NOTE: At least read the last paragraph (not the edit)
Today I woke up to find out that one of our friends among this community has chosen to take his own life. Schery6 or 2028chan to others. He had a previous account on this site that he deleted and was also a member on looksmax as well as some of our discords. I didn't know him overly well but spoke to him a fair few times and he was an all round good guy just trying to find his place in this world. Trying to navigate the harsh reality of society.
It's saddening to hear of yet another such case where someone I know has had to resort to such a bleak outcome. He recently signed up to the forum again under a new name though I did reject this account due to him being only 16... A horrible age to pass at honestly. It shouldn't be the case. Only 5 days before he died I was speaking to him, I explained why I rejected the account due to me considering it a disservice to him. He understood this.
We VC'd for a long time, I tried to give him encouragement and advice on how to better utilize the rest of his youth and developmental years as opposed to wasting them online. I never want young people to waste their potential. It was a really nice talk tbh and enjoyed hearing his thoughts on things. I thought I'd gotten through to him because he seemed to take it onboard fairly well. I wanted him to succeed in life and not feel as isolated and down as he did. We should always strive to guide the younger people who find themselves here, not do what bluepillers do and lead them to a path of failure. I'm at least glad that he felt safe in these spaces and found community/support while he was still here though.
Alas I guess I failed him. But not more so than the rest of the world. I know places like IT will say "muh bullying due to looks and stuff doesn't happen and doesn't matter, you deserve it Inkwell" and while I'm sure IT are happy of this revelation as they have been with similar past incidents, this is indicative of a much larger issue. (Interesting note, he admitted that if it weren't for IT he wouldn't have found these spaces, he also expressed how cruel they are). In the article it describes how his own mother knew that he was constantly bullied due to his appearance and due to autism, how therapy didn't work. Three things that society is relentless when it comes to shaming people for. It honestly sickens me that this will only continue without end. No one should have to feel like that tbh. No one should have to experience such things. He deserved so much better.
While there's little else I feel I can say really, a bit speechless and don't want to ramble on too much.
He was our friend and someone that many people around these spaces got along with and would have a laugh with. I ask everyone here to pay your respects. My thoughts go out to his family, friends and peers.
To any members or lurkers with the ability to do so, I ask one thing. Here is a link to a gofundme page to help raise funds for his burial. Anyone who can spare a little, I'm sure the family would greatly appreciate it. I feel it's the least those that can, can do to help give our friend a proper send off.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/funeral-for-diego-pena
Till we meet again friend. Rest well.
EDIT: Some people have told me and some of his friends that we are "good" for looking out for him. This is wrong. At the core this is disgustingly wrong. We are not "good" for showing someone an ounce of humanity. I appreciate the sentiment but it makes me sick even more... Imagine... We live in a world now where showing someone a shred of basic human decency makes you "good"... As opposed to what should be "normal". This guy deserved so much better than society gave him. And peoples attitudes show that society is a in a dire state. The fact that it's considered special to treat someone like a person... I am lost for words at this point.
