Almost Exclusively Dimension 20 Content It Seems

[lucylehane]

"The sex tells the story, so it never felt gratuitous to me. The sex is character development. The sex is what is moving this relationship forward, and watching it change over time."

Jacob Tierney on It's Open With Ilana Glazer

[mybeautifuldarktwistedshane]

We (rightfully) make fun of shane for putting on a suit before their first hookup but we should also be making fun of ilya for wearing a fashionable denim jacket. They were staying in the same hotel. he put that jacket on just to down the hall and up the elevator. he only wore it because he thought shane would think it looked cool (he did) and that shane would love a sexy little striptease (he did). Embarrassing!

[somethingmagnificent]

sheer sensations, tits out and twinning ♥ HudCon at the 2026 Oscars Vanity Fair party

[hollandar]

Hudson Williams, #1 Shane Understander

I think Shane was a character who, soon as I read him, made all the sense to me. I felt immediately a kinship and an ownership over Shane. I was like, “I need to be the only person to tell this story. I get it. I want to be the person to be Shane and I want to spend time with him.” [x]

(sources below)

PANEL 1 Out

PANEL 2 (fear/desire) The Permanent Rain Press

PANEL 3 (vegas bathroom) Numero Netherlands

PANEL 4 (tears) Harper's Bazaar

PANEL 5 (ilya inverse) Teen Vogue Image: [x]

PANEL 6 (additions) (4 gifs) Numero Netherlands Entertainment Weekly

PANEL 7 (good job) Them

PANEL 8 (dichotomy) eTalk CTV CBC News Images: [x] [x] [x]

PANEL 9 (cottage home) Variety

PANEL 10 (heart eyes) Timid

PANEL 11 (evolution) Much Image: [x]

PANEL 12 (yuna) Variety

PANEL 13 Timid Numero Netherlands Out Image: [x]

[mythotsbog]

I found heated rivalry remarkable for so many reasons but one that meant a lot to me was Shane's compulsory heterosexuality. Specifically watching him have sex with Rose. He had already accepted his sexuality to a certain extent- pursuing whatever it was he believed he was doing with Ilya. He gets frightened and makes the conscious choice to repress himself. We see him have this numb dissociated sex with Rose thinking about Ilya. I have never seen that aspect of my queer journey represented on screen, didn't know how much I needed to see it.

I'm a lesbian and in late adolescence when I identified as bisexual I had sex with my boyfriend regularly during our three year relationship. It was dissociated, its was repression, and I had no idea even though I thought I had accepted my queerness. Yes it was technically consensual, which makes it even more confusing to parse out later down the line why it affected me so much. Why years later I had dreams where I would still be dating this ex-boyfriend and he would try to initiate sex and I would feel so uncomfortable and trapped (something I did not consciously feel when we did have sex in the relationship). Why I felt so separated from my ability to feel sexual attraction for so long. There is no one to blame, at which point it becomes difficult not to blame yourself.

To see the difference in the intimate sex Ilya and Shane had, even in their very first encounter, compared to Shane following the script of heterosexuality numbly, mechanically. Its a pain I am still holding, it was so raw and validating to see that portrayed in heated rivalry and I am thankful for it.

[pigfartsviatardis]

This!!! I can relate so so much and I too loved seeing this represented and explored through Shane. Because comphet is truly WILD. It’s so all consuming, yet so insidious. What seems obvious in hindsight is completely hidden from you when you’re in it.

I assumed I was straight in high school, was enthusiastically and obliviously performative about liking boys, and it wasn’t until my gap year that I got an actual crush on a woman. I had no issue accepting I was queer! But it didn’t occur to me for a single second that I might prefer women, or indeed not actually be into men at all. I identified as pan and then bi for almost a decade and for a long time I did not in any way pursue women because I was firmly convinced none of my ‘firsts’ counted unless they were with a man. I was forcing myself to go on dates with guys, nauseous with anxiety, and then I was always so awkward it never went anywhere. I didn’t have sex until my mid 20s. It was… fine. He was gorgeous and lovely and respectful. I didn’t want to do it again.

I didn’t start dating/sleeping with women until my late 20s and then I had my lightbulb moment. Ever since, I’ve identified as gay. Looking back it’s so obvious I was always lying to myself about being romantically or sexually interested in men, but at the time I was so lost in the comphet sauce that I wasn’t even in denial. It truly just didn’t enter my mind that I might not be into guys. Not because I thought there was anything wrong with being gay, but because it was so ingrained in my mind that I had to be attracted to men.

I think Shane went through something similar, and it wasn’t until Rose made him face his utter lack of attraction to women that he was even able to entertain the notion. It wasn’t being into men he struggled with because he knew that about himself; it was NOT being into women. At least, that’s how I interpreted his ‘I really tried, mom’.

[mythotsbog]

Yes to all of this! Compulsory heterosexuality has homosexual people conflating severe anxiety and discomfort with butterflies and arousal. The physiological systems are nearly the same, the biggest difference being the person’s interpretation and understanding of what their body is telling them. It forces us to misunderstand our emotions and urges and leads us to make choices that often add up to a unique kind of complex trauma that cuts us off from our bodies completely.

Obviously compounded when you have intersecting identities that bear the weight of oppression, which additionally informs your sexual identity and expression or how much ‘out of the norm’ behavior will be tolerated compared to others.

Just like we see with Shane struggling being the model minority Asian man in the league, and the praise the series gets going against stereotypes having a masculine gay Asian man at the center of the story.

Just like we see with Ilya being an immigrant where its illegal to be gay and his family is full of cops. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ilya believed the people who are meant to love him most would have killed him had they known what he was doing. Sure he can accept having sex with men in secret but he can’t let himself be emotionally vulnerable and believe he could have a life with Shane because that road is extremely fucking dangerous.

We try to fit in the boxes they tell us to, the more you add the smaller and more suffocating it gets. When you don’t youre running out of air and everyone else seems fine all you can think is there must be something wrong with you, that you must push through.

[mythotsbog]

I found heated rivalry remarkable for so many reasons but one that meant a lot to me was Shane's compulsory heterosexuality. Specifically watching him have sex with Rose. He had already accepted his sexuality to a certain extent- pursuing whatever it was he believed he was doing with Ilya. He gets frightened and makes the conscious choice to repress himself. We see him have this numb dissociated sex with Rose thinking about Ilya. I have never seen that aspect of my queer journey represented on screen, didn't know how much I needed to see it.

I'm a lesbian and in late adolescence when I identified as bisexual I had sex with my boyfriend regularly during our three year relationship. It was dissociated, its was repression, and I had no idea even though I thought I had accepted my queerness. Yes it was technically consensual, which makes it even more confusing to parse out later down the line why it affected me so much. Why years later I had dreams where I would still be dating this ex-boyfriend and he would try to initiate sex and I would feel so uncomfortable and trapped (something I did not consciously feel when we did have sex in the relationship). Why I felt so separated from my ability to feel sexual attraction for so long. There is no one to blame, at which point it becomes difficult not to blame yourself.

To see the difference in the intimate sex Ilya and Shane had, even in their very first encounter, compared to Shane following the script of heterosexuality numbly, mechanically. Its a pain I am still holding, it was so raw and validating to see that portrayed in heated rivalry and I am thankful for it.

[mythmagicetc]

godddd ilya pretending he’s gonna leave in the middle of their first hookup just to manufacture a situation where he gets to pin shane down with his body and promise not to leave him, man stop playing with your food he has anxiety

[wtf-is-hockey]

It probably drives Ilya fucking insane that he can't make Shane come multiple times in quick succession like he has with women. Are you listening. Hello. I'm telling you it drives him insane.

[shanehollancler]

Do you think Shane had ever been with anyone prior to that encounter?

[theburialofstrawberries]

gagged by this

[mythotsbog]

If anyone wants to re-create the actual magic and spark that Heated Rivalry has, someone needs to give money to people who actually care about art, telling a story beautifully and authentically, so they can make a limited series adaptation of Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa-

It is a passionate love story between characters with depth and so much heart. Its about the main character Gabi discovering his bisexuality (through a friends to lovers situation with Vale), realizing what that means for his future as a Mexican soccer player, battling with potential repercussions and what it would mean if he was an out bisexual Mexican man in his sport… when all he really wants is to be able to look into the stands to see his man wearing his jacket with his name on it.

There must be a team of queer and latinx artists that could make this story have the same type of impact and wide spread reach through a film series adaptation like Jacob Tierney did with Heated Rivalry.

[youhavenoideahowmuchihatethis]

"Sam says follow me into the tunnel"

Game Changer participants proceed to walk straight into a wall with a black circle painted on.

Sam Reich sticking his head out of the tunnel painting "I'm afraid thats a point away from all of you"

[an0rpm]

"it's gorgug, keep going"

[reineydraws]

hey zac, hey ally, wya i just wanna talk

ricky and pete arent here bc i havent seen the unsleeping city yet! will probably add them when i get to it lol

[runoutofsteam]

[shandy-shores]

Every new Cloudward Ho battle is like. Cool props. Everyone hates Maxwell Gotch. Shiny new game mechanic. This is the most unhinged D&D fight of all time. Murph will you roll this for me. World’s most powerful characters. “hey you’ve got this right?” It’s so over. It’s so back. Intricate inside jokes. Van Chapman is so hot. Ally Beardsley doing an incomprehensible bit. Dinosaurs. Pappy is about to die. PVP. This is the greatest D&D fight of all time.

[d20onabus]

aabria going “i ate my M&M” immediately after receiving it is so genuinely funny to me