a writing guide to rivals (or enemies) to lovers + writing prompts
note: these are more rivals to lovers than anything, but you can use them for enemies to lovers as well.Β
oh, youβre walking through this door? let me just ~politely~ slam the door in your face on the way out
i know weβre technically supposed to be fighting each other with swords, but you ended up on the ground and i fell on top of you, and woahβ¦ i never noticed how attractive you are until now, so let me just appreciate for a moment β wHY THE HELL DID YOU JUST SHOVE MEΒ
youβve got me pinned against the wall and iβm not sure if i want to kiss you, or kill you. probably bothΒ
ββi know weβre, likeβ¦ friends now, or whatever, butβ¦ iβd still kick your ass.ββ ββlike you could ever beat me.ββ but they do, in fact, beat them.
so youβre justβ¦ not going to respect my take on this whole thing and go against everything i just said? thatβs fine. iβll just do the same thing and β oh, you didnβt like that? okay. O K A Y . and obviously, theyβre doing it out of spiteΒ
character A says ββiβm going to kill you.ββ and character B takes a step close, theyβre so close now, if character B bends their head, theyβd be kissing, and character Bβs intensely staring into character Aβs eyes, and character Aβs likeβ¦ shit . THIS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED ABORT MISSION ABORT ABORT ABOR ββΒ
OH NO β my love interest has said that they donβt care if anything happens to me, but now iβm about to die, and theyβre risking their own life by running into a burning building to save me!!!!! also, did they just scream my name before bursting into the building??? god why do they sound so,,, worried????Β
okay, soβ¦ did weβ¦ did we just hugβ¦ dude. let, let go of me. letβs just. letβs just pretend this didnβt happen. *cough* iβm going to walk away now. okay. BYEΒ
ββis that a smile?ββ ββif you tell anyone about this, i swear to god, iβll kill you.ββΒ
so somebody ends up on somebodyβs lap and holy shit maybe the tension isβ¦ unbearableΒ
when they share an intimate moment, or maybe even a kiss, and theyβre both so confused by it, they completely derail. like, they justβ¦ stop working. because what the HELL just happened and then they just stareΒ at each other and nobody says a word until one of them turns around and SPRINTS out of the roomΒ
ββgo ahead, do it. if youβre so convinced youβll kill me, do it.ββ faster than a bullet, character A grabs a knife, handing it over to character B, who, of course, despite having spent the last couple of months claiming they would kill their love interest, and leave them for dead, canβt bring themselves to grab the knife, and actually do it
you ever just get so annoyed by a person, and what they have to say, that you snatch hold of knife and throw it into the wall behind them with all of your strength yeah me neither but maybe this fictional couple would
using seduction to try and throw each other off balance, usually by taking their clothes off in front of the other person, and itβs working
you just took a friend of mine hostage, and your crewβs been torturing themβ¦ i just found out about it, and iβm so disappointed, and thereβs tears in my eyes, and the other characterβs like, holy hell it fucking hurts seeing you like thatβ¦ and knowing that my crew did that, that i did that to youβ¦ that iβm responsibleβ¦Β
when character A is really sad, and justβ¦ out of nowhere, wraps themselves into character Bβs arms and starts cryingβ¦ and character Bβs just likeβ¦ what the hellβ¦? we hate each other? but ok iβll let it slide this time
thereβs only one bed, but this time theyβre arguing over who has to sleep on the floor, in which nobody agrees to do, so they end up in the same bed, incredibly annoyed that they have to share their space (itβs not like friends to lovers, in which they both awkwardly get into bed and laughs it off. this is straight up just. i will set this bed on fire if you donβt stay over on your side)
do these two do anything other than be at each otherβs throats. like. can they hold oNE conversation without arguing over something
so youβre just. youβre just going to chain me up against this tree. okay. thatβs fine. thatβs totally fine. iβm fine.Β
when one of them realizes that theyβve gone too far, and they show up at their love interestβs door to apologize, but the following conversation happens;Β ββwhy are you here?ββ ββiβm here because i want to apologize.ββ ββwell, i donβt want you here, so go away.ββ followed by the character getting the door slammed in their face.
THE FIRST KISS β and total denial after it happened, and theyβre convincing themselves that thereβs nothing going on between themβ¦ and they pull away from the kiss, and look at each other, and theyβre just likeβ¦ yeah. just realized iβm head over heels in love with this person but if i speak i will die
when theyβre having a moment, and one of the characters says ββyou hate me.ββ and the other character replies with ββmaybe i donβt hate you entirelyββ
when character Aβs crew has taken character B hostage, and character A finds out theyβre to be executed, and suddenly itβs this race against the clock to try and save character Bβs life, while also trying to not reveal to their crew that theyβre head over heels in love with the enemy
itβs not enemies to lovers if the characters hasnβt tried to kill each other at least once, or betrayed each other, or put a friend or a loved one of the other person in dangerΒ
literally, how much do i have to stress this, enemies to lovers, theyβve got to raise hell in each otherβs lives, enemies to lovers is not about sitting around a campfire and singing kumbaya, enemies to lovers means iβm covered in blood, and if youβre not careful, itβs soon be yours
and rivals to lovers is, youβre covered in blood, but since youβre here, iβll help you clean it up, but if you get blood on my carpet, you better runΒ
IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME TO SLOW BURN, ITβS RIVALS OR TO LOVERS. ITβS ALL!!!!! ABOUT!!!!! THE YEArning!!!!!! THESE ASSHOLES ARE FILLED WITH TOO MUCH PRIDE TO ADMIT THEYβRE IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER!!!!!!













