Blair is afraid of her feelings for Dan? LOL, no.
Also, the thing is, we strongly believe that Blair does love Dan, she just couldn’t say it, just as Chuck couldn’t say it to Blair back in Season 2, are you then saying that it means that Chuck didn’t mean it back then just because he didn’t say it? :)
Well, you can believe whatever you want, but it won't make it true :)
The comparison between Chuck being unable to say "I love you" in S2 and Blair not saying it to Dan in S5 is a completely false one, IMO. Even though Chuck couldn't say it, it was obvious to the viewers that he felt it- he told Nate, he eventually told Serena, and Chuck and Blair both essentially admitted it without saying the actual words ("just because we can't say it, doesn't mean it isn't true"). Furthermore, the reason why Chuck was afraid to say it was obvious as well, since Chuck being a coward was basically his entire S2 arc. He'd never loved anyone before, never experienced being loved in return, and never truly made himself emotionally vulnerable to another person- and it scared the crap out of him.
So... what would be Blair's excuse for not saying it now? She's certainly experienced love before, and she's had no problem saying "I love you" to the three guys she actually did love. She had no reason at all to "fear" her feelings for Dan, because as she herself said, he makes her feel safe. She knew he loved her, she knew he would never hurt her. She had absolutely no reason not to say it back- except that she didn't feel it.
So, no, Blair doesn't love Dan. If she'd loved him, she would've said so, and she certainly wouldn't have unceremoniously dumped him the way she did.
I have never seen Blair more happy than she was with Dan, I mean did you see how she smiled all the time. Please remind me of a moment that it happened back in season 3?
Basing your interpretation of Blair's happiness on how often she smiles is just superficial and completely devoid of nuance, IMO- after all, she smiled plenty while she was with Louis, she had a huge grin on her face while she was crowned Prom Queen alongside Nate, but is anyone *really* arguing that either of them made her the happiest? The thing is, there's a difference between being content and being truly happy, and as Blair *herself* said, Chuck made her happier than she's ever been. So that's indisputable- it doesn't matter how much you want to pretend 5x24 didn't happen, it did, and it's canon. And I could point out many, many instances in S3 when Chuck and Blair seemed incredibly happy together- really for most of the season, up until 3x17- but what's the point? I mean, here's a shot of her happy and looking incredibly in love:
I could easily find dozens more, but it's downright silly to base a discussion of who makes her happier on gifs of her facial expressions. (For the record, there were many, many instances during her relationship with Dan when she was not smiling- surely even you have to recognize that- but like I said, I don't think that's an argument even worth having).
I know that Chuck loved Blair in Season 2 just as I know that Blair loves Dan now, even if she did chose Chuck in the finale (yes, I am aware of that, but I’m also aware that the show changed its showrunner, and I really think that Safran was going towards a Dair endgame. Savage is definitely a Chair shipper and I guess that it’s her right to end the show the way that she wants to but it doesn’t mean that I have to agree that it’s the best thing for the characters.
I hate to break this to you, but the show was never headed towards a Dair endgame- it was never even an option. I'm not just saying that in hindsight, or to be cocky or smug, but it's based on actual info we heard from people behind-the-scenes. We know the writers wanted to take a break from Chair for awhile, and they wanted to explore Dair (and yes, they did intend to do so all along), but the intention was always to return to Chair. There were no last-minute changes to the script or the storyline. It was never a question of "If" Blair and Chuck would reunite, but rather "when."
And regardless of what you think Safran wanted, the decision was never up to him- Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage have always been the EPs, so it was always their call to make. So even if Safran had stayed as showrunner (the current showrunner isn't Savage, btw, it's Sara Goodman), it wouldn't have made any difference. Schwartz and Savage created this show, produce this show, and were always going to end the show the way they wanted it to end.
I really wanted Chair to work back then, but we clearly saw that when Blair matured, Chuck wasn’t a good fit anymore for her and Dan is now way better suited for her, IMHO. That’s just the way I see it but I’m always interested to read different point of views as long as there’s no hate, so if you want to, I’d be glad to read about what you think it was that made Blair choose Chuck except maybe fear of changing/growing up and deep nostalgia for old time’s sake.
Yeah, I have several "points of view" on this paragraph, haha. First of all, I think the assertion that Blair matured is wildly inaccurate. I mean, between playing out her Fairytale Princess fantasies, making pacts with God to keep Chuck from getting run over with a taxi, repeatedly stabbing her best friend in the back, throwing a temper tantrum when her boyfriend got more attention than she did, etc, S5 Blair was less mature than I'd seen her since S1. Her whining about losing her fairytale (as opposed to, you know, her baby), followed by Dan putting a plastic crown on her head was kind of the cherry on top of her immaturity sundae, IMO.
Secondly, the argument that Dan is "better suited" for her seems to be based on two things: common interests, and what a super great guy he is. But sharing interests with someone doesn't make you suitable as lovers, it makes you suitable as friends. And Dan and Blair actually were good as friends, before Dan decided to force it into a relationship. The fact is, friendship doesn't always translate to romance, and attempting it to force it usually just results in losing the friendship entirely (which is exactly what's happened- and coincidentally exactly what happened with Dan and Vanessa as well). Regarding Dan being a good guy, I don't really agree, at least not based on S5, but I'm not going to get into all the reasons I think he's been a douchebag lately.... because the point is, it *doesn't matter* how good a guy someone is, love isn't a merit competition where the "best man" wins. Love is a feeling, not a logical decision, and you can't make yourself love someone just because they did X, Y and Z for you and because they share your interests in random pretentious crap.
Which brings us to the final point: why Blair chose Chuck. You apparently think it's because of her fear of changing- which makes very little sense, given how she spent the previous several months. So you're saying that she wasn't afraid of changing in 5x17, and then suddenly developed a fear of it a few months later? Yeah, no. Especially given that Blair herself said that what she was scared of, what she was running away from, were her feelings for Chuck. So what you're claiming is almost the exact opposite of what the show has told us.
Her relationship with Louis, and with Dan, all had the background theme of Blair attempting to "kill" or "run away" from her love for Chuck. After all, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, right? But in the end, she couldn't keep denying her feelings for him, especially when she finally accepted how much he'd changed.
And if you look back at the entirety of S5, it's very easy to see this thread: Blair clinging to the idea that Chuck hadn't changed (5x07, 5x09, 5x19), because for her to accept that he had meant that she had to face her feelings for him; Blair trying to "choose" who to love- with both Louis and Dan- and Chuck giving her the freedom to do so, despite the fact that she herself realized "you can't choose who you love" (5x12); Blair being so afraid of losing Chuck that she's not willing to take the risk- "I'll lose everything before I lose Chuck all over again", "just because we can't be together doesn't mean I won't love you" (5x11); Serena being remarkably perceptive about Blair's feelings, including "you're afraid to take a chance on a life with the man you really do love" (5x13), and "you're still in love with Chuck, and you still won't admit it" (5x24), etc, etc.
The 5x10 towncar scene was particularly compelling, but the alternate version of it contained an even more telling piece of dialogue: B: "I love you. And I'm sorry for ever doubting it, or making you doubt it." C: "I never will again." It harkened back to the apology scene in 5x06, when Chuck says "you never give up on the people you love", which foreshadowed that Blair was going to do exactly that.
And that's it, in a nutshell- the Dair relationship arc was basically intended to test Chuck's love for Blair, to make him keep the faith and not doubt her love. She chose Chuck in the finale because, no matter how hard she tried to push him away and kill her feelings, she couldn't... and she didn't want to anymore. She chose Chuck because she loves him and because he has the capacity to make her happier than anyone else. And none of that is fanwank, it's actually canon. So this theory that she was "afraid to love Dan" and went back to Chuck out of fear or "nostalgia" is not only illogical, it's completely inconsistent with what we were told and shown by the show itself.
In other words... it's Dair fanfiction.
Apologies if you find any of this snarky, that's just how I roll.
