and i've always said that

As a biracial person myself born in the US to an immigrant father, I can't help but empathize with the darker corners of these characters who are quietly grappling with the dissonance of north american culture. It makes absolute sense that for Shane and Ilya, success in hockey allows them to prove that they belong. In separate ways, they are fighting for their place in a society that is predisposed to see them as Other. I can perfectly picture the ways stereotyping happens- Ilya cultivates a fearsome and villainous persona easily, because much of the world views Russians as aggressive and scary anyways. His intelligence compared to Shane's is underestimated, which is dumb because they're the two best players in the league. Like please.

Ilya and Damen the bisexual sun gods themselves are the type of mfs to say in complete sincerity that “every person is different” sexually and actually mean it. Like goddamn they sleep around for the love of the game and are insanely good at it. I think they realized as an afterthought that they were bi, bc labels come secondary to simply enjoying themselves

Hilariously however, their husbands are the ones who bring the general populous to their knees on account of them being pretty but in an androgynous and universal sort of way which is very unfortunate for women bc they’re as Ilya puts it, “super gay” but that doesn’t even matter bc Laurent and Shane are so resolutely celibate that everyone is worried about them and can’t believe no one’s managed to even once bag the nation’s heartthrob in 20+ years

(Genuinely pains me not to write Svetlana/Rose. God maybe it needs to be a throuple I’m not even kidding)

((If Cassandra Clare can write Christina/Mark/Kieran as a throuple then I can make Svetlana/Rose/Cliff happen right???))

These two characters represent the hilarious trope of being the MC’s best friend who either literally or metaphorically loses the MC for a while, then gains them back, only to experience a completely altered (by love) version of their best friend, accompanied by a man whose only goal seems to be ragebaiting the best friend into psychosis.

Let’s remember from Capri:

Laurent: “I meant to kill him but my uncle wouldn’t let me”, then Nik: “exalted, I beg permission challenge the prince of Vere to a duel.” Then Damen: “Denied.”

Compare that with TLG:

Hayden: “I’m going to punch him.” Then Shane: “Don’t.”

This specifically is so funny bc Ilya and Laurent are the most SEASONED at ragebaiting because it’s their primary defense mechanism, and they’ll do it even to their husband’s best friend, which I deeply respect.

We have to remember that Hayden and Nikandros symbolically represent past versions of Shane and Damen, before they went on a journey that changed the way they want to fundamentally show up as leaders. By the end of King’s Rising and The Long Game, they’ve mutually said ‘fuck it,’ and sacrificed everything for love, because this is the new sort of impact they want to make. The (fairly negative) reactions Nik and Hayden display towards their best friends choosing to do this, AND be with Laurent or Ilya represents the mindset of the narrow-minded populous that Shane and Damen have already stepped away from. This is a culture and society who has always antagonized Laurent or Ilya, explaining why those two automatically assume such a prickly position in relation to Nik and Hayden.