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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46074
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

How does love work? It's strange. It needs attraction, it has chemistry and most certainly, it does not care who is friend or foe.

The mere fact that they fall in love is not a problem. The real question you should ask yourself is: How to write it in a way that your readers don't go onto the barricade demanding you to burn the story on a stake?

There are LOTS of ways to do this. Let's take a look at some tropes that deal with this **(tvtropes warning!)**:

- [Foe Yay](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FoeYay)
  - [~ Shipping](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FoeYayShipping) - This is when the READERS decide that the two belong together... despite the Author claiming the opposite.
  - [Foe Romance Subtext](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FoeRomanceSubtext) - Their relationship is more implied, sometimes crosses over into the Villainous Crush. If they make it into text, see Dating Catwoman.
  - [Dating Catwoman](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DatingCatwoman) - They go out while still being opposed sides. It puts stress onto the relationship in strange ways. Catwoman & Batman are an obvious example. Can lead to Defecting for Love.
  - [Slap-Slap-Kiss](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SlapSlapKiss) - The instant type of fighting and getting the protagonists to kiss for one reason or another. Can (in some stories) lead to [Destructo Nookie](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DestructoNookie). Without kiss it's [Belligerent Sexual Tension](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BelligerentSexualTension).
  - [Love at first punch](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveAtFirstPunch) - Similar to the kiss, love from fighting.
  - [Villainous Crush](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainousCrush) - For some reason, the antagonist opposes the protagonist _because_ they have a crush on them. Some depictions of the Joker are this to Batman. See also [Stalker with a crush](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StalkerWithACrush), [Villainess wants Hero](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainessesWantHeroes), [Mind Game Ship](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MindGameShip) and [In love with your Carnage](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InLoveWithYourCarnage). Can lead to Dating Catwoman and further.
  - [Defecting for Love](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DefectingForLove) - When the love leads to redeeming/corrupting one of the two.

Original score: 2