stellina's

 I'm so incredibly proud of all 3 of these finalists!

There's a lot I want to say about l0lita but I'll settle for just saying "read her work" because that says plenty!  Coming in as an unknown factor, late in the game, could have ended poorly. But she navigated it, and managed to keep herself safe despite being an obvious target! 

drippedonpaper is one of those writers who has been around quite some time, but as can be the case with these special events and mini season, the right elements lined up and she finally started getting the attention she's deserved!  Once that happens, if precedent is any indication, that attention tends to stick around.  Which is something that brings a huge smile to my face!


Congratulations to both of you and absolutely well deserved. 

 I'll be posting the poll in a bit, but it occurred to me that the time when the most people might be paying attention is when they are expecting a poll.  :D 

So this was as good of a time as any to add more on things from MY perspective.  Because that's what we all need right, more of *me* talking about me!  ;) 

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I *really* liked the Wheel concept but I think there were areas where I would do it differently. 

-Having essentially a free pass on that first week instead of an "OMG" moment - due to one of the "everyone's back in the game' twists I think took away from the fear aspect.  Granted, it might have been good because it made people a little less tense about what was coming, because they knew there were more chances to return to the game if one of them took them out.   But it still would have been nice to have more of the "What did I just sign on for???" moment right from the jump. It gets people excited and talking. Even if they are complaining, they are still talking!

- Having too many "No Twists" on that first wheel - definitely a mistake.  I wouldn't have even had the first wheel at all in retrospect.  Again, it dulled the early stages when some of the more outlandish twists could have really made an impact. Maybe add a couple more "no twists" to the main wheel and just scrap that first stage one. The Wheel is the attraction here of this mini season and I think that would have highlighted the danger.  I think things picked up once I got rid of some of the "No Twists" from the board... but I also had to ask the Wheel first if I could do that. If it had said "No", we would have had it for the entire time. 

- Some of my favorite twists never saw the light of day, including ones that can not fit into a regular season.  Unless people *really* want a Shrapnel vote. (that takes out people around the middle of the pack) or a Gary-only voting!!  :D  Those are just a couple examples. Ultimately, I think more of my favorite twists ended up not showing up than not.   I WAS quite happy that Chekov's Gun made an appearance, even though it really only scratched the surface of what the potential for that twist could have been.  I was sincere when I said it couldn't be used against ME, or Idol.... because someone could have legitimately ended Idol entirely if I hadn't said that. That's how much power you had to throw around, if I hadn''t limited it beforehand!!! The only boundaries were your imaginations. It was used to save someone from elimination, which was a decent use of it. But I was hoping for some bigger swings when it made another appearance. But of course, that's one of those powers that can NOT show up in a regular Idol season. Much too "Calvinball" even in my world.  Wow though, there is so much more fun that could be had with it!

- Killers. Overall I thought the concept was fun in this limited space.  There are some people who thought the Killers had too much power. In retrospect, I don't think I gave them enough.  I would LOVE to have given them one "fake antidote" for the season. They could decide when to employ it. Someone thinks they are being saved - but WHAM, it was actually the poison, double damage!  I can hear your horrified shrieks already!!!  :D 

- Giving the antidote to the person with the most votes was a mistake. I wanted it to force them to make tough decisions. But the reality is that they didn't end up spreading it around much... because they usually felt like *they* were the biggest potential targets, and they weren't wrong! When I made it so that everyone had a vote, that upped the potential for chaos... it also gave people incentive to try to find the Killers... and the Killers more of a chance to disrupt that vote away from themselves. 

- Speaking of, I was entertaining the idea of a "smokescreen". Again, maybe you could only use it once... but when the Killers thought someone was onto them, even if it was an accurate guess, if the smokescreen was deployed, I wouldn't confirm or deny the identity of a Killer.  So they stayed alive, but there was doubt.  

- One of my favorite moments of this entire season was getting to seelegalpad819  navigate the early stages of the game as a Killer.  Honestly, if I could have handpicked someone, it would have been her.  She maneuvered the path so well.... between recruiting and poisoning... and staying one step ahead of the pack the entire time right up until the end stages of the game.  Honestly, my only major regret is the reaction to her reveal. No one signed up to be a Killer. It was literally "play this hand you are dealt" or be poisoned.  Fortunately the Wheel gave me someone who was a HUGE fan of reality TV, who wasn't one of the people most people think of if they are asked to name an Idol contestant who is a fan of reality TV. 
 
She didn't get a single comment about her incredible entries this season in her goodbye post. Or even about what a great job she had done as a Killer.  She was given an impossible task and performed it better than I could have ever imagined someone doing with it.  (Even if there was a point that due to Recruits, she lost control of the vote because she was outnumbered, so had to navigate that for awhile)  I won't lie, that's a regret because I felt like by being chosen by the Wheel for that task, she got shafted out of the love and respect she deserves as a long-standing member of the community and an incredible writer.  None of the other Killers got that treatment, but I think because everyone realized she was Alpha, that she caught the backlash that wasn't deserved.  Which feels horrible knowing that I caused that to happen,and hope that it doesn't carry over from this.  

- Would I do another Wheel season?  Maybe.  I think there is a lot of potential that was left on the table. I do agree that it works better with more people. So maybe that opportunity has passed and we will never get another shot to see what it *could have been*... I do think that it also works better with a more interactive and active host. Which I was not this year.  I haven't been in a bit due to being depressed. I'm sorry about that. I NEED to be in a better place mentally to do justice to the 20th anniversary. I want that to be a celebration and you can't really celebrate if the voice of the whole project is feeling hopeless. Kind of doesn't work!  :D 

- I don't know how this is going to end. But I really like our Final 3.  I've read 2/3 of the entries (as of this moment) and looking forward to the 3rd. I'm hoping that it will be an epic showdown between 3 worthy opponents!