Jacob with some spot-on Ilya character analysis (and general thoughts on sex-as-self)
It's Open With Ilana Glazer
I loved this interview, yayyy a gifset!!
I think this is something lost on the audience in the show that is explicitly implicit in the books.
Shane thinks Ilya is a sex god bc
1) he is "better at sex" than shane
2) shane up to this point hasn't had a successful and Very Good sexual experience. He literally says once Ilya dick is inside him that he "finally understands why people are sex- obsessed." It has clicked, and his brain says its because of ilya, not bc he is gay
3) ilya is a whore so that translates in shanes brain to very experienced, good at it, therefore sex god
They tease back and forth that ilya has ruined sex for shane bc no one else will do, and while shane is embarrassed by this, he agrees.
In TLG it comes out that ilya has maybe been with like 5-10 guys at most. Personally i think its the lower end of that. He specifically says that men are a "rare treat," implying that 1) its safer to pull women (he really is terrified of being outed and shipped back to russia), and 2) he only pulls men when he is missing shane so much he cant stand it.
Shane has canonically been with 3 men. Two pulls he didnt care for, and ilya. Again, in his mind, ilya is the key, but its not inherently bc of ilya's skill, its because of their crazy deep connection.
I LOVE that Jacob said this, because its not so explicit in the show. You get little tells (ilya's "wow" at Shane's desperation and automatic submission; his quick orgasms in ep1 - he is just as overwhelmed and turned on as shane is; his face the first time he fucks shane, especially when he goes in from behind) but in the end, ilya is so desperate to please shane and make it perfect that he just makes it happen out of sheer willpower. But the second he realizes shane is coming untouched under his he makes way too much noise, bites his lips to squash it (embarrased, wants to be more in control than that), and immediately comes. Its not inherent skill, its attention and the overwhelming desire to please, mixed with a little control freak energy and genuine exhilaration at Shane's automatic submission.
