Maybe It’s Time To Wake Up, Yes?

ace/bi/idek ~ she/they .......heated rivalry, stranger things, osemanverse, grishaverse, of monsters and men....... 🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

[happy-as-hell-if-u-stayed-4-tea]

Folks, my first edit: Hollanov being hopeful and cute, set to Sofia by Clairo!

Representation of queer joy can change lives, and I wanted to highlight how beautifully that's demonstrated with these two 🏳️‍🌈 🏒

I know it's not perfect but this made me so happy to put together :) Tips and constructive criticism welcome!

~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-~*•~-

My edit, plus videos from which I sourced my clips.

[gendercensus]

A quick and easy nonbinary name survey

[ Click here to participate ]

It's open until 19th July 2026, and it's open to anyone whose gender(s) (or lack thereof) defy the restrictive binary of male/female.

Reblog for SCIENCE~~~

See some incoming stats and links to help with promotion here.

[casual-media-consumer]

Watching heated rivalry is like joining an mlm mlm scheme. Like I’ve already recruited other people to join and they recruited people who recruited people who recru—

[shamebats]

For disability pride I'd like to talk about how people with headache disorders are failed by both doctors and insurance companies so much, it's standard to be put on meds with a known low probability of working and terrible side effects for no reason other than bc CGRP inhibitors are expensive. You often have to fail several cheaper medications before you can get on the ones that actually work long-term for the largest % of people.

We also often have headache-specific rescue meds like triptans restricted and rationed which, when we cannot access proper preventatives, puts especially those us of with chronic headaches at risk of overusing OTC painkillers like paracetamol or ibuprofen instead, or—depending on how bad the headaches are—folks might even resort to street drugs to numb the pain.

Migraine specially is one of the most common health conditions. Cluster headaches are considered to be the most painful chronic pain condition. Yet, most of the time, patients with these & similar conditions do not receive the medical care they'd need to properly manage their pain, and are often dismissived as overdramatic, too sensitive, "just stressed" or drug-seeking.

[penandinkprincess]

laughing about the idea of shane in shallergies verse at an event having a reaction but not wanting to make a scene, so he uses his epipen, dabs his sweaty face as best he can with napkins, and then manages to go back and find ilya in the crowd and is just "heeeyyyyy" *literally holding onto ilya's arm bruisingly tight to stay upright* "hospital :)"

[lavenderprose]

Things that are ACTUALLY in the Shane Hollander Mic'd Up compilation that we all wish we could watch through the portal:

- "Hey, how was your summer? Good, good."

- "Mic'd up. I'm mic'd up. Don't."

- "Have you ever been to Greece? Told Ilya I would ask you."

- "What? No, man, he didn't say that. He said he was gonna get your ass. Yeah, man, he only fucks one ass. Yeah, I mean, I would say fuck you too but--"

- "Heeeey, davai, davai. Great assist. Hah, no, don't come closer, I'm mic'd and you know I don't trust you."

- "The Royal Tiger Towel Paper Towel Power Play. The Royal Tiger Towel Paper Towel Power Play. The Royal--"

- "HEY MATHESON. You ever been to Vegas? I said, you ever been to VEGAS? I hear they let the good hockey players go there in the summer but I feel like you wouldn't know that."

- "FUCK. Hey, ref, what the fuck was that? Oh, you didn't see that? Fuck you. No, you stay there, my husband's gonna talk to you--fuck you, put me in the bin then, this is bullshit--"

- "You have the smelling salts? Yeah. FUCK--"

- "I am mic'd. Remember I am mic'd. Nope, not even in Russian."

- "Oh, yeah, the pickle video was funny. Harris said it got a lot of views, so. Yeah, no, he actually really does love pickles that much."

- "Sinclair, you got something to say? Yeah, I'm better at hide the pickle than you are at hockey. You want to ask another stupid question?"

- "You know, I run a charity too. Oh, I just assumed that you were doing some kind of Make-A-Wish thing out here with your wingers, since it looks like this is your first day on the ice."

- "Oh, hey, look. Jackie and the kids are waving at us. Okay. Okay, Rozanov, that's enough."

- "Mic'd. Mic'd. Mic'd."

- "Hello Hockey Night, welcome to my husband's shoulder pads--" "Fuck OFF, Rozanov."

- "Great goal. Great goal. Lyublyu tebya. Yes, baby, you did that."

[my-gender-is]

My gender is Homosexula

[theprideful-deactivated20251201]

[windsing5]

And they’re all Vlad

[my-castles-crumbling]

home - hollanov - @hollanovmicrofic - word count: 525 - click here for my hollanov microfic archive on ao3

English, in Ilya's opinion, was an absolutely ridiculous language.

Though he'd been studying it for some time now, taking classes in Russia during his childhood and practicing with the other Russians hoping to be drafted, the stupid language seemed to always fuck with him.

There were rules of the language, yes, but they always had exceptions. Words with definitions, but then phrases that made absolutely no sense. Things that sounded the same but meant basically the opposite. 

Yes, English was, at it's core, really fucking annoying. Which was why he often had to ask Svetlana about certain stupid words.

"What is the difference," he asked one day as they lay together, skin sticky and chests heaving, some stupid American soap opera on the TV in the background, "between the two words 'house' and 'home?'"

Svetlana, who was already scrolling on her phone, looked over to him. "What?"

"Americans use these both," he explained bluntly, gesturing to the TV, where one of the characters had just said one of the terms. "'I am going to my home. I am going to my house.' Why? What is the difference?" he pushed, the thought taking root in his brain.

Svetlana blinked, tilting her head to the side in thought. "There is not a big difference, not really. It's just...a feeling, I think."

He frowned, frustrated. "A feeling? I thought both mean where you live, no?"

"Yes. But also, 'home' is like...it does not need to be so defined by locations. It is just any safe place. Where you are happy and loved," she explained simply, staring for a few seconds before looking back to her phone.

Ilya's frown deepened. He thought about his family house, in Russia. The dark shadows, the loud voices, the pressure that seemed to push down from every available surface.

It was not, it seemed, a home.

And he thought about his place in Boston.

Welcoming, yes. Bright and distinctly his own. But...empty. In a way he couldn't exactly describe.

It didn't seem to fit the English definition for 'home,' either. 

Did he have a home? 

Would he ever?

"English is stupid," he murmured, rolling away and reaching for his own phone, pleased to find a text from 'Jane' waiting for him.

-

"Ilya? What're you doing?" Shane called to him, his voice travelling out the doorway and onto the porch, where Ilya crouched, fussing with the mat he was placing by the front door.

"I am here!" he called back, not looking up from his work. It was silly, usually perfectionism was Shane's thing, but for some reason, he really needed this to look perfect.

Footsteps clued him into his husband's arrival. So, standing up and brushing off his hands, Ilya stepped back, admiring his work."What do you think?" he asked Shane, who'd stepped outside to stand next to him and look down at the mat.

"Welcome to our home," Shane read aloud, grinning. "I like it. You can get something in Russian though, if you want. I don't mind."

"Ah, no," he replied, doing his best not to collapse with happiness. "I think it is perfect how it is."

[chaesong-hwa]

the great divide is like what if you stayed and it haunted you and what if you left and it haunted you and what if you came back and it haunted you

[kidovna]

happy pride! here’s art i’ve done of my favourite gay lesbian duo over the years

[bramblebeau]

arise queers

[sayu-nari]

Byler Therapy

I fear I’m still on the tower… Mike fumbler took it way too far with this one…

[my-castles-crumbling]

asleep - hollanov - @hollanovmicrofic - word count: 285 - click here for my hollanov microfic archive on ao3

“Oh my god, guys, would you come look at this!”

Troy, who was halfway to drunk and standing at a table in Bood’s yard with a hard cider in his hand while he played a rousing game of flipcup with a few of the other guys, turned at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice.

Harris was standing at the back door, waving his arm excitedly. “Come look!”

Most of the team, part-curious and part-needing-to-pee, traipsed inside to see what was up, only to be greeted by the most sickeningly adorable sight in the world:

“Awww, they’re so cute it’s disgusting!” Dykstra whispered, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Shane and Ilya, who had tripped inside about half an hour ago to ‘get some air’ were sprawled on Bood’s couch, laying on top of each other, completely asleep. Shane’s head was tucked adorably into Ilya’s chest, Ilya’s arm wrapped tightly around Shane’s waist, and their legs were tangled together haphazardly. The faces of both men were smooth and worry-free, small smiles flickering on their lips, like they were thrilled to be so close.

Everyone who watched from the door stood silently for a moment, taking in the scene.

“S’sweet,” Chouinard murmured, slurring a little. “Cap deserves it, y’know? T’be happy like this.”

“Mm. They both do. Happy together,” Haas agreed, smiling softly. 

Everyone nodded, the room filling with a warm camaraderie as a few of the men clapped each others’ backs or wrapped arms around each other. Harris took a few pictures, beaming.

Then–

“Got a Sharpie, Bood? I wanna draw a dick on Roz’s face.”

“Oooo, yeah! Haas, you’re good at drawing! Think you can get a whole tramp stamp on Hollzy before he notices?”

[rainbow-femme]

Someone online makes a comment about how Shane probably isn’t a very good boyfriend, saying his flat affect and resting neutral face in paparazzi pics and video must mean he’s detached and not affectionate compared to Ilya who is much more overtly affectionate

Ilya then has the rest of the Centaurs help him make a compilation of secretly filmed Shane moments showing how good a boyfriend he is

Ilya doing the “would you still love me if I was a worm?” thing and without missing a beat or asking any questions Shane just goes “Yeah”

Harris films himself asking Shane random Ilya questions and Shane always having an answer. “Hey what Ilya’s favorite milkshake flavor?” “Mint.” “I’m buying everyone fun socks, what’s Ilya’s favorite color?” “Blue, but only if it’s light, he doesn’t like dark blue.” “What’s Ilya’s favorite fruit?” “Pears.”

Troy waits for Shane to sit on the bench looking at his phone or tying his skates then says “Oh hey Ilya’s coming in” and catches multiple examples of Shane immediately scootching over to one side to make room for Ilya to sit next to him

Ilya puts his feet up on Shane’s lap silently and Shane starts lightly massaging them. Ilya lays his head on Shane’s shoulder and Shane starts quietly playing with his hair

They film Ilya handing Shane random things and asking him to hold them and Shane does without question. The internets favorite is the one where Ilya pulls a pineapple out of his bag and asks Shane to hold it and he agrees, getting his gear on one handed so he can keep holding the pineapple in the other

Hayden gets a video of Shane letting Ruby brush his hair and fill it with clips while he and Jade do Ilya’s nails, Ilya laying with a face mask and cucumbers over his eyes and his head on Shane’s lap

[summerscottkip]

François Arnaud project (Françoiject) reviews: Just the Queer characters

If you’re entering the Françoinematic Universe via Heated Rivalry, you may be scrolling through this bisexual icon’s lengthy IMDB page and wondering: which ones are queer? Look no further. 

(Check out my Masterpost of Françoiject reviews here)

This tour of FA’s fruity roles includes the following information: 

My pithy commentary (free of charge)

🌈/ out of five: How explicit is the character’s queer identity, and how relevant is their identity to the overall story? 

💔/ out of five: How much sadçois should you be prepared for as it relates to the character’s sexuality?

This rating system gives away a little more about the characters than my previous reviews, so spoilers ahoy, including spoilers for the on/offscreen death of queer characters (of which there are relatively few!)

A caveat: This list has set out to identify FA roles which are textually queer (Check out my honorable mentions at the bottom for some popular fanon interpretations). Obviously, the way this typically happens on screen is for the character to share intimate/romantic scenes with a same-sex partner or have their same-sex attraction referenced in dialogue, in place of or in addition to scenes or dialogue which reference attraction to other genders. Those are the characters getting included on this list. With that said, it would be a completely legitimate reading to give the queer benefit of the doubt to any FA character that doesn’t specifically identify as heterosexual (i.e. all of them). So go forth and interpret as you see fit. This list is just for fun and to celebrate queer rep on screen.

The OG: 

Antonin Rimbaud (I Killed my Mother): FA’s first queer character was in his first real film. I Killed My Mother premiered at Cannes to rave reviews in 2009, when scenes of same-sex intimacy were still a rarity (and they still are!). Young handsome Antonin’s easy relationship with his sexuality and easier relationship with his slightly flighty mother are a balm and a foil to his character’s boyfriend, the angsty Hubert. Antonin put FA on the map and remains a piece of queer cinematic history.

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈: Antonin is the love interest of the main character, and while this isn’t the kind of movie where characters say identity labels at the screen, the young men’s intimacy is the emotional catharsis of the film. If you haven’t seen the gifsets of the painting scene, just scroll tumblr for a while. You’ll find them. 

💔💔: This movie is serious cinema about a young man’s fraught relationship with his mother. His being homosexual is a factor in that (and the fact that he’s accidentally outed to her without his knowledge). That said, the conflicts in the movie are largely internal, and the relationship of Antonin to Hubert has moments of real sweetness. General angst, minimal sadçois.

Period Pieces:

The most distinct thing about these queer characters is their relationship to the specific historical moment in which they exist (yes, I am including Heated Rivalry here. It’s a period film about the 2010s. Deal with it lol)

Scott Hunter (Heated Rivalry): If somehow you found this list, have an interest in seeing FA play an absolutely shredded gay man with sad eyes who finds the love of his life, and haven’t seen Heated Rivalry, I have great news for you. This is possibly the greatest day of your young life. Exit this list, get your friends HBO Max password and go watch Heated Rivalry right now. Go!

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈: Heated Rivalry is a gay romance show. Scott is in this show because he is gay. His problems are because he is gay, and his ultimate happiness is a result of him being gay. Good for him. Good for Scott Hunter. 

💔💔.5: This is a romance about professional athletes, which means it is a show about the closet, and the hard choices that entail coming out of it (if at all). For me the HEA (for Scott) makes the sadçois moments (and boy are they sad) a delicious part of a journey. Overall it’s a show about queer people finding happiness together, and while the specter of homophobia is very present, the setting of HR (see it is a period piece!) makes this a gentler world than others on this list.  

Paul (Yellowjackets): Paul, you exquisite document of late 90s gay fashion. The high-waisted jeans. The silk VEST. The EARRING. It’s incredible to behold in the brief foray Yellowjackets takes into the past and wishful hallucinations of Coach Ben. Paul is the boyfriend poor closeted Ben left behind in order to accompany a girl’s soccer team to nationals, only to have their plane go down in the Canadian wilderness. I’ll be honest, I don’t know much else about the show. Paul’s appearance is brief, strewn across a few episodes of season two, but FA delivers.

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈: Paul exists in order to show us the out and proud gay possibilities that Ben is too timid to pursue. He’s queer, tender, and I can’t say enough about his clothes. Remember in 1996 how everyone was dressing like a lesbian? Good times. Ben’s wishful imaginings of couples activities with Paul like playing charades are sweet moments of queer joy with a historical flavor. 

💔💔💔💔💔: Nothing bad happens to Paul, who lbr mostly only exists on screen as part of Ben’s fever dreams. That context is enough to make this queer character fairly sad. However, this is also Yellowjackets, and uh, from what I hear, things don’t go great for Coach Ben (though his character’s fate isn’t due to homophobia). Paul’s final appearance is juicy sadçois, and whatever happens to Coach Ben in the wilderness takes place much later in the show. My advice if you aren’t into Yellowjackets: watch the Paul scenes as a sweet short film with a bittersweet and ambiguous ending and call it a day.

Curtis Bailey (Quantum Leap): I enjoyed the tenderness and hopefulness of this character, who admittedly does hit some of the more traditional sad historical gay beats common to network television. A one-off guest spot on a show about time travel, Curtis is an American soldier in 1978 who because of his accidental outing following the death of his partner (implied to have died towards the end of the Vietnam War), has been assigned to a suicide-squad-type secret mission. Curtis is a well-meaning attempt at a queer Born of the Fourth of July scenario (he feels betrayed by his country despite trying to serve it) but the show isn’t really dark or political enough to get too deep into all that.

🌈🌈🌈🌈: Curtis is definitely gay, and definitely loved his boyfriend very much. He says this in monologues at least three times. Those monologues aren’t bad, I just have to take one rainbow away for the show’s slightly cheapskate commitment to “tell don’t show.” Like one good flashback to Curtis’ happier times with his partner would have made all the difference. 

💔💔💔💔: the premise of Curtis is that he loved and lost, and that his partner’s unexpected death directly led to him being outed to the military. That’s some heavy stuff. However, I want to give credit to the hopeful beats given to this character, who tries to sacrifice himself for the group and in a pleasant subversion of the Bury Your Gays trope (Heroic Flavor) gets rescued through the power of non-homophobic teamwork. It was a little saccharine but it did my heart good. Some valuable sadçois brought depth to a character that could have been expected and bland.

Gays with Ethically Questionable Business Practices:

If I had a nickel for every time François Arnaud played a gay guy with very few moral boundaries when it came to getting ahead in his corporate job, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Patrick Landry (Plan B): Patrick is a dedicated family man who I think would really benefit from a Xanax. This bilingual lawyer is the third billed character in a remake of a Quebecois sci-fi show where the (terrible) main character uses a time traveling service to go back in time and try to make the perfect life. Patrick goes through some really interesting iterations thanks to this process, but his motivations are always to get ahead at his law firm in order to better support his family (so he says). This includes some ethically dubious shit that at one point puts him and his family in (threatened) danger. That said, he’s a great brother and a great dad and he holds a special place in my heart.

🌈🌈🌈: Patrick has a husband who he kisses on screen and two beautiful (surrogate?) children. For plot reasons he literally says “I’m gay. I have a husband” to another character. This is as textual as it gets. That being said, other than a little extra mustard that FA puts on some of his line deliveries Patrick’s sexuality isn’t super relevant to the story. It’s important that his character have a spouse, not a husband. It made me wonder, and what do you know, in the original Francophone Plan B, the Patrick character has a wife and kids instead. The switch isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’d be curious to do a side-by-side watch someday and see what making Patrick gay does to change his story, if at all.

💔💔:This is a tough call, because infidelity is a factor in Patrick’s story, but not in the way you might expect. It is very clear that Patrick sees his actions as coming from a place of devotion toward his family. Frankly, as far as tragic shit in this show goes, Patrick and Eric’s marriage is doing great. This show also features some fantastic sadçois that is unrelated to Patrick’s sexuality.

Harrison (Surface): Surface is not about Harrison, the male lead’s work friend (possibly best friend, which is sad) who just so happens to be gay (and everyone is fine with it. Seriously!! No need to discuss it AT ALL, bro.) Harrison’s role in the show is “do borderline financial crimes to help the main character.” He doesn’t even have a last name, but look! He has a boyfriend! This show appeals to many demographics! Memorable sad line (i’m paraphrasing): “c’mon let’s get you out of the house. I’ll even suffer through a strip club with you.” 

🌈:This is just a hunch but I think at some point in production they realized “oh this show is set in San Fran. we’re legally obligated to have a gay character” and Harrison was the only guy with blank spots on his “Traits and Abilities” sheet. The difference between Harrison and Dan Moody is a few hundred grand in net worth.

💔: I feel sadness in my heart for this underdeveloped character, but neither Harrison nor the people who wrote him seem to clock that his life is tragic.

Scene-y LA guys:

The name of this category is a JOKE based on a JOKE that FA made in an interview ONE TIME. It is TONGUE IN CHEEK. That being said, these are very contemporary characters living in big cities who seem to be very comfortable with queer culture and have little to no relationship to the closet. Good for them!

Sebastian Raine (Schitt’s Creek): Every actor should have a self-parody character, and I believe in my heart that this is François’. Every doubt in his mind telling him he’s abandoned good, noble Montreal in order to chase shallow fame in LA lives in Sebastian Raine, whose mild villainy is only outdone by his atrocious and no doubt expensive sweater. He takes his sexuality (and his sexiness) for granted. People are just material to be churned into his artistic vision. I love him. He appears in one episode of Schitt’s Creek as David Rose’s dreaded ex, and he should have won an Emmy for the accent alone. 

🌈🌈🌈: Sexuality is never much of an issue on Schitt’s Creek, so it’s not like Sebastian needs to worry about homophobia. Whether he’s gay, bi, or pan is left to the imagination as far as i recall, but he and David definitely get up to something offscreen and they verbally and hilariously acknowledge their past relationship. Sebastian being queer is by far the least objectionable thing about him, so it’s not much of a role in the plot. 

-💔: negative broken hearts, because Sebastian’s therapist says he should never feel sorrow. 

Sam(my) (Twinless): First of all, go watch this movie. It rules. Secondly, we have Sammy, essentially a cameo and a comedic lesson in why straight people shouldn’t introduce the only two gay people they know and assume they’ll fall in love. Sammy in a short time has some funny lines in a great movie set in Portland that explores a few different (admittedly cosmopolitan and upper-middle class) facets of gay life in the 2020s. You get to see FA in a sexy mailman costume. It’s great. 

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈: Sammy is “the gay guy” Roman knows from work. He should totally introduce you! Shout out to Sammy’s sexy halloween costume and his upfront acknowledgement that he’s not into “nice.” 

💔: one broken heart as fair warning that this movie is about the death of a queer character. That death has nothing to do with FA’s role, and I hope it doesn't turn you off of this movie. It would be unfair to apply Bury Your Gays to a film thats really about the complex relationships between its characters, several of whom are queer. 

Connor Fontaine (Paint): Okay, I’m going to be real: I’m not actually sure that this character is meant to be understood as queer. HOWEVER, according to a strict reading of the text, at least one woman and one man verbally confirm having sucked his dick. That’s good enough for me. I didn’t really love the rest of this movie because (shocker) the art market sucks. Connor pops up a little over halfway through, tells some inappropriate stories, does some cocaine, and tries to hook up with one of the female artist characters who briefly debates whether she wants to fuck him or sell him paintings (and girl you are valid). 

🌈🌈: Again, while I believe in my heart that Connor is bi based on dialogue, his role in the movie is about class, not sexuality. He’s there as the heir to an art collector who reminds the artist characters that there are people out there who just play by different rules because of money they were born into. He does wear a cunty earring.

💔: eh, again whether or not he’s queer has little to do with the fact that Connor is kind of a dick. It’s not clear how seriously the audience should take a story he tells that implies his father once touched him inappropriately as a kind of macho bullying.

Honorable Mention: The Subtext Gang

These characters are not textually queer. However, for the discerning viewer, there is some very Modern Literature available on Ao3 speculating on various queer identities they might be referencing via subtext, costuming, or just pure transformative efforts by their fans. 

Cesare Borgia (The Borgias): Shoutout Lucrezia, but Cesare is on here because of Micheletto. The Borgias canon gay character has a relationship of deep trust with FA’s Cesare, and when he departs after the death of his lover in season 3, Cesare’s grief is very real. Toss in a lot of homoerotic sword fighting, cute banter (Cesare meets Micheletto’s mom!), and tense dialogue over Micheletto’s other partners and you’ve got the recipe for a classic slash ship.

🌈: A courtesy rainbow, for “you must keep on loving this boy.”

💔: *closes wikipedia* haha nothing bad ever happens to Cesare Borgia! Jesus loves him! 

Manfred Bernardo (Midnight Texas): Manfred the medium/fortune teller/scam artist is on this subtext list for two reasons: 1) there’s just no way he’s heterosexual and 2) He spends all of season one of Midnight Texas wearing ace rings. So we have two equally fun (and not contradictory) subtext possibilities here. Whether it was a happy accident in the costuming department or an intentional shout out to a niche community, we have the possibility that Manfred isn’t interested in sex, and that he’s definitely curious about many of the beautiful men and women that inhabit a sleepy and supernatural Texas town. Anything is better than poor Creek. 

🌈🌈: please Manfred. You have so many choices. Please. 

💔: A courtesy broken heart for Manfred’s obvious comphet.

[cuunos]

hey can everyone do me a favor and put in the tags why they chose their name? even if you don't go by a chosen name irl, you can put why you chose your online name.

[gaynehollander]

Svetlana's "since when did you start smoking again?" is such an overlooked line that implies so much. Because why would Ilya have stopped smoking and suddenly started up again at this point in time? What I'm saying is thank you Jacob Tierney for overtly suggesting that Ilya stopped smoking for Shane, even with them meeting as rarely as they do, and now that Shane's broken it off he's taken it up again because what's the point of quitting if it's not for him?