#s/o to tumblr user @andthatscanon for the quality content 12/10 you are a real one

[terrainofheartfelt]

Blair happy is the best. In season 6 towards the end, I remember chuck saying we can't be together without Bass industries which resulted in her crying lmao 😂. Talk about over dramatic with these too jeez. Blair never really smiled in her relationships unless she was with Dan. Never saw her be herself with anyone else, even Serena who had no clue of Blair's problems

Happy!Blair my most beloved!

This is actually something I've been thinking about (I mean, all the time but specifically) through the lens of "Not in spite of who you are, but because of it." because...with Dan...that's the first time she's had that, really. (And I mean, when you're that young it takes time to find that kind of love and settle into it, but I think it's safe to say that Blair's been Through It more than the average character). Nate loved Blair (I really think he did) despite the love he also had for Serena and despite his need to break away from his predestinated wasp-y path and despite his and Blair's conflicting longterm goals and needs. Louis loved her despite his pathological jealousy and distrust born out of this perceived "dark side," and despite the fact that he seemed to need a partner that was never going to be the woman that Blair is.

chip loved her despite his disinterest in the side of her personality that wasn't the schemer or the Victrola burlesque girl, despite his need to always be the most powerful, despite the need to be a better businessman before he was even an adequate partner, and, this is especially fresh in my mind bc I rewatched 3x12 last night, despite his ingrained fear that love would make him "soft" and therefore worthless (which is an internal conflict that the show seemed to make it appear like he had Learned His Lesson and Won, but...he never did, bc like you said, he repeatedly acts as though Blair's love for him is a liability to his business, unless it can be used to his benefit).

Blair spends 5 1/2 years thinking she is simultaneously Too Much and Not Enough and that she has to carve and cut herself into pieces to even be worthy of something resembling love and then finds out that Dan just, loves her. "Not in spite of who you are, but because of it." No asterisks. She was herself with Dan because he gave her the space to be.

I disagree with your last statement a bit though, I think Serena was that kind of friend/person for Blair. Like, in 1x04, that photographer noticing how contained Blair is (because she'd always thought she had to be that way), but in the end on their rogue photoshoot through Manhattan, Blair is the girl the photographer wanted to see: she's light and happy and having fun being herself and being with her best friend. She was the girl her mother needed her to be, but wouldn't give her the space to be. Serena is the one who gave her the space and permission to be. But, somewhere along the line, that stopped. maybe it started gradually, I think maybe the seeds of it were there when Nate & Serena cheated, and there were little bits that followed it that put up a wall, all those little mini-wars, but one big one I think was: Serena encouraging Blair and Chuck to get back together in 3x17, but Blair being afraid to tell her what happened. And then Blair and Dan's burgeoning friendship, and finally, what I call the Great Schism: The Pink Party. they weren't really the same after that. and it's SO sad to me. Because that support they gave each other in season 1, they needed that in s5 and onward, but the depth wasn't really there, it was like they were going through the motions, the appearances of friendship. And by that point, yeah. Dan was her person, and she was his. Nads was just saying in this gifset how it was the most young they had looked/let themselves be in a long time.

That's one of my favorite things about Dair, honestly. That phenomenon, that dynamic that is Two Old Souls Who Make Each Other Feel Young In The Best Way thing. there's gotta be a shorter way to say it right?