The "Dummies to Lovers" Trope

It's a trope no one else will bother with, but it's still fun, right?

May 12, 2023

I’ve talked a bit (or a lot) about this “dummies to lovers” trope I invented. Those of you who’ve seen me chat it up might be curious: what is this trope exactly?

Well, it’s about time I tell you.

A general breakdown is that “dummies to lovers” involves two individuals who are dummies (a bit redundant, but it needs saying) who watch each other go through life doing dumb, dorky things but find those quirks endearing. There’s a key moment where one or both characters do or say something ridiculously dumb and the other has a deer in the headlights moment where they’re like “wow. That was dumb. I love them.”

Isn’t that the point of loving someone? Loving the reality of their unique, endearing quirks?

“Dummies to lovers” pairs humour and sweet gestures, because it is important that a couple beneath the “dummies to lovers” umbrella makes its readers laugh as well as giving them a sense of cosiness.

Dumb gestures, sweet warmth, and humour are all musts for this trope. It doesn’t hurt if they affectionately call each other “dummy”.

One of my OCs, Archie, is rather an expert on the trope:

“Besides, you do so many dumb things together, it’s kind of cute thinking you could fall in love and continue doing all of these dumb things forever,” [said Archie]

“That’s not a thing.” Saoirse laughed.

“It is actually: dummies to lovers,” Archie nodded sagely. “It’s my favourite of the three-hundred and forty-six goblin romance tropes, and I get to see it play out before my very eyes.”

Aside from being disturbed Archie knew—and could probably name— the exact number of goblin romance tropes, his last remark mortified Saoirse.

“Why are you so insufferable, Archie?” she groaned.1

As far as Saoirse goes… despite being a good student and intelligent enough to understand the mechanics of what’s happening in her quest… can be quite the dummy:

“Are you shaking?” [Adam] asked. But when Saoirse didn’t answer, he followed up with: “what’s wrong with you?”

“Wrong? Nothing,” she let out a ridiculous laugh, forgetting to blame everything on the newspaper, “I’m just… I don’t know.”

“Why are you suddenly obsessed with that paper? You hate this stuff.”

Saoirse continued her search of the paper, desperate for a scapegoat.

“I found this riveting piece on expected winter fashion trends,” she said, fixating on a random article before realising it was a mistake. She grimaced. Her face blossomed with heat.

“Fashion?” Adam asked. “Saoirse, what the actual—?”

“Muggles says I have asinine fashion sense,” she lied. The nervous pit that’d formed in her stomach when Adam mentioned [redacted spoiler] only grew. She gagged behind the privacy of the newspaper. “So, I thought I might change my—fedoras—? to make sure I’m at the forefront of… Ach. I give up.”

Saoirse threw the newspaper aside, grabbed her bookbag, and dashed for the doors leading to the classrooms.

“What are you talking about?” Adam called after her, but she was saved from answering when the heavy, wooden doors slammed behind her. “Oh, come on, Saoirse. Wait for me!”

Saoirse didn’t wait, instead sprinting up multiple storeys to the first class of the day. No one else had yet arrived, so she slipped into a lonely seat at the back of class, her heart thrashing against her ribs. She allowed herself ten seconds to collect herself before banging her forehead on her desk.

“Why did I say all of those stupid things?” she groaned.

She still hadn’t regained her composure when a breathless Adam burst in two minutes later.

“Fedoras?” he demanded, panting.

Warmth spread across Saoirse’s face again. Her ears drooped seconds before she hid her face behind her hands.2

But the depth of the sweetness and loyalty these two have to each other is unmatched:

She blushed, and Adam might’ve noticed it, because he smiled. His thumbs stroked at the [embarrassed] warmth on her freckled cheeks.

“I am done losing you, dummy,” he said, and she could’ve kissed him for saying it. “So, don’t you dare leave without telling me.”

“I can’t ask you to run away to some far-off land.” Saoirse pulled away from the tangle of her feelings and his hands; she sat on the bed, slumped in defeat.

“You’re not asking me to,” he pointed out.3

And there you have it, the two sides of the “dummies to lovers” coin.

Admittedly, it’s silly this is what makes me swoony, but not much does in the romance genre (movies or literature). There’s only two fictional couples (Stoik/Valka; Callum/Rayla) that actually get me “swoony”.

Hopefully, when I get to share my WIP series, The Moonbird & the Seedling, you’ll love this made up, nonsense trope as much as I do.

quote by Ellie R. Tran from her WIP A Land Without Fairytales

TheWriterlyDragonSlayer

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