“recapping the deaths from today,
forecasting the deaths of tomorrow.”
Every story reaches its end sooner or later, and here we are at the closing of ours. It's been exactly 60 days since Spoons 2k16 began on February 9, and it honestly does not feel like two months have elapsed. Already, we miss the buzz of Spooners running around campus, texts from adrenaline-filled killers, relevant questions on our ask.fm, and stories filled with suspense and action. Yet there comes a time when it is necessary to let things come to an end, something the creators of Star Wars should've realized before they spun out the three prequel movies. So as much as it hurts our hearts...
This is our end.
And here is the final story to be told. A gripping tale of the bitter rivalry between two devout and mildly obsessive Spoons players named Kirsten and Kotak. Though it took them about an hour to tell the full story, we felt that this was the right note to end on. It is a trip down memory lane, all the way from near the start of Spoons to the finish, and it really touches on the purpose and meaning of this game. Plus, it's got some pretty damn savage moments.
I: A Salty Encounter
It is pretty common knowledge that the two of them have had a mutual hatred of one another for some time. We need to begin by beginning, when their paths first intersected.
It begins with an end -- the death of Emily Zhong (which, by the way, was a lesson to us about how powerful The Daily Cannon could be in shaping the public perception about certain people). This was Kotak's initial entry into Spoons villainy. After Emily chased Ajinkya from Chipotle to the intersection of Miller and Rainbow and successfully killed him, Ajinkya hit up Kotak and implored him to get revenge on Emily. Revenge was gotten, shortly after.
Emily was supposed to be killing Kirsten, and there were some pretty close encounters. Over February break, on the day Emily killed Ajinkya, Kirsten and her were both at a soccer pasta party. On the way, as Kirsten sat in Emily's car not holding her spoon for some reason, Emily was telling her the story about the kill she had just gotten. Kirsten could've died at any point. Perhaps fate decided that her time had not yet come and convinced Emily into sparing her. In that case, we thank you, fate, for weaving this story for us. Emily did convince Kirsten into believing that her killer was Wesley Pang. For some reason.
“I fkin trusted her, man.”
On the day of Emily's death, Kirsten walked by her moments before she died. After she died, she dropped the bomb on Kirsten, revealing that she was Kirsten's original killer and that it was now Kotak. At this point, Emily was still rather upset. And Kirsten made a vow that she would not die to Kotak at any cost.
II: Rising Tension
The Daily Cannon article condemning Kotak's kill of Emily sent Kotak into hiding. He was getting so much hate and shade that he decided to lay low, at least until WASC was over. Kirsten was pretty unnerved by the apparent silence, so -- being the passive and kind soul she is -- she decided to call him out. On the day of the hacking incident, when they received the email notifying them of the hacking, Kirsten replied to the whole email list by calling out Kotak.
“I don't think we can trust someone who kills people during a dispute.”
Kotak knew he couldn't get her just yet, since she knew his identity and was so on top of all her Immunities. This went on for about a month. On Immunity #5, “I Got 99 Problems, but a Snitch Ain't One”, he could've gotten her since her partner Codie was wearing a jacket. On Immunity #6, “Lawn Chair 'n Chill”, he camped out right next to her the whole time. But no luck. Apparently, he tried tricking her by throwing an eraser down and hoping she'd pick it up out of the kindness of her heart. Come on, Kotak. You and the rest of us know you can do better than that.
III: New Variables
That same time he tried camping out next to her by a lawn chair, Kirsten took out Valerie Batino. In what was disputed to be a “tackle”. It is also unclear whether or not one of the parties threw a lawn chair at the other and caused a bruised knee, but we'll give them both the benefit of doubt. In any case, Valerie was quite unpleased, because she was really into Spoons as well. As said by Kirsten...
“This part of the story is important because she comes back to haunt me. Like crazy.”
A week or two later, Kotak took out Joshua Otani on Immunity #10, “Dawn of Justice” and got his hands on a Trump Card. Kirsten “literally panicked”. We don't know how she would've figuratively panicked, but moving on... Kirsten pretty much yelled at everyone. At Justin, for “why didn't you kill the nerd” and at Joshua for “why'd you die to him”. And Kotak vowed to use his Trump Card on Kirsten to finally put an end to her Spoons career, partially because she left this wonderful comment on his Trump Card submission for “Look Ma, I'm Viral!” a while back.
Kotak was tempted to print it out and give it to her, along with the phrase, “Be careful what you wish for!” That would've been badass.
Meanwhile, Kirsten was recruiting people to take him out during the next free-for-all. Reportedly, she was distributing his class schedule to pretty much everyone and anyone. Things were heating up.
IV: Hide and Seek
During Monday brunch, she was hiding. At lunch, she was hiding. The next day, she was also hiding. On Thursday or so, Kirsten was actually at home sick. Kotak didn't know about this, so he camped outside her third period classroom (Howden) waiting to kill her on her way out. Apparently, the class saw him standing out there and told him that “lmao, Kirsten isn't our TA”. The power of allies.
That same day, Kirsten dragged her sick self to school to kill Felicia Zhang before crawling back home. Someone saw her and told Kotak, so he was pretty much confused for the rest of the day.
Around the same time, he received a Facebook friend request from Valerie Batino, who said that she “wanted to see Kirsten dead”. One day, they camped outside of Howden together, only to find that she peaced out early because Howden was a homie. Apparently, on Immunity #11, “A Reunion in Ghost Town”, Kotak tried asking Howden to help kill Kirsten. But his allegiance was to Kirsten, and he remained loyal to his constantly-ditching-class-early TA.
On that day, Kotak was also scared of dying himself, since Emily was back to hunt him down. Especially since he had a Mock Trial banquet that wasn't safe. Kirsten allegedly tried getting Elin in on it, but she was too tired (with a Chem test the next day) to get involved. Meanwhile, Kotak told Natasha to feed them false information on the ending time, and he left early. Emily was convinced that she was being helped, but Kotak was nowhere to be found when she arrived. Again, a missed encounter.
Apparently, at the banquet, Kotak asked Mr. Pugh to help him kill Kirsten after class the next day. And apparently Mr. Pugh told Kirsten the next day that Kotak was out to kill her, giving her the time and knowledge to escape unscathed.
V: So Close Yet So Far
On Wednesday, he was inches from killing her. Valerie was busy messing with Kirsten's bike and Kotak got out of class 4 minutes early, eager to finally put an end to the back-and-forth. As Kirsten walked out of class, she made eye contact with him. They both froze for a while. And then she booked it to the bike cages. She almost couldn't find her bike and was about to sprint home, but ended up spotting it in a corner. That night, Kotak anonymously asked a question pertaining to the situation, which Kirsten Snapchatted to the whole world with some caption involving massive amounts of sodium chloride.
The next day, they messed around with her bike again, intending to padlock it but instead stickering up the keyhole. We wrote an article on this one, titled “Mind Games” on April 2. When he got to the front of the school, he was just in time to see Kirsten bike out of the girls' locker room right in front of his face and off into the world. Both were hurt. Kirsten, from running into the door. And Kotak, from losing confidence in his own abilities to kill her.
On Friday, he wanted to use his Trump Card on Kirsten. Kirsten heard and hid by the locker rooms instead, where she managed to kill Katya (who had a fake Silver Spoon). Kotak, slightly irked, took out her best friend instead. Rest in peace, Codie. He then got even more shit for it and felt pretty bad for the rest of the day. Someone even called him a “public menace”. It ain't easy being the most wanted criminal.
VI: A Final Showdown
When Kotak got home on Monday, he was swarmed with messages regarding Christina Tani's Facebook post supporting Kirsten.
He wasn't going to reply, but his friends thought it'd be funny if he responded with a comeback. So he did. Because peer pressure, right?
He intended for it to be a joke so people would realize that, in the end, Spoons was just a game. It sort of backfired, since Lynbrook students left and right began choosing sides. Kotak, fed up with all the shade he was getting, finally chatted up Kirsten, looking to make things right.
VII: A Scary Alliance
When he chatted her, she was initially a little weirded out. But as they talked, they came to the agreement that none of this was personal, and only fun and games. With that realization, they began to wonder how Spoons would've played out if they had worked together. Then, they realized that there was still time left to wreak havoc.
First, they apologized to various parties. Kirsten got Kotak to clear things up with Valerie, and Kotak got Kirsten to clear things up with Codie. Ill feelings were erased, and it was like a weight was lifted off of both of their shoulders. With most parties calm, they began to work towards the spot of Top Spooner, together. Kotak even agreed to let Kirsten kill him if she needed an extra kill to get over Elin for the top spot.
Elin ruthlessly glided to the top.
But at this point, they had already accomplished their main goal -- of making amends and setting things right. Come Finale, both sat on the sidelines watching others duke it out for the champion position. Somewhat tired but somewhat contended. At last, at peace.
The Moral of the Story
The beauty of this story lies in its complexity. Like seriously, someone could make a TV drama out of this content. What began as bitter animosity, high tension, and perpetual fear changed over the course of the game. Two people who saw each other strictly as enemies, who thought they were destined to be enemies in a constant game of cat and mouse, started anew.
This is a story of setting aside differences. Of coming together. Of forgiveness.
In many ways, the story of these two rivals-turned-allies captures the true purpose of Spoons. In spite of all our intensity, savagery, and assholery, the purpose of this game has always been to bring together the senior class and -- in the process -- the school. Sure, there have been enemies. Sure, there has been salt. Sure, there has been frustration. We aren't denying any of that.
But at the end of the day (although we advertised it as a game that would “ruin friendships”), this has been a game about forging new connections, meeting new friends, putting oneself out there, and making amends. We've seen so many of you start talking to people you've never had the chance to really get to know in the past. We've witnessed new friendships (and relationships) being formed. We've watched everyone shrug off second semester senior laziness to engage in the energetic nature of the game. And we've seen people learn to make mistakes, swallow their pride, and find forgiveness and peace. We, ourselves, have experienced a part of that cycle.
To us, Spoons is “just a game” in the sense that it was meant to be fun and entertaining. At the same time, it's not just a game. We had the pleasure of watching the class come together in a way that is reminiscent of Homecoming. Heck, we've had the pleasure of watching the entire school come together and join us on this wild, wild ride. For that singular reason, we consider Spoons 2k16 a job well done. Every argument, dispute, grain of salt, apology, stress pimple, confrontation with administration has been so, so worth it because -- in the end -- it brought people together.
The Daily Cannon
What started out as a simple experiment became something that changed the form of this game. When we first came up with the idea, The Daily Cannon was a fun little joke that we could use to roast people in tiny articles every few days. It evolved into a series of extensively detailed, daily articles followed by students throughout the class, throughout the school, and even at other schools. We've poured hours into writing pages and pages of content, coding games, gathering stories, and shaping this “Goderator” persona.
We now see that The Daily Cannon has been so effective because it changed the game into one focused on stories. It was not just a game centered around a list of names and colors, but a game based on the adventures, words, and actions of individuals.
By talking to people about their adventures, we made the game come alive. People were excited to do crazy things, with the intention of making it onto The Daily Cannon. Outsiders had the ability to witness the action directly, instead of hearing bits and pieces here and there. And our articles helped shape people's moods, giving those who had died something to show for and giving those alive something to work for.
Spoons became a show for everyone, rather than just a game for seniors. A novel, rather than a spreadsheet. Something to enrichen the experience while it lasted. And, now, something we can look back on to relive every second of glory, adrenaline, and salt.
A story.
And on that note, this is the end of that story. We hope you've enjoyed as much as we have. If not, we don't really care. Just kidding we do.
From Rags, Ethan, and Kenny... Thank you for the memories.
Mukund Hari.
Elin Chee (15).