Same As It Ever Was

Pairing: Shane Hollander / Ilya Rozanov Rating: T Word Count: 1k Summary:

“Shanya?” “Yes, my love?” “Grill me… a cheese.” // Ilya comes home hammered and hungry after a night at the bar with some of the Cens. Thankfully, his husband is there to help.

you’re also blithely unaware of the fact that, in 2011, hbo produced a documentary series about the washington capitals vs pittsburgh penguins stadium series, and then i think it was on livejournal, wasn't it, that sidney crosby/alexander ovechkin hockey rpf began to really circulate widely. and then sid/ovi rpf quickly showed up in the collection of several prolific fanfic writers. then it filtered down through tumblr and ao3 and then trickled on down to miss rachel reid herself, who no doubt was the first to be brave enough to send it to print

it's two characters who have different communication habits learning to understand each other over the course of literal years. it's two characters plagued by different but very understandable fears and holdups who consistently lie to themselves and to each other over the course literal years. it's so juicy and well-executed.

what it's NOT is what I think a lot of people have come to expect from "miscommunication," which is usually just...characters simply not talking to each other, or characters failing to understand a very basic misunderstanding that have could been resolved by someone simply asking a direct question lmao

and because of that, it makes what hollanov have going on genuinely interesting to read/watch, and not frustrating in the same way I think a lot of "miscommunication" can feel. I mean it's still frustrating to watch them suffer for so long, but we aren't just watching two characters be woefully obtuse for the sake of the plot, we're watching them genuinely struggle to understand one another while also concealing their own feelings for reasons that are both understandable and well-established!!! it's frustrating in the way it's SUPPOSED TO BE!!

unfortunately, it also means that in order to understand their behaviours, you have to be willing to read them as the flawed characters they are, and understand that they both are at fault for how long it takes them to reach a level of healthy, open communication with each other. and unfortunately, that is a lot harder for some people than just being able to assign one character as "bad at talking" and therefore "the problematic one."

what you’re saying is ‘you’re only allowed to act faggy if you are willing to come out as queer. if you’re straight, or closeted, or unlabelled, or questioning, or you simply wish to keep that private, you need to start acting in an acceptably heterosexual way right now’