Archive of Our Own ^beta

Java Hut is the massive multiplayer crossover of coffeeshop AUs, and it's pretty much whatever anyone who wants to use it as a setting needs it to be. All fandoms are welcome, and all ships are fair game as long as they're rarepairs.

The bare basics of the setting are these: Java Hut is owned by a nice man named John Smith (make of that name what you will). It's situated a little bit off the main thoroughfare of a decently sized town/city/[place that can have a downtown or business-type area, but still isn't that huge]. There's a nearby liberal arts university and several nearby schools (which are all whatever anyone needs or wants them to be, at any given time). The decor is clean and comfortable, cozy and welcoming, with enough chairs and sofas and tables for everyone. There is no employee uniform, but there is a recommended purple smock and a, "for god's sakes, please tie your hair back if it's long enough to be a nuisance," policy. There is free, unprotected wifi, though finding a power outlet is occasionally problematic — not because there's a shortage of them, but, well… some of them are in interesting and hard-to-reach places.

The purpose of this collection is to hoard ALL THE RAREPAIR COFFEESHOP AU FIC. If it's set at Java Hut, then cool. If it's not set at Java Hut, then that's okay, too.

Is my fandom/kink/character/ship/etc. welcome here?
Yes. Absolutely, yes. Everybody can come play, and the more, the merrier. Just remember the basics: a. write a coffeeshop AU; b. write a rarepair in that setting; c. don't be a douche to anybody; and d. have fun.

How are you defining "rare pair"?
Unfortunately, that's a pretty subjective question, so I'm going to mostly leave that up to your discretion and put y'all on the honor system. One, I don't know every fandom ever, so I can't judge the rarity of a LOT of the pairings floating around out there. Two, I don't have the spoons to police absolutely everything that comes in here; I just don't. And three, you're all responsible enough to be reading and writing fanfiction, so I'm trusting you're responsible enough not to abuse the honor system.

Basically: I'm not your boss; use good judgement and don't be a dick, and we'll be good.

That said: there are some ships that are decidedly NOT rarepairs (e.g., Ron/Hermione, Harry/Hermione, Kirk/Spock/McCoy (and the twosomes thereof), Dean/Castiel, Sam/Dean, Stiles/Derek, Kurt/Blaine, etc. etc. etc.), and since the whole point of this collection is to gather up and share the love for rarepairs, those ships can't be the main focus of anything you submit to this collection. Popular ships as side-pairings and brief mentions of them are cool, but if your 500-word ficlet is mostly about Dean/Castiel instead of Bela/Sarah, then that's not cool.

What if my rarepair coffeeshop AU isn't set at Java Hut?
Then that's okay! All rarepair coffeeshop AUs are welcome here. I mostly put Java Hut here as something that people could use if they didn't want to come up with their own coffeeshop AUs. Since… y'know, it's easier to just have a quick reference to play around with.

What the Hell is up with Java Hut anyway?
Java Hut (the fictional location) is based on and named after the real-life coffeeshop that I spent an inordinate amount of time at in high school. Because I'm sentimental, that's why.