#buckleway

S3 Everyone lives nobody dies!AU. On the way to find out where Soviet spy is

Stranger Things: Rock the Casbah: Synopsis

"Summer of 1985. It’s been a while since the Starcourt mall opened, and Steve’s found himself working at Scoops Ahoy. Initially, he hated it, but as time went on, he came to genuinely like his new job, even preferring being at work over being at home. This change was largely in part because of his coworker Robin, whom he quickly grew a liking towards, with one of the first things he learned about her being that her best friend, Heather Holloway, loves coming in on her break to order ice cream, or rather, distract Robin from her job."

"One day, Heather and Steve were making small talk when she mentioned that she and her friend were thinking of getting a second job on top of their current one at the pool, so he told her about how the jazzercise place a couple of stores down was hiring. He didn’t think much of this, knowing just how thrilled Robin would be if Heather began working there; it wasn’t until two weeks later, when Steve saw Heather walking in with that blonde asshole, that he realized his mistake."

"Before he knew it, Billy became a regular in his life, always coming by on his breaks to mess with him, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Robin actually began finding his antics funny, even teasing Steve about how needy his “boyfriend” was. As if. Steve hated Billy ever since the fight at the Byers house; by all means, the only reason he tolerated him was because he’s Heather’s best friend… boyfriend? Fuck buddy? Steve wasn’t really sure what they were to each other. Now, do they have some things in common? Yeah. And has Billy managed to make him chuckle a couple of times during their banter? Yes. And sure, sometimes he felt a little excitement when he saw Billy sauntering into the parlor… But it’s just for Robin and Heather’s sake, nothing more."

"Besides that, things were fine, great even, until Steve heard a rumor that one of the stores in the mall had a couple of items seemingly vanished the night before. Now this wasn’t anything new; kids pocket shit all the time. But then it kept happening; more stores began finding items disappearing without a trace, until one day Steve clocked into work only to find the majority of utensils and three tubs of ice cream from the freezer gone; on top of that, he’d later learn that multiple pieces of workout gear had also been taken from the Jazzercise studio that same night."

"But despite it being the fourth week in a row that several stores had been robbed, the police haven’t been called once, with the newspaper not even making as much as an off-handed comment toward this string of robberies. Meanwhile, their bosses seemed almost apathetic towards it all, only telling them that they were looking into it before asking them to not mention this to anyone outside of the mall. Now, Robin and the others just chalked this up to the owners not wanting any bad publicity within the mall’s first year, but Steve knows when there’s a cover-up of any kind in Hawkins, there’s never a simple reason for it."

"His first thought was to go to Nancy or the party, but while he was sure that there was something more to this, a part of him couldn’t help but doubt his intuition. The idea of getting everyone worked up about a new strange happening, only for it to turn out that there was a perfectly normal, non-multi-dimensional reason for it, just makes him cringe; Steve already has enough people questioning or mocking his intelligence as it is, and he really doesn’t want to add fuel to the fire."

"So, he started looking into it himself, planning on only telling the others if he finds anything damning, but despite his best efforts, Steve repeatedly comes up short, and as the thefts continue, he begins to second-guess his plan; maybe he just wasn’t capable of something like this on his own. That was until Robin found out and insisted on helping him, with Steve reluctantly agreeing on the one condition that she doesn’t tell anyone. Needless to say, Heather and Billy also found out, but soon enough the four ended up discovering a major secret lying beneath Starcourt’s floor."

"This most recent adventure finds Steve questioning his own capabilities while dealing with some other issues he’s been burying deep down for longer than he’d like to admit. But in order to keep both himself and the others safe, he’ll have to push past his insecurities and rise to the occasion, maybe even finding solace in someone unexpected along the way."

So... Yeah.

I should say, I have no intentions to actually write this, at least not now, but of course, here Billy and Heather wouldn't have been flayed and instead joined the party.

I'd also like to mention that since the Nancy and Robin book was (I'm assuming) named after the song "One Way or Another" I also wanted this to be named after a popular song from the time. "Rock You Like A Hurricane," for obvious reasons, and admittedly I chose "Rock The Casbah" because I began associating it with Harringrove after reading "Cabin 28" by @flayedintheusa on ao3. (Read it, it's great!)

I'm leaning towards "Rock The Casbah," as the name since, hypothetically if this were real, while Billy would definitely be the secondary main character, Steve would be the main main character. Idk, "Rock You Like A Hurricane" would probably be used for a book where Billy's the main character; maybe it would even be the sequel to this book set in season 4, since he'd still be alive in this timeline.

I also tried to make a version that featured Robin and Heather, but couldn't figure out how to fit them in properly. I might try to make another cover with all four of them sometime.

Lastly, I also created a less, bright/purple version of the cover. I wanted for Steve and Billy to be more purple because that's what red and blue make, and I'm not sure whether I'm entirely happy with it or not.

Comparison:

Anyway Robin is super uncomfortable because she wants to be a supportive girlfriend but also the whole concept of beauty pageants is super misogynistic and patriarchal and she hates it but also…so many pretty ladies she’s having a panic attack

Billys the one jumping out of his seat every time heathers on stage doing something, cheering the loudest whooping and hollering and clapping and doing her dance routines with her Regina George’s mom style

—Stranger Things edition

Robin: Oh dear lord, I'm marrying Steve.

Billy: Duh.