whatcolor?

i started rewatching criminal minds from s1 with all the WFH and really found myself liking the relationship between spencer and elle (and what could’ve been)? and even though we’re a small tugboat of a ship there are some amazing content created for them throughout the years…platonic or romantic i’ve read alllll the fics for these two so here are some of my favorites! p.s you can find the rest of my fic rec lists here.

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FAMILIAR STRANGERS by illegalcelebral A chance encounter with old colleague Elle may be just what Spencer needs to recover from his recent ordeals. Elle has spent years building a new life for herself and knows trauma when she sees it. As they grow they realise that they may be able to help each other heal.

ELLE, BEYOND THE BUREAU by kuriadalmatia The hardest thing is admitting that you’re powerless. Elle adjusts to life after the BAU.

FOXTROT WHISKEY TANGO by kuriadalmatia Reid’s self-sufficient in his own way, and while his social awkwardness can be a source of amusement, Elle knows that he can use his intellect to ruthlessly cow someone into submission. She’s at his mercy, because of all the slings and arrows she can shoot at him, his genius is his shield and his sword.

THE BROKEN HALLELUJAH by cobaltstargazer After Alex resigns from the BAU, it’s the last straw for Spencer. So he decides to go back to the beginning, no matter how much Elle might not want him there.

COPING MECHANISMS by kyrdwyn After receiving a worried phone call from Garcia, Elle returns to D.C. to help a struggling Reid. * read @ cm-exchange[dot]livejournal[dot]com/18289.html *

CINCH YOURSELF TO ME by purewhitepage “Elle?” He said, voice coming out in a whisper. Immediately, his mind began to spin, whirring out of control. He hadn’t laid eyes on Elle since she’d left the BAU. Seven years ago.

BLINDSIGHTED by hidge Who keeps Elle company while she’s off work?

EVERY NEW BEGINNING by tearbos After the events of ‘Revelations’, an unexpected visitor helps to heal the wounds.

oneshots

ICE-4 by kuriadalmatia There were very few reasons for Elle’s former boss to call, especially using Spencer’s phone.

GAME OF PHONES by deejaymil (i rate this one 5/5 spicy) Elle reckons even geniuses can be stupid, and he’s proving tantalisingly easy to lead astray. It begins with a dare. It begins with a text.

LIFE, DEATH, AND OTHER CATASTROPHES by cobaltstargazer It was the last call Elle had ever expected to get, and the last call she’d ever expected to follow up on.

MY HEART UNDER MY FEET by holdur S4 AU - The team is dead and Elle and Reid are on the run, trying to stop each other from killing.

INTO THE BLUE by copperleaves Reid is understandably befuddled when Elle Greenaway begins making sudden appearances in his life. At first he thinks he’s hallucinating, but then a case from the other side of the country catches his attention.

MEMORY LANE by bloodinthefields Spencer Reid’s at the BAU alone, and there’s a letter waiting for him on his desk.

CONFIDENCE by hidge Spencer Reid has struggled with self-confidence his entire life. Will a trip home to Vegas, a high school reunion, and a friend help him find it?

anything and everything by these authors

"Can you imagine being the reason that Ilya Russian-Greatest-Love-Machine Rozanov spends the rest of his life having boring missionary style sex? Shane Hollander, if you really love him, let him go"

And everyone can see Ilya trying to understand the tweet for a second before he freezes, his breathing becoming unsteady while he interrupts Shane (stammering through a media trained response) to say:

"you... You think that Shane... You think he..."- before completely collapsing into absolute laughter. The kind of laughter that kind of hurts, that has you wheezing and trying to find your breath, that gets tears in your eyes and turns your face red from lack of oxygen. His voice and laughter get high-pitched, and he has to steady himself on his husband cause he almost falls from his chair.

The man is completely undone while Shane smacks his leg to "shut up, shut up!", all the while trying and failling to finish the sentence, cause he can't believe anyone on this planet could think of Shane as anything less as a sexually-deviant-kinky motherfucker who would rather die than do something less than soft BDSM.

Every time he starts to calm down, he looks at the camera and starts laughing again. They have to stop recording for 15 minutes, and in the following part of the interview everyone can see the red eyes from the tears of laughter, and the cuts in the video from where he couldn't control himself and started laughing again.

They routinely have entire conversations where Ilya is very softly smacking Shane's foot the entire time. Shane enjoys the percussive feedback.

Ilya mispronounces the word "Application" and they just sit there mutually whispering 'Aaap-li-caaa-shun' at each other for the next thirty seconds.

Ilya comes up behind Shane while he's trying to make a smoothie and says 'HELPING HANDS' and puts his arms under Shane's armpits.

Ilya sees Shane undressing in the bathroom and yells, "Take it all off!"

Shane carries Anya into the bedroom and holds her over Ilya's chest and moves her paws and says, "Papa it is me. Papa it has been an whole hour since I ate. Papa I am so hungry and sad." then drops her on his stomach.

Shane comes into the home office and grabs a pen off the desk and puts it against Ilya's cheek and says, "Any last words?" and Ilya says, "I wish I had eaten more dumplings."

Ilya spends an entire episode of House Hunters International with his hand down Shane's pants. It's not doing anything in there either it's just keeping warm.

Sometimes they are just mutually awake at three AM for No Reason and they go stand on the porch and stare at the empty street together.

Sometimes they are laying there playing footsie on the couch while on their phones (Parallel play) and Shane says, "Does your mouth ever do that squeezing thing. You know. When you eat." And Ilya says "Explain" and they spend the next ten minutes dissecting whether this is a Human Experience or a Shane Experience.

Sometimes Ilya will put his head on Shane's stomach and say, "Show me your boooones" and wait for Shane to lift his shirt so he can burrow under it.

Picture it: Ilya is tweeting and he takes a screenshot for some reason and it shows his alt account, à la Elon Musk’s babyfur age play fetish account getting exposed.

I’m imagining a nuclear meltdown level event that breaches stan twitter containment. The hockey bros are split between it being some sort of insane 5D chess, Ilya having some sort of psychotic break or a secret third thing (it’s all made up guys!!! It can’t be real!! Womanizer Ilya Rozanov would never suck another man’s dick).

Stan Twitter is freaking the fuck out to the highest degree. Mutuals of YEARS are going absolutely fucking FERAL they’ve been telling ILYA ROZANOV to go to the psych ward. Everyone is combing through his post history for every last scrap of detail. The stans have collectively decided that Ilya is gay for Shane Hollander, but it has actually dissuaded a LOT of Hollanovs as well as bringing new ones in.

I’m imagining this happening in the year after the Cottage, so they’re together but Ilya is still on the Raiders. His team goes crazy, mostly in the hockey bro category ofc. Ilya comes out as bi, Shane is trying desperately to deflect and pretend like nothing is happening at all (it’s very awkward but most ppl assume it’s not them having an illicit gay love affair bc who would think that, except Hayden who puts it together instantly). It’s extremely tough, but it ALSO means that Ilya gets to flirt with Shane super openly now (who looks like a deer in headlights every time) which he loves

Don’t mind me, just writing a fanfic in your ask box bc I’m obsessed with your twitter au

SO much amazing fic has been written in just the past two months — here are some of my favorites!

Hollanov fics, roughly in chronological order

I realized only after collecting this list that basically every fic in this category can be summarized as “sexy / funny / sweet but also really Gets the hollanov emotional dynamic”… ya girl is a slut for correct characterization and couples confronting communication challenges!!

Seven Hours by Car by @technicallyverycowboy, 3k, E, approximately during the episode 4 fuckbuddies montage Ilya realizes the holidays are so boring if you're spending them alone. A great depiction of the classic “Ilya initiates something, Shane pretends he’s uncomfortable but is actually super into it” (phone sex version)

coach, I’m threading needles by anonymous, 6k, E, approximately during the episode 4 fuckbuddies montage Ilya fucks a girl in a Hollander jersey. Word gets back to Shane. Extremely hot, and a great window into their feelings during episode 4

where the waves meet the shore by toxica939 (@vckaarob on tumblr), 3k, E and Something New by Rizandace, 4k, M Two codas to episode 6, picking up immediately after Shane and Ilya get back from Shane’s parents’ house. I couldn’t pick which one to recommend because they’re both amazing, so here’s both!

Free Shot by @smugrobotics, 2k, E, at the cottage Sweet and sexy Hollanov free use. Technically a WIP because there’s a second chapter coming, but the first chapter is a complete story on its own.

Oh babe, I hate to go by destielpasta (@ilyapasta on tumblr), 3k, E, at the cottage They had two weeks, and those two weeks are finished. Shane drives Ilya from the cottage to the airport. This feels really true to their characters!

careful all the time by anonymous, 24k, M, the summer of/right after episode 6 An insecure over-thinker and a self-destructive secret-keeper walk into a relationship. A very realistic depiction of the challenges of turning a decade-long secret situationship into a healthy relationship. Svetlana is wonderful in this fic, I love her intelligence about people and hockey and how she applies that to Ilya and Shane. Longest fic on this list but it’s worth it!

Accounting by theribbonsweregreen (@aslongasitsblack on tumblr), 4k, M, after they become official Shane and Ilya talk about personal finance, porn and they are in love. The premise is sexy and the fic is too, but it goes beyond that to explore their relationship as they start trying to build a life together

as high as i might (i can’t get that high) by @residentrookie, 10k, not rated but I’d put it around an M, after Ilya’s move to Ottawa Shane Hollander accidentally gets very high. That's it, that's the fic. Another one where the fic fulfills the premise (it’s funny and cute), and also a really lovely exploration of Shane’s insecurities, how he and Ilya feel about each other, and Hayden’s relationship with both of them.

Ring the Bells That Still Can Ring by @toomuchplor, 6k, E, after Ilya’s move to Ottawa It wasn't any easier the second time Shane got his bell rung. It was actually quite a lot worse. Featuring this incredible paragraph: “‘I put my fingers lots of places to make you happy,’ said Ilya, which sounded like he was being funny, but was also secretly extremely true. ‘Where else do you want them? I put.’ ‘Put them in the sink with a lot of soap and water,’ Shane directed.”

Philsophe, physician by a_good_soldier (@agoodsoldier on tumblr), 6k, E, spans their whole relationship I love their dynamic in this, especially the later sections once they’ve settled into a relationship. And the very tender and accurate depiction of how grief can look over the long term made me cry.

Hollanov canon divergence

My issue with canon divergence is that I can’t really imagine the characters making any choices other than the ones they actually made in the show, so AU fics always feel a little bit OOC to me. But if you can get beyond that, here are two amazing fics with incredibly sexy (and emotionally destructive) Shane/Ilya dynamics.

Penalties by @citrusses, 5k, E Makes me froth at the mouth. Unhappy ending.

But I hate when I feel like this (and I never hated you) by SatsumaSegments, 6k, E, right before the club scene The dynamic between Shane and Ilya is incredibly well written!

bonus recs (not primarily Hollanov-focused)

the creature by a_good_soldier (@agoodsoldier on tumblr), 2k, T Scott Hunter at the MLH awards There are so many great fics showing different version of Scott and Ilya’s conversation at the MLH awards, but this is one of my favorites. I love the window it gives into Scott and homophobia in hockey, plus the interaction between Scott and Ilya is great.

fandom: Heated Rivalry pairing: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov rating: E word count: 7.9k

The Raiders beat the Sharks 6-1 and Rozanov gets three points and the first star of the game and there's no text waiting for Shane about how Shane should be planning the way he's gonna reward Rozanov the next time they see each other. It's fine. It's only been a week—nine days—and it's not like they were frequent texters before. Rozanov was always the one to initiate their exchanges, so Shane is doing well to follow his lead and not be like that girl who hooked up with J.J. and couldn't catch a hint afterwards, increasingly desperate texts being passed around the Metros locker room until finally someone suggested he block the crazy bitch.

"It's a long story."

we know that our man ilya rozanov is a gentleman in bed and a man of consent. asks shane “what do you want to do” because he knows it’s shane's first hookup with a man. tells shane not to worry before he puts it in. keeps checking in with him the whole time. lets shane finish first.

so there is no way, no WAY that ilya would fuck shane bare without getting tested first. this man was so committed to only wanting shane that not only did he stop sleeping with other people, but he would have gone ahead and got tested. just in case shane was a sure thing, just in case he would have a SLIVER of the possibility that they could make love without a condom.