xiaheaven

the blog of a young adult with a numbered of hyperobsession.

[believeripley13]

I love the opening of Heated Rivalry so much because it sets up the show and Shane and Ilya's dynamic so perfectly. From "not the most sociable" Shane Hollander actively going out of his way to interact (because he's already fascinated by him) to "not liked outside of his own locker room" Ilya Rozanov being a bit of a cocky shit (which we pretty quickly realise is a front) to the instant spark of attraction.

Look at this man experiencing freckles and awkward Canadian politeness and developing a fat crush.

My favourite part however is as Shane is leaving clearly uncomfortable with how their conversation went (he does a head tilt like "well, that went horribly")

Ilya notices and that's when he chirps, immediately making Shane more comfortable as he chirps back. And thus, their lovingly teasing, when they say "asshole" and "boring" they really mean "I love you" dynamic is born.

Also, yes, Ilya's lighter doesn't spark until Shane appears which is just an additional beautiful touch.

[themoonandmyman]

baby Ilya’s tiny angry Russian ranting when Irina won’t let him stay on the ice and his cheeks are all bright pink and his little nose is wet and he’s plopping down onto the ice and crossing his arms and yelling NYET NYET NYET.

Across the ocean at the exact same time, the exact same thing is happening to a very exhausted Yuna Hollander.

[littleewhitelotus]

i just HAD to draw this

[rainbow-femme]

Oh shit wait ok

So one year for charity different pro athletes get asked to participate in a live game based on one of those “how well do you know your partner” games but instead it’s “how well do you know your rival” and participating means you get to raise money for a charity of your choice and obviously Shane and Ilya want to promote the Irina Project so they agree and go up against other current famous rivals from other sports

And Shane and Ilya discuss ahead of time that obviously they’ll have to just play things off as they usually do, light hearted chirps back and forth and what not, “winning” is just for the show and won’t impact how much money gets made for their charity so it doesn’t matter. Except then they get there and become overtaken by the need to Win and Be the Best and they are the best. So without needing to discuss changing the plan, as soon as the questions start they lock in and decide that actually they have to demolish everyone else

The other rivals are laughing and making jokes at the questions but Shane and Ilya are deadly serious and the host starts to get a little weirded out by the fact that they actually know the answers and aren’t just saying things like “how many goals last season? Probably one less than me haha” and actually have each others stats memorized

Because the audience is loving it they go to a lightning round that’s just Shane and Ilya and it’s now the usual couple game questions and they’re still getting them right because they can make excuses for knowing later, right now is about Winning

“What is Shane’s favorite breakfast?”

“Kale protein shake with a scoop of peanut butter and a handful of blueberries.”

“Ok um, what is Ilya’s favorite breakfast?”

“Two sausage egg McMuffins with an extra slice of cheese and hashbrowns.”

“What is something on Shane’s bucket list?”

“Sleeping in one of those see through igloos under the northern lights.”

“What is something on Ilya’s bucket list?”

“That thing where you feed giraffes at a zoo.”

“Ok last one. I think we all know Shane’s answer is former paramour Rose Landry, but who do you think is the most famous person Rozanov has ever slept with is?”

*through teeth gritted so tight he is in danger of chipping one* “Probably a model. Or something.”

“… Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Years later when they’re out Shane reshares the clip and the only non-PR approved thing he says on the matter is “It was me, by the way. I am the most famous person Rozanov has ever slept with.”

[bipolar4autistic]

Shane Hollander is a final girl . In a way . To me .

[themoonandmyman]

Ilya: I’m slowly boiling in this pot…. It’s burning my flesh… it’s hollowing me out… why won’t Shane get me out of the pot…

Galina: that’s very difficult. have you told him about the pot?

Ilya: OF COURSE I HAVEN’T TOLD HIM ABOUT THE FUCKING POT

[dontcallmeanythingplz]

I need there to be a neurodivergent kid at the hockey camp and he doesn't interact with the other kids and eats snacks by himself and stares at the ground and it's also really important that he's super good at hockey and the most important part of all of this is that the only coach that connects with him is Shane.

(I use run on sentences when I'm excited)

The kid connects with Shane because he's the only coach not treating him like a child and acting silly. Shane just levels with him and fixes his technique without the fluff. They also just go on and on about historical hockey figures and statistics. Everyone else tunes them out during snack time because Shane and the kid won't shut up about some hockey player from 1963. Then on the last day when the kid's mom picks him up, she cries because her son doesn't wanna leave Coach Hollander and he hugs Shane and it's too much for her because her son has always struggled socially and hockey has always been his outlet.

And it's important to me that Ilya is besotted by all of this and that Shane tears up when Ilya tells him what the mother said.

[notahungrywish]

Much has been said about how Shane’s specific brand of subbing aligns with his issues #hisissues.

But I also think it’s worth talking about Ilya’s side of things.

He gets told no one wants him around, no one needs him, no one misses him. He’s expected to politely submit and accept being screamed at, insulted, and degraded. He’s told he has a responsibility to give and provide but can never achieve it. He’s told he’s lazy, disappointing, weak, shameful. And most importantly he’s not allowed to do shit about that. He has to nod politely, agree demurely, maybe mouth off a little if it’s his brother but always always obey. His purpose is to obey and provide and what he provides is never good enough.

So it makes sense that he’s so into their whole deal. Because Shane doesn’t just like him and want him around, Shane’s desperate for him. Shane’s willing to do insane things just for the privilege of having his attention. And Shane isn’t some nobody hanger on Shane is the absolute top dog in his world, he’s the most respected and most respectable and he’s on he’s knees begging for Ilya, only happy when he’s got Ilya, can’t fucking get enough of Ilya. He’s not obeying and subservient he’s making alllll the calls. He’s got all the power. He can snap his fingers and Shane, the actual Shane Hollander, is hitting his knees with his tongue out. And Shane never cruel to him or critical Shane is GRATEFUL. Shane is thanking him with tears in his eyes.

When they’re together Ilya is in control, he’s appreciated, he’s noticed, he’s powerful, he’s wanted, he’s always enough.

[wannabetonthat]

The thing with them and our collective obsession with Free Use and orgasm denial too, it's that Ilya gets asked A LOT from him.

More Ilya. More more more.

And then there's Shane Hollander who doesn't want anything from him he doesn't want to give in the first place, but also Shane Hollander who Ilya can take from anytime, every time he wants, who will take exactly what Ilya gives him and no more. Who might plead but will be grateful and satisfied even without it.

[dragon-in-a-fez]

keep thinking about how I wrote in my dissertation about how every time a new form of public/social space emerges it's immediately popular with kids and teenagers who see it as a chance at freedom and then adults colonise it and kick them out. this happened with malls in the 80s and diners in the 50s and pool halls in the 20s. my dad was doing research on this trend in like 1975. and I was like "yeah so this is going to happen to the internet" and then five years later every government suddenly decided to ban kids from everywhere online. I hate being right especially when I don't even get paid for it

[ilovefandoms]

1. Wyatt is definitely bi

2. He was a hollanov rpf founding father, along with Luca

[madlapse]

every year i go back to my roots (rewatch gintama)

[notjusthespongenextdoor]

For a city to be walkable. It must also be sittable.

[notjusthespongenextdoor]

#every time I read this phrase the same thing happens#I read it as shittable and go wait that can't be right#oh right they were talking about public benches that makes more sense#but public bathrooms available without fees should also be a thing tho#cities should definitely be shittable#it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME

it must also be shittable

[gaynehollander]

The amount of pride that blooms in my chest when Shane admits to Rose that he has, in fact, been with another guy is honestly concerning. That is my close personal friend, Shane Hollander and he is being so brave.

[ivealwayssaidthis]

i dont like when shane is characterized as being a color coded spreadsheet super organized and neat guy. that's not him. he's in a pressure cooker of his own design but he pays people to do the admin for him. he pays for an interior designer and a stylist and a perfectly balanced meal delivery service. his mom manages his calendar. shane wants so badly to outsource control to someone else who can tell him how to be shane hollander. he does not have a fucking color coded spreadsheet

[omens-of-what-is-to-cum]

while I 1000% support crackfic writers who write about Ilya spilling about their sex life, in reality I think that shit would be locked DOWN.

like, I think the only details the internet would get would be Ilya liking posts about Shane being a god in bed, into freak sex, that things get real wild after big hockey victories and that the rivalry was foreplay, etc

only stuff that’s funny and wild, but ultimately contains exactly zero details of their actual sex.

like yes, for all the sexy possessive reasons, and all of the privacy and ‘I share the internet with my in-laws’ reasons’, but also because of how Shane would be treated if it was actually known that he was a bottom.

It’s not super explored in canon, but cmon… Shane is a half Japanese gay man in hockey. Those are both two very loaded identities for an incredibly bigoted sport, and they come with a lot of really vicious intersectional ammo.

Shane would already hear so much about how Asian men are submissive and all of the other bullshit I refuse to write out, imagine how much more brutal it would be if there was actual confirmation that the stereotypes are on some level, accurate?

in that same way that homophobia would have hit so much harder for Shane after he was outed and knew that the other player MEANT it, all of that would be even more hurtful and degrading.

And so yeah, I don’t think either Ilya or Shane would EVER reference what positions or anything they prefer in bed anywhere near the public, because the public fucking sucks :((

[shanehollandered]

everyone saying they wanted ilya to sniff shane’s boxers after shane threw them at him but i am a it's perfect that he didn't truther. because ilya was fighting for his fuckin life clinging to the threadbare control he had in that moment. he told shane to get on the bed (shane did), he told shane to touch himself and show off because ilya wanted to watch (shane did!!!!!) and shane continued even after ilya continued to rile him up one way or another: no, you're not getting vodka; no, you give me a show, hollander; hey let me remind you i won the cup and you didn't. he was in control! shane was following orders so beautifully. but then—but then, shane snaps, its, all things considered, light-hearted and teasing, he takes off his underwear grinning and just full on yeets them at ilya. he even hits his glass and almost spills the vodka. he challenged the control, even shane himself didn't know or realize. and if ilya had sniffed them. well. that would've destroyed the whole picture he was trying so hard to paint. him just dropping the boxers (t'was sexy as hell y'all) was a show, look at me, i don't care, i have the upper hand. do you think you have anything on me? while inside he was gnawing through steel bars because shane had taken him by surprise again with that little move. and ilya, my baby boy, he knew he had no control, not really. but he fought tooth and nail to make it look like he had. because he could not allow himself to admit that he hadn't, because that would mean admitting to something else that he wasn't ready for.

[lavenderprose]

In-universe post on Twitter dot com post Hollonov outing: Yeah okay God sent his only son to die for our sins. Shane Hollander sent HIS HUSBAND to OTTAWA get us a FUCKING STANLEY CUP tell me who's done more for humanity in the long run.

[i-fear-gritty]

i kinda fucked with the shane and troy beef when it was mostly about shane’s anger at a white male colleague’s ability to be applauded for coming out with the poor reputation he had vs shane’s privacy being taken from him by force and his whole career being thrown into question despite his spotless reputation (not just because of the rivalry but the subtle racism of it all because shane’s a poc and ilya’s an immigrant and obviously it’s going to be harder for them to get the support that they also need)

but now apparently troy’s a racist and was calling shane slurs to his face? a couple months ago bitches were headcanoning troy as south asian, right? what the fuck happened. i don’t think it’s a stretch for shane to have to take time to warm up to troy at all, but troy’s, like, not evil. i fear we missed the point of role model (and that brief moment with eric in tough guy) if you think that this is the direction their relationship goes. shane’s lived in the gay torment nexus for far too long and has too little queer friends in general, let alone ones who understand what it is to be a queer athlete in a sport like hockey, to resent troy until the end of time. i think shane gets over it pretty quick, if it even happens at all (because troy being well-received by the public in comparison to shane not being so accepted has nothing to do with troy at all really), and they form the singular bitchiest duo professional hockey has ever seen.

if anything, i think shane wishes he was as brave as troy became after his time in toronto. shane would wish that he was brave enough to stand up against toxic locker room culture (accepts jokes about ilya being a cocksucker when boston wins the cup) and support queer players (as far as we know, he made no attempt to speak to scott hunter after he was the first to come out, even in private, compared to ilya who did congratulate him and even partied with him at a gay bar despite at the time having more to lose with the whole russian gay propaganda thing).

the potential between troy and shane and the similarities between them make my mouth water but no. everyone is blind and making shit up. and sure sure play with your dolls if it makes you happy whatever. troy Is a self-loathing idiot but he’s not groveling for forgiveness he’s just moving on with his life and doing better. shane is also just playing hockey - which, if you think he’s doing anything else, i fear you’ve missed the whole point of his character. play with your dolls. but #mytroy and #myshane are newly minted queer icons and pinknews journalists would be putting in the WORK with them