#@theamazingbard

[metalhoops]

Inspired by this post

Steve had watched the world end a hundred different ways. He’d lived the same day more times than he could count, watching the people he loved die or feeling himself die. There were things worse than death. There were memories he didn’t dredge up for fear of calling them into the waking world.

He'd held onto hope for the first twenty recurrent days, which had dwindled to a sense of steely determination until he’d lost count of the days. Then all that was left was the comfort of repetition. He was Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill, day in and day out. Steve kept trying and failing to save Eddie until it was all he knew.

Maybe he was Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and spent his life paying for it, tied to a rock while birds picked at his liver, only for it to grow back with each morning. Prometheus whose name, by definition, means forethought; one’s ability to consider possible futures. Steve had spent a small lifetime considering futures. It wasn’t a comparison he would’ve made on his own. That was Eddie, who’d spent his childhood with his head in thick tomes of fantasy and mythology.

Eddie Munson came to him like cheap furniture, in crudely disassembled pieces that Steve had been working tirelessly to put together. Each new loop brought him another piece of Eddie. His favourite colour was blue. He only woke up early on weekends to watch cartoons. He liked too much cream in his coffee.

The Eddie that existed in a world where Steve stayed with him and Dustin during the swarm of bats had told Steve his biggest dream was to make enough money to buy Uncle Wayne a proper home. His biggest fear was that when he died, no one would remember him.

Days or months later, with Steve repeating the same damn day, he’d finally learnt why Eddie’s love for his uncle ran so deep. Wayne had taken him in before his dad went to jail when the man caught Eddie holding another boy’s hand. In that world, Steve had stayed with Eddie in the RV as the rest of the group searched War Zone.  

Eddie’s mother died when he was six. He’d told Steve that later, or earlier. Steve had and has lost his sense of past and present. Eddie loved his mother deeply, though was unsure if that love had been misplaced. He recalled two mothers, one who read him bedtime stories and threw herself around the kitchen each morning with her wild theatrics and another mother who was distant and whose temper could turn on a dime. Eddie wasn’t sure which of those mothers was his and which was the mother of memory. All good storytellers know the story shapes itself in the retelling. Eddie’s mother was Janus, god of duality.

Steve understood. He loved and hated his parents. These feelings weren’t mutually exclusive. Steve loved Eddie because he’d spent the last hundred-odd days getting to know him, but Steve hated Eddie because he kept dying. Until he didn’t.

The boys lay side by side in the red-blue soil of The Upside Down, their bleeding sides caked with mud and demonic bat viscera. In the end, Steve wasn’t sure what’d done it. It’d been so long since he’d lived Eddie’s original death that it’d been smeared by the haze of memory and conjecture. All he knew was that a sea of bats lay dead around them and that it was over. Finally, over.

Steve removed his hand from where it was pressed into his side and extended it to ensnare Eddie’s. He felt muscles tug and tear from the walls of his ribs with the effort. Blood flowed freely from the cavity, but Steve didn’t care. He wanted to hold Eddie’s hand. Holy shit, they’d done it.

Somewhere along the way, Steve had fallen in love. It’d taken him ten more iterations to reconcile with the fact he could not only like a man but love him.  That was months ago, in Steve’s time. It was old news. “Steve, you still with me?” Eddie asked, his voice horse.

He was hurt, though not as badly as Steve. All his wounds were superficial. He’d be okay. Steve had been so sick of watching Eddie die, he’d been willing to put his body on the line to make sure it didn’t happen again.

In this loop, he was still ‘Steve’, not ‘Stevie’. They hadn’t grown close enough yet. Eddie only called him ‘sweetheart’ in the iterations where they kissed. Steve wanted to kiss him, but there was the taste of iron in his mouth.

“I’m okay,” Steve insisted, squeezing Eddie’s hand. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his side as Eddie pressed his hand into Steve’s wound.

“Christ, there’s a lot of blood,” Eddie muttered to himself. 

He was bad with blood. He’d scraped his knee down to the bone when he was seven and ever since, the sight of gore made him queasy. Steve wasn’t meant to know that yet. In this iteration, he hadn’t told Eddie about the loop. He’d tried before, but it never helped.

Pain and blood loss drag Steve down into a familiar oblivion. He expected to wake at the beginning of the loop, emerging in The Upside Down from Lover’s Lake, but instead, he found himself in a hospital room with Eddie in a bed by his side. It was late, too late for visitors, but Eddie wasn’t sleeping. His eyes were trained on Steve, equal parts concerned and curious.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Eddie confessed, as Steve’s eyes met his. 

Steve wanted to cry or scream. He wanted to untangle himself from the knot of cords and tubes to crawl beside Eddie in bed as they had curled up together in the back of the RV dozens of times before. He needed to hold Eddie to know he was alive, to understand he wasn’t going anywhere. Steve blinked away tears, balling his hands into fists. He didn’t want to scare Eddie.

“I scared you?” Steve choked out a mixture between a laugh and a sob.

Eddie didn’t know what to do. He never knew what to do when people cried. Steve learned that in the iteration where they’d lost Dustin. He didn’t want to think about it.  

“You almost died, man,” Eddie explained.

He somehow understood Steve wanted him closer. Eddie got out of bed, clutching his I.V. drip as he flopped into the chair by Steve’s bedside. He wanted to hold Eddie’s hand again, but he was out of excuses. He could tell him the truth, but he didn’t know what good it would do.

Steve was still used to thinking of possible futures. He was Prometheus who, unlike Sisyphus, escaped his torment. Steve wondered what happened to Prometheus after he was rescued. Did he return to a normal life? Does anyone bother to ask? Prometheus’ story is always about punishment. Afterwards, he was a footnote in the story of Hercules, but once the heroes leave the story, what’s left?

Eddie would know the answer, but it wasn’t a conversation he’d had with this Eddie. That Eddie was dead. This Eddie was and wasn’t him. This Eddie was Janus, god of abstract duality, god of beginnings and ends, god of life and death.

“Sorry my lame-ass face is the first one you had to see. Robin and the kids were in here all day. Wheeler left flowers,” Eddie tacked on awkwardly.

This Eddie didn’t know Steve. They were strangers. Of course, things were awkward. He couldn’t know he was the one person Steve wanted to see more than anything.

“No, Ed’s—.” Slip of the tongue.

“Eddie. I’m really glad you’re here, man.”

They were back to square one, but Steve could work with that. He’d been working with that for months. This time, Eddie would remember. This time, they had the luxury of taking things slow.

“One thing’s been bugging me all day,” Steve began.

After hundreds of days of getting to know Eddie, Steve had learnt a few shortcuts, a few ways to jump-start his way into Eddie’s heart.

“Can you explain what the hell Mordor is?”

It was a tried-and-true method. By that point, Steve knew Eddie’s response off by heart, but he wanted to hear him say it. Eddie gave him the same perplexed look he always did when Steve asked. It was as though Eddie thought he knew too much like there was some secret he wasn’t letting him in on, but he didn’t challenge Steve on it. He never did.

“Harrington, have you heard of Lord of the Rings?” Yes.

“No.” A million times.

“Tell me about it.”

Read Part 2 Here

#steddie #steddie ficlet #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #drabble #ficlet #Metalhoops writes #I read the post yesterday #and I've been thinking about it ever since #the plot kind of ran away with itself #but I like how it turned out #I'm considering a part 2 #from Eddie's point of few in the weeks/ months that follow #depending on if people are interested #shoutout to #@theamazingbard #for the idea

[jewisheddiemunson]

Surprise collab with @theamazingbard after she wrote me a little thing for motivation 💘💘

#did I mention I’m obsessed w persie? #mine #steddie #uvgroovyart #eddie munson #stranger things #steve harrington #theamazingbard

[rocketkit]

A3 for steddie? 👀

!!

for this drawing meme

#i couldnt figure out the pose for the life of me so i improvised #steddie fanart #steddie #eddie munson fanart #eddie munson #steve harrington fanart #steve harringon #st #st fanart #stranger things #stranger things fanart #stranger things 4 #theamazingbard #my art #click for better quality! #asks #drawing meme #rocket answers

[epilogueart]

vampire!steddie piece I made for @theamazingbard for her birthday!! love u queen

#tw blood #blood tw #stranger things #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie #Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson #Steve x Eddie #art #fan art #my art #theamazingbard #I truly love drawing Steve’s face he’s just so pretty #anyways hope u enjoy persie <3

[sydmarch]

what team???

WILDCATS!!

#theamazingbard #ask

[cpressmn]

dinosaur oatmeal monster bones 👀

you are so-

thought i had shaken off my soft reputation but i see it still haunts me. one day people will think of me as a bad bitch..... (that was actually very sweet tho ty)

aw insane twinsies who are always funny and right i love that for us <3

now what is a crow friend and why do i like being called one so much

#and calling me talented why persie i'm BLUSHING #asks #ask game #theamazingbard

[athina-blaine]

Bloodweave Fic Recs (12/23/23)

I come bearing gifts 🎁

First fic rec list here!

||

Start the Day by Anonymous (G, 500+ w || Slice of Life, Idiots in Love) A soft, sleepy sort of morning routine.

Small Traditions by Velwyn (G, 2k+ w || Fluff, Established Relationship, Post-Canon) It's the first snowfall of the season in Waterdeep and Gale is insistent he and Astarion brave the cold to meet up with his mother and Tara.

Gravity series by Kivea (T, 19k+ w || Slice of Life, Humor, Developing Relationship) A series of shorter, light hearted fics intended to glimpse at the downtime between the companions as they seem to gravitate to each other and couple up from Gale's view, feeling as though as Wyll and Karlach grow close, and Lae’zel and Shadowheart, he and Astarion are left together with no one but each other for company.

in the margins by theamazingbard (M, 1k+ w || Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship) Gale, with all the wisdom he claims to have, has gotten himself skewered by a dirty blade. The scent of his blood is so familiar at this point, yet it has never turned Astarion's stomach as it did then.

Don't Feed Me, I Will Come Back by Binary_Sunset (M, 2k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Goats) Gale finds a starving, half-crazed vampire in the woods.

Gale's Year of Rest and Relaxation by sapphala (M, 2k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Grooming and Abuse, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms) A modern AU where Gale and Astarion find pain and then solace and then violence in each other (in that order).

different hunger by little_bugger (M 4k+ w || Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Drinking) After an impossibly long three days, most choose the privacy of their tents over a group dinner. It doesn't escape Astarion what effect this seems to have on Gale. However, the effect Gale has on him escapes Astarion entirely.

The Robberwing by trashmaven (M, 4k+ w WIP || Angst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, Suicidal Thoughts, Chronic Illness, Slow Burn) Gale goes to Baldur’s Gate in a desperate attempt to find a cure for his condition, but after a chance encounter with a pale elf, the orb becomes the least of his problems.

With This Ring by AuroraBiggsWrites (M, 4k+ w || Post-Canon, 1st Person) Gale works on a special project for Astarion.

Ask My Glass of Wine For Guidance by Caelanmiriel (M, 5k+ w || Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Academic Misconduct, Abuse of Power) Gale sits in the back of the taxi, fiddling with the wires of his headphones and bouncing his leg up and down, and tells himself that he does not feel sick. It’s just a party.

Bring me home in a blinding dream by Perching_Owl (M, 5k+ w || Whump, Suicidal Thoughts, Established Relationship) Gale is not doing well after he goes back to Waterdeep.

The Fourth Ring by Vamillepudding (M, 19k+ w WIP || Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort) Astarion is near the docks when he feels Cazador's compulsion on him snap. He doesn't think twice. He just takes the next available ship out of Baldur's Gate. Its destination: The City of Splendors. Waterdeep.

mortal bonds, immortal regret(s) by Sinister_Queer (E, 4k+ w || Epilogue, Ascended!Astarion, God!Gale, Manipulation, Unhealthy Relationships) The God of Ambition and the Vampire Ascendant attend a party. Gale has spent six months alone and Astarion is not afraid anymore. An arrangement is made.

Strigil by ZiGraves (E, 5k+ w || Soft Gale, Hand jobs) Gale is having some difficulties with stains on both skin and clothing. Astarion has a solution.

Disobedience by mossfloss1 (E, 19k+ w || First Time, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers) Good old-fashioned rumination on choice and compulsion. Gale and Astarion shake off their metaphorical shackles.

Stay Though My Arms Shake by Lunarwench (E, 34k+ w WIP || Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Domestic Fluff, Post-Canon) Two months after the brain falls, Baldur's Gate has picked up most of the pieces. The band of heroes that saved Faerûn has been there through most of it, helping the city back on its feet. But now it's time to move on. Old lives to get back to, families to return to. Gale is going back to his tower, back to Tara and the blessed quiet. Alone. Or, at least, that was the plan.

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bloodweave #fic rec #ive never had so many fic subscriptions before lmao

[geddyqueer]

my art for @theamazingbard’s big bang, land among the stars | 38k words | T

listen to the soundtrack playlist on spotify!

unedited art & description below cut:

image descriptions: two photos of the same piece of embroidery. two hands stitched in black thread on a light and slightly glittery abstract fabric; one reaches out to touch the palm of the other. in the negative space between the hands is a red and orange firework. in the top image, i've edited the title of the fic, land among the stars, and our names.

#my art #steddie bang #steddie big bang 2023 #embroidery #steddie #stranger things #fic rec

[eldritch-thrumming]

have any fic recommendations?

yesssssssss.

I just read Intricate Rituals by zade (AO3)/@racetrackthehiggins because it was recently rec'd to me (E, Complete, 11/11). I asked the people for something very sad but with a happy ending and the people delivered. I ate this up and read it basically in a single sitting if you don't include the time I took to go do my job for two hours lol. This hit every single spot in terms of very heartbreaking relationship dynamic that I was looking for. I love earnest but confused Steve who's just in love but scared to tell it until he literally can't keep it in anymore and a scared Eddie who lashes out and hurts Steve when he's honest and then deeply regrets it. That's what I care abt... morning, noon, and night, I care about her. She is who I want, that is where my loyalties lie. Definitely mind the tags on this one though!

I love love love Trouble Looks Good on You by indelicate (AO3)/@steddielations. (E, WIP, 2/4) I love the dynamic between Eddie and Steve here and I absolutely adore the way they flirt here. 10/10 flirting !! Also, if you love this then definitely check out Melt Me on Your Tongue (E, Complete, 1/1). Steve taking care of Eddie and both of them loving it. Both of these make me go 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

I really love you looking at me, looking at you by emryses (AO3)/@emryses (M, Complete, 10/10). Very much in the same vein as Intricate Rituals, with a heartbreaking FWB-type relationship where Steve is clearly falling in love and Eddie breaks his heart because he's scared. So good.

Anything by Adure (AO3)/@toburnup, but particularly is your light on? (E, WIP, 12/16) which spans years of Eddie and Steve's relationship and is in progress right now (recently updated!). Another heartbreaking slowburn FWB situation for the boys (are we sensing a theme here yet??). Lots of internalized homophobia/self-policing in this one, so mind that, but so worth the read and so insanely well-written, it makes me jealous to read it. I also really particularly love throw me one (E, Complete, 5/5)!

Looks like we're in for nasty weather (E, Complete, 10/10) by prufrocks (AO3)/@geddyqueer is so so so so so so so so so s ooo cute. So cute!!!! Modern!AU where Steve is training to be a park ranger, Eddie can talk to ghosts, Robin hosts a monster podcast, and there's something spooky in the woods. :) :) :) :) Very fun and did I mention cute?

The Sad Steddie Scenario by @steddierthings. Steve and Eddie suffer a misunderstanding and Eddie is... harsh. I am (very very very) patiently! waiting for more more more of this. I love this. It's so good.

wonderin' where i am, lost without you by @outpastthebrakers was rec'd to me when I asked for something sad but with a happy ending. Definitely hit the spot! Eddie forgets Steve's birthday and has to deal with the consequences. Very sad and then very sweet <3

I loooooooove reputation by theamazingbard (AO3)/@theamazingbard (E, Complete, 2/2). Steve learns that Eddie is perhaps even more promiscuous than himself and doesn't know what to do with that information. I love me some idiots-to-lovers. That is my all-time favorite trope. They can have each other but they're just so stupid. It's very fun.

Please read off the beaten path by pukner (AO3)/@pukner (E, Complete, 6/6). You have to. I don't make the rules, I just enforce them (acab tho). Steve is aware of and secure with his sexuality and recognizes that Eddie is flagging. However!!!!!! Eddie is flagging accidentally. He is not aware of his sexuality!!! And then he is scared and accidentally hurts Steve. Which, as we've established, is my favorite dynamic. And I love the fandom reversal of "Steve is aware, it's Eddie who isn't!!!!!" Sooo good, soooo cute. Steve is just so adorable in this and I love him and cherish him deeply.

I asked for sad fic recs last week and was rec'd Stevie's Time Loop by stevesbipanic (AO3)/@stevesbipanic (M, Complete, 2/2), which I have not had the chance to read yet, but I am confident I'll really enjoy it!!!!

I was also rec'd The Man That I Could Be by ohstars (AO3) (ohstars autocorrected to oysters, stop it I am SCREAMING lol)/@oh-stars (E, Complete, 26/26), which I'm currently reading right now and really enjoying. I'm on chapter 5!!! We could read it together. Book club.

Also, you should read sorry about the blood in your mouth (I wish it was mine) 🙃

#wow I learned a lot about myself tonight #there are so many amazing amazing amazing fics out there #steddie #steddie fic recs #steddie fic rec

[metalhoops]

Read Part 1 Here

As small and unassuming as Eddie’s trailer was to others, it had always been his fortress. It was the last stronghold against the forces of evil, and the bastion of all things metal and macabre. It wasn’t much, but it was undoubtedly his. When you grew up with little, you clung to what you had. 

He’d come to Wayne’s at an age when the world had begun to haemorrhage magic, leaving a realm devoid of colour in its place. His uncle worked hard to stoke the flames of his creativity, buying or borrowing what he could to keep Eddie’s dreams of castles and kingdoms alive.  

He’d spent a small lifetime buried in tomes of fantasy and mythology. He’d whiled away afternoons flicking through books that let him choose the story, always managing to die before finding the right ending. As a child whose mother died young, it was nice to live in a world where death could be undone. 

Eddie managed to cling on to that last spark of childlike wonder into his early twenties. His childhood had been a landscape inhospitable for the companionships of knights and the trickery of wizards, yet he’d made it work. That kind of alchemy didn’t fade easily. 

Yet, with Chrissy’s death tainting his memories of the trailer, he understood his fortress, his kingdom, was nothing but rubble and blighted soil. He was Frodo, returning to The Shire after the destruction of the ring. Eddie’s Undying Lands came in the form of a small bungalow on the edge of town, paid for with government hush money. 

The place wasn’t much larger than the trailer, yet it felt vast in the late hours of the night when Wayne was working and Eddie was alone. They’d only been in the house a week. He still felt as though he were in hostile territory. He sat on his bedroom floor with the curtains half-drawn. 

He’d spent the past half hour drawing them open before pulling them shut. If they were shut, the place looked deserted. People would be less likely to try to peer in, but he wouldn’t be able to see if someone or something was coming. If he left the curtains open, people would be able to see in. Eddie told himself he was being paranoid until he watched a pair of headlights flicker in the distance down the isolated road. 

Eddie was quick to action, darting into the entrance as a knock sounded on the front door. He grabbed a box cutter from the pile of unpacked boxes and peeked through the keyhole. You could never be too cautious, not when half the town thought you were a murderer. 

Standing in the doorway was Steve Harrington, the former king of their ever-changing kingdom, looking lost and worse for wear. His hair, a Harrington point of pride, as good to Steve as a crown to a king, was a sodden bird's nest perched atop his head. Though that wasn’t all. One of his arms hung naked at his side. Steve hadn’t managed to pull it through his polo, leaving half his skin exposed, the other half covered in poorly wrapped bandages. 

They’d both been hurt by the hoard of bats, but Steve's injuries eclipsed Eddie’s. Something about that fact sat wrong with him. It was as though he’d stumbled upon a wrong ending. He wanted to turn back and find a story where Steve was safe. Eddie dropped his makeshift weapon and swung open the door. 

“Steve? Christ man, you’ve seen better days,” Eddie spoke, ushering Steve inside, locking the door behind him. 

“I’ve had worse.” 

Steve, like Eddie, appeared changed from what’d happened to them. He hadn’t known how to explain it. Most of what he knew about Steve Harrington was mythology, a collection of stories which changed depending on the teller. Yet, all those close to him, far closer to him than Eddie, had agreed something about him had changed. This Steve was a broken bone set wrong. Something about him always appeared to ache. 

Buckley had hauled up in the Harrington manor with him after they were released from hospital, helping tend to his wounds and wash his perfect hair. She’d confided in Eddie when he had come to check up on Steve that he was forgetting things. 

Perhaps forgetting wasn’t the right word. Robin spoke five languages, yet she couldn’t find the term to describe what was going on with Steve. He seemed out of place, like a sour note in a once sweet melody. 

Maybe it was one concussion too many, Robin had justified, which was a collection of stories shrouded in contention. How many concussions had Steve had? Nancy swore Jonathan hadn’t hurt Steve badly during their fight. He’d been able to run away, after all. Jonathan admitted he probably had. 

The kids all agreed Steve was knocked out cold after his fight with Billy while Robin recounted what’d happened in Starcourt. She’d later confess Steve had other concussions before Jonathan, though wouldn’t elaborate on their origin. Some stories only hurt the teller. Eddie had learnt how to read negative space.  Occam’s razor told them it was the easiest explanation, but to Robin and Eddie, it didn’t feel like the right one. 

Steve talked about things that’d happened weeks ago as if they’d occurred to someone in another life. Then there was the way he looked and spoke to Eddie. Every time he’d show up at the Harrington’s front stoop, Steve would look at him as though he’d risen from the dead, shook off the grave dirt and stumbled back into his life.

He had the feeling Steve was always seconds away from telling him something important, but he too, didn’t seem to have the language to convey it. When they stood together in silence, as they did that night in Eddie’s new fortress, he felt as though he almost understood. 

“What brings you to my humble abode, Harrington?” Eddie asked, trying to keep his eyes from Steve’s exposed side. 

“Mostly pride,” Steve admitted with a humourless laugh, ushering to his side, inviting Eddie to look. He did. 

“I told Rob to go home for the night and uh...” Steve cringed as he tried to lift his hand up to pull it through his sleeve. Eddie stepped closer without meaning to. 

“Shit, hold still. Don’t rip your stitches again or Buckley’ll hand my ass to me on a silver platter,” Eddie grumbled. His hand twitched, wanting to touch. Steve took a step forward, inviting him to. Eddie hesitantly brushed his fingers over the gauze, examining the bandages. 

“When did you last change these?” 

“Two days ago,” Steve admitted, leaning against the wall, trying to keep his balance. Eddie cursed under his breath, grabbed Steve by the wrist, and guided him to the bathroom. 

“You don’t have to change ‘em. They’re pretty gross,” Steve protested. 

“Which is exactly why I have to change them,” Eddie argued as he help Steve slide onto the bathroom countertop beside the sink. 

“I’ll get Robin to do it tomorrow. She didn’t throw up after dissecting a frog in junior bio.” Eddie groaned and scrubbed his face with his hand. 

“Didn’t know that was public knowledge, great.”

“Not many people knew. I just... we were in biology together.” Eddie knew they weren’t. 

He knew every class he’d had with Steve Harrington, much to his chagrin. They’d had gym, history, and Spanish together. Like shiny plastic to a crow or jewels to a dragon, Steve always managed to capture Eddie’s attention. He’d like to blame it on the fact he found Steve attractive, but there were a handful of other hot jocks who made Eddie want to shove his hand in a blender. Steve had always been different to him, though he’d managed to keep his affections close to his chest. It’d never do him any good. 

Steve had a habit of rewriting their mythology. Eddie had noticed him doing it often as a way of explaining away little things he’d have no right knowing, by fabricating new pasts. That was a piece of Steve’s new persona, which was reserved only for Eddie. 

He wasn’t sure how to broach the topic. He liked Steve. Hell, the more the two got to know one another, the more Eddie thought he could love Steve, but their relationship felt like an empty hallway in a horror film. It was devoid of any real threat, but it felt as though something was lurking just out of view. 

Eddie blamed his feelings of love for the strange gravity between them. Occam’s razor. He wanted to kiss Steve. He didn’t know what Steve wanted. That caused tension. 

“Why did you come here? I mean, don’t get me wrong, Stevie. The door’s always open,” Eddie said as he peeled back the bandage. 

He felt Steve stiffen and moved one hand to rest on the boy’s thigh. Steve’s hand covered his, lacing their fingers together and surprising Eddie. He tried not to look too closely at the wound. He found their first-aid kit and got to work, squeezing Steve’s thigh each time he pulled the bandaged taught. 

“I miss you,” Steve said, once more sounding seconds from another confession Eddie knew wouldn’t come. 

“I haven’t gone anywhere, dude. I saw you yesterday.” 

Steve muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, 

‘I used to see you every day.’ 

Another past that’d never happened. A reinvention. To make matters worse, Eddie wanted to believe in that past. He wanted Steve to tell him their story, the one that lived only inside his head. Eddie would follow it. He’d do anything to stop the boy from looking so lost. 

“Can I do something weird?” Steve asked, and all Eddie could do was nod. 

Steve hooked his arm around Eddie’s neck, pulled the boy into the space between his dangling legs, and buried his face in Eddie’s hair. Steve’s hands balled into tight fists in Eddie’s shirt fabric, holding him so close he felt his bones creak like wooden floorboards underfoot. 

“You don’t have to miss me, sweetheart. I’m right here,” Eddie assured, feeling the need to do something, say something to make everything better. Steve’s grip tightened.

“Do you ever feel like we’ve been here before?” Steve spoke, his voice muffled by Eddie’s skin. 

He knew the answer Steve wanted. He couldn’t in good conscience give it to him. 

“No,” Eddie confessed. 

“But I wish we had.” 

Steve pulled back so the two could get a better look at one another. Unable to help himself, Eddie leaned forward, trying to smooth down his hair. 

“When you were seven, you scraped your knee so badly you walked with a limp for half a year and ever since you’ve hated the sight of blood,” Steve spoke, not daring to look at Eddie. 

He felt his whole body go stiff. His hand in Steve’s hair froze. He was right, but Eddie couldn’t understand how he knew. He’d moved to Hawkins when he was twelve. His life before that was a mystery to the town. 

“How?” Eddie began, but Steve wasn’t finished. 

“You do that thing when you’re nervous. Yes, that thing you’re doing with your hair,” Steve observed. Eddie had taken a string of hair between his thumb and forefinger and half hidden behind it. 

“And when you’re flirting,” Steve amended. Eddie’s brows drew together. 

“Which you do with me, a lot. Took me forever to work out that’s what you were doing but give me enough time and a good enough thump to the head and I’ll realise it, eventually.” 

Steve knew Eddie liked him. Shit. 

“Took me even longer to realise I liked you too, but everything’s kind of screwed now, isn’t it?” Steve asked, his humourless, dry laugh coming back. 

“Because every time I’m with you, I miss you. And I know that makes no goddamn sense, but I do.” 

Eddie tried to unpick what Steve’s words meant, but he kept coming up short. Steve liked him. That much Eddie gathered. It was enough to send his stomach plummeting into his boots. 

“Tell me what you’ve gotta tell me, Steve. I’m a big boy. I can handle it. Get some of that damn weight off your shoulders,” Eddie mumbled, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder and rubbing circles into the spot as though to prove a point. Instead, Steve looked at him with a crooked grin and uttered,

“Like Atlas, right?” He hadn’t picked Steve as a mythology geek. Eddie felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, as though he were seconds away from putting it all together.

“We’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we?” 

“Not exactly, but almost.” 

“Then why the hell don’t I remember it?” Eddie questioned, his voice growing strained. 

“I don’t know. You never do. It doesn’t matter, it’s over.” 

“What’s over Steve?” 

“I’d ask you if you really want to know, but the answer is always yes,” He grumbled, nudging his face against Eddie’s hand. 

Steve took a deep breath and told Eddie everything. He spoke about Eddie’s death, about being stuck in the same day for hundreds of repetitions. He told stories of Eddie’s death while brushing over similar terrors. Eddie knew he was getting a sanitised version of the tale, but still, he understood why the boy was haunted. He couldn’t imagine what he’d do if he were in Steve’s place. 

Stories, where death could be undone with a simple flick of the page and another binary decision, were easy. In practice, with hundreds of little choices and thousands of ways things could go wrong, it seemed more akin to a nightmare. 

“When you said you missed me,” Eddie breathed after a moment.

“Which version of me do you miss?” Steve’s brows pinched together, looking as though he’d been asking himself the same question. 

“I don’t know. I think, shit. I think I miss a version of you that never existed. If that makes sense. I miss what I thought we could’ve been when everything was over. You’re alive. I’m alive. It was supposed to be easy after that.” 

Eddie gave the boy a sad smile and nodded. To Steve, trapped in a never-ending cycle, Eddie had been his kingdom. He’d been a land to defend and a safe haven to return to. Yet, he’d wanted himself to be the same wide-eyed hero who’d left the empire, not the jaded veteran who’d returned home from war. They could never be the uncomplicated love story Steve had told himself to get through the days, but that didn’t have to mean things were ruined. 

“Hey, Stevie? What’s your favourite movie?” Eddie spoke, causing Steve to really look at him for the first time since they’d started speaking of other timelines and death. 

“Star Wars... The one with the teddy bears. Why?” Eddie got a goofy grin on his face, wondering how the hell someone who’d had the reputation Steve once had could love something as nerdy as Star Wars. 

“You know a damn lot about me. Time we even the goddamn playing field.” Steve nodded and gnawed on his bottom lip. His eyes trailed down to Eddie’s lips. He didn’t have to know Steve well to know what he was getting at. 

“Can I kiss you?” He questioned, his hand already tangling in Eddie’s hair. 

His thumb ghosted over the space between his ear and jaw that always made his breath hitch. Steve knew how Eddie liked to be touched. That was a new revelation. 

“We’ve kissed before, haven’t we?” Eddie questioned, Steve’s breath hot against his face. 

“I haven’t kissed this version of you before,” Steve supplied with a smug grin. 

“No fucking fair. You have the hometown advantage,” Eddie reasoned, and Steve let out a shocked laugh, a real one this time. 

“You’ve never made a sports reference before.”

“So they’re surprises in me yet,” Eddie beamed, sick of the anticipation, he leaned forward and pressed their lips together. 

The kiss was long and desperate. Steve clung to him, kissing him breathlessly, making Eddie weak at the knees. They had to pause when Steve let out a sharp inhale as Eddie accidentally grabbed his still-healing side. He muttered a slew of apologies, peppering Steve’s neck and jaw with kisses. He hadn’t shaved in days and Eddie felt a good kind of ache from the scrape of stubble against his jaw. 

When they finally pulled apart, the two looked decidedly more dishevelled. Eddie caught his breath and whispered, 

“You know, I’ve got Return of the Jedi on tape in a box someplace. You could stay over and we could... I don’t know, re-get to know each other,” Eddie proposed. 

“I like the sound of that.” 

#steddie ficlet #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #time loop au #stranger things #fic #ficlet #multipost fic #drabble #a #again based on a post by #@theamazingbard #back by popular demand #metalhoops writes

[jewisheddiemunson]

Fit of an older sketch for something I was writing where I almost killed Steve and then @theamazingbard saved him

#so shoutout to persie for saving Steve #mine #steddie #eddie munson #stranger things #steve harrington #uvgroovyart

[youwillfindilluminating]

Steddie Recs: Virgin!Eddie, Bottom!Eddie, and Eddie coming in his pants 👍

a little underrehearsed by theamazingbard - 

1.6k. A short, sweet fic of Virgin!Eddie. He comes over to Steve’s, determined not to come in his pants this time and they give each other HJs. He also has a line about wanting to count and kiss all of Steve’s freckles.

(The precurser to this is a tumblr ficlet found here.)

  hands of loving - by kafkian - 

5k. SO HOT. Virgin!Eddie and Steve offering to help out for his first time. This is so fluffy and hot and perfect. Once it gets going, it’s so good.  Pretty much everything you want in a fic like this.

  don’t start (too late) - by Ark - 

6k.  A lovely fic about Eddie bottoming for the first time. Ark is the one that got me into this ship (according to my notes when I first bookmarked this) so it makes sense that this made the cut!  It’s just pure fluff and smut and I love it to pieces.

"Yeah," Eddie agrees, feeling dizzy. He’s full of Steve’s fingers and there’s starstuff in his blood. "Yes, please, that."

  listen closely by Adure -

3k. Three of Eddie’s first times with Steve. (Receiving a BJ, topping, and giving a BJ.)

"Just think about that place you like. The magical one."

"Magical one?"

"Y'know. To Margor."

"Oh, my god. You didn't just call it 'Margor'."

  edge of heaven by bdelaney - 

2k. YUM. This is a lovely fic of One-Minute-Munson being edged by Steve and it’s fluffy and hot!

  fear is fading fast by amiparanoidmuch (must be logged in to view) -

14k. I’m not gonna lie, I skipped to the end of this one just for the porn. I’m sure the rest is very good, but sometimes I’m not in the mood for all the setup and I’m weak!

This is very well-written, in-character, and super sweet. Virgin!Eddie. It’s so hot. And Eddie asking Steve to come on him will always make my brain explode.

"Look at you." He grabs Steve's hips, grinds up into him. "Fuck, if you knew what you did to me, Harrington. If you knew…"

Steve leans forward and grinds against Eddie. There's a brush of hardness against hardness, and God, Eddie isn't going to survive this.

  Fics where Eddie comes in his pants 💖:

that backseat afterglow - Adure - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

4k. This is…real, real hot. Steve gets a flat tire and the boys pick him up on their way when they’re helping Eddie move. There’s nowhere for him to sit except on Eddie’s lap. 👀

Steve feels him shift underneath him and he can't help it, whispers a quick "Fuck." and Eddie grips him a bit tighter. Possibly encouraged by Steve's own confusing reaction, how he's still leaning back against Eddie. Only startles slightly when he feels Eddie's dick flex and Steve didn't know it would feel like that against him and he swallows hard, wants to shift from side to side again.

  Roll for Orgasms by Agf.

4k. This is one of my favorite Steddie fics of all time. And there are so many great lines that just get you, and so many sweet and funny moments.

Technically Eddie comes in his pants in this, although there isn’t much detail about that part. Just a fantastic line at the end! And this is definitely more bottom!Steve, but it’s one of my favorite fics ever and I will rec it until the end of time.

“Been a while since you made me come in my pants like a goddamn teenager, Harrington.”

Steve has never knowingly done that, so the implication in Eddie’s words makes him scrub a hand over his face. “Don’t,” he says. “I can’t take any more. My dick is gonna actually fall off if you try and get it up again.”

   I wanna feel the heat with somebody by bdelaney - 

2.8k. A kind of AU where Eddie is invited to one of Steve’s parties as a drug dealer and Steve gets dared to give him a lap dance.

  These Dreams - IntoTheStardust - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

3.5k. Steve takes Eddie and the kids to San Diego for a con. ~And there was only one bed.~ The guys wake up in a compromising position and decide to do something about it. This technically counts as Eddie coming in his pants.

  never been kissed - Chapter 1 - Macellarius - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

26k. Virgin!Eddie with very confident and experienced Steve, but Steve is also in love and enamored with Eddie, so it’s super cute. Eddie loves that Steve can apparently lift him up, and Steve loves that he’s a virgin. There is thigh-riding and jizzing-in-pants in the first chapter.

The first chapter is really the only one I can really recommend. Steve is already a little over-confident in an OOC way in this and I don’t love the following chapters? Also, for some reason a lot of their dialog is in the same paragraph. Sometimes even the same sentence, which gets very confusing. But I think it happens more in the later chapters and not as much in the first one. Anyway, read the first chapter!

“You- you pick me up while we’re making out and think that’ll help me not cream my pants?” Eddie asks in disbelief, and Steve barks out a laugh.

“Maybe I want to make you cream your pants,” he responds, “that something you’d be into?”

  Related tags for future searching (and for the metadata of it all): Virgin Eddie Munson, Bottom Eddie Munson, Premature Ejaculation, Coming Untouched, Coming in Pants.

Thank you all for coming (ha) on this journey with me!

#steddie #steddie recs #steddie fic #steddie fic recs #in which I have a fascination with one specific thing #and I happen to also love metadata and archiving things 🧐 #virgin eddie munson #bottom eddie munson

[steddieficrec]

throw your dice (take your chance) by theamazingbard

(7/7 I 26,819 I Teen I Steddie)

“I mean, what if I never find someone? People like… like me. I’ve never seen it end well.”   “Well, the first step is probably hanging out with someone other than your friend, right? Meet new people?”

Will frowns. “But you still hang out with him. How’re you supposed to get over Eddie if you’re still hanging out with him all the time?”

Steve’s eyebrows shoot upwards. "Uh. What?"

---

Touched and a little confused after Will Byers came out to him, Steve decides he'll do anything in his power to make the kid feel a little less alienated. Including orchestrating a pretend relationship with Eddie Munson.

(ah yes. fake/pretend relationships, miscommunication, pining. All the good things.)

AND

@mad-h-w says there's a podfic right here.

#steddie #stranger things #steddie fic recs #stranger things fic recs #steve harrington #eddie munson #fake/pretend relationship #pining

[toburnup]

omg why are you so mean to theamazingbard? she's never done anything wrong???

she knows what she did. she ruined nipples for me

#vio answers #theamazingbard

[sydmarch]

🤡

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

such a stupid bit of wordplay from the evrart fic but *I* found it so funny when i wrote it lol:

He continues. “Tell me, was I simply too intimidating for you? Too big a fish to fry?”

#theamazingbard #ask #its only funny in context LMAO

[crushcandles]

i think ur.... "too many thots". this is based on all ur aus <3

Ooh, this is a hot take, but I don't think you're wrong. I do have a lotta WiPs that I talk about a lot, but I'm more of a costco-brand muscle relaxant person for my occasional neck/shoulder probs. Also I appreciate the double entendre of "too many thots" very much.

what kind of fic writer am i?

#crushcandles answers YOUR asks #theamazingbard