#wondering if i should tag this derena

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

(submission) what are your thoughts on dan convicing serena to stay on the ues in s6? i hate that and i thought it was very out of character for dan (yes even for evil!dan) considering how dan was to jenny in 4x06, the fact that dan never stopped loving her (lmao, i get why blair would want serena to stay even knowing that it would better for her to leave but dan? if he truly loved her, why would u make her stay in that shithole???) and how important it was for serena and their relationship that dan wasnt from the ues and was different from its society (like serena said: WHY THE HELL would she stay or listen to him considering that place turned dan to “Bart Bass” lol) 

sorry, i ranted for too long. i would love to read your opinion. 

hmmm. honestly, i haven’t thought about this too much, mostly because analysing dan in s6 feels extremely redundant (evil!dan and all that.) i don’t think he loved her, i think he just sort of needed her because she was all he had left, and i think in that context it makes sense for him to ask her to stay (but it’s evil.) tbh i found it more creepy that he hung out with bart bass and used his friendship with bart bass in order to buy a flat in an “elite” apartment that wouldn’t have given him that house to live in otherwise, just so he could be serena’s neighbour. like, that is joe-level of creepy, and that is not dan. serena was like, done with him, and dan was like, sike! we’re neighbours now! 

i think that’s sort of the crux of evil!dan, in the sense of like. evil!dan needs serena. evil!dan cannot function without serena. evil!dan made all his other friends hate him, evil!dan hates his family. serena is all he has. serena is the only person he needs. he would do anything for serena. there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for serena. even if she’s explictly told him to stay away. he’s obsessed with her! this characterisation of dan really pisses me off; it makes even less sense than s5 serena (& that’s really saying something) and when people act like dan was ALWAYS this character i’m just like *blinks*. like, did we watch the same show? s1 dan would kill s6 dan with a knife to the neck.

ANYWAY. i didn’t think dan convincing serena to stay was super out of character. he was at this point where she was the only positive thing in his life, and he was ~evil~ on top of that. *halsey voice* he couldn’t stand the person inside him so he turned all the mirrors around. but serena made it better.

a more generous interpretation of that gesture…. i’ve got one. so bear with me a bit while i just, give context i guess.

serena leaving the ues wasn’t like, a “i’m going to follow my heart, i’ve always wanted to leave.” it was an “i hate who i’ve become, i hate what i feel, i hate everything this place symbolises, i’m going to run away.” it’s not unlike the first time she leaves, pre-season 1. the fact that nate & blair don’t know that she’s leaving i think is the BIGGEST tell. 

if serena was really leaving because she thought it’d make her happy, wouldn’t she tell nate & blair? nate wants serena to be happy, he wouldn’t stop her. blair, too, would initially be like :( but she wouldn’t force serena to stay if she could see that serena would truly be happy elsewhere, as long as serena keeps in touch and all that. serena leaving wasn’t self care; it was a trauma response, in my reading. she just snapped, and couldn’t take it anymore. 

and in that context, i think dan asking her to stay (bear in mind, i’m thinking regular!dan, dan my son, not evil!dan) makes sense. it could be in the context of, ‘you ran away once, serena, and when you got back you had to rebuild everything. if you really want to leave, i support you, but you should plan. you have to take care of yourself, and leaving like this is not taking care of yourself. this city has been cruel to you, but all the people who love you are here.’ i feel like dan would encourage her to think on it. not to just leave at the drop of a hat. but to spend a few days just making a plan. deciding on what she wants. and if she still wants to run away without telling a soul, then he’d let her. but i think he would encourage her to stop and think.

so yeah, my tl;dr response is basically: i think it was in character for evil!dan to beg her to stay and all that. he wanted her to stay for him. but were dan not evil, i think he would’ve still asked her to think over it. i think regular!dan would’ve wanted to know that whatever decision serena was making was a choice that was right for her. he would’ve made her reflect. and if she still wanted to leave, he would’ve let her go.

[xsecretblastsx]

1x06 - The handmaiden's tale

I'm kind of excited that I finally reached this one, I remember I liked it a lot the first time I've watched it and the next two episodes are some of my favorites in the whole series so... yeah.

Thoughts I had while watching

Blair really tried so hard with Nate.

'If Serena asked me I wouldn't deprive her of my company' I know the guy is having a case of nervous verbal diarrhea, but seriously Dan🙄

Great Vanessa is here! Said no one, ever

So I'm kind of confused about the timeline now, because Vanessa was gone only for a year, and Dan confessed his feelings to her but she rejects him, granted I didn't paint attention to this during my first watch, but I always thought he became obsessed with Serena after Vanessa. Go figures.

I love how passionate Blair is about getting Serena a date for the ball. I also really like her outfit here, we rarely got to see her wore shorts.

Instant messaging on a laptop, I feel so old.

Those scenes were Dan is looking to his laptop or phone with his surprised face at something gossip girl posted are so hilarious. I guess he really was a method actor

Really Nate you called Blair, she didn't answer so you decide to go and pay a visit in person... to Serena you could have gone to Blair's house you know.

Vanessa's outfits are awful.

I had totally forgot about Rufly's plot this episode

I've always loved the montage they did of everyone putting on their mask.

It may have been one of his usual lines, but I don't doubt for a second he really didn't need clues to find her even then. He always noticed her didn't he.

'Beautiful and mean, I got chills' again a line, but the truth none the less. Funny how random lines can be not so random after all

Gotta give it to Jenny I really love how he played Chuck on this episode.

Ah the Vanderbilt ring, gotta be honest I don't like it.

Rufly finally kissed!!

Dan and all his lies 🙄

Sorry Chuck, but you totally deserved that one.

'He should know how it feels to lose you, is not fun' i have all the rufly feels.

Serena looked so pretty at this ball.

Blair are Nate were really depressing to watch at this point, refusing to admit the obvious.

I actually would have like to know how Chuck got that suit, it may have been a funny story.

I remember how glad I was the first time when Blair left Nate standing on the street and how frustrated I was with him for just not ending it. Now I kind of wonder how things would have play out if they had broke up here. 🤔

Happy endings by Mika to end this episode, oh the irony

Now that I think of it, this is the last episode where it was all about Dan and Serena, I feel like pointing it out because I've seen comments where people mentioned that when rewatching they start a 1x07.

I think I may have like this episode much more the first time around, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact I don't like Derena anymore, and this episode is heavy on that front with the introduction of Vanessa, another character I'm not a big fan of. I also noticed that while this episode advances the Nate and Blair plotline, Blair's actually not that much in this episode. Considering the next episode I think that was on purpose.

Honestly I ended up liking really two things from this episode: Jenny's little revenge on Chuck, and this:

She did looked ravishing and he looks quite devilish. I would tagged #couplegoals but we're not there yet. They also look like they could kill you. Though Nate really couldn't cared less, I mean Chuck didn't even had a reason to and yet he went to talked to her, I've always felt he was always entertained waiting for the Nate and Blair fiasco to crash, in part for his own amusement but also because it needed to happen. I bet he thought his life would get simpler: a less broody Nate and less complains from Blair.😂

Random bits I've noticed

This is the first episode were Blair's room looks like we know it. Hello Marie Antoinette, I missed you.

That yellow shirt Chuck's wearing under that pink sweater looks almost like the same one he uses later on for one romantic rendez-vous with a certain brunette. Should I be concerned that I remember this stuff.

Not relevant but I'm feeling Nostalgic (and old) so here's Serena's IM friends:

P.S i apologize in advance for the long ass post that my recap of 1x07 will probably be.