dan x nate.... using these three prompts in one (using multiple is usually easier for me to work with than one, but if that's not for you, take your pick!):
‘when i said “coffee”, you did know i meant sex, right?’
‘you know what you do when you’re scared? you buy a night-light. you don’t go have sex with the guy you are supposed to be separated from!’
‘we are never gonna be able to tell anybody about this, are we?’
They were supposed to meet for coffee. That was it- Dan's coffee machine was shiny and alluring on the countertop where it rested at the loft, Nate's home away from home. (Dan was alluring too, though not as shiny. Not that it mattered, Nate thought - nothing was going to come out of it anyway.)
They were supposed to meet for coffee - Dan had a new nutella mocha recipe that he wanted to sample on Nate - but somehow they found themselves outside, on the roof, sharing a joint, passing it back and forth. Every time Nate's hands brushed against Dan's, it felt electric, a sharp string of current jolting through him.
Enough so that it felt like 2008 again, enough so that the words that left his mouth didn't feel as heavy as they would've under any other circumstance. "Dan, I'm scared."
"Scared of what?" Dan had asked. Eyes wide and innocent, like a doe - hooking Nate in like they had, all those years ago.
There had been a time when Nate had thought there was no future for the two of them, a time they'd slept together and Dan had published something scathing enough that it'd felt like a slap to his face, Blair and Serena comforting him in the aftermath, Nate vowing to never talk to Dan again. Looking at Dan's eyes now it feels like none of that happened. Like they're back in high school, like Nate never kissed Jenny, or dated Serena, like Dan never dated Blair or fucked Chuck, like their string of shared exes doesn't mean anything.
Nothing in my life feels like it means anything, Nate thought but did not say. He leaned in, instead, and Dan met him halfway. A gentle press of lips. A sense of calmness, of things being right, a serenity Nate had only ever felt while sailing, in the middle of the ocean looking at the never-ending blanket of blue around him. Dan was that, now - stretching all around him and enveloping him, and it felt safe.
They paused only to breathe, before moving in again. Dan's hands began to unbutton Nate's shirt, after a hesitant moment waiting for Nate's nod, for Nate to murmur, "Yes, Dan, please."
Blair and Serena don't even talk about Dan anymore, and Chuck isn't in his life and hasn't been for ages. Nate knows that if this goes sour, there's nobody he can talk to about it who would listen.
Echoing the thought, almost like he's telepathic, Dan murmured, "We are never gonna be able to tell anybody about this, are we?"
Somehow hearing Dan say it eased the tension thrumming through his chest. "I don't know, dude. You gonna do a tell-all again?"
Dan flipped him off, and Nate laughed, feeling lighter than the summer breeze. He grasped Dan's wrist, casually but carefully.
"Let's go inside," he murmured. Waiting for a dramatic pause, and then Nate looked up at Dan through his eyelashes. "I think you owe me a coffee."
"You're messing with me, Archibald," Dan said, but he was laughing too, and he let Nate pull him back into the house. Like he'd let Nate pull him and take him anywhere.
"Look, I just realized you're about to leave for Africa, and I won't get a chance to say good-bye in person. That makes me sad. I mean, you've always been very special to me."
Jackie & Eric [That '70s Show]
[Inspired by @sulietsexual's gifsets. Plus I just really love JE lmao.]
Blaine SHOULD TOTALLY have been bi. Ryan Murphy's biphobia has always infuriated me, but never more than with that storyline.
Genuinely upsets me everytime I get to that storyline because it was barely explored for one episode and was just brushed off and I HATE IT. The biphobia was strong. We deserved more bisexuals on the show to be honest.
So idk if I quite remembered just how close steroline's mouths got in 4x19 during the prom dance after Caroline tells Stefan he'll fall in love again... but I saw a gifset and it's making me need to rant about how I think Stefan fell harder way before he allowed himself to!
We know this 4x19 moment in particular meant enough to him that he wrote about it in his wedding vows, right? And at this point it’s quickly becoming canonically undeniable that Stefan’s feelings for Caroline aren't *completely* platonic— just a few episodes prior in 4x16, Stefan made it glaringly obvious that he was sexually attracted to her when he chose her as the “single hot girl” to dance with. (Something that could have been platonic if it weren't for Elena herself pointing out that it very much didn't look that way)
And of course he's not going to want to admit it. She's in love with Tyler still and even if she wasn't, she still has Klaus trying to win her affections. He's respectful of her relationship just like she was of his and Elena's.
But... I think some of that is also because he is just as insecure as Caroline is, if not more.
I'm sure that Stefan figures Caroline’s old high school girl crush is long gone— they wouldn’t have been such good friends when he was still dating and in love with Elena if he didn’t. He has seen guy after guy fall for her (Tyler broke every bone in his body repeatedly for her!) and I think to some extent that must scare him.
The previous girls— I’m excluding Rebekah because he was in his Ripper state then and it wasn’t a long relationship— he has dated have both been equally desirable which ended up becoming an issue when they fell for the other guys wanting them. I think that Stefan is just as insecure as Caroline about never being the one that people choose in the end. Katherine was in love with Elijah and often just using him. Elena ended up choosing Damon. What if Caroline decided to still choose Tyler or instead choose Klaus in the end?
He's seen how compassionate Caroline can be to almost everyone, so it would make sense if he brushes off her obvious affection for him as typical Caroline bubbliness.... but just for *one tiny second* while they're dancing, you can see him almost crack and consider it.
So yeah I always felt like Stefan's "more than friendship" feelings started in S4 whereas Caroline's didn't realize S5 it's just that Caroline accepted hers more willingly because she had that crush on him when they first met. I mean the biggest proof we have that Stefan's feelings came about in S4 is that Lexi friggin' pointed it out! Lexi his best friend for over 100 years who knew him better than anyone knew right away he did not look at Caroline the way he looked at her, she knew there was something growing there and she only knew it from Stefan's perspective. I think Lexi saw that moment at prom, she saw how he almost leaned in and kissed her and she saw that breath he let out after she told him he's fall in love again thinking in that moment maybe she meant him.
I find it kind of funny that people don't think Stefan had any insecurity when it came to Caroline lol, because when he found out she had a think for him his first reaction was literally "why" LMFAO. He was completely shocked, like me, why would you like me? He's seen all these guys throwing themselves at her, he's seen she's got Klaus wrapped around her finger, he sees Tyler still hanging around, he sees Enzo calling her gorgeous and taking road trips with her, why would he think she saw him as anything but her friend. I think it's why he was so hellbent on everything being perfect with Caroline, he had so much insecurity she'd find happiness with someone else or just like Elena and Katherine he wouldn't be enough for her "hero never gets the girl."
I'm going to be reductive for just a second and ask.... Team Lestat or Team Armand?
Neither! They’re both toxic and are two sides of the same coin and also I love them both and I want them all to catfight like housewives on a bravo show
Okay well 1) read and it’s ever present everywhere by @strideofpride
2) Blair and Serena know each other before they know Nate. For like ten minutes. Neither of them remember this, but he always does—the two of them sitting together has been photocopied over and over through his memory until the image of it has faded away and all is left is the fact. Maybe they weren’t even sitting. Maybe they were outside. He doesn’t know
The thing about having two hot best friends and being bisexual is that there’s a natural conclusion to draw here. One would think Serena avoided the “I just saw Blair and Nate kissing and I don’t know how to feel about how I felt about it” fueled crisis but the truth is she had so many other crises running at the same time that her efforts to make sure no one noticed didn’t even have to be good to work
Nate and Serena are both… they’re both genuinely nice, if not genuinely good at all times. Blair picked them because of that, because back when they were little, Serena was the sun around which their kindergarten turned and Nate was still blond enough to be all the stars trailing after her. Sometimes she regrets latching onto them
Blair used to read Nate poetry, back in middle school—it started with an English assignment that just wouldn’t even out in front of his eyes, that he needed to memorize but he couldn’t get the words right in the first place, and she’d picked it up and asked if his ears were still functioning. Love poetry, sometimes, which still makes him laugh at how oblivious he was, and a lot of stuff he thought was stupid, but there are reams of it locked away in his head that still play back sometimes. You do not have to walk on your knees, he tells himself a lot, and it sounds like her
Serena and Nate would practice out on the school fields together, after everyone else went home, Eric and Blair sitting together on the bleachers. Neither of them (none of them) wanted to go home, Nate to too much and Serena to too little. So they’d do drills that carried over despite the rule changes between girls and boys lacrosse, and judge each other’s form, and run sprints until they were dripping with sweat and the sun was going down. Sometimes, on the really bad days, Serena would tell Nate she was coming to his place, and he’d nod and smile and pretend she was doing him a favor and not the other way around, and she would love him so fiercely it ached
Blair has never been able to explain exactly what it is Serena means to her. She says best friend and she means it but there’s a million other things there, ones she doesn’t know how to put to words when her (adult, post-college, post-everything) friends raise their eyebrows and give her those half-pitying looks that say they wonder why she does all of this. She thinks of Serena waiting for her, coming back for her, the never-still center of the universe seeking out Blair’s hand to hold her up, and she figures the least she can do is the same
is there a specific episode of smallville you can point to where things all went to hell storyline wise for smallville? or a stopping point throughout the show where one could peacefully make sense of it as an elseworlds arc instead of the ten season contradiction it became?
so I usually recommend stopping at Onyx (4x17) because I think it's the last enjoyable episode before things turn to shit. But be sure to stop before the last Lex and Lionel scene(last 5 minutes or so of the episode) because who wants to end their watch on a ~Luthor's are inherently Evil~ note
but I've started to think maybe it's better to stop sooner because there really are so many awful episodes in s4 before we get to 4x17. like the garbage that was Lionel being transformed Good because Clark's soul was inside of him(4x06). when the writers thought they could just switch Lex and Lionel's roles and that would be cool somehow, it was over.
So that makes me want to recommend stopping at 3x22 right after the scene where Clark agrees to testify against Lionel. Because Hey, Clark & Lex are finally teaming up to take down the true evil force of the show and it's looking hopeful. That seems like a good stopping point. But be sure to stop right there or you'll face the scene where Clark finds Lex's Room and ends the friendship.
But then I think about how at that point in the series we've already watched Clark abandon Lex to rot in Belle Reve and then lie to him about it and deliberately hide what happened despite it putting Lex deeper into danger. That's the point Smallville officially soured actually. Maybe we avoid that.
So I think the most galaxy brain point to stop is probably in "Asylum" when Clark FINALLY breaks in to rescue Lex, and Lex says, "I knew you'd come." And Clark says "Let's get you out of here" and Lex says "All this time, I was right about you" and gives Clark that look of absolute wonder 🛑turn off the tv right at that moment to be happy and free🛑
basically I'd say if you primarily care about getting as much of Lex in as you can, he's reasonably in character up through 4x17 and that there are some episodes up to that point worth watching for him. if you care more about Clex and/or want to avoid seeing Lex treated like absolute garbage by everyone, the best point to stop is probably where I described in 3x09
can you explain the Casey McQuiston thing a little further? I'm pretty brand new to the rwrb fandom and not familiar
There's been rumors for years in the RWRB fandom and outside of it that Casey McQuinston used to be on tumblr and was a fic writer for the Social Network/Social Network RPF fandom. Further, there was a lot of rumors that RWRB was SN RPF with the serial numbers filed off. The original tumblr account people say was Casey I'm pretty sure is either gone or dead now, and the fanfic author that people say they are took down their fics years ago. It's very possible that that person was Casey, but like without them fessing up there's no way to know for sure.
Someone on Youtube did a whole video essay deep dive into investigating the accounts, and even read the fic people claim RWRB is based on. The conclusion the video essayist came to was that she thought the author was Casey but that the fic was nothing like RWRB. (Which of course it wasn't lmao, the intro to the book literally talks about how they wrote it during and after the 2016 election - several years after the fics were deleted.) There's a good chance she's right, but while some of the reasoning is good, one of the reasons was literally that both authors "inserted their media opinions superfluously" into the story that broke their immersion because both authors made fun of "blonde women [the video essayist] liked" lol. So I take the conclusion with a grain of salt even if the investigation work was good.
Anyone who has read the book I'm sure can tell that Casey probably wrote fanfiction, but it's pretty clear to me that it's not lol. It just has tropes and dynamics that are popular in fandom spaces, as well as some specific turns of phrases. Which isn't a bad thing lol, RWRB is my guilty pleasure fave, I adore it even if it feels a bit lib in the current political climate.
I doubt that Casey ever saw the rumors - for a while it was mostly just snarky tumblr or reddit comments that brought it up to prove moral superiority over not liking the book. But it's still frustrating to me that like an author is essentially being haunted reputationally by fanfic they might or might not have written as a teenager/college student. Even the fanlore page for the book is completely overtaken by people speculating that it's a fanfiction. I would be PISSED if I got published, and everyone claimed my books were Harry Potter fanfiction because I used to be in the HP fandom in high school and college. And then spread around old fanfiction that I deleted off the internet because I got made fun of for how bad the smut was.
(Part of the "proof" that some people used as to the original fic being RWRB was it was deleted off of LJ but the fanlore page on the actual fic speculates it's because the author was getting bitchy messages about the quality of the smut in the fic.)
Anyway, sorry this wasn't super... coherent I have a lot of opinions on the subject. the TL;DR is that Casey might have been a BNF in the Social Network fandom, and because of that people speculated that they turned one of their SNRPF's into RWRB. It's pretty clear that they didn't do that, but these rumors have haunted the fandom for years because people keep spreading them like they're fact.
And I think authors should be allowed to keep their fandom separate from their professional work exactly because of shit like this lol.
