What amazes me is how frightened straight cis hegemony is over anything that is different from how they live / perceive the world. They can’t seem to be able to live in a society with people who are different from them or how they live. It scares them to their core and makes them think the world is ending. They reject anything that moves from their past comfort zones. The idea of coexistence with others is emotionally shattering to them. They are so fragile. So small in their thinking. They need to make sure anything different is not seen as if removing all evidence of it makes it not exist anymore. That is so stupid I shouldn’t have to address it. But OK let me explain, in the 1950s the only representation of homosexuality was negative and strongly biased toward hating, yet gay kids were born to straight parents, the entire LGBTQ+ had no representation yet all existed. Hugs
Lawmakers in Kazakhstan are following the lead of Russian President Vladimir Putin with a bill to ban so-called “LGBTQ propaganda” in the former Soviet republic.
The lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament on Wednesday approved the measure outlawing “LGBT propaganda” online and in the media, with fines mandated for violators, and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders, Reuters reports.
The legislation now moves to the Kazakh senate, where it’s likely to pass.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has expressed support for the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which, like similar laws passed in Russia, Georgia and, Hungary, has been promoted as a bulwark against “degenerate” values imported from the West.
“Children and teenagers are exposed to information online every day that can negatively impact their ideas about family, morality, and the future,” Kazakh Education Minister Gani Beisembayev told lawmakers before the vote.
Deputy Irina Smirnova cited library books and cartoons featuring same-sex relationships as examples of the “propaganda” addressed by the bill.
“I saw books in the library that promote LGBT, where a prince falls in love with a prince, two boys,” she told lawmakers. “There are cartoons that allow this to be shown, there are magazines and comics where all this is promoted.”
For months, President Tokayev has lobbied hard for passage of the bill — which is essentially copycat legislation of Russia’s own “anti-LGBTQ propaganda” measure — stressing the need to uphold what he and Putin call their countries’ “traditional values”.
Parties loyal to Tokayev dominate the lower house and voted unanimously in favor of the ban.
With the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Kazakhstan legalized homosexuality as it drew politically closer to Europe and the West.
But while the Muslim-majority nation is officially secular, it remains deeply conservative when it comes to social issues. With Putin‘s prodding, far-right politicians have exploited those social fissures to push the country back into Russia’s sphere of influence.
“We live in an independent and sovereign republic. Or are we already a colony of the Russian Federation?” Zhanar Sekerbayeva, co-founder of the feminist initiative, Feminita, asked at a recent LGBTQ+ rights roundtable in the country.
Arj Tursynkan, an activist with the NGO Education Community, explained that language in the legislation was sweeping.
“Because of these amendments, people can be punished for anything – jokes, drawings, hugs,” he said.
The activist argued that the legislation is not just a legal text, but a test of Kazakhstan’s commitment to international norms of dignity and freedom.
Ahead of the vote, Belgium-based group International Partnership for Human Rights condemned the measure, saying it would “blatantly violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments.”
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Whistleblower Rutherford County Library Systems Director Luanne James claims the RCLS Board Chair, Cody York, instructed her to remove multiple books from the public library system without following the rules to do so.
James claimed York had checked out books he wanted banned and kept the books for so long they were marked as lost and then removed from the system. James also said York asked her to gather a list of library patrons’ personal information, including which books they checked out.
“Names of the patrons, their addresses, their ZIP codes, their barcodes, how many children and how many adults were in each household and what they were checking out,” James told the RCLS Board Monday night.
According to RCLS, James was appointed as the new Library Director, which went into effect on July 28. James claimed she was at her job for only two days before she was instructed to remove books.
During Monday’s meeting, York denied all James’ allegations and denied any wrongdoing, saying he requested patrons’ ZIP codes to see which patrons lived outside the county so they could pay an additional $25 fee to hold a library card. With regard to the missing books, York shifted the blame back to James.
“Does policy allow one board member or the chair to remove books?” York asked James during the board meeting.
“No,” James replied.
“So why did you do it [remove books]?” York said. “…I’m not denying that I told you these books should not be in the library, but I can’t make a decision to remove them — that’s your decision.”
A local advocacy group called the Rutherford County Library Alliance believes the following books listed are missing and had been removed from the library:
“Forever” by Judy Blume
“Over the River and Through the Wood: A Holiday Adventure” by Lisa Marie Francis Child
“The Antiracist Kid” by Tiffany Jewel
“Making a Baby” by Rachel Greener
News 2 hasn’t been able to independently confirm these specific titles are missing.
“If a librarian has put a book in our library, it’s because our community needs it, so by bypassing all of the professionals and saying, ‘Well, I don’t like it, so it should go because I don’t want my kid reading it,’ that goes against the First Amendment,” Keri Lambert, Vice President of the Rutherford County Library Alliance, told News 2.
“I believe it’s all driven by one motive only: to basically eliminate a certain class of people from the library collection as if they didn’t exist … To figuratively put them back in the closet, if you will,” Frank Lambert, a Library and Information Science Associate Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, told News 2.
News 2 reached out to Chair York, who responded with a statement:
“I categorically deny the allegations made against me last night.
The Rutherford County Library System has only two approved methods by which a title may be removed from the collection under our policies. Library staff may remove a title if it no longer meets the collection standard, such as relevance, condition, accuracy, or other established criteria, through the normal weeding process. A title may be removed by a vote of the Library Board, but only after the formal reconsideration process is completed. This process includes a written request, staff review, and a vote in an open public meeting.
Those are the only mechanisms permitted. No board member can direct the Executive Director to bypass either process. Raising questions about whether books in the collection meet our collection standards is not inappropriate.”
When News 2 reached out to the whistleblower, Luanne James, we received an Out of Office email, indicating she may still be employed by the library system.
So Ron and his sister arrived two days ago. Lucky for me she is a doer who jumps in to do stuff and doesn’t wait for others to do for her. She has really helped Ron get a lot of stuff done. She helps when my back goes out. She is doing supper right now so I can catch up on the last few days of news. I really hope she finds a place to her tastes here as she is a good influence for Ron. Hugs, loves to all, and best wishes to all who wish them. Scottie
Thanks to Ron’s sister jumping in and doing all the extra stuff I have been trying to do I can rest my back while doing my posting. I could get used to this. Hugs
tRump’s illegal war for profit to please the corporations he told to give him a billion dollars for his campaign and he would do what ever they asked. Wow US military young adults sold for tRump’s profit. Hugs
The $1,776 per person bonuses, unveiled by Trump in his nationwide address Wednesday night, will be covered with funding approved in the Big Beautiful Bill that passed in July, according to the congressional officials and later confirmed by the Pentagon. The payouts — which will cost roughly $2.6 billion — will be a “one-time basic allowance for housing supplement to all eligible service members,” said the official.
The Trump administration announced several moves Thursday that will have the effect of essentially banning gender-affirming care for transgender young people, even in states where it is still legal.
The second would block all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care.
Really stupid things say and blame democrats for just because they think it sounds good not realizing how dumb it seems.
As Democracy Docket previously reported, in his previous role as a prosecutor in the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, Neff was put on leave after bringing charges against an election software executive based on information from conspiracy-driven election denier group True the Vote. The saga ultimately cost taxpayers $5 million to settle a lawsuit over the flawed prosecution.
Neff is also affiliated with True The Vote, the far-right QAnon group featured in Dinesh D’Souza’s debunked “2000 Mules” film.
Slumped over in his chair at the Resolute desk, Trump’s face slackened—eyes drooping, the corners of his mouth sagging—as he fought off sleep. The elderly president has now been caught appearing to doze off at four official events in six weeks.
A little tougher than much of what I usually post, though I always enjoy Evan Hurst’s work personally, and highly recommend everyone to do so, as well. Anyway, this is share worthy.
I had a whole other thing to finish writing for y’all this week, a Christmas/holiday post about the kinds of awful conservative Christians whose faith is based on God building a wall around heaven to keep out those they view as irredeemable sinners — you know, LGBTQ+ people, women who think freely, people who aren’t Nazis. I’ll finish writing it next week, or something.
But right now I am too busy laughing at this story Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal published and promoted on its socials this week:
screengrab, WSJ tweet 12/17/25
I did not know what I wanted for Christmas — you know, besides for every ICE agent in the country to stub their toe — but now I know that what my heart desires most is to witness a Religious Right meltdown over RUPERT MURDOCH’S WALL STREET JOURNALpublishing the story of “Chad, Brad and Thad couldn’t figure out how to make Chad’s mid-century modern go with Thad’s medieval sex swing and Brad’s collection of giant English settees. But they did it, and it’s FABULOUS.”
And praise Jesus, for Santa has brought it to me!
Y’all, sometimes the Moral High Ground is a very serious newsletter about serious subjects. Other times it is just about laughing at these motherfuckers and their small, sad brains and fears and prejudices and general status as the planet’s biggest losers. On December 19, 2025, as we head into the heaviest part of the holiday week, the Moral High Ground is the second thing.
The article is super fun, if you like real estate/interior design features, especially ones that are super-gay. Chad, Brad and Thad are actually David Gobberdiel, Ryan Tungate, and Michael Cowell, and they have a fabulous 4,000-square-foot duplex in Northalsted in Chicago. The Wall Street Journal helpfully explains terms for its readers who might not know:
The throuple, which is a committed romantic or sexual relationship between three people, took things slow at first.
David and Ryan didn’t live with Michael at first. (They were the original couple, as is often the case with throuples, two become three.) But then blah blah blah pandemic Michael didn’t leave, etc.
But $1.71 million later, they had a house, all three of ‘em!
The end result really is gorgeous, and despite how the WSJ helpfully explains certain things for people, it treats all of it is completely jejune, which is AS IT SHOULD BE. If Chad, Brad and Thad are happy, who the fuck should care?
For instance:
Real-estate agents are noticing more throuples and polycules buying homes together, often with everyone’s name on the deed. “Monogamy in this economy?” says Kathy “Kiki” Sloan, an employing broker with Property Dominator in Denver.
A polycule is bigger than a throuple, it’s more like a rhombus on top of a Venn diagram on top of a buncha wingdings. See? I am helpful like the Wall Street Journal, which explains it like this:
Designers are taking note, creating homes that balance privacy and togetherness for throuples and polycules, a group of people involved in consensual, interconnected, non-monogamous relationships.
Just as I said.
Anyway, the WSJ explains how Dane, Blaine and Shane spent $405,000 — must be nice, guys — to interior design their place up all-fancy-like and in a way that incorporated all their styles. “Designing for a couple is tricky enough. Add a third partner, and it is like a high-stakes game of design Tetris.” Did WSJ have to go with that exact visual? Oh hell yeah they did, and I recommend themfor a Pulitzer, or at the very least a FIFA Pulitzer.
Also they have a 96” x 96” mattress. For all the Tetris.
So as I was saying, the article is great, but what I really wanted to see was the religious right meltdown. While there’s not much yet in the way of organized hate groups or right-wing podcasters bitching, there’s some good clean fun from Twitter, like this weenus who writes for the right-wing Western Journal, who provided the headline for today’s newsletter:
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, I am so happy right now.
That tweet has one reply, which simply says:
AT@j2tiger
@Josh_Manning@WSJ Three people can’t sodomize each other simultaneously. Someone’s gotta be at the end of the train. Learn math.
4:43 PM · Dec 18, 2025
LEARN MATH.
I am dying laughing.
Queerty found some loser on Facebook whining that “Why do publications like the WSJ prominently run stories about fringe subjects?” and “How many of your readers actually have a problem with their design tastes conflicting in their ‘throuple’?” As we are always discussing here, the Main Character Syndrome of these assholes is immense, the way they think their totally boring lives should be the center of attention in every story.
They found another who bellyached, “Everybody understands that this post is about promoting the far-left agenda, not about design tastes, right?” And here they thought Trump had made that illegal!
And it just gets more fun from there.
Oh no, not a rebuke!
Poor Jordan also whined in the comments that “It is shameful to normalize and celebrate what is degeneracy in the eyes of God. You should repent.” Boo hoo.
Now meet “Butthurt,” who is, well, butthurt:
Sorry, “Butthurt,” but there’s just not as much demand in the interior design journalism space for full-length features on Southern Baptist Becky who found the cutest “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” wallpaper to go with their “Bless this mess!” dish towels.
Oh, the fundamentalists and Nazis of Twitter are losing it.
“It’s way past pride month for this crap,” whined “Grover Dill.” So … he wouldn’t bitch had they published this in June? Please advise.
This person writes about with about as much fluency as the president:
Catronwalk@catalewalk
@WSJ a “throuple”!!!?! This is “immorality” “blasphemy” personified as stated in scripture! Trash. Makes you feel magnanimous WSJ!?!?!?
1:54 PM · Dec 17, 2025
4 Likes
MAKES YOU FEEL MAGNANIMOUS WSJ!?!?!?
(By the way, not gonna go down a theological rabbithole here, but there is no Bible verse that says throuples are bad. In fact — IN FUCKING FACT — the Bible is absolutely full of polygamous arrangements. It’s just that most of them involve men having multiple wives and concubines. I’d argue that today’s throuples and polycules are far more nurturing, loving and egalitarian. Of course, the religious right hates things that are nurturing, loving and egalitarian.)
This jerkoff either asked AI or a thesaurus to write their comment:
A flagship paper treating interior design friction by a socially marginal polyamorous throuple ‘feature-worthy’ reveals metastatic cultural rot, and an abdication of moral and editorial restraint.
Forsooth and herewith!
This person is very upset because WHAT ABOUT TRADITIONAL-HETEROSEXUAL-PENIS-IN-VAGINA-THROUPLINGS?
Leonardo Danger@300aacblackout
@WSJ Now do a feel-good story about two women and one guy. Oh wait, you would never do that because gay is best.
4:30 PM · Dec 17, 2025
1 Like
Would Leonardo cry so much if WSJ had written an article about a white fundamentalist Christian man with a bunch of underage sister-wives? Just curious.
Finally, this guy is just repulsed, I tell you, repulsed, with British spellings!
John DiCarlo@JohnDicarlo20
@WSJ This article is a new low for the WSJ. Promoting deviant sexual behaviour. Welcome to the bottom of the slippery slope. I am repulsed, and I can see why you turned off the comments on your digital paper. I am disgusted.
1:17 PM · Dec 17, 2025
8 Likes
Oh, bless their hearts.
What’s fun about this is that these people are genuinely upset, and they think they’re upset about something that matters. They think there’s a God in the sky who actually is as small-minded as they are, a God who would truly be upset about Kevin, Devin and Tevin living in whatever kind of joyful matrimony they all choose to as consenting adults.
As usual, these people are creating God in their own tiny, hateful loser image, and you can tell, because of how God has all the same fears and insecurities they have.
Let’s not forget jealousy either.
Because again, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’s house is faaaaabulous.
Ain’t ONE heterosexually-yoked fundamentalist Christian couple on earth whose tacky-ass McMansion in the suburbs looks that good.
And they know it.
What if these guys are also happier than every heterosexually-yoked fundamentalist Christian couple on earth?
Oh fuuuuuuuck.
Hope all your weeks are merry merry, whatever you are or are not celebrating at the moment!
This is incredible and the best I have felt in 5 months. I have had so much old news, many hundreds of back logged news I wanted to share. I recently found out that the mail stuff I would share was stuck on my phone so did not post. I cleared that. Today right now all old news mail articles are posted, the stuff I want to share is posted. I still have to do the video on what happened because I got long term Covid. Sadly I was able to do this because Ron was gone to Texas to help his sister and now they are on their way home. More pressure to do as much as I can with my pain and disability. So I have two more rooms to work on before they get here later this week. I want to do a video on the entire thing but may not. My goal was to clear all these tabs and then do videos …. but we will see, Hugs
The city, home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States, has recently become a repeated target for out-of-state activists who falsely claim it operates under “Sharia law.” The tensions began when Jake Lang, a Jan. 6 rioter who has described himself as a political prisoner, arrived on Michigan Avenue attempting to burn a Quran.
Federal law enforcement agencies are detaining US citizens who do not carry proof of their citizenship in what civil rights advocates describe as a flagrant violation of constitutional rights—and a top Trump administration official is claiming the government has the authority to do so. Bovino recently lied in court about being hit with a rock by anti-ICE protesters, despite video showing that never happened. According to reports, some Border officials privately refer to Bovino a “Little Napoleon” due to his height and volatile temper.
Things that are just wrong on too many levels / Medical Misinformation / tRump’s illegal war to steal oil / Rule by decree
The pilot of a JetBlue flight reported on Friday that he narrowly avoided colliding with a U.S. military aircraft over the Caribbean after an Air Force refueling tanker passed in front of the commercial plane without broadcasting its position, according to air traffic control radio communications.
It would reduce in prominence the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command by placing them under the control of a new organization known as U.S. International Command. Those familiar with the plan said it aligns with the Trump administration’s national security strategy, released this month, that declares that the “days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.”
Their way to rid themselves of officers who will refuse to follow an illegal order and put command in the hands of those who will. All of this is to reduce the number of Admirals and Generals who could credibly disobey the illegal orders that will be coming soon.
This past September, the Trump administration terminated these agreements. The center’s former head, James Rubin, called this decision “a unilateral act of disarmament,” and no wonder: In effect, the United States was declaring that it would no longer oppose Russian influence campaigns, Chinese manipulation of local politics, or Iranian extremist recruitment drives. Nor would the American government use any resources to help anyone else do so either.
Foreign nationals can now pay $1 million plus a $15,000 processing fee for the Trump Gold Card, which grants them U.S. residency “in record time,” the website states. Corporations, meanwhile, can also partake in the program by making a $2 million contribution and paying the $15,000 processing fee.
The St. Louis-based lawyer declined to share copies, citing his clients’ privacy, but said most are seeking $1 million to $10 million for alleged injuries and property damage during their arrest, prosecution and, in many cases, imprisonment. Earlier this year, US officials agreed to pay nearly $5 million this year to settle a claim brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a police officer inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Uthmeier’s office alleged that for the “past five years and continuing to the present day, defendant has excluded or disfavored nonminorities in numerous employment practices and programs.”
The move is part of the administration’s wider campaign to scrub federal institutions of “corrosive ideology” recognizing historical racism and sexism. The directive instructs park staff to report by Friday any retail items that have content that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” or that includes “matters unrelated to the beauty, abundance or grandeur” of a natural feature in its description.
Hit the link for many photos of Key West homes now sporting rainbow picket fences. As for Ms. Walker, the self-proclaimed “Christian Republican” felt compelled to boast about her complaint on X.
Yet the Russian oil shadow fleet is left totally alone by the tRump admin? I wonder why the oil tankers off Venezuela are OK to attack yet the same sanctioned oil tankers of Russia are off limits? What is the difference between illegal sanctioned oil tankers? Oh yes Putin has something over on tRump. Hugs
“States have the statutory duty to preserve and protect their constituents from vote dilution,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
This is code for balck people voting which white supremacist feel makes their votes less important. Hugs
When I started reading here at Scottie’s, and later posting here, the blog purpose included providing online safe space and resources for LGBTQ+ people. I try to include posts directed at that readership whenever I can. Things are changing rapidly for everyone in the U.S., but bigots have been emboldened to discriminate whenever and however they like, for sport, even, if they wish. (My own observations.)
I have read at The Order Of The Good Death for years, watching Caitlin Doughty’s videos (she’s knowledgeable and hilarious,) watching legislation primarily on my own behalf (I want a sky burial, dang it!) Last night, I saw that The Order is generating an End-Of-Life guide for LGBTQ+ people. So, here’s the scoop, click on through. They’re only beginning this project, a guide for each state of the U.S. Here’s a snippet; go see it and become involved if you can.
“Our end-of-life experiences are as unique and varied as our lives, often reflecting the same challenges we experience in life. As a result, people in the LGBTQ+ community often have their own unique set of needs at the end-of life, placing them at a higher risk for discrimination and disenfranchisement.”
Additionally, I highly recommend looking over the Louisiana guide, by Ezra Salter, linked within. It’s a PDF, but covers numerous pertinent issues people might not consider in general.
Photographer Janette Beckman and curator Julie Grahame have organized a one-time fundraiser for the ACLU that showcases images of musicians who have recorded protest songs or are known for their activism. Forty-three photographers have donated images of 50 artists, from John Lennon to Nina Simone to Bad Bunny, and 100% of the profits will go towards the ACLU and their efforts to protect equality, freedom and rights. In addition to the images there is a playlist of songs for the fundraiser.Bob Marley, who performed at Crystal Palace Bowl in 1980, is known for songs such as Get Up, Stand Up, War, Redemption Song and Concrete Jungle that advocate for social issues, human rights and resistance. Photograph: David Corio
(I posted a few here; go see the whole piece with all the photos. It’s motivating! A.)
Bruce Springsteen, New York, 2017
Songs such as American Skin (41 Shots), The Ghost of Tom Joad and Born in the USA highlight systemic injustice, racism and the struggles of working-class people and immigrantsPhotograph: Danny Clinch, Transparent Clinch Gallery
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Doechii, New York, 2025
She is known for songs like Anxiety that advocate for mental health awareness and has used awards show speeches to speak out against government overreach and oppression. Photograph: Sacha Lecca
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Nina Simone, London, 1968
One of Simone’s most prominent songs, Mississippi Goddam, was a direct response to systemic racial inequality in the US exemplified in the handling of the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and Medgar Evers’s murder. The song became an anthem for the civil rights movement. Photograph: Michael Putland
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Dolly Parton, Tennessee, 2003
Her songs, including A Woman’s Right and Coat of Many Colors, have addressed social issues, and she has been outspoken and financially generous as a philanthropist. Photograph: Clay Patrick McBride
I am not transgender. And, perhaps like some who read Scottie’s blog, there are times when I wonder why I am reading so much about transgender and non-binary issues, since they don’t really effect me. I’m simply me, an overweight white guy who has struggled with his orientation and confidence. Interestingly enough, I’m – as written – not Hispanic. I was born in the USA, so why should I care about some of the other posts Scottie shows on his blog about ICE/Immigration? I think you know where I am going with this.
On the first day of tRump’s occupation, he signed an executive order that the United States would no longer recognize anything but born male/born female as a gender to the applause of a disappointingly large number of people. With the literal stroke of a pen, a person’s identity was made to be unrecognized by their very own government.
And, just as he has chosen to remove men and women from our communities without the right of Habeas Corpus, one of the very principles our country was founded upon, who will be next to learn they are a non-person and suddenly unworthy of liberty? Will it be me, a struggling fat white guy who doesn’t conform to the cis ideal? Will it be when I become old and can no longer work? Will it be because I don’t agree with the Maga mantra? What will I have to fake to be still acceptable to the powers?
I’d like to paraphrase and steal another’s words here:
The Declaration of Independence identified “the pursuit of happiness” as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty… Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton (spoke about what) happiness meant in their lives, how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good—the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government.
Now this is arguable, but I want to believe it. I want to believe and agree that the creation of this country was about more than the pursuit of power, but about the pursuit of happiness, of completion, of understanding and identity. I believe that the creation of this country was to be about self-determination and self-actualization, not conformity to some distorted and corrupted image of a diseased head of state.
It is for this reason that I embrace the rights and honor of those who are transgender, non-binary, or any who are seeking to understand that person in the mirror. In fact, I see it as a fundamental aspect of being an American that we accept those who are in the journey of self. Further, just as Jesus Christ is reported to exhort us to welcome the stranger – because it is only by befriending those different from whoever I am that I can hope to one day fully understand Randy.
I welcome respectful comments and even disagreements to this post. hugs.
So right now I have a number of non-romance community friends coming up to me and saying stuff like:
“Oh hey sounds like some hockey fic finally made it onto TV, huh?”
“Yo Candy have you heard of the gay hockey romance TV show?”
“How excited are you about the gay hockey smut on TV?”
“Candy why is your entire Tumblr dashboard filled with naked asses?”
To which I say: excuse me, these are not just “naked asses.”
These are triple-platinum certified, AAA grade dumptrucks. Can dumptruck butts even be certified platinum, Sisqo hit notwithstanding?
Fuck you, they can now. These asses can do anything. These asses can fly you to the fucking moon. These asses were sculpted by the hand of God, after which God cut their own hand off because it had achieved perfection, so why sculpt anything else ever. Connor Storrie’s ass in particular is a mesmerizingly perfect hemisphere. He could never sneak into an enemy base because he is dummy thicc and the thunderclap of those asscheeks would absolutely alert the guards for miles around. Do you understand what I’m saying?
A | BN | K | ABBut the thing is, you need to watch the show — I can’t believe I’m saying this after what I’ve just said above — not for the asses, but because the actors are a delight to watch. It’s not that they’re beautiful, or at least, not only because of that.
It’s because they inhabit their characters to a degree that is frankly eerie.
Like: the way Connor Storrie holds his body as Ilya Rozanov in every scene. Man doesn’t stand like an American, though he very much is. (Storrie is a Texan. A Texan.) And what does “doesn’t stand like an American” even mean? Look, I can’t fuckin’ explain it, OK, but white American dudes tend to hold themselves A Way, and he doesn’t do it. It’s like porn (which this show delivers on, by the way). I just know it when I see it.
That’s not even going into Storrie’s near-impeccable Russian (which he apparently acquired over three weeks), or the things he’s able to do with his eyes, or the curl of an upper lip, or a flick of his eyebrow.
What, you think there wouldn’t be gifs? Come on now.
And then there’s Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander. Shane, the lawful good muppet to Ilya’s chaos gremlin freak. Williams nails every microexpression, especially in the scenes in which he’s texting Ilya: vulnerability, frustration, reluctant amusement, endearment—they all flicker across his face. He’s stiff and awkward, which you might initially mistake for bad acting, except no, that’s Shane: Shane is an awkward motherfucker! Shane Hollander has zero grace until you strap skates on him, or until he’s confronted by Ilya Rozanov’s dick.
Sure, sure, my friends say. Watch it for the acting. That’s what you say. That’s not what you’re reblogging on Tumblr, you thirsty bitch.
I mean, yeah. I’m mostly posting gifsets of dumptruck butts because I need everyone I know to watch this show, and while I honestly find this image of Ilya giving Shane the once-over when they first meet theee actual hottest thing, who the fuck cares about that who hasn’t seen the show already?
It’s pretty hot
That’s not going to grab people’s attention. Oh, look at this attractive white dude giving someone the ole bedroom eyes. Boh-ring. NEXT.
Ilya Rozanov, naked and glistening with water, jorkin’ it in the locker room showers while maintaining hideously uncomfortable eye contact with Shane? That’s an attention-grabber. And I’ve sold three different people into watching this show because of it.
Speaking for all of us…
So anyway, I’ve had to talk to several friends about this show, and about why I, a person who has worked hard all their life to achieve the perfect body (potato-shaped) care about sports romance, and I’ve come up with this Heated Rivalry explainer of sorts. Maybe you’ll find this helpful as you navigate conversations with other people in your life who are like, hey, I hear you like smut! What do you think of that smutty hockey show? Or, like, if you haven’t checked out either the book or the show, and somehow have avoided learning anything about either of them, maybe this will finally push you over the edge? In fact, I hope it does. Consider this me kicking you down a well lined with bare chests and fake team logos of dubious quality and screaming This! Is! Heated Rivalry!
What the hell is Heated Rivalry?
It’s not a fic, it’s a hockey romance novel by Rachel Reid. The two main characters are Ilya Rozanov, Russian hockey wunderkind, and Shane Hollander, Canadian hockey wunderkind. (And yeah, Shane bears a physical resemblance to Sid Crosby, and Ilya being Russian and playing for a rival team immediately raises the spectre of Alexander Ovechkin, but as far as I know, this isn’t scrubbed Sid/Ovi fic, even if, uh, the inspiration seems pretty clear.)
Shane and Ilya meet rookie year, find each other infuriating yet irresistible, rapidly hook up, and then continue to hook up over many, many years, only to slowly, excruciatingly, fall in love. It’s somehow both slow-burn and bangs immediately. You know U-Haul lesbians? These guys are the exact opposite. (Move-away gays? I’ll have to workshop that more.)
Anyway. The book is mostly sex scenes by volume, and not a single one is repetitive or wasted, because it’s how the character and relationship development happen.
It’s now a TV show, adapted by Jacob Tierney. That’s the same guy who brought you Letterkenny and Shoresy, neither of which I’ve watched, but which I’ve been aware of for years now because people whose tastes I trust have watched them and loved them and told me I should watch them. Sorry, guys, it took the power of gay hockey idiots to drag me into the Tierney-verse. I’m here now, and I love it!
The thing you need to know about this show is: it leans in. It fully commits to the bit. Look, I know I keep talking about how this show is worth watching above and beyond the sex and the beefcake, but the fact of the matter is, you can’t extricate the show from the sex and the beefcake, because it’s a show. About hockey players. Who fall in love because they fuck. A lot. Over many years. So yes, I’m going to talk about the sex.
OK! (snip-I can’t copy-paste their whole post; go read it, it’s great!)
Greg OwenNovember 12, 2025, 4:00 pm ESTRussian President Vladimir Putin | Shutterstock
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