!RunningTheAsylum and Administrivia/TropesAreTools
This is not inherently a bad thing. The alternative, hiring people who are ''not'' fans, also has its issues, as you risk someone unfamiliar or even contemptuous of the source material completely missing what makes the genre good or expanding the mythology only the way a fan could. Creator/DonRosa, for example, produced brilliant {{fanboy}} ContinuityPorn based on the WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and [[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Uncle Scrooge]] comics of Creator/CarlBarks. Creator/AlanMoore and Creator/NeilGaiman produced critically-acclaimed works by embracing the absurdity of the comic book superhero [[TheVerse mythology]]; of Moore's best-known works, only ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' isn't any kind of adaptation of a previous franchise or character.


These are signs of some of the problems that can result:
* Abuse of ArmedWithCanon.
* New characters who are obvious {{Author Avatar}}s or ascended {{Original Character}}s, especially when they are blatantly overpowered by in-universe standards (especially when the source of their abilities breaks established story logic, or they have NewPowersAsThePlotDemands), have an improbably good fight record, or rapidly and uncharacteristically earn the trust and loyalty of everyone they meet.
* CharacterDerailment, especially when it involves [[DracoInLeatherPants whitewashing the actions of villains]] or [[RonTheDeathEater demonizing flawed heroes or villains who aren't particularly evil]].
* ContinuityPorn for even the most minor things. Writers will revisit old stories, instilling far more self-indulgent detail into the retellings than ever appeared in the original.
* ContinuitySnarl when it wasn't part of the story before, and further entanglement of existing snarls.
* DarkerAndEdgier (and all its variants) on shows, even when it either doesn't fit or is already dark, or is done in an immature and puerile way.
* DieForOurShip incorporated into canon.
* [[DroppedABridgeOnHim Dropping bridges on characters they don't like]], and sometimes [[{{Demonization}} making up stuff about the characters]] to excuse why they did it.
* FanMyopia dictates most of their choices.
* {{Flanderization}} happens to random {{canon}}ical details that grow out of the original setting's proportions--whether it's compatible with the rest of the old {{canon}} or not.
* LighterAndSofter
* Sneaking {{fanon}} into [[AscendedFanon official sources.]]
* {{Fanservice}} increases exponentially to the point of the audience saying "No more", is done in an exceptionally creepy way, or flies in the face of established characterization.
* {{Moral Event Horizon}}s and other irredeemably heinous acts being EasilyForgiven, especially by characters who would have every reason in the world to not forgive them, or because of retcons or justifications due to external factors that were [[AssPull made up on the spot]].
* OnceDoneNeverForgotten shoved on characters that were not canonically treated this way before.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, particularly when they either don't make any sense, or somehow never manifested at any point prior to this even though the character has been through similar situations before, especially when their proficiency with them indicates that they are not new to the character in question.
* When they aren't PanderingToTheBase, they're [[AuthorAppeal pandering to themselves]].
* PopularityPower, as well as PowerCreepPowerSeep.
* Loads and loads of {{retcon}}s.
* Writers treat the characters they don't like as TheScrappy, even if those characters [[UnpopularPopularCharacter aren't thought that way by the fanbase]].
* Writers make the characters they like into the SpotlightStealingSquad, even if those characters [[CreatorsPet aren't as liked with the fanbase]].
* WriterOnBoard to a degree far greater than happened to the show before.

Note that a lot of these tend to show up in fanfiction before this trope makes them {{canon}}, hence the axiom[[note]]On the original version of the page, that axiom read '''''Any sufficiently advanced franchise is indistinguishable from fanfic.''''' The page creator has no issue with it being superseded by a quote from '''Creator/NeilGaiman.''' -- Troper/{{YourObedientSerpent}}[[/note]] at the top of the page.

On the plus side, RunningTheAsylum can be a cure for stagnation of a series, with the fans bringing in a fresh perspective.

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