aggressive archival instinct is temporarily suspended on account of the fact that I have 4,000 posts in my drafts folder and I can't tag them all!ā¢and i've been queueing a bunch of them so expect a steady stream of 4 posts a day for the forseeable futureā¢
kateā¢she/herā¢22Fā¢writerā¢biochemistā¢i used to only post fandom stuff and writing memes but now I've branched out into reblogging whatever the fuck is on my dashā¢i also have an aggressive archival instinct and I try to tag basically everything with every single tag applicable so don't read too much into it, it's just for search purposes⢠AO3⢠FFN
So last month I got hit by a car and died right. Which I didn't initially realize until I watched some guy haul my body into his pickup and drive off. Which, being that it's deep in rural Michigan, I assume means my body will make some venison jerky and maybe some wall decoration, and I'll be resigned to being one of hundreds of deer ghosts floating around Saginaw, which is w/e. But then I find out the guy works at a taxidermy shop or something, and he's actually pretty good at stuffing and mounting deer carcasses, which I come to find out when I find myself face to face with my old body in the shop window. So naturally, I figure since ghosts need to possess something to interact with the living world and etc etc etc the most logical thing to do is to possess my own body, since it's basically a statue of myself. And a little surprisingly, it actually fits like a glove. Like, since it's my body, it feels like stepping right back into place. So I get out of town and back to my herd, eventually. And that's where the trouble starts coming into it, because after I get settled again, I don't know how to explain to everyone else what feels so weird. Like since I can move my body and do everything I used to do, it's functionally the same, like nothing happened. Or it SHOULD be, so I don't know how to explain how it's NOT. But it's just hard to explain it to someone who's never been hit by a truck I guess
[ID: Despicable Me meme with Gru presenting a plan on posterboards. First step: Thatās a neat idea! Second step: Someone should write it! Third step: Iām that someone. Gru stops and looks back at step three with concern/disappointment/sadness. End ID.]
HW: Our show was kind of unusually block shot. It was shot like a giant movie, which means we're shooting parts of episode 5 in the beginning, parts of episode 4 early on. In the same day we're going from multiple scripts. We had to hold the entire story and then go in on command to these different points that these characters are at.
(sources and disclaimers below)
the basis for this gifset were the film stills from sabrina lantos's website which contain the day number in the file name and the date taken in the properties:
and then most of the other stills from here have the date taken embedded:
since the above stills don't contain the day in the file name, i made a schedule to assign each date to a filming day number. i can't guarantee it's correct, but once the weekends were in place it did all line up nicely (including with the confirmed wrap date, june 10th).
the following days were mentioned in interviews:
DAY 1
"We jumped around. I think we were in five different years or something crazy on day one. I remember doing the first scene of the day..." ā Connor
"The foot tap." ā Hudson
"[The Tampa hotel room] was day one of shooting. I'm pretty sure that was the second scene we shot before the Vegas scene where I crawled to him." ā Hudson
DAY 3
"[The Russian funeral] was day three of production overall, and that was my first day." ā Slavic
DAY 4
(alexei's scenes were filmed on two consecutive days) "I was only there for two days." / "I got to meet Hudson the [day after the Russian funeral] when we were doing my [phone scenes]. He was just down the hall in a different studio" ā Slavic
DAY 11
this day wasn't mentioned by number, however, the time code on the film slate seen in this behind the scenes video [image version] shows 05 05 25 11 (5th of may 2025, day 11). and there is mention of which scenes were shot that day:
- rachel said, "They were filming the very first sex scene..." (for 4 hours!) and "I stayed until the very end [of that day] because I knew that the last thing that they were going to film was on the beach in Tampa".
- the casting directors were also on set this day, they saw the sochi cafe and hudson getting sprayed with water for the ad.
- further visual confirmation: 1. connor at the cafe in his hookup outfit 2. the cafe set being taken down ready for the beach scene
DAYS 35 & 36
"[The cottage] was the last two days of shooting. The last scene we shot was Ilya talking about his mom when heās on my lap." ā Hudson
ASSUMPTIONS
DAY 7
in this behind the scenes posted by ksenia [image version] you can see the file number of the recording which has 250429 in it, i.e., the 29th of april 2025. since she was there at the same time as connor and hudson doing their scene, and since she's in the same car used for the scott scene... i'm making the assumption all the car interiors were shot on the same day.
DAY 14
an image from this article contains the date 2025_05_08 in the file name. it's a photo from set while they're filming at ciao bella (for the lunch scenes with shane's parents). the stairwell (for shane's apartment) is located around the side of the building.
DAY 18
christina said while filming the episode six yuna shane scene they "... were getting pummeled with rain. So we had to stop, and we had to come back the next day and shoot it." so i think they would have finished that scene and then also done the rest of the scenes (shane in the sling, watching tv) on day 18.
DAY 20
it seems like they used two consecutive days for filming at each of the residences, so i imagine they probably did the svetlana and watching tv scenes this day. the only scrap of evidence i have is this behind the scenes photo where you can see the camera set up while they're watching the leafs beat the panthers-- which i did check, did happen on may 16th (...but also on the 5th and 7th of may, so not exactly irrefutable).
DAYS 32 & 33
the owner of shane's "apartment" said filming took place there in june. so that slots nicely into these two days-- not really anywhere else it would fit.
CONTRADICTIONS
- the biggest discrepancy i came across was regarding day 17 at the parents' cottage:
christina said, "It was just the four of us for a couple days, so it was a really wonderful experience. It was towards the end of the shoot, and I think we all felt like, "We get to do this, finally.""
and jacob said [on connor eating so much spaghetti], "I do feel it was the end of the shoot and I was like, "Oh, he's carb loading. I don't think he has to take his shirt off again.""
so both of them stating those scenes were near the end of the shoot almost made me throw this whole gifset concept in the bin, but then on the other hand, i'm like... people make mistakes... i could be misinterpreting... why would the camera dates be wrong... but yeah, this one really confused me.
- another one that didn't line up was hudson saying, "The drive when weāre in the car leaving was two weeks into the shoot. So we still had, like, three weeks of shooting left while weāre shooting the drive off. Me picking Ilya up in the āItās not a Jeep, itās British, itās good in the snowā car took place, like, three weeks into shooting."
the photo still (in the carpark) was taken on the 28th of april and there's also a photo of the film slate that looks to be the same date. so i just straight up think he's wrong? which is understandable, he is recalling it 7 months after the fact. it just makes me doubt everything.
- otherwise i feel like things match up with what i've heard, like the hockey being a week towards the end, sophie arriving a month in, tampa bar being the last friday, etc.
here are some other extra details:
- on may 10th hudson posted a bts photo of connor at dundurn castle, meaning the jogging scenes were filmed prior to day 16
- the scenes done at mcmaster university would have been done early may (as filming isn't permitted on campus during april and hudson said he, "hadn't had a chance to train that much yet" (indicating that it was still early on in the shoot)
- robbie's first scene was the art gallery, followed by the smoothie shop, and then the banquet and intimacy later on. his last day was the on ice kiss.
- two full days were spent at the kingfisher
- the sochi cafe scene was shot twice (they weren't happy with how the vfx wall was looking, they changed it into an interior shot)
- another scene they redid was with the hockey cup (producers weren't happy with how small it was previously + kolton said it broke when he lifted it)
- franƧois's final scene was the cup celebration (he lost his balance and cut his hand on his skate)
it was fun putting all this together. i hope you found it interesting! i tried my best to source everything so i'm not just saying, "trust me bro", but at the same time, please don't take it all as fact. i obviously wasn't there, i'm only looking at dates!
any additional information or corrections are welcome :)
the idea that hollander "tamed" rozanov is really funny to shane because like. ilya finds it hot and is always going along with it, yes of course my husband is so sexy why do you think i moved to this boring fucking city. for dick. meanwhile shane knows the truth which is that ilya tamed himself. he herded shane like a sheepdog until he was exactly in the right position for ilya to flop down at his feet and say i love you, i am a one man guy, sleep with other people if you want but you are it for me, so shane is always there like ??? ilya. what are you talking about. i was literally prepared to be a secret slot on your roster for the rest of time without even admitting that i was gay until you decided to have me over make me lunch and say my name while you come like a love confession and ilya goes lyubmiyy. shut up. i was untamable you tamed the untamable and so shane has to be like yes, baby, i worked so hard, i used all my tricks but he's rolling his eyes because ilya wants to be a wolf shane coaxed inside to sleep on the hearth but instead he's a cat who snuck through the window and fell in love with his prey. self domesticated. and this is just one of the many perfect games they play
still a bit sad about the missed opportunity in heated rivalry for a scene where a brawl breaks out between Boston and Montreal and Shane and Ilya go for a hug like this "so the fight doesn't get unfair"
and noone if their teammates would get suspicious even if they do that regulary because these are the fucking star forwards of their respective teams, they can't risk it getting hurt in a fight, and actually they are so strong holding back even if they have their enemy in their faces (and yes that also applies to Ilya because he might be a more physical player he is weapon of choice is more chirping and antagonising that actually fighting).
also, Ilya would definitely use the chance to rile Shane up and get him hard and frustrated and so much more eager for the after party later
DID YOU KNOW that sometimes characters lie. out loud to others and internally to themselves, and it'll happen right there on the page. other times they are just flat out wrong and don't know it. oftentimes they don't ever find that out. a sizable portion of any story is decidedly not cold hard fact.
i really am tickled by the idea of scott hunter being canonically only 3 yrs older than ilya and catching stray after stray for being old. yet also in my mind cliff is fully in his mid 30s when ilya is a rookie and whenever they get drunk together cliff gets emotional and is like ādo you think im washed lil broā¦..ā and ilya is like āNO are you kidding meā¦ā¦you are studā¦..just now in your primeā¦..ā
shane getting an email he was waiting on on his phone while he's in the shower, and ilya letting him know, reading it to him, and writing out a response as shane dictates it, all while shane is still in the shower send post
"The reason it's written this way, in these snippets of time, is because that's what they remember. Like, what do you remember about the day you were drafted? I remember standing next to Ilya. I remember the way he looked in that suit. I remember seeing him up there with his dad and wondering what is dad was like. And I remember not listening to my mom. And then, boom, what's the next thing you remember? I remember not being able to sleep and I went to the gym and there he was. Like, all of their memories - it's told in a language of memory, and sex is such a powerful part of the memory-scape of this thing." - Jacob Tierney