hey!!
longtime lurker, first time asker 😅 i read your dasey college au months ago and i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it! basically by this point i see you as a dasey guru? which leads me to this ask:
what elements do you think are essential for a dasey story? basically, what makes them THEM for you, if that makes any sense?
Hello little lurker! How are you? How's life treating you? Are you keeping your head above water fairly well? I am so happy to get an ask!!! *wiggles happily like a puppy*
I am also so flustered to be considered a Dasey guru. I am just a woman who finds them fascinating... That being said... What makes Dasey Dasey? What makes a Dasey story work?
...There's a few things for me, tbh. But I think the first thing is to remember that no matter when the story takes places, Derek and Casey genuinely care about each other. For all their annoyance and frustration and selfishness (and both of them can be very selfish), they don't want the other person hurting. Casey hates it when anyone else insults or picks on Derek, and any time Casey cries, Derek goes into Protector!mode.
I think another thing for me, about Dasey, is that they can have fun with each other when they let themselves. By which I mean, when they throw off all the animosity, they laugh a lot, they tease, they bicker (affectionately), they dance like goofs, they play! When Derek isn't a Grade A Jerk and Casey isn't being Stuck Up, they have a lot of fun! Which, when you combine with them caring for each other, means that they have the potential for a lot of laughter and smiles and joy. A really good Dasey fic, for me, has them enjoying each other and spending time together.
The third thing, for me, is the verbal back-and-forth. Dasey is all about the fast comebacks and the banter/flirting. A good Dasey scene, whether in the show or a fic, has a very good verbal back-and-forth between Derek and Casey -- Derek is so witty, and Casey is brilliant, and the combination just makes for the perfect soil for daisy (haha) bantering.
The fourth thing, which I think ties into the first two points, is that they're a TEAM. They work really well together when they let themselves; and I love them facing the world as a team, having each other's backs, and covering for each other's weaknesses. I think that's really beautiful.
Finally, kind of not nearly as important, but they are both dorks. Derek is maybe even more of a dork than Casey is -- and they're both very dramatic!!! They are dramatic dorks. Give them a safe space to be themselves, and they will flourish in all their insanity.
