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i've been LOLing about ilya's incomprehensible, did you use google translate english with a friend for a while, it made me want to post about it before i get to typical mistakes russians make, i want to speculate on where and how ilya studied english. feel free to hop on and correct me whenever!

english in russian schools

2008, ilya's in Saskatchewan, he is 17 yo. meaning, he started school in 1996-ish and by 2008 he has already graduated. as all russians at that time he probably started learning english early on at school. typical lessons consisted of heavy focus on grammar, reading out loud and translating textbook passages sentence by sentence, and doing tests. he also had to memorize and give some weird ass speeches about "London is the capital of Great Britain" (tw). so, probably, not too much immersion, no colloquial speech, limited exposure to AmE, limited listening practice. he might have had a tutor and he might have traveled abroad with his family and class/hockey team, but i don't think he was encouraged to really focus on english. he might have picked up some vocabulary from movies and porn (question mark but not really)

that means that by the end of school ilya probably has some very basic english vocabulary, can't form long sentences, doesn't really know linking words, collocations, phrasal verbs let alone idioms, and relies heavily on translating from russian to english directly (relatable) this brings us to the list of english stuff russians usually struggle with

articles

we don't have them, we don't get them, the concept is very foreign. let alone we barely can pronounce the, so no motivation to use them russians might:

forget the articles: I'm coming to cottage for summer.

use a instead of an, a instead of the and vise versa

forget some specific use cases (geographical, proper names, etc): I'm visiting Hollanovs instead of the Hollanovs

throw them randomly when we suddenly remember they exist: A water is cold, Shane, now gimme kiss!

verb stuff

to be, do/does, irregular verbs

ilya's pattern of skipping subject is endearing but not very convincing to me. we memorize i am, you are, he/she/it is early on and get corrected about it for years at school, so, i believe ilya knows there should be something before “is good” =) typical mistakes we might make include:

using do/have instead of does/has, forgetting -s: Shane have good mouth

adding -ed instead of changing the verb: I bringed puppy home and called her Anya

tences

russian language only have past, present and future tences with no subdivision on simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous. all these concepts are confusing and take a long time to wrap our heads around (present perfect, i'm looking at you!)

hence, the mistakes:

using present simple instead of present continuous: I suck Shane off while he talks with Hayden instead I'm sucking Shane off while he is talking to Hayden

forgetting to be in present continuous: I making myself tuna melt, i can make you too.

using past simple instead of present perfect: I never was in Boston before. (sidenote: ilya's line from TLG "Is good. She has been helpful" made me laugh for this particular reason. proud of my babyboy nailing present perfect (i myself not sure if it's necessary here))

not changing word order in questions: You want to come while in Boston? instead of Do you want to come...?

(occasionally) answering I do, I don't, I am no matter the tense of the question: - Did you bring anyone with you? - I don't. - Have you ever been with a man? - I do / I am.

(probably) saying will not instead of won't. i just get the feeling that this sacred knowledge wasn't taught properly back then.

modal verbs, phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs and particles (i googled all those words)

yet another thing we don't have in russian. i was really impressed when ilya said glasses back on instead of glasses back or put your glasses again

so, mistakes:

forgetting or misusing particles: Let's listen to "All the things she said" for the 100th time Happy to tell to your mom / say to your mom that we are lovers.

same with modals (typically adding to instead of omitting it): We must to make Montreal go home to cry!

using regular words instead of phrasal verbs: I googled the word "compatible" / I looked it at dictionary.

forgetting particles at the end of the sentence Is Rose Landry I'm worring about

verbs + doing / to do

so, gerund, we don't know her. verb + infinitive, on the other hand, is quite common in russian, so i would expect my comrads to overuse verb + to do especially in the long sentences:

I could not stop to stare (instead of staring) at your mouth, I thought you might notice it. that was a long list but it's nearly not enough. these are also rookie mistakes, and i believe moving to Boston healed them quickly. but some patterns might linger, i guess.

so ilya likes to mess with shane calling him some random russian petnames, right? no one asked but i have opinions and also work to do but unrelated

first, the long game ones:

moya gazonokosilka (lawn mower) - cursed, pretend it never happened. too random, doesn't sound fun or cute in russian, can't imagine russians saying that to their lovers

moy pomidor (tomato) - actually very cute, love it. shane blushes a lot (ilya is not capable of that for geopolitical reasons) so moy pomidor works perfectly. moy pomidorchik (diminutive) would be even cuter

moy lyubimiy (my love) - works good but skip moy, just lyubimiy

now some of my ideas. not suggesting that ilya would call shane that but i would:

shanezhka (spelling?) (diminutive for a шаньга - fluffy sweet cottage cheese bun) - sounds very close to shane's name and also has this tender suffix at the end that is just perfect for russian ears. why it's perfect? because this nezh (неж) thing at the end is the same as in the word tenderness/genleness (нежность), like hello? also shane is a sweet bun, has sweet buns and needs sweet buns (fuck you, microbiotic diet)

gagarochka (diminutive for a loon) - sounds fun and cute in russian

dushnila (stuffy person i guess?) - just a very natural and quite endearing way to call your boring husband when he is schooling you about that damn one (1) cigarette again

also dushnila sounds very close to dusha (soul), and calling your loved ones moya dusha (my soulmate?) is some deep russian shit. i can totally see ilya messing with shane switching between moy dushnila and moya dusha to check how his russian lessons are going, bonjour

ulitka or ulitochka (snail) - just how we call slow people, and shane is famously a very slow skater. also sounds cute and tender in russian

cursed but zhopa, zhopka (ass) - no jokes, very common petname. playful, fun, rolls off the tongue and has that you are an asshole love you so much undertone

can i get some writing tips??

like how to describe something without seeming too much?

oh and how tf do i write smut 😭 i always cringe and end up deleting it

thank you 💙🤍

p.s. have a lovely dayyy

Okay look i usually never answer these asks with any real advice because i just don't think i am qualified to teach anybody how to write. I'm so sleepy and tired rn so obviously I'm going to give you advice. I will tell you what i try to bear in mind while i write which is never haha. Please don't read this more than once:

When describing:

People:

Don't describe clothes/outfits in intricate detail unless the details matter/contribute to the story/plot. Or if the clothes themselves help describe something else (eg. Her blue shirt made hear eyes appear bluer than ever.)

While we're on a person's appearance, try to describe a character in a way that tells us more than just about what you're describing (eg. His sweet smile was directly at odds with the malevolence his eyes always gleamed with.) Two birds, one stone.

Please refrain from having character stand before a mirror and describe themselves in painful detail to the reader. Just please no. (Case in point: nicely separated breasts. iykyk)

Describe a person's nature/character using their actions. Actions similar in style/motive etc will go on to form the character's tendencies. This is how the reader can then go "ah shit, he's about to fuck around and find out isn't he thE IDIOT NOOO I KNEW IT!!!". Additionally, this can also be a way to surprise the reader "great she's gonna work late AGAIN and miss the— SHE JUST BROKE HER BOSS' FACE?!?!!?AHSHSJSJHSHS"

Setting:

Describe what is pertinent to the scene you're writing. If you describe one particular thing in rich detail, it's gotta play an important role at some point.

The curtains don't have to be blue if the character is sad. They can be any colour you want them to be. Use instant instinct to draw details; if you overthink you might end up pouring a whole lot of meaning into stuff that you never intended to and this might distract from the actual story.

The more details you provide, the clearer the picture in the reader's mind (also the more you need to remember if you're revisiting the room). It's a fucking gamble.

When providing descriptions in general, less is more. I struggle a lot with this because i want to tell the readers about every flower in the upholstery and every lamp post on the street. When you read the old classics you'll find all these detailed descriptions and they're just so charming. Something about the way literature has evolved since then has prompted professors to teach us not to bore the reader with too much or something. Like, honestly, i don't think any two writers can describe something in the same way. It all comes down to style i think??

On writing smut:

I am the opposite of an expert just please don't listen to me.

Please just say cock.

PLEASE DON'T SAY CUM.

Please let them sweat and smell like it; let them make dying whale noises instead of musical moans; sometimes people have kinda funny or weird sex faces and that's fine i think.

Body parts dangle and sag and bulge and jiggle.

Bodies have hair.

Write what you think would feel good. Chances are that others might think so too.

No he cannot last that long, make him come.

No she did not squirt like a fountain.

No he does not taste like fucking mango sorbet or some gourmet shit; his cock tasted like a dick because it is a penis.

No her vagina did not look like a rose spreading its petals and did not taste like a strawberry; it smelled and tasted like a vagina.

Sometimes sex is awkward.

Not everyone is an expert.

I think it's safe to say that one does not usually have fourteen consecutive orgasms.

Look i can go on and on. Keep smut real and stay in character and things will sound hot because the people having sex in scene think it's hot.

Can we talk about this part again? The whole scene is gold, but I keep focusing on the first 40 seconds. Ilya is not usually shown to be an anxious person, but he does have little tells that he repeats throughout the show. And in this scene, he does all of them. His anxiety in the beginning of this scene is palpable. At first you see him nervously scanning the bar, knowing at any second he could see Shane. He's doing his usual self-soothing behaviors like fidgeting with his thumbs (like during the interview with the all star game) and messing with his hair/ear (like on the couch with Shane).

Then the moment happens. He spots Shane. And, fuck, he's coming right for him. He takes a big deep breath, says a quiet little "okay" to get himself ready, and takes a giant chug of his beer that finishes the bottle. As soon as Shane sits down, he starts doing little head bobs to hype himself up for whatever conversation they're about to have. While he's thinking of something to say, his thumbs are rubbing the hell out of the empty beer bottle. Trying to rub that thing back into sand. After Shane orders the same beer that Ilya is having, he does a little nose sniff. The same nose sniff/nose tug move he makes throughout the series to show that he's totally definitely nonchalant about something that's happening with Shane. Ilya asks him about his ginger ale. He can't help it. The last time they spent together is probably all he can think about. So Shane skipping his typical order and getting whatever Ilya has is throwing him off. But then. Shane makes a joke. A silly little 'Shane' joke that temporarily pulls Ilya out of his spiral and gets him to crack a smile. Very similar to the situation in episode 6 when Shane is spiraling and Ilya makes his "maybe he didn't even notice" joke.

I've talked about this in tags but I need it to be a full post. There's something about Ilya wearing long sleeves here that kills me. I love that Shane is in a cozy hoodie, too, but it doesn't grab my attention as much because he's not dressed that differently from his usual wardrobe.

But Ilya? He's constantly showing off his body whenever he has the chance. This man is allergic to sleeves. He usually rips his shirt off at the first opportunity.

Ilya's usual wardrobe (or sometimes lack thereof lol) reflects the way he views his body as a commodity, like it's the only thing he has to offer, so he's constantly showing it off.

But then we have this beautiful montage showing the ways that Shane and Ilya have slotted into each other's lives in a pretty regular routine. It's a hot montage, but it's also creeping toward a feeling of domesticity, especially in this moment.

Wearing this shirt to a hookup shows that Ilya has reached a new level of comfort with Shane. He doesn't feel the same pressure to play the seduction game. Shane is going to kiss him the same way regardless of what he's wearing.

That plus the fact that Shane is taking control and pushing Ilya against the glass. Ilya's whole demeanor reflects the way he feels comfortable and taken care of in this moment and it does something particular to my heart.

I don't think Ilya is consciously thinking about why he dresses all comfy cozy for this hookup. He still has a while before he internalizes the truth that Shane wants him just as he is. But Ilya also tends to act based on feeling before he fully understands the subconscious behind those actions.

So I'm maybe just a liiiiiiittle obsessive, and I wanted to work out the timeline of the show, and figured I'd share it with you all. I can't quite figure out how to format this for tumblr, so I'm going to just c&p images of the tables and then dump all of it in unformatted text I guess under a read more? Please let me know if you can think of a better way for me to do this (without retyping it all!) and please let me know if you see any errors to be corrected.

ETA: I'm sorry, I added some info to ep 6 after rewatching and somehow deleted the table for ep 5? But it's back now!

Bonus: season calendar pics that are not accurate (since the

Boston/Montreal games don't line up)

Metros: 2015-2016:

Boston 2016-2017:

Hopefully some folks will find this interesting and/or a good fic resource!

The episode timelines in unformatted text:

Trust is built slowly over time. It's rarely given immediately and instead is revealed in the smallest vulnerabilities, the quietest choices, the moments where a character lets their guard down without realising it.

I've outlined some ways you can prove to your reader the trust your characters build together.

Sharing secrets they don’t tell anyone else.

Letting someone see their vulnerable side: emotional, disheveled, or undone.

Falling asleep around them without worry.

Admitting confusion instead of pretending to know everything.

Asking for help, especially when they never do.

Walking beside them instead of behind or ahead.

Allowing silence without trying to fill it.

Letting them read unfinished drafts, art, or work-in-progress ideas.

Showing up at their door in a moment of panic.

Not hiding their flaws or insecurities.

Giving them the spare key without overthinking it.

Delegating an important task without hesitation.

Relaxing their shoulders when that person arrives.

Sharing food straight from the same plate or drink.

Telling the truth, even when it’s messy or uncomfortable.

Revealing old scars: physical or emotional.

Accepting advice they’d reject from anyone else.

Allowing touch without stiffening.

Letting that character enter their space.

Looking at them like they’re a place, not a person. A safe place.

I don't think it's like a big problem, but I guess English speakers may not now this and it comes up pretty often.

Russian is a gendered language and that means words change, depending on whether they're used to described man or a woman. So, the word for my will be diffrent, depending on wheter it is

my (man) = мой (moy)

my (woman) = моя (moya)

So, if you want to have Ilya call Shane my beloved it will be

мой любимый (moy lyubimyy)

not: моя любимая (moya lyubimaya)

Or, at least, I think so! I don't actually speak Russian. I do speak Polish tho, and the word for my sounds pretty much the same as in Russian (moja/mój). If I just made some extremely stupid mistake while trying to correct others, shame me and I'll repent.

Basic rule is that depends on the gender of the word (feminine, masculine or neuter (masculine rules are applied))

Yeah word has a gender, some rules are common, some we just need to accept:)

And it's tricky stuff, cause if he wants to call Shane, who is a male, "my love", it will be "моя любовь", not "мой любовь"

Любовь (feminine) so моя + любовь

i speak english the most in day to day life and also think in english sometimes. my accent in english is americanized, pretty indistinguishable from a native (excluding sets of certain phonemes like /rl/) .

but if i’m really tired or spending time just around my wife (with whom i speak english), i sometimes switch to what i call ‘lazy english’.

what this usually consists of is i allow myself to speak english with the russian /r/ phoneme that is more natural for me, i drop articles, replace continuous and future tense with simple present, use the ‘….,yes?’ construct, avoid contractions (bc the verb ‘to be’ is dropped/implied in russian, so contractions aren’t always natural)

for example, when i’m in ‘lazy english’ mode, this is how my speech varies:

‘i’m making the bed’ = ‘i make bed’.

‘you’ll help me later, right?’ = ‘you help me later, yes?’ (for this one, in russian, the same phrasal construct ends with the word ‘yes’ instead of the word ‘right’)

‘can you give me a tissue?’ = can you give me tissue?’

‘where’s the pen? do you have it?’ = ‘where is pen? you have?’

if you pay attention, you’ll notice that a lot of these patterns also occur in ilya’s speech, especially earlier on. that’s why i’m particularly impressed with the writing of his dialogue — it doesn’t come across as stereotyping/caricatural because the way he speaks english is consistent with russian linguistic/grammatical rules. this is often how russian-speaking people speak english when it is their second language and they’re still learning.

you still want?

i still want

“montreal is nice, yes?”

“boston is nice too?”

First off, @jahsontodd

Next we have @thoughtfulgardenerpirate

Then @agoodsoldier and @parcai

And next @mybloodstream-caffeine

Next up @tsitpfrvrbonrad although I must correct them. When they first met in December 2008, Ilya and Shane were only 17. The draft was June 2009, and Ilya’s date of birth is June 15, 1991. So they had both just become legal adults (Shane’s is May 10, 1991). Depending on when in June the draft was held, Ilya might have still been 17 in the gym scene.

Then we have @myarchiveforme and @bedalk

Just below we have @swords-n-spindles who is breaking my heart into tiny pieces. This cute Canadian boy with the freckles is the first person in North America Ilya has had a positive interaction with. But the league, their new teams, and the media have decreed that they should have a professional rivalry.

So they can’t be friends. And even though Ilya was already attracted to Shane here, I think he would’ve settled for a platonic friendship with the first kind person he’d met on this continent. If that was all that was on offer. But he can’t even have that, because that would ruin the heated rivalry narrative their new bosses are busily constructing around these two teenagers.

Neither of whom are yet old enough to drink legally in most provinces (in BC and Ontario, at least, it’s 19). They’re just barely old enough to vote. Not that I think voting matters much in Russia, but you know what I mean.

Per request, here is the completed Warlord!Geno/Sacred-Virgin!Sid story—under the banner of The Bear of the North. This storyline is spread across three different works on ao3, and though all the works are linked together, I was advised to put together a masterpost. Thus:

I. The Virgin II. The Royal Chambers III. The Cage IV. The Markings V. The Journey VI. Zaychonok (pt. I + pt. II)

i speak english the most in day to day life and also think in english sometimes. my accent in english is americanized, pretty indistinguishable from a native (excluding sets of certain phonemes like /rl/) .

but if i’m really tired or spending time just around my wife (with whom i speak english), i sometimes switch to what i call ‘lazy english’.

what this usually consists of is i allow myself to speak english with the russian /r/ phoneme that is more natural for me, i drop articles, replace continuous and future tense with simple present, use the ‘….,yes?’ construct, avoid contractions (bc the verb ‘to be’ is dropped/implied in russian, so contractions aren’t always natural)

for example, when i’m in ‘lazy english’ mode, this is how my speech varies:

‘i’m making the bed’ = ‘i make bed’.

‘you’ll help me later, right?’ = ‘you help me later, yes?’ (for this one, in russian, the same phrasal construct ends with the word ‘yes’ instead of the word ‘right’)

‘can you give me a tissue?’ = can you give me tissue?’

‘where’s the pen? do you have it?’ = ‘where is pen? you have?’

if you pay attention, you’ll notice that a lot of these patterns also occur in ilya’s speech, especially earlier on. that’s why i’m particularly impressed with the writing of his dialogue — it doesn’t come across as stereotyping/caricatural because the way he speaks english is consistent with russian linguistic/grammatical rules. this is often how russian-speaking people speak english when it is their second language and they’re still learning.