Wrangling Update: Critical Role Metatag + Fandom Restructure
Back in September, we announced the establishment of the Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) and Critical Role: Aramán (Web Series) fandom tags, in preparation for Campaign 4. Thankfully, this restructure was well-received, and you guys have been super busy posting works to those new fandom tags!
Since The Legend of Vox Machina started airing a few years ago, many critters have asked for a Critical Role metatag to make it easier to find works about either the actual play campaigns or the animated adaptations. Similarly, many critters have for years asked for the ability to tag and filter more granularly for specific campaigns when posting or browsing fanworks. With the recently announced Changes to Fandom Metatag Wrangling Guidelines, we’re now ready to give it to you!
The TL;DR is that we’ve now created the Critical Role Exandrian Universe fandom metatag! This metatag will function as an umbrella fandom for fandoms like Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series), The Legend of Vox Machina (Cartoon) and The Mighty Nein (Cartoon) – as well as many more newly-canonised Critical Role fandom tags!
Please read on after the cut for the full details of the restructure. We hope that this change will help provide more freedom and flexibility when posting and searching for works within the ever-expanding Critical Role fandom.
We wish you all happy browsing and… is it Thursday yet?
An overview of the full restructure:
As mentioned above, Critical Role Exandrian Universe will now serve as a top-level umbrella fandom for all Critical Role works set within the Exandria canon. Additionally, we’ve now split out the individual actual play campaigns and subtagged them to Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series). Finally, we have also canonised the Critical Role books and comics that have been tagged for on AO3 so far and subtagged them to the CREU metatag.
This is what the fandom metatag/subtag structure now looks like, with all existing and newly-canonised fandoms included:
Metatag: Critical Role Exandrian Universe
Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series)
Critical Role: Campaign 1 - Vox Machina (Web Series)
Critical Role: Campaign 2 - The Mighty Nein (Web Series)
Critical Role: Campaign 3 - Bells Hells (Web Series)
Exandria Unlimited: Prime (Web Series)
Exandria Unlimited: Calamity (Web Series)
Exandria Unlimited: Divergence (Web Series)
Wildemount Wildlings (Web Series)
The Legend of Vox Machina (Cartoon)
The Mighty Nein (Cartoon)
Critical Role: Kith & Kin - Marieke Nijkamp
Critical Role: The Nine Eyes of Lucien - Madeleine Roux
Critical Role: What Doesn't Break - Cassandra Khaw
Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins (Dark Horse Comics)
But what does this actually mean?
This means that if you want to find works about any and all of the above-listed fandoms, you can now easily find them by filtering on the metatag Critical Role Exandrian Universe! If, however, you’re only interested in finding works about the book Critical Role: Kith & Kin - Marieke Nijkamp or the animated show The Mighty Nein (Cartoon), then no problem; you can still find works on the specific sub-fandoms without getting inundated with results from the parts of the CR fandom you’re not interested in.
By creating a metatag, it also means that any fandoms included in this metatag structure no longer counts as a crossover! Before now, if you filtered on Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) and excluded crossovers in your search, it would automatically exclude works tagged with The Legend of Vox Machina (Cartoon) or The Mighty Nein (Cartoon) as well – even though these shows are adaptations of the actual play campaigns and therefore definitely shouldn’t count as crossovers. It’s a happy day for both crossover lovers and haters alike!
Why are the individual campaigns subtagged to Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series), rather than directly to the metatag?
This is to make sure that all actual play content set in Exandria can still be found in one place, without having to include results for adaptations and other tie-in material.
From now on, we will canonise all major campaigns and miniseries set in Exandria as subtags under the Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) fandom tag. Since Exandria is a sprawling place with campaigns set in different parts of the world and the overall timeline, this will hopefully provide a lot more freedom and flexibility when it comes to finding works about the specific campaigns or adventure parties you are interested in.
Please note, however, that solo one-shots will primarily still be merged into the overall Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) tag, unless they get a sequel or other kind of continuation.
I’ve posted works under the Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) fandom tag. Do I need to re-tag them to specify which campaign they’re about?
You can if you’d like, but no, that’s absolutely not necessary! The Critical Role: Exandria (Web Series) fandom is meant to encompass all actual play content set in Exandria, so how broadly or granularly you tag your works is completely up to you!
However, if you’ve also added a tag like “Critical Role Campaign 1” or “ExU Calamity - Fandom” in the Fandom field on your work, then good news! Your work will now automatically show up under the appropriate campaign fandom tag as well.
Why does this metatag only include the Exandrian part of Critical Role? What about all the other series and one-shots set outside of Exandria?
As described in the Changes to Fandom Metatag Wrangling Guidelines announcement, the recent metatag policy update includes specifications for both when a metatag can and cannot be created. Specifically, for when a metatag is not appropriate, it says:
“Fandoms which share a performer, director, or creator/creative team but are not related through a shared continuity, shared characters, or other shared elements”
The first three major campaigns of Critical Role, the mini-campaigns like Exandria Unlimited, the animated adaptations and the book/comic tie-in material are all connected by sharing the same world, and so they qualify for a metatag. However, other Critical Role productions like Campaign 4, Candela Obscura, or Age of Umbra share nothing in common except a shared creative team. This is why it is only possible for us to include the Exandria branch of the fandom under the new metatag.
Will you make a metatag like this for Aramán too?
Not at this point in time. Since we currently only have Campaign 4 set in Aramán and only one fandom tag on AO3, Critical Role: Aramán (Web Series), a metatag would be redundant. If Critical Role eventually decides to produce other campaigns, adaptations, or tie-in material set in Aramán, then yes, we will likely at that point create a metatag for the Aramán branch of the fandom as well.
So what about Critical Role content set outside of Exandria? Where do I find works about those?
For many years now, one-shots and miniseries unrelated to Exandria have been given their own separate fandom canonicals whenever tagged for! For ease of reference, these are all the Critical Role productions that currently have their own fandom canonical tags on AO3:
Critical Role: Aramán (Web Series)
One-shots and miniseries set outside of Exandria or Aramán:
Age of Umbra (Critical Role Web Series)
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace (Web Series)
Candela Obscura (Critical Role Web Series)
A Daggerheart Critmas Story (Web Series)
The Nautilus Ark: A Johnson Corp Odyssey (Web Series)
NordVPN "Critical Role Nordverse" Commercials
Thresher (Critical Role Web Series)
Thursday By Night (Web Series)
We highly encourage you to use these fandom tags to help you browse or filter works about Critical Role’s various self-contained productions. We will continue to canonise non-Exandria/non-Aramán productions as separate fandoms — you just need to keep tagging for them in the Fandom field if you post works about them!
(From time to time, ao3org posts announcements of recent or upcoming wrangling changes on behalf of the Tag Wrangling Committee.)
