Unofficial TV3 Final Toasters Club/Discussion Thread

[Kermit]

The He-Had-It-Coming Award: maaaaaan fuck anthony sideways with a pitchfork

The Destined-For-Great-Things Award: Sea Draugr Adam Dodd

[MurderWeasel]

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[b]The Everything Else Award:[/b] If it doesn't fit anywhere above but you want to give it a shoutout, put it here.

~free space~

This got added to just do whatever with. Today it gives me a break! Sometimes I write big spiels here. Sometimes I just add a couple characters who deserve mention but didn't fit neatly elsewhere. But this is almost always the last question I actually fill out.

[+] My take

The Everything Else Award: If it doesn't fit anywhere above but you want to give it a shoutout, put it here.

I'm probably going to add more content here later, but for now this goes to Pippi, who was really something else!

[Applesintime]

this is what I get for being like, three or four days behind. these are probably gonna be short but I will fill them out later

Best Tactics: The validity of these tactics are debatable, but Mandy Gross' tactic of shacking up with the biggest killer so she can be defended and also have friends is certainly a good one; so far, she's managed to survive major injury. OOC, of course, it's been fun to watch the dynamic between her and Seo-yun evolve, but all good things must come to an end, and now I'm excited to see how the new Respects evolve.

The Sympathy Award: Ooh, this has to be Luanne Grasset. Throughout her trials and tribulations in TV3, Luanne never gave up, even as her friends were murdered by madmen, the escape team died en masse, and her odds looked less and less likely. She developed a rapport with Jewel and Stephanie, made a lot of modern art posts, and of course, is Mini's first successful escape. (I think?) And we were rooting for her the entire time.

The Empathy Award: Although he didn't even get a post of his own, I find Oliver Sheffield's reaction to waking up, finding his bag has slid off into the ocean and then deciding that he's going to steal someone else's bag relatable, and then his horrible - if accidental - fate is one of the grislier ones in this season, I find. May go back to this and flesh it out a little more, but I'd have loved to see more.

The Gone-Too-Soon Award: I'm gonna throw this one to Cassini Evans; she died really early on, but her voice was great and it sucks that she went so early. Alas, rolls tend to kill your character. Really, there's a lot of great people that went out too early, it's hard to pin it down to just one.

The He-Had-It-Coming Award: Now, I know it may be a little taboo to give this to your own character, but I've already put down Fisk elsewhere like, once or twice and I hate double dipping so this one goes to Anthony, who has flip-flopped between "players are bad and evil" and "players are good but only if it's me", showing little to no remorse for the seven people he has murdered (well, Beau's arguable). He's killed two or three of his own friends, killed a couple of random people, and worst of all, he's English.

The Destined-For-Great-Things Award: Now that Lucia's going to be dead, I think Olivia del Rio is going to have a fun trip through the rest of the game, especially seeing as she's going to presumably be teaming with Ivan, which also brings her into the sights of the Respects. I'm very curious to see how she reacts to the loss of her friend.

The Everything Else Award: Blank for now!

[DerArknight]

Best Tragic Character: Amanda Brooks had one of the saddest arcs of the version. Her story is one of constant despair, insecurity and loneliness.

Best Humorous Character: Mandy Gross stands out for her very amusing narration, perfectly encapsuling her clumsiness without making the whole scene unbelivable.

Best Tactics: While he is clearly not in his best mental state, Fisk bateman's plans still have hands and feet. Everything he does has a purpose, even if it appears to be random at first glance.

The Sympathy Award: I hope that Luanne Grasset will manage to hold onto her morals and not be consumed by the chaos that her live will surely turn into now that she has written history as the first escapee since season 60 (or season 58 if you don't count 60 as a proper escape).

The Empathy Award: Leah Hemingway.

The Gone-Too-Soon Award: RJ Blackburn would have been cool to hang around for a bit longer.

The He-Had-It-Coming Award: Nadine Flores, the most vile of all villains.

Just kidding.

Anthony Golden may have given up his delusions of being righteous, but he still has amassed many sins and painted a big target on his back, having the highest bodycount of the survivors (and if you compare him with TV1 and TV2, is the biggest killer of the TV-verse if you ignore the 10k-releases!). So things are about to get harder for him.

The Destined-For-Great-Things Award: I am very interested to see what will become of Kaya Robinson, now that her main-goal of protecting Bethan failed and her second goal of avenging Bethan is already fullfilled. What makes her especially interesting is that she is the only one in the final ten who is all on her own. Everyone else managed to link up with their teammates, but she is the last remaining Buccaneer.

The Everything Else Award: The "Most Missed Inactive Loss"-award goes to Mariko Whitney. Nothing against the other characters who got inactive-killed, but while the others all had potential, Mariko didn't just have potential but also got to show it. Especially her final thread before she went inactive stands out for basically ending on a cliffhanger, making me curious how she would act going forward. Turned out she wouldn't act at all.

At least we got a very good inactive-double-death and her legacy lives on in the form of her harpoon gun being picked up first by Sofia before landing in the hands of Akeno.

[almostinhuman]

The Empathy Award: It took me a bit but Elliott-Blair Østergaard gets this one. Hitching your wagon to a player-shaped horse to stay alive isn't necessarily a heroic line of reasoning, but it's certainly one that's easy to understand, particularly when that player is a friend of yours. Elliot's great precisely because he is understandable and sympathetic and desperate, but he's also a bit selfish, complicit in Gabriela's killing, and not above manipulating her a bit to keep her going. He didn't last too long without Gabby, dying to everyone's favorite zealot specifically because of his involvement with her, leaving his story on a bit of a depressing finisher.

I'm also gonna give an aside and say most of the above applies to Mandy Gross too, who's great for similar reasons (aside from being dead, since she isn't, yet).

The He-Had-It-Coming Award: Fisk Bateman has gotten up to some grim shit over the course of TV3, and also seen everything he tried to build crumble to dust and all his friends die horribly, all casualties to his rivalry with Ivan. He's now one of the last members of the Respects left kicking, and almost certainly doomed to die, but even if he wasn't, there's clearly not an ending for him where things work out; he's pretty much already lost.

The Destined-For-Great-Things Award: That Larissa Grassman character I keep hearing about seems like she's got some cool epilogue shit set out for her.

For folks still actually in the game, I'm super excited to see where things go for Kaya Robinson, now that she's both failed to protect Bethan and also gotten her revenge.

The Leah Hemingway Award: idk I just like her and haven't mentioned her yet lol

[MurderWeasel]

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[size=125][u][b]Scenes and Deaths[/b][/u][/size]

[b]Best Tragedy:[/b] Which scene or death made you the most teary eyed?

[b]The Stomach-Churner Award:[/b] Which scene or death has most effectively played with the gory/violent/overall disturbing side of the game?

Now we move into the scene zone! A lot of these questions focus on similar stuff to the last section, but applied to moments rather than characters (and it used to be even more like this, too). Sometimes there's overlap (funny characters tend to have funny scenes!) but I usually try not to double up too hard.

Also, while it's definitely not mandatory, this is a spot where links can be extra helpful so folks can go read the scenes in question.

When it comes to tragedy, I like scenes that either wring something unexpected out of the characters/concept, or else ones that bring things around and make the premise real and painful again; after reading hundreds of death scenes over the years, things can lose a little of the oomph of novelty and a nice bit of tragedy goes a long way towards rectifying that.

For the gore award, a lot more is about the manner of the delivery than the sheer quantity. Some of the most upsetting things I've encountered have been relatively tame in the grand scheme of things, but given the proper framing and focus to really sell how nasty they are. Some folks can write a splinter as nastier than a decapitation.

[+] My take

Scenes and Deaths

Best Tragedy: Which scene or death made you the most teary eyed? It's certainly not the most tragic pound for pound, but I have to give it to Fisk's grief over Giselle's death. What makes this special is that it's a moment of completely believable, painful humanity, which can in that instant get us on Fisk's side despite the fact that he's absolutely one of the most terrible people in the game and the person whose death he's lamenting was just as bad. It's a beat that shows the emotion and fallout, even on those who want to be above it all (and Fisk is good for a few of these throughout the game).

The Stomach-Churner Award: Which scene or death has most effectively played with the gory/violent/overall disturbing side of the game? Lots of good stuff here (and I of course want to shout out Gregory's flaying in part for knowing when to not go full on graphic) but one of the things that really stuck with me was Elliot-Blair's description of Calla's body, and really a few of the depictions of death in the back half of his story. Retro doesn't dwell too much on it, but pulls out just the right beats to make things suitably gross and upsetting, even if the violence was in the past.

[Kermit]

Scenes and Deaths

Best Tragedy: I know I already said her but Pippi made me cry for a whole day in real life

The Stomach-Churner Award: "Ferrous odor mixed with the salt in the air and the sight of what was essentially an exploded ketchup packet between the crates"

[MurderWeasel]

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[b]Best Impact:[/b] Which scene or death do you think best played a positive role in changing the course of the game?

[b]Best Comedy:[/b] Which scene or death served as the best comic relief?

In some ways, it's easier to pick an impactful scene than a character. Moments have a way of resonating and shaping characters, and they tend to be directly called back more often. We're also late enough now to have a pretty good idea what had actual staying power beyond its moment.

With comedy, scenes can be distinguished by involving more of the participants. Sometimes, great comedy scenes can wring humor even from characters who are mostly more straight-faced. Sometimes, all it takes is one heroic effort to get me cackling.

[+] My take

Best Impact: Which scene or death do you think best played a positive role in changing the course of the game? I have two nominations here. The first is ★, the first thread (and death) of the version, which opened it with a level of sprawling, emotional weirdness that turned out to be a pretty on-point intro to what TV3 as a whole would be doing. It was wrapped up in friendship and betrayal, with a side of blurring the lines between form and story, and it had IC influence in the form of starting Verity on a path that has continued until now (and constantly circles back to it).

My other pick is the two biggest escape groups linking up because this really set the tone for the escape plotline in TV3, casting it as a bloody, fumbling relay race as various figures came and went but the goal remained the same. Nobody in this thread made it to participate in the actual dash to freedom, but all of them had their little pieces of influence on it.

Best Comedy: Which scene or death served as the best comic relief? Dark humor throughout, but I want to give a nod to the thread that saw Alaska's and Sylvain's deaths. The group was one that overflowed with attitude and humor, both in larger interactions and in smaller moments, with Sylvain and Laura serving as constantly entertaining PoVs while antagonizing everything that moved, and Sergio swooping in with scene-stealing one-liners. A good reminder that tragedy and comedy are not mutually exclusive.

[Kermit]

Best Impact: What is this, a question ^answering _site?^?

Best Comedy: Me, Kermit, giving you psychic damage with the above answer's obnoxious formatting.

[MurderWeasel]

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[b]The Sunglasses-and-Explosions Award:[/b] Which scene or death had the best action going on?

[b]Best Feeling-Inducer:[/b] Which scene or death provoked the best emotional reaction from you?

Sunglasses-and-Explosions is the more positive renaming of "most action-packed," which tended to be another booby prize award sometimes used to suggest a scene was deficient in realism. For this, I like to balance scenes that have a lot of action with scenes that make specific tactical use of the action they do have. Sure, a big constant fight (or series of them) can be exciting, but sometimes a specific beat does all it has to in only a couple posts.

Feeling-Inducer is an interesting one because it covers a large range of stuff. For me specifically, though, what gets me is moments when characters kind of step up and transcend their fictional status for a little and provoke feelings of empathy and sorrow for their terrible fates. That's what usually gets this from me.

[+] My take

The Sunglasses-and-Explosions Award: Which scene or death had the best action going on? We've had a lot of chase scenes over the years, including a fair few spanning multiple threads, but few have stuck the landing as well as Gregory's doomed flight from the Respects. What really sells this one for me is that it doesn't waste time being too sprawling. It cuts in on the key moments, gives the important beats to sell the emotion and chaos, and then moves on. Special shout-out to Verity being out of breath all the time.

Also, of course, a positive word in this category has to go to Akeno, who lives and breathes excellent action scenes to the point that singling one out in specific is nigh impossible (and if I did, it'd be the one I gave this to at halfway).

Best Feeling-Inducer: Which scene or death provoked the best emotional reaction from you? I really dug the scene where Gabby and Elliot-Blair consider abandoning the plan and then don't. It's a wonderful moment because their paths have led them to this point where they've sunk so much time and effort and hope into this horrible course of action, and can see that it probably won't pay off, but their care for each other and the distance they've already traveled mean they can't figure any way out other than to try to just keep muscling through. Powerful and tragic stuff.

[almostinhuman]

Scenes and Deaths

Best Tragedy: A competitive category, to be sure, but I'm picking It Means Everything. Beau is such an endearing character, so it really hurts seeing him so broken at this stage as he begs Anthony to kill him. Worse still, it contributes, however unintentionally, to sending Anthony down his bloody path, lowering his inhibition to bloodshed just enough for him to start snowballing into one of the version's worst killers; it's not merely a tragedy of one death, but seven (and possibly more depending on what comes next).

The Stomach-Churner Award: Britnee's absolutely awful death from her own acid weapon. Not only is the scene tragic, but the descriptions of her injuries are just graphic enough to make the extent and severity of the damage clear, while leaving some of the specifics to the imagination. The acid also harms her murderer in ways that are only somewhat less gruesome, and even her friend Diana is affected by the fumes.

Best Impact: Given the sheer influence the involved characters have had on the version, and how much this thread set up for what came next, it's gotta go to F's in the chat. It doesn't get much more influential than establishing the Respects and setting up their blood feud with Ivan.

Best Comedy: I know I'm repeating myself but seriously. "I'm a tree." That it gets me out of having too write too much about this category is only part of it, honest!

The Sunglasses-and-Explosions Award: So I didn't want to include shit my murderous lunatic's in, but since she's only barely in this one, I'm giving it to When Betting On The High Card Pays Off. It's a shame it's Jasper's only real action scene but at least it's a really good one, and it's got a certain master of the subject in it too. Also I'm a sucker for action taking part across multiple threads, and while this is a more minor version of that it's still pretty neat.

Best Feeling-Inducer: The scene between Vasily and Fisk right before Vasily's death is just, so good. It's a great moment of vulnerability that reinforces why the Respects (and Fisk in particular) have taken the awful path they're on, and shows the particular bond between these two really well. That it's followed by Vasily's death and things going even more pear-shaped for the Respects as a whole only makes this scene more moving.

[MurderWeasel]

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[b]Best Drama:[/b] Which scene or death had you on the edge of your seat in the way of conflict, suspense, or drama?

[b]Best Surprise:[/b] Which scene or death caught you most off guard in a pleasant way, either through its unpredictable nature or its unique execution?

I view drama as sort of the social equivalent of the action award. I usually pick a scene that has some kind of push-and-pull emotional conflict, an argument or characters failing to see eye to eye or a hideous misunderstanding or something.

For surprise, I like scenes that either caught me completely off-guard, or scenes that sidestep the obvious resolution. Unrolled deaths are often nice surprises, but there are plenty of times where what's going to happen is clear enough but the path there remains wildly unpredictable.

[+] My take

Best Drama: Which scene or death had you on the edge of your seat in the way of conflict, suspense, or drama? I really enjoyed the conversation between Junji and Caleb. It's a great moment of tension where one party is playing with fire without realizing it, and Slam does a great job of telegraphing Junji's evolving (and worsening) mood. It also stands out for leading directly into a death despite nobody being rolled; Courtney deserves a tip of the hat for following the logic of the scene to its inevitable conclusion, and keeping it from feeling predictable at the same time.

Best Surprise: Which scene or death caught you most off guard in a pleasant way, either through its unpredictable nature or its unique execution? RJ heel turns right before his death. Swinging a character's path is a risky choice even in normal circumstances, and to go in on a player turn from a character knowing that they aren't going to really get to dwell in that space for long takes real guts. AnimeNerd took what could've been a pretty standard rematch and made it something really different due to RJ's evolution in perspective. Cool stuff.

[Applesintime]

Scenes and Deaths

Best Tragedy: I really love Stokes and Junji's interaction here, in her death thread. Junji, someone who's sorta had his character built up as this mean dude who's not really socially competent or caring for other people, gets a really good humanising scene here, where he refuses to leave his best friend even as she tries to persuade him to go, all underscored by the Respects moving in to kill.

The Stomach-Churner Award: It's a short scene, but I liked Genevieve's death. It's short but sweet, and the buildup of her dislocated arm causing her to fall off the ladder as she tries to escape the DZ helps frame it all beautifully, as well as gives context to her desperation in her attempt to shoot the collar off.

Best Impact: Bit of a milquetoast answer, but I'm gonna go with F's in the chat for setting up Ivan and the Respects' dynamic, as well as introducing us to the Respects themselves, two hugely important parts of TV3 as a whole.

Best Comedy: "I'm a tree." Look, no matter what happens next in TV3, even if Fisk dons a clown outfit and starts unicycling around the flotilla while singing Katy Perry at the top of his lungs, nothing's beating the tree.

The Sunglasses-and-Explosions Award: I do like the gunfight in face box face - it's not as dramatic or as awesome as some of the choices, but the general chaos of bullets flying everywhere in an area with little cover and a night illuminated only by gunshots is fun, if a different sort of chaotic.

Best Feeling-Inducer: Leah's death thread. I love Leah as a character, and seeing her just giving up right when she had the chance to take out the season's biggest killer to instead willingly die at her hands was a little depressing. In the end, though, Leah did get her wish that her death would mean something, as Seo-yun's got out, leaving the death with a sort of bittersweet note.

Best Drama: It's lowkey, but I like the Fisk and Vasily conversation before Vasily dies. Seeing Fisk, who's normally this jovial and cheerful cult leader, rendered down into crying as reality hits him like a truck and Vasily's attempts to comfort him was rather touching, even if it's not too drama-inducing.

Best Surprise: Matias Juarez not dying in I Want to Conquer the World. Seeing as Matias had been rolled and he was in a thread with a known killer, I figured that was his death thread. But instead, he lasted one more thread to reunite with Ashanti and get some great moments before getting gunned down by Seo-yun.

[MurderWeasel]

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[size=125][u][b]Teams/Mentors/TV Universe[/b][/u][/size]

[b]The Mason Ross Teamwork Award:[/b] Credit to NAFT for the name. Which is your favorite team this season?

[b]The This-Kill-Is-Brought-To-You-By-Verizon Award:[/b] Who is your favorite mentor from this cast?

We now move into the unique TV-exclusive section of the Toasters. As such, these questions don't really have equivalents in older versions, and haven't changed much (TV1 did have a few "Who is your least favorite?" questions which were out of place; I can't recall but II imagine the idea was that, as it centered on staff writing, it was a bit more fair game and nobody's feelings would be hurt. Still, too negative for the Toasters). The team questions do pull from a smaller pool, what with TV3 having only seven teams, but I think that's part of the fun.

The names came around in TV2. The "Mason Ross Teamwork Award" is a reference to Mason's status as the only character in TV1 to kill a teammate. This is always a brutally difficult question for me, and I tend to go with a mix of a team I like the characters on, a team I like the dynamic of, and a team of handlers I just want to shout out.

The Verizon reference is also to a specific moment from TV1, and one of the most (in)famous mentors in the TV1 cast. This one also has a limited pool, and is set to test my resolve to not nominate the same thing twice in a row. Generally, as a reader, I value mentors that serve to enhance the stories of their team members while also feeling distinct and well-defined, and being an active part of the proceedings.

[+] My take

Teams/Mentors/TV Universe

The Mason Ross Teamwork Award: Credit to NAFT for the name. Which is your favorite team this season? There are no bad teams, but I think the lack of much team pride makes it easy to forget just how stacked the Krakens were in terms of quality, interesting characters. Every single one of them was involved in something cool during their time in the game, and those who went out early in most cases left a real impression while doing so. I also enjoyed how the vast majority of them immediately dunked on, chewed out, or stated their intent to ignore their mentor, which gave them a really plucky, confrontational sort of vibe.

The This-Kill-Is-Brought-To-You-By-Verizon Award: Who is your favorite mentor from this cast? Since I'm not doubling down on Ben, I'm going to give some love to Stephanie of the Buccaneers for consistently innovating and offering an unexpectedly and quietly involved personal arc. Stephanie's interesting in that her own path through the game was complicated, as is her current relationship with it, and yet at the same time she became more personally invested than many of the others, even sabotaging one of her own as retribution for a betrayal.

I also need to, of course, offer a nod to the best, most competent mentor on the cast, who was horribly cheated with a time in the spotlight cut unjustly short preemptively.

[almostinhuman]

I'm gonna handle the teams bit later

Best Drama: Ashanti holding Mandy hostage was a surprisingly tense and interesting sequence, especially given the difficulty of communication between the two, and the violent and inevitable conclusion of it. All the involved characters are great and it's a good followup to the chaotic tangle in the banquet hall that led them there.

Best Surprise: So this is entirely because I'm illiterate and don't always read all of his many oneshots, but Ivan popping right the fuck out of nowhere and skewering Bacchia was a certainly a surprise when it happened, even knowing at the time that she was rolled. Maybe if I could read it wouldn't have been, but they didn't teach that at my school.