- EXCH△NGE -

[ratherbelocky]

INTRO
EXCH△NGE is an anonymous, text-based peer-to-peer support network created as a space for those seeking help, but who are unwilling to reveal their identities, to have safe, understanding conversations from likewise anonymous volunteers. The idea is to provide a listening ear and coping tips from other transplants to Kanto and Johto who may have gone through similar experiences, come from similar worlds, or share other common ground, so that no one feels that they have to deal with their burdens alone.

Please note that the members of EXCH△NGE are not professionals, nor are any of us paid for our work here. We are only qualified to talk things out with you and offer advice from our own lives. We're not replacements for certified therapists.

First time users, please contact Nathaniel HERE to be matched with a conversation partner. Questions, technical issues, and feedback should also be directed to Nathaniel. If you would like to volunteer as a listener, please submit the following questionnaire to Nathaniel's inbox:

<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.)

HOW IT WORKS

Anonymous users will contact Nathaniel and answer as many of the following questions as they are comfortable with:

<b>Age Range:</b> (Give a handful of years, i.e. 16-19. We're not trying to guess your identity through this, just your general stage of life.) <b>Type of world:</b> (i.e. magical, futuristic, human-populated, etc. You can compare it to this world as a baseline.) <b>Issue(s) you'd like to discuss:</b> (i.e. trauma, death, bad day, relationships, etc.)

Nathaniel will then match each user to an EXCH△NGE member based on the submitted information and member availability. He will provide the matched EXCH△NGE member with the information received and ask them if they're willing to speak with the user in question; if yes, he will contact that user and give them the EXCH△NGE member's pseudonym and contact number. The user has the freedom to choose when or if to contact the EXCH△NGE member the first time. After that, if both parties feel that the match is a good one, they should set another time to talk.

If a user's first match chooses not to take them on, Nathaniel will find another match until the user has a conversation partner. If a user's first match doesn't seem to click well, either the user or the EXCH△NGE member may contact Nathaniel to let him know, and he will find another match.

OOC INFO
((Hi! Asher here. Hopefully the above paragraphs explain what's going on well enough, but if you'd like to check out the original IC post where York was hashing this project out, you can see that here.

EXCH△NGE members may choose to track their toplevel comment below, or direct threads to their character's inbox, if that's easier to track. Hopefully this is obvious, but each thread here is automatically private! So you can't see anybody else's threads.

The directory below is not available ICly, it is just there for the players' convenience.))

DIRECTORY

δ Nathaniel
δ Anabiel
δ Chris
δ Izuchi
δ Koma-san
δ Sunny

Comments

δ NATHANIEL

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Nathaniel
Age: 32
What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War, death, homelessness, disability, betrayal
What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? I like to talk.

NEW USERS RESPOND HERE

[ratherbelocky]

<b>Age Range:</b> (Give a handful of years, i.e. 16-19. We're not trying to guess your identity through this, just your general stage of life.) <b>Type of world:</b> (i.e. magical, futuristic, human-populated, etc. You can compare it to this world as a baseline.) <b>Issue(s) you'd like to discuss:</b> (i.e. trauma, death, bad day, relationships, etc.)

((OOC: You may also request someone specific if you've already talked it out with that character's player.))

NEW VOLUNTEERS RESPOND HERE

[ratherbelocky]

<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.)

FEEDBACK

[ratherbelocky]

δ ANABIEL

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Anabiel
Age: 18
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.
What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? N/A

δ CHRIS

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Chris
Age: 33
What sorts of things are you cool talking about? War, dying, loss or missing family
What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? N/A

δ KOMA-SAN

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Koma-san
Age: I don't remember, but it's over 300
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
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

δ IZUCHI

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Izuchi
Age: 24-ish. It's hard to say an exact age when I've never really known for sure.
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.
What sorts of things are you NOT cool talking about? Romance problems. I am not the guy to come to for those.

δ SUNNY

[ratherbelocky]

Name: Sunny
Age: 17
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.
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.

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Age Range: 17-21
Type of world: A lot like this world, but with cars and no Pokémon. Bigger cities. Mostly normal. Presumably monsters and ghosts and other supernatural things exist, I'm sure some of them do. Most people just think they're stories or legends.
Issue(s) you'd like to discuss: Trauma. Death. Guilt. Near-death experiences. Monsters. Betrayal.

[ratherbelocky]

Age Range: 17-21
Type of world: A lot like this world, but with cars and no Pokémon. Bigger cities. Mostly normal. Presumably monsters and ghosts and other supernatural things exist, I'm sure some of them do. Most people just think they're stories or legends.
Issue(s) you'd like to discuss: Trauma. Death. Guilt. Near-death experiences. Monsters. Betrayal.

Hey, Ana. Sound like something you can handle?

[grapeeater]

Age Range: 16-19
Type of world: Roughly similar in technology to this world. Human-populated, with bigger cities. Monsters that came from another world exist. People know about them now.
Issue(s) you'd like to discuss: Trauma. Death. Guilt. Bad decisions. Mental instability. Betrayal. Manipulation. Friendships falling apart. I could go on for a while.

[ratherbelocky]

Age Range: 16-19
Type of world: Roughly similar in technology to this world. Human-populated, with bigger cities. Monsters that came from another world exist. People know about them now.
Issue(s) you'd like to discuss: Trauma. Death. Guilt. Bad decisions. Mental instability. Betrayal. Manipulation. Friendships falling apart. I could go on for a while.

Hey, Izuchi. So much for starting with the small stuff, right? Think you can handle this one?

[soundmind]

I can, no problem.

[tearsofademon]

Sure, I think I can handle this.

[ratherbelocky]

Great. Next message you get should be from them. Let me know if anything comes up you need help with.

[ratherbelocky]

Okay, you've been matched with Anabiel. You can contact them here.

If anything comes up, let me know.

- Nathaniel

[ratherbelocky]

Awesome. Next message you get here should be from your partner. Let me know if any questions come up or if you need help with anything.

[ratherbelocky]

You're paired up with Izuchi. You can contact them here.

If you two run into any problems or questions come up, let me know. We're all still figuring out how this works, after all.

- Nathaniel

[Perma-Anon]

[grapeeater]

So um. Hi there?

[also Perma-Anon]

[tearsofademon]

Hi. I'm still new to the whole giving advice thing, but I'll do my best to listen at least.

So, what's up?

[grapeeater]

I'm just kind of... in a tough place right now. I don't really know what to do? A lot of things here are new for me and...

I guess since this is anonymous it's not so bad to admit it here. I was a member of Team Rocket until recently. And I never really was completely on my own before this, so I don't know what to do.

I mean alone aside from my Pokemon, but that's not the same.

[Permanon]

[hashtagafreakingghost]

Hello? Is this Anabiel?

[tearsofademon]

An ex-Roccket, huh. Good for you, getting out of there.

I definitely get where you're coming from, with a lot of stuff around here being new. Took a while for me to get used to it, myself. So that I'm clear, are you looking for help more with day to day stuff, or making friends?

[grapeeater]

There's still people I know in there, but I can't make them quit if they're not ready to.

Kind of both? The last close friend I made kind of... I admitted things to her - not the Rocket thing, something else - and stuff blew up in my face. I was just scared that I'd hurt her like I hurt people at home, and she freaked out which I guess I can understand.

And I grew up pretty wealthy so even things like making a campfire that doesn't fall over or how to set up a tent are really tough. I've learned to live with no maids or anything but I don't like camping out.