Farewell Belghast
Everyday, once I’m up, I sit at my desk in my office, fire up my PC and log into Feedly. I have various RSS feeds grouped by category, which I slowly trawl through and read anything that catches my eye. I have one curated feed named “Blaugust” named after the yearly festival of blogging event. It has over 250 blogs listed, many of which are former participants. Most of these regularly post. Hence there’s a lot to get through and so I don’t read all of them. However there are a few that I always checkout. Mainly because they’re the personal musings of some of our writing community’s oldest and most prodigious members. The sorts of guys and gals who are part of the furniture. They’ve always been there and it feels like they always will. Posting their thoughts, sharing their enthusiasm and spreading the love, so to speak. One of these blogs, is Tales of the Aggronaut. written by Belghast.
Everyday, once I’m up, I sit at my desk in my office, fire up my PC and log into Feedly. I have various RSS feeds grouped by category, which I slowly trawl through and read anything that catches my eye. I have one curated feed named “Blaugust” named after the yearly festival of blogging event. It has over 250 blogs listed, many of which are former participants. Most of these regularly post. Hence there’s a lot to get through and so I don’t read all of them. However there are a few that I always checkout. Mainly because they’re the personal musings of some of our writing community’s oldest and most prodigious members. The sorts of guys and gals who are part of the furniture. They’ve always been there and it feels like they always will. Posting their thoughts, sharing their enthusiasm and spreading the love, so to speak. One of these blogs, is Tales of the Aggronaut. written by Belghast.
I read Belghast’s post from Wednesday 1st July. He’s been posting less frequently of late because he’s under going chemotherapy and it’s been taking a heavy toll upon him. He even apologised for this inconsistency in his post. He wrote about Paths of Exile I and II. As ever, he wrote the post in his usual leisurely, stream of consciousness style. It’s such a good skill to be able to do this. Just sit and write, from the hip so to speak but still make it interesting and engaging, rather than rambling and chaotic. It’s one of the qualities that I’ve always admired about his approach to blogging. The passion is front and centre as well. The post in question is about the size and design of the maps in Paths of Exile II and how they are too large from Belghast’s perspective with too much clutter. It is in every respect the definition of a fan post, written by a gamer. Belghast’s blog is filled with such content. There’s also more personal material, such as the death of his wife a year ago, his grief and his illness.
There wasn’t a post from Belghast yesterday or today. That’s not surprising considering his health situation. So I and others thought nothing more of it. Then the news filtered back to our community Discord server this afternoon, that he had passed way from complications arising from his chemotherapy, apparently. Let it suffice to say that adjectives such as shocked and stunned do not adequately convey how utterly surprised and upset everyone in our community is. This is a genuine tragedy for his family and friends. Setting aside our own personal feelings, naturally they’re at the epicentre of this bereavement and our thoughts are with them first and foremost. That being said, the blogging community that sprang up around the Tales of the Aggronaut blog and the annual Blaugust: Festival of Blogging event has lost their best and most stalwart member and friend.
It may sound hyperbolic but Belghast was the epitome of a “good man”. He was thoughtful, encouraging, welcoming and kind. The latter is the greatest quality. He built our community through the Blaugust: Festival of Blogging event and was a source of continuous support and enthusiasm. Even when life visited tragedy upon him successively in such a short time. Yet he never complained, remaining positive and outward looking, despite his personal circumstances. He had a social conscience and cared about others and what we do in life. From time to time he’d write about such things and it was clear he was in his own way, one of life’s “doers”. He now leaves a substantial gap in our community and he will be sorely missed. The world needs more “good men”. Especially now.
Although many who new Belghast are still reeling from the news. It has been decided that this years Blaugust: Festival of Blogging will most definitely go on. The annual event, held every year in August, which is designed to encourage people to write creatively and share it online, is the perfect way to celebrate Bel and his achievements. It may also provide a means for people to proactively work through their grief. From a wider perspective, encouraging people to think, write and express themselves online is something that most certainly needs to be encouraged and nurtured in light of the present geopolitical situation. Hence Blaugust 2026 is a fitting way to remember and honour our friend Belghast. A prodigious writer, a community builder and a decent human being.
Namárië Belghast.
Community and Friendship
I joined Twitter back in 2010. Perhaps the most surprising thing I quickly discovered about the platform is the immediacy of communication that it offers. You can follow someone, reply to something they say or initiate a conversation with them in real time. Hence interacting with those who share a common interest becomes very accessible and enjoyable. It’s a far cry from going to a convention, wandering around and then plucking up the courage to speak to someone or join in a conversation that others are having. Social media removes those awkward “ice breaking” moments. Of course not every Twitter exchange is a pleasant experience but overall I’ve not encountered many problems using social media over the past decade. Twitter has broadly been a positive experience and introduced me to a wider community. It has provided me with an opportunity to meet new people and become part of something that is both social and positive.
I joined Twitter back in 2010. Perhaps the most surprising thing I quickly discovered about the platform is the immediacy of communication that it offers. You can follow someone, reply to something they say or initiate a conversation with them in real time. Hence interacting with those who share a common interest becomes very accessible and enjoyable. It’s a far cry from going to a convention, wandering around and then plucking up the courage to speak to someone or join in a conversation that others are having. Social media removes those awkward “ice breaking” moments. Of course not every Twitter exchange is a pleasant experience but overall I’ve not encountered many problems using social media over the past decade. Twitter has broadly been a positive experience and introduced me to a wider community. It has provided me with an opportunity to meet new people and become part of something that is both social and positive.
Although I have always written throughout my life, it was my introduction to MMOs that really galvanised my endeavours. When I enjoy something I often feel compelled to write about my experiences and share them with others. So I initially blogged about The Lord of the Rings Online and later expanded my writing to encompass other games. Twitter proved to be a good medium to promote my material and I quickly found others who shared similar interests and wrote their own blogs or produced their own podcast. In an act of hubris I actually emailed one such podcaster and “suggested” he have a “european correspondent”. The next thing I knew I was talking to the two existing hosts of that show on Skype and subsequently found myself part of the team. This act of kindness and good faith was quite remarkable when you think about it. Here were two people who were doing a podcast by the “seat of their pants”, that were prepared to take a risk on some over enthusiastic British guy who basically tried to gate crash their project. But they took a gamble and it worked out well.
This was one of many acts of kindness that I’ve encountered over the years. The podcasting and blogging helped me find a very industrious and friendly fan community. Many of which were already established and had an online presence. Yet all were happy to promote new blogs and podcasts, leave positive feedback and generally be supportive. But it seems to be a recurring theme. So many of the content creators I’ve met over the years seem disposed towards helping others by default. And outside of our immediate shared fandom, it’s nice to get to know folk from all over the world. Because you do get to know people over time. Many of us are careful about what we share on social media or write about in our blog posts. Privacy is ever evolving and can be abused, so it is logical that people don’t fully “pull back the curtain” on their lives. Yet often a writer’s personality will bleed through into their work. They’ll occasionally throw in an anecdote about their life, be it a remark about their work, partner or family. It is these personal touches that build a sense of rapport.
There was a boom time for gaming blogs and it has now passed. Many of those who were active within the community have moved on or significantly reduced their output of content. And then there are those who just keep going because it’s “what they do”. Yet the blogging diaspora still endures and many of the people I met a decade ago are still about on social media. It’s always pleasant when someone you haven’t heard from for a while turns up in your timeline. It’s very much like bumping into an old friend as you come back from grocery shopping. And yes I am happy to use the word friend. I think the somewhat dismissive view that online friendships are not the same as those with people you physically meet, is archaic and simply incorrect.
I hold my online friends and peers in very high regard. I respect their opinions and am very grateful for the support they’ve shown me over the years and the way they’ve encouraged my content creation. I also find the different perspectives that they often provide invaluable in helping me to understand the modern world and learn about life. I like to hear about their families, their pets and the shenanigans that go on at their work. It proves that people have far more in common than differences. I am also saddened by the trials and tribulations that some face and hope I can be supportive when they need it. Even if all I can do is to raise a wry smile. And yes, if possible, I’d love to meet up with all of them. I think it would be a most enjoyable experience to finally put faces to virtual names.
The world is a complicated and difficult place at times. There certainly seems to be a palpable sense of gloom spreading at the moment and we’re all too often encouraged to get angry with each other. Yet I take immense comfort and hope from the community that I am part of and the people I am proud to call my friends. The mutual respect, support and kindness, along with the capacity to keep a sense of humour is in many ways an antidote to all the negativity that abounds. While writing this post I toyed with the idea of referencing a few of my Twitter buddies and what I enjoy about their virtual company. However, I quickly realised that it was impossible to do so as I didn’t want to leave anyone out and I am fortunate to know so many good people. So I’ll simply finish with a classic quote from Bilbo Baggins. “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve”. Thanks for being you, so to speak.
