The Plastic Hammer Awards!
The Basics
Handler Name: MW
Your Trademark Character: Alton Gerow. The joke is I'm probably not kidding!
Current Status of Trademark Character: Probably filling out a statistical analysis of everyone dead so far due to hitting the halfway point.
Favorite Character: Putting this here now: I'm trying to give each character or scene only a single nod, so as to spread the love around, and also to keep each entry (where I can) to one nominee. Thus, my favorite character who does not tick any other box, is
Julien Leblanc. Julien is a continually fascinating character with endless layers, who falls into one of my favorite zone of moral ambiguity. The gulf between what he says and what he does is vast, and the philosophy he's cultivated over the course of the game is unusual but always leads to interesting scenes and moments. He's a character who clearly has more sides to unveil, and I look forward to seeing them.
Favorite Weapon: There are a lot of good ones, but the forty pounds of marshmallows is just sublime. It's absurd enough to lend any scene a surreal edge, unwieldy enough to be a tremendous pain in the neck to drag around, and yet has just enough limited utility in a food scarcity situation that it's not easily discarded. Also, it can be divided up and the fun shared. This is basically the gold standard of what all joke weapons should aspire to and whoever came up with it should be very proud of themself.
Favorite Scene: Jonah and Arizona can't decide whether to fight, hook up, or just sort of sadly look at one another. Jonah and Arizona have really good chemistry and this scene, aside from having some really funny moments, does a great job of capturing their dynamic in a nutshell. Jonah is giving, but sometimes
too giving, ready to sacrifice himself at a moment's notice and almost intending to. Arizona is assertive, confident, and not about to let Jonah throw himself away easily. This brings them into conflict at times, but also makes them a powerful force when working in tandem—as we see now that they've accomplished their ultimate goal.
Favorite Death: I left this for last and I still can't decide. It's just too close, so I'm passing on this category this time. Sorry!
Favorite Quote: Too many good ones, but one that sticks in my mind is the classic:
"Who the fuck are you!?"
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Ron, fuck you!"
Ron and Christina hit a very nice bit of timing and escalation while also talking past each other in a very true to life way. Good stuff!
Favorite Post: Faith's shoe as metaphor tickled my fancy enough that I shoved it in a bookmark to shout out for this category when Hammers came around (though of course there are many very worthy posts). What makes this one particularly great is that it tackles a really mundane yet easily overlooked facet of the island experience and then uses it as microcosm for the whole thing. And of course, it's also a cooldown beat after a very intense (and excellent top to bottom) thread.
Favorite Location: The island is overall incredibly evocative and thematic (good job on it!) but I think my favorite single spot would be
the Serenity Circle just because of how the little details suggest so much character regarding the previous inhabitants.
Characters
Best Character Development: I really really appreciate the way
Marco Hart has evolved over the game. His grappling with dysphoria in Pregame (particularly in Prom) was pretty gripping, tragic stuff, and this led into a very nicely patient arc in-game. In fact, I'd say that's generally Marco's greatest asset as a character; his narrative is generally willing to take its time and soak up all the details, which leads to him having a particularly rich interiority and nuanced, fleshed-out relationship with Nick. There's the obvious point of development (coming out) but there's a lot of other stuff that's come along with that by virtue of the extreme situation, and I feel like Marco has simultaneously found the ability to be more confident and also more vulnerable. It's excellent development/progression.
Best Game Impact: Beryl Mahelona's ghost may be haunting at least one person, but I think her influence extends farther still. Beryl was one of the strangest, most quietly unfathomable characters in Pregame, and Cicada's decision to let her getting rolled first thing stand in many ways made true a promise that in some ways rarely has been on SOTF: anyone can die at any time. Beryl almost surely wasn't intended to go right away, but she did, and the void she left has been felt far and wide. She may be gone, but her presence as a character lingers.
Best Innovation: Willow O'Neal is quietly one of the weirdest characters we've seen in a long time, but wears it so well and naturally that it can slip under the radar. Willow's story includes a whole lot of sudden turns and odd details, but they're all inextricable parts of her Willow-ness so they don't stand out until you stop and think a bit. But who else can identify a classmate by smell? Who else thinks about someone who's just died and goes "Wow, I guess it was a waste helping paint her nails"? Willow's narrative also isn't afraid to make you read between the lines some (a recent very casual revelation touched on a mysterious plot element of hers and I'm not gonna spoil it) or to get funny in dark ways (I had
this post bookmarked to shout out for that, filled with good beats—the "marinated" on one end, the aforementioned nail polish musings as the sandwich meat, and a politically-incorrect but darkly hilarious musing about Nathan, Roxie, and a bag of skittles to close it off.
Best Realism: Justin Greene gets my vote. I've talked about it a bit, but one of the biggest pitfalls villains often fall into is that they're spun to be cool and awesome and clever and just generally have themselves together, the better to be a major threat. But that can very easily turn their own stuff against them, keeping them from making mistakes or even making their play patterns feel wrong. Justin dodges all that stuff. He does not have his stuff together even a little. His gameplan sucks. And that's exactly what makes him really believable, surprisingly sympathetic, and legitimately scary. Justin's a guy who made some bad conclusions early on and is now way too committed to his course to even consider letting himself shift it. And that desperation and forced certainty make him capable of the most alarming moments of cunning and violence.
Best Heroic Character: Ace Ortega isn't perfect. At all. In fact, you could make a pretty good case that he hasn't accomplished a whole lot, but a thing that's consistent start to present is that he's trying. He
wants to do the right thing, but he's a guy with a bunch of flaws—flaws which are very nicely established in Pregame and carry through in a wonderfully consistent way—and sometimes they lead to him doing bad stuff. Ace has this impulsive side with a heavy fear of missing out, and it gets him into trouble a lot, but I think at his core he still has a powerful protagonist energy permeating his stuff, and any good hero has to get in a little atoning somewhere.
Best Villainous Character: My nod here goes to
Erika Stieglitz for being a major, major force who is at the same time decidedly still a particularly human character who's acting based on relatable, sympathetic motivations. At the core of everything Erika does is a fear of death—but, I at least believe, there's another fear floating underneath: being out of control. Erika knows her way around guns, and uses them to great effect, but at times it feels like she's killing not solely to improve her chances, but because she can convince herself that it's a proactive way to make her survival more likely. Erika is at her core a person who has a lot of empathy and a desire to be someone good, and that's hard to square with doing anything needed for the win, so she forces herself as hard as she can into the role of killer to push away any ambiguity. It's fascinating on a psychological level, and it leaves her—while certainly a pretty morally terrible person on any sort of removed level—almost a protagonist in her own right if you're following her story, but without falling back on any of the more unfortunate trappings to such a role that were more common in earlier versions.
Best Tragic Character: Lucas Brady's entire life was ruined by one bad day... and, uncommonly for SOTF, it wasn't the one where he got kidnapped (though that was no cheerful walk in the park either). The thing that's striking about Lucas is he really is one of the few characters you can say was pushed into his misdeeds. He's a flawed guy—sometimes too assertive, a bit full of himself, unfortunate in his choice of words—but fundamentally he wants to help and do right by his classmates. He just also wants to be the main character while doing it, the one who praise and gratitude is showered upon, and this is so obvious that everyone else recoils and shoves him away and mocks him. Time and again, Lucas holds it together actually a whole lot better than many of his peers in the face of heavy and widespread mockery and humiliation, and even when he finally does snap it's half-intentional at best. He's driven, but in the end the only purpose he can put that unending drive towards with any success is self destruction.
Best Humorous Character: Lots of good humor this time around, but I must specifically nominate
Arjen Kramer for a particularly dark, realistic shade of funny. Arjen's best beats aren't slapstick or absurdity, but when he does particularly relatable, uncool things. I was howling when he baited Marco into a discussion of movies only to, when the question was turned back on him, wail that it didn't matter because they'd never see another one. It had me in stitches when he came back to talk at the tree, and ultimately the final thing that cost Arjen his life was that he wanted some Cheetos. Comedy has many facets, and in a lot of ways, Arjen is actually the straight man for much of V7, a role he plays to the hilt for maximum impact.
Best Tactics: It's Survival Of The Fittest, not Survival Of The Killiest or Survival Of The Prominent Action Scenes, and so I give the nod to
Connor Lorenzen. Connor's path is certainly not without bumps—he spends much of the early days convinced that rescue will come for him at any moment—but in an odd way, this delusion prepares him for the path ahead far better than most of his classmates. See, Connor treats his survival as a foregone conclusion and acts accordingly, trying to brace himself emotionally for the losses and the weight of being alone, avoiding conflict wherever he can, and at the same time trying to stay in the good graces of his peers lest an unfortunate accident occur. There are few better ways to slide through much of the early and middle part of the game, and Connor remains a physical presence with good social and mental faculties as well. Ironically, however, his figuring out the truth has made him just a bit sloppier, and may ultimately be what costs him.
The Sympathy Award: Diego Larrosa has been dealt a bad hand even outside the game, and the way it's played out—even as it drives him to do, shall we say, less than purely noble deeds (allying with Lorenzo, finishing off Mike)—makes me feel awful for him. There are shades of Erika and Justin to Diego's actions, but there's also something strong and unique and fascinating: Diego is always driven by and grappling with identity, and while he can look at himself and know who he is, he still can't bring himself to express it. Old habits die hard, and Diego shows that the island isn't quite the life-reboot-button some treat it as. I just want to see him get to a place where he doesn't have to hide who he is, where he finally feels free.
The Empathy Award: Many characters experience SOTF, but how many truly
think about it while they do?
Michael Froese sure does. I've mentioned it a time or two, but he hits so many of my favorite themes and motifs that it's incredible. Michael is always analyzing the game and his own role within it, and who he is and what he is, and I find that particularly relatable. I frequently find myself nodding along to some tangent or other he's on and going, yeah, I get it. Good point! I didn't think of it quite like that, but now that you mention it... Michael's incredibly rounded and incredibly, incredibly complex and that makes it easy to delve deep in his story, where there are many things just waiting to be uncovered. And, of course, his musical tastes often align with mine and I find myself wondering about things (and okay, I've sat on it this long, I can ask here: When Michael sings the entirety of "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal" verbatim but gets two words right in the middle wrong, was that on purpose? I love that that's a question that's been lingering for so long. That's the level we're working on here.)
The Gone-Too-Soon Award: My rule for this one was only kids who died unwillingly (that is, nobody who got Swapped or Heroed in). Let's take a recent one and say
Roxie Borowski. Roxie had a sort of quiet run in terms of big stuff happening, but throughout it her posts were often understated highlights. I felt like she was hitting her stride some with her latest group, and while her death is good stuff I also can't help but feel she could've gone even more interesting places with a little more time. Still, what we did get is good, and I really appreciate and want to especially shout out her posthumous memory thread, which casts her fate in an even more tragic light retrospectively.
The He-Had-It-Coming Award: I nominate
Reuben Walters, not in a grand karmic backlash sort of way, but a "Play with fire and you're gonna get burned" sense. Reuben was, before the game, a nice guy. I think I gave him props for that in the Pregame Hammers. For that, his turn to villainy and violence was exceptionally well-handled, especially in how it never felt like a natural fit for him. Reuben was grounded and goal-oriented; he hated what he was doing but saw it as necessary. His partner, Teresa, was... not that stuff. And Reuben made the classic villainous-henchman mistake of assuming that the really scary person would never, ever turn on
him.
Scenes and Deaths
Best Tragedy: When
Demetri died alone, that hurt. Cicada is clearly some kind of wizard, because Demetri managed to take being someone who's pretty objectively loathsome in a lot of ways and turn that into a funny, wrenching, emotional core of a character I cared about. Demetri wasn't a bad person, ultimately, just a woefully misguided and scared one. When the chips were down, he usually found himself led by his better instincts... and of course, that was what killed him. But while, in most stories, that would lead to some beautiful tragic moment of redemption, Demetri doesn't get that. He just dies, unnoticed, unappreciated, tossed aside just like he's always been. And as always, he greets it with self-hatred. He deserved better, but never would've admitted it.
The Stomach-Churner: Quinn kills Stepney and makes a scarecrow. A few things play into this. It's obviously a really brutal and gross thing in its own right, but Quinn's detached, curious/inspired mentality makes it a lot creepier—we the audience are majorly grossed out by what's going on but she's like "Huh, interesting"—and Stepney as victim makes it particularly painful, because Stepney, for all he can be a jerk at times, is a charming, funny, very human character. It's someone decent who really doesn't deserve it suffering a particularly gruesome fate just because he happened to be there.
Best Impact: Paloma_Salt]Paloma Salt kills Abel Zelenovic. First deaths always pack some good oomph and set the tone for a version to some extent, but Paloma's killing of Abel stands as the best opening salvo I've seen on Main so far. The thread itself is masterfully executed, but a lot of it's also in the setup. While many first deaths have been more secondary characters, Abel was
everywhere in Pregame—one of the big iconic faces, involved in a lot of legitimately memorable, often hilarious scenes. This meant that everyone knew Abel, and most of the cast cared about and liked him. Abel's death is still being mourned and still getting Paloma in trouble here at the halfway point, when people who have done way worse stuff are still trucking on largely unchallenged, just because the guy she killed was that well-known and beloved. It's anything but a throwaway death, from the guy who has probably the shortest island journey ever depending on how you count. People could be yelling at each other and/or angsting to themselves about Abel in the final ten and I would be not a bit surprised.
Best Comedy: Lucas Diaz's
continuing adventures with Kyle's corpse. This is very very dark humor, but also very very funny humor. Lucas is quirky in a charming way, especially when it manifests in this slightly slimy or needy or entitled manner. At the same time, I believe he's fundamentally a pretty good person. Both these traits come into play as he tries to rid the temple of Kyle's corpse—ideally in the least gross manner possible, even if that means other people get the gross part of the job, but by golly he's gonna do it, even if he has to do it alone. The awkwardness of this mission, and its slow and ultimately bungled execution, may not appeal to all comic tastes but they had Irene asking what I was cackling about from the next room.
The Sunglasses-and-Explosions Award: Marco's final, fiery defenestration is probably the closest we've come to directly translating a scene from an action movie to SOTF. I'm absolutely awestruck by the specifics of visual detail and the way the writing is able to pull a slow motion death in a medium where pace is dictated partially by reading speed. It's a very fitting sendoff for one of the version's most unique characters, perfectly in keeping with his aesthetic and very well executed indeed. It gave me a lot to think about in regards to perspective and beats, and I think is worthy of a second read if it's been a bit.
Best Feeling-Inducer: Most stuff involving Axel, Hel, Abe, and Andy fits here, but I'm going to shout out
the fallout spent processing the latter's death. It's great because each of the three survivors has their own stuff going on, their own ways of grieving or rationalizing or denying, and yet their group as a collective and their dynamic also gets heavy focus and center stage. They're a hard-hitting group overall on an emotional level, containing probably my favorite of each handler's cast, and I think they continuously do a really great job telling a story that's emotionally complex and nuanced and fresh.
Best Drama: Emmett and Cecil fight and then make up. What I particularly love about this squabble is how true to life it is. The fight isn't
really exactly about what they say it's about. Rather, it's a manifestation of the stress and horror and hard decisions both boys have been forced to go through since the game began, finding a relatively safe outlet in each other. This is why the fight burns so bright but tapers out so quickly, and why it leaves them, if anything, closer than they were before—it's an outlet, and from that it becomes a shared moment, a bonding thing.
Best Surprise: Very very recent, but I'm going to go with
the abrupt pivot from mortal combat to pillow fight by Ty and Lorenzo. It was exactly the emotional curveball the scene needed, a perfectly natural execution that made total thematic sense, and yet for that I would've never seen it coming or come up with it myself. It took a scene that's been building for a very long time and turned it in a new direction, and it was definitely a risk, but I think a calculated one—the thread's title ultimately tells what it's about, a story not of the big crazy bombastic moments, but of the quiet, silly, humans ones.
Best Meanwhile: Everyone who's worked on Meanwhile in V7 has rocked it super hard. Each scene and thread is deserving of praise in its own right. That said, I'm going to specifically call out the "MSMU"—MS' series of interlocking and thematically-connected threads harkening back to V6—as an absolute highlight. It's probably one of the most ambitious projects the site has seen, but goes about it in a nice understated way, with each thread perfectly enjoyable in its own self-contained way while also building into a bigger picture of families and lives torn apart and pulled together, the little interlocking gears that make the world turn. I strongly recommend combing through it; it has everything: humor, poignancy, drama, twists.
Also, I want to give another shout-out to Cactus' Life; As It Happens series, which is a wonderful look back and forward and steeped in site history and personal closure. Its powerful and I credit it with a certain measure of renewed interest in both the Meanwhile section and earlier versions. It's not done yet, and I know it's a busy time at the moment, but I eagerly await the eventual next installment.
Predictions, Preferences, and Positions
If you could change ANYTHING that has happened thus far, what would you change? This comes with a caveat. I actually think that, on the whole, the site has done really well with adoptions in V7. Most characters who have changed hands I have enjoyed at least as much under new management, and in some cases I've even preferred the newer iteration. That said, if I could wave my magic wand, I would keep as many characters as I could with their original handlers and not have people leave. It's nothing to do with the quality, more... on a narrative level, it'll never be quite the same when someone new is in the driver's seat. I'm always interested in what handlers have planned, in how they view their characters and how they live in their heads and what they expect and hope and imagine for them, and even in the smoothest adoption that stuff is going to change. It makes me sad to lose the original version, even as I welcome the new one.
V7 Final Four: List them! This can either be an ideal list, or IC or OOC predictions. As is tradition, I fed the rolling list to Random.org. My crystal ball says your Endgamers will be: Marco Hart, Tirzah Foss, Michael Froese, and Faith Clementine Marshal-Mackenzie
Who of the surviving characters are you cheering on to win V7? V7 is special in that I could get behind fully half the remaining cast as potential winners (and I like a bunch of characters I
don't see as good winner material too—people have done well this time around)! It's way too early to make a call on this for me. Just keep on rocking, y'all.
How do you predict the ending of V7 is going to turn out? Predict? Dunno. Hope? I want to see Endgame do something fresh and interesting with the format. SOTF is a wide and wild thing but I feel like Endgame has conceptually become a bit ritualized and I'd like to see that challenged somehow. The exact execution doesn't matter—just something interesting and different.
How much did you enjoy/not enjoy V7? I have enjoyed V7 an incredible amount. Both as a player and a reader it's the best time I've had with Main in years, possibly ever.
What do you like the most about V7? The writing quality is exceptional. I legitimately enjoy the vast majority of the characters in the version, and even the ones I'm lukewarm on are typically hitting above what I've seen in the past. Almost every thread is a joy to read and keeping up with the version is not the slog that it has been at times in the past.
What do you think could have been better about the version? I feel like V7 is kind of knives-out in a way that hasn't been seen since V4 and it's a shame because it makes the OOC/community aspect a whole lot rougher in what should be a moment of celebration. A lot of the time, discourse turns tense at the drop of a hat or conflict bubbles over. This also comes paired with an unfortunate hesitance around even constructive criticism, which shoves a lot of views into the back alleys to seethe and ferment. This should be fun, and people should be able to share opinions and enjoy the game without tiptoeing around stuff.
Also IMO private threads and heavy planning are getting used a wee bit too casually/often, sometimes to the detriment of scenes.
How do you feel about V7 compared to prior versions? In a lot of ways, V7 is the best we've had yet by a mile. Good writing, strong cast, meaningful Pregame, payoff and twists aplenty.
In other ways? V7 has spent a good bit of time patting itself on the back for being the best version yet, and while it's true so far it's best not to count chickens before they hatch. Specifically, there's this slightly pernicious vibe of V7 being past the mistakes of old versions, when in fact I feel like a lot of the V4-era cultural issues and starting to sneak back into the culture unchecked because it's been so long since they've been seen.
What do you think of the overall 'SOTF' story? This is the part where I realize the one chunk of V7 I
haven't read is the announcement fluff (whoops). That said, my general philosophy is that the overall SOTF story, such as it exists, is mostly scaffolding to hold up the important bits (the island and the story of the kids on it). Ideally, it should be intriguing, tantalizing, but only to a point. It should feel like it's moving but not actually go much of anywhere, because it can't really resolve. And that's okay. That's why we're here! If anything major does happen, it should be due to handler actions in-game prompting it. And I think staff has a good handle on these points of philosophy and I trust them to execute the story well.
How do you think V8 will differ from/compare to V7 and prior versions? I hope V8 will continue the upwards trajectory and be even more awesome than V7! I have some wider-scale musings but maybe another time. Plus, it's still so early.
Talk About Yourself
What has been your favorite thing to write in V7? Thing? Singular? Whatever made me laugh. I've been laughing a lot (especially last night
).
Which of your V7 characters was your favorite to write? Actually, literally all seven (including Pregame) have held the favored seat at one point or another. In-game it's traded off moment by moment. Usually it's whoever I posted with last or am going to post with next.
What are you proudest of in V7? ^Basically the above. All my kids have a purpose and are interesting to me and I'm getting what I want out of them.
What do you wish you could improve? My Pregame activity flagged a good bit and I wish I could've done more before the game proper hit. I also wish I was able to hit up more threads/characters in-game—there's so much to do and so little time!
What is your favorite V7 memory? There are so many good ones, but what tickles me the most is whenever I get to drop something without warning, then sit back and cackle as people discover it.
What else would you like to share? Anything goes!
V7 is so full of good characters deserving of shout-outs that I didn't get to hit up nearly as many as I wanted. As such I am adding some addendum awards of my own devising. Even with these I'm still missing nods to worthy characters I like. Please pardon the omissions.
The "You Shall Not Pass!" Award for heroic sacrifice to save an ally: Danny Chamnanma holds off Quinn. Danny wasn't too long for this world, but in that time he managed to make a strong impression as one of the real good people in the game—this despite suffering an abrupt and unfortunate concussion. His loyalty eventually caused him to go head to head with Quinn on behalf of somehow he barely knew, which cost him his life but was a factor in Shauna's continuing survival. It's a great piece of early heroism against all odds.
The "Good Doesn't Mean Dumb Or Passive" Award for intelligent benevolence in the face of tragedy: Declyn Grayson-Anthis. Declyn is nice, a class sweetheart, someone who does right by his friends... but also someone with a surprising amount of cleverness and steel when the time comes that he has to use it. He fascinates me as a character who on some levels looks like a team morale officer but can then shift when he has to and put down a suffering friend, or pull some sneaky tricks to try to escape another gone bad. He's a great character with a lot of heart and charm, but also a lot of wit and courage.
The "I Would've Never Expected This In Character Concept Stage" Award for best group: The Gardening Club (which really needs its own wiki page)! Of all the things to unite one of the strongest groups of characters in the version, horticulture is a pretty wild option. The Gardening Club has managed, however, to make all the character fit naturally together and
feel close to one another in this super believable way, and I'm invested in each and every one of them and their progress through the game.
The "Thug Life Chooses You" award for burgeoning an ice-cold unflappability : Zachary Beck has made an art of ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as it's gone he has more and more proven a survivor with some nice psychological defense mechanisms. Zach's mental and emotional shift is a bit understated because he wasn't exactly Mr. Empathy before the game began, but I appreciate that we've seen mostly an escalation of his established traits and that he's still walking a middle path... just one that happens to include "Well, I stared shooting him so I guess I better take responsibility and do it some more" as a logical turn of events.
The "I Sure Am Glad Someone Good And Responsible Was Behind This Concept" Award for doing an amazing job with something that could've so easily been a hideous trainwreck: Nathan Coleman, aka El Presidente, was in many ways the heart and soul of the V7 cast. He has a very reasonable claim to feeling-inducer, tragedy, sympathy, realism, and innovation, but what makes him special is the combination of all this stuff so he goes here. Nathan's story is full of empathy and insight and sensitively and intelligently tackles something that in less capable hands could've been cruel and offensive even without that intent. He's very good, and I'm glad we got to know him.
The "Choking-On-A-Boot" Award for excellence in dialogue: Matthew Hunt. Oh my goodness does Matthew know the wrong thing to say at just about any time. It's a character trait that has held from his earliest Pregame threads through the present (where he's just been beaten by his longest-running ally over saying precisely the worst possible things). It's also a really endearing flaw for a character who is, I believe, at his core one of our protagonists. Matthew wants to do the right thing, to help, but sometimes his temper gets away from him and other times he just doesn't quite understand that the unvarnished truth is not always what a situation calls for.
The "Sneaky Sneaky Sneak" Award for best non-murderous shenanigans: Parker Green, who has made a mountain of trouble for others while keeping his name continuously and tactically off the announcements. From robbing allies in their sleep (but leaving just enough for them to fight over) to trying to bluff someone out of extra supplies to musing in front of a helpless third party about the relative merits of shooting vs. robbing her, Parker is always up to something and that something is usually to his benefit alone. A lot of people talk about playing a tactical game in terms of killing, but in my opinion Parker is what a
truly strategic player looks like, eyes on the prize and everything else is secondary.
The "Martyr Approach" Award for best obnoxiously-long largely self-contained oneshot: Cabin Fever, in which Nikki Nelson-Kelly is adopted, tries to stick it out in a house, and slowly but surely loses her marbles. Full of voice and psychological twists and overall weirdness, this post does a great job of resolving lingering questions, catching Nikki up to the present, and exploring and warping her mental state to lead on to the future.
The "Buddy Film" Award for unexpected chemistry: Emmett Bunnell and
Emil Van Zandt. Emmett and Emil didn't get as much time together as they (or I) would've liked, but they sure made the most of it. I loved the continuity from Pregame dislike through to becoming close as possible in the game, as they bonded in the face of adversity, found mutual respect, and went to bat for each other time and again. Shout-out also to Prim and Toxie as handlers, who have worked together a lot and always bring something interesting and unique to the table.
The "Feel The Weight!" Award for physicality in action scenes: Aurelien Valter and the spiked mace. Originally, the mace was on my shortlist for favorite weapon, but I decided to break this out here because it's not really anything special about the weapon itself that makes it so cool, but rather how Pip writes Aurelien's use of and relationship with it. It's a really cool and incredibly use of imagery and detail to make the thing come alive as a barely-controlled, massive implement of destruction, every swing carrying crushing weight behind it that feels like it could bring buildings down. It hasn't even really been used effectively for all that much so far, but in Aurelien's grasp it feels like the most dangerous weapon on the entire island.
The "Bad Dude Gone Good" Award for seeming pretty scary but ultimately being cool: Richard Smith, my most favorite misanthrope, who seemed all set to do bad stuff, even in his own mind, and then just... didn't. In fact, if anything, I'd put Richard in a mildly heroic (or at least vaguely altruistic) spot. Ultimately, he tried to stick up for those he thought were being taken advantage of, did alright by his friends, turned smack talk into a morale-boosting art, and died throwing down with one of the big threats to others. This from someone many had pegged as an obvious player!
The "Last Stand" Award for going down swinging: Ariana explores the various meanings of "disarmed". The line between cinematic and brutally realistic can be difficult to walk, but Ariana's death does so with panache. She was a great character, and it was cool to see her go out on a moment of determination—beaten and broken, she still gets up one more time and chases Marco off.
The "Pedant's Choice" Award for being a very particular sort of jerk: Aoi asks to punch Garren in the face, gets permission, declines, but swears he was gonna do it at one point. I have such affection for this scene, for a bunch of reasons, but Aoi specifically hits this pitch perfect sort of halfhearted unpleasantness, where he puts someone else in a bad position, pushes that to its limit, taps out at the last second, and then tries to convince all involved not to give him too much credit for the attack of better sense.
The "It Was A Good Try" Award for getting exploded for breaking the rules: Aditi Sharma tries to mask a signal fire behind a murder ploy, gets caught out and executed for it. Aditi was clever and driven, hellbent on attempting escape, but at some points that drove her to rash decisions. In this specific case, she ultimately suffered for trying to have her cake and eat it too—in attempting to avoid sacrificing anyone in the group, she constructed an overly-complicated ploy that cost both her and Charelle their lives. While it doesn't seem to borne fruit, however, that attempt is a lot more than many have to show for their resistance, so she gets a nod.
The "Newlyweds" Award for being a really charming couple and a general joy to read: Sakurako Jackson and
Thomas Buckley, both of whom are truly wonderful characters in their own rights and who also work really well together. They have great chemistry, as characters and as people, and they bring moments of lightness to the gloom of the game not just through pure comedy (though this hits well too) but through the way they find genuine moments of happiness even on the islad.
The "Best Third Wheel" Award for also being a vital member of the team: Sean Leibowitz who has been there with Thomas since the word go and Sakurako for a nice long while too and is a grounding presence, a well-developed character, and a blast to read. Even if he has a wee bit less luck in the love department. Hey, at least he made the effort!
The "Call Me Daddy" Award for most magnificent beard and romantic history: Nick Ogilvie who would probably be very grateful indeed that I didn't go with the "Choke Me Daddy" Award like I mulled at first. Aside from an unfortunate interest and history with throats, Nick remains the dashing illusionist of Pregame, finding new ways to worm his way into hearts and souls. Nick has a great arc as... let's call him an antihero, shall we? He's done bad, selfish things, yes, but mostly as reaction or due to circumstances, and I don't think anyone has been harder on Nick about his mistakes than he himself.
The "Gordon Ramsey Disapproves" Award for poor culinary showing: Kelly serves up a nice big helping of arsenic. It's slipped a bit under the radar since, but Kelly's mass poisoning was an
event when it went down, and it still stands as one of the most distressing, best-executed kills of the version. It's full of little character-building details, especially as Kelly coldly feeds Mercy extra poison but in a moment of kindness spares Nathan the suffering.
The "I've Got My Eye On You!" Award for subtly-ominous thought progression: Katrina quietly drops a "when I get home." I'm watching you, Katrina! That wasn't an "if" there. You're planning something. I know it! 0_o
The "Say His Name" Memorial Award for remembering the fallen: Meka Gibson, whose process of listing the dead was a fascinating and more practical alternative to some of the island funerals of versions past. Meka was dealt a bad hand throughout, and lost basically everyone close to him, but he kept them in his heart and his voice.
The "Bad Stuff (TM) Just Happened" Award for emotional response to something really horrible: Lucas Abernathy shuts down, freaks out, and pulls himself together over the death of his girlfriend. Lucas goes through a whole lot in a short span of time, and I really appreciate the way his emotions flow from one beat to the next, how he flips between sadness and rage but always feels like himself, always stays true to what we know of him, and always has that better side of himself shining through.
The "PG-13" Award for tasteful stealth cropping mid-coitus: Morgan and Lizzie were definitely hooking up in this thread, or like seconds before it. That said, it's pushed into the subtext enough that it's, like, obviously there but isn't being played for sex appeal at all. It's just what they're doing because of who they are and where they are, seizing a last bit of happiness (with slightly fewer interruptions than during the trip).
The "Wait, YOU'RE The Hero?" Award for unexpected valor: Garren Mortimer resident noxious troll, has acquitted himself with shocking kindness, empathy, humility, and regret over his past. His actions have shown that, while change is not always easy and is in fact at many times unrewarding, if it's truly what you want for yourself it's never too late to pursue it. And I especially appreciate that he's not magically a new person—the old impulses are still there, he still struggles with his habits and prejudices. He just also overcomes those things.
The "Invalid Ward" Award for gutsiest non-fatal injury: Tony Acardi gets impaled, survives. I really like the way Tony's story has played with his injury, how it hasn't shied away from the horrific and probably-imminently-fatal nature of it but has also let him stick around and stay an active force in the game. Getting hurt works in strange ways sometimes. It can take an awful long time to die from something, and Tony's story has done a great job using his wound to slow him down and make the already-inevitable an even more pressing force while not wallowing in it or belaboring the point.
The "Ready For My Big Debut" Award for character I expect to suddenly come into the spotlight: Billy Trevino has spent the version just sort of being quietly consistently a really strong character. He's jumped from group to group and scene to scene, and has never quite felt like he's found his ultimate trajectory, but for that he has a well established voice and a good sense of who he is as a person and I feel like he's in a really good spot to take the back half of the game by storm.
The "Underrated Strategist" Award for having it more figured out than you get credit for: Christina Rennes is like a more passive Parker or a less entitled Connor, quietly building up her mental defenses and trying to keep the horrors of her situation at bay while setting herself on a path towards hopeful survival. I'm very curious to see what happens as the quieter places to slip between the cracks dry up, and she's forced to get involved more directly.
The "Poker Face" Award for best bluff: Theo Walterson keeps everyone at bay with a wooden rifle. Theo's a really nice example of a character who adds a lot to scenes and groups without necessarily being in the driver's seat that often (and he's gotten his dues to an extent as part of the much-lauded Gardening Club), but I think it's important to remember that he had a more active moment in the early game when he got people to listen to him with a fake gun. That side of Theo is still there, and I think when the time comes he may well surprise by stepping up and taking charge once more.
The "With One Hand Tied Behind My Back" Award for doing what you can while down a limb: Forrest QUin has sort of quietly coasted through the game on the back of a whole lot of other people's work, while skewing ever more ominous in this understated fashion. It's fascinating and a very nice slow burn, and I'm just waiting for Endgame to come and Forrest to laugh and slide the cast off her arm and club everyone else to death with it.
The "Soon You Will Be A Beautiful Butterfly" Award for best character Development (ongoing): Shauna Cooke is getting there, piece by piece. She's not entirely there yet, but that's part of what's cool about her. Her story has been one of degrees, as she moves from helplessly calling out for aid and sheltering behind Danny to setting out to track down a killer because it's what her departed ally deserves. I think she'll reach her destination in the end, too.
The "He's Just Not That Into You" Award for being way too good for your romantic partner: Meilin Zhou was too good for Ace to such a degree that everyone knew it. The readers knew it. Meilin's family knew it. Ace knew it. Even Meilin herself knew it. But by virtue of being too good, she stayed and did her best, even though it cost her her life. She went out one of the most loyal characters in the version, and at the end of the day, she satyed because she wanted to and felt it was right.
The "When All You Have Is A Hammer..." Award for consistency in methodology: Lori Martin dresses like an owl and drugs people. It's her thing! And you know what? It's worked out pretty well for her so far. Lori brings the party to every scene she's in, and if her particular tactics stay the same, her voice and impact are varied and always a joy to read. I'm very curious to see where she goes from here, especially given her recent penchant for bonding with the morally dubious and her ever-so-slight culpability in a very recent killing.
The "Secret Heart Of Tarnished Gold" Award for being not half as bad as everyone thinks: Madison Springer is one of the top public enemies of the class. That's true now that she has Nathan's killing hanging around her neck, but it was true back beforehand, too. Her volatile attitude and extreme reactions made others shy away from her, but Madison has always had another side too, a kind side that would throw herself in front of others to shield them. Even her currently most infamous act ultimately came from a place of love, as she couldn't think of anything else to do, and it has lingered over her since.
The "God Of Art" Award for version beautification: In alphabetical order, Fenris, Kotorikun, Mimi, Ryuki, and Yugi. All of y'all have done some amazing work in your various chosen mediums, from sprites to digital to traditional pen and paper, and each of you rocks. I'm pretty sure V7 is the most visually represented version yet, and it's all thanks to your incredible talents and generous volunteering of your time and effort. You all deserve praise and thanks, and I hope you know how appreciated you are.
I know I'm forgetting stuff, and this took long enough so I'm not proofing it so the grammar probably sucks. It is what it is and what it is is "getting posted now." Now I can read other people's Hammers. Yay.
. Also wish we could've seen more with Stepney.
Read at 12:38 AM
