V8 BKA/BDA Voting: April 2023

[Ruggahissy]

Hello my precious beans, and welcome to the Best Kill and Best Death Awards for April. Before we begin, the rules:

1. In this thread, you may post as an anonymous guest to select one student to receive the day's Best Kill Award, and one handler to receive the Best Death Award. Prizes will be given out in-character for BKA, consisting of a weapon and food, and out-of-character for BDA, consisting of a quote from their character to be displayed on the board index until the next BDA is awarded.
2. You may only vote while logged out. You can identify yourself in your vote if you want, but you may not claim to be another handler.
3. You may only vote once, and you may not vote for yourself in either category. Staff can see IP addresses, and we will check them if we have reason to suspect shenanigans.
4. You must provide reasoning with your vote for why you think your choices deserve the award. Votes with no reasoning will not be counted.
5. Don't be a jerk. You can explain why some scenes are your favorites without tearing others down.
6. Make sure that your answers are clear; please don't use any formatting that might cause votes to be miscounted or left out.
7. Please be sure to read every kill and death before voting, please vote for your genuine favorites rather than just voting for your friends, and please don't campaign for awards in the chat or otherwise try to influence the vote.

And your Best Kill and Best Death contestants:

BEST KILL AWARD:
Matthew Bell for killing Jack Kilgore
Joshua James for killing Cassie Chao
Daenerys Todd for killing Corbin Azinger
Salem Fox for killing Timothy Adams

BEST DEATH AWARD:
CardboardAirplane for the death of Jack Kilgore
Fiori for the death of Cassie Chao
Gundham for the death of Rebekah Hayes
Dr Adjective for the death of Bethany Lyon
Almostinhuman for the death of Corbin Azinger
CarboardAirplaine for the death of Perante Losoa
Jilly for the death of Timothy Adams

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

[ravioli ravioli]

Best Kill: Joshua James for killing Cassie Chao. I like how this thread showcases Josh's evolution as a threat, being much more controlled and menacing than in his first kill and more willing to directly cross boundaries for the sake of asserting power. He's predatory in a very realistic and uncomfortable way, and Ruggahissy does a great job with the subtle parts of that which really bring him to life as a guy I definitely wouldn't want to be alone in a room with. I feel like he's evolving into someone who is genuinely frightening in a way that a lot of killers aren't, because he feels like someone who could live on your street and who wouldn't think twice about acting in some of the same ways he is here if he had the confidence in regular life.

Best Death: Gundham for the death of Rebekah Hayes. This one was a tough choice in a strong round of deaths, but I'm ultimately giving it to Rebekah because I felt just as strongly rereading it as I did on the first pass. I've been very fond of Rebekah since pregame, and found her habit of calling other people "humans" and observing life like a nature documentary very endearing; her death ties all of that together in a really poignant way. It's extremely bittersweet to see Rebekah finding companionship and empathy with other people in this terrible situation while also lamenting the fact that she never felt able to do so before. I also enjoy the touch of magic realism linking it to Beth's death.

On the topic of Beth, I want to give Dr. Adjective a shout out for being the other half of a good scene and delivering quality on Beth's end too. Honorable mentions also go to Fiori for Cassie, who likewise brought a very solid and touching presence in counterpoint to Josh, and to CardboardAirplane for Perante, who gave a nice, understated but thoughtful solo performance. I had to think for a while on where exactly my vote was going to land this round.

[brain is mush]

Best Kill: Matthew Bell for Killing Jack Kilgore

Firstly, a massive shout-out to what would've been my pick had it happened before the deadline with Matt vs Ren. Probably my favourite confrontation this month, and a fun subversion of traditional hero/villain roles where nobody comes out smelling of roses.

Luckily for Matt, he was also my favourite of the BKA nominees with his killing of Jack. A fairly simple scene, but one that nicely pays off their early partnership and serves as a good jumping-off point for Matt going forward now that he's finally put his money where his mouth is.


Best Death: Rebekah Hayes

Rebekah was a favourite of mine, so I was very gutted to see her go relatively early. It's some small comfort at least that she went out on a very strong note, resulting in one of the sadder deaths this month that made good use of her unique voice and various quirks.

Shout-out as well to Bethany for her part to play in the tragically avoidable confrontation that led to their respective fates.

[bad sandwich]

Best Kill: Salem Fox for killing Timothy Adams. While I thought a lot of the kills this round where done very well, and were strong across the board, I thought that Salem's kill stood out for the very swift transition between Salem appearing to be a relatively nice presence to abruptly drawing the gun and becoming menacing, and for having a relatively slapstick element (the ice cream attack) that was played perfectly straight by all parties. Backslash sold every aspect of Salem's performance very well, and there was some really strong writing from Carlisle's Julia and Jilly's Timothy here as well.

(Honorable Mention to Josh James for killing Cassie Chao. The scene was brilliantly written by all participants, but Josh's anger and entitlement are played really well, and things turning fatal on a dime really works well here.)

Best Death: This was a very tough decision as there were several standouts this round, but I will ultimately give the nod to Fiori for Cassie Chao. Cassie's fear during the altercation with Josh, her relationship with Madeleine, and her bittersweet thought that might be the optimal outcome after all were all very well depicted and gave her a compelling sendoff.

[demonicarchitect]

BKA: Joshua James for killing Cassie Chao. I’m continuing to enjoy Josh’s island power trip. There’s something terrifying of Josh choosing to kill someone because she said she didn’t want to spend time with him after he said it was ok to say no. Like there’s enough conflict of him projecting his perception of women being innocent on Cassie and his desire to get her to do what he wants combined with the power to attempt it that makes him interesting instead of just a random psycho.

BDA: Gundham for the death of Rebekah Hayes. What can I say, I also like to think about animals and compare their characteristics to humans. But the descriptions of Rebekah’s desire to hide and difficulty in connecting with other humans made me sad.

[camM9q5rDDtGaXHBrW4g]

BEST KILL AWARD:

KILLER: S078: MATTHEW BELL [Applesintime], VICTIM: S084: JACK KILGORE [CardboardAirplane]

I was a big fan of this death.

Apples, as a handler, has always been a skilled hand at performing kills, from his first version to now, and continues that trend here. Matthew makes for a neat take on the player hunter—the second one Apples has written in his time on the site, but still entirely distinct and original-feeling. I'm eager to see where he goes from here, especially with his recent and ongoing feud with the island's resident mass-murderous villain.

CardboardAirplane did a masterful job with both characters in this version, and it was a terrible shame to see them go out so early into the first version. Jack was well-written and made for a good villain in his short run. That doesn't even touch on Perante—in my view, Cardboard's best work—since that's outside of the scope of this BKA. I hope, looking back, they look at their work in V8 with all the pride that it deserves.

---

BEST DEATH AWARD:

S021: CORBIN AZINGER [AlmostInhuman]

Corbin's death is masterful. I know that some amounts of his story were, unfortunately, dictated by less-than-stellar circumstances in regards to out-of-character events, but that doesn't lessen the fact that it comes at the end of a powerful and moving scene, the capstone to an arc that began the moment he set foot on the island. My words cannot do it justice enough—if you have the time, experience it yourself.

---

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

In place of the previously-included essays and quotations of my previous votes, I have added some honorable mentions to the end of my BKA/BDA selections. These are the deaths that I thought were wonderful and deserving of specific note but which, for one reason or another, couldn't be added— whether because all spots had gotten taken or due to eligibility (such as time limits or the killer being deceased). Let's begin.

HONORABLE MENTION [BKA]:

KILLER/VICTIM: S107: BETHANY LYON [Dr. Adjective], KILLER/VICTIM: S048: REBEKAH HAYES [Gundham]

The mutual kill between these two was devastating and powerful, a struggle borne of nothing that destroyed both involved. The only reason this didn't easily take the top spot for my BKA vote is that, unfortunately, dead characters are not eligible for the award. Both handlers involved should be incredibly proud of their work here—they exceeded all expectations and produced something incredible together.

HONORABLE MENTION [BDA]:

S027: PERANTE LOSOA [CardboardAirplane]

I agonized over my choice between Corbin Azinger and Perante Losoa. Both were great examples of writers putting the final capstone on arcs that lasted throughout their respective character's times on the island. Corbin's death judged about edged out the victory, but I felt it would be a horrible injustice to deny Perante his hard-fought spot on this list. As I said earlier, look back on V8 with pride—you've more than earned it.

[dry]

BKA - Salem Fox for killing Timothy Adams

I like the tension in this scene between Salem's arrival where he just continues being off—Zee's done a good job of keeping the vaguely off-putting vibe of Salem in place—and the way it plays out between the three characters is good also. They distrust him but it's also framed as a wariness of new arrivals like you'd probably see in a situation where everyone benefits from killing you. And then Salem finally pulls off the play he has been trying to pysche himself up to for the last couple of threads and it's enjoyable both how quickly it all happens and how messy it is on his end. I also enjoy the final line of the scene which continues to add to the whole thing Salem has going on at the moment.

and vaguely hoped that once the shock wore off, he'd feel... something. Or maybe he didn't.

BDA - Fiori for the death of Cassie Chao

And from one tense scene to another as we have Josh's attempted abduction of Cassie going wrong leading to her death. The Cassie and Madeline pair has been an more lowkey pairing for most of their time on the island but Fiori and Apples have put a lot of good time and work into the characters relationship with each other and that pays off here. Everything the pair does in this thread once the danger is established is in service of keeping the other safe and that adds to the tragedy of the death. The final pair of posts are also real good with Cassie dying with her friend nearby thinking about potential good ends for the game and then Madeline's broken reaction to it all.

[Ruggahissy]

15 hours to go for votes

[the oomfie crevice]

hi ill make this quick

I'd like to vote for both BKA for Joshua James for the murder of Cassie and also Cassie for BDA. There was some pretty even competition in this round but I really enjoyed their scene both from the perspective of Josh in his megalomanic journey across the island along with Cassie as someone too nice to honestly survive in this game. Apples also did a great job with Madeleine as a third party, so I feel in general I'd like to reward everyone here.

[chugga after dark]

im only getting five hours of sleep tonight

bka: Salem Fox

I'm voting for this death almost solely because of the reveal post. I spent the first couple of posts of this thread rather confused as to his angle and the talk about journalism and making the news and whatnot, so when the reveal came, when the prose started talking about choosing the most innocent victim, grabbing attention in the worst way, it really caught me off guard. It's very devious, but not in a needlessly evil mustache-twirling way, like, it's entirely consistent with what we know about Salem's internal logic and characterization. I liked it.


bda: Rebekah Hayes

I'm suing Gundham for emotional damages.

The themes of her death thread and death post are deeply relatable to me. The mention of the 52hz whale as a metaphor for this deep sort of alienation from society you don't know how to fix, her finally feeling human and not wanting it because it means she has to feel all these stupid feelings about dying and leaving behind her friends, the fact that she even has friends, that in her final moments, she finally allowed herself to open up to someone, all of these elements make this death heart-achingly painful. Really good performance here.

[Forbidden Bingus]

Here at the last minute back at it again!

I would like to do the ol’ doubler and give my votes to Joshua James and Cassie Chao for their scene together at the bar.

For Josh’s part there’s just something chillingly plausible about his attitude. I consider anyone that hasn’t known a man like that to be incredibly lucky. Because that man is pretty damn real, he’s just not in a death game right now, and Rugga didn’t need to lean too hard on what was so frightening about him to make it work. Really excellent villainy.

And Cassie, well, Fiori’s responses in kind were very much on par with the above. As well as Josh is written there, you need the victim to really sell it. Something something Fiori’s Mini thread about how writing death scenes is like booking a wrestling match. Our Heel was despicable, but without his opponent fully selling that evil, you’ve only got half a show.

Just an excellent read all around. Shout out to Apples for the guest starring role too, exactly enough of Madeleine in there to add colour and develop her character going forwards, without distracting from the stars of that specific moment. Looking forward to where she goes from here too!

[top mahjong player]

BKA: Daenerys Todd for the killing of Corbin Azinger

I enjoyed reading Corbin's killing when I was rereading it for the BKA. There's a sort of tension built up throughout the scene as Daenerys (I'm going to misspell that at least once) starts to formulate the plan of murder and inches slowly towards the khopesh as her and Corbin share this sorta... tense conversation? It's very minimalistic but not in a bad way, it's very accurate to the kinda terse conversation one would probably have in that sort of an atmosphere, when someone's stumbled onto your secret camp or you're looking for somewhere to die. I like the beat where Daenerys actually puts the khopesh down and thinks she can form an alliance with Corbin maybe, but then his angry ranting rules that out because she thinks that he's already given up. Very fun beats in that kill, and I did find the ending funny. Make sure you put your feet in the right place when you murder people, folks.

BDA: Gundham for the death of Rebekah Hayes

While I struggled a little coming up with the BKA, the BDA was immediately clear the second I read through Rebekah's death. It's just so... Rebekah, and it's hard to put it any other way. I don't get emotional much when reading SOTF, but I did get a little misty-eyed reading through it. I like the sort of emphasis on Rebekah's regrets, on everything that she wanted to do, from going to the hot springs with Jess and Beatrice to telling them facts about her favourite animals to the more personal parts about talking to her family and her friends gathered around her and being sorry for getting her new ski jacket all bloody (this one got to me pretty bad, it's very realistic to that kinda stuff you think about to avoid the matter right in front of you). The sort of internal monologue about what it means to be human and how Rebekah initially doubted she was a human but accepted it as she grew older, only to be so acutely aware of that fact as she died really got to me, especially talking about how animals don't wanna say goodbye to their mom or their teddy bear. The comparison to Blue 52 was also very fun. RIP raccoon girl o7

[Deamon]

6 hours until voting closes

[Light-an-L Dutchie]

BKA

I struggled between Josh and Salem because I have voted for Josh a few times already I think, but ultimately, I find his writing to be too clean, too strong and too thematically grounded to not be impressed. So I'm going with Joshua James, in this scene in particular we're engaging a lot with Josh's interaction with desire and power and him embracing and digging deeper into the darker sides of his personality. I think one of the most horrifying thing about Josh is the fact that his weirdness seems very natural and plausible and that makes the threat he represents always feel real and his presence brings about a natural tension that doesn't feel unearned or contradictory in his presentation. Great job!

BDA

Gundham for Rebekah Hayes, I haven't always liked Rebekah and her schtick has sometimes felt particularly gimmicky and schticky to me in terms of her world view and how she relates everything to animals and animal behavior. But in her death she really brings home those thematics of a confused and undiscovered humanity and this thread of teenage doubt that sorta screams into your ear 'I'm different, this world isn't for me'. As a teenager, that terror and fear can be palatable and it can turn your self-esteem inward into destruction. It was good to see this expressed with a degree of maturity, perspective and with, of course, a large helping of that literary butter that is human emotion. Particular strength in the passage about Blue 52 really brings the death home. Awesome job!

[[Rowdy Cheering]]

BKA: Salem Fox

I'm giving BKA here to Salem. I think that Zee has done a really good job of carrying forward the weird sinister memery of the original Salem and given him some human touches while still retaining his offbeat sense of humor and world view. This was a well-constructed scene so I'd like to give props to all of the participants here as well. I like that he enters and it takes a bit for everyone to become wise to exactly his goals, though everyone agrees the vibes are strange. There's good tension as we become privy to his motivations and his gun before the other two, and the tension heightens when they start to notice that his hand has been in his pocket too long. His inner workings are similarly interesting, choosing to gun for Julia because she would be, as we say in the weirdo crime community, the most dead. I suspect this ties back into feelings of being brushed aside for having to deal with his more emotionally fragile sister and is a bid to make a splash. Of course he hits Tim instead, but I'm interested to see how this pushes his trajectory forward, which has been quietly simmering with unease until now, when it has all boiled over.


BKA: Rebekah Hayes

I liked the thread where the initial attack happens, but I think the post with the group moving forward to the hot springs is where Rebekah really shines. There is something so heartbreaking about her not wanting to tell the others how bad her injuries are because she doesn't want to ruin the day, and becoming regretful that she didn't trust them enough to let them know as she dies. Her running motif of nature is used to poignant affect her in describing how she's felt isolated in her family, in school, with the comparison to Blue 52. She finally did find people to not be so alone with though, which makes me a lame cry baby. And I want to shout out this piece though I don't normally do specific line shouts

"The words were stuck in her head, just like they’d always been, locked away where no one could see and no one could understand. Her brain was running a thousand miles a minute, overheating, and the thoughts came and came and came, and they hit the back of her mouth and just stopped. They piled up there, punching her in the uvula over and over, while she sat there, crying and loving them in silence. "


HONORABLE MENTIONS: I'd like to give some honorable mentions here. Cassie did a stellar job as well and her last post of imagining the best outcomes for everyone really touched me. Madeleine was also very good in this scene.

I liked the spiral of Perante as he worked up the nerve to die and try to do it in the least painful way possible. Good work to Cardboard here. Jilly did effective work as Timothy and a sort of very sudden death.