#scott hunter

[pinenora317]

Heated Rivalry ll S01EP06

[jestwithmebuddie]

I've read that several people think it makes no sense (not sure how genuine it is, but maybe some don't see it, so I will assume sincerity) to say Skip divorce is homophobic, and I want to address that while I have some energy today because it's not about The Divorce of it all. This post is directed at people who are actually confused about that and is not a moral indictment of anyone. You're not evil for playing in the space, and I'm not a killjoy for not liking it.

I'm either scrolling or blocking and moving on, and you should too. However! Putting all of this in the main tag or not tagging made it impossible to filter, so I'm hoping people use "skip divorce" exclusively for that idea going forward.

With that said, I want you to think about why some feel like the gay character played by the only openly bisexual actor here is disloyal to his partner. (it just feels true)

I want you to think about why some feel a character played by a now 41-year-old man is preying on younger men. (he just seems like the type)

I want you to think about why some frame their interpretation as this character deserves violence and death after openly displaying attraction. (it's funny because it's "gay on gay crime") I'm gonna keep this post focused on homophobia, I digress

All of that is why some queer fans don't feel comfy here! Not every divorce headcanon has all that loaded into it, and some had even more stereotypes than that, but those are the ones I keep coming back to. It's really astounding how many different stereotypes have been crammed into one silly little headcanon, and it's worth remembering all these (and more!) are used in real life to disparage queer people. Also, the Hays Code is still so internalized that some folks will watch a show specifically with a happy ending for queer pairings and think actually it doesn't feel like a complete ending unless one of them dies heartbroken. (This isn't even getting into drinking himself to death with the background of the character *facepalms*)

But if at the end of all of that thinking, you still want to read and write about Skip divorce, then... go do that. (And tag it please, I didn't say I want to read it) There's actually a lot of emotion to explore there for anyone willing to give it all weight and respect!

I'd be happy to discuss with anyone curious and kind about it, but I'm not sure how many people are interested in talking about how our biases can bleed into our fandom interpretations who aren't already aware of that.

I'm going back to writing about Skip now, and I hope this strain of cabin fever is cured when there's more enrichment in the enclosure from casting, filming season 2, and behind the scenes speculation.

🖖

[pinenora317]

Heated Rivalry ll S01EP06

[pinenora317]

Heated Rivalry ll S01EP06

[pinenora317]

Heated Rivalry ll S01EP06

[butdarlingthestarrs]

François Arnaud as Scott Hunter | Heated Rivalry | Season 1 Episode 3

[fireflymoonwitch]

I think what makes Skip divorce compelling for me is the contrast between perceptions and reality compared to Hollanov.

Skip look perfect from the outside, but their relationship was rushed and had cracks before the big dramatic coming out moment, and those cracks are gonna deepen in the media spotlight rather than heal.

Hollanov look scandalous and messy from the outside, but they’re actually aligned and stable. They’ve put each other through hell and come out the other side of it knowing what they want and what they’ll do to keep each other, and are more able to weather relationship difficulties as a result.

Writing out my thoughts about this got long, so more detail below the cut:

Like, from the outside Skip is the perfect, palatable marketable queer romance. They’re both attractive, white Americans. They had the angst of the closet due to hockey culture and Scott’s tragic backstory, and then the big dramatic kiss that was very much a cinematic moment. Now it’s the wedding and then happily ever after, roll credits. What a feel good romance movie.

But Scott and Kip were sort of broken up/having difficulties before the Big Damn Kiss happened, and their relationship itself was a whirlwind romance that had already started to show the cracks. Kip hated being a secret and was uncomfortable with Scott throwing around huge sums of money, while Scott was genuinely and rightfully terrified of the reaction to him coming out but also terrified of losing Kip. Scott had years worth of fear to work through, and Kip was very much just an average guy, working a minimum wage job and planning to go to grad school, and now he’s dating a multimillionaire who buys him ludicrously expensive gifts (despite how short a time they’ve been together) but is terrified of spending time together in public. It’s intense and overwhelming, but it’s not stable.

And then they rekindled their romance in a very dramatic, very public way, when emotions are running high, and became the face of queer hockey in the process. The world is watching and they demand a happy ending to the story. That’s a lot of pressure for a renewed relationship that had an unstable foundation.

Like, I could see a world where Scott realises, a few weeks or months in, coming down from the high of finally unloading the crushing secret of his sexuality and getting back together with Kip, that his continuing career now hinges on rainbow capitalism. As long as he can sell the happily ever after, the Admirals can keep selling his pride jerseys, the League sticks to silent or private disapproval, and Scott stays employed. But if Skip crash and burn, if they can’t sell the happily ever after and Scott’s back to his pre-Kip inconsistent performance because he’s suffering through a very public break up, will hockey keep him? Is he, Scott Hunter alone, worth enough to the Admirals and the League to keep him when he’s messy and human and not the perfect romance movie package? And if he and Kip break up, after so publicly being the face of queer hockey, what does that mean for every other queer hockey player that came out in their wake? Will the narrative turn on them all? But it’s fine because he loves Kip and he’s so so happy (is he though? Or is he terrified and stressed and struggling and the one person he should be able to talk to about it is instead his performance partner who wanted to leave him while he was trapped in the closet by fear)

Meanwhile, Kip went from being an average guy to semi-famous. He’s the new boyfriend of the Admirals Captain who finally brought New York a Stanley Cup. The Big Damn Kiss would be plastered all over sports news. He’s been thrust into queer activism in sports, and he’s attending fancy galas in a suit worth more than anything he’s ever owned, and has conservative old men coming up to him to say insultingly ignorant things they think are complimentary. For a little while at least, I think he’d have to deal with paparazzi and random hockey fans stopping him to talk (or hurl abuse at him). People are reading into his facial expressions, word choices, body language, picking at him and his relationship, and so he has to perform a perfect relationship rather than live it. It’s a lot, and he wasn’t really prepared for it. But he’s so so happy (is he though? Or is he caught in the whirlwind romance again and now his whole life feels out of his control?)

Meanwhile, the Rozanov-Hollander rivalry is legendary. Everyone has been convinced these two genuinely hate each other for a decade. Then Rozanov went to a shitty team (what? Why? Did Roz get one of his legions of hookups pregnant and had to move to her? Did he piss off his coach/teammate by fucking their girl? Is it drugs???), they announced a charity and a friendship, but still aren’t really seen together much outside of it, and a lot of people think it’s PR because obviously they hate each other. Everyone knows that.

And then they are outed against their will, and the internet wants to rip them apart. Their relationship and their careers are immediately under fire, people looking for more scandals to exploit. The people don’t want a happy romance movie ending, they want drama! Shane in particular is branded a traitor who would throw games for sex, because racism and homophobia fuse into an unholy ball of hatred that’s lobbed directly at his face.

They are not marketable in the same way Skip are. They didn’t have the movie perfect coming out. Shane is Asian in a white-dominated, conservative sport (meaning he needs to be the perfect token Asian guy that doesn’t make waves or the league will get rid of him, and oh look, here’s a scandalous relationship with another MLH captain they can use as an excuse) and awkward in a lot of public social situations outside of media trained interviews, plus the golden boy reputation means there are definitely people who wanna see him fall off the pedestal they put him on; Ilya is an ESL immigrant with a fuckboy reputation from a country where homophobia is enshrined in law. They have both publicly dated other people, and Ilya’s playboy reputation is treated as evidence that he can’t be in a real relationship. Biphobia makes him a target for both straight and gay haters.

But Hollanov have been together in some fashion for over a decade. They have gone through situationship hell, jealousy, a messy painful breakup, ghosting, a sexuality crisis, a long-term long-distance relationship, injuries and mental health issues, and a near-death experience. They have tried to stay away from each other, and been drawn back to each other every time. They have hurt each other and still come back together with love and forgiveness. They have seen each other at their worst, and when it came down to the wire, they would both throw everything away to keep the other one.

They are solid in a way that Skip can’t compare with because they have had the time to grow their relationship before the media storm. They did their messy, unstable period in private and figured (some) of their shit out by the time they were outed. But none of that is visible from the outside, so the world just sees Russian fuckboy asshole+media trained into blandness hockey robot, and think there’s nothing there beyond the sex, and they happened to get caught doing it. They’re waiting for the inevitable collapse of the relationship and more sordid drama to consume… and then it’s the fairy tale of Skip that shatters, while Hollanov are happily married and playing on the same team.

#myskip aren’t bad people, and neither of them is at fault for the divorce. They just didn’t have a chance to iron out their issues before they were put in the relationship crucible on live-stream. In the fluffy world of feel-good romance stories, their love is enough to hold them together. But in the real world, sometimes it isn’t, and that’s okay.

(And yes, you could apply this same logic to Hollanov, and say that their love isn’t enough to overcome a world that wants them to hate each other, and that ultimately rips them apart, but then I would cry, so I’m not going to. Those bitches are clinging to each other come hell or high water)

[mywingsareonwheels]

Right, yes. <3

Let us talk about the things we love about Scott Hunter, Kip Grady, and their relationship, because they deserve it and so do we. :) <3 Here are just a few of mine:-

the incredibly cute dorky and inept flirting that nevertheless leaves them both charmed with each other <3 <3

Scott being the opposite of whatever a Karen is towards Kip in his customer service roles

the blatant neurodiversity going on throughout (I totally go with the headcanon that Scott is autistic and probably has OCD and Kip has ADHD); the compassionate way the show at least (I admit I've not read the book) treats their respective blatant anxiety disorders <3

the way that Kip gives Scott new horizons and a new way of looking at the world and brings him confidence in himself as something other than a hockey player - it's no coincidence that he initially is interested in this hot man falling asleep over an art history book

the way in which Scott ends up growing and building himself and risking *everything* for Kip, and changing hockey in order to make Kip happy <3

the way in which while Scott initially comes out for himself and Kip, within a month he's clearly locked into being out for other players and would-be players and being increasingly politicised <3

on a shallow note: François and Robbie are both breathtakingly hot ;-)

the enormous kindness and sweetness both have; the way their break-up in ep1 is done so calmly and maturely with so little resentment even while they're both breaking into pieces

Scott's speech in ep 6; dear God, it's so fucking relatable <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

the way Scott demonstrates how devastating homophobia in hockey - he's so terrified and he's an astute man for all his anxiety and lack of intellectual confidence - he's a wake-up call to any idea that being gay isn't enough to be Really Fucking Marginalised in sport (and thus gives perspective because when Scott has this much to fear when he's a white non-immigrant and the captain of a pretty friendly team? aaaaaaaaaah :( :( :( )

Carter Vaughn loves (and is protective of) Scott, and I know from those who have read the book that he loves Kip, and I mean <3 <3 <3

Elena Rygg loves (and is protective of) Kip, and clearly warms to Scott even while gently calling him out on the mess their first attempt at a relationship is becoming <3

two words: George Grady.

the epic joy Scott and Kip give each other... just... aaaaah!

knowing that Scott gets welcomed ultimately by George and by Kip's friends; knowing that Kip and Carter are going to become friends

the way that Scott's courage gives Ilya the courage to come to the cottage; like most skip fans I also love hollanov, so this is totally part of the joy for me :) :) :)

Ep5 and Ep6 skip are pure queer joy and... just. I'm a queer trans man in my late 40s. I wen to school under section 28 in the UK; for most of my life even while we didn't have the Hayes Code here we sure as fuck didn't get mainstream tv queer romances with happy endings, let alone two (TWO!!!) wonderful queer couples in shows like this (and then more to come in future seasons! hooray!!). It is HUGE. <3