pink bows and the apocalypse

remixing:2011

I love reading about the remixing process so I thought I’d put in my two cents. This year I wrote four: one assignment, one pinch hit and two madness. However, I think only two of them really worked as remixes.

I took different approaches to how I actually went about remixing each of them

First up, the Madness fics.

friend of mine (the guess what, i'm not a robot remix) (1644 words) by kristin
Fandom: Social Network (2010)
Relationships: Eduardo Saverin/Mark Zuckerberg
Characters: Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin
Summary: Okay, maybe that should have been Dustin's first clue that something was wrong. Because A) Mark could do his own research and B) well, when had Mark ever wanted to know anything about another person? A friendship found in texts.
I wrote this in about an hour on the last day, right before I was due at work. It is a remix of no child of mine, aka the epic hooker!fic/stalking!fic/bamf!wardo!fic. I had read it before and was looking for an excuse to write TSN fic, so I was thrilled when ninhursag signed up for Remix Madness.

As for the process of remixing, it basically went, well, I don’t have time to tell Wardo’s part of the story (though I really wanted to) but wait, outsider PoV!

Naturally, given how quickly I wrote it, it was my most popular fic this year. I like it when people read my stuff, so I was delighted to watch the hit count go up and up.

However, it really really doesn’t work as a remix.

No, Seriously.

One of the main criteria for remixes, in my opinion, is that it can stand on its own. It should tell a similar story, and draw from the original, but at the end of the day, if it can’t be read and understood on its own, well, it is just a sequel/missing scene/extension of the original. For it to be a remix, you should be able to read either one first.

So while I had fun writing Dustin and Wardo texting each other, I am annoyed at how far off the mark I was.


sleep apraxia (the land, sea and sky remix) (1160 words) by kristin
Characters: John Watson, Sherlock Holmes
Summary: “This is just so-” John paused, quite obviously searching for the right adjective. Interesting. His face was, almost impossibly, more open this way. Expressions exaggerated rather than drug dull. Atypical. (Must keep that in mind for assessing other reactions.) “Sherlock.” Three times Sherlock slept in a moving vehicle.

On the other hand, this fic does work, at least in my mind. I remixed saraht’s recreational aphasia, which is a lovely quiet little fic from John’s POV. I had never written Sherlock fic before, and I knew I wanted to write from Sherlock’s PoV, so this worked perfectly.

Now as I mentioned, I have read a bunch of remixing meta in the past. One of the best bits of advice I took was to take something away from the original, but then also add something new. In this case I took away John’s PoV and added two additional times Sherlock slept.

Not anything groundbreaking or wonderful, but I think this fic worked well enough.


Wait for the Sunrise (The Quantum Entanglement Remix) (1193 words) by kristin
Fandom: Firefly
Characters: River Tam, Zoe Washburne
Summary: At the end of the 'verse, River has a conversation with Schrödinger's cat.

For my pinch hit I a remix of Strength of the World by escritoireazul.

The alternate title of the fic should be: How Kristin Confused Herself.

So, I initially planned on writing from the PoV of the cat. However, when I was rereading the fic, I realized that the cat wasn’t real, or maybe it was. I went back, reread it yet again and still couldn’t figure it out.

From there it was obvious there had to be at least a mention of Schrodinger. And... well, after that, it was taken care of it really was just a simple PoV switch. As to the cat, still no clue if it was a metaphor, real, Serenity, a communal madness.


There is No Relativity (The Fright Fest Remix) (2974 words) by kristin
Fandom: Veronica Mars (TV)
Characters: Wallace Fennel, Veronica Mars, Lilly Kane
Summary: “You know you are my best sidekick.” Wallace paused while Veronica settled back down onto the couch. “At least until I build that robot.”Veronica Mars watches horror movies with her BF(F).

Lastly, though it was first written, there is my assignment fic, a remix of azurejay’s Our lives will not flash before our eyes.

I lucked out on my assignment this year. There were 5+ fandoms xe had written in that I knew. I decided to go through them all systematically, and I actually did. I started a txt document where I copied the info of all fics I liked/thought I could remix and made notes there.

But for all of that, I still remixed the first fic I read. (I blame fandom march madness, as it had rekindled my VMars love.)

I knew I wanted to write Veronica&Wallace fic, so I jumped right in and wrote about them hanging out and discussing their lives as movies, which is a scene that is briefly mentioned in the original. (Sidenote: this was the first fic where I wrote all the dialogue first, then went back through and added tags. Not quite sure I liked that approach.) I finished it pretty quickly and merrily sent it off to be betaed.

If you like this fic, you should praise snow. Because she read through the fic and informed me it didn't work and, most importantly let me know what the fic needed, aka Lilly.

The thing is, I am still not 100% sure this works as a remix either. I am not sure it relates enough to azurejay's awesome original.

So, yes, I wrote a bunch of fics for Purim Gifts in a bunch of different fandoms. (Specific, aren't I?)

( fics for firefly, hunger games, doctor who, community, psych, southland and psych/southland under the cut )

Also! I have seen this meme floating and it is never not fun. (Except when people don't comment, so please do!)
1. Make a list of fifteen characters first, and keep it to yourself for the moment.

2. Ask your flist to post questions in the comments. For example: 'One, nine and fifteen are chosen by a prophecy to save the world from four. Do they succeed?', 'Under what circumstances might five and fourteen fall in love?', 'Which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?'

3. After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the fifteen characters you selected beforehand, then post them.