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[Apr. 23rd, 2003|11:24 pm] |
The Harry Potter Remix
The hell?
Inspired by the Remix Challenges in LOTRPS, Popslash and the multifandom Remix Redux, we decided it was high time for the HP version. If you’ve ever read a story and thought, “This is great, but I’d do it differently,” you’ve come to the right place. A fic remix is like a musical remix – same song, different beat -- or in this case, same story, different style, perspective, voice, et cetera.
How does it work?
Interested and eligible (see below) parties sign up. Then we toss everyone’s names into a hat, and randomly assign you another participating author. You trot on over to that person’s website, read their stories, and choose one to rewrite. We’ll post a list of all participating parties, but all assignments are to be kept secret – part of the fun is trying to guess who wrote what.
What’s the time frame?
With the imminent release of OotP, we will soon be dealing with an influx of new canon; therefore, now is the perfect time to celebrate a last fling with the canon and fanon as we’ve known it. So…
May 3: Sign-up ends at 11:59 PM EST. Late sign-ups may be accepted.
May 4: Assignments go out.
June 15: Remixes due by 11:59 PM EST. You’ll have six weeks.
June 18: Stories go up (we hope).
June 21: Authors revealed.
What if I’m late?
We won’t cause you bodily harm or anything. But we won’t put the remixes up until we get all the stories. We’ll have a list on the site of everyone who’s playing, and when people ask us where the stories are, we’ll point them to that list, where people whose stories we haven’t received will be branded with a scarlet “A” be marked as delinquent, just to make sure that the pitchfork-wielding mob goes after the right people. So like your kindergarten teacher used to say, don’t ruin it for everyone.
Okay, I’m remixing a story. What can I change?
Well, we’ll start off by telling you what you can’t change:
~who: You must keep the pairing of the original story; also, no hetifying slash pairings or slashifying het pairings unless suggested by the original story.
~what happens: That is, the basic plotline. If the plot is “Harry and Ron get together with assistance from Hermione,” “Lupin angsts over Snape, then commits suicide,” or “Draco is raped by Lucius and goes on a killing spree,” then that’s what you write. Remixes, like fairy tale retellings, are all about the how. Of course, what constitutes “basic plotline” is subjective; use your discretion. But remember, the events of the ending must remain the same: if Harry and Draco declare their lurve and ride off into the sunset together, no fair stopping the narrative before they ‘fess up, leaving them dangling in angst; likewise, if Ginny and Hermione have separated forever, then you can’t glom on a happy ending. Of course, the more ambiguous the ending, the more leeway you have. Also, no killing off/resurrecting people who are alive/dead in the source story.
~when and where: Stick to the time frame (say, fifth year) and locale (say, the Burrow) of the story. This is somewhat negotiable, but the key thing is to remember that this is not intended to be a prequel or sequel to the remixed fic, but rather the same story in a different hand.
You can change:
~the viewpoint character/narrator: Is the story from Ron’s viewpoint? Then tell it through Snape’s, Percy’s, or Moaning Myrtle’s eyes. Just connect that character, however tangentially, to the events at hand.
~structure: You can’t change the events of the story, but you can screw around with how those events are presented to us. Tell it backwards, start from the middle, make a series of drabbles into an integrated narrative or an integrated narrative into a series of drabbles, turn it into an epic poem, whatever.
~what’s important: When you change viewpoints or structures, different elements and details are brought to the forefront. Or maybe not?
~anything that isn’t essential to the basic plot: Chop scenes, expand descriptions, turn everything upside down. If it’s not a crucial plot point, it’s yours to play with. Go wild!
Who can sign up?
To participate, you must have at least three eligible (see below) stories available online by May 3. You don’t have to have your own site; as long as your stories are publicly accessible at some central place (such as FF.N, FA, or LJ), you’re cool. However, if your stories are on LJ, put them all together in Memories, under the heading “My Stories” (or something similar), and make sure anyone can access them. The message archive of a Yahoo group does not count – move them someplace where people who aren’t group members can find them. Remember, you won’t know who’s remixing you until after the challenge is over, so make it convenient for that person.
Eligible stories are
~your own: That is, your own work. Co-written stories are not eligible, unless you and your co-writer sign up as a team (in this case, you must have at least three eligible co-written stories with that partner). Of course, writing partners may sign up as individuals, as long as they each have at least three independent eligible stories of their own.
~Harry Potter-verse FPF: Het, slash, gen, we care not. But no Mary Sues.
~completed: it’s pretty damned difficult to rewrite a story when you have no clue how it ends.
~not PWPs: Smut is fine, as long as there is, in fact, a plot.
~longer than drabbles: there needs to be something for the remixer to work with.
In addition, there should be at least two different pairings in your corpus of stories; they can be all Snape, all Malfoycest, whatever – as long as there’s at least one Snape/whoever in with the Snape/Harrys or one Narcissa/Draco in with the Lucius/Dracos; even if it’s just a background pairing (like R/Hr is in so many H/D stories, for example). That way, even people who despise your favored pairing will have at least one out.
So what’s this about safe stories?
If you’ve written at least four eligible stories, you can designate one (only one) as “safe” – that is, you don’t want that one touched, for whatever reason. Whoever has you is not allowed to remix that story; likewise, you are not allowed to remix your assigned author’s designated safe story. Safe stories are just an option; you don’t have to have one if you don’t want to.
Who’s running this?
Thousands of trained monkeys. No, really it’s just Amatia and Catja. If you have questions or complaints, they can be reached at hpremix@yahoo.com, or individually at
amatia@acherontia.net and cmikhailovic@yahoo.com.
But I hate het/slash/incest/Ron/squids! What if I get assigned someone who only writes that which I despise?
Well, our first instinct is to go “Tough titty.” Here’s an opportunity to expand your horizons, so make the most of it. However, if there is something that you would rather kill yourself than write – and when we say “kill yourself,” we mean that you’d actually sooner take the knife and disembowel yourself (honorably or not) than write that icky stuff -- first, consider whether this chance-based challenge is right for you, and if you’re still desperate to play, then tell us. None of this “I’d prefer not to write…” – nope, you have to be willing to cause yourself grievous harm to avoid whatever it is: in other words, prove your non-wimpiness some other way. But you really should consider sucking it up – this is a challenge after all. Plus, we want the assignments to be random, and if you interfere with that, we’ll be annoyed.
I want to remix so-and-so/have so-and-so remix me!
That’s great. Write/arrange it on your own time, and send it to us. But if you sign up, you’re expected to complete the assignment you’re given.
I wanna play!
First, you figure out if you’re eligible (see above). If you are, then e-mail us at hpremix@yahoo.com. If for some reason that doesn’t work, you can leave a comment in the lj of ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif) amatia or kitsune13. Tell us:
~your name/handle
~your e-mail address
~where your stories can be found
~your “safe” story (if applicable).
If you have any questions about the eligibility of any of your stories, let us know sometime before May 3. |
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