Sharing the Shiny

As the season had begun, he watched his players tiptoe around mentioning Hollander the first few weeks of practice. The fear in their eyes when someone accidently mentioned the H-word. Yet, every time Brandon caught a glimpse of that same, first reaction. Rozanov caught off guard, confused.

It wasn’t until Wyatt Hayes had broken free of the collective team shyness that Brandon saw Rozanov really light up on the ice. It was almost like it was a magic word. Just one mention of Hollander and any darkness swirling around Rozanov was whisked away.

Brandon Wiebe was not a betting man. But if you asked him, the likelihood of a certain decade long rivalry being a farce was rising every day.

Source: Shane Hollander’s Unofficial Fan Club, by rachelrae – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid [Archive of Our Own]

Teen, Centaurs humour. So I haven’t read the books (yet), but thanks to this fandom I’ve fallen in love with the madhouse that is the Ottawa Centaurs already. And it really doesn’t get much better than combining incredibly funny outside POV on Hollanov with lots and lots of Shane worship. 😉

“People want you to make a statement,” Yuna continues, back to pacing. “But that doesn’t seem necessary, unless you want to— I can draft something for you to post on Twitter about the importance of allyship—”

Shane’s head is shaking without his permission.

“— and how, as an ally, you do not feel insulted by these rumors but want to set the record straight, and there is a place for everybody on the ice—”

“It’s true.”

Source: dust bunnies, by ghosttotheparty – Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, canon divergence. A rumour about Shane’s sexuality goes viral, changing everything… This is borderline a bit too kinky for me, but oh, the way Shane’s and his (diagnosed) autism are written as well as his and Ilya’s intense, quasi-codependent relationship are incredible. Actually, all of Shane’s relationships are wonderful here. <3

“Shane?”

The voice was quiet. Rough. But so familiar it sent a hot jolt of electricity down his spine. Shane jerked his head—a flash of pain pierced his neck. The world tilted, the ceiling swimming before his eyes, but he managed to turn. And he saw him.

Ilya Rozanov.

He was sitting right by the bed—impossibly, terrifyingly close—on a plastic chair that creaked pitifully under his weight. And Rozanov looked… like hell. Worse than Shane had ever seen him, even after his most devastating losses. Messy hair, deep, bruised shadows under his eyes. His stubble was thicker than usual, his face gaunt and gray. But that wasn’t the worst part.

Ilya was holding his hand.

Source: The Second First Time – Chapter 1, by Allive – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, amnesia fic. Another excellent fic using this trope – but this one’s by far the most realistic, most painful and intense. This is 2016 Shane desperately trying to make his life in 2025 make sense in the face of an Ilya trying to shoulder the weight of both their worlds.

Ilya plucked the puck from Shane’s blade for a second time, and really, that was just rude, and Shane should not have been fighting the urge to smile. Playing against Ilya was just so fun in a way that playing against no one else was. Ilya was so fast, and surprisingly graceful for his size. Shane pursued, but Ilya was too quick for him to catch up, racing down the ice, unimpeded to the goal, and Jesus Christ, he was going to score again—

Comeau appeared out of nowhere, a blur of motion from Ilya’s blind side. The hit sent Ilya’s body careening into the boards. There was an awful thump-crunch as Ilya collided with the boards headfirst.

Source: Return-to-Play, by cjr2 – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, canon-divergence. What if Ilya was the one who got injured instead of Shane, and what if his injury was much worse? This is excellent hurt-comfort which also manages to somehow make things easier for the boys…

His mother stared at him, wide eyed and more than a little panicked. “Shane, honey, what do you remember?”

He searched his mind for a memory of this game, of the injury – but nothing came to him. The pain worsened, and he groaned, clutching his head. Fuck, that hurt.

“Shane, is okay. Don’t hurt yourself more, please.” Rozanov said. He moved his hand towards Shane’s, trying to grasp hold of it.

Shane swatted him away violently, aghast. What the fuck was he playing at?

“Get the fuck off of me, Rozanov.”

Both Rozanov and his mother gaped at him.

Source: forget me not – Chapter 1, by goldengalaxies – Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Teen, amnesia fic. I love this trope for this fandom – like here, where we get a great look into Shane’s mind as he tries to wrap his head around this new, loving version of Ilya…

The term, he’s told, is temporary retrograde amnesia.

Ilya doesn’t need the direct translation to understand: he forgot things. Ten years of things. It’s 2024: he’s thirty-four, not twenty-four, and he plays for the Ottawa Centaurs, not Boston. Apparently, so does Shane Hollander.

Source: there’s no pretending, by moonsock – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, canon divergence. Amnesia fic, oh how I love thee! 😉 This is the exact right mix of painful and lovely.

“You won’t if you want to fuck me tonight.” Hollander had said in Russian.

Dmitry glanced up, pausing from where he was unlacing his skates. What the fuck could in the conversation possibly have possibly led to this?

He glanced at Rozanov, who’d been smirking and teasing Wyatt only a second earlier. Now, his mouth was firmly shut. All the rest of the team stared at Rozanov.

Source: from the outside, by goldengalaxies – Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Teen, social media fic. I adore outside POVs, and this series has a bunch of lovely ones!

“Should call you the Ottawa Puppies,” says the Toronto centre, Svensson. As an insult it makes no sense, so Ilya ignores it, until he continues, “Hear Hollander keeps you on a short leash.”

Ilya is the captain, so if anything, he should be holding the leash. In English, you can be singular or plural, but he knows what Svensson is trying to say. He is saying Ilya Rozanov, you are Hollander’s bitch.

“Only sometimes,” Ilya replies, grinning. He wins the face off.

Source: Dog, by a_good_soldier – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, D/s, puppy play. The latter isn’t usually what I go for at all – but holy shit, Ilya as Shane’s obedient guard dog does things to me!

He thought, yet again, about hitting the power button until his phone shut down. Or picking it up and throwing it out the window. He was in Montreal, in his apartment. The phone would never survive a fall from his floor, not even in its sturdy, practical case. He could shove it down his garbage disposal and turn it on until his sink spat fragments of glass and plastic across his counter. He imagined the noise it would make.

Shane wondered where the WAGs were getting their news. Probably Twitter. That was where Shane had seen it.

Source: something you can fix, by some1_around – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Mature, canon-divergence. Someone films Shane’s and Rose’s “break-up” conversation.

Such an incredible Shane POV of how his life goes to pieces – and what happens after. You can really feel how traumatic a forced outing is, especially for someone like him. Luckily he’s not alone – and then, he truly isn’t alone anymore, because when Montreal drops him, he ends up in Boston… And wow, I think my new favourite thing are fics where our boys end up on the same team!

“You’re going to Boston.”

Long after Farah hangs up, the words keep echoing in Shane’s head. If he had thought his thoughts had been chaotic this morning, when his biggest problem had been his rival potentially fucking him when he came to Montreal in two weeks, that’s nothing compared to the code-red panic that started the instant he found out he was being traded to Rozanov’s team.

Source: Home Ice Advantage – Chapter 1, by taywrites11 – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid [Archive of Our Own]

Adult, canon-divergence after the North America vs. Europe All-Stars game. Such a great ‘what if’ with an amazing (incredibly anxious) Shane POV as the boys find themselves on the same team. Can’t wait for the sequel!