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(Disclaimer: I also love Shane and Ilya etc. too! But this is about Scott. :) )

the emotional openness and (at least in private) honesty; he's a breath of fresh air and it's obvious that Kip isn't expecting it at all from a massive jock (and possibly hasn't had enough of it in previous relationships generally?).

he's so ready to fall in love and so exhausted of the closet and it's all painfully moving <3 (and as a middle-aged trans man who only came out as a dude relatively recently, Relatable As Fuck)

like most of his fellow hockey players we can assume Scott had his education absolutely fucked with, but he's got a massive brain there when he can access it, not least in speech-writing

his speech in ep3 is kind of horrible and desperately self-neglecting but it's still perfectly crafted; the one in ep6 is breathtakingly good and utterly devastating and the kind of thing that's needed in all sports very urgently

on which note, he goes within a month from coming out as a personal choice for his own and Kip's sake to realising that he can do good for other queer hockey players and queer would-be hockey players and see how much he can use his words and his truth to change things for the better, which is *fricking fast*. He's already into a gentle degree of "queer as in fuck you", and increasingly politicised. That's absolutely magnificent. He's not just letting himself be the poster boy for The Respectable Gay in Hockey (and he could so easily do that); he's challenging the institutions. Already.

on two separate occasions before they get together he reassures Kip and treats him as an equal at a point where Kip is in a customer service role and has fucked up (falling asleep; spilling the tray). That shouldn't be a big deal but we all know it is. As someone who's worked in customer service, I'd love him for this even if I didn't love him in general. ;-)

he falls for the cute working-class art history nerd in the silly cap. :D He loves hockey so much but he's also so so ready for some new horizons and I love that for him and about him. To fall for Kip shows magnificent taste. <3

to be good friends with Carter Vaughn also shows magnificent taste. :D <3

he's a rounded and realistic character and thus flawed and imperfect, but he's also desperately hard on himself and struggling with mental illness at the time he meets Kip and... well. Relatable.

whatever the mutual reconciliation with Shane post-fight looked like (I still hold by "awkward but sweet apologies on both sides" ;-) ), and despite the depression he's clearly in himself, he's clearly glad to see Shane in Sochi and the two and Carter hanging out together is delightful. There's a reason why circa 2017 Shane clearly still likes him lots (and is amused rather than threatened by Ilya's crush!). Scott can have a temper when provoked (he's in a culture where that's universal) but he does not hold a grudge.

he uses the word "debacle" in earnest and it's adorable

he loves Kip so much that he's clearly won Elena over in short order - even though she (rightly to my mind) still tells him how much he's hurting Kip, she ends up being far gentler than I think she initially intended because he's not at all what she feared he would be

he cares. So much. In general. Aaaaaaaah.

the bunny hops over the sofa, the being *ridiculously* gorgeous, the furrowed concentration brow, the consent king-ness of his sex scenes with Kip, the being happily vers... it's all delightful.

In short: he's hot, he's kind, he's a magnificent athlete, he's smarter than I think he thinks he is, he has a sense of duty the size of a planet (affectionate *and* derogatory), and he's ultimately fantastically brave. And he's got a massive anxiety disorder, is probably neurodivergent in at least one way, is hurting in ways that make me hurt for him, but he ends up turning that pain into empowering himself and others.