i see your "traumatized character finally getting a good night's sleep in their loved one's arms" and i raise you "traumatized character freaking the fuck out when they wake up in their loved one's arms because why are they restrained why is someone else in their bed where are they and now their loved one has to comfort them"
Roxas fractured Riku's left wrist during their fight in Days, when Riku sought to capture him and wake Sora from his sleep. This is why in KH2 and DDD he wears the wrap around it. Roxas fractures it with Oblivion, which is ironic, since Oblivion represents Sora's forgotten memories of Riku. [I'm pretty convinced it represents the forgotten memory of his death, and a promise they made as children, specifically]
During the DDD intro rendition of Riku and Sora's fight with Xemnas, you can see it is clearly bothering him. He looks at it and flexes it, before Xemnas punts him. This blow appears to be across the face/left shoulder, but it's not really clear. Probably also hurt super bad.
After this, when Xemnas is about to finish off Sora, Riku deflects the blow and pushes Sora to safety, leaving him open to this blow from Xemnas.
Which I believe also fractured the left side of his hip. This is why he had so much trouble walking after the battle, and had to be helped by Sora.
I find Riku's walk very stiff, especially compared to other characters. And I might be imagining it, but I feel like he has an ever so slight limp, barely there at all. Fractures around joints can cause stiffness and arthritis when they don't set properly.
When Riku stands to protect Sora, he presents the left side of his body foremost. His most damaged side.
When the darkness begins consuming his body, the camera again intentionally focuses on his left leg and left hand, and you can see them falter slightly. Especially his hand, you can see it contort. Riku is actually in a shit ton of pain here. That's why Sora gasped and reached out to him, he could see it hurting him.
Riku has physical handicaps, his left wrist and left hip, that both originated from him protecting Sora. Not to mention how he stood there and literally let the darkness eat him alive trying to protect him.
So I want to point out the significance of this scene at the end of KH2.
Upon seeing Kairi, in his joy Sora immediately seems to forget about Riku's injuries, which came from... Riku protecting him. Riku is shown growing distant in the background, walking slowly, struggling, being left behind by Sora. But he's happy that Sora is happy, and safe, because that's what's most important to him. I imagine however, that he was also incredibly sad watching Sora run to Kairi, knowing that Sora wanted to be next to her at that moment rather than him, even though Riku had suffered so much for his sake.
The way the shot is framed, as Sora runs toward Kairi, he blocks out the sun completely.
If he had stopped, turned around, and looked at Riku, he would have been looking directly at the light.
Apologies for the curse word in this one, I usually try to keep those off my blog. I couldn’t pass up on all the Riku whump in one place, my boiiiiii! He’s been through so much.
Hardison hadn’t been claustrophobic until he’d been buried alive, but these things happen…
“Mama, why do they happen to me?!”
One minute Eliot and Hardison are checking out a security van hidden in a shipping container, the next Hardison’s on the floor and Eliot’s unconscious.
And bleeding.
And they’re in the van.
And it’s moving.
He can’t breathe.
Hardison can’t get any air, it’s running out, and Eliot’s dead, and no one can hear him…He bangs on the walls, shouting.
‘We’re here! Help! In here! Please…’
Comms are down.
No one is listening.
No one is coming.
Volt, Eddie, and their live wire have settled into life together nicely. It would sure be a shame of the Department of Overseas Violence was to do some fuckshit about it.
OR: Eddie and the PC get kidnapped by shady government agents. Volt does violence about it.
You had hoped, when Valdivian leadership was transferred to Franklin Lieste, that your life would remain relatively quiet. No more impending doom, no more worrying about drones breaking into your house (again) to steal your Dateviators (first time). And, for a few months, that was absolutely the case. After releasing upwards of one hundred brand new entire humans into your local ecosystem, your house became quiet once more. The occasional visit, but at the end of the day, it was just you and your boys.
So when you and Eddie were having a quiet morning at home while Volt was out on a shopping trip, it was unfortunately very easy for the team of be-suited agents from the Department of Overseas Violence to break down your front door (you had to stop yourself from wincing for Dorian). Clearly, someone at the DOV had not gotten the memo that the Dateviators project was scrapped.
Your attempt at a politely confused "Can we help you fine folks?" was overruled by Eddie's angry "What the hell are you doing here?" as he stood up from the couch and positioned himself in front of you.
None of the agents answered either of you, and one of them waved a beeping box with an antenna in your direction. It seemed to beep more violently when pointed at Eddie than yourself. "This one's the object," he informed his superior, a woman designated as such by a badge that was much shinier than the others'. "But our intel said there were two of it."
"Hey!" You stood up as well, protesting your boyfriends being called an "it," collectively. "You creeps better get out of here."
"With all due respect," and you could hear the mentally added 'none,' "we don't answer to civilians or upholstery." The ranking agent snapped her fingers, and there were instantly two agents on either side of each of you. Your hands were forced behind your back, and years of being something of a doormat cowed any resistance as your wrists were cuffed.
Eddie, however, was being difficult, as he was with many things in life. He pulled away from the agents, swearing and reaching for something to use as a weapon, but with you securely held back by a singular agent a third one went to help corral him. "Hold still, damn it!" one of the agents snapped, grabbing something that nearly made your heart stop before you realized it was not a pistol.
You thought oh, it's just a stun gun, he should be fine before remembering that Eddie was now an entire human and not simply the metaphysical personification of electricity.
Two of the agents held Eddie still, wrestling to get him under control, and the third jabbed the stun gun into his ribcage and pulled the trigger. Eddie seized up with a cry, all limb control lost long enough for his wrists to get cuffed behind his back. "Eddie!" you cried out, struggling to pull away from your agent. However, with Eddie now rendered unsteady and gasping, the ranking agent snapped her fingers again.
"Get them in the van. We need to move before more of them show up."
---
Inside the van was dark, and made darker by the thick blindfolds that were tied over your and Eddie's eyes once you were thrown onto the scratchy carpeted floor. You tried to inch closer to him, but it seemed like someone was going to do the job for you and pushed him up against you. "Packages secured," someone said. "En route to base. We need to lure in the other half of the object, though."
Staticky words came in from some speaker, but you ignored them. "Eddie?" you whispered, tilting your head til you made contact with his chest. "They get you bad?"
"That--sucked." His voice was tight, and this close you felt his quickened heartbeat. "Don't tell me that's what it feels like for you when--"
You couldn't even stifle your giggle. Leave it to him to try and make you feel better. "Okay, clearly you're fine if you can make stupid jokes. But what do you think they want with us?" With you, you didn't say, because the Department of Overseas Violence had always had plans for using dateable objects towards... overseas violence. You were just human collateral.
Eddie grunted, and you heard the clinking of his handcuffs. "Dunno. Probably not lookin' for my wit and charm, since I don't have either." He sighed and tried his best to tuck you under his chin, and you leaned into him. "Shit, live wire, I'm sorry. I'm real lousy at protecting you."
You felt someone shuffle closer to you, and then felt something snap softly over your ears, and then noticed a total absence of sound--only a startling rumble as the van started to move. "H-hey," you said, and you could barely hear your own voice. Only the vibrations from your chest and throat reassured you that you had actually spoken. "What did--what's this for?" You had to fight not to raise your voice, and you struggled to try and sit up, rubbing the headphones on your shoulder instinctively to try and remove them. One half slid off, giving you just enough time to hear Eddie.
"You bastards--take these off, amp, fucking--" His voice hitched and caught, and you heard something that was probably a booted foot colliding with Eddie's stomach, and then someone adjusted your headphones and all sound was gone again.
You shuffled forward on your knees until they collided with Eddie's trembling, curled body, and then you laid yourself across his form as gently as you could, feeling his shudders and sobs. You didn't know Eddie was prone to panic attacks, or that he didn't like noise canceling headphones, or--or whatever was hurting your boy. It didn't matter; you had to be the one to protect him now.
Eddie's shakes eventually subsided, but every now and then, you felt his body heave or jerk, or felt him press up against you for comfort. After far too many hours, the van came to a stop for several minutes, and you held your breath in anticipation as the faint light that pierced your blindfold changed. Heavy hands grabbed hold of you, and you yelped and squirmed in defiance as you were dragged away from Eddie and slung across someone's broad shoulder.
You would have liked it if the air outside the van was fresh, but it smelled smoggy and chemical, and you wrinkled your nose. Factories? Power plants? You tried to think what the nearest one of those would be to suburban Coolsville, but you were quickly moving, and the acrid air changed to an all-too-familiar corporate staleness, the faint light becoming cooler. Movement, and rumbles from the chest of whoever was carrying you, and then you were dropped onto an uncomfortable couch. After a few more seconds, Eddie's familiar weight came down next to you, and he immediately leaned into you. He was shaking again.
You hunched over him, protective, and waited in the dark and silence.
It was another few minutes before the headphones came off, and you could hear the buzzing of fluorescents and the distant hum of an HVAC. The blindfold was next, and you gasped and squeezed your eyes shut tight after the half-second of interior light nearly blinded you. "Eddie? Eddie, baby, are you okay?" you said, trying futilely to reach your cuffed hands out to him.
"He's fine," a cold voice said, and you winced and made yourself look just to be sure. After a second of blurriness, you noted that Eddie was still blinded and deafened, and you saw a growing bruise on his cheekbone, and you were also very proud to see blood crusted near his mouth.
"He bit someone, didn't he?" you said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. The touch startled him, but he didn't hesitate in leaning closer, a slight smirk on his lips. "That's our lightning bug."
"Yes, and the agent he bit has to get vaccinated for everything now, because we don't know what conditions that thing can communicate." You glared upwards and saw the ranking agent standing before you in her sharp black suit. "I'm surprised you let it wander loose in your home."
"He's not an it," you said, bristling. "He's an entire god-damned human like me and you. And you'd better take us back home in one piece before our friends come after us."
Because, oh, they would, and you hoped they would, because it would be amazing to see Kristof doing violence on these agents as revenge for hurting Eddie. You also hoped they would show up before he got hurt any worse.
The agent sniffed. "I don't foresee that happening. And if your 'friends' are more things like this one, we'll be ready to collect them for study." She leaned forward. "You will call me Agent Marva. I am willing to allow you certain concessions during your stay with us, as long as you cooperate. For a start, you're probably starving."
Your stomach growled, and you realized it was probably long past lunch time.
"I thought so. I will have some food and water brought in and your cuffs will be removed. We need some time to prepare for the interrogations."
"I don't want your shitty food," you did not say, because you were in fact starving and you knew Eddie was as well. Plus, if your cuffs came off, you could hold him and help him calm down. Help you calm down. "Fine," you said instead, watching Agent Marva turn and leave, the door shutting and locking behind her.
You exhaled shakily and adjusted yourself, letting Eddie fall into your lap as you took in the room. It was very greige, and looked like a corporate break room. The couch was old and faded, and there were no windows. There was a single plastic table and a chair that you knew just by looking wobbled when someone sat in it. The lights would probably give you a headache after too long. It reminded you of the five thousand rooms you'd had interviews in before Valdivian hired you.
If this used to be a Valdivian building, you were going to either laugh or cry or both.
After a few minutes, another agent entered the room. He placed two wrapped protein bars and two plastic water bottles on the couch, and motioned for you to move forward. You didn't like disturbing Eddie, but your arms were killing you, and you wanted to take care of your boy, so you scooched and turned until your cuffed wrists were available. The agent leaned in and unlocked them and pulled them away with him before turning to leave.
"Wait--what about his cuffs?" you asked, realizing that Eddie was still bound.
"Fucker bit my partner," the agent said, stone-faced, as he looked back. "He can stay like that."
The door was shut, and you heard it lock, and you quickly pulled the headphones and blindfold off Eddie.
"Fuck," Eddie gasped, turning his face into your lap and shuddering heavily. "Fuck, amp, never, never again. Fuck."
You shushed him gently, running your hand through his sweat-soaked hair and scratching his scalp. "It's okay, baby, I'm here. If they try that again I'll do the biting."
The noise he made was more a wheeze than a laugh, but you got the intent behind it. You just sat for a few minutes, petting his hair and holding him close while he managed to wring a few more sobs out. When he finally moved like he wanted to sit, you helped him, and you wiped under his red and puffy eyes with your thumb. "We better eat," you said, reaching over to grab the protein bars.
"Don't feel like it," he muttered, but he let you feed him one of the bars and help him drink one of the bottles of water. The bar tasted terrible, and the water was room temperature, but it would keep you both going for now.
Eddie seemed to doze off soon after eating, slumping down and sliding down into your lap again. You tangled your fingers with his, and saw how bruised and red his wrists were, realized how much he must have been struggling the whole time. "Poor lightning bug," you murmured, and he grunted softly in a half-aware response.
When the door unlocked and opened a short time later, you grew tense and pulled Eddie closer in your lap, as if you could protect him from the two burly agents who entered one after another, followed by Agent Marva. "Put the object in room one," she instructed, and one agent stepped forward and pulled Eddie from your grip, carrying him out into the hall beyond as he came slowly awake again. "Room five for this one."
You seethed as your wrists were cuffed behind you, but at least the brute let you walk as he lead you down the hall. You leaned around him and saw Eddie disappear through a door, and you dearly wanted to try and kick that door down as you passed it, but a meaty hand on your bicep reminded you that would be a bad idea.
Room five was two doors down, and you were lead inside what looked to be a cop show interrogation room, with a table and one chair on either side. You were seated in one, and the agent leading you sat in the other. After a moment of shuffling papers, he squinted at the top one and seemed to remember to turn on the naked bulb hanging from the ceiling, making you grimace. "Okay," he said. "I'm Agent Harris. Now, we don't wanna hurt you, but we gotta ask you some questions about the object."
"His name is Eddie," you said, before he could add on to the pile of dehumanizing remarks your boy had already gotten today.
"Uh-huh..." Agent Harris retrieved a ballpoint pen from his front pocket and scribbled something on the top sheet of paper. "What, uh, what kind of object is it? He? It?"
You weren't proud that your first instinct was to blurt "Your mom." Fortunately, Agent Harris seemed too confused and upset by your answer to retaliate. He sputtered over a few more questions, but the angry blush rising in your cheeks seemed to intimidate him, and he quickly decided that the interview was concluded and escorted you back to the break room.
The room was empty, and Agent Harris just scooted you in before shutting and locking the door behind you. You kicked the wall in frustration, mentally apologized to Wallace, and sat down on the uncomfortable couch. There was nothing you could do but wait, especially with your hands still cuffed behind you. God, you wished you'd gotten Bobby to teach you some tricks before they left with I, Ronaldini. You also wished that in that scenario you wore bobby pins. What were bobby pins actually for, again?
With nothing to distract you, and not wanting to let your thoughts linger on what Eddie's interrogation could be like, you let your mind wander. You wondered if the couch you were sitting on and berating was just doing their best. They probably were, and you started to feel bad. Couches were meant to be comfortable; it wasn't their fault when they got old and their cushions got lumpy and out of shape. You wondered if this was another instance of Koa, but decided after eyeing the burlap-like fabric and lack of pattern that no, this was not another Koa.
Damn, you missed your couch. And Koa.
You wondered if you'd had your Dateviators that if you spaced out and stared at the wall for long enough you could summon Doug. You decided that even if you could, Doug wouldn't be helpful.
You sighed dramatically and tried hard not to think about your actual circumstances.
You were trying to remember some of Barry's skincare tips when the door opened, and you jerked your head over to watch as Eddie was thrown into the room. "Eddie!" you gasped, dropping off the couch as the agent who had delivered him rolled him closer to you with his boot. "Baby, you okay? Were they--"
Eddie's eyes were unfocused, and he had to blink several times when he noticed you. Blood trickled down his face from a gash on his forehead, and there were fresh bruises on his jaw and at his throat. "I didn't know electricity could get concussions," came Agent Marva's voice, and you grew tense and hunched protectively over Eddie. If you looked up at her you felt like you would blow a gasket. "Or that it needs to breathe. Very, very interesting."
"I'm gonna kick your ass," you growled. Marva simply hmphed again.
"You. Babysit them."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you let a 'your mom' joke get to you you, you fucking baby." There was a grunt, footsteps, and the door slamming. You looked up and saw Agent Harris, who was giving you an uneasy look, clutching a laptop to his chest.
"Touch us and I'll bite your finger off," you warned, and Agent Harris just nodded quickly and turned away to set up the laptop.
It took some work, and Eddie was too dizzy to stand, but you both managed to sit propped up against the couch. His breathing was ragged, and he couldn't keep his eyes open for very long even when he managed to focus them for longer than a few seconds. "Live wire," he mumbled, tucking his head into the crook of your neck. "This sucks."
"I know, baby," you murmured, wishing so badly you could just hold him close. Concussion, Agent Marva had said. You tried to remember what you'd learned about them with Farya while helping her study. Could an ice pack help? You bet you could bully Agent Harris into bringing you an ice pack, but you also didn't think there would be any way to actually keep it on Eddie's head. The most important thing was to rest, you remembered.
Well, if anyone tried to disturb Eddie's rest until you got out of here, there would be biting.
At least Agent Harris did not seem to be a very attentive babysitter. He left the laptop open with what looked like security camera feeds, when you craned your neck to look at the screen. You also heard the sounds of Candy Crash from the phone in his hands, which he focused intently on instead of the security feeds. You hoped he was getting demolished by Stella and wasting his government paycheck on extra lives and powerups.
It was impossible to tell time in here without a clock, but after a short while you felt Eddie's breathing slow and felt him settle against you more thoroughly as he drifted to sleep. You didn't dare to move, so you just tried to distract yourself with your terrible view of the laptop screen. Definitely looked like an industrial park, if that was an outside camera. So you must be in some sort of administrative building. At least it didn't seem to be that far from Coolsville.
There was a flicker on the screen that you, at first, thought was one of the exterior lights coming on. But it was moving, and pulsing, and when it got close enough that you saw the shape of it, you shouted, "Oh shit!"
Eddie jerked awake, tense, and instinctively curled up closer to you with an agonized whine. "What the hell is that?" Agent Harris asked, looking between you and the bolt of electricity zipping closer and closer to the exterior camera, before something bright struck the screen and the feed cut out. You couldn't help it; you grinned.
"Our boy's coming," you said to Eddie, and this time the sound he made was more a laugh than a wheeze.
You watched the screens eagerly, while Agent Harris started to sweat. Volt tore through the halls, and you saw others following in his wake, cleaning up any agents who tried to chase him. The flash of silver--that had to be Jon Wick, and yes, that could only be Kristof throwing a guy like a javelin. The sounds of violence echoed down the hall and crept under the gap in the break room door, and you saw Agent Harris decide this was not worth whatever he was getting paid and he opened the door and tried to run. A mass of blue rage rammed him out of sight, and you spotted Bobby creeping up behind the carnage, a wince on their face before they realized you were in the room. "Oh shit!"
"Hey, Bobby," you said, wiggling one shoulder in a wave. "You wanna help us out here?"
"Uh, yeah! Uh--VOLT!" They turned and shouted down the hall after him. "Volt, they're in here!" They turned back and jogged over to kneel down at your side. "You guys look like shit."
"More than usual, you mean?" Eddie managed to say, earning a snort of laughter. When Bobby undid his cuffs, he brought his arms around with a groan, eyes screwed shut. You massaged his shoulders gently, and you looked up when the whole blue brightness of Volt stood in the doorway.
"Eddie?" he breathed, his voice startlingly soft and shaky. "Live wire?" He took a couple cautious steps. You'd never seen him like this, even before Realization, and you were shocked that he was capable of this as a human. His hair crackled like it had before, sparks firing off at random, and his skin was the pure bright blue of a bolt of lightning. His shoulders shook, and he looked like he wanted to touch you more than anything in the world.
"Come down here," you said, beckoning, and he obediently dropped to his knees a foot away. He reached out, but hesitated. "Volt, it's okay, we're safe."
"I-I can't," he said, pulling his hand back and looking down as his skin threw off more sparks. "I'll hurt you, I'll hurt Eddie, I can't stop it--"
You shook your head and reached out, grabbing his hand. Volt cried out in fright, but all you felt was a little tingle, kind of like when your leg falls asleep after you've been watching TV too long. "See? See, it's fine. You can't hurt your live wire."
Volt whimpered, and he leaned forward, gathering the both of you into his arms. The simmering storm was calming, his skin returning to its pale tone, his hair settling down. "I was so scared," he said, burying his face between yours and Eddie's shoulders. "When I got home and the door was broken, and you were gone, I feared the worst, I wasn't there to protect you, I--"
"Shh." This came from Eddie, who reached a wobbly hand up to rub Volt's back. "Hey. No spiraling. Head hurts too much to deal with that right now."
There was a wretched half-sob half-laugh, and then both your shoulders were getting soaked with tears.
---
Bobby stood guard at the doorway as the three of you calmed each other down. It took time for things outside to calm down enough, but when Jon Wick came to fetch you all, cleaning some blood off his candlestick, you were all eager to get out of there.
Eddie could hardly walk, and Volt was all too eager to carry him bridal-style. You thought he would have carried you too, if he had two more arms, but you were steady enough to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Volt and keep a hand held in one of Eddie's.
You passed by Kristof emerging from a room with a pile of limp, but groaning and alive, agents, and he looked at Eddie's bruised face with stern approval. "I see Jonathan and I are not the only ones partaking on this glorious evening," he said.
"He bit someone," you supply, and the viking cracked into a grin and cracked his knuckles.
"It is a dirty tactic, normally, but I approve of this violence in this moment."
Out in the parking lot, you added Farya and Dorian to your cadre of rescuers. While Dorian seemed to be directing a small squadron of ValdiviCorps staff to secure the premises, Farya hopped out of the back of a ValdiviAmbulance and ran over to meet you. Volt was reluctant to let Eddie out of his arms, but he did relent and ease him onto a stretcher so Farya could examine him. You sat out of the way with Volt, rubbing circles on his back as his shoulders trembled with nerves.
"I don't think he'll need the hospital," Farya announced after coming back to you two. "Head injuries sure bleed a lot, though, so just keep that plaster on. Get him to take some Flylenol when you get home and make sure he doesn't strain himself."
"Of course," you said, because Volt still seemed a little bit beyond words. "...Do we get to ride home in that?" You pointed at the ValdiviAmbulance.
"Obviously!" Farya beamed, then remembered the severity of the situation. "But we won't run the siren, because it'll make Eddie's head hurt."
Through the combination of not being blindfolded, and of having access to a clock, you timed the ride back home to be just under three hours. It felt like longer, on the way to the building where you were held, and you shuddered to think of Eddie terrified and blinded and deafened for that long. Exhausted as he was by his ordeal, Eddie wasn't exactly keen on falling asleep in the back of an ambulance, and so the three of you arranged yourselves as comfortably as possible. You and Volt sat on the cushioned bench, and Eddie curled up as much as he could across both of your laps.
It was dark by the time you got home, and Farya made sure to escort you all inside and give you a printout of how to care for Eddie's concussion. You were all dead-tired by this point, and changing into pajamas was out of the question, at least for now. Hell, going upstairs would have been out of the question too, but nobody really felt like collapsing on the floor.
"Mmph," you mmphed, once the three of you were in a pile on your bed. "My boys."
"My sparks," Volt murmured. He had insisted on making himself the middle of the sandwich tonight, Eddie curled up on his left and you nestled up against his right.
"My head's killing me," Eddie added, helpfully.
Volt turned and looked at you, mustering some exceptionally sad puppy eyes that you suspected he didn't need to put any extra effort into. "Okayyyy," you whined, theatrically, rolling out of bed. The sooner you got Eddie some painkillers, the sooner you could go back to being Outer Spoon.
You shuffled around, bringing the water glass from the bathroom and helping Eddie take two Flylenol tablets. You knew he should really eat something substantial with them, but fuck, you were all so tired, so you just reached into the dresser drawer where you hide your favorite candy and made him eat a few pieces. You pretended that you didn't grab any for Volt until he pouted.
Before long, the three of you were fully settled down in the gentle darkness of your bedroom. Eddie was out like a light, but before dropping into unconsciousness he'd reached out for your hand. You were slowly drifting off yourself, one hand tangled in Eddie's fingers, the other curled up under Volt's cheek. And Volt was quietly letting himself cry, endlessly relieved that his two loves were both safe in his arms.
I think a lot of people misunderstand why enemies to lovers is so popular. It’s quickly become one of the most pervasive tropes in many novels. Is it the banter, the tension? That’s definitely part of it. But if that were true, then friends-to-lovers and literally any romance with good dialogue and characterization would scratch the same itch. For some, it does, but for many…enemies-to-lovers just hits different.
My theory is that it isn’t actually about love, not really. I think it fulfils a fantasy that no other trope can provide: the fantasy of being seen as an equal.
Think about what specifically makes someone an enemy in fiction. It’s not just someone the MC dislikes, it’s someone who can affect them in tangible ways, maybe even have the power to ruin them, challenge their worldview, expose their weaknesses, etc. The relationship begins with conflict because the characters are fundamentally opposed in some way. It doesn’t matter why, but they’re fighting. There is a struggle for dominance.
I would argue that the most impactful enemies-to-lovers moments are never the romantic moments, they’re the scenes where power shifts. They BOTH lose: they’re forced into a position that would have horrified them at the beginning of the story. They end up needing (or wanting) each other.
That’s why I think people are often disappointed when a supposed enemies-to-lovers story turns out to be a milquetoast attempt where they’re just kinda mean to each other for a few pages, and then immediately start making out. Where’s the risk, the actual threat? If the characters aren’t capable of genuinely affecting one another, then the relationship isn’t actually transforming in a satisfying way. The appeal is in the fact that they have power over each other, because the eventual trust they build requires real surrender.
Because here’s the thing about enemies; they pay attention, and usually more attention than anyone else. They notice weaknesses because they’re actively looking for them, they notice strengths because they need to account for them. They notice habits, blind spots, ambitions, fears.
They study the MC with a level of scrutiny that borders (and later crosses) intimate, but unlike friends (or supporting characters in the MC’s corner) they’re not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, they don’t overlook flaws out of affection. Which is exactly what makes the eventual romance so satisfying. It feels earned.
It’s easy to imagine being loved by someone who sees the best version of you, but it’s an entirely different thing to be loved by someone who has seen you at your worst. That’s why this dynamic often feels more convincing than romances where the characters are immediately into each other.
I imagine there are many who go through life feeling misunderstood, or worse, that the people who love them only love the polished, perfect version they present to the world, almost like impostor syndrome. But what if there was someone who couldn’t be fooled by this carefully constructed image?
When someone more powerful chooses someone, maybe the fantasy is protection. When it’s someone less powerful, the fantasy might be admiration. But if there’s someone intelligent and observant enough to see the MC as an equal, the fantasy there is the most intense and honest validation.
Which means enemies to lovers was never about turning hate/annoyance into love, it was about turning power into vulnerability – which is a terrifying loss of power, which THEN leads to intimacy.
written (belatedly) for @whumperless-whump-event day 9: Dropping Like Flies: Multiple whumpees / Caretaking while sick or injured / "I'll get some rest soon, I promise."
“Eliot? Where are you going?”
At the sound of Parker’s disappointed voice, he turns back. She’s still got her head on the couch cushions but she’s lolled it toward him. She’s frowning, that furrow back in her brow. Eliot’s resolve wavers.
“Just gonna get a couple more things,” he says. “So we don’t have to get up later.”
“But you haven’t sat down since we got home. You’re hurt too. You need to sit down.”
All three of our favorite thieving trio are a little worse for wear at the end of a long day, and Eliot’s busy fussing and fretting. Someone oughta remind him he’s allowed to take it easy too.
It is very important that the language in your novel reflects the time and place in which the story is set.
For example, my story is set in Italy. My characters would never “ride shotgun”, a term coined in US in the early 1900s referring to riding alongside the driver with a shotgun to gun bandits.
Do your research! A free tool that I found to be very useful is Ngram Viewer.
You can type any word and see when it started appearing in books. For example…one of my characters was going to say “gazillion” (I write YA) in 1994. Was “gazillion” used back then?
And the answer is…YES! It started trending in 1988 and was quite popular in 1994.
This is really important, especially because language can change in very unexpected ways.
For example, did you know that before 1986 people never said “I need to”?Instead, they were far more likely to say “I ought to”, “I have to”, “I must”, or “I should”.
Don’t believe me?
Anyway, most people won’t notice subtle changes like that. But your reader will notice and be confused when characters in your medieval world use metaphors involving railroads and rockets.
One of the things you can do besides use Google Ngrams is to read books or watch movies written in the time period you want to set your story. The key here is that they can’t just be set in that time period, they have to have been made in that time period.
Also, there’s a Lexicon Valley episode on this very topic which I highly recommend. It’s called Capturing the Past.
SEE ALSO Etymonline. Word origins and when they’re first recorded. So, say I wanted to find out when a “coffee break” became a thing – around the 1950s, as seen in magazine adverts – or characters might talk about more genrallly “taking a break” from the 1860s…
List of various terms of endearment that can be used in different languages. A lot of them are gender neutral. Now in alphabetical order.
Afrikaans
Lief (love)
Liefie (lovey)
Arabic
Habibi حبيبي (m) (my love)
Habibti حبيبتي (f) (my love)
Ya hayati يا حياتي (my life)
Ya qalbi يا قلبي (my heart)
Ya ruhi يا روحي (my soul)
Hubbi/hobbi حبي (my love)
Catalan:
Estimat (m) /estimada (f) (dear)
Amor/amor meu (love/my love)
Sol (sun) (used more like "és un sol" ('they're a sun'??) and normally used when talking about well-behaved children lmao.
"Reiet meu" could also be used (means 'my little king') (m)
"Carinyo" (from spanish Cariño i guess)
"Bonic (m)/bonica (f)" (means nice or pretty (physically)) ("bonica" in feminine is more common as a term of endearment)
Vida (life) (can also be "videta" (diminutive version))
Bombó (that's like a chocolate sweet lmao)(used normally with women)
Princesa (means princess) (f)
Czech
Zlato (gold, my precious)
Lásko (love)
Miláčku (dearest, little dear)
Danish
Skat (treasure)
Engel (angel)
Smukke (pretty/beautiful)
Elskede/elskling (beloved)
Kæreste (dearest and also used for the term girlfriend/boyfriend)
Snut (sorta like babe, a bit outdated)
Dejlige (wonderful)
Smuksak (beautiful but only for endearment)
Pus (cute pitiful thing)
Pusling (Pus in diminutive)
Musling (mouse diminutive)
Putte[animal] (cuddle[animal of choice], most used is: animal, mouse and pig, but other animals or objects happen)
Kære (loved one)
Allerkæreste (most loved, argumentative)
Basse (cute fat, might come from bear, mostly used for children and men)
Dutch
Schatje (treasure)
Liefje (loved one)
Lieverd (loved one)
Lieveling (loved one)
English
Dear
Pet
Baby
Babe
Honey
Darling
My love
Sunshine
Sweetheart
Sweet cheeks
Prince/Princess
Farsi
Joon/Jaan جان (life)
Azizam عزیزم (my dear)
Asalam عسلم (my honey)
Golam گلم (flower)
Filipino (from various local languages, all gender neutral)
Mahal, sinta (tagalog) (love)
alternatively add "ko" or "aking" to turn it into "my love" (e.g. mahal ko, sinta ko; aking mahal, aking sinta) with "aking" being used more often when talking about the one you love to a 3rd party;
or turn it into a verb (e.g. aking minamahal, kasintahan) to make it "lover"
Paraluman, irog, liyag, giliw (tagalog) (darling) these are older terms though, you won't hear or see them being used unless you're lovers with someone 🌟Extra🌟
Tangi (tagalog) (only one)
Tinatangi (tagalog) (the one i hold dear/the only one for me)
Tinadhana - fated (from the root word "tadhana" meaning fate, which in and of itself should also be a term of endearment and I stand by that)
Hinigugma (bisaya) (beloved) (very old)
Palangga/pangga/langga or "ga" for short and sometimes pagingging (ilonggo) (love) (can also be used platonically or between family members)
Kalasahan (tausug) (beloved) (this is pronounced with an emphasis in the SA syllable (as in kalaSAhan) instead of the LA like in the tagalog word LAsa (which means taste)
Chou (used like "honey", but directly translates to cabbage)
Mon lapin (my bunny)
Ma vie (my life)
L'/amour de ma vie (love of my life)
Ma poupée (f) (my doll)
Gàidhlig (Scottish)
A chuisle (a hoo-sluh)/ A ghràidh (a ghrah-ee) (my love)
Mo chridhe (moh hree-uh) (my heart)
A chiall mo chridhe (a heel moh hree-uh) (my dearest darling)
Both romantic or otherwise, i.e. they don't have specific romantic connotations.
Leannan (lyen-an) (sweetheart)
M' eudail (may-thal) (darling, romantic)
Luaidheag (luah-yak) (darling, the way a wee old lady talks to a child)
German
Liebling (beloved/favourite)
Schatz (treasure, I would say the most common one between established couples)
Liebes (loved one) (not that romantic, can be used by older people)
Liebster (m) (loved one, bit old-fashioned)
Liebste (f) (loved one, bit old-fashioned)
Hase / Hasi (bunny)
Maus (mouse)
Spatz (sparrow)
Bär / Bärchen (bear)
Engel / Engelchen (angel)
Prinzessin (f) (princess)
Sonnenschein (sunshine)
Kleines (f/n) (little one, can be used in a cute way for women, (while actually being neutral), but can also sound degrading or offensive)
Greek
Αγάπη /Αγάπη μου (love /my love) (the first can also be used among friends, usually between women, but both are very often used in romantic relationships)
Ψυχή μου (my soul) (mostly romantic but can be used by a parent to their kid)
Hebrew
Chaim sheli חיים שלי (my life)
Neshama sheli נשמה שלי (my soul)
Lev sheli לב שלי (my heart)
Ahoovi אהובי (m) (my love)
Ahoovati אהובתי (f) (my love)
Hindi
Meri jaan मेरी जान (f) (my life)
Mera jaan (m/n) (my life)
Rani रानी (f) (queen)
Hungarian
Kedvesem (my dear)
Szerelmem (my love)
Drága (precious)
Édesem (my sweetie)
Kicsim (my little one)
Babám (my baby)
Kincsem (my treasure)
Indonesian
Sayang (to love/love, can be used as 'honey', doesn't have to be romantic)
Cintaku (my love, mostly used romantically)
Irish
A stór (darling)
A stórín (little darling, sweetie. More commonly used for children, but can be used romantically too)
A chroí (heart, you can say "mo chroí" too, that means "my heart")
A ghrá (love)
Aingeal (angel, used both romantically, and for people who've done something nice for you (think "you're a doll"))
A ghrá geal (directly translates to "bright love", but means something more like "honey" or "darling")
Mo ghrá amháin (my one, my one love, my true love)
Mo chailín/mo bhuachaill (my girl/my boy, we say this in place of "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" because there's no proper words for those)
Mo bhean/mo fhear (my woman/my man, like the above, but more seriously, usually said by married couples as a short form of "bean chéile" (wife) and "fear chéile" (husband))
A réaltín (star/little star, used both romantically and to refer to children)
Italian
Tesoro (treasure)
Amore mio (my love)
Cuore (heart)
Vita mia (my life)
Cucciola (puppy/cub) (mostly used for women, but you could say "cucciolo" for men)
Piccola (little one) (mostly for women, "piccolo" would be the male version)
Cara/caro (dear) (now mostly used by grandmas for grandkids but perfect for couples in the past or old couples nowadays
Bimba (f) (child)
Patata/patatina (potato/little potato) (again mostly women when used romantically, "patato/patatino" for men, but they can also be used for pets, babies, your kids or anyone that you find cute)
Tata/tato (short version of papata/patato)
Polpetta/polpettina (meatball/little meatball) (very uncommon, but I've heard it used for girls)
Topolina (little mouse) (very uncommon, but could be used for girls)
Bambola (doll)
Korean
Jagiya 자기야 (honey/baby)
Aegiya 애기야 (baby/little one)
Gongjunim 공주님 (f) (princess)
Wangjanim 왕자님 (m) (prince)
Nae Sarang 내 사랑 (my love)
Gwiyomi 귀요미 (cutie)
Yeobo 여보 (darling, loved one to a spouse)
Malay
Sayang (dear/darling)
Polish
Kochanie (my beloved)
Myszko (f) (little mouse for women romantic, or for young daughters)
Misiu (m) (diminutive bear, romantic for men)
Misiaczku (another form of the above but more intersex)
Słoneczko (diminutive for sun, can be for children but also romantic for women)
Pączusiu (diminutive doughnut, romantic partner)
Bąbelku (bubble diminutive for young children, toddlers or infants)
Duszko moja (very outdated, meaning my soul, for women)
Serce moje (also old school, meaning my heart, unisex)
Gwiazdeczko (diminutive star, for girls and romantic female partner)
Kotek/Kotku (kitten, unisex)
Mała (literally: little (f), for women, can be romantic but also offensive if used by strangers)
Skarbie (my treasure, unisex)
Rybciu (diminutive for fish, little fish, for women)
żabko (diminutive for frog, little frog, for women)
Portuguese
Meu querido (m)/ minha querida (f) (my darling)
Meu amor (my love)
Princesa (f) (princess)
Meu docinho (my sweetheart)
Coração (heart)
Amado (m)/Amada (f) (my beloved)
Meu (m)/ minha (f) mais que tudo (my above overall) Meu tesouro (my treasure)
Paixão (passion)
Meu bem/ meu benzinho (my goodness)
Meu doce/meu docinho (my sweet/ my little sweet)
Brazilian Portuguese
Amor (love)
Querido (m) / Querida (f) (darling)
Bebê (baby)
Meu bem (untraslatable; something between "my dear" and "my treasure")
Meu docinho de coco (my coconut candy - really old slang, nowadays used only for fun)
Patroa (f) (it means a female boss; not ironic not aggressive, but used by men to describe their wives affectionately, eg. "I can't go today, my patroa is waiting for me at home")
Gato/gatinho (m) / gata/gatinha (f) (cat/little cat; if a person is pretty, they are called a "cat")
milyj (m) + milaya (f) / милый + милая (dear but in more informal way)
kotik / котик (kitty) malysh / малыш (baby)
zajchik (m) + zajka (f) / зайчик + зайка (bunny)
ptenchik / птенчик (little bird, hatchling)
rybka moya (f) / рыбка моя (my fish)
Serbian
Sreća(o) moja (my happiness)
Zlato moje (my gold)
Srce moje (my heart)
Život(e) moj (my life)
Duša(o) (my soul)
Slovak
Zlato / zlatko (gold)
Láska (love)
Miláčik (bit cheesy, but means my lovely)
Spanish
Cariño (darling)
Bebé (baby)
Corazón (heart)
Mi amor (my love)
Mi vida (my life)
Cielo (sky)
Amor (love)
Swedish
Sötnos (cute nose)
Älskling (darling)
Tamil
Kanmani [cun-mun-ee] (darling)
Turkish
Aşkım (my loved one)
Canım (my love/soul)
Hayatım (my life)
Bebeğim (my baby)
Kocacığım/karıcığım
(my husband/my wife, but in a more endearing way, you can say it to a person you're not married yet but thinking about marrying)
Her şeyim (my everything)
Yaşama sebebim (my reason to live)
Ceylanım (My gazelle, it's a gorgeous creature like cmon)
Güzel gözlüm (My lover with beautiful eyes)
Nazlı yarim (My coy lover)
Kalbimin sahibi (the owner of my heart)
Güzelim/yakışıklım (my beautiful/my handsome)
Kediciğim (my kitty/kitten)
Biriciğim/bi'tanem (my one and only)
Çiçeğim (my flower)
Balım (my honey) (can also say "bal dudaklım (my lover with honey lips)" if you feeling on fire)
Evimin direği (literally meaning "the post of my house," if you say this to a person (usually your husband), you mean to say that he keeps your household/family up, whether financially or with emotional maturity)
друг (m)/ подруга (f) моєї душі [druh (m)/podruha (f) moyeyi dushi] (a friend of my soul)
Urdu
Meri jaan میری جان (my life)
Pyaari پیاری (sweetheart)
Shahzadi شہزادی (f) (princess)
Welsh
Cariad/Nghariad (love)
Let me know more terms of endearment in your languages! And please correct me if I'm wrong somewhere.
Please note that they are not all romantic. You can ask in the replies, so a native speaker can answer if it's appropiate for the type of relationship you want your characters to have.
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
amandla
yousharknotpass
