#stephan lindberg

Like his counterparts, in this AU of mine, Keith, or more widely known as The Boyfriend, was always known to have been an ambitious boy with big dreams. His affable and witty personality made him a well-liked fellow, and an insufferable nemesis. His passion for good food, love and music had always been a setback in his academic years, but upon graduating college they would prove to finally be an advantage to achieving his goals.

He would start with making his own music shortly after under the striking stage name of “The Boyfriend.” It would take a few years, and a lot of encouragement and help from his parents and friends, but after moving city to city, playing live and picking up gigs wherever he could, at some point he would finally find opportunities to reach more ears with the help of music producers and developers, opening to the doors of his fame. 

By the late 80s, The Boyfriend had been able to officially release many of his written songs with the proper equipment and modifications, his music ranging from rock love songs, deep and meaningful grunge, and funky rap. His broad choice of music genres would make him spread relatively fast, and he would reach the top charts with other popular bands and artists by the early 90s in no time.

At that time The Boyfriend would be considered a successful musician with multiple hit albums and a continuously growing fanbase. His music had been a success, but he still had another goal in mind. Food had always been an important part of his life, having lived with parents that both knew how to cook and passed down their skills to him. He wanted to make something out of it. Food always tastes better with good music and friends, and the three combined could make wonderful memories. Keith wanted something everyone could enjoy–family, friends, lovers, even a person alone. A spot for everyone to forget about problems for a moment and have a good time. What better way than to use his talents and money to make that possible? 

The Boyfriend’s Funkstaurant, named by yours truly, began its development in 1992. Keith had a friend for anything, in everything, and with his hefty income from his fame, it wasn’t excessively hard to afford the necessary equipment and permits. Employees were not at all tough to find in the busy city, and alongside his childhood anchor, Michael Hart, Keith founded the Boyfriend Entertainment, managed to find a suitable building in the city of Philadelphia, and within two years, the family entertainment restaurant would open its doors in 1994, a polished, well-managed business with good-natured staff, all whom were associated with The Boyfriend himself. 

The establishment would be an instant hit, and Boyfriend’s Funkstaurant would quickly become one of the top family restaurants around Philly. Keith would leave Michael as the manager in charge of the place while he continued to work on his music and concerts, as his own music producer was eager to have him perform across the country, and Keith couldn’t say no (literally). He would however come by quite frequently whenever the schedules weren’t tight, to either manage the place himself for a time, or to simply enjoy himself with his friends and family, even performing there in person. 

As four years passed, the restaurant held up successfully, better than ever. The music productivity was slowing down for Keith. Less concerts, more focus on The Boyfriend’s Funkstaurant. Michael decided to bring in a college friend as another manager who went by Jeffery Davis to help lessen the amount of work for him and Keith. Jeffery, who had worked as an employer for several other businesses, wasn’t as much of a friend with Keith as he was with Michael, who often spoke fondly of the singer, but they were mostly on good terms and genuinely respected each other enough for a steady companionship. It turned out Keith actually knew how to manage a job seriously, Jeffery realized, unlike his seemingly cocky and witty stage persona. He still had a humorous side of himself, even with work, and frankly enough it could annoy Jeffery sometimes, but at least the singer knew when it was time to drop the jokes. He had to admit, it did keep it from getting bland on the job.

Jeffery spent a lot of time at the establishment working. The place was almost always busy, especially during the weekends. He would occasionally bring his nine-year-old daughter Cherry at the time to look after her while she wasn’t at school. The girl had been extremely fascinated with the restaurant ever since her family took her there when the place first opened up when she was five years old. 

Keith would come to find himself growing fond of little Cherry. The girl would look up to him whenever she stuck around during his work hours when her dad brought her over, where the singer would take the time to show her around, and share his future plans to the curious youngster for the restaurant—one of these plans being the animatronic mascot he, Michael and some other crews were working on. 

He wanted to completely focus on his music career again now that Michael wouldn’t be left alone to manage the Funkstaraunt, this time going on tour internationally, and his producer was ecstatically encouraging him. But that would mean he needed to spend a lot of time away from The Boyfriend’s Funkstaurant, and since he was often around there entertaining customers and overall being the life of the party, his absence would be particularly hard on some folks, especially the youngest ones, which included Cherry. He wanted something that would somewhat fill the missing gap while he was gone. With the suggestions and creativity of his staff and some friends, the idea of the Boyfriend mascot was quickly turned into reality within a year.

In 1999, however, an old nemesis from Keith’s school years stopped by. None other than the crooked Stephan Lindberg, who also had a dream of soaring high in the music industry but never managed to do so. He one day stopped by the restaurant he had been hearing so much about for ages already, only because he was fed up on how the stupid blue-haired jerk who kept getting the girls from high school actually managed to make it so far—his music was on the radio, he was famous for it, he was on the top of the music industry, he somehow got a huge restaurant going, and it boiled Stephan’s blood. 

Bitter and blinded with jealousy and hate towards Keith for his fame and success, Stephan came up with a twisted scheme to get back at Keith when on one of his snitching visits at the restaurant he overheard two ladies fussing about how awfully close the singer was to Jeffery’s daughter and the security guard’s 12 year old son during a visit in the restaurant to observe its environment. A wicked idea came to mind when he overheard the ladies who he secretly taped on a voice recorder, and he’d later blackmail two associates to take pictures and frame Keith for having ulterior motives on the staffs’ children that were frequently at the restaurant. 

Using these photos, Stephan snuck to the establishment one night when there weren’t any workers besides Keith, Jeffery and a few other staff members, who were busy preparing the restaurant for Cherry’s tenth birthday the next day, and the reveal of the now finished Boyfriend animatronic mascot. He would approach Jeffery first, somewhat surprised to hear that the manager had heard about him from his coworker who at the time was taking a few days off. Stephan, even more angered, calmly informed Jeffery about his “worrying conclusions,” presenting him with the false evidence he had managed to fabricate with his associates—photos, voice tapes of the ladies who gave him the idea the other day, and even videos taken at an intentional misleading angle of Keith simply hugging Cherry.

Jeffery had heard about Stephan’s deceiving tactics and second-nature through Michael before, and he was well aware that Stephan was just a stranger to him, not someone he should lightly take his word for. However, the mention of his daughter’s name and Keith’s “supposed” evil intentions struck a nerve, and he became horrified, sick, and furious. Without a second thought he immediately jumped the gun and rushed over to confront Keith, who was understandably taken aback when Jeffery began to accuse him of Stephan’s lies. 

The situation escalated to a fight in which Jeffery initiated when Keith tried to defend himself, not believing anything the singer told him. Stephan watched with satisfaction from the sidelines as the few other staff members began to rush over in a panic. It would flatter when Keith took the upper hand and reluctantly struck Jeffery with a powerful uppercut, sending his manager back in stumble, and despite his constant desperate denials, Jeffery shook off the punch and pulled out a small handgun of his—one gifted by Keith himself for a birthday. Consumed with rage and unknowingly thrilling Stephan, he unloaded the pistol on Keith, six shots to the chest, nearly killing him. 

If he were any smarter, Stephan would’ve left and let the situation play out tragically. However, like the gluttonous fool he was, he decided to step in and reveal himself, taunting Jeffery for believing his false evidence, sneering over his naivety and shock. He planned to blackmail Jeffery, knowing the man’s reputation was now at stake for killing the famous singer. Jeffery wasn’t going to want to face the consequences for it, wasn’t he? 

Before he could go any further with his plot though, his associates who helped him fabricate the entire scenario had a change of heart upon witnessing how far Stephan had let things go, both knocking the crook who blackmailed them first and bonding his wrists and ankles. 

Jeffery was sick to his stomach and tremendously mortified as he stared down at Keith’s body. He knew he had committed a second-degree murder, and he would be taken to prison. He rightfully deserved to. He let a complete make him do something irreversible, all based on lies. Jeffery knew he belonged behind bars, but he panicked. He couldn’t go to jail. His family would hate him. His wife, his daughter—Lord his daughter would completely want his guts to rot in a cell if she ever knew about this. He decided, as much as his own actions pained him, he could not let it happen. 

The staff wanted to tell authorities of what really happened—they had the camera tapes, Stephan’s made up evidence, and the handgun, everything. But Jeffery, all too terrified for his own being, shot down each of their concerns, threatening them with blackmail and even dragging them into the mess. Deep down he knew it was wrong—it was sinful, but he couldn’t bring himself to plead guilty. At least, not while Cherry was still so young. None of the staff members wanted to follow, but they too didn’t want their lives ruined either because of this, so in the end they hushed up and remorsefully went along with it. 

The staff and Jeffery covered up the incident to make it look like Stephan himself had killed Keith. The body was stuffed into the Boyfriend animatronic to make it look like Stephan tried to hide the corpse for later disposal. Unbeknownst to them however, Keith was still conscious during all of that. His final moments were spent stuffed inside the cage of his own creation, agonized and paralyzed, until finally he drifted off. 

Any evidence of Jeffery having killed Keith himself was destroyed. Any tapes, Stephan’s fabricated plot, and fingerprints were cleared away and shredded. Jeffery took the camera footage that caught the event, but before deleting it all permanently, out of guilt he copied it all to a spare VHS tape. He was a coward, and he hid the tape for the longest time, praying no one would find it until after he died of old age. 

Keith’s death was reported the early morning after, the news first reaching his family’s and Michael’s ear, and his body was properly taken care of. Stephan would be charged for first-degree murder and sent to prison for life, the new fabricated story being him having shot Keith instead. The truth stayed between Jeffery, the few unfortunate staff members, Stephan’s two associates, and hidden deep in the animatronic mascot. 

That same day, the news of Keith’s death was kept away from Cherry, who was ecstatic for her birthday with her friends at the Funkstaraunt. Though it wouldn’t be long before the official reveal of the mascot that she would see on the news about what had happened the night before. 

The poor girl, who was given honors to pull down the sheet over her long awaited surprise, would instantly be overwhelmed with grief and horror, along with the other boys and girls around her who also looked up to the singer who brought them so much joy. What was supposed to be an amazing day turned out to be one of Cherry’s nightmares in a flash as she began to cry, staring up at the dreaded words on the tv up by the corner that sent thousands of questions running across her little mind.

BREAKING NEWS: KEITH BURLINGTON “THE BOYFRIEND” FOUND DEAD

Unbeknownst to everyone, Keith’s spirit, which had latched onto the mascot after having been stuffed inside it, began to stir as his distorted subconsciousness managed to recognize the anguished wails of his little friends. Desperate to help, he gained control over the shell for a time and began to move, the sheet falling off his new form and gaining the attention of the weeping children below. 

His mind, twisted and confused as to what happened, and what was happening, instead focused on the tear-stained faces of the little boys and girls below, all whom he knew. He focused on Cherry, and the little ginger-haired boy beside her, and knelt down to them, his mechanical joints working perfectly for the first time. 

Hey, it’s okay. I’m still here. 

The working staff at the time were confused as no one had yet activated the animatronic, but they let it slide when all of the children—and even the older ones—started to lighten up a bit with the mascot’s presence. There was something about it that made them feel as though it was really Keith… even though they all knew it wasn’t. Or, at least, believed. 

For the rest of the day Keith’s spirit managed to stay awake for Cherry. There was an irresistible tiredness bearing down his consciousness though, tempting him to shut down again. However he stayed awake until he was sure Cherry and the kids were okay. Only then did he let his mind slip into the deep alluring darkness, and the Boyfriend went back to performing its usual programming for the rest of Cherry’s childhood.

Fast forward to the year 2011, now 22 years old and freshly out of college, Cherry gets news that the restaurant’s mascot’s remodel has been finished, and with her new culinary degree, she decides to go back to the Boyfriend’s Funkstaruant to work as the lead cook. Miraculously it’s been holding up fairly well for all of this time, but Cherry knows that ever since Keith had died the Funkstaraunt’s original spark had gone with him. Wanting to bring that feeling again to the place, she believes it’s a good place to start her career. 

She’s surprised to see a few familiar faces back there. More so when she learns they have the same goals in mind, too. 

She’s certain they can bring back The Boyfriend’s Funkstaraunt’s former glory, just like Keith had when she was little. 

Little did she and her new coworkers know, however, that there was more to the restaurant than she had known it for. For starters, The Boyfriend animatronic itself. 

He's 17 years old on the left drawing, and 32 on the right. He's 5'8, had an older sister named Stacy (if you recall her then you get a request sketch) who went missing in 2011.

He and Stacy went to the same school as Keith, Cherry, and later Darnell did. Their parents were always busy with work, and the family rarely ever spent time together. Stephan and Stacy at first were good kids, but as they grew older their lack of family bonding led to them spending more time with friends and strangers, and eventually they'd become stuck-up and mischievous. It didn't help that their parents often spoiled them with gifts and money for any sort of occasion either.

At school, Stephan always hated Keith with a passion after the latter started dating his crush Cherry to the point where he went up to fight Keith, who he ultimately lost to. Stephan was outraged, but Keith, out of his goodness, surprised the blonde boy by purposing that he'd prefer they be friends instead of enemies (he heard that Stephan was a well-liked guy by the girls anyways). At first he thought Keith was completely dumb, but Stephan ended up realizing that this guy might have been stupid enough to steer him into relishing trouble as revenge for "taking the girl." Rather than lashing out again, he "accepted" Keith's friendship and later led Keith into believing that they were genuinely good friends.

Much to Stephan's inner irritation, Keith would consider him a close friend as their high school years passed, but this only came in handy for Stephan when he happily manipulated and tricked Keith with challenges and dares, getting him into a lot of trouble and actually getting hurt in some cases. He relished it all for having loss Cherry to the "stupid bloke". Keith never caught on to what was actually going on until much later

Coincidentally, like her brother, Stacy had always had a crush on Keith, and the two siblings both would both argue on what they liked about the other, but eventually came up with ways to help each other in attempt to ruin Keith and Cherry's relationship--which never worked. Similar to her brother's tactics, Stacy befriended Cherry, however for a time she actually considered the brunette to be a good friend. The sentiments didn't last long with her brother's constant complaints though, and she ended up backstabbing Cherry a night before their senior prom, just days after Stephan shows Keith his true mug in the worst way possible. Their glory didn't last long though before Darnell cleared things up in front of the whole school that same prom night, putting both Stephan and Stacy in their places and ruining their social status.