Results - Week 34

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

What a week, and what a finish! I was starting to think we were heading to “run-off of a run-off” territory!

There is a lot to get into, so I won’t waste any more time getting into it.

First up: The news on “What Special Power did halfshellvenus, as the Spirit of LJ Idol, select?

Her options were:
- immunity (self)
- immunity to give away
- a bye
- bring two eliminated contestants back into the game.

All of these powers would be good until the Top 5.

She ultimately decided on the bye.

Congratulations, and use it wisely!

Now for the poll results, or more importantly, to find out who will be leaving us this week.

Once this is over, we will be at our “Top Ten”, which means that anyone leaving us at this point is pretty much a legit superstar and I really don’t want to hear that they’re not, even from themselves. ;)

I’ll go ahead and announce the Jury’s selections for immunity, since that does have an impact on the results. I had them choosing two individuals this time - and the two contestants who are immune, thanks to the literal Jury of their peers - are halfshellvenus and alycewilson!

Congratulations to both of you!

Which leads right into the vote itself.

People speculated on “what order would the polls be ranked...” and the answer is “the usual way”, top to bottom. So, if someone was eliminated in a previous poll, they can’t be eliminated a second time!

In the run-off, we lost the superstar of superstars - the person who, barring some sort of major act of gods, and/or she doesn’t show up next season at all - has such a huge lead in the “Number of Weeks Survived in Idol” that I don’t see anyone ever catching her!

Yes, we are saying goodbye to the one and only imafarmgirl.

We are also losing the legendary beldarzfixon Well, this identity isn’t legendary, but his regular one is, and considering that it’s the worst disguise *ever*... ;)

The next poll down is a little more tricky: The person on the bottom has already been eliminated. So it shifts one person up. The next person in line has immunity. Which shifts it up to a tie!

But... one of those individuals also has immunity!

Which means we end up saying goodbye to our only newbie leaving us this round! But considering the odds she was up against, it was a truly wonderful run, and I hope that she will be beaming with pride. Especially given all the buzz at various points that she might actually end up in the finals.It didn’t happen - but she certainly got really close!! She deserves every accolade she gets! Goodbye to alien_infinity

Next up, we are saying goodbye to someone that I, personally, wish more people had gotten into earlier than they did. That sounds funny given how close he got to the end, but I, personally, count myself as a fan. He’s certainly been one of my favorites this season, I always knew when I clicked on the entries that I would be getting something entertaining. Farewell to the_day_setup!

Finally, we come to the final poll/result and saying goodbye to someone who, again, I don’t think ever gets the attention she deserves, despite continually doing really, really well! So, I get to say goodbye to her again - yachiru

Thank you to all of you. You were amazing. I hope that we continue to see you in the Home Game! (oh, and of course Welcome to the Jury! With how close these things have been all season long, I have a feeling you are going to be having a pretty huge impact over the next couple of weeks!)

Comments

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

See my icon.

[beldarzfixon.livejournal.com]

Sucks to be eliminated, but 13th out of this bunch isn't bad (says the one who finished 14th).

And you wrote some really great stuff, never doubt that.

Don't you *DARE* doubt your talent because of this.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

Just don't.

You are awesome sauce... and I'm proud to have had you as an intersection partner.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

What ellakite said.

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Oh man.

Man oh man.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

Nooooooooo, alien_infinity!!

I'm sorry you went down intersecting with me. It was an amazing experience and I loved what we did. Fuck it, I'm sorry you went down at all.

I was saving this speech for when I got eliminated , but fuck it:
FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUUUUUUUCK.

I'm so sorry.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

Okay, seriously, though.

Thank you, alien_infinity, for all the laughter and for listening to me whine sometimes too. Thank you for the brainstorming. Thank you for the amazing ideas that you shared with me and the ones you wrote yourself.

I will get you those icons as soon as I can.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Aww, you broke out the FUCK speech for me. I feel honored, seriously. ♥

Ugh, I'm sorry I went down, too. :(

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

I'm soooooo sad and heartbroken right now :(

I know I will always say something nice about everyone, but you guys have to understand that alien_infinity is a dear friend of mine. Like we talk all the time and she's one of the few people who understands me and is there for me when I really need to let it all out.

She's an amazing person and she may be shy, but you're missing out if you haven't gotten to know her, seriously.

And that BRAIN?!? I want it. She's super creative. I only wish I could create worlds the way she does. Her details are so unique and they make everything feel so real.

I'm already pushing her to make Gemma into a super awesome YA novel because I think that universe absolutely rocks and she has the talent to do something big like that.

She's been writing for about a year, I believe? And I'm amazed. I can only imagine where she can go once she's been writing for twice as long... or 5 years. I wish I had her level of talent when I started out, heck... I envy so much of what she does now.

I think she's been vastly overlooked at times and that's a shame. Her fiction is so quirky and so much fun, there really is no one like her. I plan on pushing her to write more and to submit her writing to places, I know she's got the talent to do big things outside of Idol if she just believes in herself a bit. Because seriously? She's awesome <3

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you. <3

Yeah, I've been writing consistently only for about a year now. I'm glad you're impressed with my abilities, though it's honestly hard to be impressed with myself right now. Elimination doesn't exactly make me think "yay, I can write!" The crappy feeling should pass soon, I hope. :/

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

It's never easy to lose people whether it's week 1 or week 34. But for some reason, seeing people you've come to like and enjoy over the weeks going out at this stage of the game stings even more. I hate seeing imafarmgirl go... I've gotten to know her over the last three seasons and really think the world of her. She's always so friendly and kind and is just a genuinely good person. And of course, beldarfixzon is pretty much a legend around these parts. Well played, sir. It was a great run. the_day_setup was a lot of fun and wrote some really biting and and fun stuff to read. I agree that yachiru got overlooked quite a bit this season. She always puts out great stuff and I think she had a fantastic run. I hate to see everybody go.

But a special shout out to alien_infinity who has one of the more warped but totally creative minds around. The things she came up with week after week were just so different, so fun and so great. I enjoyed her work a TON. I didn't get to know her on a personal level as well as pixie117 did but I get the sense that she's a very sweet, very awesome person. As a noob coming in without the flist support others enjoy, I say making it to the Top-15, out of a field of more than 300 people is one hell of an amazing run. You did a GREAT job this season. Keep your chin up and get to work on that novel. pixie117 can be quite the taskmaster so she'll help keep you on point!

Congrats to everybody and seriously, great freaking jobs, guys.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the shout out! I appreciate it, even if I'm still down in the dumps from being eliminated. :)

[pixiebelle.livejournal.com]

Now for the others because honestly, we lost a ton of awesome people this week...

imafarmgirl - I don't know you all that well, but from what I read in your nonfiction entries, I can relate to you in a lot of ways. Having AS, being a dog food snob... I could relate to many of those types of posts. I caught myself nodding along many times. You shared yourself so openly and I remember so many of your entries because of that.

beldarzfixon - I remember Beldar from Season 6 when he was a gatekeeper. I liked him as a person back then and added him because he seemed like such a fun, nice guy. It shines through in his writing. I think his little fiction run this season was so much fun. He's a super talented writer, no doubt about it. I can remember smiling along to many of his stories this season :)

the_day_setup - He seems like a man of mystery or something... I get a quiet vibe from him. Though he wrote some super funny entries, like the craigslist ad one recently? Had me seriously laughing because I could relate, it was so real. He did dry humor very, very well which is a rare treat indeed!

yachiru - I'm shocked at this one. I really am. I could have pegged her as a good shot to win this. Her writing always connects super well with people, and she's dang good at it too. Along with alien_infinity, I envy this girl's brain too, I really do. Her ideas, her worlds... so awesome. I'm really a fan of her work though I'm often a quiet fan who's too shy to say much since saying "This is awesome!" would get old after awhile, I'm sure.

[beldarzfixon.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the praise -- you've always been one of the nicestestest people in this community, so I really appreciate your kind words. Hope I can make you smile again sometime. =)

[myrna-bird.livejournal.com]

Saying goodbye is always hard. You are each so individual and have unique styles of writing. But this is the game, isn't it? It will be even harder next week so welcome to the Jury!

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

OMG names on that list. There are quite a few that I'm seriously gonna miss, but one is someone I know personally who is really quite wonderful, and I am therefore am going to babble about her. Deal with it :P

alien_infinity - my first intersection partner, and the first person I got to know in Idol. This girl's imagination is effing amazing, like seriously hardcore badass. Never before in my life have I met someone who can spin such intricate characters and such intricate *worlds* out of thin air in seemingly the blink of an eye. And she does it time and time again. A few weeks ago she and I were on AIM together playing the "OMGWTFBBQ open topic, shuffle the iPod and whatever come comes up, that's the prompt" game. I named a song, and within, I shit you not, 10 minutes, this girl had come up with a main character with a compelling backstory and a ton of depth, several good, highly believable minor characters, a mindblowing setting, and a fascinating set of antagonists, and was already typing a first draft. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Or at least anything I'd ever seen before out of anyone other than her, because that's just how her brain works. Seriously, chica. You have got talent and imagination that a lot of us mere mortals would kill for. Don't EVER stop writing or sharpening those skills, because the only place you can possibly go is soaring straight up at warp speed.

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

My brain doesn't work! Who told you THAT? :P

[beldarzfixon.livejournal.com]

"Worst disguise ever"?! But Mr. Kent said these glasses always work for him...

Anyway, I feel honored to be leaving the game in such wonderfully talented company. I could ramble on here, but instead I did it in my LJ (http://beldarzfixon.livejournal.com/17151.html); feel free to go there and read it.

Woohoo! Jury duty! =)

[the-day-setup.livejournal.com]

Hay everyone - a goodbye/thank you and an earnest invitation to come join me where I still write other stuff sometimes (http://the-day-setup.livejournal.com/17477.html). It's been lots of fun this season and I hope to see y'all around in other ventures.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

I will miss your musical references.

[yachiru]

I spent all of last season with a goodbye post ready. I didn't do that this season in part because I gained so much confidence from writing every week and meeting other lj idol writers and making new friends here. So I'm sad to go (it's always sad when people are eliminated) but I had so so much fun riding all the rides. I appreciate all the votes and all the very kind comments!

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

I'm sad you had to go this week. :(

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Wow! Thanks, jury, for the unexpected blessing of immunity! In my three seasons of competing, this is the first time I received immunity, so I'm both humbled and truly, truly grateful. I will do my best to make you proud next week.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Everyone who's leaving this week has written something that has made me say "wow." I'm especially sad, though, to see my intersection partner, beldarzfixon, "going home." I love his creativity and range; the depth of his ideas, and how deceptively easy he makes it all seem. Hats off to you. Have some Gobsmackers on me.

[beldar.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I gave you a shout-out in my farewell post.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

First, my deepest thanks to the Jury for granting me immunity this week. I will endeavor to be worthy of it and you!

I also know that immunity comes at a cost to other people, and I'm sorry to those of you who were affected by the rebounding of that pendulum.

beldarzfixon, someone said it above and I agree: you make it look easy. There's something about your style that feels effortless and free, and your entries are always so readable and entertaining. I think your "Leviathan" story was one of the best stories, by any author, this whole season. It was just outstanding.

yachiru, I think your visits to "strange new worlds" have been incredible. Your willingness to invent new worlds-- hugely new, not just in contrast to your earlier works but to stories in general-- has been unequalled. I know the last poll's Immunity only bought you another week, but the three stories that you wrote in that week? I was happy to have the chance to read them all. You are immensely creative, and I'm glad you used this season to expand your comfort zone!

alien_infinity, I can't tell you much I've appreciated your encouragement in actually continuing a story setting rather than failing to see the possibilities of anything more than random one-shots. It's been really nice to see you doing this in your own work-- trying out different possibilities for novels, and seeing which ones you might be able to run with. I would not have thought to use Idol that way, but I think that for you more than anyone, you've had a larger playground in mind all along. I would love to see one or two finished books from the things you've started!

imafarmgirl, you have written so many brave, honest entries, with such a clean, focused style. You have helped me see into your world and understand it so much better, and by extension the worlds of many other people as well. Your stories about your job, and the way you help people navigate through the difficulties of paperwork and assistance programs... those give me hope. To know you are out there, helping to make people's lives better even in the worst and most unfair of times, is to know that compassion exists and it makes an enormous difference to those it touches.

Farewell to the weekly workings of you all, and here's hoping you continue your good efforts behind the scenes. ♥

[alien-infinity.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your comment. :)

I'm glad I could help you continue your SATED story. I really enjoy that world, so you better keep writing in it. I want to find out about those cities! :)

You might be surprised to learn this, but, when I started Idol, I had no idea I could even DO a serial. I didn't begin Idol with a "larger playground" in mind, it just sort of happened that a significant percentage of my stuff turned out to be serials. Somehow, doing serialized stuff was often actually easier than doing one-shots. I also didn't think I could do speculative anything, and I ended up with a rather long speculative fiction serial. Idol takes you strange places! ^_^

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

I'm going to blatantly mourn the loss of my friends. Because they are awesome. That is not to say that the people on that list are not also awesome, because you can't get this far and not be, but my friends are my friends and thus extra special.

It's a bad week for vets and they're all going to leave a MAMMOTH hole behind them that no one else can fill. Fortunately, I will not miss them because they're on my f-list, but I do think the contest will be poorer without them.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Gads, apparently my math failed in writing that farewell. I completely forgot about the_day_setup, whom I've spent so much time rattling around in comments with this season.

Dear the_day_setup: I've really enjoyed the many, varied entries you posted this season, and am impressed with how well you were able to primarily apply the prompts to non-fiction, week after week. Your sense of humor cracks me up, and I love your ability to structure a good and coherent rant (because really, a GOOD rant is almost always a good read, in my book). Some of my favorite entries were the Flowchart Meta on what to write/not-write, featuring three representations of yourself arguing with each other, and the post on Plagiarism, which taught me whole other cultural perspectives (or lack thereof) on that issue.

Please keep writing and ranting, and never take your car to an auto shop situated next door to a highly flammable restaurant!

[jacq22.livejournal.com]

Just a quick catch up, but saddened by the wealth of talent we are saying goodbye too. I do care, but care from a rather distant pain plateau right now.
But all of them had special attributes, talents I truly admired. Imafarmgirl touched my heart, the day set up stirred me to think outside the box, beldarzfixon, was truly unique with stories I would love to have written, (Bah) Yachiru, well you are so creative, your grasp of the surreal so awesome....and alien infinity is surely going for the novel next, so much potential, let it be used and SOON.
I am just entering local comps, and not writing much until I regain my life back from pain....it will be better soon I know.

Good luck everyone, keep writing and entertaining us.

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess I should say goodbye to all, but it's not really goodbye since I'm not really going far. This has been a really fun season. Anyone wanting to friend me is welcome. Thanks to all who voted for me.

I was in Washington D.C. for five days so I'm just now able to write something about the results this week.