Topic on Talk:Kennedy Loser

per the lorejam, kennedy has a husband named terry who he loves very much. terry is short for many things and most of the content is focused on different things terry might be short for. terry may or may not be steve minecraft.

also i am going to maybe add an IRM that details his and baldwin breadwinner's friendship in the brief and nameless limbo between election and ascension

this is the baldwin stuff:

Burnouts at the Helm

Kennedy's fire got burnt out in the wake of the Crab Reckoning, reeling from the loss of Finn James and wandering the gasping wreckage of his city. For a time he directed himself everywhere and nowhere, rapidly depressurizing, and for a much longer time after, he directed himself towards those he was close to; his teammates, his loved ones. Kennedy didn't take on the responsibility of 'team dad' right away, but he took whatever responsibilities he could to help, if it just meant having a focus, and when Combs wasn't there to hold him back from biting off too much more than he could chew anymore, he slid seamlessly into the captain's seat. As one of the three captains, Kennedy primarily sought a nurturing role, but knows all too well that gentleness and violence are not opposites.

Like his co-captain, Brock Forbes, it isn't that Kennedy doesn't feel anger, just, the everpresent existential rage against god has given way to smoke and exhaustion for him, dimmed into a static simmer. So when he sees that anger in his crew, he wants to stoke it, he wants to cup his hand against the wind to protect it, he wants to teach them how to use it. Because he's seen what that anger can do. And like Brock, it makes him so proud to see. And unlike Brock, it makes him so, so afraid.

Loser and 'Winner

By the Ascension, it was pretty clear that Kennedy was pushing himself too hard at the helm, despite persistent blooddrain, despite navigating through every new disaster. When the Crabs finally achieved what they have been striving for, before vanishing from the plane, there was an agreement to try and reaffirm the team's relationship with him on more equal measure. When the elections struck and three Crabs were suddenly replaced by total strangers, the team didn't take it well at all. In particular, Kennedy and Brock made poor first impressions with the new Fridays, which didn't bode well for their elevated futures together.

In particular, Baldwin Breadwinner, surprisingly willing to hold a grudge for someone who has taken 'forgive and forget' to a whole new level, held their new teammates at arm's length, despite Kennedy's attempts to smooth things over. Without his old coping mechanisms on hand, and with three of his closest friends gone, Kennedy was spiraling. It was thanks to Bevan Underbuck's warm and gentle temperament, and their shared sense of loss, of both parts of themselves and of others, that helped him get back on his feet, and in turn he helped bring Bevan out of his shell and into the fold. Or out of his fold and into a shell. Or something. It's a crab joke.

Baldwin, surprised that Ken had broken through to the one person they thought would be the most withdrawn among the three (though perhaps he just finds himself withdrawn around Baldwin in particular), took that as a sign to revisit their first impression of the Crabs and reach out to make the most of the undefined span of time they're all going to spend together. To Kennedy's surprise, now, they ended up getting along really well with Brock, in a weird lightly terrifying way.

Kennedy and Baldwin in turn took the time to give one another a second chance, and it was exactly what Ken needed at this tumultuous time. Baldwin presented to him a fresh eyed no-BS perspective on what's going on with the team, and they, along with Bevan, gave him a blank canvas with which to practice getting closer to them as equals and not as the team dad. And so, it helped him recalibrate his behavior with the others to do the same, with the exception of Evelton McBlase II, who he and Baldwin micromanage constantly in order to minimize chaos as a bonding experience.