Today's rec post is: realising multiple this is delightful and also educational fics I have read are all by the same person, @arustyspork. I really love a) fanwriters going all out on localisation and b) a personal hobby/interest dialled up to 11 for the purposes of fanfic.
Let's start with the first one:
5 Times Ilya Was Confused by a Canadianism (11939 words) by ARustySpork
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander & Hayden Pike
Characters: Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander, Hayden Pike, Yuna Hollander, David Hollander, Evan Dykstra, Cliff Marlow
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, POV Ilya Rozanov, Ilya Rozanov-centric, Married Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Fluff, Extremely Specific Canadian Knowledge, Cheddar Cheese Slander, Regina Saskatchewan, North American House Hippo - Freeform, Spoilers for Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers), Poorly Veiled Love for the Edmonton Oilers, Hockey, Hockey Fights
Summary:
+ 1 time he completely understood
As an Australian who has known and loved Canadians and a fair amount of CanCon, this delighted me. It also made me specifically disappointed that no one had told me about the North American House Hippo.
In fact, was the North American House Hippo regional or something? You see, I saw Great Big Sea in Sydney in... 2011? 2012? The boys had recently played in Melbourne, and I can't remember if this was in the botanic guardens in Melbourne or Sydney, but they had been taken to Experience The Nature. Their local friend told them about drop bears. They were suspicious. They wisely grabbed a random passer-by and asked if their friend was fucking with them. No, said the random passer-by. You gotta watch out for Drop Bears.
Alan Doyle, ridiculous bouncing puppy of a man that he is, spent chunks of the show coming back around to trying to convince the Sydney audience that he comes from the home of ferocious... land seals, I think? (Which. Uh. I've encountered seals on land, in NZ). Why would he do this, if he could have been telling us about the North American House Hippo?
NEXT UP: We've all seen the post that describes Heated Rivalry as a "Fade To Black Hockey Romance": steamy sex, fade to black on the hockey, right? Well, with shows where the sex is only implied it is clearly the duty of fandom to fill in the gaps. Where the hockey is implied, someone needs to provide the hockey. I can't, I don't know enough hockey, although I'm frantically gaining ground. @arustyspork is here for us in our time of need:
The Best Game You Can Name (the good ol’ hockey game) (4491 words) by ARustySpork
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov, Shane Hollander & Hayden Pike
Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Hayden Pike, J. J. Boiziau
Additional Tags: Hockey, Banter, Fluff, Hockey Fights, Ilya Rozanov Loves Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov Goes Flying into the Bench, Shane Hollander Says Safety First, References to Brad Marchand, Licking, Does this hurt the horse?, The neck guard stays ON, Crack Treated Seriously
Summary:
“Why would anyone want to mic you up, Hollander?” Ilya asked, getting down to his knees next to Shane to join him in his stretches. “All they will hear is you discussing boring statistics and complaining how I am so much more talented than you.”
_
Or, Shane and Ilya on the ice, over the years
I am particularly delighted with the Licking Incident, because, in the course of my Researches, I learned about Brad Marchand. And then RR was on What Chaos and, when asked if there is a "Brad Marchand figure", did not say Ilya? Ridiculous. He clearly a) is the kind of guy who would lick other players on the ice and b) the What Chaos guys basically really wanted to picture Brad Marchand shutting down locker room homophobia / standing up for Outed Players, both irl and they want that for Shane and Ilya - but that's one of the roles Ilya plays in his cameos in books 3-5!
Anyway. I really wanted the licking stunt and I got it. The "falling over the boards" bit was also helpful - such hockey as I have so far watched hasn't given me a good sense of the layout of the bench, or even of a line change, but the notes at the bottom led to video of Connor McDavid falling into the opposing bench.
*clasps hands earnestly* When I was young, fanfic taught me about sex; now that I am old, fanfic teaches me about Sports.
Ilya Rozanov’s Guide to Interacting with the Media (7509 words) by ARustySpork
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shane Hollander/Ilya Rozanov
Characters: Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov, Cliff Marlow, Scott Hunter (Game Changers)
Additional Tags: Hockey, Social Media, Twitter, Bongo Anthem, Biblically Accurate Newfoundlanders, Beet Borscht, Mic'd Up, References to Quinn Hughes's Ghosts, Tim Hortons, Spoilers for Book 6: The Long Game (Game Changers), Fluff, Crack Treated Seriously
Summary:
Use this foolproof guide to make the fans love you! Not recommended by publicists.
Hilarious. ALSO genuinely useful. I didn't know about the All Star draft process.
Finally, @arustyspork has an in-progress WIP which involves Ilya billetting a Russian rookie in Boston. That would not normally be my jam but I'm adding it to my to-read list on the basis of the excellence of the above.