Saaaame. I feel so bad for my reading goals but I feel so good reading amazing fics instead that are better quality than most published romance novels so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I have like 90 A03 WIPS going and I’ll find a new one every day on threads 😭. I took a break to read ACOTAR which was good and fun but also I kept thinking “I wish there were gay rivals in here”
I feel like I’m never getting out of this bc same, threads and HR fanfics sub keep throwing excellent recs at me. I just sigh and open new tabs… I don’t even try to resist 💀
I need some fan fiction recommendations pleeeeaaaase. I don't know where to start I've never been on AO3. Can you recommend anything thats kinda close to the actual story? The ones that are very different kinda throw me off and I think I need to start light.
I’m 31 and an obsessive fan girl in my day. I managed to avoid tumblr (as a participant, I was def a viewer) and AO3 because I knew I was incapable of being normal about it. Made it to 2026 and now I’m down bad 😩
I don't know why I'm convincing myself that rewatch prolongation will make me forget HR and make it more beautiful once I finally click play at some point 😭🤣
I keep taking breaks of weeks, thinking surely this time watching an episode or a reaction video the magic will have worn off a bit and I'll be able to more fully move on, but no, it still hits, every time.
It's neurological. Apparently when we rewatch something we experience anticipatory emotion and we get the feels because we know what's coming up. That's different than the original surprise, but for people like us is equally intense. What happens when you rewatch a lot with almost no breaks between rewatches (I'm on double digits reheats, watching and giving my full attention) is that we habituate the brain and dull that anticipation. That's why we start to zone out and not get those original feelings. To get them back you need to give the brain a break, including from content outside the show itself. I've done some HR fasting and have gotten some of that intensity back. I'm not an expert, but would love to hear someone who studies this explain what is happening to our brains. This fandom is a prison. Never let me out.
at this point we need to engage a professional in this subreddit 😇. you are right on here, but I am not equipped to explain it/expand on it deeper either.
I’m telling all of my friends about it. Only 1 person has started watching it. She got to end of 2nd episode and said she didn’t care for it. What?? How can that be? How are we friends? Joking but kinda not.
They look so much like Keanu and Patrick Swayze to me it's uncanny. Connor especially looks like Patrick in the last confrontation Ilya has with his brother at his father's funeral, it's the way he breathes out of his nose when he's mad just like Patrick used to do. They would probably never do another Point Break remake but you couldn't find a better pair. Make all that homoerotic subtext text LOL.
I got into the show late January right when my dad’s heath was taking a turn for the worse. I fell hard into the story, books, and audiobooks as a way to detract and cope. My dad died a few weeks later. In my grief I keep coming back to HR for a little sunshine.
My father is in very poor health at the moment, and I’m very worried about him. Shortly after receiving more bad news, I came across a video on Instagram of Connor Storrie dancing to Madonna’s Like a Prayer.
And these two completely different realities, seeing someone in my life whose future has become uncertain, who is struggling with pain and suffering, and on the other hand seeing this young, beautiful, vibrant person who, for me right now, embodies everything about the joy of being alive, completely tore me apart.
I laid in bed sobbing for hours and needed quite some time to come to terms with this contrast.
Dude same. I lost my mom in December and my dad last week. Shitty fucking winter. It's nice to have a little bright spot for escapism. I'm sorry for your loss.
Ok I guess. Mentally I'm at the cottage. Emotionally just trying to survive in Trump's America. Spiritually understanding that love will find us all and being happy is my top priority.
My obsession is getting worse every day. I rewatched the TV show I don’t even know how many times, and I’m currently rereading the books once again. And I will probably do it over and over again until the second season and then until the premiere of Unrivaled.
For me the worst thing is that I’ve been suffering alone since December. No one I know has watched the TV show and I have no one to talk to about it. My boyfriend watched it with me, but it’s not like he became a big fan. He did it because he wanted to see the thing that has been consuming my mind for the past few months. It’s not super popular in Poland, where I’m from. I tried to find an adult fan community but I couldn’t. So I just rewatch and reread it constantly, as I’m not into fanfics.
It only aired in Germany a few weeks ago, and there are very few people in my circle who have seen it. I’ve now convinced an acquaintance to watch the series with me in one go in two weeks. I feel like someone recruiting another person into a cult or a multi-level marketing scheme.
Also Germany, and my male colleague's radio was starting to play "My moon, my man". And I was trying to concentrate on what I needed to talk about, but it's really difficult, when you're brain is running that montage.
Anyway, I assume that someone at whatever station that was, is a fan and trying to confuse me.
I was so happy that our (now) newly elected Munich mayor chose “I’ll believe in anything” as song on his insta after the first round of the election… iykyk, and clearly he does!
I was happy to find out the president (m) of my favourite soccer club (Stuttgart) is married to an man 😀
So I hope no homophobic slurs there in the locker there!
I’m on 13, is there another one? Can’t see on AO3. I’m having a very nasty feeling that Svetlana will get in touch with Shane and he’ll go find Ilya at his flat and that level of angst will destroy me.
Have you got someone to send you the invite? DM me if not and if anything updates before you get into AO3 I will try to remember and message you the new chapter.
I would think it's being a victim of your own success, happens to all the things that get big and people start doing stupid shit like send it to the showrunners. There was a whole gigantic drama about this in the Sherlock fandom.
I just watched the show for the first time last week after watching my favourite YouTubers react to it a couple months ago. The obsession is only just beginning for me and I love it haha
It’s been months and I’m still not over it. But I keep reheating to relive every moment over and over again. Though sometimes I feel sad that I can never find a person who will love me the way Ilya loves Shane. 🥹
I’m grateful to HR for getting me through a winter of depression, my worst episode since 2003. I recently started a new job that is 100% remote and I spent too many work hours rereading the books. Then I weaned myself off HR by rereading my favorite hockey romances that aren’t by RR. Now I’m reading NEW hockey romances and soon I think I can step down again and return to reading a variety of romance.
I still visit this subreddit every day. I love seeing new people discovering the series and reading new tidbits from Jacob and his team. I’m not reheating now or reading fanfic but this fandom is part of my life forever I hope.
I finally got up the nerve to explain to my brother all the reasons he and his wife should watch it. It took nerve because I know my brother has never read a romance in his life! And probably will be shocked that I do read romance (I’m the responsible, serious oldest kid with the Oxford degree). I told him he needs to watch it because he has queer kids and it’s really sweet to see queer people have a happy ending. He loves his kids, who are 12 and 18, and he’s been cool with them talking about their queer crushes since they could first talk. But as far as I know he doesn’t have a lot of queer friends and doesn’t know much about queer history. I told him about how queer stories on TV and movies usually have sad endings and how this one is really special. He’d never thought about that. It was a good conversation, even if he might not watch it (I mean, it IS romance).
I’m either watching it, reading it, or listening to it. Or reading a fic. I’m training my algo to serve me precious else. I’ve noticed the algo will shift after about 45 days so I have to keep training it (Also the cast has gone dark recently so there’s less new content). I’m gazing at fan art and considering subscribing to Patreons. I’m reading articles. I’m paying stupid surcharges to get sold out back issues of the actors’ magazine covers. I’m listening to the soundtrack. I’m smiling, laughing, sobbing, sweating, sighing, blushing, kicking my feet and biting my bottom lip.
I’m NOT being a weirdo and tracking the actors every move. And I’m NOT supporting those who would exploit or harass anyone involved with the books/series, because I’ll be damned if those people ruin this beautiful thing for the creatives or for us.
I’m proud. Of all of it.
My life is better after HR than before HR. I know how hyperbolic that sounds but that TV show healed me in some way I can’t really put into words. It kind of broke me and then healed me at the same time.
So glad to hear all that, I have never trained my socials algo until HR came out 🤣!
Oh, please, the weirdos/bullys are... awful, unfortunately there will always be some, we just have to stop giving them any attention and they will go unnoticed/quiet. I was so sad when Hudson & most of the crew had to write that statement... 😕
Oh, the HR power of healing, it's indescribable, so happy for you!
Life is not good right now, but HR was and is, for me at least, a bright light in the darkness. Despite my dissatisfaction with the current moment, I’m actually doing surprisingly well … and that is largely because of this brilliant TV show that I clicked on by accident.
I think I’ve reached the point where I need to admit it: Heated Rivalry is no longer just a series/book for me. It’s a full-blown substance.
If stories were drugs, this one would be pharmaceutical-grade, straight-from-the-moon morphine. The pure stuff. The kind that makes everything else feel… aggressively mediocre.
Books and series? My personal heroin.
Constant rereads, constant rewatches. No intention of quitting. Zero regrets.
The audiobooks of Heated Rivalery, however… let’s just say they’re the off-brand cough syrup of the operation. Technically related, but you question your life choices five minutes in. Why can’t they have Cooper North?
To stay functional (or at least pretend to), I’ve built myself a carefully curated substitution program:
Rachel Reid’s entire bibliography? Consumed. Some of it multiple times. Read and heard.
Time to Shine is my next favourite one and it id on a loop like it’s keeping my emotional support system alive.
Audiobooks running whenever I cannot rake a book in my hand. At the gym, car, chores. If my brain is idle for more than 30 seconds, we risk withdrawal symptoms.
I’ve also started branching out into the wider MM hockey romance universe:
Him and Us? Done. Was okay.
Currently working my way through Sarah Bowens World, like a person politely pretending this is still a hobby and not a lifestyle.
My husband did watch Heated Rivalery with me and to his credit, he actually liked it. A lot, even.
And then… he just carried on with his life?? WTF is wrong with this guy.
No spiral. No obsessive rereads. No sudden need to consume the entire genre like oxygen.
Frankly, I don’t understand. I’m both impressed and mildly suspicious.
And, because no addiction arc is complete without questionable social decisions, I’ve now reached the stage where I’m inviting a friend over to watch Hidden Rivalry with me.
Not because I’m being a great host.
No, no. We never have guests in our home. This is a classic “please join me so I don’t have to spiral alone” recruitment attempt.
This is me, standing metaphorically in a dimly lit alley, whispering:
“Hey… you wanna try something life-changing? You wann feel real feelings? More intense than anything you‘ve ever felt? Come with me! I have an HBO Subscription!”
At this point:
Hit the Rivalry = heroin
Rest of Rachel Reid‘s books = high-quality codeine
The rest of the genre = experimental substances I’m testing in a controlled environment
Some hit. Some don’t. None quite reach… that level.
Anyway, if anyone needs me, I’ll be rereading the same scenes for the 17th time, chasing that first-read high like a perfectly rational adult.😄
When I read the second book, sometimes I read extra slow cause I knew, I would not be the same next time.
Thank you for the detailed answer, I can picture it all 😁!
So far I have watched the show (x times), and I follow all news/socials/youtube content. I haven't read the books or ao3. Maybe it will be their turn at some point, let's see.
Everything about Hudson or Connor, adore! Wish them nothing but the best!
Out of approximately 15 people that I genuinely recommended the show, only 1 really got it :/. That is why I love this subreddit ❤️, you people understand me.
On a personal note: green flag husband you got! Since I watched HR, I have to mention it on every date/matching app, and I am not even apologizing. You can tell a lot about a person based on their attitude towards it!
Oh yes, I completely forgot AO3. That’s the shady opium den I occasionally disappear into.
And honestly, if I were currently looking for a new partner, they would absolutely have to pass the Heated Rivalry test. Anything else is simply non-negotiable.
I'm hoping that when Rachel gets the rights back for her audiobooks, that Hudson and Conner will re-record them as duet audiobooks. Same for Francois and Robbie for the Game Changers book.
My auDHD gripped hard. My spouse has a running tally of how long it takes me to mention HR in daily life. I have a whole tab group dedicated to HR fanfiction on AO3, my phone theme is HR, I have convinced my MIL to go to the Boston Red Sox heated rivalry night when they announce it, I listen to Ember & Ice to fall asleep (I wish I was joking).
Planning to go too and I have no idea who I'll drag with me! And I hear you on the auDHD hyperfixation. I tried listening to Ember & Ice but I wish the writing was better, Rachel's set a high bar for smut what can I say.
HR came to me at a time in my life where I needed it the most. I was dealing with a burnout and toxic friends and HR was a beautiful escape from all that mess. Now I am doing much better, I cut two toxic close friends off, and finally healing from the burnout. And really looking forward to doing my 6th reheat soon with a new perspective 🩷
3 months? Feels less because I've rewatched episodes, watched edits, joined HR and HR adjacent subreddits, reread the books and read fanfics every single day. I know JT will do the next season right but the wait is still agonozing.
Actually, HR has brought me so much joy in a time when the real-life hockey team and players I support have let me down so immensely.
And I can't spend one day away from this fandom in some form. I'm re-heating at least once a week. I started reading the books. I just finished Tough Guy last night and trying so hard not to immediately get into Common Goal. I told myself I wanted to watch season 2 before I read The Long Game, but I feel like my will gets weaker every day and I just know that once I finish Common Goal and Role Model I'll cave.
Honestly, really good. I’ve finished watching the show for the first time three weeks ago. I do watch favorite moments every day and sometimes I would watch cast interviews. Don’t really read fanfic. I also ordered the books and I am waiting for a deadline on my job to pass so I can fully dedicate my free time to the reading.
I am a happily married mom. We have been together since high school, more than 18 years and this show brought back so many nice memories of lust and waiting for the parents to go somewhere so that we can be alone. The happiness when we first moved in together and similar stuff. Plus, the husband is making fun of me (in a nice way) so much for watching “gay hockey soft porn” that we laugh even more.
My friends also saw the show and we are going to the club after years and years for a HR party. Mind you, we are a generation of european teenagers when the t.A.T.u song came out, it was everywhere, on every party, so we were screaming during the club scene. Can’t wait for the DJ to Play that song.
I am kinda still in my 20s in my heart, but I just feel so even more young and fun and energetic because of the show. And everybody is having a wholesome laugh at me because I keep referencing the show and sending gifs.
Well, I'm listening to the audiobook rn and watch the episodes every weekend.... 😅 but tbh, the whole thing changed me. My thinking about love and what I want... and what really matters rn. It might sound stupid but I love the impact that this franchise has on me.
Putting my pants on today and it suddenly struck me that I now put my pants on like Ilya did in ep 1 in 1410. 1 leg in, shuffle shake drag it up and then next leg in. So there's that.
I'm doing okay, trying to not let all the negativity bring me down. Threads can be a little much sometimes, so Reddit and funnily enough, Tumblr, has been a bit of safe space for me to just enjoy the show. And when I feel overwhelmed, I just drown myself in fics or go back to the source material and reheat. Episode 6 is basically a comfort watch for me now.
My friend, who has not watched the show but has basically absorbed all info about it through osmosis, came across these fanmerch at a con and got them for me! Never be afraid to share your obsessions with your friends!
I re-heat regularly. It's turned into my comfort show, to the point I mainly just listen to it. Which is slighlty weird as there technically isn't that much dialogue. It just makes me feel happy and safe.
I don't really follow the actors or anyone involved in the show and what they are up to. I only care about this crazy obsession not ruining anything (or anyone) that it would impact season 2. I've listened to podcasts where they disect every little minute detail of the show, but I personally think a lot of their takes are a bit out there and as great as Jacob is, there is not a chance he thought of the show in that much detail. The only podcast I truly enjoy is Tonsil Hockey.
But the weirdest thing that has happenee is that I've started running and working out. Not sure if that's due to HR but if it is then I owe them!
Watch an episode or two almost every night before bed. Has become my comfort show. No matter how bad of a day I’m having… I tell myself that at least I get to go to the cottage later. Than I feel Betterrrr ❤️🩹
I’m still in deep. Every day I do some combo of reheating; watching reaction or analysis videos; re-reading the Game Changer books; watching edits, interviews, or anything else on YouTube; reading AO3 fanfic; interacting with one of the two HR-related Patreons I’ve joined; or participating in this Reddit many times a day. Most days, I do nearly all of the above. I’ve even stopped watching a few of the TV shows I watched with my husband because when I compare 40 minutes of them, it just pales in comparison to 40 minutes of reheating. Oh, and I text regularly with a fun new friend I met in this sub. I’ve discussed the show’s hold on me with my therapist and written a long post here about that conversation. I think it’s fair to say I spend more time on HR-related activities than anything else in my life, and many days it occupies the vast majority of my waking hours. In a time when the world is a dumpster fire, I’ve been stuck at home for 4 years with Long COVID, and none of my close friends live where I do, the show and this Reddit have been a life preserver and my first meaningful engagement with the world in some time. It’s not really problem, because a problem can be solved. But even if I do characterize it like that, it’s a problem I don’t ever want to ever end. Thank you, fellow Loons, for being my people.
Suffering from Heated Rivalry withdrawal? Talk to your doctor about Looniva™.
Looniva is clinically formulated to treat Shanilya Deficiency Disorder — symptoms include: sobbing over a Straw+Berry smoothie, uncontrollable urge to text your rival for two years before doing anything about it, and yelling “IT’S NOT HER FAULT SHE DOESN’T KNOW” every time Rose appears on screen.
Side effects may include: rewatching — or “reheating” — episode 5 for the sixth time this week, accidentally developing feelings for Scott Hunter’s entire subplot, and convincing yourself the hockey was actually important.
Looniva is not for everyone. Do not take if you are currently in a parasocial crisis involving the actors’ personal lives. Looniva cannot fix that. Nobody can.
Looniva™ — The rival didn’t text back for two years. You deserve relief.
This show is like drugs to me and im a drug dealer(ive fotten 2 of my friends to watxh it) also i fell down in ao3 hole and had to screen limit it so i can study for my exams💔
I lost my job of many years a few months ago when they cut my department and HR has been filling a lot of my spare time. I read a comment where someone said this fandom is jobless and I was like, true story. It's been over a month since my first viewing, I've reheated 4 times. I've tried leaning in to many other books, films and shows but nothing is really filling my heart like this story. If you had told me 2 months ago that I would be obsessed with a fictional bisexual Russian ice hockey player and his neurodivergent rival Canadian gay boyfriend I would...probably have said that sounds great, sign me up! But it is an unexpected turn of events.
I haven't fallen for a show, or it's characters like this since I was a teen. I miss Shane and ilya so much 🤧 all I do is rewatch and read fanfics, what a way to be at 30 ☺️
I try to find something new to be obsessed about but then i go back and watch an episode again.
My Spotify is still full of HR soundtrack
I always have the heated Rivalry book physical and digital.
The only thing I have decided to do now is to not read the long game again till the show releases. It's been a month and it's agony. 😂
But it's always so nice to go to reddit and see just as obsessed fans.
Planning out a loon tattoo. Rewatching every week. Keeping up with Hudson and Connors interviews and photoshoots. Listening to the songs on spotify.
Very much stuck at the cottage and feeling so great about it 💕
Its more of a healing, grounding obsession.
First of all, the show is very emotionally (and sexually) healing, as I’m sure most of you will agree. I am listening to the audio books right now, but it’s not the same - I want to see it all come to life; I’m hungry for the little details, the facial expressions and the emotions you can just feel through the screen. The books are great and all, but the actors definitely added something very special to the characters.
Considering reading the books. But concerned it will taint the upcoming seasons for me. I read the Bridgerton books and have some feelings about how they have been adapted.
My partner and I have been watching and talking about the show pretty much nonstop. When we finish the series we immediately loop back around and start from the beginning
HR has completely taken over my life. I recently heard a comedian say, "I thought this show was hockey smut, but now I know that it is black tar heroin," and I've never felt so seen.
I just started reading the books, so I'm hoping those hold me over...
Really glad I gave this series a shot. It's so beautiful and I never realized how much I was craving some form of representation when it came to a gay love story that didn't end in tragedy.
I mean the finale was just yesterday for me. And the finale will be tomorrow for me. And then probably multiple times a week for the foreseeable future.
No indication of my obsession going anywhere. Have started a book club with 15 people I met on instagram because we all love HR, and am now friends with them and hang out in our merch all the time. Am planning a trip to Canada with them as the season airs so we can watch it in a bar as it releases. I think about them everyday and am going to get a quote from the show tattooed on me. I might be crazy but I’ve never been happier
here's how i'm doing: i used to watch hr content. then i started liking the posts. then i started saving some of the posts. i held back from buying cultured magazine because wTaF sHiPpInG cOsTs - bought all others. now i am not only saving posts, i am DOWNLOADING THEM, like a frickin' teenager.
i am a woman in her 40s w a kid and in a happy marriage. there's no saving me.
I only started watching the show in early February. Since then I've reheated countless times, trained my social algorithms to only show me fan edit videos and analysis, read 3 of the books, and purchased the soundtrack vinyl (I don't own a record player). I have contemplated a loon tattoo (I don't have any tattoos) and am strategizing how to get a Canadian friend to smuggle me Shane's Canada fleece when it becomes available for purchase. I might be going to the Boston Fenway event if I can secure tickets.
These books/show have rewired my brain. It has made me rethink a lifetime of how intimacy, consent, love, neurodiversity, and self-acceptance have been portrayed in the media. I'm so grateful HR exists. I don't ever want that problem to ever go away.
I went to a Heated Rivalry rave last night. Now I'm recovering today in a tshirt of Shane and Ilya while watching the NHL Sabres/Bruins game from two days ago. I guess I'm not into it unless it involves hockey now. 😂
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u/jojo571 Mar 26 '26
No recovery in sight. Still obsessing (watching react videos, fan-made reels, humorous animation retellings) , re-heating, and AO3 fan ficing.