Wait wait wait— can we talk about this for a sec?
First of all, yay Luca and Hayes!! And Farah, of course. I’m glad she’ll play a big role in season 2.
But more importantly!! The final 2 actors have been cast as… Vanessa and Tarek?
If you’re like me, you probably were a little confused. Are there brand new characters specifically made for the show? But no! They DO appear in the series, just not in either of Shane and Ilya’s books.
They are Fabian’s friends from Tough Guy.
Which is weird, right? Why are two side characters from a book that barely even overlaps with Shane and Ilya’s story playing a role in the show?
(I mean, this probably means we will also see Fabian and Ryan, which is great news. Not the point of this post, but also exciting!)
But then I got to thinking…
Neither Shane nor Ilya interact with Fabian’s friends in the Long Game, but they DO interact with Fabian and Ryan.
In fact, Shane’s brief interactions with Fabian were some of my fav parts of the book, bc it showed Shane’s awareness of the internalized homophobia he was still holding on to, bc like yeah, he’s gay, but he’s not stereotypically gay. He’s a hockey-playing jock. He still has his masculine pride. But then here comes Fabian, who is one flamboyant flaming homosexual, and Shane is forced to confront his assumptions about and discomfort towards men who are more visibly queer.
So what if Tierny expands on that? What if Shane gets to meet Fabian’s equally visibly queer crew? What if he gets to explore those feelings even more?
Which would be perfect! Bc the Long Game is predominantly Ilya’s story. We watch him struggle, but we also watch him make friends, build connections, and strive for self-improvement. We don’t really get all that much from Shane’s POV.
So what if this is how Tierny expands Shane’s personal journey and growth?
That would make me so so so so happy!
