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finally, some good fucking m/m enemies to lovers rated M
Saturday, 24 January 2026 20:16I came across this essay on heated rivalry and thought it was nice, so I'm linking it here too: Heated Rivalry and the Art of Anti-Dystopia
last time I mentioned I was gonna watch HR, right? well, I did. in like, three days. I had to marathon the last episodes because they were SO GOOD. it started a bit okayish to me, I couldn't quite grasp the vibes for the first two episodes, and paused halfway through scott's (I was dreading heartbreak and gloominess, basically), but the second half ot that episode, and then episode 3, pulled me in. episode 4 was flawless and episode 5 had me yelling. so I definitely loved the show!
and while I've never ventured into hockey rpf tags, I've read enough m/m smut to be thoroughly amused watching the tropes and cliché lines in a TV show format. so this is what all the one direction fic adaptations felt like to people who read 1D fic???!!! because it was cute! and so well done, all things considered. (I never expect much respect for the original material in adaptations like these, but I guess the people behind this show really believed in this story. for good reason!) of course shane says "I have a thing" and ilya is like "what thing?" and shane is embarrassed to say "A DILDO, OK?". that's peak ao3 fic!!! of course one of them has a momager and the other has a difficult relationship with his parents, of course the last episode includes an awkward lunch with shane's parents asking awkward questions and a "your boyfriend is here" "my boyfriend?" dialogue, and of course the queer guys have hot, badass women friends who aren't written maliciously. excellent, 10/10. my fic reader heart is happy.
the essay adds a valid point, though: this show is a hopeful one. scott wasn't an asshole (like I feared he might be for a good chunk of his episode), kip didn't suffer any tragic accidents, ilya had a complex backstory, shane was the actual best player for the entirety of the show. it wasn't a coffee shop au because there were real, complex issues being discussed, but it wasn't grimdark either. and GOD, that's truly such a breath of (canadian) fresh air, indeed.
( Read more... )
last time I mentioned I was gonna watch HR, right? well, I did. in like, three days. I had to marathon the last episodes because they were SO GOOD. it started a bit okayish to me, I couldn't quite grasp the vibes for the first two episodes, and paused halfway through scott's (I was dreading heartbreak and gloominess, basically), but the second half ot that episode, and then episode 3, pulled me in. episode 4 was flawless and episode 5 had me yelling. so I definitely loved the show!
and while I've never ventured into hockey rpf tags, I've read enough m/m smut to be thoroughly amused watching the tropes and cliché lines in a TV show format. so this is what all the one direction fic adaptations felt like to people who read 1D fic???!!! because it was cute! and so well done, all things considered. (I never expect much respect for the original material in adaptations like these, but I guess the people behind this show really believed in this story. for good reason!) of course shane says "I have a thing" and ilya is like "what thing?" and shane is embarrassed to say "A DILDO, OK?". that's peak ao3 fic!!! of course one of them has a momager and the other has a difficult relationship with his parents, of course the last episode includes an awkward lunch with shane's parents asking awkward questions and a "your boyfriend is here" "my boyfriend?" dialogue, and of course the queer guys have hot, badass women friends who aren't written maliciously. excellent, 10/10. my fic reader heart is happy.
the essay adds a valid point, though: this show is a hopeful one. scott wasn't an asshole (like I feared he might be for a good chunk of his episode), kip didn't suffer any tragic accidents, ilya had a complex backstory, shane was the actual best player for the entirety of the show. it wasn't a coffee shop au because there were real, complex issues being discussed, but it wasn't grimdark either. and GOD, that's truly such a breath of (canadian) fresh air, indeed.
( Read more... )
