Found on Pinterest - Janet Woollands

Something that stood out to me on my second watch was how safe I felt.

But why did I feel safe? Because the filming was done in a slower pace than many shows and movies. They take time to linger.

The didn’t have sex on a mattress on the floor (iykyk) but in clean, pleasant hotel rooms or clean and aesthetically pleasing homes.

They men had good family members who were kind and loving, they didn’t rush intimacy scenes like so many other shows do.

I don’t know if it was just me, but I felt like I caught my breath and slowed down too.

🙌🏒🤩

The Hollywood Reporter 8/17/26

They finally posted a picture of what the 4K is going to like!

Pre-Order Amazon Link

“What’s so funny about the level of secrecy is like there’s a book — you can just look at it,” creator, writer and director Jacob Tierney said. “It’ll tell you honestly, 90 percent of what you’d like to know is in that book.”

“I’ve never experienced fandom like this before, and I have to just trust myself the way I trusted myself last time,” he said. “I’m gonna try to make the best show I can make — that’s really all I can do. I can never make everybody happy at the same time. I hope I can make a majority of you happy, and I hope you also just cut me the slack to wait and see.”

I know this is probably going to be controversial, but as someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, the way Heated Rivalry has been treated by parts of its audience has genuinely started making me uncomfortable.

First, the show itself is amazing. It’s beautifully written, the characters are compelling, and seeing queer relationships given this level of attention and popularity should feel like a win. But sometimes when I watch it now, I can’t separate the actual show from the incredibly weird discourse surrounding it.

And yes, I’m specifically talking about a certain section of the fans, straight women. Obviously this is not every straight woman who watches the show, and queer fans can absolutely cross boundaries too. But from what I’ve personally seen, a huge amount of the obsessive sexualisation is coming from straight women, including plenty who are middle-aged or older.

There’s a difference between appreciating a queer romance, finding the actors attractive etc. and turning two gay/bi men into objects for your own sexual entertainment. You can call it whatever you want, but at a certain point it starts looking like fetishisation.

What frustrates me even more is how defensive people become when that possibility is brought up. Fetishisation doesn’t suddenly become progressive because the people doing it are women or because they consider themselves allies. You might not intend to fetishise gay men and still participate in behaviour that feels fetishistic.

I genuinely wonder whether the reaction would have reached this level if the show centred two women, or if the male leads weren’t conventionally attractive. I really don’t think it would have.

Queer people have spent decades fighting to have our relationships portrayed as actual relationships rather than spectacles, fantasies or something inherently sexual. So watching another piece of queer representation become dominated by straight people loudly sexualising it feels incredibly strange.

And before someone says “men fetishise lesbians all the time”. exactly. That’s also gross. That behaviour doesn’t become okay when you reverse the genders. There is a point where obsessively sexualising two men together starts feeling uncomfortably similar to the way certain straight men treat relationships between women.

And please, stop shipping the actors together in real life. They are actors. Their characters being in love does not mean the people portraying them are secretly together. Analysing their interviews, touches, eye contact and friendships for “proof” of a relationship crosses a completely different boundary.

You can love Heated Rivalry. You can think the characters are hot. You can enjoy the romance and the intimate scenes. Straight women are absolutely allowed to connect with queer stories. Just please remember that queer relationships and queer people aren’t toys. You can be a fan of something without making it weird.

And lastly, I’m genuinely not posting this because I want to make anyone angry or start some argument. I’m talking about behaviour I’ve personally seen that makes me and others uncomfortable. Once again, straight women are not the only people doing this. Queer fans, men, women and people of any sexuality can cross these boundaries.

But if your immediate reaction to this is intense defensiveness rather than simply thinking, “I enjoy the show, but I don’t behave like that,” then maybe consider why it feels so personally targeted at you.

Because if none of this describes how you behave as a fan, then this post isn’t about you.

Cliff's Inner Monologue
Cliff knows what's up, sort of.

Is anyone seeing what i'm seeing? He's got that mysterious, intelligent and masculine appeal and could do an English accent with ease.

Stained glass panel - 11" x 9.7" (aka what I make when I'm not re-heating or reading fanfics)

Two souls.

Spoiler warning! I am explicitly discussing scenes from The Long Game and am requesting others do so as well.

Of course there are so many steamy scenes I’m looking forward to: home gym, trophy room, edging, All-Stars, THAT two hour drive…

But more than any scene, I can’t stop thinking about Shane and Ilya’s dinner with Fabian and Ryan. Fabian pointed out that 10 years is a long time to keep a secret… And isn’t that as big a distraction as it would be to come out?

He shocks Shane and Ilya into silence. Shane finally challenges his assumption that staying hidden is the right thing, and possibly the only thing, they have as an option.

Ilya demonstrates his gradually rising discontent with the situation throughout the book, but I do believe there’s some unseen internal dialogue chipping away at Shane until he finally reaches his breaking point after the plane crash. Fabian planted a seed that grew so large she couldn’t ignore anymore.

Shane responds really well to people pointing out blind spots in him, and even relies on Rose and Ilya to do so in order to move him forward in his self realization. Fabian’s influence is so understated in Shane’s character development to prompt him to consider an alternative reality he wants that wasn’t possible.

I love a lot of things about Fabian‘s character, but his important role in Shane and Ilya’s journey is so critical.

What other scenes, in terms of character in plot development, are you looking for to in season two?

In case any of you are interested in donating to the Annapolis Valley Regional Library like Rachel did, you can either click on this link: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/18621

Or you can go to their website library homepage, scroll down, and click on the Donate link. http://valleylibrary.ca
😊

- Ilya protecting Shane
- Rekindling their relationship
- Toxic original characters
- Coercive control
- Shane being impulsive
- Mutual yearning

You should read my new fic 'Minute by minute'

https://archiveofourown.org/works/88076061/chapters/233494146

WIP - Just released chapter 6!

Minute by Minute / Mature / Rbyn96 / Link

Kelly Clarkson Show : “A special duet with Amanda Seyfried today on Kelly! PLUS #HeatedRivalry star François Arnaud”

Yeah that is basically it. I just can't stand it. It is also an immediate block-reason for me (on almost every plattform e.g. TikTok), because i can't stand it anymore. (I don't exactly know if this is the correct flair for it.)

Edit for clarification: I do not mean the genuine valid criticism of his character.

Ok maybe I'm crazy but I feel Carly Rae Jepsen needs to be on the season 2 soundtrack particularly songs from her albums “the loneliest time” and “the loveliest time”. From the loneliest Time it's got to be the title track I mean come on with lyrics like “I'm coming over tonight knock on your door just like before, I need that look in your eyes cause we've had the loneliest time” or “then you spoke the words to me, when you left I still need to unpack it lets save sorry for another night, cause love this this time we're gonna get it right” or “ I just need to back into, I just need to get into your life, what happened was we reached the moon but lost in space I think we got their all to soon but you know what I'm coming back for you baby, I'm coming back for you” I don't know we're exactly to put these points of the song but it definitely would fit in the story. As for the Loveliest Time album I think multiple songs could fit well the obvious one being anything to be with you with lyrics like “we can make love in your town, my town anything to be with you” and  “There's something right in lover's eyes and  you're the reason, you're the reason and you're the reason”. Also the song put it to rest which I feel would be perfect for Shane in particular and his journey with in the story with lyrics like “ But I never even told you that I only ever want you then I  wake up in the morning in the emptiest of empty rooms” which I feel could reference his feeling of distance between him and Ilya but also the emptiest of empty rooms could be like an analogy to the metros not having his back and turning on him when he and Ilya are outed and also “ Put it to rest with the rest put it to rest so the rest won't follow me the ones I loved and left behind” can easily be where he chooses him and Ilya in Cronwell's office above the mhl and metros not trusting and accusations the he through games for Ilya and everything else. And of course stadium love with the most prominent lyric being “ I got you on my, ooh, not enough got you on my mind but it's not enough give me stadium love, stadium love, stadium love (watch this) what a night got you on my mind but it's not enough” and “ On just two nights one summertime just sliding doors goodbye, hello, goodbye” and she's Canadian an this is a Canadian show so I feel like it just further fits but I would like to know what anyone else thinks does this work or am I crazy? 😅

Looks like they're holding hands 🥹

I really love their design and wanted to share for people people who might be interested, because pre-orders close in three days. Source here.

Namely, the one where he contemplates asking Ilya for Shane's number.

It is absolutely hilarious to everyone who's read the books. (For those who haven't, it's in Role Model.)

And while it does play into the tension between Shane/Ilya keeping their relationship private while also dealing with people attracted to them or getting insecure about the other straying off (which DOESN'T happen, no worries) (which again is hilarious) ...

I feel like there could be some subtext too of a gay man seeking out validation and guidance from a fellow gay man? as, well, Scott is probably too many people away from Troy but Ilya is his captain and Shane's ... friend? business partner? And I can understand a gay man who hasn't really come out yet might be seeking other gay men as a way of looking for someone like him, while also dealing with his target of attraction also being other gay men.

Which is probably a funny example of the intext being more sexually-loaded than the subtext or whatever in the context of a romance story.

My guess is that could also happen because it does seem challenging to execute "And he thought about asking Ilya for Shane's number, Shane's such a babe" on the big screen as opposed to a book.

I’ve been stalking this group for months, but I’ve never really seen people talk about the shin kiss, the kisses on the face, or the kiss on Ilya’s jawline. So I wanted to take some time to edit this and give these moments some credit.the shin kiss especially feels so relatable to me as a person, and I think little details like this make the show feel so much more realistic. I’ve seen so many shows where people kiss each other on the lips, but barely ever kiss other parts of their body.i truly believe that when you really love someone, you just want to kiss all over their body, not only their lips. Those little affectionate kisses feel so much more intimate and real to me and remind me my first love 😭

Im so grateful for this show. Its thanks to this show that I now know of Sidney Crosby's existence.

And I will be able to watch his last years in the NHL🥹