Jopper one-shots
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Listing Series
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I don't want to talk (But thank you for coming anyways) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
21 Jul 2023
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Summary
'You weren't able to protect him though.", a nagging voice in the back of her head calls out to her. A voice, she knew all too well, to be correct. When had she ever been able to protect her children? She had failed to protect them from Lonnie and worst of all from the upside-down. She was a terrible mother, really. Jonathan had been hit by Lonnie, Will had been stuck in that awful, scary place for a whole week. God, Jon had to plan Will's whole funeral alone.
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Chester, the Byers' dog, dies and Joyce tries to deal with that on top of all the problems she's already facing.
A One-Shot that takes place between season one and two of Stranger Things, told from the perspective of Joyce Byers.Series
- Part 1 of Jopper one-shots
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This town had changed (And you had not) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
23 Mar 2024
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Summary
They had made plans to leave Hawkins together. That idea seems so ridiculous now. How had they ever thought that that was a realistic future for them? Back then, she would've done anything to get out of Hawkins, but money has always been tight, and her plans with the theatre scholarship hadn't worked out. So here she is, in her late thirties, and still stuck in this stupid place. Hopper made it out twice (left her twice), and now he is back too. At this point, she is almost convinced that they are cursed to stay in Hawkins forever. It's stupid, really. Still, she has her boys now, and Lonnie was never keen on moving. Hawkins isn't that bad, she had only semi-successfully managed to convince herself over the years.
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Set after Hopper moves back to Hawkins following Sara's death. Joyce catches wind of that and rethinks their old friendship, partially together with him.
Series
- Part 2 of Jopper one-shots
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Someday (I'm gonna be somebody people want) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
18 Jun 2024
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Summary
She sits up, pulling her knees to her chest. Somehow Lonnie has to have woken up from her movement because he raises his head slightly, looking at her. "Go to sleep!" he grumbles. Joyce shakes her head. "Can't," she explains, earning only a scoff from him. "It's really not that hard if you stop complaining and actually try."
It is that hard and she has been trying, but he just doesn't understand that. And how could he? Her mind is an enigma even to herself; she can't expect someone else to decipher the way it works. (But that doesn't mean she doesn't wish he would at least for once make an attempt.)
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A look into Joyce and Lonnie's marriage pre-canon, the abuse, and what's going on inside her mind.
Series
- Part 3 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
He remembers the uncomfortable atmosphere, the fighting, the drunken comments his dad would make. But then there was always Joyce, his best friend. (Hell knows what she's up to today.) He would sneak out, pick her up from her own terrible family gathering, and just spend the night driving, talking about anything.
She really was the only good thing about that place
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Joyce, Hopper, and two of the Christmases they spent apart
Series
- Part 4 of Jopper one-shots
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won't be alone (for the rest of my life) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
02 Jan 2025
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Summary
Joyce snorts. "I'm in my pajamas; my hair's a mess. I haven't showered in like three days! There's hardly anything attractive 'bout me right now."
He presses a kiss to the top of her head, his forearms resting on her shoulders as he pulls her closer. Somewhere in between kisses, he must've discarded of their cigarette because both his hands are free now. "Nah, I think you're very attractive right now," he mumbles into her hair.
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Giving Joyce and Hopper the happy end they deserve
Series
- Part 5 of Jopper one-shots
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at the end of it all (I just hope that your scars heal) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
27 Jan 2025
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Summary
"What did he do to you?" Hopper repeats, struggling to keep his anger at bay. He needs to know; why can't she see that?
"Will you stop cutting me off? This is not what I'm trying to achieve here. This isn't about me, or Lonnie, or any of the shitty things that have happened to me. It's about you, okay? About what they did to you and how I can help you feel comfortable with how you look now. Because I know you don't, and it's killing me."
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A few weeks after they reunite, Joyce desperately tries to get Hopper to open up about his time in Russia. Over some late-night conversations, each of them grapples with their own demons.
Series
- Part 6 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
Fernweh, a German word meaning 'a longing for far-away places', coined as an antonym to Heimweh, 'homesickness'
ca 1958: Joyce and Hopper talk about leaving Hawkins; she tries to convince herself they're just friends
Series
- Part 7 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
Hopper doesn't believe in fate, or soulmates, or any of that bullshit. But if they do exist, he's sure Joyce is his.
She leans back against his chest as he puts out the cigarette and closes his eyes. If he could, he'd stay in this moment forever, his girlfriend in his arms, the world finally at peace.
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Joyce and Hopper finally get the house to themselves
Series
- Part 8 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
His previously almost blank-looking expression shifts. Confusion, recognition, then a smile spreads over his lips. "Joyce? Wow, is that you? I can't believe you're still here."
Right where you left me, she thinks. Their last actual conversation before he left Hawkins—and her behind—it too had been at Melvald's. She raises her hands. A gesture of surrender, she supposes. He made it out. He kept their promise of leaving and never looking back. And she's still right here. "Yeah, well..." Her voice trails off.
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Joyce and Hopper run into each other while he's in town for his father's funeral.
Series
- Part 9 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
He wouldn't have blamed them if they hadn't let him into their lives. But they did—more or less reluctantly—and slowly, without any of them really noticing, their two families merged into one.
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A look into the lives of the Byers-Hopper family post canon
Series
- Part 10 of Jopper one-shots
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cancel out the darkness (I inherited from dad) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
01 Dec 2025
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Summary
"Your mom," he starts, rubbing a hand over his beard. "I, uh— If I asked her to marry me, would you be okay with that?"
For the second time in only five minutes, Jonathan's expectations of how his day would go are thrown completely out the window. On his long list of questions he thought he might ask him, this one was certainly not on there. His blessing, Hopper is asking for his blessing. And he has absolutely no idea how to respond.
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Hopper asks Jonathan for his blessing and a favor (based on the theory that the ring Jonathan got from Murray is actually for Jopper)
Series
- Part 11 of Jopper one-shots
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Summary
Joyce clenches her teeth, her eyes fixed on the tip of the burnt-down cigarette between her fingers. "You know you can talk to me about this, right?" she tries. "About the things that keep you from sleeping."
"I know." But nothing follows; the dam doesn't break. Not today.
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Joyce can't sleep. Hopper can't either.
Series
- Part 12 of Jopper one-shots
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nothing (but the water and the sunrise now) by manushroom
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
13 Jan 2026
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Summary
Joyce leans her head to the side, staring at the houses they pass by. This is it: their fresh start, away from everything that has ever hurt them. They swore they would leave together at seventeen, and now here they are, all these years later. "Yeah. Me too."
"Turns out we didn't even need to go as far as Mexico to be happy."
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A glimpse of Joyce's life with Hopper in Montauk
Series
- Part 13 of Jopper one-shots