#dean did that & told rory specifically it was over

[honourablepranksinatra]

The scene in Gilmore Girls where Lindsay's mom confronts Rory in the town square for "breaking up a marriage" is so interesting to me because it is such a Lorelai moment.

Lorelai is the type of person who would yell at someone she thinks has wronged her daughter: to try to make them feel bad, to try to make them take accountability, regardless of the environment or if the person she is confronting is actually the most responsible or if her accusations are accurate (see her fight with Max and Headmaster Charleston when Rory isn't allowed to take her test in s1, her fight with Luke when Rory and Jess get into the car accident, etc).

And the framing of the scene visually cements the similarity between Lorelai & Lindsay's mom: the director, Daniel Palladino, chose to use extremely similar shots, but with the mother daughter pair's position flipped across the y axis as though they are mirrors of each other.

In addition, the mothers are both making direct eye contact with each other, both openly angry, thinking they are protecting their daughters. But their daughters are also acting similarly to each other—both embarrassed and uncomfortable and sad, avoiding eye contact.

Although Lindsay's mom is trying to contrast "monster" Rory with her innocent daughter, the parallels between both mothers & daughters highlights the fact that Rory and Lindsay are not so different—they were both manipulated by Dean.

[doyelikehaggis]

Rules of (A Fake) Engagement :D

God, I don't think about this one often but when I do, I'm overcome with such a strong urge to just write the whole thing yet I never do. Also this was a bit more than a paragraph but as I said, this WIP lives rent free in my head!

<3

"So, let me get this straight," Tristan said, holding a hand out across the table as his lips curled upwards in amusement. "Now your mom thinks we're engaged?"

Rory groaned into her arms. He took that as his answer.

"Well, did you tell her the truth?"

Rory looked up at him like he'd grown two heads. "What, that I made it all up? That I got so insanely jealous when I saw Dean with his new girlfriend, even though I have no feelings whatsoever for him anymore, that I lied and told him you and I were engaged because I wanted to make him at least a little bit jealous too?!"

Tristan nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

She dropped her head back onto her arms with another groan.

"I'll take that as a no," he muttered.

Her phone chose that moment to start ringing. Another groan. Tristan glanced at the screen for her but hesitated to actually read out the caller ID. He had no choice, though, when she peered up at him expectantly, just a flutter of sad eyes behind her arm.

"It's your grandmother."

"What?!" She scrambled to pick up her phone and nearly started crying when she confirmed that he was right. Pressing a hand to her forehead, she answered it, shakily saying, "Hi, Grandma."

That's all she managed to get out before she was cut off by a barrage of questions that sounded a lot more like accusations. Specifically, what has happened that she would feel she couldn't tell her that she was engaged to be married to a perfectly respectable man, and why did she have to find our from her mother rather than straight from her, and does she hate her? Is that is? She must hate her, or else she would have delivered such an important announcement personally.

Rory exchanged a helpless look with Tristan while he tried his best to fight back a smile, widening his eyes and pretending to look as terrified as she currently did.

Finally, she managed to get a word in. "Grandma! Take a breath. I don't hate you. Of course I don't. The reason I didn't tell you is because-"

"I demand you and Tristan come for dinner."

"What?!"

"Well, I know he's a respectable man, but I would at least like to have a proper conversation with him once before you marry him! We need to discuss this properly, over dinner. When are you and Tristan next available?"

She pressed the heel of her hand into her eye, trying to fight off the headache already building behind it. She caught Tristan mouthing something at her, asking what she was saying.

Pressing the phone to her shoulder, she quietly relayed, "She wants us to go over for dinner! I have to tell her. I don't care if Dean finds out, it was stupid to lie anyway!"

Mind made up, she lifted her phone back to her ear and began to say, "Grandma, it's not-"

Tristan waved a hand, stopping her in her tracks. She lowered the phone again, covering the microphone.

"Look, what if we just... went along with it?" he asked. "Just for a little while. That way, you don't get totally humiliated by being outed as a liar to everyone you know."

She shook her head. "That's crazy. And, what do you get out of that?"

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. He didn't give much more than that, but proceeded to say, "I'm going home in four days. When's your flight?"

She hesitated. "Same. In four days."

"Rory?! Rory, are you still there?!"

Tristan nodded. "Okay, so, tell her we can do dinner in five days. That's, what, Friday? Yeah, Friday."

She opened her mouth to tell him that his plan was insane, and that they would be found out immediately, and then it would be even more humiliating. It was already going to be bad enough as it was.

"What do you have to lose?" Tristan whispered.

Her grandmother was still calling her name like a harpy. Rory held the phone to her ear and, without breaking eye contact with Tristan, said, "Is Friday okay? We don't get back from New York until then."

"Oh. Well, I suppose Friday is suitable. I expect to see you both then."

Rory's heart was racing as she set the phone back on the table, retracing her hand from it quickly like it was an explosive. Did she really just do that? She couldn't possibly have...

She turned her eyes sharply to Tristan. "Why did you tell me to say that?!"

Send me the title/number of a wip and make me write it!

[anxiouspotatorants]

@stellaluna33​ be careful what you wish for.... Now let’s start off with a far too long list of Eurovision headcanons I have for Gilmore Girls.

While Richard and Emily did technically come across Eurovision (or at least national selection season) in the first half of the 80s (thank you @thatscarletflycatcher​ for that amazing headcanon) Lorelai herself wasn’t introduced to the world’s best singing concert until she met Michel. Michel told Lorelai about that time Celine Dion participated and won for Switzerland, which Lorelai then had to find proof of. Soon enough she catches her first taping of Eurovision (maybe 98 with Dana International) and she’s been obsessed ever since.

Lorelai loves everything at first, but over the years she grows a special kind of love for the truly tacky Eurovision entries. The more glitter and nonsensical english lyrics the better. 

Rory is obviously brought into this in her early teens and bonds with her mom over it. She does love a good tacky entry as well, but what really made Rory come back for the competition every year is all the political gossip and drama that seeps into each year. The voting results announcements is when Rory inches closer to the screen.

It’s not enough for Lorelai to enjoy this by herself with Rory. She shares her opinions with Michel (who hates it), makes a whole themed yearly event of it with Sookie, spreads the gospel of Eurovision to Miss Patty and Babette, and tries at least once to convince Taylor to make Eurovision week an offical town holiday or at least an event. Taylor will not approve of this anti-American nonsense. That is his loss.

Of course Luke is forced to sit through this every single year. And no he does not like it. He gets angry about the hypocrisy of all the “peace and love”-songs sung by artists representing countries that do not have peace and love in their policies, is intimidated by all the glitter, and could really do without the akward hosts. He will admittedly enjoy the odd dad-rock entry that comes every year, but keep it to himself since everyone else roasts them.

Since Michel is the one who introduced everyone to Eurovision (well, he introduced Lorelai who introduced everyone, but it wouldn’t have happened without him) and since he’s the only actual European around, Michel feels very protective and possessive of it. He will let Rory bait him into talking about how he as a Frenchman views other European countries (it gets stereotypical), and he will at the same time tear a hole into anyone who scoffs at ‘ethnic’ or non-English songs. 

Like his uncle, Jess is not a Eurovision fan and would really like to skip watching this, if only to avoid the crowds that Lorelai gathers for the event. He does like it when audience members sneak up on stage or something goes really wrong. Teenage Jess could stay away because of how things were going around that time of year, but adult Jess who visits multiple times a year for Doula and Luke and has to remain on civil terms with Lorelai cannot escape. And yeah, it might bring Rory joy to watch him awkwardly sandwiched between TJ and Luke watching Verka Serduchka scream numbers in German.

Lane loves Eurovision. She loves the showmanship, loves the variety of musical entries, loves being introduced to country-specific genres. When the internet community around Eurovision grows, she starts finding updates (and eventually streams) of the national selections around Europe and starts watching them as well. For Lane, Eurovision-season starts in December the year before.

Paris doesn’t really get Eurovision at first (noting the same hypocricy issue as Luke), but with time she starts to let loose and enjoy the circus for what it is. She tends to change what genre she prefers every couple of years, but she’s a loyal Portugal-supporter and likes pretending to be as above everyone else as Michel simply because she can speak Portuguese.

Dean never really got Eurovision, but would be fine watching it as long as he was spending time with Rory. Logan tried to convince Rory to get tickets with him and just head on over to Europe once for a finale, but to Rory that would be a betrayal against her tradition with Lorelai and the town. Either they all go or none of them go.

Richard and Emily are appalled by how tacky the whole event is, but they will watch it in the privacy of their home because it’s become a guilty pleasure. They tend to prefer French entries when the French aren’t sending songs like “Moustache”.

Lane has tried to get Hep Alien to add at least one Eurovision song to one of their setlists. She tends to try with safe rock songs like “We Could Be The Same” by maNga or “Something Better” by Softengine, but really she would love to do something hilarous and out of the box for their band, like “Secret Combination” or a Johnny Logan song.

Oh, but Jess liked “Viszlat Nyar” by AWS. He didn’t expect something like that to show up on Eurovision. It was nice.

Rory really enjoys that semi-indie music thing that’s been going on in Belgium and the Netherlands lately. Think “City Lights” by Blanche and “De Diepte” by S10.

Michel’s the kind of Eurovision-fan who prefers divas singing ballads or dancing girls with a whole crew on stage. 

Babette and Miss Patty will cheer for any entry with skimpy outfits, particularly shirtless men. “OPA” in 2010 was a moment for everyone: a fun one for the two of them and traumatizing for everyone else.

Miss Patty makes a whole separate drink for Eurovision. It has edible glitter in it.

Nobody in town seems to know what to make of Australia being in the competition. People like Lorelai and Sookie and Liz don’t mind, while people like Taylor find it categorically wrong that a European song contest has a country from the other side of the globe participate. But nobody even jokes about the US joining. Michel has made sure of that.

Lorelai’s all time favourite entry is Ukraine in 2004. Michel’s favourite is Switzerland in 1988 because of course.

Sookie uses Eurovision week as an excuse to experiment with different European cousines. At first she would do dishes from the host country, but nowadays she will occasionally switch to the country she’s rooting the most for that year or a country that hasn’t had a win in ages.

Michel still has access to voting, and when people catch wind of this it becomes a nightmare for him. Everyone wants to use Michel to vote for their favourite entry, but he refuses to do it for free, and refuses to blow up his phone credit for them. Eventually he gives the entire town 10 votes that they can bid on or agree on together, but either way Michel is getting compensation for this.

[bessiemae]

Warning. I''m about to be critical of Rory Gilmore. Specifically about the affair with Dean.

First, lets get this out of the way. Dean is completely at fault for cheating on Lindsay. That goes without question. No one has ever tried to defend Dean in any way. However, people have defended Rory.

When the show first aired, the general justification was that Rory didn't take vows, so she had no obligation to respect Dean's marriage. I admit I was flabbergasted reading multiple posts like this. I mean, obviously people feel that way or no one would sleep with someone married. But, I always assumed it was a something only a small number of people sleeping with a married person truly believed. Others would tell themselves that to justify what they knew was wrong. And others outside the situation would all agree that hurting an innocent party is wrong. No certificate or vows necessary. But, it seemed people honestly felt Rory was completely in her right to sleep with Dean because she wasn't the married one.

Skip ahead to now. The reasoning isn't that Rory doesn't have to worry about Dean being married. It's that Rory had no idea that Dean was still married. That she thought it was over and he was free to be with her. I don't accept that. Did Dean imply that he and Lindsay were in agreement that the marriage was emotionally over (which is a different thing from being legally over)? Yes, so we can blame him for that. But, I don't think Rory really felt that meant Dean was no longer married. I mean, look at her argument with Lorelai. Yes, she says that it's over, but when Lorelai pushes, Rory doesn't answer that he told her that it was something that both he and Lindsay are on the same page. She admits they didn't discuss the details. Probably because neither one of them wanted to discuss it. And they had time. It's not like they were frantically tearing clothes off and moving so fast she couldn't catch her breath to ask a few probing questions. Like "So,you're getting divorced?" If she had asked and he had said yes, I'd be more inclined to say Rory was innocent in this. Also, take her other justifications. Lindsay isn't right for him. (implication, Rory is) That he's not a married guy. But, not because a divorce or even separation are in the works, but because "he's Dean. My Dean" which overrides his marriage. Again, we see this in her saying "he was my boyfriend first!" She slept with Dean because she felt her teenage relationship with him took precedence over his marriage.

Rory wanted to sleep with Dean. But, I don't think she could have done it and admit to herself that his marriage didn't matter to her. She wouldn't have gone to him or instigated anything, but since he came to her, well, he was her boyfriend first. But, she couldn't risk going any deeper with her questioning and keep her from hiding from herself the fact that she was sleeping with a married man .

Also, I have to step back and look at it from a writing perspective. They could have played it very differently. They could have had Rory tell Lorelai that Dean was leaving Lindsay. And when pressed she could have said that he said it was over so that must be what he meant. Or even just repeat him saying that both he and Lindsay felt that it was over. They could have played it as Lorelai being sympathetic and sad that Rory's first time came from being tricked. They could even still have their fight only this time it would be because Rory was mad at Lorelai for disparaging Dean's integrity. But, it's pretty clear that they were not writing a naive girl who had no idea of the situation.

[oranges-for-calico]

okay so I kind of just did a long bullet point list in my notes app, so i'm just going to pick some of them and copy them here! spoilers for Broadchurch season one! :) also like.. source material typical content warnings apply. and these were as I was watching so I got a little heated at times sorry about that

also these might be like not entertaining at all. I really don't know

also the dog ends up being okay so don't worry

EPISODE ONE - i looove the trope of somber/creepy music over happy scene. - i like the detective lady so far she’s so passive aggressive. also she’s returning from maternal leave or something - ALEC HARDYYYY

- “cameraphone” what decade is this - 2013, presumably

- “go down to check it out get yourself some fresh air” SENDS HIM. TO THE DEATH SITE OF A CHILD - JACOB ANDERSON AKA LOUIS IS IN IT WHATTTT

- fucking asshole. of course it was fucking twitter this is why twitter sucks. not fucking cool - GO OFF ALEC. BLOODY TWITTER - he’s a little shit is fucking right. die olly - wow the news industry seems very exploitative.

- “why didn’t you look in on him last night” WOAHH THERE - “why didn’t you” - “where were you last night” OOP - YOU HESITATED

- news lady fucking die. heartless fucking asshole who would do that. i hate you. the entire news industry should go die actually how disrespectful can you get

EPISODE TWO

- cctv footage hell yeah alec - alec are u ok - character trope: you think he’s mean but he’s actually just fucking miserable 24/7 - beth is not doing okay omg - rory!!!:)

- who asks a 15 year old for a light - oh she gave the stuffy back oh aw okay she’s kinda sweet fuck. sorry i told you to die reporter lady - “so you’re snooping on me now” SMOOTH LMFAO - how tf can you not remember your mates name. his story has so many holes - i think it’s a red herring though ? dude idk how this show works - you are not slick bro - why is he making that face - HIS PRINTS ARE THERE HAHAHAHHA

EPISODE THREE

- dude i could not commit a murder for many reasons but specifically i would not be able to come up with lies like that

- “you overcompensate” “i know”

- ur alibi is rubbish - there’s bloods in the boat mark. - eeee i’m scared of fishing hooks. that one time we looked at them in girl scouts scared me - “because i’m ashamed innit”

EPISODE FOUR

- nice to see alec in a good mood

EPISODE FIVE

- they’re making tom act as danny in the reconstruction ??? brutal - i keep forgetting this shows from 2013 - okay i hate the fact that the age of consent is 16 there

- awww look at them gossiping - bro i’m sorry i just *can not sympathize with a man who married a 17 year old when he was 40* - oh—

EPISODE SIX - why the creepy music? is toms dad sus - “i’m always alright” that’s a very The Doctor thing to say

- “i didnt assault him it was a joke gone wrong” that’s not a great sentence - WHY do people get so defensive when they’re being questioned. IF IT WASNT YOU JUST PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE . YOU DONT NEED TO GET ANGRY

- oh boy tom what have you got. i mean you’re very sneaky so good job on that but girl please just tell the police what’s going on………..

- dean lives on a farm haha nerd - wow alec is not doing well

- “he used to be my friend” interesting wording tom

- girl nigel did you just steal the dog - that’s not nice - FIND HER BASTARD DOG. NAEW - NON NPLEASE DONT KILL THE DOG - NINOJIJNNO - NOPE

EPISODE SEVEN

- “you nearly died on me” “neowww” - alec you are literally out of breath pleasee go back to the hospital - i love how alec wears a button up over another button up that’s so gay

- OMGGGGGGG SUSAN KNOWS WHO IT IS!!! - tbh i bet it’s nigel, he’s mean and (probably) killed the dog

- ?? - actually do tell alec i’m really curious - oh?? were you having an affair? - OH. SHE WAS HIS WIFE

- FUCK NO NOT THE DOG NO NO - fuck no. no no no no - the dog is okay as of now

EPISODE EIGHT

- OKAY. - NOT THAT IM SURE YET BUT. TOMS DAD IS THE PERFECT KILLER. HES BEEN HERE IN THE BACKGROUND THIS ENTIRE TIMR BUT. HES NEVER BEEN A PRIME SUSPECT - SHOE SIZE MENS TEN FUCJ YEAH - “you’ve done good work on this miller, well done.” - THE SUSPENSE OMGGG - allllec.

- 59 DAYS EARLIER THIS WILL BE GOOOOD

- SHUT UUUUP HES INTERROGATING MILLER LMFAO - it was indeed joe. harsh though lol - can alec get some proper medical attention now

- and i thought they’d hug - FINISHED:)

if you found this entertaining lmk and I will post my notes from season two and three maybe :3 also I took notes while watching deadloch too

i watched Broadchurch last year and took notes like the entire time, would anyone be interested in me posting some of the funny ones?

[scoopsgf]

I JUST REALIZED JESS IS THE FIRST BF SHE SAID ILY TO COMPLETELY UNPROMPTED AND WHEN SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO. like with dean he said it first and broke up with her when she didn’t say it back so she was practically forced to when she did (not to mention lorelai’s part in it). his reaction to not having it said back also shows it was kind of conditional and that’s just confirmed in other things he’s done (wanting her to prioritize him, arguing when she didn’t agree with him on his opinion of the donna reed type wife, just wanting her to be a specific type of gf). with logan, they were in a relationship so it would’ve been said eventually as far as she could foresee. but she said it to jess after it was over and when they both could’ve gone on with their lives never having said it (and it probably would’ve been easier and less painful for both of them). and when he said it to her and she didn’t say it back, he didn’t react how dean did or stick around to make her feel guilty or anything. he just put it out there and let it be. it shows that it was something that they needed to say to each other regardless of the outcome. just something else that sets their relationship apart from her other ones like it’s so much more intense and real.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!! not only that, but i really think that rory might have been the first person jess ever said the words ‘i love you’ to, aside from maybe his mom when he was a little kid. it’s just so significant that he told her. like, we know jess is prone to keeping things to himself (particularly when it comes to his emotions) but the way he says it… idk you can just tell he really, really means it, and that he wants her to know, that he has to say it. he has to get it out, he needs her to know how much she meant to him. i think the same can be said of rory’s confession; he was gone and she was devastated, but she still loved him and wanted him to know. the fact that neither of them expected reciprocation… god i wanna cry?? their relationship is so fucking heartbreaking

[roeyliteratiforever]

Why is it people like to say things like Jess was good before and after he dated Rory, but not during in a demeaning sort of way as if Logan and Dean weren't also terrible boyfriends?! There is a long list of things that Dean and Logan did wrong in their relationships with Rory too, all of the relationships where very flawed.

No Jess didn't handle things right in his relationship toward the end, but he didn't handle anything in his life right at the time. He hit rock bottom he was used to handling difficult things on his own, and it all blew up in his face, by the end he figured she wouldn't want him anymore and would want him to leave because he was used to everyone wanting him gone, he probably had a gut feeling it was going to be over. Yes he should have told her he was leaving, but I also understand why he had to leave at the time. Also he wasn't as bad of a boyfriend as people make him out to be either. I've heard some things insinuating how bad of a boyfriend he was like...

"He didn't want to go to the town things with her after they got together he told her he only went because that was when he was trying to get her but after he got her he felt he didn't need to try anymore. He only went to the carnival with her because he was jealous of Dean."

People wildly misinterpret this, he did still do things with her in the same scene they came to a compromise and he said they would meet up after, he just didn't like going specifically to the town things because 1. He was very ostrosized by the town. 2. He had social anxiety 3. He also was more the type that gives her the space to do what she wants and encourages her to do so even if he doesn't quite enjoy those things himself and would come to a compromise. Also Luke hated going to the stupid town things too. He even told Lorelai not to get used to him going to the town things with her, they were the same in that way. That doesn't mean that he stopped trying or that he didn't want to spend time with her that just mean't he didn't like going to the town things. Also yes he did go to the carnival because Dean was there but the way they handled their jealousy, Jess was night and day better.

"He ignored her the whole relationship after he got what he wanted."

He did not ignore her the whole relationship, yes he had communication problems, and he didn't call a few times when he said he was going too, but he did get better and started arranging his schedule to spend time with her, and planning dates. They talked about going on dates, and how when Jess wasn't working or at school he spent his time with Rory on the weekends, and they had movie nights all the time. Context shows that he did NOT ignore her the whole relationship, and that he did make lots of time for her they just didn't show us those things.

"He treated her like shit."

In what ways? Yes he made some mistakes, and handled everything wrong at the end of their relationship but again he was handling everything wrong in his life at that time after he found out he wasn't going to graduate. That doesn't mean he treated her like shit, he just didn't know how to communicate properly with anyone. No he didn't treat her as good as he could have but that was his first real relationship and he was still learning. His relationship with Shane was more of a fling, but Rory was more his first serious relationship.

"He tried to assault her, then got mad at her for it."

Okay this scene was obviously bad, and the worst of Jess, but this scene is also wildly misconstrued. He was obviously in a dissociative state the whole night, and while it wasn't okay, I don't think he was actually hearing her in that moment, and as soon as she got up he didn't push her anymore. He reached for the belt and then she got up. A lot of shows used to use scenarios like that during that time as a means for conflict, and drama similarly Nathan Scott from One Tree Hill did the same exact thing with Haley and people look over it. While I love Nathan too, people don't even talk about what he did, yet want to hold it over Jess' head forever... And yes he did lash out at her but he wasn't mad about that he was mad at himself but in her perspective it may have come off like he was mad at her because he didn't communicate with her, but he was mad about everything else not that she wouldn't sleep with him.

"He just left her without a word."

Yes he did and he absolutely should have told her, but he also had very valid reasons for leaving. That also ties into his poor communication skills that he struggled with in a general sense. Logan also went a while without talking to her basically ghosted her to hook up with a bunch of girls before making any efforts to seeing if he was still in a relationship with Rory or not, and also broke her heart at her college graduation with an ultimatum.

Overall though he was not as bad of a boyfriend as people like to paint him out to be, he made a few big mistakes, but he also learned from them and grew, I'm so tired of people insinuating because Jess was a "terrible" boyfriend as a teen he would still be a terrible one in the future when he is the only one who has shown growth and meanwhile Logan is still being awful, at least Jess had growth! Anyways I'm just ranting sorry for my long rant.

[georgianadarcies]

Not that I want to say that Jess did nothing wrong with not taking Rory to prom but I feel like the key difference between him not taking her to prom and Logan proposing and then dumping her is that Jess TRIED to take her to prom and genuinely wanted to make her happy in doing so. He didn't intentionally sabotage her wish of wanting to go to the prom with Lane, he actually wanted to get tickets and get the tuxedo and limo and do it the way Rory wanted to, but he couldn't because of his own mistake and most importantly, Rory was never made to think that Jess not taking her to prom was her own fault. Even if Jess doesn't directly say "it's my fault", he makes it obvious that he can't take her because of what HE did, and even apologizes for it.

Whereas Logan not only proposes to Rory at her graduation party and makes it an unannounced and completely abrupt public proposal, he intentionally makes everything about Rory's graduation to be about them, and specifically about HIM and wanting to marry her and then move together for HIS job. Nothing about Rory's own wishes, nothing about her preferred location for living after college, not even the benefit of knowing that he seriously considered marriage as the only possible step for them after this?? And breaking up with her fully takes the cake for it because again, even when Jess calls her before or during her graduation, he obviously wants to talk to her or at least tell her something after he bailed, and Rory knows it's his fault and says it as such. Whereas with Logan, he pretty much puts all of the weight of their relationship on RORY, and her not wanting to immediately get married despite them not even talking about it properly? It's the most unnecessary dick move I've seen, completely inconsiderate and awful but most of all disrespectful to the fact that she stood by his side for over 2 years??? nursed him back to health, emotionally supported him throughout all his bs with his father, even put up with him cheating on her, only for him to further be like "if you don't do this for me and continue to do so for the rest of our lives probably, we're over".

no I totally agree!! I’ve always said that the breakup with jess is the one breakup of rory’s that she explicitly did not blame on herself. they both had a part to play, but I mean that she didn’t think oh, he left because of me. he left because I wasn’t good enough or because he hated me. she knew that it was because of his own shit, which didn’t make it hurt less, but it didn’t lower her self worth like other break ups did.

jess TRIED to take her to prom and it hurts so much that like. even though he didn’t really want to go he was such a good sport and insisted on paying and was enthusiastic about the tux and didn’t complain. and he begged the principal to let him go – not even to let him graduate, just to let him take his girlfriend to the prom. rory knew (I don’t know HOW she found out about his dad and flunking out because who would have told her? in the pilot for the failed spinoff, supposedly he wrote her a letter, but who knows what’s canon here since that didn’t go anywhere and she says he didn’t say a word before leaving) that he had messed up and that’s why he couldn’t take her. it still hurt, she was still upset, but jess never made her feel like the downfall of their relationship was because of her and who she is.

logan, on the other hand…. boy. what an ass. I don’t know if I can say it better than you did, because you got it spot on. rory’s relationship with logan is constantly making her question her self worth, albeit in a different way than with dean. they date casually and he ghosts her, and she’s convinced that she did something to make him not like her. he cheats, and she feels like she doesn’t mean anything to him, saying verbatim “you had plenty of backup, what did you need me for?” every time they fight, she takes full responsibility and he lets her. when he breaks up with her because she doesn’t want to get married, he literally says “what’s the point?” in reference to dating long distance. logan’s inability to take responsibility for his actions means that rory takes double the responsibility. and I LOVE the way you put the end of your ask, that break up really was so disrespectful. rory gave him so much for two fucking years, sacrificed for him, supported him even when he didn’t deserve it, defended him, cared for him, did so much and gave so much and he just disregarded it because a twenty-two year old fresh out of college didn’t want to get married, settle down, and move across the country from everyone she loved. he takes her for granted, taking and taking from her and not giving enough back, but just enough to keep her around. and then he just… ends it, like she’s nothing. like she isn’t worth it. and that is just awful and honestly despicable and I don’t understand how people find it romantic and preach about how champagne problems is their song!1!

[bruh--wtf]

hi can i anonymously request a jess mariano imagine where its something similar to the scolding he does to rory but instead reader does that wake up call for him because he is not acting like himself. i hope that this makes sense but to summarise a angst where reader scolds him for his unusual behaviour but with a happy ending

Yes, definitely! I hope I did this right, I didn't think it was confusing but if I read it wrong, feel free to call me out.

Reason for Return

Masterlist

Jess Mariano x Reader

Liz and TJ were getting married. Luke told you it was Renaissance themed. He was enthusiastic about it, of course. Well he didn't tell you specifically. You were getting lunch with Lorelai. And he told both of you.

Lorelai Gilmore. She was your surrogate mother. You'd asked her to adopt you, and you were sure your parents wouldn't know the difference if she did.

You went to college, of course. But you live at home because you're school was close by.

Tomorrow's the wedding. You were watching Kirk yell at Miss. Patty. You rolled your eyes, walking oast the gazibo, towards Lukes. Then you see him. Sitting on the bench.

He meets your eyes, his expression was flat. You tried to hide your shock, but stumbled a little. You quickly walk towards Luke's. You glare at him as you walk in. He puts his hands up.

"What did I do?" He asks. "I really don't need anyone else to give me shit."

"No warning. No warning whatsoever?!" You hiss, sitting down at the counter. He closes his eyes and lets out a breath.

"I forgot," he says. You gape at him.

"You forgot? You forgot to tell me Jess was coming?" You ask. He puts his hands on the counter.

"It's his mom's wedding," he says.

"What did he say when you told him that?" You ask. He nods, not answering. He knew you were right. "He looks pissed. Why does he look pissed?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I walked past him in the park and he looked numb. What's with that?" You ask. He sighs, giving you a sympathetic look.

Before Jess moved, you two were close. Really close. He was close with Rory, obviously. He was the reason her and Dean broke up. Well, Dean read the situation wrong. But he was right about one thing. Rory wasn't in love with him anymore. But if he had said "Y/N's into him," instead, that would be correct.

You weren't completely sure if Jess liked her or not. But, they never dated.

You were closer to dating the boy than your friend. But that too, never happened.

"He's just here for the wedding, Y/N," he says. You nod as he sets a mug down infront of you. Then he looks up and pulls the cup away. You gape at him.

"You're really depriving me of coffee now?" You ask. His eyes widened a fraction. You look behind you at where Jess was now walking into the diner.

He briefly looks at Luke and you. Mainly you. But it was still brief. He goes upstairs. You clench your fists. You stand up and Luke walks infront of the stairs.

"Really want to do that right now?" you ask. He sighs, moving to let you up the stairs. You go up to the apartment.

You step inside to see Jess grabbing a new book. You didn't have time to see what it was, but it looked like Luke's.

He looks over at you and rolls his eyes, not looking at you for long.

"I don't even get a hello?" You ask. He closes the book, which looked to have another one inside of it, and tries to walk past you. But you close the apartment door. He clenches his jaw, still avoiding looking at you.

"Nothing. For over a year," you say. He looks at you finally. "Say something!"

"What do you want me to say?" He asks.

"At least try to defend yourself," you say. He reaches around you for the door handle. You push him back, further into the apartment.

"I don't need to defend myself to you," he says. You raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, no? Who was it that left me right before graduation completely broken?" His eyes leave yours again. "Want to defend yourself now?"

"This town was never for me, you know that," he says. You scoff.

"Bullshit," you say. He glares at you. "You liked it here, I know you did."

"You don't know anything about me," he says, again trying to get passed you.

"Like hell I don't!" You yell, pushing him back yet again. "I forgave you. Of course you wouldn't know that, because you weren't here. But I did. Months ago. Because Luke explained it to me. And I knew you well enough to figure out why you thought not graduating was even remotely intelligent," you say. His jaw was still clenched.

"If you forgave me, then why do you want me to defend myself?"

"Because you're acting like a complete asshole! You should at least want to try and talk to me. But you can barely look at me! And I want to know why!"

He couldn't meet your eye. You tilt your head slightly, trying to get him to look at you. You raise an eyebrow. You noticed how his hair had grown out a little bit.

"What the hell is going on with you?" You ask. He looks at you.

"I didn't mean to break you, and you shouldn't have forgiven me," he says. You stare at the boy.

"You're kidding me, right? You're acting like this because you want me to be pissed at you?"

He meets your eyes again, showing you were right. You scoff. "Tell me what's going on with you," you say. He doesn't say anything. "Tell me!"

"I can't give you an answer that you would like," he says. You scoff, giving a sarcastic smile.

"I can't promise I'd like any answer. But I still want one," you say. He blinks, looking down, avoiding looking at you yet again. You bring a hand up to his face, trying to turn it slightly, but he turns his face further away. You bring your other hand up. He looks at you. "Please, Jess."

He lets out a breath, and you felt the hot air fan your face. Your breath hitched slightly, but it wasn't enough for him to notice. "I didn't talk to you because I knew that talking to you would make me want to come back."

You stare at him for a moment. Your hands become loose and they slide down slightly, landing on his chest. You tried to understand. You didn't know what it could actually mean. He sees the confusion on your face and shifts more, to face you.

"I liked it here, you're right. Only because of Luke, Rory, and you. Mainly you. And if I heard your voice, if I knew you weren't mad at me, I would have been back here instantly."

You stare at him. You were hoping his words meant one thing, but part of you doubted it. The bigger part. "What's so wrong with that?" You ask.

"Nobody wants me here. Not Luke, not the town-"

"I do!" You say. He watches you. "And... even if you didn't stay here, I want you to at least talk to me!"

You realize your hands have probably sat in their spot for far to long, so you let them fall yet again. This time they landed at your sides, as you let out a sigh.

"I don't deserve you," he says, almost quietly. You meet his eyes.

"Jess-"

"No, I knew it when we started getting close. I knew that this would happen. I hurt you and you still somehow want to talk to me," he says, like he can't believe it.

"Well it's true. You're right, the town doesn't want you here. But Luke does. And I'm sure your mom does. And I do. If you want to be somewhere else, that's fine. But don't pretend like you didn't spend years here, like we don't exist."

"You think that's what I've been doing?"

"Sure seems like it."

"Well, it's not." You stare at him and raise an eyebrow. "I think about you every single day. You are always somehow popping into my head."

"Jess... what are you saying?" His fingers trace your wrist lightly, as if he's hesitant to hold your hands.

"I'm saying that if I had stayed, I would have wanted more than just being friends," he admits. You felt your mouth fall open slightly.

It took you a minute to process and question. "You-"

"I'm in love with you." Your eyes widen even more.

He looks nervous, waiting for a response. You couldn't fully process it. Jess Mariano. The boy you were the closest with for so long. The boy who you fell for a few months after he moved to your town. He was in love with you. And you'd wanted to hear it for so long, but you couldn't form the words to say it back.

He takes your silence as the wrong answer. He takes his hands away, nodding, looking down at his book, then up at the door. He takes a step around you, out into the stairway. You finally leap into motion. You turn, grabbing his wrist.

"Y/N-" he is cut off by you rising up slightly on your toes, connecting your lips with his. He didn't take long to react. His lips felt slightly chapped, and moved gently against your own. His hands found the side of your face. One of your hands gently rested intbetween his chest and abdomen. And your other hand reached up, lightly tracing his arm.

When the two of you finally pull apart, he rests his head on yours. "I don't know if you noticed... but I love you too." He chuckles, one of his hands mindlessly playing with your hair.

"I might need you to show me that again," he says. You tried to hide your smile by biting your lips. A small blush crept onto your cheeks. "Would you be my date to the wedding?"

You pecked his lips, still smiling.

"I'll take that as a yes?" You laugh slightly, nodding.

"Yes. It's a yes."

[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.

[literatigifs]

anonymous asked: what do you think about how rory treated jess after they got together and broke up? i was rooting for them to become a couple because the chemistry was through the roof when they were friends! but their dynamic as a couple disappointed me because i feel like rory was still stuck triangling between jess and dean. i know jess made mistakes too but where jess underwent a character arc, rory kept on treating him really badly s3 onwards :(

I have a more complicated viewing of their relationship in season 3 because while I do agree with you that it seemed disappointing given their chemistry in season 2, at the same time I understand the issues that came into their relationship as it went forward. I think that Rory wasn't triangling so much as still reeling from having broken up with Dean the way she did, and then immediately going into another relationship with Jess after this happens. I don't think it's Jess or even Rory's fault the way that this happens, but it definitely hindered their relationship because Rory was stuck with these expectations based off of her previous relationship with Dean, and they were expectations that Jess couldn't really fulfill for his own reasons. And yes, in a way Rory also caused some issues in their relationship because of this, but at the same time I can't really blame her for it because she had just ended her first long-term relationship, the only one that she's had experience with so far, and she was a teenager. Both of them were dealing with issues and at the same time incredibly stressed out because of their responsibilities, that frankly I can't really pick either side when it comes to how their relationship went in season 3.

But when it comes to Rory's treatment of Jess after season 3, I guess I'll have to disagree with you on the idea that she treated him badly with no cause. For season 4 specifically, it's obvious that Rory hasn't really dealt with her hurt feelings over Jess leaving, so when he unexpectedly comes back into her life, even when she says that she's not bothered by it, it's very clear that she is and it's affecting her emotionally. I think that Rory has serious abandonment issues stemming from her experience with her father, so when Jess leaves unexpectedly, it's something that she feels very affected by because of that. In season 4, I don't see it as Rory trying to hurt Jess deliberately so much as trying to defend herself from possibly getting hurt again by him. This is why she tries to run away from him in 4x13 when in the previous moments he didn't even want to try and talk to her (though his reasons for this aren't malicious in any way; he's actually instructed by Luke to stay clear from her so he tries to do that). It's also why she repeatedly tells him to go away in 4x21 when he comes to her dorm room. When Jess asks her to run away with him, it's not the idea of running away with him that she was against so much as his complete unreliability (she later makes this clear whilst talking to Lane about what happened in 4x22: "As far as I know, I could've said yes, packed my bag, and by the time we got to his car, he would've changed his mind"). And granted, we as the viewers know what Jess feels towards her in season 4, but Rory doesn't. The only time he expressed his feelings were in 4x13 when he told her he loves her, and he immediately runs away without even saying anything else to her afterwards. Jess in this particular season just comes off as unreliable and unsure to Rory, which is why she tells him no when he asks her to run away.

As for season 6, I think the only time when Rory does treat him badly is in 6x18, but she feels guilty immediately when they kiss and admits to it being her fault and something that he obviously doesn't deserve from her. I don't think she intended to treat him badly or use him in this episode, despite some fans claiming otherwise. And the fact that she obviously couldn't continue to keep the truth away from him about her still being with Logan more or less proves that, from my perspective. After this happens, from what we saw of them in the revival, I actually don't think she's treated him badly in any way as they've further grown into being adults. They obviously seem to be on friendly terms with each other and keep up with each other's lives.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

I do think they could explore more Rory background. Her father leaving, her mom's issues with her family, the pressure she got from everyone around her to be perfect. They did brough it up a few times, but they could go deeper into it. Also, Rory has a shitty taste for boys. Dean: didn't understand personal space and had that 'i'm poor and not cool' complex (and cheating on wife?????) Jess: was so............. jess idk why was he so angry?? Calm down!. Logan: had a shitty family and honestly after the rivavel it's obvious that he shitty too.

Yeah exactly with the Rory background stuff. Like it's told to us that all of this stuff impacts her and in some ways it's show, but that link isn't there so it comes off as messy/unrelated and I think some more exploration of these plots would have prevented that and made Rory more 3D to viewers such as myself.

I didn't fall in love with any of the romantic relationships they put Rory in either to be honest, but my thoughts on each are as follows:

Dean: I think he was the perfect first boyfriend for her. He was someone who cared for her and showed up for her and in many ways, I think Dean/Rory was meant to be the anti Luke/Lorelai counterpart to show how important attraction/love is in a relationship as opposed to just caring or wanting a partner as opposed to that specific person. Because Dean was right in saying that him and Luke are very alike and pretty much encompass small town life, but that's not the reason he wasn't enough for Rory. The reason was that she fell out of love with him the minute Jess came along and pretty much saw Dean as a backup who would show up for her in her loneliest moments. And he did, hence the whole cheating on his wife thing which was horrible on both ends (and makes the whole Logan/Rory thing in the 10 year jump weirder for me) and was predated with a bunch of scenes that indicated that Rory was lonely, not still in love. Like genuinely, they are Taylor Swift's We Were Happy in a nutshell. In saying all of this, I do wish we got to see Dean actually move on and move out of town on screen rather that just being told he has a partner and bunch of kids in the skip. It would have been nice development.

Jess: Out of the three major options, I think Jess was the right option to stay single and hint that he still has feelings for her at the end. I also think it would have been a cute parallel to have Luke being the man who stepped up to help Lorelai with Rory over the years and having Jess do that with Rory's child. Though I didn't really care for the Star's Hollow part of their relationship, he is by far the most developed of the love interests. And a lot of that comes down to Dean being written as Rory's love interest instead of a character and Logan being a cliche in my opinion. My only thing is that I wish we got to see more of that development Jess got on screen. Like each time he came back, he was clearly more mature, but we missed a lot of that growth. I will say I was impressed with the ending not having them be a couple because that's what I was expecting, but I feel like the writers had a good balance of implying those feelings while still having a somewhat unexpected end for them. As for him being angry, I assumed that was because of his issues with his mother being so flighty/free spirited in general and in relationships, and his father not being around which hey, again, could have been looked into more, especially because it mirrors Rory's situation a lot and is one of the things I wish was explored more tbh.

Logan: As I've mentioned, I basically feel like he got what I was expecting Tristian to get and it felt very "I'm a rich kid who hates his dad. No one understands me!" cliche. And it's sad because in theory, Logan/Rory should have been the ultimate couple. They had the emotional stability and him showing up for her that Jess/Rory didn't have (like him showing up at the hospital seemed to be paralleling Luke showing for Lorelai) and the passion and excitement that Dean/Rory didn't have. And yet, the relationship was flat and boring. And to be honest, especially when it came to the time jump, I feel like this relationship ended up mirroring Christoper/Lorelai a lot more than Luke/Lorelai.

Anyway I am ranting again, but yeah, I pretty much agree with everything you said.

[anneshirleywasmychildhood]

Jess/Rory (Gilmore Girls), Sokeefe (KOTLC), Violet/Duncan (ASOUE), and Shirbert

don’t know the second, don’t have strong opinions about the third, and already answered the last so doing this for Jess and Rory.

Coffee shop AU: Who is the barista, and who frequents the coffee shop?

Jess works as the barista and Rory is the grad student that does 90% of her work there. Yes, it’s because they have great coffee and totally doesn’t have anything to do with the cute barista. Sometimes, when it’s late and there’s not too many customers he comes over and talks to her about what she’s learning in her journalism degree or to talk about books they’ve both read. She likes it.

Highschool/College AU: Who is the straight-A student, and who’s the backrow slacker?

I think we all know this one, like Rory would ever be a slacker.

Rivals to loves AU: Who takes their rivalry seriously, and who is half in it just to push the other’s buttons?

I can see it both ways. 1) Rory takes everything seriously. Jess noticed this and likes that he’s thinking of her at all so he plays it up. 2) Jess forms a bit of a rivalry with Rory who’s still at her old public school. Rory originally ignores it, but then Luke notices that he got a 92% on his english test in an attempt to one up Rory. Luke begs her to play into their rivalry so he can do well in at least one class. She does, and quickly finds it’s actually hard to stay at the top of the class with him actually trying. Also, to the surprise of even Luke, his other class marks start to go up. He graduates, and even wins an award from his english teacher. 

Enemies to lovers AU: Which one switches sides?

Jess doesn’t care enough about anything to care about not switching sides.

Soulmate AU: Who is eager to meet their soulmate? Who absolutely does not want to meet their soulmate?

Rory isn’t that eager to met him, but everyone around her is so excited for her. Lorelei never got to meet her soulmate since the words on her arm were super vague and meaningless so when Rory had some fairly specific ones they are all really happy for her. Lorelei puts it all the expectations on Rory and she, well, isn’t as excited as she is. Jess, on the other had, pretends he’s not that interested in the whole thing because he wants to maintain his tough exterior. But secretly? He lies awake late at night looking at the words over and over again. 

Doctor AU: Which one is the long suffering doctor? Which one is the patient?

Rory is the doctor, Jess is the patient. He comes in every three months or so, with some scrap or another. He does skateboarding and gets injured a lot. One time he comes in with a broken leg. Rory is like “why would you do this to yourself?” and Jess is like “well, it’s not so bad. I get to see this really cute doctor” with that little smile or his. This time he has to stay for a while, overnight in fact, so he and Rory get a lot more time to talk. He also has to come back every two weeks to get x-rays and check ups and he and Rory take lunch together every time. The day he gets his cast off, he asks Rory out on a date and to everyone’s surprise she says yes. 

Bodyguard AU: Who is the bodyguard? Who are they protecting? Which one is secretly pining for the other?

Jess is the bodyguard and Rory works for the UN, trying to pass legislation to move cities towards green energy. She’s been getting lots of death threats lately and her bosses send her a bodyguard to protect her. he is secretly pinning after her, which makes his job pretty hard. Eventually, after he saves her life a few time she starts to developed feelings for him too but insisted that it was just because he had saved her life. But even after he left and was replaced with a different bodyguard (he had requested a transfer for some reason) she still felt for him. So she texts him, asking him why he transferred and he says it’s because he was in love with her and couldn’t do his job properly and she deserves someone who could give his full attention to protecting him and sadly he wasn’t that person. She texts him back saying that she had feelings for him too. They agree to have coffee together. Eventually, they move in together. Jess still works as a bodyguard, but stops when they get married.

Pirate AU: Who is the pirate? Who is the member of the royal family who did not sign up for this?

Jess is the pirate. Rory is the granddaughter of the kings and queen and they kidnap her because she’s a much easier target for randsom than anyone in the palace. But they treat her really well and when she learns that if they accept the randsom she would be forced to live with them full time and wouldn’t be able to see her mother again she begs Jess to take her away and not accept the trade. He had never had a hostage telling him not to take money that would release her. He tells her he needs the money too bad, he has people to pay and mouthes to feed. But he says that he will stay in a bay nearby the castle till the next dawn. If she can find a way to escape the palace, he will take her away, but only for a year. This was dangerous because if she called the guards and told them where he was he would be done for but there was something about her. He wanted her to come back and be with him. She does, and they sail the sees together for an entire year together before coming back to the palace. She is sad to leave him, but her sadness goes away when the next day it is revealed that he applied to be one of the Royal Navy’s Privateers (basically state-sanctioned pirates). He eventually makes his way up in the royal navy and earns the favour of the king and queen, and goes to visit Lorelei once a week and takes a letter back to Rory to keep her in touch with her mom. When he proposes, the entire kingdom celebrates.

Childhood best friends AU: Which one was super obviously in love with the other the whole time? Who was oblivious until they were older?

Rory is in love with Jess in elementary school. In middle school she gets over him and starts to date Dean. That’s when Jess starts to notice her. In high school, she and Dean break up because her old feelings for Jess start to resurface. Jess’s feelings for her begin to ramp up as well. But they don’t ever actually confront those feelings. They just keep them to themselves. At least they try to. On the day of graduation it accidentally comes out through Rory never having had alcohol before and thought two glasses of champagne to be a good start. They start dating immediately.

[staticscreenwriting]

I don’t love you // Chapter 1

Chapter One - Bluebird 

Synopsis: Jess is over Rory, only he’s not. Olivia is tired of trying to find the one piece missing from her life, only she’s not. A wedding, a bus ride, a lost notebook and an unforseen offer bring these two together and spark the idea that maybe the best people do enter your life in the most unexpected ways. A/N: I’ve uploaded parts of this story before on a blog specifically dedicated to it but I want most of my writing in one place so here’s a reupload. This is NOT a literati fic! 

" There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him,I say, stay in there,

I'm not going to let anybody see you. "

- Bluebird (Charles Bukowski)

There was an ice cold beer clutched in his hand, half empty already, and a lady to his right that had been trying to engage in a conversation about the weather for the last 15 minutes. None of that really mattered, none of that he really acknowledged.

There was only her. Her dancing and laughing and singing along to the cheesy pop songs he knew she'd never admit to liking but secretly sang along to at home when she thought no one was watching. Her and the way her hair that had been perfectly pinned back earlier was now slowly coming undone, strands framing her perfect face that had changed so much and yet so little in all this time.

Her and her all consuming, breathtaking, heart shattering beauty. Her and all the memories of all the feelings that had ever been there and would always be there.

God, he was so screwed.

This was the "I love you" all over again, the Yale visit, the open house. He had honestly thought he had left this part of his past behind. That he was over her. He had tried over and over and it never ended with a happily ever after for him, not with her. Maybe they just weren't meant to be.

He had really thought he'd learned his lesson and yet here he was staring at her and wondering if he'd ever completely get over her or if he might be doomed to forever be in love with Rory Gilmore.

" You know if you keep staring at her any longer it's gonna change from kinda cute to downright creepy, right ?! " he heard his younger cousin's voice speak up as she plopped down in the seat to his right, the weather lady had apparently gotten the hint that he was not interested in a conversation with her and had wandered off at some point.

" What do you know ? Aren't you busy being edgy, smoking, finding yourself ? " he replied and gave April little smirk and a friendly shove with his shoulder. She was a peculiar one his cousin, had been since the first time he'd met her but she'd done a lot of growing up over the years and had turned from a strange kid into quite the smart and witty adult, pseudo hippy phase and all.

" Haha, aren't you funny, Jess. Seriously though, what's up with the longing looks ? "

" Ah you know, just figuring out that I'm still in love with the girl I dated when I was in high school. The girl that made me change into the person I am today. The girl that is the sole reason I became a better person. " Is what he thought but there was no way in hell Jess would ever talk about his feelings. Ever. " Don't know what you're talking about. "

" Sure you don't. Just sayin' you could go over there and actually talk to her instead of glaring a hole through her head."

That he could do, but what would he say ?

"Hey Rory, sorry to interrupt but I just realized that part of me is still madly in love with you. " ?

" Oh hi there Rory, been watching you all night wondering if we ever stood a chance, wondering if we still might stand one. Wondering if this could ever be us, getting married and all that. " ?

Those were the things that were ghosting through his head but he'd be damned if he ever told those to anyone, especially Rory. He'd tried that before, multiple times, and look how that turned out. To be fair one of those times he ran off, but that was only that one time.

No, there really wasn't anything he could tell her that would change anything about this situation. She had enough on her plate as it was, she was writing a book for god's sake and if anyone knew how stressful and chaotic that time is, it was Jess. The last thing she'd need was him bringing up old feelings and confusion.

" There's nothing to talk about. "

" Okay, James Dean. I know that whole repressing your emotions deal runs in the family and works well with the grumpy mysterious guy image you're trying to maintain but that needs to stop. You're clearly still into this girl and I'm not gonna sit here and watch you throw away what might be your last shot at your epic love story. "

" Oh Jesus when did you start getting so corny. Does Lorelei make you watch 80s romcoms when you're over at their place ? Does Luke know she's doing this to you ? "

" Jess, I'm serious. Sometimes you gotta fight for the things you want. "

For the first time in a while Jess left his gaze drift from Rory and turned towards his cousin.

" I'm 33 years old, April. I'm done fighting over girls, fighting for girls. Things either work out or they don't and they obviously didn't for me and her. "

" But what if you're her Luke ? "

" What if I'm not ? What if I don't want to be ? I don't want her to settle for me after years and years of trying. I want to be a conscious decision. For once in my life I want someone to chose me. Not because of a feeling of guilt or nostalgia or comfort or because they feel like they owe me or because they feel responsible. I'm done with this. I can't do it all over again. "

A silence settled upon them as neither of them really knew where those words had suddenly come from. If there was one thing you didn't except from Jess Mariano it was as sudden outburst of honest emotions.

" Okay. "

" Okay ? "

" Okay, I get it. I didn't mean to push you to do something you don't want to do. I just wanted to help. I want you to be happy. "

" I am happy. "

" Are you ? "

Was he ? Yeah. Sure. Truncheon was going well, he liked his job, liked his coworkers, his friends. He had his own little apartment & his own car. He was in the process of coming up with ideas for a second book. He wasn't particularly phased by the fact that he'd been single for a while now either. Whenever he felt like it Jess had no problem sweet talking a girl at a bar. Girls, he had found out a while ago, were totally into the broody writer persona.

Was he truly happy though ? He didn't know.

" Yeah. "

" Okay. "

" Look, April. You know I'm not big on the whole family reunion stuff, especially here in Stars Hollow where half the population still holds a grudge against me. I came for Luke but he and Lorelei ran off a while ago so there's really no harm in me leaving too, right ? "

It was the truth, Jess wasn't particularly thrilled about returning to the Connecticut town he'd spend some time in as a teenager, but there was no way in hell he could've said no to Luke. The man had done more for him than anyone in his entire life, his mom included. He'd been one of the few who'd believed in him when even Jess himself had almost lost hope that he'd ever amount to something. He owed Luke so much and showing up to his wedding was the least he could do.

" You've been drinking. "

" Last bus is leaving in 20 minutes. "

" To Philly ? That's a long ass drive, Jess. Are you sure you don't wanna crash at the apartment above Luke's and leave tomorrow ? "

" I got a book with me, it'll be fine. No offense April, but if I don't leave now I'm just getting sucked back into things that I should've left behind a long time ago."

" What about your car ? "

" I was thinking, maybe my favorite cousin would like to come visit me in Philadelphia before she goes back home, and maybe she could bring my car with her? " April stared at him for a moment and Jess could see the gears turning in her head, trying to come up with an idea to get him to stay. His mind was made up though, if he'd stay he'd have to get drunk and if there was one place Jess Mariano didn't want be drunk at, it was the town center of Stars Hollow with his ex girlfriend in close proximity.

" Alright " April said and let out a defeated sigh " Be careful and don't talk to any sleazy looking guys. "

" Yeah okay, mom. " Jess replied and took a last sip on his now empty bottle of beer.

As he got up off the chair, Jess' glance wandered back over to Rory. He could go after her, fight for her, show her the man he was today and how this was all for her. He could. But he didn't. Because he was scared ? Maybe. But also because he was just tired. Tired of running after the same girl over and over again. Always failing.

" Just so you know, I don't think you're doing the right thing. Just running from your emotions. " April spoke up. " Well cousin, I don't think you're doing the right thing getting your nose pierced and acting like a pothead when they could probably sell you oregano without you noticing. Yet here I am, accepting your decisions. "

" You're an ass. " April responded as a small smirk tugged at the corners of her lips.

" That's family. Thought you'd be used to that by now. Seriously though, don't worry about me kid. "

" That's family, Jess. We always worry. Thought you'd be used to that by now " She replied with a smile before walking away, back into the sea of Stars Hollow residents that were singing and dancing to some obscure 90s popsong.

This family, his family, was quite honestly a mess. It was a family though, something he hadn't had for the longest time. And no matter how strange or broken over overly intrusive or annoying they were, they meant the world to him. Because they were his people and to them, to Luke and April he was a conscious decision. It was their decision to care and to worry and Sometimes you gotta admit defeat.

With one last look towards Rory, the girl that changed it all, Jess turned his back towards the gazebo covered in dozens of fairy lights and the quirky town that surrounded it and took on the walk towards the bus stop. Maybe April was right and he was just running from his emotions and his crippling fear of rejection. But so what ? Sometimes you gotta let yourself be scared to save yourself from pain.

Sometimes you gotta run.

[drshebloggo]

Ask box: JUSTICE FOR LANE KIM, a breakdown.

Anonymous asked: Do you know why Lane disappeared from the show as Rory's best friend over time? She appeared every now and then, yeah, but it has always bothered me that she slowly faded from being Rory's best friend to nobody... am I remembering things wrong?

I do not know! The Palladinos make decisions that sometimes are simply beyond my comprehension.

It’s been awhile since I watched Gilmore Girls in its entirety (and I kind of selectively ignore a lot in the last two, three seasons) but I don’t think you’re remembering things wrong. I will say, though, that the show faced a challenge with all of the Stars Hollow supporting ensemble when Rory went off to college. It’s these kind of problem-making focus shifts that I find really interesting, and they are UBIQUITOUS across teen/high school shows when a character or ensemble graduates.

Most of them that I can think of are done poorly, maybe with the exception of Friday Night Lights. But in defense of these shows, it’s HARD. How do you embrace a fundamental shift in the entire premise of your show? How do you deal with the new geographies of this shift, and the way they ripple into beloved character dynamics? How do you evolve a character through an engaging and meaningful arc without abandoning the foundation on which they were built? And how do you still capture your audience’s attention when there’s a risk that you’re leaving behind the magic that captivated them in the first place? IT’S HARD.

So in the case of Gilmore Girls, Rory at Yale is the shift that moves the show into a new paradigm, and it’s a big one. She’s separated from Stars Hollow and slowly beginning her emancipation from Lorelai, which is, on principle, painful for the audience because it’s directly against the show’s premise. (It’s no coincidence that the Palladinos starts seriously building the Luke-and-Lorelai-of-it-all once Rory’s away at college. Give that empty-nester some new story!)

Of course, Lane is right behind Lorelai in the list of People in Stars Hollow that Rory is Leaving Behind. How is Lane supposed to stay a part of Rory’s story when Rory is in a new context, and Lane is not? But, truth be told, Lane was ALREADY in this role. In seasons 1-3, LANE, not Lorelai, was #1 on the list of People in Stars Hollow that Rory is Leaving Behind. Ultimately Gilmore Girls is a story of two worlds, and Rory going to Chilton begins her passage across the into the New (Old, with Baggage) World. Lane is already being left behind, to some degree, and in seasons 1-3, there’s still room in the show’s universe to address those issues and give Lane some good storylines of her own, especially in conjunction with Rory.

So it’s possible that the issue is not necessarily one of screentime or setting. Whenever I hear the rebel cry of JUSTICE FOR LANE KIM resound in my heart chambers, I mostly think of the kinds of storylines that befell her in the later seasons, not simply in their detachment from Rory. Heeding her mom’s insistence that she attend Seventh Day Adventist college. Fracturing her relationship with her mom in order to pursue her dreams. Getting kicked out of her home. Living with her two boy bandmates who are very stupid and very messy. Never really getting the band off the ground. Her first sexual experience being terrible. Her first sexual experience being terrible AND yielding a pregnancy with TWINS. Why do the Palladinos hate Lane Kim!!! The only thing I wholeheartedly love about Lane’s later storylines is Luke hiring her to work at the diner and then being completely overwhelmed by her sheer competence.

It’s probably important to note that the mere construction of Lane Kim’s character is a bit tragic. The Palladinos are VERY good at building conflict and tension into what seems like simple character descriptions. Here’s this girl that loves rock music to an obsessive, encyclopedic level, wants to play drums in a band, and she’s from a strict religious household where she can’t express any of that. The description itself inherently means that things are going to blow up for Lane at some point. That’s okay, to some degree - that’s conflict, that’s drama, that’s good story.

So if we look at Lane’s arc pre-blow-up, and post-blow-up, the satisfying thing would be for Lane to experience some kind of happiness or success living unstifled in her dreams, to offset the trauma that her family relationships are ruined (at least for the time being). But the Palladinos don’t even do that! It’s encapsulated in the incident that tears apart Lane’s relationship with her mom: she goes to play at CBGB, her mom finds out and kicks her out, and the band doesn’t even get to go on!! The Palladinos love PAIN.

And okay, fine, there’s still some defense that that is well-designed drama and story. (And Lane and her mom do reconcile eventually, and it was at least very affecting, from my memory.) I guess you could argue that Lane IS happy with how things turned out after the lifelong lie she’s lived completely unravels and she’s able to just exist, unguarded. But also... the Palladinos wrote her that way??? And regardless, for me, the issues arise more down the line with Lane essentially staying in Stars Hollow. Wouldn’t unshackling herself from the yoke of her mother mean that she’s free to pursue her dreams? And wouldn’t pursuing her dreams necessitate her to ALSO leave Stars Hollow, like Rory herself? Would she not try to scrape together money to move with the band to New York City and hit the big time? (Bear in mind, I have no idea how the music industry works.)

Ultimately, Lane’s story in the later seasons puts the writers in a Catch-22. If she leaves Stars Hollow and goes somewhere else to pursue her dreams, she’s almost certainly written off the show. She’s a supporting character, and they can’t open up a new world beyond Stars Hollow and New Haven, just for her. On the other hand, if she stays in Stars Hollow, in keeping with the geographies of the universe, she stays on the show, and just... gets really disappointing storylines. I’d be inclined to keep giving Keiko Agena a paycheck. 

(Now, the fact that WB threw money at a backdoor pilot for Jess Mariano to go to California and open up a new world for a weakly-premised spin-off, and did no such thing for Lane Kim, is some bullshit. Literally “moving to the big city to live a dream” is SUCH a well-worn trope that all the storylines are essentially handed to them, and it’s almost inherently refreshed because Lane is a Korean-American woman and not a brooding white guy or a quirky white lady. You FOOLS, you could’ve made that show with your EYES CLOSED.)

Anyways.

I’m going to meander my way further off the main point for a moment to kick up some dust on JUSTICE FOR RORY GILMORE as well. When you write ten paragraphs lamenting Lane Kim’s eternal relegation to supporting role, it’s hard not to be cranky about affording world-opening and story-building for a main character instead. (Spin-off Jess very much deserves the crank, though.) But, frankly, the unyielding walls that the Palladinos built to construct their very effective Two-World Universe don’t do a lot of favors for Rory Gilmore either, in the end.

Basically, this construct of Stars Hollow ensemble and New Haven future means that Rory is the only one who will “get out” of Stars Hollow, because she is structurally decreed to do so. It’s the massive conflict that the Palladinos smartly built into their little generational premise: Lorelai fled her parents’ world, and Rory will slowly be lured back into it. Pain ensues. This is good drama. This is good story. This is story that will last seven seasons and six-hour revival.

But it also inadvertently makes Rory the Chosen One, in a story that doesn’t need one. This is not Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, and I’d like to believe that even Paris and Rory wouldn’t want it to be, much as they love the Power of Myth. Lorelai divests her entire life into Rory’s success; the town of Stars Hollow wants Rory to spirit out of their small town and Be Great; Rory’s grandparents expect her to follow in Richard’s footsteps and also carry out their orphaned dreams for Lorelai. And then the Palladinos choose little things that further this: Lane doesn’t ever leave Stars Hollow; Paris doesn’t get into Harvard but Rory does; Luke interrogates any boy that comes near Rory because no one is good enough. (I confess, I’m charmed into forgiving the last one.)

It’s much too much to put onto one character and leave unaddressed!!! It’s also why some audience members just really hate Rory, in a really unfortunate knife-twist on an otherwise-winsome main character. They hate the unwillingness of the narrative to acknowledge this very obvious dark and specific underside to Rory’s specialness, and the unwillingness of people within the narrative to name this very obvious dark and specific underside about Rory. But to paraphrase Jessica Rabbit: she’s just DRAWN THAT WAY!

Rory’s storylines never really confront the idea that she has had FAR too many unrealistic expectations put on her by literally everyone that’s ever existed in her life, and what it might mean if she doesn’t live up to them. What does it mean if she’s not Christiane Amanpour? What does it mean if she’s scared of disappointing people? What does it mean if she’s trying to live up to other people’s standards rather than examining what she really wants?

The Palladinos completely ignore this, and simultaneously give Rory multiple meltdowns (cheating with Dean, being cowed by Mitchum Huntzberger, stealing a boat, quitting Yale, an aimless/struggling career) and they never QUITE dig into the complete dark and specific issue at the core of Rory’s character construction... which just exacerbates the Rory hate. Rory has no self-awareness; the writers give her no self-awareness; we go in circles, and every few years there’s a slew of thinkpieces about how selfish and awful Rory is.

What makes it worse is that those questions outlined above are essentially applicable for two other women on the show: Lane Kim, and Lorelai Gilmore II, herself. Lane, like Rory, doesn’t quite bust through and answer them wholly. Lorelai, however, comes into the show having already answered them, years before, when she was a headstrong and tenacious teenager. The idea that neither Rory, her actual daughter, nor Lane, her spiritual inheritor of Parental Disapproval, are ever able to grapple with those concepts in a real way, and blossom into self-defined adulthood the way that Lorelai did is maybe the bottom line on where Gilmore Girls went “wrong.” Lorelai’s legacy is not that she’s hyperverbal, loves junk food, and got pregnant young. It’s that she rejected the expectations of her forebearers and carved out a place in the world for herself by her own definition, for better or for worse. It’s why Lorelai comes out of the narrative like a Super Mom, when in fact she’s still just as deeply flawed as Emily or Rory, and why Stars Hollow is overall magical and cherished despite it serving as a small-town hometown for Rory to leave behind. And it’s why A Year in the Life was SO satisfying for Emily Gilmore, because she proved it’s never too late to answer those questions and break through to the other side. Perhaps we’ll get enough revivals to see the same happen for Rory, and for Lane.

But enough dust about Rory. I think, after all this nitpicking, there were two options for the best way to have handled Lane Kim after Rory went off to college:

1. Give her a backdoor pilot and spinoff to Band Dreams NYC. Which, of course, was not in the Palladinos’ control, so, y’know, fine.

2. Keep Lane in Stars Hollow and give her a chance to answer those questions about self-definition and live out a few years of Lorelai-like hard-but-happy independence (and better sex) before saddling her with Zach and two babies (if you MUST). Bonus points if she moves in with Lorelai and they bond over being fundamentally disappointing to your parents and also missing Rory. A very good obvious choice.

Secret option 3. Just let Lane move to New Haven and live with Rory and Paris off-campus, and give me the goddamn roommate comedy of my dreams. Honestly this is what they should’ve done. Forget everything I said. This is my answer.

Tiny footnote: I cannot BELIEVE, that after twenty years, I am just now realizing how on-the-nose it is that Lorelai escaped from the clutches of New Haven and started a new life for herself at a place called INDEPENDENCE INN. Truly, it was right there in front of me and I didn’t even notice. This oversight might weaken the integrity of the thousand-paragraph essay I rattled off above...

[sweetteaswift]

dean inviting himself over when rory specifically told him she wanted a night to herself.... like i know paris and jess already crashed her hermit night but neither of them Knew she wanted to have a night to herself before they showed up and dean did but decided his need to be the center of rory’s world was more important. it just pisses me off how little he respects her like i would be So annoyed if i was rory and then he has the audacity to yell at her? in front of paris? dean is trash and nobody will ever convince me otherwise