#luke doesn't tell jess his father was around

[mzannthropy]

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

[frazzledsoul]

I almost don't want to give the Palladinos credit here, but I half think that there was something going on offscreen with Jess around episodes 5 and 6 of Season 5 of Gilmore Girls. Episode 5 is the wretched double date episode where Luke and Dean fight, and Episode 6 is the one where Lorelai finds out that Sherry left Gigi with her worthless father and Rory seeks out Christopher and tells him to stay away from Lorelai before he screws up her life again.

I believe Jess is only mentioned in these two episodes. In the double date episode, Luke is ranting about how Dean is not good for Rory (Lorelai's response is that "their problems were mutual" and Luke "doesn't know the whole story" which is funny because those additional details would definitely not endear Luke to the guy) and Lorelai asks if she should date Jess instead (Paris AND Marty are right there, Lorelai. Just sayin').

In episode 6, Luke and Lorelai bicker over the porch light being broken and Lorelai says the last person to change it was Dean and again argues on his behalf because Jess never bothered to change the light.

At this point in the story, Rory is still dating Dean and realizing the only thing they have in common is misplaced nostalgia and is trying to corner Logan to get the lowdown on the Life and Death Brigade. Rory has her adventure with the LDB the next episode and Dean dumps her the episode after that when he sees her partying with Logan and his friends. She's in the process of moving on with her life and leaving Dean behind.

So what was going on with Jess? I figure the final rejection by Rory probably gave him the push he needed to write the book, end his mediocre "messenger" career, probably get his GED, and move to Philadelphia to start his new life (and of course, begin the Slutty Philadelphia Jess era). Obviously that doesn't happen all at once, so I figure he probably wasn't ready to move until at least the spring/fall, but things had likely begun to progress by this point and Luke probably knew he was planning to move and had mentioned it to Lorelai...who is still dubious, still pushing for Dean over Jess, still trying to rationalize Rory's affair even as the incident seems to have moved her further back into the past, not the future (and likely trying to be supportive so that Rory doesn't push her away again, because she now knows Rory can and will stop talking to her and will bring up Lorelai's own mistakes if she feels she's being too judgmental).

Meanwhile, Jess is actually moving forward offscreen instead of trying to relive his high school years. Would have been nice to see some of that.

Milo was unavailable during this time, as he was a season regular on NBC's American Dreams. They had a shortened season, but networks aren't always amenable to lending out their actors to the competition (the only other season Milo doesn't pop in as a guest star after he left the show is season 7, when he again was a regular on another NBC show). I don't think this was necessarily planned ahead of time, but the backstory works nicely for what was going on with Jess at the time.

[maya-matlin]

Happy holidays! I would love to read your thoughts on how Lucas, Jughead, Jess Mariano and Dan Humphrey are all similar and also different? Like they definitely have the indie introverted Holden Caufield hipster thing lol, but they all have some differences too! And I am sooo with you on hating when Riverdale made Jughead this allegedly badass gang leader lol, but that whole show was on crack :)

Thank you so much! Happy holidays to you too! ❄️🎄❄️🎄 Oh wow, okay. I never thought to think about the similarities and differences of these characters, but I'll try.

Obviously, all four of these guys are intellectual and eventually became published authors. They're all presented to us as outsiders and underdogs of sorts. This is the least believable in the case of Lucas, but it is what it is. Lucas, Jughead, Jess and Dan are supposed to be the "poor" characters of their respective shows, but it's actually hilarious to think about what that means based on the way each show is written. Dan is poor, but he lives in a big loft apartment with his family and is able to attend a prestigious private school. While he isn't originally one of the elite, he's given opportunities and connections that none of the other three could ever dream of. Lucas is supposed to be poor, but this is more told to us than shown. His mother was able to buy a house based solely on what she made from a cafe that wasn't supposed to be particularly successful. Keith set up a college fund for Lucas prior to his death, meaning Lucas never had to struggle to pay for university. During the adult years, Lucas is supposedly still poor because he published only one book and works as a high school basketball coach. But the moments where he's called poor are basically played for laughs, and he later lives with both of his fiancees in a presumably fully paid off home. Jess and especially Jughead were probably legitimately poor. We don't find out very much about Jess's life prior to moving to Stars Hollow, but I'm pretty sure it's implied things were pretty bleak with Liz and that she was an addict with a revolving door of bad boyfriends. His dad abandoned them, never contributing financially or emotionally to raising Jess. Jughead grew up in a trailer park on the disadvantaged side of Riverdale. He was homeless multiple times. His father struggled to hold down a job. Depending on the show's current narrative, his dad, his mom, both, or neither, were criminals at any given time.

None of these characters came from successful marriages or relationships. Lucas and Jess were abandoned by their fathers. Although, Lucas had a much closer relationship with Karen (and Keith) than Jess did with Liz. Dan's parents divorced when he was a teenager. Jughead's parents had a very on again/off again marriage with him mainly having his dad around during seasons 1-the pre-time jump episodes of season 5. Then, his entire family just fucked off somewhere, because Skeet Ulrich understandably wanted out. 3/4 of these guys (Dan, Lucas, Jughead) have righteous indignation, feeling the need to call out hypocrisy and unfair treatment. Jess isn't this guy, preferring to judge silently unless this relates to someone he genuinely cares about such as Rory or Luke. All of the guys have a strong connection and affection for their first love interest. Lucas and Dan fell for Peyton and Serena based on superficial reasons and felt as though they knew them based on minimal interaction. Jess fell for Rory at first sight, though he at least got to know her first. Jughead.. well, Riverdale doesn't tell us much of anything about when Jughead first fell for Betty or what their relationship was like prior to season 1. Based on the way the writers were so obsessed with Betty and Archie being childhood friends and that symbolizing something over stuff that actually took place during the show's present, you'd think Betty and Jughead never spoke until they started writing for the Blue and Gold together. But anyways, the Dan/Serena, Lucas/Peyton, Jess/Rory and Jughead/Betty connections all lingered into adulthood. Though unlike Jess and Jughead who still seemed to be pining for their first loves, Dan and Lucas were happily falling in love with these girls' best friends (Jughead and Veronica do not count because that happened in the bizarre 50's and by that point the show had stopped caring about developing relationships) and seemed content to have a revolving door of love interests as Peyton and Serena were the ones mainly doing the pining. I guess they're all insecure? Is Dan insecure? If he is and felt weird about his initial financial situation (even though his father was a literal rockstar), I don't think it was that big of a deal and followed him through life the way it did Jughead, Jess and Lucas. Also, Jughead and Jess are not cheaters. Lucas and Dan are, with Lucas Eugene Scott being THE cheater. Out of all these guys, Jess is the only one I'd describe as a bad boy. Lucas and Dan were both pretty straitlaced. Jughead isn't a bad boy. He's just a nerd in a leather jacket. And YES. Serpent King Jughead was the fucking worst. Cole Sprouse couldn't pull that off, and his character improved so much once they sent him to Stonewall Prep and then when his life basically fell apart after high school. That sounded bad, but anything was an improvement as far as Jughead plots went after they glorified Jughead being a teenage gang leader. In the end, both Lucas and Dan were romantics who wanted to settle down with someone. If they couldn't have Brooke and Blair, Peyton and Serena would do. Jess legitimately never seemed to let Rory go. Jughead is complicated because Riverdale, but it was always implied he loved Betty far more than he did Tabitha and that his feelings for Betty prior to season 7 remained a mostly unspoken thing because of the weirdness both in real life and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa having no idea what he wanted to do.

[sopefulheart]

marriage in ‘gilmore girls’ (pt. 1)

in this post, i'm gonna talk about how marriage/proposal is used to sweep problems under the rug in 'gilmore girls.'

wow, what a cheery topic!

1x21 - love, daisies, and troubadours

to recap, lorelai and max are fighting before a date about luke of all people. luke has just left lorelai’s house after telling her that rachel has left again. max is jealous because he thinks luke is an ex from their time apart. understandable.

max says, “why do we always do this, lorelai? when it’s just getting good again?” or whatever

they both conclude that it never ends up working out when they get back together. they both conclude they need a solution.

lorelai says “let’s break up.” max says “let’s get married.”

oh wait, but-

a few episodes back, lorelai had said to max, “i don’t ever want rory to feel unsettled in her life.” she said that was the reason she chickened out and ran. fine. this is the first time you’re dating with rory around.

you getting married after breaking up with the same man every five minutes over two months seems quite contradictory to me…

but anyway, don’t even get me started with when she called off the wedding on the fly because she realized she didn’t love max and then rory was extremely confused. that’s rory feeling unsettled.

like hello??????? i would’ve run away too.

(i know rory ran away before lorelai and max got engaged but rory was feeling unsettled way before that because of dean as well)

but okay i gotta give it to them because the thousand daisies lorelai found at the independence inn were cute.

honestly, i love max.

lorelai treated max so horribly and don’t get me wrong, her being confused was valid but taking time to figure it out instead of rushing into marriage would have been better than ghosting and hurting that poor man. AND THEN SHE COMES BACK AND KISSES HIM IN S3.

this is just one of the reasons why i don’t like season one all that much. i start my rewatches with season three because i am personally a team jess girl.

anyway, then there’s christopher. he’s a whole other post.

i’m just gonna talk about one of the times he proposed here.

1x15 - christopher returns

“lor, i wanna marry you.”

that whole conversation was insane.

to recap, chris and lorelai are standing in the kitchen discussing what had happened the night before. on emily and richard’s balcony. i shall say no more. lorelai very clearly regrets it and expresses her desire to never ever do that again with him. his first thought is to get married-

that's not even the bad part. he then says:

"c'mon, we're already a family"

WHO'S WE? you deign to show up for once for thirty mins and suddenly oh my god we're all happy and together?????

no. that doesn't make up for the 15-16 years rory didn't have a father involved in her life. you don't just get to show up and act like everything is all hey howdy doody. AND HE ALWAYS DOES.

he always just shows up when he wants to.

with gg, he couldn't escape that because she didn't have a mother either, so he had to be her father. he had the choice to either raise gg or abandon her. thank god it wasn't the latter because i- yeah. he finally understood what lorelai went through even though it wasn't totally the same because she was 16. that's one of his only shining moments when he admits what he did with rory was wrong, so i'll give him that.

this is just one facet of his personality that i very much loathe.

oh! here's my personal favorite: dean telling rory he’s getting married to lindsay :) but that’s in part 2.

see ya hehe

****i can't decide whether this is rambling or not but this is what this whole thing is for

[wonderlandleighleigh]

If Jess hadn't graduated and run off to California, in the Schneider-verse, would Lenny have gone out there after him, being a man of the Running-Away-To-California breed himself?

Lenny Bruce absolutely fucking hates California.

And specifically, he hates Venice Beach.

But here he is, tracking down a dumb little kid who ran the fuck away after his life blew up. And Lenny can relate. It's not a new move, as far as running from your problems goes.

He'd heard something about the kid's dad being a hot dog vendor, and so he wanders up to a troubled-looking guy with a hot dog cart.

"Holy shit, Lenny Bruce is standing at my hot dog cart," the man says, eyes wide.

"Yes, hello, are you Jimmy Mariano?" Lenny asks.

"Uh...yes. Yeah. How-"

"I'm looking for Jess."

Jimmy looks even more stunned. "How the hell do you know Jess?"

"Don't worry about it. He here?" Lenny asks.

"Uh...uh, bookstore, I think," Jimmy stammers.

"Of fucking course," Lenny groans. "Which one?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Jimmy shrugs.

"Angling for father of the year, I see," Lenny grouses.

"Hey, I didn't tell him to come out here, he just showed up," Jimmy snaps.

Lenny waves him off and heads down the boardwalk to start checking bookstores.

It takes about twenty minutes to find him, and when he does, he leans on the bookshelf next to where the kids is sitting with a stack of books.

"You coulda done this back home," Lenny points out

Jess looks up and does a doubletake, scrambling to his feet with shock and shame written on his face. "Lenny, what-"

"We were worried," Lenny tells him. "Midge has a bunch of shows right now, so I figured I'd come make sure you hadn't died out here or something."

"I-"

"Should have called," Lenny cuts him off.

"But-"

"You should have fucking called. Midge has been worried sick. Luke is taking out all his sadness and frustration on customers-"

"He kicked me out!"

"And you had a perfectly good place to go down the street! Scared the shit out of me and Midge and Luke. Broke Rory's heart."

"She's better off."

Lenny rolls his eyes. "Presumptuous little shit, aren't you?"

"Oh please. She was leaving for Europe and I was going nowhere," Jess snaps. "Luke kicked me out, I wasn't graduating-"

"You coulda gone to summer school," Lenny pleads. "Stuck it out, got it over with, just like everybody else does."

"It's pointless."

"I promise you, it's not," Lenny insists.

"You dropped out!"

"Yes, and wound up with a terrible drug habit, and a lifetime of crushing baggage," Lenny snaps. "Do not emulate me, kid. I shoulda died a long time ago, and the only thing keeping me upright is Midge."

Jess has nothing to say to that.

Lenny blows out a breath. "What's your plan here?"

"I don't know. I don't know," Jess admits. "I just- I had to get away."

"I get that," Lenny nods. "I do. I have been there. But no one knew where you were. Even your mother called us, trying to figure out where you ended up."

Jess looks down.

"Does Jimmy even want you here?" Lenny asks.

Jess shakes his head.

"Well, the people who do want you around are on the east coast," Lenny points out. "Come back with me, you can spend the summer in the city with Midge and I. Job hunt. Finish up high school without Luke breathing down your neck. Without Rory around or...not around."

The younger man stays quiet.

"Come on. California is fucking terrible. You don't wanna be here. You're wearing a leather jacket in May, you must smell like an NFL locker room."

"Gee, thanks"

Lenny doesn't respond, waiting for him to make a decision.

"What if I'm just too screwed up?" Jess asks quietly. "What if I'm just fucked and there's no..."

"There is," Lenny promises. "There is, because you make choices in your life, kid. You call the shots. You can right the ship. But you have to be smart about it. Making choices out of panic or desperation or spite or anger is gonna get you real stuck, real fast."

Jess thinks that over, crossing his arms.

Lenny sighs heavily and leans down, lifting the stack of books from the floor. "C'mon. I'll pay for these, and we'll grab your shit, and hop a flight. We'll be back in New York by dinner."

Jess gives a short nod, and follows the older man to the front counter.

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

Why are people always bringing up Jess and Rory's communication problems as proof that they are a terrible couple when literally ALL couples on the show had bad communication. Communication problems are so often used as a plot device to create drama on this show.

Think of Luke and Lorelai, everyone's favorite couple. They can't confess their feelings for each other for years and when they finally do start dating they hide things from each other constantly and can't even agree if they want kids and when.

Or Rory and Logan, Rory's supposed best and healthiest relationship. They ghost each other for weeks during which Logan hooks up with a bunch of others girls and then end up having a fight over it because they can't agree if they were together during this time or not. And what about when Logan starts planning a trip to Asia with Rory knowing full well he can't actually go because his father is sending him to work in London? And then he doesn't even tell her he's going until just a few days before his flight? And then he proposes to Rory out of nowhere without giving her any signs or even ever talking to her about marriage.

Lorelai and Max? They get engaged just a few weeks after getting back together and it's after a fight. Then throughout their engagement they don't discuss things like Max's role in raising Rory and Lorelai doesn't even want to give him the key to their house!

Lorelai and Christopher are not even worth mentioning they're just straight up toxic. Just like Rory and Dean, whose communication consisted on one person walking around the other on eggshells and the other exploding at any given moment.

Even Richard and Emily, another fan favorite couple aren't perfect- Richard doesn't even tell Emily almost anything about his life (when he's retiring, who's his new business partner, that he regularly has lunches with his ex fiancée).

Sookie and Jackson? He lied about getting a vasectomy and got her pregnant! And she wasn't much better- she scheduled the vasectomy without his consent.

And I hate to say it but even my beloved Lane and Dave had issues. They had a fight over a stupid "marriage jug" that wasn't even a "marriage jug" but Lane never told him that and they ended up breaking up over it.

So to sum up I genuinely don't understand how people want a relationship without any conflict or drama on a drama show. What else would it be about? People just being happy? That would be boring. But sadly the easiest way to create drama without making anyone the bad guy is by giving characters communication problems and it's very overused.

[mattmurdocksdumpy]

𝓗𝓸𝓹𝓮♡

Defenders and Daredevil season 3 spoilers!

seriously HUGE spoilers

𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: angst !!

.

.

You looked at the candle placed carefully on the shelf  in the office, a picture of you, Foggy , Karan and Matt altogether at Josie's. The flame flickered as you packed up the last of your things for the weekend. You stopped at the red jar, one that father Lantom had given you, along with a rosary. You weren't religious, but everyone at the office agreed it was important for you all to have a proper grieving place, considering you didn't have a grave to visit. You sighed. Last one in the office always had the hardest job. With a deep breath, you blew out the candle, and the light that shon on the memory in the picture frame vanished.

- a few months prior -

You watched as the building began to crack and crumble to the ground. You felt a heavy compression on your chest. You screamed as you tried to run to the building, to run to him.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around you before you could even get close. Luke held you against him as you pounded at his arms wrapped around your waist, begging him to let you go. You didn't care what would become of you, you just knew you needed him.

You needed Matt.

Luke didn't let go until the building had collapsed, and he then gently unwrapped his arms from you. Your knees buckled as you sobbed, your eyes red and irritated from the endless tears.

Jessica knelt down next to you, hugging you from the side, tucking her chin into the crook of your neck.

Danny looked at the ground, his guilt settling in like a thick cloud. Claires hand was frozen over her mouth, her eyes wide from shock.

You all knew it was likely to happen, that the devils actions would eventually catch up. But you refused to believe it could actually happen.

But here you were, kneeling on the tarmac as Jessica hugged you tightly, her hand playing with your hair.

"He's.. he's gone Jess-" you sobbed out.

She closed her eyes, and just held you tighter. Luke knelt down and hugged you both, resting his head on top of yours.

But you didn't want Luke's hug, or Jessica's.

You wanted his.

You wanted it more than anything.

Danny's eyes were fixated on the debris, Jessica's were shut tight, Luke's were glossed over and yours were red and swollen, tears trickling into Jessica's hair.

.

The car ride over was quiet, police sirens blasting through the city as cars with bright flashing lights passed your police car every few seconds. Your eyes were glossed over.

You stepped out of the car and into the station, walking down the hallway as the others filed into the room infront of you.

You knew Foggy and Karen were waiting for you and Matt. And you knew your swollen eyes would tell them the truth before you even opened your mouth.

You hesitated before stepping into the door. Karen smiled and foggy let out a deep breath as you ran over and embraced them both.

You wanted to hold the tears back.

But you couldn’t.

Tears flooded onto their shoulders.

And they knew.

They knew the minute you started crying.

They held you tight, before beginning to cry into your shoulder, the three of you leaning on each-other for support.

.

A few months later

.

You groaned as the neighbors dog barked.

"Stupid postman" you sighed, rolling over in the silk sheets, before grabbing your phone and checking the time.

yikes.

1.45pm

Did you sleep through the alarm you had groggily set the night before?

Then it hit you. The postman doesn't come that late, not to your apartment.

Then the apartment door opened. You froze, your heart beating hard against your rib cage. You edged over to the edge of the bed and reached underneath, grabbing one of Matt's batons you had kept under the bed incase of emergencies. You quietly swung your feet over the edge of the bed, tiptoeing to the door, the bamboo baton in your right hand. You waited until the mystery person walked into the bedroom, before blindly swinging it full force towards the man's face.

His hand reached up to hold it, catching it easily in his palm. You blinked as you stared at the familiar hazel eyes.

"M-Matt?" You stuttered. You dropped the baton and it crashed to the floor, bouncing once before settling at his feet.

"Yeah- uh- it's me" he muttered. He obviously hadn't planned on you being in his apartment, but he didn't look surprised anyway. You couldn't tell if that's because he could smell your perfume from a block away, or because he had expected you to be here still, not being able to move on from what you and him had shared.

You felt your legs wobble as you hesitantly walked over to him, cupping his face gently, your hands warm against his ice cold skin. His stubble wasn't as clean shaved as it usually was, since you normally helped him with shaving.

He didn't move forward. He stayed glued to the floorboards, his blank gaze averted to the floor. Your eyebrows furrowed at his absent reactions. His eyes looked sunken and a nasty black eye circled his right eye. He looked pale, lacking his usual glow.

He wasn't your Matt.

This Matt looked completely different.

"Are you okay?" You asked, whispering quietly as you didn't know how sensitive he was at the moment.

"I'm fine. Why are you here?" He grumbled, his tone flat with a slight hint of anger. You blinked at him.  Why were you here? Your mind went blank.

"I'm here because- because I thought you were-" you muttered out. His hands rested on yours against his face, his eyes closing for a brief second, as if he was savoring the touch. But then he held your hands and moved them away from his face. You looked at him with confusion.

"Matt Murdock is no longer apart of me" he muttered quietly, before turning to leave. You grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the room.

"Matt.. what happened?" You asked firmly, your eyes pricking with tears.

"I became self aware." He sighed. "I realised I was causing more harm than good, especially to you"

"Matt that's bullshit. Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come back? We all though you were dead?! We had a funeral! Foggy and Karen were distraught when they found out." You leant against the wall and folded your arms.

"I've been at the church. St Agnes. The sisters helped me get back into shape" he spoke softly, but there was a sharpness to his words.

"Oh so what? You're sat in some convent while your friends grieve you?" You snap.

His blank gaze was averted to the floor. His lips were pressed against eachother. He said nothing.

You scoffed. "I can't believe you. "

He didn't reply. The room was filled with a heavy silence.

"Do you know how hard it was to watch that building fall onto the man I loved, the man I adored? Do you have any idea what it was like to hope every day you would magically turn up at my door, or that they would atleast find a body so Karen could grieve properly? The cold nights we sat in silence in Josie's trying to organize a funeral?" You yelled, your voice cracking at multiple times throughout your speech, tears beginning to fall from your eyes.

" I couldn't come back! I would've made everything worse. Thought you'd have met someone new by now- forgotten about it" he leant against the wall, his words sharp and snappy right back at yours.

You blinked at him. Forgotten about it?

"Are you serious right now? Met someone new ? Matt- I was - I am head over heels for you! No one is ever going to change that. How fucking dare you? Is this because of Elektra? What, you and her ran off into the sunset? " you scoffed.

His head snapped up, his brows furrowed.

A sore subject obviously.

"Elektra's dead, and nothing was going on with her. I promise. In the past we had something, but she- she was toxic and it was nothing more than a fling in college. But she's dead. The building killed her. I'm head over heels for you too, but I couldn't  keep hurting you... it wasn't fair on you. Couldn't burden you any longer" he sighed.

"Matt- you were never a burden. Every goddamn time you stumbled in through the rooftop access bleeding and half dead, I had a mini heart attack, but nothing will ever compare to constant pain I've experience thinking you were dead. The empty chill through my bones every time I heard your name, or went to fogwells, or whenever I'd pass the church. The painful reminders that the man I loved was gone. I would stitch you up every night for the rest of our lives if it meant being able to spend my life with you" you stated, tears pricking at your eyes, and a single tear threaded down your cheek.

His eyes watered, and a single tear escaped his right eye. "I- I've missed you love but- but we can't. I cant put you through that,  I'm so sorry" he choked out.

"Forever the martyr. Stop thinking about everyone else for a minute and concentrate on how you feel. You deserve happiness too, Matty. " you whispered softly, chuckling slightly as tears delicately streamed down your face, yesterdays mascara leaving a path of ash down your face. You stepped closer to him and gently cupped his face, his harsh stubble rough against the soft palm of your hands.

"What if- what if I hurt you?" He mumbled, his brown eyes closed to try and hide his fear, but also his relief. You still loved him, still missed him.

"Nothing hurts more than not having you by my side" you smiled weakly, before leaning in and gently pushing your lips against his. His hands engulfed you, coming up to hold your face as you held yours.

"I won't leave you again.. I promise I won't" he mumbled out inbetween sobs and kisses. The salt from both of your tears seeped their way into the kiss, but neither of you cared. You held on so impossibly tight to eachother as the night melted away, the two of you embracing eachother, reunited as last.

You were in his arms at long last.

The candle of love and hope had been relit.

[literatigifs]

@roeyliteratiluxurycruise asked: Hi! I have question for you I would love to hear your thoughts on. What do you think about people saying Logan and Lorelai are the same person? I mean yes they had a similar background growing up in a wealthy family, but other than that I always saw Lorelai being more like Jess minus the background! What are your thoughts on people saying Logan and Lorelai are basically the same person?

I don't really agree or think that opinion is correct because aside from the obvious parallels between Christopher and Logan that are intentionally there, there's just not that many meaningful similarities between Lorelai and Logan either. Sure, they both grew up in rich families and their background seems generally similar, but this is where the similarities stop.

I'm not even considering Lorelai's relationship with her parents to be similar to the kind of relationship Logan has with Mitchum because yes, Mitchum is an overbearing asshole, but he also gave Logan way more leeway to do whatever he wanted in comparison to Emily and how she treated Lorelai as a teenager (telling her she's gotta run around the block as much as she can in order to fit into her coming-out dress, being incredibly inconsiderate when she was pregnant, etc etc). Logan on the other hand got to spend his family's money however he wanted, got to live away from his parents as a student and even got to take a whole year off of Yale by fucking around in whichever destination he could. This is also where another significant difference is shown between them, mainly in how both responded towards not wanting to live a life their parents set out for them. Lorelai decided to become independent at sixteen with a baby in her care and started completely from scratch by working at an Inn as a maid and living in a garden shed. She quite literally worked her way up to becoming who she is by the time season 1 starts, and she also took to finishing business school and getting a degree when she was 33.

Logan on the other hand continued to whine and throw tantrums over Mitchum wanting for him to start working after he finished Yale, and only decided to stop working the job his father wanted after he made a big mistake in it. And even when he does this, he doesn't make sure to completely cut himself off from his family's money either. I mean after he finds a job in San Francisco, he immediately buys a house there, and it's obvious that Mitchum didn't cut him off from his inheritance in any way. And the big difference between this and Lorelai asking for money for Chilton or even Rory asking for money for Yale, is that both women promise to try and pay Emily and Richard back when they can. They don't treat money, especially their family's money, lightly, and they only ever ask for it when it's needed for something significant (in both cases, for Rory's education).

Even so-called similarities between them when it comes to how they deal with relationship problems aren't remotely the same. For example, I remember someone making a parallel between Logan sleeping with the bridesmaids and Lorelai sleeping with Christopher, but in the first scenario, Logan didn't even properly break up with Rory before doing this, and only had one big argument with her before bailing and not even trying to contact her, and when Rory finds out about it, he's deliberately defensive and won't even apologize for his mistake or acknowledge her hurt feelings. In comparison, Lorelai going to Chris is the result of almost a season-long tension between her and Luke over April and their wedding, and when she confesses to Luke about what happened, she doesn't try to defend herself or even try to get back together with him, because she obviously knows it was a bad thing (though in this case I refrain from putting blame on her over this since I'm pretty sure she didn't intend on sleeping with Christopher when she came to him for comfort).

Tldr; but even when Logan tries to distance himself from his father and the family business, he never tries to distance himself from the money or lifestyle and given that this doesn't happen even in season 7, it's clear that he never intends to try. Lorelai on the other hand not only distanced herself and continued to work for a living, but she also built a life of her own completely separate from what was originally intended for her as another Gilmore and as part of a rich society. Lorelai never had any problems in doing the harder things for herself, which is a trait that Logan honestly lacks even when he tries to be different.

[juliaswickcrs]

What is Emma’s relationship like with her dad? And what is her and Jess’ relationship like? When do they officially get together and what are some of their favorite things to do with one another?

YES YES YES IM SO EXCITED TO ANSWER THESE THANK YOU

Her Dad:

OH MAN. If it wasn't increasingly apparent, Emma has severe daddy issues and they all stem from Christopher being an awful awful father. Emma truly loves her father and wants him to be a bigger part of her life, but she's been let down so many times by him it becomes harder to trust him when he says he's going to do something. Whether its help her with her homework or showing up to a school function, she doesn't really believe him when he says he'll do something anymore. Christopher, also has made no apparent attempt to get to know Emma as she's gotten older, at least not in the same way he did with Rory. It's mainly because Emma is almost a carbon copy of Lorelai in his eyes, and it hurts for him to see nothing surface level that Emma has inherited except for his hair color and wit. Things definitely get worse as Emma gets older, but at that point she's almost made her peace with the fact that her dad is never gonna be around anymore.

Emma and Jess:

Y'ALL. YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM.

So I don't know exactly when they officially get together (It's sometime after Rory and Jess date) but the lead up to them getting together is SO SO SO DELICIOUS.

Emma and Jess are equals in every way. When they first meet, Emma is a depressed, angry teenager starting to grow tired of everyone's blatant favoritism of Rory over her and doesn't really know how to work through her complex emotions, and Jess is an angry, moody, teenager who wants to be anywhere else but Stars Hollow and is emotionally repressed. It's almost love at first sight for Jess (although he would never admit it) and he starts to truly enjoy Emma's company because she treats him like an actual human being instead of a mistake and makes him feel smart.

Emma also enjoys Jess's company because he doesn't sugarcoat things. He'll flirt with her but he'll also tell her how it is. If she doesn't have it, he'll let her know, or if she's being irrational. He makes her feel sane and seen and there's something about him that brings the wanderer out in her. When she's with him she just wants to drop everything and run away from it all, leave it all behind. And she almost does.

Some of their favorite things to do with each other are rent bad movies, turn the volume down, and make up the dialogue themselves, go to the park in the middle of Stars Hollow and read together before trading books, and go for nighttime drives.

They also love to go to the meetings and interrupt Taylor's speeches in the weirdest ways or poke fun at Luke in the diner. Really anything they can do together is their favorite thing.

[zalrb]

Confessing UOs to you because you're always amusing about them but never judgmental: 1. Rachel Green is a worse person than Ross Geller and actually by far the worst person of all the Friends 2. I like The Office but kind of roll my eyes at all the gifsets making it seem like Dwight and Jim are actually brothers or close friends despite their rivalry, because aside from like seven or so scenes throughout all nine seasons, their dislike of each other was genuine and deep 3. It makes me laugh that Team Jess vs Team Logan battles are still waging because both guys are AWFUL and Rory is even worse 4. For the first season or two of TVD, I genuinely liked Elena a lot and (even more of a UO) liked her a lot more than I liked Caroline 5. Luke Danes was a good friend but lousy romantic partner in countless ways, and don't even get me started on him inexplicably going from "all in" to "out" over the events in Wedding Bell Blues that were very clearly Emily and Christopher's fault rather than Lorelai's and then lying by omission about the existence of his long lost daughter from his fiance until she happened to figure it out on her own. 6. Andie was my very favorite Dawson's Creek character---even slightly more than Pacey. Thank you for reading!!

lmao i feel like i've gotten this exact list before.

1. i honestly think pretty much everyone is the same on friends tbh, ross does shitty things, rachel does shitty things, joey does shitty things, chandler does shitty things. monica gets worse in the later seasons and phoebe is pretty much the least offensive even though everyone made it seem like ross was a horrible person for not playing along with her delusion that her mother was a cat and not a lost pet and i was like LOL this is fucking ridiculous. her being irritated that ross is trying to push his belief of evolution on her is valid but when she finally gets him to open his mind a little and then insults him for abandoning his beliefs had me like lol k. i'm not saying i wouldn't do that, i'm just saying that's pretty shitty.

2. i just stay away from fandom things relating to the office now because i see all of these things like, yeah no.

3. you seem like a blog regular and potentially a blog OG, i feel like you know how much i hate rory and logan and how much the romanticization of jess makes me roll my eyes. i only understand team jess vs team logan debates when it comes to who is the better boyfriend for rory i.e. not who is the better boyfriend period, not who is the better man period, but who makes the most trash sense for the trash character that is rory.

4. i never particularly liked elena but she is certainly less offensive as a character in the first three seasons even though she started off with major, major character holes. (season 1 caroline ftw though)

5. yes, i've heard this before, i can understand his reaction in wedding bell blues though. because let's face it, going to the wedding of your girlfriend's parents, your girlfriend who you waited like a decade for, whose parents you were already nervous being around because you know they don't approve of you, and then the ex showing up, saying that your girlfriend's mother told him it wasn't too late to be with her all the while reminiscing about history and throwing it in your face that he's the father of your informally adopted kid, then your girlfriend is like oh btw i saw him a while ago and didn't tell you about it, altogether that's pretty bummy. and he needed time to process that. he doesn't actually blame lorelai, he's just like, they're never going to accept me and things like this are just going to keep happening and he was working through his anger and embarrassment but lorelai just wouldn't leave it alone so he says what i'm thinking right now is i can't do this, this is too much and lorelai just took it as a ok well we're going to break up. she didn't give luke the time. but yeah, the whole april scenario was handled extremely poorly. and lorelai's best match was jason anyway. i forgot how much i really liked them together. still like luke and lorelai, though ;)

6. pacey was still my favourite but pandie ftw!

[llycaons]

ep16: jesse what the fuck are you you talking about.jpg

screams and cries and throws up I don't want to see any more flashback scenes I know what happened

well the fight scene was spectacular

wrh fighting with like, a ball of power? and then being stabbed in a nonfatal place and collapsing, killed (I guess) by a character we know literally nothing about?

you know what this show reminds me of? that post that was like complaining about people who say luke and darth vader shouldn't have been related, because isn't a story so much more compelling when none of the characters are connected to each other/s?

no things just have more emotional weight when characters mean things to each other and are treated as significant in the narrative! but besides lwj and wwx almost none of the characters get that treatment. most of them barely even get establishing character moments. I don't care about what any of them do

OH. jgy has that hat in the donghua too! cql probably modeled it after the donghua then (or manhua?) because I don't think it was described as such in the novel

on the flipside seeing that this respected and humble leader is the one who murdered wrh is kind of thrilling. I see it

those watchtowers were a good idea I really hope they weren't abandoned or destroyed by the cultivators after everything came out and he was discredited

jgy and lxc are clearly longtime friends, but like the novel there was no romantic subtext

it looks like the donghua is treating jgy's villainy as a spoiler, which is not quite accurate to the novel? I feel like as soon as we knew who he was, we knew he was evil. cql initially introduced him as sympathetic bur showed how his ambition and desire for a position and respect from his father/society and his malice drove him to do heinous things. I mean, by the time he started murdering war prisoners, was anyone still rooting for him?

anyway this intro for jgy keeps some tension and surprises for later, while maintaining a coherent narrative. I changed my mind I do think it's a good choice

HELP. 'oh yeah things have been great my brother brought a body part home"

it looks like this is going to be a much clearer and logical postres narrative. postres is a mess in cql and unbearable in the novel. it's nice to know what's going on with the arm, and the tension of what jgy knows or suspects - he pricks his ears up at the mention of an arm

very few scenes are not wwx pov so I doubt this is in the novel word-for-word but lxc did meet w jgy I think

bracing myself for this deeply uncomfortable escape attempt. the jade tokens were a big thing in the novel and it looks like here too. they don't show up in cql iirc

I have misremembered things but usually I remember what does or doesn't happen in cql pretty well not just because I've seen it like five times but because after I finished it and starting looking for fic I would see all these references to things I didn't recognize, like the jiang bells or the 13 years, and know I was reading something based off a different adaptation, and it stuck in my head

I never realized lwj was in the pool with pants on this whole time I thought he was completely naked lmao

when he started getting out of the pool in cql right after wwx got back I was oh holy shit have they seen each other naked already wha's happening

oh my god their height difference here is like half a foot booo

I'm so embarassed to be watching this contrived bullshit I hate this

well at least it's short. hope those other scenes don't happen. I don't think they will

probably the best thing about novel/donghua wwx is how powerful a demonic cultivator he is. he tells the resentful energy to open the doors and it does. pretty neat scene to see the energy swirling around and then be contained

this scene also shows us what exactly lwj does in his role filling in for lxc which is cool

the show looks like it's saying wwx has his own reasons for wanting to solve the mystery of the arm, but didn't all his scars heal? I don't remember there was a last one to take vengeance for and I was paying attention for it

it looks like lwj sent bichen to that house and then transported there instantly. I don't think that was a thing in the novel

so yeah they go to a town and some poor traumatized woman is there and wwx acts incredibly suspiciously when some guy talks about yllz and uhhh if this was in the novel I don't remember it idc either really :/

the ending shots are some of the most lush and detailed scenery pieces I have ever seen in animation. I actually watched the ending ending just to take them all in, something I never bother doing. the lwj one and the jyl/jxc one with the flower petals were particularly stunning

fun fact: according to some comments made about w/zl I read in the wiki, cultivating a core later in life is possible, but the person's youth is "not well preserved"

[frazzledsoul]

Gilmore Girls really gave us a disservice by not having Jess Mariano give a rundown at any point of the Luke and Lorelai saga once they actually got together. AYITL even establishes him as Luke's confidante and that Luke talks to him about their relationship. Lorelai is in part worried about the book because she doesn't want to know "what Jess thinks of me".

I mean, it's such a loaded statement. What DOES Jess think of her? She was engaged to his uncle, broke up with him and married Rory's dad six months later, then went back to Luke after that went bust, and they were unmarried and domestic for nine years. Just looking on the facts themselves, it looks pretty questionable but what else does Jess know about that whole soap opera? Does he know Luke refused to let Lorelai around April? That Lorelai basically went off and banged Christopher after telling Luke he had to prioritize her over April? Does he know that Luke was basically waiting with that engagement ring for a decade unless Lorelai changed her mind and decided she wanted to be married after all? Who has the moral upper hand here, and why does Lorelai imply it isn't her?

It's interesting because if you build off of Lorelai earlier implying that Luke should have a stereotypical father/son experience instead of what he has with Jess, Jess making that curious comment about Luke refusing to give him the Wi-Fi password for six months "and I lived here!" (that definitely implies he moved back at some point), and Luke assuming that Jess thinks Lorelai should go to therapy, he's been exposed to a lot of their dynamic over the years. And yet...Lorelai is totally fine with Jess hanging out reading and snarking in her living room, eating pizza with them, sleeping on her sofa. It seems whatever tension still exists is the undercurrent that exists within families and is as much based on Jess's disapproval as Lorelai's.

So, yeah. I kind of want to know what he thinks about that whole saga.

[frazzledsoul]

A short list of things the season 7 writers did that I don't think ASP would have allowed

- Rory verbally eviscerating her mother for banging her father and screwing up her personal relationship with him right at the moment when when he was finally starting to show interest in her as someone other than a means to get to Lorelai

- Luke being allowed to stop stewing in his anger and move on with his life, because the world doesn't revolve around Lorelai and there are other people in his life who needs him

- Luke being allowed to be a competent and loving father without the complete focus being on how Lorelai is upset that it's distracting from her perfect wedding

- Luke being allowed to tell Anna that he is responsible, he is a good dad, and that she has no right to take April away from him

- Rory's perfect S7 hair

- Rory going an entire year without any love triangle bullshit

- Logan mostly being a pretty good boyfriend without any fatalism worked in about how he's going to ruin Rory's life and can never change

- Logan moving away from his dad's company and verging out on his own

- "Logan, I love you, but I'm not going to support every single stupid thing you do." RORY MY QUEEN!

- Zach being allowed to become a supportive husband and father

- The Anna villain era, which was warranted because that woman was the worst.

- Lorelai writing the reference letter for Luke and it being detailed in writing how he was Rory's father figure and a wonderful man and support system, things no one will ever say about Christopher, ever

- Luke winning the custody that he asked for

- The scenes of Luke and Luke/Lorelai cuddling infant Doula, which ASP would have rejected because they were too cheesetastic

- Emily straight up telling Lorelai that Christopher is a loser, but she picked him, so she should take the marriage seriously, because after all, it's her funeral (ASP would never allow her beloved Christopher to be talked about this way)

- ASP might have allowed Christopher to flat out say that he was Lorelai's second choice and to have Lorelai say she doesn't really want to be with him, but...I have my doubts

- Ditto with Luke and Logan being so supportive of the girls when Richard was ailing...I don't think she would have let Logan do it, and Luke showing up and focusing more on Lorelai than having a pissing contest with the mostly absent Christopher is something I have doubts she would have allowed

- I'm not sure she would have allowed Lane's baby shower episode, which I kind of adore. The scene where Lane tells Rory she wants her to be the "Lorelai Gilmore" to her kids in case they rebel against her values and turn out like her mom seems too much of an admission that Mrs. Kim's belief system is valid. I'm not sure it would have happened under ASP.

- Luke being the godfather to Lane and Zach's boys because they wanted some guidance from him. Nope. She never would have allowed Luke to be seen as that good of a dad.

- Hay Bale Maze! Lit fans are going to have to forgive me because I really love, love this episode and all of Logan's interactions during the hour, especially with Lorelai.

- Luke and Lorelai taking responsibility for their behavior and apologizing to each other. ASP would never have allowed Lorelai to say it was wrong to sleep with Christopher Hayden. I'm not sure she would have allowed the minimal insight from Luke that he pushed Lorelai away because he was afraid of getting close to her or to have Lorelai forgive him for this because after all, nothing is more important than Lorelai Gilmore's wedding plans. Anyway, even if it didn't go deep enough I would not have ever watched the show again unless she had said she was sorry for what she did.

- Lorelai serenading Luke during karaoke. Too cheesetastic. Wouldn't have been allowed.

- Jess being allowed to keep his dignity offscreen, because if Milo had been able and willing to make appearances during S7 (huge if, given his full time 22 episodes a year gig on another network at the time) ASP likely did not have a fabulous plot in store for him in part because she's ASP and she never has a fabulous plot in store for anyone but at this point in the story, her deteriorating writing skills and overall tendency to want to make her characters as miserable as humanly possible would have prevailed and it would have been a really nasty, toxic Jess vs Logan plot that would not have been in the best interest for anyone involved. So Jess keeps his dignity, has a nice life offscreen, and is, of course, in the full swing of his Slutty Philadelphia Jess era. He was gifted a good life, let him keep it.

-And most importantly of all...the story ends with Rory and Lorelai ready to go off to their futures while Lorelai will maintain her relationship with her parents. Their codependent era is over and Lorelai can concentrate on family life with Luke (whatever that ends up meaning) and Rory can finally brace adult life without clutching her mother's apron strings. Whatever future or ship one imagines for Rory is possible, because she's young and ambitious and is not tied down by the belief that she has to repeat her mother's patterns in life. ASP would never, ever have allowed this. She did not want them to be happy, and she did not want them to move on. But it was the ending they (and the audience deserved).

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Lorelai is back to eating at Luke's but their relationship remains tepid after their blowup about Jess.

And Midge is still acting like the younger woman doesn't exist, which...Lenny isn't a big fan of, but there's no talking to Midge when she's this upset with someone's behavior.

"She'll come around," Lenny assures Rory one morning during breakfast. She's joining them before school.

"Look what I found," Midge beams as she talks to Luke at the counter, holding out an old photo.

Luke takes it and chuckles, gazing at the photo of himself, his father and his nephew. "Where the hell did this come from?"

"Rosh Hashana the year before your dad passed," Midge explains. "Remember? I bribed Liz to come up using Lenny's weed stash?"

"Not nice," Lenny calls. "You should have asked me first."

"Ah, jeez!" Jess complains, as he sees the photo. "Burn that thing."

"You were adorable," Midge tells him. "With your chubby little cheeks and your shaggy hair."

"What are we looking at?" Lorelai asks she steps up to order her coffee.

"Nothing," Luke tells her. "Just an old photo Midge found."

Lorelai gasps. "Young Luke?"

"It's nothing really," Luke assures her, handing the photo back to Midge. "Coffee right?"

"I'll make you a copy," Midge promises Luke.

"Don't!" Jess calls.

"Why can't I see?" Lorelai asks, tilting her head.

"It's got Jess in it," Midge tells her, the first words spoken to her in literal months. "You'd hate it." With that, she heads back to Lenny and their table.

Lorelai huffs out a breath and takes her coffee to go.

"Today isn't come around day," Rory mutters.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

I’m really enjoying the extended AU all the way into GG. Lenny “I’ve had more arrests than you’ve had birthdays” Bruce and Midge “I knew guys that broke kneecaps for a living” Maisel would just kind of laugh at Jess’ Bad Boy posturing and tell him to stop being such a fucking moron. They are Not Impressed. (Lorelai would have too, if Jess had not made the fatal double error of 1. insulting Lorelai and Luke almost immediately and 2. very obviously sniffing around her Harvard/Yale-bound daughter.)

Thank you for reading!

I think- so -

Okay.

Jess is under the assumption that no one cares about his well-being.

Putting aside the fact that we, the audience, know that that's not true, that is how Jess operates. Right? Liz sent him away, Luke has no idea what to do with him, Lorelai writes him off as a bad kid immediately, etc etc etc.

But also remember that Lorelai is in her early thirties, and Rory, at this point, is kind of an angel child. She has no idea what to do with a rowdy teen who think no one cares about them.

Lenny...

was Jess.

His father left, his mother raised him alone, and he was a dumb-ass little shit, too.

Lenny speaks dumb little punk-ass schmuck.

And Midge just speaks mom. She co-raised three children, and now has grandchildren, and at this point, in 2002, she is nearly 70. She has seen everything, and Jess's behavior doesn't phase her at all.

In fact, I think Midge might be the only person Jess is a little afraid of in Stars Hollow, because she is an Upper West Side Jewish mother and grandmother and one stare can level you.

But at the same time, Midge and Lenny care, and they're able to show it more than Luke - with no experience - or Lorelai - who is thinking of Rory - or Liz - who is a mess - can.

[frazzledsoul]

I don't mean to bring arguments into your inbox like this, but I think the interpretations on Jess and whether he is a nomad or "too serious" often depend upon whatever argument people who don't like him and Rory, and therefore want to argue that they wouldn't be good together. Often these arguments vary depending upon what point they want to make: Jess is a "nomad" who never settles down and will never have a normal family life with another person, therefore this other boyfriend of Rory's is more suited because he stayed in one place for a longer period of time. This obviously neglects the fact that Jess actually has stayed in one place for a longer period of time, and if he wasn't in Stars Hollow or in New York, he was in Philadelphia, where he's apparently been living at for 10 years now in 2016? Then there's "Jess is too serious and he doesn't have the adventurous side that L*gan has that Rory prefers", which again, neglects the fact that Jess has actually moved to more places in the series than L*gan, has likely slept in his car after he got it from Luke, and went from a crappy New York apartment to Philly where he managed to get a job all by himself and to run a publishing house for over 10 years. I don't mean to say that Jess is 'adventurous' through this, but I highly doubt you can call the guy who in a way restarted his life several times in the span of 3 years while he was 18 boring. In the revival its obvious that he's still kept his teasing side when he took Luke's cap off as a way to greet him, and even took out the wifi modem just to get his customers out of the diner. I don't think he's the same as he was when he was a teenager, but he's obviously not turned into some "by the book, no rules broken" adult who doesn't have a humor or know how to have fun.

So someone (who claimed to be a Jess fan) did tell me yesterday that Jess spends his time going around from place to place and has never settled on a routine or a place to live and that if he ever moved to one particular city it would be New York, but that he was also free to move to Stars Hollow and be the surrogate father of Rory's child. This person claimed that Jess still had a steady job with a publishing press but that Jess spent all of his time "touring" from place to place and never settled on a permanent residence and that he had specifically told Rory this is how he spends most of his time.

Like....what? What kind of job in publishing lets you do this sort of thing? What show was she actually watching?

This person also had a number of other strange takes, like Rory stubbornly refusing to let Logan be a part of her child's life and how that was a valid choice and that Jess was selfish and never did anything for other people (The guy travels three hours like three times in four months to help out his family in AYITL, he's not selfish)...but the whole "Jess spends his time roaming around from place to place and doesn't have a steady job or residence" is a take I have heard from Logan fans at various times that has been refuted by canon. It's not just a reference to his personal life.

As far as Logan being more adventurous than Jess...I don't think that's a valid argument in the AYITL era. Logan may be willing to keep Rory on the side and have adventures with the LDB from time to time but he's fairly settled in his job and lifestyle and even before Rory breaks it off with him it's clear that playtime is kind of over. And I would argue that the "adventures" she is engaging in at that part of her life aren't healthy, anyway. You've got to grow up sometime.