Da random stuff i post that u losers read :)

No one can convince me that book-Shane isn't based on Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! On Ice (YOI).

Yuuri is literally the blueprint of Shane. He's Japanese, an elite athlete (figure skater), he has freckles, he struggles to understand his emotions and the emotions of others, his self worth is strongly tied to his success although he has a loving family and his weight and eating habits are an integral part of the show. And guess what, there is a Russian figure skater (Viktor) that he admires and falls in love with, but he doesn't realise it at first and... Do I have to write even more? Oh right, there is a height difference (tho not too much and acceptable in my opinion) and the glasses... Yuuri is wearing glasses and I would bet my house - if I'd own one - that's the reason why we get Shane with his reading glasses, because making him wear them constantly would probably have made it too obvious. (As if the rest wasn't already right on the nose.)

(We also we have JJ! Just throwing that into the mix.)

Here's what makes this blueprint so difficult: YOI was written by Japanese people, who deliberately created a world without homophobia, xenophobia and racism. As far as I remember they officially stated that this world doesn't represent reality and that this was done on purpose because of wishful thinking of what could be.

Yuuri is the main character and not just the love interest of someone else. His name is literally in the title. The whole show evolves around him, his struggles and emotions and progress.

But this blueprint doesn't work in any other environment. Taken out of the existing context and put into another world that isn't perfect and accepting of POC and queerness, the pre built image doesn't work the same. It doesn't fit, it doesn't look right, it's out of place.

Yuuri already struggled so much although the world he was created for wasn't a bad place. Taking him and remodeling him into Shane didn't work out well, because now on top of his struggles there's suddenly homophobia, racism and capitalism. And to fix that, the character needs more adjustments and that's where the author failed.

In my opinion that's also why she once said she didn't write Shane deliberately as autistic. Because she simply didn't understand Yuuri in the first place and focused on his looks and just bent them a bit for her story.

That's the risk of using a blueprint and not designing your characters from scratch, especially as a white person.

I don't even fully blame her for messing up. I definitely would have too to a certain degree, because while I'm queer and somewhere on the neurodiversity spectrum (undiagnosed) and can relate to some aspects of Yuuri as well as Shane, as a white person I know nothing firsthand about what it's like as a POC to exist in this vile world and can only base my reasons and thoughts on what others are willing to share about their experiences.

On the other hand, let's open Pandora's box here: As a commercial author who actually profits from their books you have not only the choice but also the means of paying a sensitivity-reader to point out offensive context in your work.

What I can and will judge RR for is the way she handled the criticism. Sure, no one likes to be criticised for their work that undoubtedly sparked lots of joy to a great amount of people. It can feel degrading, demotivating and it can simply hurt really bad. But it's also a chance to self reflect and to do better.

Most of the criticism is rooted in the love of the readers and viewers for Shane and the way he made them feel seen and understood. That's a big ass compliment to get from an audience.

Maybe I'm walking on thin ice here, but to me it seems that she can't handle the criticism precisely because she didn't create Shane from scratch, because she used the 'Yuuri main character' blueprint and turned it into a 'love interest Shane'. She can't openly admit that she fucked up by using another character and twisted him into her world and doesn't know how to fix it, that she didn't have to think hard about creating Shane because he was already existing as Yuuri and that she now struggles because he was never meant to develope into more.

She walked into a trap that she built herself and can't get out on her own now.