#orphaned works

[kybercrystals94]

My heart breaks when I see a work get orphaned on or deleted from Ao3 😢 And while, of course, I’ll miss the story that I loved and bookmarked, ultimately, I just hope the wonderful author is okay 🥺♥️

[transformativeworks]

Is there any exception for illness in the case of orphaned works? I would love to re-upload some of mine to continue them but I absolutely cannot, for brain reasons, accept the amount of mess it will cause I there's duplicates of my fics on the site. I sent a request and they really gave me no hope at all. I don't want to abandon those fics but I don't know what else to do.

Oh Nonnie I am so sorry - both that you were not doing well and to deliver additional bad news --

Orphaning is irreversible.

How can I get my work(s) back if I change my mind after orphaning a work? You can't—orphaning is permanent and irreversible. There is no way for you to re-attach the work to your account, and we can't do it for you. An orphaned work remains in the Archive attached to the orphan_account, and cannot be edited or deleted.

And if you have already sent a ticket to support and they said the same.. then you have done all the things you could possibly do.

I wish I could give you better news.

<3 Mod Remi

[destiel-more-like-im-dead-again]

oh freakwithakink on ao3 how i miss you

[uselessbard1031]

Orphaning My Old Work???

Howdy everyone!

I'll keep this short, but I just wanted to hop on and let you all know that today I orphaned some of my old works on Ao3. I've been wanting to do so for over a year now and finally bit the bullet. Yes, this includes my most popular fic "Legend of Korra X Reader Oneshots" (for anyone whose request I didn't get to, I apologize. I bit off way way more than I could chew with that and have over thirty requests and a dozen half finished fics).

Why?

Well, when I started writing fanfiction for Ao3 I was 17/18 years old. I started publishing said fanfiction at 18/19/20 (19? I think?) and I am now in my mid-twenties so...I've changed. Lol. I've grown up.

When I first started writing I was immature and unexperienced with the world. I wrote for characters I never had attraction to myself (Ex. Adult! Toph, Suyin, Korra, Asami) because people asked me to, I saw those characters got hits, and I wanted to be liked online. It was hard because I didn't see them as romantic interests and I feel the writing suffered for that. Even 'I Bought A War Criminal' (another popular fic I wrote) I fell out of love with Kuvira while writing and it had a rushed ending due to that fact.

The X readers in particular had some smut chapters that explored kinks I don't have and truthfully had never even heard of until reading some other fanfictions. I won't get too personal, but, like many of us on here, I was exposed to way too much shit way too soon in my life so I found new edgy smut topics to keep me engaged. I've since dealt with some of that trauma and also experienced more IRL trauma around relationships and sexuality that make me read some stuff I wrote -- and stuff I READ while underage -- (ex. knife play, non-con, etc) and go woah hey who let me have Wattpad at 12 and what kind of effect did that shit have because--??? (I would like to say that being into certain kinks is not bad and I'm not trying to kink shame but to me I was desensitized due to exposure too young to NSFW material and due to some IRL trauma -- reading and writing that was my way to cope without actually working through any issues. An unhealthy way to cope. I didn't know healthy relationships because everyone in my life up to that point had abused me or hurt me in some way or another either intentionally or unintentionally so I figured Ao3 / Wattpad / Fanfic.net smut wasn't 'that bad'. Now, I deal with my trauma in healthier ways and realize it's just not what I'm into. A lot of it I wasn't even into when I wrote it. But I read it, so I wrote it. Even recently with Outlander I wrote wildshape smut not because I was into it but because all the other Jaheira fics had it and I figured hey it will get views. Because yes, smut gets views).

I'm just not proud of the writing quality. The first chapter of that X Reader Oneshots collection switches tenses like a million times. Who let me do that? Lol. I have a published book IRL that I'm taking down too because omg don't let 17 year olds self-publish XD

The point is, I never really wrote much of that stuff for me. I wrote it to get views. To get comments. To explore things I thought I was suppose to explore. Because no one in my real life was telling me I was good or capable. I wanted reassurance that I was writing the 'edgiest' stuff or the 'fluffiest' or the 'right characters' and the 'right stories'.

Going forward, I want to write for me. It's why I've moved fandoms because yes, I love Legend of Korra and Lin Beifong, but I'm not obsessed with it like I was. I found community in LOK and in AO3 and online in general but, after getting offline -- deleting social media -- reading things other than fanfiction -- basically, as I became less chronically online for the first time since Middle School, I realized that there's so much more out there that I enjoy. And much healthier ways to enjoy it.

I love all of the support you guys have given me and I stand by the amazing love and community I've gotten from all of my commenters and kudos-ers. But those fics just don't represent me anymore. Few of them ever represented me at all. Many were just what I thought would 'sell'.

I want to keep writing, so I will. But for the stories and characters I want to write about in ways that I actually enjoy. I want cute romances and metaphores for life. Writing smut feels like a chore most of the time so I'll probably just fade to black most of the time with a chapter or two exception. I still love fanficton -- it's an artform all its own. But yeah. Anyways, I hope my little ramble here makes sense and I hope you all get what I'm trying to say.

And if you are like past me -- having interacted with the internet and NSFW and smut since a young age and now feeling like every boundary isn't enough in fiction (*clears throat* I see you BookTok wth r those abusive ass relationships you're reading?) just know that maybe that kind of content isn't good for you and know that vanilla isn't lame. Know that you can write the stories and characters you want and that you don't have to write characters you don't want to write or situations that scare you. And you don't have to pretend not to be scared just for the sake of not kink-shaming.

Yeah. Anyway, if ya'll have any questions fell free to reach out to me! I hope you continue to like my work and if you don't, that's fine too. I hope you don't feel like I'm abandoning you. I think I'm just growing up and getting better mentally. <3

~UselessBard1031

[coloredgayngels-library]

Orphaned Work Roundup: Series Spotlight: Captives Come Home

We're officially halfway through my 2019 works and halfway through my current archive! In this final orphaned work roundup, I want to spotlight a series I wrote in 2019. Captives Come Home is a 15 part saga I wrote for Bad Things Happen Bingo, then later, as with the rest, fell out of love with. Now that I take pride in all of my work, I heavily regret orphaning this series in particular. I won't be linking all 15 works individually, but will put the series information under the cut.

Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

false sense of hope (captives come home)

Works: 15 Words: 12,722 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Ganondorf/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Ganondorf/Link (Legend of Zelda), Link/Ganondorf Characters: Calamity Ganon (Legend of Zelda), Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link (Legend of Zelda), Prince Sidon, Muzu (Legend of Zelda), Buliara (Legend of Zelda), Riju (Legend of Zelda), Other(s), Bazz (Legend of Zelda), Yunobo (Legend of Zelda), Teba (Legend of Zelda), Impa (Legend of Zelda), Paya (Legend of Zelda), Original Child Character(s), Zuta (Legend of Zelda), Kinov (Legend of Zelda) Additional Tags: Individual per Installment Summary:

A universe in which Ganon returns, Zelda isn't destroyed in the process, and bad things happen to our heroes. BOTW setting, non-canon compliant.

Originally Posted: 29 Mar 2019 - 31 Jul 2019

Comments and reblogs appreciated ❤️

dividers by @/saradika-graphics

[theficlistpodcast]

At the end of the day, it’s your work to do with what you will, but… 

[toorumlk]

the weasleys, circa 1995

[xnyu09]

edit: i removed the caption ^^ i dont want to cause any more discourse over the topic.

i want to be clear on my stance that i do not excuse the abuse that david cain did to cass, nor do i want to downplay cass’s experience as a victim. i drew this from a personal space so apologies if anyone was offended ^^

[oopey-doopey]

*Spidey and the Sinister Six having their usual fight*

Doc Ock, landing a hit: You’re getting slow Spider-Man! Age finally catching up to you?

Spider-Man: You wish! I haven’t even hit my 30s! From those costumes I can already tell I failed to save you guys from those midlife crises! Sorry by the way.

Vulture: Watch it wallcr- wait… Did you just say your not in your thirties yet?

Spider-Man: Surprised that this spiders so young and spry? Well-

Electro: Dude I’ve been fighting you for at least 5 fucking years! How old even are you?

Shocker, joking cause he’s the only one who picked up no grown adult acts likes Spidey: Don’t swear in-front of the boy you don’t want him to pick it up.

Rhino: Christ! You’re tellin me I almost crushed some 12-year-olds skull all those years ago?

Spider-Man, regretting his quipping: I was not that young! Like just starting freshman year but-

Sandman, horrified as he’s the only one with a kid and dad instincts(as of my iteration): I could’ve killed a kid…

Shocker, genuinely curious: Are you even old enough to drink? Cruel to kill a man who ain’t had his first drink yet.

Electro: Please tell us you’re at least over 25 as of this fight. Hell, I’ll take over 21!

Spider-Man:….

Sandman, realizing just how young he really is: Oh my god.

Spider-Man: My birthday’s coming up soon so I guess it counts?

Doc Ock, exacerbated: It. Does. Not!

Vulture: What would your mother think if she knew her son was out here risking his life telling poorly constructed jokes?

Spider-Man, offended cause it quips slap: 1. My jokes are great 2. She and my dad are dead so-

Sandman, hysterical cause holy shit he almost killed a kid orphan: OH MY GOD!

[cannedinternets]

Technically the anonymous posting function also exists! It's just called the Anonymous collection lol, they needed a distinction for "author will not longer interact with this work," where the anon option lets you still update and respond to comments without attaching your name.

ao3′s orphaning option is cool and a good idea but mostly very fucking funny. i posted this work for fun when i was younger and i still want people to be able to come back to it if they liked it, but now im an adult professional and i dont want it attached to my name. whats the word for that? umm, anonymously posting? no. i want something that indicates i murdered this story’s parents 

[biscylbenzene]

day 29 - draw fanart (bonus points if it's super obscure or unknown)

a series of unfortunate events isn't exactly "obscure" per se but idk any other adults who are into it and i need that to change immediately so here's your sign to go read it

[drivebypainter]

I redesigned my SVSSS OC as the start of my mission to create a design/reference sheet for all of the SVSSS characters!

(prev design)

Here’s her lore:

The lore behind He Mixin’s arrival:

Shang Qinghua, wasn’t one for extreme superstitions. However, he definitely believed he must have broken a hundred mirrors for him to have the luck he currently had. He was stuck doing paperwork and taxes not only for the entire sect, but the entire northern palace too! Not only that but it was only his first few years as a peak lord and already multiple disasters had happened!

So in order to to minimize any future problems, Shang Qinghua began praying to a god of luck and fortune. Sure it was probably useless and a waste of time, but it felt nice to do it. Soon the prayers turned into little out of the way tasks to increase his luck. The it turned into whole rituals before he sent a letter or before he went on a mission. It seemed to be working too! His paper work seemed easier and people began to turn in their work on time!

However one day it went all wrong. You see, Shang Qinghua in his rush to save a stack of paper from falling off his desk, he stuck his chop sticks straight up- in his bowl of rice! (Bad luck!)

After that once unfortunate moment, everything went wrong again. Taxes grew harder, people began to be late with their reports, and peaks began to have disasters every week!

Desperate to get back his luck, Shang Qinghua begged the little statue of the lucky and fortunate god for help. Shang Qinghua was surprised when the sound of the system suddenly sung in his head with a new mission!

[User01 has gained a new mission with a grand reward of a permanent buff on paperwork and other peakly duties! Does User01 want to accept this mission?]

Extremely excited, Shang Qinghua selected the yes button and immediately forgot about the mission, after the system only gave a vague [great see you in 12 years!]

Over the next 4 years, Shang Qinghua’s luck slowly increased again.. but it never got to the point from before, and in fact any increase of luck was barely appreciated due to his now PAINFUL headaches that he was getting all the time.

On the dawn of the 5th year, Shang Qinghua could no longer take it, and begged the system to end the mission. There was no way he could handle it anymore! The pain was too much!

The system remained silent so Shang Qinghua ran to Mu Qingfang for help. After a quick analysis, Mu Qingfang found the problem, there was something growing next to Shang Qinghua’s brain! Mu Qingfang went to remove the mass and suddenly out popped a whole 5 year old child! Shang Qinghua was horrified- but the child’s birth(?) aligned with the mission… so was this his buff for everything on his peak?

Shang Qinghua decided to name the child He Mixin, (which means “to celebrate superstition”), as a call back to all the silly things Shang Qinghua did in the name of luck!

As He Mixin grew up, Shang Qinghua gave up his superstitions and instead just relied on giving small prayers to the lucky god in thanks. After all, despite its craziness, Shang Qinghua now had his own little ‘good luck charm’.

He Mixin personality/details/how she interacts with others:

He Mixin is a very stubborn and hard worker. She works hard to get things done and to make her baba proud. (thought she’d never tell him that).

She has a lot of anger issues, resulting with dealing with “man-child” peak lords and annoying fellow disciples (and even more annoying fellow head disciples).

She is prone to bouts of impulsivity, as shown by her horrible hair that she did on a day where she wanted to be free of the excruciating heat caused by summer in CQMS.

She is sometimes called the Princess of An Ding, because she is the daughter of SQH and out of all the disciples on An Ding she is rather weak. (though off on her peak she is considered the most physically strong out of her fellow head disciples- despite that strength she is very much not a fighter.)((A Ding disciples have to be sturdy and capable in order to do the amount of physical labor they do)).

HMX doesn’t like a lot of people due to the fact her opinions are usually clouded by the fact she has to deal with their bullshit when she does paperwork.

HMX is lesbian yay.

HMX is friends with Feng Licheng (the Zui Xian head disciple) and Gao Hongxia (the Wan Jian head disciple). The three of them hang out regularly.

HMX was forced to go on play dates with FLC the moment he joined ZXP.

HMX has a huge crush on GHX (GHX is beautiful, kind and competent! AWOOGA!)

HMX is frenemies with Ming Fan because the guy is annoyingly bossy! No other reason! (MF and GHX are friends- HMX is insanely jealous every time they hang out)

HMX hates Yang Yixuan to the bone because the brat is Bai Zhan and Bai Zhan sucks (YYX is a pure baby who never did anything wrong.)

HMX’s relationship with SQH is sorta like begrudging father/daughter type deal. HMX wants, but then also doesn’t want, a father, and SQH doesn’t know how to deal with children LOL.

MBJ was shocked the first time he met HMX- “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAD A KID POP OUT OF YOUR HEAD???”

HMX was taught embroidery by SQH and now regularly does little embroidery projects on either her own clothes or on little scraps of paper.

Both Feng Licheng and Gao Hongxia belong to @sillygoofyqueer

[fiyaharts]

batgirls batgirls whatcha gonna do

[sweaterkittensahoy]

I orphaned all my HP fics awhile ago because every time that fucking TERF fuck trended on twitter, I got a bunch of hits, and once I made the connection, I didn't want it.

But people still read those fics. Why? I don't know. I don't want to know. I don't need to know. But I also can just let them exist for the people who want them and divorce myself from the entire experience.

AO3 allows for the author to decide when the story is dead to them, and honestly, I appreciate that.

I've never orphaned a fic, but I'm glad AO3 has the option to do that. When I was in my late teens, I deleted all of my work from FFN because I thought I was done writing fanfic and for some reason got the idea into my head that it was dangerous to just leave them up, in case future employers or whoever found them. Even though I was writing very tame, mostly K+ and T rated stuff based on relatively uncontroversial original works. *facepalm*

Anyway, if I'd had the option to orphan my fics back then, I think I probably would have done that instead of deleting them. I wish it had been an option. I don't intend on ever orphaning what I'm writing now, but it makes me happy to know that if I ever did want to no longer be associated with it, I'd have the option to do that without taking it offline completely.

It's things like the orphan feature that really highlight the fact that AO3 was created and is maintained by fans. The people who volunteer there are also people who read fic and people who write fic. They get it.

Other features that I think are fantastic include, but are not limited to:

being able to have private bookmarks

being able to subscribe to a single fic, or to a fic series or to an author

the Fannish Next of Kin system whereby you can set a guardian for your fics in case of your death or incapacitation

site skins, which allow you to change the look and feel of the site to something that works best for you

the ability to have a pseudonym account on your main account, so if you want separate our your works that way you can

Tag Wranglers, who read all of the weird and wacky ways we tag our fics and make them searchable and filterable in the database

the search and filter capabilities!!

otp:true

the kudos feature, so I can still show love even when I don't have words

RSS feed capability

the ability to restrict access to my works and to restrict comments on my works

blocking and muting!

never having to click the Proceed button again

Anyone else have a favourite feature that I didn't list above? (if any of my points is new to you, lemme know - I'm always happy to do a deep dive)

[coloredgayngels-library]

Orphaned Work Roundup: 35 Ways to Say I Love You

Part of being a writer is falling out of love with your old work. Part of growing as a writer is falling back in love with it as evidence of your growth. Here's a series of 9 works that were part of a prompt list I started in 2017 and orphaned in 2021.

Fandoms: Hamilton - Miranda, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Supernatural (TV), The 100 (TV), Timeless (TV 2016)

Comments and reblogs appreciated ❤️

With a Hoarse Voice, Underneath the Covers (651 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Supernatural Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester Characters: Sam Winchester, Jessica Moore, Brady (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, canon character death, Slight Canon Divergence, just pre-series stuff tho, Sam Winchester at Stanford, Pre-Series Series: Part 1 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

4 times Sam told Jess "I love you" + 1 time he didn't.

Originally Posted: 08 Feb 2017

A Scream (168 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The 100 (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Octavia Blake Characters: Bellamy Blake, Octavia Blake, Aurora Blake Additional Tags: Angst, it hurt, Slight Canon Divergence, bc it's based off the scene but it's not Series: Part 2 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

The day Octavia and Aurora Blake are arrested is the worst day of Bellamy’s life.

Originally Posted: 09 Feb 2017

With a Bottle of Beer (192 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Timeless (TV 2016) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Wyatt Logan, Lucy Preston, Rufus Carlin Additional Tags: Deleted Scene, Post Episode: s01e07 Stranded, Angsty?, Angst Series: Part 3 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

When they got back from 1754, Wyatt could tell his team was still high strung, and there was only one thing he could think to do for them.

Originally Posted: 09 Feb 2017

As a Thank You (244 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso/Bodhi Rook Characters: Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Bodhi Rook, Galen Erso (mentioned) Additional Tags: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Nightmares, Major character death - Freeform, but in a dream, Polyamory, pls i love these three leave me alone, i also just rewatched this so be prepared Series: Part 4 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

Cassian did his best to stay calm and quiet when he had them, but some night the nightmares won.

Originally Posted: 27 Mar 2017

As an Apology (204 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The 100 (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin Characters: Bellamy Blake, Clarke Griffin, Marcus Kane, Abby Griffin Additional Tags: 4.03 The Four Horsemen, Clarke's list, it inspired me like immediately tbh, this was written right after 4.03 came out so anything after that is irrelevant Series: Part 5 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

Clarke looked over her list for hours, Bellamy’s words playing in her head: “If I’m on that list, you’re on that list.”

Originally Posted: 27 Mar 2017

When Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies (278 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The 100 (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Octavia Blake Characters: Bellamy Blake, Octavia Blake Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baking, Bellamy's a good brother Series: Part 6 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

Octavia’s grades were dropping. She didn’t have any friends, and she rarely left her room. Bellamy was concerned about his sister. She just hadn’t been herself since their mom died. But he had an idea.

Originally Posted: 08 Apr 2017

Not Said to Me (140 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Timeless (TV 2016) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Lucy Preston, Wyatt Logan Series: Part 7 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

They come back, and they debrief, and they go home, just like they always do. Amy’s still gone, and Noah is still there.

Originally Posted: 08 Apr 2017

When We Lay Together on the Fresh Spring Grass (263 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The 100 (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Octavia Blake/Lincoln Characters: Octavia Blake, Lincoln (The 100) Additional Tags: This is most definitely in s1, Octavia really loves grass ok she lived in a box her whole life Series: Part 8 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

Most of all, she loved the grass beneath her feet, a sharp contrast from the steel she’d known for nearly seventeen years.

Originally Posted: 09 Apr 2017

In a Letter (569 Words)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Hamilton - Miranda Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Characters: Philip Hamilton, Angelica Hamilton, Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton Additional Tags: the death isn't on screen but it happens, Angst, Canon Era Series: Part 9 of 35 Ways to Say I Love You Summary:

Number six: Leave a note for your next of kin. Tell ‘em where you’ve been. Pray that Hell or Heaven lets you in.

Originally Posted: 13 Aug 2017

dividers by @/saradika-graphics