Fandom Trash

Out of my jltg era, into my cr era!

[hello-0-sunshine]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[pxssionate-intensity]

Ilya and Shane, on top of being The Lovebirds Of All Time, are best fucking friends.

Shane is the #1 person Ilya gossips with. Since Shane isn’t the best on picking up subtext, all of the drama Ilya has to share is a complete surprise to him. Which makes him both the most entertained by the gossip and the most entertaining gossip partner.

Shane has an extremely dry sense of humor, and in public he’ll whisper deadpan commentary into Ilya’s ear while Ilya tries not to cry laughing.

Ilya has a very dark sense of humor that makes most people who hear it uncomfortable, but not Shane. Shane thinks it’s absolutely hilarious every time.

Ilya and Shane love to sit in the same room, do separate activities, and barely speak to each other. Shane will read a book while Ilya plays a video game, and one of them will have their feet in the other’s lap.

While everyone in the league thinks Ilya is a huge asshole, Shane thinks he’s hilarious. In fact, Shane usually agrees with Ilya’s chirps and will not defend anyone against them.

I just love the idea that they’re absolute best friends.

[rainbow-femme]

Ok but headcanon that Shane is one of those people who will just write “Love, Shane” at the bottom of a card UNTIL he feels comfortable being vulnerable with that person, at which point he writes the most heartbreakingly sweet and earnest notes

And no one is ever ready for the switch, and even after it happens they can never fully prepare themselves for what they’re going to get. Shane has learned that when he’s going to do that he should take them aside to give them the card rather than in front of people

Once Shane feels comfortable with Hayden as a genuinely good friend in his birthday card that year he writes out a whole thing about how he’s always wanted a best friend like other kids had but never had one and had accepted he never would, and then Hayden came into his life and gave him a level of love and friendship he never thought he would get and he loves everything about Hayden and can’t wait to be by his side as friends and brothers for the rest of their lives. Hayden fully breaks down and loses it, Jackie notices they’ve been gone a while and walks into the kitchen to see Hayden hugging Shane and sobbing into his shoulder. She raises her eyebrows at Shane and Shane just gives her the OK sign and goes back to rubbing Hayden’s back

Ilya learns about the card thing when it’s yunas birthday and he notices her opening Shane’s card like she’s deactivating a bomb. She stares silently as she reads it and Ilya starts freaking out a little when she starts to tear up and then pulls Shane in for a long silent hug. He looks at it later and sees that Shane wrote about how the last year made him realize over again how lucky he is to have someone as strong and supportive as her as a mother and he hopes to one day be half the parent to his own kids as she was to him

When it’s their first time having Ilya’s birthday together he’s legitimately nervous because this is his first Shane Card and he doesn’t know what to expect and part of him is afraid he’s built it up too much in his head and Shane won’t have as nice things to say as he did with other people. And then he opens the envelope and there’s no card but instead multiple pieces of paper because Shane couldn’t fit it all into a limited space. Ilya spends the better part of the next hour walking around the house reading it, taking breaks occasionally to cry or hyperventilate before going back to reading it because holy shit does Shane Hollander love him. Like he knew logically that Shane did but now he’s got pages and pages of Shane walking him through his feelings over the last decade of their life and every moment he remembered and cherished. Shane finally catches up to him and he’s on the floor of the kitchen, face a splotchy red mess, chugging Gatorade because he’s dehydrated from crying

David texts later to ask how his first Shane Card was and he just sends a wall of crying emojis and David is like “LOL yup, the first Father’s Day he did that for me I had to take the week off work or else I would remember it and cry in my office”

[whichie]

I love fics that give Ilya a pet rookie but come on a journey with me imagining the beautiful world of Shane and his little rookie...

set sometime post cottage, Shane is called in to billet an AHL winger call up, Matt, whose filling in for a vet out on long term injury. the Metros are pushing for a deep playoff run and this kid has talent, really it's crazy he's been passed over year after year at training camp, the only issue is what the coaches deem his "team unity problem". this kid can pass a puck and score a goal like nobody's business, but his teammates never take a liking to him and something about his demeanor rubs the coaches the wrong way. but this year they need someone who can keep up with Shane and Hayden on their line, and he's been putting up good numbers for goals and assists on his AHL team. so he needs a little guiding hand, maybe, some help from the captain to integrating well on the team, will you do it Hollander? and Shane says yes, of course, even if he really doesn't want a stranger in his home when he's hiding a whole secret boyfriend. but it's fine. it's going to be fine. he can live with Matt and see him only at practice and maybe the drive to and from practice, and he'll make an effort to include the kid when the team goes out, but Shane doesn't really do much socializing beyond the bare necessities either, and besides that and Shane's trips down to Ottawa, they probably won't interact much. really anyone would be a better choice to mentor this kid in how to make friends.

and Matt shows up at his door, 4pm on the dot, says hello, shakes his hand very firmly, but not too firm, expresses a clearly rehearsed gratitude about opening his home up to him, all the while never once making eye contact and speaking in a strange up and down cadence, like he knows tone exists but not how to apply it. and Shane recalibrates all of his plans because he's realizing very suddenly that oh, they're going to eat this kid alive.

[whichie]

I'm calling this the Black Sheep AU because I'm giving Matt one of my special interests ✨fiber arts✨

he knits, like a lot. when he moves in with Shane he brings with him two moving boxes of yarn and it's just a fraction of his collection at home. hes deep into the yarn spinning/dying YouTube and in the off season he's busting out his pedal spindle and making the most beautiful wool yarn in crazy colors. then of course he's making stuff with it. in the airport, on the plane, on the bus, in the hotel room. no matter what or where he is he has his needles and his latest project in a little handmade bag at his side. Shane gets a pair of cotton socks with little hockey sticks at the ribbing as a 'thank you for letting me into your home' gift and he makes sure to wear them often. and months and months into the season he gets a sweater for his birthday with a beautiful repeating lily design because he's the only one on the team that engages with Matts interest or would take proper care of a handmade piece of clothing like a merino wool knit sweater

Matt's nickname on the Metros is Grandma but that's way better than what the guys would call him on the farm team (mostly the r slur, which Shane had to shut down practically day one with the Metros) and Shane still doesn't think it's a nice enough nickname so he starts calling him Matty, and it catches on with most of the guys except for the ones like Comeau and Drapeau, who are determined to be assholes anyway

[thecompletebookworm]

I want to hear so much about Shane and his new fiber arts obsessed buddy.

[whichie]

the funny thing is I think a lot of unmasking happens totally unconsciously, and it's a mix of the inherent comfort of shane being in his own home and the fact that's he's never lived with anyone but his parents (also autistic) so a lot of accomodations he has or does Matt goes nice :) but doesn't really say anything about it. and they both don't think it's weird if they sit in the living room doing seperate activities without speaking for hours. Shane clearly and in detail explains how he does chores and Matt appreciates the directions. he never makes fun of Shane's diet because Matt rotates between the same four meals every few weeks. nothing strange about being a picky eater :)

it takes someone like Hayden or JJ to be like, hey Cap you seem to really Vibe with Matty for Shane to be like, oh no they're going to kill me with hammers too

[rowan-e-ravenwood]

new top contender

[veveen]

A short lifespan means little when your partner knows time stuff 🤷‍♂️

[sankta-wraith]

Essek who has very weak, shaky legs because he’s always floating, and Caleb who makes him a treadmill to build up his strength.

[atlasarcana]

run in the shadows 🎸ch 16

INTERVIEWER: So. We gonna talk about those B-sides? WIDOGAST: What is there to speak of? You can make your inferences. INTERVIEWER: You know why I’m asking. Help your own case, man. WIDOGAST: I don’t care to be opening every scab for this when I’ve already testified with the entirety of my life. INTERVIEWER: Alright. Fine. Just thought it’d be good for the record. Can you at least say who “he” is?

Chapter: 16/30

Rating: E Fandom: Critical Role (Exandria) Ship: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, implied Blumenshadow Word Count: 117,890 Tags: Epistolary, Oral History, Inspired by Daisy Jones & The Six, Rockstar AU, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Angst with a Happy Ending, Slow Burn, Political Intrigue, Court Drama, Drug Addiction, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Implied Underage Sexual Abuse, Warning: Trent Ikithon, Mental Illness, Verse Caleb Widogast, Verse Essek Thelyss

Content warnings for the fic are described in the tags and elaborated in the Author’s Note.

⋆ read on ao3 ⋆

[olileigh-art]

Finally got back to campaign 3 and I will finish it before summer ends. Have some Essek in the meantime

tip jar

[essekthelysssideblog]

Listen I understand it's nuanced and people can absolutely go too far either way with this

But I do very much enjoy the shadowgast trope of "one of them is looking at the other's handwriting in his spellbook while blushing thinking about his hands while the other is staring in the mirror with bags under their eyes contemplating the Horrors and the 5D political and emotional chess getting played around them."

I enjoy it even more when it switches off sometimes lol

Because here's the thing YES Shadowgast has a lot of emotional layers to it and it HAS always been complicated between them and a bit of a dance and a cautious one at that. But it ALSO must be balanced whenever possible by them just being ridiculously and unwisely into each other and just straightforwardly enjoying each other's company. Like yeah it's a cautious dance because they're both cautious and guarded people-- and they're also both enjoying the hell out of it despite themselves.

[veveen]

He is a very good teacher ✨⭐️🌟

[veliseraptor]

Intertwined | Critical Role

Summary:

On the experimental uses of dunamantic spells by Essek Thelyss and Caleb Widogast.

Notes:

This is just pure smut with absolutely no further qualities beyond that. I had the idea while lying awake in the middle of the night stressed about a million other things and then had fun writing it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I've got nothing.

[hiyaluronic]

If you haven’t picked up a copy of The Mighty Nein Stories Untold please do so, if for nothing more than Essek mocking The Mighty Nein while he has feelings.

[sankta-wraith]

Having competing and contradictory headcanons is so frustrating because on the one hand I absolutely love the idea of Essek with chronic pain who always floats because it hurts less and he can’t afford to look like he’s always in pain because no one can explain it so he must just be weak (the image of strength levitating projects is an unexpected but entirely welcome bonus) but I also love Essek who floats because it’s armor because it proves his power and it impresses important people (and it’s damn hard to intimidate a man who can always be taller than you) but I also love Essek who floats all the time just because he wants to and it’s his one concession to pettiness and floating gracefully along whilst thinking “hah imagine walking you fucking losers” is a much needed source of satisfaction in an otherwise very frustrating world (especially when he sees someone trip)

[dirt-nerd]

Really enjoyed "The Fall Will Kill You" revealing Essek is indeed a total dweeb with so so many mental health issues and the emotional processing ability of a half drowned cat.

But honestly the thing that struck me the most was it kinda confirmed my long held suspicion that Essek and Jester have waaay more in common than a surface level read would make you think.

Because with both these characters there's a real sense of....I guess "delayed development" would be the best way to describe it? Like sometimes you encounter a young adult that hasn't *quite* left their childhood behind and seem to be missing a couple of the developmental milestones that makes a person feel like a grown adult. That's very much what (early campaign) Jester felt like, and that's how Essek reads to me in this story as well.

Which makes it really interesting in the way they mirror eachother. Because they are both extremely sheltered young adults from wealthy families that are only just now leaving the nest and learning how to fly for the first time. Except that while Jester learnt to fly by immediately befriending Fjord (an actual nice person), Essek nosedived straight into the waiting jaws of frigging Ludinus Da'leth and Trent Ikithon (and then congratulated himself on how clever he was being).

[heated-levalry]

Wine Night, Eventually by dayybreak

*****

Noelle: okay serious question Noelle: what is shane like at home

Ilya considers the truth—how Shane softens in quiet, how he gets worse before he gets better, how he wants closeness but hates asking for it.

He types something else.

Lily: same. but less clothes.

The chat pauses, then resumes with contained delight.

Tess: OH Rin: 😂 Mara: fair answer Noelle: noted

*****

Main pairing: Montreal WAGs and Ilya (platonic)

No archive warnings

[heated-levalry]

The Rozanov-Hollander Concise Guide to Macroeconomics by Eigengrau (aussiebee)

*****

"That one fic where David platonically nerd-seduces Ilya into becoming his son without any input from Shane."

*****

Main pairing: Ilya & David Hollander (platonic)

No archive warnings