ehhhhh

folks like the 2nd couple more bc they're genuinely a breath of fresh air. 2 flawed ppl with their personalities and character development all fleshed out, natural chemistry with convincing build up/interactions, vastly more healthy than the 1st couple, and still sexy as hell. im not gonna dog on toxicity and fucked up characters since i like reading them too, but the 1st couple are dime a dozen compared to the 2nd one.

obsessive buff rich dom top with a tragic past x sunshine poor twink subby bottom who cures the top with his love? that's every other bl. on the other hand, the 2nd couple have about the same built and a pretty balanced sexual dynamic. top's still pushy, but not to the point of raping the bottom lmao, and the bottom manhandles him quite a few times and can assert control during sex. it's not everyday that we see a bottom who's so sure of himself and his position in the world, in the socioeconomic system, and it's not so often that we actually see such a good employer either. he'd urge his employees to unionize lmao.

and so while the 1st couple's conflict mainly revolves around the top's insecurities in love and his borderline toxic obsession, the 2nd couple's conflict revolves around socioeconomic difference. again, dime a dozen vs actually unique conflict and expands the characters outside of love and sex. they have implicit trust in each other regarding love, but they do indeed bicker over business decisions like a married couple. 1st couple is still stuck on the top being hostile and jealous over absolutely nothing, pretty childish in comparison. other people will see otherwise, but this is what i notice the most clearly.

basically idc that the 1st couple is toxic since i have my own toxic favs, but when you're talking about narrative and character development, the 2nd couple wins. full stop. yes i got an A in AP Lit