Writing Games: Matchmaking

    Happy Valentine's (or "Galentine's") Day, everyone! :D Guess what today's post is going to be about?
    Romance! Relationships and couples in fiction are awesome; they usually have perfect chemistry, we can see their whole beautiful story together, and the characters were actually made for each other. Another awesome thing about fictional couples that writers like us can enjoy is that we can actually make our OTPs ("one true pairings;" two characters we think would make the perfect couple) happen in what we write, whether it's in one of our own stories, or if we're writing fanfiction about other novels/shows.
    Now often, the main characters of a story already have a love interest, but that doesn't mean that a writer can't experiment by writing scenes where they're in a relationship with someone else (there's no harm done to the original couple, after all). It's pretty interesting to tinker with character relationships this way, figuring out how well things would work out between the main character and other characters in the story. Or, in an even more interesting experiment, with a character from a completely different story.
    Is there a character in another novel that would be the perfect partner for your protagonist, antagonist, or sidekick? Would Tris Prior (minus Four) be a perfect match for the kick-butt hero ? Would Sherlock and his mindpower be a great partner for the brilliant best friend? What would make them so great for each other? Shared (or opposing!) characteristics? A similar taste in friends? Shared interests, hobbies, or favorite past-times? What makes them work well together?
    Playing matchmaker like this can be really fun, but the creative exercise gives even more than that. Even though the characters probably won't actually be together in the story, the thought put into what made the characters compatible for each other, and what they would actually do together is good for learning about what the character from one's own story is like in a relationship; and that can help with the romance subplot (or main plot) in the story. Plus, if one's trying to come up with a love interest to give a character, this writing game could help come up with the right characteristics for them to have.
    So which fictional character from another story would be a perfect match for one of your characters? What makes them compatible? Or would the character be the kind of person who hangs out with their friends and family on Valentine's Day?