Okay justice for Ilya Rozanov, a man who notably managed his entire families finances and his dementia-having fathers caretaking since he was literally a teenager, while also essentially raising himself to be an elite, generational athlete by himself.
like what is this āIlya needs the threat of a sex ban to pick up his socksā slander or this āIlya has terrible financial literacyā misinformation or this āIlya only eats junk food and needs to be forced to eat his veggiesā tomfoolery
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Ilya Rozanovās Impact As Representation of Queer Russians
alright here we go
this isnāt really structured as an essay, but is a detailed analysis
first of all, i need to establish that a lot of my points come directly from personal experience ā i am a mixed race kid born in kazakhstan, half-russian and half-kazakh, raised primarily in russia. i am also queer myself, although i was raised as a woman (i am now agender). this analysis will heavily focus on cultural elements, because they are crucial for understanding the depth of ilyaās character and why he acts the way he does.
i was quite apprehensive about ilya initially ā western film loves to portray russian people as a caricature and use them for tasteless gags without really examining anything in depth (Iām looking at you stranger things, yes, you). i was concerned heated rivalry would remain surface-level about ilyaās background and portray him as a stereotypical, cold-hearted russian dude. i was also concerned about his accent being too caricatural, concerned about the potential dialogue in russian (as a linguist, russian dialogue in western film is infamously stiff and unnatural. looking at you again, stranger things), so you can imagine my surprise and delight when all of those concerns ended up being unfounded.
to be completely fair here, ilya does sport some stereotypical character traits ā heās brash, confident, distant and unafraid to offend others. but in contrast to other russian characters in western film, ilya has a warm flirtatiousness that i havenāt really seen before. and most importantly, his characterisation doesnāt end there.
at first glance, it seems that ilya doesnāt face any struggles with his sexuality at all. he is experienced, confident, the leading man to shaneās anxious discovery of himself. in reality, ilyaās understanding of his sexuality is directly tied to his personal conflict with his family and his culture.
said conflict is introduced in the very first episode of the show. during the scene where he is being drafted as the new all-star player for the boston raiders, he is being watched over by his father, grigori rozanov. grigori is portrayed by an older actor, and sports a number of medals attached to his suit, which likely implies that he is a war veteran. it is also established later on that he is āpoliceā, which, culturally, means that heās very friendly with some big heads in the government, not that he is literally a police officer. it is a man with trauma, powerful and influential. even without external cultural context, you can already see the toxic and abusive power dynamic this creates between him and ilya.
in the scene, ilyaās facial expression is one of discomfort ā heās smiling very awkwardly, chewing at his lip, his eyes are darting around. this immediately stops as soon as his father speaks; he puts on a cold, serious mask. grigori dismisses his sonās achievements and insists that he needs a lot of discipline, otherwise he will become ālazyā (he means this in a āheāll start slacking offā kind of way). afterwards, he addresses ilya directly, in russian, using a very condescending tone of voice, and instructs him to listen closely to what heās being told. the exact phrasing he uses is best translated as āunderstood?ā, which might sound more neutral in english but in russian has a slightly aggressive connotation. iāve seen quite a few people expressing surprise when reacting to this scene and being confused as to why ilyaās father isnāt showing any pride. i regret to inform you that this dynamic is, unfortunately, very common for the culture, especially between a father and a son.
to explain it further, iāll have to talk about the way i was raised a little bit. russian (or post-USSR region) parents are typically very strict, demanding and authoritative. they are often emotionally distant, neglectful or even outright abusive. i will require you to put your nuance caps on here, because this behaviour is not necessarily a product of malice, and more a product of cultural norms. showing emotion, whether positive or negative, is seen as a weakness. more so for men, but for women as well. you are taught very young that you have to keep your emotions to yourself ā nobody wants to see it. i was scolded and punished very frequently for intense emotional displays as a child. Mother and Father would scold me for crying. Grandmother would scold me for laughing too loudly. looking too happy. your parents are your caretakers, perhaps, providing food and shelter, but you definitely arenāt expected to lean on them for more than that. in my experience, it wasnāt very common. what you are expected to do, however, is be productive. be successful. provide. this is your duty as a son or a daughter, and if you fail, you are no longer of any worth to these people. it is your duty to take care of your parents and siblings, not the other way around. because of that expectation, whether you are achieving something grand or not doesnāt matter ā after all, youāre just fulfilling your duty as a human being. no matter how hard i worked, i donāt think my parents ever genuinely said they were proud of me. because there is nothing to be proud of, really. itās what you have to do.
with this cultural context, grigori rozanovās characterisation immediately lands as extremely accurate. all of those norms and expectations are expressed in a few sentences and we are immediately shown the way they impact ilya.
ilya is desperate for his fatherās love and acceptance, but he knows he will never get it. because they do not exist.
i have more to say about grigori, but now, letās focus a bit on ilyaās queerness.
ilya is initially portrayed to be very at ease with his sexuality ā he leads shane during their encounters, heās not afraid to flirt and come on strong. but thereās a lot of pain and repression lurking underneath, only itās not as obvious to the naked eye.
despite what the russian government will have you believe, there are, of course, plenty of queer people in russia. how dangerous it is to be queer there has fluctuated over the years, but it has never been truly safe. itās a part of yourself youāre forced to hide for years, if not forever. the physical aspects of queer sexuality are often discovered early on ā boys fooling around with boys and girls fooling around with girls ā (ik this is a little contrived but just for the sake of the point) but later on dismissed as one grows up. even if there is no shame, thereās an unspoken understanding that it can never become something more. youād never be able to emotionally commit to each other, because itās not simply dangerous, itās life-threatening. it can only be this ā heat and bodies and mouths clashing.
we learn in the first episode, first hand from ilya, that back in russia, he was regularly sleeping with his hockey coachās son. he brushes it off as nothing serious when explaining to shane, but most likely, he treats most of his sexual encounters with other men as such. because how is he supposed to know that it could be something more? i find it really intriguing that he establishes this to shane, because it implies ilya is so drawn to him he almost unconsciously considers pursuing him more seriously. otherwise, he wouldnāt have said anything and proceeded with the hook-up regularly. thereās nothing to explain, because it can never be real, can it?
a lot of ilyaās emotional avoidance later on in the series is rooted in this unspoken belief. he runs from shane not because he doesnāt love him, but because he believes it can never be real. that they can never be a couple. this is something people do behind closed doors, in secluded corners, in secret. itās not something to commit to, not a real, tangible possibility.
ilya is in the closet not because heās necessarily afraid, but because he doesnāt expect to have other options. in russia, there werenāt any other options.
in addition to this, ilya is also emotionally repressed because of the way he was raised. there are many things on the table that he cannot knowingly treat as real possibilities, including expressing his true emotions, which makes it very difficult for him to be vulnerable with shane. the intimate and genuine side of him comes out mostly during sex, especially at the beginning, because it is the only time that it can.
this is why ilya only accepts shaneās invitation to the cottage after witnessing scott hunter kiss kip on national television ā he is actively being shown that there are other options.
all of these feelings are incredibly familiar to me, as a queer person who grew up in russia. a lot of my own repression wasnāt always rooted in shame, but hopelessness. the knowledge that this was something you could never really have. it took years to deconstruct, the same way it took ilya years to be brave enough to chase after something he really wanted.
now, Iād like to talk about the concept of ādutyā that i introduced earlier some more. for this section, queerness and ilyaās personal trauma will overlap.
in russian culture, the concept of ādutyā doesnāt simply involve your family. it involves your entire being ā your duty as a citizen of russia, your devotion to the country, to the collective entity. an example of it is the scene at the end of episode 1, where grigori tells ilya to āapologise to russiaā after losing his game. iāve seen quite a lot of people say that this moment was exaggerated, but once again, i regret to inform you it is a very common phrase. because of the concept of duty that overlaps our entire lives, our personal failures are deemed as overarching disappointments to the country. we are not good enough to serve it, therefore we should apologise to it.
this abstract concept of duty affects multiple areas of ilyaās life. he feels obligated to keep giving money to alexei, because it is his duty to provide for his family. iāve seen many reactors be confused as to why ilya was even entertaining him, but this is the piece of context they were missing. it is unthinkable to cut him off. youād be betraying yourself, more than anything. ilya unquestioningly obeys his father (at least in his presence) because of the same sense of duty. he avoids his feelings for shane out of the same sense of duty ā he couldnāt possibly leave russia to be with shane. heād be betraying himself and his duty.
in episode 5, when shane attempts to have an open discussion about their feelings for each other, ilya is dismissive. he doesnāt want to be, but he sees no other way to go about it ā duty, hopelessness and fear are all crushing him. shane, however, is able to reach through to him and ilya allows himself to be vulnerable. this marks the definite shift in their relationship, because shaneās love and gentleness overpower, if temporarily, every cultural bias poisoning ilyaās life and preventing him from reaching for his own happiness.
the scene of grigoriās funeral that comes later in the same episode cements that shift and is absolutely masterful. there is a lingering shot of grigoriās numerous medals, from ilyaās POV. the medals are a very clear representation of duty, and now, with the man supposed to be wearing them gone, the duty is as well. this allows ilya to consider never coming back to russia, because there is no longer any duty to uphold. alexeiās behaviour later on only drives him further to cut ties ā the abstract duty has lost its meaning and no longer holds weight for ilya. he can pursue something he really wants, even if heās terrified. svetlanaās reassurance also helps this a lot.
i donāt think ilya was genuinely considering committing to shane then and there. after all, you canāt just shed years of your upbringing in one day. but the seeds are all planted in that scene, and masterfully so.
ilyaās russian monologue to shane is my favourite scene in the whole show. Iāve written about it before on this blog, saying how the composition of the shot reminded me a lot of the subway station tunnels near my home in moscow. heās encased by walls covered in graffiti, laying his heart out in what is essentially a box made of concrete. the overhead lights are reddish in tint (theyāre usually bright clinical white), painting the scene with a sense of danger and tension. ilya can only confess his feelings to shane in a language he doesnāt understand because he is still scared and has little hope. he looks out at the scrap of city in the distance before gathering his courage to even say it in russian and we see a brief flare of a police carās siren ā doing this is still incredibly dangerous. but he goes through with it. other things ilya says in this monologue also directly correlate with my previous points ā he talks about his duty for his family choking him, draining him. he gave them everything, like he was supposed to, but there was never any gratitude, never any warmth. because there wasnāt supposed to be. he feels guilt for betraying his duty by not being able to take care of his father on his deathbed. and it kills him. he wishes things were different. he wishes for genuine connection. but it was never going to be found there. that feeling, i know all too wellā¦an incredible, character-defining scene for ilya. I cry every time I see it.
in the finale, ilyaās character development is incredibly cathartic and powerful. I cried (again) when I heard him confess first, whispering āya tebya lyublyuā into shaneās skin. for context, āi love youā is not something we say very often. i donāt remember my parents saying it to me much, if at all. āi love youā is reserved for extreme situations. it must have taken such strength of character for ilya to say it then and it hit me really hard. ultimately, what made him be able to express his genuine feelings was shane talking about plans for the future ā together ā something ilya previously thought impossible. hearing and seeing shane be willing to commit to him must have been so grand. did I already say i sobbed my eyes out for this?
in conclusion, i absolutely adore the way ilyaās character was portrayed in the show. his cultural background was respected and directly influenced his characterās choices. his conflict with his family was layered, complex and realistic. i really saw myself in him. he wasnāt at all a caricature. he had tangible growth and was able to leave behind the harmful biases of post-soviet culture. iāve already seen a couple of people in the russian fandom express gratitude and satisfaction with ilyaās portrayal, and i couldnāt agree more. i didnāt expect it at all, but it was masterfully done.
if anyone has further questions, please leave them in the comments, i will gladly answer.
tagging you bc u said u wanted to read about it @torntrianglesleeves @two4dashow @voidcrumbs
Okay I donāt know if anyone has talked about this and if any Black, biracial, or multiracial Russians have talked about this, please send me their way.
Can I just say that svetlana being Black biracial in the tv show heated rivalry actually adds a lot of depth to her relationship with and relation to Ilya?
Svetlana in the books is white, beautiful, wealthy, and the daughter of a famous goalkeeper who has social status in Russia. As a result, Svetlana has enjoyed a fair amount of privilege and probably does not relate as well to the complicated relationship that Ilya has to Russia. Thatās not to say she canāt be a good friend to Ilya but that she doesnāt quite get the level of social isolation that being queer in Russia mightāve come with for Ilya.
But being a Black biracial girl growing up in Russia? Oh, tv show Svetlana knows ball. Yes, sheās still technically straight in canon (as far as we know), but she does know a thing or two about experience discrimination and social isolation in Russia, even if it isnāt to the level of persecution queer people experience.
She likely had a father that, at best, struggled to understand his daughterās experience of racism and, at worst, actively denied them or antagonized her about them.
Russia has an incredibly small Black population and many of them have reported various types of racism. Black professional athletes that have played seasons in Russia have described the racism they experienced and Brittney Griner is one of the most notable examples of that (intersected with sexism and specifically lesbophobia).
Race and sexuality are (obviously) not a 1 to 1 comparison but they both heavily influence how people see the world and especially how they experience life in Russia.
And Svetlana has the specific experience of growing up wealthy and being wealthy in predominantly white spaces has a whole other stratosphere to the ways you experience racism and discrimination.
Svetlana can understand what itās like when a country belongs to you but you donāt belong to it because of something about yourself you canāt control or change. She knows what itās like to experience systemic prejudice in Russia and what itās like to struggle with internalized prejudice because of it.
Like itās not the same but it gives her so much more perspective than book Svetlana
And frankly I think thatās why tv show recognizes Shane and Ilya and book Svetlana never does.
ever since i finished heated rivalry i canāt stop thinking about ilya confessing his love to shane in russian over the phone.
the way that scene was composed gave me an awfully familiar, terrifying feeling of tension.
it was beautiful and heartfelt, but it was also scary.
iāve lived in moscow for six years. a strange place. it almost feels like itās constantly looming over you, crowding you against the walls. you walk fast. you look over your shoulder constantly. you donāt smile at strangers. you squeeze your keys tightly in the pocket of your winter coat.
seeing ilya crouching down, enclosed by walls covered in graffiti, bathed in reddish light and looking out at the dark, snowy scrap of city outside reminded me so much of myself.
there used to be a subway station right next to my house in moscow. it looked almost the same ā defiled by graffiti, lit by flickering, old lamps. iād have to cross the passage to get on the other side of the street and i remember hating it. i could never explain why, but i always felt uneasy walking through it. i would quicken my pace, heartbeat jittery, just to reach the air and noise outside again.
seeing ilya sitting there, pouring his heart out, i felt the tension running through me again. the need to say the important things weighing on your heart, but fearing you would be overheard. that constant paranoia of someone finding out youāre gay. painfully familiar to me.
the monologue was also written perfectly and connor storrieās performance was show-stopping. as a native speaker, i could tell how much work he put into handling the russian language well. all the pauses were in the right places. the choice of words was perfect. it felt so realā¦the desperation in it, the longing, the fear.
i would love to talk about how what he actually says in the monologue perfectly captures the cultural dilemma ilyaās up against and how relatable it all was to me as someone who grew up surrounded by that culture, but i feel iād have to make another post.
i havenāt been to moscow in many years, will likely never return again. but seeing this scene in the show, it brought me back there temporarily. not necessary for a good feeling, not even nostalgia. just back to a part of me that is long gone.
I rewatched the Sochi scenes from 1.02, and I was thinking about the differences between Shane and Sasha.
We see very little of Sasha and heās coked up the whole time. He may be nicer when heās sober. At any rate, Svetlana is still talking to him in 2016, so clearly she sees something in her old friend. But from everything we see of Sasha in 2014, heās a charismatic asshole with poor sexual boundaries.
At 15 or 16 Ilya probably thought bad boy Sasha was hot as hell. Iām sure they partied and drank and did drugs together, as well as the sex. But by 22, Ilya has adult responsibilities. His fatherās dementia is becoming very obvious, his only sibling is an active addict, and his stepmother seems barely present. He also has financial responsibilities towards his family (even though theyāre assholes), and he has to worry about contracts, endorsements, and other grownup things.
Heās captain of Russiaās failing national team and also a young captain of the emerging Boston team. And he has to worry about the leagueās drug testing policy. Theyāre probably looking more for performance enhancers like steroids, but Iām sure their tests will also pick up party drugs. Plus, thereās Alexei, as a warning of what can happen to people who use drugs too often.
Sasha is probably still in university in Paris, studying and partying on his daddyās money. He is also presumably 22 going on 23, but heās at a radically different stage in life from Ilya. And they donāt seem to have very much in common any longer beyond a shared sexual interest in men.
Sasha is interested in rekindling that old flame, and it probably would be safe for Ilya. Svetlana presumably booked the hotel suite, so neither of their names would be involved. As long as theyāre not seen leaving the suite too close together, theyāre probably fine. Iām sure teenage Ilya and Sasha had riskier hookups back in the day.
But Ilya isnāt currently interested in drowning his sorrows in drugs and hedonistic sex with an old flame. His public profile is also much higher than it was when he was in high school. Sasha is a fairly anonymous rich kid, but for Ilya as a public figure, getting caught would have significant consequences.
Especially in the wake of the humiliating Olympic defeat, for which Putin and Co would likely be delighted to have a ādeviantā scapegoat. Ilya is gradually learning adult restraint. At least when it comes to risks he doesnāt desperately want to take. Heās turning down an easy opportunity to get laid with someone he doesnāt like much anymore, getting pickier as well as more careful.
And then thereās the Shane factor (speaking of risks Ilya actually wants to take). Yeah, Ilya blew him off at the figure skating, for both their safety. But he must be remembering shaneās clear concern for his well-being as well as his obliviousness about how to survive as a public figure in a totalitarian surveillance state. Well, Shaneās Canadian. He doesnāt get it.
Ilya looks at Shaneās last text like a lifeline as Sasha feels him up. I donāt think Sasha measures up to those words on a screen. Heās probably a good lay, but he doesnāt really care about Ilya or Ilyaās problems. If he did, he wouldnāt be groping him when Ilya is so clearly not in the mood. I mean, granted, Sasha does take the hint and leave eventually, so heās not evil. But he leaves with a parting shot at how boring Ilya is compared to the old days. Presumably Sashaās ego is stung.
Shane is a genuinely nice person. He cares about Ilyaās well-being in Sochi even though Ilya is a national rival, and Russia crashing out makes Canadaās route to gold easier. And even though Ilya is just a casual hookup at this point, not someone heās SUPPOSED to be worrying about.
Sending that text when Russia crashed out was stupid, in a surveillance state. But it was a kind gesture all the same. Shane is a generally kind, caring person, and Ilya hasnāt had a whole lot of experience with people who worry about him. Apparently itās attractive.
When Ilya rejected him on the rooftop in Vegas in 2011, Shane was drunk, similar to Sasha. And yeah, he originally shouted, when he thought Ilya was hiding on the rooftop because he was humiliated over losing Rookie of the Year to Shane. But he got over that, even drunk, once Ilya told him that wasnāt what he was upset about. Even though Ilya yelled as he told him.
And Shane didnāt react the way Sasha did to rejection. He was disappointed they werenāt going to hook up, probably after chasing Ilya all over the hotel much of the night. But he still tried to end the season and conversation on a positive note, offering Ilya good luck and a handshake. In comparison to coked-up Sasha, drunk Shane is positively gracious.
Iām sure Sasha was good in bed. But in Shane, Ilya has someone who is good in bed, AND makes him laugh, AND is a fundamentally decent human being who cares about other people. Even his casual hookups. Ilya is running from the feelings heās developing for Shane, but he still re-reads their old texts like a lifeline. At probably the lowest point in Ilyaās adult life so far, Shane is a comfort to him (without knowing it).
So no, he doesnāt want Sasha. He could forget his troubles for a little while with an easy orgasm helped along with alcohol an maybe drugs. But Ilya chooses a more difficult route. Heās getting pickier about his hookups, the people he chooses to hang out with, and the risks he chooses to take.
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Iām thinking about how Ilya always calls Shane boring.
I think for Ilya, boring really means stable and safe. Things he hasnāt really had in his own life since his mother died. Iām sure Svetlana was a very supportive friend, but there was only so much she could do. Shane is an oasis of stability and safety in Ilyaās otherwise chaotic life.
Shane isnāt impulsive, heās cautious, heās reasonable, heās thoughtful. All āboringā traits, but the good kind of boring. And yet somehow he still wants to be with moody, impulsive, emotionally messy Ilya. And not only puts up with Ilya, but cherishes him.
Plus, I think Ilya probably mentally labelled Shane as āhot but boringā at their first meeting. When 17 year old Shane politely introduced himself and said he didnāt think Ilya was allowed to smoke there. From early on in their hookup history, Ilya was calling Shane boring. While moving heaven and earth to hook up with this boring guy (coming up with the idea for the joint commercial, etc).
Old habits die hard. By 1.06 Ilya has just turned 26, and still thinks Shane is damn hot. But he continues to tease Shane about being boring because itās kind of their thing. And because to him, deep down, boring means safe.
You can anchor your heart to boring, and it will never come adrift.
Something that makes the little rat in my brain incredible energised is any fic or post talking about Ilyas' perspective on giving and taking in any scenario, but especially his relationship with Shane.
Like, we KNOW his trauma with his family into adulthood is massively centred around the way they extort him for his money and resources. They expect him to always give more than what he has, financially and emotionally, and treat it as less than the bare minimum. In fact, I can see it being internalised in Ilya really severely that he will always be expected to give all of himself to his family, and never to get anything in return, because he's a bad, undeserving person.
SUPER fucked up and abusive obviously, but it does make me fucking feral to imagine how that mindset impacts Ilya's dynamic with Shane.
Like, he views every bit of affection from Shane as something he's 'taking' from him, and in Ilya's mind he doesn't deserve to take ANYTHING, let alone from someone as precious to him as Shane, so all he can do is try to give something in return to try and make it worth it.
Specifically the tunameltdown- everything about that day was Ilya giving Shane everything he could think of as a way to ask for more from Shane.
Providing and cooking very specific food, making his own home comfortable and accommodating, safe small talk in an area Shane is confident in, and of course, the sex.
Everything Ilya asks for in that scene, he directly compensates with something he can provide in return.
I get a chance to spend time with you and hear your voice -> I will let you talk my ear off about hockey and engage your beautiful little mind with is as much as you'd like
I want to be domestic with you and have the experience of waking up after sex with you and then cooking for you -> I will fuck you so good you pass out and then make you food you're comfortable with, prepared quickly so it won't take long enough to bother you
etc,etc all throughout that day (and all of their other interactions.)
I don't think Ilya ever allows himself to consider maybe Shane isn't just putting up with all of the affection and sneaky soft little moments Ilya 'takes' from him.
Butttt maybe he lets his guard down by the tuna melt day. He's being so careful and he's so rigidly planned this day, but it's all gone well and Ilya feels so safe and relaxed in Shane's presence that sometimes he forgets that he has to earn his place there.
And so, when "Shane" slips through his lips, he has a moment of blinding terror, because fuck what is he supposed to trade for that moment of blatent affection and want? Shane didn't fucking sign up for that, and he needs to find something to justify Shane staying, needs to make his stupid clinginess worth it.
But then Shane finishes with "Ilya" on his tongue, and for a moment Ilya is so relieved, because maybe that's its own kind of trade? Maybe Shane felt the same way-?
And then Shane tells him it's too much and he has to leave, and Ilya is fucking gutted, because this is exactly what he deserves. He asked for too much like the selfish man he is, asked for love without providing anything to make loving him worth it.
--
And so, when Shane texts him again a few days after the tunameltdown, making some benign small talk about hockey, Ilya is so relieved he could fucking choke on it.
He swears to his mama and whatever God that may or may not listening, that he's learned his lesson this time, and he will never ask for anything from Shane again.
He will give and give but he would never ask, as long as he could convince Shane to keep coming into his orbit. He would make it so uniquely, devastatingly hospitable for Shane, and never ask anything of him so he would never want to leave it.
So he replies to the text, doesn't let the terrified, frantic way he checks over every letter be noticeable on the other side. He needs to make his reply perfect.
He makes this reply funny and engaging and likeable -> Shane will want to text him again.
[little does he know that Shane is fucking HAUNTED with regret after leaving, and so has decided to try and earn back Ilya's trust and affection, and is feeling increasingly confused and discouraged by the fact that even though Ilya always responds enthusiastically, since tunameltdown he has never been the first to text, and never been the one to initiate any flirting or sexting, and he doesn't know how he's supposed to fix it]
And so the saw trap continues....
....does anyone have a fic like this.....
Not this scenario specifically, but just this dynamic between hollanov because it fucking AWAKENS something within me, it makes me absolutely mental lmao
So, I was thinking about aThe Long Game and Ilyaās very muted reaction to the video leak. When Hayden fesses up, Shane is freaking out. And heās expecting Ilya to yell at Hayden for blowing up their lives. But instead Ilya forgives him almost immediately. Even though he and Hayden have never gotten along, and even though it could put him in danger (since he doesnāt yet have Canadian citizenship).
It seemed weird, but then I thought about it some more. And realized why Ilya is so quick to forgive a man he dislikes for a piece of monumental carelessness:
1. ā They were already planning to come out after playoffs ended for both teams and get married in July. The video leak in March just moves the existing timeline up by a few months.
2. ā Ilya spends most of The Long Game wishing he could proclaim his relationship with Shane from the rooftops. Heās sick of hiding. The WAY it comes out is a fucking disaster, but actually being out as the man Shane loves is something he wants. Psychologically, heās already made peace with the fact that heāll never see his motherās grave again and could run into passport problems in future.
3. ā He knows his teammates and management will be supportive, because Troy Barrett just came out to them last month. Totally different situation from Shane, where his teammates and management already know heās gay and refuse to ever talk about it (except for Hayden and JJ).
