Subreality Central
| Archive | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Subreality Central |
| Date(s): | c. 1997-2002 |
| Archivist: | Farli |
| Founder: | Kielle |
| Type: | metafic, round robins |
| Fandom: | multifandom, shared universe, fanfiction |
| URL: | Image's fic archive http://www.subreality.com/sc.htm (via WBM), |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Subreality Central was the central archive for all fanfiction set in the Subreality Cafe universe. The first version of the Subreality archive was set up by Image in July 11, 1997, and was taken over by Kielle and later, Farli, and closed around 2008.
Subreality had few rules, but those it did have were never to be broken[1]:
1) Never write into your SC fic, round robin or portray in art certain writers who have requested they not be used.
2) Don't use Subreality as a way to flame, slander, seduce, or otherwise infringe upon the privacy/dignity of another real human being. Unless you have permission.
3) Do not in any way, shape, or form define what happened during the Muse War. If you don't know what this is, don't worry about it...but if you do, you should know why. If you don't, ask.
Otherwise, it was free rein. God-modding (where you write someone else's characters) was actually encouraged, and to be written by one of the "Big Names" was the highest compliment.
The last update appears to have been on November 24, 2002[2]. At the time that the archive closed, there were 770 stories by 198 writers.
Definitions
The Cafe/SC - the Subreality Cafe, which was the first introduced concept of Subreality.
Fictives - fanfiction versions of canon characters or original fanfiction characters.
Writers - fanfiction writers. Often capitalised within the stories.
Canon - the originating media, be it comics, television, movies etc.
Mainstream - characters from canon.
SCPD - Subreality Cafe Police Force, comprised of law enforcement-type fictives
Angst/Angst Fic - a story or round robin focussing on dark and depressing themes, seen as an addictive "substance" in Subreality for humorous purposes.
Angst Squad - the specialist branch of the SCPD assigned to investigate cases of angst pushing.
Muses - the personification of inspiration who became popular in the 2000s.
Details
What's This?
The FAQ written by Kielle and last updated February 8, 2000[3]. It explained the concept and described details of the Cafe, Subreality as whole and how to get involved.
General Tales
- Tales About Subreality - explanations and first visits
- Tales Involving Muses - tales about muses, the personifications of inspiration.
- General SCs - all stories that take place in the the Cafe or in Subreality in general and do not yet fit easily into a subcategory.
- Fictives Only - stories about characters in Subreality (may contain mentions of Writers but no appearances).
- Meet The Staff - stories about the Subreality Cafe staff.
- Mainstream Visits - visits from canon characters and/or writers.
- Fictives About Writers - stories where fictives talk about their writers.
- Writer/Fictive Interaction - stories where fictives and their writers interact.
- Writers Only - stories featuring the writers, with fictives having only minor roles, if any.
- Other Places In Subreality - The classic Subreality story is set in the Subreality Cafe or in Subreality itself. However, other genres have been popped up around this weird borderland -- places where sprites or vampires or even Writers could feel at home.
- Challenges and Themes - stories written in response to a writer challenge or on a particular theme.
- Feedback Fics - Stories where characters discuss recent "events"; aka, fanfictions by other writers as a form of praise.
- Music In The Key Of Cafe:
- Poetry & Original Lyrics - poetry and songs about Subreality
- Filks & Parodies - filks and parodies relating to Subreality.
- Series
- Angst Squad: Beginnings - the three originating fics by Rossi and Phil Foster introducing Angst and the Angst Squad.
- From The X-Info Vaults - A series of interviews with fanfic writers set in Subreality. Originally done for the X-Info page in 1998 by Rossi.
- Kinsayla - a series of stories by Seraph about a "mainstream" character, Major Kinsayla, interacting with the staff at the Cafe.
- Cyanfrost's Intro - a series of stories involving Cyanfrost's introduction and travels within Subreality.
- Look Who's Talking - a series from "This Time Round", the Doctor Who version of the Cafe.
- Me, Myself, And I - a series by Jesse Willey where he uses the concept to examine himself.
- The Mike & Joel Set - SL Watson's series taking Mike and Joel from MST3K on a wild tour of the subjective landscape.
- Opinions - Feedback fics by Trisha Lynn.
Muse Tales
Aka, the Muse's Lounge, this section contained an FAQ, a Directory of Muses and a list of separate Muse homepages. The section also included the following:
- Origins & Intros
- First Appearances - stories with the first appearance of a Muse
- More Info... - stories filling in individual Muse's history
- Muses Only - stories featuring only Muses in central roles
- Muse/Writer Relations - stories about the Muses and their Writers
- Out-of-Towners - stories about Muses in other fandoms
- Other Places In Subreality - Muse stories set in locations other than the Cafe.
- Challenges and Themes - stories written in response to a writer challenge or on a particular theme.
- Feedback Fics - stories featuring Muses giving feedback to other writers
- Chatlog Fics - in-character chat logs featuring the Writers and their Muses
- Poetry and Filks - Muse-related filks and poetry
- Artwork - Muse artwork
- Series
- The Age Of Raven (AOR) - stories by Raven, set during the Subreality War RR from the POV of its villain.
- D^Knight --> Damien Kellis - by Damien Kellis (previously D^Knight) about his change of name, identity and Muse.
- Demon's Blood - by Chandri Macleod, a series about her Muse's family secrets.
- Frank's Heater - stories by Rossi and Epona Harper which started with a lizard Muse buying a heater and led to much more.
- Gamer's Story - by X-MAN0123, about a trainee Muse joining an established writing team.
- Little Fictive - an insane Writer trapped in Shantytown takes a Muse down with her; stories by Rhiana, Tessela, Jewels and Chandri Macleod
- New House - by Corone; A new Writer and his Muses colonise Subreality North.
- Obsidian Butterfly & Co. - a series by Obsidian Butterfly about his introduction to Subreality, Round Robins, escaped villains and disgruntled fictives.
- The Perils Of K'sandrah - by Pandora, aka Mouse Carcass; a lurker delurks, winds up in Subreality and acquires Muses and the headaches that come with them
- R&D;/RJ Reviews - feedback fics by Damien Kellis and Muse (unfortunately the specific story links no longer work and were not archived by the Wayback Machine)
- Sare Liz Vs. Logan - by Sare Liz; what happens when a Movie!Wolverine fictive becomes your Muse.
- The Wright R. Blaüch set - by Static-Pulse and Obsidian Butterfly; the ongoing battle with a Writer's worst foe.
Challenges and Themes
A challenge is where somebody says "I dare you to write about such-and-such!" A theme is where a set of stories can be grouped by a common element. This section listed the various Subreality challenges and themes and their responses. The challenges were issued on ACFF, OTL or the Subreality mailing list, depending on the time period.
- 911 / WTC - fics in response to 9/11
- Back-To-Basics Challenge - stories about fictives only, like the first Subreality Cafe stories
- Beyond Subreality - Essays, tangents, & tales about the people behind the stories -- how they found Subreality, what creativity means to them, and why they stay...
- Birthday/Gift Fics - stories written as gifts for others.
- Books Of Apocrypha - stories where the Muses act oppositely to what they would normally do.
- Borrowed Toys - stories using fictives "borrowed" from other writers.
- CAJA Flame War - stories written in response to a Reboot site flaming one of their writers who was also part of Subreality.
- Calliope Files - untold stories of Muses' lives, kept by Calliope.
- Chat/IRC-Oriented
- Dead Night (Or Day) - stories from dead fictives on SC's Dead Night.
- Fallen/Requiem Aftermath - Stories and filks in response to the Subreality War, Fallen, and Requiem RRs.
- Halloween MassacreFic - stories about the Halloween RRs.
- Introspection Challenge - responses to the Introspective Muse challenge, asking writers to write their Muses' inner thoughts.
- The Muse War - No-one is allowed to talk about the Muse War, but these stories give us glimpses.
- Red Rose Challenge - Valentine's Day challenge; muse stories involving roses.
- Romantic Tales - romance blooms in the Cafe, even if it doesn't in the fictives' "home" stories.
- SCMFF - the Subreality Cafe Muse Fighting Federation. Muses and WWF. What could go wrong?
- SCPD & the Angst Squad - tales of the Subreality Cafe Police Department and its Angst Squad.
- Subreality Reboot - With CFAN closing down, the denizens of Subreality watch their world crumble, and then get rebuilt anew.
- Subreality War Aftermath - stories in response to the Subreality War RR.
- SubReversity - it's Opposite Day in Subreality.
- Work Experience - Even Muses need training and it's work experience time.
- Y2K - how did Subreality fare with the Y2K Bug?
On Location
The classic Subreality story was set in the Subreality Cafe or in Subreality itself. However, other genres popped up and locations popped up. This section of the website collected all stories, regardless of cast, which took place outside of the Cafe. Further details on these locations can be found at Subreality Cafe/Locations
- Major Areas - namely stories set in the The House of Strange Dimensions (see below) and Shantytown.
- Other Establishments - while the Cafe catered to all fictives, a number of character-specific places were created.
- Other Places - locations that weren't bars, pubs or nightclubs, including the Shifting Sands Beach, the Subreality Employment Office and the Subreality Mental Ward.
- Crossover Hotspots - a number of bars/pubs dedicated to the non-comics side of crossover fics.
The Round-Robin Message Boards
Originally hosted on the Generation X Fanfic Archive and then relocated to Inside the Web, the Subreality Round Robins (or SCRRs, or RRs) were extensive, multi-author stories. There were two types of SCRRs, open and closed. Open RRs meant that anyone could join in, which could result in significant chaos if there were a lot of newbies joining in. Closed RRs were usually held on a private message board by invitation only. Kielle archived a number of both types of round robins on Subreality Central, although they are only a selection of what was produced.
The House of Strange Dimensions: The House, or THOSD, was a off-shoot of the main SCRR board, moderated by Rossi. The concept was that the House existed in Subreality as a place for Writers to live and both round robins and individual stories were written about the House and its residents.
While not all of the RRs were archived at Subreality Central, a decent percentage of them were. A large number of stand-alone stories also featured the House and its residents (and their Muses, who had their own bar/lounge downstairs).
Metafics
These are stories that aren't necessarily set in Subreality or were written by writers who didn't even know what Subreality was, but which broke the fourth wall regardless. This section includes stories by Joan M, Dannell Lites, Nute and Kerithwyn Jade.
Artwork
Divided into the following sections:
- Subreality Itself
- The Fictives
- The Writers
- Mascots and Pets
- Odds and Ends
- Story-Specific - art inspired by particular stories or round robins.
SCML
The Subreality Cafe Mailing List - set up by Farli
More Links
A list of links to various other Subreality sites, including the non-comics Subreality sites, the message boards and Subrealicon, which was a semi-regular west-coast ficmeet.
SUBREALITY-RELATED SITES
- The Subreality Cafe Mailing List Join up to swap stories and trade ideas set within (and just beyond) the borders of Subreality -- all fandoms welcome! http://www.subreality.com/scml.htm
- The Subreality Muse Fighting Federation One part Celebrity DeathMatch, one part muse grudge match, 100% mad. Bring your own popcorn & folding chair. http://darkbeast.com/scmff/ (No Wayback)
- Subrealicon The semi-regular west-coast ficmeet! http://www.thekeep.org/~tls/sc-index.htm
OTHER AREAS OF SUBREALITY
- The Bronze Menagerie - A home-away-from-home for fictives from Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel, graciously hosted by Hutch. http://www.crosswinds.net/~jazmer/Menagerie
- The Magic Caverns Cafe - Jo Ann Montgomery's kid-safe version for cartoon & Saturday morning characters from all decades http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Capsule/4679/DPCafe.html
- The Solar Heart Cafe Home to the ReBoot faction of our Subreality crowd -- SHC concept by D^Knight, site maintained by Chandri McLeod. http://www.redrival.com/disatisfied/rbsc/
- The Stake House The rowdier of our two Buffy/Angel haunts, described as "[a] gay vampire karoake bar" ;) -- maintained by Ana Lyssie Cotton. http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/LysAna/stakehouse/stakeh.htm
- The Subreality Dojo And Snack Bar A round-robin board for manga/anime ficcers -- stop in for some sake with a twist of mayhem... Hosted by Emby Quinn. http://members.xoom.com/EmbyQuinn/sdasb.html
- This Time Round - The Doctor Who creative newsgroup's own version of the Cafe -- the first and most successful "spin-off." http://www.panatropic.net/archive/types/ttr.html And don't miss the To Die For subgenre! http://www.enteract.com/~detroyes/teotp/tdf.htm)
- The Writers' Cafe This is where the writers are supposed to hang out... http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/5129/index.html
SUBREALITY-RELATED MESSAGEBOARDS
- The SCRR Board - The classic -- heavily skewed towards writers & muses http://pub54.ezboard.com/fcfanfrm1
- The Subreality Times - Come get your fix of Paradoqz's weekly updates on the insanity that is Subreality -- and talk back! Currently seeking new quarters
- The House Of Strange Dimensions - And you thought visiting Subreality was weird... http://pub54.ezboard.com/fcfanfrm2
- Inspiration Ink - For Muse-related RRs -- reading/posting is by invite only http://pub54.ezboard.com/fcfanfrm3
- The Scratching Post - Not strictly SC, but good for questions/discussions on the topic - http://www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?user=Kielle
SUBREALITY BITS AND PIECES
- #subcafe - The ever-busy chatroom on Dalnet, IRC...joiiin usssss... http://www.subreality.com/cfan/fictalk.htm
- The Subreality E-Mail Forwarding Service - Promise to use it for good, and often! http://www.subreality.com/subr/pop.htm
| Related Concepts, Fandoms, Terms, Fanworks | |
| See also | Subreality Cafe, Kielle, subreality.com |