#liz danes

[jessmmariano]

If I think about Jess’s childhood/high school years too much I get sad because no one deserves that. And Gilmore Girls just glosses over it.

I get that’s not the tone of the show, but how on earth did Liz get a redemption plot? Meanwhile, so many fans hate Jess just because he made mistakes at seventeen. His mother was an alcoholic and addict who drank while she was pregnant. Jess worked two jobs while in high school so he could be financially secure. It was heavily implied that Liz was constantly dating/marrying men who mistreated her and Jess. Yet so many fans continue to hate Jess.

[alyheartsjess]

people are always saying that liz wasn’t as bad as they thought when she came on the show and that jess’ past is just assumptions. i don’t think this is true. liz seems all nice and delightfully cooky as a person, a bit unstable but harmless. this would be true and she would be within her right to be that way IF she wasn’t actually responsible for another person’s life and well being. it doesn’t matter that she’s nice if she failed at that.

it’s directly stated that she drank while pregnant, has trouble having fun without alcohol, has been drunk at all of her many weddings, that one of her husbands died, that plenty of them robbed her, that she loses appartments, can’t hold down a job etc. the show made a point to show she’s done drugs in the past. and all of these things are played off as like well, she’s just luke’s flighty sister, haha, he has to bail her out, what are you gonna do? but the thing is, even if jess’ role in all these situations is never mentioned we know that he was around during all of it. i don’t think it’s so crazy to assume that it, well, affected him.

[madeofstardust17]

Jess Mariano headcanon that I have to get out of my head so I can study:

Luke and Liz's mom was called Jessica. For the entire pregnancy, Liz was convinced that Jess was going to be a girl, and she refused to know the sex until the birth, claiming 'a mother new these things'. She wanted to call the baby Jessica after her mother.

When Jess was born, Jimmy and Luke were both there and told her something along the lines of 'oh well. What's the alternative?'

Liz absolutely wanted Jess' full name to be Jessica on his birth certificate. This was the only time Luke and Jimmy had a moment of pure connection, looked each other in the eye, and knowing they could not let this poor kid be bullied the rest of his life.

Luke distracted Liz with baby Jess as Jimmy filled the name out in the birth certificate. And thus, Jess Mariano was born.

[stellaluna33]

More Jess-related Almost Famous thoughts: I've mentioned before that Penny Lane made me think of Liz sometimes, but anyway, raise your hand if you can imagine Jess trying to hold his mom up while she's halfway to passed out in his arms and mumbling, "Why doesn't he love me?" Because I can.

[writing-n-memes]

Why did Gilmore Girls writers try to make Liz out to be a good person when she appeared? Liz kicked her underage son out of the house and never bothered to call him, even on holidays. Luke lied to Jess saying she called because he didn’t want his feelings to be hurt. It doesn’t matter if you like Jess or not, but overall, she seemed like a very crappy parent. Then when she did appear, she seemed loving. A little out of it at times and a strange person but they seemed to forgot everything they wrote her as before. No one really gets on her for abandoning her kid. No consequences at all. Then she marries and has another kid and we’re just supposed to assume she’s going to be a good parent this time around

[redamanccys]

jess mariano rant

FIRST AND FOREMOST can we talk about how no one remembers that jess's mom literally sent him to an uncle he'd never met because she "couldn't handle him" and how he was just expected to say it was it is and move the fuck on like he didn't just leave his home, friends, and everything he ever knew and im speaking from experience because I've moved like 6 times and hated my parents each time for it because it's the worst experience and ESPECIALLY when everyone in the town already hates you because you look a certain way and he was fucking 17 like guys any teenager with family issues would act like that tf?? and he didn't even do anything THAT bad because i know for sure if rory and Lane had stolen money from taylor for shits and giggles lorelai would've defended her and SPEAK OF THE FUCKING DEVIL lorelai hated jess so much for absolutely no reason other than the fact that (AGAIN A TEENAGER WITH TRAUMA) said something mean to the queen of stars hollow and obviously we all know that she hated him because she WAS him but even that i dont agree with 100% because jess had it so so SO incredibly worse, like no father, mother who married so many guys and divorced and lost all of their money and house which probably made them homeless A LOT of times like lorelai obviously had family issues but jess had it worse so she can't really act like she gets him because she doesn't.

and everyone likes to bring up the fact that he got mad when she wouldn't have sex with him and he literally didn't???? what show are you watching tf and his character development UGH ITS SO GOOD the high school drop out whom known has ever believed in is probably the most successful person in his whole family and that's why ladies and gentlemen (i still have so much more to say but i cant write it because my brain is faster than I type) jess mariano is the best character and best everything in the show

[frazzledsoul]

A non exhaustive list of terrible things Liz Danes did/said after she showed up:

- Makes a beeline straight for the pot the minute she shows up

- Hasn't called to check on Jess once in the nine (!) months he's been gone from Stars Hollow

- It's established that she generally has a terrible track record with men/employment/stable housing

- It's also established she is easily able to manipulate Luke into doing her bidding and in pretending that every new terrible idea is no big deal

- Makes a show of introducing Jess to TJ and acting like she's the best mom ever despite his obvious discomfort

-Makes several statements to Lorelai to the effect that Luke has been cleaning up after her for her entire life and finding her jobs, apartments, helping her out financially, getting rid of dangerous men

- To quote Jess verbatim: "I don't like this guy. I don't like any of the guys. She doesn't give a crap what I think. I've got nineteen years of proof to back me up". She always chose her men over him, no matter how terrible they were.

- Luke is involved in sussing out Jess's whereabouts and living situation, giving him a place to sleep (thanks to Lorelai), offering him money to fix his car. Liz is not involved in any of that and doesn't offer. She signed off on being the parent a long time ago.

- Liz shows back up for the wedding and immediately manipulates Luke into helping arrange the wedding, selling jewelry in the diner, inviting strippers to the diner...when she's around, he ends up doing her bidding almost automatically. Zero boundaries.

- There's more references to her sketchy self-employment and the many times Luke watched it fall apart.

- Luke's the one who goes to New York, finds Jess, has him go back to Stars Hollow as a favor to him. No comment from Liz on his lifestyle or offering him a place to stay. Luke is the only one who fights with him about it. Luke's also the one to give him romantic advice as Liz is not involved in that at all.

- Liz reveals her romantic history right before the wedding. Second husband was okay, third husband was not and died mysteriously, boyfriend after third husband was also okay. This is also the only wedding she's not been drunk at.

- Liz assumes Jess broke Rory's heart even though she has no idea who that is. Lorelai steps in and defends Jess, saying it just didn't work out.

- Luke is roped into taking care of Liz and TJ for several weeks after they are in a car accident and following them around on the Ren Faire circuit. I only mention this because he is, as always, forever her caretaker.

- Liz and TJ get into a screaming fight early in S5 and ruin Luke and Lorelai 's date.

- Sometime in S5 or S6 Liz mentions that she's never made dinner, not once. Jess is around 20 years old at this time period. How did he eat?

-Liz manipulates Luke into letting TJ work at the construction at Lorelai's house. She cries and throws a tantrum until he gives in. TJ somehow knocks a big hole in the upstairs of Lorelai's house.

-Liz does not show up to Jess's open house, nor does she ever mention it (or him at all) afterwards. Luke shows up to support him and tells him he's proud of him. Mom can't be bothered.

-When Liz finds out she's pregnant with Doula, she casually mentions to Luke (in public!) that she binge drank while she was pregnant with Jess. Luke isn't shocked by this.

-Liz claims to Luke that TJ abandoned her after she told him she was pregnant. Luke goes to TJ and TJ reveals that Liz got violent and threw half the household objects at his head and kicked him out when he was excited about it. Luke goes to Liz afterwards and she rants that if she stays with TJ her kid's going to end up ruined and she'll have to send it away. Luke is the one who reminds her that Jess turned out OK and that he's actually doing great (not that Liz has any knowledge of this at all or should receive any credit for it). Liz and TJ reconcile.

- Liz and TJ invite Luke over for dinner in early S7. Their stove is broken. He has to make dinner himself (because of course he does). Despite formerly being supportive, they tell him Lorelai was bad for him and Liz says some mumbo jumbo about how they were never meant to be together. Luke runs into Lorelai at the grocery store and says the whole thing was a bad idea and he'll be civil to her, but he's not interested in a personal relationship again. Lorelai basically doesn't go anywhere in town she could run into him for the next six months (okay, the romantic advice isn't terrible per se but Liz is seriously inconsistent on this issue).

- Luke attends Doula's birth. Liz is excited about April being a free babysitter.

- Liz dumps Doula on Luke at work a few weeks after she is born because she "needs a break" and disappears for hours.

-Liz and TJ invite themselves to stay at Luke's apartment some weeks later, shortly after Lorelai and Christopher have broken up. Now Liz is all excited about Lorelai and Luke getting back together (pick a lane, woman).

-In the series finale, Liz tries to dump Doula on Luke at work AGAIN (how often does she do this?) Luke stops her before she can leave, and makes her take the baby with her.

-Liz and TJ are mercifully offscreen for AYITL. Jess fulfills the role of being Luke's sounding board and attempting to comfort him when he has problems with Lorelai and there are already enough quirky townies, so she isn't needed. TJ and Liz are involved in a mysterious vegetable cult that they eventually get kicked out of, which provides a reason for Jess to come into town every so often. He's now the support to his family that Luke used to be on his own. It's implied that this is not the first time TJ and Liz have gotten involved in a cult over the past few years

My point to all of this is that Liz is not stable, she's not a decent person, she has not "redeemed" herself, she may be clean and sober but she's still horribly selfish, unreliable, and a pain in Luke's ass. There's a bunch of stuff that is implied in Jess's behavior that indicates she was a horrible mom, but we don't get the full picture until she shows up. The full picture is...a lot worse.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Schniders in Stars Hollow Lenny arranging bouquets from flowers in his garden for his loved ones.

They eventually retire to Stars Hollow fully. Midge refuses to sell the brownstone in the city, but it's mostly for the kids and grandkids to use now.

This, of course, means that Lenny gets to tend to his garden all year round. Plants beets in the fall, and in the spring, by May, most everything is in bloom.

Probably a little too much this year, so Lenny clips and prunes and soon, the kitchen table is covered in Dahlia and tulips. Coneflower, lilies and marigolds, petunias and alium.

The roses won't pop for another month or so (in time for Midge's birthda), but there are plenty of beautiful flowers that aren't as well known to go around.

He settles a bunch into one of Midge's vases with some water and carries it into her office, settling it on the little coffee table in front of the couch she's sitting on as she takes a phone call. She beams up at him and tugs him down for a light peck, pulling away quickly. "Susie, I was not making out with Lenny."

"She was a little," he says into the phone.

"Stop trying to get me in trouble!"

He chuckles as he heads back to the kitchen. "Gonna drop off more flowers."

And he does.

*****

The Dragonfly is busy this weekend, and Lorelai grins at him from behind the front desk after handing a couple from Milwaukee the key to their room.

"Hi, Stranger, Midge kick you out?" She teases.

"Not yet," Lenny chuckles. "I wonder when she'll get around to it. No, I come with a gift." He holds out a bunch of flowers, held together with a little hemp rope.

"Oh, wow," Lorelai marvels as she takes them. "These are amazing. Let me grab a vase out of storage, these are going right here at the desk."

He chuckles as she hops off and comes right back with the promised vase, a little water in the bottom. "Rory home? She can have one, too."

"No, Rory is still in New York," she tells him. "She'll be home next weekend."

"There are always more flowers," Lenny promises. "See you later, kid."

"Bye, Lenny, thank you!"

He waves her off and heads out.

*****

He finds Liz at thr diner and hands her a batch, and she gasps, hugging them.

"I swear you're a whiz in that garden, Lenny. I don't know how you do it. I wind up killing all my flowers."

"Patience," he says. "Attention. It's like raising kids, but instead of being mouthy, flowers just wilt if they're pissy."

Liz laughs at that. "Don't get me started. Dula is four going on twenty-four, I swear."

"She's a little firecracker," Lenny agrees. "Speaking of mouthy, how is Jess?"

"Good, I think," Liz smiles. "He's been busy on that book tour, though. He's supposed to be back in another week or so."

"Yeah, he texted Midge before he left, but we haven't heard from him since," Lenny nods.

"He's fine," Luke tells them, bringing over a coffee cup and filling it for Lenny. "I annoyed him into calling me yesterday. He's in Raleigh. He'll be here next weekend after the tour wraps."

"My baby's coming home!" Liz crows. "I should cook him something special."

"You should not," Lenny tells her.

"Hey!"

He sips his coffee. "Buy him a nice sweater. For the love of God, do not cook."

"What he said," Luke agrees. "Don't I get flowers?"

"You don't own a vase," Lenny reminds him. "Until you buy one, you don't get flowers."

*****

Babbette and Mory get a bunch. Miss Patty, too, against his better judgement. Taylor gets a few. Kirk is allergic to everything so he gets none. He drops a batch off with Jackson for him and Sookie.

He's tired when he gets home. Winded in the way that comes with old age. He blows out a breath and wanders around, finding Midge in the kitchen.

"How'd it go?" She asks.

"Fine. Rory and Jess will both be home next weekend," he informs her.

"I'll have to do up a nice dinner for them," Midgr grins.

"I know that grin, Mrs. Bruce."

Midge smirks. "Do you, Mr. Weissman?"

"Oh yes," Lenny nods. "That is a look much like your mother used to give when she thought she was being terribly clever about her matchmaking."

"I have no idea what you mean."

Lenny chuckles. "Of course you don't."

[queenunderthatmountain]

do you ever just think about how it might have been if Jess had moved in with Luke just a few years earlier

[picklesaremyenemies]

jess mariano 🤝 ryan atwood

having no dad, no house, and a flighty mom who abandoned them and kicked them out of their house because they were 'trouble'. having to deal with their alcoholic mom's abusive boyfriends. being really smart but not caring about school.

[anewkindofme]

This quote always makes me think of Jess…

[jessmmariano]

A list of reasons why Rory Gilmore is a good person and not the shallow, manipulative person people make her out to be:

Took full responsibility for breaking Paris’s project and offered to help her fix it despite Paris being only rude to her at this point

Didn’t tell anyone that Paris had to take her cousin to the Chilton formal despite Paris taunting Rory/saying Rory couldn’t get a date

Told Paris that she could talk to her if she ever needed anyone to talk to despite the fact that Paris had just exposed Lorelai and Max kissing to the whole school

Encouraged Tristan to ask out Paris because she knew Paris had feelings for him

Helped Paris get ready for her date with Tristan and allowed her to borrow her mother’s clothes

Reassured her mother several times about her relationship with Max

Agreed to a coming out party because it made her grandmother happy

Helped Paris study numerous times despite Paris almost always antagonizing her

Gave Jess a chance and was nice to him when the rest of the town despised him. She even vouched for him/defended him often.

Took partial responsibility for the car accident with Jess instead of letting him take the entire blame, which the entire town was doing (and she reassured Luke as well).

Dyed Lane’s hair and then also then dyed it again after Lane freaked out (and she even left the Kim house through the window so that Mrs. Kim wouldn’t see her)

Agreed to go with her grandfather to visit Yale to make him happy even though she didn’t really want to and was only interested in Harvard

Apologized to Dean after their break up and took full responsibility for the problems in their relationship (even though it wasn’t all her fault).

Took time out of her busy end of the year schedule (when she was dealing with finals and being valedictorian) to help her grandmother pick out an outfit for her graduation

Went back to Kyle’s house the day after the disastrous party to get Lane’s heavily stained backpack and deliver it to her

Was always super supportive to her friends (Lane with her band, Paris with academics, Lorelai with the Inn, all of them about their relationships, etc.)

Helped her mother throw a baby shower for Sookie (albeit they never got to have said shower).

Took care of Logan when he in the hospital and after even though he hadn’t been the best boyfriend at this point.

Always encouraged Dean to pursue his dreams/passions and told him he could do what he put his mind to.

Anyways this is all I can think of off the top of my head but stop saying Rory Gilmore is a terrible person. Yes, she made mistakes, but everyone does lol

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

I saw a threat about Liz and her (potentially abusive) parenting on here and it inspired this thought in me but I didn't want to make the threat too long so I am making my own separate post.

It was told to us on that Liz would bring guy after guy to the apartment when Jess was growing up and they were almost always terrible, Liz has been married about 4 times iirc and one of her husbands died. Do you think it is possible that the reason she was bringing these guys home all the time was not just for herself to not be alone but also for Jess? Because since her mom died when she was a child and she knows what it's like to grow up with only one parent who is the opposite gender of her, she didn't want that for her son so after Jimmy left she set out to give him a father figure no matter what? Maybe she even put out flyers and made a "father audition" like that woman on Pelíšky? In that movie the guys who saw the flyer and turned up there were also terrible and in the end she married her neighbor with anger issues but she thought it was better than nothing because she was just so set on the idea that a boy needs a father. Maybe Liz was the same way? Maybe she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing but unintentionally caused Jess more harm then good, which is a common theme with everyone's parenting on this show (Mrs Kim, Emily, Lorelai...)?

[wilhelmsbed]

I am BEGGING the Gilmore Girls editors to make a sad edit of Jess Mariano to “Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call” by Bleachers especially the scene when he’s talking to Rory about him knowing his mom didn’t call for him to come home for Christmas.

And Luke telling Lorelai that he told Jess that his mom did call but Luke though he should stay in stars hollow to settle in more so Jess didn’t feel sad about Liz not calling. And Lorelai just looks at Luke and goes “He knows.” AND HE DID. Liz Danes, when I catch you Liz.

[true-bluesargent]

as much as i love jess it completely should have been luke to walk liz down the aisle at her wedding

[veruca4seether]

the real reason liz sent jess to stars hollow: she found marie kondo