LJ Idol Presents:

 I was going into the Livejournal archives to do a little mental fact checking for the Season 4 Notes. But I went too far back and found an interview my assistant (oynxblue) did with me in the lead up to Season 3.  I completely forgot that this existed!

The *g* (which was grin because the older <   g   > read as code and would mess things up, and I didn't want to use emoticons (pretty sure this was the pre-emoji days) kind of drives me crazy.  I started using them because no one could ever tell when I was being sarcastic, and that's kind of important in a text based environment.  Still though, calm down with the *g* man, and the me from the future wants to be stop living in the past with all the ;) !

Rather than link you to LJ (it's bad enough that I have to go over there for this stuff, no reason for you to do it as well!) I'm going to cut and paste. 

Definitely some changes, but there are glimpses of where we were headed all the way back in 2007

 In the "when are you going to talk about Season 6!" conversation, I thought that it might be nice to throw some random thoughts out there. Not really big important points but things that still stick in my head. 

The first three seasons are the ones that I've already covered some of the bigger moments of, but I missed a few. (and reserve the right to circle back when I remember more, or come across a mention that takes me down a rabbithole)  Season 4 is one that even the people who weren't involved in it still feels in the aftershocks of, way over a decade later. There's definitely more to talk about there. One of the biggest Idol regrets that I have actually. (There are a few, but there are a few toward the end there that still have sharp edges. The season is general is one big sharp edge for me. But that's what gives it so much weight. It stays on my mind and helped shape my reaction to everything that came after. 

But we're not talking about Season 4 now are we? We're talking about 1-3. 

Before we get to that though, and you knew I was going to throw something else out, and you were right! In Survivor fan circles (well the real ones, not the "casuals" ;) ) there is an established line that says "Whoever wins a season deserved to win".  I agree with that in Survivor, and I agree with that in Idol.  I doubt we are going to go into it too much, but I'll admit that over the years there have been plenty of people that I was convinced were going to win when we started the season, who did that. There are finalists that I thought were going to win - and did that! There are people who I would LOVE to see get a win, who have not won, some who haven't even made the finals! 

But the person who ended up winning turned out to be a great representative of their season and an incredible asset in the Winner's Circle. I was wrong and Idol was right.  Who should have won DID win.  Individuals can have their own opinions, but Idol is always right about these things.  :) 

I mention this because it's something that came up in Season 1. Even the late great tinhuviel had her detractors.  Why? Because her Father died during the season and I gave her what, in today's terms, would be an Executive Bye. There were people who weren't happy that the winner didn't write one of those weeks, or face elimination as we approached the finale. (Considering there were only 9 people, every week was approaching the finale.  ;D  ) 

People definitely don't like talking about that one now that she's gone. But it happened. Tinhuviel was an incredible first winner. Our Richard Hatch/Sith Lord to kick Idol off with a bang. 


Season 2's winner was tru2myart who was as bright and cheery person as tin was dark and brooding. They really made the perfect match set and put it on the table that there was no template for the winner. 

A couple notable things about the season that don't get talked about a lot these days - there were quite a few complaints of "trauma dumping", really that was a thing people talked about going into Season 3 as well. What I think gets overlooked there though is that this was Livejournal and fiction really didn't get successful until Season 5. Which means pretty much everything was in the form of personal entry. Sharing parts of yourself and your life can be viewed as "trauma dumping" by the cynical, especially in a forum where people are casting votes. It's kind of an easy accusation  There were also a few comments about the selfies people would attach to their entries. Yeah, that was a thing. For all the later talk of wanting to distance between the work and the writer, the two were very much the same thing when it came to those early seasons. 

I took away my ability to vote after Season 2. The finals came down to a single vote. I wasn't the last person to vote, but I did vote for one of them. That thought disturbed me enough that starting in Season 3 I started casting a vote for EVERY contestant as soon as the poll goes up.  Not only does it keep me impartial, it allows me to see the votes displayed, and something I've really come to appreciate, it means that by the time most people see the poll, they will have AT LEAST one vote to their name. Opening a poll and seeing yourself in danger is stressful enough, people deserve to see that they have support and appreciation for what they are doing, and essentially sacrificing my ability to voice my own preference does all of those at once! 


Probably one of the better early decisions that I made. 

We've talked about the emergence of alliances in Season 3 and the impact that had on voting moving forward. The introduction of strategy into Idol came in different ranges, from "let's vote together" to far more personal branding decisions (like chite in Season 4 breaking new ground by being one of the first people to pick an user pic and use it consistently for every post and every comment! This was when people had a ton of cool user pics, but she came in with the idea of establishing who she was right from the start. It was brilliant. 

But maybe one of my all time favorite strategy moves was welfy.  We simply do not talk about welfy nearly enough. Not only a great writer, but just a really sweet and sincere person. I really haven't said nearly enough just how much I respect welfy as a human being (very lucky to be her FB friend!) 

A person who, like popfiend and others, had a sizable friends list compared to most of the rest of the field. People were up in arms trying to take down the "big guns" to make it fair and she did something I had never seen before, and have rarely seen since  - she deliberately stayed in the middle of the polls every week. She wasn't running up on the scoreboard or outing herself as someone anyone needed to get past. She just kept writing fantastic entries, and being an exceptional and beloved figure in the community.  In those last couple weeks, when the coast was clear - she started asking for votes. She didn't go crazy all season with "VOTE FOR ME!", she understood that people get tired of that, and tune it out. But if you wait until the end to step on the gas, that's going to make an impact.  It did.  Based on every metric, she should have been clocked as a threat from Day 1, but she avoided that fate and won in one of the most lopsided finale results in our 20 year history against the absolutely incredible in every way bettybaker (still trying to bring her back but she's apparently "busy" at the moment! As long as there is an Idol though I'm going to keep pestering her until she does it!) and the legendary agirlnamedluna! 

***
Season 3 also introduced to a couple things that I hadn't really considered when I had started out - our first international contestants where English was not their native language and the start of our long association with writers who are blind! (as opposed to blind writers, which I'm pretty sure are just writers who only write about those things you can use on your windows to make sure no one can see into your house!) 

I'm sure there are other helpful devices these days, but that's when I learned that JAWSS wasn't; just a shark!

It was a crash course on how to make things a little more accessible and welcoming. Or at least as hostile toward them as we were to everyone else!  ;) 

Covered in this entry: The rule
Why we originally had the rule.
Why we continue to have the rule.
I'm going to tie-in the promised "kitten that roared" AND "why I didn't like kittymichaels"

Come for the rule. Stay for the tuna!

***
What's this rule? If you're playing with an "alt" you need to declare it. (You have more than one account) You don't need to tell anyone else in the entire world. But I need to know it. For our purposes (and more on this in the "why we continue to have the rule" section, this INCLUDES if you are playing with a new account and you used to play under a different name! You don't need to post it, and even if you DID post it, email me at clauderainsrm@gmail.com anyway to make sure that I've notated it!

( Read more... )

 Season 9 was the final season of LJ Idol. I know this because I said it many times. I posted about it. I wrote an email or two and sent it to every person who was signed up for the community. I even did a couple interviews with blogs. All of them said the same thing - LJ Idol was ending Season 9! 

That was 2015.  It's 2026 now. What happened? 

Let's go back to 2011. I met Cynthia and fell deeply in love. I knew from the moment I read her OK Cupid profile that if I met her that I'd completely fall for her. By the time a few months later when we met in person, I was utterly convinced that "This is Important. I'm meeting my wife!!!" 

I doubt pretty much everything. But this I was confident in, without anything tangible backing it up! We hadn't even been face-to-face yet, and I KNEW we were going to be married and live out the rest of our lives together.  (Well, one of those things ended up being true! The jury is out on the second one. I guess that depends how long we live!) 

Especially after I moved in with her in 2013, I knew that I my life was about to get SO BUSY with REAL LIFE that I wasn't really going to have the time to do much of anything. 

Besides, by Season 9 I'd be in my mid-40s, and did I really think I would have the time or even interest in keeping Idol going after that? 

Season 7 ended on a high, with a long-time contestant coming back and becoming the FIRST returning player to ever win!  (She had dropped out every time she had played up until then. This time she stuck it out, won Idol, and launched a very successful writing career!) 

Season 8 ended with THE greatest final match up of all time. (Closer than any season other than Season 2, which was decided by a single vote.) The top two spots were professional writers, the winner being someone I had known as a creative force since high school and *my little contest" had motivated her to jumpstart her writing again. #UltimateValidation 

Season 9 made sense to end things on a high. You might think "Why not Season 10?" Idol Season 1 had 9 contestants, because I got impatient and didn't want to wait around for a 10th person to sign up!  :D 

Ending one season before the 10th just made sense to me. Besides, given the severe site drop off, how much longer was Livejournal going to last anyway? 

A funny thing happened on the way to that finale... we had a lot of newbies sign up!  We had a lot of veterans show up that I hadn't seen in years wanting to play that one last time!  I had so much fun I was seriously dragging my feet not wanting the experience to end.  I had SO MANY people messaging me to PLEASE not end it. They had just discovered Idol or finally found their footing in it and really wanted it to continue. 

A few years before we had two "Exhibits" A&B special seasons that were a fundraiser to buy Cynthia an engagement ring.  The very name of them was that they were documentation of how much I loved her.  I'd never asked for any donation before that. (and I still don't have a "donation" or "fee" - the only other time being Literary Prize Fight, the only mini season/event that had a monetary pay out!)  There were people upset with the idea of giving anything at all for Idol, regardless of the cause, who left and to this day have not come back! 

Having had a couple mini seasons, I thought "Well, maybe regular seasons are over, and we will just do these shorter mini seasons for as long as we still have the interest/momentum!"  I went back to the original timeline of LJ Idol, which had always been "I'll do this season and then who knows?"  Every mini season was a question mark.  After a few years of mini seasons, people asked for a regular season, there was enough interest, so I had a Season 10.  Followed by mini seasons and special events. That spawned a Season 11! Followed by mini seasons/special events like a "Survivor" based game using Idol as the template and concepts like the Wheel of Chaos. 

Life was falling apart for some of those later seasons (job related that was causing stress in my home life and Idol was a nice place to escape) Somewhere along the way I realized that I WAS going to have a 20th anniversary "All Star" event. It morphed several times, in and out of "All Star", in and out of an actual season.  (at one point it was me inviting a couple people a week to write to a prompt, sort of a curated "Who's Who of LJ Idol" kind of thing. Which might have gotten in a few people who don't have the time to do anything longer. But ultimately where we are now!   As I was coming up with the idea though, I figured 20th would be a good place to end it. Because that's a nice number and would I really want/ be capable of doing something like this much further into my mid-50s?  

Year 25 definitely isn't on the table - I'd be 60!!! WAY too old. ;) There's definitely a shot clock on how much more I have to give, even in the best physical and mental health (and I have neither of those things) Not only am I aging, but the age of people who remember and are still interested in long form social media is also aging.  Those "young and energetic" 20-somethings that signed up are in their 40s! 

But I learned not to say "final" season anymore. It's back to a season-by-season/event-to-event determination based on interest and how much more I think I have in the tank. 

I've long had a "deadman's switch" on Idol and a general agreement that once I'm gone, so is Idol. LJ Idol and I are intermingled on a DNA level after all. Perhaps after I'm gone someone will base something off my ideas that I've developed here in a way that is actually a tribute and not just a cheap knockoff trying to compete with me. It won't be the same though. It can't be.  If that does end up happening, and if it's possible, I'll probably STILL haunt them and curse them out of existence! ;) 

 The new prompt is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1224892.html

The Work Room is as well:  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1225025.html

      ***

There were a few random things that I wanted to talk about. I'll probably go into more detail on them soon. But while they are on my mind: 

I posted a correction earlier about how popfiend was ACTUALLY eliminated - the Topsy Turvy. That twist deserves it's own special entry, or at very least a bigger "Twists and how they came to be".  But it did get me thinking about how important it is to know that every single twist was created to answer a problem, real or potential, from the season before!  

Every rule in place is something I went "What about that???" including what I've casually referred to as my McDonalds rule of posting links to other sites. 

Obviously this came from Season 4 when those wanna be groups had people coming in on a regular basis posting links to *their* group(s). 

Those were easy enough to just delete. It was the well meaning people who showed up and "wanted to share", so I needed to set up a rule. It was pretty straight forward - if you want to post a link to somewhere else, come to me first. If it's a good link, I'll actually post it myself in a Green Room. If it's something I don't want to promote (the list is pretty small) then I'll let you know why.  My example was that it was simple manners, you don't go into a Burger King and start handing out coupons for McDonalds. If you did, the management would throw you out and probably have you barred from coming back.  I wasn't - and didn't - go that far and honestly 99.9% of what people wanted to post I ended up posting in a Green Room. 

But my point that it was simply bad manners stood, and continues to stand. Although we really haven't had any major issues with that sort of thing in quite some time. 

     ***

Which, in a way flows into "Why are moderators the only ones who are able to post in Idol?"  This usually comes up during the "Why don't people just post their entries to the community itself?"  I've already discussed "The Loop", and trying to avoid the whole snake eating itself of it all. Communities that are self contained like that are asking for stagnation.. You need the new blood and their perspectives to keep growing, not just in numbers but in ideas. 

So, the "why aren't people just posting their entries in the community itself" is an easy answer, but even more importantly, its your entry. You own it. You should be the one to house it in your space and decide who sees/doesn't see it at any point. 

As far as "why everyone can't post to the community?"  IMO it's bad enough when I have multiple posts in one day. Could you imagine how fast the important stuff would get lost if everyone was making POSTS instead of comments?  It's the same principle of why you only post links to the Prompt posts. It's chaos, and not in the way that fits on a wheel!  

    ***

Someone remind me the Week of the 28th to talk about why Season 9 was going to be the last season. I think it would be appropriate there. Maybe going into more in-depth on what happened in 2011 that changed Idol forever, 

But I'll give you a really big hint - that's when I met Cynthia and my own life changed completely. 

   ***

Which leads me into a question that was asked about entries that I remember and/or reactions that took me by surprise. (or something like that). There's bits and pieces of entries that stick with me over the years. Definitely writers in general have stayed. I have my favorites, and occasionally  I'll share who they are.  :)  (For example, one of my personal favorites of all time is alexpgp.  Not only did he have some great stories from his real life, he was also a talented fiction writer. A lot of people don't realize that he was a professional non-fiction/technical textbook writer though! Which translating into just how precise his language always was. As usual, I digress...) 

I've told this story before, but I think it encompasses the "entry I remember/meant a lot to me"/"reactions that took me by surprise" and a little bit of the why it was so important to always plan out the season't prompts and twists ahead of time, before the first person ever signs up. 

There have definitely been people annoyed with me for prompts that they felt hit too close, but they've always been coincidences. Even this one I'm about to talk about. 

Season 3. Week 3  "My Biggest Mistake and What I Hope that I Have Learned From it"

Note: Our first full-time fiction writer, who was successful was darkprism in Season 5! As weird as that seems now. 

A contestant named jeibear wrote this really moving entry about how she had broken her ex-husband's heart by cheating on him and the regret she was living with.  People rallied around her in a major way, her fellow contestants, readers in general. There was just a huge outpouring of how she shouldn't blame herself for that/needed forgive herself and move on/that it takes two people to set up a scenario to cheat.  The Idol community just really embraced and rallied around her. 

What the vast majority of them didn't know at the time (I'm not even sure I mentioned it when she eventually dropped,(I just looked, I did) and I know I didn't mention it around the time of her entry) was that she was my ex-wife.  I was the ex-husband in question. It was the first time she had really put it out there and admitted that she was sorry for hurting me (3 years after the fact), and she did it in the form of an Idol entry.  (She thought that I had put it in place in the season because of her, but as I said, that was set long before she ever mentioned she might sign up and even when I posted the topic, I wasn't thinking about what she specifically might write.) 

I try my hardest to remain neutral on all things. But do you have any idea how difficult it is to assemble something like Idol and then have the (at the time) biggest group that had ever been assembled, en mass come together and say "It's OK".  :)  (Even if that's not what they actually said. They were being supportive to her, which is good for a community to be like that. I got that even then. But I also had a part of me that was "WTF people!"  :D  ) 

 The Week 0 poll is now closed. 

Which means it's time for the Week 1 prompt!  

As previously stated in today's Sidebar, all prompts will be decided via the Wheel of Chaos.  So, let's get to it!!

*flips the initial coin* Heads is new prompt. Tails is classic. 

It's Tails. 

OK. Which season?  *spins wheel* 

1 

Are you kidding me wheel? *shrugs* That's what the wheel went with. 

Which prompt?  1.  

I honestly think this wheel is trolling me at this point.  

What was the very first prompt ever?  *swears under my breath*  It was an Open topic. 

Which means you can literally write anything you want to put out there into the world. 

The deadline to link back to this thread is Tuesday, September 22nd at 7pm ET. 


 REMINDER: Unlike Week 0, which was just for practice, this is a mandatory prompt. Either link your entry, or declare a bye, in the comments below. 

REMINDER PART 2: The ONLY thing is this comment section should be entries or bye declarations. I'm posting a Work Room, comment there for any reactions. 

Have fun!  

People always ask "Would you tell someone they had something in their teeth/hanging out of their nose/their zipper was down/toilet paper on their shoe" because these are potentially universal problems. 

This morning I had a far more rare one.  Would you tell someone if they were driving away with a plastic bottle hanging out of their car door? 

I'm not sure how they accomplished it, but the top of the plastic button was lodged in their door and the rest of it was hanging out at an angle. When they opened their car door they probably stepped out and then muttered to themselves about how people littered in the parking lot, not realizing they were the culprit. Or maybe they would hear the crunch and marvel the same way the rest of the world (that saw him) was. 

I wanted to tell him - but he sped out of the parking lot as I was still trying to wrap my head around what I was seeing. By the time I realized what it was, he was gone.  

What's the weirdest thing you've seen recently? 

And no, a picture of me DOES NOT COUNT!!  ;) 

       ***

Today is the final day of Week 0. The poll will be closing at 7pm ET. therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1222808.html   and the Week 1 prompt will be going up soon after that.  Which means we will officially know the last day you can Sign Up to take part in Year 20!  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1219874.html





I just deleted an intro link from the Sign-Up post (reposted it under the Week 0 poll) and a duplicate tentative sign-up post (there are still two of those. So don't get *too* excited about that extra bye quite yet!) Keep spreading the word because this rocket is about to launch with or without them! 

                           ***

Correction to something I said in the Sidebar and a clarification.

The clarification is that the author who said that cisgendered white men shouldn't be trying to write wasn't talking TO ME. More likely than not she has zero idea that I read it and took it to heart. I don't think anyone would walk up and say that to anyone's face and that it was intended more as a generalization. 

The correction is that I said I haven't written anything in years. What I *should* have said is nothing "creative". From 2015-2022(ish) I was ghostwriting 2-4 articles a year for the company where Cynthia works. At least one person here served as my editor, so she can tell you what a mess my writing actually is without a proofreader to bring it all together and make sense of it! :)   (Anyone who reads a Green Room could probably tell you that anyway!)  I was making them as creative as I could, but there's only so much fun you can get from an article about hiring people in the insurance and RV industries! But it was OK money, so at least there was some motivation to get it done. I still usually waited to the last minute to do it! So, I'm not that different from most Idol writers! :D

Sign ups are still happening, so tell a friend, and make sure to go say hello to any new friends who might be posting their statements of intent. therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1219874.html

(and yes, I am aware that two of those declarations are tentative and do not have links. I know both of them are still deciding, but I think they just wanted to get something out there so people would stop bothering them. :D If they do decide to play, they will be posting links. If they don't, I will delete those so the numbers won't be off. But keep in mind that my 100 contestants - 3 byes deal only counts people who are signed up! Not maybes. Honestly, that deal is pretty insane and I hope people know just how generous that actually is!


It might get a little weird over the next week with people already settled in and watching a poll and other people coming into the room But it will settle back down again when we hit the deadline for Week 1.


The poll for Week 0 is closing Monday. Which introductions have caught your interest and having you wanting to see more? therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1222808.html





***

And having said "wanting to see", completely off the cuff, it reminded me of something I have on my list of Idol History.

I wanted to get my details right, so I went back into my email and then to the entries in question and honestly it wasn't as big of an explosion as I remember it being at the time. It could have been though. and it was big enough for my tastes. But more importantly, I found a way to link it to the First Idol Murder!! I


I was wondering if there was enough "there" for a whole entry. Honestly, there is with both subjects. But let's go ahead and jump back to Season 3 before jumping forward to Season 6.

( Read more... )The purpose and scope of Sheep Stations ended up changing over the next few months and even into Season 4 where they played their own role in the nightmare that was to come. 

There's a lot more details to it, but that Contestant Only vote came back to take out (among other people) ANOTHER huge name on the leaderboard in Season 5 - RM. Who was, and is, just an incredible force of nature in and outside of writing. It was the second Murder of LJ Idol history, 

It got to the point where people started fearing that Contestant Only votes would only take out the biggest competition. However, there ended up being quite a few people at the top of the polls who survived them. The key to that was much like Survivor's final tribal council - you needed people to WANT you to succeed. It's simple in theory but tricky when it comes to pulling it off. 

The tie in to the next subject is that RM was eliminated the *following season* in a Contestant Only vote. But it wasn't a murder this time. It was an act of mercy. This was the time period where she ran for Livejournal "office". I don't even remember all the details about what that even was, I think it was a short-lived Advisory Board that clearly never advocated for anything that would turn out to be useful like, I dunno, "Don't Sell Your Company to the Russians!"  During that time, one of her chief rivals was a member of that glorious site of fantastic people called Stupid_Free. (Note my use of irony. There were perfectly lovely people in that group I'm sure. But also some of the biggest trolls on Livejournal.  Their anti-RM campaign was a graphic that said "RM eats babies!"  (which you don't have to go too far down the rabbit hole to see a pretty horrible reference. They decided to make RM's life as annoying as possible - everywhere she went, including Idol.  They flooded the Green Rooms, they flooded the polls, all in an attempt to claim victory that they had voted her out.  If she went out in the poll, they won.  If she quit, they won. 

The contestants, with her nod and gracefulness, voted her out in the next Contestant Only vote to happened.  It was probably one of the weirdest and yet kind gestures I've ever seen. But it worked out for everyone involved - except stupid_free (and their affiliates) , who were frustrated that their plan had failed! 

Which is where we jump forward to Season 6, when Stupid_free showed up again! This time getting involved in, again, one of the weirdest Idol related or adjacent debates in the history of Idol. Yes, you guessed it, BOOBGATE. 

(I didn't coin the phrase. But it stuck) 
There are different sides of boobgate, much like... nevermind...  Most of them are quite personal for those involved in related matters. Bottom line, there was a lot more playing out in the Green Room than anyone really knew. What people DID know however is that a male contestant came up with the idea of "The Girls of LJ Idol" nude calendar and started mentioning it to people, being fairly obnoxious about it. 

There were women who loved the idea and wanted to participate. There were women who hated the idea and wanted nothing to do with it. I had both of them contacting me about the other side and basically how if I allowed this to happen I was allowing women to be exploited and if I didn't I was taking away their right to choose to do what they wanted with their bodies. 

This was a debate, and a situation that quite frankly I wanted nothing to do with.  I try my best to stay out of other people's business and let them do whatever they want to do in their own free time as long as it's not hurting anyone. But I also agreed with the exploitation angle.  There were talented writers on both sides making their case and it ended up spilling out in the Green Room.  I made the only executive decision that I felt comfortable making - I couldn't forbid this from happening for anyone who wanted to participate. But I absolutely was NOT going to allow the LJ Idol name to be used, or the competition to become a feeder for his "project".   (He backed off this time and scrapped the idea, I actually tried to smooth over the waters between the two factions and sort of was able to bring him back into the fold, concentrating on his writing rather than his instincts to just disrupt shit. But he later came back with his own trolling, he really couldn't change who he was, which landed him as the unofficial ban (because I never actually had to make it official, he got the message of not being welcome) 

(I tend to be quite "conservative" when it comes to sexuality in my own life, in that it's private for me. I don't talk about my sex life and don't really care to talk about yours. It's gotten me labeled as a "prude" at times. But that's just how I am.  Adpaz actually knows that first hand better than anyone! She used to cover up every time I came over because she knew I was uncomfortable. Which was extremely sweet!  If you had "victims of childhood sexual abuse tend to go to one extreme or the other as they develop", mark it off on your BINGO card!) 


Someone brought this "debate" to the attention of stupid_free and Idol again was under their spotlight!! Between Seasons 4-6 it honestly felt like we couldn't catch a break, It was all of the worst natures of Livejournal, where I was trying to highlight some of the best.  We weathered the storm though and kept moving forward.  

That was 2010. What no knew is that there was a far bigger challenge to LJ Idol that would forever change the game, not even a year later. No one saw it coming, and nothing was the same after that.  (coming soon to a Green Room near you) 

 The poll is here: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1222808.html

Sign-ups are here:    therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1219874.html  There have been a few people who have signed up since the Week 9 poll went up. So make sure to go welcome them! 

The FAQ is here for anyone who needs it!: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1218443.html

***

A few more housekeeping items:

- This is Year 20. Not Season 20.  One of the not-so-secret behind the scenes "secrets" is that I was really dreading having a Season 13. There was definitely a point in my life where 13 was my lucky number. But at some point that reversed itself and I fell into the trap of triskaidekaphobia!  ;) That, and LJ's steady decline is why I opted to make "full seasons" of Idol more rare and started doing more mini seasons and special events.   It's silly I know. As time has gone on the distinction between mini and full seasons has blurred, although the mini ones do tend to have a "theme" and specific twists that are an inherent part of that event, and the regular seasons don't! 

- I've been asked if contestants can have 3 byes this season. I'll make you a deal. You get me to 100 contestants (and no, I'm not saying people make alts that aren't going to actually play. But real honest to goodness returning and new contestants, and I will give you 3 byes!  Honestly, it sounds like a good deal to me!  You're at 74 right now and I know of at least another 6-7 people off the top of my head who said they were showing but haven't posted their intent yet. Honestly, I should probably make that number more steep now that I'm actually looking it. But you know what? I'm feeling generous and that was the number I picked off the top of my head before looking at the current number. So let's go with that! Go forth and recruit, and you will get an extra bye!   (See, it pays to read the Green Room!) 

- One of the main reasons why this isn't "All Stars" is the obvious - the only TRUE "All Star" was kittymichaels!  He won the All Star season before it ever started, and he's also won this season and every other season that has been or ever will be!  ;)   (If you were there, you get it. If you weren't check out this link to his final post: kittymichaels.livejournal.com/58919.html

Which serves not only as a snapshot of Idol history but also as a teaser for a future Idol history lesson entitled "The Time When I Didn't Like Kittymichaels, and why!"  Clearly I was mistaken and learned my lesson. But to get to there we have to get through some other stuff. And besides, that's enough to make you keep coming back! Because who doesn't want to know about someone being stupid enough to not like kittymichaels!! 

                                       ***

That's a tale for another time though. Today I want to tell you of 3 women who shaped the earliest days of LJ Idol. If you've been around for any length of time, you've probably heard the names. But I want to set this up to give you some context and answer a question that I saw asked out there in the wilderness. (Without directly answering it of course. Because I'm nothing if not vague!) 

Some important things to remember from the earliest days of Idol is that I did not actually have a laptop at my apartment.  I did Idol at work, both my work station computer *and* the computers they had in the various break room(s)  (Remember, this was the mid-2000s. Office jobs did things like that!) The other big one point of access was the library.  Deadlines had to be set up when I could be at one of those places. OR, I had to have an assistant who copied and pasted a LOT of my spiel as well as set up the polls from Seasons 1-partway through Season 4.  (Oh, and I also had an internet package with unlimited data - on my flip phone.  Yes, they saw a sucker and took him for everything they could! But at least I could access Idol from wherever I needed to access it. (I had that phone until 2011!! Yes, you read that correctly) 

The first of the women is allpeachy4u (Hilary) She not only was the one who kept bugging me to move Idol off my personal Live journal account (I hosted the 1st season there because it was just me hanging out with my friends and doing some weird little writing game to kill some time and amuse ourselves. Or rather, to amuse me! Mostly me! 

But Hilary kept INSISTING that I move it to a community. I'd never set up a community. I'd never ran a community before (Well, I'd ran various groups and websites. but this was my first LJ community)  I did not have a clue on how to set it up.  She did that for me!  I told her the general vision of how I wanted it set up and she did the actual early work.  

The second woman comes into play here - helenangel. She created that LJ Idol logo that I'm STILL using. I told her what I wanted, she did the actual work to create it! (and honestly made it better than it was in my head) 

The third woman was onxyblue1.  She took over as my assistant after Hilary and I had a falling out. I was stupid and apologized a long time ago. But for anyone reading this who has any doubt, I was completely in the wrong on that one and Hilary was completely right. No, I'm not getting into it because honestly it's personally embarrassing.  Let's just say I was wound pretty tight and had an inflexible set of "right and wrong" even when it was not my business and where a third party was clearly manipulating us into a fight, using that against me. 

Which brings me to back to onxyblue1 because in addition to doing all that work that I described earlier, and putting up with me being well, "Me".. being the nuts and bolts actually making the group work in those early days, she gave me some incredible advice that I did not take at the time and it cost me later.  For me, even into season 3 when things were starting to take off (we jumped from 9 contestants to the 20s to 75!) I was still very much in the mindset of "these are my friends"   I'd believe people when they told me something.  I'd regularly give out my address and phone number to anyone who wanted/needed it.  (More on that in Season 4. Oh yes. I'll leave the gun right here for that to be picked up in a later post!!)   She told me that I needed to keep more of a distance and not be as naive as I was.  She wanted me to be professional before I actually wanted Idol to be something even halfway professional.  But asking me to not be naive was, and still is in some ways, a pretty big ask.  I tend to want to think the best of people and then get surprised when it bites me. 

She tried to spare me that and if I'd listened sooner I think a lot of what happened in the infamous season 4 could have been avoided. She said, and did, a lot more than that. But that's one series of conversations that has stuck with me this entire time and that I've gone back to quite a lot over the years. 

She was a fantastic friend to me, and to Idol. One thing that does tend to be overlooked though when talking about her as my assistant is that she was a contestant in Season 1 and 2 and had shown herself to be a talented writer as well. I really enjoyed reading her entries and getting to know her through her words. 

Who did something that was intended as a joke. I knew it was a joke. But if you look back over what I said the situation is, maybe you will spot what no one really thought too hard on, and I thought *way* too hard about. 

During Season 3 (again, the first major expansion where a lot of these people weren't friends and friends of friends - they were several people removed from anyone who knew or really cared much about me on the best day) I went on a road trip with Season 2 winner (and my best friend at the time) and her teenage daughter.  It was my first big trip of my post divorce life (About 4 years into it!) We had a blast.  I left my trusty assistant in charge, the first time I'd ever just let completely go and put everything in the hands of someone else without constantly micromanaging them. (Because I needed to, see above; I did not have access myself. If I wasn't involved on a micromanaging level - was it really MINE? Sure it was my idea and I set the prompts (or topics as I called them then. Probably more on that later too!)  

Cutting to the chase, she decided it would be funny to have a mutiny - Change the graphics and lock me out of the system.  I won't lie, I was pissed. But far more accurately, I was scared out of my mind.  I had just effectively lost this project that I cared about a lot, just as it seemed to be taking off.  Everyone else seemed to love it and think it was the funniest thing.  So I not only lost my competition, I'd lost the room as well. 

There is only one reason why I got it back and we are celebrating the 20th Year of this thing we call Idol. Because oynxblue1 was someone of great character, who was a good friend to both myself and Idol, who made a joke that, probably without her even thinking about it, hit me squarely where I was the most structurally, and emotionally vulnerable.  Idol had become a really big part of what was keeping me going at that point, and the thought of having it gone really shook me far more than I ever expressed at the time. (and I expressed a LOT!) 




She actually stayed on for a bit and helped transition to a new assistant (kithan/Stephanie. Someone else who started as a contestant who moved into the assistant role. More on her later too.) 

I've seen surprise that I would invite her for this event from people who only know the story from her Introduction, but being completely honest here, there was no way that invitation was not going to be sent. She was a HUGE part of Seasons 1-3 and something that was meant to be laughed about isn't how I remember her, nor do I want that to be her Idol legacy.  I'm so happy to have her back in the fold to write whatever this next chapter is unfolding this season and I'm glad that other people will get the chance to meet this incredibly special woman who truly is a primary figure in why Idol survived this long. 

       ***
Coming soon in the history lesson:  the first Idol murder and when this business suddenly got serious. Getting Wise to Sophism. Lessons of boobgate and the two great betrayals (and why in 20 years there are only TWO former contestants with permanent bans) that shaped Season 4 and everything that happened after. 

A few words from clauderainsrm:

Welcome to the Week 0 poll. As previously stated, this round was completely optional. But it will give everyone a better idea of what these polls look like, and give me practice setting a new one up! If you notice any names that need to be fixed or someone who is missing, let me know so the Week 1 will be corrected.

There were a couple people that I could have sworn signed up already, but who weren’t listed on the Sign Up Sheet. I’m hoping that just means I can look forward to their grand entrance in the next few days!

If you haven’t signed up yet, but want to join in on the fun - here is the link!

https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1219874.html


So far it’s a truly interesting group of writers. It always is, but this is pieces of 20 years worth of history coming together, and more than a few newbies trying this for the first time!

I will say there were a few inspirations from these Introductions that will inspire future Idol history posts that people seem to enjoy! :)

Until then though, you have a poll! For those who haven’t seen an Idol poll in awhile, or ever, here’s some basics:

Read. How else are you going to see who stands out to you?
Comment. People love feedback. Engage with each other!
Spread the Word. If you find something you like, this round or any other, let people know about it! In the Green Room and/or in your own space. Get people excited that there is something special happening here in long-form social media!

You can vote for as many entries as you feel like supporting. Yes, you CAN, and probably should, vote for yourself. If you’re not backing you, why should anyone else?

I vote for everyone. So other than for a first minute or so of a post being up, no one will see zero votes next to their name.

The poll will close Monday, September 14th at 7pm ET. There are no eliminations but if there were going to be, this is where I'd let you know how many! Even with no one leaving us, I say this every time and it would feel weird to not do it, so - Good luck to everyone!

Poll #35030 ’Year20Week0’

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 64

Vote For Your Favorites!

acatwhowrites's entry
24 (37.5%)

adoptedwriter's entry
25 (39.1%)

adore's entry
23 (35.9%)

adpazd's entry
30 (46.9%)

aggienaut's entry
24 (37.5%)

alycewilson's entry
27 (42.2%)

annofowlshire's entry
23 (35.9%)

banana_galaxy's entry
24 (37.5%)

belgatherial's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
7 (10.9%)

bittyjane's entry
25 (39.1%)

bleodswean's entry
37 (57.8%)

blue_mermaid's entry
25 (39.1%)

bsgsix's entry
33 (51.6%)

chasing_silver's entry
28 (43.8%)

commodityfetishx's entry
21 (32.8%)

copyright1983 's entry
25 (39.1%)

dizzydog's entry
25 (39.1%)

drippedonpaper's entry
30 (46.9%)

flipflop_diva's entry
31 (48.4%)

gardeningatnight's entry
29 (45.3%)

gnomeangel's entry
26 (40.6%)

goldmourn's entry
27 (42.2%)

gunwithoutmusic's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
6 (9.4%)

hafnia's entry
36 (56.2%)

halfshellvenus's entry
34 (53.1%)

hwango's entry
27 (42.2%)

impoetry's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
7 (10.9%)

inchoatewords's entry
28 (43.8%)

jake67jake's entry
22 (34.4%)

joeymichaels's entry
28 (43.8%)

kandigurl's entry
24 (37.5%)

karmasoup's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
7 (10.9%)

kizzy's entry
27 (42.2%)

krispykritter's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
6 (9.4%)

lapis_lazuli615's entry
29 (45.3%)

mezzomint's entry
25 (39.1%)

miintikwa's entry
24 (37.5%)

millysdaughter's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
8 (12.5%)

missspiff's entry
23 (35.9%)

mstrobel's entry
25 (39.1%)

muchtooarrogant's entry
31 (48.4%)

murielle's entry
27 (42.2%)

n3m3sis43's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
6 (9.4%)

ofearthandstars's entry
34 (53.1%)

oxymoron67's entry
25 (39.1%)

penpusher's entry
27 (42.2%)

purplepetrichor's entry
25 (39.1%)

rayaso's entry
27 (42.2%)

roina_arwen's entry
29 (45.3%)

ryl's entry
24 (37.5%)

serpentpixie's No Entry Received - Votes Do Not Count
6 (9.4%)

shadaras's entry
25 (39.1%)

shay_writes's entry
25 (39.1%)

simplyn2deep's entry
24 (37.5%)

singedsun's entry
27 (42.2%)

sorchawench's entry
27 (42.2%)

spaciireth's entry
23 (35.9%)

strryeyedgrrl's entry
24 (37.5%)

supremegoddessofall's entry
25 (39.1%)

swirlsofpurple's entry
20 (31.2%)

thephantomq's entry
25 (39.1%)

theycallmepace's entry
21 (32.8%)

tonithegreat's entry
25 (39.1%)

troof_therry's entry
26 (40.6%)

wildtalents's entry
23 (35.9%)

wolfden's entry
31 (48.4%)

xyla's entry
28 (43.8%)

yachiru's entry
32 (50.0%)