The Locked Tomb is not devoid of M/F pairings, although none of them are exactly enemies to lovers. The closest pairings there are to that trope are the two threesomes and their components that are 'enemies with benefits' and 'enemies and lovers' tropes.
I would really recommend that you read the books first though, they're a very unique journey.
For the main GOT series, the ETL pairings Iām thinking about include [Jaime/Brienne](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Jaime%20Lannister*s*Brienne%20of%20Tarth) (canon, kind of, itās not endgame in the show), [Jon/Daenerys](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Jon%20Snow*s*Daenerys%20Targaryen/works) (depending on how the writer sets it up), and there are *a lot* of Sansa/whoever fics where they start out as enemies (usually age differences here, like Sansa/Jaime). Honestly, there are so many enemy families in this universe that you could probably find ETL for most characters. It may also be worth checking for genderbends and OCs if thatās your thing, e.g. fem!Jon Snow and/or OC Stark daughter.
For HOTD, the ETL pairing that immediately comes to mind is Aemond/Lucerys, which falls into the category of Targcest. Theyāre both canonically male but you can find lots of fem!Lucerys fics (I have a WIP Iāve started posting). There are also *a lot* of Aemond/OC fics where the OC is a daughter on the opposing side (Aemond is part of a faction called the Greens, OC is usually part of the faction called the Blacks).
Iām currently active in the HOTD fandom so thatās what I can talk the most about. But depending on what exactly are the dynamics youāre looking for, because ETL can be a spectrum, I can help narrow it down some more. :)
Thank you so much for the in-depth response! I've dabbled in GoT, but haven't touched HOTD, but you've definitely convinced me.
My ETL boundaries are pretty wide, I'll take house rivalry to personal vendettas, but you've given me some good ships to work with to find some good stuff.
Do you have any personal recs/self promotes you'd like me to check out?
Iāve been writing an [AU series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/3610021) where Rhaenyra, the main character of HOTD, has three legitimate daughters instead of the three sons she has in canon with someone who isnāt her husband. The [first fic in the series](https://archiveofourown.org/works/47856250/chapters/120649333) is in the POV of Daemon, Rhaenyraās second husband (and uncle), as he metaphorically loses his mind because his three stepdaughters are in love with the three āenemyā/Green princes (but the canonical friction between factions is toned down a lot in my AU; this fic has a very comedic tone). There are a few oneshots and spinoffs in the series, but the [second āmainā fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/50191603/chapters/126761284) is about Rhaenyraās oldest daughter and the oldest Green Prince Aegon, who do not have an ETL dynamic. Iām currently working on the [third āmainā fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/54158101/chapters/137128384), which is the aforementioned Aemond/fem!Lucerys. Theyāre probably the closest to an ETL dynamic in my universe, but I feel like their relationship is more āwe were childhood best friends until we had a bad fight, then other stuff happened to make our relationship worse, and we didnāt talk for years because we thought we hated each other but actually weāve been mutually pining all this time.ā
A lot of my personal favorite HOTD fics actually arenāt outright ETL fics š . I love [this Aemond/OC WIP](https://archiveofourown.org/works/42633651/chapters/107093142), which is more ācontentious acquaintances to loversā as the author describes in the tags.
For GoT, check out the author astolat on AO3, they've written a ton of amazing fic and their got stuff runs hard with etl pairings including some very rare pairs!
Itās crazy how many fics there are about Aemond/Lucerys (House of the Dragon) even though the series just came out last year. And yet a lot of them are also incredibly well written, but in a lot of them one of them is only 14 while the other is 17 or something? (It's canon, but there are also some where both of them are of age if that bothers you). But makes for a really good enemies to lovers story as Lucerys "accidentally" cuts out Aemond'y eye during a fight in their childhood and Aemond later >!kills him for that, BUT also accidentally!<
I choose to follow the in-universe rule of Doctrine of Exceptionalism: incest is bad\*, except itās okay if itās Targaryens. And cousins donāt count as incest in medieval fandoms.
*\*bad not actually meaning bad but just not something Iāll read*
Itās not exactly enemies to loversā¦ I mean, it kind of is and it isnāt, but you could try Veronica Mars. Logan and Veronica are pretty epic up there in the fandom.Ā
Thereās also Spike and Buffy part in Buffy - the mother of Dramione most likely. At least some of the older Dramione fans have said that they started with Spiffy fics.Ā
Thereās quite a bit! After the atrocious ending of the 4th season (which I just kind of omit myself), I now semi-regularly read fics to get my happy fix with them and imagine that the original ending never happened.Ā
Was a SasuNaru simp for the Naruto fandom for years before the show ended. Itās a huge fandom so youāll be able to dig for as much angst as you want.
SasuNaru is truly great enemies to lovers followed by another well-known Sharingan pairs I canāt mention due to spoilers. Honestly if you read Naruto come back to tag me and Iāll give you my angsty fic recs
A more niche pairing in the naruto fandom that I would recommend if you like enemies to lovers is madara/tobirama, or izuna/tobirama. Both are from warring clans, and izuna and tobirama are rivals. If f/m is your thing, thereās a lot of fem tobirama to be found
I was never into Naruto. I read maybe four volumes of the manga and saw a few episodes of the show. I didn't hate it, but it didn't grab me, either. But you bet I spent hours reading through SasuNaru fics and doujinshi, and I will die on the top!Sasuke hill.
Oooh I was too but then I read a pissy jealous bottom!Sasuke fic and it was delicious. Unfortunately, itās been years so I donāt even know where it is anymore :(
You can just search the enemies to lovers tag without specifying a fandom: https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Enemies%20to%20Lovers/
There are 136k works in there, over half of them marked "complete." Go nuts. It'll probably also let you find some pairings to look into that wouldn't necessarily have the tag for every fic.
I'm late to the thread, but you should absolutely check out enemies-to-lovers fanfictions in the Captain Hook/Wendy Darling tag! There are quite a few gems in there where the author ages Wendy up to an adult in her 20s-30s, only to meet her old ~~crush~~ enemy.
Correct, Jason Isaacs' Hook from the 2003 *Peter Pan* movie. Isaacs also stated in a Q&A that Wendy had some weird feelings towards Hook in that movie, but was too young to realize her attraction. People took that and ran with it in fanfiction(s).
Calamity Tempest - Miko's Melody
Peace Treaty (this one is on ff dot net, but I promise itās worth it)
There are some where theyāre more neutral at first as well, but these are definitely more enemies to lovers
Come to Victorious. We have the Jori ship :) (I say this as somebody who is also a sucker for enemies to lovers and writes exclusively for this ship, trust me, thereās a looooooot of fics for it)
It is F/F but there are plenty of slow burns and a fair bit of mature/explicit. Two of the more iconic ones I can think of right now are āStreetlightsā and āBehind Enemy Linesā
Not fanfic but comic: There's a comic about Zelda trying to break the curse by marrying Ganondorf. I am very not into the pairing but that comic is cool enough that even someone like me likes it.
[https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post](https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post)
10000% Final Fantasy 7. A gigantic and old fandom where the king ship of the fandom is essentially the protagonist and the antagonist. Not to mention they both have an insane amount of lore and backstory and complex characterisation, so the creativity people can have in fanfic portrayals is enormous.
It's M/M, but Cloud crossdressess, so... uhhh. Maybe give it a go? Sephiroth also has gigantic abandonment issues and is a very emotionally vulnerable being, so if you want some non-classic machismo M/M this pair can still provide some nice food.
Code Geass with Suzalulu. It's not "official" but the progress between the main characters is basically Friend to Enemies to Lovers and it's so good. The fics are amazing. The doujinshi's are beautiful. It's M/M but it's got some great stuff out there. I've seen even some good genderbends of it too. Love these two idiots and the drama they make so much.
I would recommend Spike/Buffy from BtVS, based on your interest in that trope and your specifications of canon ETL, F/M, and lots of slow burn/long fics in the mature/explicit rating! In my opinion is pretty much the *pinnacle* of Enemies to Lovers. There are plenty of great fics on Ao3, but there is also an active and long-existing archive at [https://dark-solace.org/elysian/index.php](https://dark-solace.org/elysian/index.php) that has a large library of fics that you might not find elsewhere. Happy to think up specific recs if you are interested further, but definitely worth checking this pairing out either way!
Iām a sucker for ETL too! *high five*
I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/s/f6jdUcleEY) recently asking about recs of this type, maybe you find some more inspo there!
I tend to prefer F/M ships too (another \*high five\* haha)
Right now I can only think of Spuffy and Reylo as F/M ships where there are a lot of fics already. Of course Iām also sneakily sliding in my OTP Cedric/Orube but they have so little space in the canon that you need a bit of imagination for a proper ETL. Iām gonna publish my take on that soon tho!
Labyrinth, maybe? I think Jareth/Sarah qualifies as enemies to lovers. I've just started poking around the fandom; taking a dive into my youth, LOL.
The other that came to mind was an M/M ship, though. Lotor/Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Oh yeah, I'd say that Jareth/Sarah can qualify; really depends on the fic, but I've seen fics that go a more friendly route as well as the highly competitive and spicy route. But all my Labyrinth reading was 15 years ago š
Yāall come back to labyrinthā¦there are so many good newer fics. lol. The classics are still classics but fangamerbowiextreme has a new one called Unseeled that is amazing. I started writing them in 2020 after reading them for almost a decade.
Not exclusively F/M but Good Omens! There are some great explicit enemies to lovers fics and theyāre often very gender-bendy. Also just generally great media.
FFXIV if you get into a couple specific ships
Unfortunately they donāt make a lot of sense absent the context of the game so your mileage is likely to vary wildly
Listing the most commmon ship in spoilers bc ā¦ it really kinda is a spoiler in its own right for the end of Shadowbringers >!Warrior of Light (player character/Emet-Selch!<
Itās technically danced around in canon but is made as close to explicit as these particular devs get in Endwalker
Seconding the spoilered ship! They are mostly written F/M but unfortunately, the fics written for them can't be read fandom blind because what makes them so good lies deeply in the game's story.
With pleasure.
[Incendiary ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35975992)
Not complete, but a master in ETL bonding and balancing awkward tension between characters. Very realistic.
[Call Me Katto](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2127669/chapters/4644864)
Mulan/Avatar crossover with amazing characterisations and a strong female lead. AU and totally OOC but chefs kiss.
I read this a very long time ago (not sure how it holds up now) but I remember loving it.
[The Black Games ](https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7023280/1/The-Black-Games)
Definitely second House of the Dragon and raise you Resident Evil! Lots of enemies to lovers, just watch out for monster porn if thatās not your thing š
I don't think I see it here, but The 100? I know Bellarke has a lot of enemies to lovers fics. I always adored their ship when I was invested in the show, back in the early days, and the first soulmate/mark fic I ever read was that ship.
If you donāt mind the age gap, Rivamika fics from Attack on Titan are spectacular for this dynamic and thereās a pretty clear overlap with folks who like Dramione and Zutara.
I'm not sure if you would be okay with reading fan comics but there's a fan comic for the Zelda franchise where Zelda and Gannondorf enter an arranged marriage to try and break from the same cycle of Gannondorf trying to take over Hyrule, Zelda needing to be rescued by Link and Link having to be the hero. In fact Link is lowkey taken out of the equation (though he's still around but not I'm not gonna risk ruining any spoilers for you :) ).
The comic is called [Tale of Two Rulers](https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post)and it's definitely enemies to lovers.
I got into SuperBat for the enemies to lovers. Didn't even need to really read or watch any superman or batman stuff tbh. Theres so many different variations on clark kent's origin story that the fic will go out of its way to explain stuff so you know which one they picked, and bruce wayne has this schrodinger's bag of batkids that you sort of just learn about through osmosis
I want to hype my favorite ship that has had me in its grip for years but I don't know how much time you want to spend playing or watching someone else play The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to understand the context. If you're willing to invest the time, there are several very popular Enemies to Lovers and general Hero x Villain ships in that game, my personal bias involving Emet-Selch, the sassy, snarky, and painfully tragic villain of *Shadowbringers*. The player character known as the Warrior of Light can be either gender but F/M is still pretty popular and I love reading what is ostensibly "the same story" over and over again because each writer's unique WoL makes it a whole new story but with the same dynamic I love every time. These two and their relationship and their tragic past just scratch every star-crossed enemies to lovers desire I have and I simply cannot get enough of them. Lots of explicit fics and kink in there too, if that's your thing. Slow burn is also pretty popular, as we love making these two dance around each other for a while before giving into their mutual desire while insisting that's not what happened.
I guess you'd have to read the books, but Holly Black's Folk of the Air series is amazing for this. Jude and Cardan are the type to have knives at each other's throats one moment, making out the next. Lol.
Two fandoms I havenāt seen mentioned that both have canon ETL m/f ships are Once Upon a Time (CaptainSwan) and Supergirl (Kara/Mon-El). Both fandoms also have huge F/F ships which has resulted in lots of ship war drama, but if you stay out of that there are lots of fics out there!
House of the Dragon has some sweet stuff in that regard, if you like reading f/f fics. Although here it's more so Friends (to Lovers) to Enemies to Lovers š the part in brackets depends on what you consider canon.
Shameless self plug of a fic I literally just started:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54379144/chapters/137737585
These two are M/M - Sampo and Gepard from Honkai Star Rail.
Literally their whole spiel is enemies to lovers.
One is the captain of the Guard, loyal, level-headed, and stoic - the other is a lil shithead conman who gives off '70s shoddy second car salesman vibes'
I love them both.
If you want F/M from the same fandom with the same dynamic, Stelle and Sampo fits too.
Jaime/Brienne from game of thrones/a song of ice and fire.
When their story together begins, he's her prisoner. At their current place in the books, they're poised to become lovers.
There are around 10,000 fics for this pairing, and a lot of ETL therein.
The story of kunning Palace is a sea drama and is a great enemies to lovers. It's a historical romance drama with great leads and good plot. My personal favorite is semantic error. But that is a BL. But it's a quick watch and the webtoon is also really good.
idk many f/m enemies to lovers ships but if youāre willing to read f/f, person of interest root/shaw fics are great for that trope. almost all the fics are enemies to lovers bc of the canon dynamic between the pair where one is technically a sociopath.
The Xmen Cherik fandom for sure, though it is M/M the whole pairing is about getting two ideologically opposed frenemies to fall in love.
Idk how anyone watches XMen First Class without thinking that those two are hopeless for each other
I donāt know a whole lot of FM ones, but maybe try Lotor/Allura from Voltron: Legendary Defender, Merlin/Morgana from BBC Merlin (more friends to enemies to lovers), and if you donāt mind MM, Barok/Ryuunoske from The Great Ace Attorney
It's a *tiny* fandom ( as in, last I checked, there were only like three fics on AO3 in total š) but the interactive fiction game [Arcadie: Secondborn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2196980/Arcadie_SecondBorn/) has an ETL ship that's swallowed me whole, in the shape of Main Character (who can be either male or female) x General Stanislas Duval, the main antagonist. The game itself is very much worth playing (even if the Stan route is very short and he's getting more content only in the upcoming sequel). At least two of the fics on AO3 are MC/Stan and I even [commissioned some fanart](https://www.tumblr.com/yinza/706477969026220032/i-will-show-you-no-mercy-on-the-battlefield-and?source=share) for them.
I don't read f/m, but I think maybe RWBY, fire emblem, final fantasy (particularly 14), and the BioWare rpgs have prominent het fanbases and maybe have etl in them. I know There's lots of live action tv shows that have etl pairings too. I'd suggest just looking up the enemies to lovers tag on ao3 and blacklisting the fandoms you've already read. I do that sometimes because I'm also a big etl simp.
Game of Thrones has some wonderful ETL fics, specifically with the Jon/Daenerys pairing. Thatās the fandom I write for and canāt say enough about my fellow writers. So much talent to go around.
These are my two Jonerys ETL fics if youāre interested. Both are completed multi chapters, rated E, modern AU, non incest, one bed trope, extra smutty with a heaping dose of humor thrown in. Think romcom with explicit, porny smut.
[I See You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/34515736/chapters/85909450)
[Underneath It All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29624013/chapters/72826584)
Worm has quite a few. Mostly F/F, but there's a few F/M as well. There's even a few canon couples that count, but they are background characters and unfortunately don't get much focus in fics. The fandom leans pretty hard into secret identity tropes, so a lot of these fics stem from characters forming different relationships in one identity vs the other.
Tomione. Itās like Dramioneā¦except minus the self-loathing that we often see with Draco. Reylo is a good one as well (Kylo Ren + Rey from Star Wars). Loads of fanfic out there.
If you're into anime (jujutsu kaisen), I'm almost 175k into a sukuna x reader enemies to lovers project. [Duality](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2934027)
I would say Tomione (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger) and Tomarry (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter) are more so "enemies-to-lovers". In contrast, Dramione and Drarry are more "rivals-to-lovers".
The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. The books are fantastic, the fandom's overall quality of writing is insanely high. It's F/F, though.
I'll give it a shot. Thank you! š
The Locked Tomb is not devoid of M/F pairings, although none of them are exactly enemies to lovers. The closest pairings there are to that trope are the two threesomes and their components that are 'enemies with benefits' and 'enemies and lovers' tropes. I would really recommend that you read the books first though, they're a very unique journey.
Lesbian Necromancers in Space... Warhammer 40k meets your weird next door neighbor who is now God. need I say more???
Best of luck. If you enjoy audiobooks, those are also marvellous :)
Maybe Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon? This might depend on your tolerance level for canon-typical levels of incest š .
Hey man, I'm desperate at this point š
For the main GOT series, the ETL pairings Iām thinking about include [Jaime/Brienne](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Jaime%20Lannister*s*Brienne%20of%20Tarth) (canon, kind of, itās not endgame in the show), [Jon/Daenerys](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Jon%20Snow*s*Daenerys%20Targaryen/works) (depending on how the writer sets it up), and there are *a lot* of Sansa/whoever fics where they start out as enemies (usually age differences here, like Sansa/Jaime). Honestly, there are so many enemy families in this universe that you could probably find ETL for most characters. It may also be worth checking for genderbends and OCs if thatās your thing, e.g. fem!Jon Snow and/or OC Stark daughter. For HOTD, the ETL pairing that immediately comes to mind is Aemond/Lucerys, which falls into the category of Targcest. Theyāre both canonically male but you can find lots of fem!Lucerys fics (I have a WIP Iāve started posting). There are also *a lot* of Aemond/OC fics where the OC is a daughter on the opposing side (Aemond is part of a faction called the Greens, OC is usually part of the faction called the Blacks). Iām currently active in the HOTD fandom so thatās what I can talk the most about. But depending on what exactly are the dynamics youāre looking for, because ETL can be a spectrum, I can help narrow it down some more. :)
Thank you so much for the in-depth response! I've dabbled in GoT, but haven't touched HOTD, but you've definitely convinced me. My ETL boundaries are pretty wide, I'll take house rivalry to personal vendettas, but you've given me some good ships to work with to find some good stuff. Do you have any personal recs/self promotes you'd like me to check out?
Iāve been writing an [AU series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/3610021) where Rhaenyra, the main character of HOTD, has three legitimate daughters instead of the three sons she has in canon with someone who isnāt her husband. The [first fic in the series](https://archiveofourown.org/works/47856250/chapters/120649333) is in the POV of Daemon, Rhaenyraās second husband (and uncle), as he metaphorically loses his mind because his three stepdaughters are in love with the three āenemyā/Green princes (but the canonical friction between factions is toned down a lot in my AU; this fic has a very comedic tone). There are a few oneshots and spinoffs in the series, but the [second āmainā fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/50191603/chapters/126761284) is about Rhaenyraās oldest daughter and the oldest Green Prince Aegon, who do not have an ETL dynamic. Iām currently working on the [third āmainā fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/54158101/chapters/137128384), which is the aforementioned Aemond/fem!Lucerys. Theyāre probably the closest to an ETL dynamic in my universe, but I feel like their relationship is more āwe were childhood best friends until we had a bad fight, then other stuff happened to make our relationship worse, and we didnāt talk for years because we thought we hated each other but actually weāve been mutually pining all this time.ā A lot of my personal favorite HOTD fics actually arenāt outright ETL fics š . I love [this Aemond/OC WIP](https://archiveofourown.org/works/42633651/chapters/107093142), which is more ācontentious acquaintances to loversā as the author describes in the tags.
Sold. Sold. Sold. SOLD. I'm coming in hot
For GoT, check out the author astolat on AO3, they've written a ton of amazing fic and their got stuff runs hard with etl pairings including some very rare pairs!
Itās crazy how many fics there are about Aemond/Lucerys (House of the Dragon) even though the series just came out last year. And yet a lot of them are also incredibly well written, but in a lot of them one of them is only 14 while the other is 17 or something? (It's canon, but there are also some where both of them are of age if that bothers you). But makes for a really good enemies to lovers story as Lucerys "accidentally" cuts out Aemond'y eye during a fight in their childhood and Aemond later >!kills him for that, BUT also accidentally!<
I choose to follow the in-universe rule of Doctrine of Exceptionalism: incest is bad\*, except itās okay if itās Targaryens. And cousins donāt count as incest in medieval fandoms. *\*bad not actually meaning bad but just not something Iāll read*
Itās not exactly enemies to loversā¦ I mean, it kind of is and it isnāt, but you could try Veronica Mars. Logan and Veronica are pretty epic up there in the fandom.Ā Thereās also Spike and Buffy part in Buffy - the mother of Dramione most likely. At least some of the older Dramione fans have said that they started with Spiffy fics.Ā
I'm definitely old enough that I should have considered Spike and Buffy! š
I have never even thought of Veronica Mars fanfiction. I have a whole new world to explore! Thank you.
Thereās quite a bit! After the atrocious ending of the 4th season (which I just kind of omit myself), I now semi-regularly read fics to get my happy fix with them and imagine that the original ending never happened.Ā
Was a SasuNaru simp for the Naruto fandom for years before the show ended. Itās a huge fandom so youāll be able to dig for as much angst as you want.
Oh hell yeah, hit me with the angst
SasuNaru is truly great enemies to lovers followed by another well-known Sharingan pairs I canāt mention due to spoilers. Honestly if you read Naruto come back to tag me and Iāll give you my angsty fic recs
Oh whoops, you said F/M. In this case, anyone with Sakura in Naruto.
Yeah, gonna second this. There are loads of Sakura fics that have the enemy to lovers dynamics, people love shipping Sakura with antagonists.
Itās the Sasori fight man. Like, I didnāt like Sakura but damn did I ship her with him.
A more niche pairing in the naruto fandom that I would recommend if you like enemies to lovers is madara/tobirama, or izuna/tobirama. Both are from warring clans, and izuna and tobirama are rivals. If f/m is your thing, thereās a lot of fem tobirama to be found
I was never into Naruto. I read maybe four volumes of the manga and saw a few episodes of the show. I didn't hate it, but it didn't grab me, either. But you bet I spent hours reading through SasuNaru fics and doujinshi, and I will die on the top!Sasuke hill.
Oooh I was too but then I read a pissy jealous bottom!Sasuke fic and it was delicious. Unfortunately, itās been years so I donāt even know where it is anymore :(
You can just search the enemies to lovers tag without specifying a fandom: https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Enemies%20to%20Lovers/ There are 136k works in there, over half of them marked "complete." Go nuts. It'll probably also let you find some pairings to look into that wouldn't necessarily have the tag for every fic.
Thank you, I hadn't thought to do that. Just thought I'd directly pipeline myself into the good stuff on recommendations š
I'm late to the thread, but you should absolutely check out enemies-to-lovers fanfictions in the Captain Hook/Wendy Darling tag! There are quite a few gems in there where the author ages Wendy up to an adult in her 20s-30s, only to meet her old ~~crush~~ enemy.
Jason Isaacs Hook? I get it. I get it. I'm in.
Correct, Jason Isaacs' Hook from the 2003 *Peter Pan* movie. Isaacs also stated in a Q&A that Wendy had some weird feelings towards Hook in that movie, but was too young to realize her attraction. People took that and ran with it in fanfiction(s).
Now THIS is what I'm talking about. Thank you so much!
You're welcome! I'll DM you some recommendations from my list.
IāM IN
I can't post recommendations on r/AO3, but I'll DM them to you.
Inuyasha has some great fics that have Sesshomaru and Kagome. I truly adore that pair, and gosh some of them have the best writing.
Would you be willing to recommend some?
Calamity Tempest - Miko's Melody Peace Treaty (this one is on ff dot net, but I promise itās worth it) There are some where theyāre more neutral at first as well, but these are definitely more enemies to lovers
You're the best!! Ty!!
I hope you enjoy them āŗļø
Second this request for recs please!
Come to Victorious. We have the Jori ship :) (I say this as somebody who is also a sucker for enemies to lovers and writes exclusively for this ship, trust me, thereās a looooooot of fics for it)
Omw! Save me a seat
It is F/F but there are plenty of slow burns and a fair bit of mature/explicit. Two of the more iconic ones I can think of right now are āStreetlightsā and āBehind Enemy Linesā
For Legend of Zelda, thereās also Ganondorf/Zelda (or Ganondorf/Link/Zelda) in that fandom. If you want to read Lord of the Rings, Galadriel/Sauron is the most popular pairing from the new tv show. Thereās a huge ETL fandom around Shadow & Bone for the Darkling/Alina. The new Hunger Games movie had a tight ETL narrative around Coriolanus Snow/Lucy Gray and I know thereās a lot of fic for them. Marvel Movies have Shuri/Namor from the new Black Panther movie. Good luck finding something! I have to say Iām not super into ETL trope for the most part but I loved Mizu/Taigen from Blue-Eye Samurai and was gonna rec them before I realized you already were a fan. š©·
Mizu/Taigen will be a lot of people's gateway into ETL I think. It was done so perfectly š
Mizu/Taigen is also discussed extensively as a romantic ship on r/BlueEyeSamurai. š
Seconding Ganondorf/Zelda, you get some INCREDIBLE ETL from that ship
Not fanfic but comic: There's a comic about Zelda trying to break the curse by marrying Ganondorf. I am very not into the pairing but that comic is cool enough that even someone like me likes it. [https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post](https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post)
10000% Final Fantasy 7. A gigantic and old fandom where the king ship of the fandom is essentially the protagonist and the antagonist. Not to mention they both have an insane amount of lore and backstory and complex characterisation, so the creativity people can have in fanfic portrayals is enormous. It's M/M, but Cloud crossdressess, so... uhhh. Maybe give it a go? Sephiroth also has gigantic abandonment issues and is a very emotionally vulnerable being, so if you want some non-classic machismo M/M this pair can still provide some nice food.
I'm not anti F/F or M/M, just have a preference, so I'll definitely check those out! Thank you for taking the time to respond š
Haha, no worries! One of us, one of us :D
Yassssssss I am feral for C/SĀ
Code Geass with Suzalulu. It's not "official" but the progress between the main characters is basically Friend to Enemies to Lovers and it's so good. The fics are amazing. The doujinshi's are beautiful. It's M/M but it's got some great stuff out there. I've seen even some good genderbends of it too. Love these two idiots and the drama they make so much.
I've been meaning to watch Code Geass for the longest time! Can you rec some fics for them?
I would recommend Spike/Buffy from BtVS, based on your interest in that trope and your specifications of canon ETL, F/M, and lots of slow burn/long fics in the mature/explicit rating! In my opinion is pretty much the *pinnacle* of Enemies to Lovers. There are plenty of great fics on Ao3, but there is also an active and long-existing archive at [https://dark-solace.org/elysian/index.php](https://dark-solace.org/elysian/index.php) that has a large library of fics that you might not find elsewhere. Happy to think up specific recs if you are interested further, but definitely worth checking this pairing out either way!
Thank you so much! & Yeah, I'll take any recs you're happy to give!
Okay this one is friends to enemies to lovers which I just love. Catra x Adora (Fandom: She Ra and The Princesses of Power 2018)
Iām a sucker for ETL too! *high five* I made [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/s/f6jdUcleEY) recently asking about recs of this type, maybe you find some more inspo there!
ETL crew *high five* Read through your post the other day, saw the abundance of M/M and had to take the plunge for F/M requests.
I tend to prefer F/M ships too (another \*high five\* haha) Right now I can only think of Spuffy and Reylo as F/M ships where there are a lot of fics already. Of course Iām also sneakily sliding in my OTP Cedric/Orube but they have so little space in the canon that you need a bit of imagination for a proper ETL. Iām gonna publish my take on that soon tho!
Labyrinth, maybe? I think Jareth/Sarah qualifies as enemies to lovers. I've just started poking around the fandom; taking a dive into my youth, LOL. The other that came to mind was an M/M ship, though. Lotor/Lance from Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Oh yeah, I'd say that Jareth/Sarah can qualify; really depends on the fic, but I've seen fics that go a more friendly route as well as the highly competitive and spicy route. But all my Labyrinth reading was 15 years ago š
Yāall come back to labyrinthā¦there are so many good newer fics. lol. The classics are still classics but fangamerbowiextreme has a new one called Unseeled that is amazing. I started writing them in 2020 after reading them for almost a decade.
Not exclusively F/M but Good Omens! There are some great explicit enemies to lovers fics and theyāre often very gender-bendy. Also just generally great media.
Looooooooved Good Omens š immaculate ETL vibes
So good itās taken over my brain
FFXIV if you get into a couple specific ships Unfortunately they donāt make a lot of sense absent the context of the game so your mileage is likely to vary wildly Listing the most commmon ship in spoilers bc ā¦ it really kinda is a spoiler in its own right for the end of Shadowbringers >!Warrior of Light (player character/Emet-Selch!< Itās technically danced around in canon but is made as close to explicit as these particular devs get in Endwalker
Seconding the spoilered ship! They are mostly written F/M but unfortunately, the fics written for them can't be read fandom blind because what makes them so good lies deeply in the game's story.
(Iām working on a m/m one butā¦.its nowhere near ready for posting)
They are my OTP so I welcome any new fics for them! Good luck on the writing process! š
Katara/Zuko in AtLA has some fantastic fics too (Do I ignore Korra bc AtLA set this pairing up too damn well to shit on it in canon? Yes, yes I do)
I don't personally know, but could you req me some good Zutara fics? I'm curious. Never shipped them, but now I wanna see.
With pleasure. [Incendiary ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35975992) Not complete, but a master in ETL bonding and balancing awkward tension between characters. Very realistic. [Call Me Katto](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2127669/chapters/4644864) Mulan/Avatar crossover with amazing characterisations and a strong female lead. AU and totally OOC but chefs kiss.
I read your recommendations and loved them. Do you have anymore?
I read this a very long time ago (not sure how it holds up now) but I remember loving it. [The Black Games ](https://m.fanfiction.net/s/7023280/1/The-Black-Games)
i would recommend going to overwatch for some ETL ...tho i should warn you there is gonna be a lot of smut
Definitely second House of the Dragon and raise you Resident Evil! Lots of enemies to lovers, just watch out for monster porn if thatās not your thing š
Monster porn, you say? Count me in.
Definitely check out The Cruel Prince trilogy by Holly Black.
Sky and Ward - Agents of SHIELD
Bungou Stray Dogs. There's some F/M ships, but the most popular are M/M. (Dazai/Chuuya, and then Akutagawa/Atsushi).Ā
I don't think I see it here, but The 100? I know Bellarke has a lot of enemies to lovers fics. I always adored their ship when I was invested in the show, back in the early days, and the first soulmate/mark fic I ever read was that ship.
Oooo thank you! š Love me a good soulmate fic
If you're interested, here it is. I had to dig it up! Honestly, put me down memory lane for a re-read. š https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677053
Thank you very much! Night's reading sorrrrrrted
If you donāt mind the age gap, Rivamika fics from Attack on Titan are spectacular for this dynamic and thereās a pretty clear overlap with folks who like Dramione and Zutara.
I'm not sure if you would be okay with reading fan comics but there's a fan comic for the Zelda franchise where Zelda and Gannondorf enter an arranged marriage to try and break from the same cycle of Gannondorf trying to take over Hyrule, Zelda needing to be rescued by Link and Link having to be the hero. In fact Link is lowkey taken out of the equation (though he's still around but not I'm not gonna risk ruining any spoilers for you :) ). The comic is called [Tale of Two Rulers](https://figmentforms.tumblr.com/post/139806271367/a-tale-of-two-rulers-archive-post)and it's definitely enemies to lovers.
Eyyyy, I'm a patron for this comic! It's a phenomenal rec!
Thank you! At first i wasn't sure how well that whole idea behind the comic would work but it somehow works xD And I love it!
Durarara I think.
the scum-villains self saving system really didn't like the book all that much, but the fanfics? the fanfics make it worthwhile
came here to suggest ATLA but i see youāve already been enlightened
Baptised š
I got into SuperBat for the enemies to lovers. Didn't even need to really read or watch any superman or batman stuff tbh. Theres so many different variations on clark kent's origin story that the fic will go out of its way to explain stuff so you know which one they picked, and bruce wayne has this schrodinger's bag of batkids that you sort of just learn about through osmosis
Legend of Zelda. Ganondorf/Link. Sorry not sorry.
Iām currently writing a F/M enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, slow burn fic for Baldurās Gate 3/DnD if you are interested.
I am SO DOWN for that!
Itās called The Things We Do For the Ones We Love https://archiveofourown.org/works/52813264
Omniscient reader viewpoint? The dynamic is kind of complex but hits a lot of the same notes for me
I want to hype my favorite ship that has had me in its grip for years but I don't know how much time you want to spend playing or watching someone else play The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV to understand the context. If you're willing to invest the time, there are several very popular Enemies to Lovers and general Hero x Villain ships in that game, my personal bias involving Emet-Selch, the sassy, snarky, and painfully tragic villain of *Shadowbringers*. The player character known as the Warrior of Light can be either gender but F/M is still pretty popular and I love reading what is ostensibly "the same story" over and over again because each writer's unique WoL makes it a whole new story but with the same dynamic I love every time. These two and their relationship and their tragic past just scratch every star-crossed enemies to lovers desire I have and I simply cannot get enough of them. Lots of explicit fics and kink in there too, if that's your thing. Slow burn is also pretty popular, as we love making these two dance around each other for a while before giving into their mutual desire while insisting that's not what happened.
Harry Potter for Drarry
I guess you'd have to read the books, but Holly Black's Folk of the Air series is amazing for this. Jude and Cardan are the type to have knives at each other's throats one moment, making out the next. Lol.
Two fandoms I havenāt seen mentioned that both have canon ETL m/f ships are Once Upon a Time (CaptainSwan) and Supergirl (Kara/Mon-El). Both fandoms also have huge F/F ships which has resulted in lots of ship war drama, but if you stay out of that there are lots of fics out there!
Thank you, kindly! Will definitely be staying out of the ship wars
I will also recommend both shows themselves! Neither is high art, but theyāre well made and fun, with good writing and acting.
House of the Dragon has some sweet stuff in that regard, if you like reading f/f fics. Although here it's more so Friends (to Lovers) to Enemies to Lovers š the part in brackets depends on what you consider canon. Shameless self plug of a fic I literally just started: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54379144/chapters/137737585
Thank you!
Also honestly can highly recommend the show itself, House of the Dragon is pretty sweet!
These two are M/M - Sampo and Gepard from Honkai Star Rail. Literally their whole spiel is enemies to lovers. One is the captain of the Guard, loyal, level-headed, and stoic - the other is a lil shithead conman who gives off '70s shoddy second car salesman vibes' I love them both. If you want F/M from the same fandom with the same dynamic, Stelle and Sampo fits too.
Jaime/Brienne from game of thrones/a song of ice and fire. When their story together begins, he's her prisoner. At their current place in the books, they're poised to become lovers. There are around 10,000 fics for this pairing, and a lot of ETL therein.
well divergent (eric especially) but there arenāt many good fics
Miraculous, in my opinion the fics are better then the show Chloe/Marinette or Lila/Marinette are good ones.
Technically more lovers to enemies but Silmarillion girlies know about Silvergifting
Dunno if you like DC BUT Gotham TV series has a lot of potential. Been haunting that fandom for years now lol
I'll 100% dive into a new fandom for good fics š
The story of kunning Palace is a sea drama and is a great enemies to lovers. It's a historical romance drama with great leads and good plot. My personal favorite is semantic error. But that is a BL. But it's a quick watch and the webtoon is also really good.
(If youāre open to M/M) Can I interest you in some Sekifura?Ā (final fantasy VII, Cloud/Sephiroth)Ā
I feel like you're opening your shady lil cloak to me and offering me a sun dial (niche reference) I'm in š
Haha thatās exactly what I was going for! /HerculesĀ
idk many f/m enemies to lovers ships but if youāre willing to read f/f, person of interest root/shaw fics are great for that trope. almost all the fics are enemies to lovers bc of the canon dynamic between the pair where one is technically a sociopath.
I'm saving this post for later so I can come check all the ideas after I read all I like from my fandoms lmao
Game of thrones and The 100
The Xmen Cherik fandom for sure, though it is M/M the whole pairing is about getting two ideologically opposed frenemies to fall in love. Idk how anyone watches XMen First Class without thinking that those two are hopeless for each other
I donāt know a whole lot of FM ones, but maybe try Lotor/Allura from Voltron: Legendary Defender, Merlin/Morgana from BBC Merlin (more friends to enemies to lovers), and if you donāt mind MM, Barok/Ryuunoske from The Great Ace Attorney
Avatar the last Airbender Sokka x Zuko fics are so adorable because enemies to lovers is good shit
Is RPF talk allowed here? Specifically sports RPF? :)
Jojoās Bizarre adventure
It's a *tiny* fandom ( as in, last I checked, there were only like three fics on AO3 in total š) but the interactive fiction game [Arcadie: Secondborn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2196980/Arcadie_SecondBorn/) has an ETL ship that's swallowed me whole, in the shape of Main Character (who can be either male or female) x General Stanislas Duval, the main antagonist. The game itself is very much worth playing (even if the Stan route is very short and he's getting more content only in the upcoming sequel). At least two of the fics on AO3 are MC/Stan and I even [commissioned some fanart](https://www.tumblr.com/yinza/706477969026220032/i-will-show-you-no-mercy-on-the-battlefield-and?source=share) for them.
The 100, Bellamy and Clarke
Shizaya!
Original Fiction.
I don't read f/m, but I think maybe RWBY, fire emblem, final fantasy (particularly 14), and the BioWare rpgs have prominent het fanbases and maybe have etl in them. I know There's lots of live action tv shows that have etl pairings too. I'd suggest just looking up the enemies to lovers tag on ao3 and blacklisting the fandoms you've already read. I do that sometimes because I'm also a big etl simp.
Game of Thrones has some wonderful ETL fics, specifically with the Jon/Daenerys pairing. Thatās the fandom I write for and canāt say enough about my fellow writers. So much talent to go around. These are my two Jonerys ETL fics if youāre interested. Both are completed multi chapters, rated E, modern AU, non incest, one bed trope, extra smutty with a heaping dose of humor thrown in. Think romcom with explicit, porny smut. [I See You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/34515736/chapters/85909450) [Underneath It All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29624013/chapters/72826584)
You just said all my favourite things! Thank you!
Rio/Beth šš
Worm has quite a few. Mostly F/F, but there's a few F/M as well. There's even a few canon couples that count, but they are background characters and unfortunately don't get much focus in fics. The fandom leans pretty hard into secret identity tropes, so a lot of these fics stem from characters forming different relationships in one identity vs the other.
Tomione. Itās like Dramioneā¦except minus the self-loathing that we often see with Draco. Reylo is a good one as well (Kylo Ren + Rey from Star Wars). Loads of fanfic out there.
Good omens
If you're into anime (jujutsu kaisen), I'm almost 175k into a sukuna x reader enemies to lovers project. [Duality](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2934027)
Dramione or Drarry in Harry Potter has lots of those tropes
I would say Tomione (Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger) and Tomarry (Tom Riddle/Harry Potter) are more so "enemies-to-lovers". In contrast, Dramione and Drarry are more "rivals-to-lovers".