💥 heated rivalry 💥

Which leads to a bit of an uproar because omg Shane Hollander has a girlfriend?? who plays hockey???? that's so on brand for him like. okay who was playing last night and got a goal in the first period, we need to find the woman who has Shane Hollander crooning into his phone like a lovestruck teenager. and the consensus lands on an unsuspecting and entirely unrelated CWHL forward who has never even been in the same city as Shane but the Internet is running with the story and there's journalists harassing her and Shane has to get his agent to call her agent so he can apologise for this mess and she's like, dude, I know it's not your fault, but Shane feels so fucking bad about it, you know?

And unfortunately it doesn't really let up as quickly as they thought because it's right before Christmas and isn't this a great story, fucking Hallmark movie shit, so a very unimpressed Leila (her name is Leila) has to look a reporter in the eye after her team just played a really good fucking game of hockey and everybody wants to talk to her about some fucking guy, you know? so she looks him in the eye and says, no, I am not dating Shane Hollander, I have never dated Shane Hollander, I will never date Shane Hollander, I am literally a lesbian. I have a whole-ass girlfriend. She plays for the Blades.

The Ilya we see in Heated rivalry would not be throwing the first punch, he's not an enforcer. Ilya is a star center and a Pest. He wouldn't be doing his job correctly if he was punching players every other game, it would end up with not enough ice time to let him be the playmaker he's paid to be.

But being a pest can be playmaking! Find a player to bait, emotionally push them just enough that they try to fight you, and then get the fuck out of there before the ref gives you both penalties. This gets your team the power play. There is probably someone on Ilya's line dedicated to helping him get out of the fights he starts, and finishing them for him!

I also think this is also something that Shane would respect. Ilya is good at it and it's a good strategy for his team. I don't think Shane would see it as some dirty tactic, because Shane probably thinks everyone with a brain can see it for what it is! He probably thinks everyone should be able to see that being an asshole is a tactic for Ilya, that it's something to ignore and not fall for, that it's a strategy and not personal beef.

“I never fucking wanted to be a role model! I never asked for it! Why do I have to be the one representing the whole goddamn Asian community and their place in hockey? Why do I have to watch what I say, how I say it, when every other fucking player just gets to act however they like, huh?! I can’t appear too cocky because “what about the children?” I can’t be caught doing anything that could wreck the perfect fucking image of hockey’s Golden Boy. I’m a leader, but I can’t forget that I’m an Asian leading a bunch of white men around so I have to make sure I don’t overstep or make them uncomfortable. Can’t forget my place, ya know. Like I could ever forget! I have to listen to every fucking racist chirp, but I can’t get too upset about it, no, otherwise what will the white fans think?! They can’t have an aggressive person of color on the ice calling out racism! God forbid! Now I can’t “act too gay” because that’s feeding into racist stereotypes? What the fuck does that even mean?! How does me being gay have anything to do with me being Asian? I’m fucking Canadian anyway! I was born here! Grew up here! My dad is fucking white for fucks sake! Oh, but don’t even get me started on that. I try so hard but it’s never fucking enough. And just because my mother is Japanese? How does that make sense?! The 2010s are almost over, why do I still have to deal with this fucking shit?! Ugh! I’m just so fucking tired of having to be perfect all the time!”

Ilya sat there patiently listening as Shane paced back and forth in front of him, letting him get it all out. He doesn’t always catch every word Shane says, but he can get the gist. They’ve been here many times before over the years. Every few months, Shane just loses it. Ilya can never really understand what his boyfriend is going through, but he’s happy to be the one Shane can open up to about all the pressure he’s always under.

Eventually, Shane loses steam and just flops down on the sofa, head landing in Ilya’s lap. Ilya immediately cards his fingers through Shane’s hair, nails scraping against his scalp because he knows he likes that.

“Feel better?”

“Mmm, eh, not really. Thanks for listening, though.”

Ilya leans down to kiss his temple. “Any time.”

"The sex tells the story, so it never felt gratuitous to me. The sex is character development. The sex is what is moving this relationship forward, and watching it change over time."

About season 2 being more graphic than season 1:

Jacob: they're very similar level of spice

Hudson: hole

EXCLUSIVE: Your first look at Connor Storrie in 'Criminal Minds: Evolution.' The 'Heated Rivalry' star plays Lance Kingston, “a charming narcissist with a deep sense of entitlement.”

Paywall bypass link to Vulture article

I’m judging Hudson based on what I can observe from his behaviour now and who I see seems to be a decent person with a good heart.

If I’m judging these Twitter stalkers from their behaviour now, I think they’re ugly and deranged and I’m scared of them, and I think they should take a long look in the mirror if they think they have any right to play morality police while they stalk, defame and wish death on people they don’t know and have never met because of a personal dislike.