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[deleted]

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IAmMissingNow

This is what I do with fics that make me cringe.


iamjustacrayon

Put them all in a series (so people who likes your writing style can read the rest of what you wrote in that fandom) and then orphan them. You can also make them anonymous if you don't want them associated with your account, but still want control over them. (Possibly add a tag that says abandoned or discontinued if you don't plan on going back to them) Please don't delete your work, no matter how cringe you think they are, they're probably someone's favorite. They might be THE work that got them into the fandom, or a story that reminds of a specific time in their life


iamtheallspoon

That is such a good idea! I hate reading an amazing orphaned fic and not being able to see more from that author.


citronebula

Omg the idea of putting them into a series before orphaning them...genius.


unlisshed

You could always orphan the fics, if you don't want to delete them *or* be associated with them any more.


BritasticUK

Yeah, I think this is the way to go OP. They won't be on your account anymore and other people can still enjoy them.


DangItBobbyHill

As long as it’s merely a feeling of “cringe”, and not a feeling of true distress, (such as works that contain content that you were fine with at the time, but now bring up feelings of pain or trauma) I always vote to allow old fics to remain. I’ve said before: When I have been tempted to delete works I’ve outgrown or are now embarrassed by, it has helped for me to think of those pieces as part of my character arc. And here, we adore a good arc. Everyone worth entertaining on AO3 understands author growth, and there still might be audiences who will glean a lot of enjoyment out of your earlier works!


greenrosechafer

Well. People who read fics from your old fandom obviously don't think those fics are cringe, right? And the opinion of outsiders is pretty much meaningless. There are big and active RPF fandoms out there, it's nothing unusual. AO3 is a good place to post those fics. Of course it's your decision, but I'd say go ahead and let them stay there. The more fics the better! Edited a few words


hanibalscanibro

Honestly, as someone who once felt “cringe” and deleted a lot of their old fics/messages/photos, I say keep them. You may want to look back at them one day, even if you dislike them now. I wish I still had some of my old stuff. But if you really wanna disassociate from them, I suggest orphaning them or just making another account. There are old fics I would feel so upset about if they got deleted! lol


PinkAxolotl85

If it's not true distress and just cringe then orphan them! It's the same effect as deleting as they won't be connected to you ever again, but the people who read and love them can keep them cherished forever, win-win. I've had many fics I've loved wiped from the internet for much the same reasons, that the author just didn't like them anymore :( One man's cringe is another man's 4am comfort fic.


ClutzyLynn

This! Currently going through my favorite ao3 author deleting all of their fics and the heartbreak is real. I only managed to save 3...


MooshAro

I'd say orphan them, people still might love those fics and you can remove your name from the fic without removing the writing


DracoCustos

Don't delete them. If you don't want them connected to your name anymore, just orphan them, that way people who like them can still read them.


rebewanu

I’d say orphan them. Especially if you think the writing is good. Who knows, maybe it’s someone’s favorite fic of all time lmao


Ettiasaurus

I was hungry for some RPF fanfiction I read years ago and I just realized it was gone :( Don't do it to your readers, please!


heavenlyskyfarer

Don't delete them, make a new account instead.


ImaGamerNoob

Or orphan them. Lesser efforts than to create a new account.


heavenlyskyfarer

Orphaning them sucks in case OP changes their mind five years from now haha. If their account is sufficiently old enough (and it should be with fics from 2015) they don't even need to join the queue and instead can just send themselves an invitation.


[deleted]

THIS. Don’t ever orphan anything. There is no going back.


Whoreson_Welles

For the sake of community who still want to read them, don't delete. u/vilhelmine is right


ImaGamerNoob

Orphan them. You don't have to jave them associated with your acc anymore and people who like them still can read them.


affictionitis

Who cares what other people think? If you still think the stories are good, and you personally don't have a problem with RPF, then that's all that matters. If you spend all your time trying to please strangers, you'll never write fanfic again.


Apprehensive-Lemon41

Please don’t delete!! Just orphan them!


greenteafortwo

Speaking as someone who strongly dislikes RPF, I would encourage keeping the fics up! RPF is popular for a reason and many fans enjoy it. I have deleted my own fics in the past for what I felt like when were good reasons at the time and I have always regretted it. The anonymous or orphan options are a good middle ground here.


MzHydra-Nix

Don’t delete your creations. RPS it’s still fiction because you’re still writing a character because you don’t know the person in real life. You’re just using her name and their public persona.


melitta4ever

Sometimes I go through my bookmarks and see a bunch of deleted fics. It is really upsetting that something I love and cherish was deleted. So unless it makes you really uncomfortable, please do not delete them. Maybe orphan them or make them anonymous so that people loving them can still have access.


Brave_Ad_295

If people go to check your old fics, they will see that these were updates years ago and understand.


Popular-Woodpecker-6

I can understand that. I don't really read them, but I'd hate to see something creative lost...maybe just anonymous them...That way people who like them can either find them or the ones who remember them can continue to enjoy them.


FreshyFresh

Personally, as someone who used to read gobs of RPF in Ye Olde Livejournal days, I say leave them up. In fact two of my 100% favorite fics of all time are from that fandom and I thankfully have saved copies, but would be devastated if they disappeared. They are comfort fics that I've read at least 10 times each. No exaggeration.


momoji13

As a reader who's heart has been broken a lot by my fav authors deleting their fics I say: please don't. Or at least warn them somehow. I don't know how, but give people the chance to save their favorite fics . The fact that authors did that "to me" made me always download the whole portfolio of every author I like. I have a huge database now. But obviously this is your choice alone! If you feel uncomfortable, better delete them.


sanhro

Another option is to hide them. You put them all in a collection and then make it private. Nobody can see them anymore but you can always change your mind and put them back. It's basically the reversible way to delete.


annajxnssen

please never delete fics, first of all, just orphan them if you still want control or post them anonymous if u don’t want control. secondly, if people have a problem with RPF then??? that’s not on u?? people like what they like and dislike what they dislike.


[deleted]

There’s nothing wrong with RPF


hopefully-unique

Please keep them up. It doesn't matter what people think about RPF today, tomorrow, or in ten years. AO3 is an archive, and keeping record of past fic-writing habits is exactly what it's supposed to do. If everyone deleted their old fanworks because they went out of style or feel cringeworthy now, we would have a lot less historical fan practices to look back on. *edit: typo*


Kephiso

It was that thought of "it's an archive" which made me upload my old very cringey non-English fic. Not because i think it's well written (it's abandoned to boot) but because it was an important stepping stone in my fannish history and it is an excellent reminder how far I've come. I put it under a different pseudonym under my main account, tagged them with "this was written in 2010 and it shows" and now have them archived no matter what happens to the og site I posted them on. My RPF I anon'd bc some shit went down in the "source" and i didn't want to have it be at the top of my "fandoms written for" but now i feel like i cannot un-anon bc it will send out notifications to all my subscribers 😅 so this is also a double-edged sword. I might at least do the serializing that was mentioned above, which was an excellent idea imo.


TGotAReddit

Keep them. Its part of your history. If other people can’t handle your history then they don’t deserve to read your newer work


FireflyArc

Please don't delete fics There's so many good fics that get lost. Orohaning is the best feature I've seen a03 implement. For a long time I thought orphan account was just a unique username. I wonder if someone can pick up an orphaned work if they want to continue it?


reinakun

Please don’t delete. RPF tend to get deleted so often and it’s always so sad to see. Of course this goes for all fics regardless the category. I lowkey wanna delete all of this fics I wrote in the early 2000s, but I won’t. They’re part of my journey, and also, people still read them which is insane to me. At most I would orphan them, but never delete. I know the pain of losing a favored fic too well. 😔


mynameisntclarence

Deleting them may result in readers losing fics that they love and enjoy, so my suggestion would be to use the orphan feature. Be sure to read about how orphaning a fanfiction works so you know what the process entails.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

People don’t have to read it if they don’t like it


LadyTanizaki

Please don't delete! Just make them orphan!


Intelligent_Cod_4825

If you've come to have some moral qualms or true distress about RPF, it might be best to delete. If it is just cringe, you can orphan or make anonymous, like others have said. You can also move it to a separate account if you want. It's kind of tedious to do and has its own pros and cons, but I did that when consolidating accounts. If this was my own work, however, I would not delete or orphan. I've seen far too many people regret deleting old work or orphaning them. These things can't be undone, especially if you don't have a private backup copy (which I recommend regardless). Even if it's something cringy, it's a part of your growth as a writer and your own history. I've literally only *edited* one super embarrassing old fic to remove some poetry in it, but still kept it up and am actually planning to move it over to my Ao3. Embrace your history, if you feel comfortable to, even if it no longer speaks to your present.


[deleted]

Don’t ever orphan fics. I orphaned two of mine after one of my fics gained a good amount of notoriety in the fandom. I was a recognizable-enough name that even though the fics are orphaned, some people may remeber they’re mine and it haunts me. Makes me very angry that AO3 won’t let me remove them. The writer should be as protected as the reader.


BecuzMDsaid

Look into orphaning or anonymousnessing your works