, that's my ride or die like. That's my fuckin' hate-you-but-you-know-that-that's-a-damn-lie. Baby, you're my best friend, best friend/ Baby, you're my best friend, best friend.”

Looking around at the sisters, Erica reaches out her hand to touch Raven’s arm, but it phases right through her. ”Holy shit, you were telling the truth!”

The girls disappear from Erica’s sight, but they’re still in the studio with everyone.

“I told you I was being honest. I’m sorry for not telling you the truth before, but you said it yourself. You couldn’t believe it, so I had to prove it to you instead. Forgive me?”

“You’re forgiven, but no more secrets, okay?”

“I promise. No more secrets.” Erica laughs and hugs you tightly.

“You’re free this weekend, right? Let’s have a movie night!”

Nodding in excitement, you take her hand and almost bolt out of the studio. Anne hears about the movie night and shouts out to you “Wait, I wanna join! What movie are you going to watch!?” Instantly, she disappears, following you two into the house.

Raven walks over to Lexi, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. “So, what's with the surprise visit?” She leads Lexi to sit on the couch with her.

“I wanted to see you, again in all honesty. We’re only working tomorrow morning for the weekend, so I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with me while I have the time. It’s really nice talking to you, Raven.”

Raven giggles when she sees a faint blush on her cheeks. “I’d love to! It’s been really fun to have you to talk to, and, well, not just for advice, but I actually really love spending time with you, Lexi.”

Lexi grins, trying her hardest not to freak out. “I feel the same way. I um, I was thinking we could hang out at the park for a bit before going anywhere else. I just like going around there before and after work, just to clear my head.”

Raven nods excitedly. “That's understandable. Would you like to meet in the afternoon?”

“Yeah, sounds perfect!”

Marie smiles as she takes the empty seat next to Kimberly. “Hey, you. Didn’t think I would get to see you again so soon.”

“Ah, well, we're just at the club we work at and we were told that we only have morning rehearsals with most of the weekend off. Lexi wanted to see if Raven wanted to hang out with her and, um, I kinda wanted to see if you maybe wanted to hang out with me?”

Marie smiles and giggles, seeing the girl in front of her become a bit flustered. “That sounds fun, I’d love to! Plus if it gets me more time with a cutie like you, I’m definitely not skipping this chance.”

Giggling, Kimberly shakes her head. “I bet you say that to all the ghost girls.”

“Only the cute ones, and so far, it’s only been you.”

“Oh my gosh.”

Marie only grins, seeing her face get redder. “So when and where, sweetheart?”

Kimberly looks at her shoes for a moment before looking back up at Marie “Um, I was thinking we could walk around Hollywood for a while and just see where the day takes us. Maybe we can meet by the walk of fame around two?”

“Oh! It’s been literally years since I’ve visited Hollywood! I’d love to!” Marie grins and dances excitedly in her seat.

“Great! So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“It’s a date! See you tomorrow!”

Kimberly grins and stands up, walking over to Lexi who’s getting up from the couch.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” She smiles at Raven as she stands up with her.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow!”

Lexi and Kimberly wave goodbye to the sisters before they disappear, heading back to the club.

Raven and Marie look at each other in silence for a few seconds before they both get goofy grins on their faces, getting excited for the next day.

Tag List:

@lady-bee-fechin

@scarsofbeauty

@huffle-princess

@fluffy-demon-wolf

#battle egos #youtuber egos #natewantstobattle #natemare #phantom #Bones #natpai #holloway sisters #marie holloway #raven holloway #natalie holloway #anne holloway #x reader #fem!reader #julie and the phantoms au #jatp

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tazumihanako · 1 month

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So like Julie and the phantoms au but make it South Park and now I’m emotionally heart broken cause I’m imagining Stan singing unsaid Emily and the heartbreak continues 🥲

#tazumihanako #south park #ao3 author #south park style #stan marsh x kyle broflovski #south park fanfiction #stan x kyle #ao3storyupdate #ao3 #fanfiction #Julie and the phantoms au

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artistmarchalius · 4 months

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Broppy Capture AU, where Branch didn’t confess after World Tour, but a love confession when all hope seems lost is just what they need to free themselves from Velvet and Veneer.

A version without text can be found under the cut.

#dreamworks trolls #trolls fanart #broppy #trolls Poppy #trolls branch #trolls au #trolls band together #tbt #trolls 3 #I was listening to Julie and the Phantoms in the car and had ✨thoughts✨#someone’s probably already done this but here’s my spin/contribution #broppy capture au #where branch didn’t confess after World Tour and then they get captured by V&V #but when they don’t think they’re going to get another chance to do it they confess #via song obviously #which is Perfect Harmony from Julie and the Phantoms #and their duet breaks the diamond because they’re each other’s family #they’re in love your honor

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providencehq · 1 year

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Non Shrike AU content yet again but idea where Danny takes on being a superhero more or less out of Amity Park once he's slightly older. Danny continues to go by Phantom. He's a sudden unknown with a rogue gallery who seems to follow him no matter how quickly he travels from city to city. The destruction that follows him is hard to notice and as a result the Justice League attempts to intervene but it's leaving them questioning who exactly this new hero (or foe) is. He is able to go toe to toe with some of the veteran League members until he usually realizes he can't exactly win against them (experience vs. raw power doesn't always work in his favor) and runs away. The League is trying to get a grasp on his powers and abilities and in the end, since he doesn't seem fond of actually interacting with the League, Danny is deemed a threat. It's especially concerning when some members spy him lingering on the edges of Earth's atmosphere star gazing.

Danny views the situation differently, he's trying to contain ghosts appearing from an influx of natural ghost portals throughout the country while juggling being a freshman in university. His goal is get them under controlled as quick as possible, no time for banter, no time to interact with the local heros. He has a job to do. However when the Justice League starts coming after him he believes they realize he's a ghost/part ghost and trying to detain him under the ecto acts. He's terrified and views them as a threat so of course he's going to fight them if they try to get to close.

Danny is eventually captured by Superman after a rogue battle in Metropolis that was extremely difficult so having Superman come in directly after was a losing battle from the start. He's taken to the Watch Tower and given cuffs and a collar that blocks/dampens meta abilities and it manages to actually work on Danny. He refuses to cooperate with any members who try to question him since it's pointless to fight against them now that he's captured. Danny views himself steps away from being fully dead as he believes the Justice League will hand him over to the Men in White once they're finished with him.

Non colored version under readmore:

#mine #my art #dp x dc #dc x dp #dp #danny phantom #dc #batman #danny fenton #au #dp crossover #non shrike au #i've been listening to a lot of julie christmas and imaging her music with danny fighting various jl members #AS I HAVE SAID! dpxdc brain rot continues however my computer will not #aka i think this is my last drawing for a while #power house au

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galentir · 4 months

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Alternative universe where Luke and Reggie share the best werewolf vampire solidarity 🤝

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #jatp willie #jatp art #jatp fanart #digital art #my art #this AU hasn't left me I love this so much already #telling by Luke's messy hair... werewolf!Luke was predestinied to be a big floof #and Reggie would absolutely LOVE IT #Alex is having none of it #he wouldn't know what answer he expected to hear from Reggie #last art post of this year! the past three months have been a lot so I'm mentally still stuck in october #but today I finally finished a big project and can now post some art I originally started with the halloween picture #can't believe it's the end of december #so instead of happy halloween have a happy new year!

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shellynelsonlahey · 7 months

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Since I just watched Totally Killer… imagine a Julie and the Phantoms au where Julie goes back in time to before the boys die and tries to save them because even though she loves them, she knows they deserve a chance (only to come back and find out it didn’t work and they remember her trying to help and ugh the angst OR It does work and they remember how she helped them and it’s painfully bittersweet—)

#totally Killer #Julie and the phantoms #au #Julie Molina #sunset curve

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greatsharklamia · 1 month

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New JATP Social Media AU. The Phantoms are taking over the world; one hit at a time.

#julie and the phantoms #julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #social media au #juke #willex

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psychotic-nonsense · 6 days

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Steve Harrington doesn't expect today to be anything special.

His kid, Dustin, is out in the garage hanging out with his friend Lucas. It's a calm spring evening, and there isn't a single call coming from the phone asking for his services. The former handy man turned jack of all trades has a day off, and he's taking the chance to catch up on the fantasy book Dustin picked up for him on his last trip to the library.

He's older than he once thought he could be, he's alive, and he's happy.

He's mid sip of his sweet tea - recipe courtesy of the Byers family - when someone suddenly comes in through the front door. Mr. Harrington jumps, closes the book with a dog-eared page ("Terrible habits, sir, terrible terrible habits," says a voice from the past in his head). But then Dustin walks into view, and while he's not entirely calmed, he's less startled.

"Hey there, big guy," his starts calmly, but his mood quickly sombers when he gets a full look at his son. "Everything okay?"

Something's off. Dustin's coming in through the front door, not the back door that's easier to get to from the garage. Lucas isn't with him, and Mr. Harrington's old acoustic guitar is in his hands ("Be careful, love, you might end up as our backup," says the voice with a wink he can still see). But most importantly, Dustin looks nervous. Sad, even, and Mr. Harrington never lets that kind of face linger long in this household.

"Yeah, I'm okay, dad..." Dustin mumbles, pausing in the front hall, staring down at the guitar. His eyes look far away. "I was just wondering, um... you know that band group that I'm friends with?" Dustin looks up, directing all of that pain right at his father, stabbing at his heart.

"Yeah, your buddies on that forum, right?" Mr. Harrington says cautiously. He's leaning forward on his knees now, book discarded to a side table to give Dustin his full attention. "Were they telling you something? Is Lucas okay?"

"No, yeah, Lucas is fine, his mom called," Dustin quickly mutters, briefly distracting the nervous tension in his face with a shaking head. He takes a deep breath, releasing it in one big huff as he holds the guitar tighter. "So, you remember how I told you we were all helping each other? You know, learning how to write songs?"

"Yeah?" Mr. Harrington affirms, gently encouraging him to go on.

"Well, um..." Dustin looks away again, down at his feet shuffling in the carpet. "The- the lead singer of that band? Said he wanted some feedback on one, so uh..." His eyes glance at the guitar in his arms before meeting his father's eyes again.

Mr. Harrington huffs a small sigh of relief, a smile overtaking him. Nothing's wrong, it's just Dustin wanting to share a song with his dad, and he's nervous. Mr. Harrington has nothing to worry about ("A one man crowd? Gotta make this really memorable then," says the voice, teasing words but a soft, scared, nervous tone). "Yeah yeah, of course, kid, I'd be honored."

But then why is Dustin still so tense when he nods? Why are his eyes still so sad when he sits on the couch opposite Mr. Harrington, while he tunes the guitar? Why does he keep looking at the empty space beside him, growing more anxious each time?

"Take your time buddy, it's okay," Mr. Harrington tries to reassure, but Dustin doesn't look up.

Instead he sits there, breathing deeply a few times. Looks over at the other end of the couch, blinks a few times before nodding to himself, turning back. His left hand runs over the frets a few times, other hand coming up to rub at his eyes-

Oh god, he's crying. And his dad is just sitting there, helpless and useless. Mr. Harrington's heart is impaled once again and he reaches up, wanting to try and fix this, to help.

But then Dustin's hands are settling on the guitar, determination joining the mix of sadness and anxiety, and Mr. Harrington is forced to sit back and watch.

Because Dustin starts playing.

He's heard the music from outside the garage walls. He's bought plenty of guitars for Dustin to play over the years, heard many types of genres coming from under the secrecy of that roof. It's Dustin's thing, his hidden passion outside of science and fantasy, so Mr. Harrington has let him have the privacy, keeping his pride tamed for his son's sake.

So to finally see Dustin playing is like pride tenfold, longing grasping his heart tight when he sees how Dustin leans into the music ("We're the few good ones left, dear... We just feel it differently from others, you know?" bemoans the voice in his head). How his eyes close, the tension in his body loosening as music echoes from the guitar's.

And it's a beautiful melody. Simple, like all good things are, but melancholic. Longing incarnate. Nothing he was expecting from this, but he never wants it to end. It feels like lost love, regrets...

But then the singing starts.

"First things first

We start the scene in reverse

All of the lines rehearsed

Disappear from my mind"

Faint and echoing. Barely audible at first, but steadily growing in sound as Dustin plays. Ethereal, Mr. Harrington remembers from the book. That describes it.

It's not Dustin, he's too focused on the guitar. And his voice cracks on words this quiet, his tone off no matter what genre he's singing along to. Gets it from his dad.

It's almost familiar. Sounds like home.

"When things got loud

One of us running out

I should have turned around

But I had too much pride"

Suddenly, something shifts in the air. It feels cold, like soft wind in a breath, then going tingly. The light pattering of winter's first snow.

There's a window behind Dustin, the evening light shining through the blinds and curtains lighting everything in a warm glow. If he wasn't watching Dustin, he wouldn't have seen it. The beams being cast on the couch beside Dustin are slightly bright... and are swiftly getting brighter.

"No time for goodbyes

Didn't get to apologize

Pieces of a clock that lies broken"

Before his eyes, the sunlight starts moving, swirling and disconnecting into little beads of light. It shifts colors, a gradient of orange and reds, purple and blue, a hazy cloud slowly materializing on the couch.

It's shaping into something, moving into specific sections to the music and words. Changing color all the while, blacks and reds appearing deeper, a figure coming through the shape. The voice keeps getting louder, screaming familiarity at Mr. Harrington-

Then in a flash, it solidifies, and everything else fades away. No room, no weather, no sense.

Just music and singing and... and him.

"If I could take us back

If I could just do that

I'd write in every empty space

The words 'I love you' in replace

And every time would not erase me"

He's sitting on the couch next to Dustin, almost laying down. Leaning back against the arm rest, knees bunched up on the cushion but shoes hanging off the side. His clothes look aged compared to nowadays, but it's the same flannel and black ripped jeans and chains as the faithful day they lost each other.

Oh god, his voice has the same gorgeous vibrato, words flowing from his lips like poetry. His hair has the same soft curly bounce, product keeping it infinitely safe. His face, his hands, his presence remains unchanged.

He's not looking up, doesn't have to for those deep amber doe eyes to be so visible. He's messing with his rings while he sings, watching the silver glint in the light that created him. Doesn't hide how sad, how longing and lonely he looks and sounds here in this place.

A hand is coming up to Mr. Harrington's chest, tears blotting his vision and he's not ashamed of blinking them into reality, can't let himself look away from this.

It's him, it's him, dear god, the man he thought he lost over 30 years ago, the man he thought left behind their love by choice while he had never let it go, who's voice and presence never left his mind, who he thought would come back but never did and couldn't have, he's ghostly and gone, he's gone but it's him, his love, Steve's love, finally here after so long...

"If you could only know

I never let you go

And the words I most regret

Are the ones I never meant to leave..."

His voice starts cracking, that sweet pretty voice breaking. His face crumbles, hands trembling and it breaks Steve in two and he wants to reach out and help, he wants but he can't-

Then he finally looks up. Their eyes meet and there's relief and longing and pain and sorrow in both of their eyes because they're seeing each other, finally finally finally, after so long...

"Unsaid Emily..."

Sung in a whisper to the strumming of his son.

Munson.

Eddie Munson.

Steve's sweet, dear Eddie Munson.

He came back...

He finally came home...

#Julie and the Phantoms Steddie AU anybody? :'D #was thinking about this song again n figured i should make it a full thing #gotta rewatch the show to get the lore right but anyway #steve is dustin's dad in the 20-somethings i dunno when exactly yet #corroded coffin is the ghost band that dustin can see #their unfinished business is eddie's who was dating steve in the 80-90s before they had a fight and eddie left the same night the band died #and cc sticks together even in their lead guitarist's relationship drama #would keep going but later #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #dustin henderson #lil cameo from #lucas sinclair #julie and the phantoms #sorry jatp fans a steddie infiltrated your place

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