snowflake challenge #10

[svgurl]

In your own space, create a fanwork.

Here's a snippet of a Rory/Jess New Year's Eve fic I started for a landcomm but never finished. Jess isn't in it, just Rory, Luke & Lorelai. :D

"Are you sure? We can stay."

Rory smiled at Luke's offer, but shook her head. "No, I will be fine. You two go have fun."

The cringe she received in response made her smile widen. Luke was never going to be the guy to be gung ho about going to large parties, but she knew that he would do anything to make his wife happy.

In this case, that involved going to the big Stars Hollow New Year's Eve gathering, big being relative of course.

"Really, sweetie," Lorelai said, getting their attention as she walked into the living room, one hand fixing her earring. "We can stay and hang out with you and Leia. Taylor will be dramatic but when isn't Taylor dramatic?"

Luke nodded, almost eagerly, his eyes darting to where Rory's daughter was sitting in her playpen. "Yes, we're more than happy to stick around and keep you both company."

Lorelai smirked, clearly aware of Luke's underlying motive, but happy to indulge him.

"Oh, I'm sure you would love to stick around," she said, unable to resist teasing him. She looked solemnly at Rory. "I hope you know what a big sacrifice that is. After all, Luke is such a wild party animal."

Rory mirrored her expression. "Absolute party animal. Hard to keep this guy indoors."

"Oh, jeez," Luke groaned, causing Rory and and Lorelai to giggle.

"No, though, you both go," Rory said, growing serious. "You have done more than enough to help and you deserve a night off." She walked over and picked up Leia. "We will be just fine, won't we?" Leia giggled and Rory beamed. "See! Honestly, I don't think I will even make it to midnight. I might crash when she does."

"Ah, the early days of parenthood," Lorelai said, sighing deeply. "Get the sleep while you can." She looked fondly over at the two of them. "Of course, you made it easy, always sleeping and eating on time."

It was hard to think that Lorelai was more than half her age when she had her, but Rory tried not to focus too much on that particular fact.

"Now that is unsurprising," Luke chimed in, giving them both a soft smile.

"Rory was born a little early and she has been determined to make up for that ever since," Lorelai said, laughing, and the two of them shared in her amusement. "All right, if we're going to go, we should go. There's no telling that Taylor won't kick us out at 9PM, in ordinance of the town's noise laws."

Comments

[muccamukk]

Haha, this is so snarky and fun. I love everyone slightly jockeying to go or to NOT go to the party. There's so much personality in the dialogue.

[svgurl]

Thank you! I feel like Luke will always use any excuse to get out of town events. Since the dialogue is so central to the show, it means a lot that you think it's good here. :D

[pianogurl330]

Aw I love this and getting a glimpse of Rory being a mom. I love their banter in the dialogue especially with Luke, Rory, and Lorelai.

[svgurl]

Thank you! They're always bantering on the show so I try to squeeze it in, and I am glad you think it worked. :D

[senmut]

Your snippet is twice as long as half my posted fic!

And it is lovely!

[svgurl]

LOL Well, no one would ever describe me as 'concise'. :D

Thank you!

[royalblue31]

This was so cute! Also, a Stars Hollow NYE party? Love that. It makes me realize they never did anything NYE-themed. That would have been super fun.

[svgurl]

Thank you! I know, it's interesting to realize how many holidays were skipped over. I looked it up once and they didn't even really have a Halloween episode, which is weird since it would be perfect for the show. It definitely would've been fun to see happen - lots of potential shenanigans. :D

[royalblue31]

Omigod, I never even...Yes, they totally should have done a Halloween episode! Halloween episodes are my fave when it comes to series. I can't believe I didn't notice that.

[svgurl]

I was doing a 'Halloween' challenge for lands_of_magic and I was looking up Halloween episodes for various shows and all "surely GG would've had one" and that is how I found out no, they didn't. Halloween episodes are always fun! Candy, costumes ... it seems right up their alley! I think we saw Thanksgiving the most.

[royalblue31]

Candy, costumes ... it seems right up their alley!

That is so true! Also, about Thanksgiving, I loved A Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving. It's probably my ultimate TV Thankgiving episode. There was just so much happening in that. From Rory/Jess, to Cat Kirk, to Luke actually apparently loving when the girls are over for Thanksgiving, to Emily's soft, "You can't even let Rory have one piece of our lives, even if it's her choice. You hate us that much." And then Dave Rygalski. Gosh, Dave Rygalski. I was so sad to see him go. He and Lane were adorable. And he was Mrs. Kim-approved!

[svgurl]

Oh yes, that was a great episode! I love all the scenes you mentioned. Luke is such a softy and the Emily & Lorelai relationship is fascinating. Dave is the absolute best! Lane/Dave is definitely my preferred ship for her and I was definitely sad to see him go too. He would've been her endgame had Adam Brody not gotten The O.C.

[royalblue31]

Dave was such a missed opportunity. His Mrs. Kim interactions were the best.

[svgurl]

For sure! His trying to decipher what Mrs Kim said and reading the whole bible so he could take Lane to prom was so fun. I feel like the GG writers held out hope for as long as they could that he could come back before they moved on but Lane deserved better.

[royalblue31]

Lane so deserved better! Zack had his moments, but he was no Dave. Her falling for him felt so out of the blue and forced. It took me a while to warm up to him, like probably around after they got married. That said, it was good to see them in AYITL together, kind of like they'd married a best friend, which I guess was the idea.

[svgurl]

Yeah, Zack was okay but it definitely felt really sudden and out of blue, like the writers looked around and just picked a guy. One second, she was annoyed with him and then another she was like 'omg maybe this means i LIKE him'. Plus I wanted Lane to get a little more romance and he was not it. He and Mrs Kim writing a song together was nice though. Lane getting pregnant after having one round of bad sex? Not great. I wish we could've had the show end with them on the road, at least trying the music thing, even if they didn't succeed.

That said, it was good to see them in AYITL together, kind of like they'd married a best friend, which I guess was the idea.
True, especially with what happened to Paris and Doyle.

[royalblue31]

like the writers looked around and just picked a guy. LOL, this made me laugh because it's so true! Honestly, I didn't like the whole hated him, oh maybe I like him schtick. It felt so...childish? I would have rather they warmed up to each other. I don't know, it was just so weird. Because Zach was just a total ladies man when he first came in, in a very cheesy way, and the Lane we know up until then wouldn't have gone for a guy like that.

The Mrs. Kim and Zach song thing was fun. I actually liked that one. And also when they buddy up to prepare for the baby. The softer Zach. Why couldn't we have had him and then have Lane see this whole other side of Zach and come to realize she likes him? That would have been so much better.

Paris and Doyle, oof. I mean, the bickering was entertaining, but I gotta admit prior to AYITL I would have thought they'd make it.

[svgurl]

Exactly. I also wanted to see signs that Zach liked her as much as she liked him and I didn't get that at all. A more gradual development would've benefited them greatly. I'm with you on Lane not being into the type of guy Zach was introduced as.

Same! I think if we saw more of that, I too would've been more appreciative of their relationship.

I thought they would too. I really think it was more of ASP deciding that all characters turn into their parents. :\

[royalblue31]

I really think it was more of ASP deciding that all characters turn into their parents.

Hard agree. It was an interesting "it all comes full circle" concept, but very un-Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls was supposed to be comfy, unserious fun with flecks of serious mixed in, and all these bittersweet and unfortunately realistic endings kinda stole the magic from that.

[svgurl]

Yeah, exactly. The point was that so many of these characters weren't and/or didn't want to be their parents (or in Lorelai's case, she didn't want Rory to be her, just in terms of the single mom aspect) and it feels kind of gloomy to make it seem that it is inevitable. I wasn't the biggest fan of s7 but the fact that was supposed to be the original ending made me grateful that ASP left. Rory being pregnant at 33 is a much different vibe than Rory being pregnant at 23. And I'm with you - I don't need realistic in my fun fiction. I want happy endings.

[royalblue31]

Rory being pregnant at 33 is a much different vibe than Rory being pregnant at 23.

I don't even know how I would have reacted if Rory got pregnant at 23. It would have derailed everything that happened from S1 up until then. Logan proposing already felt weird on its own. I was glad she said no.

There's a quality to GG that makes it almost aspirational heh. Like, I would love to live in a place like Stars Hollow, for all the kooky fun and community that it is. I would love to be able to eat the way Rory and Lorelai do and suffer their consequences (the consequences being literally none, LOL). Hey, even a school uniform that looked as passable as theirs did. It was pure fairytale with pinches of suspension of belief tossed in at the right times.

I mean, now that I think about it if any of their relationships worked out as perfectly as the rest of their lives did, I would have probably hated the show. But, you know, with S7 being the end, it was nice that at least most of their relationships—friendships, family, relationships—worked out. Closure and all.

AYITL was different from other revivals in that it stripped the characters of the closure they earned in S7 instead of letting them keep their closure and giving them new problems. That was the erasure part, for sure. I'm not sure if I'm remembering it right, but if AYITL was one of the first popular TV revivals, then that choice was a choice. It was certainly bold and took some getting used to.

[svgurl]

I would've been really upset and I can't imagine it would've been a popular choice overall. The Logan proposal was odd but I think that they wanted Rory to end the series single and needed some excuse for them to break up.

It is a very 'snowglobe' type place, where it all looks perfect and cutesy from the outside, including aspects of their lives. I can't imagine living there - the people would drive me nuts - but it is one of those places for me that I could visit for a weekend and tell stories about after lol

Exactly. I feel like I don't need much nuance or realism though; the type of show that GG begs for a happy ending. Real life can be depressing enough. I want my fiction to be happy and favorite characters to get what they want!

You summed it up perfectly. They could've come up with new issues without removing the growth that they already had. And I think you're right. I can't remember any revivals before it, at least not for a show as popular as GG.

[royalblue31]

The Logan proposal was odd but I think that they wanted Rory to end the series single and needed some excuse for them to break up.

This right here is the problem with how that particular relationship ended the first time. You pinned it perfectly, it felt like an excuse—and there was nothing to gain from that break up. The relationship just died and Rory was neither better or worse for it.

[evilinsanemonkey]

awww I love this!

[svgurl]

Thank you! :D