- 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

[usedlightscreen]

[Don't do what I did.]

This may sound like an obvious question, but. Are you sure there's no way he could reciprocate?
I ask because believe it or not, I was in a similar situation myself for a while, and I just want to double-check before I start giving advice that I would have given myself.

[quadrangle]

How could he? I'm the worst potential boyfriend anyone could ask for.
Besides I think he's interested in someone else on top of not being interested in dudes so what's the fucking point.

[usedlightscreen]

[...Yup this sure sounds pretty familiar.]

What makes you think that you would be a bad boyfriend?

[quadrangle]

BECAUSE I'M

[fuck fuck fucadlkjsf caps lock off, even if this ignorant goddamn nook whiffer needs his think pan checked just—]

I would
demand too much from him? I already want too much from him, I'm
Look, there are some cultural differences here it's hard to explain, but he's. He deserves better.

[I'm not good enough for him. I'm not what he needs.

Yeah, no. Let's not tell the kind stranger this.]

I'm already such a goddamn mess, and I barely know how to help him with his problems as it is. How can I do more?

[usedlightscreen]

[...Oh, honey. North is sure he's never met this boy before, but his heart goes out to him.]

You can't do more. You can never do more, but you can always do better. Does that make sense?

I can tell that you care about your friend more than anything. I know that sometimes it'll feel like it's killing you to see him chase someone else, but when I was in a position similar to yours, I wanted to do anything I could to stay close to him. Even if that meant just being his best friend forever, I wanted to be the best friend that I could be.

I wish I could say it was easy, or that I had a simple fix. If you need space, take the space that you need. If you want to be close to him, if you think he deserves better, then be the best friend that you can be for him.

If you feel like your feelings are getting in the way of your friendship, tell him. It may seem easy to just pull away, to convince yourself that he'll be happy with someone else. But it sounds to me like you mean as much to him as he means to you, even if the feelings are a little different. Even if you tell him, even if you make it clear that you don't expect anything, that you just want to be honest with him, it will hurt him less than just trying to pull away.

...I'm sorry, that was a lot of words.

[quadrangle]

Kind of yeah.

[Kind of a lot of words. More than enough to stoke his guilt over using this whole "service" into something unbearable again, but that isn't... this person is just another human, probably. It's stupid to think about anyway.

Still, it takes him a little while longer to respond.]

So I should... tell him? Just so he knows why I'm
why it's hard for me. Or why I'm being a douchebag over stupid things or
Fuck. Do you think it's going to scare him? I still don't understand why humans have a problem with relationships between two males but
I don't see how I can keep it a secret from him for much longer. And I don't see how he can keep from freaking out about it at all.

[usedlightscreen]

I think if it's at that point, it's time to tell him.
I think if you're as close as it sounds like you are, the part about you being a boy won't scare him.
Not all humans have a problem with two males. Unless he's showed a strong aversion recently, it's more likely that he'll be scared about hurting your feelings.

Obviously, you need to phrase it in a way that's most comfortable for you, but from when I used to practice what I would say, I can tell you that the important point to get across is that no matter what, you still want to be his friend. That that's not going to change, that you just want to be honest with him about how you feel.

[quadrangle]

[... Has Dave shown a strong aversion? Maybe when he'd accidentally rewait no that didn't happen, hahaha, fuck. If it hadn't happened, then it doesn't count, right?

His bloodpusher sinking, Karkat rallies himself for another response.]

Yeah. Ok.
So I'll tell him.

[Eventually. Maybe. If he can ever find some way to work it into a conversation or if Dave somehow doesn't figure it out on his own. If he doesn't give himself away first.

He's so incredibly fucked.]

Thanks.

[usedlightscreen]

You're welcome. I hope everything works out for you.

Keep in touch, alright? And if you need anything else, or if you just want to talk, you've got my number now.
I'm rooting for you.

[quadrangle]

Ok. Thanks again.


You know you're not bad for an adult.

[usedlightscreen]

Any time.

I won't say that all adults aren't as bad as we may seem, but...sometimes we can surprise you.
I'll take it as a compliment.