TizzytheTormentor, known in real life as Chris Tester, is one of The Escapist‘s most active members. He’s been frequently nominated for this spotlight, is a member of several prominent user groups, and is a staple in many a Forum Game. He also spends a great deal of his free time playing Halo 4 online with his fellow Escapists.
You’ll likely recognize him by his avatar, which more often than not features Happy, the blue cat from Fairy Tail. That should tell you something about Tizzy’s personality: he’s a happy person. On an internet full of pessimism, here’s someone who doesn’t let that get him down.
Now that we’ve got a fair bit of distance between us and St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish lad should finally be awake and ready to be interviewed! By popular demand, TizzytheTormentor:
How long have you been a member of The Escapist, and what about the site brought you here?
Well, I assume like most people, I was introduced to the site when a friend showed me Zero Punctuation. For a time, I went to The Escapist weekly to watch good ole Yahtzee rip on the latest game to be released, but I took notice of the forums and the community, I lurked for few weeks and eventually decided to make an account and join up.
What is your favorite current Escapist feature?
When I joined up, I mostly watched Zero Punctuation as they came out, but when the Jimquistion came out, I began to watch that quite often (who can say no to Jim?) I haven’t watched ZP in a while as I like to let episodes build up, but I plan to look at more Escapist content when I have time.
You are a strong participant in the Forum Games section of The Escapist. What draws you to that?
When I hit 1000 posts, I liked the community and decided to get premium membership and set a new avatar (to the wonderful blue cat you see on the forums) and noticed I never visited the Forum Games section, so I went to check it out. I found myself having a lot of fun posting in the games and talking with the many regulars.
Now, most of my Escapist friends are part of the Forum Games section, I have been inactive lately due to course work, but I will be more active once the holidays roll around, which is…right now come to think of it (thank you Easter break)
Since you’re Irish, and we recently celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, I have to ask you: How do you feel about the holiday and how did you celebrate it?
Ah, Paddy’s day! Nowhere does it quite like Ireland!
Tradition demands a tremendous intake of alcohol and cheap bar food, so like most Irish, I got incredibly sloshed and wandered around town singing “It’s a great day for the Irish” The night ended with me drinking 2 pints of water and waking up the next day listening to my mates moan over how hung-over they are.
As for the parades, I prefer to avoid when possible, not my thing I’m afraid, but people in costumes waving to you and passing out free treats is always a bonus.
What has your job experience been like? Any interesting stories?
I was a part-time worker in a self service restaurant and mostly cleared tables of trays and other small tasks, good pay and relatively easy work.
One story involved a woman from upstairs (it was a department store and the toilets upstairs belonged to the restaurant) and a woman asked me to tell my boss that there was blood everywhere over the stalls, I was very confused but told my boss who had the matter sorted. A few days later, another person came up to me telling me someone passed out in the toilets! Sometimes, I don’t want to know what happens upstairs…
In your free time, apart from browsing The Escapist, what do you do with yourself?
I am currently doing a PLC course, which stands for Post Leaving Certificate (Irish for final exams) and it is usually a 1 or 2 year course, there to teach skills that may help in a profession or moving onto a higher education. I am doing a one year Hotel and Catering course which has most of my time devoted to it.
Aside from my course, I will usually be playing video games, the common pastime for most Escapees. I also hang out with friends from town and cycle around town for a bit. I enjoy reading, manga mostly and I might watch some shows or movies with my parents. I also like to watch a bit of anime here and there. I also love cooking, one of the reasons I chose my course.
Do you have a favorite game/movie/band/painting/etc. that you’d like more people to be aware of?
Currently, I have been playing Fire Emblem: Awakening and have been loving every second. I had never played a Fire Emblem game previously (due to high rarity and high prices online) but I decided to get Awakening from the eShop and have been addicted ever since. Anyone who owns a 3DS should get this game, definitely a must own. Sure I have course work that needs to be submitted, but who cares about that? I HAVE TO FIGHT RISEN AND MARRY OFF MY UNITS!
I know what some may be thinking, the game isn’t out in Europe yet, so how do I play it on a region locked 3DS? Answer is, I own an American 3DS, I mostly buy my games from the eShop or when on holiday. It strangely has yet to be an inconvenience (I am unable to buy games from my local gameshop)
Other than that, I usually play Halo 4 online with a few friends from town or from The Escapist.
Do you have any pets? What are they and what are their names? If you don’t have a pet, do you want one? Why/why not?
We got an Iguana 2 years ago, I was very interested in Iguanas after seeing them in a pet shop and reading the care manual on them, my family was also interested in an exotic pet, so we bought our lovely Iguana and the largest cage for 700 euro (all the others were insultingly small) and she fit in very fast. My sister and I came up with the name Mana while talking and it stuck.
Our longest pet would be our cat, Fradies (she was a [a]fraid-y cat) She was a very timid and loving cat, she usually slept in either my bed or my parents bed (she knew not to sleep in my sisters room) Sadly, as she turned 12, we learned she had a tumour that would soon kill her, after a week, we took her to the vet to put her down, preferring to have her die painlessly.
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