Rin

Ilya gets pulled for a live post-game media scrum, and instead of being asked about the two goals he scored or how cohesively their team played that day, he gets asked the umpteenth question by some smarmy sports reporter about his and Shane’s relationship, with thinly-veiled jabs about how having two married queer players on their team must be bad for their locker room.

And Ilya loves being able to openly talk about Shane and their relationship, but he’s so sick of this offensive line of questioning. So instead he just makes his innocent-confused-puppydog face and replies in rapid-fire Russian. The reporter is thrown off and repeats his question, but Ilya just replies in Russian again, going on and on until the reporter gets flustered and gives up.

Later when the internet translates what he said, it’s something along the lines of, “I don’t understand such idiotic English questions, but if the sports reporter wants to ask questions about the sport he’s paid to report, I can answer those,” and then it’s just him praising his teammates on how well they’ve been playing.

But it is one thing to make a character selfish, and another to imply that what makes him selfish is not wanting to go public about his relationship that could ruin his career. To imply that what makes him selfish is not immediately knowing he would choose his boyfriend over his career, as if he should even have to choose.

Another to imply that he is self-centered for not being able to read his boyfriend’s mind. For not noticing everything his boyfriend “sacrificed” for him when his boyfriend is the one who wanted a Canadian passport, and when they had few if any other options, and when his boyfriend agreed to it, and never gave Shane any reason to believe he’d changed his mind.

Another to imply that he’s stupid for not telling his friend about Ilya, as if he didn’t have every reason to believe his friend would react poorly and as if there is some reason he’s obligated to tell his friend. And still another to imply he’s somehow so stupid he would see Ilya’s last words and think nothing more than “Huh. Weird,” which is cartoonishly extreme for one, but makes him look truly beyond uncaring.

Then still, on top of this, it is another thing to do ALL of this to make Shane flawed, while not going to the same extreme with any of your other characters, especially Shane’s love interest, whose greatest flaw is that “he’s too scared of getting hurt” ffs, and whose flaws are never highlighted by the narrative in the same way Shane’s are.

And then, still further, it is ANOTHER thing, to do this to one of your only characters of color and the character you have accepted every praise for making autistic, and worse yet, to conflate the very traits you claim make him autistic with the actions that you imply make him selfish, self-centered and stupid.

And then finally, it is still incredibly A N O T H E R thing to constantly mock him, and go out of your way to talk about how selfish, self-centered and stupid he is. Making your characters flawed is part of the job. Constantly delighting in mocking and insulting your autistic character of color in a way you don’t with any of your other characters IS NOT.

And all this to say it is also not just about defending Shane. In fact, when it comes down to it, it’s not about defending Shane at all. It is about all the fans of color and autistic fans who periodically have to see this white neurotypical woman calling her autistic character of color selfish, self-centered and stupid, and for things that in real life either don’t actually make you selfish, self-centered and stupid or are so unrealistic that no one in real life would even do them, such as going “Huh. Weird” to what are obviously blatantly undeniably someone’s dying fucking words.

'Ilya gets added to the WAG groupchat as Lily' fic

BUT...

At first it reads like just another fluffy 'all the WAGs are lovely future-allies who adore, respect and ogle Shane (as Ilya expects)' fic.

But gradually Ilya realises they're all micro-aggressively racist and ableist about Shane behind his back, deeply resent his position, talent, and fame and lack of interest in them, and clearly don't think of themselves as racist at all, etc. Extra casual homophobia in there too (not targeted at Shane but literally only because they don't know). And from context he can tell their bfs/husbands on the team are saying worse (except Jackie/Hayden, who aren't included).

And just. Slowburn of Ilya gaining insight into Shane's experience of daily racism and other things they've never talked about, what he's like around straight people, realising that team really doesn't deserve him, etc etc. Feeling anguish and rage over the horrible-person-POV of interactions with Shane where Shane was clearly really nice and had no idea what they were thinking.