Schedule, FAQ, and Rules

[bluegansey]

Schedule

Signups: July 19-Aug 2
Deadline: Sept 18
Reveals: Sept 25
Madness Reveals: Sept 26
Author Reveals: Oct 2
Madness Author Reveals: Oct 3
All deadlines at 11:59 EST.

Important links

Main AO3 Collection
Madness AO3 Collection
Tagset
What is a remix?

FAQ

What is a remix?
Fanlore describes a remix as “A fanwork that is a re-envisioned version of an earlier fanwork.” This can take many forms, including, but not limited to:

Genre shift — what if [fic], but it’s horror instead of a romcom?

Setting shift — what if [fic], but they’re in space?

Added tropes — what if [fic], but they’re werewolves or soulmates, or it’s Rule 63?

Removed tropes — same as above, but removing those elements instead.

POV shift — what if [fic], but from someone else’s perspective?

Role reversal — what if [fic], but instead of A as the teacher and B as the parent of the unruly child, it’s the other way around?

Focusing on a single moment in the fic and telling it in your own words.

Missing scene.

Changing the ending.

The only thing you must keep is the basic plot. But that can mean whatever you want — there’s really no way to define that! Basically, it’s asking yourself — if I took this concept, how would I write it? The Fanlore page has more information and remix options. For more reading, wafflelate has collected links to various remix meta from over the years here. (Thank you to wafflelate for the link!)

I’m interested. What am I signing up for?
If you sign up, you are agreeing to have one of your works remixed, and to remix someone else’s work. Your remix must be complete, at least 1000 words long, match the pairing if required, and not be one of your recipient’s safe works. Everything else is fair game. You are not required to write something your remixee will like, and in return, you may have something written that you do not like.

To sign up, you also must have written at least two complete fics for any IT media (book, miniseries, or movies) of over 500 words. If you are designating any works as safe, or they are automatically safe, you must still have at least two fics left over.

What is a safe work?
I understand that sometimes you’re okay with some of your works being remixed, but not all of them, for any reason. So you may designate a limited number of works as “safe”. These works cannot be remixed by your remixer or anyone else. You may designate up to three works, two series, two pairings, and two adaptations as safe. Or all of the above.

Any WIPs are safe by default — if you’re okay with your WIPs being remixed, please note that in your signup. Collaborations and prior remixes are also automatically safe, no exceptions.

Please use your best judgement here when signing up — if you are designating your only Richie/Mike fic as safe, don’t list it as a pairing you’ve written and potentially leave your author in an awkward situation. If I notice anything like this during signups, you will be contacted and asked to change your signup.

Also, please note, if you are listing a series as safe, it must be pre-existing. Do not add half of your fics to a series before signing up in order to limit your remixer. If I notice anything like this during signups, you will be contacted and asked to change your signup.

What if I really, really don’t want something in the remix?
You’re in luck! You get up to four Do Not Wants, or DNWs. They must be clear, unambiguous, and non-judgemental. If I notice too many DNWs in a signup before assignments close, I will contact you and ask for you to edit it down to the most important four, or any after the fourth will be deleted. If you add value judgments into your DNWs, either the value judgments will be removed or your signup will, depending on mod judgement. As a remixer, you cannot include any of your recipient’s DNWs in your remix, and if you do, you may be banned, subject to mod discretion.

Examples of clear, unambiguous, enforceable DNWs:

Bottom Eddie

Pennywise appearing on page

Any AO3 archive warning (if you choose to DNW one, you can list any other in the same DNW and that will count as only one)

Pregnancy

Examples of unclear or unenforceable DNWs:

Any gross stuff, wtf is wrong with you (completely arbitrary, impossible to enforce)

Kink (pretty hard to draw the line between vanilla and kink; if you want to DNW explicit sex, that’s fine)

Incest is gross so don’t do that 🤢 (just say incest)

OOC (impossible to define)

Anything that would create a logical puzzle, such as a major element of a fic your remixer may choose.

Is this a gift exchange?
No. This is an exchange, in the sense that everyone should receive a remix that fits the rules, but the remix of your fic is not a gift to you. As long as they stay away from your DNWs, the remixer may do anything they like to it, which may involve adding elements that you don’t like.

This means that comments are not in any way required. You don’t even need to read the remix if you so choose, and if you would like to reject the gift so it’s not on your gifts page, feel free — but do not reject the association to your original work. Please remember what you signed up for!

The point of this is the challenge to yourself and your own writing skills. If you are not okay with a remix made of your work that you don’t personally like, this event is not for you.

What if I want to see my works remixed, but don’t want to remix anyone else’s?
That’s what the Madness Collection is for! You can sign up for that once signups for the main exchange close. It’s essentially a prompt meme, with fewer rules — unlimited safe works, unlimited DNWs, and no guarantees. More info here.

Misc
I am your mod, darlingargents! If you need to contact me for any reason during the process of this exchange, you can email me at darlingargents AT gmail DOT com, PM me on Dreamwidth, or — if your question is not sensitive — comment on entries in this community. I will try to get back to you within 48 hours or sooner. Please do not contact me anywhere else for important questions; I can’t promise to be checking other places as frequently!

This exchange is open to all ships and content. While I will do my best to make good matches, you may be matched to someone whose works you find objectionable. Please do not make negative statements about your fellow participants during the course of this exchange in public.

RULES

Nominations

There will be no nominations. The tagset will be created by the mod with as many ships as I can think of. If there is a ship missing that you have written or would like to offer, comment on a Dreamwidth post.

Signups and matching

This event is 18+.

Minimum one request with one ship, maximum six requests with one ship each. This allows for mixing and matching with the additional opt-ins, and with movie/book/miniseries canons. AO3’s limit is 20 ships per request. All of your requests must match a fic you have posted that is not safe.

Minimum one offer with one ship/canon, maximum six offers with up to 20 ships each.

Along with ships, you can indicate your willingness for:

• Changing the pairing of the original fic in the remix
  
• Remixing your WIPs
  
• Additional remixers by someone other than your assigned remixer
  
• Art remixes

Changing the ship can mean swapping out both characters, or just one, or adding a third to the ship from the original. This is opt-in — if your assignment does not say you can do this, your remix must feature the same ship as the original work.

You may list up to four Do Not Wants, or DNWs, and your remixer cannot include those in their remix. For more detail on that, see the FAQ.

In order to sign up, you must have written at least two fics for any IT media of at least 500 words and complete. You may designate up to three works, two series, two pairings, or two adaptations as safe, meaning your remixer cannot choose any of those fics of yours to remix. Otherwise, your remixer is free to remix any of your IT works, even if you did not add the pairing or canon to your request. If you are adding safe works, you must still have the minimum number of IT fics after removing them. Additionally, if your remixee has works under 500 words, you may remix those, unless they are designated as safe.

You may not remix anything marked as a WIP on AO3, unless the author okays it in their signup.

If no offers match your requests, you will be sent out as a pinch hit and someone else will claim you.

If no requests match your offers, you will be contacted and given 24 hours to add offers. Please watch your AO3 email after signups close. Please keep in mind that by signing up to this exchange, the mod will have access to your AO3 email address.

If there is anyone specific to whom you do not want to be matched, please contact the mod by email or Dreamwidth PM before signups close.

If you have more than one account with IT works, you may sign up with up to two accounts, but be aware that you will be expected to produce a remix for both signups. If you want to sign up only once, you may link your other account(s) in your signup, and your assigned author may remix a work from any account.

Assignments

Minimum 1000 words and a remix of one of your recipient’s IT works that has not been designated safe, avoiding all DNWs. If they have not opted into pairing change, the pairing must be kept the same.

Please do not discuss the details of your assignment in public or contact your recipient. You must remain anonymous until author reveals. However, you are free to discuss privately or with a beta reader, as long as they are not your recipient.

If the assignment you receive does not match what you offered, please contact the mod immediately. Otherwise, assignments will not be changed.

The collection will not open until everyone who did not default has a remix written for them. I will do my best to open on time, but it may be late. The collection will not open early.

Posting

To post your remix, navigate to your AO3 dashboard, click on 'Assignments', find your IT Remix Exchange assignment and click “Post to fulfil”. Make sure to link the fic you’re remixing in the “Inspired by” section.

Entirely optional is a fun remix title. There are no real rules for this, but Title (The X Remix) is a common format, with X being either thematic or the name of the remixed fic. Feel free to get creative with it!

Works containing excessive grammar or spelling issues will not be accepted.

Do not post your work anywhere else until the anonymous period ends.

You may edit your work after posting, even substantially, in the week before it is revealed, but it must be a complete work at the deadline.

Saved drafts do not fulfil assignments! Please ensure you hit “post”.

Defaulting

If you cannot complete your assignment for any reason, you can default (by navigating to your assignments page and hitting the Default button) and your recipient will be sent out as a pinch hit. If you default and your assigned author defaults, you will not be sent out as a pinch hit.

You can default by hitting the default button at any time. Extensions up to 48 hours may be given if you ask before the deadline, but if you don’t show up after requesting an extension, you will be banned in the next round.

There are no penalties for defaulting, but you are no longer guaranteed a remix.

If you don’t default, but don’t post anything before the deadline, you will be defaulted by the mod and your recipient sent out as a pinch hit. You may also be banned in the next round. If you want to sign up again next year, please contact the mod.

Pinch hits

Pinch hits are assignments in need of an author, either because they were not assigned one by the matching algorithm, or because their original author defaulted. The system ensures that everyone who signs up and completes their own assignment will get a remix.

All pinch hits will be posted on the Dreamwidth community.

If you would like to claim one, leave a comment with your AO3 username and the number of the pinch hit you would like to claim. If you are successful, the mod will reply and you will be officially assigned the pinch hit on AO3. All regular assignment rules apply, though your deadline may be different, depending on when you claim the pinch hit.

You may claim a pinch hit if you are not signed up. The only requirement is an AO3 account.

Treats

Treats are extra gifts — in this case, remixes — by someone other than an assigned author.

Due to the nature of this exchange, treats are opt-in. If you want to write a treat, it cannot be a safe work, the person you are writing for must have opted into them, and they cannot contain any DNWs.

Also due to the nature of this exchange, late treats — after the Anonymous period is over — will not be accepted and the collection will be closed for posting.

To upload a treat, go to the AO3 community and click “Post to collection”. Fill in the recipient’s name manually and make sure it matches, and add the work you are remixing in the “Inspired by” field.

You do not need to be signed up to post a treat.

Treats will not be upgraded to fulfil assignments for this exchange.

Remix Madness

Remix Madness is where you can open up your works to remixes without committing to remixing anything else.

Only one prompt per participant — if you need more relationship slots than the 20, you can just list them in the box.

Safe works and DNWs are unlimited, though the same automatically safe rules apply. One exception: if both you and your coauthor sign up, and both specifically indicate willingness for your coauthored fic to be remixed, it can be.

You may also say you only want one specific fic of yours to be remixed, and you can sign up with fewer than two IT works or only WIPs.

To post to Madness, find the prompt you want to fill and hit “Claim”. (This is not a commitment, so you can claim as many as you like and a prompt can be claimed by multiple people.) Navigate to your Claims page and hit “Fill Prompt”, and make sure to link to the fic you’re remixing in the “Inspired By” section.

Works will go live the day after the main collection, and authors will be revealed a day later than the main collection.

This collection will also be closed for claims and posting when authors are revealed.