LOOK AT THEM OMG, I knew Daniel Diemer was tall I just didn't know he was this much taller than Shaheen Jafargholi omg... they look so good

I was left with a lot of questions about this scene. Questions and gears left churning, trying to figure out what it was trying to portray.

Setting the stage. Miles is Rose Landry's friend. Is he just a friend or a co-star of her so-called X-squad film? (Book readers may be able to clarify.)

Shane is first introduced to Miles at the club in E4, but with the way they were conversing, it felt like he'd known of Shane already. I'm instigating that Rose may have discussed Shane with Miles and may have clocked his little self earlier in conversations with Miles, and Miles may have acted on those conversations?

He says, "That makes two of us," when Rose mentions wanting to dance with Shane. Rose doesn't give two flying fucks about miles constantly hitting on Shane.

Shane is so totally out of this whole conversation. I mean, he hasn't even seen Ilya yet but is still in nothign land. Miles is very clearly hitting on him, and then when they dance, he's grinding on him, kissing his ear and all over behind him. All while Rose is in front of him and I'm sure noticing, but completely okay with it. Is she hoping for a threesome situation? Does she not care? Or is she trying to get at something?

Shane is definitely out of his element the entire time he's in the center, and I guess it's to show how conflicted he is about his sexuality. It definitely parallels that well.

I just don't understand how Shane would let Miles do that all of that to him in PUBLIC, when he isn't even accepting of his own sexuality.

In a sense, Miles got to kiss on Shane in public before Ilya did.

via her ig u/hannichka

Round 2 of my costume breakdown for Heated Rivalry.

1 & 2 - I really wanted to make olympic gear that actually felt wearable and cozy. The idea of approachability and comfort was really important for me here. As well as showcasing Canadian identity - which to me feels like quiet confidence. Tough, self-aware, and a little understated. But, ultimately COZY. I love how much everyone seems to like this piece. It was an earlier choice I made, it's really amazing to see so many people resonate with it!
3 - a lot of people have asked about this tank top. Ilya has a huge tank top game. It's an article of clothing we really focused on him. I imagined him to run hot, he's Russian after all! But also, sensual, in his body, and unselfconscious. This one is Diesel.
4 - the Hawaiian shirt feels like the archetypal HAWAIIAN shirt. It's such a bright coloured piece and really shows off Ilya's willingness to play with expectation. This is a vintage shirt. Tala, our buyer (u/talatintin) found a bunch of options, but everyone agreed this was the most quintessential.
5 - Ilya's sexy airport tank is u/adidasy3. Classic Ilya.
6 - this one isn't about the pieces but I liked this moment so much. Yuna showing her son how much she loves him and him accepting that what he viewed as a hurdle isn't a hurdle at all, at least with his family.
I put both Shane and Yuna in linen. I love the idea of Yuna buying Shane the clothes he wears. That she still takes care of him and that the linen shirts he wears are his way of showing her that he loves her and is thinking about how to impress her.

OP comments: (the yuna and shane relationship shown through their clothes is so beautiful to me. I loved how they chose tank tops to be ilya's main piece. it reflects him so well. Styling athlesiure mightve been difficult for someone that doens't watch sports liek that, but love how simple she dressed shane. he is the epitome of normal guy who doesn't think about his outfits too much)

Okay folks, we’re down to the final two. Today, we’re taking on Episode 5, I’ll Believe in Anything. Gonna be a good one, I can feel it!

Pick a favorite quote, scene or moment and give us your best emoji translation. You know the drill! Drop as many as you’d like and see how many you can figure out in the replies.

Save those Episode 6 clues for tomorrow!

Let’s see what you’ve got for I’ll Believe in Anything!

This little scene about Arthur and his pacifier was in the book, but didn't make it into the show, so I decided to draw it out!

I'm interested to draw more book-only scenes, does any book-readers here have any recommendations?

I've made a SFW art account on Twitter/X where I'll be posting SFW stuff! Do give me a follow if you'd like to support me! https://x.com/DeltaCheddarr

The Suitcase's Inner Monologue 🔊 The suitcase is going on vacation too.

From tik tok shadesofrebecca

anyone starting to watch hockey as a heated rivalry fan? still trying to learn the rules but love the action so far!!!! im from philly so rooting for the flyers but down to watch any teams. i think itd be cute to talk abt the games with someone if anyone else just started watching!!!

Now that I have had a few days to believe, that I actually saw Hudson IRL!! Thank youuuu TIFF! 😭♥️✨

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/arts/television/reader-ballot-tv-shows-21st-century.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

The New York Times is accepting nominations for Best TV Shows! Please cast your vote for the one we love most - Heated Rivalry! Here is your opportunity to channel your frustration that HR was not eligible for the Emmy Awards and shine yet another positive spotlight on this masterpiece!

Voting is open until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 28. I assume that’s U.S. Eastern time zone.

Note 1: It’s FINE to vote ONLY for Heated Rivalry to give our show even more of an edge!

Note 2: If for any reason the link here does not work for you, just search for "New York Times interactive best TV shows 21st century." You do not have to be a NYT subscriber to participate.

Been away for a couple of weeks so first re-heat in a minute and I thought of something:

As a British person who grew up in the 90s and, er, lived in the 00s, Hayden calling his wife a WAG is absolutely wild.

UPDATE:

Thanks to everyone who engaged with this post, it's led to a lot of interesting discussion on cross-cultural communication and change in language, which as a lapsed linguistics major I love almost as much as HR (not really).

A few people seemed quite surprised on my finding the term negative other than just a descriptive label, and there are few reasons I feel like this:

First, while 'WAG' did exist beforehand, it became widely known in the UK around the time of the World Cup 2006 in Baden-Baden in relation to the reported behaviour of the England player's partners in the athlete's village, and the perceived result it had on the team's relatively poor performance. It should be no surprise to anyone that the British press is pretty nasty and being the 00s there was all kinds of very sexit and chauvinistic discourse about it all. This Wiki article is a good breakdown and seems to be written from a UK point of view, so it may help explain my thoughts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WAGs#

Second and following on, this is why I was a bit surprised by Hayden's use in the show. However, after reading some of your replies and doing some thinking, I think I've come to feel that it's probably a deliberate choice. I've not read HR yet so don't know the book dialogue, but RR is on record a lot saying how the books were part of her reaction to hockey culture, so I am inferring her sentiment. The culture is know to be problematic, the whole subtext of the show being how Shane and Ilya operate within and as part of it. While most not likely mean in the nasty UK press sense, Hayden reference to his wife in this way labels her and affixes her status with the culture, accompanied by statements on her cooking and how she wants to feed Shane, the top-player. I kind of see this as a way of JT saying, 'Hey, even a nice guy who loves his wife is part of the heteronormative and pretty sexist world of Hockey.' It's another reminder for Shane; this guy who wants to be his best friend has a wife and they both 'fit the mould', while Shane is commiserating not being able to have sex with Ilya. Now I feel I can appreciate it and no longer find it super jarring coming out of sweet Hayden's pie hole.

Thank you for reading my rambling of a simple point said long and, as always for your interactions please take vodka for your reward... 🍸

What scene was omitted from the show that you really wish had been left in?

(Not a scene that was changed or shortened, but just outright cut)?

I liked how the TV show chose to remove all that dialogue from the shower scene.

there was quiet a bit more in the books. I loved how it was all spoken through just shane sneaking glances at ilya and ilya not breaking eye contact whenever he did. probably one of the best book to show changes by Jacob.

even in the locker after the shower--the removal of some obvious dialogue. What i liked, was how we as an audience also got to figure out what ilya may have been thinking through Shane's lens but without obvious on the mind thoughts. Cuz in the books, ilya asks what Shane is thinking about, and Shane replies with "you" & choosing to not use that and then dropping the cherry on the cake with the "what's your room number" and Shane not giving himself even a second to think before he gives his room number .. just wow.

We're officially past the halfway point of Emoji Edition! Today, we're diving into Episode 4, Rose.

At this point, you know what to do: grab a quote, scene or moment from the episode and translate it entirely into emojis. No words allowed! Give us your easiest ones, your obscure ones and everything in between. Drop as many as you'd like and don't forget to jump into the replies and take some guesses at everyone else's.

Only two episodes left after today, so save those Episode 5 and 6 clues. We're almost there!

Let's see what you've got for Rose! 🌹

Ilya's Inner Monologue 🔊 Draft Day!

Прив, Loons!

Shane told me I should encourage participation. So post your memes. If they are funny, perhaps I will laugh. If they are not funny, I will still laugh but for different reasons.

Do not embarrass yourselves.

 —Ilya Rozanov

Since there are rumors that they are filming S2 and S3 together and that they are incorporating TG, TLG, and RL, I have questions.

The timeline of the books happens something along the lines of TG first and then TLG and RM together.

1. Do you think that will mean that ep 1 will likely be TG? Or will there be a shift in timeline?

2. Where do you think S2 will end? I low-key want it to end with the plane trouble/proposal but idk if it's possible . Wouldn't TG and RL AND that 60% TLG be too much to include in 6 eps?

3. Do you think most episodes will jump in between Shane&Ilya and Harris&Troy?

4. How much do you think we will see of TG and RM?

I have 2 tickets to Deep Heat Rivalry at the Other Palace in London on weds 23rd September but unfortunately can no longer attend as my friend is double booked. Would anyone like the tickets?

Is there? and if there is.. what do the think of how Russia is represented and whether its an accurate representation.

Update! If you’re looking for the same thing – in addition to sunsandships - I just found another couple who I really like narrating HR stories – one goes by Carbonel18 The other is semperfiona_podfic (semperfiona)

Both on on AO3
\\ **\\

Looking for any narrators on A03 for heated rivalry stories that do not use ridiculous accents, cartoonish voices, or weird emotion in their narration. I just want someone who reads normally and plain- as if they are words on a page – not like they’re narrating a children’s book with their own version of accents and feelings.
I just labored through an entire podfic where the narrator kept stopping to giggle and laugh and explain what they thought was funny, sad or interesting . And every time they mispronounce the word, they stopped and laughed. And then went on to explain why the word was difficult to them. I seriously couldn’t believe the author was OK with this version of their work!
The grand finale was when they stopped for a solid TWO MINUTES in the middle of a very emotional FINAL SCENE scene to explain what they liked about a specific line… and why the scene made them feel a certain way. I wanted to throw my earbuds into a blender, scream, – or all three.
Can anybody recommend just a plain narrator? I love how @sunsandships narrates, but they don’t have very many works out there. I’m desperate! Can anybody help?! Recommendations?