In this episode, we kick off 2025 with an exciting new chapter for The Fanfic Writer’s Craft! This marks our first episode with my new co-host, Blayne (@btelling, aka Nargles15 on AO3), who you may remember from her fantastic guest episode in Season 2 on writing dystopian hellscapes. We chat about what’s ahead for the podcast, our evolving format, and introduce a brand-new segment: fanfiction news!
In this discussion, we dive into a hot topic in the fanfiction community: the removal of Manacled by SenLinYu from AO3 and its transformation into Alchemised, an original novel published by Penguin Random House. We explore the broader implications of fanfiction-to-original transitions, the publishing industry’s growing interest in fanfic authors, and the tension between creative opportunity and commercial trends.
We late dive into our main discussion on canon-compliance, discussing what it means to different fandom spaces, and how we each navigate staying true to canon while crafting original, compelling narratives. This episode is packed with insights on publishing, fandom culture, and our personal approaches to writing so we hope you enjoy! Please let us know your thoughts, and feel free to send us topic suggestions—we love hearing from you.
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