February 2025

Happenings…

My favorite grumpy x sunshine duos…

I’m sure I must have seen this tweet when it was making its rounds, but this isn’t a trope I thought much about when I started writing Sorcery and Small Magics in spring of 2020. It wasn’t until later, when I was trying to break the book up into its pitchable parts, that I realized Leo and Grimm could be considered a grumpy x sunshine duo. So it got added to the trope graphic I was making in the lead up to publication and I went back to not thinking about it very much.

Then last fall my editor asked me to come up with a list of my favorite grumpy x sunshine pairings for a promo thing. “Sure!” I said. “Easy!” Which I followed up by googling examples and having a mild panic because I hardly recognized any of these couples. In the end, I had to start thinking about the parameters of this trope a lot more closely—two characters who gravitate towards different ends of a spectrum in mannerisms and behavior, yet who unexpectedly compliment each other (at least, that’s my reading of it)—and come up with my own ideas about who fit them. I suddenly had a lot more to choose from!

The thing about tropes is that they can be elastic. That’s what I like about them; the way stretching them this way or that can keep them fresh. When used well, tropes remind me of an anglerfish, reeling you in with the shiny and the familiar, only to be snapped up by something much bigger. Despite sharing a basic premise, no grumpy x sunshine pairing is the same. And so here are a few of my favorites, and what I think makes them so special.

Emily and Wendell from Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Oh, how I adore these two. Emily is all prickly edges, and Wendell is full of sunshiney joie de vivre. But what makes these two truly outstanding is what lies beneath the surface. There is a delicious thread of fae darkness running through Wendell, and Emily is such a wonderful and steadfast character at heart. Together they make a perfect match!

Eddie and Dulcie from Deadloch - Not a romantic pairing, but a fantastic and hilarious partnership. Eddie and Dulcie engage in some top tier bickering, which, as readers of Sorcery and Small Magics might guess, is extremely my jam. The thing I like about these two is that they are each disasters in such different ways. Eddie, for all her exuberance, is in a lot of pain. Dulcie, for all that she strives for order and excellence, cannot achieve it. They are not a perfect cookie cutter fit for this trope, (if anyone is a sunshine type in this show, it’s Abby), but the contrast of high and low, bright and dark, stern and wild, is there, so I’m calling it close enough.

Aang and Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender - Again, not a romantic duo, but their personalities fit the sunshine and grumpy classification to a tee. I’m a sucker for characters who provide thematic balance and Zuko and Aang are each other’s perfect counterweight for the whole show. Even better, as time goes on, they temper each other. Becoming friends helps ground both of them. They learn from each other and change each other. Chef’s kiss.

Daystar and Shiara from Talking to Dragons I was utterly charmed by this fantasy series as a child and am still delighted with it as an adult. Daystar is an unfailingly polite and friendly sort of fellow, while Shiara is extraordinarily bad tempered and (quite literally) fiery. There’s nothing quite like taking a patient character, and then throwing their lot in with a character who will try that patience at every turn. And would you look at that, they have to go on a quest through a magical forest together!

Jaskier and Geralt from The Witcher By now you’ve likely realized that many of my favorite grumpy x sunshine pairings involve more quips than kisses, and I simply couldn’t leave these two off the list. An anti-social powerhouse and an exuberant bard who never knows when to stop talking? Why yes, that is my cup of tea. What I like about Geralt and Jaskier is that they genuinely seem to piss each other off. There’s true caring there, but it’s a great example of how differences in personality that can get in the way with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic. It’s about the conflict. (Imagine I went and found the Ben Wyatt meme to put here)

Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua from Love Between Fairy and Devil - If you ever wanted to see the “she was a fairy” soundbite and the “not evil anymore i want to be loved now” meme as people, look no further. Not only does this show give you grumpy x sunshine, you’ve also got body swapping and a magical bond. Plus, it’s a visual delight. DFQC is all sweeping black robes and scowls, while XLH is surrounded by pastels and flowers. But in the end, none of the costumes and frippery outshine the characters' distinct personalities. When these two switch places, you know it. It’s very fun, very dramatic, and full of tropes galore.

Pat and Pran from Bad Buddy - A grumpy x sunshine dynamic wrapped in secrecy! These two are meant to be rivals, but left to their own devices they make for the sweetest duo of the bunch. Pran is moody, ornery, and filled with delicious angst thanks to all the pining he’s doing. Pat is the softest, brightest green flag under a healthy dose of obliviousness. The interesting thing about these two is how they fall into these roles mostly with each other. Pran makes an even bigger show of being grumpy when they’re together, while Pat turns on the charm and cuteness for Pran, even when everyone else sees him as a tough troublemaker. They play off of each other. They are putting on a performance, and they’re having fun doing it.

Do you have a favorite grumpy x sunshine duo?

Filling the well…

That’s all for now!