Sorry, the “Heated Rivalry” gay Marvel fanfic origin story isn’t true
By now you ve allegedly heard of Heated Rivalry Jacob Tienery s tender affecting adaptation of Rachel Reid s Battle Changers books better known online as the gay hockey show Produced by Canadian streamer Crave and airing concurrently on HBO Max the drama became a cultural flashpoint after its two-episode premiere on Nov While the show primarily adapts the romance between rival hockey players Shane Hollander Hudson Williams and Ilya Rozanov Connor Storrie the latest episode Hunter follows another couple in the Championship Changers universe Scott Hunter Fran ois Arnaud captain of the New York Admirals and Kip Grady Robbie G K a smoothie barista with a suspiciously sculpted physique We never see Kip at the gym I have questions HBO Max Crave Fran ois Arnaud as Scott Hunter in Heated Rivalry HBOMax CraveTV Fans of Reid s novels have long floated the idea that Scott and Kip s romance began as gay Marvel fanfiction specifically as Stucky fanfic the romantic pairing of Steve Rogers Captain America and Bucky Barnes Now that Hunter has aired viewers are reviving the theory and circulating side-by-side shots of Chris Evans and Scott Hunter running in similar gear But does that origin story hold up As a certain sexy hockey athlete might put it Is lie Liar recounted you that And I m here to set the record straight I did everything wrong with Battle Changer Reid informed me when we spoke ahead of the world premiere in Montreal She began drafting Scott and Kip s romance in At the time she was raising children working her day job and reading a lot of fan fiction I was so nervous I d never written any fiction or shown anybody something I d written before The anonymity and instant feedback loop of a website like Archive of Our Own AO where users publish fanfiction made it feel like a low-stakes space to build her confidence I didn t realize you could even post original work on AO she mentioned I thought it had to be fanfic Reid shared her novel one chapter at a time on the website reworking the original romance she d drafted into an alternate-universe fanfic where Steve Rogers the superstar captain of the New York Rangers falls in love with Bucky Barnes a barista at a smoothie shop in Manhattan Honestly I felt bad about it she reported I knew this wasn t what Competition Changer was If Scott Hunter invariably felt very Steve Rogers to her it s only because in it was popular for romance heroes to resemble Chris Evans The trend would soon drift toward Adam Driver and Jason Momoa But Kip she insisted was inevitably Kip definitely not Bucky I never changed a thing about him By the end of buoyed by strong feedback Reid took the story off AO removed the Stucky elements and submitted her manuscript to publishers Six months later came a request for a revise-and-resubmit I remember my publisher saying it sounds a little fanfic-y There are real differences between the two forms she revealed Fanfic writers often describe less assuming readers already know what things look like You don t do as much world-building because it s already done Her manuscript was also far too long well over a hundred thousand words With her editor s help Reid cut it down into a pretty good pretty basic romance novel It s not the one she s proudest of but it was a solid start to the Encounter Changers universe I did everything wrong with Meeting Changer Reid noted I remember my publisher saying it sounds a little fanfic-y ' Reid looks back on that experience with equal parts embarrassment and gratitude I desperately wish I d never posted that fanfiction she described me I know it s still circulating and it s bad It s so embarrassing I hate thinking of people reading it because I just rammed a bunch of extra Marvel characters into the story for no reason Reid also feels particularly guilty about removing her work from AO It s really bad fanfic author behavior All these people gave me lovely feedback and I enjoyed it and then I just took it away like a jerk to make money Still she concedes her history with AO is exactly what got her here I do hate that the fanfiction is still out there But that s what happens when you put things on the Internet they don t go away Heated Rivalry releases new episodes Thursdays on HBO Max Read more about this topic The heroic queerness of Peacemaker A Bridgerton happy ending hints at long-anticipated queer romances ahead In the queer thriller Misericordia coming home is anything but melodramatic The post Sorry the Heated Rivalry gay Marvel fanfic origin story isn t true appeared first on Salon com
