I frequently think about how painful this time is for Shane and Ilya, because imagine hiding a situationship that ends up turning into the love of your life for over a DECADE. Let 11 years really settle in.
Most of us run to tell our friends when we like someone, we rely on debriefs and advice and venting sessions to get through the turmoil of finding love and working out our feelings, but Shane and Ilya couldn’t even have that. Imagine having everything you feel for a person trapped within you like a rising tide for years, and knowing that anyone you told wouldn’t even support or understand you.
The argument of “we accept your sexuality, but not you choice of partner” is so hurtful here, because it lacks context or understanding. It’s EXACTLY the reaction that Shane and Ilya initially receive from most people close to them (excluding Svetlana & Rose, my goats). David and Yuna, Hayden, JJ, and pretty much everyone have more trouble with Shane and Ilya choosing each other than their respective sexualities, which will always make me indignant for them, because especially for Shane, loving Ilya is SO tightly intertwined with his sexuality— rejecting one is rejecting the other.
As secure as Shane & Ilya remain within their connection, I have to believe that people’s surface-level reactions to their pairing take a mental and emotional toll that they can’t fully ignore. Imagine knowing that after 11 fucking years of hiding, you have to further prove the validity and depth of your relationship to the people who are supposed to care for you the most. Utterly exhausting.
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