There‘s Bravery In Being Soft

i want to take a moment to express genuine gratitude towards heated rivalry the tv show and everyone involved with making it happen because. i kind of almost didn’t know we could have this? a beautiful and intense and intimate queer love story with a happy ending that doesn’t try to sell us something else and doesn’t try to be sexless to seem more palatable for straight people and doesn’t feel forced and where nobody’s acting like they’re doing us a huuuge big favor for letting it exist. it means a lot

Breaking my silence on heated rivalry. Here's my main thought. It is so fabulous to me to watch these two like proper acting theory pilled animal work clowning physical theatre guys (a type i am highly familiar with) grappling in some kind of sisyphean hand to hand combat with some of the most awkward fanfiction dialogue ever written. And well sometimes they win. But always the point of fascination is the fight.

the thing about heated rivalry is that u start it because you want to watch hot guys be gay. like it could be good it could be bad but who cares, it will still have hot guys being gay. and then u watch it and realize every episode is like getting shot in the chest five times while experiencing every emotion imaginable bc you’re actually just witnessing a work of art unfold week by week. and you STILL get to watch hot guys be gay. absolutely top tier viewing experience

heated rivalry the book is like oh the major obstacle to this romance is that they can't be together in public <3. heated rivalry the show is like oh the major obstacle to this romance is toxic hypermasculinity and male loneliness and the devastating downstream effects of unacknowledged, unresolved trauma and verbal abuse on boys who are expected not to feel

Ilya really said the rumors are true. I am a whore and a slut. but ☝️ I love your boring son.

Honestly? Honestly the idea of Ilya Rozanov sitting himself down at twelve years old and saying I have GOT to get out of this country. It killed my mother. It's going to kill me. And then growing up a little bit and realizing some Things about himself and saying I have GOT to get out of this country. I have tried and tried and for some reason people keep Knowing What I Am. Ilya, young bisexual man with an apparently pretty clocky affect to his speaking voice. A strong young man with a natural and lovely flamboyance in him, a sweetness he tries to smother and the ability to play hockey like it was bestowed upon him by GOD. I've GOT to get out of here, he thinks to himself. And then he leaves (but not really) does some more growing up and he falls in love only he can't let himself be in love because the lead weight of this country is still tied to him and he thinks I have GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE. Then his father dies and the man he loves says "Come with me" and Ilya says I am NEVER going back!! I will wear my mother's cross and I will think of her every day and she will forgive me for never visiting her grave because her beautiful boy got OUT. I will go to a place where I am loved by a man A MAN who I love more than I ever thought I was allowed. Who holds my face and my hands and my heart. I will find a home for myself in his arms. I will never go fucking back.

So I keep seeing things like "it has no plot" or "just sex and no plot" about Heated Rivalry and I don't understand. Like, the romance is the plot. Two closeted idiots meet and have sex and slowly fall in love despite being from extremely different backgrounds and worlds and playing for rival teams is actually quite a lot of plot actually? What are people expecting? Heists? Aliens? Spies? Watching them both navigate their emotions is more exciting to me than most action movies. The sex is just a bonus (and a legitimate emotional storytelling tactic, in book and show).

i am not brave but sometimes i am made brave by my friends which is to say i am made brave by love

what they dont tell you about strategy based games is that its hard if you’re stupid