#real intimacy

[thatgentlewife-deactivated]

The Importance of Romance and Intimacy in Marriage 🛏️ ❤️‍🔥 🫂

Romance and intimacy are the heartbeat of a strong, lasting marriage. While women often crave emotional connection, it’s easy to overlook how deeply men need love, affection, and intentional pursuit from their wives.

Men thrive when they feel desired, respected, and appreciated. A husband who knows his wife loves and values him is more confident, fulfilled, and motivated to pour back into the marriage. Intimacy—both emotional and physical—is not just a luxury; it’s a need. When a wife nurtures romance, she strengthens the foundation of trust, companionship, and lifelong devotion.

Prioritize intimacy. Pursue your husband. Love him intentionally. A marriage centered on deep connection glorifies God and brings joy to both husband and wife. It is good.

<3 thatgentlewife

[venuskind]

Life’s strangest paradox may be this: love arrives precisely when you no longer bend or break in your quest to find it. It comes not as you plead or strain but in the quiet radiance of self-reclamation. You no longer barter tenderness for loyalty nor compromise your integrity for fleeting passion or devotion. You cease bargaining with your soul and stop paying the toll of self-sacrifice to stay close to another's warmth. Instead, you build a sanctuary within, where self-respect becomes the cornerstone and independence your unwavering fire.

And then, like a sudden spring rain, love appears—not a love born of need, but of a shared strength that no longer seeks to devour or control. In your stillness, your partner is drawn closer, no longer resisting the pull of desperation but softening, opening, and sensing the freedom in your wholeness. It’s not by chance. When we release the chorus of “Stay, or I will fall apart,” we liberate ourselves and our lovers from the grip of emotional debt. True reciprocity, real love, only flowers in the soil of freedom, where no one is bound to another by chains of expectation.

In reclaiming your self-worth, you offer one last invitation to real intimacy. Either love begins to breathe again, flourishing in mutual respect, or the relationship based on clinging and fear must quietly fade. The highest form of love, paradoxically, can only come when you no longer cling to love—when you release it, even as it returns to you like the sweetest echo of all you once dreamed.

~ Katie Kamara

[loevhyuck]

[msexplorer]

[dumblr]

Everybody so full of lust, bring back real lovers.

[p-assionateheart]

[syrupbitee]

free my boy from his own show he did nothing wrong

[alwaysshipping1]

Great piece!

There are so many nuggets that need to be addressed! The NOTEBOOK, Syd’s TATTOOS, the PAUPIETTE OF HAMACHI, the SCRUNCHIE, and countless others.

I truly hope these threads aren’t left dangling!

Her notebook

These musings/ predictions came to mind a long time ago while I was plotting a fic and was gonna use this resource but then I decided against it and went in a different direction instead.

My theory about this mysterious notebook that disappeared, which is in the Storer universe NOT an accident, obviously, is that it's gonna make a comeback when he confesses what her really feels for her to her, to her face, and deals with the consequences of this confession that are gonna alter their dynamic completely and for good.

Let me explain:

Carmy found out (officially) he had feelings for Syd right after she quit because at that point he realized he didn't want to do this without her (which he told her a few months later, he let that brew inside for a long while first) BUT since he is convinced that everything he loves, he breaks or gets ruined somehow (thanks Donna, thanks Michael) he quickly 86ed that realization and tried to move on till Syd came back.

But once she did, he backtracked and embraced his feelings for her, although he decided to put them in the freezer to later, little by little, open up to her and see if she'd take him after he won her over by sharing his dream with her.

GIF by @volvaaslaug

Notice that at this point the star was not in the equation, he was just giving her all he got and trusting her fully, that was his way of showing her what she meant to him. He was not trying to give her what SHE WANTED, but what he had to share. At that point, he only had a dream, the dream he had once shared with Mikey, so that's what he gave her, his most valuable emotional and tangible asset.

Why did he hold on to it as if it was something precious?

In the meantime, he held on to her notebook (AKA: her handwriting), especially when he didn't even know she was ever going to come back to him because that notebook represents HER. IT'S TANGIBLE/ PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE MOMENT WHEN HE STARTED HAVING FEELINGS FOR HER. MISSING HER EVEN, BECAUSE HE THOUHT AT THAT POINT HE HAD LOST HER. Her notebook was a memento of the girl he fell for, and then turned into a secret totem of the woman he loves, that he keeps to this day, in an undisclosed place.

Just like he keeps his feelings for her, under lock & key, in secret.

But then came the detour and he forgot about it for a while. The easy way out.

That decision he made of "saving his confession for later" in the freezer, ended up backfiring on him when the C person came along though, because he started transferring and sublimating his undealt with feelings for Syd onto this ER resident. The easy way out.

HOWEVER:

His love language is still PHYSICAL → GIFTS, TANGIBLE DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION.

So, that's why he holds on to her notebook. It's tangible proof of the Syd he fell in love with and never dared to persue.

And when that changes, next season, HER NOTEBOOK WILL MAGICALLY REAPPEAR.

Bonus track: If this had never happened, her notebook would be all he had left of her.

[bunnymadeofstardust]

it would be 100 times easier if we we're young again, but as it is, and it is...

@moons-among-distant-stars YOU. thank you :D, I had fun making this :]

it didn't come out exactly how I wanted, a bit warm for the song but I digress, love feels warm, and stars are too so

[thatgentlewife-deactivated]

How Porn Destroys Marriages ❤️‍🩹

Pornography is one of the greatest threats to marriages today. It distorts intimacy, fuels unrealistic expectations, and breeds dissatisfaction. It turns something sacred into something cheap. God designed intimacy to be pure, holy, and shared only between a husband and wife. But porn corrupts that design, pulling hearts away from true connection and leading to secrecy, shame, and broken trust.

If you or your spouse struggle with this, know that there is freedom in Christ. He calls us to purity and gives us the strength to resist temptation. A marriage built on faithfulness, trust, and God’s design will always be stronger than one tainted by lust. Fight for holiness in your marriage. Choose love, not lust. Choose real intimacy, not a counterfeit.

<3 thatgentlewife

[mayabishopgold]

Maya & Carina | Station 19 - 7x09 "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?"

Okay, now, where were we?

[thimblings]

next panel would be Rook leaning slightly into his hand, smiling, and then running off to meet up with Davrin (and then never speaking of this again, because she can flirt all day but real affection is terrifying lmao). meanwhile, Lucanis:

(sorry, scene was in my head and i needed to get it out but my comics ability only goes so far and then i just needed to BE DONE lmao)

[alwaysshipping1]

This scene… the intimacy of it all… they better not be gaslighting us… you absolutely cannot tell me this is platonic.

Body Language and words- Sydney, during the table scene- everything he said hit her-I wouldn't even want to do it without you. She slows down, looks up, and pauses. I'm sorry, this is more than work; his words caught her attention...

I don't even think what he was saying to a business partner was hitting Carmy on what it could mean; he was just being honest and speaking from the heart.

"I won't let you." More words from Carmy catch Sydney by surprise, and she realizes she can feel his gaze this time. Did she always notice Carmy staring at her throughout the show, or is this a new? His stare was intense—he wanted her to meet his eyes in that moment. More eye contact- more left unsaid where Sydney holds his gaze and where he needs to look away. That staring into each other's eyes- they were catching up to the vibes and had to break eye contact.

This is a favorite when his breathing slows down at Sydney's expression - like she's taking his breath away, and he's almost frozen. Does she look taken aback? But after that, she's touched by his words - that she's not alone and promises him the same thing.

Fx is right- it was love, intimacy, and devotion spoken between them.

Note: Carmy, you shouldn’t say all those sweet nothings: You make me better at this; I wouldn’t even want to do it without you. You’re not alone, Syd. All of those words were spoken by Carmy, who, just 12 to 16 hours ago, confirmed with Richie that he had a girlfriend. He later told Fak that he liked her, but not that he loved her.

So it's confirmed for us that Carmy isnt in love with Claire- only likes her.

And the next scene as Sydney and Carmy fix the table, was intentionally written to leaves us questioning whether there is love between Sydney and Carmy (not like).

[booasaur]

Special Ops: Lioness - First and last kisses

[lavendermin]

hostess club au with hostess reader and jing yuan who is a regular that always asks for you because you naturally carry a pleasant conversation with him. Both steadily becoming too attached to the other, borderline crossing the cordial hostess-patron boundaries.

You’re practically sitting on his lap, yet it’s not inherently sexual. It’s comfortable and quite tame as you both have some light banter and casual conversations that flow and continue without end. As if you’d been friends for centuries.

Being a favorite for Feixiao too… squished between both of them in the quaint little booth as you chat and sip on bubbly drinks for hours on end

[elvisqueso]

Character Parallels: this very specific way of being in each others' space.

Pocahontas (1995) [+ Extended Edition]