Green Room - Week 24 - Day 5

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Obviously, I need to post more meta! ;)

I'm not sure what else has been opened in the wake of that discussion, but some doors seem to have been thrown open (in areas) and that's a good thing.

A couple days ago, I was asked the question (by someone dear to me, who is new to the whole Idol experience) what *my* favorite entries were, so I could show her.

I try not to do that, even in private. It's sort of like asking a parent what child they want to feed to the volcano.

On the other hand, it's perfectly acceptable to make the children fight over which one is going to be "volunteered" to be the appeasement!

So, what are your personal favorite entries from this season? Not only the ones that you wrote (always interesting) but also the ones you remember from someone else?

Comments

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Am I here before java_fiend? Woot. Sorry, theafaye, I did give you a chance to be first.

Anyways, meta is great, Gary, best way to generate discussion! I'm going to go through my recs to find my favourites and then link them back here. Including a couple from this week.

alephz' Maid of Glass (http://alephz.livejournal.com/464695.html) (I didn't do recs this week; had to go digging)
basric's real life ghost story (http://basric.livejournal.com/178882.html)
joeymichaels' entry from this week (http://joeymichaels.livejournal.com/600316.html)
joyfulfeather's first superhero story (http://joyfulfeather.livejournal.com/995423.html)
mstrobel's entry from this week (http://mstrobel.livejournal.com/26870.html)
nishi_kaze's motorbike ride through a storm (http://nishi-kaze.livejournal.com/283703.html)
team_jessie's experience with fertility treatments (http://team-jessie.livejournal.com/740252.html)
vaguelyclear's peek into the 29th century (http://vaguelyclear.livejournal.com/269597.html)
(LOL I'm amused that by coincidence I chose half newbies/vets and half flisters/non-flisters)

I posted a link to all of my recs yesterday, and I'm sure there are others I loved throughout the season but didn't rec, but I figure this is a good start. I'm proud of a lot of my own entries. I don't think I could pick a particular favourite, though my Inside Baseball entry still amuses me.

I'm nearly done with my reading and then I'll probably be posting my favourite entries from this week in my journal, too.

[alephz.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That is one HELL of a group to find one's self in. Thanks so much!

[millysdaughter.livejournal.com]

There have been a few days I might have told you which one to take!

[supremegoddess1.livejournal.com]

pretty much anything by joeymichaels and applespicy

[applespicy.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, thank you :) That means so much, especially since you worked with me on (a super awesome) intersection week. You rule the school!

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

My brain doesn't work that way on demand, and since I never get stuff read early enough to do rec lists, I'm not sure what to tell you, Gary! There have been a lot of great entries! I enjoyed many of the Intersection pairings, so let's just leave it at that.

Gotta head off to work, ciao!

[the-vernacular.livejournal.com]

Aww, I missed meta yesterday! I feel a little bad about that! So busy at work, I have barely poked my head into the green rooms. I think I even commented yesterday but I didn't even go look at the comments others had left.

alephz "Maid of Glass" story was awesome. I also loved java_fiend and nyxocity's intersection about the lottery tickets, and joeymichaels, alephz and supremegoddess1's trio about the superheroes. I want to eat almost everything mstrobel writes with sugar on top. joyfulfeather's world-creation entry was an early favorite. And I really liked i_17bingo's New York stories.

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

I'm sure people wouldn't mind if you wanted to go back and respond to some of yesterday's meta! It was lots of fun. Well, I enjoyed it, anyway. Kept me up until like 1am lol.

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

It's way too early for me to think about stuff like that now...but I'll think on it all day and see what I come up with. Though I'm not about to go digging things up on my phone too easily....but I'll see what I can do this evening maybe.

[mstrobel.livejournal.com]

My first five favorites to come to mind:
Pretty much everything i_17bingo has written, but for just one... hmm, okay, this (http://i-17bingo.livejournal.com/109883.html).
A piece of utter awesomeness (http://joyfulfeather.livejournal.com/995423.html) from joyfulfeather.
nishi_kaze and the hotel of doom (http://nishi-kaze.livejournal.com/285110.html).
comedychick's fabulous screenplay (http://comedychick.livejournal.com/499107.html)!
And lastly, I am gonna cheat because I can't pick between the two: beeker121's sociological experiment (http://beeker121.livejournal.com/170525.html) and the alternate ending to Romeo and Juliet (http://beeker121.livejournal.com/179258.html)!

There are loads more I have loved, but I figure five (well, six) is a nice round number to stop on, so that I don't end up sitting here for three hours pasting in links!

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

I had to click to see which screenplay you linked, since I think I've written 3 this season. Hee. I love that one, too. ♥

Also, woot! I'd read all but one of those (Beeker's Elephant in the Room entry; that was too early in the game for me to read everything) and I'll admit those are also amongst my favourites. The one by i_17bingo is probably the one that actually made him stand out for me to pay more attention to him. I think he friended me a few weeks after that and I squeed because it meant I didn't have to ask him first. XD

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Man, this is where Rec Lists would have come in handy, isn't it? Ugh, I have too much work to do at work today to go through and find individual entries, but some of my very favorite people to read over and over this season have been: alephz, basric, ellakite, nyxocity, talonkarrde88, the_vernacular, edincoat, java_fiend, joeymichaels, nishi_kaze, vaguelyclear, walkertxkitty, and yachiru. And I'd friend them all if they'd have me.

I probably left someone off, I do that.

My favorite of my own this season was the one about the Maya Shakti tattoo, because I felt like in writing it I sort of unclogged something that I'd been holding back for a long time. That's what I have loved most about this whole thing, the ability to force myself through things I've been avoiding. Heh.

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

LOL, I have too many favourites I consistently enjoy reading every week that I couldn't name them all without forgetting someone! That's why I stuck to 8 of my favourite entries by different people. Otherwise I'd have likely been drooling over your entire continuing story (I didn't know which individual piece to link, otherwise I would have mentioned it).

[i-17bingo.livejournal.com]

I have no intention of jumping in here, because "pick your favorite" was pretty much how the Trojan War started.

Still, I can say with no exaggeration that I have become such a huge fan of so many writers, I hardly have time to read anything that's not in Livejournal.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I AM A HUGE FAN OF YOU. I knew I left someone off the list. But I agree with the rest of your comment as well.

Though...if me making a list leads to footage of hot guys in short skirts sword fighting well...I'm not going to complain. ;)

[lilycobalt.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to choose some pieces that people haven't highlighted already:

the_vernacular's fairytale about a fat princess (http://the-vernacular.livejournal.com/4424.html)
applespicy's dragon sacrifice (http://applespicy.livejournal.com/938410.html) story
joeymichaels's tale of time hiccups (http://joeymichaels.livejournal.com/598682.html).
serpentpixie's invitation to freedom (http://serpentpixie.livejournal.com/163030.html).
amenquohi's story of creating metaphysical radiance in a boring office job (http://amenquohi.livejournal.com/799065.html).

Browsing through my Idol tag on my journal, I have one more: callistahogan, who wrote about how the Harry Potter series inspired her to write here (http://callistahogan.livejournal.com/98572.html).

I seem to be drawn to fiction. I think I have to admire people with these imaginations who can come up with such awesome tales in a few days' time and tell them so well. I'm also highlighting a lot of recent work that's fresh in my mind.

As for me? I think I like my story about wishing I could shed my limits and fly (http://nialyind.livejournal.com/308833.html) the best. I suspect that it isn't the entry people think of when they think of my work this season. It was one of the few times when I felt that the language was doing what I wanted it to do, though, and I think it says a lot in only about 250 words.

[the-vernacular.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! I loved my fat princess story! I'm trying to work Hattie into a longer piece now.

[snarkerdoodle.livejournal.com]

This is where keeping a personal rec list, even if I didn't publish them, would have come in handy I guess, lol.

I won't have links, but here's just a few that pop into my head from memory:

yachiru's one about the woman who runs over the angel.
alephz's Maid of Glass, linked elsewhere in this entry.
joeymichaels's one about the guy that didn't want to be the Death God anymore.
talonkaarde88's one about the actor guy that impersonated the president.


Oh, and for my own entries -- I have a fondness for this one (http://snarkerdoodle.livejournal.com/6634.html), for the 'first world problems' prompt.

[alephz.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks so much for the shoutout!

[beldar.livejournal.com]

My memory of individual entries gets fuzzy, and I know if I point out certain ones, others will get pointed out and I'll be like, "I liked those even more!"

Still there are contestants I really like in how they bring it every week. Off the top of my head (where hair used to be) I know that Idol is much poorer for no longer having walkertxkitty in the running.

And I have a genuine hope that a dude can prevail to the end, with talents like alephz, joeymichaels, java_fiend and talonkarrde88 still in the mix.

As for my own stuff, I like pretty much everything I've posted to some degree, but I really enjoyed the collaborations with others.

Meanwhile, back in this week's poll, judging by early returns I'm proving the "fanfic is kiss of death" rule. Still, it was the main idea that came to my head, and fun to write, so c'est la vie. =)

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, so many people haven't voted yet :P I don't think I commented on your entry but I think the concept was a good one!

[locknkey.livejournal.com]

Favorites, So many!!! I know I'd have to go back and I'd name names, but I know there are people I'd forget. :(

[serpentpixie.livejournal.com]

OMG, I have SO MANY favourites. I don't think I can pick just one or two off the top of my head.

Also, like beldar, judging by this weeks poll my piece of flash fiction might finally have tipped over the edge of what is "acceptable" idol material. Not that I haven't been trying to push that boundary since several people told me I "couldn't do videos" way back in week 1... not at all ;)

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

You have my vote :) And, it's still early.

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

In case anyone's curious about my favourites from this week (http://comedychick.livejournal.com/503290.html). And now I should go to bed. *passes out at 12:33am*

[team-jessie.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna hop in the wayback machine for this one :D Here's some love for earlier entries...

sweeny_todd Deconstructs a sandwich... (http://sweeny-todd.livejournal.com/498982.html)

fortitudehigh, writes an amazing ghost story (http://fortitudehigh.livejournal.com/2145.html?view=51041#t51041).

drjeff's It's a Trap! (http://drjeff.livejournal.com/2104966.html) entry.

And while we're at it... wyliekat's entry for the same topic (http://wyliekat.livejournal.com/799393.html).

theafaye jumps off a building (http://theafaye.livejournal.com/178230.html)!

viagra dislikes public restrooms... (http://viagra.livejournal.com/121977.html)

rattsu's absolutely heartbreaking poem (http://rattsu.livejournal.com/143659.html)

nyxocity's letters from Disney (http://nyxocity.livejournal.com/44480.html).

walkertxkitty's Dress fitting story (http://walkertxkitty.livejournal.com/711893.html).

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

I NEVER make these lists (look at the other ones and you'll see what I mean!) so thank you so much for including me in yours :o) Plus it was one of my favourite experiences of my life, so I also have a soft spot for that one.

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's a really tough question, Gary. Though I do know which child to throw into the volcano... ALL of them! :-)

It's really safe for me to say that I've enjoyed something that everybody in this game has put out this season. There is a hell of a lot of talent here and the writing this season is just fantastic.

It's really hard to name all of the standout pieces and people to me. And being that I'm at work and have to keep a somewhat low-profile here, I can't go back in and research everything so I'm going to have to go off the top of my head here. This is by no means comprehensive and I sincerely apologize in advance if when I leave somebody off of this list... I'll try to add more when I get home. :-)

It's so freaking hard to pick out people and individual entries but the_vernacular, joeymichaels, applespicy, pixie117, theafaye and mstrobel (whose "unflappable girl" piece still sticks out in my head) usually always turn something out that I absolutely enjoy.

I've really come to love reading people such as nyxocity, locknkey, isis_lives (before she had to drop)... beeker121 usually always cracks me up. redvelvetgrrl has turned in some pieces that have been outstanding but I think tend to get overlooked for some reason. And talonkarrde88 is always solid.

beldar's "These Trails I've Walked" was brilliant to me and his "Jesus in Vegas" intersection piece with roina_arwen were a couple of my favorites.

pixie117's satirical piece about the Disney Princesses was quite possibly my favorite piece of hers ever and definitely one of my favorite overall pieces this season. It was way outside her comfort zone and I thought she pulled it off beautifully. Also, her fairy tale-ish piece from just last week was awesome. I thought the entire intersection between she, mstrobel and comedychick was really, really, really well done.

I also really enjoyed the intersection pieces between beeker121, lawchicky and the_vernacular quite a lot.

And basric's piece about the evil spirit in the hospital was just freaking outstanding in my opinion. I loved that piece a lot. I also always enjoyed myrna_bird's entries... always very sweet pieces.

Anyway... that's a partial and by no means complete list... just some of what I was able to scrape off the top of my noodle. This season has been really fantastic overall writing-wise.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the mention - I appreciate it!

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Stupid iPhone. This was meant to be a reply to java_fiend and I clicked the wrong spot and now I can't delete it from my phone...

[lawchicky.livejournal.com]

I've had so many favorites that it is hard to pick out just a few to highlight, especially that I'm only making it onto LJ from my phone today. I will try to come back and link a few later, but can say that of the thirty someodd contestants remaining, most (if not all of them) have submitted one entry or another that really hit my heart either by making me smile and laugh or cry or making me think about a topic I didn't know much about or s scaring the heck out of me!

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

Went out to lunch with my co-worker for Cinco De Mayo. Margaritas make work a better place to come back to. *G*

Favorite pieces. Man, so hard to remember now. Let's see, off the top of my head...

basric's Ghost Story (http://basric.livejournal.com/178882.html)
talonkarrde88's Amazing Brouhaha story (http://talonkarrde88.livejournal.com/23532.html)
java_fiend's Elephant in the Room story (http://java-fiend.livejournal.com/355385.html)
pixie117's Brouhaha story (http://pixie117.livejournal.com/527963.html#cutid1)
belgatherial's Elementals entry (http://belgatherial.livejournal.com/394419.html)

Bah! There are too many and I don't have time to re-find them all right now. So... Other people I love reading: momebie, yachiru, i_17bingo, drjeff, joeymichaels, serpentpixie, locknkey, rattsu, mstrobel, team_jessie, wyliekat, isis_lives, and I know there are more that I'm forgetting. This is not a complete list. There's entirely too much talent out there!

My own favorite piece from this year? I'd say the angel and demon one, but I can't link to that since I'm actually trying to work that into something I can publish. So, then, my Icarus entry (http://nyxocity.livejournal.com/60716.html).

P.S. I went on a mini-friending spree the other night, which I am usually shy about doing first, but I have no problem friending back. If I don't have you friended and you'd like to friend me, please feel free.

[momebie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the shout out, yo. <3

I seem not to have commented on your Icarus entry, which is rather fail-y of me, but I was probably still overwhelmed by the number of people I had to read back then. Anyway, I'll say HERE that I really like the tone of it.

[cheshire23.livejournal.com]

Stuff I've loved this season:

alephz's Maid of Glass (http://alephz.livejournal.com/464695.html) and INTERNET FOREVER! (http://alephz.livejournal.com/462267.html#cutid1)
basric's night taking care of a gang leader. (http://basric.livejournal.com/165162.html)
beeker121's autographed Bible story (http://beeker121.livejournal.com/180452.html).
foolishfiddler's Take a Chance (http://foolishfiddler.livejournal.com/235715.html) tiebreaker.
i_17bingo's falafel brouhaha (http://i-17bingo.livejournal.com/105851.html), probably the thing that has made me laugh the most all season.
joeymichaels' April becoming May. (http://joeymichaels.livejournal.com/594757.html)
pixie117's description of what "typical male behavior" is NOT (http://pixie117.livejournal.com/533380.html) and story of Elli. (http://pixie117.livejournal.com/553599.html)
ravenshrinkery's first Suicide Kings story. (http://ravenshrinkery.livejournal.com/76408.html)
serpentpixie telling the human race to step up its game. (http://serpentpixie.livejournal.com/169582.html) (That was one fun intersection with her!)
supremegoddess1's understanding of how devastating one bad day can be. (http://supremegoddess1.livejournal.com/966198.html)
the_vernacular's Fat Princess. (http://the-vernacular.livejournal.com/4424.html)
walkertxkitty and the dress designer. (http://walkertxkitty.livejournal.com/711893.html)

My favorite out of my own entries this season was probably Contagious (http://cheshire23.livejournal.com/553272.html), though the two (http://cheshire23.livejournal.com/551992.html) stories (http://cheshire23.livejournal.com/552468.html) about the runaway kids came out well too, I think. Funny that my three favorites were from three weeks in a row. :P

[i-17bingo.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the supremegoddess1 bad day piece. That one still chills me.

Thanks for the shout out on the falafel. I said, falafel!

[yachiru]

nyxocity wrote one for Jetsam that made me want to find her and drink her blood to get some of the awesome. In a totally non creepy way.

I can't remember anything else right now. But I've loved reading everyone though my tastes run more towards the fiction crew. ^^

[nyxocity.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you! :) That's definitely my second runner up for pieces I've written for Idol. I'm not sure if it's possible to drink blood in a non-creepy way, but the feeling is mutual. I've loved all of your entries this season. I was sad when I missed out on getting to team with you.

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

:shakes head: Geez, how do so many of you keep track of who wrote which entry? Are your spreadsheets that detailed?!?

:boggle:

Anyway, hi! :waves:

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

Mine is... I include summaries just so I can go back for this sort of thing. That's how I found which week to look at for alephz's entry I hadn't rec'd. But I also have a crazy memory for some things, especially when they're amongst my favourite stories and/or writers. I still remember some of my individual favourite pieces from last season :P

[beeker121.livejournal.com]

I'm with xo_kizzy_xo, my memory for individual entries isn't that great, but there has been, and still is, a lot of amazing stuff this season.

Speaking of, I need to start reading for this week...

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you for the love, people!

I feel like if I were to make a list, I'd want to feature one piece from everyone still competing, since everyone who is in it has had several stand outs. If I have time to do that, I will. Otherwise, I'm just going to contribute an "all y'all rock."

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

I almost did that since I've rec'd most of the people left at least once anyway.