Shane being so quick to forgive Hayden for the video that lead to him being outed i.e. his worst nightmare coming true is baffing. It baffles me so much and its one of the many things i wish were handled differently or with more care in the books.
Tell me how Shane was able to forgive his best friend for a betrayal of such a scope? You see, if Hayden did it maliciously with the intent to hurt Shane it would be horrible but also easier for Shane to just cut ties and never speak to him again, stay angry.
But the fact of it is that Hayden was incredibly fucking stupid - what the fuck do you mean you do not check your videos? EVER? How is that possible? Have you not been media trained? Not to mention that Hayden knows how important it is to Shane that his relationship with Ilya is not public knowledge because it could be the end of their careers or at least lead to severe consequences. All of which Shane must have told him about multiple times. How is Hayden such a careless brainless friend that he not only films where both of them could walk into frame at any time but then not even check? Its the lack of forethought and keeping his friend in mind to not do it.
Outing can be/is incredibly traumatic and will inevitably put you in danger. There is a reason why so many of us were in the closet or remain there. Both Ilya and Shane had multiple serious reasons why they wanted to keep their relationship secret and come out on their own terms. Being outed by someone close to you, let alone your best friend, is such a betrayal, no matter how it happens.
It does not sound realistic that Shane would be okay so quickly. He would have complicated feelings about it. He would take time to process what happened and that it was Hayden who did it - yes, he was not the one to leak it but he was the careless person who sent a video without double checking.
I do feel like the books gloss over this quickly to get to their happy ending. And yes, in the end it worked out for them because that is one of the rules of romance but realistically? It would not be something that just blows over in 2 weeks. We have seen moments where it was not good. Shane lost his team, both got threatened by the fucking commissioner. But after a few weeks all is well because Shane is gonna be a Centaur and all is forgotten.
And i feel like it ties back to portraying the closet as this horrible place to be, where it’s all about denial and misery. And once you are out, that’s when you are finally happy.
Do not get me wrong, living an out and proud life comes with a lot of joys but it’s also dangerous. Remaining in the closet is not a weakness or a failure to live your truth and embrace yourself. It does not mean you are ashamed of yourself. People have so many reasons as to why they remain closeted and vilifying the closet is never going to be helpful to the queer community.
Shane should have gotten the opportunity to mourn the things he lost by being outed; he should get to feel all the anger and rage about this. He should be mad at Hayden and the rest of the team for treating him so badly. Hayden should not have been forgiven so easily. Was he there when things got ugly with the team? Yeah, but that is what a best friend should do. And he was also doing it because he felt guilty.
Do not come at me and tell me that Hayden is a good friend when he not only had a hand in one of the shittiest moments of Shane’s life but he also continues to hate on Shane’s boyfriend as if his input into his love life is needed. As if Shane is not a grown ass man capable of finding a partner that loves him and respects him. As if Ilya has to prove himself worthy of Shane.. this man shows who he is privately all the time but Hayden refuses to see it because rather than admitting he might have been wrong, he clings to all the bad rep Ilya has that is part of a public persona because it serves him more.
You cannot claim to be protective of your friend and only wanting to best for them and then turning around and have a hand in their outing…
