blame it all on love

I love that he’s allowed to be socially adept and funny and quick witted and sarcastic and empathetic.

I love that his autism is written into moments where he misses subtext, or speaks with a bit of a blank face and monotone.

I love that he’s allowed to be sexual. I love that he’s not just okay with sex, but actively seeks it out, absolutely loves it and is treated like an autonomous sexual being with internality and nuance with sex and intimacy.

I love that he’s not any clear cut, offensive autistic archetype. The closest thing you could assign him to is savant, and even that doesn’t really fit. Shane is so good at hockey because he devotes every day of his life to it, he’s not just magically gifted math hockey powers.

I love that Shane has an overpowering special interest, but it’s not the only thing in his life. I love that he’s fascinated with real estate, that he’s close with his parents and teammates.

I love that he’s allowed to have food or sensory restrictions that don’t manifest as a public breakdown but instead as a preference for ginger ale, soft clothing and a clean house to the casual eye.

I love that he’s shown to have restricted thinking sometimes (being unable to consider coming out, cooking the extra burgers) without him being reduced to a child, unable to communicate or compromise.

I love that his moments of autistic meltdown or overwhelm don’t just look like screaming and crying, but instead as a shutdown at his parents table, or a sharp exit from the Wrong situation, like after the tunamelt.

I love that his autistic moments (like folding the clothes before sex, cooking the extra burgers) are treated by both the directing and other characters as funny and adorable without being infantilised.

I love that Ilya loves Shane so much, not despite his autistic traits, but because of them. I love that Ilya thinks Shane is so adorable and sweet, without it ever compromising how much Ilya also sees Shane as sexy, competent and intelligent.

Shane:

Ilya: