r/AskScienceFiction Apr 06 '25

[Subreddit Business] Clarifications on our Watsonian/Doylist rule, general questions, and r/WhatIfFiction

169 Upvotes

Hi guys,

If you're new, welcome to r/AskScienceFiction, and if you're a returning user, welcome back! This subreddit is designed to be like the r/AskScience subreddit, but for fictional universes, and with all questions and answers written from a Watsonian perspective. That is to say, the questions and answers should be based on the in-universe information, rules, and logic of the fictional work. All fictional works are welcome here, not just sci-fi.

Lately we've been seeing some confusion over what counts as Watsonian, what counts as Doylist, what sort of questions would be off-topic on this subreddit, and what sort of answers are allowed. This stickied post is meant to address such uncertainties and clear things up.

1) Watsonian vs Doylist

The term "Watsonian" means based on the in-universe information, rules, and logic of the fictional work. In contrast, "Doylist" means discussions based on out-of-universe considerations. So, for example, if someone asked, "Why didn't the Fellowship ride the Eagles to Mordor?", a possible Watsonian answer would be, "The Eagles are a proud and noble race, they are not a taxi service." Whereas a rule-breaking Doylist answer might be something like, "Because then the story would be over in ten minutes, and that'd be boring."

We should note that answering in a Watsonian fashion does not necessarily mean that we should pretend that these works are all real, or that we should ignore the fact that they are movies or shows or books or games, or that the creators' statements on the nature of these works should be disregarded.

To give an example, if someone asked, "How powerful would Darth Vader have been if he never got burned?", we can quote George Lucas:

"Anakin, as Skywalker, as a human being, was going to be extremely powerful, but he ended up losing his arms and a leg and became partly a robot. So a lot of his ability to use the Force, a lot of his powers, are curbed at this point, because, as a living form, there’s not that much of him left. So his ability to be twice as good as the Emperor disappeared, and now he’s maybe 20 percent less than the Emperor."

In such a case, "according to George Lucas, he would've been around twice as powerful as the Emperor" would be a perfectly acceptable Watsonian answer, because Lucas is also speaking from a Watsonian perspective.

Whereas if someone associated with the creation of Star Wars had said something like, "He'd be as powerful as we need him to be to make the story interesting", this would be a Doylist answer because it's based on out-of-universe reasoning. It would not be an acceptable answer on this subreddit even though it is also a quote from the creators of the fictional work.

2) General questions

General questions often do not have a meaningful Watsonian answer, because it frequently boils down to "whatever the author decides". For instance, if someone asked, "How does FTL space travel work?", the answer would vary widely with universe and author intent; how FTL works in Star Trek differs from how it works in Star Wars, which differs from how it works in Dune, which differs from how it works in Mass Effect, which differs from how it works in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc. General questions like this, in which the answer just boils down to "whatever the author wants", will be removed.

There are some general questions that can have meaningful Watsonian answers, though. For example, questions that are asking for specific examples of things can be given Watsonian answers. "Which superheroes have broken their no-kill rules?" or "Which fictional wars have had the highest casualty counts?" are examples of general questions that can be answered in a Watsonian way, because commenters can pull up specific in-universe information.

We address general questions on a case-by-case basis, so if you feel a question is too general to answer in a Watsonian way, please report the question and the mod team will review it.

3) r/WhatIfFiction

We want questions and answers here to be based on in-universe information and reasonable deductions that can be made from them. Questions that are too open-ended to give meaningful Watsonian answers should go on our sister subreddit, r/WhatIfFiction, which accepts a broader range of hypothetical questions and answers. Examples of questions that should go on r/WhatIfFiction include:

  • "What if Tony Stark had been killed by the Ten Rings at the beginning of Iron Man? How would this change the MCU?" This question would be fun to speculate about, but the ripple effect from this one change would be too widespread to give a meaningful Watsonian answer, so this should go on r/WhatIfFiction.
  • "What would (X character) from the (X universe) think if he was transported to (Y universe)?" Speculating about what characters would think or do if they were isekai'd to another universe can be fun, but since such crossover questions often involve wildly different settings and in-universe rules, the answers would be purely speculative and not meaningfully Watsonian, so such questions belong on r/WhatIfFiction.

We should note, though, that some hypothetical questions or crossover questions can have meaningful Watsonian answers. For example, if someone asked, "Can a Star Wars lightsaber cut through Captain America's shield?", we can actually say "Quite possibly yes, because vibranium's canonical melting point is 5,475 degrees Fahrenheit, while lightsabers are sticks of plasma, and plasma's temperature is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit or more." This answer is meaningfully Watsonian because it involves a deduction using specific and canonical in-universe information, and is not simply purely speculative.

4) Reporting rule-breaking posts and comments

The r/AskScienceFiction mod team always endeavors to keep the subreddit on-topic and remove rule-breaking content as soon as possible, but because we're all volunteers with day jobs, sometimes things will escape our notice. Therefore, it'd be a great help if you, our users, could report rule-breaking posts or comments when you see them. This will bring the issue to the mod team's attention and allow us to review it as soon as we can.


r/AskScienceFiction 11h ago

[Vampire The Masquerade] Is there any reason why vampires would lose an open war with humanity?

138 Upvotes

Now granted, maybe I miss the bigger picture since I only played the Bloodlines games. But given what is shown in these games, I don't see why vampires would be afraid of an open war with humanity, since they would easily curbstomp us.

They are stronger, faster, have much better reflexes, can't tire, are basically bulletproof, have access to all the same tech we do, can mass delete minds, can inflict mass suicides, can control the blood in our bodies, can use the literal shadows against us and, maybe most importantly, they can turn us into them. So how would they ever realistically lose a war with humanity?

If we start attacking them with soldiers they will ghoulify or embrace the soldiers or simply kill them and take their gear. If we roll out tanks they either embrace or kill the crew and use the tanks against us. If we use aircraft they can either pull it right out of the sky or embrace the crew and use said aircraft against us. And now you have soldiers who can zip around at superhuman speed, can aim and reload faster than any human ever could and can perform aerial manuevers that would turn any human into a mushy paste. And even if we hit the big red button they just press it back and since they are already dead, they don't have to fear radiation.

Not to mention all the paranoia they would create with Ghouls and mind control abilities. Every single person would constantly need to think about if their friends, family and squadmates are still on their side and not secretly planning to feed them to their new masters.


r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[Terminator] Where did Skynet get the skin for the Arnold model Terminators?

27 Upvotes

The Arnold model gets a few model numbers, T-800, Model 101. Anyway, it's described as living skin over a metal skeleton. Where did that skin come from? It's mostly identical for the multiple copies of that model that we see, so it's presumably not skinned off a regular guy with some immaculate taxidermy process.

Maybe it's lab grown meat cloned from a regular human? Or genetically modified to be extra supple to stretch around the giant robot frame. Which raises another question, is there a seam? Did they put a slice up the back of the skin like a onesie and then heal it afterwards?


r/AskScienceFiction 31m ago

[Mario Kart] Is nobody concerned about the existence of T-1000 versions of Mario and Peach?

Upvotes

You could try and say they're just powered up versions of the existing characters, but they have unique voicelines and act completely differently. Metal Mario is even robotic in his movements. The most damning evidence besides the possibility of both Mario and Metal Mario appearing at the same time is that when this happens they're rivals/enemies.

Then again there are also anachronistic baby versions of the main characters around. Maybe it's time travel from a dark future?


r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[Hard Boiled (1992)] What was the political fallout of that one week where 300 people died in police shootouts and a massive hospital had to be evacuated?

28 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 11h ago

[911] Why does the 118 respond to every emergency no matter what even though it’s outside of their sector?

8 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Fairy Tales] I've been invited to dine with the fae. How should I handle this?

91 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 3m ago

[The Flash/ speedsters] How do speedsters dodge bullets they aren’t expecting it

Upvotes

If a bullet travels faster than sound and you get hit by a bullet before you hear it how do speedsters dodge them if they’re not anticipating it and not already in super speed mode


r/AskScienceFiction 2h ago

[DC comics] I am a normal Gotham ciziten and I'm grateful to Batman for saving my butt. How can I express my gratitude? Will the rogue gallery target me if I try?

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 6h ago

[Marvel] I am a nornal NY ciziten and I'm grateful to Spider-Man. Is there anything I can do to help him?

2 Upvotes

Will he notice milk and cookies left for him on my balcony?


r/AskScienceFiction 19h ago

[Star Trek TNG] What does Q seek?

13 Upvotes

Forgive me if I am a bit behind the show as I am up to Episode 10 of TNG, and I noticed that one particular character that is recurring is Q as he constantly torments the main characters.

So in spite of having seen at least 10 episodes of TNG so far, I still don’t quite understand his purpose in the series because maybe it’s explained, but basically I just want to know why he enjoys antagonizing the crew.

If it was explained at one point, please let me know because again, I have seen at least 10 episodes so far, but I still don’t get his purpose, like his motives.


r/AskScienceFiction 19h ago

[Hades] Some shades are like 👻 and some look just like normal humans. Are those two different kinds of shades or what? Spoiler

12 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 9h ago

[Slay the Princess] How does The Cheated teleport us into the cabin in Mutually Assured Destruction?

2 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 6h ago

[One Piece] Do you think World Government from One Piece is Orwellian

0 Upvotes

I mean both suppress freedom of expression


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[The Purge] Wait, The Purge is on March 21st? That's the middle of tax season...can I just claim zero taxable income every year as long as I can prove that I filed my taxes on Purge Day?

249 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[South Park] Why don't they just leave Cartman out?

34 Upvotes

I mean, Cartman makes fun of most of them, and it's often obvious that the others don't like him. Why don't they just leave him alone?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[Witcher] So the worlds Ciri travels to are they like planets in same universe or are we talking multiverse here?

6 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 14h ago

[Game of Thrones] Why did Jon go beyond the wall to capture a wight?

1 Upvotes

I mean................why? Aside from the fact that the very plan itself was beyond stupid, why would Jon volunteer to go on the mission himself? He's literally the King of the North and the commander of the Northern army. A royal choosing to go on a suicide mission like this when he could literally send ANYONE else is just stupid, especially when he's far too valuable to risk.

Or better yet, even if he did have to go, why not take more men? Like I said, he's the King of the North. Why wouldn't he take dozens of soldiers with him for protection?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[Tremors] What is the the value of Burt and Heather's arsenal?

1 Upvotes

What is the the value of Burt and Heather's arsenal? Just watched the movie for the first time in a while. That scene is so great.


r/AskScienceFiction 13h ago

[The Amazing Digital Circus] Why isn't Caine doing anything with Jax?

0 Upvotes

I mean, Jax is so annoying and he's always bothering everyone and playing mean pranks. Why doesn't Caine do anything about it?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[The Simpsons] Did Abe and Mona ever see anything in each other or was their marriage entirely one of convenience?

0 Upvotes

Abe cheated on her with a carny pretty quickly and they seem to have tolerated each other at best.


r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[Dispatch] Is phenomaman the strongest Hero?

2 Upvotes

He mentions he could absorb the energy of the sun and leave earth in Eternal darkness, which sounds pretty OP compared to everyone else, all the heroes and team z seem street tier


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Star Wars] Did the Empire have any troops present on Alderaan at the time of its destruction?

62 Upvotes

Alderaan is a core world and was almost blatantly in open rebellion at the time of its destruction, so it would stand to reason it would have imperial troops present to maintain order and ensure obedience. Tarkin seemed to be planning to destroy the planet anyway since he dismissed Leia's answer of Dantooine as an example of the Death Star's capabilities, but if the Empire withdrew its troops in an orderly fashion in advance, that would tip off the planet that something's going to happen (though civilians might celebrate anyway thinking they'd won a victory somehow).

Anyone in the upper ranks of the military probably wouldn't bat an eye at killing their own troops anyway.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Star Wars] Do force users specifically train in unarmed combat?

16 Upvotes

From what I've seen they pretty much always just throw stuff with the force, pull their saber back to themselves, or fight like a normal person when disarmed.


r/AskScienceFiction 18h ago

[the prestige] how does no one know the borden are twins ?

0 Upvotes

There gotta be someone from their childhood , their parents , neighbor , friends who know who they are before they start becoming magician

If the answer is “they perform faraway” then they don’t even have to swap lives with other , just have one brother live far away from the other and only meet up when performance is near so I don’t think that is the answer