I want to once again point out that Ilya's incredibly close reading of Shane's physical tells, and his comprehensive understanding of exactly how to respond on a second-by-second basis to deescalate the situation, is the culmination his and Shane's sexual encounters.
This scene is only possible because of all the fucking they did.
This scene is the fulfillment of the narrative's promise that the sexual intimacy would blossom into emotional intimacy.
This specific type of non-sexual, but still very physical intimacy could not exist if these characters did not know each other's bodies inside and out. And they wouldn't now each other's bodies inside and out if they hadn't spent years exploring each other sexually.
Ilya knows Shane's anxiety so well, and exactly how to diffuse it.
He knows when Shane needs a firm dose of reality — "Time to wake up, yes?" He knows when distracting Shane from the situation with humor is a better option — "Maybe he didn't even notice." He knows when to apply gentle encouragement — "You're brave." He knows when to give Shane that, 'you've got to be kidding me' look he gave him right before they met Shane's parents, when Shane started overthinking again and told him to wait in the car.
Ilya learned all of that in the bedroom, sexually experimenting with Shane, figuring out each other's sexual boundaries, figuring out how to make Shane feel safe enough and comfortable enough to let Ilya put his dick in Shane's ass, figuring out how to make Shane feel confident enough to make his own demands in the bedroom and test out his own ideas for sex acts and positions they should try.
Every single sexual experience was a learning experience.
They both went to The University of Fucking Nasty, and now we are finally seeing their Master's Degrees in action. All of that intimate physical knowledge they have of each other is being put to use, to allow them to navigate this very emotionally fraught situation.
I'm saying all this because there are too many so-called-fans out there saying that that the show is good "in spite of" the sex and that the sex scenes were "unnecessary," and those people are missing the whole goddamn point of the show. They don't get it.
Shane and Ilya's relationship wouldn't exist and wouldn't function the way it functions if they hadn't spent years learning each other's physical quirks through sexual intimacy. Knowing how these character's fuck is actually essential to knowing who these characters are and how they relate to each other outside the bedroom. Their relationship outside the bedroom is informed by their relationship inside the bedroom and vice versa, and these two sides of their relationship can't exist without each other.
This show is a manifesto on why censorship is bad, why sexual stories are meaningful and important and need and deserve to be told.
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
gracieabrams
tangentwithtanner
discoholicmusic
origamiaround
izzy806
