The thing about 'Ilya should've stayed in Boston' that bugs me is that it ignores the fact that Ilya wanted to move to a Canadian team because the States were becoming unsafe for him. Like, the cottage vacation happened halfway through Trump's first year of presidency. Russia's influence on American politics was at least highly suspected, and even if it wasn't confirmed, Trump's aggressive admiration of Putin's everything wouldn't exactly have given Ilya a ton of confidence on where the country was going. Going to Ottawa might have been about being closer to Shane specifically, but Ilya wanted to go to a Canadian team because he wanted to leave the States.
Yeah so don’t get me wrong, I love Boston AUs, many of my favorite fics are “Shane lands in Boston” fics. But the idea that Ilya staying in Boston would have prevented his issues is just a misread of the situation.
If Trump happens in HR, it’s so obvious that Ilya should move to Canada that it honestly makes me side eye Americans who say otherwise. Like yes he probably would be fine, he’s still a wealthy and talented athlete at the end of the day, but the stress of being an immigrant in the US right now is extreme. And being a highly visible anti-Putin Russian? Yeah, not great.
But maybe Trump doesn’t happen in HR (that’s Reid’s take). Even so, Ilya wants to move, because he isn’t happy in America anymore. That’s kind of the whole point.
Metaphorically, in the HR-verse, Russia represents Ilya’s childhood trauma and familial baggage. America represents his unhealthy coping mechanisms and his belief that wealth and fame will fix him. Canada represents love and stability. (We can quibble about the accuracy of this geopolitically, but it’s a metaphor in a romance novel, not someone’s IR dissertation.) So metaphorically (and literally, in the rest of the story) Ilya staying in Boston means him sticking with his unhealthy coping mechanisms.
I think when people protest this they’re mostly annoyed at the cliche of the reformed rake having to give up his old life to “earn” the heart of the pure heroine, which is fair enough—though I don’t think that’s quite what’s happening in HR, it’s close enough to trigger that reaction. That said I think there’s something really beautiful about how nothing “fixes” Ilya, not his relationship nor going no-contact, not living in a fast paced city or a quiet suburb. The problem is within him.
I also am sympathetic to people who want Ilya to win, because I too am crazy for the hockey. I do kind of wish Ilya’s timeline was a little shorter with getting into mental health care and that he was able to do more with the centaurs before Shane swoops in. That said he drags the team from the bottom of the table to beating the Voyageurs in the playoffs, which is a sports story for the ages. If not for the leak he’d be a shoo-in for the Hart in 2021, I’m not sure if he’d win with the hint of scandal but he definitely deserves it.
^^^^^^^^^
People just like his chemistry with the other Boston boys and have convinced themselves that it means the room wouldn't have been homophobic. And I get it? He and Marleau seemed like good bros in the two scenes we saw.
But the boy wants to get a Canadian passport and clearly has no faith in Boston to be good to him if he comes out.
And people want Shane Hollander to move to America? For what, gun violence and playing to an arena full of fans with no healthcare?
