Unrivalled Book Conflicts
I’ve been seeing some people online in different platforms talking about how feels like Unrivalled is unnecessary because they’re out and everyone knows they’re together so what kind of conflict would drive the story? I find this very strange because there is still so much to resolve between Shane and Ilya and in the world around them and all of that.
I’m sure that there’s a lot more but in my mind, these are the main things that come up as conflict that may or likely will need to be resolved before they can really have their happy ever after:
Living together - they’ve never lived together full-time, they’ve only really “played house” for a few days or weeks at a time. No matter how good your relationship is there’s always an adjustment period and always things to figure out when you start living together.
The NHL - Montreal isn’t going to forget their grudge against Shane now that he’s no longer on the team. The fans and the players both. Crowell is still probably going to try and figure out a way to get back at them, to preserve the dignity of the league as he sees it, and pressure other people to stay in the closet. The fans, while many are supportive, many will not be, and they will make that known. Both the homophobic people who have an issue with people being gay in hockey in general and the fans of Montreal, who likely feel betrayed by Shane.
Trauma - Ilya has started working on himself and working through his trauma, which is amazing but Shane has not yet addressed any of his. When people close to you start trying to better their mental health, this causes ripple effects and often the reactions from the loved ones of the one seeking trauma-support can be unpredictable. Shayne will likely not be able to continue to ignore his own trauma the deeper into therapy Ilya gets. Who knows we may even get a diagnosis for Shayne if he ever decides to go to therapy himself.
On the same team - playing on the same team is going to come with conflicts between Shane and Ilya together and with the world’s interest in two husbands playing together in professional hockey. Shane is used to being captain, but now he’s just an ordinary player on the team. He’s used to being the best and he thrives on that and also marks his self worth on that. While he will likely tell himself that he’s fine not being captain, it will start to eat at him because of his perfectionist tendencies eventually. Ilya is (in my opinion) a better captain for the Centaurs, so the most that Shane will have is the A. Another conflict with playing on the same team that they both play center. So either they will need to play on different lines or one of them will have to switch positions.
Talking things out - there are still things that Ilya and Shane don’t want to talk through really and that could cause issues as well. Two I can think of is Shane being a wee bit uptight and Ilya’s putting aside things he wants to do to preserve the peace (like his motorcycle).
Being open - they are so used to hiding that it will be an adjustment and likely a struggle to allow people into their inner world as well as spending time with other people alone and together when they have always preserved their time as sacred (and understandably so).
JJ & Hayden - I really hope there is a “reckoning” with JJ especially but also a bit with Hayden for his lack of support in Shane’s relationship (ie: Hayden “joking” about Shane doing better through JJ’s matchmaking).
Role Models - with them being out now, there will be an added pressure for them to act as role models for LGBTQ+ young people, players and fans, and in a way act as the blueprint if any other players start relationships (which would give Crowell an aneurysm). Shane, at least, doesn’t want to be any sort of ambassador for other queer athletes and people, he just wants to play hockey and be with Ilya. There may be conflicts being out in public, the scrutiny of their relationship, how each wants to deal with the aspect of their relationship (I could see Ilya being all over being a role model) etc.
Kids - adopting kids isn’t easy for any couple, but adding onto that being a very famous, gay couple, this could be a difficult road both in the adoption and the raising of them.
Russia - If Ilya ever has to go back to Russia for any reason, this will be a huge safety issue.
Ilya’s Citizenship - not really a conflict but something that they will hopefully do in this book 🥰
They are likely many other potential conflicts but those are all I could think of right now that absolutely should be addressed in some way. It will be very interesting to see how all of these are handled.
Thoughts?