Tori

@rival2lover

You are forever a genius in my book. This edit was so simple but so beautiful. The perfect selection of lyrics to the scenes. The way, when you layer the music over you can see exactly what was going on in Ilya's brain at that moment, the depressive thoughts, the pain, the sadness, the way he always felt like a disappointment for everyone and is just desperately trying to find a place to fit in.

And the fact that in the song also Lorde sings 'mama I am so scared' because Ilya is scared. He is scared of what his father will say or do if he ever gets outed, no matter what everyone and Shane thinks, Ilya is scared of getting outed, he may look larger than life but that is his way of coping against the constant fear trying to bury him. It's so beautiful. The song, Ilya's journey, the way both these things mesh together to gimme the FEELS.

Look at this man experiencing freckles and awkward Canadian politeness and developing a fat crush.

My favourite part however is as Shane is leaving clearly uncomfortable with how their conversation went (he does a head tilt like "well, that went horribly")

Ilya notices and that's when he chirps, immediately making Shane more comfortable as he chirps back. And thus, their lovingly teasing, when they say "asshole" and "boring" they really mean "I love you" dynamic is born.

shane hollander in his fortress of isolation: nobody will shoot me with a gun for being gay in my canadian mansion, because they can’t, because i am off the grid

ilya rozanov [thick russian accent]: i am going to live forever and never die and if i die who gives a fuck theyre pussies for killing me honestly

One of these is your classic TMZ highly invasive round-the-corner spy shot of Shane and Ilya--like, waiting for an Uber, is what it looks like, and the bass from inside the club is pounding and you can barely hear what they're saying except that the guy standing next to them is also TMZ and he's got a directional mic sticking out of his pocket pointed at them and when he gets into position you can hear Shane Hollander, like, fucking giggle.

"I'm sorry," Shane says, and his arms are around Ilya's neck. "I got--I'm a little drunk."

"It's okay," Ilya says, and he brushes a hand through Shane's hair. "Did you have fun?"

"Ye-s-s-s," Shane says, nodding his head decisively. "We won the Cu-p."

"Yes we did. I am proud of you."

"I'm proud of you!" Shane cups a hand around the back of Ilya's neck and giggles again into his shoulder. "Why aren't you drunk? I drank the same things as you--"

"I'm drunk," Ilya chuckles. "But I have twenty pounds on you and I am Russian, so."

"That's not a thing. That's not really a thing." Shane sighs and goes a bit boneless against Ilya's body and says, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, uh--"

"Shh. You said you had fun, and this is all that matters. My beautiful winner." He kisses the side of Shane's face, loudly and repeatedly.

Shane makes a sound that Twitter, TikTok and Instagram comment sections will all agree is a purr.

Shane isn't planning out every detail of his day ten years in the future. He isn't out here reading the instruction manual of his microwave, he isn't making excel spread sheets on every little detail or pouring over the settings on his washing machine. He hopes to still be playing hockey, he hopes to still be with Ilya. He will do everything he can to bring about that future. If it isn't about those two things, he's not really that bothered.

Shane is a jock who has spent his whole life building towards becoming the best NHL player in the league. He moved out of his parent's house as a teenager, after he secured an NHL salary. He has a team of people who organise his schedule. He has an interior designer. He has a stylist. He definitely has a cleaner, a trainer, a nutritionist. He gets his meal prepped meals delivered and only has to worry about heating them up.