shane texting ilya after a metros game like: im so fucking tired of carrying this entire team on my back like fuck sure we won tonight but i'd have had a goddamn hat trick if stevens hadn't been off fucking sides like at what point is it easier for me to be the only guy on the fucking ice at least then no one is gonna miss my fucking passes
shane 2 minutes later to the media: oh for sure it's a team effort, we all do our best to contribute 🙂
I think when they are out and married Ilya continues the cryptic Shane picture instagram posts but now he can simply caption them as 'my husband'. Just subtle brags that also afford his Shane the privacy he deserves. Like a heavy set of dumbells, Ilya’s tattoos, or a neatly folded pile of clothes.
He also posts an annoying amount of pictures and videos of Anya, who I cannot stress enough is a very ordinary dog doing ordinary dog things like sniffing at a plant.
“and then he rode me so good that when i came i almost blacked out” ilya tells to a rose landry who is grinning hard fully invested in hearing about shane and ilya’s latest sexcapades then she asks “can i watch one time?” and ilya gasps offended and says “i’m not letting someone who’s already fucked my husband watch my husband having sex with me” and rose already cackling at how easy he is to wind up says “well i’m running low on shane content to get off to lately” and ilya absolutely flabbergasted goes “you are not getting off to my husband, you can’t even look at him anymore. delete every single photo of him from your phone, especially the shirtless ones” and rose smirks and goes “can’t do, i’m actually scheduled to do a peloton campaign with him next month. he’ll be all sweaty and shirtless, it’s gonna be amazing” she teases him and ilya picks out his phone already dialing and goes “no you’re not, i’m not going to let that happen” and when the person picks up he goes “mama yuna, cancel shane’s peloton campaign right now” and rose is there full on belly laughing and ilya pauses and ask “what, there’s no campaign? no, don’t schedule one then. thanks yuna, i’ll explain later” and he hangs up and turns to rose who is practically crying with laughter and he just glares and goes “you fucking little minx”
grabbing new writers by the shoulders. it is important to write what you love and to love what you write. if you spend all your time trying to make something other people will approve of you will hate yourself and everything around you. learn at your own pace. you have time. i’m proud of you
ppl on ao3 should use the "this work was inspired by" option more. so many fics out there that put links to other fics in the a/n but theres a better option.....
important addition i forgot that not everyone might know. similar to how ao3 bookmarks work, you can also link to non-ao3 fanworks using this format. so, for instance, if theres some fanart on tumblr that inspired you to write the fic? you can link that fanart to your fic!
Hayden always gets emotional when his kids' birthdays are coming up. So Shane isn't surprised when he opens his phone to 15 new pictures of Amber when she was a baby the week before her fifth birthday.
"Look how tiny she was!", Hayden texts, followed by another handful of pictures of teeny tiny Amber. And Shane loves his nices and nephew, has always cherished that he gets to be Uncle Shane to them and watch them grow up.
"Cute!", Shane texts back before he scrolls through the pictures one by one. It has been ages and at the same time five minutes since Amber, now gap-toothed and, last Shane saw her, wearing a mud soaked bumblebee dress as she was kneeling in the garden orchestrating a tea party for the frogs in the Pike's pond, was barely old enough to hold up her own head.
A new message from Hayden comes through, though this time it's a video. It's taken from outside Amber's nursery, the hallway dark. The soft light from her various nightlights offers just enough to show the outline of Shane, holding Amber in his arms and swaying slowly from side to side as he's singing softly in French.
"Teething gate!!", Hayden writes. "Saved my ass back then, only thing that got us through that evening. Still a legend for busting out the singing, bud."
And yeah, Shane remembers. He'd come over to help Hayden with the kids, giving Jackie a break now that her husband was back from his roadie, allowing her to get a full nights sleep again. He remembers the bone deep exhaustion when nothing they tried helped with soothing Amber. He remembers Hayden, close to tears, heading downstairs to get one of the teething rings they kept in the freezer in the hope that maybe this time it would help soothe her pain. And Shane had stood there, holding a softly hiccuping Amber in his arms, heart breaking for her and wanting nothing more than to take the pain away.
And suddenly he'd remembered his dad holding him in his arms when he couldn't sleep, mind too loud and running a mile a minute even as a kid, carrying him through their house and singing softly to him.
Shane didn't realize until now that Hayden had recorded him singing.
He's brought back to the present by Ilya nudging his thigh with his foot. "What are you watching?", Ilya asks, his own phone lowered to his chest.
Shane can already feel his cheeks heat up. It's not as if he makes a habit of singing and he's pretty sure he has never sung near Ilya, let alone told him about it.
"Nothing", Shane says quickly. He knows it's to no avail when Ilya raises his eyebrows at him.
"You have been starring at your phone for past ten minutes. Looks very interesting for video about nothing", Ilya says.
And so Shane ends up showing the video to Ilya. He has heard him anyway and there's this curious glint in his eyes that Shane knows well enough by now. He's not going to let it go so might as well go full in.
Ilya's eyes light up when he realises that it's Shane who's singing, in French no less. He insists on watching the video three more times and begs Shane to send it to him afterwards.
Of course, he also looks up the original song. "It's a good song, but you have much prettier voice than her", Ilya tells him after listening to the tong for the first time, leaning up to kiss his jaw. Shane pulls him close, hand automatically finding Ilya's curls as he makes himself comfortable on Shane's shoulder. He kisses Ilya's forehead, listening as the song starts anew.
They listen to it in silce for a while before Ilya asks, "Why this song?"
And, well.
"My parents played it once when I was over at their house for dinner", Shane starts. Well aware that Ilya will want to know more than that, Shane tries not to focus on how fast his heart is beating as he continues. "It's, uhm, a love song. It's an old song, the singer sings about how she misses her husband when he is out at sea, watching the storms that pass by. She always waits at the shore, watching as the boats come back in, looking for the boat where the sunshine illuminates her husband's blonde curls, bringing him and the sunshine back to her."
Shane resolutely stares at the point just above the TV as he mumbles the last part, cheeks aflame.
Ilya sits up from he was resting against Shane, softly taking his chin in his hands to turn Shane so he's facing Ilya.
Ilya waggles with his eyebrows. "I did not realize you were so in love with handsome blonde sailor, Hollander", he teases, laughing as Shane shoves him away with an eye-roll and a "Fuck off, asshole!"
They both know there's no heat behind either statement, not when Shane immediately pulls Ilya close to him again and Ilya lays his head back on his shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to Shane's throat as he does so.
Shane knows Ilya has long put one and one together, has figured out why Shane might have been drawn to a song about waiting for your loved one to return to you. Has figured out why Shane would sing a song about a man with blond curly hair. Knows they both remember when waiting meant months and sweing each other for a handful of hours, a couple of days if they were lucky. Feels it in the way Ilya presses against him, the way he himself holds Ilya close with no intent of letting him go soon.
Again, it's Ilya who breaks the silence. "Shane?", he asks, quiet and without a note of teasing in his voice. "Would you sing it to me? My song?"
And Shane has never been able to withold Ilya anything he asks for. Neither of them mention the fact that Ilya called it his song. After all, the song had been Ilya's long before Ilya had become Shane's.
And so Shane once again holds a person he loves close to him, closes his eyes and starts singing.
as we all know, everyone falls in love once and only once with their one true love the first time, and if they had relationships before that they weren’t real and didn’t love each other, and you can’t love more than one person at once, and your friends and family need to be pushed out of the picture to focus more on your romance, and no one has sex with people they don’t love, and if they did, they’re dirty and they have to have hated it and the sex they have with their one true love after they’re officially together has to be better sex than they ever had before, and no one ever breaks up for any reason other than death, and everyone wants to get married and have kids. aren’t you fucking tired.
I had a comment on one of my fics disgusted with its outcome, feeling like one character was just ‘second fiddle’ and ‘a compromise’ in his relationship because his lover didn't deny his love for his previous partner and grief over their breakup. According to that reader, you can never love two people in different ways and value them for themselves.
I watched 'Project Hail Mary' with my (conservative) grandparents and at the end I was talking about how I liked that there was no weird romance subplot. My Grammy immediately argued that "Yes there was", my initial thought was that she meant between Stratt and Grace so my sister and I both started to disagree until she said "Yeah, they were both willing to die for each other" at which point we realized our Grandmother was a Grace/Rocky shipper...
Ilya: God, I need some serotonin
Shane: *stands up*
Shane:
Shane: *sits back down*
Shane: I forgot what that was for a second. I was gonna go get you some
Ilya lets out a soft laugh at Shane’s eagerness to please him, but even through the humor he can’t ignore the heaviness pressing down on him. This happens some times; Ilya experiencing a flood of grief or sadness that has no business interrupting his time with Shane.
Shane looks at Ilya before asking, “would some oxytocin be an acceptable substitute for you, love?” Because he knows that Ilya’s depression can cause this sometimes.
Ilya, confused by the word tilts his head and says “what is this?” To which Shane responds, “Serotonin is a happy chemical, and oxytocin is love chemical.”
Ilya’s eyes light up, and he’s grinning. “Yes…” He would very much to feel love instead of this overwhelming and out-of-the-blue sadness.
Shane gets up from the couch again, swiftly striding out of the room, and leaving a slightly confused and pouting Ilya on the couch.
There’s the sound of socked feet padding across hardwood, followed by Shane softly speaking to weaves its way into the living room. “Daddy needs you, sweet girl. Will you come cheer him up?”
And Ilya is smiling again now, because he understands what’s happening. Shane is getting his perfect girl to come cheer him up. But despite his happiness, he feels a burning sensation behind his eyes and his throat tightens as he wonders if his mom had had a Shane or an Anya ‘would she still have had that accident- no, would she still have… still have committed suicide? Left him alone?’
His thoughts are interrupted by the clicking of nails on hardwood, and the jingle of Anya’s tags as she trots into the room, Shane in tow. Anya jumps up onto Ilya, who’s lying with his head against the armrest of the couch, and Ilya lets out a sudden wheeze as one of Anya’s paws lands on his stomach.
Shane winces as he sees it. “Anya, down.” His voice is a firm command, but it’s not harsh. Anya sinks down on top of Ilya’s chest, using her deep pressure therapy training to settle perfectly against her dad. She rest her chin on his shoulder, but only after gently licking Ilya’s tears from face and sniffing him to make sure he’s unharmed.
Ilya’s arms wrap around Anya, squeezing her tightly, his throat clenching even more as he works to swallow. He hadn’t realized that he’d been crying, but now he can’t stop, and he looks up at Shane, who he can make out to be concerned through the blur of his tears.
Shane crouches down, using his hand to push back ilya’s hair as he asks him “Что тебе нужно, дорогая?” [what do you need, darling]
And it’s all Ilya can do to keep from bursting out wailing right there at how sweet his husband is being. He’s overwhelmed with a surge of love, and can’t seem to articulate his emotions, although he does manage to choke out a strangled “you” through his tears before burying his face in Anya’s neck and letting himself cry.
Shane crouches down on the floor by Ilya. His fingers travel through ilya’s hair, soothing him and giving him something to focus on. “Shhh. You’re okay, baby. I’m here. Anya’s here. We love you. You can cry. It’s okay.” Shane plants a kiss on top of Ilya’s head. It’s soft, sweet, and reverent. Ilya’s shoulders heave, his breath coming in broken sobs.
As Ilya finally starts to calm down (he’s actually just run out of tears to cry) he lets out out soft sniffles against Anya’s fur that make Shane’s heart clench in his chest. Anya goes back to licking wherever she can reach, which is mostly just ilya’s neck and his ear. Her nose makes little snuffling noises that cajole a watery laugh from Ilya. “My sweet Anya… so perfect for me.” He’s nuzzling his face into Anya’s fur now, his breaths evening out even as he shudders every few exhales.
Shane doesn’t show it, but he feels an immense sense of relief at the sight of Ilya calming down. He cups Ilya’s face in his palm and tilts his face to look at him. Swiping his thumb across the tears tracks on ilya’s cheeks he smiles softly, his own eyes watering slightly at the sight of his perfect husband so vulnerable in front of him. He kisses Ilya’s nose softly, then his eyelids, then the tear stains on his cheeks, before finally planting a soft kiss on his lips.
When he pulls away he looks down at Ilya with reverence. “I love you, Ilya. Я люблю тебя. Я люблю тебя. Я люблю тебя. Я люблю тебя.” [I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.]
Ilya gives him a watery smile that makes Shane’s heart hurt. “Thank you, Домашнее животное.” [domestic animal AKA: pet]
“Thank Anya, too!” Shane says, smiling at Ilya.
“Of course! How could I ignore my Любимый Щенок!?” [favorite puppy] He nuzzles his face into Anya again, his breathing finally returning to normal. Her tail thumps wildly against his thigh, pleased she’s done her job.
“Ow! Fuck! ANYA!” Ilya wails at a particularly hard thwack of her tail against the only remaining pair of Rozanov bloodline his family jewels.
Shane is laughing hysterically, which only makes Anya’s tail thumps wildly against harder. Ilya’s hands drop to cover himself for a mild amount of protection. “SHANE! GET HER OFF ME! Клянусь чертовым Богом!” [I swear to fucking god]
Shane is cackling now, but he grabs Anya around the waist and tugs her off Ilya, who lies flushed and panting on the couch.
“Want to watch one of your dumb action movies?” He asks, showing his concern by accepting his fate.
“Da!” Ilya perks up at this, and he helps Shane up, shifting into a sitting position to make room for his husband. “Спасибо,” he whispers as quietly and softly as he can into the shell of Shane’s ear, following it with a soft kiss, and a tiny bite that makes Shane grin.
the end (probably)
[thank you] - put this last to not ruin the ending vibes lmao
P.S. no hate at all, but I know the og is from some woman and her husband’s interactions with her lmao.
one argument you often see about fanfiction is that it's like 'training wheels' writing? like 'oh it's fine to do that while you're still learning, it's easier than coming up with your own ideas'. and I have to say I have just never agreed with that.
in my experience it's actually pretty common for newbie fanfiction writers to gravitate towards coming up with OCs rather than writing about the canon characters (hence the infamous Mary Sue); this suggests that many people find that 'easier' than attempting to write about pre-existing characters.
I would say that recreating the characterisation, mood and general vibes of an existing work of fiction is in fact a skill in and of itself that's acquired via practice. A common compliment delivered to fanfiction writers is how well they have captured the spirit of the original work. Inexperienced fanfiction writers fail to do this.
When creating an original character you can, ultimately, say anything about them and now it's canon bcos you created them and you said so. conversely, well, if you are covering a well known song and start playing the wrong notes people will notice immediately.
In addition: a lot of fanfiction, IMO, is in actuality a form of metafictional literary analysis. a story where two characters sit down and talk about their feelings about a canonical event? literary analysis, which is of course a skill. Sometimes fanfiction is bad bcos the writer is not good at interpreting texts.
finally I have made this point before but you never really see anyone suggesting that fictional works based on existing public domain texts are on 'easy mode'. is it 'easier' to write something based on a copyrighted work than a public domain work? Of course it isn't.
A major strength of the transformative work is its ability to create dramatic irony. If a fanfiction's emotional resonance is dependent on being familiar with the source material that's not necessarily a bad thing. sometimes it's a sign that the author has done a really skillful job of engaging with said source material.
ive never been able to take "climb him like a tree" as a sexual innuendo seriously because i picture climbing a tree in my mind and then i picture a tall man in my mind and when i put those two things together im not seeing anything sexual. im seeing like. circus tricks.
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