Kennedy Loser/IF-14.227

=== 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.
===Ghosts Long Past===
Upon returning to the field after ascension, Loser was hit with a number of difficult events one after another. Losing co-captians Forrest Best and Brock Forbes, as well as Silvaire Roadhouse, the necromancy of York Silk and the redaction of Nagomi Mcdaniel and Alyssa Harrell all took their toll on the now lone captain. In all of this chaos, Loser was inflicted with another curse, to be haunted by the spirits of the dead. At this point longtime teammate Pedro Davids stepped in to convince Loser to take some time off. Davids took charge of the team alongside some of their new players, leaving Loser time and space to start trying to pick up the pieces.
After weeks of dread, Loser was visited by the spirit he was least looking forward to, that of their previous captain Combs Duende. It was hard not to try and compare them. Duende had lost Nora Perez to incineration before she met the same fate. Loser had lost Duende, Tillman Henderson, Best, Mcdaniel, and Harrell in quick succession. The team only had a handful of their original members, and despite having ascended, Loser still felt the sting of failure at the losses they had faced, and how that measured up to their first captain’s record. 
Duende was never a person of many words. Even in the Reckoning she led with actions. As such Duende did not waste words on Loser’s predicament. She did not spend time reassuring him that he did the best he could, or telling him that she was proud of him. The two of them did talk, but it was about the team, and about blaseball, and about hobbies and the goings-on in the trench. Slowly Loser was able to dismantle the memories of Duende he had built up, and squared them back into place with the figure before him. A captain who did her best, just like he did.
====The Ghost of Chorby Soul====
By season 17 Loser's haunting had begun to weigh heavily on him. With other members of the team taking on some of his responsibilities as captain, he found himself drifting away from the land of the living as he was constantly surrounded by those who had passed. It was however the arrival of Chorby Soul that sparked life back into Loser. Soul arrived to the team after two seasons of being attacked by consumers, and their second necromancy, unstable, and starting the season with two eclipse games. For most of the league it was simply hoped that Soul would be incinerated quickly, and that whoever their instability chained to would survive the experience. For Loser however, he found he simply could not leave it at that. The two had become briefly acquainted during Season 16 Day 98, when Soul had haunted Loser during a game, and now they came face to face again. Despite their impending doom, Loser sought out Soul to offer a place to stay, a warm meal, and company in the short time they had on the team. Chorby Soul was incinerated on Season 17 Day 1, and inhabited Kennedy Loser on Season 17 Day 6, 86, and 88, their first and last haunts of that season. 
===An Alternate - Left Unread===
In the Season 22 Election Kennedy Loser’s alternate was called, and while now sporting a much different set of attributes and skill on the field, off the field many teammates struggled to point out any differences in Loser’s behaviour. When asked directly Loser simply replied that “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what might be different here, or if I’m different here, or if there’s another me somewhere else, but honesty? I’m just as happy to have found things just like I left them, ready for the next season.”, and after many chaotic seasons both within the team and in the broader league it was hard to deny that the Crabs were as steady as they had been in a long time. 
====Heart of the Team====
Even with the many trades, feedbacks, incinerations, and changes the Crabs had faced over the course of the Expansion Era the team was in a healthy place, both in their games and in themselves, and while he could never admit it, much of this was thanks to Kennedy Loser. As people passed through the team it was Loser who would always ensure that you could be a part of the team while you were there. Once they left many found themselves staying in touch, or ever just exchanging friendly words across the field in games. Where once there were strangers there were now old teammates and friends. When a player passed Loser would carry their pearl as well, collecting and saving their memories even as many of them continued to visit in death. 
From Jessica Telephone to Jacoby Podcast, there was no Crab or ex-Crab who would turn down an invitation to Loser’s townhouse to have a meal and catch up. Loser’s legacy as team captain was nothing like the team’s previous captains, or their leaders in the Reckoning, but his success was unquestionable as the heart of the Baltimore Crabs. 
==Towards the Event Horizon==
As the Black Hole opened up and teams were given the ability to steer themselves to their final destination, Kennedy Loser had a choice to make. In his long years as captain, and surviving the first Crab Reckoning as well as Day X, he had many thoughts about what it meant to fight a God. There were sacrifices that would have to be made, and he had made them. In fact several members of the team had. He got together with the longest serving members of the team, Pedro Davids and Finn James, and the three of them had a long, occasionally heated, discussion on what to do. In the end it was decided that they would not put their uninitiated teammates through the same struggles they had faced. They did not need to sacrifice themselves for this case, so they chose not to. James was unhappy with this outcome, Loser was uncharacteristically firm in this decision, not leaving much room for debate, but as the team packed up and headed for the new Horizon they did it together, and awaited the end of the word.