LJ Idol Presents:

 What is an FAQ?  It stands for “Frequently Asked Questions” 

Are these questions people have actually asked you on a frequent basis?  No. It should probably be called, “things I think you would want to know, but even if I post them someone is going to ask me anyway. But at least when they do other people can point and laugh and say “It was in the FAQ, didn’t you read it?” 

Will there be pointing and laughing?  Probably. At very least one of those things. 

What is LJ Idol?  LJ Idol is a writing competition that I started back in 2006 combining my love of writing with my love of reality competition shows.  It’s a game. It’s a community. It’s a way of life.  

2006? Seriously? Yes. Seriously. Next year will be our 20th anniversary. 

It’s called LJ Idol but it’s on Dreamwidth. Why?  It started on Livejournal, but like a lot of people, it moved over here during the last big exodus.  At this point LJ Idol is an established name, the brand would stay regardless of where we moved. 

How does this work?  You want to know how regular Idol works? I post a topic and give writers a deadline. They write and post it. I add all of those links to a poll and then people vote. Whoever has the least amount of votes is eliminated. 

“Regular Idol”? Is this not regular Idol?  Oh no. Not even close to “regular Idol” This is a “special event”  . It's absolute chaos. It’s Idol on steroids mated with Calvinball and their kid shot out of a confetti cannon right at your head.   This is THE WHEEL OF CHAOS!

Is there an actual wheel?  Yes. Well, OK, it’s an online “random picker generation”.  I am loading a bunch of topics into one and twists into another.  Every week I will spin both. Whatever it tells me is what is happening that week. 

Is it an actual 7 day week? No. It’s an Idol week. Which is from the moment I post the new topic to the moment the poll closes and someone is eliminated. 

What sort of twists? Veteran players answer - it’s all of your favorites, and least favorites. Some new stuff.  Newbies answer - Anywhere from how the poll is set up, how many people are eliminated to literal “game changing” options that will make you want to rage quit if you don’t decide to just go with it. 

Will there be a “Second Chance Idol” for people previously eliminated to get back into the game  *chuckles* Kind of.  

How long will it last?  Until there are fewer than 4 contestants OR until I decide to pull executive privilege and pull the ripcord to end things.  It could last 1 week, we could be still playing this thing until the 30th anniversary.  I have no idea.   I do WANT to give people time to rest and recover before the big 20th anniversary season next year. So hopefully before that. 

“Am I going to hate it?”  Yes.  You definitely will hate it. But hopefully you will love it more.  I’m telling you at the onset that it’s not going to be regular Idol and that it’s going to be crazy.  Take a box of Captain Crunch “Oops All Berries” and replace it with LJ Idol “Oops, All Twists” and that’s what you are getting yourself into. 

“When is the Sign Up?”  This weekend.  Unless I roll a dice and the fates decide it’s sooner!! 

Until then, ask me more questions then I can add “Questions That Were Actually Asked Once”!!

 Back in 2006, I was a few years into being single, and incredibly bored. Idol was the idea that filled that hole, and definitely made life "not boring"  :) 

Over the years, it stayed that way - through all the changes in my life, as well as the changes to Livejournal itself (that eventually got to the point of needing to leave it) 

It was my passion, and the success of every single person who came through these doors felt like MY accomplishments, that I had played a small part in it. (even if it was only reflected)  It was something that gave me a great deal of satisfaction and pride. 

2023 was rough for me at the end, and got even worse during 2024. My job took up all of my time and energy. Those successes were huge, and the failures were draining. Losing it though, that meant that all of the damage I had done to the rest of my life by allowing my job to become who  was, all of that were just more failures.  

(deleted a lot of DARK, and honest stuff) 

I need you to understand how important Idol is to me. How important all of you are to me. It's not just showing up and participating. Your successes make me feel like I've had a small part in them, which has kept me going through some pretty dark months. 

I saw a comment during the finale about a couple writing communities where people sign up at the start of the year and the writers all motivate each other to meet their word count goals. Obviously it's a great idea.  It feels like those are the people we need to reach, writers who WANT to be motivated to write, who are trying to complete their personal goals. Idol is definitely something that gives people an excuse to write!!  So, if you happen to be a part of those groups, or any other writing activities - PLEASE spread the word about Idol. 

I have two ideas, and neither of them are particularly "new member friendly".  :)  One being the 20 Year Celebration in 2026/All Stars/Legends/your name here which I really hope I can make into a giant homecoming party. 

The other is what I want to do between now and then, which I can only describe as "What if everything that drives you crazy about LJ Idol were on massive amounts of drugs?"  I don't know if that is the Idol I want to introduce newbies to, heck, I don't even know if veterans want to play it once you hear what it's about...  but it's something that is exciting me at the moment. And I NEED something to be excited about. So I really hope you do decide to come out for it, and tell your friends.  I'm still in the planning stages, and have someone working on brand new graphics for it, so that might take a couple months before things are ready to reveal. I WILL tell you the name though... because that tells you everything you need to know:  LJ IDOL: The Wheel of Chaos   I'll let that image haunt your dreams.  :) 

Anyway, this started out as me wanting to thank you and let you know how much it meant to me to have you come out for this particular mini season... so, again, thank you.  I hope you had fun. 

I still have the Patreon. I was using it to make fun of my old high school and college poetry for a few months, but no one seemed interested.  :) It's still there if you're curious.  In theory I'll post more about Idol in the coming months. Mostly it's there because people asked me how they could contribute and said I should have one.  So if you want to, here's the link   www.patreon.com/c/user

I've already had a couple people throw some money into the hat via Paypal today, which was very kind of them and reminded me that I usually end seasons by putting the hat out, again, just in case you feel like it:  Venmo is @Gary-Dreslinski PayPal is @GDreslinski 

Again, for people who are in a place where they feel like they can/want to.  Idol is a passion project for me. I feel like I dropped the ball quite a few times this mini season, and appreciate people sticking with it. It means more to me than I can ever fully express. 

Thank you for being here, and for being you.  I hope to see you when The Wheel of Chaos starts to spin. 

Dreslinski Out. 

 The best thing about 2024 has been Idol, and even that had its own failures. 

What hasn't disappointed though is actual writing that has happened  -  make sure to check out the finalists and vote.  https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1181037.html

I really can't wait for this year to be over. But I don't have a lot of faith in 2025 to do anything for my mental health.  :) 

Hopefully I am wrong.  Yeah I know, dark post.  :) It's OK though, Just wanted to check in and say hello. 

And of course to thank all of you for being that bright spot on a horrible year. 

I hope you are doing something fun tonight. 

A few words from clauderainsrm:

Here we are, at the Finale. When we started this at the end of June I just needed to do *something* to get me out of the funk. In a lot of ways, that was a success, it was a success. Of course, starting the mini season meant that I would be getting a new job and starting just as we were getting our legs under us here! :) Because there is nothing that attracts big life changes more than already having taken on a new time commitment! I should have started Idol months before, then I could have had a new job sooner too!

It’s been 6 months, which honestly, yeah for Idol that’s still a mini season! Those of you who came in more recent years never had to survive ones that lasted over a year!

Anyway, we’ve been doing this for 6 months and we have our final three, making their cases for why they should win, and doing the same for their opponents. It’s the Idol standard, supporting each other to the very last vote!

It’s now out of their hands, and in YOURS. The voters are going to decide who gets to wear the metaphorical crown. 3 remarkable writers are asking for your support! So read, comment and vote for your favorites!

The poll closes in the new year - Wednesday Jan 1st at 8pm ET.

Good luck to everyone!

It's the final prompt of LJ Idol Mini.

We are going with a classic that is always a nice way to finish our time together - and fun to see how people handle it. 

It's the two step (because you should be doing both of these):

"Why I should win LJ Idol/Why my opponents should win" 

Make your case! Make their case!  

Make sure you link your entry back here by Saturday December 28th at 5pm ET.  (giving you extra time because all the holidays in the next week) 

Have fun!

I can't say "This is a huge surprise" after last week's results, when a series of ties ended up with the two writers that the bottom with Black Marks. At this point that meant that the only way that we weren't going to say goodbye to both of them this week was if they managed to be one of the top two vote getters. Which, given this mini season, is entirely possible. Certainly not the craziest thing that ever happened.

What ended up happening instead was that both of them were again at the bottom. And by "at the bottom" I mean they finished in 4th and 5th place! Which is still pretty damn incredible.

In 5th place is the writer that I said I wasn't sure how they were floating under people's radar, and if they got to the finale, people were in for a LOT of trouble. (I don't have it in front of me, so that's extremely paraphrased.) People this season knew her as littlebitofearth but I will forever know her as the LEGENDARY IDOL FIGURE monkeysugarmama!! (also known as messygorgeous later in her LJ days. All of this was mentioned in that introduction post. I can only assume that people somehow either tuned that out, or didn't know what it meant. Either way, absolute legend.

In 4th place is the always amazing flipflop_diva  who was the writer that I said something about how she had benefited from having a smaller group and spotlight in a previous season and finally got the attention, and respect, that her writing deserved.All it really takes is that one shot, and she continues to prove why she's so damn good at telling a story (real life and fictional) 

Both of these are absolute huge losses, but we've been experiencing huge losses for quite some time now. It's pretty much what to expect the closer you get to the end of any Idol season, mini or not. 

Thank you to both of you for coming out this mini season - and for some absolutely amazing entries over the last few months!  

A few words from clauderainsrm:

We still have 5 writers left in the competition, due to another tie in the Sudden Death Write Off this week. But if either of those two is in the bottom 3, then they will join the writer with the fewest votes in being eliminated.

Which means - who knows!! Maybe this week will leave us with 4 contestants, but maybe it will leave us with 3!!! That seems fitting for this mini season, where people talk about needing a coin toss to decide on who they will be voting for to advance, because it’s too difficult to pick!

The poll closes Thursday, December 19th at 8pm ET.

Good luck to everyone!

I wasn't expecting to have another tie. But then, maybe I should be expecting all ties, every single round. :)

That's what you keep giving me after all!

The deadline to the new prompt is tomorrow https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1177901.html, which means there isn't time for another round of Write Offs.

So flipflop_diva and littlebitofearth will both receive the Black Mark. If either of them are bottom three, they will be eliminated (in addition to the writer with the fewest votes).  If more than one of them are in that three, the one with the fewest votes will be eliminated. )

Let me know if you have questions, let me know!

I keep forgetting to post this - just wanted to give a special shout out to my friend Luigi who has been working hard filling in for me over the past several weeks.   He’s been working nonstop from my home office and hasn’t really had time to leave the house.  

I really appreciate you Luigi!   

 I'm not sure where this one came from.  I just googled it, and it came up as a "French proverb", but only when I put the quotes around it. 

It's a cliche, but aren't most things?  ;) 

It's definitely true for this competition though. There is only one path forward - and this is it:

Only those who do nothing never fail


The deadline to link your entries back to this thread is Sunday, December 15th at 7pm ET. 

Have fun!