The Mysterious Muse

Where to begin? Tamsin is a strange combination of my personality and influences; as a character, he sprang more or less intact from my head while I was searching for a face to put to the little voices that speak to me when I write. Most of my writing sessions involve little arguments with myself, so I thought it would be nice to lay the blame of self-deprecation on someone else for a change.

Tamsin's history stretches back to before the Muse War; he may well have played a major part in that, though we've yet to learn any of the details due to a ban placed on discussion of the War. I do know that Tamsin is elvish in origin - Tolkienesque, probably, as opposed to my more common influence of ElfQuest - though he chooses not to appear so these days, sporting a human appearance instead. He is somewhat tall, with long, black hair and violet eyes that are somewhat manga-ish when drawn.

Though we're fairly sure he's had his wild days, Tamsin generally comports himself in gentlemanly fashion. He dresses slightly upscale, in well-fitting suits and slacks, and somehow always manages to appear comfortable no matter what the weather is like (probably due to minor magics which he's not even aware he uses). He's low-key in magic use in general, aside from the casual use of teleportation spells. He is also often seen with a small dragon, a female, Sable, who changes color frequently; her past history and why she chooses to be around Tamsin are both unknown.

Like many of the current wave of Muses, Tamsin took classes at the Collegium, and was probably a contemporary of Frank, Lyssie, Kelvren and Alexander. He was involved in a relationship with another Muse, a woman named Brin, but things soured quite some time ago and he has not seen her in several decades.

Tamsin's first fanfic appearance was in Reassignment, in which he was assigned to the Writer Hutch by Calliope, the Head Muse. Though Tamsin had usually Mused for professional Writers in the past, his turn in fanfic has proved both interesting and amusing. He was probably a Romance/Fantasy Muse, which explains quite a bit of Hutch's writing.

Soon after his introduction, Tamsin took a downward spiral in the Subreality War round-robin. While his Writer fought to keep Subreality free of Raven's influences, Tamsin unfortunately fell prey to darker designs, and in the end, Hutch was forced to kill him to save her own life. The War was subsequently retconned at a wish from Joannie Milligan; the Muses were charged to keep the War a secret from the Writers, a charge that would ultimately fail. (See I Remember for Tamsin's personal thoughts on the subject.)

Tamsin then showed up with Hutch for the Holiday Party round-robin at the House of Strange Dimensions, along with Hutch's fictive Lee Holland. When the Muse Party in the downstairs lounge began, he attended it, and despite almost being driven out by certain forgettable Muses, he managed to have a good time, dancing and sharing a midnight kiss with Kodachi.

While appearing in different fics to either comfort or be a sounding board for Hutch, he has mainly shown himself to play the part of friend and advisor. Now, unfortunately, some of the other Muses and Writers have decided to make him their next Project... and are talking about setting him up with Raven's Muse, D'Monika. Fear, folks.

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this page last updated on 18 january 2003