Subreality Cafe/Locations

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Locations · Muses · SCRRs

The Cafe

The Subreality Cafe is is a tavern/bar/nightclub/whatever where comic book fanfic characters hang out in between chapters of their stories. The Cafe itself has no specific form and changes according to whoever is currently writing it, but there are some constants:

The Manager - An ambiguous being, neither male nor female, and thus referred to as he/she. Capable, quick-thinking, intelligent -- good at what he/she does. Sometimes nearly driven to drink by the Cafe's patrons, but a good chap/gal all around.

The Bouncer - Big, brawny, gruff, steadfast, stubborn, always on duty, and not about to take guff from anyone...no matter how much artillery they might be packing. Usually employed to try to keep nosy writers out.

"No Writers Allowed" - more of a guideline than a rule these days, it used to be that Writers were not allowed in the Cafe, except on "Writer's Nights". Part of the fun, however, was explaining how the Writer got into the Cafe in the first place.

Writer's Cafe

Introduced as an alternative to Writers sneaking into the Cafe, the Writer's Cafe was first mentioned by Tapestry and fleshed out by the Paying the Piper RR as well as by Phil Foster, Lady Seraph and Yasmin. Henry "Beast" McCoy from the X-Men is the assistant manager, Pinocchio is the bouncer (specifically keeping fictives from coming in and hassling their Writers) and Mary Shiva (created by Falstaff) is the bartender.

The Writer's Cafe had its own archive, run by Yasmin: The Writer's Cafe, Subreality.

Fadetown/Shantytown

Introduced by Lady Seraph as Fadetown, Shantytown, as it was later known, was the other side of Subreality, where the Unwritten wound up[1]. For a fictive, to be unwritten and therefore unread is the worst sentence, a kind of half-existence on the outskirts of popularity. Old Tom by Seraph was the first story set in what was called Fadetown at that point, but became Shantytown three stories later.

The most notable Shantytown stories were "Omelas" by Rossi, which delved into why Shantytown existed; "Walkabout" by Dex Farkin, who used the concept to explore some of the wider concepts of Subreality and "The Case of the Comatose Writer", co-written by Dex and Rossi, a whodunnit set in Shantytown, among other locations.

House of Strange Dimensions

The House, or THOSD, was set up as a communal living space for writers who wanted to "live" in Subreality[2]. There was a Round Robin Message Board component, but a number of stand-alone stories were also set there. The House was moderated by Rossi, and a number of the stories set there touched on round robin events or overlapped with Muse tales.

Other Establishments

While the Cafe catered to all fictives, a number of character-specific places were created. These included:

  • The AOA Bar & Grill - predominantly X-Force fictives, plus those alternate versions of the X-characters from the Age of Apocalypse series.
  • The AlterCafe - part of the SubReversity series, first created by the SCRRs "Tales from the Alter Cafe" and "Return to the Alter Cafe". Stand-alone stories were written in the aftermath and included "The Block", the SubReverse version of the House of Strange Dimensions.
  • Club Generica - where all the rent-a-thugs, hoodlums and ninjas hang out, waiting for their next gig. Created by Dyce in her story "Socks"
  • Joe's - the archetypical diner for the Archetypes. Created by Acetal in his story "The End is the Beginning is the End".
  • The Red Rose Pub - created by Whisper2AScream in "Blood Red Rose", the pub is dedicated to love and lovers.
  • The TTPCTS Club - for those characters whose authors "Take The Plot Concept Too Seriously"; aka, those who injected serious themes into every fanfic they wrote, even the silly-fics. Created by Bodger in their story "The TTPCTS Club"
  • The Villains' Balliwick - where the villains can hang out without being harassed. Created by Chamelon in their story "I Don't Think We're in Riverdale Anymore, Archie".
  • One-Shot Locales - a number of locations were created and used only once. These included a casino, a retirement home, Club Concepto where the unformed ideas hung out and a bowling alley.
  • Other Places

Crossover Hotspots

The Cafe was predominantly comics-centric, but there were a number of other fandoms that had a presence in Subreality in one form or other[3]:

References

  1. ^ On Location: Shantytown - Subreality Central
  2. ^ On Location: The House of Strange Dimensions - Subreality Cafe
  3. ^ On Location: Other Hotspots - Subreality Central
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