lls_mutant

So,

bsg_remix is over, and the reveals went up. If you haven't been checking out the fic over there, go check it out, because it was FANTASTIC. Seriously- I was amazed at the quality of the fics. There are about 40 fics for your reading pleasure, and there's really some good stuff. I haven't finished reading all of them. When I do, I want to put together a rec list. However- I'll probably leave all the Gaeta related fics off it. Why? Because most of the people who read this journal have probably already read the Gaeta stuff. (If you do want the Gaeta recs, let me know and I'll put em in.)

Much to everyone's shock (did anyone NOT guess????), I wrote The Rascal King, which was a remix of

inlovewithnight's Catalyst. Her fic was a backstory for Tom Zarek, told with the same headers I used. I took her backstory and made it into a story that Zarek gradually tells Gaeta, sort of influencing and inspiring Gaeta as he plays Scheherezade. (Damn- now THERE was the remix title. It should have been The Rascal King (The Schererezade Remix). When I cross post it, it will be.)

On the one hand, I was really happy with this fic. I find the relationship between Zarek and Gaeta to be fascinating, because I really am stuck on that idea that they are the same man at different ends of life. On the other hand, I'm kind of bummed I went that route. The thing about

inlovewithnight is that she writes a lot of characters I don't, but that I like (like Racetrack), and I was intrigued by that challenge. And I fell back on my favorite two. But on the other hand, I'm really, really, really happy with how the story turned out. And, of course, I had previously said it would be obvious from the header alone that it was me. And while The Rascal King is not set in the Youth's Final Luxury universe (for example, it's Noel that tells Felix that Hoshi, not Adama, launched the rescue mission in YFL, and Zarek does it in The Rascal King), the ideas and the themes are extremely similar. The Rascal King is actually almost a summary of Youth's Final Luxury, in how I see the relationship between Gaeta and Zarek. Also? The lyrics to the song fit Zarek perfectly.

I've always loved the song "The Rascal King", by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I've been doing a little looking to see if I could find out exactly who it's about. But it totally fits Zarek. And because the site I linked to sucks and I'm TOTALLY procrastinating other writing for some reason, here are the lyrics:

Well, he was fueled by a lack, drew inspiration from the need
So many problems to crack and mouths to feed.
Crooked was the path, and brazen was the walk
A cocky swagger up the ladder, and could he ever talk.

(This sums up Zarek in Season 1 and 2 perfectly for me. I really believe that Zarek wanted to do good, he just firmly believed that the ends justify the means. He had radical ideas and radical means of implementing them. And "could he ever talk...." someone- I think it was

brennanspeaks in "A Gift of Hermes" made a comment about how Zarek was in love with the sound of his own voice. UM, YES.)

The last hurrah, nah, I'd do it again.
The rascal king behind the bars or the one in front of them.
The last hurrah, nah, I'd do it again.
The rascal king behind the bars or the one in front of them.

I don't think Tom Zarek ever regretted what he did, even when he faced the firing squad.

The love of God, in constant contradiction
And just a smile, wink and nod, what's stranger- fact or fiction?
Never ceasing to amaze on a regular basis
First hand into the pocket or first fist into the faces.

This really speaks to me about Zarek's ends-justify-the-means approach. I don't vid, but this song makes me wish I did, because there are so many perfect moments where you can show this. And, of course, that last line of that verse makes me think of him killing Laird.

A legendary character, where? only there, when? only then (do it again)
A hero or a hooligan, well that part's never clear (do it again)
Pride or shame, it's all the same
Who's innocent and who's to blame?
Politics or just a game?
Well, in the end they knew his name.

I really, really really wanted to work this verse into the text. There's one spot where I did- the hero or a hooligan line. I wanted to use pride or shame in the second section, in the bar, who's innocent and who's to blame in Dee's funeral, politics or just a game would have gone into the spot where Zarek tells Felix about the Raptor, and in the end they knew his name would have gone into the execution. But I couldn't do it without it seeming forced, so I abandoned it. Oh well.

It is my Zarek song, and no other can replace it.

Of course, I also got a fic in return-

grey_sw wrote A Bend In the Stream for me, which is a remix of Softly Tread the Sand Below Your Feet from one of the Two's point of view. It's amazing, and I love it. In the three years I've done remixes, I've found that the remixes I enjoy the most (assuming the quality is the same across the board) are the ones of fics that mean a lot to me. Softly Tread is one of my two favorite one-shots I've written for BSG. (The other is Touch of Your Grace, the Gaeta/Narcho one which I was also kind of hoping to see.) And, of course,, the quality here is just... wow. See, I can write the humans on BSG. I write some better than others, but I feel like I can do most of them. I can write the Cylons from a human perspective. But what I really have a hard time doing is writing Cylons from a Cylon perspective. I can sort of do it, but it never seems quite right. And

grey_sw can do it brilliantly. So seeing the settlement and the world I'd created from a Cylon's eyes- and seeing it done RIGHT- was just amazing. If you haven't, go read it and leave her tons of feedback about how fantastic it is.

This was also my first experience modding. I think I got off really easy. For one, I had an AWESOME co-mod in

rose_griffes, who feels like the easiest person to work with EVER. We had a good-sized fest, with 38 participants signed up. We had people drop out, but most of them gave us notice, and we had pinch hitters step in. And one of the things I've noticed is that BSG attracts a lot of quality writers, so the pinch hits were pretty awesome as well.

Would I do it again? Yeah, especially because people really seemed to enjoy this fest, and it went very, very well. From what I can tell, 38 people seems like a pretty good turnout for a BSG-specific fest, especially now that the show's over. Will I do it again? I guess we'll have to see next year. It will depend on where fandom is and where I am at that point, I guess- what both our interest levels are. I also didn't have to really stress over it... I wonder how I'd feel if we'd had more difficulties than we did. But overall, it was an incredibly positive experience.

So, yeah,

bsg_remix has come to its triumphant close. Now see if you can guess what story I wrote for the

remixredux09 when it goes live on July 19! It might not be as easy as this one was.

Then again, it might. :)