#and so was steve but like in opposite ways

[unsteddie]

Steve and Eddie are on again off again for years after the events of st4. It's never too serious, they have basically opposite schedules. Eddie tends bar and plays with his band, existing mostly at night. Steve gets a degree and moves onto being a school counselor, late nights are the bane of his existence. It's easier when they live together, but over the years they've moved in and out of the little place they share with Robin.

Eddie's moved cities a few times, tried living with the band, has been on and off tour. Steve moved back home when his parents divorced for about a year to help his mom out, moved in and usually quickly out with partners. He volunteered a few summers to live in low income rural areas and help with the schools summer programs.

They just never quite get the timing right to try anything other than casual. It's honestly tearing Steve apart, it's been the source of every break up he's had since meeting the man. Eddie however seems entirely unbothered.

Steve knows for a fact he's Eddie's favorite person. Even when Eddie is "seeing" someone else, Eddie's relationships are never serious, he still prefers to spend his time with Steve. He just doesn't get why Eddie doesn't want something real, but he doesn't push, doesn't wanna lose what he has

It's a full decade of this nonsense before the song Quit Playing Games With My Heart by The Backstreet Boys comes out. Steve doesn't really care much about the band, he likes boy band music well enough. It's fun and catchy and danceable. But he's picking Eddie up from the airport, back from a three month stint in LA recording and promoting with the band. And the air is tense as the lyrics spill out of the radio, and it makes Steve feel heavy.

The song ends but he's still pretty misty, it's only ten minutes back to the apartment. He can hold it back, and when they're home he'll just excuse himself and cry quietly on his bed. He's done it plenty of times before, this is no different, he's got this, he's good.

"Stevie?" Eddie asks softly, and his his voice sounds strained, like something's got him worked up too.

Steve can't respond, not with his voice, so he just sort of nods, doesn't look at Eddie, but can feel the weight of Eddie's stare.

"What is it about me that you don't wanna stick around for?" He asks quietly, but there's a solid quality to his tone, like this is a question he's resolved to ask many times, and finally got his nerve up.

Steve doesn't respond for a long time, as pieces slowly move into place. Eddie has always seemed so unaffected, even congratulating Steve when things got serious with someone else. But if he looked closely at Eddie's reactions now, in retrospect, with the way he asked his quiet question, it clicks.

Eddie never liked any of Steve's partners, always gave Steve an out of he needed it, was always a little petty about Steve's ex's after a breakup. The thought that maybe, for all these years, a decade now, they'd been wasting their time keep things casual was just...well it was fucking hilarious. Terrible and heartbreaking, sure. But it kick started ridiculous sounding giggles.

Giggles quickly snowballed into full hysterical laughter. He glanced at Eddie who looked hurt, which was absurd. Steve's laughter became unhinged, and he had to pull off the road. Eddie didn't look hurt anymore when he looked back, he looked furious, and he was wiping his cheeks. Steve hadn't seen tears, but the idea that Eddie was crying over him did nothing to quell the laughter.

The moment the car stopped Eddie threw the door open, and climbed out. Grabbing his duffle from the back seat. He managed to stomp a good distance away before Steve could get himself together enough to chase after him. He was still giggling when he caught up enough to grab the strap of Eddie's bag. He pulled it back hard enough to knock Eddie off balance, and had to reach out to steady him.

"Eddie please," he paused to laugh and catch his breath as Eddie struggled to pull out of his grip. "Please, baby, give me a minute."

Eddie froze at that. They didn't use pet names like that. Nothing so relationship-y. It was enough to make Eddie wait for him. Steve didn't let go though, terrified Eddie might run off without a proper explanation.

He didn't know how to explain it, the years of longing, the way he'd wanted to ask the same question so many times, how he ached for him. He certainly didn't know how to explain his reaction.

"I don't know why it made me laugh like that." He started once he had his breathing under control. "Some stupid pop song-" and he was laughing again because this was stupid. He threw his hands up in frustration, immediately grabbing onto Eddie again when his hands came back down.

"some stupid pop song had me on the brink of tears, because my stupid, broken heart-" more laughter, and Steve was getting really tired of this. "Aches for you, when you've, I guess-" laughter, "been feeling the same way. God Eddie how stupid are we?"

And with that the giggles were gone, his insides had gone suddenly still, and he felt the loss of the time they could have had.

"how long?" Eddie asked, quiet again, he was never this quite. When Steve looked at him now his face was hard to read, tears still brimming in his eyes, but the anger and hurt were gone.

"since the boat house probably, at least since the hospital, for sure. When you woke up and you were cuffed to the bed. The first thing you said was some joke about being flattered they thought you were that dangerous. I knew for sure then, but I think it started in the boat house." Steve flushed, his face hot and pink.

"God, no, that's ..we can't have been feeling the same way so long. Stevie, what have we been doing?" Tears were falling, both men crying on the side of the road, and Eddie was holding onto Steve now too.

"Didn't think you'd want me for real. Didn't think anyone-" Steve coughed around the lump in his throat. "Tried to move on, so many times. Never could, it always came back to you."

And Eddie was suddenly in his arms, weeping, getting tight words out between sobs. "Never. Anything. Compare. No one. Even close. Just you. My Stevie."

"Didn't catch all that sweetheart. You'll have to tell me the rest later." Steve whispered into his ear, and Eddie melted in his arms, nodding emphatically into Steve's shoulder.

The time they waisted sat heavy on Steve's shoulders, but he had Eddie now. Eventually they would joke about it, about pining after each other for a decade before getting thier shit together, but it was gonna hurt for a while still.

[erinwantstowrite]

hi!! first off i just want to say i love LOF and i think it really stands out in this niche genre of “spiderman in gotham”, its my absolute favourite fic rn and im loving the long chapters and dynamics between characters :)

for my question, i wanted to know if you ever considered writing any portions of peters past. specifically when he was “Parker”, an informant for the avengers. it sounds like a really interesting story and i’d love to know more about it, no pressure tho ^^

thank you so much!! I do plan on writing more about it. I honestly want to do a prequel,,,

I have some of it written actually. It was called It's called "Technically Not a Lie (Just Omitting Information)" and what is hilarious about that is it's only 27,000 words right now. I haven't touched that fic in forever because I just... had all of the information written down and the planning, and I got into Batfam and was like "Let's just write a little about this" and we can all blame @alighterwood for where we are now LMFAOOO

Thing is, I never expected LoF to get so popular, which is why it was posted first. I was like "I'll just make sure as much as I can that LoF is clear about his past so anyone who isn't me can read it and be fine." And now that we're here, I'm like "...that might be important."

I think it would be fun to have a prequel so more people can see the dynamics of Peter's world from before LoF in a much clearer light.

I kind of wanna shed a little light on how this prequel would go:

He ran from his last foster house at 12 years old, and he's year years old in this fic. In that time, he has been determined to make a life for himself all on his own, as well as help people as Spider-Man. He has no idea that his personality made people trust him so much. He's only on the street for about a year by the time the story starts, but "Parker" is very much intertwined with people. People just know him, he's the kid that the other kids go to for help. Even without Spider-Man (who, at this point, has only just gotten a proper suit and people actually realize he's not a cryptid), Parker manages to help people.

That's why the Avengers end up talking to him. Kids are going missing in Queens and show up dead- but most of them are the homeless population. They think it has something to do with people trying to make a knock-off super solider serum, and during their investigation, everything comes back to "That Parker Guy." Not in a bad way- everything has nice things to say. One kid even says they'll only talk to them if Parker vouches for them.

Turns out, Parker is a 13 year old and a fucking genius. I mentioned in LoF chapter 1 about it a little bit, and here and there it was mentioned. Peter gives the Avengers a real run for their money the way he does for the Batfam. Except it's ten times worse because he hasn't gone to therapy and is on his own, yknow?

So Bucky and Steve run across Peter (who is doing his own investigation into the missing kids as both Parker and Spider-Man) and that conversation ends with Peter going "Look behind you!" and sprinting in the opposite direction.

Sam and Banner are the ones that really track Parker down and have the first contact with him, and from there, he becomes their informant. Of course, he's also lying to their faces. Swears that he has a mother waiting for him and that he's just really good friends with these people. And people have lied several times to their faces for Peter, going with the lie, which muddies the waters about what is and isn't the truth.

From there, the rest is history. Tony thought he was just viewing Peter like he was a puzzle to figure out, and is truly shaken to his core when he realizes how much he cares about the little shit. When Peter gets kidnapped by the people making the knock off serum, they go looking for him. And Peter ends up having a home :)

[lokiiied]

okay so like, this episode especially is when the fruity four physical space/touching barrier really breaks and i love it and there’s so many parallels between steddie & ronance and i NEVER EVEN NOTICED this last gif moment…EDDIE’S HAND ON STEVE’S SHOULDER AND THEN AS SOON AS HE REALISES/STEVE LOOKS AT HIM HE PULLS AWAY AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN HIS FACE HE’S LIKE SHIT BUT STEVE KEEPS LOOKING AT HIM LIKE HE FORGOT THEY JUST MANAGED TO COMMUNICATE W THE OTHERS I CANT—

[forcedhesitation]

why should it just be steve who has all the torturous purgatory realm fun?

[gorgeousgreymatter-x]

that fact that so many people headcanon steve as the most “boring” queer ever gives me so much joy. this coming from me, the most boring queer you all know.

[whyismangososour]

while I’m not hugely involved in the stranger things fandom mostly because I’m one of the pretentious weirdos who thinks the show should’ve ended after season one I gotta say that all the steddie shippers make some fantastic art and I’m genuinely in awe of it

[worstsequence]

[drunkengodsofslaughter]

While I hate stancy and everyone knows my feelings based on it: I also find it ironic and funny how people always bring up Nancy’s talk in the woods with Jonathan when showing how her and Steve’s goals don’t align because Steve wants a picket fence (which is so funny because somehow people see a picket fence lifestyle as wanting to travel and having six kids) meanwhile she doesn’t. And her wanting to not live in a loveless relationship like her parents are. Meanwhile Nancy’s role in stancy (mainly season 2) is the fact that Nancy is actively choosing to be in a loveless relationship with Steve knowing that she will always love Jonathan first. And how she knew that she wanted to be with Jonathan but stayed with Steve. It wasn’t a marriage but Nancy knew herself that she didn’t love Steve when they were together and still decided to stay with him - she ended up playing a major role in a loveless relationship which is something that she said she detests. However she did stop playing this role but I think people miss the part where she did actively play a role in something that she said she didn’t want for herself

[ickypuppi3]

anyway harringrove childhood au but make it flipped (2010) with steve as bryce and billy as juli (and billy living with his mama of course)

[koalas-koalas-everywhere]

Something that confuses me (and alarms me a bit ngl) is the assumption I see everywhere that, once Mike moved to Seattle, he just stopped talking to Harvey. I wasn’t saying anything because there had been no confirmation either way (although why Mike would do something like that, or why Harvey would keep calling if he had, I wouldn’t know, so I just assumed he didn’t), but now I’ve watched If The Shoe Fits and there’s confirmation that they were still talking (with what had sadly become Suits-typical disregard for canon -in this case, Mike being confused about the Paula thing when he was actually in NY for it- notwithstanding. We could always assume Harvey didn’t tell him all that went down back then and now he did), so...? 

[vee-tdc]

Should I be worried that the Despicable Me movies are quickly becoming my comfort franchise? The first especially?

[riggedbones]

for some reason the other day i considered giving alexandria purple eyes for some reason instead of yellow and i have no idea why. like i remember i had a reason bc it require a pretty good reason for me to consider it but i can't remember. was it bc haha funny fma reference? enderman minecraft?? those both seem incredibly stupid but its all i can think

[dizzying-faust]

Sol//Ky is one of those ships where I get the appeal of it and why it's an important fandom ship, but I still personally find it mid.

[lungthief]

listen. i know it's not 2014 anymore and i know it's just a throwaway line and that the russo brothers didnt intend for marvel action blockbuster captain america the winter soldier to become the tragic gay love story that never was but man. having steve say "it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience" in a conversation about romantic relationships right before the bucky reveal is so cruel. it's not just about steve and bucky obviously having the shared experience of being "out of time," it's the fact that they've both been stripped of their humanity in opposite directions. steve is a legend, he is an american hero and a national icon before he is a human being the same way that bucky is a weapon and a killing machine before he is a human being. steve knows that anyone who falls in love with him in the 21st century fell in love with captain america first, and that's just not him. but then the one person who knew him first and knew him best and loved him (not captain america, that little guy from brooklyn) so much he died for it is alive, impossibly. and it's a miracle because he's back and it's horrific because he's back under the worst possible circumstances. but to steve, the winter soldier is worth tearing the world apart for because he's always been bucky first. they find each other and suddenly they're human again. and maybe, despite it all, being "out of time" becomes a blessing, because in this century they'd finally be allowed to love each other the way they've always wanted to. like real people do.

like. no. the captain america trilogy isn't about two queer men traumatized and alienated by war and modern life rediscovering and reclaiming their humanity through their love for each other. but. i mean. it couldve been

[rhosgobelbun]

eddies voice is grumbly and scratchy when he's just waking up. especially if he's just waking up and not ready yet.

especially when he's just waking up, not ready yet because the night before he fell asleep with the one and only Steve Harrington in his arms and said Steve Harrington should definitely not be trying to slip away at, he looks over at the clock on the opposite wall... 12 in the afternoon.

whatever. they fell asleep late last night. it's too early for this shit.

'where you goin?' he asks making sure to sound as offended as he can, scratchy voice and all, 'come back this instant.'

steve huffs a laugh, 'man, you've been squeezing me like your own personal body pillow all night. i love it but i gotta take a leak.'

eddie grunts, and while he's off in the bathroom eddie steals his pillow and holds on to it as if it was the other man. It's ok, smells just like steve - a combination of green tea conditioner, rain and steve - but it's nowhere near the real deal.

apparently he fell asleep a little because he starts when the bed dips in and there's an amused, 'you cheating on me already, munson?'

he lets out a soft whine, throws the pillow across the room and makes grabby hands, 'you've been gone for so long sweetheart, i was thinking of you the entire time i swear.'

steve settles where he belongs, right back into eddie's arms, 'yeah I guess its alright.' eddie kisses his shoulder, letting out a content hum. '...but now you gotta go get her back, you cant treat a pretty lady that way you know.'

there's a playful growl, teeth buried softly in a shoulder that was just kissed, a shocked squeal following immediately after.

'oh i'll show you how to treat a pretty lady, your highness!'

[corrodedbisexual]

Steve's sprawled across the couch watching a movie and doesn't react at first to the movement on the opposite side of it; he's so used to Eddie fidgeting all the time, even in his sleep, that he barely notices anymore. But then, there's the unmistakable weight and warmth of his boyfriend crawling across his body, and Eddie's face in his peripheral vision finally makes Steve turn and look.

Okay, well, that's a new one. But it's Eddie Munson, so pretty much every day there's something new.

Steve raises an eyebrow at the boy's face looming above him, grinning around a gummy worm dangling from his teeth.

"What?"

Eddie mumbles something unintelligible around the candy; the only part Steve can make out is the final 'oh fuck' as sugary spit starts running down Eddie's chin, and he has to rip the gummy out of his teeth and wipe his mouth with a sleeve.

Steve chuckles and shakes his head fondly. He's way too far gone, because it's just endearing when it should, probably, be off-putting.

"I brought you a worm," Eddie finally says clearly, his mouth free. "Get it?"

Steve just continues to stare at him, both eyebrows raised now. Eddie rolls his eyes.

"I'm courting you? Like, bird-style? You're supposed to accept my worm if you like me."

Steve bursts out laughing; he can't help it.

"Courting me? Eds, we've been dating for six months."

Eddie sighs, his smile turning sheepish as he starts moving away.

"Uh... You know what, never mind, t'was stupid—"

"Nonono, babe, get back here," Steve interrupts him, still chuckling, and grabs the front of Eddie's shirt to tug him back in. "Come on, I'll gladly accept your worm."

With a nearly blinding grin, Eddie shoves the gummy back between his teeth and leans in. Steve leans forward a bit and gingerly takes it with his teeth, their lips brushing briefly. As Steve chews through the sour-sweet gummy, his boyfriend giggles above him, eyes sparkling.

"You liiike me, then."

"I love you, you dork," Steve points out to him, unable to stop grinning now.

"Well, yeah, but now I also know you'd like me if we were birds."

"Oh yeah. I bet your mating dance would win me over right away, too."

Steve was absolutely prepared for Eddie to take the bait, and yet he's still in stitches from laughing as his boyfriend pushes himself to his feet and starts dancing around the couch, flapping his arms and making loud chirping noises.

Bird Steve would certainly be swooning. Human Steve just keeps falling harder every day.