The Cozy Nook

My current obsessions: Spuffy, Heated Rivalry, OFMD, Studio Ghibli

[samehere-onlyone]

Ilya's problem was never realizing he was in love with Shane. It was realizing that being loved back was even a possibility.

[ticklefighthockey]

I still think it’s so funny that shane was assigned gay by rose landry and his reaction was WHEW! thank god someone else decided that for me. anyway I’m off to get my man I can sense that he’s making bad decisions in a club somewhere

[ticklefighthockey]

rose: do you want me to set you up with my gay friend?

shane distractedly: what? no I’m obviously already embroiled in a years-long situationship with a disaster bisexual who is physically incapable of expressing a feeling out loud. and I’m positive he’s off being a nightmare somewhere so now that I’m gay for sure I need to track him down and greet him with such awkward but well-meaning compassion he ends up sobbing in my arms

[kairithemang0-fm]

Reblog if you're transmasc, support trans men, or want a chocolate chip cookie

[russianblush]

#ilya baby get behind me

[russianblush]

HEY HELLO JUST GIVE ME THE GUN INSTEAD

(sorry @joyousmistake these tags killed me)

[rylandsgrace]

Conclave (2024) dir. Edward Berger

[peaches-and-dream]

Ilya is a yearner but Shane is NOT a yearner. Shane is a doer and a problem solver. At first he solves the problem of his feelings for Ilya by compartmentalizing and not feeling them. When this strategy stops working he hard pivots to going after his man. This man is not sitting around pining and suffering he is getting things done!

[penandinkprincess]

unreasonably amused by the idea of passenger princess ilya on vacation with shane

obviously shane hired a travel agent to create The Optimum Vacation, but he also studied and approved everything and also has custody of all important documents just because it makes HIM feel better and in control

meanwhile ilya?? straight elevator music. where are they going? unclear. when's the flight? not his concern. how long are they staying? who's to say. where's his passport? his husband has both of theirs.

his job is look pretty and "he asked for no mayonnaise" and that is IT

[smokey-ilya]

cottage/lake thoughts

shane’s better at paddle boarding than ilya. they’re both professional athletes with great balance but it takes ilya awhile to get adjusted meanwhile shane’s doing yoga on his just to be a show off

shane and ilya argue over names for the boat and eventually shane gets “wolf bird” painted on it

ilya isn’t allowed to drive the boat that first summer bc he doesn’t have the proper license but shane helps him study for the written test

anya has a life vest with a shark fin

it’s equally impressive and annoying to everyone how well they do in a tandem kayak or canoe together, paddling in perfect unspoken harmony (hayden and jackie almost get divorced)

they run off the dock and do fancy jumps into the water, making the other person rate them like the olympics

they lay on the dock together at night and watch the stars, sometimes talking and sometimes in comfortable silence

the best part of the day is when they come inside, take a shower together, and collapse on the couch all sleepy from their outdoor shenanigans. ac is blasting so they grab a soft blanket and snuggle in to watch a movie

[gaynehollander]

The “do you want to know how it feels, holding the cup?” is genuinely such a fucking cunty comment and all Shane does is throw his underwear at Ilya and then grin like he’s so proud of himself.

What I’m saying is this, sometimes Ilya will say something to Shane in front of the Centaurs that makes the whole locker room freeze up because if they said that shit to their own partners, they would be in the doghouse for months. But Shane will just shove Ilya or punch him in the shoulder and then they grin at each other like it was the funniest shit ever.

They learn the hard way that although there seems to be no boundry to what Ilya can chirp Shane with, the same does not apply to anyone else. If anyone makes a comment to Shane that is deemed not appropriately playful, you will be facing the wrath of his husband and you will wish you were dead.

[surreality51]

See, the thing is that even though Ilya loves to rage bait Shane and say cunty things like “Do you want to know how it feels, holding the cup?”, he is never cruel or mean. He never says anything that would actually hurt Shane, he never goes for the jugular. And that’s because the chirping is meant almost as a backwards compliment to Shane. He can say “Do you want to know how it feels, holding the cup?” BECAUSE he knows (and Shane knows, and Shane knows that Ilya knows) that Shane will likely/definitely hold the cup one day himself. Shane even replies “I’ll know for myself soon enough.”

Imagine if Ilya said that to someone who wasn’t Shane, like maybe someone on an AHL team who has pretty much zero chance of ever winning a Stanley Cup. Then Ilya would be a total asshole who is trying to make the AHL player feel shitty. It’s an asshole move because the power dynamics are different: star MLH player taunting AHL player about something they want but will never get.

But no, Ilya’s saying this to Shane, BECAUSE he knows just how good Shane is and knows that Shane will definitely win at least one cup at some point. It’s almost like an in-joke: I know you’re good, you know you’re good, but I’m a chaos gremlin and a competitive little shit so I’m gonna rub it in your face a little that I got there before you did, just to get a reaction out of you. But the joke hinges on the fact that Ilya thinks Shane is amazing, they are equals, and it wouldn’t work otherwise.

Rinse, lather, repeat for all of his other digs at Shane, i.e. “this slow fucking player” only works because Shane is incredibly fast, “with a weak backhand” only works if Ilya has the best backhand in the league and Shane has the best forehand and the second-best backhand, etc. He wouldn’t say this to Shane if Shane was actually kinda slow or had been frustrated with his backhand. They’re both in on the joke, and it’s one way they can bridge the competitive divide between them. It acknowledges “hey, we’re the two best players in the world, and it’s lonely at the top, except now we have these little jokes that acknowledge our competitive sides and the fact that I really want to beat you, but also tie us together, because no one else can make these jokes except us.”

[firstprinced]

some giddy ilya for 🩷 rae @blushingrozy 🩷 #neverinlifehasheblushed

[iressails]

worth the wait forehead kiss / i love you so much double forehead kiss

[becauseitswrong]

James Marsters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5.07 "Fool for Love" (2000) // Costume design by Cynthia Bergstrom

[my-castles-crumbling]

months - hollanov - @taylorswiftmicrofic - word count: 273 - click here for my hollanov microfic archive on ao3

"So...I checked the game schedule," Shane said hesitantly, looking up from his phone and into his boyfriend's eyes. 

"Yes?" Ilya responded, a small smile forming on his face. "Mark each game against Boston with a heart, right?"

He scoffed, heart skipping a bit. "No." He had color-coded them differently in his calendar, but that was none of Ilya's business. "I just noticed....it'll be two months. Until the first game."

The silence, now, was much more strained. Like the happy, comfortable, blissful bubble they'd been occupying in the cottage had suddenly popped, catapulting them violently back into reality. "Ah," Ilya grunted, frowning. 

Shane shifted uncomfortably. Truthfully, there was an easy answer here, but he was terrified to give it. They could make plans outside of the times they were already near each other. Take advantage of nights off that they both had, fly to each others' cities or meet somewhere in the middle. But that was so much more deliberate than just meeting in places they already were. 

Suggesting it was like suggesting marriage.

And yet...

Hadn't Ilya already mentioned that? Talked about a proposal on a dock, with a thousand candles? Hadn't Shane already confessed that he couldn't see a life without Ilya? Why was it so hard to ask for what he wanted?

He swallowed thickly, trying to force the words out. "There's...times. In between. When we both have nights off. I could fly to you, or you to me. If you-"

"Yes. Yes, we should do this," Ilya agreed immediately, looking so relieved he was close to passing out.

Shane grinned, already looking up flights. "Okay. Yeah. Good."

[thenihilistbear]

Who fell first, who fell harder...

They slammed into that crush like a fucking freight train at the exact same time. They imprinted on each other at 17 outside a shitty arena in Regina, Saskatchewan and they never fuckin stopped.

This relationship was set the second they heard each other's names from their coaches when THEY LIVED ON DIFFERENT CONTINENTS.

They watched tape of each other and were obsessed BEFORE THEY EVEN MET.

In this, if in no other way, they are are tied.

RIGHT HERE. REGINA. 2008.

These two, outside, digging into each other's souls. Like the book says, they were meant to be alone at the top, but they were always going to be there, together.

This, just before their hands touch a second time, is the last moment they're going to be normal. And the last moment I'm going to be normal about them.

Fell first. Fell harder.

It's not even worth discussing. Because the time and intensity were identical.

[messedupdoilies]

They also joked so much about Spike that he ended up being one of the most fleshed-out characters in the buffyverse. We know what foods he likes, what tv shows he watches, his financial background, who his mother was, why his personality became what it is, etc. Compare to someone like Riley, who doesn’t seem to exist beyond a few vague traits + being Buffy’s boyfriend, Spike was tremendously fleshed out. All for The Bit™.

[shanehollandered]

i love how are the cottage everything they have been feeling for one another catches up to them with such intensity. like, both shane and ilya insisted for so long that this was just casual, no strings attached hook ups. then once they realized that this was no longer casual, tried to hide/ignore/bury their feelings, or rationalize them away because there simply is no world in which they could be anything more. and shane pushes ilya on it in tampa and they finally acknowledge that they're past casual. they still don't really talk about what exactly they're feeling but they do become much more open in how/when they talk while still dancing around the elephant in the room.

and then they get to the cottage, and the sheer love they feel for one another crashes over them like an avalanche. because suddenly, shane is mapping out a 10-year-plan that lays out how they can be together for real, somewhat publicly even, and there really is nothing left to hide now. they're both the unstoppable force and the immovable object at the same time. all these things that they've felt for this long and tried not to act on or hope for and dare to dream of just bowl them over so wholly. and it's kinda crazy because really this has been building for almost ten years but at the same time they have not acted on it, it's not a speedrun and at the same time it kind of is, and there are still some things that they haven't done or figured out, that maybe they can't really be sure about, but at the same time they are, they are so sure, that this really is the only possible, the inevitable outcome: they truly love each other and they want a future, together.

[shanehollandered]

something something ilya using sex as a coping mechanism while also viewing sex as a performance by which he is measured as well; treating sex not just as a release and distraction but also as another thing that he needs to excel as, using his body a tool to make sure he is up to par, meet expectations, and give someone else something they want from him, and then everyone doesn't even want him, they want his face, his body, something he can give them, but it is never about him.

and then comes shane, who was only ever supposed to be a casual hook up but who looks at and touches him with wonder, who apologizes for coming in his mouth, who asks to wait, who cradles him so tenderly, who caresses his face and kisses his forehead, who asks him if he's okay, who not only texts but comes to find him too, who doesn't expect a performance, who isn't only using ilya for his body or whatever else he could give him, who is so earnest and sweet and who has given ilya already so much more than anyone has ever given him before, and he doesn't even know it (yet)

no wonder ilya is scared shitless after their first hook up in montreal and that little forehead smooch. shane isn't playing by the rules ilya has grown accustomed to. ilya is completely out of his depth.