hama apologist

Like, i have had Russian friends who have talked about how annoying it is to live in the West and technically have a different last name than their mom, so that complicates things along child-gender lines for sure. And in my head, I just don’t see Ilya caring that much about his last name, given his familial relationships vs his relationships with the Hollanders.

(I could also be convinced that he legally changes his last name to Hollander but keeps using Rozanov professionally, I know more than a few people who have done shit like that.)

I think as ling as the kids get a patronymic (Ilyich or Ilyinichna) he’s happy. That marks them as his family much more than Rozanov does.

WHITSANTOS ROOMATES SAVEEE MEEEEEE

One Monday he'd noticed the sink in one of the guest bedrooms was dripping a little. He'd texted his plumber, who'd been able to come by the next day, only to find nothing was dripping. Ilya has figured maybe it hadn't been dripping, the faucet maybe wasn't fully off or something?

Another week he'd taken out the trash and noticed the light above the cans was out. He'd texted the electrician guy he had on call. He wouldn't usually be able to come out for a couple days. But the next day when Ilya was bringing a box out to recycle he'd found the light back on. He'd canceled the electrician, wondering if he'd just hit the lights switch funny?

And then the final odd thing happens. He's putting some stuff away in one of the guest room closets and he tugs the door too hard the wrong way and it pops off it's tracks and hits the floor. He curses as he catches it, and props it back up, leaning it into place. He texts a picture of it to his handyman. The photo is partially to explain the problem, but mostly to assure himself it really happened if the door manages to also magically heal itself.

The next day he gets a question about the door from the handyman so he goes to check it out, and walks in on Shane, with a little tool box on the floor next to him, lifting the door back into place with ease.

Ilya, shocked, "You're the one fixing everything!"

Shane, did not know this was a mystery, "Yes, of course. What did you think it was, magic?"

(Gif by @hollanderdiaz)

Ilya being a goofball is funny on its own, but it’s the fact that NO ONE is paying attention to him here that elevates it. The kids are already way past him, Shane is watching the kids, literally no one is looking at him. Ilya isn’t performing for anyone here. He came up with a game and is having fun playing it himself, regardless of if he has an audience.

It’s hitting me harder now why Ilya loves being around kids so much. He gets to initiate play with an excuse to use as a shield to his teammates later that it was entirely for the kids and not for him. The kids Ilya plays with have absolutely no idea that they’re seeing a more real version of him than the vast majority of the people in his life.

It’s also why it’s CRUCIAL to have this scene cut together with the All Star game and Ilya playing with Shane on the same team for the first time. It’s the perfect way to communicate to the audience that playing hockey with Shane allows Ilya to find his boyish joy again. Ilya is having the same emotional experience playing hockey with Shane as he is playing shark attack with the kids in the pool.

There’s an interview where Connor says he doesn’t think Ilya really cares about hockey, and this is a demonstration of what I think he means. Shane loves hockey specifically, Yuna loves hockey specifically, Svetlana loves hockey specifically.

Ilya likes competition and play, but he’s only playing hockey because he’s naturally very good at it. Being the best isn’t what keeps him happy—it’s playing with Shane and finding the fun he must have experienced as a child with his mother on the ice before his father turned it into a job.

BEST DAY EVER ☀️🌸❤️🦋

based on this