An awesome list of awesome things awesome Flamers can awesomely do:

✩ awesome voting for awesome writers
✩ awesome editing awesome writers
✩ awesome writing for awesome readers
✩ awesomely nominating awesome people for awesome awards
✩ awesomely voting for the next awesome set of awesome moderators

✩ awesomely picking up some awesome extra edits:
Poll #1843760 Volunteer Edits, May 30 - June 3
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 0

Volunteers?

✩ awesomely telling awesome pip how awesome sa is okay, okay, you don't have to; clearly i am already aware :D

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I would like to play a game. Today's game is a words game, and tomorrow I will bring us a not-words game! But today's game is about words. It's about ANIMAL words. We played once as a comm a couple years ago, but I'm bringing it back (with props to awkward_ostrich, who is the person who first taught me the game).

It goes like this - one person posts the name of an animal. Any animal. The next person follows that up with the name of a different animal, but the FIRST letter of the new animal has to be the same as the LAST letter of the old animal. You could have something like this:

✩ Poodle
✩ Elephant
✩ Tiger
✩ Raccoon
✩ Narwhale
and so on and so forth

Feel free to make as many branches of the game as you like, replying to as many different threads as you like. Your first awesome animal is:

✩ GIRAFFE ✩

vote for future mods
step out of your comfort zone in the mini contest
edit edit edit
vote vote vote
NOMinations are pretty slow! Three categories have just one nominee, and four have just two. Most nominees need a second or third to qualify. Go create some competition - nominate some of the other deserving members!

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Kansas City reports that the zombie apocalypse has begun. [the link is for a news article. warning for grossness and whatnot.] Are you ready?

Well, hello, hello to one and all!  It has been an incredibly (re: unforgiveably) long time since I've posted or been very active with all of you fine and talented folks.  Lots of stuff has been going on -- both for me personally and around here, from what I've noticed.  Some of it has been for the good.  Some of it for the not so good.  But it's still a lot of stuff happening, and when lots of stuff starts happening at once things tend to get a little crazy.

So why don't we give all that crazy the bird and have a little fun with a Mini Contest, eh?

I love Mini Contests.  I love them because they're a break from the usual affairs, but they can also be challenging as hell.  Challenges make me happy, in a gleeful sadomasochistic sort of way.  I hope you all like challenges as well, because that's what I'm about to give you.

Several months (or maybe it's closer to a year?) back I'd challenged some of my writer friends to push themselves out of their usual sandbox.  Every writer has an area they're more comfortable with, something that they are particularly known for.  I don't care how much a writer claims that they have no genre, no particular style, that they morph to fit the story.  Every writer has something unique to them, something that defines a work as theirs.

Your challenge this week is to write AGAINST your norm.  Break your own rules and boundaries.  Experiment with styles, subjects, and techniques outside your comfort zone.  And then you will present these entries to the community so that we can go, "Whoa, ______ wrote THIS?!?!"

Sounds easy, right?  For some people, this will be.  To fix that, and because this is the last contest I'll be hosting and I intend to have fun with it, I am also offering an ADDITIONAL challenge for those willing to take it on.  The additional challenge comes in the form of a prompt.  And that prompt is:

This prompt MUST be used to START AND END your entry.  Meaning, the first and last lines must be this prompt.  You may use it as a quote.  You may change the tensing and the pronoun, so it can be "she was an anachronism" or whatever, but the rest of it MUST appear in tact.  You have no other limitations other than to push yourself.  Write something that makes you uncomfortable or at least unusual for you.  If you write poetry, try prose, and if you write prose try your hand at poetry.  Play with format and punctuation.  Basically, try NOT writing like yourself.

Your entries are due by Sunday, June 3rd at 8 PM.  A poll will go up and voting will start.  The winner of this challenge will get a personalized banner and icon set, made by yours truly.

I'm very excited to see just how far outside the sandbox you all will go.  Good luck, and remember: have fun with this, because I'm sure as hell gonna have fun reading what you all come up with.  Cheers, folks!

Status Updates:
blackjackcat, pipisafoat, selkath, thorarosebird, with_rainfall: You are on "catching up"; please finish your edits by Wednesday at 5 pm EDT.

This week's edits will be due Sunday, June 3, 5 pm EDT.

( assignments )

Good morning, and sorry for the delay! Your friendly neighborhood Carole is currently traveling, and I'm just running a bit behind on filling on for her. Never fear! You don't get out of voting for this month's winner!

All three eligible contestants have thrown their entries in the pot. It is now up to you, brave readers, to decide which of these will come out on top. Three will enter, but (usually) only one can win!

Word Counts, Genres, Ratings/Warnings:
niliwen -- 979 word fiction
hwango -- 943 words
esme_amelia -- Warning: Contains homosexuality and a rather strong pro-homosexuality message.
bluegerl -- Bluegerl. Ficlet 375 words. Rating R for unpleasant descriptions, brutality, ethnic colour reference. JFF Ballad, poetry 570 odd words. just a moan.

Poll #1843209 Week 4 Poll
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 6

Who's the May Champion?

Just For Fun!

This poll will close at 10 am EDT on Friday, June 1.

Good morning :-) The Week 3 Poll has ended!

Congratulations to our weekly winner, bardiphouka!! Way to go, Bardi!!

Joining Bardi in Week 4 are esme_amelia and hwango!

Sadly, bluegerl, that means you are out of the competition at this time. Look forward to seeing you in JFF though :-)

See you this weekend for the Week 4 Poll!

What can I NOMinate members for?

This round, we have nine categories: Best Editor, Best Feedback, Most Improved, Member's Choice, Most Cheerful Writer, Best Dark Writer, Best Uncommon Form Writer, Best Arc Writer, and Most Varied Author.

( Details on the NOM categories )

How do I NOMinate a member?

Simply post here with a comment! In your comment, you should include:

• The award you'd like to nominate the person for
  
• The username of the person who would receive the award and any alternative usernames they might be known under. (To make names easy to see, please try to highlight using the username code -- <lj user="username goes here"> -- or else bold each username.)
  
• Why you feel that this person is the best choice for the nomination, including what they've done in the past, how they've done it, and why you feel that was admirable.

You may also wish to include:

• Any personal notes/anecdotes about the member.
  
• Any links to examples that you'd like to include to support your NOM, especially in the case of a genre award. Other members may need to read an example to be able to second and third!

Each nominee must receive an initial nomination, and then a 'second' and 'third' from two different members in order to be put into the final poll for the award. You may, of course, 'fourth' and 'fifth' a member to your heart's content -- there's no such thing as too much support and affection!

Who can be NOMinated?

Moderators cannot win the Member's Choice award, and you cannot NOMinate yourself. Other than that -- anyone can be NOMinated for an award! You may NOMinate as many people as you like for a single award, and you can NOMinate the same person for multiple awards to your heart's content -- no limits!

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NOMs begin now and will continue until Saturday, June 2, around 2 pm EDT, after which the final poll will be posted for your voting consideration. As the NOMS come in, a list of NOMinated persons will be kept on the website at this link. (The date and time of last update will always be recorded at the bottom of that page.) You may wish to check the list or read through the comments to make sure someone hasn't beaten you to NOMing someone -- it's easier to second/third/whatever than it is to make a fresh post!

If you have any questions, Thora and Leigha are my NOMs minions this time around; any of the three of us can probably help you!

Happy NOMing!

Story time!

The common editors & editees have had their usernames added to my computer's dictionary, so I never see the annoying red underline in TextEdit or Excel when I'm making assignments, but I never bothered to add anyone to the Firefox dictionary. Today, when "putting links in the chart" (really I was eating chips and staring vacantly at the bookshelf), I decided to see what Firefox thinks our usernames ought to be. I have officially expanded my vocabulary today!
pipisafoat = piscatorial [adj: of or concerning fishermen or fishing]
selkath = Kathleen
keppiehed = preppie
thorarosebird = shorebird
bardiphouka = boardinghouse
subieko = subside
bluegerl = bluegill
niliwen = aniline [n: A colorless oily liquid, C₆H₅NH₂, present in coal tar. It is used in the manufacture of dyes, drugs, etc]

Anyway. Back to the actual editing post.

Status Updates:
missflyer & openedlocket: You are on "catching up"; please finish your edits by Wednesday, 5 pm EDT.

This week's edits will be due Sunday, May 27, 5 pm EDT.

( assignments )

Good evening! Welcome to the Week 3 Voting Poll!


This week we had 4 eligible contestants, of which all 4 submitted their entries by the deadline.


( Word Counts, Genres, Ratings/Warnings: )


Click here to edit your vote.


Poll #1841518 Week 3 Poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 8

Catchy poll name here!

Just for Fun!

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to May's week 4 contest! When submitting for the contest, link your entry in the poll below to have it incorporated into the voting poll at the end of the week. Check out the Main Contest Rules for info on how the main contest works!

Keep in mind that if you DO NOT submit an entry for week one, you will not be eligible to compete in the Main Contest, but please feel free to continue on Just For Fun if you’d like.

Please note also that for the ease of assigning editors and ROAR readers, we request that you include in your submission an approximate word count as well as a genre - just "fiction," "poetry," "non-fiction," or "screenplay" will suffice. Thank you!

For those who aren't sure how to link your entry: copy the link in your browser's address bar when viewing your entry, then paste it in the submission box below. Optionally, you can add HTML to make your link clickable by others. To do this, type the following into the submission box:
<a href="The link to your entry">The link again OR a title you would like to use</a>

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Your Week 4 topic is...

Martial Law

Usually alluding to the protocol of bringing in the military to forcibly impose order in case of emergency, martial law is a powerful measure. Intended to ensure safety, it paradoxically generates extreme anxiety in residents' hearts. In Canada, it's the War Measures Act, in place since the early 20th century, that enables the imposition of martial law when needed. When is it needed? When is it justified? Do tell us a tale.

Or hell -- maybe "martial law" refers to the laws of Martians. Fell free to tell us that story instead. ;)

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Click here to edit your submission!
Poll #1841517 Contest Entries, May Week 4
This poll is closed.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

Link your Week 4 entries here!

Submit your JFF entries here!

Please list your ratings, genre, word counts, R-ratings, NSFW, trigger warnings, and other notes here.

Would you like content criticism on your entry this week?

Would you like feedback on your grammar, punctuation, and technical writing feedback this week?

Click here if you do NOT want feedback from our ROAR team. (If you would like a ROAR assignment, simply leave this part blank.)

Your entries are due by Sunday, May 27 at 5pm EST

Another congrats to hwango, our weekly winner! See who else advances to third week of competition

week three topic - go forth into a wormhole!

editing post and volunteer edits

#TeamPhoenix tag; stay tuned for the poll to determine owner & moderator

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Come on, come all, admire the dog currently keeping my left foot warm!

His name is Hershey, and he does not belong to me, but I do like to steal him for days on end whenever I'm in the appropriate city to do so. We go for hikes together, studiously do not attack black bears in the back yard, play with his tug toy, and spend quality time together on the front porch - me reading, him chewing on a bone.

Some of you have pets! Talk about them. Some of you like to look at pictures of animals online! Share some awesome ones. Some of you have a favorite wild animal! Tell us about them. In short: ANIMAL PARTY!

Good evening! The Week 2 Voting Poll has closed.

Our winner of the week this week is hwango!! Congrats!!!

Joining Hwango in Week 3 are bluegerl, bardiphouka, and esme_amelia.

This means that niliwen is our eliminated player this time. Sorry, Niliwen, but hope to see you in JFF!

Stay tuned for the Week 3 Poll on Sunday, and the Week 4 Topic!

week three topic - only one entry is in so far! Deadline is Sunday, so you still have some time, but don't forget to write! And yes, we would always be delighted to have your JFF entries even if you haven't written anything so far this month.
week two voting poll - Come on, guys. There are five entries. Only FOUR people have voted. Seriously? It won't take long to read and vote on five entries. You guys have been very clear about wanting to keep the Flame burning - let's add some fuel to this week's voting! The poll will close Thursday - that's tomorrow! - at 10 pm EDT.
week two editing post; check below the reminders for volunteer edits
I have made a #TeamPhoenix tag for all the discussion about the future of BF, mostly to save myself twelve thousand links when doing reminders. So go forth and explore the posts at that tag for the most recent things.

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Click here to check off more edits!
Poll #1840702 Volunteer Edits, May 16-20
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Volunteers?

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Let's play a game! Share some things about your computer, your desk, the things on your walls, or something else that you think describes you. See what conclusions other people draw about you from your comment. Meanwhile, go draw conclusions about other people from their comments. (And feel free to laugh when the conclusions we draw are completely off the mark.)

Status Updates:
darkspirited1, innana88, keppiehed: You are on "catching up"; please finish your edits by Wednesday, May 16, 5 pm EDT.

This week's edits will be due Sunday, May 20, 5 pm EDT.

( assignments )

Good evening, and Happy Mother's Day to all our BF moms!

This week we had 8 eligible contestants. Of that number. 5 submitted their entries by the deadline. One player will be eliminated by this week's voting.

( Word Counts, Genres, Ratings/Warnings: )


Click here to edit your vote.


Poll #1840113 Week 2 Poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 8

Catchy poll name here!

Just for Fun!

This poll will close at 10 pm EDT on Thursday, May 17.