@plasmacandle: so my idea was a thing in which hank did know manny when he was alive - they were friends, but not super close ones; maybe former classmates. anyway, manny was struggling deeply with life, and he reached out to hank because he remembered him starkly and had the inexplicable feeling that he would understand (i feel like manny is/was a very observant, intuitive person). hank was surprised to have his company be sought out for any purpose, and he agreed. they meet again for the first time in a while - somewhere contemplative, like a scenic bridge, maybe - and manny tells him about his woes, things to do with work and stress and family and death and the fear of letting everyone down and the overwhelming nature of it all. hank did understand, as it turned out, and he felt awful to know that manny felt that way too. he tried to give reassurance, but he wasn't sure of anything himself. which manny could probably sense. (hank finds manny's intuition admirable and a little frustrating at the same time.) from that point on, hank knew that manny was depressed. they spoke a few more times, but hank never knew what to do or say because he wasn't good at communicating + had his own problems to deal with. as things got worse for hank, he drifted away from everyone, and as per the events of the movie, he sailed away, thinking no one would miss him. so once manny washes up on shore, hank is shocked to see him again... but he also knows exactly what must have happened. and he feels horrible that he wasn't there, that he couldn't do anything to stop it, and now his friend is dead, and it's another reminder of his uselessness, and-- and then manny wakes up. he remembers only a few things. he remembers hank as someone important to him. but he doesn't remember how, or anything else about his life, really. hank can see that he's only a shell of his former self. but he's glad to see hank again, no matter what. and hank is utterly taken aback by that. and when manny asks hank what his life was like... hank doesn't know if he can answer. he can't bear to tell him the truth, that he spent so much time being sad and lonely (that both of them did). so he lies, and tells stories about how manny was happy, and successful, and loved, because if he couldn't have those things in life, hank is going to give him a second chance of sorts. some sweet memories of the kind of life he deserved, even if they're only imaginary. and hank can have a second chance, too, to be a good friend. to be important in someone's life, and to deserve that importance, and to get to know someone that he never really understood much in life, no matter how much of that person is really left. (of course, something would fall through and hank would be revealed as a liar once more. a liar with good intentions, but still. i'm not sure what would happen after that, but this is really just a sad little concept that i tried to flesh out)