out_there | Fic Rec: the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you

I was up until 4am reading this story -- and while I sort of regret that today, it was so good that I can't honestly regret the reading time. This story was so good, with so much love and family and history tied between all of these characters. This is a story based on the first half of S4, set sixteen years in the future, and it feels mature and grounded and emotionally satisfying.

In the best of ways, it kept making me think of Rageprufrock's Asunder, an SPN AU that has been a favourite fic of mine for years because it has this same sense of maturity, of years passing, of being in love and missing your chance only to find things happen when they need to, that sometimes it takes time for that chance and opportunity to be right. And how much family and friends can anchor us and define us, and how the good moments come hand in hand with the painful ones and how that joy is worth the heartbreak.

I love Steve in this, who is flawed and human. Who is devoted and earnest, great in a crisis even if he can't be quite as brave when it comes to emotional vulnerability. I love how much older he feels in this, settled and accepting of himself, finding a life that satisfies him and also finding the courage to be honest and reach for more.

I loved the structure -- the story interspersed with snippets of interviews with rockstar Eddie, and how much insight we get into a non-POV character, how Eddie is still outgoing and dramatic but he's found a way to be accepted and loved for it. (And the idea of Eddie being early grunge music is something I didn't know I always wanted. It's so perfect for him, and I can just imagine my teenage self loving his albums.)

the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you (34990 words) by greatunironic
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson
Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, Robin Buckley, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Joyce Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, the mortifying ordeal of being known or whatever, Cancer
Summary:

Sixteen years after the world didn't end for the last time, Max Mayfield showed up on Steve’s doorstep and said, “You gonna walk me down the aisle in May or what?” Or, it’s 2002 and Steve Harrington attends a wedding, a funeral, and a birth.