Saw a headcanon recently about Ilya "always performing" and Shane "only performing on the ice" and I thought it was interesting how differently we all can interpret these characters. (And again, this might be more of a book vs. show thing.)
Because in my opinion, it's actually pretty much the reverse.
To me, with the exception of Russia, I think Ilya is incredibly genuine. He's boisterous, he's loud, he's macho, he's enthusiastic, and these are all his genuine traits. When he tells his team he loves them, he means it. When he goes home with a girl at the club, he means it. (Except maybe that one time in Rose - but it's notable that he doesn't seem to go home with that girl.)
This isn't to say that Ilya isn't concealing aspects of himself too, of course. I think he does a really good job, for example, of concealing his kindness and vulnerability behind that bravado. But I think the bravado is genuine. It's a slight of hand more than it's a masquerade.
I do know that later, in the books, Ilya's depression becomes a more palpable and obvious thing. And that complicates things a little, because there definitely is an element of "going through the motions" when it gets really bad. But I think he's got an inherent honesty with himself/the reader that gives everything a bit more genuineness.
Shane, on the other hand, I think is ALWAYS performing. Of course, there are the brands, we can see how uncomfortable he is in the filming, but it doesn't come across in the finished product. There's his scripted media-ease. Even though he clearly didn't enjoy being asked about Serena Williams and Tiger Woods, he never misses a beat.
We see it with the fans at the aquarium, when he tries to demur at a picture because he's holding a baby, but is unable to specifically say "I don't want to." We see it when he can't just tell his parents a straight out "no" to Wimbledon.
We see it in the very public nature of his relationship with Rose, and with the way his cottage, the closest thing he has to a refuge, has become a documentary. (And the way the director apparently had him do yoga outside, despite his actual practice, because it filmed better that way.)
I think this is also something that will be a factor in season 2. I know that in the book, we never really see Shane's coming out to his team, but there are a lot of little clues that imply that even before the Ilya-of-it-all, things aren't as easy as he pretends. (Shane's increased obsession with his ability, including diet, seem like a strong indication that HE perceives the acceptance by his team as conditional on his continuing to perform on the ice. And of course, the idea that suddenly his sexuality is an open secret - which indicates that someone didn't keep their mouth shut.)
I might be completely off base of course. Perhaps the coming out will go well after all, but I'm pretty skeptical of that.
Anyway, I think that might be one of the reasons TLG tends to feel so weighted toward Ilya. Because Shane is so used to performing that it effects the way he perceives events. We have to read between the lines to pick up on what Shane isn't admitting to himself. (It is also something that will be interesting to see in season 2, since with a more external, impersonal view, we're not going to be quite as influenced by the elements that make both Shane and Ilya unreliable narrators.)
