#is that the plotlines overlap and interact in ways that might be hard to contain

[kae-karo]

okay let's cut to the chase i need to figure out the best way to do this so i am curious about yall's thoughts as readers

i have what will likely be a ~90k au which will have ~5 distinct plotlines that regularly interact or overlap, something like 10 relationships that i would consider as requiring tagging, 7 different pov characters, and a variety of tags that may conflict depending on the relationship/character/plot they refer to

my concern is that a single fic would come across as overtagged/turn people off to clicking into it, or deter folks who might be interested in one plotline/relationship but not in others. i personally balk a little at fics with a ton of relationship tags, etc, and i'm also concerned that folks who come expecting a tag to apply to one dynamic will be surprised or irritated when it actually applies to another, etc

my tentative solutions are...perhaps a bit unwieldy, but i would love some input from the reader side!!

one alternate would be to utilize series as a way of better tagging each section of the fic, either as a single series of 30ish fics in chronological order or as multiple series of 30ish fics that align to the various plots (with a collection to aggregate them all) with appropriate overlap where it makes sense. my concern is a reader coming in and seeing "part 16 in series" and going 'oh well shit i don't wanna read 16 other fics before this one just to get what's going on here', which could potentially happen with either series solution

my other alternate would be a collection for the au with a "choose your own adventure" type of link at the bottom - follow chronologically to the next fic in the au or follow to the next fic in the particular plotline that this fic is a part of. this would probably also necessitate an author's note at the start of each fic with the 'previous' fic(s) linked. the struggle with this ofc is potential confusion in seeing it as a standalone fic when it's ultimately more part of a collective whole story (either in its plotline or with regards to the au as a whole), but would resolve the tagging issue and the potential deterrent of a 'there are how many fics in this series? no way i'm bothering with that' vibe

so my question, dear readers, is this:

i'm leaving this open for a week, and please feel free to rb to your heart's content! would love to know what people outside my circle think as well, or if anyone has any clever solutions or ideas even if they're not a regular reader of mine. thank u all dearly!!!