brainofck: (Spell Check)
brainofck ([personal profile] brainofck) wrote2007-07-03 09:14 am

Self-indulgent muttering and self-criticism



I have never remixed before. But I signed up for the [livejournal.com profile] gateverse_remix with cautious enthusiasm.

Here is a true story.

Ever since I read it, in my mind, throwing pebbles up the mountain has been the benchmark for the perfect J/D first time story. Angst. Love. Uncertainty. Uncertain ending. Both of them a little off balance. For me, it really is perfect in almost every possible way.

I hesitated to sign up for the remix after I heard about it for several days, because I had an unrealistic, crazy fear that if I signed up, I would have to remix THAT story.

But the idea of doing the remix was too interesting, and finally I said, Get a grip, BRAIN! You will not have to remix throwing pebbles up the mountain, jeez!!!!

So.

On the morning I got my remix assignment, I had a small, horrified, flattered, panicked moment when I realized that [livejournal.com profile] synecdochic, who was organizing the remix event, had assigned me HERSELF to remix. Wow! I've never done this! And I wondered if she had actually PICKED me to remix her, or if that is just how it worked out. Becuase I organized that OT3 event last year, and I know how hard it can be to hook up the right writer with the right request. Still. It felt like a big responsibility. An extra expectation to live up to.

Also, I had this nagging feeing that her name was really, really familiar...

THEN.

I clicked over to her SG-1 page and almost had a heart attack.

But weirdly, after a few hours of spazzing, I started looking over the options, and I clicked on like water, lying and started re-reading it, and THANK YOU GOD, Jack started talking to me almost right away.

So I was feeling pretty good. Lots of ideas. It would work. But...

There was a lot of the Eurydiceverse that I had not seen. And I already had the idea that I wanted Cam to be wrong about a lot of what was going on in Jack's head during like water, lying, but I wanted to see if [livejournal.com profile] synecdochic had given us any insights into Jack, Daniel, or their relationship that I had missed. So I started reading.

And then I hit on Grace Notes.

And that Jack was SO not the Jack I was writing. I swear, I read it and almost cried. Not the right Jack. Not, NOT, NOT. Her Jack is sort of at peace with his realtionship with Daniel. He's let Daniel go, lets Daniel come to him, doesn't obsess with Daniel anymore. Their relationship has broken him, or nearly, and he has stepped back from it, using the distance between them as a shield.

My Jack is SO still in the Daniel game.

I was having a freak out til I realized. Duh. Remix. *rolls eyes at self*

Anyway, so there's my remix experience, in a nutshell. I am actually pretty happy with how it came out, especially considering the RL time constraints I have been under. I should extend a special thank you to Little Sister, who kindly slept in the past several days, letting me get up at godawful early hours on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and today to write and edit. Another special thanks to [livejournal.com profile] green_grrl, who's excellent edit and suggestions were the only reason I was able to post this morning, so quickly after realizing I had the deadline wrong.

Will I remix again? That remains to be seen. Remixing is hard work. But it was fun.

[identity profile] princessofg.livejournal.com 2007-07-03 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
well, your story fucking rocked. *applause*

remix is like fanfic double distilled, i deem. not only the backdrop of canon but the backdrop of someone's interp of canon, interp'd again.

simply amazing. i am in awe. i still don't think i could do it, or maybe i could in a year when my brain was not already overcommitted to the nth power, but the stories i'm reading are SO SATISFYING and PERFECT.

i heart sg-1 fandom.

again -- congratulations. you totally succeeded.

[identity profile] brainofck.livejournal.com 2007-07-03 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I definitely didn't know how it was going to work. I was hoping that I would get some mediocre but productive writer who would have a lot of good story ideas and I could take some idea they had and basically write my own thing. Sort of like any ficathon, just a better developed premise to start me off. But [livejournal.com profile] synecdochic's stories don't lend themselves well to that, since they are such deep character studies. I basically started with her text and started writing over it, swapping the point of view. In some ways, it was easier than writing something completely original, because she had already plotted it out. I was just writing Jack's response. But in other ways, it was hard, because it was long, and I wanted to make sure I got an authentic Jack perspective, not just a rewrite of the same action.

Definitely hard work. But I can definitely see that you might just want to back away from the whole thing as a writer. :D

[identity profile] green-grrl.livejournal.com 2007-07-03 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
LMAO that you were afraid of getting Syne... and you did! (But yeah, I can't imagine remixing TPUTM.)

YOU DID A TOTALLY AMAZING JOB! It totally works for me that Cam thinks Jack is all in control and suave about the whole thing, and inside Jack is freaking out -- what the hell did Daniel get me into now? And his Brothers-in-Daniel commiseration in the morning is presaged by his empathy for Cam getting put on the spot the night before. Just -- yes!

*mad fangirling*

[identity profile] brainofck.livejournal.com 2007-07-04 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
You are the best fangirl ever! You should read our reviews. You put in a good bit of the Jack voice that everyone is so happy about! :D

[identity profile] green-grrl.livejournal.com 2007-07-04 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
*\o/*

And the good stuff is the prologue and the Jackian bits I quoted back at you -- that's you, bay-bee! :-)
synecdochic: torso of a man wearing jeans, hands bound with belt (Default)

[personal profile] synecdochic 2007-07-03 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, yeah, confession time, I did pick you directly, because I really love your writing and I totally wanted to see what you'd do with my stuff. *g*

And I've already flailed around in your comments about how utterly perfect your take on Jack was, and you know, I was actually kind of hoping someone would take on Eurydiceverse Jack, because see, the thing is, I know exactly what happened with him and Daniel over the years; I just haven't been able to write any of it, because it's all so complex and complicated and emotionally layered that I'm scared of taking it on. And on the one hand it's like you were reading my mind -- because yes, your take on what Jack's thinking is almost exactly what mine is in places -- and on the other hand, it's a total surprise in others, but it's a surprise in the ways that make me just stop and go oh, because it's real. It all clicks together and it's just perfect.

You did a stunning job with this story. Seriously. I love, love, love remixes of any story, because I love getting different perspectives, and I really love remixes of stuff I've written, because I love seeing what people take and what they emphasize, and really, I don't have words for how fucking awesomely cool this is.

[identity profile] brainofck.livejournal.com 2007-07-04 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I did pick you directly

*blushes*

*scuffs shoe*

It makes me very happy that you weren't disappointed. :D Sorry I was doing my best to flake on you. *dope slaps self*

I hope you will manage more of Jack and Daniel's story. We all wait with bated breath! :)
synecdochic: torso of a man wearing jeans, hands bound with belt (Default)

[personal profile] synecdochic 2007-07-04 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I will, absolutely! I have ... *counts on fingers* six more planned stories for that universe, at least, and I'm sure there's going to be more after that. (And I welcome other people writing in that 'verse, too, if they want.) It's just such an interesting dynamic, with all of them -- it's all so complex and messy and fun. :)