Results - Week 19 (Finale)

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

When I started the Exhibits, I knew that they were going to be something different from a standard Idol season. In the words of Big Brother, I figured that I would be "expecting the unexpected". That was true in Exhibit A where someone amazing showed up from Idol's past and literally just "did her own thing".

With Exhibit B, knowing the twists and turns that I was throwing at people - I wasn't sure how things were going to go. But I knew that I could count on not being able to predict it! True enough, that certainly was the case.

There are two "Idol firsts" in this finale.

We have a tie... which ISN'T the first time that it's happened. (See: Season 2) But what is a first is that there is no run-off, I declared that I would honor the voters. If THEY decided that they wanted two winners, that is what would happen.

There were moments when I wondered if it was going to occur... or if someone would pull a trigger in the last few minutes and put one of them over the top. It almost happened. But then the counter-balance came and evened everything back up again!

The Exhibits were set up as a fundraiser for my engagement. I can't think of a more perfect ending to something about two people coming together than to have two winners!!

Congratulations to lrig_rorrim and the_lettersea: Winners of LJ IDOL: EXHIBIT B!!

Which, yes, that's the second "first"... a guy has "broken the glass ceiling" of Idol for the very first time!!!

Two amazing writers, and one amazing ending to the mini-season!!

Pop the corks and get out there on the dance floor to celebrate!

Dreslinski out.

Comments

[kandigurl.livejournal.com]

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Awesome!! Congrats to both of you!

[michikatinski.livejournal.com]

*THROWS CONFETTI, POPS OPEN CHAMPAGNE*

[porn-this-way.livejournal.com]

Congrats, bbs!! Well played, both of you!

Squee!!!

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

We totally made Idol history, and this is aMAZing. I’m so thrilled we decided to work together! ~grabs the_lettersea and spins around~ Great work! Thank you for joining forces with me!

You know that scene in The Princess Bride when Wesley is talking about what it was like hanging out with The Dread Pirate Roberts? Every day it’s “good work, sleep well, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” For me, Idol has kind of been like that.

I knew that I would write, and I would try to keep going. But each week I thought to myself “well, good work, good story! The poll will most likely kill me this week, but at least I made something I liked.” And then each and every week the poll surprised me.
And I kept on being surprised right up until the end.

I mean, whoa! This is pretty nifty!

I wasn’t only surprised, of course. I was also enormously grateful - it’s not some nebulous “poll” that’s kept me in this thing week after week after week, but the people reading my stuff and liking it. Thank you! And, of course, the people who’ve been so supportive of me, who kept me sane and kept me writing. I’m enormously grateful to my friends, who put up with me randomly asking for help with ideas, who asked for weekly story emails, who understood when I canceled social plans or brought a laptop and sat in the corner tippy typing away. I never could have done this without my various and nefarious intersection partners, beta-readers, and writing buddies: special thanks to halfshellvenus, kathyrynrose, medleymisty, and porn_this_way. You are all fantastic friends, and I am super grateful for all your help.

And of course, my partner in crime and world de/construction, the_lettersea! Congratulations!

And the most important thank you goes to your favorite evil overlord and mine: [Bad username or site: “clauderainsrm” @ livejournal.com], aka Gary, aka the guy who makes all of this go. Before I started playing LJ Idol I had thoughts and dreams about writing and publishing and all kinds of things, but I had no idea how to write for an audience, no idea how to edit and revise, no idea how well my weird and wacky ideas would work when I tried to put them into words. I had finished exactly two stories that I had shown to anyone else, and that was a pretty limited audience. This game turned all of that around for me. Producing nifty works of fiction (and sometimes non-fiction, because I’m stubborn and like a challenge) on tight deadlines, working with others, and writing to prompts I often hated provided all the right kinds of impetus for me to finish things and keep my creative brain cranking out strange stuff.

This is awesome. Just… wow!

Re: Squee!!!

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Congratulations, awesome friend person! :) Also yay I got a shout out! ;)

You are a very awesome writer, you know.

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

YAY!!!! I'm proud of you both. :D

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

Yay happy times! Congrats!

[sweeny-todd.livejournal.com]

woo! that is awesome!

[talon.livejournal.com]

A most excellent ending, truly. Congrats to both winners, all players. And of course, all of us readers won as well.

And a hat tip, as always, to Gary.

[beldar.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to two very deserving winners!

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!!!! I couldn't be happier with the results. Two very deserving writers, and some history being made!

[x-disturbed-x.livejournal.com]

Yay! Congrats! :D

[ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com]

I is too tired to dancing now.
I haz no cork - will substitute bubble wrap. Iz more fun.
Haz dog on legz will sleep now

Editz
poll
http://ashgaelsonaria.livejournal.com/273720.html

[ecosopher.livejournal.com]

Woohoo!!!

How awesome is that, with a tie?!

Congratulations to both of you. Well done on a great season.

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

Well deserved and well played!

Congrats to both of you!

[xo-kizzy-xo.livejournal.com]

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!

I'm so proud of both of you!!! Amazing, amazing job!

:pops champagne:

"Well, that escalated quickly."

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

Well, I think y'all are mad, because lrig_rorrim is awesome, has been all season, and in any sane contest she'd have blown me out of the water! So I am quite honestly amazed, befuddled, and beyond humbled by this.

Also, elated. :-)

I came into this contest having left behind not one but two LJ user id's -- bwh and one_time_pad. Technically ... I'm an Alt.¹ So I came into this mini-season cold, after years and years away from Idol, just to see what would happen. And I can't express² just how much it means that I not only made it past Week 2, but made it through the finals in such august company.

I'd like to thank the Academy

I'd like to thank kathrynrose, halfshellvenus and porn_this_way for their aid and insights (and drink recipes) over these months. I'd like to thank annaonthemoon, sweeny_todd, padf00t and x_disturbed_x, my fabulous intersection partners. I'd like to thank emo_snal for daring me to be a little different in this contest. And, of course, a Significant Tip of the Hat is owed to agirlnamedluna, who I started following in Season 3 and who's been an inspiration ever since.

Finally⁴, I'd like to congratulate lrig_rorrim one more time, here in public. I think this is the most fantastic way the season could have ended. *High Fives* all around!

Thank you for welcoming me into this community, and I'm sure you'll see me around. :-)

 

 

¹ Though, in an odd reversal, I'll be keeping this userid and discarding the previous ones.<sup>3

2</sup> Because I used all my good words up -- I need to restock!

³ One more footnote for the road .....

⁴ Actually, one more. I was sponsored to enter this season, by an anonymous donor. I don't know who it was, but I owe them a pretty profound shout-out. If my hand-writing were legible, I'd owe them a curlicued thank-you note, Emily-Post style. So, whoever you are ..... this is all your fault, and I hope you're proud of yourself thank you, thank you, and thank you.

Re: "Well, that escalated quickly."

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Tis pshaw. I'm not "august company". I'm more September company, I'll have you know. ;)

Idol never claimed to be a sane contest, but I dispute any madness in the results. We BOTH rocked it, in so many awesome ways. *high five*

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Well, that's awesome! Congrats to both of you - y'all deserve it!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

hooray!!

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Congratulations to two wonderful writers - I'm so glad I got to read you!!!

[acalculatedname.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, both winners is you!

[tatdatcm.livejournal.com]

Congrats to both of you!!

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Congrats to the winners--and the readers--for an awesome season!

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

Congrats to you both! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉. AW

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Congrats to you both, and what an amazing finale! I love that it ended in a tie!

For those who never look back, I added a list of many of my Exhibit B favorites to yesterday's post...

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

Congratulations both of you!