Heated Rivalry fanfic recs, <10k kudos, long and (mostly) angsty
so I've been bitching a lot and I thought it was time for some positivity so I'm gonna do a post of my favorite fics â¤ď¸â¤ď¸â¤ď¸â¤ď¸â¤ď¸
About my tastes: PAIN!!! I mean, genre-wise I prefer drama. I like problems and narrative tension and whump and angst and dark themes. but I also like a goddamn happy ending. I steer clear of major character death and heavy explorations of grief. I live for deep interiority and emotion.
we're heavy on Ilya whump in here because there's just so much good Ilya whump out there but I do also love me some Shane whump so... send me recs? đđđĽş
Many of these fics have trigger warnings. Read the authors' notes and tags.
This list is alphabetical because, how else are you supposed to do it??
1. Do you hate stories where the characters make one terrible decision after another? Do you hate cheating and love triangles and miscommunication? Then you will HATE this fic! But if, like me, you are an enlightened pervert who loves mess,
Do the Wrong Thing by MacyFletcherFiction, Explicit, 144k, complete
After Shane's plan to come out to Ilya in Tampa falls through, the pair have a falling out. There is no cottage. Instead, Ilya is forced to wait and see Shane at a charity event being held in New York. Ilya hopes that, after a miserable summer apart, he and Shane can reconcile.
There's just one problem.
Jordan Bragg, a forward for the New York Admirals, has also come out as gay. Stunningly handsome, funny, and just what a heartbroken Hollander needs, Jordan makes it clear that Ilya Rozanov isn't the only one after the Metro's star centre.
I cannot stress enough how ridiculously fun and messy this fic is. Decadent and disastrous, bordering on pulpy and I mean that in the good way. Suitable for reading in the bath with a bottle of champagne and a triple chocolate mousse cake.
2. LET'S HURT ILYA ROZANOV, sexual abuse and blackmail edition:
I'll Think About Tomorrow (If I Can Get Through Tonight) by Smokeybubble, Not Rated, 65k, WIP
LeClaireâs hand is still on his shoulder, and Ilya knows that it doesnât look like anything. A coach speaking to one of his players. LeClaireâs heat seeps through his suit jacket, and his breath is a warm, damp wash of air against Ilyaâs ear.
âTheyâve finished up with the awards,â he murmurs. âYou look like youâre ready to get out of here.â
Ilya nods tightly and sets his drink down on the table.
Gregori Rozanov was bad in many ways, but Coach LeClaire might have him beat.
Shane Hollander has something to say about that. It turns out a lot of people do.
Do you want pain, for free? Do you want to watch Ilya suffer in silence for seven years believing there's no way out? Do you want to cry because nobody is there to wrap him in a warm blanket and pet his hair and tell him shhh it's going to be okay???? (dw Shane will get there eventually) READ THIS FIC it is so good. I literally do a happy dance when a new chapter appears in my inbox.
3. Shane and Ilya meet as kids and NO STOP KIDFIC HATERS DON'T WALK AWAY I SWEAR IT'S AMAZING
the long way around by ladyofthelake17 @queerilya, Explicit, 66k, WIP
Ilya and Shane meet in Ottawa in 2001 as teammates for the local youth hockey league.
In this one, they take the long way around.
I almost never read kidfic but I met this author in the Hollanov Big Bang server and she said some things that made me think wait I want to read this and I'm very glad I did, it's REALLY good. Among the best characterization I've seen in the fandom, not just of the leads but of supporting and minor characters too.
4. LET'S HURT ILYA ROZANOV, immigration law edition:
Protected Person by chinesebakery @chinesebakery, Mature, 27k, complete
Shane finds out on Twitter.
Not from a lawyer or a teammate or even one of the journalists who've been calling nonstop since the FanMail video went viral. He finds out at 6:47 am, still in bed, that Russia is coming for Ilya. Propaganda charges. Passport revocation. Return to the Russian Federation required.
What follows is weeks of watching everything fall apart. Ilya's career. Their safety. The system that was supposed to protect them. Shane keeps playing while Ilya can't. The lawyers file paperwork and say to wait. Montreal demands silence.
Shane faces a choice: keep his head down and trust the process, or burn down his career and force the world to pay attention.
This is kind of what I wish The Long Game had been, ngl. Because wdym the whole Russia threat was completely dropped from the storyline? This was a take on it that felt terrifyingly realistic to me (despite the author admitting she is not a lawyer) and just on the whole is so well-written.
5. LET'S HURT ILYA ROZANOV, hate crime and medical trauma edition:
Staring at the Sun by Nerve_Itch @muffichka, Explicit, 91k, complete
The first sound Ilya hears is a thin, discordant symphony of beeps and whirs. Something vibrating.
The next thing he hears isâŚwet. A sort of shaking, gargling sound, that feels like the ugliest crying heâs ever heard. And through it, Shaneâs voice.
âIâm with him now, mom. Heâsâ heâs not fine. Heâs not. I knowââ
Ilya wants to ask who's not fine, but he canât feel his own body, his mouth, enough to ask.
âYeah,â Shane is saying, only slightly calmer. âI know. He wasnât breathingâ"
Ilya knows there's a link, between the clinical musicality of medical settings, Shaneâs audible, awful distress, and his own physical incapacity. Itâs just, itâs so tenuous, and the air around him is so thick, so heavy. It would be easy, to sleep, a little.
-
Footage of the last game between Ottawa and Montreal is everywhere; itâs breached containment from the sports world, and now it seems like everyone is baying for Montrealâs blood. Except, Ilya is oblivious. Not exactly blissfully so, but as the fight for accountability within the league rages on without him, Ilya just wants someone, anyone, to tell him what happened.
Picture this fic with lipstick kissy marks all over it. Those are from me. The first several chapters have the narrative suspense of a good horror novel and I was a goner from there. It's sad and terrifying and enraging and sexy and, ultimately? Triumphant. MUAH.
6. In which the rec list compiler lied about these all being longfics with happy endings:
thylacine by Anonymous, Explicit, 10k, complete
Heâs just about ready to doze offâhis ritualistic pre-dinner, thirty-minute napâwhen, suddenly, Ilya says, âHuh. Interesting.â
Shane cracks one eye open. âHmm?â
âOh, nothing, ПаНŃŃ,â he replies, though his brows are furrowed when he says it. Shaneâs even more curious now.
âNo, really, what is it?â
Ilya must lose some internal debate; a deep sigh leaves his body before, wordlessly, he turns his phone to Shane.
The bright light makes him squint, still not used to Ilya and his affinity for both using the light-mode feature and turning the brightness in his phone to a maximum. He forgoes scolding him when, after his eyes have adjusted, he reads: Metros acquires Fil-Canadian Rivera; second Asian player in franchise history after Hollander.
At first he thinks, oh, thatâs my name. Shane hasnât seen his name mentioned remotely near the words âMontreal Metrosâ ever since he transferred to Ottawa three years ago. Then, and this is when it finally dawns on him, Shane thinks: second?
It's not that this has a tragic ending exactly -- it's simply a character study -- but WOW that ending will punch you in the gut and stay with you. Also not a longfic. I don't care, it's one of my favorites and I want people to read it so it's going on here.
7. We are finally done hurting the boys!
Vessel by medric @bluegrasshole, Teen, 21k, complete
Eleven years ago, a total psychopath walked into a bar, onto a wharf, and all over Captain Shane Hollanderâs life. And then he did it again, and again.
The lobster fishing AU. You read that right. Trust me, it's so good. My only complaint is that I want 100000 words more of it. Not as angsty as the rest of the list but still enough delicious introspection to meet my needs.
8. Psych, we're not done hurting them, SHANE PAIN TIME
Watering by wheredidyougetthat_line, Mature, 36k, complete
When Dallas texts him, Iâm flying in Tuesday, getting in at 11:45, Shane thinks of all the things he might do instead, alone. He thinks there is a world in which he could say, I canât today, but the text is not a question, the ticket is already bought, Kent never asks him if heâs welcome first. Kent picks up and flies to another city, because he knows heâs welcome, he knows Shane will let him inside. There was a moment, back in September, when Shane might have asked himself if he wanted thisâis this the man you want to sleep with? Is this the way you want to spend your time? Are you having fun? It doesnât matter. This is the person who wants to be with him.
He wonders if this is how Ilya felt about him. Impassive.
Or: After an unexpected encounter just before the start of the 2016-17 season, Shane falls into a casual relationship with Dallas Kent. He doesn't meet Rose Landry. He doesn't set foot in Ilya's house outside of Boston. (There is no tuna meltdown.) He stops waiting for Ilya Rozanov to text him back. It's fine, until it isn't.
Many folks have made the observation that while fandom is largely consistent in their characterizations of Ilya, characterizations of Shane are kind of all over the place. Well, this is #myshane. What an amazing job this author did of getting into his head. Heavy subject matter handled with extreme care.
