Verushka70

Scott

I believe Scott would've been the one to struggle the most right in the beginning. 

Because he was the first to come out, and that wouldn't just have put a spotlight on him from the NHL. That would've also made him a very interesting figure to the queer community, and with that would've come expectations and scrutiny he probably hadn't expected because Scott was clearly only focused on how the NHL would react. 

This scrutiny from the queer community would've also meant that every mistake would've been judged harshly, and I think there would've been quite a few missteps in the beginning. Because we know Scott didn't spend any time in queer spaces outside of his summer trips to Europe--and even there, I don't think he'd have lingered much beyond finding someone to hook up with. With his fear of being outed, I also don't think he'd have dared to read or watch any kind of queer media, so most of the topics that are important to the queer community would've been completely foreign to Scott.

So he would have suddenly been the icon of a group of people he barely knew anything about. But he would've had Kip and Kip's friends, who all do know the ins and outs of the queer community. I think Kip and his friends would've guided Scott in that time, and explained all the things the public would just expect Scott to know. But it would still have been a long journey for Scott to become comfortable, and to move in queer spaces without feeling out of place, because the fear he lived with for years wouldn't just vanish after coming out.

But by the time we see Scott again in Common Goal I feel he is pretty comfortable with being part of the community, at least the parts he interacts with regularly. (Are there fics exploring that journey? I'm happy about recs in the comments!)

Ryan

Ryan, I think, would've had it the easiest to adjust to being part of the queer community. 

Mostly because he already seems to be on the fringes right at the beginning of his book. I don't remember if it's stated directly, but I got the feeling that when he sought out the queer village in Toronto to get an apartment, it wasn't the first time he chose that part of any town he was traded to for a home. But even then, between hockey and his anxiety and being forced to change towns at least every year, he'd not have a ton of experience there. I think he isn't any more uncomfortable in queer spaces than his anxiety makes him in all places in general, but his actual knowledge about queer culture might not be very deep.

But then he meets Fabian again, and meets Fabian's friends. And I got a little bit the impression that Fabian and his friends are the kind of people who are so deep in their own bubble that they like to forget there is a life outside of that bubble. They're also in the very deep end of the queer culture that has been used for a long time to vilify queer culture by the mainstream media (I made another post about that earlier today). And I think that would create a few stumbling blocks between Ryan and Fabian, and by that also create stumbling blocks for Ryan to find his place in the queer community.

By the time we see Fabian and Ryan in The Long Game, I think Ryan has clearly found his own place in the queer community.

Eric

I think Eric is pretty even with Ryan in having the least trouble with joining the queer community, but for different reasons. Eric is the only one of the queer hockey players we met who didn't spend years actively hiding and depriving himself of the things he wanted. He was married to a woman he loved for a long time, even happily. He knew he was bisexual all along, but it didn't really matter because he had his wife. He wasn't looking for a partner--male or female--anyway.

By the time Eric recognizes his marriage is at an end and comes to a point where he wants to explore his sexuality, he is in a very different place in his life than the rest of the characters. He is at the end of his career anyway, so there is nothing to lose there. He has also been at Scott's side for Scott's coming out and for Scott's journey of learning about the queer community. He and Scott are close friends, so I think Eric learned a lot alongside Scott, even in the years before he came out to anyone.

Which doesn't mean he won't struggle. Because he spent over two decades in a horribly homophobic environment, and that means he'll have to unlearn a lot of things. He'll have to overcome some knee-jerk reactions. But he is clearly willing to learn, and I think that's shown in much more than just him and Scott buying the Kingfisher (on Eric's part for Kyla, because clearly Scott and Eric are two peas in the same pot with finding expansive and extravagant gifts for their boyfriends). And again, he already has friends with Scott and Kip and at the end of his book also his boyfriend Kyle, who'll help him navigate that learning curve.

Troy

Troy is the one I have the most trouble getting a read on, to be honest. I think he'll struggle a lot, for internal and external reasons. We have seen that he is very self-critical and very aware of his past mistakes, and convinced himself he doesn't deserve anything good because of that (while still working to be better). I think that alone will make him hesitate to join queer spaces. And there is a lot of internalized homophobia, too, which clearly started very young with the kind of father he has.

I think if he joined online queer spaces with his real name, or even went to some offline queer spaces, he might also not get a very warm welcome (or a 'welcome' at all, rather than a 'fuck off'). For the same reason, we've seen controversy about him in fandom. There'll be people telling him to fuck off and that he did too little too late, that nothing will ever be enough to make amends for his past behaviour. Which will go right along with what he thinks about himself, so it won't be easy for Harris (and hopefully Troy's therapist! He needs one!) to convince him to ignore that kind of assholes.

But he also has Harris, who is very loud and proud, and who I think would also be very involved in the queer community in Ottawa. And who'd be happy to drag Troy around and show him off. I also think that Ilya would drag Troy along on his own journey in exploring queer culture, and Troy would go along with it for several reasons, even if he wasn't always comfortable with it.

Ilya

I believe Ilya would be the most excited to jump headfirst into exploring queer culture, especially the queer club scene. Probably not right away after getting outed, after getting married, after dealing with the backlash from the NHL and fans. But eventually, a couple of months or a year down the road, when everything has settled down a little, and when he (and Shane, because I know Shane will be supportive in any way he can) will have a little more of a handle on dealing with his depression.

And Ilya is the only one who I'm sure has previous experience with any kind of queer club scene, at least in the show, but probably also in the books. He is definitely the kind of guy who'd sneak into clubs when he was 15 and 16, even though technically he was too young. And from the clips I've seen of the conversation with Sasha in the show, I think that's where Ilya, Sasha and Svetlana spend a lot of time as teens. Back in the middle of the oughts, the queer community was thriving in the big cities like Moscow, too. (The law that would see Ilya prosecuted today was implemented in 2013!)

But Ilya has really lived a whole life since then. Being 15 and sneaking around while having to go home to a father who can't ever find out what you're up to is very different from being 30 and out and proud and having a safe home. And queer culture in the early oughts in Moscow would be very different from queer culture in the early 2020s in Canada. So while I think Ilya would be enthusiastic and pull Shane and Troy with him on the journey wherever he could (and he would be a little overwhelming and thoughtless with that concerning both Shane and Troy, we've already seen that in The Long Game), I think he'd still stumble over a lot of things, wouldn't always fit in those spaces and have a hard time to adjust to that. Especially in spaces outside of queer clubs.

Shane

I think Shane would have the most trouble with finding his own place in queer culture and the queer community. And not because any kind of disinterest (who thinks that should read chapter two in The Long Game again very closely, especially the part where the coaches are introduced to the kids!). But for his own intrinsic interests and comforts clashing with the expectation of queer culture.

Because how do we present our own community? Loudly, proudly, and colourful. And we have a lot of reasons for that. We need to shove our existence into people's faces so they will recognize us and hear us; that hasn't changed much in the past 55 and plus years. In a lot of places, we're of course much freer to celebrate during Pride events just as much as we're protesting for our rights during those, but by far not everywhere.

But Shane is the guy who doesn't really like to go to clubs. And he is the guy who built himself a cottage at a secluded lake to retreat to in his free time during summer, instead of taking vacations anywhere in the world where he wanted. Shane is uncomfortable with queer spaces in The Long Game, and of course, that's a lot about feeling that he needs to stay in the closet, but he won't just get over feeling that way just because he was outed. Getting over that is a process. We also know from canon that Shane is overwhelmed and even a little uncomfortable with the more colourful side of queer culture.

We see his thoughts when he meets Fabian for the first time in The Long Game. We see Shane remembering how he told himself when he was younger, "I'm not gay because I'm not like that kind of guy", which is a valid reaction that I know a lot of queer people had or have to deal with and have to overcome. It's one of many reasons why we fought so hard over the past decades to get better and broader representation of queer characters in media, after all. And I've seen that reaction turn around to "okay, I'm gay/queer, but I'm still not like that kind of guy, so how welcome am I really in this community?"

I think that's what Shane's biggest struggle would be. And I think Ilya wouldn't really help, because Ilya will be excited and all too ready to explore everything on offer, starting from the club scene all the way to experimenting with how he expresses himself. (Ilya is the one who happily painted his own nails and Arthur's nails to show all the Pike kids that, no, actually, it's okay for boys to have painted nails, too. While I really think that Shane is the kind of person who just doesn't get why anyone, men or women, would want to put anything on their nails. He is the guy who hired an interior designer and a stylist because he just doesn't care, after all.)

Harris will probably step into the void here and help Shane navigate that transition. Show him the quieter queer spaces where he won't stand out, wearing his usual comfortable clothes, where he can blend in and maybe find a couple of friends who just want to be who they are, just like Shane. And I think the aspect of feeling that they don't quite belong in queer spaces could also be a bonding moment for Troy and Shane.