I was thinking earlier about Ilya’s brother and father and how they aren’t one-dimensional villain characters
Alzheimer’s is a nasty nasty disease for everyone involved. It’s heartbreaking for loved ones. Even if you didn’t have any personal feelings towards the person, looking after someone with Alzheimer’s is wretched af. Really fucking difficult. Despite whatever else it cannot have been an easy time at all for Alexei especially with a young child as well.
And for their father. It feels to me like someone with Alzheimer’s can’t quite catch up to what’s happening to them; they’re always three steps behind, thinking themselves more capable than they are even when they recognise their decline. Not understanding why they are suddenly incapable of things or not allowed to do things and the loss of control is heartbreaking to watch.
For the record: both men are complete assholes. But they’re assholes going through some heavy shit and that’s what makes them intriguing and complex in my eyes. You could sympathise with them. They’re three dimensional. It adds another complicated layer to Ilya’s situation.
Alexei got off lightly having to only look after their father for five months tbh, and I do wonder about the circumstances of his death.
being in the heated rivalry fandom rn is like witnessing the olympics of gay fan fiction. authors who have been training for years in their respective fandoms all coming together to contribute some of the best work i’ve ever seen to this beautiful show. what a joy, what a privilege
i think that was the closest our lines blurred between who we were in that moment and where they are in that moment. it was really beautiful, actually. i think we said a lot of things like, "i can't believe we've done this." i remember a lot of "i love you"s and "wow-i can't believe we've done it. i can't believe this happened."
I got Shane!
@ilyarozanovsoralfixation @hollanov-ann tagging y’all in case you want to take the quiz!
Snap!!! 🙌🏻 Also Shane aligned, in the sense that I am also in love with Ilya Rozanov 🤭 💕
+ Tagging anyone else who wants to do this
What's the most common irreparable linguistic shift you experience from attending Hellsite U?
It fuken wimdy
I'm going to get a good grade in _____
Me, an intellectual
You're telling me a _____ fried this rice?
_____, my beloved.
Don't quote the deep magic to me, witch.
Other (add in tags)
Heated Rivalry s01e03 | Hunter vs. Hollander
I don’t know about you guys, but I never interpreted Svetlana as being romantically in love with Ilya.
I think their relationship is a lot more complex and deep than either just friends with benefits or unrequited love.
Their dynamic to me seems more queerplatonic. It’s undefined, but powerful. Yes, they’re childhood friends. Yes, they’ve had sex multiple times, but Svetlana is not some doe eyed girl chasing after Ilya.
When he asks her in the cab, ‘are you jealous?’, she replies ‘I think you know me better than that.’
In the scene with Sasha in the bathroom, she says ‘you boys need to catch up.’ She knows about them. She’s actively encouraging it.
There is love there, an abundance of it, but to try and put it into a socially acceptable and limiting box is disingenuous.
Svetlana is allowed by the narrative to be quietly complex, and I adore that. For a side character with not a lot of screen time, I came to absolutely adore her and the way Ksenia portrayed her.
I think people forget that women can also love having sex without attachments. That’s a real thing that happens.
something about their relationship immediately read as queer to me, maybe even in a bi4bi way if you want to interpret svetlana that way (i know i do)
neither of them have any desire for a typical, monogamous hetero relationship, there’s no expectation of commitment or marriage, they just love each others’ company and are there for each other to lean on when they need it. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a show portray a connection like that between a man and a woman and honestly, i think it’s really beautiful.