I redownload threads for exactly one minute and I’m treated to a three paragraph thread about how Rachel Reid hates Shane and “it’s obvious from the books and the way she talks about him that she perceives him as Ilya’s side character.”
1. Rachel has stated on multiple occasions that HR is Shane’s story, TLG is Ilya’s story, and Unrivaled will be THEIR story so there are no “side characters” in the ship.
2. This is a comment mostly driven by fan perception of Shane as a poor partner to Ilya because he: freaked out during the Tuna Melt hookup and left, the way that the fight in The Long Game ended, and his fear of being outed when they’re together in TLG
3. I am sick and tired of Rachel Reid being made into some sort of villain for writing Shane as someone who is flawed and wrong and makes mistakes. That’s what makes him interesting and human.
I honestly feel like this fandom has been more hateful and racist toward Shane at any point than Rachel Reid has ever been by projecting their own prejudices upon him and intentionally flattening all of his writing only to turn around and claim Rachel hates her own character.
If you wanna call her out for Asian stereotypes, then you are completely within your rights to do so because that’s a valid criticism, but at no point does she “hate Shane” by not doing him the disservice of underwriting him so his actions please the entire audience.
