Why Queer Joy Matters: The Heated Rivalry Revolution

CAUTION! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

I, like many of us, have been enveloped by the world of Heated Rivalry with no signs of escape. Yes, I am still at the cottage and quite possibly, the club. IYKYK.

This story is one that I, as a queer man, have been waiting decades to experience. And, it could not have come at a more perfect time.

At its heart, Heated Rivalry (written by Rachel Reid and brought to life by Jacob Tierney) is a story of queer joy. In a world that many of us will agree is seemingly crumbling around us, particularly for our LGBTQIA+ community, queer joy is something we aren’t readily afforded in mainstream media.

So often, our queer stories take you through a roller coaster of trauma before reaching a conclusion that may or may not result in an HEA (Happily Ever After). More often than not, the audience is left in heartbreak at another failed relationship or something worse for our LGBTQIA+ characters. While the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov isn’t without its pain points, ultimately it is a beautifully developed love story full of self-discovery and acceptance.

These characters, written as rival hockey players, begin with a seemingly fated introduction where each is immediately drawn to the other for reasons they can’t quite name. What begins as an internalized attraction, curiosity, and undeniable chemistry quickly escalates into a whirlwind affair spanning the course of ten years and beyond in subsequent books. Their relationship begins as many of our own do—with random hookups in whatever city they happen to be sharing at the time.

For many of us, hookup culture has become part of our everyday lives—a consolation prize in a world that instructs us to stay confined behind closed doors. While many of us crave partnership, we get lost in our consumer-driven world of instant gratification. With an app for just about everything you can think of and every preference, it makes sense that hookup culture has quickly become a default. You can easily swipe right or send a quick message—with charming accompanying sound (You know the one)—and have someone at your doorstep ready to scratch an itch in the same amount of time it takes to get your UberEats order.

Shane and Ilya’s encounters continue despite each attempting to pull away from the other and end their affair before either can become too attached through their unexpected and overwhelming feelings. This struggle being a place many of us have lingered in our attempts to avoid as much additional heartbreak as possible. Needless to say, each continues to be drawn toward the other like moths to flame.

Ultimately, their attempts are futile as they give in to their all-consuming desires and FINALLY express their love for each other in a beautifully tender moment at Shane’s cottage hideaway—a moment many of us have replayed or re-read more times than we care to admit. Each have come to not only accept the love they feel for each other, but, in turn, their respective identities with Ilya identifying as bisexual and Shane as gay.

What is it about this intimate moment that has us all hooked? It is the deeply resounding joy of two characters who have broken down each other’s walls and have fully accepted their intertwined fates. Thus begins the planning stages of keeping their newly formed relationship hidden from their colleagues at the NHL (MLH in the show), an organization with a history of homophobia, and the fans who feed on their intense on-ice rivalry.

You may ask, how is this different from their previously hidden affair? Well, as many of us have experienced, it is easy to navigate random encounters that stay contained in the bedroom, but love is a different beast. Love thrives in the light. In the world of Shane and Ilya’s love, one slip-up could result in a tidal wave of chaos and potentially career-ending consequences which could snuff out the light they finally allowed themselves to bask in.

What Rachel and Jacob both do so brilliantly is to allow us to take a long look into the mirror of these queer characters, as well as their allies and family members, which brings us out of our own realities and shows us that we can experience love and joy as queer-identifying individuals, even if it starts on rough waters.

As for myself, someone who has been single for nearly a decade, Heated Rivalry has broken me away from the idea of hookup culture being the end-all-be-all and reignited the hopeful romantic within me. (In a Grinch-heart-growing-two-sizes sort of way.)

The timing of Heated Rivalry’s episodic release, in conjunction with a resurgence in Rachel Reid’s lovingly crafted books, can only be described as divine salvation for many of us—particularly those of us trying to navigate the darkly chaotic and anti-LGBTQIA+ political landscape here in the U.S. Now, more than ever, we need our stories to be centered around queer joy and love. We have been starving for the feelings these stories are feeding us and are happy to go back for seconds, thirds, or in my case a buffet style feast.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to bring attention to the indescribable portrayals of Connor Storrie’s Ilya and Hudson Williams’s Shane. Deep breaths. Both bring an immense humanity to these characters that immediately connects their on-screen portrayals and the devotion we have for their page-based counterparts. What Hudson and Connor have been able to achieve with their nuanced performances is nothing short of masterful and will go down in history as two of the most memorable performances of my life.

Heated Rivalry has become a revolution and renaissance in the art of queer joy. In times when we can all use a little more joy and love, it is my hope that this is just the beginning of truly joyful queer experiences portrayed in stories brought to life.

I am beyond grateful to Rachel, Jacob, Connor, Hudson, and all those involved in bringing these stories to life. Thank you for helping me to believe in love and queer joy again.

With no desire to leave the cottage anytime soon, all my love,

JT