AU where Rory and Brad stay in touch. Rory gets Broadway tickets to see him perform and be in his element. She starts out going by herself, but at some point she lets it slip to Paris that they stay in touch and has to bring her along on her next theatre trip. Hilarity ensues.
AU where Rory and Dave became proper friends. They have each otherās emails and complain about university-work to each other. Sometimes it becomes a competition about who has the biggest and most terrible workload, other times itās arguing about who goes to the best school, sometimes itās sending each other early 2000s memes to help each other cope. And Dave asking for updates about Lane because of course.
AU where Doyle becomes this weird Ā«big brotherĀ»-type for Rory. Heāll rip her work to shreds without remourse but have an assistant spit in the coffee of anyone who badmouths her. He doesnāt go into an actual Ā«fight meĀ»-mode, but finds creative ways to make it known that one does not f*ck with Rory on his watch. No one can shit on her but him (and Paris, obviously). And any time he and Paris are on rocky road, he fights to keep Rory in the āseparationā.
AU where Glenn and Rory become office besties at the paper. Glenn barges into Roryās study sessions and they talk for hours about hopeless romance and the ethics of biographical works about living people and the best place to get coffee on campus. Heās still awkward and mopey and bad at picking up girls, but Rory finds that heās also a great listener and an honest critic and a loving friend.
AU where Marty doesnāt have a crush on Rory. People around them keep insisting theyāre going to get together and it makes them super-uncomfortable. But they have a heart to heart and realize their relationship is strictly platonic. They get to be proper friends throughout, with movie marathons and gossip and banter and emotional bonding and fights that have nothing to do with romance.
AU where Rory gets to have male friends. Not Ā«lessons who knock her down a pegĀ». Not Ā«nice guys waiting for their shotĀ». Not Ā«my boyfriendās friendsĀ» or Ā«my friendās boyfriendĀ». Not flimsy aquaintances or Ā«Sassy Gay Best Friends TMĀ» (although LGBT+ friends are more than welcome). Actual close male friends.
