Over the last couple of years, we’ve gotten to know some amazing people in our community. Beyond their lumberjack skills or teaching ability, we discovered they live lives of adventures! We want to feature them (with permission of course) and also share their stories. This month, the feature spotlight is on Lord Dick Tim.
Read on to learn about one of the first Skywhale devotees.
Q: Tell us about yourself.
A: Well, I’m Tim. I served for 8 years in the United States Navy as a Combat Engineer in the Seabees as a Steelworker, Petty Officer Second class. I was a member of a disaster unit for 5 years and worked in theaters all over Southeast Asia. I was in Sri Lanka during the Tamil rebellion, right in the middle of it, and through the 2005 Tsunami. After encountering an IED in Iraq that cracked my skull and burned a lung, I began a three year transition away from the navy to civilian life. I’m recently a Group Care Worker at a NPO working with teen felony offenders from across the state of Massachusetts. I’m essentially still doing trauma care, though out of the world’s wars and in my own backyard.
I got into the Navy to learn more about the world so I could become a better writer. I took the adage for writers to heart – write what you know. So I wanted to know more. It was a long, horrifying, rewarding, yet costly journey. I put those experiences to pen when I can and continue to hone my craft in various ways.
Q: Was there anything about Seabees that particularly interested you?
A: Trade skill, and the chance to work with local populations beyond just strictly military. Seabees get to work with members of the community in the countries the US has relations with. We participate by learning their customs, abiding by their laws, and eating what they eat.
“With compassion for other, we build – we fight for peace with freedom” – this is a Seabee saying, and I took it to heart. Nothing better than taking some spare wood and fixing a man’s chicken coop that got wrecked in a storm. The man kept bringing us food for days in the Philippines. Or going over and welding a roof structure that cracked after a long day of work in the hot sun, because it needed fixing, and I had the skills and ability to do it. Nothing is more rewarding than being in a position to do something, and having the means to do it.
Q: Any memories that stood out in your years of travels?
A: Yes, some of them still haunt me to this day. Yet, many more have been joyous and filled with awe of the human spirit. Some of them are deeply ingrained in me, shaped me into who I am now, and colored my perspective greatly. I won’t share the horrors, even if I cannot go a day without knowing one of them. One joyous memory that stood out for me was marching on foot in the southern Philippines with a group of PI Marines. We couldn’t talk with one another due to language barrier, but we always understood each other’s needs. I knew little about these men, but they had the resources and cunning of a creature born for their environment. Yet despite all their awesome prowess, they had incredibly gentle hearts. We came across many people in need in the Philippines, and every need was answered, no matter how difficult or arduous. They had infinite patience and grace under fire. I came to deeply respect the Philippine military and population that lived in areas of constant trial.
Or being in Iraq, seeing young girls going to school, walking in the streets, knowing that they could be shot by extremists for the offense. They had a power to them that bullets, armor, and threats of violence could not match or defeat. Everyday they went to school. Sometimes their numbers fell, and those moments need not to be described, for it was obvious as to what had happened to them. But their strength, their commitment were incredible and inspiring. To be a soldier, to be strong and well trained, to be armed and armored in your countries best, and to know that you are not as powerful as a 12 year old girl. That was profound.
Q: How did you find out about the game?
A: From a group of friends who had all been in the beta and had donated to the original Kickstarter. I then purchased a copy to participate during its early release, just before the hurricane!
Q: What made you decide to give the game a go?
A: The emphasis on team play. I love playing in a team, and I thrive in difficult-to-play, challenging games. I stayed with the game because of its narrative. The way matches played out often resulted in a hectic yet controllable chaos that I could only really appreciate by being on the helm. I still get sweaty palms in close matches, even though there is nothing really on the line. I only ever felt that before from a game while playing EVE, and in EVE, it takes a very long time to gain something, and there’s always a chance of losing it. In Guns, the emotional loss or gain was just as profound, but I could always get right back into a new match without having to grind for endless hours.
Q: You are an authority of community lore and story. What made you decide to take that up and what piqued your interest the most?
A: Writing to me is just as expressive as any visual art. My mind simply boils with possibilities of narratives, themes, and concepts when I examine even the most mundane subject matter. It is my natural inclination to take up describing things, and I just find my way toward it pretty effortlessly. My interest is most often piqued by the interactions of diverse and interesting characters and peoples. I like seeing how two different entities collide, how conflict arises, and how they resolve. I also appreciate the random and seemingly pointless collision of events that send a narration into chaos. The butterfly effect is consistently at the back of my mind when I write. The larger picture and the number of strokes that bring the painting to its current stage are what I am compelled to describe.
Q: What faction are you planning on joining in PvE?
A: Arashi. I’m a scraper by nature, and my inclination to work with what I got has been honed by my years as a Seabee. The visual artistry and the amusing addition of a Vulture for their bird just add to that rugged survivalist charm.