Orange Magnetic

Questions? Comments? Just wanna say hi and become friends? Cool, my askbox is open.

[omgshesblowinbubbles]

Don’t Twinkify my Shane but also don’t Dumbify my Ilya! He does not need a sex ban threat to pick up his socks, he knows Shane doesn’t like stuff on the floor. He does not eat McDonalds while shane cooks dinner. His goal in life is to be a good boyfriend and make his man happy and he is very good at it.

[ilyarozanovsmouth]

Concept:

Ilya does love seeing old photos of Shane. Fat Baby Shane™ in all his forms, toddler Shane in his little hockey gear, Shane in elementary school with a big missing-teeth smile, Shane blowing out the candles on his 10th birthday, Shane holding up his brand new driver's license at 16. The list goes on.

One day Yuna finds an old disposable camera. The expiration date on it says 2009. She tells Shane about it; it might have some old photos from his graduation on it or something. She'd gotten a digital camera around that time so she can't remember what she used this one for. Shane is pretty indifferent about it.

Yuna sends the camera off to some company that still develops old camera film. It's about 15 years old at this point, though, so whatever is on it might not even develop correctly.

A few weeks later Shane and Ilya are over for dinner. Yuna tells them she got the photos back and they actually turned out ok. She hands over the stack of 10 photos. Shane rolls his eyes, but Ilya grabs the photos and starts flipping through them. The first two look like they are from some school event; there's Shane surrounded by similarly aged kids in an auditorium. There's one of the three of them on Thanksgiving that year and another of the three of them with Yuna's parents at the same dinner. Two of David asleep on the couch with the family dog clearly taken on different days. One of a Christmas tree in the Hollander's living room. The next two are Shane on the ice in a rink that Ilya recognizes as the one in Regina. The one from their first World Juniors Tournament.

And Ilya freezes. The last photo in the stack is a close-up of Shane. He's in a white hoodie with a black coat over it. He has on a dark green beanie and he's standing next to the door to the rink. He's smiling for the camera and his freckles are crinkled near his eyes. It's the Shane that so awkwardly and so confidently introduced himself to Ilya the first time they met. The Shane that had tried so hard to talk to Ilya then. The Shane that Ilya could admit to himself now that he'd had a bit of a crush on already. His Shane.

His Shane was getting blurry as tears filled his eyes.

[lapetitepedestre]

You could stay.

(Click for better quality, reblogs appreciated)

[shaneswetbrowneyes]

i actually think that what's being missed in the 'why does everyone love heated rivalry' conversation is just that it's good

it's well made, well shot, well directed, the music is interesting, the costumes are both thoughtful and subtly period accurate, the sex scenes are intentional and, again, accurate to what hooking up when you're like 18 actually feels like...the actors are of course attractive but they look like real people. the characters are varied and well fleshed out, the acting is really, really strong

so many shows and films shoot and then slot in whatever music kind of fits or could be licenced in the budget after time, but you can tell that the scenes in hr were shot with that specific music in mind. and the same intentional approach runs through the whole thing

it feels...so nice to watch a show that cares about itself

[orangemagnetic]

Just because it seems like some people need to hear it, nobody is entitled to information about someone's trauma.

[gaynehollander]

I think a big part of what makes Shane so incredibly compelling as a character is that he doesn’t give into stereotypes that have been perpetuated for so long that many people don’t even recognise them as anything out of the ordinary when they see them. Like, he’s autistic but he is shown to have deep connections to the people closest to him, he’s shown to be a person whose opinion is respected, he’s shown to be a person people are actively drawn to and want to be around, he’s shown to be funny and, yes, a little bitchy. He’s submissive but he’s never weak. He’s a top athlete who’s competative to a fault, never cowers from a challenge, and is a natural leader, and none of those facts are shown to be in conflict with his longing and need to submit. He’s a bottom but he’s overtly masculine, he’s physically large and unafraid to take up space; unafraid to push back. He’s a full fucking person and that is so refreshing to see, especially for those who share some of his traits and have only ever been allowed a representation of themselves that reduces them to that one trait, washing them of anything that adds nuance.

[ilyasmole]

he's not a chicken. he's brave ♡

[endiness]

[endiness]

[kookiedeadbutterflies]

I may stir up something controversial by saying this, but the more we saw Regina, the more I feel we could see who she really was underneath.

When we first saw Regina, we were made to believe she was a waitress in a diner who was doing her best to make an honest living in New York. She even refused Louis’s money once when he uncovered her past and all of her debt, because she didn’t want to be pitied. She seemed like she was trying in earnest to turn over a new leaf. But when she allowed Louis to come back into the diner, that’s when we started to really see her true colors.

Despite her earlier claims to Louis that he was mentally disturbed for seeking her out because she looked just like Claudia, when it came to making money and getting her debts cleared, she was down for anything. She was willing to be the dress up doll who would follow the script and make out with her make believe companion. She would go on dates and write in dairies and speak with the NOLA accent when it was requested of her. She was entirely willing to play make believe with Louis as long as the money kept flowing. She didn’t want to stop.

Not when Lestat said that she was hurting Louis by continuing their relationship. Not when Lestat said all the reasons why she wasn’t Claudia. And not even when she came back to the diner after admitting that things would sometimes get “too freaky”. She instead doubled down that she looked just like Claudia and so long as she did, she would continue to benefit from Louis’ trauma. And if Lestat were any more unstable, she would benefit from his too.

Troubled girl, injured girl, cunning girl, resourceful girl, diner waitress, scam artist, gold digger. She may be all of these things, but there is one thing she is not.

She is not Claudia. Not even close.

She may have her face, but she is nothing like her. She’s dead behind the eyes.

And it’s a testament to Delainey’s acting that she can act like a girl who looks exactly like Claudia and is trying to imitate her character, but isn’t her.

[lucylehane]

last time we were together...

[lavenderprose]

Shane is never gonna see that flannel again btw. It’s going straight in Ilya’s suitcase and back to Boston with him. He wears it when he’s missing his man. Which is constantly. He wears it on flights sometimes. Maybe a lot of the time. Several years down the line the cuffs are frayed and several buttons are missing and Shane finds it in a drawer and barely remembers that it was once his. The only reason he remembers is because one of his most revisited memories of that first cottage summer is seeing Ilya wearing that shirt and the triumphant, roaring animal it awoke in his chest to see Ilya Rozanov wearing fucking plaid and knowing he was the reason.

[orangemagnetic]

SPOILERS FOR TLG

If you want to avoid spoilers for TLG, keep scrolling!

I should probably have this on my blog somewhere. I left season one adoring Shane and then since spoilers were everywhere I found out some things.

Spoilers for TLG under the cut. Warnings: Not Shane friendly. Not Rachel Reid friendly. If you don't want to read it that's understandable just keep scrolling.

I will reiterate, I finished the show and I adored Shane. However I am very concerned about how season two will change my opinion of him. I am already furious with him and I really wish it wasn't that way. Here are my reasons why.

"You haven't had your mom calling you all day." - Are you kidding me?! One of my favourite things about Shane is the care he shows about Irina. And then Rachel wrote this line, she even doubled down by having Ilya reply that no his mom hasn't been calling him and didn't have Shane notice? It's hard to believe that the Shane that I came to know in season one would ever say that, much less not realize when Ilya actually responds about it.

The line about smoking weed and not caring about losing. - This has got to be one of the worst choices Rachel Reid has ever made about her writing. Shane implying Ilya is lazy. The same insult that his abusive father used. It's literally the first clue of how Ilya's abusive father views him that the audience gets in the show and then there's such a meaningful moment about it in episode four.

"But you know me, I'm lazy."

"I don't know that side of you at all."

Ilya referring to himself as his father does because of course it has made an impact and Shane just gently refuting it. That's what we had in season one. But TLG has Shane imply Ilya is lazy, which reenforces the abuse that Ilya has suffered and that is the person we're supposed to believe is the best option for the love of Ilya's life? I don't believe Rachel is even aware of how damaging that is.

The lack of awareness about Ilya choosing him. - I know, stories need conflict and that had to be theirs apparently. Rachel really made Shane seem like someone who could be viewed as being only concerned for himself. Ilya gave up his home because mostly likely he wouldn't have had to if he didn't decide to pursue the relationship with Shane. It was Ilya's choice but that's the reality of his situation.

Ilya also gave up his team that he was achieving incredible things with and I know Ilya mentioned moving to a Canadian team first. Although I will point out that his other idea was marring Svetlana and I assume staying in Boston considering the American citizenship. Lavender marriages exist and it might have been a better option in a way for Ilya, although I do understand that it most likely would have broken Shane's heart and so I'm glad he said something about it.

Also as far as I understand, Ilya also gave up the right to come out to people about his own sexuality and that's where Rachel's writing of Shane really makes me view her in a certain way. Rachel has written more than one book in which the idea of staying in the closet is considered to be something that the characters in the closet have to overcome. It seems she believes it's wrong to stay in the closet or maybe to put it more kindly she's uninformed about the full truth of what being in the closet means.

Rachel chose to write that Shane came out of the closet and because of that she then chose to have Shane forcing Ilya to be in the closet about his bisexuality. Personally if Shane doesn't want to come out publicly about the relationship and he doesn't, I don't have a problem with that. They can't come out without outing Shane and he's not ready, totally understandable. Ilya being unable to come out because Shane is out I do have a problem with. Rachel seemingly has made it quite clear what she thinks about being in the closet and then has Shane not wanting Ilya to come out himself, which Ilya as a queer person should get to choose when he does that.

Just as a comparison. Rachel had Scott treated as doing something wrong for just having Kip have their relationship be private and that was with Kip as an out gay man. How the hell did she not realize how Shane was going to come across considering how she has written before?

Also, the whole Shane not wanting to go to the party makes no sense based on the information we had when is comes to what the plan was supposed to be about! The plan is literally to allow them to be seen in public and yet somehow Rachel just decided that actually that wasn't part of it and people are just supposed to act as if that's the case all along?

Ilya's timing could have been better but considering he's in the middle of dealing with a mental health crisis along with a unfair amount of trauma to try and navigate that actually is something more realistic about Rachel's writing.

Ilya gave up pretty much everything and Shane didn't notice? It never occurred to him? Not even when he was staying up for hours making the plan in the first place. I know Shane has been wilfully ignorant before mostly about Russia but this is another level. How exactly does Shane not realize? He's so in love with Ilya and he cares so much but he is selfish enough that it didn't occur to him even after years? Even after seeing that Ilya is not okay? It could seem like Shane was fine as long as he thought he was getting to keep what was most important to him. Which makes for a really unbalanced relationship.

The post plane crash engagement. - All this conflict and it's supposed to get fixed with a proposal? No. In a healthy relationship, you do the work. You find compromise and take accountability for where things went wrong. Communication being a massive part of that. Some quick fix that somehow is supposed to make people forget everything else that came before just does not work.

I adore Shane Hollander in season one of Heated Rivalry and he means a lot to me. However Rachel made choices that make me believe that he's not the best suited to be in a relationship with Ilya and I really hope somehow season two manages to play out in a different way. It's a love story, the happily ever after is something we're supposed to be wishing for.

[drawballa]

Sleepy boys 💤

[miscelium]

shane riding it crazy style in a backwards baseball hat is like level up of white crew socks as lingerie. i think it would give ilya a nosebleed

no bc shane bouncing and moaning on it in just the white crew socks and backwards baseball hat and maybe his smartwatch notifying him he's hit his cardio goal for the day would give me a nosebleed too

[aemelia]

@mina-logan absolutely zero pressure BUT I can picture this drawn in your style so clearly it’s like a vision from god

[mina-logan]

Baby I’m taking NOTES because YES.

[mina-logan]

Anyway I did it.

Full art on AO3: Here

[sinmonger]

Heated Rivalry | 2026 GLAAD Media Awards | Making queer art is hard. It's hard to get it made, it's hard to get it seen...thank you for your support, it means the world. - Jacob Tierney

[feltforever]

i think one of the reasons that heated rivalry has been so successful is because everyone involved with it is so fucking proud of what they created. like there’s zero embarrassment or shame about how sexual it is or how queer it is and it’s just such a breath of fresh air