Project for NaNoWriMo 2020

Much earlier than normal, I already have nailed down my writing project for NaNoWriMo 2020, which will be my seventh time participating in the challenge (my fourth in a row since I started participating again in 2017).

And like the most recent years, I will be writing a fanfiction story. This time, it will be a little different in that I will be writing a crossover between two fandoms, rather than simply focusing on one fandom.

For NaNoWriMo 2020, I will be writing a Terminator/Stranger Things crossover fanfic, tentatively titled No Fate, a play on the phrase from the Terminator films: “There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” And although it is technically a crossover story, it’s more of a Stranger Things tale with elements of the Terminator series present.

The cover for No Fate, a Terminator/Stranger Things crossover story that will be written for NaNoWriMo 2020.

Let me explain.

The story will be split into two parts. The first part of the story will take the plot of the first Terminator film, but put Stranger Things characters into key roles instead of the characters from the Terminator film. Jim Hopper will be sent back through time to protect Joyce Byers from a Terminator sent back through time by Skynet in order to prevent the births of Jonathan and Will Byers. The story will follow the plot of the first Terminator film, but there will be a twist where the protector will survive the events of the film and help the mother into hiding.

In part two of the story, we’ll jump ahead to Jonathan and Will’s teen years. Skynet sends back through time a T-1000 both to assassinate Jonathan and Will as teens, but also the other Stranger Things kids, who will serve as Will’s commanding officers in his Resistance against Skynet. Meanwhile, future Will sends back a reprogrammed T-800, identical to the one sent back to kill Joyce in part one, to protect his younger self, his brother and all of his friends from the T-1000. Part two will follow Terminator 2’s plot, with some elements of Rise of the Machines present, namely the targeting of Will’s lieutenants. 

Essentially, the story consists of the plots of the first three Terminator films, with the Stranger Things characters appearing in key roles parallel to the characters of the Terminator films. The main character parallels are as follows:

• Will Byers parallels John Connor
• Joyce Byers parallels Sarah Connor
• Jim Hopper parallels Kyle Reese
• Mike Wheeler parallels Katherine Brewster 
• Dr. Brenner parallels Dr. Silberman
• Mr. Clarke parallels Miles Dyson

The characters of Lucas, Dustin, El, Max, Steve, Nancy and Robin will all appear in the story as well, and in the future will serve as Will’s lieutenants in the war against the machines. 

As far as the Terminator(s) and the T-1000, I picture them as they are portrayed in the Terminator films, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800s and Robert Patrick as the T-1000.

I have the basic plot of this story outlined, and I will spend the summer planning out the finer details. I might do what I did in 2018 for Birth of the Sith and use Camp NaNoWriMo in July as my time to plan out the story, giving myself a detailed outline to work with that will make writing easier. 

The story will be written in November and then I’ll take off December for the holidays and other writing projects and return to it early in 2021 and start publishing then. So you’ll have to wait a little while to read the whole story, but I promise the wait will be worth it!