#ajsgdjays

[toburnup]

A question for the commentary ask thingy for iylo. And feel free to disregard this if I'm asking about a spoiler or what will be some major reveal later on in the story!!!! I got the feeling that at Steve's birthday party when he's talking to Tommy about "what he used to get up to". Is he referring to a past sexual/romantic relationship between the two of them? If so, what was he thinking in bringing it up then? Does he have residual feelings for tommy? Or is he just being bitchy and bitter bc he's sad about Eddie?

(Loving this story and cannot wait for an update, the way you write subtle intimacy scratches my brain JUST RIGHT. It reads like an ang Lee movie i stg)

getting to this a bit late, i realize that you sent this before ch 7 (which included some more insight into the steve/tommy dynamic). but!! i have a whole post written up about them that i'll post later.

i'm leaving the specifics a LITTLE vague on purpose, not that there will be a big reveal, but more because of the nature of the story. how there are secrets and things that steve keeps from other people, and also things he probably wouldn't 100% understand himself.

as for why he's bringing it up then - steve is feeling trapped and reckless. this is own way of lashing out. an emotional curveball. and that's easier (or safer) to do with tommy.

sort of like eddie showing up at the party. nothing to lose!

for the commentary thing though, i'll include that below the cut. thank you so much for asking!!

"What is it?" Tommy's smile turns nervous and Steve shrugs. Thinks about Tommy at work, making smalltalk with people he hates.

smalltalk is something that steve wouldn't have minded before, but now he hates. when you're feeling stuck and in a rut, smalltalk can be agonizing as it's repeated over and over. and i think tommy's purposefully light conversation just before this reminded steve of this. surface-level chitchat. a callback to what eddie called steve out on when they first started talking.

"What're you going to do if your dad doesn't give you the store?"

so this is steve going far in the other direction. this is a rude question, straight-up. it's not contextually polite. so this is steve's brash attempt at saying something "real". the same goes for his follow up questions - that don't really make sense after this one - "gonna marry carol" "are you happy with her". not at all party appropriate lol.

"Fuck, Harrington, what's with the questions?" Tommy takes a sip and looks at the door, hides his anger better now. "Yeah. We're happy. I know you're like going through some shit, but back off."

tommy isn't playing this game with steve, and this is his... gentle pushback.

Steve toes the line. Steps over it. "Have you told Carol that you used to-"

so - this isn't a hint at a romantic thing between steve and tommy. because carol does know about that. this is steve flaunting that he has dirt on tommy. he has no intention of actually using it, but this is just... a last-ditch attempt to wield his power because tommy isn't playing the game like steve wants him to.

[fanfiction DVD commentary track game]

#is your light on #but yeah i have a much longer answer for the steve/tommy/carol thing #which should give some more context!! #vio answers #okay i got a few of these commentary questions and i want to make sure i give them the time they deserve so #i'm going to be posting them slowly this week i think #ajsgdjays #ty for this - i love dissecting these things #iylo meta