On his I Am All In podcast, actor Scott Patterson recently spoke about an upsetting time he had on the set of Gilmore Girls playing Luke Danes. Thankfully, much of Patterson's experiences filming the beloved show were positive, enough that he now has a hit podcast about it, with a series of devoted fans. These fans remain incredibly devoted to Gilmore Girls even over 20 years since it first premiered, with fanfictions regularly posted and updated on the fanfiction hosting site Archive Of Our Own (AO3). Since the series premiered in 2000 on The WB, the world of fanfiction writing has changed dramatically, with the fandom migrating over time from LiveJournal, to FanFiction.net, to various fansites, and now to AO3.
Just as the sites that host these fanworks have changed with time, the relationships that fans are drawn to exploring through fanfiction have changed, too. Some mainstream pairings like Luke and Lorelai remain just as popular as they were when the series was airing, but pairings that were likely once considered parts of private fan subcultures have also become more popular with time, too, with Gellermore picking up steam.
Paris Geller/Lorelai Gilmore
Paris Geller may have started off the series as a snob who looked down her nose at Stars Hollow and its quirky residents, but underneath it all, she was quite envious of Rory and the close relationship she had with her mother. Initially, Paris didn't know what to do with Lorelai's warmth but came around to embrace it.
Although it is a relatively minor pairing in the fandom at large, the romantic pairing of Lorelai and Paris is nevertheless one of the fandom's most popular on AO3. These two only ever have a quasi-mother-daughter relationship in their few scenes across the series' seven-season run, but fanworks explore what could have been if there had been a romantic subtext in their interactions once Paris came of age.
Dean Forester/Jess Mariano
A common trope in fanfiction finds authors pairing two male rivals together for a romantic reading of fraught on-screen relationships, especially when they are fighting each other through an otherwise heterosexual love triangle.
Rory goes through a few love triangles, but the one featuring Dean and Jess at odds for her affection has the most heat. The boy never once get along in their interactions, leading them to have a huge amount of tension, which fans are able to work with well in their reinterpretations.
Balcony Buddies (Lorelai Gilmore/Christopher Hayden)
There are many Gilmore Girls couples who just can't quite stay away from each other, no matter how bad they are together, with Lorelai and Christopher the guiltiest. Due to the lengthy history between the two, involving a teen pregnancy, a near marriage, and many false starts, these two have many intense moments together that some fans can't help but root for.
Their relationship, known as Balcony Buddies due to their stolen moments together on the balcony of the Gilmore home, is incredibly open to interpretation and has many years of history to fill in, which is perfect for fans who are eager to understand these characters and why they could or could not work.
Trory (Tristan Dugray/Rory Gilmore)
Long before Logan Huntzberger entered the world of Gilmore Girls, Rory's affections are sought by another entitled rich boy: Chad Michael Murray's Tristan Dugray. Before Murray became famous for starring in One Tree Hill, he portrayed Tristan across the first two seasons of Gilmore Girls as a snobby rich kid who loved to pick on Rory whenever he could.
It's a clear example of the problematic trope of "boy pulls girl's pigtails when he likes her," and while the two do share a kiss after Rory broke up with Dean, this relationship never goes anywhere. Dubbed Trory by fans, this pairing nevertheless remains popular, with many shippers wondering what could have been if Murray had stuck around on the series.
Emily Gilmore/Richard Gilmore
The long-established relationships in a series are often the ones that receive less attention in fandom. Since they are already set up and stable, there is usually less friction and potential for exploration in transformative works. But it is virtually impossible to find a Gilmore fan who doesn't adore the marriage between Richard and Emily.
While this couple isn't the focus of as many fanfiction stories as some of the series' more hotly contested pairings, they are nevertheless a reliable presence across almost all Gilmore Girls universe fanfictions. But these two have their devoted base of authors as well, which is how they rank as high among the ships as they do.
Narco (Dean Forester/Rory Gilmore)
First love might not always be forever, but that doesn't keep some fans from choosing Team Dean in the great Rory love interest race.
The relationship between Dean and Rory, known as Narco to old-school fans due to the memorable incident where they fall asleep together after Rory's dance, might not have as many passionate fans as some of her other romantic options, but Team Dean is still going strong to this day. Fanfictions focused on earlier seasons of the series often explore their relationship in greater detail.
Gellermore (Paris Geller/Rory Gilmore)
One of the most popular Gilmore Girls ships is actually one that has only grown in popularity the longer the series has been off the air. As LGBTQ+ readings of characters become increasingly mainstream, and as shippers embrace more inclusive and diverse relationships, the possibility of a romance between rivals-turned-best-friends Paris and Rory is something that fandom continues to explore in detail.
The friendship between Paris and Rory is never easy, given their strong personalities and clashing worldviews and backgrounds. But over the years, they always make amends and stand by each other, which makes their relationship well worth rooting for, platonically or otherwise.
Rogan (Rory Gilmore/Logan Huntzberger)
Logan is one of Rory's longest-lasting relationships in the series, spanning from her college years and beyond, thanks to the Netflix revival miniseries. For some shippers, Logan presents the perfect romantic foil to Rory's character, since he represents the world of the elite that her mother left behind and the world that Rory is drawn to.
These two have a combative relationship at first but quickly fall into a friends-with-benefits situation that turns into something more. They can never seem to quit each other, either, which makes the Rogan pairing one easy for fans to theorize about, with many fanfictions of these two finding each other again over the years making up a large part of the fandom's Rogan fanfiction.
Java Junkies (Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore)
There is much more to the world of Gilmore Girls than its romantic relationships, especially since it is a family-driven drama. But from the pilot episode, it was obvious to all viewers that Luke and Lorelai were made for each other, even if they would take their sweet time figuring it out for themselves. Since it took four seasons for Luke and Lorelai, affectionately dubbed Java Junkies by the fan since Luke feeds Lorelai's caffeine addiction, to find their way to each other, there are many fanfictions that exist to fill in the gaps along the way in their relationship.
There are also plenty of fanfictions that explore alternate scenarios of their getting together, or what could have happened in the time between the end of the original series and the subsequent Netflix series. The banter and chemistry between these two make their fanfiction popularity a no-brainer.
Literati (Jess Mariano/Rory Gilmore)
Sometimes, the pairings that fandoms are drawn to are the ones that don't get the happily ever afters that fans feel they deserve. In the case of Gilmore Girls, the number one ship ranking on AO3 belongs safely in the hands of the romance known as Literati, the pairing of book lovers Rory and Jess.
It was never going to be easy for these two, given the town's rejection of Jess and their difficulties in communicating openly with each other when it matters most. But that didn't stop fans from falling head over heels for their witty banter, reality-inspired chemistry thanks to the relationship between Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia, and overall vibe of "right person, wrong time."