Canadian streamer Crave and HBO Max have unleashed a drama series that has been hailed as the "gay hockey show" - 'Heated Rivalry'. The adaptation of Rachel Reid's books follows the romance between rival hockey players Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, but fans of Reid's novels claim that Scott Hunter and Kip Grady's relationship began in a rather unexpected way: as gay Marvel fanfiction.
The theory suggests that Scott's character was originally inspired by Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bucky Barnes from the 'Avengers' universe. Fans point to similarities between Chris Evans and François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, and argue that these parallels prove the fanfic origin story is true. However, Reid sets the record straight.
Reid began drafting Scott and Kip's romance in 2016 as a low-stakes way to build her confidence. She shared her novel one chapter at a time on Archive of Our Own, a website where users publish fan fiction, and drew inspiration from 'Stucky' fanfiction, the romantic pairing of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. However, Reid never changed Kip's character to resemble Bucky Barnes, insisting that he was always his own unique person.
Reid took the story off AO3, removed the "Stucky" elements, and submitted her manuscript to publishers. Her publisher even commented on the fanfic influences, saying it made the book sound a bit too familiar. Reid acknowledges that she did everything wrong with 'Game Changer', but is grateful for the experience.
Although Reid wishes she had never posted her fan fiction, she recognizes its role in shaping her writing career. However, she takes responsibility for removing her work from AO3 without properly saying goodbye to her fans, who provided constructive feedback and support her writing journey.
The drama series 'Heated Rivalry' continues to air new episodes on Thursdays on HBO Max.
The theory suggests that Scott's character was originally inspired by Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bucky Barnes from the 'Avengers' universe. Fans point to similarities between Chris Evans and François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, and argue that these parallels prove the fanfic origin story is true. However, Reid sets the record straight.
Reid began drafting Scott and Kip's romance in 2016 as a low-stakes way to build her confidence. She shared her novel one chapter at a time on Archive of Our Own, a website where users publish fan fiction, and drew inspiration from 'Stucky' fanfiction, the romantic pairing of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. However, Reid never changed Kip's character to resemble Bucky Barnes, insisting that he was always his own unique person.
Reid took the story off AO3, removed the "Stucky" elements, and submitted her manuscript to publishers. Her publisher even commented on the fanfic influences, saying it made the book sound a bit too familiar. Reid acknowledges that she did everything wrong with 'Game Changer', but is grateful for the experience.
Although Reid wishes she had never posted her fan fiction, she recognizes its role in shaping her writing career. However, she takes responsibility for removing her work from AO3 without properly saying goodbye to her fans, who provided constructive feedback and support her writing journey.
The drama series 'Heated Rivalry' continues to air new episodes on Thursdays on HBO Max.
. I mean, come on, it's just a stretch 
. Rachel Reid is being super honest about how she got her start writing and that's awesome, but let's not get too carried away with speculation 
. It's cool to see the show doing well though - I've been binge-watching it all week 
. I do wish more creators would talk openly about their influences and mistakes, it makes for a way more interesting story 
. Anyway, if you haven't checked out 'Heated Rivalry' yet, what are you waiting for? 
. I mean, it's not like anyone expected her to be a fanfiction writer and then turned into a bestseller lol! The fact that she took risks and shared her work online shows that she's down-to-earth and willing to learn from her mistakes. 
And can we talk about how cool is it that the actors are playing Scott and Kip? François Arnaud is literally stealing scenes on screen 
Can you believe the crazy life cycle of a fanfic? From being a low-stakes thing for Rachel Reid's confidence boost to becoming the basis for a whole book and now a drama series... I mean, what's next? Getting its own biopic? 
And honestly, if Scott's character was always meant to be Kip Grady 2.0 then why did they even change him to have more Marvel connections in the first place? It's like they took a few inspiration vibes and ran with it... or is that just how fandom works? 
, it's just another adaptation of someone else's idea. Scott Hunter and Kip Grady's relationship is iconic, but can we please give Rachel Reid her due? She was experimenting with her writing style back in 2016, trying out a low-stakes fanfic approach to build confidence... that led to 'Heated Rivalry' 
it's all about 2 hockey players, shane & ilya but what's really getting people's attention is that rachel reid's books supposedly started as gay marvel fanfic tho 
specifically with scott hunter (played by francois arnaud) being inspired by steve rogers and bucky barnes 
it's crazy because fans are noticing similarities between evans & arnaud and they're low-key freaking out about it 
but reid sets the record straight saying she never changed kip's character to resemble bucky and that her novel was always meant to be its own thing 
what's wild is that reid herself admits everything went wrong when she first started writing it, but at least she learned from her mistakes 
. And yeah, Reid acknowledges that removing her work from AO3 was a bit of a mess, but I guess that's just part of the learning process right? The drama series is actually pretty good tho, François Arnaud's portrayal of Scott Hunter is on point 
!
. But anyway, I was reading about this show 'Heated Rivalry' and it's got me thinking - why do fanfiction theories always have to be so dramatic? 
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like rachel reid did with her scott and kip relationship, it's amazing to see how those early 'stucky' vibes influenced the final product 
. and I can totally relate when you're trying to build your confidence as a writer and then sharing your stuff online 
. btw, anyone else watch this drama series 'heated rivalry' yet? 
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. It's a wild world out there, but I guess that's what makes it so entertaining, right? 
Some fans are totally convinced that Scott Hunter was inspired by Steve Rogers 
, but Rachel Reid sets the record straight 
. Like, even though her publisher thought it was a bit too familiar 
, she took the Stucky vibes out and still managed to make a huge hit 
. I'm not mad about it though, 'cause fanfics can be super inspiring 
even if she took down her original work from archive of our own, which was probably nerve-wracking for fans 
Anyway, I guess it's cool that her writing career got a boost, but can we talk about the fact that she basically ghosted her fans on Archive of Our Own? 
some people just love that stuff and will find ways to connect the dots no matter what 