Thanks to the wonderful @welldressedllama for the tag! 🥰 Just for funsies, this time I’m doing enemies-to-lovers/rivals-to-lovers/maybe-not-traditional-enemies-but-way-too-antagonistic-to-not-fit-the-bill-to-lovers edition. In no particular order:

1) Macy Vaughn x Abigael Jameson-Caine (Macigael) - Charmed CW

I ultimately respect the AbiMel plot, but these two were literally Right There. Excellent chemistry from moment one and they perfectly mirrored each other with Macy as a witch with demon blood (struggling with darkness) and Abigael as a demon with witch blood (struggling to accept lightness). To think of what could have been with the two of them and the acceptance of good and bad and the whole complex mess of the self makes me insaneeee

2) Nicky Shen x Zhilan Zhang (Zhicky) - Kung Fu CW

Idek what to say their dynamic was just so fun and watching them begrudgingly grow close was chef's kiss.

3) Eve Polastri x Villanelle (Villaneve) - Killing Eve

Literally THE enemies to lovers imho. What more do I need to say? Eve said seduction into my darkness? Yes please. Villanelle said feel emotions for one (1) woman and obsess over her? Okay. They're enemies AND lovers. They've both tried to kill each other. So? They get each other like no one else. No one's doing it like them

4) Scott McCall x Theo Raeken (Sceo) - Teen Wolf

Sorry but I'm clawing at the walls, gnawing on my hands, howling at the moon over them. Exploring all the tension and the guilt and the fear and the longing is delicious. And the layer of long-lost friends? The subtle seduction into trust and the mutual destruction on Theo's part? Sorry I'm crazy about it sorry.

5) Mona Vanderwaal x Spencer Hastings (Vanderstings/Spemona?) - Pretty Little Liars

Somebody in this fandom needs to tell me right meow why they're not a bigger thing??? Quintessential 'they hate each other's guts but no one matches their freak better'. Throw Hanna in the mix and that's the perfect formulation, but they hold their own on enemies-to-lovers grounds sooooooo well.

6) Raven Reyes x John Murphy (Murven) - The 100

Truth be told they're not my top ship for each other BUT they are the epitome of enemies to friends (to lovers). Some of the best relationship development I can think of.

7) Bonnie Bennett x Nora Hildegard (Bonnora) - The Vampire Diaries

Literally why were they not a thing? Bonenzo ily but look at them! They had such a fun little antagonistic flirty thing and Nora was canonically crushing on Bonnie. All I want is queer Bonnie and I was so close to having it

8) Kitty Covey x Yuri Han (Kitturi) - XO Kitty

Kitty literally took one look at rival Yuri making music and crossed that thin line from hate to love. Girl was like "I will take this Angry tension and transform it into Sexual tension" and I respect that

9) Kathani "Kate" Sharma x Anthony Bridgerton (Kanthony) - Bridgerton

I've only watched one full episode and seen random bits here and there but I'm obsessed with her and I'm obsessed with them. Literally scene one I was all in. They are the bane of my existence and the object of all my desires

10) Luke Alvez x Penelope Garcia (Garvez) - Criminal Minds

I missed Morgan as much as the next guy, but Penelope and Luke's banter and chemistry is unmatched. Shame on the new seasons for lying to me and saying they went on a date but didn't have the same chemistry, that is such Bull

Honorable mention: Zafira x Nasir (Nasira? Nafira?) from the Sands of Arawiya duology, who I feel I cannot officially include because I have only read a small excerpt so far, but I expect to like very much

Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3

I think the highlight of this episode, for me, was seeing Nicky and Zhilan on screen together. They don't interact often, but when they do, sparks fly! There's so much sexual tension there.

It was also cool to see how well they worked together. I mean, Zhilan blackmailed her into it, but after a while it was easy to forget that fact because their teamwork felt so natural.

While I did want to see Russell Tan play a bigger role in this episode, I understand why they kept the focus on the Nicky vs. Zhilan conflict. Like I mentioned before, these characters are both heroes of their own stories and the duality they represent is at the core of this season.

The final fight between them was really well done in that it pretty concretely showed how even though Zhilan is also a 'chosen one' and even though she's smarter, physically stronger, and has more resources/fewer 'liabilities' than Nicky, she was never going to win this fight because she wasn't secure enough in her attachments to let go of her fear and pain, which meant that she was never going to offload Biange in order to use it against Nicky like Nicky did to her. Biange was all Zhilan had, she sacrificed two people (the only people) that she loved in order to get to it, so she was going to hold onto that power no matter what. Nicky, on the other hand, had her family and friends waiting for her. She didn't need that power to validate her life and choices.

Anyway, I think it was a fair ending for Zhilan. I'm glad she made it out alive because I love her and her story still has so much potential, but she did kill multiple people and it would feel cheap (and undo some of her character development) if she didn't have to face real consequences for her actions.

Not sure how I feel about Nicky's mystery cousin being setup as next season's villain (ngl, mainly because I really want Zhilan to come back and with Russell Tan in the mix, three season villains might be too much), but I'm kind of excited to see where it goes (it's also another opportunity for a Zhicky teamup to happen).

'intimately.'