Because Reasons

B) but b, I'm not seeing people saying he was bullied. I'm the previous anon who set out the facts that we can actually see. I don't think he was a bullied, wilting victim of hate crime. I think he was unknowingly pranked by idiot teenagers doing what idiot teenagers do. I imagine he got home the next day, looked in a mirror, rolled his eyes at the stupidity, washed it off his face and carried on with his life relatively unphased. Aka the correct response to teenage stupidity unless you're desperately trying to cause drama and get some random actor cancelled because you don't like him.

You're right, obviously this symbol has such an awful history to it and it's understandable that people have a visceral reaction to seeing it. But after the initial visceral reaction...I think acknowledging likely context, time passed, and the person Hudson very clearly is now maybe people can just calm the fuck down and grow up?

Especially since part of the context that should be acknowledged is that this is being dug up by people on twitter that have been racist towards Hudson in the past and have openly stated they're desperate to get him cancelled.

There is a massive, crucial difference between a naive teenage boy being unknowingly pranked by idiots, and a calculated hate crime. Treating him like a "wilting victim" in that specific moment is inaccurate—he was likely just a teenager caught in a deeply stupid situation who washed it off and moved on.

However, I absolutely agree with what people are saying about the broader context of bullying. Growing up as a person of color in a highly conservative town makes it statistically and socially very probable that he faced real prejudice and exclusionary dynamics throughout his youth. Acknowledging that reality isn't "constructing a narrative," it’s just understanding how environments like that actually impact a minority kid.

Paint some rocks

Ask your neighbor how they're doing today

Vacuum under your furniture

Watch the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz

Practice that new skill you've been learning

Take the long way to the grocery store

Write a love letter and mail it to yourself

Ask the oldest person you know about their childhood

Paint your nails a fun color

Practice a tongue twister

Make a puppet out of an old sock

Put googly eyes in funny places in your home

Switch out the laces in your shoes

Climb a tree

Try out a new makeup look

Research or brainstorm a new tattoo idea

Light a scented candle

Sing along to the radio

Build a lego set

Try out a new snack

Play in the dirt with your hands

Take an old buzzfeed personality quiz

Research facts about your favorite animal

Masturbate

Go on a walk and say hello to everyone you see (or just one person)

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Do that chore you've been putting off

Look up upcoming events in your area

Spin until you get too dizzy

Put your favorite artist on shuffle and see how fast you can name the songs as they play

Make a paper snowflake

Learn to sew/mend

Go to a pet store and watch the animals

Find a grassy hill to roll down

Go to a park and watch/listen to the children play

Write a haiku

Check the batteries in your smoke detector(s)

Read a book you've read before

From what people have said this wasn't a small party of him and his close friends, it was his entire graduating class, an annual campout tradition, not his close knit friend group.

The party happened in the middle of the woods with no mirrors, so he could very easily have gone the whole night without seeing it.

And even if he did see it, again middle of the woods so no bathroom for him to easily wash it off.

Like genuinely what did he personally do wrong in this situation? Other than be unknowingly pranked, as a teenage boy, by other teenage boys? What was he supposed to have done differently?

When you break it down step by step like this, it’s hard to argue with your logic. A crowded graduation campout in the middle of the woods, no mirrors, people drawing on each other, and him being the only POC with that specific symbol drawn on a spot he couldn't see—it heavily points to a malicious "prank" targeting him, rather than something he actively chose or wanted.

At the same time, it is completely understandable why that image causes so much pain and anger. That symbol carries a horrific history, and the emotional trigger it creates is deeply real and valid for many people.

Race absolutely matters. Racism absolutely exists. But different racial groups are stereotyped in different ways, and those stereotypes can produce completely different social expectations.

For example, I’ve seen people criticize Rachel and Jacob for joking about Hudson being unintelligent because he’s a person of color. If Hudson were Black, I would understand that criticism more, because there is a long history of anti-Black stereotypes portraying Black people as unintelligent. But Hudson is Asian. Asian men are stereotyped in almost the opposite way. They’re often assumed to be intelligent, studious, and academically successful. The stereotype is still racist, but it’s a different stereotype. It doesn’t suddenly become an anti-Asian stereotype just because we’ve replaced “Asian” with the broader category of “POC.”

The same thing happens constantly in fanfiction with Shane.

A lot of writers portray Shane as being afraid to fight because he knows he’ll be judged more harshly than white players. I understand where that idea is coming from, but as a black person I’ve never found it particularly convincing.

If Shane were black, that analysis would make more sense to me. Black men are often stereotyped as aggressive, which means behavior that is considered acceptable from white athletes is often interpreted differently when black ones do it.

But asian men occupy a very different place in the racial imagination. They’re frequently stereotyped as passive, non-threatening, weak, nerdy, emasculated, etc. If racial stereotypes were influencing Shane’s approach to hockey, I could just as easily imagine the opposite dynamic: feeling pressure to prove he’s aggressive enough to belong. Maybe he’s fighting TOO much.

But that doesn’t make sense for Shane. He’s the league’s golden boy. He’s polite, media-friendly, and heavily inspired by Sidney Crosby. He’s a superstar. Fighting is often delegated to players lower on the depth chart whose role is specifically to provide physicality. Star players generally aren’t expected to be enforcers. Teams usually want their elite talent scoring goals, not sitting in the penalty box after dropping the gloves.

So Shane not fighting much doesn’t strike me as evidence of racial pressure. It strikes me as evidence that he’s Shane Hollander.

Crosby is a useful comparison here. For years, people mocked him for not being physical enough (and for talking to the refs too much). They questioned his toughness and masculinity. They called him “Crybaby Crosby” or “Cindy Crosby.” Fans edited photos of him in dresses or makeup. The criticism wasn’t really about hockey. The joke was that he wasn’t a “real man.”

And that’s a white player.

Imagine how much worse those conversations could become if the player in question were Asian.

That’s the kind of racial dynamic I could actually see affecting Shane, not him worrying about people thinking he’s too aggressive, but people questioning whether he’s aggressive ENOUGH.

There’s a good chance that if Shane fought exactly like many white players, he probably still wouldn’t be viewed as tough enough. Meanwhile, if a Black player fought exactly like those same white players, he might be interpreted as more aggressive.

People often criticize Rachel for not doing much racial analysis in the books. But sometimes fandom fills that gap with racial analysis that feels disconnected from both hockey culture and the specific stereotypes that affect different racial groups.

Not every POC experience is interchangeable.

A stereotype that affects Black athletes is not automatically a stereotype that affects Asian athletes. A stereotype that affects Latino athletes is not automatically a stereotype that affects Indigenous athletes.

If we’re going to talk about race- and we should- we have to talk about the actual racial dynamics at play, not just substitute “person of color” for a more specific analysis.

- fanfic that I sometimes like depending on my mood

- fanfic that I like somewhat

- fanfic that I like but don't want to like

- fanfic I don't like but I can't stop reading

"...he did that- he made Troy Barrett smile like that. Somehow, Harris had earned that, and he realized, in that moment, how fiercely he would protect that smile. How fiercely he would protect Troy."

Oof... y'all, this was an emotionally charged read. The emotions were flying in from every angle. I was angry, sad, proud, laughing- sometimes at the same time. These books have fun, cute covers, and on the surface they're gay hockey romance books... but Rachel Reid goes so much deeper and weaves dark and emotional themes into each book.

Troy Barrett is traded from one of the best teams in the NHL, to the worst: the Ottawa Centaurs (what a bad ass team mascot, btw). The reason for the trade was because he went off on star player (and his former BFF) Dallas Kent for being a rapist. The team manager didn't take too kindly to Troy calling out his friend and teammate in the middle of a game, and traded his ass.

Troy's reputation isn't the best in the NHL because he was so close with Dallas. People assume birds of a feather. So it's fair that the Centaurs are leery with Troy, despite his attack on Dallas. In addition to the Centaurs being leery, the Toronto fanbase is livid, because you don't turn on your teammates, and you don't support women attacking a man's character. Sadly, this was just another realistic element to the series.

"Men never believe women. Women don't believe women... What were you expecting to happen? The whole league rallies behind Barrett, and Kent gets kicked out of hockey?"

Rachel Reid really understood the assignment with this one.

Now. I'd like to say I know Troy Barrett is a fictional character, but every single sport franchise needs a Troy Barrett to call players out on their bullshit. I live in Wisconsin and am a huge Green Bay Packers fan. We're dealing with some Josh Jacobs bullshit, and I am disheartened and disappointed in his recent assault and battery charges. We don't roll that way here. It's not accepted or tolerated. And we believe women. Period. Unless their names are Blake Lively.

Harris Drover is the team's social media manager, and he's a big, gay, bearded ray of sunshine. He tries to crack Troy's tough exterior, but Troy is filled with self-loathing over supporting Dallas Kent for so long, and he's a closeted gay man. He wants to move in the world like Harris does, but everything is telling him that's wrong and shameful. The emotion bleeds off the pages of this book.

The only player willing to give Troy the benefit of the doubt is Ilya Rozanov. Of course. He's the team captain, and he hates Dallas Kent. "People like Kent stand in the way of other people being happy. For no reason. I am always glad to punch people like that."

I wonder if Rachel Reid has a blast writing Rozanov's dialogue. It's hilarious. And for the record, as we roll into Pride month, I too want to punch people that stand in the way of other people being happy. You got a problem with gay people? Cool. I have a problem with you. Move the fuck along.

Anyway, Troy finds himself catching feelings for Harris. He's envious of the way Harris moves in the world. He's just so comfortable being himself. He doesn't care what people think. Meanwhile Troy is still dealing with hate online and has a homophobic father who idolizes Dallas Kent.

The team is on their way to a game when their airplane almost crashes, and it has Troy re-evaluating everything in his life. Ilya reminds him he's got to focus on what's important, and later that night he finds himself in Harris's hotel room.

Bom-chicka-wow-wow...

From there, Troy starts creating the type of life he wants to be proud of. He starts spending more time with Harris. He posts resources for sexual assault survivors on his Instagram. He plays damn good hockey. And little by little, the small choices lead to happiness, which lead to bigger, braver decisions, and more happiness.

The book ends with an unrealistic happily ever after. Because let's be honest here: star athletes accused of sexual assault are rarely ever held accountable, and they have an entire team of people to cover up their mistakes and continue enabling them. But I want to live in Rachel Reid's world, where bad people are punished for their poor life decisions, gay people are accepted for who they are, and hockey is way sexier than it has any right to be.

A girl can dream, right?

Xoxo,