LJ Idol Presents:

We're down to The Top 3 out of the field of 241.

Congratulations.


But enough of that! We've got work to do.

Not much. Just four entries this time. See? I'm nice!!! :)


Making fire
I’ve got a rock
winding down
Back to Basics

The two topics previously reserved for tie-breakers and a couple of new ones that are directly related to this season and where we are right now in it.

Your entries should be linked back here by Monday August 2nd at 9pm EDT

HAVE FUN!!

Week 31.
Unexplored Country.


Or should I say:

Unexplored Country is one of your 3 choices of topics this week. (pick one)

The other two are
Things I Didn't Mean and Moving Target.

The deadline to link your entries back to this thread is Monday June 21st at 9pm EDT

Have fun!

Last week I asked the 19 current contestants to send in their Topic suggestions.

You probably guessed that they would be showing up.

Well, they are. Starting right now in fact!! :)

I grabbed two of the topics that were sent in. You only have to write on one of them.

The two choices this week are:

Price to Play and

The Worst Thing I Ever Ate



Please include which one you are writing when you link your thread.

The deadline to post your link here is Tuesday June 8th at 8pm EDT.
Have fun!!

The topics are:

The Place That Can Not Be

and

Precognition

(you personally only do one of them of course! ;) )

The deadline to link your entry back here? Monday Feb 15th at 8pm EST.

Have fun!

abbismom
alexpgp
boxsofrain
darkprism

One thing is for sure - the Top of the alphabet is about to get another winner. (After going 3 seasons without one, this makes 2 seasons in a row!!)

You probably want to know what is going on for the FINAL FOUR. . .

We're going to start off simple. My idea of simple at any rate.

There are 3 steps in this first part. If any of you four have any questions - feel free to ask here or email me.

Everything needs to be linked back to this post as usual.

STEP 1: You never get a second chance to make a first impression right?
Now you do.
I'm quite sure that looking over 26 weeks worth of topics you have at least one entry that you go "I wish I had gone a different direction with that!" or even "I *could* have gone in a different direction."
Maybe you are 100% satisfied with them - in which case, find one of the previous topics and create something new.
This is your Second Chance entry.


Step 2: While you are thinking about your entries this season, and looking back over them - think about what your *FAVORITE* entry was that you have produced during this competition.

Find that entry and link it back here!

Step 3: And this is the part that might be easy - or might just be a little challenging because it's not standard at all. . . Link *your favorite entry* from SOMEONE ELSE during the course of the competition. I'm certain you've been reading each other - right?
It doesn't have to be one of the Final Four. It can be, but doesn't have to be.

After all, one of you is going to be the WINNER of Season Five: What do YOU think is "good"?

Again, it can be anyone who was part of Season 5.

Write your own entry ABOUT why you chose that entry.

When are you linking all of this back to this post by?

Tuesday March 31st at 7pm EDT.

And then. . . Step #4 will be posted.*G*

See you then.

Have fun!!!

(Reminder: this is a topic post. I will allow, unless it gets out of hand, the Final 4 to post here. Because ultimately people not seeing their posts, or me not seeing questions from them, among the other comments would really be their own fault.*g*)

Week 22 comes in with another choice to be made.

The Lady or the Tiger, which one is going to be behind the door you open?

OR instead, will it be one of these two topics:

Achilles Heel OR Scapegoat

When you link your entry just mention it in the link which one you are doing.

The deadline to link your entry back here is Thursday Feb 26th at 7pm EST.

Good luck - and have fun!!

Once again, the Final Four manage to absolutely destroy the deadline by getting in their entries ahead of time while continuing to raise the bar as far as quality!

Absolutely remarkable work.

That said, it's time for stage 3. You know the drill. Pick 4 entries you haven't done yet in the comments below and then link the entries back here by Wednesday June 4th at 3 PM EDT

***

The topics are:

Section A:
Home - kittenboo/porcelain72/tulip_in_yellow
My Greatest Accomplishment - chite/kittenboo/porcelain72
Fire - porcelain72/tulip_in_yellow/chite
Memorial - tulip_in_yellow/chite/kittenboo

Section B:
Never Have I Ever - kittenboo/chite/tulip_in_yellow
Organization - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/kittenboo
The Thing of It is - porcelain72/kittenboo/chite
My Perfect Day - chite/tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72

Section C:
One Lump Or Two - chite/tulip_in_yellow/kittenboo
Running Out - porcelain72/kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow
Favorite Book and Why - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/chite
Comfort -kittenboo/chite/porcelain72

Section D:
"Do over" (previous topic redux other than "open topic" which you can not do, if you need a list I can send it to you) - porcelain72/chite/kittenboo
Current Events - tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72/chite
The Biggest Crisis Facing the World Today - chite/kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow
What I Wish Someone Would Ask Me- kittenboo/tulip_in_yellow/porcelain72

Season Four was going to start with a bang!

I planned it all out. It was just going to be intense.

But then I talked to a couple people, including kithan and tru2myart and they talked me down. People needed to have time to "get into it" before you threw them to the wolves. I agreed and we had the start we ended up having. Which was a good thing.

Then we came to various places in the competition where I was going to do it again, and was talked down. It wasn't time to do it yet I was told. They were right.

Now however, it *is* time. You are the FINAL FOUR. A hair's breath away from winning. You've proven that you can write the hell out of pretty much anything I throw at you. You've proven that you can navigate the social elements.

It's time to see what you can do with what I like to call "The Kitchen Sink". Why do I call it that? Because that's what I am throwing at you for Week 29. There's a reason that I sent an apology to the final five for what was going to happen in the final four. Why? I like you guys as writers and on a personal level and felt bad. Not bad enough not to do it, but bad.*g*

Last week I had you write *3* entries, and then pick your best when you were done.

This week you WILL NOT be picking your favorite entry of the ones you write. You don't have that luxury to fall back on.

All of you have is writing the grap out of the topics. Yes I did say topics.

This time you have *4* topics. Kind of.

This is where you need to make sure you are following me. If you have questions, email them to me at clauderainsrm@gmail.com and I will clarify.

This challenge has FOUR SECTIONS AND FOUR STAGES.

The sections are lists of four topics. You will each pick ONE FROM EACH olist. You can not choose a topic someone else has already chosen.

Each section has four topics, 1 group is from me, 1 group is from fellow contestants that were submitted as potential topics, 1 group are four topics selected from contestants who made the top five, and the final group is previous topics including a "second chance re-do" where you have a chance to go back to a topic from this season that you don't think you did a particularly good job on, or wish that you could have taken from a different angle and try it again.

The topics are:

Section A:
Home - kittenboo
My Greatest Accomplishment - chite
Fire - porcelain72
Memorial - tulip_in_yellow

Section B:
Never Have I Ever - kittenboo
Organization - tulip_in_yellow
The Thing of It is - porcelain72
My Perfect Day - chite

Section C:
One Lump Or Two - chite
Running Out - porcelain72
Favorite Book and Why - tulip_in_yellow
Comfort -kittenboo

Section D:
"Do over" (previous topic redux other than "open topic" which you can not do, if you need a list I can send it to you) - porcelain72
Current Events - tulip_in_yellow
The Biggest Crisis Facing the World Today - chite
What I Wish Someone Would Ask Me- kittenboo

You can post which topics you want to pick from each group here. Yes, I'm saying that the FINAL FOUR can post in the topic thread for this purpose.*g*

Now comes the "stages" part.

The first stage, these four topics need to be linked back here by Thursday May 29th at 1pm EDT. If someone misses the deadline, obviously that person will be eliminated. If more than one person misses it, then the person with the least amount of entries in is eliminated. If tied, there will be a run-off. I mention this because if *everyone* gets in their entries, we go immediately to STAGE TWO. Which is the four of you picking *different* topics off the above list and writing them... and so until either you have completed all the topics or someone is eliminated. If everyone gets to the end, we will vote on *all* the entries. So slacking off on them could, and probably will, hurt. Not that I think anyone at this stage is going to be giving anything but their all, but I want to say it just in case.

Good luck!!!

Here we are at the Top 7.

*takes in a breath of air and looks around*

Mighty fine place to be isn't it?

But wait. You're looking at that subject line aren't you. Why is that "s" there?

It's because we've reached the point where we're doing two topics. Sure, that could have started at any other point. It could start at 5. . . but nah, it's starting here at 7 just to make things a little more interesting.

The two topics are:

Mother

and

From Great Heights

The deadline to link *both* of your entries back to this post is Thursday May 15th at 1pm EDT

Good luck and have fun.