#you know who he wasn't a good friend to? James Morland

[thoumpingground]

Okay, obviously I get why Emma gets to be the resident Disaster Matchmaker TM, but really John Thorpe gives her several runs for her money. He beats her in numbers of matches, execution, and production value accidentaly. Emma only managed to get Harriet's heart broken - twice. Thorpe's got it down to the details: he got Cathy the guy and a swoon worthy proposal. Cause if left to his own devices, Henry would have put together something sweet and heartfelt but simple, and Cathy would have been very happy of course, but she clearly doesn't mind a little bit of ✨romance✨. Thanks to Thorpe, she gets to brag forever that her husband loved her so much he bore being disowned and rode 70 miles on a horse to propose against his father's will.

Thorpe might be shooting in the dark, and aiming for the complete opposite goal, but d-mn it, he gets results, and I think he deserves to be the Austen Extended Universe Hipercompetent Matchmaking Menace TM. Not the least because, unlike Emma and every other Austen romantic rival, he has nothing else going for him.