#dairena

they really are, it's so...blair and serena knit their souls together when they were children, and it just shapes....everything

dan's entrace into their world is his love for serena, which begins at a faroff look at a party, where he sees BOTH OF THEM. TOGETHER. but he begins to really fall after he really sees her. after witnessing the photoshoot and the fight of 1x04, the first time he and Blair really connect. he learns to see the both of them, Serena and Blair, as real people with real flaws and real virtues. it's Serena as a whole he falls for, but he doesn't until after he sees her best friend as a whole person too.

Serena falls for Dan after coming back to NY after doing the wrost thing she could do to Blair. She promises herself to stay away from Nate completely out of love for Blair, and in concurrence with that choice, she finds Dan.

Blair is forced to reckon with Dan when her best friend Serena sets her sights on him, and then he's always just, around. but he gives decent advice, and Serena is happy. happy in a way that Blair can't remember seeing before, which makes her jealous, both of Serena and of Dan. that Serena can be happy and that Dan can make her so. And then, when Serena shows up at her door broken and scared, and then Dan comes looking for her, Blair breaks his heart. because she loves Serena, and Serena won't see him.

and years later, when Serena breaks again, and Blair has to be the one to fix it, she knows that the only person who cares as much as she does is Dan, so she goes to him. "You love Serena, don't you? Then we have that in common."

and then Blair and Dan find points of connection that arent' Serena, but she's always there. she's an indelible part of each of their hearts, even after they fall in love with each other.

but when it looks like they could be something, Blair backs away, parly because of her own fear of what they're becoming, but mostly, she loves Serena. and Serena is hurt by this, so there's no way Blair can pursue it. so she pursues Louis instead.

eventually blair and dan's gravity is too much for them to hold back anymore (not that dan ever really tried that hard), and serena is made to see what they mean to each other, and because she loves them, she has to give them their chance, since blair tried to give her so many

aw, thank you!

well, first of all i have to link @terrainofheartfelt's little women au fic series (although vanessa is the jo in that version)

and hmm. i personally have always thought of jo/laurie as being strictly platonic (especially on jo's side) and the feelings laurie thought he felt were romantic were actually more of just a kindred spirit type of thing

and that's very different from how i see derena, i do genuinely think they were each other's first loves in a romantic way

BUT there is definitely a parallel to dan only having eyes for serena when the perfect girl for him was actually right there by her side and him not noticing til much later. and i think serena having such strong feelings for dan again in season 5 is very similar to jo's whole "i want to be loved" monologue - i don't think serena was genuinely still in love with dan by then, i think she just couldn't let go of the idea that he was the only person who could truly love her and she needed that to feel whole (which :( poor serena)