basic ao3 tag tutorial to perhaps help lower your local tag wrangler's blood pressure

hey folks, tags can be hard (i have made many transgressions) and maybe you have not read ao3's faq on the matter so here are a few tips to keep in mind (1/?)

RELATIONSHIPS (2/?)

canonical ship tags list characters in alphabetical order by surname (name order doesn't signify anything further)

use / for romantic/sexual
use & for platonic

so Misaki Hana/Nametsu Mai is romantic; Misaki Hana & Nametsu Mai is platonic

(3/?)

3+ characters in a / ship tag are generally considered to be a poly relationship, NOT a love triangle (in almost all usage i have seen)

so Han Ji Pyeong/Nam Do San/Seo Dal Mi would be read as a poly relationship involving ALL THREE people in some capacity

(4/?)

/ and & relationships cannot be canonically combined in one tag

so if you ship Miles Edgeworth/Phoenix Wright and also want to tag each character's platonic relationship to Trucy Wright you can't have Miles Edgeworth/Phoenix Wright & Trucy Wright

make separate tags

(5/?)

you do not need to add multiple ship tags that mean the same thing to one work (usually seen with portmanteau ship names)

e.g. if you have Sherlock Holmes/John Watson as a ship tag you do not also need to add "johnlock" in the relationship tag field

(6/?)

if you have the time and inclination, you can help wranglers when creating a new ship tag by alphabetizing by surname (or 1st if mononymic), esp. if they have 3+ characters

e.g. Samus Aran & Simon Belmont & Kirby (Kirby) & Donkey Kong & Pikachu (Pokemon) & Villager

(7/?)

note: if there's a ship you wanna tag but it's not in focus (e.g. it's mentioned twice), you can consider tagging "Minor [ship]" in the Additional Tag field

e.g. Minor Leia Organa/Han Solo

BUT it won't be filtered out when excluding the ship tag Leia Organa/Han Solo

(7.5/?)

i think that's all for relationship tags for now, onto character tags

also, some of these are general usage tips to simplify your/your readers' ao3 experience but you are legally allowed to do as you wish, so use this information however you please

(8/?)

CHARACTERS

tag individual characters/entities/organizations/etc. here

this isn't really the field for further descriptors (e.g. Auror Harry Potter). you can tag Harry Potter in the Character field and then "Auror Harry Potter" in Additional Tags

(9/?)

characters with the same name from different fandoms will/should have the fandom name specified afterwards

e.g. John Smith (Disney) vs. John Smith (Mr. and Mrs. Smith)

if you're creating a new tag I believe you can help differentiate by using John Smith (Your Fandom)

(10/?)

if you're tagging many characters but don't want to list them all, you can use the "Ensemble" character tag or see if your fandom has a "[fandom] Ensemble" character tag

when you use "basically everybody" or "every character in One Piece" wranglers syn them to Ensemble

(11/?)

as the faq says, ensure your tag can stand alone by using full names if possible when creating a new tag; just "Hinata" could be Hyuuga Hinata or Hinata Shouyou or Hinata Hajime, etc.

(12/?)

if you're going to tag your OC by name in the Character field consider using (OC) afterwards so wranglers know it's an OC and not an obscure character they don't recognize

e.g. tagging "Asdfghjkl Jones (OC)" on my Supernatural fic so wranglers don't have to google her

(13/?)

FANDOM

if your fandom already exists, you can start typing and select it from the autocompleted list of canonical tags in the Fandom field

your may have to choose between different media types, e.g. Les Misérables - Victor Hugo vs. any of the stage/screen adaptations

(14/?)

be aware that many RPF (real person fiction) fandoms begin with whatever the source fandom is, so you may accidentally tag "Star Trek RPF" instead of "Star Trek: The Original Series" on your non-RPF Star Trek fic if you are clicking too quickly; they are separate fandoms

(15/?)

for a crossover, tag all fandoms included in your work

note: i've been told that singular works which include many unrelated fics for many unrelated fandoms can be seen as irritating; you may want to consider splitting the work by fandom or creating a series instead

(16/?)

RATING

paraphrased from the faq:

Not Rated: as it sounds; may be screened like M/E fics

G(eneral): suitable for everyone

T(een and up): best for 13+

M(ature): has adults themes (e.g. sex, violence); not as graphic detail as E

E(xplicit): explicit adult themes

(17/?)

CATEGORY

this, like rating, doesn't affect your wranglers as much so this is just an fyi

F/F: female/female ship
M/M: male/male ship
F/M: female/male ship
Gen: general, not focused on romantic ships
Multi: multiple ships or poly
Other: other types not covered by above

(18/?)

you can tag your work with as many categories as needed

e.g. if your work has a focus on both F/F and F/M ships, tag both categories

(19/?)

WARNINGS

ao3 has 4 major warnings: Graphic Depictions or Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con and Underage

if your work includes any of these contents you MUST tag for them OR tag your work with "Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings"

(20/?)

"Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" and "No Archive Warnings Apply" are NOT THE SAME

if i tag "No Archive Warnings Apply" a reader should expect not to see any of the contents from the 4 major warnings in my work. no major character death, etc.

(continued next)

(21/?)

"Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings" is more like "anything could be in this work"

by using CCNTUAW i am saying "i am choosing not to warn and by opening the fic you are acknowledging that there could be any kind of content inside including the 4 warnings"

(22/?)

you can also add warnings for anything in the Additional Tags field

e.g. i have tagged a fic CCNTUAW but because i was writing about a canonical death that's referenced in the work, i tagged "Canonical Character Death" in Additional Tags so readers could be aware

(23/?)

ADDITIONAL TAGS

here we are, the lawless land of ao3's additional tags field.

you can tag literally anything you want in here, but fyi, it goes to the freeform bin and someone is going to have to eventually wrangle it, figure out its fandom, its synned tags, etc.

(24/?)

so don't let me stop you from tagging whatever you want, but know that some long, rambling tumblr-style tags might be better suited for your author's notes (i am guilty of not doing this )

(25/?)

anyway, Additional Tags is the place to tag your work's included tropes, squicks, AUs, character descriptors, kinks, warnings, whatever element/theme of your fic you feel is important to know

you can have as many or as few as you'd like

(26/?)

freeform tags become canonical when used 3 times by 3 different users on 3 different works (or 5 times/users/works for bigger fandoms)

this includes freeform tags that are synonyms

e.g. Autistic Asakusa Midori was canonized after 3 tags such as "autistic asakusa"

(27/?)

don't let me scare you out of using additional tags; they're what you use to tag for anything that doesn't belong in the other fields, so use them however you feel is appropriate to tell your readers about the contents of your fic!

(28/?)

for example, you might tag for Embedded Images, or POV Second Person, or Audio Format: MP3, or Canon-Typical Violence, or Original Character(s), or Pre-Relationship, or Unrequited Love, or Season/Series 02 Spoilers

any manner of things you think readers should know

(29/?)

BACK TO RELATIONSHIPS for a sec

descriptors in ship tags DO NOT differentiate them from a regular ship tag

e.g. "Unrequited Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy" will be synned to the canonical Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy relationship tag

use freeforms to tag that

(30/30)

okay i think that's all for now!

though i deeply respect tag wranglers i am not one, so if i have misspoken, please trust whichever wrangler has corrected me and follow their sage advice

have fun on ao3! may your writing come easy and your reading be uninterrupted