Latest / Besties Do Verticals / Episode 31 - Skating To Him
Transcript
- Aleta: Hello and welcome to besties do verticals with your besties, Lucy and Alita. Hi, I'm Alita. LUCY: And I'm Lucy. Aleta: Before we get into our recap of skating to him, we crashed out pretty hard for a week there after our LUCY: Ha ha ha. Aleta: Straight Until He Kiss Me Anniversary episodes. How are you doing after our break? LUCY: I feel like I'm still trying to be on break. I won't lie to you, besties, Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: that it took a real feat for Alita and I to get here and actually record this for you. It is no offense to the content. We are so excited to do this one. I just think Alita and I have been going so hard since April. And we didn't realize how hard it was, but The last six weeks in particular doing the straight until he kissed me celebrations. Whew. Yeah. I think we went the hardest we've ever gone. I think I need another month, but it's cool. We are we're gonna do what we can, folks. Aleta: We stopped, we fell over hard. LUCY: Yep. Yeah, we're we're not youngins. How are you doing? Aleta: I am I am okay. Yeah, I'm good. That's LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: just trying to trying to get back on track here. Taking on too many things as usual. LUCY: But guess what we did do? We did edits. Aleta: I did a couple of edits and then I opened LUCY: Yeah, I hear that. Aleta: a third fan account because I'm insane, so I need to make some things for that. LUCY: I do I do think you're a bit insane. I I Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: I I have thought of opening a fan account, another one too, but I was like, no. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: I do my Evan one with Netty Aleta: huh. LUCY: and we can't even post consistently on it every day anymore because we're like doing so much. So you are on fire and I Aleta: I do mine alone because I like to maintain control. LUCY: I wish you all the luck though, girl. You got this. Alrighty. I did want to say this, actually. We can do a little housekeeping. we so podcasts, from my understanding, are usually broken into seasons. We are thinking that we are gonna keep on going till December. And then December for the holidays, we're actually gonna take a break. It'll be like I don't know, like a mini vacation. We'll see. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: And then we'll resume season two in January. And it's like we're so behind on recaps. I feel like we have so much content to work with for the rest of the year. So I think this'll be good. We'll we'll make it through. Aleta: So much to do. So many actors to talk to. LUCY: yeah, we've got a few. We got a few. I think we need to get back to some recaps though. Aleta: Right. LUCY: Okay. Alright. Alright, besties. We are going to talk about skating to him today. It was directed by Nicole Lip, written by Nate Gualtieri, released on Gamma Time, which is a newer app. Whoop whoop. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Starring Quinn Holmes. Hey, as Ethan Park. And newcomer Lonnie Pressman. as Jack Whitefield. The Gamon Time summary says figure skater Ethan falls for closeted hockey star Jack, risking their dreams as a secret romance ignites. Aleta: The vertical opens to both a hockey team and a figure skater practicing. We see a cropped shot of the figure skater. LUCY: We can't see his head, I noticed, so definitely a stunt double. Aleta: He's doing some amazing moves. Sadly, after he stops his spin, he starts to fall right into the arms of a handsome hockey player. In beautiful vertical style, both men gaze into each other's eyes. Amused, the hockey player tells the other man that he's on the hockey team's ice right now. The figure skater replies, No, I'm practicing for nationals. Suddenly a wayward puck almost hits the figure skater in the head. It was swiftly caught by the handsome hockey player who saves the day. One of the other hockey players tries to bully him off the ice, and after a bit of banter, the figure skater leaves. LUCY: I'm forever changed by twinkle ink, so one of the insults here was twinkled toes. And Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: instead of being horrified, I was like, Awww It made me smile. Aleta: In the next scene, we're in the locker room. The figure skater is lamenting how lucky he is to have received a full scholarship to Windsor College. And if he wants to keep it, he needs to win nationals so they don't pull his funding. In walks the hockey player. We get a cute little stare down, and then suddenly a woman comes in, giving them names: Jack Whitefield, the hockey player, and Ethan Park, the figure skater. In her office, she says that she has heard that NHL Scouts have been checking out Jack, and that Ethan is a shoe in for nationals. The school wants both of them to be the face of their athletic campaign, but they'll have to appear together in press, interviews, and photos. Later in the cafeteria, Ethan is talking to his friend about the campaign. He tells her about having to work with Jack and sums up his feelings. He's fine, but he's just so aggressively straight. LUCY: It's crazy seeing Quinn play such an animated character like this. I'm actually used to him playing all of his characters super chill. So this was cool getting to see him have a range here. Aleta: In the next scene we're back in the locker room. Jack is getting dressed when he gets a notification on his phone. Someone called Skater Boy twenty seven has sent him a message on an app called Loverboy. Jack's user ID is Ice King. He says he's new to this, he doesn't usually do guys. Someone comes in and Jack quickly hides his phone. In a voiceover he says that if the guys find out he's on a gay app, he can kiss his NHL career goodbye. At the photo shoot, Jack is in uniform, and Ethan is in costume, a super sparkly mesh top and sequin pants. The photographer encourages them to get closer. Jack is reluctant, but Ethan tells him nothing. LUCY: Fabulous isn't contagious, but Aleta: When Jack retorts, I'm surprised that mouth of yours hasn't gotten you in more trouble. Ethan retorts. LUCY: Trust me, it's gotten me in a lot of trouble. Aleta: Listen, you wanna fight? I handle guys twice your size every single night on the ice. LUCY: He I loved it. I'm impressed both actors are standing just fine on skates on a hardwood floor, by the way. would be down for the count so fast. I was gonna ask, have you ever ice skated before, Alita? Aleta: I am a bad Canadian and I do not know how to skate. LUCY: What? Aleta: I know. When I was a little kid, I really didn't want to. I my parents took me skating. My brothers, and my sister in law and my niece and my nephew all play hockey. So I never learned, unfortunately. LUCY: Whoa. Aleta: Kinda wish I LUCY: Aww Aleta: could. LUCY: You're not alone. I am horrible on roller skates, so I never bothered to ice skate. I've tried, girl. I spent so much of my youth at roller skating rinks, 'cause in the eighties and the nineties that's what you did. And Aleta: Mm. LUCY: yeah, I just no matter what, I could never do it. My sister, on the other hand, a pro. No issues. Like when she was five. She was like skating circles, like Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: Around everyone in the middle of the rink. I was like, you just got here. Who are you? And I had Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: been like trying for like five years. Like, how do I how do I do this without holding on to the wall? It sucked. So I just Aleta: Have hung onto the wall at my sheriff roller discos. My cousins, again, LUCY: That's it. Aleta: were really good skaters, and I was just like, yeah. LUCY: I feel you, girl, I feel you. Aleta: Back in the day. LUCY: Mm-hmm. Aleta: When the hockey coach shows up to ask how things are going, he tells Jack to stay away from the figure skater, that he has an image to maintain. Back at his dorm, Ethan is chatting with Ice King on the app. His friend Lily, played by JCN, tells him if Ice King is so sweet, he should ask him on a real date. So he does. When Jack gets the message, he's worried about being seen. The next day in the locker room, when Ethan opens his locker, a jog strap falls in his face. LUCY: Ha ha ha. Aleta: Jack comes in and asks why he's touching his stuff. And he put it in the wrong locker. LUCY: I like the nice touch here with the gay flag and Ethan soccer. It's cute. And honestly it was cute when the jock strap hit Ethan's face too. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: Like it was like aw, giggled. Aleta: You wouldn't be if that hit you in the face. But anyway. LUCY: Well, I mean, yeah, if you didn't know who it was, I'm sure. I know what you were just thinking. So we'll just move on. We've been liar. Liar. Aleta: That's not what I was thinking. I'm like, took me a minute to process what you said. I'm like, my God. Ethan asks what Jack's problem is, and he says, Maybe I just don't like you. Ethan responds That's actually a really progressive view to hate me for my personality instead of my sexuality. They get up in each other's faces talking smack about their sports and the tension LUCY: Mm-hmm. Aleta: is palpable. In the rink, Jack comes onto the ice to find Ethan bent over and totally ogles him. He smacks him on the ass with a hockey stick and challenges Ethan to a face off. As he hands over the stick, their hands touch. Ethan says sounds gay, I'm in. LUCY: It's so weird though, 'cause on the actual subtitles it says sounds scary, I'm in. And I wonder 'cause you remember they did that on Good Short too? They like changed what it said. Instead of slutty gaze, it was like slushy. Yeah. Aleta: Yeah, when he said fucking he and ne instead of fucking it was frogging. Yeah. LUCY: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think it's gotta be Aleta: Weird. LUCY: something like that. Aleta: Poorly done, but anyway. Ethan's puck handling is less than impressive, but then he challenges Jack to do an upright spin. A single spin? No problem. But when Jack attempts it, he crashes into Ethan and they fall to the ice. Ethan ends up on top. Lots of flirtatious banter here. LUCY: I think Quinn and Lonnie look really good together. This is my favorite Lonnie pairing so far. And I feel like Lonnie so far and Quinn both tend to play really subdued characters. And I saw life from both of them in this and I enjoyed it. I mean obviously more from Quinn, but you know, I was thinking about this as I was writing these notes. I realize it's probably like this because of all the damn sports romances they're giving us, right? So they're trying to like make it seem like these athletes are just like made of stone, you know? And they don't want to be emotional and they don't want to share those feelings. I mean, we saw that in heated rivalry. Obviously, and they're trying to mimic that. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: So it was just it was kind of nice that it wasn't two hockey players, that they had a figure skater. It was a little Aleta: Mm. LUCY: different. And I I appreciated that they took it there. And I appreciated the free reign they gave Quen to play. I'm ho I'm assuming he played the character how he wanted to play it. And I appreciated seeing him like that. because I love Quinn. I've been watching him for a w since Golden Feather and yeah, he just was always so stoic, hardly any expression. And I'm like, Yes, yes, Quinn, give me life. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Mm. LUCY: but yeah, and so once Ethan says, as they've, you know, fallen on top of each other here, Ethan says, Now you see how hard it is, you know, in Uendo. Jack Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: quietly panics and tells him to fuck off and gets up. Aleta: Jack asks what Ethan is training for. Which continuity here, people, wasn't that discussed in the director's office and the press conference? Anyway, Ethan explains that if he wins nationals, he has a shot at the Olympic trials, which is his dream. Jack explains that he's gearing up for playoffs and hopes to be drafted to the NHL. that they thought it would be his brother going to the NHL, but after he died Jack felt like he had to do it for him. LUCY: Lonnie did a good job expressing his sadness over his brother's death. It felt like a big switch going from stoic, possibly closeted hockey player. And then I loved how he had his character struggle to convey what he was feeling. I think it was well done. also when Jack bends over to retrieve the hockey sticks, I can't tell if Ethan is making a face because of his ass or because of the realness of what was just said. Aleta: Ha ha In the locker room afterwards, Jack is getting dressed when his phone goes off. Skaterboy27 asks to see a pick. Jack sends a dick pick but is interrupted by his teammate. Ethan is having lunch with Lily when the message comes in, and he immediately recognizes the tile on the floor. LUCY: Okay, so I gotta say something here. Okay. Soapbox time. Aleta: We haven't had a soapbox in a minute. LUCY: I know, I've been wrapped up with with interviews, but here I can do soap boxes. I am so sorry to any men who are listening, but if these men are bisexual or straight, let's take this as a lesson, okay? Skater boy asked for a picture. He did not say a dick pic, okay? And like when women ask for a picture of a guy, we are not asking for dick pics ever. But yet it is one of the most common things dudes will send to women and it's not a happy experience. Let's take it from me. For women, okay? I cannot speak for men with other men. I I put that in all caps, okay, gentlemen. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: So I am unsure if this is a c if if it's common knowledge for like gay and pan men who like when they hear someone ask for a pick, that that is what it means to them. But if you are a straight dude or pan and a woman asks you for a pick, that is not what it means for a woman. Please, please, Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: please. As somebody who is single and I don't know if I ever go back into the dating scene. That would be an instant block for me. I I do not understand why they're like, you want a pick? Let me just pull my pants aside and just give you the greatest pick of all. It's like that's not attractive. I'm good. I'm good. Can I just see some dimples in your cheeks? Can I see some eyelashes, some pretty eyes, you know? Alita's laughing. She doesn't have to deal with this nonsense, but I've had to deal with it before. And I don't like it. good times. Well, when you were dating, Aleta: Yeah, yeah. I c I can't even imagine. But one thing LUCY: you didn't have to deal with it on cell phones. Like that's the real issue here. They'd have to physically hand you a picture. Aleta: I'm gonna tell you something. I am I'm a serial monogamist. I've never really dated very much. I just get into LUCY: That's okay. Aleta: a relationship. But LUCY: That's okay. Aleta: yeah, this one's been a been a long time and hopefully for always. but you know what I was gonna say with regard to that. I kind of assumed it was just cause it was that app. Like it's maybe kind of meant to be kind of a grinder type app. But LUCY: see and I don't know these things 'cause I'm not a gay guy. Like I've learned Aleta: Well, I mean I don't know either. I w that was just my assumption as someone LUCY: Ha ha saying I'm just saying I have learned more about gay dating culture from Evan Gambardella than I I have ever. Very educational lives Aleta: Very educational live say LUCY: because I have we don't really learn from anybody else. And before Evan Gambardella I only knew what I knew from queer as folk. And then obviously Aleta: Mm. LUCY: my dating in the queer world is with women and it's different. Like it is different. Lesbians roll differently. At least we did twenty years ago. Aleta: Isn't there like a stereotype with lesbians that they immediately get into relationships? Like the whole you haul thing? I mean LUCY: yeah. Aleta: s I'm sure it's a stereotype, but LUCY: It's not really, no. We say stereotype, but it's Aleta: Ha ha ha ha! LUCY: so much truth to it. I think there is a lot of truth to some doing quotes here with fingers, stereotypes to gay culture. It's just here's my problem. I knew so much more about gay queer culture personally twenty years ago Aleta: Mm. LUCY: when I was first like coming out and I was in my first marriage. But then being in a straight relationship for tw like it's almost twenty years, I Aleta: Mm. LUCY: came out on this side and I'm like, this is a whole different world. Like, trying to figure out how to navigate it, you know what I mean? So Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: I don't know. I'm I'm I'm learning on the fly and seeing how it goes. But as I said, you know, thank you, Evan. Just giving us a little view into what it's really like. It Doesn't sound thrilling. Doesn't it sound like a pain in the ass, but so is the straight world apparently. So good times. Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. I don't hear good things from single friends. He runs back to the locker room and confronts Jack. Jack doesn't want to discuss it and claims that it's not that serious. He's just figuring things out. Ethan goes in for a kiss, but Jack pulls away and tells him that he can't be all sissy and flamboyant like you. That the NHL would never draft him if they knew, and that they can't talk anymore. Ethan tells him Once a DL, always a DL, I guess. LUCY: I love it. I love it when any vertical, straight GL, BL, the leads do this. They like get all super close, like they're gonna kiss. I call it forehead kissing. They just get up in the business. It's just hot. And Lonnie and Quid make this look really hot. some really good close ups here in this vertical. Aleta: The next scene is a hockey team party at Alpha Tau Omega Frat House. Lily has dragged Ethan along to be her wingman. LUCY: I really like the pouty expression Quinn makes here when he's forced inside. Aleta: Mm. Ethan and Jack lock eyes across the room. They end up playing a drinking game, and Jack has to pour a shot into Ethan's mouth. He pours the vodka or whatever it is, all over Ethan, who retaliates by tossing a full solo cup of something on Jack. LUCY: Ooh and quin sassy smirkier Ooo I like it. Aleta: Ethan runs away and upstairs, where they have a little shoving match that ends up in them making out. LUCY: So I know you've noticed this part. It's the book talk arm on the door above Ethan's head. Not even playing. That's what Jack does. He like slams him to the door and then his arm goes above Ethan's head. And guys, this is what we all want. This. Girls want this too, okay? Boys, take take note. But I love seeing it in my BLs. And they do little TikTok trends with this. And their makeup session was awesome. They both meant business, shirts came off instantly. Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: Mm-hmm. Aleta: But when Ethan reaches for Jack's belt buckle, he pulls away. When his teammate Kevin comes up to see where Jack is, he tells Ethan to hide in the closet, where he inevitably gets caught by Kevin, who accuses him of hiding in Jack's room to watch. LUCY: Feel like that was so random with the door opening, it like, Really? Aleta: Ethan says that he got lost on the way to the bathroom. Jack doesn't defend him, and Ethan leaves. As he walks out, Jack hands him a hoodie to wear instead of his wet shirt. The next scene is the inevitable dream sex sequence. LUCY: This is a pretty innocent dream sex sequence, if I do say so myself. I feel like this one was trying to be a spicier YA, which was okay. Nothing wrong with that. Aleta: Jack wakes up alone just as Kevin comes into his room. That's another thing, like I don't know, people just walking into people's bedrooms like LUCY: Right? Aleta: Especially when you're talking about like high school or college age boys, like LUCY: Right? Aleta: Jack is called into the coach's office to be given a talking to about partying and the altercation with Ethan. A teammate has posted a video of the fight. Coach tells him that he needs to maintain a clean profile on and off the ice. In the director's office, Ethan is also being hauled over the coals. She accuses him of assaulting another Windsor athlete, and tells him if he doesn't stop harassing Jack, she will have to reconsider his scholarship. Ethan reminds himself that hooking up with Jack is not worth losing his Olympic dreams. Back at his dorm, Lily walks into Ethan's room just in time to catch him smelling Jack's hoodie. LUCY: I thought that was really cute. Quinn is doing such a damn good job in this role. I just love him in it, especially like more the second time I got to watch it as well. Aleta: They head off to practice. In the locker room, Kevin comes in to bother him. Jack walks in and tells Kevin that the figure skating is actually really hard, and accuses him of poor sportsmanship. LUCY: And Kevin tries to say like, off to Pilates or what? I would love to see him try Pilates. I've watched some reels of guys trying Pilates and it's not easy people. Aleta: think it's one of those things where it's seen as like a woman's workout thing, right? So LUCY: Ugh, gross. Aleta: Yeah, I know. Exactly. Jack asks for his sweatshirt back and they almost kiss. LUCY: Lonnie makes the cutest expression here when he tries to pull away from Ethan. From the kiss. It was so cute. Aleta: Ethan says maybe he needs another training session, but Jack tells him he should stick to figure skating. LUCY: my god, did you see Quinn's pout here? Did you see it? my god, stop, stop. I can't even it was so cute. He like kinda turned so it wasn't like full facing the camera, but I I I rewound it like three times just to look at it. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: And I was like, this is adorable. Aleta: Later in the cafeteria, they reach for the same bottle of a sports drink, and Kevin is being a jerk again. He calls Ethan a slur. Ethan pushes him and calls Kevin a twink. LUCY: I love how Ethan stands up for himself with everybody. He still gets rescued, but he tries hard to not need it, and I love that about his character. Aleta: Yeah. Kevin throws Ethan's tray of luridly LUCY: Mm mm. Aleta: red spaghetti all over his shirt. It's like ketchup and spaghetti. LUCY: Right. Aleta: Ethan shoves Kevin, who is about to punch him, when Jack steps in saying, Don't fucking touch him and telling Kevin that Coach has told them to stay out of trouble. Back at the athletics building, Ethan walks into the gym to find Jack working out. Jack tells him not to stare, but when Ethan starts stretching, he can't help but stare back. LUCY: Mm-mm. Aleta: Ethan is very flexible. He tells Jack that he has to be. It helps avoid injuries. Jack asks for Ethan's help stretching since he has been dealing with an injury. Sure he has. A very sensual scene, and the director walks in. Jack pushes Ethan off, and when the director leaves, Ethan is frustrated with Jack. Jack tells him he did it because of how what they were doing looked like. And Ethan says, what? Being gay is an airborne disease. Ethan accuses Jack of hooking up with random dudes on apps. And this is where Jack confesses that he's only ever been with Ethan. See, that's it is totally a grinder type thing, the hooking up with random dudes. LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: Anyway, the app. Jack tells him that he might like guys, but he isn't like Ethan. He's not loud, flamboyant, unapologetic, and a little annoying sometimes. LUCY: be mad at this, but it's clear Jack sort of means it in an endearing way. And I really like how he grabs Ethan's hand here. I thought that was kind of sweet. Aleta: Yeah. That's like I can't I can't be like you, you know. And not in a I don't want to be like you, but I can't. Yeah. Jack tells Ethan that he doesn't want to do this anymore, that he can't choose between him and the NHL. Ethan tells him that he feels sorry for Jack and leaves. In the next scene, our beloved BL shower scene, Jack walks in to see Ethan showering and offers to leave. Ethan tells him it's fine, and of course they can't help but stare at each other. LUCY: Alita, I don't know if you noticed it, but this scene is so queer as folk to me. I feel like this is the first time in a BL vertical I'm getting a full queer as folk vibe. I think it's the music and the camera angle choices. I love it. We get almost kisses again, the forehead kisses. And it turns out Jack is acting like he's going to just reach for the soap, and that's what he was doing. Liar. I like the nice touch of the camera catching Jack's hand shaking as he reaches for the soap. It's just a very intense scene. Aleta: Unfortunately, the boys are interrupted by hearing other men come into the locker room, and the moment is ruined. In the next scene, Jack's telling Ethan through the app that he was happy to see him today. Ethan isn't having it and remembers how Jack has been treating him. Instead of saying I really want this to work, he deletes his comment and blocks him. We are now at the National Qualifying Series. We see Ethan and his BFF getting ready to compete. LUCY: I love both of their outfits by the way. You know, a male figure skater I am currently obsessed with, you might know him, Ilya is it Malanine? I think it's Malanine. He's amazing. He's on the US figure skating Olympic team, I think. Gosh, I'm probably butchering this, sorry for any listeners who actually know Ilya's work. But he skates to NF and I love him. Anyway, just when I think male figure skater, immediately go to him. Aleta: I don't I don't follow it, so LUCY: It's so beautiful. It really is. I actually it's Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: like the only thing I care to watch at the Olympics. Is I'm obsessed. I I I love watching figure skating. If it was on a lot more I'd probably watch it more. Aleta: The only thing I watch is Olympic hockey. LUCY: okay, I see. Yep, proud Canadian over there. Aleta: Ethan confesses he's nervous because Jack is there for some reason watching the competition. Ethan competes anyway and kills it. LUCY: It's so obvious again that they cut off the head during these scenes. But I'm honestly happy they even tried. Some verticals don't even try. Aleta: Yeah. I mean it's not like they can get professional figure skaters I mean actors who were that good at skating to play the main roles, if you know what I mean. Anyway. LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: After the competition, Jack is waiting for Ethan to congratulate him as he made the US team. Jack confesses that he cares about Ethan and tries to get him to hang out. Ethan calls his bluff and asks if he's asking him out on a date. Jack shyly replies, If you want. The two men end up at a bar on campus. Jack looks very nervous. When his coach walks in, Jack shoves Ethan under the table. While under the table, Ethan starts to softly stroke Jack's leg, which makes it a difficult conversation with his coach. When his coach leaves, Jack pulls Ethan up and tells him they need to leave because he needs him right fucking now. We end up in a bedroom, lots of hot kissing. Ethan asking for Jack's consent. They end up in the bed and LUCY: Ethan's fucking best friend walks in. Ugh, what the Aleta: Ha ha ha LUCY: fuck? And I heard so many complaints about this scene, okay? Okay, okay. Here's the thing. I am actually super into the sweet BLs too. The ones that are not super spicy, I like both. I am an equal opportunity girly when it comes to queer content. But a lot of the recent ones being made lately have actually started to piss me off a bit. There is a lot of blue balls type moments. There were two verticals I watched recently, a BL and a GL, where the damn characters were interrupted almost every single moment that they almost kissed throughout the entire fucking vertical. It honestly pissed me off. Three, guys. Okay, three. Three is the magic number here, guys, that you can get away with before things like this start to Piss people off. So I was always told about the comedy rule that you cannot repeat something more than three times before it's not funny anymore. Well, that's Aleta: Mm. LUCY: the same damn thing with these blue balls almost scenes, okay? So like after the third time, it's a hell no. And people Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: start to get annoyed and mad. So no, stop it. Okay? That was a soapbox. And but Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: here's the thing, here's the thing. It's just I've watched all the new queer ones that come out. I'm missing a couple of my dramas, but I'm gonna get there. But so many of the more recent ones in the last month or two have a lot of this. And I'm like, you guys need to chill. Like you can you can tease us maybe three times and it's gonna feel right to the story. But when they go past that, my god, it drives me crazy. And here's the thing: this one, skating to him, it's not like that. We do get I think it is three times and then we do get our kiss. You know what I mean? So I didn't feel that way with this one, but I've seen so much of that lately that like these blue ball scenes, like the almost scenes, like the getting to not follow through, the people walking in, it just like Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: triggered me a little bit. And I was like, fuck, I've been seeing so much of that. Like who are the writers out there right now or the apps that are thinking this is what we want? No. You are building up suspense, but please don't do it through the entire vertical. You know what mean? Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: And so this was a complaint that I did hear. Skating to him isn't really like that, but there was some frustration, like, for fuck's sake, what? Like, come on, give us a little something. And I know a lot of us wanted to see a little more happen before the interruption here. But the first thought I had was like the same from Drive Wild. Why Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: the hell didn't you lock the door? What the fuck? Aleta: Every time. LUCY: Every fucking time, like, you know, and we're two women who watch almost all of them now. So like Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: we are starting to see the repetition. Do you know what I mean? Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Like, and I think Olita and I were quite forgiving at the beginning, but now that we have real players on the scene, like we've got lots of new apps. We've got A Twist, we got Gamma Time, we got the Super Lab app that's coming out, we've got Shara TV. our expectations are kinda elevating a little bit. Like we're gonna still give grace, but let's just calm down on some of that, please, for our sanity. Thank you. Aleta: Yeah, I mean even if it's not gonna be really spicy, at least a freaking kiss, like come on. LUCY: Give right, like complete it, please. Aleta: Perfect moment was ruined by Ethan's BFF. She then proceeds to cause more issues by asking Ethan if this is the guy he's been sexting. Jack gets really upset and leaves. His BFF tells him that this is a really big deal, and Jack isn't respecting him by keeping him a secret. She tells him that she's been through this before, and we learn that she's a lesbian. She promises not to out Jack. Now we're in an interview scene for the press. LUCY: And then I had notes here saying, you know, these are starting to be really repetitive, a lot of the hockey ones. And I'll be totally frank with you, Alita, and I'm sure you feel the same way. I don't really want to recap any more hockey ones. Like, I'm kinda burnt out. I'm dying apps. I will recap fire and ice for Jeff and Quinn, but that's it. Like, you guys need to calm down on the hockey ones. It's done. Okay. The only hockey thing I want to see moving forward is heated rivalry. Season two. We are done. Please make more rugby ones, baseball, American football, something. But I feel like we should count all the hockey ones that are actually out there now and I'm starting to lose my mind. Aleta: Yeah. Especially when they're like they're trying to they're trying to do heated rivalry but they're not following through. So it's just like Wah wah. Like, come LUCY: If you're not gonna go full boom Aleta: on, if you're if you're g LUCY: boom, yeah, don't even try. Aleta: Well and again, if if it's if it's a kind of a YA situation, at least at least the kissing you know it doesn't have to be full. No. LUCY: At least fade to fucking black too. Can you give me I don't like fade to black. I hate it, but like it's better than the best friend bursting in. I'm just like, at least at the end could you do Aleta: Yeah. Mix it up a little bit. LUCY: like Yeah. Like I don't have to have pants coming off. I'm not that perverted. I mean, a lot of you know what besties do verticals actually means now, so yes I am. But I can be not fully like that and enjoy things not like that sometimes. So it's that's not what it's about. Just follow through people. Aleta: After the interview, the boys rush backstage to talk about what happened. Ethan tells him he never meant for Lily to find out. Jack tells him this is why they can't be together, because it will change how everyone looks at him, like he's weak. Ethan asks him if he thinks that he's weak, and Jack replies, I think you're naive. Jack leaves, telling Ethan that they shouldn't see each other anymore. Ethan leaves a note in Jack's locker and is then confronted by the hockey coach. He congratulates him on making the US team. We learn that the coach follows figure skating because his son loves it, and his son admires Ethan. The scene is sweet where the coach says his family will be rooting for him in the Olympics. The hockey team comes in, Ethan leaves, and Jack opens his locker and finds the note. The hockey team wins their game. and say celebrate in the locker room. When everyone leaves, Kevin stays behind and opens Jack's locker looking for body spray. and finds the letter. Everything suddenly makes sense to him. When Jack arrives back in the locker room he notices that the letter is gone. Kevin tells him that the coach wants to see him. It turns out that Kevin turned the letter into their coach, who thinks that Ethan is stalking Jack. And Jack doesn't correct him properly. What the fuck? Haha. The coach brings the letter to the director of the school, who suspends Ethan. Ethan finds Jack in his room, telling him that he's on probation, he lost his scholarship, and can no longer train. Jack says he doesn't know what to say, and Ethan says, I get it. You let them destroy my dream to protect yours. Ethan cries on Jack's shoulder, who promises that they'll figure this out. and tells Ethan he really wants to tell everyone that they're boyfriends. LUCY: Awww, really sweet makeup scene there. Aleta: In the next scene, Jack goes into his coach's office and reveals that Ethan is his boyfriend. The coach expresses his relief and says the only reason he ever told Jack to stay away from Ethan is because he thought they hated each other. The coach tells him that he has his support, but to not let the scouts find out because it might jeopardize his future. After the office, we see Ethan heading onto the ice rink for one last skate before he's kicked out for good. But we get a surprise. We see Jack in one of Ethan's figure skating outfits. Practising. Figure skating. Ethan asks LUCY: Ha ha. Aleta: who his coach is, and out walks his BFF Lily. LUCY: Lily's makeup here is really adorable. I love Aleta: Mm mm. LUCY: it every time. Aleta: Jack then tells Ethan that his probation is lifted because he told the school they are together. the new boyfriends are about to kiss when all of a sudden the hockey team shows up. Kiss us interruptus again. LUCY: I Aleta: They lay LUCY: know. Aleta: they lay down on top of each other on the ice to hide. They're almost caught by Kevin, but Lily saves the day in the nick of time, telling him they need someone really tall to help in the girls' locker room. When the coast is clear, the boys choose to just keep sitting on the ice. And they have a meaningful conversation which ends with Jack asking Ethan if he will come to his championship game tomorrow. Ethan agrees. Before the game starts, as the players are headed onto the ice, Kevin tries to call out Jack and his relationship with Ethan using nasty slurs. LUCY: Interestingly enough though, there aren't as many slurs in this one, which is nice. So go Aleta: Mm. Yeah. LUCY: gamma time. I mean it's not that that doesn't exist and it's not part of queer life, but we've noticed there's been some really excessive bashing verbally in BL's especially. So it's just kinda nice to not have it overtake the vertical. Aleta: Which causes Jack to punch Kevin. The coach breaks them apart and benches Jack for the first part of the game. Once Jack's allowed back on the ice, it goes so well that they win. Jack calls Ethan down onto the ice. LUCY: Ugh, where have we seen this before? Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: Ooh. And my god, did you see the sign behind Ethan in the stands? It says Jack, can I have your stick? I didn't notice it. It did. Aleta: I did not Haha. LUCY: I didn't notice it the first time. And so when I was finishing up the notes tonight, I was like, hell yeah so inappropriate. But it made me giggle. Aleta: see that. Ethan tells him that he doesn't have to do this. The scouts are watching. Jack says he's not going to choose between the person he is and the sport he loves. They can take it or leave it. He then leads Ethan out to the middle of the rink and lays one on him in the middle in front of everyone. The camera pans to Kevin, who asks the team if they're really okay with all this gay shit. The coach, who is frustrated, tells him it's time to talk about his future on the team. In the next scene, we see Lily and Ethan walking. When Ethan looks up, Jack is waiting for him, leaning against a car. Ethan is so excited, runs to his man and gives him a LUCY: Kiss attack or as my daughter likes to call them, faster kisses. So that's what she calls it. Cause so I that's been like such like a I I love seeing that because that's something that was done to me as a kid and I loved it. It was called kiss attacks. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: And Aleta: We learn that Jack came to support Ethan in his Olympic trials. And the final scene is Jack joining Ethan in the shower. the end. LUCY: That was kind of an interesting last scene. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: Well, wow. That was wow. So some interesting choices that I was actually really into. And you know, despite how much I loved Bound and how much I adore spicy scenes, I still am a huge fan of Straight Until He Kiss Me, which was still fairly chaste, right? This vertical was definitely more chaste than Suck but I think it was done so well. I keep hearing that at Expect verticals to have more and more high stakes in their writing, but this one really didn't, right? I think it was more demure, it was mindful, it had what it needed to drive the story along without going too over the top and making the vertical unbearable to get through. I think Gamma Time is trying to be one of the apps to work towards more elevated storytelling, and honestly, I appreciate it. Lonnie and Quinn were really good together. This was Lonnie's second BL and Quinn's fourth. I've been a fan of Quinn since Golden Feather, but I felt like honestly, I felt like he always got the short end of the stick in BL's, honestly. I feel like this one and the one he had with Jeff really did write by him for once. It was great to see him in something I really enjoyed. think it was a beautiful story, good chemistry, great choices by the director. And honestly, I really hope I get to see more from GammaTime. And GammaTime, if you are listening. Let's get some adult queer stories now, okay? YA is nice, but we've bit we've gotten a lot of YA across all apps. So I think we need more adult ones now. We've gotten so few of those. We are adult women. There are plenty of adult gay men that would like to see some adult queer content, I am sure. And we have older actors that we are desperate to see, okay? So Evan, Gambardella, Greg Duffy, Sky Kawai, Declan Cri Clifford, Andrew Tong in some of your queer roles. Even like I can give you a more exhaustive l list than that though, if you want, like Aiden McHugh. I would love to see him in some more stuff. There are some amazing queer actors out there who have done some great work. But overall, I really appreciate this app. They are committed to no AI and keeping it all human. And listeners, let's make sure we show Gamma Time as much love as possible and keep sharing how much we appreciate not only live action storytelling, but their commitment to diversity, giving us such important LGBTQIA stories Like this one. What did you think, Alita? Aleta: Definitely. I enjoyed it. Again, I'm like you, I'm a little over the hockey ones. so it was like, again. But it was different with the with the figure skater. I think they both did a great job. yeah, a little could could be a little Could be a little spicier, could be a little more follow through on the kissing, as you say, even if even if not being spicy. I feel like TikTok is really leaning into the YA thing hard and which is, I think, a really good thing, in the sense that it's it's accessible and it's free to watch for younger people who can't afford to pay for apps. But they kind of got that covered pretty well, you know. LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: so it would be nice to see some some things that were more geared to adults, as you say. And honestly, so many of these actors who keep getting stuck in in high school or college age roles, I'm sure that they would love to play some actual adults. they've all expressed it before, wanting to see people moving beyond the coming out angst and the the sort of experience and and going into just living their lives and having romance and love and and a life together, you know, like let's see some more Yeah. LUCY: You know, Aleta: We want more. LUCY: I think yes, I think they just need to watch queer as folk and like get their ideas there. They're all adults doing adult things. Now don't take from the 2000s because queer culture in the 2000s is very different, I think, than queer culture now is from my understanding. But new problems, new concerns. Yeah, Aleta: Very toxic. LUCY: there was some toxic things. I personally like the relationship I think you struggle with the most is my absolute favorite. I'm so sad though because I need to find time to rewatch that eventually. Because I was rewatching it with Ro Aleta: Mm. LUCY: and we didn't get to finish. And so now I'm like crap. I need to I to find time to get back on it. Because I love it. I want to watch that in the L word. It's been so long. It's like watching it all over again. But I used to watch Queer's Voe constantly, over and over. Aleta: I yeah, I watched it all a long time ago though. yeah, the Brian and Justin thing. Brian's just so toxic. I mean hot but toxic and Justin's too young. LUCY: I know, but I just loved him and Justin. I know. You're so right. You're so r but I started watching that when I was a teen. Like I started watching that at like age seventeen. So I was like completely primed. You know what I mean? To be like, hey. but I loved where their relationship ended up so fucking much that like 'cause I don't know if you ever finished the series, but I finished the series. Aleta: No, if I did, it's been such a long time. LUCY: Yeah, it's five seasons, but I finished the series Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: and like I loved where it ended up. Like, Brian may be a gr grade A asshole that first season, but the journey him and Justin go through for the five seasons is fucking beautiful. my god. Yeah. So in the end it's alright, but Aleta: Hm. LUCY: yeah. My god. Anyway. Aleta: We've all made those mistakes with people who were too old for us. Anyway. LUCY: Mm. Aleta: Okay, besties, that about wraps it up for Skating to Him. We really enjoyed it and we hope that you enjoyed our recap. We'll see you next time. Bye besties. LUCY: Bye besties