And one thing I learned in school, and still try to apply to my own writing, and still prefer to see in the fiction I consume, is when a character’s flaws aren’t random, but simply the inevitable consequence of their core neutral characteristics taken to an extreme, because that’s usually how it works in real life.
So with Shane, right, on its own I can get behind the idea of like, here’s this character whose hockey career means everything to him, and so because his hockey career means so much to him, sometimes he is so focused on hockey he loses sight of other things, or doesn’t notice other things, like his boyfriend’s depression. In fact, I even like that, because it’s very validating to me as someone with depression.
If this was all there was to it, I would like this being one of Shane’s flaws. It’s realistic. It works. It makes for a good story.
But the problem is, firstly, that Shane does notice Ilya’s depression. He’s the one who suggests Ilya go to therapy. He tells Ilya he’ll support him no matter what - and I gotta tell you, when I read this, I was like, idk Reid. Idk if the same character who can’t hold in a lecture about how smoking is unhealthy with a guy he’s hooked up with like twice is gonna suddenly be like “I’ll support you either way” when that guy is now the love of his life and there’s suicide on the line like. Sorry but I think Shane would be on Ilya’s ass about therapy personally, and this is coming from someone who fucking hates therapy so you know how much more flawed that would make Shane to me in my eyes.
So that’s one thing, right, that already throws a wrench in what could have been a solid choice in character flaw for Shane. But then there’s the fact that what he’s actually losing sight of instead of Ilya’s depression is everything Ilya’s “sacrificed” for him, and to begin with, Ilya transferred to Ottawa for himself as much as Shane, supposedly to get a Canadian passport eventually, even though the word passport is not used once in tlg. Shane didn’t have the choice to transfer closer to him either, since he wasn’t a free agent. Ottawa was more or less as close as Ilya could physically move to Shane, since Montreal couldn’t afford him, and Ilya did want to be closer to Shane. And, both hr and tlg relies on the premise that because of them being queer and rivals, they can’t just go public. They need a fifty step 10-year plan. This is something that was presented as unavoidable in hr, and something both characters agreed with. And Ilya is still Russian, and in theory, all the reasons he couldn’t come out in HR should still exist. So that’s already going to make it hard for me to take Ilya’s sudden need to come out seriously, or to validate it as a central conflict. But then, do you really expect me to believe Shane somehow lost sight of that? It is so absurd. I don’t think anyone on earth is so dense they could lose sight of the same ten-year plan they came up with because they were desperate to find a way to be with the love of their life. I don’t think anyone on earth is going to lose sight of that ten-year plan when that same ten-year plan is as unfair to you as it is to your boyfriend. To suggest Shane loses sight of everything Ilya has “sacrificed” for him when Ilya only had to make those “sacrifices” because they’re queer and rivals which affects Shane as much as Ilya and has already been killing Shane for years is just so insane. What do you mean he was “happy as can be”? How can you even say that?
So that’s the second wrench, right. But then, somehow, that’s not it, because it’s not quite accurate to suggest hockey alone is making Shane “lose sight” of things, is it? Because the specific thing Shane is being framed as oblivious for is him not realizing Ilya wants to come out, and him being unwilling to go public with their relationship. It is already something fucking else to act like a queer character is oblivious or selfish for not wanting to go public with their queer relationship on its own, but then when you look at everything both he and Ilya stand to possibly lose, and Ilya is actually in theory in a much more dangerous position than Shane? Is he actually losing sight of fucking anything, or possibly, is he actually quite aware of everything lmao like?
So again, this isn’t really about having a problem with the flaws she chose and suggesting so is reductive. Like, look at this. How can anyone defend this.
