About Orphaning
As orphaning is a permanent step, please be sure to read the following explanation in full before orphaning any of your works!
What is orphaning?
Orphaning is an alternative to deleting a work that you no longer want to be associated with. It permanently detaches the work from your account and re-attaches it to the specially created orphan_account. Please note that this is permanent and irreversible; you are giving up control over the work, including the ability to edit or delete it.
Orphaning is a way to remove your connection to your works without taking them away from fandom altogether. We hope this account will be used by people who wish (for whatever reasons) to retire from fandom but are willing to allow their works to remain in the Archive. Works orphaned in this way will be maintained by the Archive to be enjoyed by future fans; existing bookmarks and links will not break. This function means that users can continue to share their contributions to fandom while having their privacy respected.
What information is removed when a work is orphaned?
- Your name is removed from the author byline on the work and all its chapters
- Your name is removed from any comments you have left on the work
What options are available?
There are a number of orphaning options available. You can choose to:
- Orphan a single work - from the edit page for the work
- Orphan all your works - from the 'My Preferences' page
- Orphan all works posted under a specific pseud - from the 'Manage My Pseuds' page
Once you have decided which work(s) you wish to orphan, you have two options:
- Use the default orphan pseud. The work will be transferred to the orphan_account and the default orphan_account pseud. The byline on the work will read 'orphan_account'.
- Make a copy of my pseud under the orphan account. The work will be transferred to the orphan_account, but a new pseud will be created with the same name as the pseud you used to author the work. As an example: if you authored the work using the pseud 'awesomefangirl', after orphaning the byline will read 'awesomefangirl [orphan_account]'. While the pseud will no longer link back to your account, if you have a very distinctive pseud this option might still allow a reader to identify you as the author.
Can I orphan a work which I have co-authored with someone else?
You have the choice of either removing yourself as a co-author, or orphaning your part of the work (with the same pseud options as above). Your co-author will not be affected and will remain a co-author of the work.
What happens if I want to orphan a single work in a series?
You can orphan the work normally, and the byline will be changed to reflect the new author name. Please note that the work will not be removed from the series - if you want it to be removed, you should do this before orphaning the work. If the work is kept as part of the series, the orphan_account will be listed as one of the authors of the series.