a. g.

I follow this lady on instagram who rescues cats, and i have been thinking about this video for literal months. behold the transformation of this wretched little beast

it's well made, well shot, well directed, the music is interesting, the costumes are both thoughtful and subtly period accurate, the sex scenes are intentional and, again, accurate to what hooking up when you're like 18 actually feels like...the actors are of course attractive but they look like real people. the characters are varied and well fleshed out, the acting is really, really strong

so many shows and films shoot and then slot in whatever music kind of fits or could be licenced in the budget after time, but you can tell that the scenes in hr were shot with that specific music in mind. and the same intentional approach runs through the whole thing

Shane’s surprisingly quite relaxed. He’s confident in their relationship, excited to be married, and knows that even if something goes wrong, it doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day he’ll be with Ilya.

Ilya is stressed. He keeps crying. This is the best day of his life. Shane deserves better, why would the greatest man on earth want him. He’s never been happier. Something’s gonna go wrong, he knows it. Bood, Troy, and Sveta have to keep calming him down and reminding him that Shane loves him and they deserve to be happy together. He locks himself in the bathroom.

Shane’s getting dressed with Hayden, JJ, and Rose, sipping champagne, feet up as he waits for the ceremony to start.

Once they manage to coax Ilya out of the bathroom, David comes in and does his canon speech about Ilya being his second son. The waterworks start again.

Like this is a man who Shane gets hard from just looking at him showering or playing hockey or existing. He’s like okay so we have a Greek statue come to life and we are going to pretend he isn’t the hottest man alive. Okay. Am I being pranked? Is this a joke? Have you seen his ass? What is wrong with you people?!

I think once they are out and married, and Shane is once again voted hottest man in the league (or specifically hotter than Ilya), he crashes out about it online. He’s saying the vote was rigged and he’s telling people (who are complimenting him) to delete their account. He’s replying to his most vocal supporters, “but have you considered this” with the gif of ilya winking. He’s calling for a recount. And everyone is like wait… is Shane Hollander, most competitive man alive, mad that he won something?

In a slightly kinder universe, Alexei doesn't get twisted by their situations into a sharpened thorn to bleed Ilya.

In a slightly kinder universe Ilya and Alexei are all they have, quietly managing their father together until they can be free of him.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei still does the hard things, but this time the hard things is slowly poisoning their father. Grigori dies in 2008, before the draft.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei never met his daughter's mother, never married her, never had a daughter at all.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei attends the draft at Ilya's side, stumbling through English but doing what he's always done: protect his baby brother. Like their Mama asked him to when Ilya was born.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei marries an American woman and lives in Boston. Ilya has no reason to go home except to fulfill his visa requirements.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei knows about Ilya, knows his brother, sees how his brother looks at Shane, and worries that the Canadian golden boy is gonna break his brother's heart.

In a slightly kinder universe, in 2016, he's proven correct, when Ilya starts to shut down emotionally seemingly out of nowhere. He's still their for his multiple nieces and nephews, but there's something empty behind his eyes and it reminds Alexei of their Mama. And it scares him.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei begs Ilya to talk to someone, because he cannot be an orphan alone. He cannot explain to his children why their дядя Ilya isn't going to come play Princess Tea Party anymore.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei meets the Hollanders at an All Star game in 2018 and they're so overwhelmingly loving that Alexei has to take his leave to a bathroom to cry about it.

In a slightly kinder universe Alexei uses his mother's maiden name, gives it to his children, and erases his father from existence.

In a slightly kinder universe when Ilya moves to Ottawa his brother moves next door. Family dinners at the Hollanders include Alexei, his wife, and his five children who are fast friends with the Pikes once they're in the know.

I think if Ilya were on a bad depression spiral and was saying some suicidal ideation stuff, in a pinch Shane could temporarily shock him out of it with an UNO reverse of “Ok well if you kill yourself then I will too.”

And Ilya stops pacing and freaking out and just stares at him angry like “WTF no you’re not allowed to do that!” And Shane’s just like 🤷 “How you gonna stop me if you’re already dead?” And Ilya tries to say he’s bluffing but Shane is a man who Commits to a Plan so he’s only maybe 80% sure Shane wouldn’t do it because he is crazy enough for that 20% to be there. So Ilya goes from a sad spiral to angry and yelling at Shane that Shane isn’t allowed to do that because that’s so fucked up and awful and how can he even say that and Shane is just like ok well angry Ilya is the lesser of two evils here and if I have to piss my husband off to get his brain back down to normal levels then sure

His next Galina session it takes her a while to get Ilya to talk about his episode because he’s still ranting about how fucked up it is that Shane would even think that. And she’s like yeah that is fucked up having to think your partner might hurt themselves can you think of anyone else who might be thinking that?

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.

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.