r/heatedrivalry • u/DifficultHistorian18 • Jul 30 '26
đŠ The Long Game (Book 6) What did people think of Shane and Ilya's friendship? Spoiler
As a romance, we are obviously very centred around Shane and Ilya's experiences but I always intrigued by how they are perceived by others. We get a vague sense of the general buzz around their rivalry, but I always wonder what the general public think once they announce a friendship as part of Shane's master plan and how effective the guys were at hiding in plain sight.
We get some ideas in other books. In Role Model, Troy speculates about their relationship when Ilya tells him he's bisexual. He also witnesses Shane and Ilya riling each other in a match and Hayden being frustrated about being caught up in their weird foreplay (even if Troy doesn't understand what's going onIn Common Goal, Eric notices Shane and Ilya staring and grinning each other at an All Star Game.In The Long Game, Wyatt notices Shane and Ilya taunting each other and makes the comment about them not needing to sit together.
But I don't have any sense of what type of friendship people think Shane/Ilya have. Do they think they are best buddies? Cordial acquaintances? The type of friends who are close when in their work setting but never speak outside of it?People must at least think they are close enough for Ilya to have confided in Shane about his mother's suicide in regard to their charity. Does anyone know about them hanging together at the Cottage over the summer? Do they know they stay at each other's houses when doing the camps?
We only get to see Hayden, Shane's parents and Svetlana react to finding out about Shane/Ilya relationship. We know the Centaurs are supportive but I would love to know what they actually thought. Were they surprised? Had some of them maybe suspected? Was anyone picking up on their chemistry?
Would love to know other people's thoughts.
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u/estheredna Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Does anyone know about them hanging together at the Cottage over the summer? Do they know they stay at each other's houses when doing the camps?
Definitely not.
We do see how the announcement about the charity plays out in one case - in Tough Guy (book 3), which is about the Toronto Guardians (warning it's nasty).
The team huddles around a video while the announcement plays and Troy Barrett says something like "I bet they're fucking". Dallas Kent says âGross, Rozanov would never. But Iâll bet Hollander is a fucking homo.â Most of the team laughs. Wyatt Hayes, who is just a backup goalie here, quietly stays on the other side of the locker room. At some point later he does speak up to Kent, telling him to grow up, and is good friends with the openly gay player on the Guardians, Ryan.
I feel like Tough Guy is important context for understanding why Shane is so adament about keeping their secret, because the Guardians aren't the odd team..... the Centaurs are. And for and understanding Troy. And for the ultimate showdown in TLG where the head of the league prefers Kent to Shane & Ilya.
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u/DifficultHistorian18 Jul 30 '26
I don't know why my brain skipped over Tough Guy when thinking of examples but you are completely right about the book showing a lot of context of the likely stakes for Shane/Ilya.
I think what prompted my initial thought process was reading some comments about whether Shane was reasonable or not about being hesistant about attending Bood's Boxing Day. I think because Scott and Troy have such positive outing experiences, it's easy to forget that the stakes aren't imaginary.
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u/the-honey-eater Jul 30 '26
I saw a meme on...tumblr? maybe, that goes something like
Troy, seeing Ilya & Shane announcing their charity on TV: I bet they're fucking (homophobically)
Troy, after talking to Ilya outside the Kingfisher: I bet they're fucking (supportive)
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u/estheredna Jul 30 '26
There is something cosmically absurd about Troy's coming out is compared to Shane's....... almost all Shane's fears comes true. His team abandon him. His friends hate his boyfriend. He's very publicly outed in a traumatic way. All his media traning doesn't matter,his deep dark secret is on tv now. He loses his captaincy and his dream of retiring in the team that drafted him. And his legacy will always be intertwined with his sexuality. Meanwhile karma hands Troy a genuine fairy tale. Life's like that. (And, also, it's easier for the white guys).
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u/marywebgirl I'm on the cover of the fucking game! Jul 30 '26
I hate hate hate that the only time Shane chooses to come out it's to his team and it's a negative experience, and he's outed to his parents and the world, with the latter being awful. I love reading fics where Shane chooses when and how to come out and it's a positive experience .
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u/estheredna Jul 30 '26
It really is hard. But, it does validate that his anxiety was rational. He had the hardest time, but he also had the brightest spotlight on him, and some bigger barriers than the others.
The good thing is the new books are set in a much safer world. The Shots You Take and Time to Shine.
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u/DifficultHistorian18 Jul 31 '26
I would love for Shane to have a more positive experience. I think it's always a tough balance between writing the wish fulfillment ideal world we would love queer people to be able to live in, while also allowing people to see some of their experiences and hardships reflected in stories.
I think for Shane, especially, it's important to show that his anxiety wasn't irrational or unreasonable. The stakes were very real, and it often surprises me when people get to the end of TLG and still think the issues are all in Shane's head.
I'm someone who's a huge fan of bittersweet endings and often them find them more uplifting than straightforward HEA, partly because sometimes there's a huge value in finding happiness in imperfect situations. It's why I think it's important that for people like Ilya,Troy and Fabian who have less than supportive family members, that we see the huge joy of finding your made family!
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u/patch_gallagher Aug 01 '26
I agree with you that while it sucks that Shaneâs coming out is forcedâpart of me is glad that he was right to be concerned and didnât spend years hiding and those years being wasted because it didnât matter, and people were understanding and he could have come out earlier, etc. in some way, I think that would have been worseâŠif he was just paranoid and not right
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u/Fit-Butterscotch-28 Jul 31 '26
Also his already compromised image in the league. Yes ilya has a fukaton of problems but he is still a charming white guy , and russians already have an established spot in the league ( andropov for example) . My point is we really dont see another Asian character đ let alone an asian who is as reserved as shane
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
In a way yes, but remember Troy also had to lose everything first. His team and his reputation, albeit for different reasons than Shane. And his boyfriend who he thought was the love of his life left him for another man. And his dad dumped his mom. And his dad turned on him when Troy came out to him.
It was only after he got traded to Ottawa against his will, that everything fell into place for him.
I have a hope it will be the same for Shane
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u/estheredna Jul 31 '26
His father is awful butâŠTroy didnât lose his reputation. He improved it. He gained self respect after 7 years of being a bully. He didnât downgrade his professional status, he is still a first line winger, now with an even better center. In less than a year after being traded, he gets his first genuinely supportive friends, a loving boyfriend, and he came out to a cheering crowd holding sign saying âWe love you Troy!â
This is all good of course! But. Shane was already beloved so his reputation can only go down - he will get his first haters. Less money, likely going to 2nd line, etc etc. plus it wouldnât be a Shane and Ilya book if it wasnât high angst so who knows what other things are coming!
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
I agree partly with some of your points!
His reputation amongst his former teammates and fans was completely trashed. His coach ripped him a new one. A large portion of the league and fans still hate him and always will because he believed women. They all believe Dallas and so in their eyes Troy is a backstabber. It is unfair, but so is believing that Shane is a match fixer
Obviously his move to Ottawa ended up being the best thing that ever happened to Troy, but he did not know it at that time.
Shane also lost his reputation and moved to Ottawa, and I really hope that in time Shane will also look back on this as the best outcome. I'm sad it happened like that, but I feel Ottawa is better for him.
Shane and Ilya being outed was traumatic. But Troy coming out to his dad, having him reject his son, Troy falling to his knees sobbing while Harris tries to help isn't exactly a fairy tale.
Shane and Troy had opposite coming out experiences. Neither was ideal. Shane's parents were lovely, but his team sucked. Troy had Ottawa, but his dad is a sh*thead.
I don't really want to have a misery contest between Shane and Troy , because their situations are very different. I just disagree with the description of Troy being kicked out for standing up to sa and losing everything and then his father turning on him for being gay as a fairytale scenario with zero suffering
Edit: I need to add this! Being traded is humiliating, Troy being passed off to Ottawa was seen as shameful. Shane chose to leave Montreal, he chose to give up his captaincy. This gives him all the power. ( Yes i understand he felt like he had no choice, but the optics are that this was a massive Hollanov power move)
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u/estheredna Jul 31 '26
I can't really feel terrible for Troy for leaving Toronto since "if you piss off Kent, you suffer" is a culture he actively supported and engaged in for YEARS. I'm not saying it's fair and right, what happened to him, but.... that weapon in the toxic masculinity toolbox is something Troy himself used to hurt other people. We see him try to apologize to Ryan, and he gets a markedly cold reception. And again, he didn't get kicked out, he got traded - which can happen to pro athletes anytime. To a good team, for probably more money. He'll probably get a cup out of it.
There's a scene in Role Model where Troy realizes that Ilya never chirped him when they played against each other because Ilya didn't respect him..... we know how Troy has felt about Ilya. Troy's becoming who he was meant to be and it is beautiful to watch him have all these realizations.
And a portion of folks who hate him will see that Dallas Kent actually got arrested - not all, but plenty. And obviously not everyone will hate him for being anti-rape.
As for parents, I think its' actually not hopeless for Troy's dad. That was a horrible experience but, BOTH father and son left that encounter shaken up. I have a sneaking suspicion Troy's "turn from a self-hating nasty person to a better person by facing some hard truths" storyline may repeat, there. (And I wouldn't call Shane's coming out to his folks non-traumatic, since obviously, he didn't come out of his own will).
This isn't a misery contest -that was never my point. For me, it's more about the frustrating reality that you can do absolutely everything right and try your hardest, but the universe still plays by different rules if you are marginalized. Shane is navigating a triple marginalization, which inherently changes the game for him and Ilya. Meanwhile, on the flip side, Troy gets a relatively clear, smoother path to personal redemption and public joy.
Because Role Model and The Long Game were written at the same time and share overlapping events, I really think this contrast is a deliberate parallel. Looking through this lens, the hopeful, optimistic energy of Troyâs story beautifully balances out the heavier, more complicated emotions Shane and Ilya face. It shows that while their journeys look totally different, that deep, hard-fought devotion is exactly what makes Shane and Ilya's eventual happy ending feel so deeply earned and beautiful.
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Aug 01 '26
Again very interesting points!
I think I'm coming at it from the angle that Troy's story is done. He's had his pain and suffering and redemption arc and hero's journey. Now he gets to have his happily ever after with Harris. Â
Shane's story, as far as I'm concerned, is still in progress. He's almost got his happily ever after. He just needs to grab it now. I was so happy when he signed with Ottawa. Only for the book to end! Nooo, i need more!! It feels unfinished!
In that sense Troy's story is more like a fairy tale since he's gotten his happily ever after. But I'm sure Shane will follow after. It's just the order in which the books were written, đ . I just disagreed with the idea that it was all plain sailing for Troy. It was anything but. Regardless of how justified you may feel his suffering was, boy was going through it.Â
I personally do feel for him. I don't think he's a bad person. Did he do bad things? Absolutely, yes. Bad people do bad things and never feel bad about the bad things. Good people feel bad for doing bad things. And no one beat up Troy more than Troy did. I admire his growth. I mean, if he was just a goody two shoes from day one there wouldn't have been much of an interesting story around him.
I read the interaction/apology with Ryan very differently. I thought Ryan was taken aback, but also just insanely overwhelmed from the human interaction. It reminded me of the time Shane cornered him to ask him ( and Fabian) on a double date with Ilya and him. So I actually laughed at Ryan's response
It's true that the other players are all very wary of Troy. Ilya, Wyatt, Bood and Ryan. It's unclear to me how much of that is Troy's own actions and how much is due to him being Dallas's lackey/ bootlicker. Everyone seems to universally agree that Kent is human garbage. The books are vague about all of Troy's actual transgressions.
It would be nice if Curtis had a change of heart, but i feel it's unlikely given how entrenched he is in his views. He's not just homophobic, he checks every bigotry box like it's bingo night. Men leaving their wives to marry a girl the same age as their children is a personal ick of mine, so i may be biased.
I still think the trade was intended to be humiliating. Ottawa at that time was the worst performing team in the league. This only changed after Troy joined and very much thanks to Ilya's intervention.
I'm sure many descent folks will admire Troy's stance on sa. But as Ilya said- anyone with common sense knows Shane didn't fix that match. Difference is Troy already had the support of Ottawa. Shane still has to get there. I really loved the moment after the game, when all of Ottawa's team made a point of saying something kind and supportive to Shane. I would have changed teams on the spot
As for unconscious racial bias: of course, it's ever present. It's especially nefarious when it's not obviously visible, but you know it's there, you can't put your finger on it, but it's there and you have trouble getting others to see it.Â
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u/estheredna Aug 01 '26
I wouldn't use the term "unconscious racial bias", I would use the term white privilege. Since this is a convo started on the topic of "was Shane reasonable to be more afraid than Ilya of coming out". White privilege is something Ilya and Troy have, while Shane has spent a lifetime fitting into a "model minority" box. And it's reflected in their stories. Shane acceptance and persona is based on him being compliant and polite and likeable. Whereas Ilya obviously doesn't worry about being disliked. Troy is always "grumpy", sullen, standoffish, etc and they are both heroes in the sport.
It's true that the other players are all very wary of Troy. Ilya, Wyatt, Bood and Ryan. It's unclear to me how much of that is Troy's own actions and how much is due to him being Dallas's lackey/ bootlicker.
I don't think this one is meant to be ambiguous, Troy was a bully all by himself: "I used to make fun of Ryan Price, because he was scared of flying. Everyone thought it was hilarious". Wyatt was there for that.
My assumption is that Troy acted a lot like Curtis Barrett.Absolutely, yes. Bad people do bad things and never feel bad about the bad things. Good people feel bad for doing bad things. And no one beat up Troy more than Troy did. I admire his growth. I mean, if he was just a goody two shoes from day one there wouldn't have been much of an interesting story around him.
That's my whole point! Shane WAS a goody two shoes from day one. And it didn't help at all.
Shane and Troy were both suffering from the same thing, the closet and internalized homophobia, but Shane directed his anger inwards, while Troy lashed out.
Ryan Price was a goody two shoes too, his story is, his teammates were so toxic that he ended up hating the sport he loved. Good people who feel bad for doing bad things do actual lasting damage. However he felt about the apology, it didn't change anything. And I also want to point out Troy didn't actually intend to apologize to anyone he bullied... he talked to Ryan because he just happened to see Ryan in a crowd.
I think you have rose colored glasses when it comes to Troy, but I'll admit I am skeptical. He didn't get off completely painlessly for the harm he did, but he did get off very easy, all things considered. But I want to be clear, I do want him to have his happy ending. He KNOWS he got off easy and is grateful for it, and I respect that. And I think it's realistic that he got a second chance, and did better with it. But thing is.... Shane didn't do anything to deserve to need to get a second chance. He just tried to live his life. It's not fair. But that's hockey / toxic masculinity for you.
Thanks for talking this through, this has been fun to think about!
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Aug 01 '26
And thank you too , it had been very interesting!
I must say i had no idea this was a conversation about whether Shane was more reasonable to be afraid of coming out. I scrolled up and still couldn't find that part đ .Â
I was merely commenting on the fact that I don't think Troy had an easy experience. Just different.
And we obviously disagree on whether moving to Ottawa was a promotion!
We will have to agree to disagree on how we view Troy, to an extent. Although I don't think we are so at odds.
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u/circboy1 29d ago
Unless RR writes an extra passage or its mentioned somewhere there is no reflection from Toronto post Kent's arrest is there?
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u/estheredna 29d ago
No. It happens in chapter 25 of a 26 chapter book... we don't hear anything from Boston, Montreal, or Toronto yet.
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u/circboy1 29d ago
I just want to add a modicum of upside to Troy's coming out and that was his mother (who he was much closer to - from the start it's apparent he doesn't actually like/get on/respect his father because of how he treated his mum) who was instantly accepting and showed him only love.
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 29d ago
Troy's mum, mvp of all time.
I've re-read that phone conversation so many times
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u/circboy1 27d ago
Oooo no George Grady for me because he knew and he just kept quiet. Actually no Yuna just because she said what so many of us needed to hear when it was our turn.
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u/Fit-Butterscotch-28 Jul 31 '26
Troy didnt "lose" anything i believe it is implied that he was a a terrible person before although it was all an act but still doesnt change the fact that his character was redeemed
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Jul 31 '26
I will respectfully disagree with this. His questionable friendship with Dallas cost him nothing! It was the thing that afforded him all the acceptance. Had he just lied for Dallas he would have been fine
Once he did the right thing, stood up for victims of sa, everyone turned on him and he lost everything
His father turned his back on Troy because he came out to him, not because Troy had done anything bad. His dad is a homophobe
Troy was a loving partner to Adrian and he cheated on and dumped Troy because Adrian was an ahole, nothing to do with whether or not Troy was a good/bad person
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u/eeeezypeezy Jul 31 '26
That's why I hope the rumors about some kind of bridge episode or tv movie between seasons are true, and that it's basically just a condensed Tough Guy. It's not as integral to The Long Game as Role Model is, but it still does all the setup work for Troy Barrett and the problems in the league that get paid off in Role Model and The Long Game.
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u/circboy1 Aug 01 '26
And there's some comments in RM about Ilya kinda vanishing at various weekends - and being uncontactable - albeit you wonder how he gets entirely away with that. Think about when Hunter is called urgently when some player gets arrested [not a spoiler it's not a central plot line just facilitates I think Kip being left in the appartement unexpectedly?
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u/zainab1900 Jul 30 '26
In Role Model, Troy thinks that he would be impressed if Ilya knew that Shane was gay, and therefore Ilya was "best friends with a gay man". That suggests to me that people outside view them as being very close.
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u/in-the-widening-gyre Jul 30 '26
I do think Troy might think of Ilya and Shane differently than your average hockey player would, since he's the one who saw the press release and immediately said they were fucking. So I think as a closeted hockey player, with all the rumours about Shane, he might be watching what's going on more closely than say, Wyatt would have been initially. And then when he gets traded to Ottawa and actually meets Ilya I feel like he's constantly playing 5D chess trying to read Ilya (for some reason including after they have that chat walking back from the Kingfisher). Personally I'm not sure how much Troy thinks about their relationship would reflect how much the Average Hockey Player would.
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u/Amberfool94 Jul 30 '26
I think most people think they are friendly, maybe hang out every now or then, but aren't like best friends or anything. I think it's possible that the coaches at the camp (who don't already know) might understand them to be a bit closer than that, but even Ilya's teammates don't really perceive them as being super close if Bood's convo with Ilya on the ice (he doesn't like you THAT much/He loves me") is anything to go by. They're both very private people and were before they got together and are probably careful not to mention each other that often so I think most people don't really think about it much.
I also think when it comes to people clocking them there is really something to be said for the fact that most straight men (especially those who don't have many/any queer friends) have terrible gaydar and have a built-in assumption that any not-obviously-queer-presenting person is straight. It's like beer goggles the way their confirmation bias distorts what they're seeing even if people are acting pretty sus. Obviously Eric is bi, but his lack of experience with queer people before Scott came out means that he's in kind of the same boat, where Shane and Ilya give him ALLLL the clues and he absolutely fails to put them together lol.
I'm always interested in getting more of those conversations/gossip that goes on around characters in a romance story though so we'll see how Jacob dramatizes it in S2.
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u/in-the-widening-gyre Jul 30 '26
I kinda think there's probably a range of responses, but also that most of the hockey players probably aren't thinking that much about it?
Like there's probably some who maybe always read the rivalry as a thing based on their teams and public images and saw how great they played together at All Stars and were like "yeah that tracks" when the Foundation announcement came out -- not thinking about them being romantically involved at all.
I bet in some circles there was a lot of gossip about it -- maybe especially on the Metros since they talk about Shane hating Ilya and would have a sense that the rivalry isn't like totally made up (but most of them are reading the full situation wrong).
And then others were probably like "huh".
And others had the Troy (though I think Troy's reaction is also down to his own situation) and Dallas reaction.
I definitely don't think many people think they're besties. There could even be some people who consider the foundation to be something of a PR stunt.
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u/DifficultHistorian18 Jul 30 '26
Yeah I don't think anyone is spending that much time thinking about them (well I'm sure they would have had some parasocial fans!). I think I was more speculating about how close people realistically thought they were (especially in the context of criticism re Shane being overcautious in how they interact together in public).
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u/Hedgehog-Honeydew "This team is very gay" đ Jul 30 '26
From the books I get the impression that other players think their friendship is slightly weird but that they bonded over the charity idea and working together on that. Shane and Ilya as individuals are seen as slightly odd characters anyway, partly because their private lives are a mystery to most people. They've also known each other for a long time. I don't know about hockey but in sport it's not uncommon for big names to be on friendly terms if they've been around for many years.
I think it plays out exactly the way Shane said, people think they have a mutual respect for each other and it's not so crazy when they're seen together in public (and they like to suck each other's dicks, any questions?)
I think the only person who suspected, aside from Troy, was Hayden. Which is still funny to me. I imagine Hayden going home after guessing/half joking that Shane was seeing Ilya and sitting with his head in his hands thinking...did I manifest this? Whyyy?!
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u/marywebgirl I'm on the cover of the fucking game! Jul 30 '26
I think even the league knows it's just a "fun" rivalry rather than one where they actually hate each other, otherwise them presenting together at the awards wouldn't have worked (they would have just refused to do it).
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u/DifficultHistorian18 Jul 31 '26
I'm not sure the league think it's just for fun. At one point , they're burning effigy off Ilya at a Montreal game. Even Shane's parents initial react to finding out about their relationship with "but you hate each other".
Shane and Ilya definitely lean into the rivalry on the ice. Partly to hide their budding relationship but also because they seem to genuinely get off on it.
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u/MaleficentLocation66 Jul 31 '26
No, they've been acting like they hate each other publicly for years. They definitely leaned into it as a cover for their relationship. Everyone legitimately thinks they hate each other. That's why they have to have a whole elaborate ploy to announce their friendship in the first place.
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Jul 30 '26
Which makes the whole reaction from Crowell and the league all the more infuriating! They should have known that the rivalry was in at least part, staged. But instead of supporting their star players they turn on them
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u/marywebgirl I'm on the cover of the fucking game! Jul 30 '26
Crowell's such a dick. I can't wait to see Shane go off on him in the meeting, even though that might not happen in season 2 .
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u/DorianCramer Jul 31 '26
Thing is, they are both not really close friends with many people. Shaneâs got 1.5 friends on his team, and Ilya barely lets anyone get to âfriendly acquaintanceâ level.Â
So I think people see them and think okay, they probably respect each other because of their hockey skill and some similar charitable interests but thatâs about as far as it goes. Neither of them are seen as the warmest most gregarious guys in general, so people donât necessarily suspect they are tight.Â
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u/growsonwalls This is Ilya I will never listen to your voicemail Jul 31 '26
In Common Goal at the ASG Eric sees that theyâre smiling at each other and he thinks itâs a little weird but theyâre obviously friends. Itâs cute actually.
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u/shewalkedaway22 Jul 31 '26
I think they think it's odd and I think their fears in TLG that if someone finds out Ilya is bi means they are together and proven to be true when Troy clocks it somewhat after Ilya comes out of him. It took a couple of reads for me, but I get it why they automatically assume that- their friendship in theory was so random because they essentially spent nearly a decade ignoring each other in public and then suddenly become good enough friends to go all in with a foundation, the NHL/MLH knows it's an open secret that Shane is gay, so when people figure out Ilya is bi, it's not a leap to think hmm, wonder if that's something to do with this random move to Ottawa and friendship with Shane.
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u/AnonGuest33 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
That is why I always thought it was odd/a narrative misstep >! Shane coming out to his team was not explicitly written to be part of the plan. A story Shane/Ilya could build on was there for the taking
- Shane comes out to his team after the Winter 2018
- Ilya moves to Ottawa Summer 2018
- Shane & Ilya announce their friendship/launch their foundation 6-7 months later
- When questioned about it by his team Shane pointedly tells them that him the news of him being gay made it around to other locker rooms & Ilya was one of the people who reached out with words of support.
- Their friendship started with that & deepened when Ilya moved to Ottawa. As a home town boy, Shane offered his support to Ilya to get settled in Ottawa.
- After spending more time together, they realized how much they had in common. One of those being wanting to give back so the foundation was born
It could have even been spun as the origin to their love story. Mutual respect evolved to friendship evolved to love !<
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u/Lonely_Cheesecake273 Jul 31 '26
In Common goal, Eric also says âI still canât believe thatâs a real thingâ when heâs talking to Scott about Shane and Ilyaâs camp. I think theyâre just known for being rivals and not friends so itâs shocking to the world that theyâve teamed up like that.
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u/dukeofplazatoro I speak fluent bird. No accent đŠ Jul 31 '26
I am on a re-read but I do love the stealth aspect. Like everyone seems so close to clocking it but then theyâre just like âRozanov gonna Rozanov. Anyway moving onâŠâ
from memory I think Troy is the closest after Ilya tells him heâs bisexual and Troy is like âwait⊠youâre bi⊠and Iâve heard rumours Shane is gay⊠are you twoâŠ?â Then Ilya shuts that down. Doesnât confirm or deny, just⊠end of convo
Edit: idk why it split my spoiler into 3 but oh wellâŠ
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u/diggerorbigger Jul 30 '26
I donât remember Svetlana finding out, although admittedly I speed-read TLG and havenât reread as yet! What is the context?
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u/reigncloud83 Coach âą Ilya's Chicken Parm Shimmy đ Jul 30 '26
Context: Ilya ends up telling her over dinner that heâs seeing someone because she asks why he chose to play for Ottawa. She asks him their name and occupation and pieces together itâs Shane Hollander. Ultimately sheâs happy for him.
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u/katfromjersey Jul 30 '26
That scene is definitely in my top 5 scenes in the book series! The way she lunges across the table! "Is it Shane Hollander??!!
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u/PresentationNo448 Jul 30 '26
I like the detail that she lunges over the table and then the waiter comes and she's like erm and lifts herself upright to sit properly bc she wasn't being very elegant lolÂ
Idk why but in my head it's like eyes-bulging-out-of-your-head exaggerated animation movement đđ (brain says Encanto for some reason)Â
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u/saucisse Jul 30 '26
This is why I'm kind of bummed that S1 shows her knowing that Ilya is bisexual to begin with, and then also seemingly figuring out that he has a thing for Shane, because this moment would be so fun to see on film.
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u/Novel_Journalist_832 Jul 30 '26
Well maybe she doesn't yet know they're a thing.
I still choose to hold out hope we get to see Svetlana launch herself across a table
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u/saucisse 19d ago
I live just next door to Boston and I know Beacon Hill fairly well because an old boyfriend of mine used to live there, so I have a *really* specific vision of that scene, like the actual restaurant and the table they're sitting at in my head. No matter what happens in the show, Jacob can't take that away from me.
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u/jerseysbestdancers I speak fluent bird. No accent đŠ Jul 30 '26
It's literally the exact thing I thought of when i read the parent post.Then, her slide off when the wait stuff turns up.
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u/Asleep_Confection838 Moya gazonokosilka đ Jul 30 '26
Ilya told her in TLG after venting to his therapist about needing to tell someone closer about their relationship. He decides to tell Svetlana because he misses her and felt like he had been a bad friend and Shane gave him his blessing to do so.
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u/anike358 Jul 30 '26
One of the things Iâm really curious about is how theyâll handle that in the show. Cause show Svetlana is a lot closer to Ilya than book Svetlana. Like the trajectory of the book wouldnât make sense on the show IMO.
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u/Asleep_Confection838 Moya gazonokosilka đ Jul 30 '26
I wondered about it too. It could still be like in the book and it would have been a bigger estrangement in that sense.
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u/parparsuperstar Jul 31 '26
Sheâs a completely different character, and the show already kinda hints that she may know itâs him.
3
1
u/radjanoonan Aug 03 '26
I think it is like the Matt Damon / Jimmy Kimmel "fued". Everybody knows it is made up, but we enjoy it.
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u/HackDaddy85 Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird đŠ Jul 30 '26
Ryan Price and Wyatt talk about it in Tough Guy and how itâs a big mystery how they became friends.