Haha, once again, I can't help myself but want to write about today's discourse - RR's writing of Shane in TLG.
If you are following the meltdown on X, it is things like RR saying that Shane was selfish and he had to fix that or that his strict diet was just another detail for Ilya to poke fun at.
All of this creates the perception for some fans that RR "hates Shane" or that "he's written as the villain of TLG."
Now, I definitely feel that RR was more interested in Ilya than in Shane in TLG, this is objectively measurable by the number of new dynamics Ilya got to explore his different sides vs Shane who got no new dynamics. I also think some of Shane's selfishness is RR's need to create a conflict and not having the patience to build something natural (like I'm sorry, Shane saying that "it's not your mother" comment is so ooc when he's been nothing but sensitive about Ilya losing his mom and as if it wasn't Shane who suggested the entire Irina Foundation down to the naming).
But when I read the actual book - RR's comments aside - I did not feel that Shane was more selfish than Ilya or that he had a bigger fault in their miscommunication. I think there are two things that make Ilya more "likeable / relatable" in TLG to the fandom overall.
One, is that he gets more depth and development because we see new sides of him. Scenes with Galina explore his trauma and mental health, scenes with Troy show him as a good friend, scenes with the Centaurs explore his style as captain and leader, scenes with the puppies explore his adorable, playful side, etc.
Shane gets very little new exploration. His conflict is narrowed in TLG to be between hockey career and Ilya. The character tries to break out of this cage. RR unintendedly writes an ED for him. We see glimpses of his anxiety, control issues, the pressure he's under in Montreal. Enough to sense that there is more to Shane (even if it's unintended), but not enough to fully understand him.
The second issue is that Shane suffers the fate of a mind character in a romance book. RR's writing is built on fanfic tropes which are rooted in romance books. Shane has the hallmarks of a mind character: analytical, protective, rational, stable, peaceful. Ilya is obviously written as a heart character: he's passionate, impulsive, empathic, chaotic.
I think in the confines of a romance book, the heart character always comes across more as the hero because he's aligned to the ultimate goal of the narrative: the happily ever after. Romance is the highest goal there is.
Now, I personally think that both Shane's and Ilya's pov are valid and has a plethora of interesting things to play with. If it was a pure sports novel, Shane's mind character would be more aligned with the narrative goal - being the best athlete. His control, discipline, performance diet would all be seen as the hallmarks of his geatness. But in the romance angle, these are seen as weaknesses. In the same sports novel, Ilya's career move from Boston to Ottawa, his lower drive (comparatively to Shane), his less disciplined eating and drinking, his smoking would all be seen as weaknesses that create obstacles to reaching his full potential as a hockey player. In the framework of the romance book, it's seen as heroic sacrifices made at the altar of true love.
In the end, the important thing is that in a relationship, mind and heart characters are like yin-yang. They need to reach a balance where they each compensate for the other's weaknesses, but also can embrace the traits of the other character.
Shane, in the crucial scene where he stands up to Crowell to choose Ilya behaves like a heart character, heroically aligning himself with the goals of the romance. But he retains also his strengths as a mind character with how he records the meeting to protect both their careers.
I think in the end, the book is more than the author's intentions, and Shane is more complex than RR imagined him to be. Because even if "it's not that deep" and "it's just a gay hockey porn book", the building blocks are the tropes born out of thousands of stories that go well beyond Rachel's intentions or ability as a writer. And the interpretation is with us readers, who interact with the story through the filters of our own feelings and experiences, our own frameworks and the meanings we attach to the tropes represented.
shane has been deleting critical comments on his apology all day, and especially those targeting him for his inappropriate jokes about children (and the way he barely spoke about it in his video).
finding it difficult to believe he has genuinely changed.
I was at the live and man did I scream of joy when I saw Clint's name.
And I'm so confused on why you all want the cheating wizard, like seriously, Clint is just awkward and anxious, stuck all day inside and unhappy about being pushed by his father to do a job that isn't rewarding for him and yet, unlike the wizard once you raise his hearts he stops being rude (the same as Shane), and unlike the wizard he isn't a stuck-up ass.
And unlike what everyone and their mothers say he is neither an incel nor a creep (watch the cutscenes and read the dialogues instead of skipping them) it's the same problem as with Pierre and Demetrius and your glossing over their wives' flaws in favour of wanting to "save them" from their "horrible husbands" (even more confusing when it's Jody to get this treatment, like, what did Kent do to you?).
Also about the toenails dialogue at Ginger island, he just said that he hasn't clipped them (“Oh no… I forgot to clip my toenails.”), which I suppose just means that his nails are slightly long, but not dirty, on the other hand Shane literally tells you that his feet are so nasty that the crabs are enjoying a meal of toe cheese (“That's right… I'm not wearing any shoes or socks. Some call it a public health risk. The crabs seem to enjoy it, though.”), no hate on Shane, he's one of my favourite characters, but honestly I think his dialogue is nastier and no one seems to talk about it as much as Clint's toenails one.
Anyway, congrats to all the Clint fans (myself included) that will finally get more content of their shy and anxious blacksmith in the next update.
I think we don’t give enough credit to Shane and his relationship with the farmer, because it’s actually a way more uplifting plot line than just “I can fix him,” or whatever
I don’t believe Shane is/was a violent drunk. Yeah sure he can get a little aggressive sometimes, but never to the point where it’s dangerous. Pam on the other hand, almost definitely is. At least verbally. Penny my dear, I’m so sorry.
People boiling Shane down to just bum alcoholic guy with depression feels really weird to me. I swear some of you can’t handle when a depressed person is actually depressed and not just a hot twink using comedy to cope with his secret sad feelings 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
Shane starts with having NO interest in anything with life and with his arc he relearns how to love his life and interests. You guys are the worst towards the tamest depressed person in media. Just saying.
