fan of many colors

Zutara Week 2020 Day 3: Fuse

I ran through several different roughs for this prompt, and couldn’t come up with anything satisfactory. So… I just settled on a make out sesh with neat water and fire effects. Yes, I had just gotten digital watercolor brushes when I did this. Yes, I went overboard. Sorry it’s a bit rough. 

You’ll find nooo consistent art style on this blog. I am but an empty shell of an artist. Ha. 

I think a lot of people misunderstand why enemies to lovers is so popular. It’s quickly become one of the most pervasive tropes in many novels. Is it the banter, the tension? That’s definitely part of it. But if that were true, then friends-to-lovers and literally any romance with good dialogue and characterization would scratch the same itch. For some, it does, but for many…enemies-to-lovers just hits different. 

My theory is that it isn’t actually about love, not really. I think it fulfils a fantasy that no other trope can provide: the fantasy of being seen as an equal. 

Think about what specifically makes someone an enemy in fiction. It’s not just someone the MC dislikes, it’s someone who can affect them in tangible ways, maybe even have the power to ruin them, challenge their worldview, expose their weaknesses, etc. The relationship begins with conflict because the characters are fundamentally opposed in some way. It doesn’t matter why, but they’re fighting. There is a struggle for dominance. 

I would argue that the most impactful enemies-to-lovers moments are never the romantic moments, they’re the scenes where power shifts. They BOTH lose: they’re forced into a position that would have horrified them at the beginning of the story. They end up needing (or wanting) each other. 

That’s why I think people are often disappointed when a supposed enemies-to-lovers story turns out to be a milquetoast attempt where they’re just kinda mean to each other for a few pages, and then immediately start making out. Where’s the risk, the actual threat? If the characters aren’t capable of genuinely affecting one another, then the relationship isn’t actually transforming in a satisfying way. The appeal is in the fact that they have power over each other, because the eventual trust they build requires real surrender.

Because here’s the thing about enemies; they pay attention, and usually more attention than anyone else. They notice weaknesses because they’re actively looking for them, they notice strengths because they need to account for them. They notice habits, blind spots, ambitions, fears. 

They study the MC with a level of scrutiny that borders (and later crosses) intimate, but unlike friends (or supporting characters in the MC’s corner) they’re not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, they don’t overlook flaws out of affection. Which is exactly what makes the eventual romance so satisfying. It feels earned. 

It’s easy to imagine being loved by someone who sees the best version of you, but it’s an entirely different thing to be loved by someone who has seen you at your worst. That’s why this dynamic often feels more convincing than romances where the characters are immediately into each other.

I imagine there are many who go through life feeling misunderstood, or worse, that the people who love them only love the polished, perfect version they present to the world, almost like impostor syndrome. But what if there was someone who couldn’t be fooled by this carefully constructed image? 

When someone more powerful chooses someone, maybe the fantasy is protection. When it’s someone less powerful, the fantasy might be admiration. But if there’s someone intelligent and observant enough to see the MC as an equal, the fantasy there is the most intense and honest validation. 

Enemies to lovers at it's best is a wonderfully versatile kind of romance, because in the good ones you get things like:

How do you navigate opposing world views? Who challenges your ideals and values to make you a better person? How do you compromise? Because, in a good enemies-to-lovers, it can't actually be that the antagonist was never right about anything or that the protagonist was perfect, or there wouldn't be that mutual respect/attraction. They affect each other. They change each other.

Sacrifice - it's easy to love your friends, it can be easy to love when it doesn't cost you anything, but loving an enemy? What would you actually give up for love? What wouldn't you? When is love enough and when isn't it?

Redemption - not in the 'sad backstory' way, but in the way that you can be forgiven and loved despite the most monstrous or shameful things you have ever done

All of these themes tie into vulnerability, our sense of self, and our power over ourselves and others.

In a good enemies-to-lovers story I don't think it can ever feel like they are just together because it's a romance story. You have to earn it.

two lovers, forbidden from one another,

+ Fandom is not social media. It's a creative and community-based space where people share in mutual love (and/or frustration with!) a specific text, whatever that might be. The rules you've internalized for social media mostly do not apply.

+ The only requirement of fandom is passion. If you genuinely love whatever your fandom is, that is enough. That's all you have to bring. Fandom is for people who are nerdy and get more attached to things than "normal" people do. This space exists for you to dive deep into your nerdiness. Self-consciousness is the enemy.

+ Fandom is a hobby. You don't have to be good at a hobby, you only have to enjoy doing it. That's all.

+ It's more than okay to lurk for a while. You don't have to immediately plunge into participating. In fact, we used to use the phrase "lurk moar" as a reminder that the best way to learn the culture of a specific community is by observation. Almost all fans have a period of time where they just watch what everyone else is doing before they start to interact with others. Take that time, but also don't let inertia keep you from joining in when you feel ready!

+ The economy of fandom is based around gifts. No one is doing this to make money. In fact, we legally can't make money off of most of what we do (and people should not try). We create so that other people will be able to take joy in something we mutually love. If someone creates something beautiful for you, make something for them!

+ That said, if you don't feel that creative drive yourself or if you don't feel confident enough in your own creations, there is no obligation for you to share those kinds of things. If all you want to do is comment on other people's creations and reblog other people's posts, that's okay! That's still makes you a valuable part of the fannish ecosystem! Don't feel guilty because you can't or don't create things! Some of my most beloved friends and fandom members are people who "only" comment/reblog/etc. Fandom isn't fandom without them! Most people who create do so at least partly for the comments, so by providing them, you're fueling further fannish creativity! You are the gasoline that makes the engine run!

+ Fannish creativity, whether fic or art or vids or whatever, is not content. It does not exist for you to consume in the way that social media content does. It exists for you to enjoy and engage with and react to. It exists to inspire you to create on your own. Each fannish thing someone creates is an invitation to squee with them over this thing that you both love. It's the opening salvo in a conversation. Talk back to the people who start the conversation if you want them to keep creating!

+ You don't have to worry about appearing weird if you engage with older content. There is no such thing as something too old to react to. The creator may have moved on or they may not have, but if you read a fic that's 20+ years old, it is not a faux pas to comment on it (I occasionally get comments on fics that are 20+ years old and it delights me more than I can say to know that something I wrote as a college student is still bringing someone joy so many years later!). If you find a tumblr post that's from 6 years ago, it's totally cool to like and/or reblog it. If you love a show from the 60s or a book from the 19th century or an epic from antiquity, it's awesome to share your love. You may not find people who will engage with you about it--but you also might! There are existing fandoms for things that are decades or even centuries old!

+ Two cakes theory is one of fandom's most important principles. No matter how lowly you think your creative offering is, there is someone out there who will enjoy it. I guarantee it. They may or may not tell you that they enjoy it (I won't lie, it can discouraging to create and not get any confirmation via comments and such that someone enjoyed it), but someone out there appreciated it. I know it's hard, but try not to compare your stuff to other people's.

+ Don't be afraid to reach out a hand. As in real life, sometimes you have to be the first one to reach out. Send a message. Start a chat. Reply on the post of someone who doesn't follow you. As long as you're positive and respectful, 85% of people will be excited that someone is talking to them. 10% will feel neutrally about it. Only 5% will think its weird or intrusive. And fuck those people, tbh. They don't deserve you.

+ Lean into what you have in common with someone else. Find someone who loves that specific side character as much as you do. Find someone who's written three fics for that fandom that only has six total fics. Find someone who has the same very unpopular take on a juggernaut ship as you do. And when you reach out your hand as encouraged in the last bullet point, do it by talking about the thing you both love. If someone gets a message from a stranger flailing about their blorbo, they're going to be excited that someone else loves their blorbo.

+ Stay positive. By this, I don't mean that you can't critique things about your fandom or its canon. You can! You should! But make sure that you genuinely love something about that fandom. That it's the love that's pulling you back in. Pure haterism is a bad way to spend your time and while it might feel good to hate with other people, that's only fun in small doses (and mostly in private). If you do it all the time, you'll become the kind of person others don't want to be around.

+ Small fandoms can be just as much fun as large fandoms. If you find one or two other people who love something the way you love it, that can be more than enough. Quality matters more than quantity in fandom, and in fact, the bigger the fandom is, the harder it can be to have a good experience.

Oh my gosh, yes! I don't use algorithmically-based websites/platforms/apps, so it didn't even occur to me that I needed to talk about this! But yes, there are no algorithms in fandom! Zero on AO3! The ones on Tumblr mostly don't work or have much of an affect on what gets seen or interacted with and mostly doesn't!

The dining room at Jedha looked like a war zone.

Not that this was unusual. It was a warm, inviting place, fancy without sacrificing family-friendly. The food was a bit famous, locally. It was a popular spot. But it didn't usually look like a stampede of tourists and torn though it. Cassian was a bit floored, really. He thought it had been a mess behind the curtain tonight, but things really didn't look any better out here.

what in the