Very possibly My Love, My Enemy by Noirreigne. The lady and the libertine is such a classic combination, but it’s written wonderfully here and seems almost a morality tale - it’s not so much Blair reforms Chuck, although she does, as Blair reforms herself. She becomes the B she was always meant to be in exquisitely written style, and the blending of the show and the narrative is seamless and gorgeous.

Thank you, kindly anon! I thought I would try, but it is the only thing you can get while out when everyone else is drinking alcohol (which I’m allergic to and can’t have anyway). Let’s see how this goes…

I believe I read some of the original before it was de-fan fiction-ised and made into a book, but I haven’t read the actual novels. I’d like to, though. Bestselling erotica is such an interesting thing to see.

Dangerous ground, anon, I fear you may get some of my other anons shouting at you. To my mind, Chuck’s only ever properly been rapey in the pilot - and that is, let’s face it, because he was an absolute git. He was so spoilt that he couldn’t even comprehend not getting what he wanted, and so behaved in a manner he came to regret.

As much as I would hate any man who did that, I can’t hate the character. Chuck has so much untapped potential that he can’t get at until somebody teaches him how to feel, and until them he’s going to keep flailing around, trying to have sex as many ways and with as many people as possible, because that’s what keeps him from feeling for real.

I hate the sin and not the sinner in this case, I suppose.

(I don’t count 4x20 as attempted rape, and I have my reasons for that too).