#julnessa

Julnessa ily!!!!

I really love the idea of Vanessa finding out about Juliet’s situation and being genuinely compassionate to her in a way that no one was—okay, like, I do think Serena was, but it’s played very weirdly and even if it weren’t it’s still someone who Juliet victimized, etc—and Juliet having understanding of class and having anger at the UES in a way that no one else (and that does include Dan) around Vanessa does

Like, the idea of Vanessa and Juliet having this awkward standoff where Juliet’s expecting the fact that she’s faking wealth to be somehow used against her the way any of her sorority sisters would, and instead Vanessa’s kind of grossed out by the fact that she feels the need to do that but also really sees her and gets it? And specifically at some coffee shop where everything’s overpriced and Vanessa won’t drink anything because it’s not fair trade while Juliet’s subtly ordering the cheapest thing on the menu

Think about Ruby being like “ughhh you’re bringing home another one? This is going to end badly just like it did with Nate” (and she’s probably got weird feelings about Dan by that point too, but way more complicated because Dan was way closer to her) and Juliet being like “oh no I get it my brother’s overprotective too” and that being like. A real and honest slip of who she is that she didn’t mean to make

(Though eventually Vanessa will understand that what Ben is is not best described that way)

Also just in general I feel like the Sharp-Donovans really had a favored child and it wasn’t Juliet even before everything went to shit, and then the Abramses had two least favorite children, and that kind of experience is something the two of them eventually can bond over

- so. most obvious way for this to start off is Juliet going after Vanessa instead of Nate, and that’s what I’m rolling with. Maybe she’s gay and not willing to put herself in that position, maybe Nate’s summer of serial monogamy makes her think she won’t have a chance, whatever

- Juliet as a character is set up basically to put her relationships over like… most morality? She cares about Ben, and he cares about her, and therefore she has to help him. She starts to care about Nate and realize he would get hurt by her hurting Serena, and she starts to hesitate. Nate tells her he can’t believe her, and she goes all the way over the edge. (Also, I’m absolutely not saying any of what she does to Serena is excusable, but it is understandable when you consider that she comes at it having spent the past three years hearing that this girl ruined her brother’s life for probably no reason, and a good chunk of time being told that to be a Good Sister she needs to hurt her.)

- anyway, Nate’s characterization is also still important here, but in contrast to Vanessa’s. Nate tends to be relatively insecure in his relationships—when he wants them to work, he’s careful, because he considers them contingent on his good behavior. Vanessa, on the other hand, is fairly honest and outspoken, and when she is pushed to lie, will pretty much always feel guilty and find a way to admit the truth very quickly.

- also, Vanessa’s dad isn’t conveniently imprisoned with Ben

- all this is to say, Vanessa would genuinely be like “hey you’re being weird, you can talk to me about it. In fact, I’m kind of scared you’re lying to me” and Juliet would end up actually telling her

- and Vanessa is probably the only character on gg who I think has the emotional wherewithal to both say “that was fucked up for you to do” and “that was a fucked up situation for you to be in” (or, as Ivy put it, have compassion for her and hold her accountable)

- also, Nate hasn’t been dating someone—personally, I don’t like the idea of n/s getting back together here I think the whole love triangle was a crime against humanity but I do think it makes sense for them to gravitate towards each other, and for Serena to feel freer to talk about both their breakup and just, like, what’s generally going on with her. Childhood best friend rights!

- anyway so Juliet talks, Vanessa spends a while being Really Fucking Weird around Serena, everything blows up in Lily’s face

- (there’s a spin-off au here that considers how both actresses were written out at this point, and that’s the one where semester abroad time! Young and making reckless decisions like living in Spain together! Danessa basically get into a fight about how yes Juliet is evil, but he’s in love with Blair so… and then we get a dair/Blair arc going forward where Blair is pushed to grow and become a better person)

- (how do dair hit it off in this au? Look don’t ask me too many questions but I can believe just about anything and I think y’all can too)

- so. S5 and s6: julnessa version

- look these two have a largely stable relationship because Juliet basically, like, gets weird and devoted and Vanessa talks about her feelings. There’s a lot of “I am going to teach you morals through the power of gay love”

- i am firmly of the opinion that Serena being who she is as a person, she would pretty immediately decide to forgive Juliet and then basically go “we’re friends now!” and try not to deal with anything, and this would freak Juliet the fuck out. Eventually they do end up pretty close though

- Vanessa basically takes one look at the Spectator and goes “Nate no” and then she and Juliet just. Rescue him and end up running it themselves

- which works out weirdly well with their skill sets? Like, Vanessa’s good at organizing people and also presenting information (largely through film, and some of that crosses over and sometimes they just do it directly) and Juliet is used to doing intense investigation

- and so they have this news site that’s very legitimate, because gossip is neither of their vibes, and talks about false conviction rates and sea turtles and queer punk bands and is awesome

- Nate just. Goes back to school. I said n/s childhood best friend rights earlier and I’m saying: s5 friends to lovers to friends arc, and it’s very much them being In College together

- they have a class together! They’re study buddies! They get coffee and walk around campus talking about their feelings! They nearly made out over nates essay outline!

- Dair also get to go about being friends to lovers—the Louis thing sort of starts to happen, and then it’s made super clear that Blair was basically looking for safety and security from Chuck and it falls apart

- They get a good… three quarters of a season in instead of like. Two episodes before it’s Messy Breakup Time

- because s6 is the gang pines like a tree, Vanessa gives three different “it’s okay to be gay” talks, and Serena wingmans for both her ex-boyfriends while blairena gets a return to center stage, but this time it’s textually romantic

- plot over, headcanon time

- they have extremely distinct makeup (and most of the makeup is Juliet’s, just flat out) and they tend to keep it that way, but on some mornings they’ll purposely use the same lipstick so they can make out and not get caught

- also, Vanessa likes to try and slowly get Juliet away from her “I must fake wealth” deal, and so there’s some level of wardrobe integration going on, but Juliet still has a different sense of style, so they do a lot of screwing around in thrift shops together

- Juliet is very much a “remembers every anniversary, memorizes Vanessa’s coffee order, will make something happened because she casually mentioned it’d be cool” kind of girlfriend, and I just. Love that for Vanessa

- they do tend to have minor fights about shared space at first, because Juliet has a system, she swears, and Vanessa is just like “it goes where it goes”

- they like to hang out and read together! Big on cuddling on the couch with two different books and accidentally falling asleep there, also big on drinking coffee in the park while reading the same book

- Vanessa “spent a significant amount of time in a commune” Abrams is the queen of the chore wheel tends to think that because Juliet grew up in a small town she must know how agriculture works. (Hint: she does not)