K-Pop Ficmix

What is kpop-ficmix?

Kpop-Ficmix dates back to 2010 on Livejournal, but the origin of fic remixes goes back much farther. The basic idea of a remixing event is to add your own colors to another author's story, to put your own spin on it, to reenvision the story in your own style—in other words, to remix it!Have you ever read a story and thought, "If I had written this, I would have …"? A remix is your chance to take a story and tweak it, introduce other elements, set it in an alternate universe, tell the other side of the story, or put a whole different spin on events. You can even write a prequel or a sequel. Think of remixing a fic as doing a cover of a song — putting your own twist on the original.The most helpful metaphor here is that of a song remix. Recognizable elements of a song are altered in some way to create a new song. It's not the same as the original, but it also isn't something wholly separate. If you remove all the recognizable elements of the original song or only use a tiny piece of it, we might consider that sampling rather than remixing. If you recreate the same song with a few tweaks, we might consider that a remake or a cover. But if you mix some elements with your own, then you've got your own take: a remix.The same idea is applied to a fic remix. You play in the world of someone else's fic. Take elements of their fic and think about how to tell that story in your own voice.

Rules

What has to stay the same?

Two things: basic plotline and characters/pairing. Although what specific plot points make up the necessary core of the story is subjective, the basic plot must remain the same; otherwise, it's not a remix, but a completely different story. While the pairing(s) can't be changed (meaning, you can't either swap them out OR break them up to introduce your preferred partner for one or the other), you may shift the focus to background characters or pairings that appeared in the original. You also don’t have to center your story around a pairing - feel free to focus on an un-attached character and write about their story!

Can I have some broad examples? What if my assigned remixee doesn't seem to share my taste?

Part of the fun is figuring out how to make the 'ingredients' your remixee has provided into something that's hopefully tasty for you both! Even if their favorite tropes or preferred level of tameness/wildness doesn't mesh with yours, there are ways to shake things up.You could:

Again, as long as the main plot points and established couples remain intact, you have a lot of leeway to do as you please! As the resulting fic is meant to be a gift, it'd be nice if you attempted to appeal to some of your remixee's tastes as best you can, but that doesn't mean writing something YOU hate.If you're having trouble brainstorming ideas, the mods are happy to help! Figuring out this sort of puzzle is their idea of fun.

Is there anything else I should know?

Ficmixes must be at least 1000 words long, regardless of the length of the original work.

Keep your assignment a secret throughout the challenge — don't de-anon yourself, post your fic anywhere else, or give hints about your fic until after reveals (this includes anon memes, Twitter, etc).

You must have a fic masterlist to sign up. This can be a link to your AO3 works page, or a formal masterlist.

Please unlock as much of your fic as possible.

Although this is not a rule, we strongly encourage you to leave a comment thanking your writer once your fic is posted. Even if it's not exactly to your tastes, they put time and effort into it, and this should be acknowledged!

And, of course, stick to the deadlines! Because this is an exchange, participants are required to turn their fics in on time. Extensions are not guaranteed. Please commit to finishing your assignment, and do your best to complete it on time, because if you don't, someone else has to. If you absolutely must drop out, let us know as soon as possible. The deadline to drop out is August 12; if you drop out after this deadline, or simply disappear, you will be ineligible to participate in the next round of Ficmix. As long as you notify us of your drop-out before the deadline, you may still participate in the next round.

(Thank you to remix_redux for letting us borrow and tweak the concept and original rules of Ficmix!)

• Dreamwidth

• discussions on remixing
• ficmix rewind

Sign Up

How do assignments work?

After signups, you will be assigned a writer and given a link to their fanfiction masterlist. You will then pick one of their fics to write a remix of. Your author will be assigned based on the fandoms they have written for, and the list of fandoms you're willing to write for. You are guaranteed one fandom in common with your assigned author, but no more than that. This means you aren't guaranteed pairings in common, and may be assigned someone who writes pairings and characters that you don't. If you only write one specific pairing, this challenge may be difficult for you. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing — Ficmix is a great chance to expand your horizons and write something you may never have thought about writing before!

What story can I remix?

Here's what you can't remix:> The author's designated safe story
> Previous Ficmixes
> WIPs/unfinished fics
> Collaborations between your remixee and other authorsOther than that, any story you want. This includes works members-locked to a fic comm and works posted after the sign-up period. If you have any questions about whether you are allowed to remix a certain story, please contact the mods.

How do I qualify?

Note to previous participants: We've clarified our qualifying criteria as of our 2023 round, so please read carefully! Even if you were accepted as a participant in the past, double-check that you still meet the updated requirements.To qualify as a remix participant, you must have written a total of either 3 fics of 500+ words or 5 fics of 100+ words. These fics must be publicly available, in a single K-Pop fandom, and remix-eligible (crossover fics where the members of the main pairing are from different groups, your safe story, previous Ficmixes, WIPs/unfinished fics and collaborative works don't count towards this total). Any fic locked to a Livejournal/Dreamwidth community or LJ journal does not count towards your eligibility requirements (but if your remixer has access to those works, they may be chosen to be remixed).If you're a multi-stan, we're happy to have you! You simply need at least the minimum number of non-crossover fics in at least one of your fandoms--you don't need to have multiple fics for every group you write for. This makes it much easier for us to match you with an enthusiastic writer--they may not share all of your fandoms, but we do our best to offer as much overlap as possible. Some of our participants love crossovers and new/smaller fandoms, so those stories may end up being your remixer's dream! But we still need that minimum number of qualifying fics for a single group, to guarantee we can find someone happy to play in your sandbox.If you're not sure whether you qualify, feel free to contact the mods before signing up to ask for an evaluation. If you do not qualify, or you simply don't wish to have your fics remixed, you are still welcome to sign up as a pinch-hitter, but your fics will not be remixed.

Where do I sign up?

You may sign up through this form.

• sign up for ficmix 2024!
• sign up to pinch-hit!

Exchange Timeline

All deadlines are at 11:59PM in the procrastinator-friendly Pago Pago timezone.