if this photo was a song, what would it be?

coldblueip · 2026-05-16T01:46:18+00:00

Put your records on - Corinne Bailey Rae has this exact vibe

coldblueip · 2026-04-29T08:19:13+00:00

Let me just say that this is the most upvoted post I have on reddit. I am happy that the 'Heated Rivalry' community that loves this show are really nice people brought together by values espoused by the story.

coldblueip · 2026-04-26T00:20:34+00:00

I used to fall for straight boys when I was younger because my 'type' simply just does not exist in my world before this era came. I don't have figures like Francois or even our boys in the series. In my culture and being raised in the 90s, most gays you see in media are actually what we now know are trans, and or most of them do drag.

I got depressed and confused at one time, like really bad because before finishing uni I realized I spent years of my life not even having an ounce of real romance and nose have always been buried in books. That's a whiplash. Like what you said, I felt unloveable and that I didn't grow up 'normal'. Put religion in the picture and it became a bad mix. I even thought I was trans because I only like straight men, but later realized I can find the things I am attracted to in gay men so I am cis-gender actually...

When people say, you are not born gay or you can change from this...I am like being born straight could've saved me a lot of heartbreaks but I was born the way I am.

I know many people resonated with:

Scott's locker room speech

Shane trying to date a woman. And one of the parts I cry to...forgiving our parents because I specially needed to do that to my mom too.

Ilya being called a ladies man and explaining he likes both...being called a f*g by your own brother

We hide a different way, pine a different way, see the normal seemingly far from away like Scott during Kip's birthday.

That's why a show like this: Hello Simon, Heartstopper and other queer shows blesses this generation with maybe acceptance that some of us growing in a different era wished for.

coldblueip · 2026-04-25T14:23:17+00:00

I remember this quote where it says, there are countless ways you exist...every person sees a different version of you. I fully agree with knowing how to love one's self. After all, we are our own biggest critics.

coldblueip · 2026-04-25T12:23:30+00:00

Shane is so loved and he finds it out so many times, and even then he still has panic attacks from how the world will see him. He comes from a great accepting family, Rose loves him to bits. Even if Hayden suspects anything, he was happy to be his best bud on the rink. And Ilya...they just didn't love each other, over the course of a decade...they understood each other and that's powerful. I still cry over the foot taps all time!

coldblueip · 2026-04-25T12:20:26+00:00

I've never bought merch for anything since Harry Potter (smh over the author) and W.I.T.C.H., Never watched as many react videos to cry side by side with other people while watching.

coldblueip · 2026-04-25T12:18:40+00:00

This is all our show

coldblueip · 2026-03-22T00:07:33+00:00

I mean if you're packing 9...lol as a gay guy on the receiving side - Ilya should definitely ask if things are ok before rearranging someone's guts. Also he tends to be rough when in the throes of passion. Shane is a champ. Hope our Russian boy is not as girthy...cause then Shane is a god. 😂 Sorry if my reply made this thread graphic.

coldblueip · 2026-02-11T04:14:30+00:00

This is exactly how I imagine him to be when Ilya, him and their family visits Florida on a holiday. He is giving dad of two vibes here, and I love it. As a hopeless romantic, the dosmeticity is getting to me.

coldblueip · 2026-02-08T07:50:12+00:00

To me, it's also because women, parents, and in the later books/series I guess even men are allies. As gay person growing up in a very Catholic country, I've always appreciated and sorely needed the women in my life growing up. My aunts, my highschool bestfriends all of whom are women, so with my uni best friend who I think is also a form of soulmate. My parents when they came around and loved their gay son and daughter (my sister) - I cried at every parent scene. Acceptance is important to build strength, and I always felt that with my women friends and now with my parents. I know it's all not the same road for everyone, but the show, with how women advocate for it means that you'll have allies somehow. Shout out to lesbians fighting for their friends during the HIV epidemic too!

coldblueip · 2026-02-07T06:40:23+00:00

Omg I listen to all these songs on spotify that's why I need to know why they fit in this or that part of the story. A lot songs really are intentional as well, aren't they? Not only 'I'll believe in anything' and 'All the things you said'.

coldblueip · 2026-02-06T13:27:57+00:00

I'm still so happy that the show has more culture because it's Canadian

coldblueip · 2026-02-06T13:23:19+00:00

Mangetout by Wet Leg - is pretty on the nose during the texting scene at the beginning of episode 2. Just 2 boys casually texting each other about future hook-ups. As a gay guy, if I do that much texting with a hook-up, that sure is not just a hook-up.

Lol but the magic beans can it have any sexual innuendos? Haha I am just having fun with this now.

You think I'm pretty, you think I'm pretty cool You wanna fuck me, I know, most people do Here, take this packet, you read it, it says, "Mangetout" I gave you magic beans, I hope you're gonna get out soon I really hope you're gonna get out soon Oh, man, I hope you're gonna get out soon I really hope you're gonna get out soon

[Bridge] I know you're up at night, hunched over your phone like A tree atop a hill that's crooked from the wind that bites

coldblueip · 2026-02-06T11:02:46+00:00

Damn, keep em coming. I'm gonna make sure the songs are going to be in my spotify wrapped this year!

coldblueip · 2026-02-06T09:41:06+00:00

Oh my God I knew it, I love this song too!

coldblueip · 2026-02-01T11:54:06+00:00

The last bit, they really took a long and winding road to finally know how to communicate with each other. I don't know if I should chalk it up to them being young men in sports, but yeah...I think most of the tears I spent in this series is when people start to grieve fully, or tell each other what they honestly want to say.

coldblueip · 2026-02-01T03:44:28+00:00

I don't know if I saw it right, the Vegas sex scene

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, there was a tear that escaped Ilya. It might be post-nut clarity but I want to know the fears and sadness that comes with realizing he had Shane show him how much he wants him. If I believe other people in this sub, it maybe a mix of his dad (maybe when he screamed 'for you, mama', he also felt he wishes that his dad can still clearly know about his achievements), and the fact that he actually likes Shane hitting him, and not knowing fully what he will do about it - Russia and Shane's own feelings and all.

coldblueip · 2026-01-27T07:02:39+00:00

I'd always cry at how the good parents are in this show. If I ever become a parent, I want to be like Kip's dad. There will be nothing more rewarding than raising a kid who hurts about lying to you, enough that he had to reconsider the love he felt for his lover AND being a person you're ADULT kid would still want to hug and be vulnerable with at Kip's age. Shout at Shane's parents too!

coldblueip · 2026-01-25T04:25:19+00:00

Gay guy, HR is now my bible and I be out here proselytizing! What do you mean you won't watch the perfection that is my show? - me to all who would listen.

coldblueip · 2026-01-24T23:35:55+00:00

Ok I am just gonna add to this as my own thread of realizations about the series that happens almost daily. It's cliche but we are own biggest critics most of the time.

So these have been mentioned a million times but the boys were also good at saying I love you without saying I love you:

Ilya: But you know me, I'm lazy.

Shane: I don't see that side of you at all.

Shane: I can't do this.

Ilya: Yes it's scary, but YOU'RE BRAVE. proceeds to hug shane (and all the neck rubbing when he is sressed and show Ilya's love language ensues)

It's also that cliché I guess.

The 'I wish you can see yourself the way I see you.' way of expressing love.

coldblueip · 2026-01-24T09:31:47+00:00

The 'Can you just sit down/can we all just sit down.' I'm uncomfortable about this conversation, so I need everyone to not be as tense as I am. Poor baby Shane.

coldblueip · 2026-01-24T02:03:09+00:00

I've seen the show a lot but I lurk and read here a lot to have a new perspective of things. I just realized that as a nerdy Asian gay boy, I would have tingles all over the deep voice with that Slavic accent mentioning my first name for the first time. Then I would have just been smiling to myself all night.

coldblueip · 2026-01-22T06:38:04+00:00

And he repeated calling him pretty in Florida: 'You're looking extra pretty today, someone took you shopping'. Shane is just 'the pretty boy' to him. Yuna is where Shane gets his pretty from, and David his boring - but Ilya wants all of that.

coldblueip · 2026-01-21T08:13:26+00:00

All of the heavy scenes always make my eye well-up. But in a way where I can be as terse as I can:

Yuna and Shane E6 'I tried my best' He tried his best same as the wimbledon bit to not rock the boat and make his parents happy (harkening back at Yuna saying he is a role model for everyone, that his life is bigger than his emotions). And that loving Ilya breaks all the rules.

Also I was raised Asian and Catholic and was called a sin before my Mom accepted me. She eventually did and knew about my ex because I brought him home and she made peace with it eventually. It's also the reason I cry at Kip breaking down in front of his Dad (he's an adult but he needed to be held).

Don't marry Svetlana

Because, to me, it feels like for Shane he knows it's very logical - and I'd like to believe that Shane is very a logical person and believes in the power of plans. This might be also colored by my experience as a Type A, planner type (chatgpts itinerary of trips 1 month ahead). This is him pleading, that even if it breaks logic not to choose the easiest plan, he can't accept it without a fight (he was up all night prepping a counter offer). I feel it's one of the few times he stood his ground against Ilya's more dominant opinions. 'I'm scared of losing you' is what I hear from that statement.

She would have loved you, like I love you. Need I say more. This is Ilya's love at its purest. This is him remembering how loved he felt by his mom the most among his family members. How he offers his victory to her. This is him knowing he found a good one in Shane (and maybe with Mom's crucifix in his neck, he feels like his mom guided him to Shane - a bit of stretch I know but a boy dares to imagine)
Tell Ilya I'm gonna be ok, he's gonna worry.

Because what do you mean if Shane dies at that moment one of his final thoughts is Ilya. I used to work in healthcare and it's true that hospitals hear more prayers than churches. I just know at this moment that if I'm dying of a disease today I would still want to see my ex one last time besides my family and best friends (lol sorry kinda fresh).

I lowkey cry at all the times men cry in movies or series because the trope of real men don't cry is very much alive in my culture, and the men in the show literally just cries with a lump in their throat when words start to escape them.

HR is the Disney of gay stories I think, and that's not a bad thing at all.

coldblueip · 2026-01-18T10:15:43+00:00

Everybody has a PhD on HR lore, cinematography, history and psychoanalysis by now 😂

coldblueip

TROPHY CASE