V7 BKA/BDA Voting: July 2020

[actual2ndlasttrain]

haldo. it is i the locomotive

BDA: Deamon for the death of Arizona Butler
This thread right here is just a masterclass in writing tbh and bravo to Deamon and Toben for it. It's very tightly written. What's on the page is what is needed to understand plot, to provide maximum emotional impact. I feel it's kinda easy to screw up these deaths that go for forgiveness and peaceful endings suddenly, it's pretty easy for it to go all schmaltzy, but it really, really works in Arizona's case. There's a lot of payoff here, like, this is the culmination of a tangled web of arcs consisting of Beryl, Darlene, Michael, Jonah, and Arizona, but despite all that subtext going on, the thread is simple. It's beautiful in its simplicity. Arizona chooses to forgive Darlene, much as Jonah would have, and her last act is to pass on more memories of Jonah to Darlene, who she hopes will keep Jonah's memory alive. They bond over the one connection they have, and regret that they did not get to spend more time together. It's sweet in a very bitter manner, but it's the closest to a happy ending I think we'll see. It's a beautiful thread. I really really wanted to send a vote Darlene's way, because she is amazing in this thread, but in terms of kill motivations and characterization and stuff, there's one other scene I prefer.

BKA: Ace Ortega for killing Connor Lorenzen
This thread is Also a masterclass in writing. My vote here is going to Ace, but I want to harp on about both Ace and Connor because Connor was also a very close contender for BDA for me. I love the progression here. There's a sort of reversal of dynamics that plays out throughout the threads that is sold amazingly on both ends. On Ace's end, you see him slowly, painfully push himself towards killing his mentor, his best friend, his quarterback. The motifs that Ace's prose is so fond of using are used to amazing effect here. 'This ain't a team sport' will probably be the line emblazoned on the site banner if Ace ever wins BDA. On Connor's end, I love the horror that sets in as he realizes that this will be the one situation he'll never be able to talk his way out of, and I love seeing how he copes with that realization, how he sort of reframes his past experience on the island as a coping mechanism. It is an amazing character study for the both of them, and a defining turning point for Ace. Bravo.

[iamaguest]

My vote for BKA and BDA goes to Blaise and Stephanie for their incredible scene in Stop Crying Your Heart Out.

I don't normally like to vote for scenes I'm a part of (I recognize the inherent bias in me liking something I had a practical and emotional involvement with) but I feel 100% okay here because 1) Daria's contributions to the scene are never the spotlight and 2) there's just so much about what decoy and EP that works, on a mechanical, narrative, and emotional level. I mean, Blaise is already one of my top-tier V7 villains (along with Erika and Quinn): she's managing to walk this difficult, incredible line between the manipulative, narrative impact of V4's Aaron Hughes and the deep-villain psychosadism of V6's Isabel Ramirez. I'm honestly having trouble thinking of a villain quite like her in previous versions.

Blaise's scenes (and EP's writing in general) are always worth reading, but decoy takes it to the next level with Stephanie. I always enjoy threading with decoy because their writing, while sometimes spartan, is always both effective and impactful. Decoy is one of the best people on the site at doing a lot with just a little. And when you put them together here, the scene sparkles. Blaise's best moments involve her understanding and preying upon the people she's interacting with, but Stephanie gets a meta revenge here by physically playing along without ever really compromising herself. Blaise tries to put her in a sadistic game, and Stephanie treats the moment with all the dignity she has, in spite of her fear and her grief. And the denouement, where Stephanie finally snaps, ready to commit vengeful violence after everything, her high dignity marred by genuine rage with a streak of vanity, only for Blaise to gun her down, and for Stephanie to die with defiance on her lips? It's terrific.

BDA honorable mentions to Cactus and Ryuki for Connor and Zach (in part because I'm legitimately sad I won't get a chance to interact with them again)

BKA honorable mention to Erika Stieglitz for a pretty thrilling double kill

[DotingVoting]

BKA: Ace for Justin

I had a hard time going back and forth between this and Ace/Connor. The two scenes have very different feels to them as the second is the kind of character progression from the first. I settled on the second because of how dynamic the thread is with our two boys. It is a brutal death that is the culmination of Justin having escaped Ace several times and acting as a kind of symbol of him being unwilling to square up in the past. With the Connor kill done, he is ready now and it is nasty. I also want to point out that Ace has a lot of very funny and amusing lines in this (RIP Harambe). Justin is a great partner in this, being so pathetic that I almost felt badly for him despite fully deserving what he got.

Shout out: Ace for Connor, Marcy (who is ineligible), Blaise and their makeup murder tutorial and making me laugh and Darlene (who I will get to in a minute. Follow me to the next section pls)


BDA: Arizona
I love this scene. It's wonderful. Toben and Deamon do such a great job of conveying this very delicate emotional aspect to these characters. A good ending is so rare on this island and it takes a special kind of effort to manage to snatch that from the jaws of the beast, so I'm happy that is what we got here. This is the story of a lot of people -- not just Arizona, and she brings them all to a close with a lot of grace. It's a story of people who were missing things in their lives and found them in other people, and so, they were able to be more complete people just before death. It is affecting and lovely. Wonderful work to both writers involved.

Shout out: Justin again for being a perfect wreck of a human, the fish Zach stole from Faith

[Not At All Cactus ♡]

My vote for BKA goes to Ace Ortega for killing Justin Greene because there are so many Beats jokes to be had... but seriously, my favorite kills involve both things being personal and visceral violence and this had all in spades (heh). The fact that Justin could have just as easily been shot and Ace chose the more awful death on purpose makes me think the terrorists would enjoy it.

If my BKA vote was for brutality, my BDA vote for Deamon for the death of Arizona Butler is about the tenderness and tragedy. Arizona died because of someone she had come to consider a friend, and those feelings remained even as she died in her arms. Deamon is super good at using brevity to great affect, and Toben killed it (heh) on his side of the death as well.

You are all rockstars, and I have more to say but the words get in the way... see y'all next vote/at the next hammers!

[Buko]

And that's it for voting time!