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I really want more PR authors in Remix Redux this year, not to mention I think more people participating in the thing is great in general. So, here's a poll, and after the cut, my thoughts about remixing.

Poll #6209 Remix Redux?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

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Are you thinking of doing Remix Redux?

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Yes, I am, and Power Rangers is my qualifying fandom.
0 (0.0%)

Yes, I am, and Power Rangers is one of my qualifying fandoms.
2 (40.0%)

Yes, I am, but Power Rangers is not one of my qualifying fandoms.
0 (0.0%)

No, I'm not doing it this year for various and sundry reasons.
1 (20.0%)

I don't know yet, it depends on the dates/my schedule/etc.
2 (40.0%)

What's Remix Redux?
0 (0.0%)

Other.
0 (0.0%)

I started remixing last year, participating in Remix Redux. (I didn't do the PR Remix for reasons I don't quite remember.) I'm participating in Redux, and in PR Remix if there is one this year.

Now that I've had almost a year to think about it, at least some fanfic is sort of remixing already. Missing scenes, POV changes, character focuses - they're all an interpretations of the canon source.

I have to admit, though, that remixing someone else's words, someone who isn't the Powers That Be, can be a little intimidating, because you don't want to hurt them while remixing their fic. You may or may not know the person, but they're a fan just like you, they have their own interpretations and quirks and characters they like to write, just as you do. And if they're someone you know, it can be doubly scary to take on a fic of theirs and remix it. (I had

angel_negra for Redux last year, who I've known for years.)

On the writing side, I found myself doing a remix of

angel_negra's "Q&A", which was about the Ninja Storm Rangers after their first battle. I remixed it with a POV change and later ending into a fic about Cam. (I think it came out well.) But before I wrote it, I read the vast majority of her fics, some several times. She and I write different pairings and different seasons, so my challenge was to find something that inspired me. Two of them did - the one I ultimately remixed, and a Wes/Eric fic that pretty much demanded seeing them from a dog's POV. I settled on Ninja Storm and a vague desire to someday own the dog breed in the other fic, and someday I think I'd like to write the dog POV - when I have non-RPM and Kamen Rider muses and when I remember to ask her.

I remember being nervous, because even if Redux isn't a gift exchange, you want the person who you're remixing to enjoy things anyway!

Now, on the remixee side, I have to admit, I'm always a bit nervous. I love playing around with stories and so I love the idea of doing a remix myself. I'm not so protective of my fics that I can't stand someone playing with my words to produce a whole new fic. (I have doubts that I'll ever have a "safe fic" other than remixes of other peoples' fics, because I love how different people see different storylines/events.) The thing that scares me the most?

That my fics are terrible. That somebody will hate them. That my remixer can't find something they can use (in last year's case, I apparently had too many fics that

defeatedbyabridge wanted to remix and had a hard time choosing between, so I'm hoping that this year is the same way). There was somebody on last year's comm that absolutely hated their remixee's fics; from what I was able to figure out (it was an anonymous poster), they did manage a remix, but they had a really, really hard time. Like a lot of people, including people on my friendslist, I have times where I completely, absolutely hate my fics. Or some of my fics.

For example, right now I'm terribly insecure about my RPM fics. Well, mostly it's Ziggy. I can get his personality, but some of his canon dialogue makes me cringe in a kind of embarrassment squick, because it reminds me of my bad traits. In the "Harder to be Brave" storyline it's not as apparent, because he spends the whole fic series depressed and not up to his usual talkiness, but it's hard when I'm writing other Ziggy-based fics because I'm, well, too embarrassed to admit I sound like Ziggy a lot in real life. I'm sure I'll feel better about my fics in time, but right now it's kind of like "Why do I have this muse where I don't feel comfortable writing his dialogue?"

Now, because of the sheer amount of my PR fics, I'm hoping that my remixer will find something that screams "remix me!" as "Q&A" did for me. (Or, as mentioned before, my remixer will find an embarrassment of riches in my fic list.) I really shouldn't have anything to worry about. But I'm really good at worrying, so that's normal for me.

As I've been writing this, I've been thinking of fics that I'd love to have remixed, or should remix myself someday. (And on the off chance you are my Redux or other remixer, please ignore my list, it's just idle musing.) I've remixed some of my fics before in some ways, though they tend to be very early fics; "Telepathic Ghosts" and "Mistakes", in the Tomorrow People/Highlander crossover universe "Tomorrow's Future", were a fic and its remix respectively. ("Telepathic Ghosts" was about the Tomorrow People finding a new Tomorrow Person; "Mistakes" was about a girl that appears and disappears throughout that story and what's happening with her.)

I think the ones that would be neatest are as follows: "Illegible Fic" (PRDT), "R.J. and the (Surprisingly Pleasant?) Government Inspectors" (PRJF), pretty much anything in the "Harder to be Brave, Easier to Hide" storyline (PRRPM), "Roads that Run" (PRZ), "Arguing With A Brick Wall" (Kamen Rider Kiva), "Goodbye From Where It Hurts" (Kamen Rider Hibiki), "Versal and Marginalia" (Disney's Mulan), and "Dating a Ghost" (Abaranger/Dekaranger).

But in the meantime? I have an index to put together. A remix to be nervous about. A plan to volunteer for pinch-hitting for the PR remix. And I think I'll stop rambling now.