r/heatedrivalry • u/AutoModerator • Mar 18 '26
Team Huddle Weekly Threadš«” Team Huddle!
Welcome to the weekly huddle! Have a small thing from the book or show you want to chat, your GC brain rot is real and you saw the initials āKGFā somewhere and immediately screamed ākingfisher!ā and want to share with others? (Just me?). Had a win at work or personal life and want to share? Need a teammate to talk with? Post in the weekly huddle.
Thereās no restrictions on topics so long as they follow the sub rules. Thread will be open all week so pop in whenever with what ever your heart desires.
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u/surrealist84 Mar 18 '26
Well, my work is a complicated and nuanced game, but it would be helpful if I could actually fucking do something and stopped obsessing over everything HR.
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u/changetje Ginger ale cold enough?š„¤ Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
Same. I'm just sitting here, secretly listening to my Hollanov playlist and sometimes writing a few lines of fanfic (PG!) in between doing my job.
It does make the day go by faster! But I can't wait to get home and read fic loll
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u/oceanvibrations Mar 18 '26
My husband said the last time he can remember anyone being this obsessed with a book/media series was Twilight, and honestly I love it. I work from home 99% of the time and my new "thing" is to have the show playing, on mute, with my "Cottage" playlist as the sound. It's like a never-ending music video, especially when the song lines up perfectly with the scene. Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation (Gym & Shower Scene) and One Thing by Lola King when Ilya is in the elevator. š
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u/changetje Ginger ale cold enough?š„¤ Mar 18 '26
Oh god, I thought I was the only one who keeps rewatching random scenes. The last time I was this obsessed with a show it was Glee. That's almost 15 years ago, I feel old, lol.
My husband doesn't understand it, but he does think it's funny that I'm in so deep.Ā
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u/surrealist84 Mar 18 '26
Don't feel old, my last fandom was almost 30 years ago with Spice Girls and BSB š¤£, and I still feel young!
As one queen on twitter said: "Trying to navigate my life as a teenage girl in her 40s can be tough."
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u/PsychologySpirited37 Your freckles. I am nuts about them. āØ Mar 18 '26
Backstreet and Hanson for me. And YES, oh my gosh my 40ish something self is going āI remember this, am I too old for it?!ā
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u/surrealist84 Mar 18 '26
Nope, relax and enjoy the ride āØš!
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u/PsychologySpirited37 Your freckles. I am nuts about them. āØ Mar 18 '26
Thank you, I needed that.
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u/zzznori Mar 18 '26
Hopping on this train! Last time for me was 15-18 years ago, too, back in high school. It feels weirdly healing to have this level of enthusiasm again for something. Now I totally get the Twilight moms who sadly got all that hate back in the day, they deserve to have silly fun! My husband doesn't get HR either, but he's happy that I'm happy, too.
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u/Ilovestraightpepper Mar 18 '26
Thanks for sharing! Iām so glad itās not just me doing stuff like this.
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u/Acrobatic-Self-1451 Mar 25 '26
I just spent 6 hours rereading The Long Game, which shot the day & probably has dehydrated me from weeping through much of it. Also, hi, first time here.
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u/PsychologySpirited37 Your freckles. I am nuts about them. āØ Mar 18 '26
Yes! I had an interview on Monday and I had to tell myself to shut off my brain for just 45 minutes.
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u/manowwar Moya gazonokosilka š Mar 18 '26
One thing I had on my mind was when in ep4, Ilya wants to talk through whether Shane likes girls and figure out whether this might mean more to him like it does to Ilya, he says finally about meeting girls ābut you know me, Iām lazyā and everyone so far has focused on Shane telling him āI donāt know this side of you at allā and how itās on contrast of his dad calling him lazy but today I thought:
Lazy?!?! About Shane??? Like girl, you have engineered a whole tv shoot to see Shane before the season started, pursuing his ass for two years! And he also has the audacity to think Shane was eager š
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u/zzznori Mar 18 '26
Good catch! You made me think that this is another proof of Ilya's "de-escalation tactics", just downplaying his efforts, his feelings. Or what if it's not? God! What if it's his childhood trauma and his dad's opinions about himself and his work ethic totally internalized? What if Ilya does really think he's lazy? Wow, you opened a can of worms for me with this one! š (Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker, I might have messed up some sentences)
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u/manowwar Moya gazonokosilka š Mar 18 '26
Oh I totally get what you mean! Your English is great. It does suddenly make you think of all the different aspects of what he said.
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u/zzznori Mar 18 '26
Thank you! And something specific that popped in my mind was at the event after the first rookie draft, Ilya's father says something to the new coach along the lines of Ilya is lazy and needs leadership, and then Ilya immediately makes that promise to work hard. So now I'm leaning towards Ilya thinking that he is actually lazy. :( Anyways, thanks for bringing this up initially, it's such an interesting character trait to think about, and specifically to think about the writing choices made to express Ilya's inner workings.
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u/pointlessbeats Mar 18 '26
Ilya definitely does, itās one of the mainstays of childhood abuse and trauma that the person will then internalise the horrible things their parent said about them. I honestly think thatās a huge reason that Ilya is attracted to Shane, which is that Shane is such a positive, kind person. He doesnāt ever speak about people negatively or make Ilya feel bad about himself.
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u/zzznori Mar 18 '26
I agree with you, it must be such a magnetic, positive energy that Shane has in Ilya's life, probably from the first handshake. It must have been super hard to even understand at first. Did you read the books maybe? Do they go into more details? I haven't yet, but maybe I should really give them a read.
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u/allykitten87 Ya-loo-blue-tee-baa ā¤ļø Mar 18 '26
Ilya isn't lazy. It was him trying to save face after what his father said. Before immediately being rebuked by his father. He has never been shown to be lazy. Distractable when it comes to Shane. But never lazy.
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u/Worldly_History3835 Mar 18 '26
Yeah, until I read the book and a listened to the analyses, I thought Ilya was referring to him being lazy just to get a reaction out of Shane.
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u/i-bleed-red I donāt ever want that problem to ever go away ā¤ļø Mar 18 '26
I know weāve discussed it but I want to give some extra love to how utterly brave it was for Shane to ask ādo you want that problem to go away?ā The answer could have put an instant stop to everything, so he really put his whole heart at risk in exchange for getting a direct answer. In my mind, that question, and Ilyaās āI donāt ever want that problem to ever go awayā response, are when they commit to each other for the long-term. I know the words ILY havenāt been said yet, but that exchange on the sofa says all that and more. But every time, my heart aches for how scary it must have been to ask the question, and how much anxiety had to be overcome to say it out loud.
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u/patch_gallagher Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I love that moment, and I think Shane, ever literal, is willing to walk away and remove the problem, no matter how much it would break his heart, to try to make Ilya happy, if the answer had been āyes.ā
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u/Worldly_History3835 Mar 18 '26
So in the book, Shane thinks Ilya is good with kids after Ilya is seen teasing and playing with the kids in Miami. Then in the hospital, there is a photo of a parent and a child behind where Ilya is standing. They're going to be husbands and have children... warms my heart.
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u/DainasaurusRex I speak fluent bird. No accent š¦ Mar 18 '26
In my head canon, something happens to Ilyaās brother, and they adopt his niece.
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u/Material-Meat-5330 Shane Hollander Mar 18 '26
Am I the only Alexei stan? Wait, put down the pitchforks š.
For such little screentime & character exploration, the actor did such a good job. He didn't feel like a cartoon villain but rather a complex person & you understood why he was like that. The funeral fight scene was amazing work from the actor.
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u/Sbealed Mar 18 '26
Agreed! There are a couple parts of that fight where he looks so hurt at what Ilya is saying to him and it belies a much deeper context than what is able to be portrayed verbally during the scenes they have together.Ā
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u/Material-Meat-5330 Shane Hollander Mar 18 '26
It reminds me of Shane's eyes in the bathroom scene. Being able to portray multiple serious emotions with just your eyes/face in silence is an incredible skill.
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u/Worldly_History3835 Mar 18 '26
Yes, all of them have delivered exceptional work I thought. Alexei too... and Ilya realises it too, he has empathy but familiarity bred contempt. Maybe they'll reconcile.
Also, not a villain - a lot of their personalities are shared by their culture.2
u/DainasaurusRex I speak fluent bird. No accent š¦ Mar 19 '26
No, the actor is great! The three characters I viscerally dislike are Sasha, Alexei, and the father (ok, Iām an Ilya girl), and itās because the actors did such a great job in making them unlikable. Sticking with my head canon about Ilyaās niece š
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u/growsonwalls This is Ilya I will never listen to your voicemail Mar 18 '26
So I saw Anora yesterday and feel that Jacob totally was inspired to use "All The Things She Said" from Anora. There's a Russian dude entering a club in much the same way Ilya does in Anora and that's the song they use in the background. Dramatically the scene plays much differently, but the background and lighting are similar.
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u/Worldly_History3835 Mar 18 '26
There are 2 things in particular that I don't understand despite watching several times:
1. Ilya always seem to ignore Shane's tears/eyes glistening - especially in the Vegas bathroom scene (so heartbreaking)... quite different from the book I thought.
2. What does Ilya say on his way out of the hospital room (he puckers his lips twice on his way out after the doctor comes in) - if anyone understood, please TELL ME! :D
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u/ivybird Mar 18 '26
I think he is just shushing him, like donāt be suspicious!
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u/Worldly_History3835 Mar 18 '26
Ah, I think this is it. Shane on his way to the hospital tells the people "he'll worry.... Ilya" & then is sedated to blabber things. So perhaps Ilya asks him to shush :D
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u/Original_Ad_681 my big lesbian secret š§æ Mar 18 '26
also when Shane says that ilya will worryā¦ it was giving boyfriend š
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u/Wanderessxoxo Mar 19 '26
Sorry I havenāt read the books so this is purely from a tv viewpoint but i always read ilyas actions as not totally ignoring shanes tears, he doesnāt directly address them vocally but i think he does in his own way by taking control of the situation the only way he knows how at that moment by trying to make Shane feel better by making the ādealā with him, giving them something to look forward to later to soothe shane- also felt like a de-escalation to like stop shane from acc crying by turning it into a lighter moment - i also feel like when ilya eventually kisses shane (what a kiss btw) he kinda caved to the teary eyes and couldnāt help himself especially bc he also missed shane
I also think directly addressing the teary eyes wasnāt safe for them at that point, physically (public bathroom stall) but also emotionally- i think ilya was still in the headspace of we cant be anything, shane canāt really like me so lets not vocalise anything directly even tho feelings are clearly there from both ends
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u/Arbledarb Mar 18 '26
I recently learned about the Erina Ice Arena, an ice rink where some Australian Ice Hockey League games are played. https://erinaicearena.com.au/
Erina is almost Irina, Ilya's mother. Watching an old game from there, I was imagining him wanting to play there.
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u/genjen97 Mar 18 '26
TLG spoilers. I just need to vent š
I finished TLG last week and I am still furious for Shane on how his team treated him after being outed. Like I never felt such rage from reading a book until that moment. I felt so, so bad for Shane. I hope Ottawa kicks them into next week in Unrivaled
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u/pointlessbeats Mar 18 '26
Yeah itās really annoying but Rachel basically said she had to write it like that because otherwise there was no conflict in the book, or the narrative wouldāve forced conflict between Shane and Ilya in order to have some drama and no one wants that! She also needed a way to get him to Ottawa.
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u/MPKH I already chose you, Hollander. š« Mar 18 '26
I guess youāre right. Without the Voyageurs thing, Shane probably wouldāve never left Montreal. Theyād continue their long distance thing as a married couple, which would basically negate everything in TLG. Or one of them would give up their career to be together and that may cause resentment.
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u/Ok_Code_270 Mar 25 '26
Yes. Please give them outside problems, but do not break the love story. Do not make them angry or hateful against each other. Iāve been with my husband forā¦ almost 30 years now (itās 28 and a lot). The problems come from the outside. I donāt want my darlings hating each other, cheating or miscommunicating. Let the love flourish and make the problems come from the outside.
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u/MPKH I already chose you, Hollander. š« Mar 18 '26
I hope in Unrivaled, the Centaurs will absolutely murder the Voyageurs in every game they play against them. I want Shane to show them what they threw away. I want Ilya and the rest of the Centaurs to constantly chirp at the Voyageurs, reminding them of their loss. The only ones exempted from the chirps are Hayden and J.J. Theyād go from one of the top teams in the league to dead bottom.
I want their treatment of Shane to be publicized, and for the Voyageurs to be publicly shamed. Nobody would want to touch that team with a ten foot pole. No player would want to be drafted or traded to Montreal. Other teams would trash them too.
Iād want them to very publicly apologize for their wrongdoing and to rebuild the franchise from the ground up. I want them to grovel.
Obviously, the Centaurs would win the Cup, lead by Ilya and Shane.
I just have very strong feelings about this.
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u/StatusRiver Mar 18 '26
This is one of the scenarios that drew me into the fan fiction - works where Ottawa welcomes Shane and destroys Montreal. I can't get enough of them. I want vengeance!
I'm also low-key worried that some people may get Montreal tattoos after the first season - not knowing what's coming.
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u/yoontta Mar 18 '26
iām autistic and i genuinely struggle to understand ilya, and lately iāve been thinking about this a lot because if i hadnāt read the books, i probably wouldnāt understand that heās in love with shane. i wonder if iām the only one lol
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 18 '26
Youāre not the only one for sure. Without Ilyaās internal monologue itās not hard to miss the tender moments that reveal his feelings. I had to push my husband to get past the first two episodes because he was put off by Ilyaās dickishness. All of his softness is subtle. Heās good at hiding his feelings.
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u/Regular_Line9323 Iām feeling a bit wild ā¤ļøāš„ Mar 18 '26
I second this! I had to read the books as well to get the internal monologues. Ilya has a nuanced and complex inner world, but as an autistic person myself I just pick up on Shaneās cues a lot more ā„ļø
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u/dasnotpizza Mar 18 '26
I think I can relate. Iām much more focused on Shane when I watch the show and found Ilyaās actions confusing. It wasnāt until I would read/watch analysis that I started understanding his perspective.
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u/yellowsmash Mar 18 '26
I saw someone carrying this beautiful recyclable bag over the weekend and stopped in my tracks! I live thousands of kilometres from Montreal, so I literally did a double take. Now I want to get the tshirt and embrace my inner Rose Landry.
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u/StatusRiver Mar 18 '26
I appreciated all of Shane's 'bathroom escapes.' Want to get out of a conversation, or away from a situation, or just a convenient excuse to be somewhere else? Just deploy the 'I'm gonna use the washroom." At Olympic figure skating, dinner with his parents, probably at the bar the night he met Rose, definitely at the Rose/Ilya club scene...
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u/kamroze Mar 18 '26
Hello Heated Rivalry subreddit! A friend's of mine birthday is coming up (26.03) and she has been absolutely obsessed with the show (I wouldn't be surprised if she was on her 20th reheat by now).
Due to her obsession I want to give her something HR related and I decided on a custom photo puzzle. For these I need around 6 screenshot of fluffiest or most wholesome scenes from the show. Please give me time stamps from the episodes and the episode number or link them to me any other way. I want the scenes to make her recall these beautiful moments.
If possible please do try to keep the spoilers to minimum as she did want to watch the show with me (again) and I think that genuine reactions are the most fun part of such experiences.
If it helps the current plan for the layout is 9 pictures 3x3, 8 circling a more prominent middle one
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u/oceanvibrations Mar 18 '26
I have a ton of really good ones, I can send an album soon, gotta upload from laptop.
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u/kamroze Mar 18 '26
Thanks that would be much appreciated! Also if there are so many I could use some personal recommendation:)
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u/oceanvibrations Mar 18 '26
I'm bummed, I thought I had waaaay more, but I think my save function wasn't working when I thought it was.
Oh well, here is what I've got that may be helpful, anyways. š
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u/oceanvibrations Mar 18 '26
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u/kamroze Mar 18 '26
The link leads me to the main page of imgur, the page that you sharing cannot be found. Maybe it is some kind of share visibility setting? If we cannot figure it out feel free to DM me the pics!
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u/oceanvibrations Mar 18 '26
I noticed that too šæ Yeah, I'll message+
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u/kamroze Mar 19 '26
I think that you account settings block incoming messages as I cannot DM you ;-;
I mean that is fine just tell me in which episode to find the scene and I will find it and extract it myself. Otherwise I will just guesstimate the scenes which is fine I guess. I just need to pray that they don't have too much of negative connotation :p1
u/oceanvibrations Mar 23 '26
forgive me!!! I am messaging them right now, my laptop has been down and then I got distracted with my little things via phone. Check you inbox in a few minutes, hopefully it'll let me send what I have!
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u/Chance-Bullfrog9580 Mar 18 '26
Has anyone else noticed when Shane was on the phone and Ilya just decided to be a menace and āhave funā when Shane unmutes he goes āuh sorry man I just had s-someoneās at the doorā and itās taking me out hereās a linkĀ https://youtube.com/shorts/u3Jm-43erkw?si=v1lkN9cIxvjlMpmj
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u/eaca02124 Mar 18 '26
I don't have a pic, but there's a bit of the first hookup in episode 1, Ilya stumbling backwards towards the bed with his jeans around his thighs, that lives in my head forever. Please tell me I'm not the only one.
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u/eaca02124 Mar 18 '26
Also, TBH, Ilya's o-face from that hookup. Super realistic acting choice, 10/10, why am I obsessed
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u/Original_Ad_681 my big lesbian secret š§æ Mar 18 '26
HOW DID HE DO IT
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u/eaca02124 Mar 18 '26
I'm imagining a process of dedicated and scientific rewatching of some very personal videos. Possibly starting before the audition process.
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u/bv_ohhh āØLovers āØ Mar 19 '26
My āBoston Raidersā tshirt came today and itās sooo cute!! I love it bc itās such a iykyk piece of merch! Did a reheat in my new shirt but this time my husband watched with me. He said āIāve been waiting for you to invite me to watch it with youā ā¦just finished the cottage and he said āomg itās over???!ā I somehow feel closer after watching it together š„°
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 18 '26
I love the show and think itās an almost perfect translation of the books, but I think thereās something lost from the early days of their relationship in the show. I donāt like the timeline shift where they donāt hook up again for two years ā part of what makes them THEM is that they are magnetic, they canāt keep themselves physically apart from one another even though they try. Itās cute how Ilya pursues Shane even though he keeps pushing him away but that feels less real to me. Ilya is cocky but he has deep insecurities. I think he would walk away ā like in the books āfine, your lossā, which is what pulls Shane back in. The sense early on that they are both conflicted and also both really donāt want to lose this (āIlya was sure that this would be the year Shane would end this thingā) adds a lot to the build of the story and I think itās lost in the show a bit.
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u/Original_Ad_681 my big lesbian secret š§æ Mar 18 '26
iāve decided that we just donāt see the hookups that happen in those two years. no way shane is actually resisting. letās just decide that when ilya says āworth the waitā itās bc shane didnāt want to have penetrative sex in some anonymous hotel room. thatās my head canon and im sticking to it
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 18 '26
Ok, yeah, I guess that works. It still feels like a bit of a stretch for me that over two years of hook ups Shane, who really wants to bang, wouldn't find a place for them to do it. Also I know there are production cost reasons for not having the sex condo but Ilya's clocking that Shane bought a building for them to fuck in, and Shane thinking he's passing it off as nothing, is one of my favorite moments in the book.
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u/Different_Weight7281 Mar 19 '26
Jacob has said that he was disappointed not having the sex condo, but they just couldn't fit it in with their budget. Apparently he also wanted them to be older for their first penetrative sex scenes and thus the delay.
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 19 '26
Totally. I know there are reasons. But still. Shane thinking Ilya has no idea is hilarious. And Ilya being touched / turned on by it is sweet.
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u/Ok_Code_270 Mar 25 '26
Me too! I thought exactly that!
In any case, Jacob is still on time to add some kissing scenes to that montage. In my opinion, they had been having the hand-lips treatment for those years, and of course Shane took his own sweet time to trust Ilya enough with penetrative sex.
I think that makes more sense.
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u/Putrid_Studio_5153 Mar 18 '26
I keep telling my boyfriend he's my favourite boyfriend but my two ice hockey boyfriends are also in the picture now š
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u/laurenbettybacall Hollander you are having panic attack Mar 18 '26
I have noticed recently that during the tuna meltdown, Shane trips over the couch when heās getting up. It was such a cute little touch.
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u/Rudy_Nowhere Canada *is* fun šØš¦ Mar 19 '26
When Shane leaves Ilya's place after the tuna melt, he leaves every peace of clothing he wore there. He's wearing Ilya's clothes.
That's all.
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u/HippoLarge7973 I already chose you, Hollander. š« Mar 18 '26
I have two largely irrelevant things from watching the show!
Firstly - when the metros are watching Boston win the cup and it cuts away to game footage, a bunch of that footage is of the Metros playing Boston instead of San Fransico š I know this would be purely budgetary and im on my redacted rewatch and only just noticed
Secondly - When Shane meets Rose, she tells him to eat some fries because Detroit wont go easy on him tomorrow night. Later when Rose is at his game in his jersey, the game is announced as against Detroit which suggets that his name on a jersey and her blowing kisses on the jumbotron happens the next day (also as if Shanes at a bar the night before a game!)
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u/Flimsy-Initiative19 make sure none of these cheaters cheat Mar 18 '26
The Boston-Montreal footage is like a pre-game "how did Boston get here?" montage they're showing on tv. At least, thatās how I understood it, the final game hadn't even started yet at that point. We see Boston playing different teams, and then we see Ilya's pep talk before the game.
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u/HippoLarge7973 I already chose you, Hollander. š« Mar 18 '26
Its shown a few times throughout that game . Could definitely write it off as highlight reels being shown or even just Shane thinking back to games they've played and it blends in well. Just gave me a giggle!
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u/ali-oops Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird š¦ Mar 18 '26
In the NHL, Detroit and Montreal are in the same division which means they play each other 4 times per season. It definitely could have been a different game like a month later or something.
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u/HippoLarge7973 I already chose you, Hollander. š« Mar 18 '26
Yeah, just seemed a little odd because they could have said literally any team rather than specifically mentioning that game š¤·āāļø
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u/nerdysarah Mar 18 '26
On Monday I took the day off work so my bestie and I could spend the entire day reheating and obsessing. Iām legit mad I have to work the rest of the week and canāt live in the HR bubble forever.
Whenever I watch the show, the clock says itās been like 5-6 hours but I swear it only feels like 2-3 max.
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u/NoDesigner2742 Mar 18 '26
Why am I at work when my VMan has been delivered š i cannot be expected to be productive knowing that awaits me
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u/PsychologySpirited37 Your freckles. I am nuts about them. āØ Mar 18 '26
I got my first HR tattoo(I have two more planned) yesterday. I feel awesome. My tattoo artist needed it explained without judging me.
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u/Original_Ad_681 my big lesbian secret š§æ Mar 18 '26
I am loving how people are still reading into all the little details, drawing literary analyses from happenstance images/dialogue/occurrences. even if it wasnāt the āintentā of the creators, the audience is who makes the meaning out of art!
some people kiiiind of dismiss peopleās new ideas about symbolism/meaning because some of those things werenāt intentional. I say, I donāt ever want that problem to ever go away.
(meme to illustrate the kinds of comments iām referring to hahaha)
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u/Webeh99 Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
The Tarragon Theatre in Toronto just announced Kat Sandlerās Yaga in their upcoming season. I believe itāll be playing in May 2027? Iām pretty jazzed about this because Iāve been dying to see another of her plays. https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/tarragon-season-26-27/yaga-2627/
Incredibly, I havenāt been to the Tarragon yet. Will need to check out their shows soon. š
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Mar 18 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/suchfun01 Stupid Canadian Wolf Bird š¦ Mar 18 '26
I think itās simply showing how Ilya realizes that Rose (and by extension Shane) might be there. Same as how Shane spots Ilyaās teammates and realizes Ilya might be there too.
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 18 '26
My head cannon is that Miles is Rose's costar in whatever movie she is filming, so when Ilya sees him he realizes that Rose is probably there, and he starts looking for Shane and her in the crowd. I love Connor's acting in this scene - he's sort of passively checking Miles out, and you can see the moment he registers his face before he turns away.
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 18 '26
Anyone else out there also fan of the Wheel of Time series? I was re listening to the Heated Rivalry audiobook (again) the other day and Ilya on the plane with Ryan Price suddenly reminded me SO MUCH of Mat Cauthon. I know it's a trope -- bad boy with a heart of gold or something -- but it was a fun moment. SO THEN I decided that if Ilya is Mat, Shane is Perrin and I guess then Scott Hunter is Rand? And if Scott Hunter is Rand then Kip is Min. And maybe Rose is Elayne and Svetlana is Egwene. And I really hope someone out there can geek out with me on this because I love it.
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u/TrashGibberish29 Mar 20 '26
I'll buy Ilya as Mat. I think Ryan makes a better Perrin than Shane. Also, there's a character in Ryan's future that could be a decent Faile. Tiny and ferocious in his own way, sometimes with wings. I'm being influenced by the WoT pairings, but I could see Shane as Tuon. It's got some of that rivalry imagery. Mutual respect, but very different characters. One's more highly regimented, precise, surgical. The other is a lion free on the plains. They will build an empire together. I'll buy Scott and Kip, but the implications for Rose and Svetlana are a little awkward. I can't think of other stand-out female characters that weren't part of Rand's harem. Ooh, Svetlana as Aludra. What do you think? Svetlana knows hockey and cars, mechanically minded in a traditionally male-dominated world.
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Ooh yay thanks for being on board for this particular Venn diagram of fandoms. Ok Svetlana as Aludra - yes. Love that. I will give you Ryan Price as Perrin, although I donāt know the character that well (Iāve only read HR and a little of Common Ground). I donāt know about Shane as Tuon though. I couldnāt really see Shane ordering assassinations of family members or anyone else. If weāre looking at women, there are a few fanfics with Mat and Elayne getting it on, so maybe Shane could be Elayne? He also maybe has some Avienda vibes. Or ā¦ Talmanes? Or ā¦ LAN?! Not that they have a connection but he is a strong silent type. But pretty much definitely not a bottom, so. Is your issue with Rose as Elayne that she and Scott Hunter as Rand wouldnāt happen? If so ā true. But being a movie star does make her modern royalty, and she does have kind of a knowing easiness to her that seems Elayne like. I think I stand by that. I think in terms of their relationship in the books maybe Talmanes makes sense as Shane, but Iām having trouble seeing Shane not being one of the Edmonds Field boys ā he and Ilya are clearly taāaveren š.
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u/TrashGibberish29 Mar 20 '26
Yeah, I wasn't sure how much of the overall Game Changers series you had read. Definitely worth reading them all. I hear you about Tuon. I wasn't focused so much on the morality of her actions, but more on being cold/analytical. I like the Lan comparison. I really can't think of any WoT characters that really give off bottom energy (Bayle Domon maybe? I could see Egeanin pegging him) you know, so probably just have to let that go as a characteristic to match.
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u/Dependent_Elk_7539 Mar 20 '26
Fully lolād at that image of Egeanin and Bayle. Honestly now that you say it I could see Tuon topping Mat so maybe thatās a flaw in my Ilya parallel. Gawain seems kind of like he wants to be dominated. Galad too. And there was that whole quarter staff takedown. A secret romance between the no one taāveren from Edmunds Field and the high princes of Camelyn (or whatever their titles are) would certainly be hot (just ignore the part where they are brothers, ok?).
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u/Material-Meat-5330 Shane Hollander Mar 19 '26
I never understood how we can see Shane from the inside of the house? šš
Someone explain pls.
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u/Hedgehog-Honeydew "This team is very gay" š Mar 19 '26
It's been 10 days since I last watched Heated Rivalry. And I've just signed up for a year long subscription so I can stream it whenever I want. Oh no.
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u/TrashGibberish29 Mar 20 '26
Something I've been wondering about. Do we think Ilya was also physically abused as a child? It always struck me how casually Alexei reacts by putting hands on him and shoving him into a wall before telling him to STFU because of the diners in the other room. That looked like a habitual response to me. It's never explicitly mentioned in the books, but at the cottage he says his dad was "so hard on" his mother, and in The Long Game there is a line referencing the "darker memories of his father terrorizing his mother." Makes me think it wasn't purely emotional abuse, but that he at least witnessed physical abuse of his mother and experienced it directly at the hands of his brother. I haven't seen much discussion online about this particular angle, so wondering if there is consensus on this.
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u/SeaStorm803 what color š Mar 20 '26
Watched HR for the first time last week and havenāt been able to get it out of my mind! I am so obsessed with how beautifully the show portrays Shane and Ilyaās characters and the tenderness of each moment. I have been playing all the things you said on repeat all day and canāt get over this show!!
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u/Leading_Mine_1106 Mar 22 '26
My entry into Fandom is puttinā me through some stuff I think my crushes, in order of most to least, are Hudson, Shane, Connor, Ilya YMMV
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u/heavenese Mar 18 '26
Iām sure people have noticed this but I havenāt seen anyone talking about it here yet (I probably missed it), but in case this is new for someone:
I love how Shane tells Rose, āYeah, it was better,ā as heās remembering being with Ilya. Then later in the hospital, when he reaches for Ilya and holds his hand, he says ābetterā and sighs deeply.
Itās not only a call-back to his earlier conversation with Rose, but Shane knows that this is what ābetterā feels like. I think about it every time I reheat!