sholio: two men on horseback in the desert (Biggles-on a horse)
Sholio ([personal profile] sholio) wrote2025-07-09 10:29 am

Enemies to lovers

I ended up nominating a few things for Enemies to Lovers (hush, I'm using it as a bribe for finishing my other assignments xD) and this made me spend some time thinking about which of my ships actually qualify - I had some trouble coming up with a third fandom, and trying to figure out where exactly I'd draw the line. (Like, I wouldn't call Sam/Bucky E2L - more like people who mildly antagonize each other to friends/lovers. But some might!)

So I got to wondering how other people define it. I selected check boxes since some people might have more than one answer. I mean, *I'm* not even sure where I fall in all of this!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 51


How would you define Enemies to Lovers? (or Enemies to Friends, if you're not a shipper)

View Answers

Must try to kill each other (or at least want to), or be on opposite sides of a conflict with life-or-death stakes
17 (33.3%)

Rivalries like sports rivalries are fine, but there needs to be a strong personal element and/or unhealthy fixation on each other (not just regular sports team conflict)
25 (49.0%)

Any kind of rivalry or antagonism will do
11 (21.6%)

For me it's about the Vibeā„¢ - from distrust/antagonism to trust, whatever form that takes
23 (45.1%)

I do not accept it as proper E2L if there's any softening at all - they must remain antagonists
0 (0.0%)

I know it when I see it but don't get too fussed about definitions
8 (15.7%)

My thoughts are too complex for your ticky boxes (answer in comments)
1 (2.0%)

Not my trope so I don't care, but I want to click something.
3 (5.9%)


Post a comment in response:

If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting