Admin Post: So You Want to Write a Franchise or Adaptation

[dizmo]

If you want to write a franchise, you've come to the right place!

Here you can find both general guidelines as to how we determine what makes a fandom for the purposes of putting in one of your six fandom slots, as well as some specific examples. Keep in mind that although you can have multiple branches of a franchise as fandom selections to be chosen, none of the six can be in the same franchise as your chosen character, even if they are in parts of a franchise that aren't directly connected. (For example, if you decide that Peter Quill is going into the bar, you can't have Agents of SHIELD as one of your six fandoms, even though Peter's never met anyone from said series.)

That said! Here are some guidelines as to how we handle franchises!

General Guidelines
Specific Examples

GENERAL

These are the general guidelines that can help you sign up for related fandoms and franchises. If you have any questions, feel free to consult the mods.

Book series
Generally speaking, any book series is one fandom. In a particularly long-running series with multiple storylines, however, some exceptions may be made, especially for romance novel series. Please consult the mods for more information.

Movies and TV series based on other media
Any movie (or series of movies) or TV show based on single books, book series, video games, etc., is considered its own fandom. This includes, for example, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Tomb Raider, and Good Omens.
Please specify what medium you want in your signup, even if they don't seem very different.

Comic book universes
For all comic books, please be as specific as possible (arc, timeframe, etc). If you're not specific enough, you will be asked to clarify. Here are some examples as to what to do and what not to do:

No: DC Comics, Captain Marvel, The Shadow

Yes: Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, Captain Marvel (DeConnick), The Shadow (Dynamite)

For DC, Marvel, and Dynamite, all material for each company is considered related, no matter the medium. Exceptions will be made for properties published by a given company when the works are very clearly unrelated.
For example:
-Choosing Jane Foster makes Rocket Raccoon (2014 comic series), Fantastic Four movies, and Ultimate Spider-Man (cartoon) ineligible
-Choosing The Shadow makes The Green Hornet (2011 film) ineligible
-Choosing Bruce Wayne does not make Watchmen (comic or film) ineligible, even though they are both technically from DC Comics.

Canonical crossovers between different publishers (e.g. Amalgam, Batman/Grendel, Archie Meets the Punisher) do not affect eligibility.

TV series
If a series ran in non consecutive years or was rebooted, each section is a separate fandom. For example, for any given fandom slot, you might sign up for:
-Dallas 1978 OR Dallas 2012
-Dark Shadows 1966 OR Dark Shadows 1991
-Battlestar Galactica 1978 OR Battlestar Galactica 2004
Please specify what version you want in your signup.

Movie remakes and reboots
If a movie was remade or a movie series rebooted, each version is a separate fandom. For example, for any given fandom slot, you might sign up for:
- True Grit (1969) OR True Grit (2010)
- The Lion King (1994) OR The Lion King (2019)
- Child's Play (1998) OR Child's Play (2019)
Please specify what version you want in your signup.

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not specify what medium or version you want in your signup, your second character will not be selected from that fandom. (If it is the only fandom you have listed, we will default to the oldest version of the canon to select a character, leaving the possibility of, for instance, a book-only character being drawn for when you intended a movie adaptation.)

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

These are examples of what discrete fandoms may be used for fandom slots. You may use related fandoms in different slots, but you may not use fandoms related to your first character. If you do, your second character will not be selected from those fandoms. If you have questions about a franchise here or one not listed, feel free to consult the mods.

Animal Crossing
Each main series game is a separate fandom, or you may request the series as a whole.

DCAU
Each series is its own fandom (excluding Justice League/Justice League Unlimited and other shows that simply changed names between seasons).

DC Comics television
Every series is its own fandom. This includes Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and other related series.

DCEU
You may choose individual DCEU franchises (Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman are considered the same franchise) or the DCEU as a whole.

Doctor Who
Each Doctor constitutes their own fandom. You may also select Doctors 9-15 (New Who!) as a separate fandom. If you are feeling particularly brave, you may request Doctor Who as a whole. Big Finish material is not included; consult the mods before signing up for it separately.

Dragon Age
Each game is a separate fandom. Consult the mods before signing up for other DA material.

Lord of the Rings
For both the books and Peter Jackson's movies, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are considered two separate fandoms. The Silmarillion is its own fandom. Please consult the mods before signing up for other Middle Earth material.

Mass Effect
The Mass Effect series is considered one fandom.

MCU
Choose from:
-Iron Man (Movies)
-Incredible Hulk
-Thor (Movies)
-Captain America (Movies)
-Avengers (Movies)
-Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
-Ant-Man (Movies)
-Black Panther (Movies)
-Spider-Man (MCU Movies)
-Doctor Strange (Movies)
-Captain Marvel
-Shang-Chi
-Eternals
-The Marvels
-Thunderbolts
-MCU Movies (include everything above plus the bonus short films: The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Thor's Hammer, Item 47, Agent Carter (short), All Hail the King)
-Agents of SHIELD
-Agent Carter (series)
-Inhumans
-Daredevil
-Jessica Jones
-Luke Cage
-Iron Fist
-The Defenders
-The Punisher
-Cloak and Dagger
-Runaways
-WandaVision
-The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
-What If...?
-Hawkeye
-Ms. Marvel
-Moon Knight
-Werewolf by Night
-She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
-Secret Invasion
-Echo
Agatha All Along
-MCU (includes everything above, including films, TV series, and short films. I applaud your bravery.)

Spider-Man
Each TV series is an independent fandom. For movies, choose:
-Spider-Man 1-3
-Amazing Spiderman 1-2
(The MCU Spider-Man films are included in the MCU section; see above for details.)

Star Trek
Each TV series is an independent fandom, as is each movie I-X. Star Trek (2009)/Into Darkness/Beyond are one fandom.

Star Wars
Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, and Sequel Trilogy are separate fandoms. Standalone movies are their own fandoms. Any TV series is its own fandom. For ease of division, consult the mods before signing up for Star Wars: Legends material (totally allowed, we just need clarification).

Stargate
The 1994 movie is its own fandom, as is each individual TV series.

X-Men
Choose from:
-X-Men 1-3
-XMFC/Days of Future Past/Apocalypse/Dark Phoenix
-All X-Men movies (Includes the above)
-Wolverine films (X-Men Origins: Wolverine/The Wolverine/Logan)
-Deadpool films

Comments

[silveradept]

For this or future rounds, it may be worth making a specific example of allowing all of the Final Fantasy games that are not directly related to each other. So,

• VII and VII Remake,


• X and X-2,


• IV and IV: The After Years,


• Tactics Advance, Tactics A2, and Final Fantasy XII,


• and XIII, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns

are each one fandom to themselves, for example, but I and IV are separate fandoms, as their storyline and characters are entirely distinct. (Haven't played XI and XIV to know if they're related to any of the others. If either of them are Ivalice Alliance, they'd go in with XII)

And all of them are separated from Kingdom Hearts. Same characters, but in very different situations and backstories.

[dizmo]

Oh, absolutely. There's enough differentiation between FF series that they're definitely discrete entities. They're still subject to the 'first character can't be from the same franchise as any of the fandom slots' rule, but it would also definitely not be considered one large fandom for signup purposes.

[taste_is_sweet]

I'm sorry to comment again, but I have to say I really don't understand your rules about the DC television shows (I'm assuming you mean the CW ones) all being separate fandoms.

These shows have all crossed over with each other several times, and previously only Black Lightning and Supergirl were not in the same universe (The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow all were). Now after the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, all the series expressly take place in the same universe, and all or nearly all the characters have met each other.

If Peter Quill can't go into a bar and meet someone from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., when they've never been anywhere near each other in canon, why can Oliver Queen go into a bar and meet Supergirl when they've actually already interacted in canon several times? At best it seems like allowing Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: SG-1 characters to crossover, which I remember you referring to (and rightly so) as a 'dick move'. So why is it okay with the CW DC shows?

I really don't get it. Could you please explain the difference?

[dizmo]

They're separate fandoms for the purposes of requesting, as in you can request The Flash and Arrow as separate fandoms of four.

But they're related fandoms, in that if you have Oliver as your character going into the bar, you can't have The Flash as one of your four fandoms. (Or any other DC fandom, for that matter.)

Related fandoms still can't be used to crossover with your main character, but this post is more delineating how franchises are separated out into what fandoms you can request in and of themselves.

discworld series?

[ashling]

hiya!
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has 41 novels in it, and while they're all set in the same universe, some of them concern totally different sets of characters. I would like to request a character from the subseries The Watch series https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Watch_Series which is made up of 8 books and follows the same set of main characters. (Whereas, for instance, the Tiffany Series, which also takes place in the Discworld universe, contains 5 books and follows a totally different set of main characters)
Would it be okay if I just asked for a character from the Watch series for my random character? If not, no problem, I'll choose something else.

Re: discworld series?

[dizmo]

Sorry for the delay on the answer! I thought I had, and forgot about it.

Honestly, as big a Discworld fan as I am, I'm going to have to say no to separating out the individual subseries of the Disc, just due to the way character lists are created for the fest.

Sorry about that, but I hope you still have good fandoms to choose from!

[lizvogel]

So, for Doctor Who... if you can request New Who as a separate fandom, can you also request Classic Who (Doctors 1-7) as a separate fandom?

[dizmo]

Yeah, I'll allow it.

More fandom related questions for ya! (Please forgive me.)

[taste_is_sweet]

Hello again! As per the subject line, please forgive me, but I'm confused by a couple of things:

1) There have been many crossovers between all the Stargate TV series, and they are all considered as part of the same universe by the creators (and fans). So, why are they considered different fandoms for this challenge when the MCU TV series aren't separate from the movies, despite having no crossovers?
2) By the same token, 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star are set in the same universe and have also had crossovers, though more limited ones. Are they considered separate or one fandom?
3) In your example of how the challenge works, you had The Witcher potentially meeting someone from WandaVision or a character from one of the Thor movies. I thought that wasn't allowed?

Thank you in advance, and once again, for taking the time to explain. I appreciate it. 😊

Re: More fandom related questions for ya! (Please forgive me.)

[taste_is_sweet]

So, I noticed I basically asked the same question about two years ago, but I guess I still don't really understand how it works. I'm sorry.

Re: More fandom related questions for ya! (Please forgive me.)

[dizmo]

As a blanket answer for most of your points, most everything in this post is focusing on specific edge cases having to do with franchises. What is a "separate fandom" and not really means what does and does not have a character list of its own as far as what I'm rolling behind the scenes. Obviously in all cases they're related fandoms, but in none of them would a character from Franchise Part One be able to go into a bar and meet a character from Franchise Part Two.

Specifically on the third one, from that thread from a couple years ago, I mentioned that the rules on that part had changed and you can have multiple parts of a franchise in your four 'Character A Can Meet' slots, as long as Character A itself isn't from that franchise. That wasn't the case in the first few iterations of the challenge but I changed it on... I think my second go-around as main mod? Because it doesn't really affect keeping someone meeting someone else from their own franchise.

... I hope that made sense at all. The more I tried to clarify, the more complicated it seemed, oof.

[cyberbrain]

I'm thinking of signing up with a character from the Ace Attorney game series and wanted my other fandom to be The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Would it be okay?

For some background, there's no overlap between characters since the main AA series takes place in the 21st century and TGAA takes place at the dawn of the 20th century. There aren't any related cases between the two either.

[dizmo]

Love those games, have played those games, but unfortunately, no, the fest has always been designed to create crossovers between unrelated fandoms, so even if there's no direct correlation between the two, it wouldn't really work for this particular challenge.

Sorry!

[shinon]

I have a different Ace Attorney question - is it okay to specify a subset of the games for one of my fandoms? E.g. if I'd prefer to write a character just from the original trilogy, is that sufficiently distinct from games 4-6 or the Investigations games to count as its own thing in itself?

[dizmo]

I'd say the main series games are too interconnected to split out the original trilogy, but you could request those six separate from Investigations or The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles.

[frenchroast]

Question: Once Upon a Time was sort of rebooted in its final season. Is it possible to just choose Once Upon a Time seasons 1-6/not season 7?

[dizmo]

The character list for that fandom has been set for ages, and I just went and doublechecked it. There aren't any season seven only characters on it anyway, so it's not even needed!

[muccamukk]

Doctor Who goes up to 15 now! (apparently, what is happening?)

[dizmo]

So it does! Remembered to update the MCU and forgot about the Doctor, noooo! Fixed now!

[somariel]

Regarding book series, would the Song of the Lioness quartet, the Immortals quartet, and the Protector of the Small quartet count as different fandoms even though they're all in the same universe, or are all books in that universe considered part of the Tortall fandom?

[dizmo]

Oh, absolutely! (Although obviously if you list any of them, it can't be a Tortall character coming into the bar!)

[rhi]

I know this sounds like an odd question, but can I request just Avengers (2012) rather than get into all the mass crossovers of the later Avengers movies?

[dizmo]

Unfortunately, it's daunting enough to keep up-to-date on the ever-growing amount of character lists I have for the MCU without getting quite that granular, so I won't be able to split a series apart like that.

MCU - newer films

[graycardinal]

Technical note: the MCU list appears to overlook some of the more recent films. In particular, the character-specific tags for Black Panther and Doctor Strange should presumably now have "(Movies)" appended to reflect the releases of Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

(At the risk of making a suggestion that would complicate things even more, is the MCU now in a state where the MCU movies could also or instead be organized by their "Phase" groupings? That might be messy in the short term but easier to cope with going forward....)

Re: MCU - newer films

[dizmo]

You are absolutely write about the sequels updating the suffixes and I've fixed that.

As far as phase groupings, that's something I'll probably mull over going forward. It's a complex enough question that I'll have to give it more thought than I can afford it while actively running a round! But thanks for the suggestion, it's a good one whether or not I go with it!

[ultra_fic]

Can I just clarify a couple of points regarding fandoms, please?

If I put down The Librarians, this won't include characters only from the movies, will it? I'm not overly familiar with those and would mean to request the TV show specifically.

Secondly, I'm assuming I can't put down Pirates of the Caribbean Original Trilogy (I'm only properly familiar with the first three) as you would probably lump all five movies together, right?

Thanks in advance :)

[dizmo]

Correct on both counts! Obviously please make it clear you're requesting the TV show specifically in your signup for The Librarians (which I would ask generally with anyone who is requesting a fandom that has different adaptations in multiple media), and correct, I would not be separating out the PotC franchise.

Hope that helps!