.006 Δ ["Anonymous" Text]

[ratherbelocky]

[Or, well, actually, this text isn't anonymous. It's simply that the ID number it displays doesn't match anything in anyone's previous contacts--as if someone's perhaps got his meddlesome paws on a brand new 'Gear.]

So there's a thing I've noticed, in the months I've been here. These anonymous posts, the ones asking for advice? They get a lot of answers. Seems we've got a lot of folks willing to help out around here, or at least to talk and commiserate, but it always seems to be a one-off deal; the person who's anonymous, most of us don't get to hear from them again, see how they're doing, and if we're anonymous ourselves, they can't contact us, either. It's like dancing some kind of intimate foxtrot and then never seeing your partner again.

But I found out something interesting. If you go to any Pokémon Center or PokéMart and tell them your Gear's broken or missing, they'll just hand you a new one free of charge. And if you happened to be lying, well. Then you've got an extra Gear unconnected to your main one.

What I'm saying is, there's an easy way to maintain privacy and anonymity on both ends while still checking in with someone you've spoken with before. Obviously, this is great to know for prank calls - and you're all welcome in advance for the April Fools idea - but I'd like to pose another option to those guys who want to help:

What if there were some kind of system in place for people to just talk about what's eating them multiple times with the same person, without ever having to know who's on the other line?

Now, I'm by no means a professional - not in this field, anyway. I'm not qualified to be a therapist and I haven't yet heard of anyone here who is. That's not what I'm suggesting we do here. But there are people willing to just listen, and to share their own experiences without judging, and that can be real useful to people who are working through tough things.

Here's how I'm imagining it'll work.

1. Folks who are interested in doing the listening contact me here by filling out the form at the bottom of this post. I vet them, and if it seems like it'll work out, then they grab an extra Gear, send me the number, and come up with their own codename.
2. I make a list of who's available and their numbers.
3. People looking to be listened to without exposing themselves, they contact me anonymously, and I'll redirect them to one of the folks on the list. After that first contact, they can just get to their listener directly without going through me as a middleman.
4. Conversation happens, everybody profits.

"But, mysterious and probably handsome anon," I hear you ask, "why do the people interested in helping have to out themselves to you? Who are YOU, even, to ask that and put yourself in charge of this whole thing?" And my answer is, there's got to be some accountability here when things this heavy and private are on the table, and I'm willing to be that guy. I'm also happy to reveal my identity privately to anyone who asks; I'm only maintaining anonymity here for those who don't want to know who they're talking to, for whom talking is easier like that.

Anyway. If listening to other people's problems sounds like your calling, I'd like you to fill out the following little survey:
<b>1. Name</b> <b>2. Age</b> <b>3. Do you have your own support network here?</b> <b>4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about?</b> (For example: war, change of species, coming back to life.) <b>5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about?</b> (See above examples.)

If there's enough interest, I'll set something up within the week. In the meantime, let me know what you guys think.

And I guess you can call me Nathaniel.

Comments

[text]

[awesmazings]

[If you thought Jimmy was going to let this pass him by, then you're very wrong. He doesn't even care if people know he's doing this, either. What else is he here for, anyway?]

1. Name Jimmy Two-Shoes
2. Age 17
3. Do you have your own support network here? Oh, totally. Not anybody from home, really, but there's a lot of people here that I'm real close to now. I could prolly talk to them about anything.
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? I'm willing to talk about pretty much anything, to be honest. There's a lot of things I don't know as much about, but even if I can't give much advice about it, I can still offer somebody an ear.
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? I can't think of anything right now, but if something comes up I'll make sure to let you know.

It's real cool of you to offer to do this kinda thing, by the way. I hope it takes off!

[perma-anon on York's end because reasons]

[ratherbelocky]

Hah, well, me too, buddy. Me too. You sure you want to do this, though? I've met you, you're a swell kid but this stuff can get pretty heavy.

[awesmazings]

[Oh, so this guy knows him? He can't say he's too surprised- he knows a lot of people here by now.]

Yeah! I mean, I really wanna help people out if I can, yaknow?

One time, about a year or so ago now...I was havin' a pretty big problem and ended up asking the whole Network about it. It got a lot more people answering than I was expecting, which was really nice, don't get me wrong! It was great people wanted to help, but...at the time, it was a little...overwhelming, I guess? Looking back on it, I didn't really know what to say to that many people at once.

I'm just thinking now how, if there was something like this back then, it might've been a little easier for me to start with. Just having one person to talk to, instead of everybody in Johto. Does that make sense?

[soundmind]

1. Name Maka Albarn
2. Age 18
3. Do you have your own support network here? Y
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War, loss, hard decisions, abandonment, being alone, torture, PTSD

I'm okay with talking about anything, really. I guess I've been through a lot, but I'm at the point now where I can accept that all of it happened and move on.
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? N/A

There are a lot of people my age or even younger with PTSD here, and I don't think any of them know how to cope with it. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I'd really want to set up a group with anybody like that who's willing.

[ratherbelocky]

[Yo, what the fuck. Things he never wants to see: "Age: 18" followed by "torture and PTSD." WHY THIS? WHY ANIMORPHS, WHY SOUL EATER??]

Hell. I'll admit, I've noticed that trend, and I'm not real happy about it.

I'll also admit that I'm almost twice that age, and I don't always know the best way to go about addressing it with the younger crowd. Are you sure you're, you know. Supported enough to set up something like that?

[soundmind]

If you're asking about my mental stability, I'm the best in my class to put it bluntly. We were taught coping mechanisms and spoke to counselors as in our field of work, this is an "expected and normal effect."

[Normal. Expected.

To add--]

Needless to say, I also have experience in the topic of "coming to terms with being taken advantage of by adults."

[Anonymous]

[grapeeater]

I kind of have my doubts as to whether this is going to work. I don't think that a lot of things that people here have to deal with can be just talked out.

It's a nice idea, but I'm not sure how well it will work.

[Anonymous]

[ratherbelocky]

Oh, believe me, I know. I'm not expecting this little project to fix anybody. Like I said, I'm no professional, I'm just a guy who likes to hear himself talk.

That said, I know from experience that talking can be helpful for some, and I wanted to put an option out there for the people who'd like that but can't get over the hurdle of exposing themselves.

[Anonymous]

[grapeeater]

It depends how much you're checking over things. There's some people here who have done seriously messed up stuff. You're going to have to be careful that your group can handle that.

[There's a moment after that's sent that passes, and then he types out more.]

That came off more threatening than I meant it to. I just meant that you don't really know who's on the other end or what they've done. Not everyone can handle that.

anonymous text;

[doitrockapella]

Color me curious. What, precisely, does your vetting process entail, "Nathaniel"?

anonymous text;

[ratherbelocky]

Just some chatting, getting to know you, making sure people have an idea what they're getting themselves into. Gently discouraging those who got a lot of heart but don't have the experience to separate themselves from what they hear.

anonymous text;

[doitrockapella]

I see. So the vetting is for the benefit of the listening party, not the person inevitably talking to them.

[wing_attack]

1. Name Tobias
2. Age 17 (I think?)
3. Do you have your own support network here? Yes
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War, change of species, death, aliens/monsters, torture

Pretty much anything, really.
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? N/A I think?

[Private Audio]

[ratherbelocky]

[Mmmmmnnnnnnnnnnn. York makes triply sure this one's private before switching over to audio.]

Hey, man. It's York. Figured I oughta just come clean with you for this conversation.

[Private Audio]

[wing_attack]

[... Honestly, he can't say he's surprised it's York. But the wording of that... uh oh.]

Yeah? What's up?

[Follow up questions? Something? This sounds suspiciously like 'we need to talk', which almost never goes anywhere good.]

[Text]

[monge]

[It's good to help.]

1. Name Komasan
2. Age I don't remember, but it's over 300
3. Do you have your own support network here? I can't support any network I am not a computer!!!
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? If you have a bad day, or lost your sock, or overcooked your food I will cheer you up. If you are nearby, I will come over and give you a hug. If you're not nearby, I have a Dunsparce and I'll let you look at her
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? If you stepped on a bug and it made you really sad, I'm sorry but I'll probably cry please don't tell me this

[Anon Text]

[ratherbelocky]

[Oh my fucking fuck, how cute is this??]

I have to admit, I wasn't even thinking of problems like these when I made this post. Thanks for bringing them to my attention, Komasan, you've pointed out a huge gap in what I was thinking to offer that I think you're uniquely qualified to fill.

Mind if I ask what a Dunsparce is, though?

[Text]

[tearsofademon]

1. Name Ryner Lute
2. Age 24-ish. It's hard to say an exact age when I've never really known for sure.
3. Do you have your own support network here? I've got a friend and my Pokemon, if that's what you mean.
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War, guilt, loneliness, stuff like that, I guess. Hell, if somebody just wants somebody to talk to for a bit, I'm okay with that.
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? Romance problems. I am not the guy to come to for those.

Not that I'm really good at giving advice, but why not, I can listen.

[Anon Text]

[ratherbelocky]

Well, when I say a support network, I mean, do you have enough resources to keep your own self healthy and balanced when you go through rough things? The job's just listening to others and helping where you can, but even that can be hard on a person.

[Text]

[usedlightscreen]

1. Name Christian
2. Age 33
3. Do you have your own support network here? Yes.
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? (For example: war, change of species, coming back to life.) War, dying, loss or missing family
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? N/A

"Christian" might be offputting to some, I'm afraid. I could use "Chris."

[Sup babe]

[Anon Text 5ever]

[ratherbelocky]

Chris, huh? Wonder who that is, he sounds hot.

I had a feeling you might be interested. I'm glad you'll be with me on this.

[private text]

[bylight]

1. Name Lightning Farron
2. Age 522 22
3. Do you have your own support network here? Yes
4. What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War (between gods, humans, or a combination of both), change of species, not being able to die, being cursed, revenge (failed or successful), and whatever else comes up. I'm good at listening.
5. What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? Family death

[private text]

[ratherbelocky]

Sounds like you're from a more magical world than I am. Could be a good perspective to have.

This is a question I'm asking everybody, so don't think I'm singling you out or anything: How stable is your support network?

[anon text]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

You really set it up.



Thank you.

[anon text]

[ratherbelocky]

Don't thank me yet. It'll be a minute before I've got something workable up and running.

But I had a feeling folks would be interested.