V7 BKA/BDA Voting: November 2019

[MK Kilmarnock]

Welcome once again to the Best Kill and Best Death Awards. As always, 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:
Marco Volker for killing Ariana Moretti
Madison Springer for killing Nathan Coleman
Quinn Abert for killing Meilin Zhou
Claudeson Bademosi for killing Bret Carter
Lorenzo Tavares for killing Dane Lennox
Declyn Grayson-Anthis for killing Drew Woods
Marco Volker for killing Colin McCabe


BEST DEATH AWARD:
Cactus for the death of Ariana Moretti
Emprexx Plush for the death of Nikki Nelson-Kelly
MK Kilmarnock for the death of Nathan Coleman
BlizzardeyeWonder for the death of Meilin Zhou
Deamon for the death of Bret Carter
Kotorikun for the death of Dane Lennox
Primrosette for the death of Drew Woods
Catche Jagger for the death of Colin McCabe
Slam for the death of Lucas Brady



Voting will run for five days. Votes will remain hidden until time is up, and the winners will be declared in the following announcement.

[Guest Who]

BKA: Claudeson for killing Bret

Lots of good kills this go-round, but Claudeson stands out to me for a few reasons. I always enjoy payoff to long-running arcs, and the evolution of Claudeson and Bret from their nighttime confrontation in Pregame to their final encounter is fascinating. We see the roles reversed; then, Claudeson was the staunch pacifist bringing Bret up short with the threat of nonviolent reprisal, whereas now it's Claudeson exerting force before Bret even gets a chance to react. I also appreciated the chill calculation behind some of Claudeson's actions; his speech is at times lofty, but if anyone has earned that right through scenes leading up to this point, it's surely him. Claudeson's one of the harder to predict killers, one with a whole lot of wheels turning at any given time, and this kill I feel forms an important step on his path, while also serving as an abrupt yet vital close to one of Pregame's big events.

BDA: Kotorikun for Dane

I'm sad Kotorikun didn't get more time with Dane, because there was some really good stuff going on, but I feel like his death is still really, really strong. Throughout the scene, Dane's characterization is kept in the foreground, as his acerbic nature and over-inflated opinion of himself contribute to his downfall without feeling exaggerated or rendering him wholly unsympathetic. All of this culminates in a death post that is quite brutal without spending too long on the gory details; it's painful and chilling in how it confronts both the end of Dane's life and the false promises of his privileged upbringing. It was really good work all around, and I'm very impressed by the versatility in voice and characterization we saw; I'm quite stoked to see what Kotori does with future characters too.

[Monika Justice]

EVENIN' ERRYONE IT'S MAAAAAAAWNIKA JUSTICE HERE TO GIVE Y'ALL THE TEA*

*Monika Justice's opinions on death island deathening

Let's go!

BKA: Claudeson Bademosi for killing Bret Carter

Claudeson is a character I've loved getting into the head of, and this scene was no exception. Really, all three characters involved in this kill were ones I've enjoyed reading, this scene being no exception. Even when I knew how it would end I was holding my breath, and this is one of those times where the focus on connections v7 has really shines. Regardless of what happens, I want to see how the survivors move forward from it, though I think Claudeson getting the BKA for this will make that journey a whole lot more interesting.

BDA: MK Kilmarnock for the death of Nathan Coleman

We all knew Nathan's death was going to wreck us- I knew, and I was emotionally wrecked anyway. MK's writing of Nathan pulled at my heartstrings from day one, made me smile and made me cry. I also wanna commend Mimi while I'm at it, the whole thread's a good, if difficult read. The whole situation is fucked up and sad but in the end it provokes a feeling of catharsis rather than outrage for me, because there wasn't any way Nathan's story would end happily. All in all, really good work MK and Mimi, have the shattered pieces of my heart.

/sentimentality, MAAAAAAWNIKA OUT

[manlet rights]

BKA: Voting Madison Springer for the killing of Nathan Coleman. Thought it was a good scene, but I'd also be lying if I didn't say this vote is in part because I specifically want to see her reaction to getting rewarded for her actions.

BDA: Emprexx Plush for the death of Nikki Nelson-Kelly. I really enjoyed the unfortunately short time Emprexx got to write Nikki with, but Nikki's final oneshot is such a blast to read and just oozes with fun and style and you can really tell how much fun Emprexx had writing it. It's a close contest, but for that I have to give them my vote for the best death of this set.

[OkayIAmHereNow]

BKA: Marco Volker for his kill of Ariana Moretti. I really like the dynamic of how things ended up between Marco and Ariana as there was some good bad blood between the two of them and I liked the set-up of how it was building the kill up between the two characters. The kill was pretty brutal for a good reason and I think it made Marco stand out more as a threat to be taken more seriously.

BDA: MK for the death of Nathan Coleman. Oh boy. Nathan was definitely one of those whose deaths had really got to me and I couldn't forget how brutal his death was. I definitely think that MK and Mimi did a good job of keeping people in suspense in waiting for the death to come and it did not disappoint. I definitely think this one is up there with ones that actually deserve to shine as a good example of how heart-breaking and how terrifying it is to see an innocent character die.

[someone fun]

BDA: MKK for the death of Nathan Coleman
Reason: Ouch. Just flat out ouch. I think we all knew that whenever this happened, it would be uncomfortable, but it was incredibly uncomfortable the entire time. Nathan died the way that he lived, looking at the world with an innocence that was a rare bright spot in our fun little death contest. Uncomfortable to read and yet, blunt and done with care, to me, I think this one stood above the crowd.
BKA: Madison Springer for killing Nathan Coleman
Reason: It takes two to tango, and Mimi does a really wonderful job conveying Madison's disgust at her own actions, yet justification at trying to believe that she's done the right thing, the merciful thing. It's sad, and made even worse by the fact that she can't even finish him off quickly as she was trying to, probably hurting herself emotionally more than she would hurt Nathan, in the end. Really excellent stuff.

[greentea69]

Let's get straight to business we don't have all day do we I say as I don't get straight to the point

BKA: Marco Volker for disarming Ariana Moretti

This absolute mad red panda racoon just doesn't know when to stop, does he? He's fun to read. In this scene you can feel his sheer desperation of wanting to prove himself, to show that he's not just all talk. I liked the little countdown or countup I don't know words with the strikes before shit goes down. The action was absolutely brutal.

Shoutout to Quinn. I loved the bit where she's casually walking alongside Mei who's crawling away and dying after making her stab herself like damn watch her suffer while waiting for the loot I guess. Intriguing.

BDA: Emprexx Plush for the death of Nikki Nelson-Kelly

If you include the term Daddy Danya in your post you will always get my vote—

Anyway. The wanted and needed tension was there, she had it all planned out, but unfortunately, that's not how SOTF works. This post was a friendly reminder. Very entertaining.

[RoboNarples]

Best Kill Award: For this month, I'm choosing to vote for Madison Springer killing Nathan Coleman as the Best Kill. It's a deceptive death, looking like a nice "campfire" scene between Madison and Nathan, but it quickly turns to tragedy. Madison can see Nathan doesn't have what it takes to survive, and she takes the moment to kill him quickly and definitively. It was very Of Mice and Men, and felt as brutal and tragic as that. It's also a sharp contrast from the Madison we've seen before, so it makes me curious where she'll go from here, especially if she gets food and a weapon for this act.

Best Death Award: My vote for Best Death goes to Cactus for the death of Ariana Moretti. I really liked Ariana and was sad to see her go. However, this was not the way I expected her to go. Losing a limb is a pretty rough deal, especially losing it to a chainsaw and to Marco. I do like that it is a death that people normally don't do, as you can quickly bleed out and die from losing a limb, and there was definitely no way they had time to save her. But I also like that it did give Ariana time to chat to the guys and pass on some words to them. It was a brutal way for her to go, but I like that it at least felt like the right way for her to go. Plus, she shot Marco in the ass, so that automatically deserves BDA in my book.

[Triunicorn]

BKA: Madison Springer for killing Nathan Coleman

This was a scene that was coming for a while and that added to the tragedy. Nathan was always doomed the question was who would be the one to kill him. The fact that it's his protector and the multiple levels that can be applied to Madison's decision to kill it make all the more interesting, without even going into how visceral the scene itself is.

BDA: Primrosette for the death of Drew Woods

Another death that also a sense of inevitability to it, I like this one for the simplicity of the scene. Drew has been wounded for a long time, he needed better medical attention than he could have gotten on the island. So this eventual demise has always felt like it was coming. That said it's written very well by everyone involved and goes down as a more quiet scene, which I think helps make it more impactful in the long term.

[Hoes Tired]

It's me, I'm Hoes.

BKA: Marco Volker for killing Ariana Moretti

HOLY FUCK DID HE REALLY CUT HER FUCKING ARM OFF

WHAT

His mindset in this is just brutal, and Marco's transformation from nobody to nightmare was completed in this thread, I think. It's why he's my favorite of the current batch of players, he is just going all the way in. Also I will forever stan Ariana for literally bustin a cap in his ass.

BDA: Slam for the death of Lucas Brady

Lucas's death was OoCly super shocking, and not just because it was unrolled. Beating yourself to death with a rock because you just hate everything and just know it hates you back is a brutal, ugly thing.

You get the sense things could have been different had he not trauma Conga'd all up and through the island, but... it's sad.

Honorary nod to Emprexx Plush because Nikki's death actually made me grin in a sea of sadness, and I needed that.

[mikey frogs]

hi im not kermit i usually dont vote but im worried turnout might be low 'cus of the holiday season so HERE WE GO

BKA: Madison Springer for killing Nathan Coleman. Okay so like this was a big Oof for all involved and I really appreciated the desperation on Madison's end (esp like when she tries to dig a grave for Nathan but gives up). Nathan was also Good but he's not the killer so I don't have to give Ricky compliments right now hehe.

BDA: Deamon for the death of Bret Carter. It's hard to make me feel, like, actual emotion when I'm reading fiction (it's easy when i'm writing it though whoops), but Bret's death made me feel an oof deep in my bones, esp the sentence 'But still, Bret was going to miss that big bald idiot.' because it's like Aww they really did love each other. Honourable mentions to Ariana's death for being super cool and memorable, but like, not in an overblown way, Nathan's death for also making me feel an Oof, and Lucas's death for also also making me feel an Oof. Honestly this round all the kills/deaths were super rad so gj y'all.

[Guest]

BKA: Madison Springer for killing Nathan Coleman

Oof. Even though I kind of saw this coming, it was still a pretty harrowing read. I've consistently been impressed with the way Mimi and MK Kilmarnock have written the relationship between Madison & Nathan so far; ...A Smooth Criminal was a really fitting end to that, and I'm really looking forward to the ramifications on-island both for Madison and as others react to Nathan's death. I really liked the detail of Madison trying, and not quite succeeding to break Nathan's neck at first, as an aside.

BDA: Cactus for the death of Ariana Moretti

I'm a big fan of character deaths that kind of exemplify the core attributes of the character as they play out, and Ari's death was very much one of those. Hot-headed, tough, and loyal - all these things came through in her ending. Prying the gun out of her hand and using it to shoot at Marco was a pretty nice touch.

[oi mate]

Best Kill: Declyn Grayson-Anthis for killing Drew Woods. This was a mercy kill that felt like it had a very natural build-up on Drew's end, and I liked Declyn's reluctance and his regrets immediately after the fact. Mercy killing is usually framed as one of the better ways to kill someone, morally and emotionally, so it's nice to see someone really struggle with it. Declyn and his friends are just nice kids in a terrible situation, and this whole thread really drives that home.

Best Death: MK Kilmarnock for the death of Nathan Coleman. On the flip side of how Declyn/Drew went down, Nathan's death at Madison's hands had a sort of uncomfortable inevitability from the time they woke up in the same place. The whiplash from Nathan just enjoying spending time with his friend with a silly game to her trying to put him down as painlessly as possible is a tough read, but I really liked that Nathan's side of things avoided digging into the gory detail of it and instead focused on Nathan's feelings and his attempt to understand Madison's feelings, which was an important part of their interactions with each other throughout, from pregame to his death thread.

[GuestyGuest]

I vote now

KILL: Madison

Death: Nathan

It's the same scene so I'm gonna talk about it together. This was my favorite scene of the batch. I thought the build up to the kill itself was very well-paced and heartbreaking. You could really feel the desperation build and build on Madison and it's so sad, watching her try to create an imaginary scenario where she and Nathan are OK, only to realize its unsustainable. The kill on her end was absolutely gruesome, but Ricky holds up his end and made me so sad with Nathan's death. The fact that he intuitively knows and loves Madison back for what she's done gives me the weepies. Good job to both of you ;~;

SHOUTOUTS:

Dane/Lorenzo/Diego: This was simple but flavorful death. I thought it was pretty funny with Diego's failed bait gambit, and I also really liked how much personality everyone had and how they played off each other. It was an interesting facet of Lorenzo to want to keep someone around and Kotori did a good job with Dane's brutal death and attitude to the end.

Colin/Marco: These boys are my sons now. Also I feel like they are perfect for each other and that they understand each other in a way that's unique and leads to a wacky and fun death scene. I think Marco is at his best when he's with someone who matches his energy and Colin was his soulmate. Good work to Cache and Toxie

Nikki: Death shoutout, but this was extremely cute and I laughed. It reminded me a little of the death of Mizuho Inada from Battle Royale.