“Hello, fellow evildoers! I’m Jim Moriarty and I’m thrilled to be giving my first ever Good-Sinful Alliance speech to you today.
This past Valentine’s Day, the Good-Sinful Alliance discussed love in the time of evil. Comments were made about the harmfulness that comes from the stereotype of villains as incapable of love or devoted only to their cold-hearted schemes.
Of course, some villains do avoid dating! They prefer purely platonic relationships, filled with only cackling and cuddling. This is perfectly all right.
But what about villains who are lovesick? Our earlier discussion of evil focused on evil ways to earn the love of the object of your affections; now I think it’s time to talk about something completely different. I would like to talk about the perils of dating in the villainous world.
There are, broadly speaking, three types of romantic relationships that a villain may have.
Villain / villain – This one is the most societally acceptable. It is considered completely normal for villains to date other villains of the same rank (more on that just below). A well-known example would be Cersei and Jaime Lannister. They are socially matched – indeed, they are… brother and sister… but I don’t want to think too much about that. Moving on.
Villain / minion – This sort of relationship is a bit awkward, I’ll admit. If you dated an underling, it would doubtless cause a stir. People might accuse you of favoritism because you always trust that particular minion to carry out your most important schemes! But don’t worry – I’m sure many others would just think it’s sweet of you. A famous example is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and Bellatrix Lestrange.
Villain / enemy – THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING, YOU GUYS. But sometimes it simply can’t be helped! Sometimes you just find yourself drawn to your greatest nemesis. You constantly think about their eyes (that deduce everything), their curly hair, how hot they look in that long coat… I mean, seriously – when theirs is the only mind that has ever equaled yours, how can the two of you not be made for each other? A popular example would be, um… oh, all right, um, Sherlock Holmes and… myself.
Oh, shut up. Yes, I’ve been Sherlocked. Anyway, the examples above should give you an idea of the responses you’ll get once you begin dating as a villain. And remember, before you begin dating anyone, ask yourself this one simple question: are you really committed to this person?
Do you love them thiiiiiiiiis much?
Wouldn’t want to, ahem, fall out of love, now would you?”
Musings From Neville's Navel 
Come to think of it, there’s a pretty strong pattern in Ayn Rand’s novels of enemies as lovers. One side is, in some sense, trying to counteract or destroy the other, while also being passionately drawn to the other. This happens in different forms in Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead and We The Living. Can you think of any other novels in which this sort of relationship is portrayed?
*giggles* I’m pretty sure this is the reason for all the Drarry fanfiction, etc. Opposites attract and so on.
Hmmm. Honestly, I’d say Tris/Four is kind of an example. While they’re on the same side and neither one is evil, I think sometimes they seem like enemies. Even when Four has calmed down and Tris is initiated/almost there, he still seems really confrontational.
…which is weird and slightly worrying because it seems like people interpret romantic tension / slowly building chemistry (which are both awesome) as “LET’S HAVE THE GUY ACT SCARY AND POSSESSIVE. AND MAYBE THREATENING TOO.”
…also, I thought about it some more and I can’t think of any canon enemy/nemesis pairings. All I could think of was Master/Doctor from series three, and I’m not sure that exactly counts. 🙂
I’ll have you know I did not ship Sherlock and Moriarty at all until I read this.
Then my mission is complete. xD
I didn’t really consider Sheriarty to be a possibility but then THAT ROOF SCENE and DOES MORIARTY NOT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF PERSONAL SPACE?
Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for commenting!
*clears throat* I would like to add that, with the momentum achieved by Benedict and Andrew in that almost-kiss, they would have actually had to kiss. It would be impossible for them to stop their movement in time and still make the shot look natural. So there you go, your Sheriarty fun fact of the day! 🙂
I think they said as much in some interview, too, actually. 😛 Yay Sheriarty!