What Does Mun Mean?
Fandom CultureIn roleplay communities, the real person behind a character account — short for 'mundane.' The character itself is called the muse.
Mun in Practice
Roleplay fandom developed its own vocabulary to keep the player and the played cleanly separated: the mun is the human typing, the muse is the character being performed. The distinction does real work in RP spaces, where blogs speak in-character most of the time and need a convention for stepping outside the fiction — posts may be labeled 'mun talk' or marked out-of-character. The terms come up constantly in askbox games and RP etiquette discussions, where respecting the line between mun and muse (not blaming a player for their character's behavior, for instance) is a core community norm.
Example usage
"The muse is a centuries-old vampire; the mun is a college student who would like you to know the muse's opinions are not hers."
Related Terms
RP (Roleplay)
Collaborative in-character storytelling, where each participant writes as a character and the story emerges from their interactions. RP communities exist on Tumblr, Discord, forums, and beyond.
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Muse
The personified source of a writer's inspiration — fans talk about their muse cooperating, vanishing, or demanding a different story entirely. In roleplay, it also means the character a player embodies.
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OOC (Out of Character)
Describes behavior that doesn't match how a character acts in canon. As a critique it means the characterization rings false; as an author's tag it's a preemptive admission.
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Self-Insert
A fic where the author writes a version of themselves into the story's world, interacting with canon characters. Sometimes thinly disguised as an OC; sometimes proudly undisguised.
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More Fandom Culture Terms
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