deliberately aimless @deliberately-aimless - Tumblr Blog

apitnobaka

those last three minutes in episode 5 feels like this, kinda

#heated rivalry

littlegirlinvisible

HEATED RIVALRY 1.05: I’LL BELIEVE IN ANYTHING + HRTwT VERSION

kiphunter

Heated Rivalry: the last frame of the first season

littlegirlinvisible

HEATED RIVALRY 1.06: THE COTTAGE + HRTwT VERSION

mythmagicetc

the way ilya says, “i like girls, but i also like you,” and he’s hoping that shane will say, “i like you, too,” but shane does not! shane just says “lucky me,” and that’s when ilya backtracks with “not as person, of course,” because from his point of view, he’s offered up some vulnerability and shane has refused to match it. but shane doesn’t realize that ilya would see this as a rejection because ilya never explicitly asked him anything, and he’s also panicking, and maybe he thinks it’s a little bit obvious how much he likes ilya, too. so ilya is trying to figure out if they both want the same thing without risking what they already have, and shane’s just responding like ilya’s performing a grand soliloquy about women, and now it’s a mess. and they are in love

#heated rivalry

weirdgirlvampire

Shane during sex: oh there Ilya goes babbling in russian again, I must be making him feel really good. That’s neat

Ilya literally every time: I am in love with you. You are perfect. Why does it have to be you? You are so beautiful. I am going to walk into the sun if I can’t have you again

#heated rivalry

everythingsdestiel

I need to talk about the couch scene in heated rivalry because, while heartbreaking, it is also a perfect example of how to do a miscommunication trope because of the one hand Shane and Ilya are talking, but they're having two different conversations.

Ilya is genuinely trying to get to know Shane. He wanted him to stay, a cooked for him, made sure he had his beverage of choice and then started asking him questions about himself. Ilya wanted to know if Shane was bi like him or gay because "I never see you with girls" while also trying to tell him that, yes, he has lots of meaningless sex, but it's different with Shane, "I like you."

But Shane hears this and thinks Ilya means that he's just one of the many meaningless hook-ups that he has. And on top of that Shane is freaking out because I don't think anyone has ever outright asked him about his sexuality. The sexuality that he, himself, has very much not come to terms with "of course I do" he says, because he still thinks he can do that. Can be with a girl and be okay with it.

It's like they're both reaching a hand out to test the waters but they're reaching into separate pools. It crushes me because you can see them both trying so hard but they just don't understand each other yet.

#heated rivalry

funfactbuck-deactivated20260403

shane’s a lot of things and one of them is that he’s yeah, kinda boring. and as someone who also considers themselves boring, it delights me to see ilya endeared by it and love shane for it, not in spite of it. and with how persistently ilya pursues him and how passionately he shows his attraction and interest, shane’s never left doubting that while ilya may call him boring, he’s not bored by him - that’s the distinction, that’s why ilya fell for him.

#heated rivalry

irrevocablecondition

“i do not know that side of you” is so fucking special to me. shane grew up with support. shane has brand deal after brand deal, his mum and dad are in his corner, he’s the Golden Captain, he led his team to the cup two years in a row. to have a man like shane hollander turn around and say this? the guy who has the kind of career that, yes you technically have, but not in the same nutured way turns to you and says “that side of you? that part of you your father resents you for? that he makes you think is all you are? i’ve never seen it.” you stock my ginger ale in the fridge. you made me dinner. you are not lazy.

a lazy person doesn’t put this much effort in. doesn’t give his brother mountain after mountain of money. doesn’t go back to a country he hates because his family needs him. needs, not wants, and yet he does it anyway. doesn’t put his all into a game that doesn’t support him. doesn’t put his all into the very game driving a wedge between him and his father. doesn’t learn english for a game. doesn’t sit and research alzheimers for so long a word like “genetic” comes out so naturally. doesn’t start 10 steps behind and end up side by side with Shane Hollander.

shane doesn’t even know any of this. he doesn’t know and yet he turns and says “i do not know that side of you”.

oh, ilya rozanov, of course you slipped up. of course you said shane. how on earth could you not when he sees through you so easily?

#heated rivalry

intergalacticmca

I love the way they portrayed Ilya’s jealousy in the show. I love that it’s blazing rage and disgust with himself. We’ve seen in the first two episodes that Ilya does not react well when he’s in emotional distress and that he tends to lash out when he’s emotionally overwhelmed (at Shane on the rooftop in Vegas, at Shane in Sochi) and the way he reacts to his jealousy is so consistent with that.

He’s angry and disgusted at himself for being jealous because this has never happened to him before. He has never cared about sharing a lover before, but the thought of Shane loving someone who is not him is making him sick and he doesn’t know how to control it. We’ve talked a lot about Ilya’s need for control due to the lack of it in his own life and how his sexual dynamic with Shane satisfies a lot of that need, but now Ilya has totally lost control of the situation with Shane and he’s spiralling out.

He aggressively checks Shane into the boards. He angrily storms out of the room when he sees Shane and Rose on TV. He stares in disgust and anguish at himself in the mirror.

This is someone who has no idea what to do with all that he’s feeling. He’s not angry at Shane; he’s angry at himself for caring, for needing Shane, for trying to take more from Shane than what he thinks he deserves. He has never felt anything like this and it’s eating him up inside. He would give anything to not feel it - he goes to the club to get drunk and get laid, only to find the very bane of his existence there lived up with his new girlfriend.

Ilya, who is usually so good at compartmentalizing and hiding how he feels, is in uncharted territory - he’s in love and he knows it, and he has no idea what to do with everything he’s feeling, so he lashes out.

It’s absolutely devastating and delicious to watch.

#heated rivalry

feral-peacock

Shout out to Ilya Rozanov for not letting his bisexuality get in the way of being a boob man.

#heated rivalry

bridferchglyn

There are plenty of reasons to be obsessed with Heated Rivalry, but the one I can’t get over is the JOY of finally seeing sex scenes taken seriously as interactions. As a way to convey thoughts, feelings, neuroses, fears and deep fondness between characters. It’s so rare & gorgeous to see on TV.

The way Shane always folds his clothes. The dropping of eyes and minute twitch at the corner of Connor Storrie’s mouth as Ilya notices but chooses not to make fun of him for it. The hypnotic state Shane gets in when he’s close enough to Ilya, the total mask-dropping when Ilya Ice Princess Rozanov is fucking Canada’s Golden Boy, probably-too-good-for-me Shane Hollander. These aren’t just smutty treats for a horny audience to bring in ratings, they’re ALL character moments.

The actors, the director, the whole team on the show just GETS it. Truly a masterpiece.

#heated rivalry