Q: What is this place?
A: The Bronze Menagerie is a version of the Subreality Café, but only for fictives from the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (or, as some folks call it, Angel: the Series). Other fictives can visit, too, but now the BtVS fictives have a home, so to speak.
Q: Subreality Café? Fictives? Huh?
A: Okay, let me back up. The best way to explain Subreality is to send you there -- this web page should fill you in on the basics. For a shorter version, well:
Subreality is an imaginary world between worlds -- it's a place where imaginations meet, where Writers of fanfic (primarily comic-book, though it is expanding) can mingle with the characters they write, along with personifications of inspiration known as Muses. The characters are usually referred to as 'fictives', and can range from original types to slightly altered versions of the ones that appear in the comic books. Muses are a whole 'nother story...
The Subreality Café sprang up to accomodate fictives who had downtime to spare; if you can think of an answer to "What does a fictive do when he/she isn't being written?", then you've got the idea. The Café is a popular hangout/tavern/pub/local bar whose appearance changes often, according to the whims of whomever is witing about it at the moment. Two things are constant, however: the bar, and the neon sign outside, proclaiming its location.
As one may imagine, before long Writers decided they wanted to start hanging out there, too, which led to many more stories, a message board for round-robins, and, eventually, another Cafe being created for Writers only: the Writers' Cafe (homepage maintained by Yasmin M.). Now more Cafes are beginning to appear for unique fandoms: for Reboot, the Solar Heart; for BtVS, the Bronze Menagerie...
Q: Okay, I understand. What do I have to do to come play?
A: Write a story. That's it, really; you can use your own BtVS fictives, or others from someone else's stories (if you do, though, it's polite to mention where they came from in your disclaimer); you can even write yourself into the Menagerie, as long as it's a Writer's Night (every other Saturday). We only ask that you leave the place standing... or if you blow it up, kindly restore it by the end of the piece? We like our new place a lot and want to keep it running for a long time to come. =)
In the future we may be hosting a message board for round-robins; until then, your imagination is the limit.
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this page last updated on 19 march 2003