it's been a while

and the kid is WINNING. shane is clearly not pulling his punches and a significant number ARE going into the net (because, at the end of the day this is still The Shane Hollander vs a middle-schooler) but the kid is saving enough goals that it’s noticeable

and ilya captions the post. “if our child is capable of this level of goaltending at 8 imagine how good he’ll be in ten years” and then his next post is “oh wait, you don’t need to imagine” and the accompanying video is some of the best saves he’s made that year

And really, what can this random d-man from another team do to Shane? He’s heard all the homophobic chirps before. He’s been outed. The commissioner has threatened to take hockey away from him. He’s been run out of his old team on a rail. Some sponsors have probably dropped him because suddenly he’s “controversial.”

Total strangers on Twitter who used to worship Shane are sending him death threats. People he’s known for a decade (people he used to consider his friends) assume he threw games for Ilya. People whose weddings and birthday parties he attended didn’t show up for his wedding, have turned on him, are actively bad-mouthing him in the press.

"but you know me, i'm lazy, so." "i don't know that side of you at all."

"is that what we are going to do? relax?" "i hope so. i would like to relax with you. for once."

"because you like to be bad." "hey, that's not what this is. you and me. maybe it was at first but, not now, and not for a long time."

to the point where it even usurps other peoples interpretations of ilya before he gets the chance to internalize them -

"but, you hate him." "no. i mean, i get that. but no. i love him."

Yuna: "But you hate him"

Shane: "No, I get that, but no. I love him."

unjustly suspended from his job

condemned by one of his best friends

condemned by his teammates

dissected by the media

threatened by the commissioner

accused of cheating at the sport he has dedicated his whole life to; and

raked over the coals for a true accident

he STILL goes to watch ilya play

without question or concern, he sits in the audience to watch ilya in round 2 alongside the team that just kicked him out of the playoffs and caused tripgate

he spends tlg in debilitating fear over the possibility of someone figuring them out and goes to such extreme lengths to keep that from happening that he doesn't even have a photograph to show for an 11-year relationship

but still, ilya mentions he can get tickets for shane and his parents to come see him play and shane doesn't spend a second worrying it may fuel rumours, bring unwanted attention to his relationship, put him in a generally uncomfortable position - he actually brightens at the suggestion and then happily sits in the audience to cheer ilya on 😭

behind the scenes vs the scene