Over the course of the narrative, this dynamic shifts. Their opposition has its roots in their ideological associations, and because the enemies are in opposition, their individual goals contrast. With enemies to lovers, the trope is exactly what it says on the tin: a pair of enemies are in direct, often violent opposition to one another. It’s not a unique opinion but it is a personal one, so I want to be clear on that. It’s also important to state that the definitions I’m using here are my own observations, based upon a decade-plus of interacting with fandom and my day job of writing about media for a living. Whichever one I gravitate towards depends on my daily mood. Just to get this out of the way, I’m a huge fan of both tropes. Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers: What’s the Difference? If there was a stronger, more unified distinction between these tropes, would there be less conflict? Would fandom be easier to navigate? At the very least, the topic should be explored. The two subjects most involved were the enemies to lovers trope and rivals to lovers trope, and the mixup seemed to result in drama itself, which got me thinking: This can come across as gendered, considering the majority demographic of the genre (last tabulated in 2016).īeyond my personal dislike of the “unhealthy” label, however, I noticed another trend appearing around these conversations: the seemingly genuine mix-up between two different tropes. I will say that when you’re a fan of romance, you see this “unhealthy” label tossed around a lot, and the critique of it is often tied to the belief that romance readers can’t distinguish fiction from reality. The discussion about fiction VS reality and how they affect each other is an article unto its own, and because the subject is vast, I can’t cover it here. This wasn’t the first time this conversation had happened, nor was it the first time this critique had been said.Īs I watched the conflict play out ad nauseum, a lightbulb went off for me. When fans of the trope called out the discrepancy, they were told in so many words to stop supporting “unhealthy” dynamics. Those romantic characters weren’t enemies to lovers at all. Basically, there was yet another round of hot takes on Twitter, where people were naming their favorite enemies to lovers book characters.
Not a serious drama, to be clear, or something unique to any specific event. I have to admit: When I first pitched this article to my editor, the reason why I wanted to cover it was due to online “drama.”
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