Hi there! My name is Troy Bird, and I am a freelance writer and wannabe author, previously a student at Utah Valley University  and Arizone State University studying English and Digital Media. I love reading and telling stories, and I love drawing funny pictures.

I suffer from bipolar disorder type-2 (the mostly depressive kind), and I lean on writing, the arts, and gaming to serve as therapy and to give me purpose. What’s most surprising about myself is that I’m not one to hesitate sharing what’s going on in my head. I’ll write about my experiences from time to time, and maybe someone will connect with what I have to say. I’m used to shouting into an empty room, but maybe there are people suffering just like I am through all the medications, side effects, extreme highs, extreme lows, and the roller coaster in between. I believe that life is always better with support, whether you have a mental illness or not.

Why the title “Chains and Tales”? Well, “tales” is the easy part. I love telling stories, whether they be funny, sad, or intense. The “chains” part is a little trickier. I deal with a lot of mental ones that take a lot of time and patience to deal with. Yet the strong chains that seem to hold us down can also provide a form of support when the winds start to blow. A lot of people can relate to that, I think. So developing Chains and Tales will be a process. A process in humility and putting myself out there.

My primary goal is always to write excellent, entertaining, and well-thought-out content. My secondary goal is more selfish and personal, something I don’t think a lot of people open themselves up to: honest criticism. I’m always up for an honest and open discussion about how my opinions might be wrong. It might come down to personal taste, of course. Critique is often exactly that. But looking past that and gaining an understanding of why someone thinks the way they do or why something is built the way it is instead of starting with labels, presuppositions, and hate is always a goal of mine. I always have hope that it will be the same for you.

I doubt you’ll hear much politics from me (can’t stand the stuff). But I am a religious person with what I recognize is an odd point of view (I am LDS from Utah). My writings might be pensive one day, whether fiction or non-fiction, so if something I write doesn’t make sense without context, feel free to ask. I invite questions, and I do my best to research the right answer. Just be warned, depression and self-doubt aren’t the greatest friends to have when answering deeply-rooted worldview-challenging questions. And they’re hung around my neck like a pair of hot-pink dumbbells.

Sometimes I like to contemplate my place in the universe and the inevitable entropic death of all things. Sometimes I like to meditate on the thought that the voice lines coming from cows in the cow level of Diablo 2 is, in fact, the epitome of comedy at three in the morning.

You just never know what you’ll get! For better or for worse.

Chains and Tales is drawn or written by Troy Bird, otherwise utilizing Fair Use and attributing where necessary. I really try to give credit where credit is due, so please let me know if anything I post for inspirational reasons needs creator mentions if I fail to make them.