the risk is drowning but i'm gonna take it
Series Metadata
Listing Series
-
What color? by learnthemusic
Fandoms: Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)
22 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
Ilya has a lot of questions about Shane Hollander's dildo.And now, he has the answers.
OR: Ilya fixates on his rival's sex toy. At the cottage years later, he finally asks about it.
Series
-
Is there more than this? by learnthemusic
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
13 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
Watching Shane Hollander celebrate his second title in a row, Ilya wonders if Hollander feels anything like Ilya did two years ago. He'd been carrying the weight of an entire franchise, of a rabid fanbase, of what felt like all of Russia. Hollander had been in a similar position last year, shaking the monkey of a 16-year drought — not that he'd ever said. They don't talk much, and definitely not with any depth.They're not going to start now. But when he finally escapes the mass of people in his living room he's just bemoaned Montreal's victory with, Ilya considers asking Hollander about it. Is this second championship now the best moment of his life? Is there something else he'd put over it?
Series
-
Tags
Summary
Ilya wanted too much from his life here. He'd somehow deluded himself into thinking Alexei would start to feel sympathy for him. That his father would find enough clarity to see Ilya for who he is. That someone, anyone, would tell Ilya they cared about him at all.
Impossibly, he has Shane on the phone, not asking Ilya for anything. He's just giving Ilya what he couldn't ask for. Showing Ilya it's not too late, and that he matters to someone.
He matters to Shane.
It couldn't be enough that Shane speaks two languages fluently, could it? He had to go and learn the language of Ilya's heart, too.
After the funeral, Shane asks Ilya to tell him everything in Russian. Ilya says as much as he can.
Series
-
More Than All of the Days Before by learnthemusic for miss_minnelli
Fandoms: Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)
29 Dec 2025
Tags
Summary
Five months after their confessions at the cottage, Shane and Ilya spend their first Christmas break as a couple in Montreal. Between fiery competitions and hot (and tender) moments of reconnection, their love for each other spills over for 72 straight hours.
When Ilya finally begins to slip on his clothes, Shane's throat tightens. They haven't said much in these minutes, and now Shane regrets he didn't before he became physically incapable.
There's so much on the tip of his tongue all of a sudden — things he didn't express on Christmas, when Ilya casually emailed him a rough outline for their foundation's charter ("Yuna helped me, when we were in Ottawa last month.") and showed him how to use the new language learning app he bought Shane a subscription to ("I tested. Is good for Russian.").
Shane sometimes can't believe just how deeply Ilya understands him. How closely Ilya pays attention to him and all the things — tangible or otherwise — he gives him. He can't even begin to fathom how he found someone he wanted to make himself known to. He wants to tell Ilya what that means to him.
Series
-
If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more by learnthemusic
Fandoms: Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)
18 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
For the prompt: Five times Ilya forgot an English word ... and one time Shane did.
"I am trying to find the right words to say something."
"All right."
"It's poetry."
"Yeah? From you?"
"No. I do not know who. Just something I remember reading once. Think maybe it inspired Russian poet."
"You read at some point in your life?"
Smirking, Ilya wiggles even closer. He whispers, "Want to hear or not?"
Shane's not sure his heart will be able to take it, but he nods.
Or: After the events of Heated Rivalry, Shane and Ilya's connection deepens and vulnerability rises. Sometimes things get so intense, Ilya forgets the English words to describe his emotions. Shane helps. And one time, Ilya does the same for him.
Series
-
Cover story: The First Husbands of Hockey by learnthemusic
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
09 Jan 2026
Tags
Summary
Shane has spent half his life in the spotlight and until the day that woman walked into this house, he'd never been vulnerable with a complete stranger before. And he had been so vulnerable.
The idea of a massive audience getting that close a look into his life makes him shake even now. His story is In Print. He's got an early copy but nothing can be changed. He won't be able to look back after it's released to the rest of the world.
He should probably wait to open the magazine until he's not alone.
He doesn't. And what he reads make his mouth drop.
The First Husbands of Hockey
How Two Rivals Teamed Up for Their Longest Game YetShane and Ilya do their first cover story together. This is that cover story.
Series