The Wheelhouse - Week 14

Oct. 28th, 2025 05:28 am
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 Good Morning,  

Well, it's far too early for it to be "good", but "Morning" at least!

The new twist is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1207947.html  and so are the prompts  https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1208099.html

I
've already gotten a question about the prompt situation so I'll clear it up here.  YES. It's 2 entries.  NO, it's not 1 entry where you incorporate both, unless, I dunno, you want to write 2 entries where you incorporate both.  :D 
No, if not a pick one of the other. It's 2 entries.  
That's why you have a week.   Well that, and my schedule.  :D   If the Wheel had chosen 5, yes, I would have given you even more time!  (Although let's be honest - a week for 2 entries by traditional old school Idol standards is pretty good.) 

***

I've had a few people ask about my arm after that blood donation. It's healing. Still is bruised and a little tender.  I did have it confirmed this weekend by a friend who was a former nurse that this wasn't normal.  She agreed with the theory that my boss raised that the needle was dislodged and went through my vein. Otherwise I would NOT have been in that much pain and wouldn't have the bruising I do. 

So now I need to accuse someone in Idol of paying them extra to do that!  :D 

***
THE FEST was amazing.  Because it's always amazing.  <3  

How was YOUR weekend? 

Prompts- Week 14

Oct. 27th, 2025 10:24 pm
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 The Wheel said you get 2 prompts this week.  So let's see what they are!  *spins wheel twice* 

a nail is driven out by another nail

and

ambuscade





The deadline to link BOTH of these entries in the thread below is Monday November 3rd at 7pm ET.  

Have fun! 
clauderainsrm: (Default)
[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 *spins wheel*  TWIST!

OK. Nice.  But WHAT twist?  

*spins the wheel again* 

 Multiple topics (random number generator 2-5 to determine how many)

Oh that's fun! I get to spin the wheel again!!

Oh come on, just 2?

Where's that Chekov's Gun? I want to shoot this wheel! ;) 

***

There was a 5 way tie for the person with the fewest votes who wasn't eliminated. So I need to ask the Wheel how that will be handled. It came up as "Wheel Decides Who Is Eliminated", which in THIS case means that the wheel will select 1 of you to receive those 2 byes to hand out.

Who will it be?  This isn't as suspenseful for you as it is for me, since I write these in real time!

4. *counts* Congratulations [personal profile] hafnia ! Let me know where you want those 2 byes to go.

***
btw - Not sure if I mentioned it, but a vial WAS found this week. So make sure to send in your accusation and who you want to give the antidote to!


Results - Week 13

Oct. 27th, 2025 08:26 pm
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
I just got back from FEST in time for my therapy session and then to come close this poll! :)

(well OK, I posted a few things on FB too! But still, the point stands!)

There was one person going home this week and it's[personal profile] legalpad819 !

Sorry to see you g... what are you doing? Why do you have gun? What are you.... oh... BAM!!!! 

She just shot her own elimination with Chekov's Gun!!!  The elimination is now dead. 

(and the gun, having been used, disappears) 


Database maintenance

Oct. 25th, 2025 08:42 am
mark: A photo of Mark kneeling on top of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines. It was a long hike. (Default)
[staff profile] mark in [site community profile] dw_maintenance

Good morning, afternoon, and evening!

We're doing some database and other light server maintenance this weekend (upgrading the version of MySQL we use in particular, but also probably doing some CDN work.)

I expect all of this to be pretty invisible except for some small "couple of minute" blips as we switch between machines, but there's a chance you will notice something untoward. I'll keep an eye on comments as per usual.

Ta for now!

Voting - Week 13

Oct. 21st, 2025 09:52 pm
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
A few words from [personal profile] clauderainsrm:


Another week, another poll! *spins wheel, watches as it goes by* We are losing 1 contestant this week! Apparently the Wheel is deciding to drag this out! :D Maybe it likes torturing you.

The poll will be closing Monday, October 27th at 8pm ET. I’ll be at FEST (as is usual for this time of year. So long time for voting, probably a shorter window for writing next week… or an extra long one! Who knows! The Wheel hasn’t told me yet!!)

Good luck to everyone!


Poll #33751 ’WheelofChaos-Week13’
This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 38

Vote For Your Favorites!

alycewilson's entry
12 (31.6%)

bleodswean's entry
12 (31.6%)

drippedonpaper's entry
13 (34.2%)

flipflop_diva's entry
12 (31.6%)

hafnia's entry
12 (31.6%)

halfshellvenus's Bye Week - Votes Do Not Count
4 (10.5%)

inkstainedfingertips's entry
20 (52.6%)

legalpad819's entry
8 (21.1%)

l0lita's entry
18 (47.4%)

muchtooarrogant's Bye Week - Votes Do Not Count
3 (7.9%)

roina_arwen's entry
12 (31.6%)

unicornfartz's entry
16 (42.1%)

Week 13 - The Accusation

Oct. 21st, 2025 09:28 pm
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 Another week and another shot at ending the evil plans of the Killer(s)! 

First, let's dispense the antidote.  This is now voted for by everyone left in the competition. Which makes it more interesting to see where everyone else is looking for potential targets.  The vote wasn't even close this time around - the antidote goes to [personal profile] inkstainedfingertips  - who enjoys a refreshing beverage.  But not much else other than that. 

The vote for the Killer was even more lopsided. Every single vote, except two (for different people), that came in all identified the same person. That diabolical mastermind who has been pulling the strings, and killing off the competition one by one! 

The group have finally come together in the strongest possible way to accuse [personal profile] muchtooarrogant of being a Killer!

The silence feels the room as people wait for what will come next... the next dramatic exposure... 

and they wait... and wait... and then start swearing because the Killer(s) got away from them one more time!
bleodswean: (Default)
[personal profile] bleodswean
 
The house was just as enticing in the early morning light as it had been in the pitched black night. She was curled into a window seat in the front room. It was a turret, and the glass was curved, and the sashes were curved and the trim and molding curved as well. Outside the fog was thick and she couldn’t see as far as the numbered street or lettered street she knew the house sat on the corner of and she contented herself with the image of the house as an island ringed with a moat of mist. 
 
She sipped the hot coffee out of an exquisite porcelain teacup. It was all she could find. The kitchen had not been renovated, just like the house in its entirety, and she had stood amazed at the time travel aspect of it but was determined to make a pot of coffee. Her aunt had used a similar percolator when she was a child and taught her how to make a good pot of coffee so that she and her mother could drink cup after cup with a box of handpicked donuts. They would pour her a cup of half-and-half and a dollop of coffee to sip.

There was a glass bottle of sweet cream in the aqua blue Norge and that was a treat but perhaps not a surprise. Everything about the house and about him was proving to be an adventure.
 
She had been neither loud nor quiet when she slipped out of bed and opened the bedroom door. Simply awake and slightly discombobulated in the basement room. If anything, she was pleased that some interior timepiece had woken her without the grey dawn. The room was entirely without light and once her eyes were open, she had to fight with herself a bit to not press herself against the warm body beside her and descend again into a dreamless sleep.
 
By touch, she had fished her phone out of the pile of her discarded dress and shoes and bag on the floor of his bedroom, remembered the silk robe on the back of the bathroom door and shrugged into that on her way up the basement stairs. Out of the seemingly endless dark and into the growing light.
 
Tapping the phone awake, she had no reception and couldn’t seem to find his wi-fi. She wanted to text her girls, check in, find out where everyone had nested for the night. Had they all caught a Lyft together back to the Art Palace, or perhaps Daisy had slipped away with the goat boy that had been braying at her at the bar. She needed Snaps and spilt tea and check ins but the phone was useless. She peered harder outside and wondered if she wandered the substantially sized yard, maybe let herself out the ornate iron gate at the edge of the sidewalk and into the street, if she could find a hot spot. 
 
You made coffee, he said with a wonderment in his voice. She looked over her shoulder, and he was standing in the opening of the double sliding pocket doors, a pair of black silk pajama bottoms slung low on his hips. Now she could see the blackwork tattoos clearly. A kind of flesh tome, arcane spell work. 
 
She toasted him with the last of the coffee in her teacup. As you see, she smiled.
 
But you couldn’t find the mugs. He tsked tsked. Then smiled broadly. Good morning, morning girl. You’re shining like a spring dawn over there. Burning all my fog off, too. 
 
She stood and stretched, her hands high above her head, an informal fifth position. How do I log onto your wifi?
 
He laughed. What’s that? I’m going to help myself to a cup of joe and judging your barista skills while I drink it. He disappeared into the adjoining kitchen. 
 
She followed him. He motioned with the percolator, and she held out the teacup, and he steadied her wrist with a hand and poured. He topped it off with the cream and doctored his own. 
 
Moment of truth, he said and pulled deeply at his cup. His eyes closed and he mimed ecstasy, and she laughed. You can stay, he announced. What magic will you perform with a rasher of bacon and a bakers of eggs?
 
Coffee may be the limit of my domestic arts.
 
Lucky for both of us, then that I know the way to the diner. Back to the window seat?
 
She nodded and followed him. They sat facing one another, their backs against the window moldings. He leaned his head against the glass and sipped his coffee and stared at her through half masted eyes. 
 
You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever beheld. What made you finally relent? 
 
Hyacinth. 
 
A flower made you agree to come home with me last night? How long have I been begging you?
 
Hyacinth is a friend.
 
The tall one with the braids?
 
Yes. 
 
He waited.
 
She read Tarot for me yesterday evening, before we went out and met up with all of you at the Zebra. She said it was opportune, and I could act if I chose to. She said it was safe.
 
Ah! I’m many things, but safe? What cards, if I may be so bold, were pulled?
 
She held her finger up to her lips and shook her head. 
 
Fine, fine. Will you stay the weekend? 
 
She shrugged. I have nothing to wear. 
 
That robe suits. Perfectly.
 
Hmmm. Seriously, though, how do I log onto the internet.
 
He narrowed his eyes. Seriously, though, there’s no internet here. 
 
What do you mean? I know there’s no cell reception. 
 
Isn’t that weird? Maybe it’s the metal roof. At least that’s what others have said. No matter. I don’t have one of those phones. 
 
You don’t have a cell?
 
He counted off on his fingers. No cell, no computer, no tv. 
 
I don’t understand.
 
It’s too early for me to rant about it. And an empty stomach. But I do have a rant, and I will hold forth. Especially if you’re going to become a regular. Right now, I can still feel those last two Old Fashioneds in my skullbone. Let’s walk to breakfast.
 
A regular?
 
He grimaced. That didn’t come out right. Bad joke. There are no regulars, my darling girl. I’m a hermit. 
 
More like a Luddite. 
 
That, too. A long dry spell broken only be the occasional moon baths. You must believe me. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. How long have you and I been circling one another anyway? Downtown, in the dark, in crowds, in corner bars, and parties, and the one-off raves? Be honest! 
 
Nearly half a year? Spring and summer.
 
Have you seen anyone on my arm? Have you? You haven’t. Let’s shake out last night’s garments and put them back on. I’ll walk you home after we dine and you can pack an overnight bag with everything you own and stay and stay and stay and stay.
 
That sounds like a long time. With no internet.
 
You don’t know what you don’t know. Time will become yours again. Those false gods will fade away. The old gods are all waiting for you. 
 

The Wheelhouse - Week 13 - 2

Oct. 21st, 2025 12:05 am
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 Some people attended "No Kings" rallies this weekend. 

I did not.  I attend the "Yes, Supreme Evil Overlord" rally. I was the only attendee.  I had a sign with my picture.  

It's only a matter of time though before the streets are flooded with people calling for me to claim my rightful place as ruler, of everything!   ;) 


Until then though, you are stuck with me reminding you that you have until tomorrow to get me those Accusations as well as your choice on who should get the antidote!

Oh yeah, and of course there is a little writing competition going on as well.  Maybe you might want to participate in it!   ;)  therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1206077.html

I
f you need a bye though, there are still 2 contestants who have some to hand out! (2 each):
flipflop_diva
[personal profile] legalpad819 

So if you need one, let them know and they will tell me!!

*** 
How is your week going so far?

AWS outage

Oct. 20th, 2025 10:11 am
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[personal profile] alierak in [site community profile] dw_maintenance
DW is seeing some issues due to today's Amazon outage. For right now it looks like the site is loading, but it may be slow. Some of our processes like notifications and journal search don't appear to be running and can't be started due to rate limiting or capacity issues. DW could go down later if Amazon isn't able to improve things soon, but our services should return to normal when Amazon has cleared up the outage.

Edit: all services are running as of 16:12 CDT, but there is definitely still a backlog of notifications to get through.

Edit 2: and at 18:20 CDT everything's been running normally for about the last hour.

The Wheelhouse - Week 13

Oct. 18th, 2025 01:47 am
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
 I've been updating some stuff in the background, and I have a couple answers for you based on questions I've received. 

The Links section is now updated with Winners, In Memoriam and the Donate section. 

The new Prompt is up therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1206077.html

The twist is up: therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1205941.html





***

The question came up on what the difference was between the twists for Week 11 and Week 13.  I couldn't recall what the Week 11 twist had been, so I went back and looked. They are very, very different. So different that it's so obvious that you should be embarrassed by not seeing it right immediately. Can't you just take a look and....  sorry, couldn't help it.  :) 

It's the same twist. I didn't move it off the Wheel because it's not something that is removed.  But more importantly, the reason why no results for Week 11 were announced was that it was my birthday weekend and I didn't post that result - and the person who won it never reached out!

There's a 3 way tie for who will receive those extra 2 byes to give away:
flipflop_diva
[personal profile] hafnia 
[personal profile] legalpad819 


I gave the Wheel several options on what to do - and it came back with that we are giving all 3 of them those two byes each TO GIVE AWAY!! So please let me know who you want to give the byes to!!

***
What is Chekov's Gun?  It is THE MOST DANGEROUS and sheer chaotic force ever introduced into the game,  You want cries of "OMG!!!" and "But that's not fair!" and "Where are my pants???" this is where you are going to hear those things. 

It is a gun that is put into the game - one that HAS to be fired. (Hence the name).  There was one in Pandora's Box *and there is one on the Wheel*!! 

How powerful Is it?  You can kill ANYTHING with it.  What do I mean by that?  There are 3 exceptions of things that can not be killed - why are there exceptions? Because this thing is so powerful that if I didn't put them in place, and someone was creative enough, they could do these things!!

- You can not shoot LJ Idol itself.  You can't end the competition 
- You can not shoot the Wheel of Chaos mini season/event
- You can not shoot ME (even if I ask you to) 

Everything else within these walls is fair game.  Contestants. Results. Prompts. Twists. If you can name it, and it's not on the list of "you can't shoot that", you CAN shoot that! 

It's one of the most interesting concepts I've ever introduced and the one that will immediately become the most hated!! 






Donate

Oct. 18th, 2025 01:38 am
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[personal profile] clauderainsrm in [community profile] therealljidol
I'm updating Links and realized the Donate page was extremely out of date and most of the old links were no longer functional. 

Idol is of course open to anyone. If you want to "give back" though, here are some ways to do that:

Venmo: @Gary-Dreslinski
Paypal: garydreslinski@gmail.com   (obviously the same for Google Pay)
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/c/u70027


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