Heated Rivalry Brainrot

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I absolutely do not think that at all. But I do feel like nuance gets lost in the discussion. On both sides.

I think Yuna and David very much love their son. I think it's very clear that everything they've done has been to support his career and for his well-being.

The hypervisibility is protection. Shane's arguably the best or second best player in the league but he's not white. In a world where the NHL/MLH didn't see the marketability in the rivalry, likely because both players were so well known before the draft, then we might have seen Shane's achievements downplayed in favor of Ilya's.

I don't mean to downplay anti-Russian xenophobia here, but I feel like that almost works in Ilya's favor here - it gives him a clear role to play. If Shane weren't in the picture, he might well have been stacked against Scott Hunter as the young bad boy against the respectable established figure. Or something like that. But Shane doesn't fit the mold of the standard all-American/all-Canadian hero by default. It would have taken both tremendous talent and a massive push to make sure that talent didn't go overlooked.

That said, hypervisibility is also vulnerability. Sidney Crosby has talked about the shit he faced as an eight year old from adults mad that he outplayed their kids. And he's white. Jacob Tierney has talked about how being a child actor exposed him to being sexualized by grown adults just because he happened to exist in their general vicinity. Maybe Shane's childhood was miraculously free of all of this, but I have my doubts. There was that quick reference to kidnapping threats, after all.

The brands are good - they help his career, they give him money. And it's especially interesting to me how the earlier deals (Reebok, CCM) are clearly about his athletic prowess, the later ones: Rolex, the cologne ad are more divorced from that. If Shane had a career ending injury tomorrow, he might still be able to make a career out of being a spokeman/model.

But it's something he doesn't seem to enjoy much, and he seems outright uncomfortable with the more sexualized ads we see later. This, of course, is not Yuna's fault. He's a grown man and it's perfectly fine for a grown man to be in a sexualized ad - even one booked by his mother.

As I've mentioned before, I think the blurred lines between mom and manager are a problem. Even though I genuinely do believe Yuna cares more for her son's comfort than his brand, I'm not sure Shane knows that. It's easy to imagine a situation where Yuna would encourage Shane to push through minor discomfort/reluctance. And it's easy to imagine a situation where Shane would push himself through more significant discomfort/reluctance, thinking that's what she'd want. (I think she'd be horrified at the thought, for what it's worth.)

There's a reason that Shane doesn't tell his parents that he's gay. It's significant that Yuna and David suspect he's gay but never bring it up to him. We don't see them express pro-gay sentiment even in general (though they strike me as liberal-leaning, so I'd be surprised if they were ever overtly homophobic.) When Shane's sexuality comes out, we see Yuna apologize - they cry it out, but then it's immediately down to business. Brand deals, a plan, questions about Ilya himself, did Shane ever throw a game, loyalty - it's no wonder the poor guy has a complete shutdown.

I admit to being one of those people who don't really like the "Ilya is the favorite son" joke. Admittedly, I didn't see it in context. I'm absolutely sure it's not something meant literally. I'm also absolutely sure that as much as Yuna and David like Ilya, if Shane and Ilya split, Shane's keeping his parents in the divorce. But I know it would bother me. I grew up with a very good relationship with my parents, but I was definitely sensitive to having my achievements compared to other kids, and when we keep in mind Shane's undiagnosed autism, his struggles in the closet, and the constant pressure he feels to meet expectations...

well, I think the joke probably doesn't bother him most of the time. But on the wrong day, in the wrong mood, it might hit harder than intended.

I think a lot of the knee-jerk anti-Yuna sentiment comes as a reaction to the way the Hollanders tend to get sanctified in comparison to Ilya's father. It IS good to know that Ilya has a supportive family now. But it's also fair to note that the Hollanders aren't without their own issues. But I also agree that fans go overboard too.

headcannon that Anya stops wanting to go outside and it freaks Shane out enough that he thinks she’s somehow dying under his roof, he takes her to the vet while Ilya’s out shopping and the diagnosis is it’s too hot and she’s spoiled😭

Even if at the start Russia hadn’t yet passed the anti-queer propaganda laws, it was still an incredibly hostile climate, made only worse by his family situation (policies father and brother would not have been accepting in the slightest.)

Therefore, I think that at the beginning Ilya knew that if they were caught it would be disastrous for both of them , but possibly deadly for him, and he simply didn’t care.

At that point, he didn’t care for Shane quite enough for it to override his own self-destructive tendencies, and he was still in a place where he likely felt as though he had relatively little to live for.

This would also further explain his hesitance as the relationship progressed, specifically in Tampa.

He now can fully admit to himself that he cares for Shane more than enough to worry about the impact of their relationship on his career, and the taste of happiness he gets with Shane reminds that life is worth living enough to where he questions whether the possibly deadly fallout of their relationship is worth it.

It is a tragic, viscous cycle in which their relationship is both what saves and doom Ilya.

Most of all, I think that he probably recognizes this type of half doomed love which he craves but could also so easily destroy him, and I bet that it on some level reminds him of his relationships with his family, both Grigori and Irina, both cases of love where he gave everything he could and it just left him more empty.

This cycle of love and destruction is constant throughout Ilya’s life, and it must be absolutely terrifying for him when he realizes that, even after escaping Russia, he has thrown himself right back into it.

And JJ is like, "I don't think that's the problem, Cap. You haven't seen Boston girl for a while. You two just need to bone."

And from there it's just almost word for word the "BoOoOoNe??" scene from Brooklyn 99.

I really believe people who aren’t lgbtq+ don’t understand the trauma of being gay/trans/bi. YOU DONT HAVE TO FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO BE WHO YOU ARE AND MARRY WHO YOU WANT. you get that automatically. you can kiss whoever in public, date them in public without being called slurs or people saying “well that’s against my religion, that’s not normal, it sickens me that you “chose” that.” people don’t understand the severity of Ilya being out. he could be killed. Ilya even says that when Shane asks him. what the fuck do you think would happen? I’m Slavic and i could never be bisexual. I would get arrested and probably killed. even in the United States, I feel very fucking unsafe. it is illegal to be gay and trans in Russia. people get arrested just for writing, reading, and watching LGBTQ+ content. people who have the privilege of being straight don’t realize what we have to fight for just to be who we are. we’re literally just trying to fucking exist.

he kisses that collarbone bc Shane’s bravery before the injury meant so much to him. bc Shane was patient, continuously tried & never gave up on him.

he kisses that collarbone bc it reminds him of how scared he’d felt seeing Shane motionless on the ice, how he’d spent that entire night worried, but came to the realization after leaving the hospital that if something worse than a concussion & a fractured collarbone would’ve happened, he would’ve lost it.

he kisses that collarbone bc Shane continued being brave afterward, calling him when he’d needed it the most, inviting him to the cottage, suggesting they’d be as honest w/ each other as possible & returning his feelings.

he kisses that collarbone as a thank you that the injury was minor & that those emotions he’d felt throughout that night made it impossible for him to walk away completely.

he kisses it & kisses it & kisses it bc Shane is his & he is Shane’s & he knows without a doubt that they can face anything together.

Mornings are sometimes particularly hard for Ilya. He’s never explained why to Shane, but the longer they’re together, the more Shane sees without asking. 

He sees the way Ilya sometimes lies there, unmoving, staring at the ceiling long before the alarm goes off. He sees the distance in his gaze. The longing. The slight trembling in his hands. He sees the way Ilya will turn away from him so he doesn’t notice the sheen to his eyes, that he’s starting to cry. That his chest is heavy and that he’s carrying a weight that’s not his to bear. That Ilya doesn’t know how to fix it; that he thinks something is wrong with him. 

Shane sees every crack in his armor and loves him all the same. 

It takes a few times for his husband to realize that Ilya can’t talk when he’s in these periods, he can barely think, he can’t turn his brain off. He hears Shane, the responses live on the tip of his tongue, but it’s like he can’t get them past his teeth. He expects a lot of things: for Shane to freak out, for Shane to break up with him, for Shane to leave him alone and let him wallow and just come back when he’s ‘normal’ again. 

But Shane does none of that. He stays. And he talks to him, even if Ilya doesn’t reply back: 

because no - shane really could not have done that

not because they wouldn't have been good about it but because shane couldn't even handle having one day of casual intimacy with ilya without freaking out because he couldn't let himself want it because he knew if he did he'd want it all

so he runs and gets lunch with his parents and he's snappish because he wants ilya there dammit and he hates that, and no he doesn't want to meet anyone else, and no he doesn't want to spend his only time to rest with someone he doesn't know or even with them, he'd rather be alone because if he can't have all of it he can't let himself want any of it

and we see that with shane a LOT, he does not exist in grays he is one or the other and his and ilya's dynamic is gray for so long because shane compartmentalizes it and shoves it into a "stress relief, tell no one" box

so he absolutely could not have allowed his parents into that facet of his life because not only would that make it Real, which he wasn't ready for, but his parents would be supportive and they'd ask and more to the point, he would want to tell them all about ilya

which would mean admitting how much he wants more, how much he wants ilya to meet them, how much he wants ilya sitting with him and his parents, how much he wants to relax with Him not with anyone else - to the point where he won't even allow himself to relax at all if it's not with ilya

shane doesn't know how to let himself want because he's never properly experienced it before, hockey is his life, he loves his family but ilya is the Thing he Wants so bad all the time and he can't do it in halves

even when rose figures it out and talks to him about it ilya is the only thing on his mind and fixing things with him and making this grow if ilya wants it too

if he had come out to his parents, he would have ended up wanting to tell them about ilya so bad and it probably would have sped things up between them, or, they would've encouraged shane to date other people, come out to the league, if they found out about ilya and shane's doubt about his feelings for him they might've tried to steer him away

and shane didn't want that because he only wants him

...the more I'm watching interviews with Hudson and Connor the more I'm realizing that what I actually need is just actors with emotional intelligence that really think about what their characters queerness actually MEANS rather than giving the standard straight actor answer of "I didn't really think about the fact that he's gay, he has so many other more interesting attributes". They have such a clear understanding of their characters and their identities, it's absolutely wonderful to see

@hollanovmicrofic / Prompt: Boyfriend (June n° 14) / word count: 1010

hollanov - Shane doesn't know he's dating Ilya

Shane probably should have been suspicious.

In his defense, he didn't exactly have many Russian friends.

He’d considered asking Hayden or Rose if that was normal. He even thought about looking it up online, but the idea seemed so dumb that he gave up before he’d even opened the browser.

In the end, he simply concluded it must be some cultural quirk of Ilya’s.

The thing was: Ilya always kissed him whenever they met up. 

It all started on a random day of a random week a few months ago. He was standing there, fiddling with his phone and waiting for Ilya to arrive, when he was taken by surprise by a kiss. It was a quick, wet kiss that left him speechless.

Shane thought about asking, but simply didn't know how to bring it up. So, when Ilya said goodbye with another identical kiss, he just assumed it might be a habit.

Probably cultural (?)

After that, it became routine. Nothing over the top—even when they took a few rather suspicious seconds to pull away. 

Shane had heard about how people in other cultures greeted each other differently, so in his mind, Ilya was just showing that they were like really best friends now.

Soon, the kisses turned into more affectionate gestures. Ilya would walk past him and absentmindedly ruffle his hair on his way to another room. At other times, he would sit next to him on the couch and pull him into a hug without warning. Recently, after Shane was nearly hit by a bicycle, Ilya had also started holding his hand whenever they went out together.

At first, it made him a bit weird, but over time, he got used to it.  

Shane even stopped thinking about it, accepting it when Ilya pulled him close or gave him a casual kiss on the forehead.

It was simply Ilya being Ilya. 

So, when Ilya arrived at Shane’s place to watch the game between Montreal and Boston, Shane didn’t find it strange when he leaned over the back of the sofa, gently caressed his face, and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

It was just another day.

It was only when Ilya stepped away that Shane remembered Hayden was sitting right in front of him, staring at him open-mouthed. As soon as he heard the door close, Hayden leaned forward.

"When were you going to tell me that you two are dating?" Hayden asked, unable to hold back.

Shane looked at Hayden confused, but soon turned his attention back to the screen.

"We are not." 

Because, in fact, they weren't. 

Hayden frowned. 

His gaze shifted from Shane to the hallway door where Ilya had disappeared, and then back to Shane—almost as if he were mentally replaying the events of the last thirty seconds to make sure he hadn't imagined it all.

"You guys… kissed." Hayden spoke slowly, looking at Shane as if he were crazy.

Maybe Hayden was jealous of their friendship?

"It's cultural," Shane replied, shrugging. 

"What's cultural?" Ilya asked. 

He had just returned to the living room wearing one of Shane’s shirts. He sat down next to Shane, his arm slid around Shane’s waist, pulling him closer and without realizing it, Shane leaned against his chest.

He didn’t see anything wrong with it.

"I was asking Shane when you guys started dating."

Ilya let out a thoughtful grunt. 

His thumb traced absentminded patterns along Shane’s waist while he rested his chin on the top of Shane’s head, as if genuinely trying to recall.

"I don't know... Two months ago. Maybe three. Why?"

Hayden was momentarily speechless. 

His gaze darted back and forth between Shane’s and Ilya’s faces as he watched panic slowly creep into Shane’s expression.

At first, Shane only looked confused, his eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at Ilya. Then, little by little, the color began to drain from his face as his brain seemed to catch up with the conversation. His eyes flicked down to the arm still wrapped around his waist before jumping back to Ilya’s face, and Hayden could practically see him mentally sorting through months of memories.

Shane felt his brain simply freeze.

"We are dating?" As the words left his lips, a strange sensation began to spread through his chest.

Ilya was simply watching him with a puzzled expression, like someone who clearly didn't understand what the issue was.

"This is question?"

Oh god.

"So, guys... I think that’s my cue," Hayden announced, already leaning over to grab his keys from the table. He put on his coat in record time and practically fled the awkward situation.

“Is this a joke?” Ilya asked. He was still smiling, but the smile gradually faded as he realized Shane might actually be serious.

It started to make sense.

A very alarming kind of sense.

“When?”

“Three months ago, I invited you to my place for dinner. I told you I liked you, and you said I like you too. We kissed, and I just assumed that...”.

“I thought you were saying you liked me as a friend!”

Ilya went completely still.

For a few minutes, Shane thought he’d blown it. 

He’d lost a friendship. That was it. 

He and Ilya could never be friends again. 

Then, Ilya’s lips began to curve upward until a laugh escaped his throat. He doubled over, resting a hand against his face as he tried to catch his breath, but that only seemed to make him laugh harder.

“Stop it,” Shane complained.

“It’s kind of funny,” Ilya said between chuckles, clearly amused by the situation. “So... we’re dating now, right?” he added a moment later, as if it were the most natural conclusion in the world.

Shane let out a long sigh and ran a hand over his face. 

“We... already are.”

That made Ilya stop laughing immediately. The amusement vanished from his expression almost instantly, giving way to something warmer and softer as he looked at Shane.

“Great.”

And then, without a moment’s hesitation, he leaned in and kissed Shane.

His plans at the moment were to talk Shane into going clubbing with Ilya and Svetlana. But suddenly an image popped into his head. The Hollanders, Shane, Sveta, and Ilya all gathered around Ilya's massive dining table, eating pasta and drinking nice wine, maybe having cake. They all give Ilya nice gifts that he likes, maybe Shane gives Ilya a really nice watch or a perfume that he'd had a professional help pick out. Then the Hollanders retreating to the living room while Shane, Sveta, and Ilya heading upstairs to laugh and pregame and get ready for the club together. Saying goodbye to Shane's parents and slipping into Shane's car to go out and meet Marly and a couple of the guys out for some partying. Then ending the night in his own bed, in Shane's big steady arms, maybe with some drunken birthday sex. Quietly, obviously, because the Hollanders and Sveta are in the guest rooms.

i think ilya is, at his core, defeatist. hes not in the business of wanting things he cant have. that's literally putting yourself on the road to disappointment. you look at something, see it's unattainable, and simply turn away. there are other things out there for you.

he cant have shane hollander. they cant BE anything. so he doesnt want that, of course. but there are things they can have. more time, for one. and maybe they spend some of that time actually just hanging out and talking and eating together, like people who enjoy being around each other do, instead of just staring at their dicks waiting to be ready for a second round. (this is an exaggeration - theyve never done that, except for the one time they had a contest to see who could get hard again the fastest without touching. it was shane.) maybe they text, or call on the phone. nothing weird.

maybe they can know more about each others lives, what they get up to when theyre apart. how does shane celebrate his wins in other cities? with who? does he pick up women? what is he like with them? and if shane isnt hooking up with other people - well, its ok if hed prefer that ilya doesnt either. simpler that way.

(in a world where shane is less scared of his own feelings - either because hes come to terms with them or hasnt realised he has them - i can see him asking a lot more questions and things going very differently: "rozanov-" shane starts, cutting himself off when ilyas head shoots up with alarm. "ilya. it sounds like you want to date me." "no," he denies immediately. "no, we cannot be anything, so i do not want this.")

i also think this mentality explains his behaviour in tampa - omg shanes here hes here alone ? hes being flirty? we can go back to how things were yayyy im not gonna ask for more ill take whatever i can get :)

and then SHANE is the one asking for more, putting ilya in the position of - youre being ridiculous, we cant be more, it doesnt matter what we want. like when he says "we fuck. its simple." i DO think he means this. its simple if we keep it simple. we cant have it so we cant want it. obviously. youre not content with that? ungrateful, now? "simple for me" similarly, is an accusation. youre complicating things now? you want the enormity of our (and make no mistake it is OUR) desire to destroy what little weve managed to build, as well as the rest of our lives? he is sosososo scared of wanting more with shane.

During the Situationship Era Shane asks Ilya to teach him how to flirt. It's not a social skill he has in his toolbox- girls just always approached him and made their interest known, it happens constantly. But he has never known how to respond as he is uncomfortable with social interactions. And now that he is getting more and more famous and being invited to sponsor events and galas and shit, he needs to learn how to charm people, instead of just relying on his reputation within the hockey world and his looks. He wants to be ready to deal with these social interactions, which includes charming people.

Shane thinks Ilya is the best person to ask because despite being the bitchiest person he knows, he is also the most popular and has a reputation as a flirt. This is just hiring out an expert to do contract work. Ilya agrees, but is losing his mind with jealousy the whole time. Meanwhile, Shane is just happy he is getting a good grade in Human Interaction, something that is both normal to want and possible to acheive.

Shane: This is just like when my first coach taught me the best way to set up a slapshot. You learn a skill from the best, then you perfect it over time yourself.

I read this a while ago, but can't seem to find it again, so any help would be so great! Thanks! <3

UPDATE: Fic Found⬇️

Paying Attention

Shane experiences a Autistic meltdown after the scene in Vegas which leads to their story being completely different

I've read a few stories centered around Shane's autism, but haven't come across this. Here is what I could find though, please let me know.

How to Be Normal (And How to Be Strange) 

4 times Shane is ashamed of his autistic traits and 1 time Ilya shows him that he doesn't have to be.

The benefits of knowing 

Shane Hollander gets a late autism diagnosis. It's surprising to him, but apparently not to anyone else. Slowly, he realises how his friends and family have already helped him.

Does this fic sound familiar to anyone else? Please let me know x