#jess doesn't tell rory he is leaving for good

[mzannthropy]

The writing in Gilmore Girls can make you feel really frustrated...

[mynonclicheblog]

God, imagine how much more of a chance Rory & Jess would've had (or at least a smoother run of things) if Lorelai had taken a more sympathetic attitude towards Jess. I'm not talking about her having to like him, even, just being mindful of his background and respecting his role as Rory's boyfriend to help her navigate that relationship in an authentic way.

I mean... this is the actual dialogue from 3.15 "Face-Off" when Jess doesn't call Rory:

"Uh, I'm sorry, I thought you had a plan?" "We did." "And... the plan was that he calls you "whenever" because his work time varies?" "Yes..." [sarcastic] "Good plan. Bay of Pigs, was that yours, too?" "He'll call." "Hey, you wanna come out with me and Alex?"

I just... there are so many things wrong with this, I can't even go into it lol (yes, people plan to call "whenever" they get off work! that's a thing! not everyone has a reliable clock-out time!). Rory is clearly needled by Lorelai's sarcasm & reinforcement of her unhappiness. Insults like this are a subtle hit to Rory's confidence in dating Jess because she is very sensitive to outside criticism. Imagine if the conversation had gone something like this instead:

"Ugh, that sucks. Maybe you should talk to him about it." "He said he would call. I'm not going to do it first." "Hey, I hear you, sister. I mean. You could sit here and wait it out... see if he comes through... or, you could just end your misery right now and see if he picks up." "He won't." "How do you know?" "Because he hasn't called." "But what if he does?" "Call?" "No, what if he picks up." "What if he doesn't?" "Well, then, leave a message. Tell him you need to talk." "I don't know. You know he doesn't really enjoy the whole communicating thing." "Well, that communicating thing is part of his job description now. You've got to be patient with him- and I mean, reeeally patient- but if he cares about you, he'll care about this."

It wouldn't have been out of character at all! Just a MODICUM of maturity and support from Lorelai would've gone such a long way for Rory's mental state.

[frazzledsoul]

I don't mean to step on anyone's toes here (and this does not just come from any particular person) but I don't think there's a shred of evidence in canon that Jess ever really felt he wasn't good enough for Rory or that he couldn't live up to her high society ideals or ambitions. In fact, he makes it a point to tell her that he rejects those upper class values and that she used to reject them, too. He made a successful life for himself on his own terms and he did not need to embrace an upper class lifestyle to accomplish that. He also didn't want to.

The idea that Rory can't forgive Jess for what he did when he was 17, that she doesn't trust him, that even post S6 she finds him unreliable and unstable and beneath her standards as a potential partner....none of that is in canon after S4. It's a fanon affectation pushed on the story but it isn't the story. Rory doesn't see Jess as inferior to her, she doesn't view him as below her standards or "out of her league", and she is not still angry about him leaving town when he was a teenager. When she hurts and uses him in S6, she's the one that apologizes to him and agrees that he deserves better than that. If she wanted to throw his past behavior back in his face, she would have done it at that point.

As for why he left in the first place? Well, that actually didn't have much to do with her. He was failing school, couldn't take her to prom, needed to work stuff out with his dad, and since he wasn't willing to retake his senior year over, Luke asked him to leave. His problems were a lot more insurmountable than hers were, but the bottom line is he needed to get out of that place where he was rejected for not being the perfect small town boyfriend and the judgment he faced from everyone there, including Rory. Obviously he could handled that shitshow a lot better than he did, but even if the transition had been easier I think he would have ended up back in NYC at least temporarily and that relationship wouldn't have lasted much longer.

However, I don't think the fear of not living up to her expectations had much to do with it. He wasn't the person Stars Hollow wanted him to be, and he could only thrive when he left it behind.

[zalrb]

(Sorry for Gilmore Girls ask but you’re the only person who’s unbiased who can answer this.)

I’ve been thinking about Rory and her relationships and do you or did you ever think that Rory loved (liked?) Jess less intensely than both Logan and Dean?

It’s obvious that Logan is the person she’s most gone for, her Christopher in the sense that just like it was hard for Lorelai to say no to him when he was in her presence, it’s the same with Rory and Logan; but even with Dean I feel like there was this desperation feelings-wise that just wasn’t there with Jess. I was gonna write “even though she does leave Dean for Jess” but she doesn’t even do that, Dean had to break up with her first.

And I’m not saying all of this in the “that’s why she never deserved him” way. I don’t think so at all, and obviously she did want to make things work with him but he couldn’t have that in his life yet, it’s just, there was obviously connection, and attraction, but it was also just so easy for her to let go, If that makes sense, which was not the case with Dean and Logan.

I actually quite enjoy GG asks so don't apologize ;) and this is an interesting question.

I think before they get together, she was pretty intense about Jess and the New York episode is proof of that. She just had to see him and acted uncharacteristically because of it (I mean we can debate whether or not it's uncharacteristic, she did almost not go to Chilton because she met Dean but anyway)

it's true she didn't break up with Dean but she was acting pretty cruelly toward him and wasn't even thinking about it because she was so preoccupied with Jess

like even when she's talking to Paris about what to find in a boyfriend, at that particular moment it's obvious she's talking about Jess and not Dean

if there's anything I can say about that situation it's that I think they do a good job in showing that her feelings for Jess were kind of like this force that was taking a hold of her.

And I think that level of intensity could've very easily continued in their relationship -- she was seriously contemplating having sex with him to the point that she told Lorelai --

if Jess actually treated her well consistently

Near the end, she tells Lorelai that she doesn't like what she feels or what she does when she's with him

-- pausing my continuation of this thought to say when she has this kind of conversation with Lorelai about Logan

Logan actually steps up

so anyway, I think foe Rory it was easier to let the feelings for Jess go a) because she was starting her life, she was going to Yale, she was going to backpack throughout Europe, she made a deal with her grandparents so Lorelai could start the inn, she was ready to take the world by storm at that point in her life, she had shit to do, which is basically what she tells him on the phone

b) she dated Dean before she dated Jess and with Dean she got the treatment she wanted consistently and Lorelai has to give her a wake up call about that in Face Off

and by the time she calls Jess in that episode and leaves the voicemail posted above, she's comfortable with that being the way she wants to be treated

and Jess would give her that for a bit

and then something would happen and he'd stop being that way so I think it was easier for her to not hold onto anything as opposed to Dean who actually knew Rory in ways that Jess didn't (much like how Jess knew Rory in ways Dean didn't) in that he was able to also hang out with her and Lorelai and be a part of their inside jokes and be a fixture in the Gilmore household

and for all of the conversation around Rory and Jess being intellectual/pop cultural equals, Rory and Dean also had their own ability to just hang out and enjoy each other's company and enjoy how bizarre their town was and there was that level of safety that she talks about in the Revival and letting go of that especially when he did nothing wrong is hard and within the relationship it makes sense she'd be very much invested when the guy she's in the relationship with will build a car for her

and Logan, I think you've got a handle on, haha.

[offorester]

[ FIVE FIGHTS ] ( valentina )

[ FIVE FIGHTS ]  send for the five times our muses almost get into a fight and the one time they do.

One: I Love You. 'I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so...Nothing good comes out of dating the Gilmores. They are a high standing family around here.' Those words rang in his ear as he chatted with Valentina on the phone. Dean's cheeks flared with heat and he found himself suddenly angry. Maybe it was because she was right. Or maybe this just wasn't what he wanted to hear. "You know, when I told you I wasn't expecting you to rub it in, Val. I'll talk to you later. Bye." And with that, Dean hung up the phone. He had told Rory he loved her...What a mistake that had been. He'd have to apologize to Valentina later but he didn't want it to turn into a fight. Two: New Boy In Town. There was someone new in town. Jess Mariano. And Dean was steadily beginning to take note of the way that he and Rory were interacting. In fact, Valentina and he were sitting outside the diner watching the two interact inside. Rory was all smiles which made Dean's stomach churn. "You know that's not how friends look at friends, right...?" Valentina asked. "What? Rory wouldn't cheat...She wouldn't." Dean replied defensively, shaking his head. Three: Gilmore Family Dinner Dean had immediately called Valentina up about the dinner as soon as he had gotten home, giving her a rundown of just how things had went. How Richard Gilmore had demeaned him at the table, and the chaos that had followed it. On the other end of the phone, Valentina sighed. "See, Dean? This is what I was telling you about...They are high up on the chain. You're not going to meet their expectations, no matter how hard you try. And that's their loss. Not yours." "I'm not giving up. Not yet. I'll talk to you later, alright?" Four: Getting Ignored Again. It was movie night and since it appeared hanging out with Rory wasn't going to happen again for awhile, Dean was hanging out with Valentina for movie night. He had taken Lorelai's advice and avoided calling Rory for awhile. Trying to give her the space that she needed. But it seemed like Rory was completely happy with that space. He checked his phone again. No missed calls. No pages. "Nothing?" Valentina asked, giving him a sympathetic look. "No..." "Shouldn't that tell you something, Dean?" "Let's just..Let's just watch the movie, okay?" Five: She likes Jess, doesn't she? They had never really fought before. Not really. But as the two sat on the porch outside his home, Valentina suddenly stood up which caught Dean by surprise. "Okay. I've had it. Dean, I can't sit here and watch you do this to yourself anymore! It's too painful! Don't you see what you're doing to yourself?! I've watched you tear yourself apart for this girl the whole time you've been dating her! When is enough going to be enough because I can't sit around and watch you fall apart anymore! I won't. I'm sorry." And with that, Valentina walked off. Leaving a very confused and sad Dean in her wake. Maybe...Maybe she was right.

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

🏳️‍🌈 + Colton & Cece

Colton: bi, aspec

Cece: bi

Finn: queer ( truly finn's coming out journey leading to the way he smiles the first time he calls himself queer is everything to me )

Tina: pan

Quinn: lesbian, demisexual ( quinn, in the middle of having sex with colton: okay yeah I'm a lesbian // colton: good for you babe )

Mike: Bi

Blaine: gay

Rachel: bi ( specifically uses bi as an umbrella term because she knows she isn't straight, hasn't figured out what label she likes best )

Mercedes: pan ( spends a long time knowing she's not straight but doesn't label it for a while because she knows how she feels and that matters more than knowing how she identifies )

Kurt: gay, aspec

Rory: gay

Sam: bi

Joe: straight, aromantic but doesn't know what that is

Brittany: bi

Santana: lesbian

Puck: bi / pan, demiromantic ( specifically puck uses both bi & pan labels, originally to try to figure out which felt like a better fit but later because he likes how they both feel )

Sugar: pan

Matt: considered himself bi-curious before leaving mckinley, eventually comes to prefer pan

Jesse: bi

Mr Schue: straight

Bonus OCs (these ones are in Get It Right but also appear in most of my other glee fics)

Uncle Josh: bi

Amelie: bi

Roman: bi, poly

Ash: bi, poly

Send me “🏳️‍🌈 + an oc/fic” and I’ll tell you the sexualities of everybody in their story

[piperslovebot]

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

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

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

[frazzledsoul]

Both Luke and Lorelai retaliate in the sane way when they sense Jess and Rory are belittling their accomplishments and mocking the fact that they couldn't go to college because they were either caring for a dying parent or raised by a child. I think for Luke he sees Jess in his late teens waylaid mostly by his own unwise decisions when he could have easily done better when his life at that time was much, much harder and is frustrated that Jess isn't doing better. The show is primarily focused on Lorelai and Rory and Lorelai is aghast that so much effort has been put forth into giving Rory a good future and yet she's seemingly throwing that away and chiding Lorelai that she just doesn't understand. In both cases, both kids had been spiraling for a long time and there were alternatives that should have been suggested (Luke should have suggested a GED to Jess as soon as he moved back, Lorelai could have asked Rory to reconsider over the summer, etc) but when Rory and Jess hit them where it hurts, they both lash out and tell the kids they have to do it their way or they have to leave. If they had thought about it for a day and reassessed, it probably wouldn't have come to that, but both Jess and Rory have left before they can think it over.

Thinking about @iscahmckrae 's post about Luke and Jess BOTH skipping school for work in their youth (and Luke subsequently mishandling the situation really badly), and how that plays into the general theme in Gilmore Girls of a parent (or parental figure) being so terrified of their kid repeating their own mistakes that they can't respond rationally to the issue.

Because the parallels with Lorelai there are really interesting.

[fayevalcntine]

On the topic of Logan and cheating

I've seen a some different interpretations on this scene and one of the more infamous excuses for it is that a) Rory didn't call Logan after their argument at the bar, which meant that Logan could easily interpret the silence on her end as breaking up, and b) Rory was Logan's first serious relationship, therefore he doesn't exactly know how to properly communicate as a boyfriend and know whether they are or aren't really broken up. Another one that I've heard is that "you don't need to talk to someone in order to be broken up. Just look at how Jess and Rory broke up, he left and that was the end". All of these arguments are faulty to me for several reasons:

You can't compare Jess leaving for another state without properly telling Rory to be the same as Logan simply leaving a pub in Hartford and then not calling Rory. Jess relocated to the other side of the country. Logan on the other hand, simply stopped calling her. These two events aren't even remotely the same, especially when Rory didn't even know whether or not Jess would ever come back to Stars Hollow, let alone to see her. Logan by that point in season 6 still lives near Yale.

To place ultimate blame on Rory for this entire situation by saying that she was the one solely responsible for the "break"/"break up" because she didn't call him is in my opinion complete bull because Rory is not the only one in this relationship. She's not the only one that has to manage it, communication has to go both ways and on this end Logan repeatedly lacked awareness of by this point. "It was a fight. People fight." is Rory's response when Logan comes in trying to get her back, and his only excuse for seemingly breaking up with her through his sister is: "Yeah, well I don't fight, I don't want to be screaming at you at a bar. I can't take that. It's too much drama." To which Rory says: "Well, if you can't take the drama, then you shouldn't even be in a relationship, [...]" Rory knows that couples can have arguments and they need to communicate after that, which is something Logan doesn't even consider when presented with that point and just continues to badger Rory to get back together. At this point, his own story even switches depending on what is useful for him. At first he says that he only told Honor they were broken up to get her off her back, and once Rory asks if he then meant it, he backtracks and says he did.

This leads to my further point that Rory being Logan's first serious relationship is not a good excuse for his behavior, either. His way of handling this by completely shutting off any chance to simply call her after their fight is more reminiscent of how he behaved when they were "casual" in season 5. He kept ghosting her even at her repeated attempts at calling him, she has to get his attention by going out with his friend, and it's only until Rory shows up and tries to break things off that Logan decides to get together with her. By this point in season 6, even taking out the time where they weren't technically together, they had been dating for at least 4-5 months. There are numerous moments where we see Logan attempt to communicate with Rory about some stuff before this fight. So how is it any excuse to say that he "isn't experienced in relationships" if we can easily see that he has no problem wanting to be on the same page as Rory? If this has to depend on his own mood about it, then that's a lame reason for not even making it clear to Rory that from his perspective, they are likely broken up.

Even if you were to strictly think that Logan didn't cheat, his entire handling of the bridesmaids situation at the wedding with Rory was awful. Firstly, he doesn't even try to warn Rory in any way that he was involved with the bridesmaids. He could've easily lied to her and said that they were involved prior to him getting together with her. But instead he just says nothing and lets her have to handle the humiliation of finding out that her boyfriend slept with several of his sister's friends when they were apart. When Rory asks him about it, he states that he deliberately didn't tell her because he knew she would be mad about it. This just tells me that Logan knows there's faults in his "break up" excuse to Rory, but still clings to his side of the story and doesn't even take the time to consider her perspective. Even after the wedding, he corners Rory until she has to begrudgingly accept his side of the story, and even when it's clear that she's still mad, he behaves like a victim who "hasn't been forgiven", as if he even asked Rory for her forgiveness or apologized for how he handled the bridesmaids situation.

The series itself doesn't even resolve this issue because Logan conveniently has an accident that prompts Rory to feel guilty for being rightfully mad at him, and this entire issue isn't even brought up because of her own internalized guilt. That's how poorly this whole thing is handled within the writing. If your character has to almost die in order to be absolved of his mishandling, that's not a good resolution. It's a cheap way to make him seem completely innocent at the end because "look! He almost died! Let us now have his girlfriend feel sorry for his awful state."

I'm not even touching the topic of the revival because in that, Logan is very much the obvious cheater. We're never presented with any excuse that he and his fiancee have a "strictly business engagement" going on, the most Logan alludes to is it being "within the dynastic plan". But this doesn't explain why Odette would go to live at his place if they a) had an open relationship agreement, or b) were strictly marrying for their families. Again, Logan presents neither excuse to Rory. You can headcanon any excuse you like, but that doesn't mean it's canon.

[lolabelinda]

Head canon that Rory and Jess have lots of fun together at Luke and Lorelei's wedding and that the town teases them when they walk down the aisle together (maid of honour and best man) and dance together and they both think the other looks really good all dressed up.

And then Jess notices she isn't really drinking and makes a joke about her being pregnant and instead of laughing she gets teary because she's been up all night and is emotional from telling her mum. And she kind of runs off to the bridge and Jess follows her and they talk and she tells him and he's shocked but supportive and kind of a bit cagey about it being Logan's baby and also Jess grew up without a Dad but so did Rory so they both have opinions and maybe fight a little.

Then she keeps writing her book and they start to talk more and more and Jess finds excuses to visit Stars Hollow and ends up helping her and they sort out their issues from the past when Rory writes the sections about Jess.

Then he's with her accidentally when she goes into labour and stays with her at the hospital until her mum arrives and after the baby is born she catches him trying to settle her while Rory is sleeping and it's very sweet and they have all these nice moments and Jess gets his hopes up that something might be happening and then Logan shows up to meet the baby and has done some grand gesture like dropped everything to visit her (I like Logan also and think he got the bad end of the stick).

And so Jess goes off to Luke's diner to make her food and he and Luke talk about Logan and what they think of him (Luke doesn't mind him because of the Valentine's weekend he was very nice to him) but Jess is still pretty cagey.

Jess delivers the food to the house but catches Logan and Rory having a moment and so sits on the porch outside and Lorelei runs into him and they have a nice talk and sort out some issues from the past and she says sorry and thanks him for being there for Rory now.

Logan leaves and him and Jess have respect for each other and then Jess goes in and talks to Rory and gives her burgers.

Then their relationship grows as does his with her daughter and the conflict with Logan is still there "where were you when she had the chicken pox or when she needed moving into her school?" Etc vibe and Rory realises how great Jess is and she askes him to marry her.

Oh and her book is a big success the end.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Do Rory and Jess ever get to take their road trip after senior year?

1

Quite the argument breaks out over Rory spending an entire weekend alone with her boyfriend in a "strange city," with her mother reluctantly taking her side while her grandparents try to forbid her from going.

"Rory is an adult now," Lorelai says. "If she wants to go away for a weekend with her boyfriend, she...can."

"I cannot believe you're allowing this," Emily marvels.

"I'm...allowing Rory to make her own choices. It's her life, and I trust her to be responsible."

"Of course Rory will be responsible," Richard adds. "It's that boyfriend who is untrustworthy."

"Jess doesn't make me do anything I don't want to do," Rory argues. "He's had a really hard year. A really hard year. He barely scraped by in school, Luke's been on him about his grades for months, there was the Dean incident, and then his dad showed up out of nowhere and then disappeared again. He needs a break, and frankly, after getting punched by my ex-boyfriend, so do I. So we're going, and I'll be back in time for one more Friday night dinner before Mom and I leave for Europe. And that's it."

The rest of dinner is awkward, to say the least.

*****

Lenny had probably been a little to generous with the graduation money, but that works for Rory. It means that they can split the cost of a nice hotel room for the night, and take the bus down to save money.

The hotel room itself is airy and there's one bed, and Rory has no illusions about what's going to happen this weekend. She sets her bag down on a chair and unzips it, digging in and finding what she's looking for.

"So - I brought -" She holds out a box of condoms awkwardly. "I didn't know what kind to get, but these seemed - fine."

Jess blinks rapidly before shaking out his head. "Rory-"

"I just wanted to be prepared."

"You bought an entire box. how many times do you think you're gonna get lucky this weekend?" he asks teasingly. "Are we gonna leave the room at all?"

"Jess."

He steps closer to her, kissing her softly. "I brought a few. But I appreciate that we seem to be on the same page about what might happen this weekend."

"Might?"

Jess shrugs. "It's not a requirement, Rory."

"I know. I just- want to. I want to."

He kisses her again. "Okay. Well, for now, let's go get a hot dog."

She smiles gratefully, before stowing the box back in her bag and following him out.

*****

They spend the day wandering the Village. They go back to the record shop from her first time visiting him in New York. They do get hot dogs, and hang out in the park, before the sun starts to go down, and they duck into the Gaslight to watch a the acts.

They stay late, and wind up at a late-night Chinese place, eating mushu pork and cold sesame noodles, and when they get back to the hotel, they can't stop laughing.

"Do you think the gargling Genghis Kan noticed that someone threw a coffee stirrer in his beard?" Rory asks.

"I think he did, actually," Jess tells her. "Did you catch the way the vein in his forehead was pulsing?"

"No! Uh, I'm sad I missed that!"

"Oh yeah. He knew."

Rory laughs, but it dies down as she looks around the dim hotel room and looks at the bed.

Jess takes a breath. "We just ate a bunch of garlicky Chinese food," he points out. "I don't know about you but...I'm ready to just get some sleep."

She nods quickly. "Yeah. That sounds- that sounds good. I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

He nods and starts getting ready for bed, and Rory watches for a moment, letting herself take in his bare back as he turns away from her to grab something to sleep in from his bag.

She bites her lip and grabs her pajamas and toothbrush before heading into the bathroom.

*****

She wakes up early the next morning, finding herself curled in against Jess with her head pillowed against the soft t-shirt he's wearing.

When she pulls him closer, he stirs and blinks down at her sleepily, giving her his crooked grin. "Hi."

She responds by kissing him.

Things get slow and hazy after that, and it feels...

Right.

To be here with him like this. Alone in their quiet little hotel room with the drapes pulled shut against the rising sun. It feels right.

After, she finds herself in his arms, breathing hard, clinging to him tightly, lightheaded from her orgasm, her eyes closed. His lips brush over hers softly and slowly, and she holds him tighter as she kisses him back.

*****

They shower after that, and she's never shared a shower with someone outside of gym class, but here she is, messing around with Jess's hair under the spray, giving him a stupid mohawk that makes them both laugh.

They get dressed and pack of their things, knowing they'll have to head for the bus station late in the day.

"So?" Jess asks quietly as they head out for more exploration. "Do you feel okay?"

Rory nods. "I do. I mean - I thought I would feel - I don't know. Different. More different than I do. But I just feel kind of sore."

Jess tries not to smirk and it gets him nudged.

"Shut up," she tells him.

"Yep. Okay. You wanna take a cab into Harlem? Be fancy?"

"Why, yes, I would love to be fancy."

*****

The bus ride home is uneventful. Rory naps against Jess's shoulder as he reads, and once they get to Hartford, they take his car back to Stars Hollow, and they sing badly to an old cassette tape they found in Harlem.

When he pulls up to her house, Rory leans over and kisses him, one arm wrapped around him and one cupping his jaw. "Goodnight, Jess."

He brushes his nose against hers. "Night, Rory. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You had better."

She grabs her things - her overnight bag and the bag of vinyl albums she bought - including the re-found copy of that signed Go-Go's album for her mother - and slips out of the car, heading into the house.

[sparklycardigan]

I love what you said in your tags on that Literati post (the "Why did you drop out of Yale?!" one) about Rory being like Amy March, with her "I want to be Great or nothing" attitude. That is SUCH a good parallel and a great way of distilling her mindset in a way I hadn't been able to quite put into words yet! I also loved what you said about her time off from Yale not truly being a "waste" because it was a chance for her to discover what she DOESN'T want her life to be, which is almost as important as figuring out what you DO want out of life. And she'd never had the opportunity to consider other OPTIONS before. Think about the way her mom got so upset to learn that Rory was even considering applying to other colleges besides Harvard (even though applying to several schools is absolutely the norm!) because "Harvard was the dream." Rory dreamed about a certain career path when she was little, and Lorelai- with the best of intentions- wanted her to have it. But most kids have the luxury of changing their minds! But with Rory, it was never so innocent as "changing her mind," but taken as "giving up on her dream." And so I think when Mitchum Huntzberger introduced the idea that maybe she WASN'T cut out for it, it really hit Rory that maybe she needed other options, and she didn't know what those other options were. But she found out in the following months that her grandparents' life wasn't one of them. Anyway, I always love seeing your perspective on things!

Hey! Your asks never fail to put a smile on my face and, as always, you get me! There are a couple of things I want to tackle (thanks for giving me the opportunity to do just that, my mind is a bookstore and I don’t always know what book to read if you know what I mean😅), but let’s stick to this:

1. Rory Gilmore/Amy March (with a bit of Amy/Laurie + Literati)

2. The Importance of Logan Huntzberger

1. I think the obvious thing to do would be to associate Rory Gilmore with Jo March, which I’ve seen a couple of people do (and that debate usually ends with something along the lines of “Jo March, the girl Rory Gilmore can only dream of being” which is disgusting but oh well, almost everyone treats Jo like some sort of saint and trust me, nobody loves that girl more than me, but she’s nowhere near saint status which is exactly what makes her so appealing in my eyes and I’m rambling already, let’s leave that for another time), but I strongly disagree with the statement. Rory is a lot more like Amy (Isn’t it interesting? The way fandom’s been treating both of these girls? Coincidence? I think not. More like: The world is hard on ambitious girls.) Both of them have these patterns they feel the need to follow in order to achieve success (or what they consider success to be, it’s very specific in both cases which is a big part of their respective struggles) and both of them seem to be battling the same question: Do I have what it takes to be great, do I posses, not only the talent, but the necessary genius? It’s not something you can accomplish (and they are each hardworking and dedicated and willing to do whatever it takes to be the best, even if they end up suffering in the process) and I find that particularly interesting. Their biggest fear is built out of something they can’t control (I feel like that’s an important word for both of them, control). That’s why Rory’s world comes crushing down when Mitchum suggests she doesn’t have what it takes to be a journalist. He’s voicing her biggest fear. He’s giving voice to something she has absolutely no control over. And that’s something that inevitably needed to happen to her (more of that in the second paragraph). Mitchum was to Rory what Europe was to Amy. This is where Jess (in Amy’s case Laurie) fits in. Jess never tells Rory to go back to Yale, he never refers to Yale as her one and only option, one and only future (Even when they were dating, he never made a fuss about her choosing Yale over her original dream, which was Harvard, there’s never a “Woah, weren’t you going to Harvard, wasn’t Harvard the dream?”. There’s just him being incredibly proud of her and supporting her in decisions of no one's but her own making). Instead, he’s asking her what nobody actually asked her, which is: Why did you drop out of Yale? Why. He’s asking her if this is what she wants for herself, is this the life she wants to lead or not. To Jess, Rory is Rory, she’s not Lorelai’s daughter or Richard and Emily’s granddaughter. Just Rory. (I absolutely adore the fact that Lorelai doesn't like Jess at all and it has less to do with Lorelai and Jess being similar people and more to do with the fact that Jess is someone Rory chose to spend time with on her own without the approval of her mother, who is such a big part of who Rory is and such a big part of Rory's decision making even when she's not actually present, she is. I'll talk more about this in another post once I get myself to do it 🎇head full🎇). That’s the reason why Jess is the only person she actually hears. Because he’s the only person to actually hear her. I think I should leave the parallels between Amy/Laurie and Literati for another post, this is getting too long. I will probably add in a bit of Lizzie/Darcy to the mix too (the I love you from 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice is so so SO similar to the Literati one in 4x13, look at this!!!!!). I’m just going to say that the best thing about both Amy/Laurie and Literati as relationships is the fact that they both rely on identity and growth.

*I feel like “I want to be great or nothing” is an explanation on its own. There’s a lot of Rory in that (and Paris! I have to mention her at least once, though it’s a lot more explicit with Paris than with Rory).

2. Logan Huntzberger. Regardless of the way I feel about him, I think him to be an extremely important part of Rory’s life (and hey, every single character in GG, Jess and Luke excluded, is more of a character of the "Gilmore orbit", as I call it, rather than a character on their own, the show was written like that on purpose, which is why I tend to think of GG characters as chapters in the lives of our girls, each one of them holds a certain importance). Logan’s been introduced as someone who will change Rory’s perspective on things starting from his very first appearance, he’s someone she would never consider spending time with under her own conditions. He was always supposed to shake up her world, challenge her reality. It’s up to the viewer to decide if what he brought was positive or not. I, above everything else, believe it to be beneficial. Maybe it’s the way I was raised that makes me think that, but I strongly believe that it’s necessary to try a bit of everything in order to evolve and make the decisions that are the best for you. If you stick to a certain path for the eternity of your life, the range of possible choices to be made is rather limiting. That’s why hearing the phrase “The Downfall of Rory Gilmore” makes me so mad. Downfall? Why? Because she was exploring her options, because she went to parties, had a couple of drinks? Exactly like you said, her experiences in season 5/6 helped her figure out what she doesn’t want, who she doesn’t want to be. And man, I love Jess (yeah yeah, I make fun of him, so what? he’s still deeply beloved.), but to say Rory doesn’t deserve him, like he’s a saint or something (development doesn’t exclude mistakes, we don’t exactly see every single bit of his life after season three on screen, I doubt he didn’t have his fair share of downfalls after getting his life back together, yet, I don’t see arguments of “The Downfall of Jess Mariano” circling around, people either hate or love him because he’s a man, no other explanation for that).                                                                      

Anyways, Amy March & Rory Gilmore defense squad forever!

I wrote a sort of reflective piece on Amy's character here, so you can read that if you want, I think parts of it can be applied to Rory too.

For the end, these scenes have the exact same energy, I will die on this hill (I need to write that Literati×period dramas post ASAP):

them <3

[frazzledsoul]

So I'm thinking right now of an issue that often came up on the Gilmore Girls subreddit, and that I often heard from L/L fans who intensely disliked Jess, which is that Jess was presumptuous to tell Rory in S6 that he "knew her better than anyone", that he only idealized the Rory he knew from high school, that he didn't know or understand her current circumstances at all, that he had no right to encourage her to go back to Yale, and that only Logan really understood the real Rory and knew what was best for her, because (and this is my absolute favorite part of the argument) "Rory likes having nice things and spending money."

I mean, objectively, some of these things are true, because she's spent the last year with Logan and Jess hasn't had much contact with her since high school. And yet...is she happy? Does she want to stay where she is? Is her relationship with Logan doing her much good? Is he doing much of anything to help her claw herself out of that hole? Is he encouraging her to go back to Yale? Is he giving her the push that she needs to fix her life?

And really...can Rory's personality be boiled down to someone who likes to spend money? Because in S6 as in the AYITL era, it seems more of a cushion that keeps her from moving on than anything that's really improving her life, and she only is able to move on when she embraces her roots and returns home to her mom, to Star Hollow, to furthering her goals, even if she doesn't plan to stay home permanently.

ASP writes Logan as part of a toxic cycle, yearning for independence but unable to let go of the advantages he'll have to give up if he leaves. This seems to be a settled reality in AYITL: he can't leave, and she doesn't want to stay in his world, because she'd have to give up too much to live there. Her life is outside of there, and Jess is always an implied part of that future. Logan can't help her claw herself out of that hole because he can't find a way out of it himself.

(Let it be known that S7 does not follow this blueprint and I think Logan can be better than that, but that wasn't in the original game plan).

And Jess? Well, he already did claw himself out of a life he didn't want. So he does know Rory better because he knows why she isn't happy, and he is the right person to inspire her to change her life.

So don't be mad at my boy. He was right!

[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!

[literatigifs]

anonymous asked: what do you think is going through Rory's head when she says no to Jess in s4?

Oh this is a good question! I feel like Rory's state of mind in that scene is primarily focused on avoiding Jess, both physically and mentally, despite the fact that he's there and in a way demanding her to be present in the moment when he's talking to her. Before he starts talking about her coming with him, Rory makes the complaint that he "won't leave her alone and won't go away", which is what she wants him to do because she wants to avoid his presence. Rory has a recurring habit of trying to physically avoid anyone that she's come to have a bad or inconclusive relationship with, and in this case it's Jess, and because of the lingering negative emotions that came from their break-up and sudden leaving (twice if you were to count Nag Hammadi). So Rory wants to avoid him because of this (and obviously I cannot blame her for it), but Jess doesn't want to avoid her now.

He wants to desperately prove that he's different, that he actually wants to work through their issues to another possible shot of them being together, but he does it in an extremely terrible way because he immediately offers a potential "solution" that doesn't even seem plausible to Rory, because as she later states to Lane, from her perspective, she could've said yes, packed her bags, and he still could've changed his mind by the time they got to the car. It's obvious that at this point Rory doesn't trust Jess with his ability to stick to his promises and stay with her when it's asked for or needed, and Jess trying to get another shot at that obviously affects Rory in their last scene. The final two times when she tells him 'No' in relation to his offer to go away together even temporarily stick out, the first time because she feels desperate, at this point it's obvious that she just wants him to stop making these seemingly hollow promises to her and leave her alone, and the second time because it's a resound final 'No', that she doesn't actually believe him saying it would be different this time around and that she won't take up his offer because of this. I feel like Rory was actually shaken up by this moment even if we only got her talking to Lane about it, because as made obvious from before, every time Jess came back in season 4, we saw Rory go from functional to pretty aggravated that he's nearby, and in Nag Hammadi it's obvious that she actually hasn't been all that fine when it comes to him leaving. She hasn't been able to emotionally put it behind her, and that is obvious in their final scene in season 4 as well. So when it comes to that, I feel like Rory mainly thought about getting Jess away from her, and possibly feeling hurt over this "potential" new chance she might get with him, because at this point it's too late for her. He's already made it a habit of leaving her and their relationship, so who's to say that he might not if she said yes to him?

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

Everyone compares Jess to Pacey (because they’re both rough around the edges and are smart but don’t do well in school) but Jess has more similarities with Eddie than Pacey.

Eddie/Jess are rough around the edges, they carry a giant chip on their shoulder, they are hostile to everyone but make an exception for Joey/Rory, they both love to read and connect with Joey/Rory through literature, they’re writers, both of them want Rory/Joey to take more risks, both of them leave Joey/Rory (sometimes without saying goodbye), they come back and ask Joey/Rory to run away with them, etc.

I wonder if the character of Eddie was inspired by Jess.

If anything Eddie is the dollar store version of Jess. Maybe the writers heard about Literati's popularity and tried to recreate it with Eddie and Joey but it fell flat. They don't have the chemistry and they were introduced too late for me and most fans to ship them because we had already seen Joey with Pacey. Maybe they even tried to recreate Jess's outfit with that puffy jacket from when he first arrived in Stars Hollow except on Eddie it looked like something Marty McFly would wear.

But even all those parallels you mentioned aren't really all that palpable if you consider that Eddie is 25 years old and still doesn't have his shit together. At first, I thought he did- he went to a fancy school and was well-read but later we find out he doesn't actually go to the school, he just snuck into the class for whatever reason. So he's a 25-year-old bartender stuck in a dead-end job and pretends to be a college student for fun and doesn't have the balls to follow his dreams of being an author to the point that Joey has to show his stories to some editor for him and tell him over and over again that he is good enough. Meanwhile, Jess was a scared 17-year-old kid when we first met him and by 21 he was already published and had a stable job. Rory never had to baby him the way Joey does Eddie, in fact, it worked better when Rory showed tough love to him.

Even when Eddie left Joey without saying goodbye it was different than when Jess did it. Yes, both of them ghosted their girlfriends but Eddie did it out of nowhere for no reason whatsoever and had Joey track him down and beg him to come back and be with her. When Jess left it was because he was 18 and kicked out of the house. And then later when Jess asks Rory to run away with him it isn't his best moment, but it's clear he's very emotional and desperate and grasping at straws so he can be with her. When Eddie asks Joey the same thing it's just straight-up bonkers and it doesn't make any sense. They are planning a trip to Paris and Joey tries to be sensible and says they should work a bit first to save some money and Eddie flies off the handle for no reason. He is poor so he should understand the value of money. It was a little contrived reason for them to break up but I was glad it happened and that Eddie never showed his face again.

I also compare Jess to Pacey. In addition to the reason you listed they have a similar sense of humor and are both underdogs and foils to the "Nice Guys" in Rory's/Joey's life. I have already ranted about it, feel free to check it out.

https://love-geeky-fangirl.tumblr.com/post/669366503079116800/perhaps-the-biggest-similarity-between-literati

https://love-geeky-fangirl.tumblr.com/post/663748401046913024/how-does-paceyjoeys-relationship-parallel

https://love-geeky-fangirl.tumblr.com/post/663112369186193408/pacey-and-joeys-relationship-parallels-jess-and