#Like... He doesn't like her but he seems to respect that Rory DOES

[stellaluna33]

It's interesting to me that, while Dean is very respectful to Lorelai herself, he is at several points pretty disparaging about Rory's relationship with her. "Well, you just feel that way because your mother feels that way," and "I say I love you, and you want to think about it? Go home and discuss it with your mother?"

And Jess is less respectful to Lorelai herself, but he never says anything against Rory's relationship with her, never seems annoyed or resentful of it. He sometimes expresses resentment about Lorelai's hatred of him, but never about Rory's closeness to her, even though he could have at various points and even though he probably doesn't understand it. And it's interesting to me, because Jess antis would probably assume that he's the one who would be saying things like the quotes above, trying to drive a wedge between them, but he never does. It's the "nice" guy that Lorelai likes so much.

[lirarey]

Kisses' parallels

In the film we see three impressive kisses. But they're impressive in different ways.

Rory and Lydia

What do we know about their relationship? They have been dating for a long time. He is the producer of her show. Rory supports her after Richard's death. It would seem that he is the ideal man. But Lydia feels uncomfortable around him, allowing the wedding to take place two days after her father's funeral. And the wedding no longer seems such a desirable event. Rather, it seems like a necessity. We see them kiss at the very beginning of the film. Lydia is worried and vulnerable at that moment. What would a good boyfriend do? At least reassure her. Give her time to come to her senses. What does Rory do? Pretend to help her. After helping like that, you feel guilty. And then the kiss happens. At first glance, it seems passionate and full of feelings. After such a kiss, a human usually feels a great surge of happiness. In reality, Rory seems to take away her life force. Not allowing her to escape from his control.

Jeremy and Astrid

The relationship between Astrid and Jeremy is reminiscent of the 1995 film "Casper." A girl whose one parent died, and the other believes in the existence of ghosts. There is even a family reunion (it's a pity that in "Casper" Kat never met her mother). And a lonely ghost guy. There is also a Halloween celebration and a "flying" kiss. Only if Casper sacrificed his resurrection for the sake of Kat's father... Then Jeremy almost got rid of Astrid. Their kiss was also insincere due to the lack of feelings of one person.

Beetlejuice and Lydia

Throughout the film, we've been watching Beetlejuice's feelings for Lydia. And it seems like the same situation here as with Rory... But no. First, Beetlejuice gives much more than he takes. Not only does he keep his promise by saving Astrid, but he also gets rid of Jeremy and finds Delia. Second, his intentions are pretty clear. And, as others have noted before me, Beetlejuice hears Lydia's wishes for a quiet wedding with her loved ones. And he's the only one in this film who doesn't kiss anyone on the lips. Kissing the back of the hand has many meanings. In my opinion, the most appropriate here is an expression of deepest sympathy, respect and affection. And it's incredibly amazing.

[just-another-nerd-blog]

Okay, so we all know that Rory Sucks and doesn't actually care about Lydia. So I am going to use his behavior with Lydia to prove just how much Betelgeuse actually cares about and respects her, in comparison. Because he really does love her, and all of his actions in the movie show that.

First, let's talk about kisses. Rory kisses/embraces Lydia on three notable occasions. Betelgeuse kisses her once, and it is perhaps one of the more memorable scenes in the movie for all the Beetlebabes fans. Obviously, one of the big differences between the Rory kisses and the BJ kiss is the fact that Rory's are all on the mouth, while BJ's is to the back of her hand. But another big difference I noticed is the force with which Lydia is kissed.

Analysis with photo evidence under the cut!

The first time we see Rory kiss Lydia is after her anxious break during her show taping. In the moment, she is vulnerable and shaken, but Rory grabs her for a kiss anyway. It's a bit aggressive, he's holding her tightly, and Lydia looks a bit stiff when he pulls her in. It's not a great moment for a kiss like this, and doesn't seem to be the most welcome either.

The second notable time we see Rory kiss Lydia is when he proposes to her and she finally and unenthusiastically agrees. As we can see in the first screencap, he is practically yanking her in. Lydia looks shocked and perhaps a bit afraid or nervous. When Rory finally kisses her, it looks as if her head is somewhat turned away, and her shoulders are even stiffer than the first time. Once again, this seems semi-unwelcome, but mostly it seems needlessly aggressive.

The third Rory kiss/embrace I want to talk about is when Lydia finally gets to the church for their wedding. Once again, her head is turned away, and this time, in addition to looking stiff, she is leaning away, with Rory following her for the embrace. He's holding her tightly, but her hand isn't even fully resting on him, least of all holding or grabbing him. Once again, this is a situation of him seeing her when she's nervous or anxious and using force to pull her into a kiss or embrace. It's a little rough, and doesn't seem entirely pleasant.

Now let's compare those to the one time Betelgeuse kisses her. By the time this scene comes up, he's already gone through pretty much the whole wedding scene with her, not doing much more than just dancing with her and singing to her. And, notably, he kisses her on the back of the hand.

Look how gentle he is with her. He's holding her hand and has an arm around her back, but he isn't gripping her the way we see Rory do. He carefully brings her hand to his mouth to kiss it, and it only lasts for a brief second. Again, compare that to Rory's kisses, which all go on for what seems like a little too long. Lydia's a bit stiff here too, and I can't blame her, but she moves with Betelgeuse's lead much easier than she does with Rory's. She's not trying to get away, she lets him spin her, she lets him kiss her hand. Her expression is also a bit questioning, but not really afraid or even surprised.

Even when you look at the still of this scene, she mostly just looks confused and perhaps a bit curious, as if she's not sure why he's doing this. It's because he's in love with her but I digress. BJ's kiss is slow and deliberate. He gives her a chance to pull her hand away if she were to want to, he kisses her in perhaps the most respectful place he could kiss her without prior consent, and he doesn't draw it out.

Ultimately, Betelgeuse's one kiss to Lydia's hand is worlds more romantic and worlds more respectful than any of Rory's kisses to her mouth. Every time Rory kisses her, it's aggressive and forceful, and he never really takes a chance to see how she feels about it. He just kisses her because he wants to, regardless of Lydia's anxiety or uncertainty. Obviously BJ wanted to kiss her too, but his eyes are watching her the whole time. He's searching her expression and body language to make sure she's okay. He is so beyond gentle and careful with her. He doesn't draw it out.

Rory kisses in a way that makes it seem like he's trying to prove to anyone watching that he loves Lydia. He's putting on a show. But Betelgeuse, ever the showman, is only doing this for Lydia. The rest of the people in the church are frozen in time, no one is watching. Most importantly, the tenderness with which he brings her hand up and kisses her makes it seem like he's only trying to prove himself to her. No one else's thoughts matter, not as long as Lydia knows how he feels, how genuinely and tenderly he actually loves her.

When Rory kisses her, he only thinks about himself. When Betelgeuse kisses her, he's only thinking about Lydia.

[missheavenfield1215]

Ok, I have a theory about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

For this sequel we have this scenario.

The person being buried in the cemetery is:

1- Charles Deetz

Probably, this it would explain the fact that the entire Deetz family, except Charles, is in this scene... (although we all know why this specific actor is not there).

But probably, in this movie, Beetlejuice has always wanted to end the wedding that he began with Lydia 36 years ago. Maybe Beetlejuice had always been looking for her to call him back, but it seems that Lydia left Winter River a long, long time ago... Well, Adam's model was under a dusty sheet. And if Beetlejuice doesn't know where Lydia has gone, then he can do nothing but wait...

He can only wait, perhaps just long enough to see her at his desk...

But then, why does he still have a photo of Lydia in his possession?

Well, perhaps no one had challenged him so much and no one would have come out of it unscathed either, no one….

Except her:

Beetlejuice is probably obsessed with getting revenge on her, for being the one thing he couldn't take... Maybe that's why he wants to end the wedding. So as not to feel that he has lost again and that now he will take the people who dared to challenge him.

(Most likely, Beetlejuice learned of Charles' death as the new manager on the other side and now set out to send publicity to the Deetz house, knowing that Lydia would return to Winter River.)

that explains this:

Whether Lydia's husband is still with her or has died, divorced, or are separated, either way, Beetlejuice can't know.

What interests him is that this time, his proposal and marriage go well....

But the only thing that interests him is that she returned to Winter River...

SHE CAME BACK...

And I personally believe that Astrid did NOT call Beetlejuice... It was Lydia herself who called him, so she was there when he appeared in the attic.

(Most likely, the Deetzes will have more problems)

Beetlejuice also knows that Lydia called him and that would explain this:"I am gonna make you so happy."

(Or well, that's what he believes)

Because he immediately tells her, as if he promised her that he would make her happy, as if Bj didn't want her to regret calling him back.

And I personally think, he looks like he's going to burst into tears at any moment.

And as a bonus, probably, this "Rory", is another suitor looking for Lydia (?)

Well, I don't really have any more theories with this character, but he must want something from the Deetz and Beetlejuice is probably going to give him away in front of everyone.

Or perhaps, he keeps a secret to protect Deetz women from him and Beetlejuice gets the truth out of him...

This scene is probably shortly after what they presented in the trailer.

Well, really, the last thing I want to say is that whatever Beetlejuice is up to, it's illegal (obviously), because apparently Beetlejuice left a replacement in the Netherworld...

Most likely, being with Lydia is an even greater crime, because now he occupies a position very similar to Juno's...

I personally don't want to believe that Beetlejuice has developed romantic feelings for Lydia.

I want to believe that it is a kind of love-hate, because perhaps, in all his centuries of death, no one had challenged him so much... And so he has a kind of respect and admiration for her, for having gotten rid of him...

It's probably some kind of job-finishing obsession that could have brought him back to life. And having been so close to fulfilling it, it only fueled his desire to live again.

What do you think??

[frazzledsoul]

I tried this last week, but I thought I'd write a nicer version of this meta this time.

There's been a lot of talk as to why Rory doesn't talk about Jess during her brief S6 therapy session, when she mentions Dean in passing and spends most of the scene upset over Logan. I really don't think the scene is meant to be a rundown of her entire romantic history, but is attempting to set up the morality play of Logan and Rory's up-and-down relationship. She misses him, and is tempted to go back, but doesn't want to be sucked into the cycle of his lifestyle. I don't know if it's merely Rory's self awareness that is off or if it's ASP's in general (Rory, at this point in the story, does not have a leg to stand on when she claims to be the innocent girl who was corrupted) but Dean only comes up in terms of what he tempted her into and the affair that she now regrets. "I never stole a boat with Dean! I did have an affair with him when he was married, though!" Dean's clearly not the perfect boyfriend who would never steer her wrong in her memory or ours anymore.

So what is Jess? Contrary to what seems to be fanon opinion among many, he's not the bad boyfriend she can never forgive, or someone she's inclined to still be hostile to. He's stable, successful, well-adjusted, and even better looking: he made a life in his own according to his own principles with no help from anyone else. Rory's attitude towards him from season four to season six is a complete one eighty: she's happy to see him and gushing about how smart and accomplished he is and how she always knew he had greatness in him. She forgave him in that year and a half, and a lot of that has to do with her falling off her good girl pedestal. He's not the bad boy who tempted her into evil: he's the one that moved past that narrative and found a new one. She doesn't resent him for what happened in the past, and is grateful for the fact he helped dig her out of the hole that she was in. Jess doesn't come up during the therapy session because she doesn't view him as a moral liability. That's what that scene is all about, not her issues overall.

So given all of this, why does she still mislead Jess into thinking she had broken up with Logan, allow herself to cheat with him, and still apply the same morality play to herself ("I can't even cheat on him like he cheated on me!" Uh huh. Sure, Jan) all the while apologizing to him and admitting that she was wrong to involve him in this because she knows he doesn't want to be a sidepiece? IDK, y'all. It's season 6. Maybe a real therapist would help here. I do think it speaks to the way Rory and the narrative view him, as someone who does need to be treated with respect and who was lucky to find a nice life elsewhere. He's not the person that dragged the protagonist down anymore because he's moved beyond that.

[iamnathannah]

Every time I read a Rogan fic where somehow kids are involved I keep reading the story and try to figure out where on earth the writer has pulled this characterization of Logan as a good dad who cares about his kids when over three years it's proven he can't even care for his own self properly and even when confronted with literal death he just seems to find it a minor inconvenience.

The accident forced Rory, who had pretty much been ready to dump him, to double down on being his girlfriend because he cynically knew poor Rory would not listen to her heart and see that he was her poison and she could not leave him because she knew her grandparents and Logan's friends (and let's face it, Christopher) would just guilt her right back into a relationship anyways because 'uwu look at the poor hurt manchild who could ever leave that punchable face 🥺?'

Like I already consider AYITL ASP's equivalent of fix-it fanfic because she didn't care enough to respect any S7 characterization choices. But imagining Logan as a dad who cares enough to merely work 9-5? In a world where we absolutely fucking know he'd be pointman in the new administration for that DOGE bullshit, he totally idolizes Emerald Guy, and has the same parental philosophy (as in kids are props and if they hate you for living their own lives they can rot) as him? Logan is just like his father in every single way. And that dick is not committed to Rory till death do they part...including any children he has.

Jess would definitely be the dad there for Rory's kids and always there, and in my own headcanon Paris is their second mom, her kids are like family just as much to the Gilmores, and the only goddamned time Logan cares about Rory is when his cock aches to relive its glory days and he rolls in just like Chris does at the worst possible time.

But that doesn't matter because Rory has two better loves of her life which provide her and her children the support that the biological dad will never provide. Paris and Jess are always there for her and them.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Pride Month Character Sexuality Headcanon Moodboards 1. Yasmine - Lesbian 2. Demetri Alexopoulos - Gay 3. Moon - Bisexual 4. Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz - Bisexual

Welcome back, Cobra Kai pride month moodboard followers!!! This time let's hear it for Moon Nolastname, our one canon bisexual queen!!! She's so important to me fr <3 <3 <3 Granted, her dating a girl for 2 seconds was not NEARLY the epic sapphic romance she deserves, but I'm still so happy it's canon she likes women <3 <3 <3

I also still maintain that she has more chemistry with every female character she's ever interacted with onscreen (including that one random blonde girl in the pink dress who she danced with in the prom episode) than she ever had with Eli, eat your heart out bird boy akjsdnhukyghju

ANYWAYS I figure I don't need to back up why I think she's bi when it's been literally confirmed canon by Word of God (if you want to count that, anyways), so I'll use this bit to dive into why I'm a Lesbian Yasmine/Biseuxal Moon truther and why Moon being bisexual (and not a closet lesbian) actually makes perfect sense to me!

Throughout the show, she definitely shows enough general interest in boys to lead me to believe she doesn't exclusively like girls. She's lowkey flirty with a guy named Rory as early as 1x02 (the one she wants to do a flip for her insta channel!), and she seems to be the one to make the first move with Hawk in 1x09. In the soccer episode of Season 3, we see her having a friendly chat with a football player that could be seen as a little flirty. Compare this to Yasmine (who I think is a lesbian!), who doesn't really interact with any boys outside of Kyler in S1 and doesn't even really acknowledge Brucks, despite him following Kyler everywhere. In later seasons, Yasmine only really interacts with Demetri (and occasionally Eli) while Moon is shown to be amicable with Demetri, Miguel, minor male side characters like Rory, and enough boys and girls to throw an enormous house party in 5x08!

So admittedly I am one of the biggest h*wkm**n haters of all time. Catch me still in denial that they got back together in S4 because no they didn't <3 HOWEVER!!! From how, uh...spirited their first make-out session was in 1x09, I can buy that there is definitely physical attraction there, if little else. Whatever emotional connection they do have I think is shallow at best and actively based on falsehoods at worst--Moon only really likes Hawk's fake overconfident facade, and isn't shown to have much interest in him beyond surface-level things (I mean, for fuck's sake, she said she liked his biceps and his cool hair while dumping him, like!!!). Hawk, meanwhile, seems to kinda put Moon on a weird pedestal and seems more obsessed with the idea of her than Moon herself. In any case, you don't need to have a deep, profound attraction to all of your preferred gender(s) for your sexuality to be valid, so...even with pretty shallow feelings for Eli, Moon's bisexuality is still totally valid and should be respected <3

Mentioned before, but I do think her initiating with Eli in 1x09 shows some genuine attraction there! And commenting how hot he is in 1x10, too XD It's so impassioned and spur-of-the-moment that it doesn't feel rehearsed and inauthentic in the same way Yasmine's "attraction" to boys often does to me. Moon seems to definitely like muscular, athletic boys--and girls too, if Piper is anything to go by! We love a bisexual with an overlapping type XD

If y'all have spent any time on my page, I'm sure you've heard me rant about Moon's planet-sized crush on Yasmine XD I think a lot of her S1 behavior (and generally hanging out with a "mean girl" clique that seemed counterintuitive to like...how she works as a person) could be explained by her having a crush on Yasmine. She backs Yasmine up unconditionally, even when she feels conflicted about it (like with Sam in the weed-smoking scene in her car), which would make a lot of sense if she had/has feelings for Yas. No coincidence, imo, that she finally gathered up the courage to ditch Yasmine as soon as she found a new mean hottie to swoon over XD No real judgment here btw I was Just As Cringe in high school. We all were.

Also worth noting that she's the only character who acknowledges Yasmine's existence while she's out of town in S2--including Demetri, the guy who supposedly "would kill his friends to get Yasmine to spit in his face"! And it's not even in an explicitly negative context. It kind of sounds like Moon's giggling and kicking her feet about Yasmine having the same bikini as her XD

In later seasons, Moon taking Yasmine back despite Yas's lack of remorse and readily being her best friend again seems to hint that Yas means a lot to her--maybe in a way that goes beyond a simple platonic friendship? The full-body check-out and butt glance she does with Yas in S4 is probably the most damning thing I can give you. I mean.

LIKE. GIRL. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT.

I could not wear shipping goggles here if I tried. I have watched this scene dozens of times, and Moon is so obviously checking her out that I thought I was going crazy. HOW did this make it into the show??? HOW did they show us THIS and then expect us to buy Moon is into her ex who she's mildly friendly with and who she doesn't even talk to until the girl she really likes is fully preoccupied???

Absolutely batshit.

We've also got Moon a) breaking into excited screaming when Yasmine shows up at the prom and b) completely ignoring Eli the entire prom to hang around Yasmine and Demetri and continually steal glances at Yasmine XD This girl is gone as fuck. Let her date Yasmine, dammit!!! Clearly Eli is not her first choice!!!

Even in S5 she's sitting way too damn close to Yas in that brunch booth and laughing at Yas's dumb little joke about torturing Anthony. She's still gone as fuck. Justice for Moon!!! Let her go out with her dream girl, dammit!!!

And Moon's attraction to girls isn't limited to Yasmine and Piper!!! There's the aforementioned girl in the pink dress she was dancing with at prom (this lovely lady)

AND!!! I would argue Moon even seems to be kind of into Sam, at times! She definitely seems guilty about booting her out of the friend group back in S1, and she's lowkey giving bedroom eyes when the two of them are talking about Robby in S2 XD She looks a bit smitten during the sensory deprivation pod scene as well, and seems pretty down to put her arm around Sam whenever she can :P

Bottom line is, Piper was in fact NOT a phase in the least and I will forever be annoyed that the show kind of implied she was by having them break up for enigmatic reasons (which the conservatives could EASILY spin as "well she didn't ACTUALLY like girls she was just CONFUSED and Piper the Evil Cobra Kai was feeding this poor innocent straight girl's delusion!!!") and then having Moon go back to the male and supposedly straight ex who she had long since outgrown and lost feelings for. Like sure, Moon found a new relationship she seemed happy in and free to be herself in (something she notably could NOT really do with Eli), but CLEARLY that could never have the same (or greater!) emotional weight for her than a brief fling she had with some dude based on literally nothing except physical attraction -_____-

Whew, that got longer than I thought it would XD ANYWAYS, bottom line is that even though Moon canonically swings both ways and is so incredibly valid and sexy for it, I personally think she should date more women. The one exception to this is Robby Keene because Moonkeene is literally the only mlw Moon ship in the show that actually works, and I can and will die on this hill.

Also ngl it would be SUPER funny to see S3 Eli throw a bitchfit because his ex is going out with the mf he hates most in the world and there ain't nothing he can do about it. Like what are you gonna do??? Yell at Moon like she's your fookin property??? That's why she dumped your sorry ass in the first place. Get rekt, bird boy.

Used soft pastels for this because that very much feels like it fits Moon's vibe to me! She's just so wholesome and easygoing--it definitely suits her <3 Very happy I found such appropriate crystal pics to use :D Also I CANNOT tell y'all how long I have had that crystal-and-strawberry smoothie bowl pic saved, looking for the perfect moodboard to use it for...AND BY GOD, I FOUND IT. Sometimes dreams really do come true, kids XD

...I also really want to try that irl now. Like what ARE those crystal things made of??? Are they crunchy??? Are they chewy??? Would they break my teeth??? Guess I'll never know now ;_____;

Now fully convinced that Moon has little shiny colored glass jars in her room with sprigs of lavender and other incense and aromatherapy flowers in them. Her room is a little apothecary full of healing aromas and I love that for her <3

Realized while making this that she's also very ocean-coded (YasMoon and MoonPiper are BOTH water x fire ships, bless). In the ATLA universe, she'd probably be a waterbender healer. Sam would probably be a waterbender too, but she'd be much more Katara-esque and jump to use it for violence XD

As always, pic credits available upon request!

[jakeperalta]

obsessed with that rory gifset you just posted!!! such an interesting thing to notice and just further cements my complete lack of understanding of why so many people ship rory and jess. i don’t even dislike jess as much as i did the first couple times i watched gg, now it’s just genuine confusion as to why people think they should be together lol they were an awful couple and he directly does more things in season 3 to upset rory than dean or logan do in their entire runs on the show. then he continues to be just as shitty of a person when they see each other in season 4, and while he obviously gets better after that rory clearly has no interest in him romantically and is just so far over him and what he can offer her gahhh literati is like my least favorite ship ever because i just can’t see it at all!!!! if i wasn’t aware that it was the fan favorite ship i would just assume everyone that watches the show hates him and thinks they’re better off as friends because that seems like the clear message the show gives me i just don’t understand it

thanks!! I'd forgotten about the comment she makes at the start of s3 about how it's exciting to not know how someone might act until I saw it earlier and immediately thought of those other two scenes like oh girl :(

I think the third scene from that set in the aftermath of the party really just cements for me why I wanted her out of that relationship (and why I respect her never going back to him). like when she says she hates how she feels and how she acts because of him and she doesn't know if he's mad because she didn't want to have sex and she's embarrassed to be the girl that lets her boyfriend treat her like dirt. it just makes me want to give her a hug 😭😭 but the good thing that comes out of it is what she learns from it – without the s3 learning curve I'm not sure s5 rory would've been so quick to go to logan like "this casual dating thing is not working for me" as soon as she realised she could be falling into the trap of sitting at home hoping he'll call again

which is why I can appreciate that relationship's role in the show/rory's life but I was absolutely baffled to learn it's the fan favourite couple 😂

[runawaymun]

🪩🎧✅🥀❌🎬💿🎤 any and all of these for whichever of your original fiction WIPs you want!

*h e a v y b r e a t h i n g*

okay I am not going to do Thol babe that would take way to long. Let's do We That Remain!

(disco ball emoji) Would you want a movie adaption, TV, or something else? Animated or live action?

I think it'd make a movie best tbh. Or maybe a limited series but that almost feels too long.

🎧—What would the soundtrack be like?

soundtrack playlist coming right up

✅—Which character/plot point/etc would be your favorite to see on screen?

ULTANA AND RORY ULTANA AND RORY

“Do...do you remember the first time we met?” he asked. It was daft, but it was the only thing he could think of. It was worth it to hear that broken laugh from her lips at the memory.  She looked back at him, blinking back the tears with a shaky smile. “You were using my favorite tree as target practice.” “It was my tree,” he pointed out, a grin whispering over his face. “—And you missed and shot a notch right through my poetry book,” she retorted. “Anyway, it can’t be your tree. It was on my land. I was there first.” She was trying very hard to sound mad at him. He knew she wasn’t, and couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “That book is my favorite now.” “Nick and all?”  She looked straight at him, a gaze that seemed to fill him up until he might burst.  “Especially with the nick.” 

just. them. their everything. The whole quiet blooming of the romance aAAAAAaaaAAAAaaaAAUGH I want to peel my skin off every time I think about them!!!!

🥀—Which character/plot point/etc is most important for an adaption to get right?

Hugh. 100% Hugh. If Hugh's wrong the whole thing is off. Like Hugh makes actually one of the most objectively rational, sensible, and reasonable decisions in the book. Is it the right decision? No, not really, but it's the smart decision and he was doing it out of a misguided attempt to save everyone -- and it might have worked if, you know, it wasn't Queen Elizabeth and Charles Blount that he was making that bargain with.

And he does care about Ultana in his own really messed up way. He doesn't love her, but there is a level of respect and care there that I got wrong in the early drafts that emerged in the most recent draft -- you know how it is--- and that's really integral to understanding the book and their interactions and arcs.

❌—What’s the worst thing an adaption of your WIP could do? Your absolute worst nightmare?

Erinea x Thomas

or Erinea x anyone, really.

OR, or or, like let Mountjoy actually finish what he set out to do in that scene where Ultana stabs him in the hand with her hair pin. I could see some studio wanting to let him succeed for The Drama(tm) and I'd burn the place to the ground before I let that happen tbh.

🎬—Who would you cast as your characters?

So, in a perfect world:

Ultana O'Neill - Alex Kingston Hugh O'Neill - Daniel Day Lewis Erinea O'Neill - Amybeth McNulty Rory O'Donnell - Liam Neeson Baron Mountjoy - Jason Isaacs

like unfortunately most of these actors are no longer the correct ages to be playing these characters as they would have been when I started writing the thing, but that's who I cast and by god that's who they look like/sound like in my brain now tbh.

🎤—Describe the opening scene

I unfortunately have A Thing for starting out stories hot with a battle scene. But I like this one because it has a very particular spooky vibe to it. I would want to set the stage to make sure we get some very clear visuals on the state of the Irish army at the time. They're not doing well. Unforms are ragged/old. Pretty much everybody's wounded. We're cold, wet, exhausted, etc. etc. And then we get the English standing army -- and these guys emerge from the fog and they're almost inhuman tbh.

And of course you've got Mountjoy up on a hill above it all like a spectre.

Shapes began to glide through the trees, forming a line, then a circle, a slow deathwalk around the huddled ragtag army. Horses. Men on them. They stood at the edge of the trees, faces locked behind their helmets, armor and lances catching the cold morning sun. A single rider on a white horse made his way to the crest of the southern hill. His face was set with confidence, and his clothes were deadly red.

That's a scene I have so firmly affixed in my brain -- that first standoff between Rory, Hugh, and Mountjoy -- there really isn't much I would change about the visuals tbh. Like if there was ONE frame that I would want to make sure gets in the opening sequence it's that one, because that's the thing: Mountjoy's up there presiding. He's at the point of upmost advantage and confidence. He has nothing to lose. The odds are stacked overwhelmingly in his favor in this battle and he never stoops to join it, vs Rory and Hugh who are right down there in the thick of the fray. Also something-something 'i saw a rider on a pale horse and his name was death' heavy-handed symbolism y'know.

💿—Free space for anything I didn’t mention! Talk about things you would add, things that are important to you, or even lay out the plot of every episode of your Netflix Original if it suits you!!

Ultimately there are always scenes that get cut from adaptations, but one I'll fight tooth and nail for is the foaling scene. I feel in my soul that it would be on the chopping block and no. That's the first glimpse we get of Ultana commanding a room in her element and using a bit of authority -- especially around Hugh. And Hugh lets her. The foaling scene is crucial to understanding their relationship and that's a hill I'm willing to die on.

[piperslovebot]

Hi! Curious if you prefer Rogan or Literati and why?!

I may lose some followers but definitely Rogan. Shallow note, they're hot lol. But also Logan is just respectful of Rory as a person and loves her immensely but also isn't afraid to call her on her bs which in turn challenges her to be a better person. Some stans love to blame Logan for Rory's regression in the later seasons and I did too. But a. where was this when she cheated on dean with Jess or when she slept with a MARRIED Dean without guilt? And Logan wasn't in the picture for either of those things. And b. Rory is her own person. It's so annoying to see the show and parts on the fandom infantilize her by blaming the guy she's with. Last time I checked Rory is a grown ass woman. Logan didn't force her to steal a boat or drop out of Yale. And Rory is also really good for Logan too! She made him realize that he didn't have to live by his father's plan in s7 (Ignoring the revival. Rory and Logan are married with a kid as far as I'm concerned.) and inspired him to man up. They truly deserved better.

As for Literati, I used to ship them and thought that they should end up together and that Rory wouldn't have regressed with him blah blah. But my opinion slowly changed the more I watched youtube clips and looked at reddit threads. But when I did actually watch season 2, I kinda liked their interactions and banter. They had great chemistry too. But at the same time, it mostly just seemed like a phase. Lorelai did say "she's 17, it's about time for a Jess." To me, that just sounded like a bad boy phase and nothing more. They were really cute though. The only problem was the emotional cheating that Rory was doing. It's not a BIG deal because she is 17. People do dumb things at 17. Hell, I'm 17 and I've done pretty dumb things too so far. They were really cute at times as well, with that first real kiss and Jess having his arm around her. But after that was when things went south imo. Jess basically admits in one episode that he only did all that cute bonding stuff to get in her pants and not that they're dating, he doesn't think he needs to try anymore. That just rubbed me the wrong way but the ep he sexually assaulted Rory was where I draw the line. When I first saw that scene, I thought she told him to stop and he did but I was way off. She literally has to push him off of her. And that scene where she tells Lorelai about it and how she doesn't like things she does and how she feels just breaks my heart. And then Jess just leaves her with no call or explanation so it's just ugh. I was so happy to see Rory tell Jess off in season 4. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate Jess' growth and his bond with Rory in the later seasons but that doesn't mean they're meant to be or whatever.

[just---keep---simming]

The Howells - Summer 2

We rejoin the Howells, Lou and Rory, in Moonwood Mill, where summer has started off warm and rainy. Lou is trying to respect Rory's rule that any new werewolf recruits be either already beastly, or turned by their own choice. Unfortunately, people keep turning him down when he offers to bite them. Can't imagine why.

Hoping for better luck with an already-turned werewolf, Lou invites Joaquin over to the Mill to try and get to know him and initiate him into pack life. Joaquin has completed his transformation, and when in beast form is a rangy dark grey wolf. He is not pleased with Lou for the turning, but he has decided to try and learn a bit more about his new life. The work out together for a while and work towards getting more on the same page. Joaquin isn't ready to join the Wildfangs yet, though.

Rory is having more luck with her business ventures, happily. A freelance maker, she's now regularly taking jobs and turning out beautifully crafted rugs, lights, and candles. Her clients are mostly nice to work with and appreciative of the crafts she sends them. She doesn't make a ton of money, and nor does Lou with his part-time laborer job, but they manage their bills.

It helps that they're pretty self-sufficient. Lou does a lot of repairing and upgrades around the place, and if they need furniture, Rory will be able to manufacture it.

Of course, we all know someone who would heartily approve of such self-sufficiency, for sustainability reasons. Knox drops around to visit the Howells in his capacity as Eco Adviser, and introduces himself to Lou. The two have met briefly at the gym in the past, but hit it off properly as they start to get to know each other better. They have quite a lot in common, although Knox's wife's preference for cats over dogs might cause issues in future!

Speaking of dogs, one day during the summer I happened to spot a very cute dog wandering past. I quickly discovered she was a stray, so off Rory went to befriend and then adopt her. She and Lou are obviously dog people, and they were both thrilled to have the very cute spaniel Zena join the household.

Rory and Lou's fairly free schedules also meant summer was for relaxing and soaking up the great weather. Lou had developed a fear of swimming, which he conquered by confidently entering the water. Rory busted out her grilling skills, and many a summer barbeque was enjoyed over the season.

It wasn't all relaxing in the sun for the Howells, though. Rory was taking her job of shoring up the Wildfangs seriously, necessitating regular chats with other local werewolves. Wolfgang Wilder is part of the Moonwood Collective, but it pays to keep abreast of the happenings of other local packs.

Sometimes it's also necessary to put certain wolves in their place. Being an alpha is no joke, and Rory has the fighting chops to back up her place. Lou's aspiration requires him to become the alpha of his pack, but somehow I don't think Rory is going to be willing to cede power to him any time soon, if ever. She took the local bartender out the back to teach him a lesson, proving the necessity of keeping her place at the top.

It's always worth making sure any other occults who drop by the Mill are aware of whose the boss around here, too.

Following Rory's rampage and putting people in their places, I found Darryl Charm and Morgan Ember like this outside the bar. I have no idea what happened, but it very much looked like they were dead. Grim never appeared, though, and I saw Morgan wandering around right as rain later in the summer, so I guess whatever happened didn't end up being fatal!

Fortunately, for now at least, Lou seems content to let Rory occupy the place she has unquestionably earned and deserves more than him, as pack leader. He might finish his aspiration one day or he might not - it will depend what's best for the pack. For now, though, Rory is top dog, and that's kinda hot.

Lou enjoys having the time to get in plenty of workouts, and also to start contributing more cash to the household. He's pretty handy by now, so he gets ahold of a woodworking table and starts creating things to sell and boost the coffers.

Rory remains the main breadwinner, but Lou's extra work frees her up to make sure she stays current on werewolf culture and lore.

These two make such a great couple. The situation with Angela Pleasant was awkward, but I'm glad Lou and Rory ended up together.

They share the same goals, so they can work together without difficulty. They both want to grow the Wildfangs, and although Joaquin remains on the fence, another packless wolf they find hanging listlessly around the bar is open to a game of tug and a conversation about the Wildfangs. He's eventually coaxed to join, bringing the Wildfang's numbers to three. Success!

Rory and Lou celebrate with a meaty meal at the bar.

Before Lou has to nip off to the vet with Zena!

Finally, as summer is drawing to a close, Lou and Rory head to the top of Moonwood Cliff. Under the light of the all-important moon, Lou proposes to Rory, who delightedly accepts.

It's so romantic and perfect, just the two of them on the mountain that overlooks their beloved hometown and territory, that they elope and get married then and there.

And I think that's a great place to leave Lou and Rory - now also a Howell, rather than Oaklow, along with their new addition Zena. This fun, wild werewolf family have reached some big milestones in their relationship. Will kids come along next?

[stellaluna33]

I was asked if I think Rory was really still "in love" with Jess in Season 6 and AYITL, and, well... My answer is a bit... It's complicated. Haha! Do I think she was still actively, consciously IN love with him then? Well, to that particular question I have to say No. But I honestly don't think that's the right question here. I don't think it matters in the long run. Do I think she's completely OVER him and could never be in love with him again? The answer to that is ALSO No. This got a little long, so forgive me!

Is Rory still attracted to Jess? Yes, I think so. Do they still have a deep, intuitive connection? It seems obvious that YES, they do. Milo has said (and I agree) that once you've had as deep of a connection as Rory and Jess had, you never really lose that, and they will always love each other on SOME level. And I absolutely believe that Rory still does, and always will, love Jess in that sense. He's a person that's very important to her and for whom she cares deeply. But that's different, of course, from being IN Love with someone.

The thing is, though, that human relationships and emotions are very changeable and subject to circumstance. While acknowledging that my experiences won't be universal, I think for a lot of people who aren't aroace, the tipping point between platonic and romantic in friendships with people you find attractive can sometimes be a finer line than you might think. (I say SOMETIMES, because I do not quite agree with Harry Burns on this!) I am a woman who is attracted to men, and I've had some friendships with men without feeling anything more than platonic attraction, and I've had other friendships that, well... felt like they could probably go either way, if the circumstances were different. I have to be more careful with those friendships and make the decision not to dwell on feelings of attraction or put myself in situations with too much emotional intimacy, because which side of the line we're on is largely circumstantial. We CHOOSE not to think of each other as romantic prospects. (In the same way that I CHOSE to commit to my husband and continue to make that choice every day.) And that? That is the kind of "friendship" Rory and Jess have. They treat each other as friends because they have made the decision to treat each other as friends, because they currently (as of the Revival) believe that to be for the best and/or to respect the other person's perceived wishes. This is easier because they haven't been spending a lot of time together (perhaps even intentionally). Physical and emotional distance makes it easier to maintain emotional boundaries. If they were in a situation that had them spending a lot more time together, though? (Say, if they had "a work thing" between them...) I absolutely believe they might be teetering on the edge of that fence again. All it would take is a push in the right direction. As for personal differences between them, Rory has always been very good at compartmentalizing her feelings and not dwelling on them. Jess, however, is much less so. He dwells. (OHHHH, he dwells!) That's just their personalities. But I honestly think Jess had probably been attempting to move on too (I have real life friends who were in this situation, now married, but I'll talk about that another time.)

Now how does Logan fit into this? Well, in Season 6, it was complicated. Rory was officially Logan's girlfriend, and her allegiance (however shaky) tends to be to her official boyfriend (she couldn't bring herself to break up with Dean either). Her attraction to Jess was still pretty obvious, however (Logan definitely picked up on it), and that one encounter resulted in Rory and Logan separating (or breaking up, depending on who you asked or when...). 6.18 is more complicated, but my opinion is NOT that Rory went to Philly to intentionally "use" Jess. She SAID she "just wanted to see [his] place, but then... this." That doesn't sound like a plan to me. I think she found herself teetering on the edge of that attraction that's ALWAYS there between them, thought, "And why shouldn't I give in? Logan certainly would..." but then couldn't go through with it. Because yeah, she COULD fall in love with Jess again if she let herself, but she WAS still in love with Logan already, even though she didn't want to be anymore. She was still in a committed relationship with Logan, and it was a sexual one. It's not really popular right now to talk about the bonding aspects of sex (oxytocin release, etc.), but it is legitimately a thing for some people. Some people cannot separate the physical act of sex from emotional attachment, and the show had established that Rory was one of those people. She could not (in college at least) do "casual," and she'd been having sex with him for over a year.

The affair in AYITL is something else again. Because while I've said that Rory wasn't "in love" (yet?) with Jess in the Revival, I actually don't think she was really still in love with Logan either. Alexis Bledel herself said that she thought Rory was just "going through the motions" and clinging to something familiar and comfortable, and I agree. And this is (unfortunately) in character for Rory. Her life was spinning out of control (her grandfather dying, her career uncertain) and she was clinging to the emotional familiarity of Logan, the same way she clung to Dean when her life was in upheaval in Season 4, and she didn't do that because she was "still in love with Dean" (even though she convinced herself she was. She had to). Rory (for the first time maybe ever?!) was the one to end things with Logan in the Revival. I do think she'll probably always love him a little, in the same way she'll always love Jess a little (that kind of Love is ever-expanding), but she wasn't IN Love with him anymore and... It just wasn't right, and she knew it. Their goodbye was bittersweet, but she didn't seem heartbroken, she seemed at PEACE with letting go of him and ready to move on with her life. Love can be overpowering, it's true, but... It also has so much more to do with circumstance and personal choice than we sometimes want to admit. So, yeah. No, Rory and Jess aren't "in love" in AYITL. But in my 30+ years of life experience, that doesn't really mean a dang thing.

[katoska]

Ok, about our third baddy, Delores.

If two of the villains in BJ2 did get punished by Betelgeuse/the narrative for doing the same shit he did in his past, does she fit into that, too? It's not like Betel was trying to marry people to steal their soul and turn himself immortal before he killed Delores... that first time.

Cause he did try to get Lydia to marry him so he could get and stay out of the Afterlife, back in movie 1. Allegedly, it was a marriage of inconvenience/green card thing. Cause he had been, canonically, very much done with being dead. I never understood how that would keep him out of the Afterlife, or turn him back to living (which afaik is only Musicalverse canon?), or even free him from his name curse. I mean, I'd get it if he'd get the Deetz house to haunt from a marriage (property rights), so maybe he couldn't get banished just into the model anymore because he'd get his parameter expanded, giving him free reign within the whole house, or around his new wife, but the other stuff? Not so much.

So, it's possible that that Marriage of Inconvenience explanation was bull. That he'd have married that girl and - if the ritual required it and/or he had some morals and/or her youth skeeved him out - taken some time (in that house which Lydia wouldn't have wanted to leave bc of the Maitlands, and besides, B would likely be tied to her) to get her to like him and get her into bed, and then he'd have killed her parents and then Lydia and used her soul in an immortality ritual. And kept that nice big house and all that inheritance money for himself. After all, Rory and Dolores died together, fed to the same sandworm.

He did find a young girl who was an actual medium and was troubled and in need of his help, and he tried to marry her, and she escaped his clutches. And afterwards she couldn't see him even though they must have run into each other occasionally through their respective jobs. So he stalked her and, going by "ignores you for 30 years", tried to get her attention, a lot. He's an attention whore and show-off, and she was a hot lady ignoring him. Trying to get an attractive woman's attention for 30 years will do shit to a guy's psyche, and he caught feelings. So he killed his evil plans - and later their personifications - for her.

As I mentioned above, I believe he already tried the soulswap thing, and it didn't work out for him all that well, what with the other plague outbreak and the getting sent back Down by the woman he loved and all. Immortality through marriage-ritual would seem a far safer option, after that. Once he found someone who could see him, that is. Which seems to happen every 300-ish years. At least, it takes that long on average for him to find a living person who can see him and is willing to strike a deal out of desperation.

So now he's, if not fully a Good Guy, at least a Very Helpful Guy (he's not even just specialising in easily screwed-over, stupid-looking newbie ghosts anymore, though his methods of bio-exorcism remain immoral), after he got rid of some of his former toxicity. Maybe "redemption arc" was a bit inaccurate, he is more of an anti hero who doesn't care about being Good, though his motivations are purer now.

...probably. I mean, Delores was terribly underutilised and immortality is tempting if the alternatives are being an eternal civil servant, outcast, or someday moving on to probably hell for all your sins. And part of all three baddies' nastyness was that they made their victims believe they cared about them and winning their affection in return, which, well *gestures at BJBJ*, hasn't happened as such yet for Betel and Lydia. He, afawk, never broke someone's heart. Delores (and Rory, cause both personify greed, which is hard to get over) might be back to signify B being in danger of backsliding into his old ways. I'd just be deeply worried for my ship if they were.

This was part of a bigger post I keep rewriting in drafts, but just to throw the idea out there:

I think the reason why the flashback in BJBJ looks like it's set in the 17th century (B+D's clothes, plague doctor hazmat suits) is because... it is. That's Betel's second go at life. He did a soulswap. He revived during another plague outbreak, then died of poison. Whoops.

Like, we saw him feed a guy to a sandworm for emotionally manipulating a depressed Lydia and browbeating her into an engagement. I don't think I need to explain the Rory=movie1!Betelgeuse parallel?

But he also sent Jeremy to hell for attempting to trade Astrid's life for his afterlife. Given the Baroque thing, it sure looks like Betel is punishing people who are shitty in the same way he used to be.

Yay redemption arc.

[frazzledsoul]

So I find it interesting that in the last few years of the show we know almost nothing about how Rory processes the break-up with all three boyfriends.

After Dean dumps Rory for the third time because he realizes they have nothing in common anymore, I don't think we hear anything about him from her side other than telling her therapist that the affair was a bad idea (obviously). The last time we see Dean he's angry at Rory for wanting to move on from Stars Hollow and insisting to Luke that Lorelai will do the same for him and we... essentially never hear anything about him in the OS ever again. In AYITL, he's married, has a gazillion kids, seems emotionally stable for a change, and doesn't seem to resent Rory or idealize their relationship as much as she does. They've obviously run into each other from time to time and they're not bitter. What does Rory think about how all of that ended? I guess we'll never know, because ASP bizarrely thinks Dean was perfect. Whatever! Moving on.

Logan is even more of a question mark. Rory doesn't seem to take their breakup particularly hard, even though he blindsided her with a proposal and refused to accept any sort of compromise. Maybe she figured that their breakup was in some way inevitable as they went through this milestone and moved into adulthood? Who the fuck knows, because in AYITL she seems to be a complete commitmentphobe in every sense of the word (not just romantically) and they're having an affair that definitely looks like a relationship at times but invites no self-reflection from either of them. They don't talk about their relationship and both seem to have accepted they'll never have a real one again or move onto anything deeper and....lol, no one knows why? Do they love each other? Do they regret how things turned out? Would Logan be willing to leave his life behind and give it a go? Does Rory want a relationship with anyone, period? Does Rory even care about him as a person, since she seems to know absolutely nothing about his life and I'm not sure she....wants to? (Seriously. Compare how she interacts with Dean and Jess and seems genuinely interested in what's going on with them). I guess we'll never know any of this either.

Jess is a different scenario because Rory meets him again during the OS and we have an entire year and a half in which her demeanor towards him drastically changes. He leaves town and she's hurt, but claims to have moved on: during their two brief interactions in season 4, he avoids her, confesses his love for her on two separate occasions with zero context, and she's still so pissed at him she could spit nails in his direction and wants nothing to do with him...and runs into the arms of married Dean because she sees him as genuine and safe.

When Rory meets Jess in season 6, she's clearly not angry at him anymore: she's nervous, genuinely interested in his life, proud of his accomplishments, wants to spend time with him, gushes about how she always knew he could do something great because he was so smart and had so much potential. He gets into a fight with her boyfriend and her sympathies are absolutely towards him, not Logan.

Obviously it would be weird if she were still angry, but what changed, specifically? Is it because after her dalliance with Dean she's less inclined to judge him for how he hurt her? Did moving on with Logan (I don't think she ever really loved Dean again) help her finally process all that hurt and anger? Did Jess just obliterate all of her hurt feelings with his charm, maturity, and artfully arranged coiffure?

I guess it was a combination of all these things, but this is the first time in a long time that Rory shows him a lot of respect as a *person* as opposed to someone who frustrates her one minute and delights her the next. She doesn't have to spend her time defending him, because he doesn't need to be defended anymore. And not only is he the person to drag her out of that hole she's sinking in, she lets him.

Then we move onto the open house at Truncheon, where Rory....behaves badly, to put it mildly. I don't think she went there with malicious intentions. She was genuinely proud of Jess and wanted to see him and spend time with him. Still, it's got to be one hell of a blow, for her to show up on a night that was important to him, let him believe he still has a chance with her romantically and that she was single, and then to confess that she's still in love with the other guy and he's only a distraction. What stands out to me about that scene is that Jess flat out tells her that he doesn't deserve to be treated like that while Rory is in the middle of apologizing. While I think that romantically the door was closed for the time being after that incident, Jess doesn't appear to resent her or lash out, and Rory knows that SHE'S done wrong, that SHE hurt him, and she's sorry. She might not love him again like he wanted her to, but she cares about him, she respects him as a person, and she doesn't want to see him hurt. I don't think we have seen her have that attitude towards Jess for years and years.

Does she respect Logan as a person at this exact point in time? I would have to say no. She seems to feel zero guilt about running around on Logan, even if she can't bring herself to go further. She flat out says she's in love with him but he deserves to be hurt (ouch). She only grows tender towards him after he nearly dies. She might love him, but this relationship is not exactly bringing out the best in her.

Season 7 is a different story (I definitely think Rory respects that version of Logan) but since this is ASP's story, we have to return to her fatalism and her belief that Logan can never, ever change, because then he won't be able to ruin Rory's life and effectively crush all her hopes and dreams with his super sperm. Meanwhile, she clearly still respects Jess: not only is his advice the only advice she is willing to take, but she's clearly still involved with him on this writing project afterwards and as a member of her extended family. And shouldn't you, in the end, seek a partner you actually respect as a person, as well as love? Shouldn't you actually....like them?

[georgianadarcies]

Dean in 1x16 was a walking red flag. Even before he got mad that she didn't say "I love you".

First of all, he scheduled the anniversary dinner of a day when he knew that she was busy without asking her and just expected her to drop everything for him. And that day wasn't even their actual anniversary! Their actual anniversary was the day after but apparently he's busy then. Like why should she adhere to his schedule and make compromises for him and he doesn't have to do the same for her?

Second of all there was the surprise about the encyclopedia story that she told. Does this dude even know her at all? Like did he spend any time actually listening to her?

Then there was the whole over the top love bombing with the fancy dinner and "sure order as much as you want" and building her a car, like it all seems sweet (but too much too soon) however in the end it's clear there are strings attached. The moment she doesn't do what he wants, he flies off the handle and says it was all for nothing and just leaves her strandes in the middle of the night on a scrapyard.

She shouldn't have gotten back together with him after this. It only got worse and worse in their second relationship but this was already a start.

this man truly is a walking red flag like every single thing he does in that episode alone is a big yikes. some of the things ge aren’t as big of a deal (the friday thing was probably just so the writers could get lorelai at the dinner alone, but it’s true that it’s reflective of how dean never respects her time). he just doesn’t seem to get her or understand her?? just what he can get from her. and when he doesn’t get what he wants after showing her the car and saying I love you he’s immediately affronted. he just goes into that expecting to get something out of it and I hate that!! that isn’t a healthy thing in a significant other!! I don’t blame rory for getting back with him, she was a sixteen year old girl who had feelings for him. rory has been prone to let boys and others treat her poorly if she depends on them enough/if they do enough things that make her disregard the bad. it’s less that she shouldn’t have gotten back with him and that he shouldn’t have been acting that way in the first place.

[windowsandfeelings]

nancy/ace! And literati, for a throwback, haha.

omg, my 2 favorite subjects

OK, so Nancy/Ace

1. What made you ship it?

They're just so...well-matched. I remember thinking I was imagining things in season 1 because it did not seem like the show was actively trying to do any of the stuff that I was seeing, but the chemistry was so immediately there, and the complete invasion of personal space was so immediately there, and even in the pilot you have Nancy refusing to let anyone in emotionally while also saying that she told Ace all of her deep dark traumas over the summer (*ahem*). I think I first realized it was something I was into around their visit to the library (maybe a little before that?), or when he drank poison for her(!!!), and I was fully on board when he was the only one who knew the truth about Lucy and his first instinct was to protect that secret until she was ready to share it. The way he dives into doing the ritual in 1x17 when everyone else is asking questions just makes my heart feel like it's going to explode, I love it so much.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

INVASION. OF. PERSONAL. SPACE.

The fact that they both have an inferiority complex and it's so so absurd (Ace is worried he doesn't speak enough languages for her! he speaks 3 languages but that's not enough!! Nancy is an emotional disaster and should really be in so much therapy!!!!! Ace probably should, too!!!)

Excellent gazing.

There's a moment in 2x07 where Nancy realizes Ace and Amanda are flirting and she does these little jealous eyes and it was the first time I thought there was anything intentional going on and it's the best. (related: the way Nancy says "She's competent" in 2x13)

Any and all moments we see text messages between them they are top notch. (MEAT HOOKS!!!)

They both love Horseshoe Bay so much and it informs everything about them.

I can't even talk about the lust curse.

Or the fact that Nancy thinks he has pretty eyes.

OR THE HUG AFTER SHE AND GRANT SAVE HIM.

They. have. a. private. server.

Season 4 is going to be sooooo angsty and I am here for it.

Did I mention the invasion of personal space?

Anyway, there's just so much mutual respect and trust and even when they're mad at each other or not communicating well or dating other people or anything they still care deeply about each other.

Everyone else knew they were in love before they did.

HANDS.

UGH I COULD GO ON FOREVER.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I do not get why the fandom is so invested in Ace calling her "Nance" when the specific way that he says "Nancy" is the hottest thing in the fucking world.

AND MY BELOVED LITERATI

1. What made you ship it?

I honestly barely remember because it's been literally twenty years, but I do know that I went into season 2 very invested in Rory and Dean (and very alone in that, the fandom was intensely Trory in a way that is hilarious to me now), and I hated Jess for a long time because I didn't want anything to get in the way of that (hahahahaha). But he won me over somewhere in season 2, because I do remember reading the spoilers for "I Can't Get Started" and seeing that they were going to kiss and losing my shit in a way that only a 14 year old can (lies, I lost my shit so hard during the Nancy Drew finale that I spilled half a diet coke on my couch and now there is a giant stain on the fold-out mattress). Like running around the house and screaming about it.

And then the night before "Let the Games Begin" aired (it might have been "They Shoot Gilmores...") I got grounded and got my tv privileges taken away and I wrote my parents a letter explaining why it was extremely important that I be allowed to watch and they actually let me.

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

Well, let's talk about mutual respect again. Let's talk about chemistry again.

Book nerds in love.

It's a cliche to say 22.8 miles/you looked it up, but 22.8 miles!/you looked it up! (True story: there is a picture of me on Buzzfeed holding a sign that says 22.8 miles/you looked it up, because they went to the same Luke's pop up that I did before AYITL and asked people in line what their favorite Gilmore Girls moments were.)

They pushed each other and expected more from each other. I think the ways that Jess nudged Rory back to herself in season 6 and AYITL get more attention, but Rory was also so important to getting Jess to a place where he could be that person for her. (Anyway, see chapter 4 of MYatRT this weekend for more of my thoughts on this. It's a ~theme~)

Separate from the actual, on-screen ship: Rory and Jess were what drove me to stars-hollow.org in 2004 (right after "Nag Hammadi..." aired), and that message board, and specifically the Lit thread, gave me some of my dearest friends in the world, people who are still in my life every single day, people I've vacationed with, people I love deeply. I would love them for that if for no other reason.

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

IDK, the discourse around GG has changed so much over the years (I have to stop looking at the subreddit. It makes me feel 1000 years old), and at no point have I agreed with all of it, but no specific examples spring to mind. I'm not as much of a Dean hater as many (probably has something to do with my answer to 1), which is not necessarily a ship opinion considering Dean is not a part of the ship, but does seem related to them anyway.

OH! I do think it's funny the way people use the ship name now! People call Rory and Jess Literati, but we used to call ourselves Literati (or really, Literatis, even though Literati is already plural. But really, we mostly used Lit/Lits). Like, we were the stars-hollow.org Lits. Lits wrote Literati fic, but I don't think we would say we wrote fic about Literati. Does that make sense? IDK I think it's a subtle difference, but it's there.