There are two types of crossovers. Regular Crossovers and Fusion Fics.
Regular Crossovers: Elements, usually the characters of two or more properties interact with each other.
I tend to dislike these. At least I always filter them out on AO3.
Fusion Fics: Two or more properties will be fused together, creating a fusion universe.
There is actually a type of Crossover I like. Putting a character from property X into property Z. Example: Danny Phantom replaces Harry Potter. Or Pokémon Anime, but everyone can bend the elements like in Avatar: the last airbender.
A good crossover requires a deep understanding of the source material. Or a high level in the World Building skill.
Regular crosovers have a lot of points you can slip on.
For once, you can have too many characters. Either they are boringly written, underdeveloped or just feel like a waste of space. Try to cut down on characters that are not needed for the plot.
A different problem is the lack of plot. Nothing happens, characters just vibe with each other.
A solution to this is simple. Drop a villain from one property to another. Maybe characters from the villain's world join later on.
Fusion fics also have their pit falls. Especially if one of the fandoms is Harry Potter. Ezn called it 'Cut-and-paste' story telling. It is basically just the plot from X rewritten in Y with name changes. This is a very frowned upon practice and very uncreative...
You see... I actually plan a How to train your Dragon fix that is a barebones retelling of Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night Dream', narrated by Loki (not MCU Loki!) in Court. I'm kinda worried how the community reacts to it.
You may make your fic inaccessible to some readers. And that is okay. But you could try to introduce foreign concepts to the readers, like lore of the lesser known property. May bother readers who are familiar with Z, but hey, accessability is a double bladed sword.
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Absolute Fanfiction Writing Advice
FanfictionI wrote and read Fanfiction for five years. In these five years, I learned many things. But these is still a lot to learn for me. To celebrate my five year anniversary, I want to collect said knowledge. While not all is stuff I learned over the last...
