I have fallen and can't get up! I'm in the pit of despair-angst-tenderness-love known as the #soulmates tag of this fandom because goodness gracious are people delivering the juciest fics here! Canon already makes this relationship a star-crossed lovers scenario, but twirl them up in the red string of fate and you get blissful agony. This is the Good Place. Seeing authors exploring unique takes on how soulmates present themselves is the icing on top , and I am so well fed.
💖remember to kudos & comment on fics you read 💖
🏒 slipfast by ummrys - 44k
Ilya almost dropped his cigarette. His English was shitty, but he had studied that sentence enough times over the years to understand it immediately.
- Shane says Ilya's soulmate words. Ilya vows to never speak a word to him to keep him from finding out. They fall in love anyway.
zannithinks: amazing navigation of the canon with this nail-biting twist! The boys are so emotionally messy in this one, and the sex is FIRE - truly a masterpiece to be devoured
🏒 a case of you by ausgezeichnet / @oldguardians - 43k
Ilya and Shane soulbond with a handshake in a freezing parking lot in Saskatchewan. It actually doesn’t change very much, until Shane’s concussion drives everything haywire, forcing them into close proximity and an earlier confrontation with all the feelings they’ve been trying to ignore.
- as it turns out, it’s easier than you’d think to be in someone’s head and still not know how they feel.
zannithinks: the Hurt is basically a character in this story and it is REAL. wow did my heart feel tender after this! Also one of the first fics I've seen to dig deep into the legal and professional chaos created by something as simple as love. Fantastic depth to these characters with real issues behind their miscommunications.
🏒 the cadence of a secret by marigoldens. - 39k
Ilya sits down at the desk for a steady surface to explain.
3 things 1 its curse. if true we can break it 2 its spell. if true we can break it 3 we are soulmates. if true we are fucked
“No,” Shane mutters, before he can stop himself. Immediately, he slams a hand over his mouth.
- Ilya and Shane are soulmates, and their bond prevents them from both talking and being apart.
zannithinks: had me glued to the screen the entire time! I adore the added elements of witches and magic into the world while still remaining a grounded reality. The tension between them is constant, relieved only by small and fleeting tender moments together. One of the best push-and-pull relationships I've seen delivered on a silver platter by incredible writing talent.
🏒 the heart is hard to translate by catknives / @catknives - 20k
Shane is twelve when he realizes he can understand Russian.
- in a world where you can understand whatever language(s) your soulmate speaks, it takes Shane and Ilya an embarrassing amount of time to realize they’re soulmates.
zannithinks: Shane needs a hug SO BADLY in this holy shit. I love to see this form of soulmates explored in a longer fic! It weaves gracefully with canon while adding so much. The ending made me so soft and gooey inside.
🏒 i've never needed a reason for keeping secrets from myself by blongblong / @bylroos - 9k
Shane’s immediate reaction is to say that he doesn't know when it started. He doesn’t know who his soulmate is. This is what he’s been telling himself for years, because if he stops for more than a second to think about how long he's been collecting little pieces of Ilya Rozanov, he thinks he'll spiral out of control.
- shane spends twenty-five years not thinking about his soulmate. the drawer in his apartment filled with cigarettes, toothpaste, and awful t-shirts says elsewise.
zannithinks: yet another fantastically original take on soulmates! This character study on Shane blooms beautifully into a defining moment of their relationship. Love to see that there's a second part from Ilya's POV incase your heart isn't squeezed enough.
🏒 Your Mouth is Wine by girlofsalt - 7k
If he focused, he could still feel the phantom touch of Rozanov's fingers on his skin, see the look on his face as Rozanov disappeared into a memory. Shane’s memory.
- Soulmates who touch each other's scars for the first time get to live through the memory of their soulmate acquiring them. For Shane and Ilya, being known so deeply by their rival is not the miracle everyone else says it is. At least, not for about eight years.
zannithinks: such a unique concept! I've never seen a soulmate au like this before, and it was so neat to see the boys forced into this kind of vulnerability before being fully ready for it.
🏒 achilles, come down by voidvapor - 3k
Hayden’s about to fist a hand in Marleau’s jersey and make a truly heroic attempt at rocking the much larger man’s shit (because no matter how legal the check might’ve been, that’s Hayden’s boy) when there’s the thunk of a second body hitting the ice.
- in a world where soulmates share injuries, when Marleau rams into Shane, Ilya goes down too. He and Hayden try to handle the situation as best as they can.
zannithinks: actually obsessed with this small shared experience between Hayden and Marly as they try to lock the fuck in and support their boys.
🏒 the language of us by SafelyCapricious / @safelycapricious - 2k
"So, do you think your soulmate is who you got all this hockey knowledge from?" Now, of course, he smiles the media smile that she is so proud of him for learning and says, "My parents taught me a lot, they both love hockey you know? And it's hard work, every day. But I do love it too and I love doing the work. I haven't met my soulmate yet, but hopefully someday when I meet them they'll love hockey like I do."
zannithinks: what a fun and cheeky play on soulmates! I really love each little moment and the ending had me giggling.
🏒 I knew it, I know you by mblematic / @mblematic - 2k
“It’s been a while,” Svetlana murmurs when Ilya wraps one of his hands around her thigh. He doesn’t answer immediately. He kisses her jaw, then her neck again, then pulls her bra to the side to take her nipple between his teeth. Finally he looks up, his smile off-kilter. “You think I won’t remember how?”
zannithinks: friends, do NOT sleep on this!!! This is a gorgeous Sveta POV of Ilya truly 'going through it' like no man before. Shane isn't there, and yet he is undeniably in the room with them the entire time. A beautiful showcase of the Sveta/Ilya dynamic that highlights the care and affection they hold for each other. I would read 500k more of this honestly.
🏒 A Little More Time by notlayingroses / @notlayingroses - 2k
“Ilya?” Shane tried again, and Hayden swallowed.
“Ilya is okay.” Hayden said, but it felt like a lie. Shane wouldn’t feel like his insides had been scooped out if Ilya was okay. “He’s hurt, but he’s okay. They’re getting out stretchers for you both now.”
zannithinks: why does it feel so good to see these boys in pain? There's something about the way this fic handles the calamity of the on ice moment by framing it from several POVs and making Shane near incapable of saying anything but Ilya's name. Hurts so good!!
more rec lists: canon/canon divergent | a/b/o + bdsm au | outsider + hayden POV | soulmates | smut
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