Anonymity of Staff

As many of you know, since late 2011 there has been a policy here on EJ to keep the identities of Mods separate. There are numerous reasons for this. Mods have a habit of... attracting hate and scorn from members when thing aren't going as planned on the site. When systems break, mods soak the hit for the admins, lessen the blow. When a member is banned, mods are the ones who manage the community, calming them, making sure people aren't too upset. When the purge happened, it was the mods who were tasked with smoothing things over, trying to ease the transition, and keep members happy. Often, it is mods who suggest plot (for better of for worse), and it is the mods who manage many of the systems on the site, with the admins in a mere supervisory role.

But Suicune is considering a change, and I have offered to be the vanguard of that change, a test subject to see how well this goes over, before the option is offered to the other staff. Tonight, I am revealing myself, publicly, to see how the loss of anonymity impacts a staff member.

I joined the site in March of 2012. I have had very few characters of my own, but have cherished them all deeply. My name is Apos, and I'm friends with many of you here already. It's a pleasure to meet you all, again.

As some of you may have seen, I have come back to the site more in full, rather than just lurking now and again. Specifically, on chat. You also may have noticed that another older user has come back as well, and I'll say now this is not coincidence. Following Mew's brave example, I'll go ahead and reveal that yes, Silverishness and I are the same person. I'm sure that this is really no surprise to some of you, especially older members, ahaha. But I feel that an official announcement would be beneficial.

I do want to say that if, for whatever reason, anyone harbors any sort of grudge or bitterness toward me for anything I've down on this account, please, talk to me so we can resolve it. This is me coming back home, and I want it to be a fresh start.

I'm sorry if this truth hurts anyone, truly. But there's no real need for secrets now, at least not with my identity. So, I'll say this again:

It's great to be home.

After a tedious and very difficult argument with myself, I decided that I am also 'coming out.'
When we created this site, we quickly realized that we needed some anonymity to do the difficult tasks around the site, such as banning and other extremely unpleasant and upsetting jobs of correction.
We never want to do those things, but we had to be protected by potential hostility by having an alternate account.
I do apologize if this deception has hurt anyone, as Lugia said. It was never my intention to do that. It was a necessary thing for a long while, as we've had a lot of drama on the site.
And quite honestly, I've been wanting to come out and let you all know that I am who I am. Because we're all friends, and I wanted to share who I am for the longest time, but it was a heavy burden of secrecy, for the good of the site.

So this is me, Fox, reporting in as Suicune.
I'm still here for all of you, as both of us.
I've always been here for our members, and I always will be.

Suicune and Lugia have always been role models for myself. I have always taken after their strength and worked hard to be fair and just like them. In hard times, they have both been great friends to me. More so, even. Sil has been an older sister to me for a long time now, and Fox has always been someone I cared for greatly, leaning on each other in times of desperation, even when not able to be near each other.
I knew their identities from my time as an Admin alongside them, and they have both done painful and beautiful things. I never regret my time with them and I cherish the memories of us back in the day.

I am not an Admin, and I've always been known, so this isn't some huge thing really. Most members already know, I'm sure, ad mods/past staff know well who I am.
I have gone through hard times in my life, both recently and when I was new to staff. I have always done my very best to follow the amazing examples in Fox ad Sil, not just Suicune and Lugia. I looked up to them all as individuals, and I loved them all for long before and after knowing the truth.

When Mew came out, I was extremely upset. I nearly had a anxiety attack, I could not breathe. I have always depended on other people to look up to and Zapdos was my crutch long since I joined Mod and unchanged even when I stepped down and left EJ. He was someone strong, who did the hard things alongside Suicune and Lugia, as well as screwed around in chat with the members and people he loves. He made me laugh, forced me to be happy, when I would enter chat sobbing. He brought my mood up and spirits became higher when I could not breathe after a day of anxiety attacks back in school. He's made me cry more than any one person I know, and all in joy, when I am laughing so hard I can not get air in my lungs. He has been someone people looked up to, though I only understood why when I stepped back and thought of him as him and not as me. Mew has told me this countless times. But I have low self esteem, and I loathe myself at times.

But I am stronger now. I will never stop being me and I won't eve lose the Zapdos inside. I am coming out as well in public, to let you all know this is Ricxs, Vincent, and I do not regret a damn thing I have done in my time as him. I have helped so many of you, and I will never stop striving to in time.

Because it seems to be obvious ahaha, (I'm terrible at hiding myself from others x3) I'm coming out as Duma~ I'm so terrible at being two people x3

Due to a recent push to be more open about identities, I am unmasking myself, and removing the veil over me that labels me as just a harbinger. I am Apos, as Mew is. I am allowed to make myself public due to being, primarily, a plot device. I am also the point of contact for the harbingers, as Honchkrow before me was.

After quite a bit of deliberation and considering my fellow harbingers are ridding themselves of their dreadful masks, I have decided that I too shall unveil the person behind the curtain. I will add that like Xatu, I will not be out of character, ever, from this point on, strictly because there is simply no point, ahaha.

I am here to declare that though I was created by another admin, I was piloted and completely developed and written by Lugia/ Silverishness. Ahahaha, I told you I was everyone.

I debated long and hard before coming to the conclusion of revealing myself, as I've always held this particular character very near and dear to my heart. Somehow, I always find myself being a little more articulate and sophisticated, and it's always a joy to slip this greasy feather suit on. But alas, there is no need for the anonymity anymore, and thus it is time to shed the cloak.

So once more, I am here, humbly at your service.

I'm posting here to reaffirm what I've already revealed in the chatbox at an earlier date: I am Drago, and I'm happy to be able to work with everyone once more.

Cobalion reminded me by posting here.

I already revealed this once in a group call chat, but not everyone was there so for those who weren't; I'm Starprincess13.  Also known as Sara.  I'll continue to post in character on the occasion I enter the EJ site chatbox and most other places, though.

(And now to go work on warnings for the night.  Make sure you've all posted, dears.)