Merci Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Yeah. During that Suicide thread, also in this very section, while I recounted my former suicidal self, something just occurred to me. YCM had greatly influenced my decision to live. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for this very forum, and its community. Of course, most of you guys probably weren't there those three-ish years ago, either because you hadn't yet joined or because I didn't really hang out where you hung out or maybe just because you changed your names and I don't recognize you guys anymore. You probably don't remember me either. But the fact remains that I wouldn't be here right now if this forum wasn't here back then. In an alternate universe where YCMaker made a different decision, I would be dead by now, having killed myself. So I thank you all, for giving me hope those years ago, giving me hope to continue living in the land of the living with the people of the living, and not the dead. I thank you all for being funny, serious, critical, knowledgable on different subjects, and simply plain friendly. Or unfriendly. Either counts. That's what makes up internet forums, right? I thank you all, you have a place somewhere in my soul. Assuming I have a soul. Some of you are atheists, aren't you? I met loads of people here, and in this General section I'm actually a little bit surprised to learn their backgrounds. Unintentionally, of course, but still. Off-topic. I thank you for being people. Grammar-aware, amusing people, who still somehow manage to remain anonymous. I thank you. Thanks. Um. Unsure what the point of this thread is supposed to be, but yeah. Some of you might not even care if it was just a single life this forum saved. I mean, there are over six billion people in the world out there, right? But I'm thanking you anyway, since that life was me, and humans are obsessed with either staying alive, or keeping others alive. One final time, thank you, YCM. [b]LZ Edit:[/b] To make this a legal thread (because its a nice story and I don't want to lock it) discuss your feelings for this site and how close calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarven King Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 *hugs* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Dwarven King' timestamp='1328007085' post='5791523'] *hugs* [/quote] *hugs back* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Sage Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 And thus once again proving how the Internet is very important. ^There is probably some structural problem with the above sentence, but I cannot think of any atm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Starrk Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Good for you. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I was so the most influential. AND I WASN'T EVEN HERE 3 YEARS AGO. Also, look where you are now: You had your first kiss. Aw... our little merciful idiot grew up before our very eyes. I'm gonna tear up... wait why am I doing this, we don't talk that much. .-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Tim Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I was here since 2009< can't seem to remember you though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Yay! I'll get the booze! Wait, this isn't C&O. Um... Glad to have you here d00d! *Glomps* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakÎż Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Alas, I wasn't there in that time, if 3 years ago is accurate. But it's really cool what this place did. We may be no more than a collection of bored people and bad trolls, but we still have heart I guess. ...Or maybe that's soul...I dunno. One way or another, YAY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Wraith' timestamp='1328023398' post='5791650'] I was so the most influential. AND I WASN'T EVEN HERE 3 YEARS AGO. Also, look where you are now: You had your first kiss. Aw... our little merciful idiot grew up before our very eyes. I'm gonna tear up... wait why am I doing this, we don't talk that much. .-. [/quote] [quote name='Admiral Tim' timestamp='1328024329' post='5791670'] I was here since 2009< can't seem to remember you though? [/quote] I've also been here since around 2009. But who [i]are [/i]you two? ._. Oh, and Legend Zero! Hi, buddy! You're a moderator now? That's awesome! . . . . . at least, I think that's what the LZ stands for. But hurray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tin Trooper Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 That's pretty sweet, M.I. Actually didn't remember who you were; shows I really did forget about this site. :c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Merciful Idiot' timestamp='1328029519' post='5791768'] I've also been here since around 2009. But who [i]are [/i]you two? ._. Oh, and Legend Zero! Hi, buddy! You're a moderator now? That's awesome! . . . . . at least, I think that's what the LZ stands for. But hurray. [/quote]I'm Aggro/Pit/Wraith. Been here (active) since August, nice to meet you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted January 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Wraith' timestamp='1328035875' post='5791920'] I'm Aggro/Pit/Wraith. Been here (active) since August, nice to meet you. [/quote] Nice to meet you too. 'Aggro' rings a tiny bell, just a tiny bell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agro Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Merciful Idiot' timestamp='1328037052' post='5791959'] Nice to meet you too. 'Aggro' rings a tiny bell, just a tiny bell [/quote]AggroDrago. :\ People don't know me still? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Wraith' timestamp='1328037107' post='5791963'] AggroDrago. :\ People don't know me still? [/quote] Who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apostle of Calamity Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Apologies if I fail to comprehend why you could not post this in the Suicide topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John A. Zoidberg Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 People on here like Atman and Desu have had a pretty significant impact on who I am given the fact that this is the internet. So have other people, but those two are the most significant. Now, no one on here has been trustworthy enough of a friend to really impact a decision as large as suicide, but I am glad that the people on here could help you, Merciful Idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilfusion Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I find the story to be frightening on a level that few people acknowledge on a daily basis. It's of course a very pleasant thing, that the forum helped shape your continued existence, but to me it speaks of one dark and terrifying reality: Everything you do, no matter how small, can have an impact in some way. Even over the internet, where your actions and words can seemingly bear no true consequence (hence the existence of trolls), they matter. Reaching out to help the newbie adapt, rather than chew him out over making a bad card, could shape the outcome of his life. Insulting someone too harshly or too frequently can lead them to shy away from other online interactions. It reminds me of another forum I visited about 4 years ago. I was fairly new to online interactions, and I said and did some things that overemphasized some of the nastier, more anti-social aspects of my personality, mostly lingering resentment and distaste towards people, left over from days I used to get bullied in school (not to the point of some people, but still). I got chewed out for it promptly, and retracted the comments I made, lingering in the hopes I could maybe still be involved there. I know that at another site I frequented, I still had aspects of this personality, so it didn't just go away immediately. But after a year or so, I mellowed out a lot more. About 2 and a half years ago, I came here. You probably would never think I ever was anything but what you know me as. But that's my entire point: If that first forum had jumped on my ass constantly about my early behavior there, I probably wouldn't have grown so strongly as a person. There are other factors to that growth, no doubt, but almost everything I did in my life after that point, the key aspects were nurtured by that forum, and the friends I made there, and the friends I made in the future. What people do matters. It shapes what others can become. And it's terrifying how much it matters. Glad you're around Merciful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apostle of Calamity Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='evilfusion' timestamp='1328047265' post='5792289'] I find the story to be frightening on a level that few people acknowledge on a daily basis. It's of course a very pleasant thing, that the forum helped shape your continued existence, but to me it speaks of one dark and terrifying reality: Everything you do, no matter how small, can have an impact in some way. Even over the internet, where your actions and words can seemingly bear no true consequence (hence the existence of trolls), they matter. Reaching out to help the newbie adapt, rather than chew him out over making a bad card, could shape the outcome of his life. Insulting someone too harshly or too frequently can lead them to shy away from other online interactions. It reminds me of another forum I visited about 4 years ago. I was fairly new to online interactions, and I said and did some things that overemphasized some of the nastier, more anti-social aspects of my personality, mostly lingering resentment and distaste towards people, left over from days I used to get bullied in school (not to the point of some people, but still). I got chewed out for it promptly, and retracted the comments I made, lingering in the hopes I could maybe still be involved there. I know that at another site I frequented, I still had aspects of this personality, so it didn't just go away immediately. But after a year or so, I mellowed out a lot more. About 2 and a half years ago, I came here. You probably would never think I ever was anything but what you know me as. But that's my entire point: If that first forum had jumped on my ass constantly about my early behavior there, I probably wouldn't have grown so strongly as a person. There are other factors to that growth, no doubt, but almost everything I did in my life after that point, the key aspects were nurtured by that forum, and the friends I made there, and the friends I made in the future. What people do matters. It shapes what others can become. And it's terrifying how much it matters. Glad you're around Merciful. [/quote] So true to a frightening extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ieyasu Tokugawa Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='The Dark Evangel' timestamp='1328044554' post='5792208'] Apologies if I fail to comprehend why you could not post this in the Suicide topic. [/quote] Attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='evilfusion' timestamp='1328047265' post='5792289'] [clipped] [/quote] Very true but I never thought about it. When you think about the general demographic of YCM'ers, people that would post here would have a tendency to be susceptible to suicidal thoughts or tendencies. I suppose one should no be so harsh on people because of a card game. *coughshardcough* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apostle of Calamity Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Ieyasu Tokugawa' timestamp='1328047976' post='5792324'] Attention. [/quote] Does that require a lock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Sometimes I think it would, but IMHO, this thread isn't really lockworthy. I guess it's Twilight's call though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John A. Zoidberg Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 He provided discussion not about suicide as per LZ's request. I think it should be left open, and only locked if the discussion doesn't happen and people continue the "glad you're okay," as nice as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apostle of Calamity Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 [quote name='Ryƫku' timestamp='1328048209' post='5792338'] and only locked if the discussion doesn't happen and people continue the "glad you're okay," as nice as it is. [/quote] However that is exactly what is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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