hey thanks for doing this!!! despite being fandom middle-aged (close to 10 years), i still need guidance lol. So for my question, how would you tag a fic on ao3 where the plot is taken from media A, but the characters are from media B (characters from media A never show up). It's not actually a crossover, is it?
Awesome!!! First ask!!!
That is not a crossover, no! A crossover contains characters from two different fandoms in the same story. A fic that uses a different fandom/text's plot or worldbuilding/setting is a different kind of thing, and while it's very common, I don't think it has a great label. AO3 uses the word "fusion" but that doesn't seem specific enough to me. Bonus points to someone who comes up with a good label for it!
Anyways, I have Strong Feelings about tagging this kind of thing.
For the fandom, tag the media the characters are taken from (Media B). Do not tag Media A. There is nothing more annoying than going into the tag for, like, Casablanca, and finding that half the fics are actually about slash ships from unrelated fandoms. (Real life example, though I'm exaggerating about it being half the stories.)
In the additional tags, tell us what Media A is. If the plot/wordbuilding/setting you're using for the story gets used in such a way a lot, there may be a preexisting tag like "Alternate Universe - Star Trek fusion" or "Alternate Universe - Ella Enchanted fusion," which is always nice! But even if there's not, you can create your own tag like "Alternate Universe - Casablanca fusion." It won't be made into a standardized tag unless other people also start using it, but it will be there on your fic for everyone to see where you drew your inspiration.
Then in your author's note, just make it clear where you're taking the inspiration for the plot/worldbuilding/whatever. If you really want to, you can include it in your summary as well.
Happy writing!
