Brave Newbies have honored one of their capsuleers, John Bellicose, with a beautiful and heartbreaking send off. After a unexplained absence, it was discovered recently, that John had passed away in April.
John Bellicose was one of the most dedicated pilots within Brave Newbies. He was a fleet commander, a recruiter, a teacher, a mentor and, most importantly, a friend.
It is with terrible sadness that I write to inform you that one of the Stars of the Brave Dojo, and Brave Itself, has lost his life. It was discovered yesterday that John Bellicose lost his life in April. John was one of those rare characters whose internet spaceship Facade was that of a caring, altruistic gentleman.
It’s a strange thing when one of our Game Friends dies – most of us didn’t know his real name, his real life, or anything about him. In a lot of ways, that’s true of all of us – we all live these secret lives behind the internet spaceships facade we develop for ourselves.
It’s also a rare thing when our Internet Friends Pass away and we come to find out about it. You can’t play this game for any length of time and have a friend mysteriously stop logging on. Some of these people are, without doubt, no longer living. I think it’s a truly great thing when we’re allowed to mourn our anonymous friends who disappear from our lives. Most of you will have read the Alliance mail sent out by now so hopefully this will not be too much of a shock.
I’ll take this opportunity to sing his praises. John was a great friend to us: though only joining the Dojo relatively recently, he made a dazzling impact on our newbros. With his trademarked dry humour and wide knowledgebase, John taught dozens of newbie classes, bringing his own brand of excellence to the newbies who flew under him.
John was one of the best tackle teachers I’ve had the pleasure of watching – his wit and obvious competence was a great hit with his students. He was instrumental in helping grow the Dojo, and one of the most reliable, good natured and likeable people I knew. I trusted and valued his friendship and judgement, and Indeed, he was one of the front runners to take the job of Education and Recruitment Secondary.
Many of us felt like we’d transcended our internet friendships to become actual friends with John. It’s a real tragedy that we, as a whole collective, lost an asset, and lot of us lost a friend. Many more of us won’t have the opportunity to know him, and that’s the worst thing.
Vale John. You’ve been missed, but your legacy will live. (Cagali, Brave Reddit).
The comments, words and salutations in Reddit, forums and blogs, form a lasting tribute to a man that touched so many lives. He will be sorely missed by many.
Brave pilots attended a memorial roam in his honor and the following tribute video made by Keesha Echerie.
Truely amazing is that John Bellicose wasn’t your stereotypical EVE hero. He wasn’t a veteran, his toon was born on the 25th Jan 2014. He wasn’t a pvper with thousands of kills and tournament wins to his name. He wasn’t the CEO of a corporation that conquered half of New Eden. He was a man who loved EVE online and brought that love to many other players who started the game ‘late’. He was a true hero to many who struggled with the game, needed a friend and a helping hand. A gem amongst the stars.
Vale John Bellicose
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-TwilightsDawn
The image used in the header of this article was created by Nick Cornax of Brave Operations – Lollipop Division
