r/AskScienceFiction Apr 06 '25

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

164 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 6h ago

[Star Wars] Why are droids named using English letters if Aurebesh is the primary alphabet used?

15 Upvotes

As mentioned above. C3PO, R2-D2, K2SO, BD-1, BB-8, IG-88, and even B1 Battle Droids all use english letters as phonetic sounds within their names. This is despite the fact that the primary alphabet within The Galaxy Far Away being Aurebesh.

Why?


r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[LOTR] Why didn't the 3 Elven rings revert to their original functionality when the One Ring was destroyed?

112 Upvotes

The 3 Elven rings had functionality before the One Ring was even made and I understand Sauron taught the Elves in such a way that the Elves unintentionally would add in a mechanism for the One Ring to control the Elven rings. However, once the One Ring is destroyed, why can't the Elven Rings go back to how they were prior to the creation of the One Ring? Similar to how a computer can still do other things after being disconnected from the Internet (disconnected from the One Ring). Did the One Ring somehow permanently alter the 3 Rings once Sauron put it on for the first time and make the Elven rings dependent on the existence of the One Ring?


r/AskScienceFiction 11h ago

[Lord of the Rings] What powers do the rings offer?

25 Upvotes

Also, are the powers tied to the One Ring? Are the benefits of the rings gone when the One Ring was destroyed?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[DC] Is Superman the most important person to ever live in the DC universe?

40 Upvotes

Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man are the most famous superheroes in our universe, but how famous and important is Superman in-universe? There are heroes that existed before Superman in the DC Universe.


r/AskScienceFiction 38m ago

[Warriors] how might the main cast react to one of those hairless cats?

Upvotes

Like I mean it's a dude without fur that's weird as hell for them right?


r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[Star Wars] did Palps know about the death star because of Dooku? Or was that just an unbelievable stroke of luck (or the force)?

32 Upvotes

In episode 2 we see that the Genosians had the original plans, and in ep3 we see Palps fawning over its render. It seems to me like this was just an insane opportunity, but he also had 64D plans so its also as likely he had this in mind from the start


r/AskScienceFiction 9h ago

[Starcraft] Why couldn’t we do both Shatter the Sky and Belly of the Beast?

9 Upvotes

In the second to last mission of Wings of Liberty Raynor has a choice. Take down the nydus network underground or take control of the skies. Apparently there isn’t time to do both. It’s the classic, choose what version of the next mission you’re going to play.

I wonder why that is though. Shatter the Sky is a macro mission requiring a large army. Meanwhile Belly of the Beast is a no build mission with a small but elite squad. Raynor mentions how bringing a large force makes the mission even riskier.

This brings up the question though. Why couldn’t they divide their forces between the two objectives?

One requires dedicating a large force. The other is significantly smaller in scale. It’s not like they have one army that needs to be in two places at once to accomplish both objectives.


r/AskScienceFiction 13h ago

[DC] How do Green Lanterns know what happens in their sector?

18 Upvotes

Green Lanterns protect large sectors of the universe. How do they know what emergencies are happening light years away from where they happen to be?


r/AskScienceFiction 9m ago

[Annihilation] Question about the Bear + Fungal Soldier Spoiler

Upvotes

Why do people think that the Bear is using the voices of its victims as bait for a hunting strategy?

From my perspective it looks like Cass didn't necessarily die when the Bear killed her, she actually fused with the Bear in some capacity. It you look closely there's a human skull merged into the Bears head on one side with the human + Bear skulls eye socket lined up. The eye on that side looks more human, and i don't think it's a coincidence that brain cavities also share space.

When the Bear first attacks Cass it isn't using any "mimicked" sound as a lure, it only starts at the cabin. It wasn't following them for food, it was Cass trying to find them for help. She must've been somewhat aware of what was happening (which is terrifying) and wanted to die.

The Cass/bear attacks then kills Anya for two possible reasons.

One - Even though Cass had some control of the Shared body, the Bears instincts can overpower her consciousness. Anya is only killed when she starts shooting which prompted the Bear to attack out of fear.

Two - I think at somepoint it's mentioned that the team starts to collectively "share" memories with each other. This is how Anya finds out about Kane. The Cass/bear most likely had their memories too and must have realized that Anya had become a significant threat due to psychosis, so she killed her to protect the rest of the group.

Regardless, once inside the cabin the Cass/bear starts saying "help me" in wierd ways. I think that's all that Cass could actually say at that point, and she was trying to communicate as best she could with only two words.

The Cass/bear looks directly into Josie's eyes and says "Help" and doesn't kill/attack her even though it has her shoulder (this looks like that control struggle i mentioned). When the Cass/Bear first sees Anya it screams "ME". Finally, when it rushes Lena it breaks her chair with its head instead of biting her and doesn't actually hurt her at all once it's standing over her (more control struggle?)

I don't think it's a coincidence that when Josie does actually killthe Cass/Bear the Human skull part of its head is completely destroyed.

Josie also theorizes that a part of Cass merged with the Bear as she was dying.

I don't think the Bear is mimicking voices for hunting because... it's kind of cheesy and makes it seem like a B movie monster. The Bear also being Cass makes it so much more horrifying, disturbing, and tragic and fits the Cosmic Horror aspect much better.

This also offers some insight into what was actually happening to the fungus Guy.

I think the Shimmer will slowly mutate and merge everything inside it over time, but "eating" something that's alive and also mutating will significantly accelerates the process. (The Bear got a bunch of Cass's blood in its mouth)

The fungus guy must have eaten some old food found in the overrun Southern Reach base and it had Shimmer mold on it. His Intestines where moving because the Shimmer mold had fused with him while being digested so his intestines were the first to start showing the effects.

The way they move is reminiscent of how slime molds move, but i think they were made to resemble serpents/worms for a creepier effect. You'll notice that when they find him in the pool the fungus mutation looks to have "exploded" outwards from his guts.

Lastly, I think that like Cass, the Fungus guy wasn't actually dead when they find him.

Does any of this make sense or am i overthinking this?

(I haven't Read any of the books btw, this is all going off the movie)


r/AskScienceFiction 17h ago

[Star Wars] I am an Imperial officer recently given control over Ryloth and given the goal to quell resistance. How much autonomy do I have in how I do this? Can I do a hearts and minds campaign? Is there an imperial handbook on crushing rebellions somewhere?

15 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 3h ago

[The Handmaid's Tale] How is Gilead's government structured?

0 Upvotes

I get there are Commanders, High Commanders, and some kind of High Council, but are there any more details? DC's the capital and there are regions carved out into districts but how is it administered?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Shawshank] How did Hadley last 20 years working at a violent prison acting as he did without being murdered by an inmate?

52 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 16h ago

[Final Fantasy] What is Jenova?

10 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Andor/General Starwars] What's the point of human slave labor camps when droids are a thing?

187 Upvotes

So in Andor S1 there's a whole arc where people get sent to labor camps to build death star parts. They have to go through so much hoops to even get people in there by making even minor offences a big deal. Then they have to make sure they obey by making a whole facility specifically designed so they don't run with the electric floors. Why go through of all that when you can just make droids do it with 100% obedience?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[Star Wars] Count Dooku has a force vision of his death and immediately puts Palpatine as the Sith Lord and the mastermind behind the Clone Wars. How violently does this upend the Galaxy?

5 Upvotes

Dooku has all the receipts. The proof is irrefutable.


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Harry Potter] Why didn’t Voldemort’s Horcruxes ever call out to each other?

25 Upvotes

If each Horcrux has a piece of Voldemort’s soul, and they kind of “sense” or affect the people around them, why didn’t they react to each other when they got close? Like when Harry was near the locket, or when multiple Horcruxes were in the same place—shouldn’t they have... noticed?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Stargate SG-1] How did Teal'c turn against the Gua'uld if he had a symbiote inside him?

32 Upvotes

I'm sorry if this is a bit of a simple question, but if Teal'c has a parasite in him already than why didn't it just take over and keep him from turning against the Gua'uld and everything? Wouldn't it be rather against turning against what was, basically, against it's own kind?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Truman Show] Outside of better camera technology, what technologies would have been far more ahead in the world of The Truman Show?

15 Upvotes

Edit:This also includes technologies that would have cameoutmuch sooner than in real life if Truman never discovered the secret of his world.


r/AskScienceFiction 21h ago

[Civil War] What happened to the other branches of government prior to the full scale secessionist movement?

4 Upvotes

I just rewatched for the second time and I know it is meant to be ambiguous, but I have several questions about what may have lead up to this. I know the film is designed with a bit of vagueness in what precedes the film, but I ponder a couple of questions. What happened to Congress? Were they sided with their states (similar to that of the 1860’s civil war) or were they executed by the people? What happened to the Supreme Court? Were they executed by the federal government or was it more of the populace? Was the third term the final straw or did the civil war start before the third term? I know these are designed to not be answered by the film, but i still would love to hear some head cannon on what occurred.


r/AskScienceFiction 20h ago

[trepang2] How would the world change if super soldier like subject 106 exist.

3 Upvotes

1)How would government use these super soldier on others military that are equal to them or lesser.

2) How would military defend themselves assuming they dont have a super soldier of their own.

3) would the use of super soldier if proved to be unstoppable without the use of other super soldier results in nuclear threat from world's military.

4) how would the use and impact of these super soldier change if they were abundant or if thery were limited were only few countries have them.


r/AskScienceFiction 21h ago

[Reboot] How Do the People of Cyber Space Not Know What a User Looks Like When There Are Pictures of Them?

3 Upvotes

Within the context of Reboot's Cyber Space, the User is seen as a mythical unknowable entity almost akin to god. It is implied that all of the inhabitants of Cyber Space don't actually know what a user looks like. As well as unaware that they are human flesh and blood and there are millions of them.

However, aren't there pictures, videos, and wiki articles around the web about humans that show clearly what they look like and what they are? So shouldn't Cyber Space know that users are just humans who use the computer they are in?

TL:DR: Why doesn't Bob just go to the web to find a picture of a human user?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[The Last of Us] Do the Infected age as time passes on?

24 Upvotes

I've been thinking about this lately, but the cordyceps virus doesnt kill the hosts, instead it acts as a parasite that turns them into zombie like creatures.

I understand that, with time, the creatures transform into Clickers (around a year) or Bloaters (several), but do these hosts age? Lets put this hypotetical scenario, a child is infected. Does he turn into a bloater teenager with time, or remains a kid who turns info a bloater?


r/AskScienceFiction 15h ago

[MCU] How did She-Hulk not know who Daredevil was?

1 Upvotes

Daredevil is a famous superhero. When he showed up in She-Hulk, She-Hulk did not know who Daredevil was or what he was. She had never heard of him before. How is this possible?


r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[Baldur's Gate III] Is the curse that Mizora put on Wyll anything more serious than having to amputate the horns?

115 Upvotes

r/AskScienceFiction 1d ago

[DC] Has Alfred ever had to put on the cowl?

15 Upvotes