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The Wheelhouse - Week 1 - Day 2

What did you end up doing this weekend?

Anything fun?

I started (and finished) season 3 of The Traitors US. With Rob Cesternino (Survivor) and Kristen Kish (Top Chef) being in Scotland filming season 4 right now, I thought it was a good time to catch up!

I also finished the new season of Top Chef. Which may have had me crying a bit at the finale. Maybe. Or maybe you were the one who was crying. Yes, that seems more likely! ;)

***
Speaking of crying - the first prompt is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1184469.html

The Sign Up Sheet is still open as well: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html

***
I'm going to warn you ahead of time that the poll for Week 1 is going to not come out right away. Not only does the first poll usually take more time to set up, I also have an unexpected funeral to attend that day. One of my coworkers from my previous job passed away. I'm just glad that I received multiple messages from people who wanted to make sure that I knew. That was very kind of them to reach out.

***
and yes, "The Wheelhouse" is the "special event" version of the Green Room, for those more use to that name. A lot of special events have their own specific gathering place names, and I just liked this one.

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Prompt - Week 1

I have a master list of unused prompts. Some didn't end up being used in previous seasons. Some are new. All are now on a wheel of chaos.

I will not know what the week's prompt is until a couple minutes before you do!!

For anyone new here - or who hasn't been around for awhile, just a couple reminders:

Use the prompt as a jumping off point for your own creativity. The only limits are those you place on yourself and your work!

ONLY POST YOUR LINK to this thread. Any non-link comments posted here will be deleted. It makes it more difficult to keep track of entries for the week if everyone comments here. Comment to people on their entries or in one of the other spaces provided. This is solely for links. Not reactions.

With all of that now being said - and I reminder that if someone HASN'T signed up, they still have another week to do so, therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html

The prompt for Week 1 is

Quality

You have until Saturday June 21st at 2pm ET to link your entries back to this thread. So much longer than usual, but it's the first week so I'm giving you a bit of a break. Enjoy it while you can!

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Twist Reveal - Week 1

During each week, I will spin the wheel and reveal the twist. Sometimes it will be before the prompt is announced, sometimes before the voting.

As I said before, I was feeling merciful as we got closer to starting, so I added another wheel. We're calling it the first wheel. 2/3 of the spots on it read "Twist" and the other 1/3 are "No Twist". Obviously "No Twist" means that the second wheel will not be spun that week and you will get a break from the normal level of chaos. You will get to breathe with only the normal amount of Idol chaos, more or less...

That first wheel it did spin and it came up that there WOULD be a twist on Week 1.

I was very happy that we were starting off this event right.

So I spun the second wheel, the one with the master list of twists on it, hoping for something delightful. After all, some of the list are quite twisted and some are quite twisted in other ways. :) This one turned out to be one of the latter.

It's probably the first "first week" twist that there could be, because it might as well be a "No Twist":

Anyone who was previously eliminated from the competition is automatically back in the game.

Being that no one has been eliminated yet, it means nothing. But since twists are NOT removed from the wheel once selected, it does reveal what one of those spots is, and you now know that it is out there, and the possibility exists.

So, I guess that's a good thing for you...

Week 1's prompt will be posted soon.

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The Billiard Room of Chaos - 3

Anyone want to guess who the murderer was, what was the weapon and in which room did it take place?

The first wheel spun tonight and I didn't love the result. But it is what it is.

The first topic is going up, and the results of the first spin, will be announced tomorrow night. ,

Just wanted to make sure you have something to speculate on when you wake up in the morning. IF you wake up in the morning. *cues music filled with dread*

Sign ups are still happening - so tell a friend! Or even better, tell someone you want to see tortured!!! https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html

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The Library of Chaos - 2

Hello Dear Friends!!

and the rest of you.

I just wanted to say hello to dear friends in case any of them ever read this. I doubt they will. It's mostly you scoundrels and hippies, and hippy scoundrels. ;)

Sign Ups are still happening and I've seen some familiar faces. https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html So welcome back! Just checking - you know this isn't the 20th anniversary event right? That's next time. That's going to be a joyful celebration. This is going to be me torturing you... which, to be fair, to me, those two things are the same!!! <3

***

So, what's new with you? Set fire to anything or anyone? Or is that what you have planned for this weekend? The wheel might have a few things to say about that... I've heard a rumor that it might spin soon.

(Full disclosure, I've actually been softening my stance and a second wheel might be introduced to even further add to the fun!)

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The Waiting Room of Chaos - 1

While we are waiting for things to start, I spun the wheel for the first time to determine how many byes there would be for this "special event".

For those new to the concept, a "bye" is a skip week. Maybe you're sick, or busy or whatever. Maybe you just don't feel like writing that week. You can use a "bye" (that's B-Y-E for those listening to this.) and survive another week without being eliminated.

I put the options 0-3 (3 being the most byes we've ever had in a season. Pretty sure that was when we had over 300 contestants. Pretty sure this isn't going to get anywhere close to that, especially since I've been pretty clear that if you don't like the craziness and random, this time around might not be your thing!)

The wheel landed on 2.

So there you go - you have 2 byes to use between Week 1 and whenever we have 5 contestants left in the competition, Granted, right now there aren't a lot of people anyway, so that might not take very long! But I'm hoping that once the word starts spreading more people will show up!

The link to sign up is: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html

***

So, how are you doing?

What are you watching? Reading?

I'm currently not reading anything. But I did just pick up The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, so hopefully I will be starting that soon.

I'm catching up on some shows - Shogun, Squid Games and Vice Principals.

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The Wheel of Chaos Introduction

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"

In Dante's inferno, that was the inscription on the gates of Hell. It's fitting to have it inscribed here, on these massive gates in front of you today, these gates that lead you into the realm that is

I am Gary, your host, and in some ways, fellow captive here in the realm of Wheel of Chaos. Because this is like no other season of LJ Idol. It is like no other event.

Yes. There will be writing and I'd say focusing on your writing and making the deadlines is probably the smart way to go. Because the rest is being left up to a wheel filled with all of the most insane twists Idol has to offer. I won't even know what is coming week to week, until a few minutes before you do!

The FAQ is here: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182638.html
The Sign up Sheet is here: https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1182845.html

Maybe it will be fun. Maybe it will be exciting. Maybe it will be the worst train wreck anyone has ever experienced, Maybe it will be all of these things. If you think you have what it takes to navigate these waters, and just want an excuse to write, welcome!

Comment below to say Hi. If you're an Idol veteran - let people know what you've been up to since we last crossed paths. If you're a newbie, do the same, only we've never crossed paths so you've obviously got more to let people know about! :)

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The Wheel of Chaos Sign Up

We, the undersigned, hereby give ourselves up to the mercy of the Idol Gods and the realm of sheer chaos.

We enter, being of questionable mind and bodies that probably don't see a lot of sunlight, into this place of our own free will and will exit when we can take no more or those Idol Gods see fit to eliminate us.

We will keep our whining to be a minimum but our screaming in agony to the maximum to better please those horrible forces.

Mostly we will write and have a good time knowing that at the end of the day, it's only the single most important and meaningful thing that will ever happen, including our family and friends. Especially that one. You know which one I'm talking about. ;)

We will follow instructions - such as the ones here:

- Post a statement on your own DW/LJ/other Open ID blog stating that you will be participating in LJ Idol: Wheel of Chaos.
- Copy the link and post it into the comments below, which will officially sign you up for this "special event".
- Sit back and wait for further instructions for when the first Topic is posted and interact the Introduction post comment section and/or any "Green Rooms" that might be posted between now and then.
- Tell your friends and especially your enemies that their time of peace is now over and they should dive into this as well - if they can handle it!!! :)

I'll leave you to signing up, and will see you on the other side.

The deadline to sign up is Saturday June 21st at noon ET. (but the first topic will be hitting before that)

Entry tags:

faq,
wheel of chaos

LJ IDOL: THE WHEEL OF CHAOS FAQ

What is an FAQ? It stands for “Frequently Asked Questions”

Are these questions people have actually asked you on a frequent basis? No. It should probably be called, “things I think you would want to know, but even if I post them someone is going to ask me anyway. But at least when they do other people can point and laugh and say “It was in the FAQ, didn’t you read it?”

Will there be pointing and laughing? Probably. At very least one of those things.

What is LJ Idol? LJ Idol is a writing competition that I started back in 2006 combining my love of writing with my love of reality competition shows. It’s a game. It’s a community. It’s a way of life.

2006? Seriously? Yes. Seriously. Next year will be our 20th anniversary.

It’s called LJ Idol but it’s on Dreamwidth. Why? It started on Livejournal, but like a lot of people, it moved over here during the last big exodus. At this point LJ Idol is an established name, the brand would stay regardless of where we moved.

How does this work? You want to know how regular Idol works? I post a topic and give writers a deadline. They write and post it. I add all of those links to a poll and then people vote. Whoever has the least amount of votes is eliminated.

“Regular Idol”? Is this not regular Idol? Oh no. Not even close to “regular Idol” This is a “special event” . It's absolute chaos. It’s Idol on steroids mated with Calvinball and their kid shot out of a confetti cannon right at your head. This is THE WHEEL OF CHAOS!

Is there an actual wheel? Yes. Well, OK, it’s an online “random picker generation”. I am loading a bunch of topics into one and twists into another. Every week I will spin both. Whatever it tells me is what is happening that week.

Is it an actual 7 day week? No. It’s an Idol week. Which is from the moment I post the new topic to the moment the poll closes and someone is eliminated.

What sort of twists? Veteran players answer - it’s all of your favorites, and least favorites. Some new stuff. Newbies answer - Anywhere from how the poll is set up, how many people are eliminated to literal “game changing” options that will make you want to rage quit if you don’t decide to just go with it.

Will there be a “Second Chance Idol” for people previously eliminated to get back into the game *chuckles* Kind of.

How long will it last? Until there are fewer than 4 contestants OR until I decide to pull executive privilege and pull the ripcord to end things. It could last 1 week, we could be still playing this thing until the 30th anniversary. I have no idea. I do WANT to give people time to rest and recover before the big 20th anniversary season next year. So hopefully before that.

“Am I going to hate it?” Yes. You definitely will hate it. But hopefully you will love it more. I’m telling you at the onset that it’s not going to be regular Idol and that it’s going to be crazy. Take a box of Captain Crunch “Oops All Berries” and replace it with LJ Idol “Oops, All Twists” and that’s what you are getting yourself into.

“When is the Sign Up?” This weekend. Unless I roll a dice and the fates decide it’s sooner!!

Until then, ask me more questions then I can add “Questions That Were Actually Asked Once”!!