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finally, some good fucking m/m enemies to lovers rated M
I 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.
I don't know if I'm fully on-board with the idea that women are into m/m stories because it's "safe from misogyny". personally, I think it goes beyond that, and there's also sheer desire too, and a bunch of other stuff. BUT! I do agree that a reason I like m/m fiction and fanfiction in particular is that heterosexual romance stories repeat the same old, moldy notions of romance that I've grown to hate with a passion. what that essay quotes from yet another essay summarizes my feelings:
there's a reason why whenever I send prompts for fests or join exchanges, I make a point of adding "no jealousy" because I fucking hate that jealousy is treated as protection, as a sign of love. it's not love!!!!!!!! insecurity is a thing and people may be afraid to lose a relationship but that shouldn't translate into being a jealous asshole. the way popular culture treats jealousy as a fundamental part of dating/romance is fucking insane!!!
but anyway. I also really liked this about HR in particular:
both shane and ilya were incredible athletes. they were both famous, wealthy, confident in their own skills. as much as they were rivals on the........ ice? rink? I don't do hockey, sorry - as much as they were rivals, they were also equals. and that makes their dynamic even more fun. when shane rises above, it makes sense - he's got the technique, the doggedgness, AND the supportive family. ilya only has two of those, and he's going through shit all the time with his family in the background; he's shane's rival but he's not trying to sabotage him to get his place. fair play at its finest, and it just makes the romance juicier to me.
there's space for grimdark fiction, there's space for tragedy, and I know a lot of people are into darker stuff. game of thrones and succession weren't as big as they were because people like happy stories - the success of those two shows, to me, clued me in to the fact that people like to watch miserable characters being miserable and suffering with no happy ending. I was never into GoT but I did marathon succession after it ended and I liked it, but it was tough getting into it because I'm not with the majority, I don't like miserable-just-for-the-sake-of-it grimdark. there was a time in my life (as a teen) when I was more into hopeless horror and MCD in fic etc. I've written murder-suicide fic, if you can believe it! but I have a limit these days, one that says I'm ok with blood and gore but not with miserable characters in a miserable scenario just being miserable all the time.
bloody seinen anime? yes pls someone give me some good recs. thriller kdrama with lots of violence? yes, especially if the villains die a bloody death in the end and there's something else other than sheer misery. angst is cool, drama is cool, violence is cool, misery is not. there's a reason I dropped the handmaid's tale after s03, like, enough is enough, bro. can we get some character development that's not just "and then she gets even SADDER and more TORTURED".
so yeah, I agree with the essay in that HR is a good story that doesn't adhere to the dystopia trend we've been seeing for what, over a decade now? things are hard and it takes them years but they get their happy ending anyway. (or, well, their temporary happy ending. I'm scared about s02...) no shame in liking sad stories, but I'm personally really desperate for some happy ones. we're already living a dystopia, I think I've seen enough of it for now.
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.
I don't know if I'm fully on-board with the idea that women are into m/m stories because it's "safe from misogyny". personally, I think it goes beyond that, and there's also sheer desire too, and a bunch of other stuff. BUT! I do agree that a reason I like m/m fiction and fanfiction in particular is that heterosexual romance stories repeat the same old, moldy notions of romance that I've grown to hate with a passion. what that essay quotes from yet another essay summarizes my feelings:
For decades, heterosexual romance has taught us to misread risk as chemistry. Jealousy is framed as protection. Persistence is framed as devotion. Power imbalances are sold as security. Emotional volatility is recoded as depth. These tropes are so familiar they barely register as narrative choices at all. They form the background noise of popular culture.
Yet those same tropes map uncomfortably well onto what policy now names as coercive control. Surveillance becomes “care.” Isolation becomes “us against the world.” Boundary violations become “grand gestures.” Economic dependence becomes “being looked after.” And crucially, the harm is rarely spectacular. It is patterned, cumulative, and often invisible to everyone except the person living inside it.
there's a reason why whenever I send prompts for fests or join exchanges, I make a point of adding "no jealousy" because I fucking hate that jealousy is treated as protection, as a sign of love. it's not love!!!!!!!! insecurity is a thing and people may be afraid to lose a relationship but that shouldn't translate into being a jealous asshole. the way popular culture treats jealousy as a fundamental part of dating/romance is fucking insane!!!
but anyway. I also really liked this about HR in particular:
What Heated Rivalry removes is not desire or dominance, but the structural conditions that allow domination to flow in one direction. The relationship is symmetrical. The characters are matched in strength, status, wealth, and credibility. No one is economically dependent. No one’s social standing collapses if they walk away. No one is managing another person’s emotions in order to stay safe. Conflict exists, but it does not metastasise into fear.
both shane and ilya were incredible athletes. they were both famous, wealthy, confident in their own skills. as much as they were rivals on the........ ice? rink? I don't do hockey, sorry - as much as they were rivals, they were also equals. and that makes their dynamic even more fun. when shane rises above, it makes sense - he's got the technique, the doggedgness, AND the supportive family. ilya only has two of those, and he's going through shit all the time with his family in the background; he's shane's rival but he's not trying to sabotage him to get his place. fair play at its finest, and it just makes the romance juicier to me.
there's space for grimdark fiction, there's space for tragedy, and I know a lot of people are into darker stuff. game of thrones and succession weren't as big as they were because people like happy stories - the success of those two shows, to me, clued me in to the fact that people like to watch miserable characters being miserable and suffering with no happy ending. I was never into GoT but I did marathon succession after it ended and I liked it, but it was tough getting into it because I'm not with the majority, I don't like miserable-just-for-the-sake-of-it grimdark. there was a time in my life (as a teen) when I was more into hopeless horror and MCD in fic etc. I've written murder-suicide fic, if you can believe it! but I have a limit these days, one that says I'm ok with blood and gore but not with miserable characters in a miserable scenario just being miserable all the time.
bloody seinen anime? yes pls someone give me some good recs. thriller kdrama with lots of violence? yes, especially if the villains die a bloody death in the end and there's something else other than sheer misery. angst is cool, drama is cool, violence is cool, misery is not. there's a reason I dropped the handmaid's tale after s03, like, enough is enough, bro. can we get some character development that's not just "and then she gets even SADDER and more TORTURED".
so yeah, I agree with the essay in that HR is a good story that doesn't adhere to the dystopia trend we've been seeing for what, over a decade now? things are hard and it takes them years but they get their happy ending anyway. (or, well, their temporary happy ending. I'm scared about s02...) no shame in liking sad stories, but I'm personally really desperate for some happy ones. we're already living a dystopia, I think I've seen enough of it for now.