1 – 5 of 5 Works in It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

  • It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better ×

  1. To know the sun by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types, Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • M
    • ?

    2026-10-27

    It's Fall of 2014 and Ilya Rozanov has cut all ties with Russia. But there's no such thing as a clean break, and leaving isn't as simple as never going back.
    -
    Basically a very self-indulgent fic about how hard it would be for Ilya to actually move on from the pain of the past and to go no contact with his family in a timeline where Grigori is still alive. Also, Ilya deserves to be known and loved by more people than just Shane and Sveta. Forced/Found Family here we come.
    *Sequel to my canon-divergence fic "To only ever know the cold" (go read that first or this won't make sense!)

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    29,609
    Chapters:
    10/12
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #82537176

  2. Shane Hollander is a Slut by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, NHL Hockey Setting
    • E

    2026-09-16

    Shane Hollander comes out and unleashes Shane Hollander Hysteria across the NHL.
    All-stars circle like it's free agency and he’s the only contract available.
    DMs combust. Rival captains get bold.
    Connections start forming faster than anyone can keep up.
    The Metros couldn’t care less because Shane keeps dominating on the ice while getting fucked in multiple time zones.
    It becomes the worst-kept secret in professional hockey: everyone wants their turn.
    Or:
    Shane Hollander comes out and discovers freedom can look like a lot of things.
    Sometimes it looks like sex across time zones.
    Sometimes it looks like queer community forming around him across the league.
    Sometimes it looks like becoming the most confident version of himself he has ever been.
    Shane Hollander is having a great time.
    This fic is loud, messy, and sometimes a little ridiculous until it isn’t.

    Shane-centric.
    Multiple partners/poly dynamics.
    Character studies of many different men.
    Finding queer joy and community.
    Autism, mental illness, and different attachment styles.
    Or as I like to say..
    A slow emotional horror story inside a romcom porno.


    Language:
    English
    Words:
    506,097
    Chapters:
    47/?
    Files:
    2 versions
    AO3:
    #80154636

  3. Maple Syrup & Icy Mints. by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • E
    • !
    • ✓

    2026-06-26

    After four years of silence and a thousand unanswered questions, Ilya finally gives voice to the one that has been tearing him apart. In a quiet room thick with tension, he asks in a raw, fragile whisper, "Is she mine?" Ilya didn't need the words. He could already smell the truth in the sudden spike of Shane's scent, the sharp, tangy fear of a cornered animal, layered with the deep, unwavering love of a parent. He could see it in the way Shane's shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him, replaced by a profound, bone-deep weariness. Shane looked at Ilya, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, and took a shaky breath, the admission ripped from him by a force stronger than his own fear. "Yes," he whispered, the word a surrender. "She's yours."

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    202,606
    Chapters:
    25/25
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #80492001

  4. Carpe Diem: Oh So Guilty (Oh So Loved) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • M
    • !

    2026-04-24

    Following an injury during a Montreal–Boston game in 2016, Ilya Rozanov remembers Shane Hollander, and forgets him. For a moment, he does not remember being loved.

    So perhaps, it is time that Shane reminds himself, after a decade, to chase his future at a break-neck pace, because Shane is tired of feeling guilty, tired of hiding from the person he never truly wants to hide from.

    It won't be so easy, of course, and maybe the path will take them two steps forward and one step back, but they will walk arm in arm, hand in hand, toward their forever.

    or

    ilya is injured in a game, and it is all the motivation shane will ever need to seize the day.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    37,143
    Chapters:
    7/?
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #76980801

  5. Come Back Home (The Porch Light Is On) by

    Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
    • M
    • ✓

    2026-03-11

    ROZANOV DOWN: Ottawa Captain Carried Off Ice on Stretcher After Third Period Hit. Rozanov unconscious on impact. Fencing response observed. Cervical collar applied. Transferred to hospital by ambulance. Shane Hollander received game misconduct following altercation and did not return to the ice.

     

    A grade-3 concussion leaves Ilya Rozanov trapped in a "slow" brain, struggling to reclaim the elite hockey instincts that once defined his identity. Within the sanctuary of their darkened apartment, Shane Hollander anchors their life, managing every medical detail while privately bracing against his own silent terror. It is a portrait of the grueling, quiet patience required to wait out a neurological fog, hoping the person on the other side eventually finds their way back.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    37,110
    Chapters:
    2/2
    Files:
    1
    AO3:
    #80582376