how every song on 'you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love' by olivia rodrigo relates to hollanov
I've been compelled to write this essay. Some of these are canon compliant and some are AUs. All of them are up for grabs if they inspire you to write/draw/create!
drop dead: AU- Ilya (not a hockey player) comes to McGill for university and starts following the Voyageurs. He gets a big ol' crush on Shane Hollander, the star center, only twenty years old. He's out at a bar one night and Shane is there, so he shoots his shot and they click instantly, making out by the bathrooms and telling each other secrets. They go home together and wake up the next day boyfriends.
stupid song: This is both of them during the long distance year and early TLG, Shane feeling absolutely insane with longing and desire when he hears Ilya's name, knowing he's his. Despite his feelings about Hayden, Ilya loving that someone else knows about them and both of them feeling like no one has ever been as in love as they are.
honeybee: sticky sweet, completely fluffy university AU- Ilya transfers to Shane's university during their 3rd year and they fall for each other immediately. By two months in, they're each privately sure they're going to marry each other one day.
maggots for brains: Ilya during TLG era. It feels like everything would just be better if Shane was there. He goes out with the Centaurs because that's what Ilya Rozanov does, but all he thinks about is Shane. He lies in bed at home feeling like the moldy food in his fridge and knowing he has to clean it out and dreading it.
u + me + <3: Shane and Ilya post TLG- They go to the cottage and they're so in love. They go for a run in the woods and Ilya stops by a big tree and insists they carve their initials in a big heart. Shane argues just for the thrill of it, but then he relents and they engrave their love forever on the tree.
my way: Long-distance year and TLG- these are Ilya's intrusive thoughts about Rose. He knows she's not actually a threat to his relationship with Shane, but he feels irrationally angry at her for getting to spend time with him in public while he is hidden away.
purple: AU- Shane and Ilya are best friends. Shane has a boyfriend who seemed perfect at first, but has started to subtly try to control Shane. Shane realizes one day that he's abandoned all of his dreams for the boyfriend and hasn't been himself for years. Ilya is there for him and once Shane has healed from the heartbreak and everything, he realizes he's in love with Ilya, who supports his dreams and just wants what's best for him.
the cure: This is Shane during TLG. He thought once he and Ilya were living much closer, all the anxiety and spiraling that's happening in his head would get better, but somehow, no matter how hard Ilya loves him, Shane still feels that panic deep in his bones.
begged: TLG canon divergence AU- Ilya asks Shane to go to Bood's barbeque and Shane tries to say no, but Ilya pleads and Shane relents. They go to the party and Shane is visibly anxious the whole time, even though they explained that Shane is just in the area for Christmas and said nothing about their relationship. Ilya feels awful and sad that to even get this little slice of what he wants, he had to beg, and in the end it was awful for both of them. In my head, they have the same canon fight right after this and get back on track with regular canon.
what's wrong with me?: Shane during 2014 after Ilya ghosts him. He tries to pretend that he's not affected or hurt by the silence, but others notice. The team even sends him to a counseling session which he bullshits his way through. Eventually, he has to fully admit to himself that Ilya is what's bothering him.
less: Shane's darkest, saddest feelings when Ilya suggests he sleep with other men. "If loving me is telling me to fuck other men, I wish you loved me less" He just can’t understand how this is Ilya showing him love. Love is being together, not pushing him away.
expectations: AU- Shane had an asshole ex-boyfriend and has decided he's not dealing with anymore nonsense from men, so when he meets Ilya, he's not so sure and Ilya has to convince him he's worth it (spoiler, Shane knew in his heart Ilya was worth it the whole time <3)
cigarette smoke: Ilya's darkest thoughts in the aftermath of the big fight in TLG. I do not think he actually resents or regrets Shane, but sometimes when you're in your worst moments, especially with the depression Ilya's dealing with, you can think thoughts you don't really believe.
+ bonus track never do: Hanahaki Disease AU- based solely on the line "flowers in my sink, doesn't mean a thing." I'm thinking this is a 'they both have it' situation. Ilya saying Shane's name during the tuna melt debacle triggers Shane to need to cough up a flower, which is why he runs. He's been dealing with it for months. Shane leaving and trying to be with Rose triggers Ilya's hanahaki to start. They arrive at All-Stars in January both trying to hide it, but during their conversation in Ilya's hotel room, Shane coughs up a flower and Ilya says, "you too?"
