Barista Thor: The Coffee Shop AU in Fanfiction

Tropes are literary devices that are commonly found in fiction. They are in everything from traditionally published books to blockbuster movies, but fanfiction in particular has embraced acknowledging their use. Fanfiction writers will proudly declare what tropes they’ve used as inspiration for a story in a way that novelists or screenwriters aren’t always as willing to do.

The world of fanfiction is diverse, and it’s possible to find just about any trope that you could possibly want to read. However, there are some that are particularly popular.

One such popular trope in fanfiction is alternate universe (AU). This refers to any fanwork that takes place in a different universe from the canon material. This can take a wide variety of forms, from changing one detail in the story to putting the characters in a world that’s unrecognizable from the canon one. For example, you could write a Star Wars AU where Anakin never becomes Darth Vader but still lives in a galaxy far, far away, or you could drop Anakin and some other Star Wars characters into a modern Australian high school and see how they fare.

Within the genre of alternate universe, there are terms that more specifically describe what changes the writer has made. One of those is the coffee shop AU.

What is a coffee shop AU?

The name of this trope itself hints at what to expect from one of these stories. As the “alternate universe” part of the name implies, coffee shop AUs take place in a different universe from canon. As the “coffee shop” part implies, a significant portion (if not all) of the story takes place inside a coffee shop.

Because we’re talking about AUs here, a story isn’t a coffee shop AU if it takes place at an in-universe coffee shop and fits within canon. For example, if you’re writing a “Friends” fic where Monica and Rachel are hanging out at Central Perk, it’s likely not a coffee shop AU because those characters visit that coffee shop frequently within the canon of the show.

Although you could create your own coffee shop on Tatooine and have a coffee shop AU take place within the world of Star Wars, as just one example, it’s far more common for coffee shop AUs to take place within a world much like our own, no matter what source material the story is based on.

Many coffee shop AUs take characters from genres like fantasy or sci-fi and place them in a mundane coffee shop where they live their daily lives just like we do. This is part of the appeal of coffee shop AUs for many writers and readers.

Where did coffee shop AUs come from?

There are a diverse array of alternate universes out there, though some are more popular than others. It was only a matter of time before someone took familiar characters and placed them in a coffee shop.

The first coffee shop AU seems to have been posted by a fanfiction writer named NSyncGrrl in 2001. It was an *NSYNC fanfiction that inspired a trend of *NSYNC coffee shop AUs that later spread to other fandoms.

NSyncGrrl is now better known by the name J.M. Snyder and is an LGBTQ+ romance writer.

Today, coffee shop AUs are found in almost every fandom imaginable. If you read fanfiction, chances are high that you will stumble upon one at some point.

Why are coffee shop AUs popular?

The answer to why something is popular will always be allusive, but guesses can be made.

Alternate universes, broadly speaking, can be fun because you have to imagine how the characters would act in different settings. This can result in humor as well as general fun. While angst-filled coffee shop AUs do exist, many are light-hearted and fun. While the media the fanfiction is based on might have life-or-death stakes, coffee shop AUs are more likely to have romantic comedy level drama at most.

So, coffee shop AUs already have that going for them, but there’s still the question of why coffee shops themselves would be such a popular setting instead of restaurants or retail stores or other businesses.

It’s probably, at least partially, because of the reputation coffee shops have. These fanfics don’t usually take place at a Starbucks. Instead, these stories often portray independently owned shops with a close-knit staff. They are also often depicted as warm, cozy places like the quintessential coffee shop one might imagine in their dreams. These are places where many people would love to hang out and spend time.

The use of coffee shops in fiction also didn’t start with fanfiction. “Friends” is an example of a television show that featured a coffee shop as an important setting. It’s possible that coffee shop AUs became popular for similar reasons that they’ve been used as important settings in other media.

Whatever the reason why coffee shop AUs have managed to capture fans’ interest for two decades, they’re not going away any time soon.