#where dan gets to keep milo and we have d/n being parents

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

tbh you’re probably right that it’s for the best that gossip girl didn’t touch dan/nate given the way the writers did, well... everything lmao. but! rewatching season 2 and i can’t help but want them to be boyfriends. 🥺 their tiny arc was so good!!! which leads me to the question: if the show WAS going to go there but still maintain its same escapist tone, how do you think the storyline might have gone? (best case, and like, realistic case lol)

haha, i KNOW. god, i know. and i think as the later seasons had everyone behaving weirdly, the dan & nate friendship remained pretty healthy and pure, and i also feel like chace and penn added something to the dynamic? forever thinking about that actors on actors interview of them both where they talk about how they enjoyed all the little scenes d&n had together. 

i feel like d/n could never really have been an endgame ship, if they had been canon, just running off the general theme of like. how much this show always disappoints me dhsklkdfhg. ok but jokes aside, i think this is how it’d go...

under the cut! lmao, RIP.

 after the derena/ nate & catherine stuff in the initial bit of s2 (ick) there would be no natessa/derena. once nate moves in with the humphreys, i think they would eventually start dating. there wouldn’t need to be much build up or slow burn. i think it’d be hilarious if chuck somehow was instrumental in this, because i remember nate & chuck fighting/ not being on good terms? 

so, imagine chuck saying to nate, “why humdrum humphrey anyway? i could help you through whatever you’re going through, always have, always will ;) i know you nathaniel, your sense of pride and how you never want anyone to see you in a situation of weakness. what is it about humphrey that makes you want to play damsel in distress, to be saved by him? do you like him or something?” and nate would just be sarcastic/pissed off but the words would stay stuck in his head. meanwhile, jenny would find some of dan’s writing and call him aside and be like, ‘you left this notebook open - i swear i didn’t mean to read it i was looking for something else - and dan, i legit cannot tell if this love poem is for nate or serena?’ and dan would be like, ‘haha, serena, obviously, i’m super heterosexual, i’m the straightest man in all of new york, why would you ask,’ and jenny wouldn’t buy it, and dan also wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it. 

they’d get together eventually! it would happen in some hilarious way, i have no idea. they’d try and keep it quiet / off gossip girl, because of nate’s family ,but most of their friends would know. i feel like serena would be annoyed by it, in similar ways that she didn’t like dan/blair but her behaviour wouldn’t be as bad, and she would probably come around. vanessa too i feel would be initially jealous but she would come around quicker. i feel it would be genre wise totally in character to have some sort of chuck & blair try and break up dan & nate nonsense, and i don’t think it’d work. 

rufus, i feel, would not like it, not for homophobic reasons, but, “son. you deserve to be with someone who is willing to be public with you. not someone who is treating you like a dirty little secret.” / “dad, it’s not like that.” / “i’m just worried that you’re making him your family and first priority, and he’s never going to choose you first.” / “nate loves me, dad, i can’t ask him to rock the boat with his family. you don’t understand.” etc etc.

i do think they would either break up in a similar way to the natessa breakup, but i also feel like dan would be more sympathetic to nate’s feeling of owing the family something, and not take it personally (again, i think vanessa was entirely justified in the way she responded to nate’s entire thing, i just feel like dan is a complacent little dude slkahfkldh). i was talking to liz about how im one day going to write a s3 date au  in which nate is telling dan about how he’s going to date a republican to piss off his family and dan is like *judgemental look * you’d date a republican? and then he’s like. nate. if you want to piss off your family that badly, why don’t you just pretend to date me? and yeah, you can see where this is going.

so i think that’d be a fun thing to write re: them getting together, but i think here, this would be a perfect way to get them to break-up. nate is like, dan, what if we went public with my family, and dan is all like ‘omg really bro?’ and then he realises it’s nate’s idea to just cause a scandal, and he’s deeply hurt, because it’s like, ‘you basically just want to use your relationship with me, and well, essentially, use me to solve your problems? i thought we were doing this for us, nate, but clearly we’re doing this for you.’ and nate would be like, ‘that isn’t fair, i have to put my family first,’ and dan’s like ‘sure, you have to. when have they EVER put you first?’ and nate would be like, ‘it’s like how you love jenny more than me. family always comes first’ and dan would be like ‘how dare you compare jenny to those people’ etc etc etc basically it would get very nasty and i see them breaking up in s3. 

s4 is another GAY season like i think it’d make sense if during the d/s/n love triangle nonsense & also just during the milo arc, we have them dating. i feel like the fact that we already have, in canon, dan basically telling nate first (and only nate) that he has a baby is... pretty gay. it’d be cool if juliet’s manipulation of nate (assuming there is a juliet) went along the lines of, ‘you’re still in love with dan humphrey, and you should give dating him another shot.’ so then the whole thing with serena feeling left out and all that is accomplished, and accomplished better than it would be with danessa/ julinate (haha, what a shipname.) 

again, i don’t think they would ever be written as endgame, and i think they would break up again at some point, maybe because of the serena thing. this time wouldn’t be like the other time, because they both know serena is there and is maybe going to date one of them, maybe wants one of them more than the other. and serena was their dream girl at one point (maybe she no longer is.) and dan would definitely be insecure about this i feel because like - why would nate, or anyone really, date him when they could be dating serena? i feel like he’d probably sabotage their relationship on purpose, or something. i really feel like losing milo gives dan, like, the potential for some emotionally terrible life choices.

so, there we go! slots in with show canon reasonably well, i suppose. we still get our dair and everything else. that said! the way i feel about most of these characters most of the time is like. they do not deserve this show. i want to put them in other shows and movies. like. can you imagine serena in some kind of experimental indie coming of age leaving home roadtrip film? that would be SO good. we already talk about the romcom nature of d/b. i just feel like d/n was so... idk. they were such bros, i found it really sweet and fascinating that nate was able to bring out a side of dan that was so... informal? is the best word? 

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

I am curious: what are your favorite scenes from your main ships (date, dair, derena...)?

scenes involving milo don't count, sorry!

for me, it's really not just scenes, but body language & just in general, how they are with each other, you know? dan and serena grin at each other and hug SO much, you can tell that being around each other in s1 made them both so happy, and even after that glow fades the way they look for comfort in each other... top level stuff. the way blair looks at dan... we never see her as radiant at any other point. she was not looking at anyone else like this. and gosh, dan and nate. they're both so comfortable around each other that there's absolutely nothing weird about like. discussing that one ex girlfriend whom they both share AND both were in love with. there is literally no other duo who trusts/enjoys each other's company so much that they're comfortable in a love triangle. (probably because they're more in love with each other than with the girl, but that is not the point. or is it?)

anyway, more specific answers. under the cut. this is one of the longest answers i've ever written on this blog possibly but you KNEW that would happen when you sent this ask, didn't you? (affectionate)

derena: i tagged one of my ds reblogs as 'the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one' and like. look at them! this hug from 1x10 kills me in the best way. they are both the literal embodiment of :D when they see each other! i love 1x10 as a whole moment, their entire thing at cotillion is so sweet and they're both so happy. the fact that he is talking about his chemistry teacher during this kiss in 1x07. that bit at the end of 1x05 when they talk about their siblings (being there for their sibling because of fallible parents being a derena parallel makes me simultaneously really sad and really soft, tbh). 1x05 gives me SO MUCH SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT but the way they walk off together arms around each other does something to me - these are two people who are still getting to know each other but who really like what they see, and who trust each other and. are just having a good time together! back when derena was my OTP, the 1x11 "your story's about me?" was absolutely a fave, too, and i still adore it, albeit in a different, more nostalgic way. i like a dan who writes cute stories about serena. no empty shell sabrina van skoneker bullshit. she is so much like you, daniel! you'd be shattered if she did this to you. don't do this to her. tbh, most derena moments from s1 are just A+ romance. the bit in 2x02 in the jitney is so funny, they're SO bad at being exes. the bit in... 3x03 i think?? i don't remember... on the contrary. when they're talking about dan's fling w/ georgina and serena's relationship with carter, the ease with which they talk and how happy/supportive they are of each other's new relationships... yeah. love to see it.

i also really like any instance of them having honest/open conversations. 1x13, talking about how serena is concerned about blair. 1x08, serena talking to dan about feeling jealous of vanessa. this bit from the touch of eva or whatever that episode is. 4x04 i think. this is the conversation everyone is trying to get dan to have and he's avoiding EVERYONE else. derena interactions in 3x21 (can't find a gif right now) - the fact that dan is with serena when her dad abandons them, the fact that he goes all the way there with her. 2x07, "i'm really glad you're nate's friend. he really needs someone like you right now" (though i'm cheating, that's technically a d/n moment too klhdflkgf). there's a bit in s4 where he's advising her against having an affair w/ colin, i don't remember the ep number, but the way he takes her side so easily and naturally and puts due blame/responsibility solely on her professor... yeah. 4x10 i think this ep is?? idk. but like my tags say, im sentimental about this moment because while what dan was doing was irresponsible, sneaking her out of the ostroff, he was the only person in this episode who was actually talking to her and listening to her and taking her seriously. nobody else was doing that!!

i probably have more moments i'm not remembering, but we're only 1/3 into this answer and LOOK AT THE WORDS, good lord, i'm sorry.

dair: my favourite dair episode is hands down despicable b (5x21) which i have heard is an uncommon answer. i just love the conflict resolution of it all, okay!!! 1x04 & 2x08 are like. standard answers any dair shipper will give, and i'm no different. i love dan being able to give blair advice and blair actually taking his advice even though they're not friends yet!!! be right back, yelling at the intimacy of it all!! 5x16, with their getting together (this little kiss and dan being so startled by it), blair admitting a flaw she genuinely does have and dan saying it's not awful because it's her, which is just. romance at its finest. those vows, good lord. 5x18.... they're having fun! blair showing up at the loft in lingerie for dan... the delight on her face.... (i know this moment blows up in their face but when she's there she looks so happy and proud of herself and this was like THE moment when i was like. oh. dair is really the heart of this garbage show huh).

i think for me, the thing that really sells dan & blair together is the serena of it all. both of them love serena more fiercely than anyone else, and that is what brings them together. (fwiw i definitely think nate loved serena this much and this deeply, too; the writers just wanted to pop the serenate balloon, which even i think was extremely unnecessary and ooc.) but (& i have so much meta about this) their relationship grows beyond serena. their entire s4 arc is SO good. i love how comfortable around each other they are, in such an adult way, in the sense of like. they both bring so much stability to each other? morgan tagged this edit "the marrieds" and like. yeah. b offers to help him shave. they're having breakfast & reading the paper together.

all the love declarations we got that weren't a simple 'i love you.' be your charming wonderful self (how could she not love you/ tell me what would make you happy, dan) i told chuck he doesn't have my heart anymore (you spent your life earning the keys to set you free when you were free all along!!!!) dan's pep talk to blair in 5x21 (already linked a gifset earlier, here's another one if you want i guess). there's definitely more... but honestly, the way the dair arc was executed was so good - while i do have my complaints, i also think keeping those aside, it was SO close to perfect. i love dan & blair's banter and gradually becoming closer and closer and closer. it felt very organic and real and GOSH. the way penn & leighton looked at each other while playing dan and blair...... it's just SO MUCH.

date: this is the hardest, because it's. *screams*. maybe you saw me losing my mind over those 2 seconds of nate handing dan a waffle? i love almost every scene with these two, even the hellish s6 breakup scene. my favourite episode for d/n (& also favourite gg episode in general) is 2x06 - i love the homoerotic subtext of it all. nate pretending to be dan because dan's name is the first name that came to his head. dan flirting w/ nate while tied to that thing, in his underwear. them becoming friends. and 2x07 as a follow-up to that! dan getting nate to live in the loft with the humphreys for a while. i am so soft.

4x09 is a terrible episode in general, especially for serena my beloved, but the d/n moments in that one? off the CHARTS. this weird overly macho flirting, in some ways THE most iconic d/n line. this entire finish each other's sentences nonsense. someone (i think it was ana but im not sure?) compared the energy of those scenes i just linked to the book blairenate love triangle resolution, blairena choosing each other over nate in the books, date choosing each other over serena in the show (if only! RIP.) after the saints & sinners ball, this cute little moment of 'youre the only one who understands me. please tell me they went home together. i mean. how could they not have.

3x07, them watching vampire porn together. a tag i used on ao3 (& also on here, once) is 'nate brings out the himbo in dan'. here is a prime example. 'is she levitating?' i don't fucking know, dan, what do you think?? (i was telling my partner that that's what i love abt dair vs date. around blair dan is an intellectual, a librarian, an art historian, a museum curator. around nate it's like dan is competing to be #1 himbo on the show. can my girlfriend actually fly? i don't know, dan. i can't believe you're seriously asking such a question.)

3x12 pep talk. (sorry about the shitty quality!) essentially nate telling dan that he (dan) is hot and that he shouldn't talk himself down so much.

dan making nate gay in his book. you know. his book from which blair found out he was in love with her. nads (who i will not tag in this billion word long gushy meta, because i value her sanity) once called inside "wish fulfilment' and. i mean. yeah

nate checking dan out at the derena wedding continues to be hilarious. hilarious in the same way as dan sexually fantasising about nate. canon really went 'let's give ivy some special easter eggs' and i appreciate them a lot!

i love the way they are around each other - so quietly attuned to each other. i showed my sister my date!husbands gifset, and she was like. yeah they're so married. and it's just stuff like how dan looks for nate over his shoulder, it's not even an active action, it's as easy and natural and intuitive as breathing, checking to see if nate is still there.

oh, that wasn't as hard as it could've been! okay. cool. im SURE there's more things i could scream about, because it's DN, the fact that they're non-canon makes me THAT much fiercer about them than dair/derena, to be honest. so many dots to connect!! anyway.