enemy love is the best kind of love
I have a bit of a confession. I think I love foe yay.
Not automatic 'they're enemies, I must see them fall in bed entwined in each others' arms in illicit and passionate ecstasy' sort of foe yay, but more specific. I have a set of standards attached to this foe shipping.
One: My foes must be one person on 'the side of right', or the protagonist side, and one person on 'the side of wrong', or the antagonist side. Morals clashing and worldviews being toppled only makes my foeship radar ping louder. It's not that I agree with polarized morality, it's just that it seems to add to the tension a little.
Two: My protagonist can be anything or anybody, since protaganists generally agree with me anyway, but my antagonist must have a soul. They must be recognizably human (in spirit, not necessarily in form.) This does not mean they have to be good and reformable, or inwardly pure as the driven snow. I just want them to have some redeeming qualities, and a personality and life outside of 'rawr, must further the antagonist agenda!'
Three: There needs to be established tension! I must have the two characters in question as having a relationship fraught with tension and occasional hostility. Maybe even LOTS of hostility. Sometimes death threats can be really, really hot. I especially like it when the characters are not only established enemies, but they also fight each other. A lot. Like, in situations where fighting each other is not really necessary, but they do so anyway. Where thoughts of their enemy haunt their dreamless nights. Where they deliberately pair themself off with this enemy in every fight. Especially when they demand that other people not get in the way of this super-special fight between them. ESPECIALLY when there's a level of intense respect between these two enemies.
Oh, foe shipping. You have stolen my soul. Why did I not see you coming?
Not automatic 'they're enemies, I must see them fall in bed entwined in each others' arms in illicit and passionate ecstasy' sort of foe yay, but more specific. I have a set of standards attached to this foe shipping.
One: My foes must be one person on 'the side of right', or the protagonist side, and one person on 'the side of wrong', or the antagonist side. Morals clashing and worldviews being toppled only makes my foeship radar ping louder. It's not that I agree with polarized morality, it's just that it seems to add to the tension a little.
Two: My protagonist can be anything or anybody, since protaganists generally agree with me anyway, but my antagonist must have a soul. They must be recognizably human (in spirit, not necessarily in form.) This does not mean they have to be good and reformable, or inwardly pure as the driven snow. I just want them to have some redeeming qualities, and a personality and life outside of 'rawr, must further the antagonist agenda!'
Three: There needs to be established tension! I must have the two characters in question as having a relationship fraught with tension and occasional hostility. Maybe even LOTS of hostility. Sometimes death threats can be really, really hot. I especially like it when the characters are not only established enemies, but they also fight each other. A lot. Like, in situations where fighting each other is not really necessary, but they do so anyway. Where thoughts of their enemy haunt their dreamless nights. Where they deliberately pair themself off with this enemy in every fight. Especially when they demand that other people not get in the way of this super-special fight between them. ESPECIALLY when there's a level of intense respect between these two enemies.
Oh, foe shipping. You have stolen my soul. Why did I not see you coming?