let’s do that hockey

For one thing, Russia doesn't have the same stereotypes about male figure skaters that America/Canada does. And there's a shit ton of prestige and money at the highest level of the sport. There's no reason to think that, if Ilya were so inclined, he wouldn't be able to be the next Yagudin, Kulik or Plushenko.

But also, the only time figure skating comes up in the show, at least, it's in the context of Shane.

SHANE is the one who trained with a figure skater. (And it makes sense, the skills involved in figure skating would be really helpful in terms of developing agility and precision - traits Shane is known to have as a hockey player.) SHANE is the one with the friend that he was close enough to that he wanted to support in Russia. Even after Carter Vaughn tells/reminds him of how bad things are for queer people there. And even after he's reminded that the automatic assumption from North Americans is that figure skaters are gay.

And I just think there's a lot more to explore with this trope in the context of Shane than there is with Ilya. With Ilya, the idea is never really explored beyond the reinforcement that Grigori is a bad father and Ilya misses his mom. Which, fair enough, but it doesn't ADD anything.

But let's think about it in terms of Shane. Because we know Yuna and David. If Shane really wanted to change careers, I think they would support him.

But does Shane know that? He's been involved with hockey since age 8 at least, probably much earlier than that. By the time he trained with Joe, his path was probably already set. There'd have been substantial financial investment.

And Shane loves hockey. Even though the "crazy stuff" has probably already started by now. He still has a deep love for the sport. It's hard to imagine him actually wanting to give it up.

But an adolescent Shane, who hasn't figured anything out yet, being inexplicably drawn to a different on-ice sport is something fascinating to explore. I could see the focus on self-discipline and singular self-improvement being attractive to someone like Shane.

And there's the gay aspect. Of course, Shane wouldn't want to enter a sport where everyone is assumed to be gay. But what WOULD it be like to enter a sport where everyone is assumed to be gay? It wouldn't be a dirty secret. It wouldn't be something to be ashamed of. It would be common. It would be EXPECTED. Imagine, for a moment, what it'd be like to live in a world where you didn't have to hide who you are?

I don't think Shane would ever consciously say or think "I want to give up hockey for figure skating" but I think there's room for a guilty fantasy or a few. Somewhere where "you look pretty" isn't a chirp to defend against but something that's a matter of course.

Of course, the older Shane gets, the more unlikely the fantasy becomes. Shane is built like a hockey player, not a figure skater. There are a few taller male figure skaters, but they're generally built lean and graceful. Shane is built for a contact sport. And of course, it's more and more obvious that Shane is meant for great things in hockey. How could he ever imagine giving up a career where he is one of the best in the world, in a sport that he truly, genuinely loves, for something where he'd only ever be mediocre at best?

But maybe that's part of the fantasy too. Because mediocre figure skaters probably wouldn't have uncomfortable brand deals. Mediocre figure skaters don't get stopped in an aquarium while holding someone else's baby. Mediocre figure skaters wouldn't care if someone judged him for drinking ginger ale at a restaurant. A mediocre figure skater could go to a gay bar and nothing would happen at all.

Shane would never have actually been happy as a figure skater, and he knows it. He's uptight, success-driven, doesn't care for music (if we take the books into account), has shown no interest in fashion or dance or artistic expression. The idea of playing a sport with a "program component score" would make him break out in hives.

I don't really think show-Shane is jealous of Svetlana. In my opinion, Shane's issues in the tuna melt scene had more to do with Ilya suddenly doing all of these new, boyfriend-esque things out of the blue - inviting him to stay, making food, and having a real conversation and banter. He didn't necessarily understand why Ilya was bringing up girls right then and there, and he was clearly uncomfortable with talking about his own sexuality, but that wasn't why he ended up running.

And the whole cottage scene - of course he's going to react badly to the idea of Ilya marrying anyone else. They're taking steps forward in their relationship, but they haven't really defined themselves yet (at least as Shane understands it. He doesn't know that Ilya already confessed in the Russian monologue scene.)

Shane's spent seven years in a situationship with a man who has been pretty public about fucking women in general. It's not new. And while, from the point of view of the audience, Ilya's talked about Svetlana a lot, we also know how closed mouthed he tends to be about his life. It's very likely that the mentions we see are the only times Ilya has ever mentioned Svetlana - three times in seven years. (And that's assuming Shane even caught Svetlana's name in the Russian monologue.)

By the end of the show, Shane knows this about Svetlana: she's an old friend of Ilya's (1st conversation), they fuck sometimes but it's "nothing more than that, for either of us" (1st conversation), she likes hockey and Shane (1st conversation), and she'd marry Ilya if he asked (cottage conversation.)

And it's good to remember that when Ilya brings up marrying Svetlana, Shane appears to accept Ilya at his word when he says it'd just be for citizenship. He just points out that Ilya, who likes women, could find someone that he wants to marry "for real".

I guess I just don't feel like Shane would begrudge Ilya a close friendship - especially now that he has Rose. It might be a little awkward at first, but I think that once he actually met Svetlana and seen how Ilya and Svetlana interact, he'd be reassured that their relationship is exactly what Ilya says it is.

• Hotel gym, 2am •

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