Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sign-ups begin: May 13
Sign-ups end: May 27, 11:59 PM EST
Assignments out by: June 3*
Assignments due: July 1, 11:59 PM EST
Archive goes live: July 8*
Authors/artists revealed: July 15

*Subject to change if AO3 throws bugs during matching, or if some pinch hits are turned in late. If there are any hiccups or delays, we will announce it on our tumblr.

Remix Madness: The X-Men Remix Madness 2018 collection will open on July 1 and remain open for sign ups and posting until author reveals on July 15. Author reveals on both collections will occur sometime earlier in the day, but if you're still working on a Madness fic at the last minute, you may post it to the Remix Madness collection provided it is still July 15 somewhere in the world.

Pinch hits: We now have a google group to manage our pinch hits! Join the group to receive emails when pinch hits are available.

What you need to participate
In order to sign up for X-Men Remix 2018, you must have at least:

Three (3) stories of at least 500 words OR
Five (5) stories of at least 100 words OR
Three (3) drawings (no manips, please)

in XMFC/DoFP/XMA fandoms, and be willing to have them remixed. You must also be willing to remix someone else's story/art.

If you do not have enough qualifying works to sign up for the main exchange, please feel free to opt into X-Men Remix Madness when signups have opened over there.

Note: Due to the changes to the way AO3 syncs tags for the X-Men movies, we no longer consider XMFC/DoFP/XMA to be separate canons. As long as you have enough qualifying works set anywhere in the new trilogy/new timeline, you're good to go.

A qualifying story is a story that:
Is an XMFC, DoFP and/or XMA story
Is complete
Is at least 100 words long
Is not a crossover with a non-X-Men fandom
Is not a remix
Is not co-written
Is not listed as a safe story
Is publicly available (ie, not locked on DW/LJ; since an AO3 account is required to participate in XMFC Remix, stories may be locked on AO3)

A qualifying drawing is a drawing that:
Is an XMFC/DoFP/XMA drawing
Is complete
Is not a crossover with a non-X-Men fandom
Is not co-created
Is not listed as a safe drawing
Is publicly available (ie, not locked on DW/LJ; since an AO3 account is required to participate in XMFC Remix, art may be locked on AO3)

To sign up, you will need to have an AO3 account. Contact the mods at xmenremix13mods@gmail.com if you need an invite code, or if you have any other questions/comments/concerns.

What is X-Men Remix?
X-Men Remix is a challenge where you rewrite someone else's XMFC/DoFP/XMA story or redraw someone else's XMFC/DoFP/XMA art the way you would have written/drawn it if it were your story/art.

What can I change when remixing a story?
Just about anything you want! The only things you may not change are the pairings and the basic plot. Otherwise, you can do whatever you like: you can write from a different POV, in a different tense, with different characterization; you can write the story you think happened before or after the events of the story you're remixing; you can put a twist/spin on the events of the story to give it an entirely different meaning; you can take a shippy story and make it gen/background the pairing and focus on other stuff; you can take the secondary pairing and focus on them instead of the main pairing of the original fic; again, pretty much anything you want!

But some of that makes it sound like you CAN change the pairing?
Basically, when we say you can't change the pairing, we mean you can't take, for example, a Charles/Logan fic and turn it into a Charles/Erik fic. But if you're remixing a Charles/Logan fic that has Hank/Raven as a background pairing, you'd be fine writing a fic about Hank/Raven with the Charles/Logan part in the background. Or, if you were remixing a Charles/Logan, Hank/Raven casefic with big romance elements, you would be welcome to remix it as a casefic that barely brought up the romance at all. In general, we're pretty flexible about this as long as you aren't swapping out the pairings that were in the original.

If you're not sure if your remix is within the pairing rule or not, feel free to send us an email as xmenremix13mods@gmail.com, and we'll be glad to let you know one way or the other.

But how do I tell which parts are the basic plot?
Okay, this is the awesome thing about Remix: That's 100% up to you! Some people create remixes that hew quite close to the original work, while others do things that are so wildly different that you wouldn't necessarily realize they were connected if they were posted outside of remix. As long as we can sort of squint and see where you came up with your idea based on the original story, it's all good.

What is a safe work?
It is a work that someone does not want to be remixed. Safe works are completely off-limits.

How many safe works can I have? How do I indicate what I want my safe work to be?
You may have one (1) safe work. You should include a link to your safe work, if you have one, in the text area of your signup.

Can I write a Dear Remixer letter?
No. Remix is not a gift exchange. As such, the person writing for you does not have to take any of your likes or dislikes into account when writing your fic.

The person I was assigned to only has XMFC/DoFP fics, is it okay if I remix one of them as an XMA fic?
Yes, that is totally fine.

What is Remix Madness?
Remix Madness is the free-for-all version of this challenge. Instead of being assigned to write for someone, you can look through the list of signups for Remix Madness and choose whom you want to remix. There is no minimum wordcount to remix other people for Remix Madness, and you do not have to opt in to be remixed in order to remix for others.

Why can't I sign up to write for the comics/animated series/etc this year?
In our first year, every single signup we had included at least one movie category, and all but one or two signups included XMFC. Additionally, only one or two comics-based fics were written. So we didn't really see the point in having a bunch of categories again. If we were to get a lot of interest in a remix for other X-Men canons, we would consider opening it back up, but that has not happened as of yet.

So I can't remix someone's comics fic this year?
If someone has written something based on a different X-Men canon that is a crossover with XMFC/DoFP/XMA fic, you may remix it. If the fic in question is not a crossover with an XMFC/DoFP/XMA fic, then you may remix it only if the author has said they are okay with their non-XMFC/DoFP/XMA fic being remixed. (This should be listed as part of the signup. If your remixee doesn't say anything about it or says they're not okay with it in their sign-up, their comicsverse/animated series/etc fics are off-limits unless they are a crossover with XMFC/DoFP/XMA.)

Why can't I remix a crossover?
You may remix a crossover, provided that your main focus is on an X-Men character! Crossovers including Non-X-Men fandoms just don't count towards the eligibility requirements, because if all someone has written are crossovers, their remixer might not be familiar with/like/want to write about the other fandom(s).

I need to default. Is there a penalty for doing so?
There is no penalty for defaulting, and you will still receive a story if you default. If you must default on your assignment, please do so as soon as you know, so we can have as much time as possible to find a pinch-hitter. The default button is located on your Assignments page.

I don't want to default, but my assignment is only halfway finished. Can I post a placeholder at the deadline as long as I'm sure I can finish it by the time the collection goes live?
No. As of our 2016 round, we require that your assignment pass the bus test when you post it to the collection. What this means is that if you get hit by a bus five minutes after posting, we will not have to scramble for an emergency pinch hitter because your work is still a placeholder when the collection is due to open.

It's fine to post a rough draft with the intention of polishing it up more, but stories should have a clear beginning, middle, and end with no placeholder text, while art must look like something. It's also fine to post a rough draft of one thing, then decide to do something completely different and switch it out before the collection opens, as long as every version of your assignment passes the bus test when it is posted.

How do I get onto the pinch hit list?
Sign up here!

Can I post-date my art so it shows at the top of the fandom tag?
Yes, this is fine. However, we do ask that you don't go overboard with this, so please do not post-date your fic/art more than once during the anon period, and once after author/artist reveals (no more than twice total).

I was assigned to one of my friends and I'm trying to fool them into thinking I got a different assignment. Is it okay if I write an extra fic for someone else and put it in the collection as a decoy?
No. The only fic/art you should be posting in the main collection are your official assignment and pinch hits. Anything else must go in the Madness collection.

Can I post more than one thing for my recipient in the main collection?
Yes, as long as each work posted is at least 1000 words or a complete drawing.

I defaulted, but wrote/drew something for my recip anyway. Can I post it to the main collection, or should it go in the madness collection?
You may post it in the main collection, provided it is at least 1000 words or a complete drawing, and that you are posting it before the collection goes live. If it is under the minimum or you finish after the collection has gone live, you should post it in the Madness collection.

I read the rules and now I'm worried - is it really common for people to hate the remixes they get?
No. Most people seem to like what they receive for remix. We just wanted to make it clear that remix is not a gift exchange, and our remixers and recipients do not have the same obligations toward one another that they would if it were.

What is a previous remix?
A "previous remix" just means a remix. If someone has written 20 X-Men stories, but three of them are remixes of other people's stories, you would be able to remix 17 of those stories, but would not be able to remix their three remixes.

Matching will be done based on medium (art or fic). If you have participated in a previous round of X-Men Remix, we will try to match you to someone you have not been matched to before. (This may not always be possible for artists, since we typically only have 3-5 artist signups in any given year.) We do not take character, pairing, or specific movies into account for matching purposes.

Once you receive your assignment, you will remix at least one of your recipient's stories/drawings and post it to the collection by the due date.

Stories must be a minimum of 1000 words and complete; no WIPs. In the case of art, the piece must be complete (ie, no sketches, please).

When remixing, do not change the pairing or basic plot of the story. (Anything else goes!)

This is not a gift exchange, so you are not required to write/draw to your recipient's tastes. Your recipient already wrote the story they wanted to write; X-Men Remix is your chance to get your sticky fingers all over their story, telling it the way you want to.

This is not a gift exchange, so you are not required to acknowledge the fic/art you receive if it is not to your tastes/contains content you don't read/is offensive to you. There is not, and never will be, any penalty for not commenting on/kudosing/linking back to the fic or art you receive.

In light of the above, you are still expected to be civil to your remixer or recipient, regardless of the circumstance.

You may not write fic for art or draw art for fic. This is not a Big Bang/Reverse Bang! The sole exception to this will be if a last-minute pinch hitter is needed for an artist, in which case we will allow a writer to take the pinch hit if no artists are available.

You may not remix any of the following:
Non-X-Men works.
Anyone's safe work.
Works in progress.
Previous remixes.
Collaborations.*

*Collaborations may be remixed for Remix Madness only, provided that ALL the listed authors/artists of that work sign up for Remix Madness and say they are okay with it in their signup.

If you have not turned in a remix by the deadline (July 1, 11:59 PM EST), you will be automatically defaulted. There will be no extensions. That said, if this happens to you but you finish your remix before the archive opens, you can still upload it to the collection—in fact, we encourage you to do so!

Barring any last-minute complications, stories and art will go live on July 8, 2017. Authors/artists will be revealed a week later, on July 15. We ask that, prior to reveals, you do not discuss your remix assignment publicly in any detail, or post it to any location other than the AO3 collection. You may respond to your feedback before reveals if you wish to; AO3 will automatically make your responses anonymous. After reveals, free to do whatever you’d like.