r/HeatedRivalrySeries

Hello there!

I (M,gay) am not extremely familiar with Heated Rivalry...I am aware of the plot and the main characters. I am going to a Heated Rivalry party with straight,women friends who are really into it. It is a themed party that plays I guess pop music that aligns with the show aesthetic/vibe. I was wondering what a good outfit for such a party would be. I know its about hockey players, but I dont have a hockey jersey. I though about wearing a compression shirt because I have seen stills of the leads in workout wear, but is that wierd? I also know one of them is a barista or something. I am sorry if I come across as ignorant, I just want to look good and make out with an Ilya lookalike ;)

The NYT sports column called The Athletic published an article about how NHL “blood feuds” on the ice are not as common as they used to be. The lede:

From April 25 - St. Paul, Minn. — When Nick Foligno was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Minnesota Wild in March, one of the first texts he received came from Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene, one of Foligno’s closest friends in hockey.

“I hate that I have to hate you for the next few months.”

Of course, Duchene followed that text up with another one about how cool it was that Foligno would get to play with his brother, Marcus, and how genuinely happy he was for him. There wasn’t an explicit invite to the cottage this summer, but hey, that’s always implied.

I’m a queer woman and basically I got into a little disagreement with someone comparing BBM to HR saying that queer films like BBM is what we need more of when it comes to authentique representation that doesn’t need explicit sex scenes to grab an audience or make a point. And in comparison HR id just smut, over sexualized, Saturated depiction of queer men as sex freaks n ppl like HR cuz of the sex and it targeting the female gaze. Ofc I contested it saying that there’s no one way to depict authentic queer stories. Yes HR is based off a smut novel whose audience is mostly women but because it’s not cuz it necessarily targets women its just that romance and smut books in general have a wide female audience. I digress. I then went on abt how sex in HR is very plot driven.

The presences of sex esp in a show like HR doesnt take away from the nuance n rich layers of plot n storytelling it has. If anything it adds to it. Also why must queer stories only be told with tragedy? Why can’t we embrace in queer joy and horniness. Queer sex without punishment. Sex in HR is way more than just for shock value, the thrill of it. Ofc you can talk abt how hot and steamy those scenes are but it’s all very important and integral to the over arching story let alone the development/growth of the characters. Not every queer story is going to resonate with every queer person and that’s fine. But I don’t see how that makes HR bad? He basically told me he wasn’t reading anything I said and I wouldn’t get it cuz I wasn’t a gay man so I don’t know what its like n so many gay men have been calling out HR on this issue?? Which I’m just confused and don’t get. I think it’s fine not to like HR if it’s not ur thing but I find a lot of ppl who have these criticisms of HR especially other queer men aren’t really engaging with it in way that’s actually trying to understand the show n what it’s conveying especially with the sex. They see sex and immediately think thats all there is.

My main question is to queer men. why were you hesitant abt HR or thought it was just smut(for better or worse) but realized it was much more. what made you realize that and why do you think other queer men may have such a big issue with how HR tells this story in particular?

I read books, smile at the end, and then move onto the next. I've never had an immediate urge to reread a book until reading TLG. HR (the book) was decent but I enjoyed the show a lot more. TLG? I finished it this morning and 14 hours later I'm going to restart it. I laughed out loud SO many times, grabbed my heart, cried so many tears, and smiled more than I ever have while reading. I even bought the book (don't even remember the last time I bought a book because my local library is amazing) because I know I'm going to read it again in the future. I hope Rachel knows on some level how much her books and characters have touched people. And I can't wait to see what Jacob does with this beautiful story + Role Model next season!

What songs should go onto the heated rivalry playlist!? The link will be put out whne the playlist is closer to done... any and all options welcome.

(Also if somebody cpuld repost this to the big heated rivalry sub that would be great cuz i dont have enough Karma yet...)

That's it, that's my question.

Sometimes i think the sexualization of the show and its actors has been taken too far, especially on threads and not so much on reddit. I guess this is an unpopular opinion?

However, on threads there are SO many people just casually mentioning how theyre gonna masturbate to Connor and Hudson being at award shows. I honestly think this is too much. I'm like, good for you but maybe don't write it online? These are real people, its not smutty fanfic.

Similarly, I found people talking about how many orgasms HR has given them. Like, everyone does their own things in private but maybe you could avoid writing it online for the world to see?

Sexuality shouldnt be a taboo, but I think some things should remain private, not for the whole world to see. Especially when you're talking about real people.

What do yall think?

I forgot how beautiful that episode is! Found myself crying for Kip, that last scene with his Dad 😩

Such an important episode. I am team Shane all the way, but every inch of season one is stellar. 🖤