Subreality Cafe/Muses

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The Subreality Muses were a phenomenon that first appeared during the Tapslaught RR and quickly grew into a a complete Subreality sub-genre.

...in Subreal terms, a muse is any fictional being which, though technically a fictive (a character created by the mind of a writer), at the same time is given abilities beyond that of a normal fictive. Their job is provide inspiration and to play go-between for a Writer and their ideas, which are often personified as fictives.

Subreality Central, The Muse FAQ

The Muse genre was not without some controversy, as some fanfiction writers derided the concept, and so the stories were restricted to posting on the Subreality Cafe Mailing List, with the tag [MT] for "Muse Tale". Muse Tales were archived on Subreality Central under "The Muse Lounge" section. The archive had the following sections:

• Muse FAQ - basic questions about Muses answered
• The Muse Directory - a listing of Muses, their Writers and their first appearances.
• Muse Homepages
  • Calliope
  • The Captain (Yasmin's muse)
  • Dractina (Jo Ann Montgomery's muse)
  • Rachel (D^Knight's muse)
  • Roxy (Static-Pulse's muse)
  • Tamsin (Hutch's muse)
  • Tris fa Toren (Lise's sometime muse)
• Muse Tales

Muses

The Muses, following their introduction in Tapslaught, quickly proliferated throughout Subreality. There were effectively two "types" - Muses who were descended from the Muses of classical Greek literature in some form or other, who were assigned to a Writer by Calliope and who may or may not have attended "Muse School" aka the Imagination Collegium; and Muses who had formerly been fictives and were "promoted" to Muse-hood by their Writers. Not all Writers had a Muse, and some Writers had more than one. In terms of Muse Tales, there was a recurring 'cast' of Muses who appeared or were mentioned more frequently:

"NPCs"

• Calliope - the Queen of the Muses and dean of the Collegium. She is responsible for Muse assignments and is feared/dreaded by her subordinates. Introduced by Yasmin M. in Tapslaught.
• Ambrosia - retired Muse; the Head of Orientation, Muse History of the Imagination Collegium and part-time Taco Bell waitress. Has taught every Muse except the original Nine at one time or other.
• Ganymede - Calliope's secretary/administrative assistant. Introduced by Yasmin M. in Goddess of Mono.
• Daemon Hunter - an "anti-muse" mercenary. Introduced by Jesse Willey in Silencing the Muse.
• Erato - sister of Calliope. Muse of Lyric Poetry. Frank's mother. Introduced by Rossi in Family Matters.
• Kelvren - son of Euterpe, Muse of Tragedy and Frank's cousin; on sabbatical from Musing and hanging around the Collegium. Introduced by Farli in The Other Holiday Party THOSD RR.

Assigned Muses

• The Captain - Yasmin's Muse, Introduced in the Predatory Cannibalistic Baby Booties RR and 100% Inspiration.
• Frank - Rossi's Muse, a small green lizard of the gecko family. Introduced in the Operation: Ultimate Writer RR and So, Where To From Here?.
• Lyssie - Ana's Muse. Kind of dating Frank. Introduced in the Tapslaught RR.
• The Things - Raven's (former) Muses, Lovecraftian beings from another dimension. Introduced in The Things and The Things: Part II.
• Kosh aka The Tiny Blue Sheep - Acetal's Muses, a flock of tiny blue sheep with wings. Introduced in the Masquerade Ball Wrap-Up RR.
• Tadgh - Epona's Muse, son of Niobe (Muse of Poetry) and Manannan mac Lir, the Irish god of the sea. Muse of Medicine who inspires fanfiction as a sanity break. Introduced in the Blues Night III RR and Secrets by Rossi.
• Flame - Farli's Muse; a were-dragon mage. Initially was a mentor to young Muses who then passed them onto other Writers, until Farli. Introduced in A Dragon Mage Scorned!

The Imagination Collegium

Q. Does my muse have to come from the Collegium? A. Absolutely not. Some writers in the Subreality genre love the idea of a school for muses; however, some don't like it at all or just don't feel that it suits them, and thus prefer to "find" their muses through other means. It's your decision -- choose the path that suits you best, or that fits in best with your existing ideas. Some of us created muses after entering the Subreality fray; some of us merely adapted and renamed concepts that we'd already cherished for some time. It's your imagination -- channel it as you will.

 

The Collegium was introduced by Farli as the "school for Muses", after the world's population of Writers needing inspiration outstripped the abilities of the original Nine, and with the Muse War costing more Muse lives than could be replaced by the old apprentice system. Calliope was the Dean and Ambrosia Head of Orientation. Alumni included Frank, Lyssie and Kelvren, who attended the Collegium following the Muse War; during its tenure in Subreality it was a thriving academic community.

• ...And the Night Before by Rossi - Lyssie and Frank reminisce over their school days.
• The Gentleman's Guide to a Night on the Town by Paradoqz - Muse Alexander Solomon arrives at the Collegium on his way to cause havoc in the form of a pub crawl.
• Time of Your Life by Yasmin M - Young muses discuss the art they're studying and endure a parody of "Sunscreen."

The Muse War

In the distant past, the Muses went to war, under Calliope's flag as one of her sisters tried to depose her. That is all that is known of the Muses' greatest secret and all that can ever be known - it was one of Subreality's few rules that no-one could define exactly what happened. In character, it was because the Muses had sworn an oath of secrecy in shame of what had happened; out of character it was decided that the event was too much and too wide-reaching for any one person to determine. There were, however, a number of "adjacent" stories of the impact of the events on various Muses.

• The Muse War Challenge
• The Museum by Seraph

Notable Works

• The Muse's Menace by Dande
• So, Where To From Here? (Frank's Story) by Rossi
• The Unwanted Muse by Chandri MacLeod
• Frank's Heater by Rossi
• Little Fictive series by various