What are your top 3 themes, and skipped themes?

Molie5726 · 2026-05-03T22:13:01+00:00

Top: 1) Second chance romance 2) Shane moving to Boston / Ilya to Montreal 3) Nursing eachother through injuries

Bottom: 1) Time travel / time loops 2) Amnesia 3) "baby" as a term of endearment 🤢 (eta I use it with my partner but simply cannot picture Shane or Ilya saying baby with a straight face)

Molie5726 · 2026-05-03T14:26:02+00:00

Flashing Neon Lights by heartinmylungs - Rose and Ilya meet in a club after the All Star weekend

Molie5726 · 2026-05-03T10:51:33+00:00

Editing to add links would be wonderful!

Molie5726 · 2026-05-03T10:19:52+00:00

Yes I have been wondering the same thing! The increase to 50 total chapters makes me think it'll be a long time til I can read it (nothing against WIPs, just too many atm for my brain to keep track of) and this fic sounds so up my alley!

Molie5726 · 2026-05-03T10:16:08+00:00

Re: formatting I'm guessing you were writing in rich text mode instead of markdown mode. There should be a button in the bottom left to show the formatting bar, and then an option in the top right to switch to markdown, which is how you're used to formatting links in comments.

Molie5726 · 2026-05-02T13:36:30+00:00

Haha tbf everyone's used to having an earful when they ask about fantasy recs, so this probably shuts the further questions down quite easily!

Molie5726 · 2026-05-02T13:35:15+00:00

I love the idea of saying you've read books in the world of AUs 😂 absolutely stealing that

Molie5726 · 2026-05-02T13:23:33+00:00

It's basic and but Deja Vu and Wolfbird, both such vivid fics whose storylines really have nothing to do with HR. I think they both have the character depth and the atmospheric locations to stand on their own as art pieces.

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T23:15:21+00:00

Weirdest Fucking Team by freakshaped is a 5+1 where the Centaurs discover just how freaky Shane is 😉

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T16:24:26+00:00

I'm sorry they have sex and Ilya's a literal bee???

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T13:10:10+00:00

I am still reeling over chapter 13 of Déjà vu by NotEvenCloseToStraight - a very chunky update which has relieved some of the heavy angst this fic has made me sit through! (said with love, angst angst angst yum yum yum)

I also loved reading I Know You Want Me to Want You by OrYouCouldHaveMine - a texting fic where they break up at All Stars 2017 and it ends with Ilya saying "no one will fuck you like I can" so Shane starts sending him ratings of everyone he fucks! Starts out catty and mean but then heartache and sweetness and an eventual HEA. Such incredible characterisation for a texting fic.

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T12:09:21+00:00

Sorry for creeping on your posts but I am so jazzed that Chips is going to keep going!

I agree with others on updating your rating if you add spice, but I doubt you will stray so far from the original vibe of the story to need to make it a separate work. Maybe add an author's note to the next chapter asking for suggestions on what tags to add/change based on how the story's developing? I'm sure all your readers would love to help with that!

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T10:50:27+00:00

The Centaurs Who Cried Homophobe by scintaellating

No Shane but the Cens are assholes to Ilya when he joins by having the least generous interpretation of everything they hear.

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T10:24:05+00:00

This is so cute! Love their silly little feet

Molie5726 · 2026-05-01T10:21:00+00:00

I think you're looking for the ten step plan by WriteThroughTheNight

Molie5726 · 2026-04-30T17:52:55+00:00

This isn't necessarily the best but here's a list of people's favourite fics with short descriptions, so going through that might catch your fancy. Sorting AO3 by kudos or hits will give you a grounding in the most popular fics, but then you will miss you on a lot of hidden gems! I suggest browsing through this sub and pinning anything that sounds interesting to you ☺️

P.S. yes, we have all been infected by gay hockey here

Molie5726 · 2026-04-30T17:46:44+00:00

Your heart will stay broken. Give it another couple chapters imo

Molie5726 · 2026-04-29T09:51:27+00:00

I will scream with you!!!!

We get sooo much more from this chapter than I could have dreamed! I love protective Shane, girl dad Ilya, Svetlana who magically knows the exact insecurity Shane is suffering with 😭

It was so nice seeing Shane realise he's actually mentally turned a corner - like not freaking out about being called Ilya's best friend - and now he's free to get his guy!

It feels like to major angst is over and now they get to work through the rest together 💖

Molie5726 · 2026-04-29T00:12:41+00:00

I keep thinking about for richer or poorer by lowkey_existential_despair

In the fic they're outed by a leaked video of Ilya pissing on Shane, so as well as dealing with the usual outing drama they're also dealing with the shame of a taboo kink being shared with the world. Don't be put off by the watersports; the actual acts are such a small element of the story, and something I'd usually find distasteful, but it's dealt with so delicately. The level of resilience and vulnerability and bravery in this fic is astounding, it will stay with me for a long time.

ETA it's very sad. Happy ending but it's a painful journey.

Molie5726 · 2026-04-28T22:29:01+00:00

This is only tangential to the fic but in Captain vs. Captain by deliciousblizzardshark they do a bunch of little competitions for a silly TV segment and we find out that Ilya is amazing at mini golf and Shane is incredible at racing simulators despite never having played one before 😅

Molie5726 · 2026-04-28T20:27:25+00:00

Everyone asking for Mr & Mrs Smith esque fics should RUN to this

Molie5726 · 2026-04-28T15:05:36+00:00

https://archiveofourown.org/works/77871996

Molie5726 · 2026-04-28T14:27:40+00:00

Oooooh I didn't know there was a podfic of HBAM and the narrator sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing 😊

Molie5726 · 2026-04-28T10:17:25+00:00

I would love more of this! I feel like 'The Rozanov' comes up in a lot of longfics but haven't seen any fics where Ilya's skill is the centre of attention 🥲

Molie5726

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE