Welcome to February's Best Kill and Best Death Awards. Before we begin, the rules:
1. In this thread, you may post as an anonymous guest to select one student to receive the day's Best Kill Award, and one handler to receive the Best Death Award. Prizes will be given out in-character for BKA, consisting of a weapon and food, and out-of-character for BDA, consisting of a quote from their character to be displayed on the board index until the next BDA is awarded.
2. You may only vote while logged out. You can identify yourself in your vote if you want, but you may not claim to be another handler.
3. You may only vote once, and you may not vote for yourself in either category. Staff can see IP addresses, and we will check them if we have reason to suspect shenanigans.
4. You must provide reasoning with your vote for why you think your choices deserve the award. Votes with no reasoning will not be counted.
5. Don't be a jerk. You can explain why some scenes are your favorites without tearing others down.
6. Make sure that your answers are clear; please don't use any formatting that might cause votes to be miscounted or left out.
7. Please be sure to read every kill and death before voting, please vote for your genuine favorites rather than just voting for your friends, and please don't campaign for awards in the chat or otherwise try to influence the vote.
And your Best Kill and Best Death contestants:
BEST KILL AWARD:
Michael Froese and Yuka Hayashibara for killing Roxie Borowski
Arizona Butler for killing Quinn Abert
Paloma Salt for killing Tony Arcadi (Attack, Death Thread)
Michael Froese for killing Catherine Zier (Attack, Death Thread)
Ace Ortega for killing Parker Green
Emmett Bunnel for killing Adonis Cohen
Blaise D’Aramitz for killing Megan Summers
Erika Stieglitz for killing Amber Yates
BEST DEATH AWARD:
Kamikaze for the death of Roxie Borowski
Namira for the death of Quinn Abert
Murderweasel for the death of Sven Vee
Aura for the death of Tony Acardi
Melusine for the death of Catherine Zier
Frozen Smoke for the death of Parker Green
Fenris for the death of Axel Fontaine
Primrosette for the death of Adonis Cohen
Lesliefranc for the death of Cecil Salazar-Loveless
Zetsu for the death of Megan Summers
VoltTurtle for the death of Amber Yates
Cactus for the death of Jeff Greene
MethodicalSlacker for the death of Max Rudolph
Voting will run for five days. Votes will remain hidden until time is up, and the winners will be declared in the following announcement.
V7 BKA/BDA Voting: February 2020
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Emprexx Plush
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the big valbowski
BKA: There were a lot of really good contenders this time around; moreso than the usual crowd, but I have to give it to the latest one of the bunch; Erika Stieglitz for killing Amber Yates. First, I want to commend all three of the handlers involved. While Shiola's Erika ended up with the kill, I thought that both Lore and VoltTurtle did a truly excellent job with what ended up being a really disturbing scene, where Paloma sort of bites her tongue and tries to (in her own twisted way) make the dying Amber feel better as Amber's dying innocence short-circuits Erika's brain. This whole scene was really disturbing, and I really appreciate when a gunshot to the head doesn't end it's victim.
I want to also give a runner-up shoutout to Ruggahissy, Elle and Deamon for the thread in which Quinn dies. This was also a really excellent battle thread, though I thought the one above gave me the creeps a bit more.
Amber would be my vote for BDA as well, EXCEPT...
BDA: MurderWeasel for the death of Sven Vee. While yes, Sven technically slipped and fell off of the waterfall, which isn't necessarily anything special (though a very well-written post), the circumstances behind the death and the resulting "OH YOU MOTHERFUCKER" that resounded throughout the entire site when everyone realized just what MW had done with Sven was absolutely sensational. For both OOC and IC reasons, this is easily my BDA and it's not even close. Really well done.
I want to also give a runner-up shoutout to Ruggahissy, Elle and Deamon for the thread in which Quinn dies. This was also a really excellent battle thread, though I thought the one above gave me the creeps a bit more.
Amber would be my vote for BDA as well, EXCEPT...
BDA: MurderWeasel for the death of Sven Vee. While yes, Sven technically slipped and fell off of the waterfall, which isn't necessarily anything special (though a very well-written post), the circumstances behind the death and the resulting "OH YOU MOTHERFUCKER" that resounded throughout the entire site when everyone realized just what MW had done with Sven was absolutely sensational. For both OOC and IC reasons, this is easily my BDA and it's not even close. Really well done.
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hoyt
BKA: Ace Ortega for killing Parker Green
I really liked this kill. I liked how the tension is built up as Ace doesn't immediately realise who he has stumbled across and his self-doubt is rooted in tangible scenes and events we've seen occur. His regret is also good as it's clear he had no intention of getting Parker once he realised he was looking at Blaise. Then there's also the whole commentary you can make about the cycle of violence and how violence in retaliation for violence destroys everyone equally even innocents. As well as a critique of masculinity that could be a reading of the thread. So tl;dr there is a lot going on in this scene and I'm a fan of all of it.
BDA: Fenris for the death of Axel Fontaine
I enjoyed this death and while Fenris certainly made it very good from Axel's side I think the death was also made even stronger through Hel and Abe's interactions. The slow, inevitability of Axel's demise is played really well by everyone involved and it's sad to watch him slowly fade away and lose his personality bit by bit until there's nothing left and he doesn't wake up.
I really liked this kill. I liked how the tension is built up as Ace doesn't immediately realise who he has stumbled across and his self-doubt is rooted in tangible scenes and events we've seen occur. His regret is also good as it's clear he had no intention of getting Parker once he realised he was looking at Blaise. Then there's also the whole commentary you can make about the cycle of violence and how violence in retaliation for violence destroys everyone equally even innocents. As well as a critique of masculinity that could be a reading of the thread. So tl;dr there is a lot going on in this scene and I'm a fan of all of it.
BDA: Fenris for the death of Axel Fontaine
I enjoyed this death and while Fenris certainly made it very good from Axel's side I think the death was also made even stronger through Hel and Abe's interactions. The slow, inevitability of Axel's demise is played really well by everyone involved and it's sad to watch him slowly fade away and lose his personality bit by bit until there's nothing left and he doesn't wake up.
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theplantainsupernova
BKA
Gonna vote for Arizona Butler here because I think that scene ended up being a very good one and sort of the perfect culmination of both Arizona and Jonah's stories so far and a great ending for her Quinnliness. What makes this kill stand out for me is the sort of longterm investment you get from Arizona's last thread in leading into this one--the kill itself also had a good mixture of action, cleverness and a bit of camp thrown in there in Quinn's final demise. I dunno if I enjoyed her coming back from the dead slasher villain style...but I do think it fit her and added a bit to the scene--a punctuation of violence to something that was already filled with it. It made the rawness we get from Arizona afterwards sorta line up and feel more natural. I think there's a lot of discussion of scene over story and this kill leant itself good to the story end. An ending to a longterm one in the form of Quinn, a climax in the form of AriJonah. I dug it a lot!
BDA
Gonna give this vote over to Fenris for the death of Axel. I think that this was a pretty stacked field this month in terms of deaths and while we have stuff like Sven's that is super innovative--Axel's held with it the emotional punch and resonance that I think will endure in the years to come much better than the meta commentary (though the Sven stuff is super creative). Paige and Fenris have great chemistry together and Boogie does a great job juxtaposing Abe's voice with Hel's vulnerability and Axel's slow drift into death. We even get a song out of it! Definitely a heart string puller and it's good to see an expression of grief and love amongst the violent and gory ends. Not that I don't appreciate the gore--this stuff just tends to stick in my head longer.
Gonna vote for Arizona Butler here because I think that scene ended up being a very good one and sort of the perfect culmination of both Arizona and Jonah's stories so far and a great ending for her Quinnliness. What makes this kill stand out for me is the sort of longterm investment you get from Arizona's last thread in leading into this one--the kill itself also had a good mixture of action, cleverness and a bit of camp thrown in there in Quinn's final demise. I dunno if I enjoyed her coming back from the dead slasher villain style...but I do think it fit her and added a bit to the scene--a punctuation of violence to something that was already filled with it. It made the rawness we get from Arizona afterwards sorta line up and feel more natural. I think there's a lot of discussion of scene over story and this kill leant itself good to the story end. An ending to a longterm one in the form of Quinn, a climax in the form of AriJonah. I dug it a lot!
BDA
Gonna give this vote over to Fenris for the death of Axel. I think that this was a pretty stacked field this month in terms of deaths and while we have stuff like Sven's that is super innovative--Axel's held with it the emotional punch and resonance that I think will endure in the years to come much better than the meta commentary (though the Sven stuff is super creative). Paige and Fenris have great chemistry together and Boogie does a great job juxtaposing Abe's voice with Hel's vulnerability and Axel's slow drift into death. We even get a song out of it! Definitely a heart string puller and it's good to see an expression of grief and love amongst the violent and gory ends. Not that I don't appreciate the gore--this stuff just tends to stick in my head longer.
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Phase 3: Proft!
BKA: Erika for Amber
When it comes to kills, often the most interesting ones for me are those that aren't easy. Erika's interplay with Amber presents a unique twist on that concept--it starts out easy, it's supposed to be easy, but it ends up particularly challenging and horrible for reasons entirely unrelated to the physical process of the murder. By this point, Erika's become pretty comfortable in her groove, or at least thinks she knows how the island works. Faced with someone she has generally positive feelings towards, she sets about pragmatically offering a small "mercy," and at first seems to have succeeded. But Amber gets back up, and in so doing sticks Erika harder than any sort of physical attack could. The failure to make it clean, the direct, in-your-face reminder of the fragile and fundamentally biological nature of life, this all combines to force Erika to confront the truth about herself and her actions. However she meant things to go, they turned ugly and cruel, and it's so so hard for her to square the person she wants to believe she still is underneath all the murder with the truth of the consequences staring her in the face.
BDA: Kami for Roxie
This month had fantastic deaths overall and this was a really hard choice. Half a dozen others or more are just as worthy, but I want to shout out Roxie's death for doing some interesting and clever things on a conceptual level. The core image that serves as the framework is an odd one, a Japanese study of the stages of death and decomposition, but it fits with Roxie's somewhat morbid leanings. The image is introduced at the start of the thread, explained in enough detail to get the reader on-board (and in some cases to lure them to go look it up--I did and it's cool!), and then returned to right at the end of the death. I also want to shout out the memory thread that followed right on the heels of Roxie's death, and in a way serves as counterpoint and elaboration to it. It too follows a structure based on stages, this time of grief rather than decomposition, and it ultimately adds another tiny little layer of tragedy and humanity to an already pretty painful death without being cheap.
When it comes to kills, often the most interesting ones for me are those that aren't easy. Erika's interplay with Amber presents a unique twist on that concept--it starts out easy, it's supposed to be easy, but it ends up particularly challenging and horrible for reasons entirely unrelated to the physical process of the murder. By this point, Erika's become pretty comfortable in her groove, or at least thinks she knows how the island works. Faced with someone she has generally positive feelings towards, she sets about pragmatically offering a small "mercy," and at first seems to have succeeded. But Amber gets back up, and in so doing sticks Erika harder than any sort of physical attack could. The failure to make it clean, the direct, in-your-face reminder of the fragile and fundamentally biological nature of life, this all combines to force Erika to confront the truth about herself and her actions. However she meant things to go, they turned ugly and cruel, and it's so so hard for her to square the person she wants to believe she still is underneath all the murder with the truth of the consequences staring her in the face.
BDA: Kami for Roxie
This month had fantastic deaths overall and this was a really hard choice. Half a dozen others or more are just as worthy, but I want to shout out Roxie's death for doing some interesting and clever things on a conceptual level. The core image that serves as the framework is an odd one, a Japanese study of the stages of death and decomposition, but it fits with Roxie's somewhat morbid leanings. The image is introduced at the start of the thread, explained in enough detail to get the reader on-board (and in some cases to lure them to go look it up--I did and it's cool!), and then returned to right at the end of the death. I also want to shout out the memory thread that followed right on the heels of Roxie's death, and in a way serves as counterpoint and elaboration to it. It too follows a structure based on stages, this time of grief rather than decomposition, and it ultimately adds another tiny little layer of tragedy and humanity to an already pretty painful death without being cheap.
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Squid
Best Kill: Arizona for killing Quinn. I always like seeing a big player go down swinging, and this thread really delivered. There was a nice poetic justice in Quinn getting taken out by her teammate, after she'd had a few interesting interactions with them before, and Arizona and Jonah made a team-effort kill that made sense (even if Jonah didn't take credit). Overall, a really satisfying confrontation with a good end for me, and a great opportunity for Arizona to have stepped up and shown her proactive fighter side.
Best Death: VoltTurtle for the death of Amber Yates. There's something about getting shot in the head and not immediately dying that always makes my skin crawl in a way that other kinds of injuries don't. Amber was a character that I think was uniquely suited for this kind of death though. As someone who spends so much time conversing with an imaginary figure, the brain damage she suffered from the initial shot really took away an integral part of her, so that even if you didn't know she was already slated to die, you could probably tell that it was coming from that. Very unsettling, and some of Turtle's best work in my opinion.
Best Death: VoltTurtle for the death of Amber Yates. There's something about getting shot in the head and not immediately dying that always makes my skin crawl in a way that other kinds of injuries don't. Amber was a character that I think was uniquely suited for this kind of death though. As someone who spends so much time conversing with an imaginary figure, the brain damage she suffered from the initial shot really took away an integral part of her, so that even if you didn't know she was already slated to die, you could probably tell that it was coming from that. Very unsettling, and some of Turtle's best work in my opinion.
Two days, two hours, and 49 minutes for votes!
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."
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WH3H151
One scene above all others captivated me this set of rolls, though we had a ton of good kills and especially deaths this time around, props to all handlers. But onto the winners. Credit to Mel for playing her part but unfortunately I can't give her an award as well. But BDA and BKA go to VoltTurtle for Amber Yates and Shiola for Erika Stieglitz. Such a good scene! The twist of the scene is very similar to one of my favorite deaths from V6, also a Turtle death. She does amazing work with very bleak concepts that are existentially harsh and chilling, and using them to twist the scene in unique ways... Amber coming back halfway through, thoroughly a vegetable in a way that overwrote one of her fundamentally critical concepts as a character, was shocking as it was full of impact while reading. Just made such a strong impression in how simple it was to parse and read, but how heavily the implications echoed. Erika has been a bit on and off for me in the version, but this death allowed her brand of self-loathing, self-justifying fear of death to really shine. Her usual immense blocks of text were pared down to taste- the scene reads so cleanly, its quite phenomenal.
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Kiss Kiss Fall in
First of all I want to say you're all beautiful and my heart is broken and I can't stand y'all! Let's do this!
My BKA vote goes to... Arizona Butler for killing Quinn Abert because her and Jonah techiniqued the heck out of it. Planned attacks that go to plan and use each character's strengths are A+, and Quinn proved to be a villain worthy of the horror movie treatment.
Honorary mention to Yuka and Mikey's accidental yet simultaneous kill!
My BDA vote goes to VoltTurtle for the death of Amber Yates because it fucked me up. Not only did she die, her personhood died before she actually passed away. She was like a really sad zombie, and reading about her slow dismantlement hurt. I wish I had more and better words to say how good this was!
Honorary mentions to the mindfuck that was Sven Vee's death, the hammer coming down that was Jeff Greene's realization that he'd utterly failed at his cause, and the Adonis and Cecil manor house clusterfluff.
My BKA vote goes to... Arizona Butler for killing Quinn Abert because her and Jonah techiniqued the heck out of it. Planned attacks that go to plan and use each character's strengths are A+, and Quinn proved to be a villain worthy of the horror movie treatment.
Honorary mention to Yuka and Mikey's accidental yet simultaneous kill!
My BDA vote goes to VoltTurtle for the death of Amber Yates because it fucked me up. Not only did she die, her personhood died before she actually passed away. She was like a really sad zombie, and reading about her slow dismantlement hurt. I wish I had more and better words to say how good this was!
Honorary mentions to the mindfuck that was Sven Vee's death, the hammer coming down that was Jeff Greene's realization that he'd utterly failed at his cause, and the Adonis and Cecil manor house clusterfluff.
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Jessica, Only Child
Best Kill Award: Arizona for killing Quinn. It's a fun tag-team take down of one of the most notorious players, and it's immensely satisfying. Everyone involved was on their A-game, but I think there was something really cool about how it all played out and how Arizona finished off Quinn. Great job, everyone.
Best Death Award: MurderWeasel for Sven Vee. OK, yeah, this is a bit of a meta-mad joke, but dammit, I can't help but like it. Sven was so high concept it took most of the game for anyone to realize what his name really meant, and for him to die even outside a normal thread scenarios was clever. I think it's MurderWeasel at his most ingenious and devilish, so I think he deserves props for it.
Best Death Award: MurderWeasel for Sven Vee. OK, yeah, this is a bit of a meta-mad joke, but dammit, I can't help but like it. Sven was so high concept it took most of the game for anyone to realize what his name really meant, and for him to die even outside a normal thread scenarios was clever. I think it's MurderWeasel at his most ingenious and devilish, so I think he deserves props for it.
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bbbbbbbbbbbb
BKA: Arizona for Quinn. A brutal tag team that keeps on giving. Arizona and Jonah are the heroes in this scene but some of the damage they do to Quinn is rough, with no sign of slowing down in their next thread. Push comes to shove everybody's favorite couple has some serious teeth.
BDA: MethodicalSlacker for Max. The more I've marinated on this scene the more it's worked for me. Max is such an irredeemably shitty person, and it's kinda easy to wince away from this death as an unearned shot at washing that away through sacrifice. That's not really what's going on here though. Max's perspective is one of utilitarian justice while the emotional heart of the scene goes to Darlene who is losing her sense of direction with his passing. This might be projecting but there's an unspoken regret between them compounded by all of Max's self-doubt these last few days that he was that influence, and that maybe she deserved better but he was what she had and now that's over. Sometimes we invest ourselves in bad people. Sometimes bad people do good things. I dig it.
BDA: MethodicalSlacker for Max. The more I've marinated on this scene the more it's worked for me. Max is such an irredeemably shitty person, and it's kinda easy to wince away from this death as an unearned shot at washing that away through sacrifice. That's not really what's going on here though. Max's perspective is one of utilitarian justice while the emotional heart of the scene goes to Darlene who is losing her sense of direction with his passing. This might be projecting but there's an unspoken regret between them compounded by all of Max's self-doubt these last few days that he was that influence, and that maybe she deserved better but he was what she had and now that's over. Sometimes we invest ourselves in bad people. Sometimes bad people do good things. I dig it.
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dlymbd
BKA: Arizona Butler. This was a hell of a scene all the way around, with everyone involved doing just a great job with both the fight choreography and the emotions involved. Quinn really is a boss battle, or a slasher villain, or whatever other analogy you want to use, and the carefully calculated but still brutal action required to take her down really emphasizes that. Arizona and Jonah play their roles as the heroes of this short story beautifully here, and Arizona in particular showed a lot of buried anger and passion in her takedown of Quinn; Jonah backs her up in a more supporting role, and both also show in subtle ways throughout the scene how much they care for each other. Just brilliantly done, guys.
Honorable mentions go to Blaise and Ace, who are both unraveling in very compelling ways as their character arcs continue to tumble down unexplored paths.
BDA: Megan Summers. This is also a great scene, for very different reasons than the Arizona/Jonah/Quinn dustup. While that scene is a tightly choreographed showdown of good versus evil, this scene is messy, dense, and deeply emotional on all sides. Megan and Princess have excellent narrative chemistry and their conversation has an intimacy that not many moments on the island manage; when Blaise bursts into the scene with their spiraling thoughts, straight off of watching one of the few people they care about die, you really get a sense of something important being lost. Megan is someone who has been struggling with living for a long time, and naturally the moment she finds something worth living for both it and her life are ripped away from her. It's one of those inevitable tragedies of the island, but the scene hammers it home so well for me.
Honorable mentions go to Quinn, for all the reasons listed above, Cecil and Max, for making me very sad, and Sven, for whatever the hell that was.
Honorable mentions go to Blaise and Ace, who are both unraveling in very compelling ways as their character arcs continue to tumble down unexplored paths.
BDA: Megan Summers. This is also a great scene, for very different reasons than the Arizona/Jonah/Quinn dustup. While that scene is a tightly choreographed showdown of good versus evil, this scene is messy, dense, and deeply emotional on all sides. Megan and Princess have excellent narrative chemistry and their conversation has an intimacy that not many moments on the island manage; when Blaise bursts into the scene with their spiraling thoughts, straight off of watching one of the few people they care about die, you really get a sense of something important being lost. Megan is someone who has been struggling with living for a long time, and naturally the moment she finds something worth living for both it and her life are ripped away from her. It's one of those inevitable tragedies of the island, but the scene hammers it home so well for me.
Honorable mentions go to Quinn, for all the reasons listed above, Cecil and Max, for making me very sad, and Sven, for whatever the hell that was.
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deathtrain past dark
Hi hello here are my boats
BDA: A X E L
I read through all 13 deaths presented, and this was the first death I read. And when I finished reading it, I knew my vote would end up going here.
It is very hard for media to actually make me feel things. Most stuff I vote for is stuff that I can appreciate quietly and go 'Hey, this was a good scene.' Axel's death made me very sad and fragile for three days, and I was legitimately close to crying a few times. I am actually scared to read the rest of Axel's stuff out of fear of triggering another emotional reaction like that.
It has several things going for it, from the heavy sense of mourning and longing for Andy at the beginning of the kill thread, to the sense of loss, disappearance during the one-shot before his death thread, to the death thread proper where enough of Axel has disappeared for him to be a shell of himself, but enough has lingered on for him to register and feel the hurt and grief his friends feel over him, for him to hurt and suffer and lie in confusion. I'm somewhat rambling, but this thread was so deeply painful and I don't know if I want to read something like that again, but bravo. I am not exaggerating when I say no piece of media has affected me like that.
BKA: Blaise
This was a split decision between them and Arizona, and the Arizona scene is a very fun, slasher movie-esque fight that I thoroughly enjoyed, and Arizona fulfilled her role as final girl well. That being said, there's a few things that pushed Blaise to the top for me.
There's the fact that them being rewarded for murdering their ex would probably rub salt in the wound, and I want to see how that plays out.
But mainly, there's two things. What I'm about to say may be taken as a backhanded compliment, but know that I mean this in the most positive way possible.
Basically, the thread itself is a very gay, emotional fever dream, and I don't think you can use those words to describe many other threads. Cicada and Paige and Zetsu have such such good synergy here, and though I don't completely understand everything that has happened and is currently happening, all of them are amazing at building atmosphere, at building this sense of intimacy and longing and self-denial and regret.
Secondly, the character work between all of them is amazing, and for the sake of this vote, I'll focus on Blaise and Megan. First off, Megan Deserved Better. But also, the thread does a great job at building this image of a complex, turbulent relationship between the two, with Megan consistently yielding and Blaise consistently taking, and those dynamics are on full display here. There's also the tremendous amount of character work being put into Blaise, who is coming off the heels of their best friend dying in their arms. Paige does amazing at portraying this sheer hurricane of a character, whose facades and rationalizations and lies are finally, finally crumbling down around them. You feel sorry for them, but you don't also, because of all the destruction they leave behind, because of all the venom they spit.
The thread is a /lot/ to take in, but I don't think I could justify not recognizing its efforts somehow, so that's where my BKA goes.
BDA: A X E L
I read through all 13 deaths presented, and this was the first death I read. And when I finished reading it, I knew my vote would end up going here.
It is very hard for media to actually make me feel things. Most stuff I vote for is stuff that I can appreciate quietly and go 'Hey, this was a good scene.' Axel's death made me very sad and fragile for three days, and I was legitimately close to crying a few times. I am actually scared to read the rest of Axel's stuff out of fear of triggering another emotional reaction like that.
It has several things going for it, from the heavy sense of mourning and longing for Andy at the beginning of the kill thread, to the sense of loss, disappearance during the one-shot before his death thread, to the death thread proper where enough of Axel has disappeared for him to be a shell of himself, but enough has lingered on for him to register and feel the hurt and grief his friends feel over him, for him to hurt and suffer and lie in confusion. I'm somewhat rambling, but this thread was so deeply painful and I don't know if I want to read something like that again, but bravo. I am not exaggerating when I say no piece of media has affected me like that.
BKA: Blaise
This was a split decision between them and Arizona, and the Arizona scene is a very fun, slasher movie-esque fight that I thoroughly enjoyed, and Arizona fulfilled her role as final girl well. That being said, there's a few things that pushed Blaise to the top for me.
There's the fact that them being rewarded for murdering their ex would probably rub salt in the wound, and I want to see how that plays out.
But mainly, there's two things. What I'm about to say may be taken as a backhanded compliment, but know that I mean this in the most positive way possible.
Basically, the thread itself is a very gay, emotional fever dream, and I don't think you can use those words to describe many other threads. Cicada and Paige and Zetsu have such such good synergy here, and though I don't completely understand everything that has happened and is currently happening, all of them are amazing at building atmosphere, at building this sense of intimacy and longing and self-denial and regret.
Secondly, the character work between all of them is amazing, and for the sake of this vote, I'll focus on Blaise and Megan. First off, Megan Deserved Better. But also, the thread does a great job at building this image of a complex, turbulent relationship between the two, with Megan consistently yielding and Blaise consistently taking, and those dynamics are on full display here. There's also the tremendous amount of character work being put into Blaise, who is coming off the heels of their best friend dying in their arms. Paige does amazing at portraying this sheer hurricane of a character, whose facades and rationalizations and lies are finally, finally crumbling down around them. You feel sorry for them, but you don't also, because of all the destruction they leave behind, because of all the venom they spit.
The thread is a /lot/ to take in, but I don't think I could justify not recognizing its efforts somehow, so that's where my BKA goes.
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RevolutionaryGuest
BKA: Ace for the kill on Parker
I thought this was a nice scene overall as well as a nice death. I enjoyed seeing Blaise and Parker just kind of be themselves at each other, but I also liked the character work from Ace. I thought his motivations made sense relating to his past experiences with killers and this is a kill that will mean a lot of his (possible) downward spiral. Good job to everyone in the thread and nice job to Ace.
BDA: Axel
I really enjoyed this death. Everything in the fight thread helps establish all of the different relationships at play and each character is very interesting on their own. This was a simple, but well organized fight scene. Beyond that, I thought it was a very realistic depiction of head trauma and I felt like Fenris used the effects of the injury to always give us more Axel information or atmosphere. The final thread with the three principals is great and there's a lot of heart in this as Axel slowly drifts away. It's not maudlin and it is effectively touching. Well done.
I thought this was a nice scene overall as well as a nice death. I enjoyed seeing Blaise and Parker just kind of be themselves at each other, but I also liked the character work from Ace. I thought his motivations made sense relating to his past experiences with killers and this is a kill that will mean a lot of his (possible) downward spiral. Good job to everyone in the thread and nice job to Ace.
BDA: Axel
I really enjoyed this death. Everything in the fight thread helps establish all of the different relationships at play and each character is very interesting on their own. This was a simple, but well organized fight scene. Beyond that, I thought it was a very realistic depiction of head trauma and I felt like Fenris used the effects of the injury to always give us more Axel information or atmosphere. The final thread with the three principals is great and there's a lot of heart in this as Axel slowly drifts away. It's not maudlin and it is effectively touching. Well done.
Voting has now closed. Votes will be revealed and the announcement posted later today.
"Art enriches the community, Steve, no less than a pulsing fire hose, or a fireman beating down a blazing door. So what if we're drawing a nude man? So what if all we ever draw is a nude man, or the same nude man over and over in all sorts of provocative positions? Context, not content! Process, not subject! Don't be so gauche, Steve, it's beneath you."