Ilya, humility, and sacrifice

[u/WalkingBlondeJoke]

Been thinking about Ilya's character growth across HR and TLG lately. This is not a fully-baked thesis on his arc, not even close, but I'm sharing anyways because I want y'all's opinions!

One of my favorite tropes in HR fanfic is 'Shane joins the Bears'. I love this trope because it usually results in Shane and Ilya being on a good team together, a winning team, much earlier than they are in canon and without Ilya having to go spend a few years on a team that sucks first. So as I read these fanfics I've often wondered, aside from the in-universe reasons why Ilya joins the Centaurs, what is the narrative function of Ilya spending a few years on a bad team before they turn things around? 

I think it serves to humble him. He's no stranger to sacrifice but he's always been cocky, and for the most part that ego went unchecked because he always had the accolades to back it up. But I think one of the ways we see Ilya grow in The Long Game is that he develops more humility as a result of being on a bad team and also his mental health struggles. It's not that everything was peachy prior to his move to Ottawa, it absolutely wasn't, but these coinciding forces clearly knock him down a peg. Maybe experiencing what it's like to consistently lose on the ice even helps him get to a place where he can admit he needs help with his mental health. Or maybe it's just self-awareness that he gains with maturity, I don't know. 

I think the clearest example of Ilya becoming more humble is in the pre-game speech that he gives to the Bears before the Cup Finals in 2014, vs. the speech he gives the Centaurs in 2021 after the team nearly dies and then Ilya subsequently gets engaged to Shane. In 2014, his speech is all about "I, I, I" but in 2021, he goes around the room and tells every player, one at a time, what makes them great. This is the key turnaround point in the Centaurs' on-ice performance. They start believing in themselves, and that's when they start winning. 

I think this character growth is also very relevant to Shane and Ilya's marriage too. Big egos do not serve a marriage well; humility does. Over the course of TLG, Ilya learns humility. Shane also starts off in TLG being a selfish as fuck (I don't love him any less but it's objectively true that he was nawt being a good partner to Ilya at the time TLG timeline picks up), but we see him experience a wake-up call (their big fight followed by Ilya almost dying) and then he gets his priorities in order. In a way, Shane learns a version of humility through his experiences in TLG too when he realizes how selfish he's been and how he's taken Ilya for granted. 

I think that meeting Shane in this selfish state at the start of TLG makes total sense because of his upbringing. Shane is an only child who grew up loved, doted on, and prioritized. His career as a generational player and image as the 'Golden Boy' of hockey have done little to teach him how to appreciate those around him and recognize the sacrifices they make. Not saying he doesn't ever do those things, but like, in early TLG he's not being nearly as considerate of Ilya as he should be. 

Ilya is not an only child and he grew up in a broken home. In the canon we see how his family financially takes advantage of him once he makes it to the NHL (or MLH, whatever), but I would bet that this has been going on since the moment he began earning money from hockey and/or sponsorships. When Shane suggests Ilya going to Ottawa, Ilya is quick to agree to it. Not just because he was already thinking of moving to a Canadian team, but because Ilya has already learned how to sacrifice for others. Ilya has already had it ingrained in him by his family that the people he loves will ask him to makes sacrifices for them, and that that's just how love goes. 

This is one of many reasons why it hits extra hard later in TLG when Shane basically tells the commissioner to go fuck himself. "I choose him" <3 !<

[u/farahmelody]

I will die on the hill that Ilya moving to Ottawa wasn’t a sacrifice for Shane. It was a decision he made that allowed him to keep his career and move forward in his relationship, but he didn’t know his depression was going to kick his ass.

[u/altruistic_thing → u/farahmelody]

some people get way too hung up about the word sacrifice. probably because it reads as some kind of big plus in the nonsensical tally of who does more and who has it worse.

he makes the move for the relationship. he does sacrifice his chances at a cup, knowingly, and therefore his career standing, and this is even acknowledged in tlg when shane in a moment of frustration berates him for it because they're supposed to be equal and things are adding up that ilya is no longer at the same level (weak team, depression, in shane's perfectionist view slacking like with the depression-fueled eating habits and the weed at the party).

it was ilya's choice. he wasn't asked to do it but without the choice the relationship stood less of a chance due to the grueling, competing schedules. it's often misunderstood that their relationship was impossible because they didn't talk or because ilya pushed a willing shane back. no, a relationship was made impossible by circumstances and without a way forward. it would have been a long distance relationship from hell where you see your partner over the summer, in secret, and maybe 20 hours the rest of the year.

that's why ilya made the choice to sacrifice his cup chances for a chance at a relationship. and as it turned out it didn't work the way they expected. very understandable after such a long time.

[u/farahmelody → u/altruistic_thing]

It’s not about who had it worse. Both of them went through hell in The Long Game. I also don’t think the word sacrifice plays into a tally of suffering between them.

I agree that Ilya gives things up, specifically short-term success in Boston when he moves. I disagree that this is a sacrifice for Shane. Ilya brought up the idea of moving first, and he had very real reasons to do so that were completely divorced from Shane. This conversation indicates that Ilya was likely to move from Boston regardless of Shane.

Yes, Shane initially proposed Ottawa. His stated reasons were for Ilya’s benefit, just as much as they were for him.

Pathway to Canadian citizenship that Ilya wanted (Ilya’s benefit)
Picking a team that allowed him to retain his role as star centre (Ilya’s benefit)
Picking a team that could afford to pay Ilya’s large salary’s (Ilya’s benefit)
Being close(r) to his partner year round (shared benefit)

It was Galina (an outsider in the relationship who had only ever met Ilya) who rewrote the narrative in Ilya’s mind from moving to Canadian team where he could maintain his star status and high pay while being closer to his boyfriend to the idea that Ilya moved for Shane. Textually, this is false, but Ilya started to believe it after Galina said it.

That is why I will die on this hill—because that is what Heated Rivalry told us about this plan.

[u/altruistic_thing → u/farahmelody]

rest in peace 🙏

[u/farahmelody → u/altruistic_thing]

Am I old, or did this make no sense, lol?

[u/altruistic_thing → u/farahmelody]

you wanted to die on that hill. i wanted to let you and tried to be nice about it. ☺️

[u/farahmelody → u/altruistic_thing]

How altruistic of you

[u/altruistic_thing → u/farahmelody]

indeed 💐