14-year-old refuses to delete her fanfiction despite her parents' insistence that it'll look bad to future employers: 'I’m a 40-year-old accountant who reads fanfiction on my phone during my lunch break. Employers don't care.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Feb 3, 2026 7:00 PM EST

Writing bad fanfiction is a teenage rite of passage.

This might be a controversial take, but I don't think parents should be snooping through everything their kid does on their phone. There is definitely a time and a place for some parental controls on certain websites, but if a parent reads everything their teenager texts literally when they're only a couple of years from being an adult, they might develop paranoia and trust issues along the way. 

Kids deserve a place to express themselves without judgment from their parents, siblings, or peers. For many teens, that place is a diary where they write all of their innermost thoughts and feelings. It'd be pretty humiliating and horrible for your parents or siblings to read your diary without your permission, and it's pretty taboo to do so. But what if they aren't reading your diary? What if they're reading something you publicly posted on the internet that technically anybody in the world could read if they really wanted to? Would that be an invasion of your privacy? If you're posting concerning things on your Tumblr account and your parents find it and have questions about it, that's not as much of a privacy invasion as it might feel to a middle schooler. After all, the internet is forever, and if you're posting wild stuff with your face and name attached to it, it could very well ruin your life. That outcome is pretty unlikely, but you never know what will go viral unexpectedly!

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  • Young girl with laptop and sitting and relaxing on bed
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The parents in this story misunderstand the digital footprint involved in publishing fanfiction online. They think their teen daughter's fanfiction might come back to haunt her when she applies for jobs in the future, and that she should delete her Archive of Our Own account to prevent that. 

  • Am I wrong for not deleting my fanfiction account against my parents wishes?

    So, I (14) write fan fiction for fun in a fandom Im in. My parents were somewhat aware of this, as well as my sister (16).
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • However, my sister and her friends snooped through my ao3, against my personal boundaries. In fact, she's never really respected my privacy and boundaries, and when she decided to snoop through my discord bio one day, she found the link to my ao3.
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • A young happy college female student sitting at the table at home using laptop when studying
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I've told her that I'd rather she didn't read it since it would make me uncomfortable and it's more of a private hobby.
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • However, she did do it anyways, with her friends. She then told my parents about it, saying that it would be a bad look for future employers and fellow classmate if they found out.
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • Group of four teenage students sitting on stone steps in front of University
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • However, i not only use a private email for my ao3 that is in no way connected to my personal information, i don't tell people i write fan fiction.
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • My parents still want me to delete my fanfics and account either way, however i don't want to since people enjoy reading it, and it's how I've contributed to the fandom Im in plus it makes me happy.
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • Instead I've anon'd and privated all of my works. Am I the asshole for refusing to delete my ao3 fan fiction and account?
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • RandomRamblings99 NTA - write and enjoy every second! I grew up on ao3, still use it. Be careful online but it's a healthy hobby
    via u/RandomRamblings99
  • Odd-Teaching-7996 Original Poster's Reply Dw, I did. I'll make another though just in case
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • coastalkid92 This really depends on what you're writing tbh. If there's a question of age appropriate content, your parents may have some right to feel concerned about you interacting with that online. Generally speaking, teens are not always the best with internet safety, and depending on the content you're writing, your sister could be correct in that it would be a barrier for you if it did come out. But that being said, I do think fanfic writing is a bit of a right of passage for a lot of tee
    via u/coastalkid92
  • Odd-Teaching-7996 Original Poster's Reply So I write angst and fluff and that's it. I don't go into any more due to that I struggle/feel uncomfortable writing it. I can store my writings locally but people in the fandom love reading my fics (its a small fandom), so deleting them wouldn't be fun for any of us
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • wesmorgan1 INFO: Is your Discord bio open to the public?
    via u/wesmorgan1
  • Odd-Teaching-7996 Original Poster's Reply It is (idk if there's a way to private it). I have removed all links that go to my ao3 or that i even write fanfics
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • Last_Swordfish9135 NTA. As another A03 author, have you thought about locking your profile to non-archive users? That should stop anyone without an account from seeing your works, which presumably includes your parents and your sister + her friends.
    via u/Last_Swordfish9135
  • Odd-Teaching-7996 Original Poster's Reply Already doing this!
    via u/Odd-Teaching-7996
  • CottageWhore420 Employers don't GAF about A03. If you were using slurs or hate speech, it would give them pause, but that's about it when it comes to your internet usage. Employers more care about your criminal history, not your fanfic. NTA.
    via u/CottageWhore420
  • AdFinal6253 If your sister and parents know your A03 name you may want to change your name or start a new account. And have those signed in/anon things set from the start. Then take that A03 link off your discord, and/or get a lot better at keeping your discord so your sister can't see it. (Is she grabbing your phone, or do you two chat on discord and you've asked her to not look at your bio? Both can be mitigated, but it's not reasonable to say "don't look here"). As a parent it's hard to reali
    via u/AdFinal6253
  • 4241mpala67 Not all fanfic is inappropriate for teens to write. I've seen and read plenty of fluffy gen fics.
    via u/4241mpala67
  • No_Expression_1234 NTA. It's possible to lock your fics so guests can't read them. It would make sure your sister and her friends can't read them anymore without making an ao3 account. Which would make them hypocrites.
    via u/No_Expression_1234
  • No-Stress-7034 | grew up on fanfiction BEFORE A03 existed (I'm old). Back when fics were scattered around on a bunch of different online archives. AO3 is such a huge improvement for the fanfic community, and the site is so user friendly. I feel like in a world where so many teens are spending all their free time on TikTok and engaging with (often toxic) social media sites and influencers, fanfiction seems like a healthy and creative outlet.
    via u/No-Stress-7034

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discord sisters teenagers classmates employer computer writing parents fanfic hobby
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