although he had his parents love in every step of the way, shane had to cope with his neurodivergence and the development of ocd (and eventually an ed) as a person of color (with an overprotective mother who feared the world would neglect her son), hyper-focused on having absolute control over every aspect of his life, particularly in hockey (an environment that fosters racism and homophobia around every corner, leading to a repressed young gay man with internalized homophobia).. meanwhile, ilya was born and raised in a homophobic country, in a home tyrannized by an abusive father, with a depressed mother who took her own life in the wake of one abuse after another, with her 12-year-old son being the one to find her lifeless body, he moved to a different country where he could pursue a career in smth he was good at and valued, while having to take care of his abusive father when the man no longer knew who he was or what he had done (and what a privilege that son of a bitch had) and having to take care of his older brother… and yet, even though they came from two different backgrounds and were deeply entrenched in a homophobic, racist, misogynistic environment, shane and ilya found a way to love each other deeply since they were 17 and chose each other again. and again. and again

“Connor Storrie with Sabrina Carpenter at last night's 6th Annual Academy Museum Gala”