There's something I've been thinking about doing for a few years now. It really started about the time Afterlife was getting ready to come out in theatres. I think it all went down to a specific conversation on the Ectozone message board



Well, the story I meant was Born to the Purple starring the Ectozone's current day Ghostbusters. But at the time, I can't even remember if the official name "Afterlife" had been revealed for the movie that Jason Reitman had been working on*...so it was often referred to simply as "Ghostbusters 2021" (and "Ghostbusters 2020" before that, but Covid happened). I began to wonder if there was some way to make it a little clearer what I was still doing.

(Edit: Just checked. It had)

I mean, I made sure to put a disclaimer on my FFN profile stating "I came up with this continuity twenty years ago--Afterlife isn't part of it". And for the most part, I just don't want to write in that universe. And I'm sure I'm chasing away potential readers by saying that, but, well, so be it.

And I wondered if there was a way to make it clearer. Might it be time for a slight bit of rebranding to my stories?

Back when I started, two movies, The Real Ghostbusters, and Extreme Ghostbusters were all there were in official Columbia Pictures product. At the time my operating paradigm "It's all part of the same reality and it's all Ghostbusters. And I labeled most of my stories accordingly...



Even if I drew the characters looking like this:



So maybe it's time I more obviously embraced what I knew years ago, but 2021 drove it home to me: I can't pretend to be anything but an alternate universe fanon anymore. I'm not in continuity with the current movies and honestly, with Deadbeat Dad Egon and that entire backstory, I don't really want to be.

But maybe the answer is rather simple. Quit labeling everything simply as "Ghostbusters". Because I still consider most of what I do a more or less valid future to the two animated series

So what am I considering? It's kinda simple...

If I do this rebranding, every story that currently sports this logo:



Will change to this one:



Short, simple, makes it clear that the product is based on an extension of animated continuity instead of using Afterlife and Frozen Empire as their canon.

Similarly, I've come up with a new way of labeling the stories of the Ectozone's 2020's Ghostbusters.

Instead of this:



They'll get a new logo looking like this:



A few important clarifications:

This won't affect anything in the stories themselves. I'm not going to go all Marvel UK and having the characters start being referred to as "The Real Ghostbusters" in the stories themselves, anymore than the character played on TV by Ncuti Gatwa and over a dozen people before him is actually named "Doctor Who". (You'd think since Marvel UK was publishing the DW magazine at the time, they'd know how this works )

Extreme Ghostbusters stories and franchise stories (ie Ghostbusters West Coast Division) will not be changed. Apocrypha stories will be left alone. "Chronicles of Gozer" I intend to relabel as Ghostbusters International stories.

I haven't completely committed to this idea yet. I want to hear from all of the few people still reading this site for comment on the matter. If I do go forward with it, I'll probably upload the updated pages on either May 13 (the Ectozone anniversary) or June 8 (the Ghostbusters anniversary)

And if you wonder what it would look like, here's some temporary examples of the new proposed look:

The Real Ghostbusters: Forever
June 14, 1998--Timeline Year Sixteen
After fifteen years of confusion, denial, reversal, and dark moments of despair, the long-awaited day has come for one brilliant physicist and one spirited secretary to celebrate the love that bind their souls together. At long last, the wedding of Professor Egon Spengler and Ms. Janine Melnitz.
(First Posted January 26, 2006)

Ghostbusters International: Chronicles of Gozer Book Six: Exaltation
By Various Authors; Edited by Vincent Belmont
June 2004--Timeline Year Twenty Two
The epic conclusion. Ghostbusters International, the Order of Hermes, and the Garou nation stand united against the impending return of Gozer. An alliance the likes of which the world has not seen in untold ages. Secrets are revealed, enemies become allies, and desperate plans are made as science, magic, primal might, and faith march against the ancient horror of the Shapeless Destructor. But is it enough?
(First Posted July 7, 2008)

The Real Ghostbusters 2021: The Eye Of Aretpo, Part One
2021--Timeline Year Thirty-Nine
A strange murder in London brings a young detective to the United States in search of answers. Three children of legends are reunited. Behind the scenes, a plot is in motion that will force all of them to embrace the legacy of the Ghostbusters.
(First Posted July 28, 2008)

I hope you'll give it a look, and let me know what you think.

_________________

Where matters like this are concerned, I generally have a (rather unhelpful) 'whatever you think' kind of attitude. It really is up to you as the creator of your own work. It certainly can't do any harm. As you say, it may do some good.

To me personally, it wouldn't make any difference. With one or two possible exceptions (depending on how you look at it, but never mind that), I think of every modern reboot of the things I love (and even the things I only like, once loved or once liked) as bad fanfiction anyway.* If I think of them at all, that is.

(*No matter what names are behind it... but I don't think anyone here wants to get into that, thank goodness.)

_________________
'Extreme Ghostbusters was the best-written show, because it wasn't just about the ghostbusting, it was about the characters.' - Rino Romano

EGB Fan's EGB Fans
EGB Fan on FFN and AO3