Forrest > Recent Status Updates

It saddens me that the TV show made the cottage... simpler, I guess. No training rink and no dock. Some of my favourite little moments got cut out because of that.

huh. I fully forgot that Svetlana and Ilya didn't grow up together in the book canon.

I swear this edition's been at least lightly re-edited, but I can't put my finger on the exact differences.

Relatedly, having a bit of Mandela effect with Cliff "Marlow". I'm 1,000% sure it was spelled Marleau in the older edition I read, but cursory googling suggests Marleau is only the TV version's spelling and it's always been -low in the book text. 🤔😵‍💫

Genuinely unsure what they're going for with the one guy's phonetically-spelled-out accent. He's supposed to be Scottish, but so am I and I can't parse half of his dialogue. They mentioned Aberdeen at one point so maybe that's the specific accent being attempted but... ???

it's funny how just about everyone in this series is emphatically not homophobic... they just all kinda can't stand Ilya Rozanov, specifically. All Scott's getting in reaction to coming out is "it's not him, right?!" and then with Shane in HR it becomes "but why him?!" instead.
Like Stitch at the dog shelter.
"All LGBTQ+ people are valid and supported..." - *Russian hockey bisexual wanders in* - "EXCEPT THAT ONE!"

"Thank god," Huff said. "I thought you were gonna say you were secretly dating Rozanov."
"Rozanov wishes," Scott said.

😂
I've been living for the Ilya cameos in this one. Gremlin of a man.

internalised homophobia is a bitch and a half, sure, but oh my god Scott needs to get his head on straight (so to speak). This whole situationship they've ended up in is a mess and the fact the narrative keeps bringing up that they've only known each other a couple months makes it substantially worse.
At this point it'd be healthier for everyone if Kip threw in the towel and shacked up with Kyle the bartender.

you know what I really, really wish this series had?

Page numbers.

... are dead mums like, a weird trend in this series? Between Ilya in HR and Scott in this one 🤔

Well, Ao3 is down. For what's looking to be multiple weeks.

I can feel the "well well, look who came crawlin' back" glare from my TBR shelves.

Why do you love, Colibri?
It is necessary.
How so?
It is the only logical response.
To what?
To existence.

while this is an absolutely A+ book so far - real cure for what ails ya - there's a tiny thing about the worldbuilding... in this setting, the human lifespan seems to be a decent bit shortened. We just met "one of the oldest people on the planet". He's 74. But, simultaneously, a 22-year-old was just referred to as "the kid". IDK, that feels like a discrepancy to me.

this is, not to put too fine a point on it, emotionally kicking my ass

The descent of all life through evolutionary processes is not a 'theory' in the sense that the creationists would have us believe. So overwhelming is the evidence for evolution by descent that one could say that it is as secure as the fact that the Earth goes around the Sun and not the other way around.

... oh I hate to tell you this but those types don't believe in the solar system either

"I just don't understand," his mother said. "How could this have even happened between you? Weren't there any nice men in Montreal, Shane?"

jesus, Mama Hollander, you didn't have to straight-up murder poor Ilya like that (but I am cackling as she does, sorry Rozanov)

noting my appreciation for the running gag of Hayden's kids' names. The jewel theme for the girls is actually nice imo, but why you'd pick Amber when the brother's name is Arthur I do not know - sound far too similar, especially if you're calling for one of them from a different room or suchlike.

"You wanna kiss me on television?"
"Yes. After I win the Stanley Cup."
"Oh, so in this romantic scenario, you've just defeated me?"
"Yes. Sorry."
"I'm not going to be in the mood to kiss you if I've just lost the Stanley Cup, Rozanov."
"But you would be so proud of me!"

yr honour I lub them

- so the hospital receptionist is gonna out them, 99% sure

- I'm getting reeeaaaallll sick of both of them being in this "I have to break up with him, I'm going to break up with him, I'm ending it next time" thought cycle. It's been hundreds of pages. If you were going to, you would've. Just bloody have a conversation already - in a language you both speak, Ilya, confessing in Russian isn't slick.

pffff, okay, the "I think I'm gay" / "Oh yeah? What gave you that idea?" bit is kind of a cheap joke but it did get me

They're great when they're taking the mickey out of each other.

- they keep crashing into each other while kissing and slamming each other into walls. Y'all are going to hurt yourselves.

- I sort of wish the narrative would stop reminding me that they're only 19 at this point, because I (from the great height of a decade and small change older) immediately jump into weirdly protective "AWW KIDDO" mode, and it's not at all the vibe when the smut is going on

there seems, hm, a certain amount of emphasis on Shane being shorter and babyfaced and a "pretty boy" vs Ilya being Big and Rugged and Manly and I am a bit wary of that. Very common bit of stereotyping, again crops up a lot in the fanfic world, tends to go to not-great places.

on the other hand my inner 12-year-old is having a big ol' tee-hee at the phrase "fancy stickhandling". 🤦 it's not a euphemism...

... well you can definitely tell that Rachel Reid is (was?) an Ao3 author. Which is not at all a complaint! But that prologue was literally a completely textbook PWP oneshot. Had significantly less buildup than most of those fics do, actually.