Real Ghostbusters 2024

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.

During a discussion on my own message board, I made mention of a story I was working on starring "The Ghostbusters of 2021" and somebody asked "Which ones?"  and I admit it made me stop.  I'd been referring to this team as "The Ghostbusters of 2020X" ever since I created them in 2003.   But Ghostbusters Afterlife was referred to as "Ghostbusters 2021" (and "Ghostbusters 2020" before that, but Covid happened) before the title was revealed, and I realized the confusion was understandable. I began to wonder if there was some way to make it a little clearer what I was still doing.

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...I just called them all "Ghostbusters" even if the character designs and continuity I used were drawn more from the Real Ghostbusters animation.

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...

The stories on the Ectozone currently labelled "Ghostbusters" will became "The Real Ghostbusters" with an appropriate logo change.

And the Ectozone's "Ghostbusters 2020X" will be relabelled "The Real Ghostbusters 202X", using the logo above (with the 2024 being changed to the appropriate year)

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, which you can do here or on the Ectozone message board. 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.