[diogxnes]

i read your fic with dad hopper and steve like,,,,twice a month???? and it DESTROYS me every time. and i know you wrote it a while back and don't think of it much but i like it so much that i came looking for you and i wanted you to know that <333

oh thank you so much that means a lot to me <3 there is truly no better feeling than knowing something i wrote has had an impact on someone. not really active in this fandom anymore but it still just absolutely makes my day to hear things like this, so thank you <33

[adamsvanrhijn]

[campyvillain]

a heartwarming published ya romance story advertised as enemies to lovers only one bed lgbt rep mutual pining dark academia soft pining coffee shop au but no plot synopsis, what happens next will make parking lot seagulls throw rocks at your dick in a maneuver birdwatching spaces will dub “sexless birdemic”

[danhumphrey]

Hi! Not sure if you’ll get this but do you have any platonic/non shippy steve-centric fic recs? I’ve read thru yours and lesbianrobin’s entire catalogue and I honestly need more of them😭

hi!! ive gotten a few messages asking about fic recs recently so ill compile some here <3 platonic edition

first of all we have The stranger things fic, In A Strange Land by @mrs-evadne-cake . this fic will just always be the golden standard for st fics in terms of storytelling and characterization and honestly just feeling like a better version of the show itself. it's steve-centric and focuses a lot on the relationships in his life, specifically his dynamic with jonathan and nancy post s2 with some eventual lead-up to stoncy. it blows my mind every time i read it quite honestly and i think it should be like required reading within the fanbase

i know you already said you looked through em's fics but for anyone else reading this post who hasn't read the king is dead, long live the king by @lesbianrobin ....... you should probably get on that rn if you want your life to be changed forever through the most skillful time loop fic ever written. also steve-centric and also dealing with his evolving platonic relationships with the kids as well as jonathan and nancy, it quit simply goes hard

hide on the promenade by @diogxnes is so good i literally felt like i was dreaming when i read it because it was everything i've ever wanted. it's about hopper helping steve out and providing some comfort when he's not doing too hot emotionally and physically and it's written with such a perfect understanding of both characters. every little detail in that fic is flawless and by the end you will feel like you've been wrapped up in a big warm blanket

Adventures in Babysitting a Psionic by WriterRose on ao3 (i dont know if the author has a tumblr, if someone does pls lmk!) is another one of those too good to be true fics. it's centered on what a dynamic between steve and el would look like while also touching on steve's relationship with the other kids, nancy, and hopper. it follows up on steve's head injuries (!!!!) and i think it's probably the best el characterization i've ever read. it so perfectly captures el's thought processes and walks the line of her being quick to learn while still having some reasonable gaps in information so perfectly

and okay i know you asked for steve-centric but i feel i must include feet on the ground, reaching for the stars by ProfessorSpork on ao3 because i think about it just. constantly. it's robin-centric but there's a good bit of her dynamic with steve in there. it follows robin starting before we meet her in s3 and through its events, focusing on her life and her coming to understand and embrace that she's a lesbian with some very very very emotional scenes that made me literally like weep when i read it the first time. i just Must include it here because it conveys steve and robin's dynamic so well and is also just a great read for robin lovers <3

there are so many more fics i love and cherish that do have a bit more relationship stuff in them, so if anyone wants recs for those lmk!!

[tess-mercer]

maya hawke was so genius convincing duffer bros to let her be gay. every one else who gets hired later on in stranger things dies EXCEPT robin bc netflix is too scared to kill their one lesbian

[diogxnes]

breaking my long silence to come out as a fan of vol 2

[diogxnes]

i love the max focus. i love her & lucas and everything about their relationship. i love that she got vecna’d even though i obviously don’t want her hurt bc it’s boring if they win all the time and everyone thought before this season that the kids were all safe. it’s shocking but doesn’t feel played for shock value bc it’s effectively foreshadowed all season. and all the sweet power-of-female-friendship elmax moments! “if you touch her again i will kill you again” line of all time

also in the same vein as max getting vecna’d—i’m not glad eddie died per se but he was obviously always going to? the entire season set it up with his coward-to-hero arc so it didn’t feel played for shock value. and also was good narratively bc it way raises the stakes for the kids if their friends can die—not die-and-come-back like el and will in season 1 and presumably max this season but actually, permanently die. and i’m glad that dustin is the one who got the serious traumatic deathbed moment since i feel like he’s always been under-utilized as comic relief. my only complaint is that the death scene dialogue feels ripped from a drafted steve death lmao but as an overall plot point i think eddie’s death was a good thing. (it would have been better writing if they actually killed steve, but i am selfishly glad they didn’t bc that’s MY emotionally repressed jackass himbo dad friend filled with love). also anything they did to get a surviving eddie out of the whole wanted-for-multiple-murders mess would have felt way more contrived than him dying

on the steve note i actually don’t have a problem with him backsliding into nancy. it’s not ideal for him personal growth-wise but i don’t think it’s out of character at all. steve’s a hopeless romantic who, at the end of the world, is falling back into old habits of being in love with nancy wheeler. he never really fell out of that habit, i don’t think? the only time he ever said he was over her was in the context of trying to ask robin out and their only real interaction all of season 3 was him pulling a suicidal car stunt for her lmao. he obviously loves her as a friend, it’s scary times, he probably thinks he’s going to die, it’s not weird to me that he feels it (correctly or incorrectly) as romantic attraction. and narratively i think it makes sense with the coming-full-circle thing they’re setting up for season 5. i don’t want stancy endgame but also they’re both dumb teenagers who are allowed to do dumb teenager things like romantically trauma bonding with their ex at the end of the world.

also will’s emotional scene with jonathan?? a perfect few minutes of tv. that’s america’s big brother! and i’m very glad that will’s coming out was super vague? it seems wildly out of character for will to sit jonathan down and be like hello! i am a homosexual. jonathan guessing but comforting will in nonspecific terms is honestly the most in character possible version of this scene. also will watching his sister and his best friend who he’s in love with be a disgusting teenager couple together is a perfect dynamic 10/10 the angst is what being a 14 year old closeted gay kid is all about

also the whole el and brenner dynamic and resolution is exactly what i hoped it would be

nancy and jonathan’s non-resolution at the end was perfect. that’s the most in-character thing for both of them. what were they gonna do, have a serious conversation about the problems in their relationship? i love lying!jonathan and emotionally unfaithful!nancy this fail couple based solely on shared trauma was never gonna be happy together. also when jonathan kisses her forehead when they reunite instead of on the lips? perfect. he loves her but he doesn’t Love her

also i loved the el-hop reunion. saw a couple posts calling it anticlimactic and underwhelming and i disagree. hopper’s not the screaming and crying type especially in this situation where he’s not the one being surprised. he’s the being-strong-and-comforting-and-cheering-up-with-dry-humor type. and el’s reaction was perfect and real and not melodramatic. just relief and happiness and also exhaustion and sorrow because this one thing has become okay right as everything else (max, hawkins) is falling apart

also vickie and robin flirting while steve watches in exasperation my beloved

[diogxnes]

breaking my long silence to come out as a fan of vol 2

[mother-i-have-been-killed]

The best bit of strangers things is that they all have fun diy-ing somewhat age appropriate weapons and preparing but Nancy has always got a glock

[azpunkdotcom]

[intrazone]

eating him tuesday once again

[tiktaalic]

fr will being gay and not getting together with mike is exactly what this show needs like. sometimes you have to be rejected by ur best friend ur crushing on when u could definitely do so much better than in order to realize that in fact you COULD do so much better. yknow? middle/high school for gay people is simply not as fun but it DOES provide a lot of character growth sooooo

It is the oyster in which being a fun person is formed. He has an anecdote of all anecdote for dates in his 20s. Yeah I had a crush on my best friend yeah yeah I know. Here’s the kicker. He met a girl who lived in the woods and started dating her within days of meeting her. Here’s the other kicker. My mom found out she was a runaway and adopted her. And we moved across the country. So the only people I knew at the new school were my older brother. And my best friend’s girlfriend. Who lived with me. And was always gushing about all the letters my best friend slash her boyfriend sent her. Obviously I didn’t get any. Obviously when he visited her for spring break he was like oh and you can come too if you want. On my birthday

[gentlegifs]

Stranger Things 4 (Vol.1) CHAPTER ONE: The Hellfire Club

[sapokanikan]

my anne elliot would be physically incapable of shouting wentworth's name out a window

[corvophobia]

lookin for love when you were stood right there

[kazs-inej]

stranger things: no context

[tiktaalic]

The will Byers psychological warfare chamber (room with mike wheeler in it)

[unfortunately-awake]

[mohansabbot]

The Byers-Hopper siblings in Stranger Things 4 Vol.1