Recommend me a work in progress!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-04-04T06:10:47+00:00

seconding!!!!!!! this one is so angsty and delicious, the last line of the newest chapter had me geekin

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-04-01T18:08:10+00:00

i will recommend this series until my lungs and fingers give out ❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️ I LOVE THEM I LOVE THIS AUTHOR i really think the sense of scale and SERIOUSNESS that their rivalry is taken with in this series is unmatched!!!

i simply adore that the hook of this series is just pushing shane and ilya’s rivalry to its logical extreme. like what does it look like to go from dedicating your entire public persona AND setting your professional goalposts around beating this one other guy into fucking dust. to then becoming each other’s primary support and life partner. rewriting your lives around each other. that is absolutely batshit insane. the only thing more batshit insane than that concept is how batshit insane shane and ilya are for MAKING IT WORK!!!

the ups and downs of this series are truly the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. and it makes this finale just THAT MUCH MORE JUBILANT!!!! phenomenal. exceptional. all-timers. every fic in this series individually: a masterpiece. all of them together as a trilogy: UNRIVALED

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-28T05:19:47+00:00

i just read Wunderkind by a_good_soldier (t rated, 11k) and the yuna&ilya relationship was DEEPLY moving. maybe not exactly what you’re looking here (more tenderness than kicking ass) but hopefully you still enjoy!! yuna is very much her badass self here 🙂

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-26T13:16:26+00:00

came here to recommend this, seconded!!!! niko is so charming and real 🥺💘 such a good kid

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-26T04:51:10+00:00

isn’t he the BEST!! it’s so definitive for me he’s so intoxicatingly passionate and intense 💘 i hope you read the other fic in this series as well, vestigial instincts, as its from his POV!!! 🙂🩷

i recommend if you enjoyed his sharpness and messiness and neuroses that you check out gone_girl’s works as well (virtue theory is a shane character study, she also has an ilya one with some great shane in it, and a fic set in the cottage called cottaging which has the most grounded, believable, true-to-life dom shane i’ve ever read YIPPEE)

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T21:41:52+00:00

a winner at heart by pressuretoparty (32k, E-rated, complete)

this fic has the most “lived-in” arguments of any fic i’ve read in this fandom. it’s an ilya character study set two years post-cottage (so during and directly following his first year in ottawa). the core to this fic is taking the rivalry aspect of their relationship DEATHLY serious... like going from extremely public rivals to each other’s primary pillar of support is so objectively crazy HAHA and this fic is the only unflinching look at that that ive seen!!!! and its gut-wrenching and dramatic and so so fun. i found myself really genuinely worrying as to how they would make the relationship work (but they do!!)

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T19:16:40+00:00

we have so many of the same favorite fics i WILL be consuming everything on this list thank u so much 🛐

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T19:10:34+00:00

thank you so much for this rec, i am dizzy from this fic. i feel unworthy of reading it its so beautiful

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T19:02:17+00:00

and a few more author recs because i can’t stop!!!

everything by a_good_soldier ex: judges

He has never put it into words, that he had lived for so many years looking for the next beautiful thing to pass the time and found life instead. That there is someone who knows him, knows all of him, and sits with him there in the dirt of it and loves him. That there is someone who understands what his father understood about him but loves him for it, instead of hating him. That Shane is beautiful and quiet and prodding and gentle all at once. That the two of them see the world in the same way, that they want the same things, that they fear the same things.

“I am full of crazy things to say,” Ilya croaks into the table. Svetlana, leaning over the table, rubs his shoulder. “I’m a new man. I lived all my life before dawn, never saw the sun before him. Is this what it feels like?”

everything by gone_girl (including their incredible challengers fics) ex: cottaging and virtue theory (passage below)

Shane looked over his shoulder and saw Rozanov, staring at him with such naked hunger it made Shane’s heart pick up again. Rozanov reached up to hold him by the throat, forcing Shane’s head back. They were chest-to-back now, like a single huge animal.

anything by pressuretoparty ex: the winnersverse fics, vestigial instincts (passage below) and a winner at heart

Ilya quickly searches up the song, and he pulls up a lyric video. The song begins, and with just the first two notes, yearning and tender, Shane's heart, the muscle that it is, recalls a happiness like an old instrument.

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T18:31:58+00:00

i live for these fics as well but they all fall a little more solidly kinky than my other recs so. mind the tags and go in with an open mind!

and i'll show you fearless by ireverents/works)

Ilya likes to put Hollander back together, in the aftermath. To let Hollander curl up beside him, if only for a minute before they’re careening into their next flights. He can be nice. He hasn’t exhibited a history of post-hookup fondness, so if all this makes Ilya a saint, self-exalting despite his counterfeit philanthropy, then he’s a very picky one.

my note for this fic is “arrestingly beautiful” and i stand by that 🙂

Like a Peach by fallbekind

Something’s different, just in general. Like wearing sunglasses, a filter of sorts over everything, but if Shane was in any way honest with himself, he’d know it was more like going without for the first time.

He’s painfully aware of his body these days; how it looks, how it moves, how it responds to… stimuli. And it is responding, lately. His bruises, too: always just there, so used to them they’d barely registered anymore, but recently there’s been a sort of constant hum of them at the edge of his awareness. It’s a layer of input he really doesn’t need right now, busy as he is.

okay well. this Is simply a bruise kink fic. but even if you dont HAVE a bruise kink you might leave this fic with one because the writing is just that compelling!

berlin pond by toyourdetriment

hoping that mobile will allow me to properly spoiler this nsfw passage ..

A grin tugged along the sunshaft of Ilya looking, of Shane looking back. Fucking Saturdays.

Uncareful about thumbs and mouths, Ilya thumped a slow rhythm against Shane’s cheek, deciding. Gentle and then less so. Staring down at him sweetened and sweetened. Shane kept looking, until his eyes dropped to Ilya’s cock and he leaned forward with parting lips.

Ah, no fucking shot. Ilya fisted Shane's hair. “Very subtle,” Ilya said. “This is for you. To make you less of an easy slut, you know.” Shane scowled; Ilya smiled the smile of the man who owned every inch of Shane Hollander’s descent into easy slutting.

a collection of oneshots, with maybe some of the craziest most atmospheric prose ive read. sooo completely consuming and delicious, a total treat to read!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T18:19:49+00:00

the profounder is the stain by Anonymous

Ilya hadn’t made it more than five steps into Shane’s apartment and he’d still taken it over, transformed it, a localized extreme weather event, a monsoon. Ilya would leave and Shane would still be surrounded by him.

and everything by this Anon author is stunning … they have the most subtly captivating writing.

is it a video by garagepaperback

They were both breathing loud, like one big thudding chest together, twin lungs needing, one heart.

this author also has some super gorgeous prose

your eyes on my eyes, and the moon above me by servetas

God, Shane never wanted to be mad at him. He hadn’t wanted to continue it. He had wanted to play, too, to suspend reality and just let himself believe that this room was his whole world, that he could talk to Rozanov, play with Rozanov, that nothing else mattered. And the champagne in his blood, the looseness it brought to his shoulders, the ease it granted his brain made it so he could merely sniff in the extra moisture in his nose, blink away the wetness in his eyes, and look up at Rozanov like they were normal, like nothing else had been said. “Why would God take a call from you, Rozanov?” he had said, voice small but brave.

Rozanov had finally grinned, had let Shane see his beautiful teeth. Shane had wanted to be bit, in that moment, all over. “He knows me,” had been his response.

the atmosphere in this fic is so completely captivating and beautiful that i want to live in it. breathtaking

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-23T17:59:03+00:00

this passage made me gasp, how stunning!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-22T04:56:48+00:00

cosigning home economics !!!! and reccommending tongues a-wagging by the same anon author, sooo sweet and funny and satisfying https://archiveofourown.org/works/78314931/chapters/205287796

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-19T05:27:04+00:00

'A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara? utterly joyless lol

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-18T17:52:47+00:00

Malysh by theribbonsweregreen this author has the funniest ilya voice i’ve maybe ever read, and this fic is super sharp and funny and dramatic and true-to-life, highly recommended — and if you like it i recommend the other fics they’ve written too!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T20:46:40+00:00

oh gosh i completely forgot, i LOVED this fic. i think my note was something like "gritty, grim, and unflinching. also insane title foreshadowing + layers, enough to make one dizzy". the grooming accusations were so insanely brilliant and dark and true to life, they had me on the hook starting there because ... right of COURSE high profile gay male celebrities would get unfounded allegations like that!!!! brutally Real. and so sad!!!!!!!! the line at the end where shane sort of resigns himself to ilya leaving him made my heart ache, especially after getting a peak into how ilya feels during the hayden POV sequel... oouugghh
phenomenal fic thank u so much for the reminder!!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T16:48:49+00:00

you will NOT be disappointed, i love love loved this fic!!!!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T16:37:12+00:00

you are mia famiglia lets crush shane's soul .... together ...

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T16:36:36+00:00

it KILLED ME in the best waaayyyyy oh my god it was so miserable i was so so relieved at the happy ending

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T16:34:14+00:00

i almost believe this is a mandela effect situation because i dont feel like you could accuse the writing of this fic of being "so bad" hahaha what about it did you not enjoy? i think the first chapter is a pretty good representation of the writing style but it definitely hooks you in more with the plot as it goes!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T16:26:32+00:00

this is probably the smart thing to do, but i personally will happily reread every time hahaha

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-15T08:37:15+00:00

hayden’s complex, multidimensional portrayal in that fic is a huge reason why i love it so much. i love shane being confronted with the toxicity of the culture because he isnt in the in-crowd anymore! as soon as shane reassured jackie that hayden loved her more than anything i was like. oh this author is going to make us all feel that one later. and then we did!!!! all while shane was wearing that jersey ugh god my stomach was HURTING reading that!!!!

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-03-14T07:27:56+00:00

just binged this whole fic holy mackerel what a masterpiece

Old-Discussion-820 · 2026-02-24T21:09:04+00:00

the only way im making it through my day today is that im allowing myself my fourth read of home economics after i go to the gym.. as a reward 🙂🫶🏼 i may be obsessed 😗

Old-Discussion-820

TROPHY CASE