Love it! Your story brings back a lot of memories. :) I can't believe it's over 4 years now! I remember that the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi really were great. Especially the opening ceremony was perhaps the most awesome opening ceremony I've ever seen... In most beautiful way they showed Russian history... Kievan Rus'... Peter the Great... War & Peace... Soviet Nostalgia... That moment when Stilyagi started dancing was my favourite part... ;)

While your story is good, I'd like to point out that LGBT relationships are illegal in 74 countries but Russia is NOT one of them. In Russia there are active gay communities and organizations and nightclubs especially in big cities. They have openly gay Russian pop-stars and actors and at least three of Putin's most trusted advisors are gay. I find that all of the countries and people shaming Russia about their conservative ways are not realizing one simple thing. In terms of cultural acceptance, Russia right now is like the USA, Britain and most countries in Western Europe were just a few decades ago, its just that the US and Western Europe have had more time to "grow and mature" in this respect which is why you can say they are so progressive, whereas Russia didn't get this chance. Don't forget that just a few decades ago, the US was not the most tolerant, "gay friendly" place. So; Russia isn't more homophobic than the US was just a few decades ago.

This is the reason I love rusame and olympics. ;)

Btw in Russia, homosexual acts are in fact legal, though there is no hiding the fact that the overwhelmingly conservative and religious population frowns upon homosexuality in general. The one unequivocally ant-gay action taken was to support a Russian law that makes it illegal to discuss homosexuality with minors. Thats it. There is no evidence that the law has been widely applied and it really isn’t that much different from America 30-50 years ago, and in fact we in America still have similar laws on the books in a number of states. So... I guess Alred and Ivan have more in common than we think... Just saying. XD

(I decided to reread your story, it's even funnier the second time I've read it. But apparently my phone sucks, so I wrote this review again so that it makes more sense now. Sorry. xD)

This is the reason I love rusame and olympics. ;)

Btw in Russia, homosexual acts are in fact legal, though there is no hiding the fact that the overwhelmingly conservative and religious population frowns upon homosexuality in general. The one unequivocally ant-gay action taken was to support a Russian law that makes it illegal to discuss homosexuality with ’s it. There is no evidence that the law has been widely applied and it really isn’t that much different from America 30-50 years ago, and in fact we in America still have similar laws on the books in a number of states. So... I guess Alred and Ivan have more in common than we think... Just saying. XD

Um, you do know that being a gay in Russia is not a crime, right? Yes, they have that law against gay propaganda but a similar law is in use in many other countries like Lithuania. It doesnt make homosexuality illegal in Russia. In fact, there are many gay bars and such in Russia's major cities and they have a big counter-culture. :D

This gay issue has been exaggerated in the media and it hasnt told about all the good things and the improvement of gay rights in Russia in the 2000s. Usually media isnt interested telling about all the good things, only the bad ones.

I dont think that Ivan would have behaved in that way when Alfred hinted that he might be gay. Okay, there are always intolerant people, extremist supporters and homophobes in every country. For example, Trump is anti-gay and therere many bankers, generals, media people and politicians in his government who strongly think that gays, lesbians and transgender people do not deserve equality – and so many people still voted for him and support their views. :(

From my personal experience, (Im bisexual) its actually much easier to be gay in Russia than its in many Eastern and Southern European countries. Theyre tolerant compared to many other European countries. Marriage is defined as a union solely between a man and a woman even in the constitutions of Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine, for example.

But who are we to judge these countries, really? For example, in the UK the public opinion towards gay rights and gay sexuality is today one of the most tolerant and liberal in the whole world. :) But we must remember that its not a long time ago when there were many homophobic laws in the UK and homosexuality was considered as a disease. Britain has been perhaps the most anti-gay country ever in all Western Europe. Laws against gays were really harsh. Gays were persecuted systematically in the UK especially since the 1950s and gay men were still detained at the end of the 1980s. This all happened not too long ago but look how well things are now!

I believe that in the end gay rights will improve in Russia and many other countries around the world. :) But its completely unfair to assume that it should happen IMMEDIATELY, like this fic seems to suggest. People's mindsets and old perceptions always change slowly. Besides, societies always change from the inside so you cant force that sort of thing from outside.

As France said: “Love is something that you shouldnt force on others.” If try to force your way to get people to like something you like, youre honestly just going to be pushing them more away from it. Unfortunately, it's typical of people to jump to the 'moral high ground' on issues like this. :/

As a bisexual, it always annoys me when people use gay rights as a political tool or when they talk about it just to make themselves look better and morally superior than someone else. There should certainly be a more meaningful way to inspire change in people’s mindset than just by telling them that theyre wrong.

Sorry for a mini-novel. :P Anyways this was a nice fic because I just love Olympics and sports so much! :) I just hope you could have also made another chapter and told us about what would have happened after that? How did Ivan and Alfred compete against each other? There must have been a conflict since they have feelings for each other and they both also want to win and beat each other. Who would have won the gold medal in the Sochi Olympics? Ivan or Alfred? That would have been interesting to read. :D

Awww so cute..

Anti Gay Law in Russia?
Never heard of it. But we have a law against Gay-Propaganda. Of course its not a crime to be gay in Russia. Just in Moscow there are several Gaybars, hotels even saunas...
Maybe you should do better research about Russia before believing everything your media is saying, because i feel as a russian a bit offended by that.

I don't mean to bash,
And I'm not usually the person to go around doing this, but you know, I am very bored and will probably regret it later.
Anyway-

I constantly see fanfics with Russia, of course, with another man. And it's not wrong for you to ship these, however, I find it a little offensive on my part.
I'm not usually offended, but this just really gets to me and I have no idea why.
I'm from Russia, I was born and raised there (I live in Canada now for financial reasons only.)
I can't help but feel that people are disrescpecting the laws of my country-
FOR ONE THING, Russia is very religious.
AND FOR SECOND, we have a low population.
And by low, I mean LOW.
In Russia we only have about 145 million people, in such a big country (that is bigger than Pluto, even), yet The USA has over 300 million (illegal immigrations, too many people moving in)
Putin (who I don't like because he's a jerk-off), the president of Russia (as you may know), is trying to get this population up.
He's already planning on banning abortion, as well.
We desperately need it, otherwise Russia is going to fall drastically.
THAT BEING SAID, I myself am a Religious person, and I'm not really the one to support LGBT (but you shouldn't forget that I'm apart of it. I am Heteroromantic Homosexual, when one feels sexually attracted to the same sex and romantically to the opposite. And like hell is it frustrating.)

But really all I'm saying is respect Russia's laws a little more.

Please and thank you.
Do me a favour and have a nice day, and many after.

I did not mean to offend anyone, or be rude to them, just inform them that you should respect a country's laws

Probably the best way to break the law. ;)

I really like this!
I just wish it were longer.

I liked this plot idea you had going on, but I feel like it could have been longer, like two chaps, and more detailed. It seemed a little ooc on Ivan's part, but other than those things; this was good. Again the plot idea was really good and I found this to be quite interesting.