How to breed contemptment but still keep the characters in a 'friendly' rivalry?

[Naruzeldamaster]

So, I have these two characters, that I want to 'clash' in opinions and personal values/priorities.
But I also want them to be more 'friendly' rivals, not necessarily 'sleep with one eye open buddy' hate for eachother.
The end goal is for them to fall in love and realize that their differences are surface level at best.

Both of these characters don't out and out 'hate' the other. It's just that I've crafted them in such a way that their 'positives' draw them together but their 'negatives' really get in the way.

 

[pmmg]

Have them forced together to achieve the same goal, and have to work together to achieve. My first thought is rescue a child.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Have them forced together to achieve the same goal, and have to work together to achieve. My first thought is rescue a child.

That's a good plan, I have a mc guffin to get the rivalry started, I just don't know how to go about making them antagonize eachother without it being too cold blooded. (or rather it seems cold blooded on the surface but they're really just having a fun time proving the other one wrong/teasing cause they're falling in love) The story is a comedy so I kind of want to keep the conflict light hearted, even if they're pretty much ready to strangle eachother for a hot minute.

 

[Finchbearer]

You want to get the ‘enemies to lovers’ vibe across, it just needs to follow a fairly classic romance trope. Jane Austen started it all with Pride and Prejudice (yes I’m citing classic Regency era romance novels) whereby she crafted two characters who really got off on the wrong foot by showing eachother their flaws as the first impression. They also get the wrong impression from eachother from other people, but really they like eachother and find the other attractive. Then Austen cleverly crafts a series of little events that help the characters redeem themselves in front of eachother by seeing their good virtues.

 

[Azul-din]

I would think that one obvious choice would be to make them at the top of their chosen field of endeavor. Professional rivalries can get very intense and personal, obscuring a propinquity in personal values and standards. Then present them with a problem which they have to work together to solve, ideally something where lives are at stake.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I would think that one obvious choice would be to make them at the top of their chosen field of endeavor. Professional rivalries can get very intense and personal, obscuring a propinquity in personal values and standards. Then present them with a problem which they have to work together to solve, ideally something where lives are at stake.

That sounds like what I'm doing. They're both master Thieves (She uses magic and he uses technology, so that's one thing they're at odds with since they don't understand how their techniques work) and the Mc Guffin I have planned does run the risk of putting lives in danger if someone with enough impure motives gets them all.

You want to get the ‘enemies to lovers’ vibe across, it just needs to follow a fairly classic romance trope. Jane Austen started it all with Pride and Prejudice (yes I’m citing classic Regency era romance novels) whereby she crafted two characters who really got off on the wrong foot by showing eachother their flaws as the first impression. They also get the wrong impression from eachother from other people, but really they like eachother and find the other attractive. Then Austen cleverly crafts a series of little events that help the characters redeem themselves in front of eachother by seeing their good virtues.

I don't think it matters what era (even if it's a considered 'cringe' era by some?) a well crafted story comes from (Provided it ages well, I'm the same way with movies/video games. even a well made atari game can hold up today.) if it's a good story to hold up under modern standards it speaks for itself. She was inspired enough to start a trope that still holds up well when done right (nothing stopping it from being done poorly ) seems pretty good in my book lol

What I need to do is show the sides that they find attractive while also showing the sides that piss them off for their first meeting? The Male lead is familiar with girls of her type, but almost every time he's tried engaging with them things always turned south. (doesn't help that all those girls were 'suiters' so to speak, so none of those relationships were by choice.) So there's that factor to consider. His judgement might be pushed into 'she's just like all the others' too early though if I'm not careful.