Proof that the remaining 10% is worth taking on the Demogorgon with only a wrist rocket for.
These are recommendations made by tropers for Stranger Things fanfics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. After a few samples, you will be able to note the interests of the tropers recommending them, and judge whether you might be also interested in a certain 'fic.
Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found herenote . Do warn when a fanfic may head into sexualnote or non-canon territory. Some people just don't like it, and as we all know, Shipping is Serious Business.
Reviews of fics are encouraged, but if you choose to write one, please make it substantive, and give specific details about what you liked / disliked in the fic. If you want to give a fic a thumbs-up without writing a full review, you can add your troper handle to the Recommendations Line. Please refrain from posting "Comments" or Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
Recommendations Template
Title of the Fanfic by Author OR Fic Trope Page, by Author (Link)
- Recommended by: Troper Name
- Synopsis: What's the story about? Give here a brief summary of the plot. It would be also useful to point out in what moment of the series the story takes place. If it's a Gen Fic but it has some romantic elements, note here the characters involved too.
- Pairing(s): If it's a Shipping Fic, list here the pairings that feature in the fic (warn here if it's het, male slash or female slash). If it's a Gen Fic, remove this line. To tell the difference between the two, notice if the focus of the fic is on a romantic relationship or if it focuses on the other aspects of the story. In case of doubt, classify the story according to the genres it's been tagged: the Romance tag for Shipping, absence of that tag for Gen Fic.
- Tags: If any are known. This would be things like W.A.F.F., Lemon, Dark Fic, any known Crossovers etc.
Authors and Websites
None Yet
General Fics
Stories which primarily focus on the normal goings on of the cast.do you really want to hurt me
by lorata
- Recommended by: Aspie Crow, Orbiting
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: You don’t look back. Never look back. Eyes down, much better. Look at the table, look at your hands, trace the thin blue line of your veins running down from the knuckles. Eleven learns a new word to explain a very familiar feeling.
- Comments: This was just absolutely heartbreaking. It's got Eleven's voice down completely, and much like after watching Season 1, you'll want to do nothing else but give the girl a hug and make sure she's okay.
armed with stories you will leave by heartofwinterfell
- Recommended by: maeinli
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Mike grows up, but he doesn’t forget. [alternatively – almost three years go by and everyone moves on until they don’t. because you can stop talking about it, put it away in a drawer, but things have changed and the effects are long reaching, and you can be as young as twelve and learn the meaning of the phrase “you can never go home again” and Mike isn’t sure he wants to.]
- Pairings: Eleven/Mike Wheeler Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler
- Tags: Post-Canon
The Light of a Beautiful Sun by Sorrell
- Recommended by: dearmoviegoers
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Hopper runs into his ex-wife at the Indianapolis Museum of Natural History in March 1985.
- Tags: POV Outsider, fluff
- Comments: Very sweet and cute, and paints a good picture of the positive influence Eleven has on Hopper.
Baby, Baby by Shiolo
- Recommended by: dearmoviegoers
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: "No," said Mrs. Kurzweiler, the sex-ed teacher for the greater Hawkins-area school district, looking down her nose at Nancy over her glasses. "No, you cannot claim shared credit on the Parenting Enrichment Experience project, Miss Wheeler. I'm surprised you're even asking, given the nature of the assignment."
- Pairings: Hints of Nancy/Steve/Jonathan
- Tags: Fluff and humor
In A Strange Land by mrsevadnecake
- Recommended by: wolfpunchingjedi
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis:
It’s cold, that’s all, and the breeze is kicking up. That’s why Steve feels the chill go up his spine like someone dropped an ice-cube down his back.“Why wouldn’t I be real, El?”
"The Aboleth got you.''
- Pairings: Mostly Gen. Minor Nancy/Steve/Jonathan
- Tags: Horror, Action/Adventure, Novel-Length
- Notes: Now with it's own page.
''Stranger Things Season 2 1/2 by Platypus Comix
- Recommended by: twilicorn
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: A new visitor has arrived in Hawkins with the power to control minds. If he manages to enslave Eleven, he will become unstoppable!
- Tags: Comic, Fluff, Humor, Adventure
Broken by Manni26
- Recommended by: dmcreif
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: The gang just gets out of the hospital, watches the Mind Flayer seep down into a filthy drain, and notice one of the strongest people they know might be a little broken. An AU of the hospital attack where Jonathan was concussed and more injured after helping Nancy fight off the flayed Post staffers.
Do Not Leave Quietly by stayicy
- Reccommended by: dmcreif
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Nancy knows there was a time when she could’ve completed all of this, easily. It wouldn’t have even been an issue. But now, she feels like she’s struggling to stay afloat, and no matter how hard she treads, the waters will be too much and engulf her completely. She supposes, to go along with the metaphor, an option is to ask for help, which she could do if the local lifeguard hadn’t tried to hook up with her mother. Or: Nancy and (a hopefully uneventful) senior year. Alternatively: Why can’t lab experiments and alien monsters just stay away for once?
- Comments: A wonderful character fic exploring Nancy Wheeler as she deals with the fallout of season 3
What is Wrong with Our Kids? by creeper425
- Recommended by: dmcreif
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After season 3, the trauma of the past few years catches up with the kids. Worried about their kids, the parents begin digging deep to find the source of their children's suffering and find more than they bargained for.
- Comments: AKA, where the parents of the Hawkins youths who've been involved in the supernatural events of the past two years find out the truth.
The Figurehead by Tolkien Girl
- Recommended by: windatyourback
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: When the first flakes of living ash begin to fall, Steve isn’t ready. He’s never ready. That’s not what counts.
- Comments: Deals with the immediate aftermath of Season 4. Excellent writing and characterisation.
Crossover Fics
Stories which crossover with other characters or works.Stranger Things 3:The Wrath of Michael Myers by DarkerEvening
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: This is a Crossover Fanfiction of Stranger Things and Halloween (1978), working as an alternate season 3 of the former, and a direct sequel to the latter. It can be found here.
- Crossover with: Halloween (2018)(This crossover is a continuation of the original John Carpenter Halloween (1978), where instead of forty years, only seven years pass and the action takes place in the mid-80s in Hawkins, Indiana. All the Halloween characters (especially Michael Myers, Dr. Samuel Loomis and Laurie Strode) are based on Green's recent trilogy, with several elements from the other trilogies of the entire Halloween.), Halloween and Stranger Things
- Tags: Sci-Fi/Horror/Slasher/Suspence/Supernatural
- Now has a sequel
- Notes: Now with it's own page.
El from Stranger Things Grew Up to be Elle Woods in Legally Blonde by Kaitlyn Plyley
- Recommended by: Sparky Young Upstart
- Status: Complete
- Crossover with: Legally Blonde
- Synopsis: Exactly What It Says on the Tin - a theory about how everything El went through as a child allowed her to become the protagonist of Legally Blonde.
- Comments: A very interesting analysis of both characters, and how elements of one can reflect the other.
Deeper, Darker bySilverMoonPhantom
- Recommended by:Ghost Hax Stomp
- Status: Complete
- Crossover with: Danny Phantom
- Synopsis: Run, Hide, there's nothing else to do with a monster on your trail. Unless... you're not alone?
- Tags: Sci-Fi/Horror
- Comments: A very interesting AU/Fusion fic, where Danny is in the Upside Down to meet Will when he first arrives.
It All Comes Back by arrow_of_ravenclaw
- Recommended by: Lucy
- Crossover with: Encanto
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Will Byers/Camilo Madrigal
- Synopsis: Shortly after his gift ceremony, Camilo Madrigal disappeared from the Encanto. Twenty years later, Camilo Byers is running from the trauma the lab left him. However, when strange things start happening, it leads him to a small town in the Columbian mountains.
Tales of the Wheeler-Family by the Mandalorian terminator
- ''Recommended by: Timelord 27
- Crossover with: Doctor Who, The Dark Tower, Harry Potter, The Camp Half-Blood Series, James Bond, The Boys (2019), The Sandman (1989)
- ' 'Status'': Ongoing
- Synopsis: Set in 2005 the now adult members of the Party return to Hawkins for their school reunion. Unfortunately their past comes back to haunt them as one by one they are attacked by a new villain who wants revenge. Together the group must band together and face their fears and save Hawkins. Friendships will be tested, secrets revealed and Hawkins will never be the same again.
- Pairings: Eleven / Mike Wheeler, Joyce Byers / Jim Hopper, Jonathan Byers / Nancy Wheeler, Max Mayfield / Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson / Suzie
- Comments: A very detailed, exciting crossover that has explored each character really well. The main villain Mary reminds me a lot of Azula from Avatarthe Last Airbender''. Jim Hopper's past in the Vietnam War is also getting explored.
The Nephew by JustSomeRandomWriter
- Recommended by: dmcreif
- Status: Ongoing
- Synopsis: Jim Hopper has already taken in one child in his cabin—but when another shows up, he has no choice but to take another. Axel Johnson, Hopper's nephew, is forced to move in with him after Jim's sister loses custody of the boy. With Eleven growing more into a teenager and experiencing her relationship with Mike, Hopper is barely fit for TWO teenagers. Axel, though, has other intentions than staying cooped up in the cabin with the strange girl and his asshole of an uncle. The tough city kid has his eyes on one girl, and he won't stop pursuing her, even as the town around him goes into chaos.
- Pairings: Eleven / Mike Wheeler, Joyce Byers / Jim Hopper, Jonathan Byers / Nancy Wheeler, Max Mayfield / Original Male Characters
- Comments: A fic that has a lot of nice melodrama and an OC who feels like a character I can envision being incorporated into the Hawkins setting.
Shipping Fics
Stories whose primary focus is on romantic or sexual relationships between the cast.I'll find your lips in the streetlights by stoprobbersfic
- Recommended by: dmcreif
- Status: Complete
- Pairing: Jonathan Byers / Nancy Wheeler
- Synopsis: The note came in the mail six weeks after the battle at Starcourt, three weeks after he found out they were moving. It was addressed to him, and contained nothing but the instructions to find the spare keys and a single sentence: “Just in case.” Jonathan’s not sure if this is what Murray had in mind, but he’s damn grateful for it.
- Comments: Such a beautiful Jancy one-shot showing how Jonathan and Nancy attempt to make a long-distance relationship work post-season 3.
Time's just holding me down (I'll tear up this town) by jormaperalta
- Recommended by: andrewps
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The Snow Ball is this weekend, and the Demogorgon is back. Thankfully, so is Eleven.
- Pairings: Eleven/Mike Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler
- Tags: Angst with a happy ending
No Retreating by Jancys_Blue_Bayou
- Recommended by: dmcreif
- Pairing: Jonathan Byers / Nancy Wheeler
- Synopsis: An AU of the season 1 finale where Jonathan and Nancy developed their romance much sooner than in canon.
- Comments: This fic is basically a "what-if" scenario showing how differently Jonathan and Nancy's romance would've developed if Steve didn't have his Heel–Face Turnnote where he abruptly stopped being a jerkass and went to the Byers house in 1x08 to apologize. Essentially, Steve doesn't interrupt Jonathan and Nancy's moment on the couch, and they fight the Demogorgon alone, and their relationship develops differently than canon. It's also inspired by the "I waited" "For like a month" exchange Nancy has with Jonathan in the motel room in 2x05, and so explores what would've happened if Nancy hadn't waited for Jonathan to make a pass at her.
Chrissy and Eddie's Infinite Mixtape by LovelyThings
- Recommended by: jkrfan7
- Pairing: Chrissy Cunningham / Eddie Munson
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: 'He was right when he told the Hellfire kids that there’s no shame in running, which is why Eddie Munson takes a running leap for the cheerleader floating in his living room' OR: Chrissy lives and fixes what the Duffers broke.
- Comments: This fic is a Season 4 AU where Chrissy survives her encounter with Vecna and, along with Eddie, joins the Party's efforts to defeat him. The characters are pitch perfect to their TV portrayals, the plot completely fits with the show's tone and the romantic relationship between Eddie and Chrissy is beautiful written. Honestly, I wish that Season 4 had gone this way instead.
this demo will save your life by oh_simone
- Recommended by: Mahiru
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Corroded Coffin may be a small town thrash band but Eddie is more than capable to conquer the music world, now Steve just has to make sure he actually gets to play his first gig outside of Hawkins.
- Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
- Tags: Canon Divergence, Post-Canon
don't look to a stranger by fakelight
- Recommended by: Mahiru
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: As Mike and Will walk back to the car, Nancy looks over at Jonathan. “You're sure you want to do this?” she asks, again. Jonathan breathes out, resolute. “Let’s go get drunk with Steve Harrington.”
- Pairing: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler
- Tags: Post-Season/Series 02, Typical Teenage Drama
- Recommended by: Mahiru
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After Steve Harrington goes missing, Eddie Munson gets exposed to the secret dangers of Hawkins, Indiana in 1985 instead of 1986.
- Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
- Tags: Canon Divergence, Different First Meeting
Alternate Universe Fics
Stories where one or more aspects of the story or setting are completely changed.Lab Rats by Origamidragons
- Recommended by: dearmoviegoers
- Status: Dormant; last updated January 2018
- Synopsis: What if it was six children who escaped Hawkins Lab that fateful night, not one?
- Tags: Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort, Season One Rewrite
the king is dead, long live the king by lesbianrobin
- Recommended by: Mahiru
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Steve never really thought he'd get a second chance.
- Tags: Time Loop, Groundhog Day, Temporary Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide
