In a nutshell
So a couple of people have asked what turning Loaded March into an original fic will mean for Loaded March itself in fanfic form, and for its derivatives in other forms. I wanna answer that question right off the bat, because I know how I'd feel if my favourite fanfics disappeared from the interwebs for whatever reason.
The TL;DR version is: Don't worry about it.
The longer, more detailed version begins with: Don't worry about it, because:
I'm still writing the first book. I'm barely 50K in. I'm hoping that it tops at 100-110K, and the way it's going, that might be an accurate estimation. Taking into consideration the knowledge that I'll be unable to write for a couple of weeks this month for Reasons, and my current rate of words, it'll be at least another two months before I can call it a completed Draft Zero.
After Draft Zero comes the initial edits, where I fix all the spots I glossed over, do some research to fill in the gaps that I also glossed over, and do general copy edits. It'll take me a few solid weekends, at least to get to the point where I can call it a First Draft. Once I have a First Draft, I'm going to ignore it for a couple of weeks so that I can do copyedits with a fresh eye. While I'm doing that, I'll be soliciting for beta readers to read my Second And Almost Ready Draft. Odds are that I will barrel through First Draft and finish with Second Draft, but it depends.
While I'm waiting for the beta readers to read the Second Draft, I'll be doing other writerly things which may or may not include a special project that I'm not ready to talk about, writing the second book in the series, and wringing my hands in anxiety while I wait for feedback from those beta readers.
Then there'll be another round of edits based on the beta feedback.
Let's be generous and say that it'll be ready for submission to agents and/or publishing houses by the first week of September. Some agents are actually pretty fast at getting back to query letters. Some aren't. Publishing houses definitely aren't, unless they are. Again, let's be optimistic and say that it'll take two months before I hear back from every agent and publisher on my list.
I'm going to say up front that I have no idea which way the agent/publisher combo will go in regards to taking down fanfic on which original fic is based. My experience and knowledge is a little dated since I haven't looked into it for a while, and the industry is waking up to the fact that fanfic writers are damn good writers and their stuff is worth looking at. In general, publishers will not take a chance at -- will not look at -- anything that has been published anywhere in any form, whether it's paid or free, because it means they can't get First Rights to the work. At least, that's my understanding of the legal aspect of it.
(If someone has any experience or knowledge on this, please chime in!)
If the Loaded March reboot was in fact a direct scene-by-scene copy, right down to lines of dialogue, characters and setting descriptions? The First Rights thing is going to come into play and no publisher is going to want it.
Honestly, though? I'm writing this original fic as original fic, which means I'm not copying any passages or scenes from Loaded March. I'm not even looking at it. If something gets duplicated, that's sheer coincidence (and lack of creativity on my part, whoops). At most, the scenarios will be similar, the themes will be similar, but everything else will not be (FWIW, I'll be asking the betas to chime in, just to get an independent opinion). My view on this is that the publishers will still get First Rights to the work, but they may see it differently.
If I'm lucky -- and let's be real, here, lucky has nothing to do with the quality of someone's writing or the material involved, because the publishing industry is a fickle mistress. I know this because before I started writing fanfic, I'd been trying to get my books published for years, and had gotten close quite a few times, but no cigar --
If I'm lucky, and someone says yes and offers a contract contingent on Loaded March coming down, well. That's the hurdle I'll jump when I get to it. I'm not holding my breath here. It'll be December, at a hopeful minimum before I see an offer. If I see an offer.
Ultimately, though, if I'm not lucky and nobody picks it up, well.
Fuck it, I'll self pub, and I can do what I want. In this case, Loaded March will definitely stay up. I may have to do some fancy footwork to say, Yes, indeedy, I am the author of both, please stop throwing rotten tomatoes at my house because I can't plagiarize from myself, though that would be a feat! but I'm not worried about that.
In the end, the uncertainty that comes with whether a print or digital publisher will pick up the original fic version of Loaded March and want the fanfic to come down? It's something I can't definitely answer right now. I don't have that information, and I'm not there yet, anyway, so a lot of this is just... wishful thinking wrapped in ephemeral dreams. There's no finished original fic, there's no queries out to agents or publishing houses, and there's no publishing contract on the table right now.
If it helps any, I'm on the side of arguing for LM to stay posted. For those of you who are working on podfics or translations or other forms of fanart? You're the ones who are going to have to make the choice to continue or to stop. There's a risk associated with this, and I'm not the one who can decide for you.
I'll keep everyone posted on any further knowledge or decisions as I get to them. Otherwise... Be aware that there's a slim, tiny possibility Loaded March will come down, but for now, don't worry about it.