Heres something that I think Aphmau handled a lot better than practically any other Enemies to lovers story. We all know Aarmau is an enemies to lovers story, and theres a whole lot of cliches mixed in. (Nothing wrong with that ofc) Like the whole best friends online, or aaron saying hes liked aphmau since the day he first saw her. But its that last cliche we should focus on. In a whole lot of stories the “Ive loved you since I first saw you” it really just comes out of actual nowhere! Like bruh you threw a basketball at her head 4 chapters ago, I don’t think you were really IN LOVE with her if thats how you’re behaving! Anyways, what I noticed, in the official episode its not exactly clear he loved her from the very start, BUT! In the music video, and Phoenix Drop Days, we get little flashback segments where we can SEE aarons eyes absolutely soften when he looks at her!
When he first bumps into her, vs, when he gets a good look at her after bumping into her in the PDD (Phoenix Drop Days)
Same here in the “You Will Always be the One” music video! His EYES SOFTEN!!!
My point is that in the original episode you can’t see that loving look, but instead of just keeping it the exact same as the first episode, they make it CLEAR he fell in love at first sight with the newer content (Yea I know both of these have been out for literal years)
Secondly, in the typical EtL (Enemies to Lovers) bro is like ACTUALLY a huge dick to her, however in PDH the very next time we see Aaron he’s protecting Aph by throwing the werewolf thats hitting on her out a window. And sure shes not exactly pleased by this, but regardless, aaron is constantly subtly protecting her or defending her! The most bullying he does is his constant teasing, like calling her a stupid potato, petty competitions, etc. (I seriously cannot for the life of me remember if theres more, feel free to add on or even correct me.)
Third, second to last point I feel I need to make, the pay off. When they realize they are eachothers online best friend, its not instant. Sure in the season everyone says the change is over night. But thats just the surface! Aph is at first shocked and mad, she doesn’t want to believe Aaron is actually her best friend. And I saw another person comment on this (can’t remember who, or if it was on tumblr or yt) but she doesn’t call him Aaron for a bit, she calls him FC cause thats how she knows her best friendd, for at least a bit Aaron is a different person and it take a bit for her to combine the two. Which is nice!
Ok final point, holy moly Ive been yapping a lot. Again with Aaron protecting Aph. I can’t exactly remember which episode this happened in, but when that werewolf from episode one tries to force a kiss on her, he gets super angry over it. And I just overall is more protective after finding out Aph is Shu, and like its said he was in love with both at the same time, and can I point out how nice that is? I like how he doesn’t just completely move on from Shu when he meets Aph, he still loves shu and “flirts” over text, very subtle, another good thing. The usual cliche with Online friends mixed with Enemies to Lovers is that the guy pulls away when they meet irl. But FC doesn’t, hes still supporting her and talking to her like normal, because surprise everyone its not illegal to be in love with two people at once. And just like the cliche Im sure he’s very happy Shu and Aph are the same person, but its not out of guilt because he fell for another girl, its because both girls he likes are the same. I guess the cliche of him feeling guilty for falling for someone else would only work if he was actively pursuing his online friend, but my point still stands!
All in all I really like how Jess handled the Enemies to Lovers trope. And that last paragraph might be a little confusing honestly I was also confused when typing it, idk if it all made sense or if it was clear or if I got to all the details I wanted to point out.
Side note: while I was writing this whole yap fest I was listening to all the songs from My Street + spin offs. And Christopher Escalantes (Eins voice actor) covers are absolutely fantastic! Check them out!
