frazzledsoul

[frazzledsoul]

I always thought Buffy switched networks after season 5 because WB didn't want it anymore, but turns out it was because WB wouldn't go higher than a $40 million budget and UPN swooped in and offered them $50 million, so now I'm picturing this

UPN: Welcome to our network! What are you going to do with the extra $10 million? Marti Noxon: I'm gonna make Buffy and Spike fuck a house down

#was kind of worth it tbh #spuffy #buffy the vampire slayer

[frazzledsoul]

#lane kim #anti christopher hayden #gilmore girls #frazzled loves polls

[frazzledsoul]

This is a pretty fair take on this kind of thing, given that something very similar happened to my family when I was a kid (my rebellious teen cousin moved in with us when I was young so my then 28-year-old mother could "get him through high school" and this didn't work out and he went off the rails for a bit after failing to graduate....things worked out eventually, but I don't think you can just throw a troubled teenager at someone who's relatively new to parenting and expect them to handle everything perfectly).

What I take issue with is the idea that's thrown around here that Jess hates Luke for rejecting him and believes that Luke never tried to do anything for him and doesn't want to have a positive relationship with him. That is not something that Jess believes and I don't see why people yearn for an antagonistic relationship that doesn't exist. Jess does appreciate the good things that Luke did for him and he doesn't resent him.

Oh, and by the way Lorelai did all the same things Luke did two years later. Rory drops out of school while in a self-destructive spiral, Lorelai objects, Rory twists the knife by reminding Lorelai of the college education she never got to have, and Lorelai reacts out of anger and tells Rory she can't come home if she is going to do this. Lorelai isn't judged as an absolute villain for doing these things and is still touted as the superior parent, yet she did the exact same thing. That doesn't seem fair to me.

Unpopular opinion (maybe): Luke's ultimatum at the end of Season 3 inadvertently reinforced Jess's choices that stopped him from finishing high school in the first place.

Disclaimer: The intent here isn't to attack Luke for how he handled things. The overall effect of Luke's presence in Jess's life is undoubtedly positive and instrumental to where Jess ended up. Luke was put in an unfair position that he wasn't prepared for, he genuinely cared and tried his best with the knowledge he had, and it would have been well within his rights to say no to Liz to begin with or to Jess when he came back after the car accident.

From what Jess tells Rory in "Teach Me Tonight," it sounds like he never had much academic support from adults, which is of course why Rory's belief in him will end up meaning so much. Details about Jess's childhood that are revealed once Liz is around suggest that Jess didn't have trustworthy adults in his life and had to learn how to be self-sufficient early. Even though we as the audience can see that Luke is responsible and trustworthy through his own actions and his relationships with people who have known him for many years, Jess doesn't have the same history with him, and it can take a long, long time to unlearn those survival instincts. Additionally, Jess's Walmart manager, as gregarious and pro-corporate as he seems to be, doesn't appear to engage in the practice of pressuring introverts to socialize (which happened to Rory at Chilton) and allows Jess to do something constructive and work toward a tangible reward. Some people get these benefits from going to school, but Jess didn't. Then there's a layer of youthful hubris here because Jess really did seem to think that he could manage all of this and go to school just enough to graduate based on what he tells Rory in S3 E17, Luke in S3 E18, and the principal in S3 E19. With of all this information in mind, it's really not surprising that Jess would prioritize work above school. His logic is self-destructive but understandable, and his fatal flaw ends up being that he committed to more responsibilities than a person could reasonably handle. This isn't the standard media portrayal of ditching school.

Luke's approach to being Jess's guardian is fairly hands-off. After Luke's "laying down the law" talk in the first episode Jess is in, the only requirement we see enforced is that Jess has to work at the diner, which Jess complies with. Luke didn't know Jess was working at Walmart at all until Jess bought his car, he didn't know Jess is eventually working more than full-time hours, and he didn't know Jess was missing as much school as he was. (This last one suggests a significant oversight at the school, which is another story.) When the extent of Jess's work hours is brought to his attention and Lorelai speculates about what is going on, he tells Lorelai that there is no way Jess would skip school and doesn't investigate further. When he realizes Jess is working some days instead of going to school, he offers to pay Jess more at the diner (and later steals his car) to prevent him from working at Walmart (the place he worked before he had a car to earn the money to buy it???) but doesn't press him about what is really going on.

So after all of that, it turns out Jess didn't go to school enough graduate. Luke does give Jess the option to stay in Stars Hollow and keep going to school, but I could never blame someone for not being able to have a rational conversation immediately after a stranger randomly shows up, claims paternity, and runs out. The emotional damage of that incident really can't be divorced from what happens here. Luke is of course also in crisis mode. Jess didn't graduate because he worked too much, so now he's in a position where his consequence is to keep doing what got him into trouble, only this time he doesn't have anyone looking after him. This isn't what Luke is intending, but his ultimatum basically reinforces Jess's mindset of prioritizing work (i.e. short-term financial security) above school and his reluctance to trust other people, and it reinforces Jess's family history (ironically not including Luke) of abandoning difficult situations (in this case, the aftermath of the fight with Dean) and relationships (in this case, Rory) instead of facing them. Jess ends up on his own with the money he had from work that he was saving for a different car, so he probably thinks it's a good thing he worked as much as he did, and he ends up without adult guidance or restrictions to help him sort all this out and repair the harm he caused. This could have turned out much more darkly than it did, and it's really a miracle that Jess got to where he was by the time he was 21.

When Jess is with Jimmy in California, he acknowledges that he's failed and doesn't know where to go from there. It probably isn't outlandish to think that Jess was earning more as a full-time forklift driver than what he is earning during Season 4. Factoring in the lower cost of living in Stars Hollow or somewhere nearby compared to New York, he probably could have been able earn a decent living if he stayed at Walmart (even if he wouldn't have been better off in the long run). That's probably why Luke's "I'm sorry I didn't think driving a forklift for the rest of your life was good enough for you" stung. It was likely a much better situation than whatever Jess is in mid-Season 4.

In late Season 4, Jess seems resigned to where he is. He doesn't complain or blame anyone else for his circumstances, even when Luke repeatedly mocks him in New York. (Even mid-Season 4, Jess doesn't express anger toward Luke about anything other than Luke stealing his car until Luke provokes him multiple times.) Maybe Jess was already thinking about writing a book or studying for a GED during Season 4, but his posture and mannerisms seem to suggest defeat more than anything else. At this point, Jess might not be envisioning anything other than what he has. It is only after Luke accepts Jess for who he is, and stops seeing him as a failed project, ("You are who you are. I cannot change that, and I'm going to stop trying.") that Jess really starts to move forward. Although Luke isn't even very positive in how he says this, it's still the sort of affirmation Jess always needed and maybe never received from a family member before. Then, he's honest with Luke about his emotions, he's receptive to Luke's advice, he expresses appreciation for what Luke did for him, he offers Luke a way to stay in contact, and he makes a commitment to pay him back even though Luke says he doesn't have to do so. He tries (and fails, for the time being) to make amends with Rory, and after all of these things happen, he progresses into the version of himself that returns in Season 6. Jess pursues a path that Luke doesn't quite understand but has accepted and is proud of (it's also a path that Rory does understand and is proud of, and both forms of support are so important).

#luke danes defense squad #he isn't the cartoon villain people want to make him out to be for how he acted #and jess did forgive him and wanted to be on good terms with him #he did not resent him for years and years over this ordeal #and i really don't like how luke has to atone forever for his mistakes yet rory is completely absolved for mistreating jess #and even considered morally superior to him #if luke's responsible for his unintentional cruelties than rory should be responsible for the stuff she did on purpose #but it doesn't work out that way for a lot of people

[frazzledsoul]

Not my absolute favorite take from the Dean fans over there. That would have to be a tie between "Jess isn't good enough for Rory because he's a homewrecker" (as if Rory is in any position to judge that one, come on) and "everything Dean did was justified since he loved Rory so much, including the affair" (I guess that's why he convinces her to hide their relationship, lies to her about breaking up with his wife, does his best the cover his tracks, and begs Lindsey not to leave him....so, so much love). But a nice try regardless.

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

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

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

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

#anti dean forester #he was always the worst

[frazzledsoul]

#it's ewan nation over here #ewan mitchell #house of the dragon

[frazzledsoul]

he was a punk she did ballet

#!!!!!! #give me alysmond now! #house of the dragon

[frazzledsoul]

I’m gonna be sick

#oh new ewan content?! #my beloved baby boy #ewan mitchell

[frazzledsoul]

when shipper dreams come true, AYITL edition

#the ship in question is l/l #but i do like the snapshot of jess casually reading and snarking during family wedding planning #that never could have happened during the os #gilmore girls ayitl

[frazzledsoul]

observations on rory gilmore’s (un)broke ass in AYITL, part two

(if I think any more about that horrible “therapy” session in partings or my real life circumstances, i’m going to cry. so i am continuing this)

so we all know AYITL era jess mariano. gorgeous, giving, takes care of his family, tries to make his uncle feel better about his romantic problems, has the right amount of manly scruff of his face without giving into tragic jack pearson esque facial hair, still a voracious reader.

but more to the point, he is a stable and accomplished individual who runs his own business.

flashback to 2003 when luke kicked jess out of stars hollow because jess could not manage to abide by his simple request to finish high school on time and stay out of trouble.  jess got his shizz together, reconciled with luke, authored at least one book, and worked his way up to pretty much running the book press he was employed at by the age of 22 (all without assistance from others). thirteen years later, he remains stable, accomplished, and mature. he’s basically the perfect man.

so, anyhoo. while jess was being an annoying punk back in 2003, rory was working her way up to being the valedictorian of her elite private school. she went on to graduate from yale and had a successful career for a while and did all the things she wanted to do in life. however, eventually it fell apart and she ended up moving back in with her parents because she is supposedly too broke to do anything else.

rory, why are you getting into a conversation with your ex boyfriend about underwear? but oookay. moving on

jess offers to lend her money.

we will come back to this. he then gives her the idea to write a book about her and lorelai.

so some time later, rory shows up in the cemetery in that mysterious car she doesn’t possess and isn’t legally allowed to drive with some concrete plans for her life.

(record scratches) Hold on, guys. Here is a current snapshot of what a two bedroom apartment in queens costs.

as we all know, lorelai does not take well to rory writing about their early years in poverty (and they didn’t get into the love triangle with luke and christopher! seriously, can you imagine. talk about stuff you don’t want the world to know about). rory won’t bother to consider her perspective, and angrily reminds lorelai of her only other options in life.

(record scratch again) Let’s not consider the option that Rory might have to get a job she doesn’t want, le horror! But let’s consider the price tag if Rory did want to go to grad school and become a teacher.

yes, theoretically rory could go to grad school anywhere to get her degree. but my point in that grad school isn’t cheap.

so how does rory, who is supposedly so broke she has to live with luke and lorelai, can’t afford to buy underwear, and is considering letting jess loan her money, pay for all of this stuff?

apartments that are two grand a month cost money. grad school costs money. we do not see rory doing anything that actually earns her a paycheck over the course of the revival, and those upper-class privileges we saw her enjoying with logan? provided by him, courtesy of his wealthy family and his hard work.

where would you get the money, rory? could it be that you have inheritance money from your grandfather, a trust fund from your grandparents, and likely money from your biological father as well and you don’t really need to work for a living?

the revival wants to have it both ways. it wants us to accept rory as a broke millennial with few options in life who is forced to move home, and yet it also wants us to accept that she has enough resources at her disposal that she can afford things like cushy nyc apartments and graduate school if she wants them.

(and why did the queens option go away after she started fighting with lorelai? she returns to crashing on lane’s sofa and then spends some time at her grandmother’s empty mansion before returning home once again. several months appear to pass during that time period. if she had the resources to set up that kind of life, why didn’t she move forward in doing so instead of coasting on the generosity of others?)

the other option is that she is lying to jess about her circumstances. after all, jess worked his way up to a comfortable position in life on his own, despite not having the money and (as far as we know) the education that rory had. it’s possible that rory feels guilty for having access to these resources she didn’t earn completely on her own, and is intentionally hiding them. but it just pisses me off that she lets him contemplate giving her the money that he earned when she doesn’t need it.

but that doesn’t even make sense, either. jess and rory effectively belong to the same family, because of luke and lorelai. jess has been to her grandparents’s house at least once (and over the years, possibly more than once). he has known her way too long not to know of her background, and to the money she has access to if she wants it.

so, essentially, rory is not broke, was never broke, and indeed has a flexible relationship with the concept of working for a living. it would have been nice if the revival had been honest about this.

(the possible class differences between jess and rory are interesting in themselves, but despite all of this, at the end of the revival i think she is more of a fit lifestyle wise for jess than for ayitl era logan, even if logan weren’t attached to someone else. but that is a topic for another day).

#okay i lost the first part of this but anyhoo #this is hardcore proof rory is not broke in ayitl #she has money from sonewhere to affiord not to work and to rent apartments without a job #rory gilmore #gilmore girls #gilmore gurls ayitl #forgive the shitty screenshots

[frazzledsoul]

Perfect/awful timing in The Bear – part 4 S02E03 – Sundae

bonus:

#one of maybe three actually funny moments in the whole show #(btw the pregnancy was pretty obvious long before this) #the bear

[frazzledsoul]

New entries in the Battle of The (Former) Boyfriends on the Nielsen streaming lists. Remember how I said Matt Czuchry's medical show The Resident looked like it almost charted but didn't quite make it, whereas This Is Us did? Turns out that was wrong. They weren't counting the numbers correctly. So this week The Resident was #2 on Nielsen for March 25- 31.

This Is Us charted at 929 million minutes viewed back in January.

So Team (AU) Logan, you have this one, I guess. We'll see if it sticks around. This Is Us charted for a month before falling off.

#the resident is probably way easier to binge until emily van camp exits the narrative #the resident #this is us #matt czuchry #milo ventimiglia #battle of the boyfriends #AU streaming version

[frazzledsoul]

Rory thanking her boyfriend for not being mad at her for wanting to spend a night alone is genuinely such a terrible sign. All she wanted to do is have a night in and do laundry, and her boyfriend thinks his a "saint" for allowing her to do that???

#i've been reading season 4 transcripts lately because the adultery dance with dean goes on for a long time before anything actually happens #and the show tries to gaslight the audience hardcore on this #dean's so cute! dean was so in love with rory! dean would do anything for her! #meanwhile he's meeting roey in dark alleys at yale and encouraging her to keep their friendship a secret from his wife #because lindsey just doesn't understand him like rory does #just classic tactics from the abusive boyfriend/cheater's handbook #but sure #that asshole's just so sweet and really cares!

[frazzledsoul]

#not really a fandom name but my cousin named her kid maverick #as in that's literally on his birth certificate #my niece is named something weird but i won't discuss it here #nothing really outrageous though

[frazzledsoul]

Fallout (2024) I 1.03 The Head

#sounds familiar #fallout tv

[frazzledsoul]

MILO VENTIMIGLIA as JACK PEARSON This Is Us S04E18 “Strangers: Part Two”

#there will never be anyone who dilfed as hard as this man #jack pearson #this is us

[frazzledsoul]

an important gilmore girls motif

#raris! #gilmore girls

[frazzledsoul]

#the way my head leapt straight to that literati time traveling fic tho