this moment + the knowledge that ilya sounds more gay in russian is. dear god. his best friend since childhood is a girl. she comes up behind him and he gives her a big smiley hug. they chat and he sounds a little faggy. to the north american players he’s big scary russian man but he’s literally just your regular gay bar queen
i love the cottage bellboy scene i love the way theyre standing both with their arms behind their backs :) and theyre both being flirty and sweet :) and shane is being a little annoying on purpose bc he knows ilya is desperate for him LMAOO and ilya decides hes done and pins him to the bed with his hands above his head and straddles him .. and shane just laughs and keeps going with the bit hehehe. yay!!! they are literally flirting and being silly and having sex and theyre .. in love :)
What if I told you none of it was accidental And the first night that you saw me, nothing was gonna stop me? I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork The dominoes cascaded in a line
What if I told you I’m a mastermind? And now you’re mine
Ilya Rozanov + making sure he spends time with Shane
i think it would be fun to crowdsource some resources for non-hockey fans who are writing heated rivalry fic and want to add some verisimilitude into their fics. obviously you don’t need to know a ton about the sport itself to write fics about pro hockey players (i have been watching this sport for five years and i still feel like i don’t know THAT much), but i bet there are lots of little details people could share about stuff like how nhl travel schedules work, how lineup decisions get made, etc.
here are some initial things:
shane and ilya would definitely both be growing truly horrible scraggly beards during the playoffs
i assume they would both have pretty gnarly bruises all over their bodies and would be constantly nursing minor to moderately serious injuries (and likely concealing them from each other lol hockey teams do NOT like to disclose the specifics of player injuries). also speaking of the playoffs they would probably both be SUPER injured during their respective playoff runs and playing through it because it’s the nhl
they would spending a LOT of time on planes
somebody talks to the media from the locker room after every game (if it was a bad game it’s probably the captain)
they would both have pretty intense/rigid pregame routines and superstitions, potentially including things like: not talking to your parents on game day, walking the same exact route into the arena, preparing and eating the same kind of meal at the same time, taping your sticks in a very specific way, doing a special good-luck handshake with your work soulmate or barking furiously like dogs in the tunnel leading onto the ice, etc.
pregame nap!!
up until this year they were required to wear suits on the plane and while walking into games
they’d have their own hotel room unless they’re on an entry-level contract (i think this was negotiated during the last lockout?)
you really do not get that many days off, esp with travel. actually while watching the show i kept wondering like, would they really have a night together after a game? boston and montreal are close enough that they’d probably be flying home the same night if they weren’t on a road trip right? and if they were on a road trip they’d probably be leaving the same night so they could get to the next city, spend the night there, and practice in the morning? however we can do some handwavey stuff here and imagine that they have a more relaxed travel schedule lol
hockey rpfers what else would you add? i also found this interview with nicklas backstrom and i’m sure there’s other stuff floating around out there.
sorry to self-promo but amber and I wrote 3 guides for non-hockey players looking for details for fic:
Two far-flung fandom grownups keeping in touch via memes and a garbage pile of interests.
Always into Fall Out Boy, Star Trek, Teen Wolf, Good Omens, Pride and Prejudice, fibercraft, food, and being queer as hell. Currently sailing aboard the Revenge.
Em (any pronouns) and Lu (she/her).
