Stranger Tales is now a project, rather than event - a celebration of Stranger Things and all things fairytales and fantasy! You can write fic, create art, share cosplays, or just come hang out in the discord where you might encounter the strangest thing of all: friendship (link at the bottom of this post!)
All Stranger Things lore, characters, spaces and concepts are welcome in anything you decide to create for the project
Fairytales may be existing or original! We're using an extremely broad definition of "fairytale" here - as long as it fits within typical fairytale/fantasy elements and includes Stranger Things in some way, we encourage it
When is the deadline?
That’s the beauty of this project, there is no deadline! You don't even have to create anything at all! We will be doing yearly collections as long as there is interest, so whenever you have completed your work, feel free to add it to our ao3 collection or tag the project on social media!
We release regular prompts on our socials and in the discord server for inspiration, using one overarching fairytale and multiple related mini-prompts using elements from the story, but, again there's no obligation and no deadline - if you see a prompt from months ago and it sparks something, go forth and create!
We also play weekly Stranger Things themed games on our socials for a little extra fun - come check out a Meme Me Monday, What-If Wednesday, or Fic Me Friday
Is there an age limit?
Yes, this project is 18 and up, due to the often dark and sexual themes in fairytales, as well as the content being allowed for the event
Are there content restrictions?
We are asking people to not make any ST character/OC (as main ship) and ST/Reader content for this project, but otherwise everything is fair game if tagged correctly!
Does that mean dead dove content is allowed?
Yes! We just ask that everything be tagged accurately, and any appropriate warnings be included
For those unfamiliar, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is a tag that means “exactly what is written on the bag”. While this does generally include darker, mature and often taboo themes, the meaning is that what is listed in the tags will be in the work. Dead Dove writers are encouraged to participate, as we will not be turning away works for any specific themes. That being said, it is the author’s responsibility to tag works appropriately, and reader’s responsibility to read the tags and be mindful of their own boundaries and triggers
If you have a piece you might not want to add your name to, that’s fine! You’re more than welcome to post anonymously if you prefer
What about omegaverse?
Omegaverse is absolutely allowed! Mpreg is also allowed, again as long as everything is tagged appropriately
Please refer to this as either omegaverse or apha/beta/omega dynamics, rather than the abbreviation to be respectful of everyone
Are there character restrictions?
Nope! We realize some people may not be fans of certain Stranger Things characters, however we will not be restricting characters included in this event
Once again, tag appropriately, but any characters or pairings may be included
Is there a minimum word count required?
Nope! No deadline, no word count, no fic/art/cosplay/participation requirement. If you just want to quietly follow the tumblr and enjoy other people's game responses, that's totally fine!
I’m a beta reader/editor or would like to be a cheerleader! Can I still sign up?
Absolutely! As there's no participation requirement for the project, there's no formal beta reader matching, but our discord server is a fantastic little space full of encouragement and we'd love to have you to help out! (You can find the link at the bottom of this post)
Alas, I don’t write or beta, draw or cosplay, but I do craft?
Excellent! You will be able to add photos of your craft to our collections if you would like to share your talents with us! (Please note, craft submissions should still fit within the guidelines of the event)
What if someone else has posted a work using the fairytale that I planned on?
The more the merrier! There is no limit to the amount of works that can be inspired by the same fairytale. More cake!
Obviously, don’t copy anyone else’s existing work, but inspiration strikes in many ways. If your idea is inspired by an existing Stranger Tales work and shares similarities, just make sure to contact the original creator beforehand for permission to riff on their idea
Also, since our monthly prompts are all based around one classic fairytale each time, there will likely be a fair amount of overlap and lots of different cakes made from the same ingredients
Where & how do I post my fic/art/podfic/craft/cosplay?
archiveofourown.org/AO3: Fics should be posted to Archive of Our Own in the Stranger Tales collection. Here is a guide from AO3 on how to add your work to a collection
Tumblr: please tag your post with “Stranger Tales” and “stranger tales [artform]” (eg “stranger tales fic”, “stranger tales art”, “stranger tales cosplay”, “stranger tales craft”) and tag @stranger-tales so we can easily find it and repost it
Bluesky: please tag @stranger-tales.bsky.social and use the hashtag #StrangerTales
Twitter: please tag @StrangerTales25 and use hashtag #StrangerTales
Where can I stay up to date?
Discord: our server will have all of the information listed here, as well as any announcements and updates as they come, not to mention being generally a fun place to be! You can find the link at the bottom of this post
If you are not on discord, please follow our socials where we will be posting additional prompts, any important updates and of course reposting people’s Stranger Tales projects:
what if the government put the party and co. in witness protection after the events of season 1?
I think this would be interesting because obviously El is still out there post-s1, but in this scenario no one would be left in Hawkins to help her out - not even Hopper
would they all be relocated to the same place? I have no idea how witsec works but I imagine not, which would be really rough on the party in particular
Max would arrive in Hawkins and have an entirely normal time with no nerd stalkers and no supernatural adventures, poor girl - though... maybe she'd end up being the one to help a still-in-hiding El? without a friend group I can absolutely see Max spending a lot of time alone in the woods
Will would probably still be under government medical observation and would likely still have his visions/possession plotline - not sure how that would play out when his mum and brother are his only support network left
we're all agreed that the slug Will spits up in the s1 epilogue is D'Art, right? if so, where he ends up in the narrative very much depends on where the Byers' were moved to and how much observation they're under, but I like the idea that D'Art stays relatively nearby and ultimately Will is the one who adopts him
I have absolutely no clue how the plot of s2 would go with none of the original crew (bar El) in Hawkins, but I could see El somehow figuring out who her mum is through handwave handwave something something powers and taking Max on her chicago adventure
The caption for that photo should be when you've robbed the witch in the gingerbread house blind and now you're eating the best ice cream of your life with your bestie as you make your escape and framed your psycho brother for the crime
😂😂😂 you are 100% correct this is exactly what just happened
it's time for another set of optional fairytale prompts! every month we select one main fairytale, and come up with several smaller prompts inspired by that fairytale to play with
these are offered up monthly both to support our fic me friday games and to perhaps prompt some more Tales for the project - do what you will with them (and remember, no deadlines! if you find us a little late and we've moved on, never fear; we'd love to see what you come up with no matter when the prompt was posted!)
our ninth set of prompts is...
when you post something for the prompt here on tumblr please tag @stranger-tales, and tag your post with “Stranger Tales” and “stranger tales prompts - sleeping beauty" so we can find your post and reblog it! and if you're posting on AO3, please don't forget to add it to the Stranger Tales Collection!
I think he would have ended up in the same prison camp as Hopper. They would have worked together with each other (begrudgingly) and Dmitri to escape. He would be delighted to see Murray again, and the feeling would be mutual. Hopper would be upset about this for some reason (grumpy guy). Dmitri and Murray would kiss. Unable to return to his home for fear of being found, he would move to Illinois with Murray and they would live happily ever after. He would live a beautiful life enjoying cherry slushies, cotton candy, carnival (and arcade) games, hot dogs (and hamburgers), and his boyfriend (Murray). He'd also learn enough English to work for NASA and be super successful there.
brave citizens, you have made it to the end of the week!
let's see if I can drag any brainworms out of you with this...
Fic Me Friday!
I'm going to give you the title and some tags for an imaginary stranger things au, and I want you to spin me the vague plot or summary of a fic! you can give as much or as little info as you like, just whatever makes those brainworms go a-burrowing
it's our last week working with our The Little Mermaid prompt set! next time we'll have a whole new fairytale to pull from, but for now why not show me what you've got for...
as ever, when you see [character], substitute the name you want to use - oblivious Mike? oblivious Steve? oblivious Robin? who's to say. it's your call, beloveds!
