investment my ass

shane is a bottom through and through, but unlike in many other queer media, he isn't effeminate or delicate. he's masculine and brash and jocky, he works his grill and sets up fires and wears fucking.. khaki pants or whatever. he's just a guy. a guy that prefers to be fucked.

ilya likes topping (although he would be down for whatever as long as it makes shane happy) but he isn't some burly, macho "i will dominate you" dude like tops are shown. he wears his cunty little jean paul gaultier tiger print and slutty tank tops, and he's sassy and has a gay accent in russian and makes these flamboyant hand gestures. they don't take away from his masculinity, but the important thing is that ilya doesn't have to be gruff and manly and stoic.

YES to all of this!

as a queer person i adore the dynamic they have going on, and the nuances of their genders and sexualities and the roles they adopt. i love that the show itself doesn't play into the strange hetslop that gay media, especially books, seem to portray. re: rachel reid describing shane as petite and hairless.

however whenever i talk to a straight person about the show they seem hellbent on projecting heteronormative roles onto them. and this is also why i hate the "shane walks ilya like a dog" trope with a vengeance because it reminds me so much of the "haha the old ball and chain" jokes, even if it's taken in a positive manner.