Death of Crystal Heart

[Evisse the Blue]

I'm sorry, but I find this very funny...in fact, until I remember a better one, this certainly takes the cake for the funniest event I've had happen here on the Downs...Yes I have a weird sense of humour (like Crystal's sister, apparently ). And seeing that Mark Twain quote posted by Lush really made me crack up.

Crystal, you shouldn't have been so quick to sort this out, you should have allowed us to praise you a little longer.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Evisse

I'm sorry, but I find this very funny...

I have a pretty broad sense of humour but I fail to see any humour in this situation. Indeed I personally find what has been done here to be cruel and callous. To make people think that someone is dead, particularly someone so young, and that their family is grieving not a nice thing to do and is not something either to feel proud of or to be encouraged. It upsets people unnecessarily and has the capacity to make people foolish for having believed it. Although, as far as I am concerned, there is no shame in having fallen for this silly trick. There are few who would not have done.

I wouldn't mind if this sham had at least been clever. But there is no skill in duping people into believing that someone is dead, particularly on the internet where no acting skills are required - simply a suitably worded message. You would have to be pretty hard-nosed and cynical not to have believed it. So where's the cleverness in that?

Ultimately, all it has done is caused unnecessary distress and gained Crystal Heart some praise. Whether it is deserved or not, I do not know. But, whether or not she is innocent in the affair, the circumstances in which this praise has been gained are hardly respectable.

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

A side observation.... A good lesson to take away from all this is the need to show caution when dealing with the net and people you meet through the net. What appears to be true about an individual, what is said in the context of a website, may or may not be reality.

I would endorse Child's comments here. To my mind, this lesson is the only valuable thing that we can draw from this sorry affair.

[Nurumaiel]

I do think, regardless of whether the whole situation is looked up as funny or as a cruel joke, and whether we can throw back our heads and laugh or feel rather indignant that our hearts have been played with in such a callous fashion, the most important thing is that Crystal Heart is not dead. To say the least, it wasn't a very considerate thing of her sister to do, telling us that she was dead, but isn't it preferable that her sister do something so cruel, rather than actually have what she said be the truth? I know I'm much happier to know that it was a 'joke' and I made myself look rather silly by posting here with my condolences, than to have my words be appropriate for the situation and find Crystal Heart, in reality, dead. I prefer that her sister played such a 'joke,' rather than the rest of her family actually suffering because their young daughter was dead (though, naturally, I would have preferred that Crystal Heart never 'died' in the first place).

I feel indignant that such a cruel 'joke,' could be played, and I, like a few others, find absolutely no humour in that situation. I was deeply grieved at the news of Crystal's 'death,' and many here were better acquainted with her than I was. I can only imagine how they must have felt. I think it's stating it mildly to say that the joke was in very bad taste.

I can find something to laugh about in the fact that I made myself slightly foolish by posting my regrets, for it's either laugh about that or hide in a dark hole, cringing with embarrassment. As Mr. Saucepan said, it's not ridiculous of us to fall for it, but I feel slightly ridiculous all the same... and I choose to laugh at myself (though I cannot and will not laugh at the instance which gave me cause to laugh at myself).

But over all other feelings, I experience one of deep relief that Crystal isn't dead, and that we have her, and more importantly her family has her, for some time yet. And I think that is very proper.

[Imladris]

Glad to see that Crystal Heart is still alive.

However, Death should not be talked of flippantly. The "joke" was in very bad form.

[Amanaduial the archer]

Certainly, Nurumaiel, it is of course a good thing that she is alive. But it also a good thing you are alive; or the Barrow Wight; or myself (restrain all comments please). But do we really need every living member to post a regular update as to whether they are alive or not so that we appreciate their presence?

And a poor taste 'joke' indeed. I apologise for what you may view as a sense of humour failure in that I don't find this whole situation, but to that, well: psh!, I say sir, and psh! again.

[Mithalwen]

I wan to second the comments of SpM and Nuramaiel and would add that I think this is a particularly nasty prank becasue whe do not know enough about each other to appreciate what pain such statements will cause, what chord may be struck unneccessarily. Given the number of members on this site there is a fairly high probability that someone has lot someone in similar circumstances to those described by CH's warped sister.

Yes it may seem ludicrous to eulogise someone you know only through their posts, but there is a sense in which the "wrongness" of someone dying very young touches everyone beyond the immediate sphere of family and friends, in the way that the death of someone who has lived a long and full life does not.

It makes you re-evaluate your own life and realise how much you take for granted. I know that hearing recently of the death of a friend's teenage sister from cancer, put the long-term but not terminal sickness of my own beloved god-daughter into perspective.

I am glad that CH has done a "Mark Twain" but I am not laughing. I think this was a really nasty thing to do on so many levels .

[Hama Of The Riddermark]

Melissa...you have a terrible sense of humour, and frankly I find it distressing that you are willing to 'kill off' your ssiter simply because you do not want to play an RPG for her.

That said, it is good to know that Crystal is not dead, as has been troubling me in the run up to my mock A levels next week.

However much I want to believe this is true, that the whole thing was just a sick joke...there is the cynic inside me that says otherwise, but I will quash him for the sake of friendship with Crystal.

Good to have you...back...is back the word? 'Still' is better I think...

Hama