#frazzledsoul

[not-with-you-but-of-you]

It still amuses me that Dean and Rory's illicit adulterous "affair" (all 120 seconds of it, probably) is easily the least sexy interaction on this entire show.

Oh no, absolutely. That thing was a disaster from beginning to end. It feels like the writers went out of their way to make it completely cringeworthy (the candy man song, seriously?), but all of Rory and Dean’s interactions just look naturally awkward in general lol. And Rory seems to be trying to convince herself that she’s made the right decision (and definitely not majorly screwed up) for the whole (short) duration of the “affair” — not quite succeeding, of course.

[scoopsgf]

Did you decide which ship your fic is going to be? And yasssssss, sneak peaks please

i think i have decided, yes :’) right now the vote is 50/50 but i voted for stoncy, so… anyway SNEK PEKS:

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I think I've sent you an ask somewhat along these lines before, but could you talk about why Gilmore Girls S5 is a dumpster fire? Because while I enjoyed when it was on, unfortunately it does lay the seeds for a lot of the stuff that goes off the rails the next two years and you can see that (unwise) endgame being formulated but I wouldn't say....complete dumpster fire. Maybe I'm wrong.

Hi! And sorry for the awful delay.

Perhaps dumpster fire is a bit of an overstatement, but it is a season where not only the series made several choices I strongly disliked, but also the characters got noticeably flanderized, and some balls were heavily dropped.

For example, Emily and Richard's separation. It is set up as a really big deal, as Emily is not only mad because of what the Jason situation will mean to their relationship with Lorelai and Rory moving forward, but by how little Richard respects her and her intelligence in several aspects of things that affect them both. The resolution of this plot is just... they get back together. None of the issues that caused the separation have been acknowledged or addressed between them. ASP can come at me and tell me that this sort of thing happens all the time IRL, but this is fiction, and plotting has rules. If you set up a conflict as major, you should... solve it.

There's also the Jackson town selectman thing that goes nowhere, the whole stupid vasectomy drama between Jackson and Sookie, the old twickenham house cul de sac (and respective Luke feelings and perspectives of the future that are never brought up again)...

There are things like Emily telling Christopher to make his move that feel very contrived. Why didn't she ever try that one before?

This is true of other characters, but Luke specifically has weird fluctuations where he loses most of his self esteem, intelligence, and guts. The writers give it back to him occasionally when they need him to give a speech, like when Christopher shows up at Richard and Emily's wedding, but for the most part he becomes a blob. He won't get them back until s7. Paris fasting on Ramadan is weird. Lane falling for Zack is incomprehensible.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

@frazzledsoul tagged me to post my top 9 books! i don't think that's something i can truly decide, but here are nine that have returned to with love many times over the years and that i feel i probably know the most deeply.

tagging: @nilesandcc - @queenofattolia - @ladytharen - @chainofclovers - @catherineflowers29 - @ksfd89 - @hondagirll - @mattatouile - @lulabo (and if anyone who i didn't tag wants to do this, i'd love to see your list!)

[saltygilmores]

@frazzledsoul shared an absolutely baffling take that she spotted on Instagram . Someone claimed "People are so distracted by Jess' looks that they overlook the fact he is a calculator (calculated?) person only at the age of 16 it's alarming and SICK that Jess knew how to manipulate Dean and Rory's relationship to make them feel uncomfortable with each other! Jess did this to make Dean feel insecure and paranoid so Rory got progressively more distant and Jess can take Rory away from him!" Dean wasn't insecure and paranoid until Jess showed up? I smell a trash take! Lessgo! I notice Dean's supporters who blame Jess for being a big ol Ruiner seem to gloss over Dean's jealousy over TRISTAN (who was nothing more than a bully and a harrasser that Rory wasn't dating or even interested in). If everything was so dang hunky dory for Dean and Rory (Lol, that rhymed) before Jess shows up, what is Dean's excuse for being insecure, paranoid, and making Rory uncomfortable for the entire first season of the show, another 5 episodes of season 2 until Jess shows up, then another some odd epsiodes into season 2 until Dean and Jess even just meet each other or are simply aware of each other's existence? The first time we truly see the rivalry between Dean and Jess start brewing on screen isn't until Bracebridge Dinner (2x10), and then it heats up for realsies in A Tisket a Tasket (2x13). So before 2x,10, who was using their psychic abilities on Dean to "make him" treat Rory like crap for 30 some odd episodes? He treated Tristan with the same jealous contempt as he did Jess, and I would argue it was even worse. in fact in Love, Daisies, and Troubadors, Tristan grabs Rory's books without her consent while Dean is in the Chilton parking lot. All he has to do is see Tristan with Rory's books (that she didn't want him to take and was trying to get back from him) and he doesn't ask Rory any questions. His temper is instantly set off and he becomes scarily jealous in the school parking lot and starts raising his voice at Rory in front of hundreds of other students.

Not to excuse Tristan for being a bully. Poor Rory is exhausted and she should probably just give up on boys, run away and join a nunnery. But we're talking about Dean The Butt Forrester here. Just seeing another boy carrying Rory's books was enough to set him off.

Just a very select few examples of Dean being insecure, paranoid jealous, and just a garden variety asshole, and Rory's "comfort" with him, long before Liz stuck Jess on that bus to hell:

See, he's more than capable of being a butt clown all on his own! Sorry Dean Lovers, ya'll get five seasons worth of your lover boy and we only get 1 and a half of Jess. You can't use Jess as a "get out of jail free card" for every shitty thing Dean does.

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/frazzledsoul/750501630505533440/i-find-it-really-amusing-that-rhaenyra-and-alicent?source=share

When did Rhaenyra discourage the education of her children?

2. Rhaenyra wasn't responsible for the dispute between the children; she didn't conspire against or speak ill of Alicent's children. It was Alicent who insulted, conspired against, and belittled Rhaenyra's children. Alicent also didn't want her children to associate with Rhaenyra's. What's the worst Rhaenyra did or said about Alicent's children before episode 7? Calling Aegon Alicent Hightower's son?

3. The part about "Mommy's babies can do no wrong" is quite amusing when you remember that Alicent deliberately tried to conceal Aegon's involvement in the pig's prank when she complained to Viserys, and she only attempted to blame Rhaenyra's children. She also didn't care that Aemond was being bullied by Aegon; basically, she said he could continue to bother his brother but only him. That seems like a "Mommy's babies can do no wrong" behavior.

4. Alicent's children aren't prepared for war; she didn't even have a plan for when Viserys died. If they were prepared, they wouldn't have made the mistakes they did.

5.Fans of that woman must stop believing that a lack of fatherly love justifies their children becoming rapists and murderers. There are people in both real life and the ASOIAF universe who have been through worse things than "my dad doesn't love me" and aren't that kind of human trash. These people must also stop acting as if Alicent's children are homeless people on the street with no privilege because they are the most privileged children in Westeros. The fact that their dad doesn't show them love and doesn't make them heirs doesn't take away the fact that they are princes who can do what they want. Doesn't Aegon get away with enjoying watching children in fighting pits and raping women thanks to his position and Alicent? Alicent also always had a number of servants and maesters taking care of and educating her children since they were babies.

As for two points, I have already referred to them here: https://www.tumblr.com/nrilliree/750892059502804992/httpswwwtumblrcomfrazzledsoul750501630505533?source=share

Alicent had in no way prepared her children for the war she decided to start. What did she really expect? That if they steal the throne, Rhaenyra won't do anything in retaliation? That DAEMON (you know, that man considered the most dangerous in Westeros, with experience in war, with a dragon experienced in war, an excellent warrior and rider) wouldn't do anything in retaliation? That they would just bend the knee, send their bastards to the Wall, leave Dragonstone, and leave Westeros in peace? If she decided to send her children to war, she should make sure they were prepared for it. Aemond was 19 years old and only fought with his teacher, he hadn't even participated in a real fight or tournament, and he considered himself an excellent warrior. This was their preparation for war, lol.

And I have a feeling that some people think that "Vierys didn't love his children :(" means that Alicent raised them alone. She wasn't a miller's wife, lol. She was a queen. She had a whole host of nannies, wet nurses and servants. No active her father's upbringing is no excuse for her children growing up to be shitty people.

[disasterbiwriter]

@frazzledsoul's poll made me realize with BLINDING clarity why I never jived with Logan as a character or a love interest:

Because everything they did with him, they'd already done with Paris.

The privileged upbringing that doesn't breed happiness? The horrible parents? The "I can make him better" effect on their personality as a result of Rory's sweetness? These are all Paris Gellar storylines, baby.

[vindieselsfacebook-blog]

My ranking of all 157 episodes of Gilmore Girls - including AYITL

So @frazzledsoul likes to do these fun lil polls weighing in on IMDB ranked GG episodes and it always makes me want to deep dive and talk about my extremely normal google sheet where I like to work on my personal ranking of episodes. I can't help it - I love arbitrary little list-making.

So how does one even go about ranking a list of 153 episodes (157 if you count AYITL which I know doesn't really make sense but I include it for some reason)? Forget about the why lol. I keep a list on my phone and if I'm hanging on the couch watching, I'll rank each episode as I feel in the moment. I focus on individual seasons so the episodes are fresher in my mind. Opinions of course shift and change as time and whims come and go - this is the current version.

I color code each season to keep the designations more clear - a rainbow scale starting with S1 in red.

When trying to go through and rank from 1-157, I start by looking at my top favorite episode from each season which is the episode in row 1. I pick my most favorite from that group of 8, remove it from the column and add it to the new list, then bump up the column it came from. Then you repeat the process over and over - look at the 8 episodes in row 1, pick your favorite, then bump up the next. That's how you don't get too weighed down by the different seasons and their contexts - just look at that list - which do you love/enjoy/think is most important? Whatever terms you're using to rank. Much easier to pick from 8 than 157 at once. If you've properly ranked your seasons, this should work.

I like this color system because then when you look at the full list, patterns in how much you really like each season really jump out. I enjoy finding patterns!

I don't want this post to be like, out of control gigantic so I'll make another post breaking down some patterns, opinions and observations on my ranking.

One thing that makes me happy about this list is that no matter how much I don't love most of the last few seasons, I can confidently say I think GG has at least 100 great episodes and every season has at least some of that greatness. Not good or fine, but truly great. That's bragging rights because most long-running shows I love can not remotely say the same lol.

I'll elaborate on this list later but there you have it! Fight me, agree with me, demand answers from me, or just pat me on the head and say "damn girl you live like this???"

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/frazzledsoul/750501630505533440/i-find-it-really-amusing-that-rhaenyra-and-alicent?source=share

This is so stupid and biased…

For the record, "no" to everything they say.

[not-with-you-but-of-you]

Thank you so much for tagging me, @apolloamy ♡

Rules: without naming them, post 10 gifs of your favorite TV shows, then tag 10 people.

Tagging: @saltygilmores, @ernestonlysayslovelythings, @frazzledsoul, @disasterbiwriter, @labyrinthgf, @belleandsaintsebastian, @deadpoets, @beachesgetpeaches, @mcheung, and @electricpossibilities.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

So I was reading your post on rewatching the pilot of Gilmore Girls and specifically regarding ASP's attachment to Christopher: do you believe she favored that pairing for Lorelai or just had trouble writing a stable relationship in the series, period? My feeling was always that she was kind of stuck with Luke and Lorelai (because they were more popular and the narrative singled them out early) but always personally preferred Christopher and enjoyed finding any opportunity to stick him into the show (then again, Christopher's not in AYITL in any meaningful way, so maybe not).

One major difference I have with other L/L fans is that many of them seemed to believe if ASP were in charge of season 7, Luke would forgive Lorelai for banging Christopher right away, they would forget about that incident, and go on to get married and have babies right away. That whole thing sounds tremendously unfair to everyone involved, but it seemed to be a dominant opinion: ASP didn't want to write Christopher/Lorelai, the season 7 writers did. I always got the sense that ASP really, really wanted to write Christopher full time and relished the opportunity to do so.

Hi!!!

A bit of all, perhaps?

I remember reading that GG came to be because Warner didn't like any of the other things ASP proposed to them before. As much as ASP has legend status in the fandom, network mandates are as real a thing as studio mandates are.

If you want a cynical take on this... I do think ASP does have certain classist biases (I'm still thinking of the absolute horrified dirty eye the AYITL narrative gives to the very notion of Rory becoming a Chilton teacher, like working for some Buzzfeed knock off was scores better) besides the fatalism, so... would she have wanted an arrangement by which Lorelai ends up back in the high class life with a high class life partner? I think so. I mean, Jason does end up becoming a regular for the season he's there. But if that was the case, most certainly javajunkie was an element of network mandate, and she would not have been allowed to make anything else endgame (which would also explain the extremely petty way in which she torpedoed the relationship by the end of s6).

By the point we are in AYITL, she cannot really pretend S7 didn't happen. That ship sailed because Lorelai went as far as to marry Christopher and divorce him. It's not something you can shrug off the way you can pretend Logan regressed because he was so very young and his business imploded and he had to go home. So one way or another her hands were tied.

There's also the possibility that she just... didn't want Lorelai to marry anyone, and just keep her options open and go back and forth between whoever her fancy favored at certain points.

I think what was written for s7 is the natural progression of that outcome. Lorelai realizes, finally, that she keeps going back to Christopher because she thinks of him as the one that got away, and that she needs to see it through, either to make it happen or to be able to move on. She gives it a try, it doesn't work out, and because of that she's now able to really move on from him and really truly start a new life with someone else.

The ending of s6 makes s7, no matter who is in charge, a catch 22 situation. You either follow through with the Christopher/Lorelai relationship until it runs its course, or Luke's immediate forgiveness cheapens the relationship and basically turns him into some doormat/lamp man-toy for Lorelai, with nothing saying she won't go back to Christopher AGAIN whenever she's mad at him for having hard boundaries. That's not really a good option for a ship one loves. So even if she DID get s7 and wrote it as a shrug-off to the ending of s6, it wouldn't have been satisfying at all.

Whatever she was thinking of doing, the ending of s6 was long planned and not a last minute petty attempt at destroying the series when she was not renewed for s7. At least to me it was set up as early as s5 when Lorelai went to spend the night drinking with Christopher after his father died. So if you ask me, I'd say the Christopher/Lorelai relationship would have happened through s7 anyways with ASP in charge.

[frazzledsoul]

Rory slowly processes the breakup with Jess in his absence, with the help of a pop star who delivers her songs across space and time.

aka the swiftie fic

Chapter 2 is up! Is Rory any less angry? Um, slightly? She's beginning to process stuff. We get a teeny update on Jess.

Rating is upped slightly just in case. Don't get excited, this isn't real smut.

As always, any comments and reviews are appreciated.

[saltygilmores]

@frazzledsoul's poll about the worst possible people Rory could choose to babysit her child inspired a headcanon. I need there to be an episode where the teens of Stars Hollow High/ Chilton are assigned Flour Sack babies for a school assignment. if you're not familiar, it was a common trope in 90's and 2000's sitcoms to have a teacher pair students together for an assigment where they'd care for sack of flour or an egg like a child. Mostly you would just have to carry it around with you at all times during school and not break it, there isn't much else you can do with a bag of flour or an egg child. I think you also had to do some written work to go along with it. I went to a weird alternative school and didn't have anything like this so I don't know everything about it. But it was definitely a real thing that happened in high schools, although these days I think they assign more technically advanced dolls that actually cry and record how long you ignore it's crying and all kinds of other stuff. Someone on the sitcom would invetiably drop the egg or split the sack of flour open leading to hilarious hijinks. Anyway -Paris and Rory would naturally be coupled up to care for their FSB, there would be heated and sexually tense debates over which author to name it after -Paris is already charting FSB's future college plans -Madelyn and Louise decorate their FSB with makeup -Dean would be jealous that Rory was giving her FSB more attention than him. -Dean and Jess would be assigned to parent a FSB together because deep down inside I find the idea of Dean and Jess having to grudgingly tolerate each other at school to be rather amusing. -Look, I'm not gonna Jess-Worship here, Dean and Jess would both neglect the hell out of that thing. I want Dean and Jess to fight over who had to carry it around at school before one of them just abandons it under the bleachers at the football field.

-or, hear me out, Jess and Lane. Lane knows Mrs. Kim would be absolutely scandalized if she got word of this project about REPRODUCTION with a BOY so J&L have to hide it from her and make sure the FSB stays in Lane's locker and meet in secret to write their parenting reports, anyway they end up realizing they have more in common than they thought and like a lot of of the same music, and they grow closer and then make out a lot. If you can think of some more FlourSackBaby headcanons please share them

[jojoblessed365]

Okay, after reading @frazzledsoul Literati band AU, I was tempted to write a proposal for a Literati AU with both Jess and Rory as screenwriters.

So, I wanted to pay homage to different screenwriting couples (Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, Dan Palladino and Amy Sherman-Palladino, and Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumchuch) and establish Jess as a novelist turned screenwriter and Rory as a passionate screenwriter wanting to have her big break.

They first meet in the 20s, writing a screenplay on Jess's bestselling work and fall in love, but then Jess marries an actress, leaving Rory heartbroken. She starts writing many movies which gain her immense recognition, and she eventually moves to London and reconnects with Logan, eventually marrying him. I wanted to pay homage to couples who marry young but eventually divorce, especially Hollywood couples. The examples are many but, maybe I'll write it in a reblog.

Eventually Jess and Rory reconnect when they're older and are chosen to work on a reboot of The Thin Man, which gains a lot of backlash (like Greta Gerwig when Barbie was first announced) but eventually they attempt to fix their relationship and fall in love again, eventually marrying once the movie is released (which is a hit, like Barbie). This is in homage to many couples who reconnect eventually (like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez or Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine).

What do you guys think?

Tagging @ernestonlysayslovelythings @disasterbiwriter @stellaluna33 @sagesfandomspot @anxiouspotatorants @frazzledsoul @roeyliteratiforever

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/frazzledsoul/750501630505533440/i-find-it-really-amusing-that-rhaenyra-and-alicent?source=share

Rhaenyra's children are more decent people than Alicent's children…

What I don't understand is why some people think Rhaenyra's children are "discourage their education"? Because we see Jace taking Valyrian lessons? Well, Aemond's example showed us that lessons are necessary, because maybe Aemond would remember that a dragon is spoken to in Valyrian and not in the common language… We see that Jace takes lessons, and Luke spoke Valyrian very well during conversations with Arrax. Likewise, I don't believe that Rhaenyra's children were more spoiled than Alicent's. Yes, 6-year-old Luke was not punished for accidentally taking Aemond's eye, but neither was Aegon punished for repeatedly raping his servants. And we know they were multiple, because how else would Alicent have a plan in place to deal with his victims?

Alicent's sons are shitty people. It's just a fact.

[sarabethsilver]

Annie core.

❤️ Thanks for the tag @ernestonlysayslovelythings

(Pinterest game. Search your name + core, post 6 pics, tag 6 people)

You've probably already been tagged, but just in case you haven't & wanna play! @stellaluna33 @belleandsaintsebastian @kimberly-stocks @thefirst3chapters @frazzledsoul @saltygilmores