r/AskScienceFiction • • Apr 06 '25

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

172 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

[Gremlins] What hour is it no longer considered “after midnight” and you can feed them again?

103 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 3h ago

[MCU] Why is Daredevil in prison, but Spider-Man is free to do whatever he wants?

8 Upvotes

At the end of Daredevil Season 2, Matt Murdock’s identity is public, and he gets arrested and sent to prison. But this doesn’t make sense to me, because what does Daredevil do that Spider-Man doesn’t also do? Daredevil doesn’t kill people, and he’s literally the only hero, outside of Swordsman, White Tiger (Angela), and Jessica Jones, who actually takes down Fisk and his corruption. He didn’t kill anyone.

Frank Castle is literally a wanted mass murderer who lives in New York, and the police do nothing about him. But my main question is really: What’s the difference between Daredevil and Spider-Man? In Far From Home, when Spider-Man was acquitted of killing Mysterio, he was still allowed to be Spider-Man. The NYPD didn’t charge him with crimes that I assume they charged Matt with. Why is Daredevil in prison, but Spider-Man isn’t?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 18h ago

[Cyberpunk RED/2077] How is Europe doing compared to America?

108 Upvotes

As I understand it, America is in a very bad off state, what does Europe look like in comparison?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 4h ago

[Toy Story] How would the world at large most likely react to their secret?

7 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 12h ago

[The Indian in the Cupboard] What effect, if any, would the key have on a toy that didn't represent anyone from human history?

30 Upvotes

It's established that the key doesn't merely bring toys to life, it actually summons the consciousnesses of people from across time. Little Bear is a legit 18th-century Iroquoian and Boone is a legit 19th-century cowboy. So what happens if you use the key on, say, a Stormtrooper action figure? Some toy representing a species that doesn't exist in real life?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 15h ago

[the last of us] are any other countries fairing better or worse than America and which ones?

35 Upvotes

America has lots of wide open space, low population density relatively, and the populace was heavily armed before the outbreak happened allowing them to better fend off zombies. While not doing well it seems to be doing as good as can be. There are probably spots that would be relatively zombie feee due to elevation or weather.

are any places doing better than America and any places doing worse.


r/AskScienceFiction • • 21h ago

[The Terminator] Why did the T800 bother correcting the gun store owner?

110 Upvotes

In the gun store scene, the T800's interaction with the owner goes pretty smoothly while the guns are being fetched. Then the owner tells him he "can't do that" when it starts loading a shotgun, to which it replies "wrong", only to immediately shoot him. Their interaction is over. It doesn't have to keep up a facade anymore. Why even bother correcting him?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 12h ago

[Twisted Metal] Why does Calypso like cars so much?

13 Upvotes

Is there a particular reason why, of all things, Calypso (in any incarnation) organizes a vehicular combat tournament? Is there some special connection he has to vehicles or does he just really like seeing cars blow up?

And in the TV series, he apparently just really likes this concept so much that he tried to pitch it to NBC.


r/AskScienceFiction • • 20h ago

[Cyberpunk 2077] How does the TSA deal with weaponized cybernetics?

52 Upvotes

Mantis Claws, Monowire, Rocket Launchers, Laser Crotch, Gorilla Arms. Firearms can be confiscated, but what about your actual arms?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Battlestar Galactica] 50,000 survivors, no industrial base. How long until the fleet can't manufacture replacement parts?

105 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 12h ago

[Star wars] You're a commander of a separatist holdout shortly after order 66. How can you survive as a force up to original trilogy, if possible?

5 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 10h ago

[Lost] Would Desmond have been able to run a DOS program to input the numbers every 108 minutes?

2 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 8h ago

[Tokyo Ghoul] Why Did Eto Torture Kanae ?

2 Upvotes

This is not an Eto bashing post, I don't hate her, I am just confused.

Eto is a great manipulator ! Why didn't she just manipulate Kanae into going on to the roof and fighting Kaneki ?

Someone told me that Eto is remorseful, it just doesn’t make her stop.She broke Kanaw because she thought it was necessary and that she takes no pleasure or pride in it, when she speaks to Kanae during the fight, her expression is exhausted and miserable.

Because Eto ever face the reader during these torture scenes.

But if this is true,why did she go the extra mile and sew Kanae's eyes and mouth ?

Wouldn't manipulating her achieve the same thing ?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Obsession] If I wished for Elon Musk to donate all of his money to a specific charity, would he also become possessed by a demon thing?

96 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 18h ago

[Doki Doki Literature Club] At what point in time did Monika write the entire Steam description for the game?

9 Upvotes

"will you promise to spend the most time with me?"

It is heavily implied that Monika herself is the one that wrote the entire Steam description for the game. And parts of that description imply that Monika is somewhat self-aware as she wrote that(?)... Or maybe not.

So did she wrote it before, during, or after she became self-aware?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 15h ago

[The Incredibles] How did Syndrome track down so many superheroes who were supposedly in witness protection?

4 Upvotes

The Superhero Relocation Program gave retired supers new identities, new homes, and strict instructions to never use their powers again. The whole point was to make them disappear into ordinary civilian life.

Yet Syndrome somehow spent years finding these people, contacting them individually, and luring them to his island to test successive versions of the Omnidroid.

Finding Bob makes some sense. He was secretly listening to police scanners and sneaking out with Frozone to stop criminals. He wasn't exactly doing a great job of staying retired.

But what about everyone else?

Mirage knew exactly who Bob was, where to find him, and how to contact him without alerting his family. Her message even claimed to represent a classified government operation.

Was Syndrome getting information from inside the relocation program? Or could someone with enough money and technology realistically trace all those retired heroes back to their new civilian identities?

Because if it's the second explanation, the government's entire protection system seems alarmingly easy to defeat.


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[The Expanse] Belters talk about bone density and spin gravity, but what about cardiovascular health? If you’re born on a station with 0.3g, is your heart adapted to handle zero-g work, or do Belter engineers need meds just to spacewalk?

83 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 9h ago

[Mad Max] Who built Thunderdome?

0 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Yu-Gi-Oh!] If I have been challenged to a Shadow Game against my will, could I use my side deck full of banned and illegal cards?

35 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[X-Men Days of Future Past] What happened to the original good timeline Logan?

19 Upvotes

In 2023, Bad-Timeline Logan sends his mind back to his 1973 self to stop the Sentinel Program

His mind then jumps into the altered 2023, a good timeline where the Sentinel Program was never created, and the X-Men are alive

Bad-Timeline Logan doesn't even realize he is a teacher in the school, nor does he know what happened in the past 50 years of the good timeline as he came from the bad timeline

So what happened to the original Good-Timeline Logan that he replaced?

What if instead of waking up in the school, he had woken up in bed with a woman, surrounded by their children?

What if Good-Timeline Logan had died before 2023? Where would Bad-Timeline Logan's mind "return" to?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Game of Thrones] Why did Bran want Jon to know? Spoiler

13 Upvotes

Why did he say that Jon should know that he's a Targaryen and heir to the Iron Throne?

Nobody ever needed to learn that and literally nobody, including and especially Jon, wanted to know that.

All that eventually accomplished was to drive Daenerys into madness and paranoia so that Jon needed to kill her and thus couldn't actually ascend the throne anyway.

Instead he was sent back to a Wall that didn't even serve any purpose anymore, save for being a glorified penal colony, and the line of the Targaryens ended with him anyway.

Was that all just a malicious scheme so that Bran could take the throne for himself?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Disco Elysium] Are Harry's skills like Shivers and Inland Empire actually tapping into the Pale to read the past and future of Revachol?

15 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction • • 1d ago

[Star Wars] Who actually paid for the Clone Wars?

48 Upvotes

A Republic that couldn't agree to raise an army suddenly fields millions of clones and a fleet built almost overnight. Wars on that scale have bankrupted real states. So where did the money come from: borrowing, new taxes, printing credits, or something nobody wanted to look at too closely? Is there any scifi setting that treats war finance seriously?


r/AskScienceFiction • • 15h ago

[DC] Is there any city that's just as horrible as Gotham?

0 Upvotes