Hello All!

I know I promised only one OOC hot take blog in my lifetime on this site, but recently something happened to me that sort of shook my life at its core. If you were not already aware, on Wednesday of this week, my father passed away after a battle with an aggressive brain tumor. He had been unconscious for days at the point he passed away and I had already said my goodbyes to him. Yet, as anyone might expect it still sent me into a bit of a spiral. I am still not completely recovered from the loss in my life - no 26 year old expects to be without a father. However, I did find comfort here on Chaos.

The last 30 days on Chaos has arguably been characterized by tension and controversy. As an unfortunate side effect of a map game with seemingly "real" consequences, I think it is all too common for us to forget the people behind the play-bys and start dividing ourselves socially among the same faction lines we roleplay in. The people our characters meet on the battlefield become our enemies, we say things we later regret, we make unfortunate remarks about each other in private and sometimes in public, and we reduce the value of each other's lives and feelings to quippy one liners. I've been guilty of it too, though less out of malice than for a moment of levity.

Still, when I took a risk, sharing with you all that I had just lost my father, I found nothing but warmth. I got dozens of messages of support, not just from members of the Alliance but from every corner of this site. It turned what would probably have been a weeks-long LOA into a days-long one because I was reminded how cathartic being a member of this community usually is. I've always tried to approach everyone on Chaos with that same sense of community I received over the last couple of days and I was humbled to get it back in equal measure. I am resolved to keep contributing to that sense of community.

To bastardize the words of a much greater man, Chaos is a community so long as we can keep it.

Thanks for reading <3