#Rory is not a horrible person

[alma-artts]

My roman empire is how the majority of people misjudge every single gilmore girls character it angers me so much

[eosofspades]

also ruby gillman was absolutely so much better than everyone says it was. idc this movie is so much fun

[ofcowardiceandkings]

god Suella Braverman is deranged

[greppelheks]

It's so interesting to me how full of trauma and unhealthy relationships gilmore girls is and it's never mentioned

[stellaluna33]

Sorry to be a hater- look away if you must- but I just have to vent once again about how much I hate that stupid "Rory Gilmore learns about sexting to spice up her lagging long-distance relationship!" storyline in Season 7. 🙄 Like, FIRST OF ALL, I'm supposed to believe that Rory Gilmore, who was reading (and recommending!) Ginsberg at the age of 16, is somehow shocked and scandalized and uncomfortable with the idea of reading or writing about sex?? That whole babyish, fluttery, "Oh, I couldn't possibly!" personality transplant she undergoes in that season really throws me off! But ALSO, like... Rory and Logan have only been apart for like THREE EPISODES? By this point? And she's already feeling like their relationship is going to fall apart without sexual intimacy? Like, honey, the point I'm getting from this is not "long distance relationships are hard!" It's "this relationship seems to be based on nothing but sex." And if you're already running out of things to say because you're not in the same room anymore? Yikes. "But long distance relationships are hard!" Yeah! I KNOW. Want to know HOW I know? Because by the time we got married, my Husband and I did the math and figured out that from the beginning of our relationship to our wedding day we'd spent more time APART than TOGETHER. The longest stretch of time where we were on opposite sides of the earth and didn't see each other at all was ten months. And yes! It was hard! But we never felt like we were running out of things to SAY to each other or had no emotional intimacy! How am I supposed to think this Rory/Logan storyline is "romantic" when my own memories involve writing handwritten letters that were pages and pages long, and long emails on top of that? Sensual poetry that ached with so much longing that it made my breath catch in my throat when I read it? Do you know how it feels to talk on the phone for hours and hours until your arm gets tired from holding the phone up and you have to keep switching it from side to side because your ear is getting that horrible warm and sweaty feeling from the plastic being pressed against it for so long, and you STILL don't want to say goodbye because it's never enough? Anyway, I can't get into this storyline. It feels shallow and cheap and boring to me! Like, is this it? And maybe part of the reason my soul recoils from the idea of Rory ending up with Logan is that it's just so DISAPPOINTING! Like, that's it? That's the "great love" she gets? I love Rory and she has such a lively, eager mind! And it just makes me sad to think of her ending up with some guy she doesn't even have anything to talk about with after the thrill of sex has faded. 😕 Boring, boring, boring!

[autumnrory]

do people ever think that rory has certain expectations about crushes and relationships because her first boyfriend is so obsessed with her and instead of being viewed as unhealthy everyone tells her it's just being so devoted and loyal etc and she thinks it's supposed to be like that because that's the only frame of reference she has LIKE she knows dean for four+ years and he NEVER stops being obsessed with her so of course she thinks jess will be waiting for her to figure things out (and he himself says "like dean would've done") and of course she thinks jess will call regularly because she's used to dean who calls 14 times in a day and she thinks jess will be reliable and show up when expected because she's used to dean always coming around even when he has not been asked (or explicitly asked not to as in 2x16)

like to be clear rory doesn't even have high expectations here lol like unfortunately for a variety of reasons and with lack of communication jess seems like he's at the opposite end of the dean spectrum because he's in some ways more lowkey in his affection and he does not have many true connections with other people so ofc he doesn't really know how to do things "right" in a romantic relationship and like basically rory feels like she's gone from one extreme (even if it's not acknowledged as such by rory or anyone around her) to another (even though despite his mistakes jess is much closer to a normal boyfriend throughout their relationship than dean) so like she never really got to adjust to a completely different vibe. remember when she was so sure jess would be mad at her for being friends with dean because she's so used to being screamed at for such things?

or even like with the affair. like i do maintain rory does have some responsibility as does anyone who knowingly gets involved with someone in a relationship, BUT overall not that much compared to some situations because dean lied and manipulated her. and so like her bratty response is very un-rory like imo because much as fandom likes to say she's a spoiled brat she virtually never acts like that any other time. but again she says "he's my dean" because as i said he has never stopped being obsessed with her, he literally became friends with her again after the breakup with the hopes that he would get between her and jess just like jess got between her and dean. in part she thinks of him as hers because she wants to justify this horrible thing to lorelai and herself but also....dean never let go of that relationship, he never moved on, he proposed to lindsay immediately after fighting jess, he drunkenly moped over her the night before his wedding to lindsay like! rory who had been abandoned by jess, who she arguably had a much more intense love for, sees dean who is still "there for her" and still wants to pursue her in spite of their circumstances and thinks that's how it's supposed to be. if even one person had told her dean's behavior was wrong, she might've given the relationship a second look, but that never happened, so she never got to realize it's the opposite of what a relationship is supposed to be

[aurae-rori]

hey rori is there any genuine reason to like jade other than oooh dom mommy thing (which is... [gagging])

I think she's genuinely a well-written villain. She's morally grey, but leans heavily towards being more of a bad person than a good one. Her deals do technically benefit the people that she makes deals with, but on the other hand, it is simply a moment of satisfaction before everything falls to pieces. She's an incredibly well-written manipulator, giving Topaz a sense of trust and understanding in herself all while using her in order to further her own goals. She creates a sense of false safety in order to further manipulate others, or seems more kind and understanding to clients in order to make them more willing to give up something of value. The way that she maneuvers around her clients and her fellow Stonehearts reflect real manipulation tactics, and are executed in a way that is horribly realistic in the way that it is subtle and not noticeable if you don't squint hard enough. I love her because of how fucking awful she is, and how good she is at picking people apart and understanding what they want, and how good she is at persuading people to give up a part of themselves for her.

She's good at what she does. She provides people with what they need in the moment, all while taking something precious in return. She smooth-talks her way in and out, and perfectly manipulates the situation in her favour. She's a perfect businesswoman, an amazing professional at what she does - she really is a snake, isn't she?

I like her because of the fact that she's evil, and good about using real verbal cues and social cues to her advantage. I like her because she is fucking evil, while her morals are grey, she, herself, is fucking evil.

The first step in turning someone into your pawn is making them think they have equal ground with you, after all. Jade is good at making people feel assured. She does it with Topaz - praising her, leaving jobs to her, and bought things for Aventurine when he was nothing but a slave. Jade is good at people.

That's what makes her so damn terrifying. And in return for being terrifying and earning respect from her coworkers, I love her character because of how well-executed she is.

[carlsangel]

THE NEW NEGAN

carl grimes x male!reader

(you’re negan’s son.)

tags: angst

masterlist here!

Being a Savior isn’t quite for the weak. Thankfully you had the privilege of being of the highest status in the Sanctuary, the leaders son. Negan was an…interesting dad, maybe he wasn’t the best example for you as you grew up, although he would talk about the Sanctuary like you’d be the one to rule it one day. You knew everything your dad was doing was to better your future, or that’s what Negan thought at least.

The Savior war was everything you ever wanted, even if that sounds horrible. You knew the Saviors would lose, if anything you quite admired Alexandria and their people. You could never tell your dad however. You weren’t exactly innocent, however. Even if the war had ended Negan’s reign, it wouldn’t take back everything you’d done as a Savior. You were tricked at the start, you sometimes abused your power but later, upon the first couple of murders Negan had committed with Lucille at the other settlements, it never had to be that way.

The first he killed was a boy named Rory. Just a sixteen year old teenage boy, just like you. It freaked you out.

There were many occasions where you’d try to tell Negan what he was doing was wrong, you’d tell him people were dying and it isn’t what you wanted, not for the Sanctuary at least. You expected him to understand because the Sanctuary would be left in your hands, it’d be your responsibility.

Negan would just say “My mistakes, were made for you. Everything I do is for you.” He made it seem like you were being selfish and unappreciative. One of his many flaws as a father. Sometimes you wondered how Rick differed, you wondered if his son, Carl was like you or if maybe he was completely different.

Your dad ended up being captured, at the end of everything. The Sanctuary was in your hands, the moment you’d been hearing about since it’d started. Everything was in your control, the people, the Saviors— it was all yours. Every decision, every mistake is on you. You took advice from others while you could. Everything was rolling pretty well. You’d gotten fairly close with Daryl, he was assigned to help you lead the Sanctuary since you were so young.

Daryl out of all people knew what it was like to be compared to your father. Someone you’d never be like, someone you didn’t really like at all, except everyone expected you to be. He was raised the same way, with those same expectations.

After a while, you made the decision to run the Sanctuary from Alexandria, since your dad was held there and all. Making the trip back n forth from community to community was a waste when you could just be a little walk away from him. You had to make some deals and compromises but you managed to convince Rick, thanks to Carl. He was the one who truly made the decision.

He always took interest in you, as well. He felt bad for you, the fact you were being raised in such a violent environment. Sometimes he felt like he wanted to save you. But he felt some slight resentment when Abraham and Glenn died, you were there at the lineup just sitting in the back of a truck saying nothing. But, Olivia died too…and Spencer. Then Sasha. He still felt bad, but he couldn’t help being angry at you.

Not everyone was on board with you staying there, they believed you’d want to release him and they thought you were just like him. The Alexandrians believed that because you were his son, you were the new Negan. Upon arriving you were put in a house across the entire Grimes family. Carl mostly mattered to you, since he convinced his dad and all. You see him sometimes when leaving your house to visit your dad or do your work around the community, you could tell he didn’t like you.

It made you wonder why he’d even help you stay at Alexandria in the first place.

─── ⋆⋅ 𐚁 ⋅⋆ ───

Anyway, there was a gathering at some random Alexandrian’s house and the only person you really knew was Daryl. He encouraged you to go even though he would never go to one himself, but he wanted you to put yourself out there. He wanted others to see who you really are.

It didn’t quite go as planned.

You entered the home and you immediately got stares, people moved away from the entrance and you already knew you needed a drink. So you made your way over to the kitchen, avoiding all the deep glares from others, wishing you didn’t listen to Daryl and just head back home. You were fed up with everything, you were sick of people comparing you to Negan.

You were fine secluded in the corner of the room, you finally decided you’d leave. You were stopped before hand. “You’re not gonna get him outta there y’know.” A random woman stops you. “I- what?” You’re confused at first then taken aback. “Your dad…Negan, you’re his son right? You’re not gonna get him out.” She repeats. “I wasn’t planning on it.” You reply, trying to walk past her but she grabs your arm. “You’re a Savior. Raised by him.” Her voice somehow projected through the small house, catching others attention.

You felt that to some degree she was right. He had raised you and you made many decisions based on his teachings but you were different now. “Look lady-” Someone else interjects to share their opinion as well. Like you needed it. “No, she’s right.” It was an older man. “You’re just like him aren’t you? I heard about what you’ve done.”

What you’ve done. He knows about what you’ve done.

You’d look around and see everyone avert their gazes towards you. Most importantly you can see Carl listening in. Great, another reason for him to hate you.

“How you lured those innocent people into the hands of death. Right into your dad’s trap.” The man scolded. You put your drink down on the counter, unsure of what to do. Your demeanor changes to one of nervousness and it’s quite prevalent. It didn’t take much more reprimanding before you pushed your way through the house to leave. But the man was right, when you were younger you would act vulnerable, like your dad needed help when instead you’d lead them to a group of Saviors. They’d be captured.

You didn’t realize how warm the house was till you exited it, the cold air wafted into your face sort of bringing you back down to earth. Everything somehow felt like a blur; you were angry, sad and sweaty. You needed to be outside. You lean against the railing, doing your best to calm down. You decide to go see Daryl, but before that you’re interrupted by a voice behind you.

“You don’t get to be upset.” It was Carl. “You got people killed, your dad killed my friends. You’re not the victim.” His tone is sharp, but… you’re tired. You turn around to face him and at first you want to just walk away, but no. You believe you deserve to explain yourself. “You’ve never killed anyone?” Carl tilts his head at you. “That’s not the same.” He replies. “Maybe not but you feel bad don’t you? I do. I feel fucking terrible but no one likes to believe that. I’ll never forget it.” You utter, turning back to face the street in front of the house.

“I’m not him. I never was. I don’t know what I’m doing. I didn’t want this, I didn’t want any of it.” You say before realizing you’re opening up to someone who you presumed would hold the grudge against you for forever. “I’m sure you don’t give a shit. You probably don’t understand.” But he was silent for a little, before walking over to you, resting himself against the railing as well.

“I don’t understand. It’ll probably take me a while to.” He explains quietly. He looks over at you, even though you don’t quite notice. He just looks at you, takes you all in. You’re just another teenage boy. You’re just like him. “But I’ll try. I know Daryl trusts you…I guess I can learn how, too.”

You look over to him. “Do you want to though? Like really?”

He nods, holding eye contact with you. “Yeah…really.”

a/n: hiiii i hope this was what u wanted and i hope it wasn’t garbo >-< thank u sm for this req i lovedddddd it! UMMMMM IDK WHAT TO SAYYY i might start working on ghost in the woods soon mayhaps i have a ton of reqs im excited to do tho

tag list: @zomb-1-egutzz @lunarnightt @ilikestrawberriesandwomen @hiro--aoki @h00d-tr4sh @callsignwidow

[idkiwasntsupposedtobebackhere]

daily gilmore girls thoughts bc i haven’t done this in forever:

🫶🏼rory was a good friend to paris and lane, enough with the nonsense. lane and rory were realistic childhood friends and rory and paris were realistic realistic ”grew to like each other”-friends

🫶🏼lorelai and even rory are under the illusion that dean is a ”safe” person because he didn’t disturb their safe pre-established routine and just fit into it

that’s also why lorelai likes luke the most, bc he fits into the life she already has, the life she chose and has worked hard to get. rory is a bit more willing to try new things bc she’s young and SH is all she’s ever known

🫶🏼dean and logan were actually perfect for the rory she was in season 1 and seasons 5-7 respectively. i believe what we got is the peak of what they could ever be. with jess the timing was wrong, which is too bad :(

🫶🏼i know milo didn’t want to be in season 7 bc of loyalty to asp BUT jess being the character witness for luke in april’s costudy hearing and luke winning bc of that would have wrapped up their storyline so well. i feel like they at least should have drawn some parallels to the fact that luke has cared for a child before, otherwise, what was the point of doing that storyline twice?

🫶🏼i saw this great take on reddit (it happens) that some people can’t grasp how horrible emily and richard are while another group can’t grasp how horrible liz and TJ are.

this is bc some people grew up with snobby, elitist relatives who deem you as not ever good enough for their standards while other people grew up with relatives who are deadbeat leeches.

so the ones who grew up with liz and TJs might be like ”oh but emily and richard just want a good life for lorelai” while people who grew up with richards and emilys might be like ”oh but liz and TJ are just fun and kooky”. this very obviously doesn’t always apply but i thought that was really interesting!

🫶🏼they already did ”bad boy jess” is season 2, i think they should have given him some (more) character development in season 3. it’s just too sad the way it all played out, i think about it a lot :,( couldn’t we have had ONE era where luke and jess were getting along and jess was going to school and lorelai liked him and jess and rory were working? the finale would have been even more dramatic then actually

🫶🏼this is a new, not that developed take but richard cares more for rory and emily cares more for lorelai.

taking in rory after her meltdown was, to richard, about getting rory back on track eventually, while emily was excited to have a new lorelai, this time one she could share her interests with.

there is a scene during this era where emily is asking richard how lorelai is and he’s like huh whatever, lorelai’s fine. then richard expresses concern over rory and emily is like huh whatever, rory is fine. i think this is so interesting!

🫶🏼um so jess and rory are both victims of generational issues that should have been solved before they were born. obviously the gilmore lore is more developed than the danes lore but we know enough from what luke said in jess’ first episode

🫶🏼i think luke and lorelai very obviously have struggled in their life and because jess and rory don’t have the same struggles they had but different ones, they think they have it so much better. this is ofc very common

again, the gilmore lore is much more developed but what i mean by this is that lorelai doesn’t think rory’s struggles are valid is bc rory has a mom that is nice and luke doesn’t think jess’ struggles are valid bc jess has a mom that is alive. obv not directly stated and just speculation, but something i think about!

🫶🏼i needed a few more flashback eps to understand how THAT lorelai turned into THIS lorelai. but kudos to her work ethic

🫶🏼 rory could have been way more screwed up and resentful than she was due to her past. in season 1, it’s only five years since she moved out of the garden shed. that’s as much time as between seasons 1 and 6, aka nothing. say what you want, but she does have a good attitude

🫶🏼 the conclusion of dean’s arc on the show: he was the victim and rory was horrible for letting his perfect self go and should apologize. the conclusion of jess’ arc on the show: he was horrible and deserved all the shit every adult did to him (no one ever apologized to him for anything btw).

🫶🏼i don’t understand why people think rory spiraling bc of mitchum’s comment is so spoiled and unreasonable and out of character. like this is a person who was been perfect and motivated and well-behaved her whole life bc she is working toward a clear singular goal. when that goal shattered right in front of her, it’s pretty realistic to be like ”why not break the rules, why not take advantage of my grandparents wealth, why not fuck around and party for a bit”. and no one in her life understood this.

so, let’s make it about jess now. rory always kind of had a plan and a goal, and guess who didn’t? jess. they even talked about this. but then he comes back and has made something of himself and he tells rory it’s because of her.

i think that’s why jess was the only one able to put rory back on track. he has been what rory is now. not willing to do anything and throwing everything away because he’s been led to believe that he’s not good enough. but he isss and rory knew that, and she helped him believe that, which is why he was able to get back on track. and now he’s returning the favour.

there’s so many interpretations of this scene but this one’s my fave<3

🫶🏼feel free to argue, i don’t feel that strongly about most of these😭

[roeyliteratiforever]

So if your looking at things from Jess' pov his mom just kicked him out to live with his uncle he barely knows, he has a lady he's just meeting for the first time talking to him about how she knows what he's going through and to him it feels condescending even if it wasn't meant that way by Lorelai. He doesn't want to be in Stars Hollow initially so he starts acting out to test how quickly he could get sent back such as stealing garden noms...etc, then he meets a girl who shares the same interests as him and the only person in town so far that doesn't automatically treat him like a preconceived opinion about him and she makes him feel comfortable so he proceed to impress his crush with writing notes in her book margins (that says I want you to know me) and pulls pranks that would make her laugh to then learn she has a boyfriend and learn that he is beloved by her mother that loathes him.

Dean does all the "perfect boyfriend things" while being a possessive, explosive, and an emotionally abusive control freak. Jess only wants to then spend more time with her, but the whole town already thinks he is trouble because of the reputation he set for himself.

He gets into a car accident with Rory and people then act like he's the spawn of Satan. He becomes so anxious and feels so bad after the accident that he leaves town because he doesn't want to cause Rory any harm or get harm from the weirdo townies. When she comes for him in New York he gets this burst of hope in him which is why he decides to move back for the possibility of being with Rory.

After Rory kissed him the first time he was so gone for her and in that moment that was all he wanted. He genuinely thought she was going to break up with Dean and choose to be with him, but when she didn't and left instead (my boy who already has deep abandonment wounds) is hurt because she didn't outright choose him and left. He then was alone without the one person in that town that he wanted to be around and so he met Shane who didn't want anything serious so it was a perfect way to try to mask his pain with her. He mysteriously gets a car, and people are going nuts thinking he stole it, and he's thinking I can't even get a second job without people thinking I'm a criminal, and I can't get a second job without people accusing me of being a drug dealer or a stripper.

Once him and Rory get together he is so happy he doesn't want to mess it up with her and he gets nervous because he wants everything to go right. She's the one he's been waiting for and now he has her. Then her ex boyfriend starts stalking and harassing him in secret and he feels like he can't do anything about it, and can't even tell his girlfriend about it because he thinks she won't believe her if he told her, so he bottles it up. When he gets attacked by the swan and she thought he got in a fight with Dean and didn't believe him it really hurt him. (I don't blame Rory for this she had no way of knowing and Dean was being manipulative with his "nice guy" and shitty behaviors but it still hurt Jess none the less.) After that he begins to put up his walls again.

When he realizes he's been messing up after not calling he then starts trying to do better and set dates and plans to be with her. All he wants to do is make her happy at this point. Then he gets the news that he's not graduating and in that moment it feels like everything everyone had always said about him came true, he felt like a failure and knowing that he wasn't going to be able to keep his promise to Rory that he would take her to prom crushed him. He wanted so badly to be there for her and do all the boyfriend things and he was so afraid of telling her he wasn't graduating and so upset he couldn't keep his promise to her. His smart girlfriend was getting into an ivy league school and he wasn't even going to graduate highschool and the thought of telling her that was horrible to him.

He could feel he was losing her and he thought once he told her that it would be over, and ended up messing things up with her anyways. He felt like he was doing her a favor by leaving because he figured she would want him gone. He didn't think she would want him to stay, even though that's all she wanted. He was battling his demons alone and was used to everyone shipping him off when he messed up that he thought he was doing her a favor by leaving after he messed up so bad.

His father that left him as a baby showed up in his life for the first time and he didn't know how to handle that. Once Luke kicked him out he ran to his dad that left him because crashing on his couch or floor was better than staying with his neglectful deadbeat mother.

He finds out his uncle was hiding his car from him and felt double betrayed he was already feeling abandoned yet again after Luke kicked him out to then find out he took something he worked so hard to get from him he was more betrayed. He comes back to Stars Hollow to get his car and everyone still wants him gone. Luke tells Jess to stay away from Rory so he proceeds trying to avoid her while he is there and he knows how badly he messed up with her and he wants to talk to her but when he sees her at the firelight festival he wants to explain to her but she is still so mad and all he could get out was that he loves her. He just wanted her to know he then leaves because he doesn't expect her to say anything he just wanted her to know. Jess is deeply hurting at this point inside and his pain is at it's peak. He just keeps digging a deeper whole and doesn't know how to fix it at this point.

Luke convinces Jess to go to his neglectful mother's wedding and goes to a bachelor party where he is assaulted by his stepdad to be at a bar and he naturally goes into defense mode. He was so used to his other abusive step dad's that he was constantly in defense mode and fought back. He goes to his mother's wedding anyways and walks her down the isle despite everything his mom put him through. Luke gives him the self help book that he had been reading, and Jess reads it and tries to better himself as well, meanwhile Lorelai scoffs to Luke about it. (I love Lorelai but that was extremely uncalled for by her and it just makes me think no matter what he does or how better he becomes he will always resent him, and it just makes no sense that she has this one sided grudge with a kid that was deeply in pain.) He makes up with Luke and thanks him for everything he did for him, and then he goes to try to apologize and tell Rory how he feels, but then he sees Dean there and he is thrown off and he just wants to make things right so in the spur of the moment he asks her to leave with him because he just wants to fix what they had. (He wasn't thinking rationally, but he meant it when he said she could count on him now and so he went out and turned his life around and made something for himself and came back to show her how much she could count him now even if it meant as a friend. He would still be there for her and he showed her that he could be the person she always knew he was. He still didn't expect anything from her he just wanted to show her his book, and let her know he couldn't have done it without her.)

He was so badly traumatized while him and Rory were together and it couldn't have possibly worked out at that time. He was battling so much pain internally, and everyone in that town was against him and actively hating him 😭 and I just feel for what he was going through, and I'm just so proud of who he turned out to be. I'm not sure what this rant was anymore but I'm just thinking about Jess' perspective and his pain right now. He was in so much pain while him and Rory were together and he didn't know how to properly express that or tell her that, and I just want to hug him and I'm so proud of him for how far he came and how much he overcame his pain and trauma and ugh I just feel so much right now. (Also I had a lot of coffee today and my autistic/ADHD brain is just going with thoughts right now.)

[yesimwriting]

maybe it's just my gilmore girls rewatch but a felix x reader dynamic that's extremely logan and rory coded has so much potential

like imagine reader being friends with oliver, and when they come back from break, felix and his friends pass them and felix makes a comment that's friendly enough to greet oliver but there's something a little pretentious about it, especially with the side comment that farleigh tacks on

it's not horribly snobby, but snobby enough for reader to dismiss him, she rolls her eyes and moves on,, until she runs into felix on her way to class, he's with his friends, it's clear that they were drinking the night before and reader is just like great, this is what i get for running late

so we get the famous "okay, put my number down" and "you don't like me, you don't know me, but you don't like me"

and felix recognizes her as a friend of oliver's that he thinks is pretty so he tries to smooth everything over with his usual charm, but reader is giving him nothing to work with,, and then he realizes that she very decidedly doesn't like him,,

he's kind of shocked tbh, and maybe your resistance makes him look at you twice, but only so much can be done in the moment, so he decides to let it go only for the moment though

then you're paired with him for a project,, and you become friendly, and then you enter your situationship era just for the two of you to finally end up together when you try to end things bc you decide you're not a situationship person <3

idk if this makes sense but it works so well in my mind

[mssr-crumpled-paper]

Peeta and Gale: being a character

Consider this post a continuation of this.

So, as I've said, I had a really hard time relating or believing in Peeta as a character when reading THG. This post aims to point out some of the points why I believe Peeta is more a concept than an actual character (and how that's incredibly unfair for Gale).

On Peeta:

The first, and most obvious point, is that the purpose of Peeta's character is to represent Katniss's conscience, but also to be the "better" choice. Idk about everyone else, but it was always glaringly obvious to me that Peeta would be the endgame for Katniss, one way or another. He was made with the explicit intention of being the perfect partner for Katniss, and a perfect person in general. Notice how he has no substantial flaws of his own, is distinctly devout to Katniss even without knowing anything about her personally; and every mistake that he does make can easily be chocked up to his care for Katniss or trauma from forces he can't control.

We know virtually next to nothing about Peeta as well. Please be kind and name me 1 instance where either of Peeta's brothers' names were mentioned anywhere. Like in the books, not on a wiki page. None, no names for his dad, for his mom, for his family. Barely know any of his friends, except for Delly.

We also do not know his relation to District 12 or the Seam. Now, many people will argue that this would be pointless, but I believe not. Peeta, for him to truly be able to exist as a character in his own right, needs to be considered within the context of his community. And since we don't get ANY, it makes all his talks of "people are starving," and "kids in 12 are struggling" seems unconvincing. Like was he poor? Absolutely. He also ate bread regularly, never had to take out tessarae, never had to hunt or kill, and he was a merchant's kid. Half of the people from the district, who are so closely or at least somewhat related to Katniss, we never see him interacting with ever.

In combination, all of these elements make it so that Peeta is basically devoid of an actual character other than "good guy with bread." Readers are free to project whatever image they see fit onto him, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect husband, the perfect brother. He didn't even mention his family twice after losing them, and I won't assume the pain wasn't horrible for him, but he quite literally said "No one needs me." Of course they need you Peeta, they're your family? He felt almost disconnected from the context surrounding him, making it hard for me to truly buy into his character.

On Gale:

The first thing we know about Gale is that he is Katniss's best friend, the person who knows the real her, the one who she can let loose with. Immediately this is a lot of information to work with. Considering the fact that Katniss up until this point didn't seem too fond of people in general, Gale is set up to be a good guy with a sense of love and respect for his friend. And since we meet him in the forest, one can assume that he's struggling as well, or at least rebellious. It's also very obvious within the first chapter that Gale is a flawed character (re: him snapping at Madge, which he acknowledges as a tactic of the Capitol).

This fact is elaborated on right after, when we are told that Gale is also a fatherless hunter running around in the woods. His family is poor, and he's the sole provider for the family. He has three younger siblings, one of which is just a baby, and a mom. Like Katniss, he's put his name in for tessarae for a long time, and provides for a 5 persons household mostly on his own. We know the name of Rory, of Posy, of Hazelle, his mother who does laundry for work, who later works as a house-keeper for Haymitch. We know that Hazelle placed a lot of trust in both Katniss and Gale. We know that Rory has to eventually put his name in more times to get tessarae.

We know Gale's relation to the District. He's generally popular with kids his age at school. He banters and interacts with the people at the Hob. He hunts for game and provides for the district. He holds a hatred for the Capitol that was larger than himself and Katniss. He understood their methods of systemic oppression. He was generally class conscious about his condition, and his thirst for righteous revenge stems largely from the suffering that people of the district and he himself go through. He saved his district to the best of his ability when it was razed to the ground, and he joined the rebellion effort because he genuinely believed that would liberate his people.

There's a lot more I can say about the wider context of Gale as a character, but on a whole he feels real. Very flawed, very angry, and very real. SC makes no pretense about Gale being someone who cares deeply for his district, for Katniss, and for his family. That's a sense of solidarity that I can cling onto. He exists within that general context that he was put in, and therefore makes more sense.

[love-geeky-fangirl]

Pros and cons of every Gilmore Girls season

Season 1

Pros: cozy vibes, everything is new, some of the best episodes of the show, Christmas episode, Lorelai and Luke's sexual tension,

Cons: boring love stories, Tristan, The Damn Donna Reed episode, Rory ending up with Dean in the end and the show trying to brainwash us into thinking it's romantic

Season 2

Pros: still cozy vibes, Jess is introduced, finally some good love interests and love stories, Tristan leaves, Lane discovers her love for drums

Cons: Rory is with Dean the whole season and they argue in almost every episode

Season 3

Pros: still cozy vibes, Rory and Jess are together, some of the best episodes and town events are in this season, Thanksgiving episode, Lorelai gets an okay love interest, Lane forms a band, Dave is introduced, Lane and Dave are together, Rory gets into Yale, Rory's graduation, Lorelai and Sookie finally decide to open the inn

Cons: the stupid student government storyline, Luke is with Nicole, Rory never gets the chance to have sex with Jess, Rory and Jess don't go to prom with Lane and Dave

Season 4:

Pros: no Christopher! This is the only Christopher free season on the show! Also Rory starts Yale and the separation from Stars Hollow is handled well, Lorelai opens the inn, Jess is in this season a few times, Luke can see her face, Luke and Lorelai finally kiss, Lane becomes independent

Cons: Rory sleeps with Dean, Dean is too much in this season and has a stupid haircut, Paris dates her professor, Dave leaves and breaks up with Lane for a stupid reason, Richard's stupid mustache

Season 5

Pros: Luke and Lorelai finally together, Rory tells Christopher to leave them alone, Emily and Richard separate and get back together, Paris and Doyle

Cons: we are subjected to Rory and Dean round 3 for the first eight episodes, Lane starts liking and dating Zach out of nowhere, it's also unclear why exactly Rory likes Logan, no Jess, soap opera-esque drama starts happening all the time

Season 6

Pros: Jess comes back a changed man, the second Thanksgiving episode of the series, Rory's 21st birthday, The Friday Night's Alright for Fighting episode

Cons: soap opera-esque storyline continue happening all the time- it is revealed that Luke has a secret long lost kid, Rory and Lorelai don't even talk for the first 8 episodes of this season, Luke and Lorelai don't get married, Rory and Jess don't get back together, Lane and Zach get married, Lorelai sleeps with Christopher, Anna Nardini

Season 7

Pros: Luke punches Christopher, Rory's graduation, Paris's speech about how Rory is a great person, Richard's speech about how Lorelai is a remarkable person, Lorelai writes the character reference for Luke

Cons: for more than half a season Christopher is there all the time, Christopher and Lorelai get married, Lane gets pregnant, Marty turns into a horrible person, no Jess, new writers and it's evident

[atouchofireland]

PR Perception & Consequences: Luke Newton

[This analysis is from the perspective of a lover of story with a Masters in Publishing & Writing, with ties to a publicist with 20+ years experience.]

I didn't watch Bridgerton until a while after s2 came out. Partly because I hesitate with new shows and mainly because I hate waiting years between seasons.

I LOVE Derry Girls because it clicks with my mainly Irish family. So, I knew who Nicola was as Clare before watching Bridgerton, but nothing else.

That leads into the LN assumptions.

From what I can tell as a general viewer of the show and Social Media, he came from musical theater and Disney stuff in the UK before landing the Colin role in his mid 20's.

During this time, aka 2019/2020-2023, LN had a gf named Jade for that whole time.

Media reported that they'd broken up some time at the end of filming in June 2023. Then, there is some reports saying he got with his current partner, mere months later in at least 8/23 if not sooner. (Nic is known for keeping her even longterm relationships a secret, but Luke's previous gf would post a few pics and vids here and there.)

This is where PR should've started to protect his image before the first premiere and press tour even happened.

At this point, late 2023, Luke has not posted even a hint of his supposed app gf anywhere. Then he leaves for a 6-month world tour with his friend, of 5 years that he has easy chemistry with, but now they both are not with longtime partners.

LN leaned into the romantic press interviews with his friend because he was comfortable with her and it promoted the show.

Here's where his friends as PR shows dumbass judgment.

I believe I saw something about the app gf attending the 1st premier in London, before the tour, but it wasn't paparazzi-d. Whereas, after the WT, the 1st LN news was pap photos with this girl at the after party 2nd half premier. Basically, PURPOSEFULLY taking the romance illusion away from the couple that the actors built for the months leading up to this.

Bad PR leads off from here: self-described introvert Luke goes to Milan with 'gf',' fair enough it's fashion week. But, THEN he's BACK in Italy on "holiday." Getting paparazzi pics of him they didn't even get on his World Press Tour. Then possibly in Greece, continuing some vacation? So much of this shit makes zero sense both PR-wise and normal person-wise.

For example of good PR capitalizing on lead roles: Nicola is on a movie rn, she's part of A-list representation, she's possibly a future bond girl. Johnny Bailey was shooting a drama, Wicked, and his Bridgerton cameos at the same time. Simone is starring in a motion picture out soon.

The rumors of LN's friend Rory running his socials is horrible because: 1) Rory seems like a douchebag who wants more shirtless pictures of himself on his non-famous account than of his gf. 2) He puts Luke's skinny "similar to his gf" wannabe influencer gf on his instagram without hyping up any on Luke's actual work and projects.

This all gives off the vibe of this friend being resentful, taking advantage of Luke breaking up with his longterm gf and deciding to get more built for the show, and convincing him he needs the "hot rebound" for himself and image. As always, that gross straight man is wrong. All his friends say he's so sweet and quiet and genuine.

How I perceive him from his own press: Had a supportive, longterm gf who was also an aspiring actor as they were both coming up in their early 20's. LN started working out so much to get lean & abs to feel on-par with the other Bridgerton guys. Him and his gf grew apart, maybe even felt resentment, while LN was shooting so long for BS3. Shooting raps.

This is the overall perception that makes me and I think many others so mad: Luke had a sweet, curvy, talented gf for 4 years. And he was a thicker tall guy, not fat, not skinny, not ripped but amazingly curvy in the male way that's rare. He got all built for Bridgerton when Nic refused cuz it isn't necessary for the characters. And after all this real-life and on-screen romance with a mid-size woman, after becoming a "muscly man," he shows up with a stick-figure wanna be dance influencer.

His actions of allowing his pr/friend to paint him as if he gets "hot women" now that he's "desirable" is what makes me fucking sick about the perception of him and I think this is why so many Bridgerton fans in the SM sphere got the ick.

[evelhak]

Aaaaa, this!!! I literally cried, I am so happy to see some actual common sense!! I am so, SO tired of this trend, it's not just Rory either, there's a really unfair pattern going on where the "renaissance" on a piece of media is basically just fans ripping a protagonist to pieces for things that these fans do not hold other characters, particularly beloved antagonists and rivals, accountable for.

This video perfectly illustrates the dynamic: Rory, who tries her best to both achieve her goals and be a decent human being while doing it, who never was a perfect human if you paid attention, gets held to the standard of an angel, so every time she makes a mistake that mistake is treated as disproportionately horrible and irredeemable. Meanwhile, as a good example, Paris, who consistently treats other people horribly, gets downright babied, and how she deserved better is repeated, her own responsibility over her actions downplayed or completely ignored. Only her good qualities are remembered, and highlighted.

There's an excellent quote in the video:

"The audience loves Paris because she is so over the top that she becomes a non-character. But when you take her as a real person and judge her with the same standards as you would Lorelai and Rory, she is pretty terrible."

This. This happens with so many characters whose traits are so much that they are viewed as inherently comedic or unbelievable, so they don't count in people's eyes. Paris having a fit in her college entrance interview, yelling over the interviewers and defending eugenics, gets brushed off as "poor baby, she's clearly mentally ill, she just deserves better, she should have gotten in", while Rory, who got manipulated into an internship by the BIGGEST journalism figure just so he could tell her "she didn't have it" was JUST weak and entitled for getting upset and discouraged over it.

Paris cheating on her boyfriend for months with a college professor gets pushed under the rug because people are too uncomfortable to even acknowledge the whole thing, meanwhile Rory is THE WORST for sleeping with a married guy after she repeatedly asked him if both him and his wife agreed their marriage was over, suggested they could try counselling, and was lied to by said guy that both he and his wife knew things were over between them.

Yeah, Rory made mistakes, and definitely didn't act perfectly after either of the situations I mentioned. She was emotional and people generally make mistakes when they are. But for some reason certain characters get a free pass all the time, while it feels almost like Rory gets punished for even trying to be a good person. Like "See, I caught her making a mistake, that means she's the worst." As if trying to have morals and be decent is inherently arrogant and hypocritical. Like trying and failing is worse than not even trying. It's like, her mom and grandparents and home town expect her to be perfect, so fans did too, and now they're mad at her for being human because they put her on a pedestal. Meanwhile characters who consistently don't care about their impact on others don't get scrutinized, their actually horrible behaviour is just taken as comedy or proof of their victimhood.

Basically, people are desensitized to horrible things from certain characters, they expect it, so they don't react to it, but when Rory who is "supposed to be good" makes a mistake, it's suddenly the core of her character and all she is. Geez.

And don't get me wrong, I love both Paris and Rory. I love every character in the show. But this double standard drives me nuts. So many characters in the show have done very similar things as Rory gets accused of, some of them while feeling no remorse. Some of them have done a lot worse things that get forgiven easily.

And don't even get me started on what a hot guy with a tragic backstory gets excused for. Yeah, some things are understandable when you know the backstory. That doesn't make those things not wrong.

It's like people are obsessed with the idea that someone who appears good on the surface must be bad, and vice versa. Nuance be damned.

[darcytaylor]

I am surprised Luke's team hasn't taken temp of the lukewarm reacting and lack of engagement on all things Luke + gf and worked to establish a new narrative for him. Even a lighthearted podcast guest spot would've made a big difference IMO. And if doing an appearance wasn't something he had in him, a few better instagram posts would've at least started setting up a new story around him and his career.

It took a bit for other season's leads to line up some projects, so they could've easily done a bit of a pivot in effort to clear up some of the subpar press around him in effort to set up whatever is up next for him.

Even his few posts since S3 came out don't seem to be well thought out, or that good of content.

I'm also desperate to know what the other Bridge cast thought about pap pics of him and his GF going out the day of the part 2 premiere lol. At best, it seemed sloppy and horribly timed, and at worst it seemed attention pulling and like he couldn't wait to get off the Bridgerton train.

It is a really sad situation to see play out if I am being honest. I just hope that his team do have a plan and maybe it isn't in motion yet. It could be that Luke's team knew he would be attending Rory's birthday party, so to wait it out just incase of backlash from that.

I don't think his team is stupid (and I know some people disagree), but they have been in the game for a long time. His team would know photo's would be shared on his friends social media accounts and I think it would be worse to have Luke make steps in a certain direction only to see a regression. I think that would have the potential to harm any plan that they may or may not have (while also making Luke's situation worse).

Luke's social media is interesting. I have said this before but I think that his decision to make it professional came a bit too late. He should have set it up that way long before the promo tour. But he probably wasn't completely sure until it was too late, and now it is clear he is having issues with his decision. He doesn't have jobs lined up other than Bridgerton season 4 (that we know of anyway) and his recent posts are subpar.

I also don't think Luke truly understood the potential for people to switch on his friend group (for the longest time people loved Rory, it's also been interesting to see that switch in the fans). He doesn't have the upper hand of his friends keeping his name out their, without it bringing drama and hate.

I am completely on Luke's side to want to distance himself from social media, but he's been put in a hard spot since his friends seem to be unwilling to not capitalize on him (even when they know it will not benefit Luke at this very moment). But I realize that they are also learning about the newfound fame of their friend, so it may just be a learning curve for them as well. (I do realize that their public persona's aren't doing them any favours and it's their actions that have made people come to this conclusion, but sometimes empathy is cool).

I do think that because of the backlash from Rory's birthday, Luke's team did contact him to make sure he is unseen in any of the photo's or video's. Or it's Luke's way of protecting his friends and asking them not to post any photo's or video's of him in them (does this make a difference at this point since they were caught by somebody else? Probably not).

I would assume that all of the Bridgerton cast mates think that the paparazzi walk on the night of the premier was unfortunate, and probably wish for it to have not happened. I agree with what you said - "At best, it seemed sloppy and horribly timed, and at worst it seemed attention pulling and like he couldn't wait to get off the Bridgerton train."

This was a very long winded response but I guess I had lots to say about this topic!

And as always, this is all speculation. I do not know any of these people personally. Could all of this be untrue, true or somewhere in between? Yes. So please keep that in mind.