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alonenotlonely

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  1. http://www.cracked.com/article_25731_inside-creepy-sex-cult-thatE28099s-been-all-over-news.html
  2. If a billionaire "heir", my multimillionaire grandparents (though, unsurprisingly, the writers were inconsistent about how wealthy Emily and Richard supposedly are and where they rank in the show's imaginary New England/Downton Abbey societal hierarchy) and sometimes Christopher were all waiting around to throw unlimited money my way anytime I might decide I "need" or just want it, I might not be as diligent about my coupon clipping as I am. :) It still cracks me up that we were supposed to find Lorelai and Rory's financial issues relatable in some way. The writers of this show were so detached from reality! I'm guessing that during the one or two episodes a season where Rory suddenly whines about being "broke," we're not supposed to want to smack her? This despite the fact that she almost never has a job [even as an adult ten years out of college], whines and sulks through the few halfhearted attempts at work she ever seemed to make [again, even as a fully grown woman!], lives daily as if she hadn't a financial worry in the world, and has access to untold funds from people who adore and spoil her unconditionally. That's not even taking into account her trust fund and whatever she's now inherited from Richard, though I guess all those European excursions to have sex with an engaged man while cheating on her devoted boyfriend must add up. Poor Rory...we should start a GoFundMe page for her :)
  3. Y'all are forgetting about how hard Rory hustled at that card swiping job in the cafeteria! She spent the whole time on the phone whining and complaining about having to work rather than actually working and apparently stuck with it for one (!) shift before opting never to return. If that's not a stellar, scrappy work ethic that we should all strive to emulate, I don't know what is. If Rory was deliberately written to be spoiled, obnoxiously oblivious and entitled, then I'd find her behavior from season 4 onward a lot more palatable. I even had a grudging respect for the revival for showing how lost someone as coddled yet clueless as Rory might actually turn out ten years down the road. It seemed the closest the show had ever come to acknowledging the depth and extent of Rory's flaws. Generally, however, I don't think the writers see their characters like I do, and it leads to a disconnect whenever I rewatch GG A few folks noted a while back that the writers would have been better off avoiding socioeconomic status and financial matters entirely rather than depicting them so inconsistently and inaccurately, and I'm in absolute agreement. There are few things more grating than listening to Lorelai and especially Rory suddenly whine about being "broke" when a. they're NOT, not even close, b. even if they ever were, they have a handful of wealthy people in their lives who are always eager to give them as much money as anyone could ever possibly need - and that's GIVE, not even loan. c. the writers themselves forget about the Gilmore girls' supposed money problems by the next episode, and for the overwhelming majority of every season, they live as if they are more financially comfortable than 98% of us ever will be. The writers also sometimes forget what century we're in, like when they model Emily and Richard after Gilligan's Island Thurston Howell and his wife or when they tried to float the idea that Logan is about to enter a loveless marriage in order to maintain the family's "dynasty" like they were cribbing from Downton Abbey. I wish the writers would stick to their strengths, like witty dialogue and...come to think of it, do they have a true and consistent strength other than witty dialogue? .
  4. I love this thread! I love this fandom. And I still love this exasperating but special show that has become way too huge a part of my life. :) I'm extremely late to the UO party, but here's my meager contribution: 1. I think Rory and Jess are meant to be together. Jess said he felt that way the first time he saw her and SAME, Jess...same :) They have more than their share of issues, but I never stopped feeling their palpable chemistry and connection even when I wished I could have. And AYITL actually underscored for me that they're each other's "one." I know they had just a couple of scenes and that those scenes weren't even romantic in nature, but something about their rapport and how each still sees the potential best in the other even when they're at their worst just gets to me. Sometimes writers try to tell us that two people instinctively get each other and I'll fail to see it, but with Rory and Jess, I never DON'T see it. Like others have said, maybe part of what I'm seeing is Alexis and Milo's real life feelings seeping onto the screen, but I'm hopelessly devoted to these two no matter how much some of the writing makes me cringe. 2. I love Luke and Lorelai too, still and always. I have to confess that I'm a little confused about their arc in AYITL. While we're on the topic, I'm confused by a lot of the writing choices Amy made for then in seasons 5 and 6 as well, but that's a whole different rant! In AYITL, were we supposed to conclude that their rocky past had made them reluctant to honestly communicate for fear that their relationship would once again fall apart? If so, that explains why Luke reminding her that he's never going anywhere no matter what had resonance. Or was the point supposed to be that restless souls like Lorelai sometimes don't know that they've already found happiness and contentment right where they are until they open their eyes and let themselves see it? I feel like I know what they were trying to show with Emily and even Rory, but Lorelai's AYITL arc still leaves me a little muddled. 3. I despise Logan and that asinine Life and Death Brigade even when they were college kids and don't have the words to express how pitiful and irritating I find them as adults. As someone else said, I don't find them whimsical, charming and charismatic. I seriously think they're ridiculous to the point where I feel secondhand embarrassment whenever they're on screen. And even though it's not Logan's fault that he and his lifestyle bring out the most unlikable facets of Rory's character, the point remains that I can't stand her when she's around him, and this is coming from one of the dwindling few who still cares deeply about Rory overall. 4. It's true that Lorelai is often awful towards her parents and should be blamed for a lot of the problems in their relationships. But to me it's also true that some of us underestimate just how difficult it would be to have Emily as a mother. There were times when Lorelai was a lot more forgiving towards Emily than I would have been, though let's not delve into what that reveals about me! 5. I still love these characters despite my dislike for how they were often written later on. Rory, Lorelai, Luke, Emily, Jess, Richard - I love all the main ones except Logan. I'm just not that discerning when it comes to this show! Like someone else said, I will objectively acknowledge all that's flawed about these characters and the way their relationships are depicted while still loving them anyway. I am, like many of these characters, stubborn as hell. :) Thank you to all of you who keep this show alive in our minds and hearts!
  5. My most unpopular opinion: Ann is one of my favorite characters, not just of this show but ever. I just adore her! I went on about why for a few paragraphs but deleted them to spare you all the pain of reading my fangirl rambling. And I agree with the above that Chris and Ann ended up one of my favorite relationships on the show. They're two of my favorites separately and together, and I love that they didn't feel compelled to get married. In her own understated way, Ann is a surprisingly independent thinker and really comes into her own as the series progresses. April got worse and worse for me. I think someone pinpointed it well when they said that she grew more mean and bitter with less and less reason to be given that her life was pretty amazing and everyone around her unconditionally accepted and even rewarded her horrible behavior. I understand that occasionally she offers the people who continuously shower her with love, praise and opportunities a kind gesture in return, however grudgingly, but then she reverts right back to being terrible nearly all the time for no discernible reason, so I found her moments of decency less and less touching. She does have relatable moments, and the thing about loving animals more than people make me connect with her a little, but unless it's a scene where we get to see her be a decent and loving human being with Andy, I find myself wanting to muzzle her. Same! The description from the person who loves her is technically accurate and makes me think this should be my favorite character on the whole show, but like the poster who responded, for me April just comes together in a way that makes me despise her. Is it the way she's written, the acting, something else that I can't define? It reminds me of how I feel about Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Gina Linetti, who is also constantly mean, unappreciative, rude, entitled and whiny but is always embraced and rewarded anyway. Maybe I found either of these characters funny, I'd be more tolerant of their flaws. I was surprised to see how many aren't crazy about Chris or even Ben. It's so interesting how we all click with different characters. Chris and Ben are two of my very favorite males ever! It seems the fandom and most critics highlight season 3 as the best of the series, but for me it's seasons 4 and 5. Leslie is the easiest for me to admire but sometimes the most annoying for me to watch. Obviously I can't imagine the show without her, but there's something about the character or maybe the actress that can irk me. If this many of us agree that the Jerry mockery is unfunny, mean and just dumb, does it still count as unpopular? I don't necessarily even mind humor that some deem mean. The thing for me is that the "mean" joke is 1. funny, 2. has some sort of point, and 3. isn't just obnoxiously repetitive, and the cruelty to Jerry throughout the series is 0-for-3 on that score. I worry it didn't come through that I really love this show. Maybe it's that a lot of what I love about this show are the things that nearly everyone seems to love, so it doesn't come up in a thread devoted to unpopular opinions. I only have two or three shows I'd consider myself obsessed with, and this is one of them!
  6. I just want to sob with happiness that other folks out there still love this show! And also still feel free to snark about the many things that are wrong with it. Even when this show disappoints for long stretches of time, I forgive it because it stole my heart from the very first episodes. To borrow from a sentiment that others expressed far better, it diverts me, it lifts my spirits, it energizes me. It's inspired me to write my first fanfiction and an incoherent rant about why it gets so little critical acclaim. Season 4 is my favorite. I'm an unabashed Cole fan, and this is by far his best season, but that's not even in the top three reasons why this one is at the top of my list. It just seems to offer more - more substance, more pathos, more depth, but also humor, heart and hope. I love how the season honors Prue's memory while integrating Paige. My initial post for this thread had a list of my favorite episodes, which I deleted after reading that the moderators frown on lists. But most of the episodes on that list happened to come from this season. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are deadlocked. They all showcase a lot of what I love about Charmed and a little of what I don't love as well. The later seasons are at the bottom, but there's a lot I enjoyed about them once I adjusted my expectations and learned to skip through certain scenes!
  7. I just saw the series again and am very excited to find others who still care about the Charmed Ones! You all probably won't be as excited to have found me once you see how unpopular my opinions are :-) I'm so glad we have this safe space to confess without reprisal. I'm probably far too old to use ship as a verb, but I will when I confess that I "ship" Phoebe and Cole. I may even be an honorary captain. ;) Are you all correct when you point out how toxic aspects of their dynamic were? Absolutely. But as a consumer of fiction, I look for very different things than I would in real life, and I found myself very invested in them. Chemistry varies so much from viewer to viewer, but I'm in the camp who thinks they had a surplus of chemistry, passion and a true connection. They bring up themes and potential stories that really resonate with me, inspiring me to become the oldest fanfiction writer in fandom history as I grapple with what they were and could have been. I concur with the fan who said that Cole is a layered and compelling character, especially when contrasted with the other Charmed males who were such nonentities and seemed lacking in any personality or human complexity at all. This is just me - I respect that much of the fandom dislikes them. I'm in the dwindling minority who loves Phoebe. Scratch that: I love Phoebe through most of the first four seasons. I refuse to acknowledge the Phoebe of later seasons as the real Phoebe and tell myself that she was actually a shapeshifter :) The real Phoebe was impulsive and free-spirited in ways that could sometimes manifest as carelessness and selfishness, but she was also warmhearted, compassionate, devoted to helping people in peril, patient, forgiving, optimistic, encouraging, creative and so much more. The Phoebe who was obsessed with finding a husband when the real Phoebe wasn't sure she could ever see herself married at all, who was ruthlessly obsessed with her career while the real Phoebe valued family and people in general far beyond anything resembling professional success, and the Phoebe who became spiritless when the real Phoebe was the opposite? I refuse to accept her as the real Phoebe. #blissfuldenial I wish Leo had left for good at the end of S1. I tried to care about Leo and Piper's relationship but could never manage it. More importantly, as others here have noted, Leo's presence gave us an entire series of the "elders" playing a far bigger role in the sisters' lives than I would have liked. It led to less resourcefulness and autonomy on the part of the sisters and less interesting storylines in general. Until reading this thread, I honestly thought I was the only fan who would pick Piper as my least favorite sister. The posts here made me wonder if I just don't think the right actress was cast in the role, as Holly Marie Combs is more of a hardened, snarky person who always looks like she's sucking on a particularly sour lemon. Maybe she would have been better as a character like Prue, though I did like Shannon Dougherty in that role. But the writing is to blame too. Like someone said, in an eight-season show about witches, having one main character sulk and whine in every single episode about being a witch is bound to get tiresome. And sulking and whining about everything else while she was at it. I'm probably more like Piper than the other sisters, but instead of finding her relatable, I just dislike her. Phoebe's advice column would probably say it's because I see things in Piper that I dislike in myself! I think my order would go Phoebe of Early Seasons, Prue and Paige in a deadlock for the silver medal, Piper and Phoebe of Later seasons in a race to the bottom of my rankings I'm now going to talk your collective ears off in the thread for favorite seasons and episodes!
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