[barbie-verse]

zane boodram if you can hear me please come save me from these white men

[cos-ine]

praying they don’t officially cast the cen’s side characters so my headcanons about black lapointe, long curly haired holmberg, and asian young can remain valid

[gingeralevodka]

It's so funny how so many fans hate tlg and basically hate hated rivalry and think they are better writers than Rachel yet they have never tried to publish anything. Please, do write your own story and let's see if it will resonate with millions of people.

I don’t think you need to be a writer to criticize writing. And just because something is commercially successful doesn’t mean people can find faults with it. I don’t think you have to be a writer to realize huge issues like an important plot point (Russia) disappearing mid series for no reason.

I think it’s evident that Rachel Reid gives fans a basis for their imagination and the show a foundation for further exploration. Millions of people are resonating with stuff that’s not actually written by her. And I’d say a lot more people resonate with the show than Rachel Reid’s books and the parts they resonate with aren’t always in HR or TLG. People get pulled in by the premises, interesting issues complex queer POC characters that are done well, and they feel disappointed when it’s not in TLG. With the show being as successfully as it is, I don’t think it’s fair to say that people are resonating with just her work. The writer/director, actors, musicians, and everyone else who worked on the show deserve recognition as well.

I’ve also seen tons of fanon that becomes so common place that it almost looks like canon, like #protective Ilya Rozanov, “Ilya Rozanov could never say no to Shane Hollander”, and none of that is written by her.

I’ve always recognized that it’s OK for people to like the HR/TLG they have in their own heads. Or maybe you can just sit and enjoy the books. But there are people with mental health issues, queer people, POC who see these issues done poorly and it’s important not to silence these voices. Sure, tons of people resonate with her books. Some people have also been straight up traumatized. I think they deserve to be heard too.

I also think Rachel Reid is her own worst enemy and has created more “haters” every time she comments on her work. Readers tend to interpret things they see in a favorable manner if left to their own devices. Sometimes in lit class, I wondered if the writer really meant anything significant by making the house white or something. We didn’t know and it became a stroke of genius in people’s eyes. For example, I wondered if the depiction of Shane’s eating and other characters’ response represented how orthorexia is minimized and under recognized in our society. Then she commented on the topic in an ignorant and scientifically incorrect way. People may have interpreted TLG as a bittersweet ending and that would be way more palatable than seeing it as a happy ending.

[barbie-verse]

I just realized that if Troy was casted with a POC actor, it absolutely would have broken people’s brains.

All the Troy-haters asking, “Wait but he’s racist???”

No. No, he is not. He is literally not. He was just really homophobic and an asshole because he was hiding deep in the closet and was surrounded by other assholes.

It would have been awesome if Troy was a POC because then all the Troy-haters would have hopefully been stunned to silence.

So having Justice Smith as Harris is a delight (his smile is literal sunshine) and also a “fuck you” to the Troy-haters.

I genuinely don't understand where the idea of troy being racist came from, nor why it spread so far into fanon. and I've definitely seen a lot of instances where people hide behind "things troy would have said" to make their own racist comments to the poc characters. and while I WISH troy had been cast as a poc, I still hope harris being cast as one will quiet a lot of that, but who knows

also you're right, justice smiths smile is like sunshine and im looking forward to what he does with harris (and what charlie does with troy!)

[smokingrozanov]

I would watch Justice Smith read out the instructions on how to fold a pizza box at a minimum wage job. So I’m not mad at all about the casting but I am grieving fat Harris in my mind palace. I contain multitudes

[nicolegendary]

not my lane at all but can i just. may i just ✋ can i just say. troy and dallas are characters there to represent the very real issues of homophobia and misogyny and bigotry in the very hetero toxic-masculine hockey culture. but hockey culture is also very very white. as much as the books are happy to tackle homophobia and misogyny, they largely (entirely?) dodge addressing or acknowledging racism. (i don't think it's even in the book that troy and dallas were also racist - even though anyone could infer they would be.) and it seems like the show is more interested in tackling that (like adding in those several lines acknowledging racism re: shane - yes it was minimal, but just adding them in showed a lot more interest in the issue than the books ever did). so in terms of addressing and facing those issues head on, i do think it's more interesting and effective for troy to meet and like and connect with not just someone unabashedly queer but to also have it be someone non-white

[softgnome]

Personally I do think that sometimes non-hockey fans can end up mischaracterizing Shane and Ilya because they don't know enough about hockey/hockey playstyles

The Ilya we see in Heated rivalry would not be throwing the first punch, he's not an enforcer. Ilya is a star center and a Pest. He wouldn't be doing his job correctly if he was punching players every other game, it would end up with not enough ice time to let him be the playmaker he's paid to be.

But being a pest can be playmaking! Find a player to bait, emotionally push them just enough that they try to fight you, and then get the fuck out of there before the ref gives you both penalties. This gets your team the power play. There is probably someone on Ilya's line dedicated to helping him get out of the fights he starts, and finishing them for him!

I also think this is also something that Shane would respect. Ilya is good at it and it's a good strategy for his team. I don't think Shane would see it as some dirty tactic, because Shane probably thinks everyone with a brain can see it for what it is! He probably thinks everyone should be able to see that being an asshole is a tactic for Ilya, that it's something to ignore and not fall for, that it's a strategy and not personal beef.

I think Shane's more disappointed when a Metro falls for it. Shane sees it as Ilya set up a Looney Toons ass obvious trap and one of his teammates ran into it. Why be mad at Bugs Bunny when you can be mad at your defenceman for falling for a fucking Bugs Bunny trap.

[bighairedbitch]

I am already a little worried for when the actual Season 2 casting gets announced because I think a lot of people have completely convinced themselves certain characters look a specific way, and I can already see the disappointment posts coming.

A lot of fandom seems to have collectively decided Harris is fat, but if you actually go back and read the books, he’s not really described that way. Rachel literally posted the model she based Harris on, and he’s more of a slightly pudgy guy. And honestly, standing next to a bunch of professional athletes, “slightly pudgy” is going to look even more noticeable. That’s very different from what a lot of people seem to be picturing.

And then there’s Bood. A lot of people fancast him as 100% Black. As a Black woman, I want to be very clear that I have absolutely no problem with that. But I’ve always assumed Bood was probably Indo-Trinidadian because of the last name Boodram. Maybe he’s mixed Afro-Trinidadian and Indo-Trinidadian, maybe not, but I’ve never understood where the certainty that he’s just Black came from.

It feels like fandom has spent so much time looking at fanart and fancasts that people have started treating those interpretations as canon.

And look, maybe I’ll be completely wrong. Scott Hunter is a 28-year-old blond guy in the books and look what happened there. Svetlana isn’t biracial in the books. Adaptations are allowed to make changes. They may very well do their own thing with Harris, Bood, Troy, Wyatt, or anyone else. Maybe Harris will end up being fat. Maybe Bood will be played by a Black actor. If that happens, I’ll be a happy camper.

I just think some people are setting themselves up for disappointment because they’re expecting casting choices based on fandom headcanons rather than what’s actually in the books. And when the announcements finally drop, I can already see people acting shocked when the actors don’t match the versions they’ve had in their heads for these past couple months.

(Also, I kind of feel bad for whoever gets cast as Troy Barrett and Wyatt Hayes at this point. Now that it’s been confirmed that Jack Innanen had to turn down a role, I’ve seen so many people talking about how they wanted him for one of those parts that whoever actually gets cast is probably going to be compared to him immediately. (Even though I think Jack didn’t really fit either character that well.))

[bighairedbitch]

Okay now I didn’t expect him to be fat but I didn’t expect him to be skinny either LOL. I love that hes black tho I’m conflicted LOL

[tothecottage]

my only request for the troy barrett casting is he needs to have a vacant haunted look in his eyes. like glassy very pale eyes and dark brown hair. maybe mousy brown. prince in a locked tower vibes but instead of opulent locked tower à la ilya it's abandoned and dusty and smells like mildew

[tothecottage]

oh wow

[perlukafarinn]

One of the rookies on the Centaurs asking the guys on the team for advice on this girl he's been trying to date. He can't tell if she likes him and is just nervous about taking it to the next level, or if she's trying to let him down easy and he hasn't been able to pick up on it.

He doesn't get much useful advice and soon the guys are arguing about how long you can pursue someone before it starts getting pathetic. Holmberg is at one end of the spectrum at two weeks ("We're rich professional athletes, man, we shouldn't have to try that hard.") and Wyatt Hayes is on the other at three months ("Maybe she likes you but just doesn't want the WAG lifestyle. You need to prove to her that you see her as a person with her own goals separate from yours.")

Then someone notices that Ilya, despite his wealth of experience, hasn't chimed in yet and asks, "What do you think, Cap?"

"Two years."

The entire room goes still.

"What?"

"Two years," Ilya repeats, completely unashamed. "Is not pathetic to go for what you want. Not if you think they're worth it."

In sync, every person in the room turns to look at Shane, who's pretending to fiddle with the laces on his skates, looking pink-faced and vaguely pleased.

Finally, Holmberg turns to the rookie. "Okay, I guess two years is fine if it's Shane Hollander. Is your girl Shane Hollander?"

The poor rookie has no response to that. His girl is, indeed, not literally Shane Hollander.

"Man, gay people move different," LaPointe mutters.

"This is not a gay thing," Troy objects. "This is a Rozanov and Hollander thing."

[barbie-verse]

harris and troy casting news!! how do you feel???

as a fat harris and poc troy truther im in mourning. the things we could have had...

I had resigned myself to not getting poc troy, so that's not really a surprise, but I am disappointed that they went with a very skinny man for harris, who is canonically a little chubby. I think it would have been so important to have that representation and I wish they had made another choice, but I am glad they went with a person of colour at least? idk it feels a little like diversity bingo to say that

however, I do enjoy justice smiths performances and charlie in julie and the phantoms had a GRIP on me for a while so I'm not as mad as I could have been? idk it's weird. I don't think these two will be replacing brover in my mind the way hudcon have replaced hollanov, but I am also prepared to eat my words because they're both very talented and I'm sure they'll give a great performance even if they don't look the way I wanted

EDIT: just to say that even if they don't fit what I wanted I will be fighting for these boys and I hope they have really solid support systems because even though they're not as unknown as hudcon were, this fandom is insane

[hollandermfer]

it’s very sad but very dear to me that while ilya in the long game is very depressed and has absolutely zero self esteem and thinks of himself as the worst captain ever, in role model that is just demonstrably untrue. like. troy’s internal monologue about him is just how it’s crazy that he’s on the same team as him and that he’s so good at everything. harris is so happily confused about his antics. luca haas hero worships him. the rest of the team is obviously just incredibly fond of him. every time we catch a glimpse of him he’s being great with kids and dogs or is supporting his friends in some way. his speech and resolve is the entire motivation behind the centaurs making it to the playoffs. like! ilya rozanov i fear you will never know how loved you are

[cens-socmed-intern]

Everybody talking already about wanting to see Charlie Gillespie deliver sad boy hour and yes agreed, but I'm mostly exited to see him be a cunt, wanna see him calling Dallas Kent a fucking rapist and hit him with the "you sound like you wanna fuck my dad 🤢/now you sound like you wanna fuck me🤢🤮". I wanna see him shove the ref while bitching that it's not his fault Edm's goalie fucking sucks and can't stand on his feet. I wanna see him accidentally be a bitch to Harris, realize he's being a bitch, run away without explanation like a track star and come back a few hours later w starbucks and a badly explained apology, idk the guy has a bitchy face #ToMe and I can't wait

[shanesloverboy]

Oh yeah he's going to kill being a bitchy dramatic miserable little fuck.

[cos-ine]

my thoughts on justice smith playing harris:

1. extremely happy harris is black, never would I have pictured them doing that so I’m excited (I am disappointed that he’s light skin (which appears to be a running thing in the show…) but I still love it) 2. justice is a phenomenal actor that I believe will fit the role well and the statement said him and charlie were a great pairing 3. I am very aggravated that he’s not someone with a bigger build but I am for once in my life putting faith in a director because jacob has not wronged be before

[hyacinthsgareth]

headcanon that like his son, david hollander too can also stare at his partner with big doe eyes and get what he wants. it’s rare for ilya to see it but the first time he does he points aggressively and goes “YOU!!! is your fault i never win an argument!!!!” david just blinks while yuna nods solemnly and tells ilya that unfortunately shane learned from the best

[gaynehollander]

If there's one thing Shane is surprisingly knowledgable on it's beef in the rap and hip hop world because Ilya is Invested and takes Hard Sides and will just constantly bring it up at home.

Shane ends up being the one to explain the Drake vs. Kendrick feud to Hayden (who came into it cold when Not Like Us got huge). JJ started explaining it to him but, honestly, he was doing a bad job at it and Shane has heard Ilya rant about this for months now, every time there was a new development, so he takes over and Hayden and JJ both just stare at him in blank shock.

The veterans on the Centaurs ask Shane to explain the Cardi B trial because Ilya got too worked up over it and started speaking Russian when they asked him.

They watched the entire four-part documentary on Diddy that 50 Cent produced and Shane now gleefully tells people that 50 did an in-depth interview on ABC, specifically because that's one of the few channels shown in prisons (yes, Ilya made him watch the interview and cackled beside him the entire time).

During them watching that series, Shane asked Ilya "who's that?" when Biggie Smalls came up on screen for the first time. Shocked and appalled, Ilya played Shane Biggie and Tupac's entire catalogues and showed him several video essays covering the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry.

After that, "I've been in this game for years, it made me an animal It's rules to this shit, I wrote me a manual" from the Ten Crack Commandments becomes almost a stim line for Shane, he'll be saying it under his breath in the locker room, on the ice, or even while cooking dinner.