[ SECRET POST #6875 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6875 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 42 secrets from Secret Submission Post #982.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

01. https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/acd9b3a9d4fa.png

Transcript by OP

[fscom]

I recently deleted my AO3 account. I deleted all works instead of orphaning them. I'm extremely sad about it, but it needed to be done.

Sorry that I didn't have the courage to orphan my fics. I know it's frowned upon.

Re: Transcript by OP

[(Anonymous)]

"it needed to be done." No it didn't. You chose that. You chose deletion. You chose not to leave the works up in case you changed your mind. You chose not to go anon. You chose not to orphan. It was a choice. And unless you're pulling to self publish filed-off-serial-numbers there was truly no need.

[(Anonymous)]

because AO3 has been a cancer on modern fandom, reducing it to a series of drabbles and kudoses, devoid of all substance and replaced with "being nice" instead

[iff_and_xor]

Did you lose part of your comment? I feel like there was either a beginning or end to that sentence that is missing.

[(Anonymous)]

What?

[(Anonymous)]

???

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, it's you.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed!

[(Anonymous)]

Ma'am this is a Wendys.

[(Anonymous)]

And the pit of voles or LJ fic comms... weren't like that? *cough*

All of these complaints are a "social media" and centralization problem, not the fault of AO3 itself.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry but did AO3 kill your dog or something, Gatekeeper-san?

[(Anonymous)]

Unlike Wattpad? Fanfiction net? AO3 doesn't censor and provides tools to curate your own experience. Don't shit on it.

[iff_and_xor]

I hope you're feeling some kind of relief or benefit, OP, in addition to extremely sad. It's your work and sometimes that's what you need to do for your own sake.

I know some people have turned orphaning vs deleting into a weird moral thing, like deleting your work is some sort of sin or rudeness.

I think more rational people are just sad to lose fics they enjoyed or haven't had the chance to read yet. Orphaning is a nice option to let those be accessible, without being connected to an author, but that doesn't necessarily achieve what the author needs or wants. And yeah, it can be sad, but that's part of giving creators freedom and, you know, the general impermanence of life.

[(Anonymous)]

Well said

[(Anonymous)]

I guess I just can’t understand why it would take courage to leave something there with no ties to you.

[iff_and_xor]

It's a funny thing, isn't it? I was just thinking about something similar, how a publicly displayed picture of some intimate part of me would trigger an emotional reaction even if no one could actually connect it back to me as a person.

I might get over it after a little bit or feel some positive sense of freedom in it, but it would definitely still be an emotionally charged experience.

[(Anonymous)]

Ehh, I can sort of see it. For some, writing and creating a story is very intimate and personal, and leaving a piece of yourself that might be a snapshot of your inner thoughts/demons/personal obsessions at a given time might feel vulnerable.

[(Anonymous)]

If you have an anxiety disorder it makes sense. I have a few 'orphaned' projects out there floating around online (not ao3 or fandom stuff) and the thought of them out there causes anxiety flares sometimes and I wish I had just deleted the whole thing instead.

[(Anonymous)]

You can't remove *all* ties to you - people remember things! If the fic is up on AO3 there will likely be people who can still tie it to you.

And orphaning means you're removing all your options. If you orphan, it stays up forever. You can never delete it, never edit it, never choose to put your name back on or change what name shows. You can't even moderate the comments anymore. You can't object if someone podfics it or writes a sequel. You can't stop someone from linking to it offsite with your name still attached. It's just out there and you've got no control of it at all. Even with a wayback link, it's possible to ask for it to be taken down if your account is still attached. Not if it's orphaned.

I hate the idea of deleting my fic, and if I needed to disconnect I would probably just add everything to an unrevealed collection and then lose my password (which a lot of people do now.) But the idea of orphaning it is way more terrifying than any other option.

[(Anonymous)]

I did the same thing a couple of years ago.

I sometimes feel sad about it too, mostly for the sheer number of lost words (it was a decade of fic, so 5-6 million words' worth) and proof that I existed and created something real and tangible.

But I left the account open with my various contact info in the bio, in case anyone wanted to check in or ask for a backup copy of something, and I can safely say my work does not seem to be missed, so...

Maybe that makes me sadder than getting rid of it in the first place.

I get it

[(Anonymous)]

As a reader/fan I'd be incredibly sad, but as a creator with anxiety I get it. Sometimes you just need a complete delete to be able to move on.

[(Anonymous)]

You don't owe anyone your fics. Deleting is fine.

[(Anonymous)]

If I loved your fics as a reader I'd be sad, but it's ultimately your choice OP. I've deleted works instead of orphaning them before because I just did not want them online any more at all, the main copy on my PC is also gone, so extra done.

Sometimes it's what feels best.

[(Anonymous)]

I did the same thing a couple years back, for a number of reason.

I would never ever orphan and I hate when someone suggests it. The works are mine and I want them gone. Making them no longer mine and accessible to everyone is the exact *opposite* of what I want.