00. Dear Ocean

[pinksidekicking]

Type: Text
Sender ID: Anon
To: Everyone
Subject: Dear Ocean
Warnings: People are going to be talking about their problems, so please put appropriate CW/TWs

Hello everyone! I'm going to be starting up a "Dear Ocean" post. This is where you can reach out to your fellow Riftfairers if you're in need of advice or help, and you can do it Anonymously. Other people can respond to your anon posts to try and help you figure out a tricky situation, or offer up advice on all sorts of things.

If this one goes well, I may do another in the future.

I'll even start us off.

____________

Dear Ocean,

Last month I saw someone that had hurt me, but he didn't stick around. We sort of got to talk a little, but I still feel like we left a lot unresolved. I don't know if I should still be angry and hurt by what he did, or if I should try to accept that he just doesn't understand me, but he was the first person who tried in a very long time.

Signed, Not-A-Monster

Comments

text; anon

[priste]

Dear Not-A-Monster,

I think that sometimes understanding is the most important thing we can ask for. Others might disagree. But I know what it's like to feel like you're the only one, and like no one sees you. And when someone else does (or at least tries), it often doesn't matter how they treat you, because you long so much for what might be, if they would just learn to be kind.

[ this is definitely about No One In Particular, he promises ]

But at the same time, you can be angry for what happened. Humans are complex creatures, capable of all kinds of emotions all at once. Even ones that don't make sense. I think you should try and let yourself feel both of those things. And if he comes back again, maybe you'll have the chance to resolve the rest. Hang in there in the meantime.

Sincerely hoping for the best,
The Ocean

[pinksidekicking]

The Ocean,

I get where you're coming from, and I know that he really tried. And he seemed to have felt bad after seeing me here again. The way he used to view me is the way everyone in the kingdom is taught since they're very little. Even their breakfast food ads are geared towards teaching children that individuals like me are to be feared and killed.

Being here really opened my eyes to the way it should be, the way people just accept all that I am and can do. And I feel bad that I'm not even looking for a way to try to go back to that place. I'd say I'm too small to feel multiple emotions at once, but I can be any size I want, so that'd be a lie.

Not-A-Monster

[priste]

Dear Not-A-Monster,

It sounds like, even though there were parts of it that were hurtful, over all seeing him again had benefits. It's good that he tried.

Is there any reason for you to ever go back? Or does it feel like you should because that's where you came from?

-The Ocean

[pinksidekicking]

I guess that's true. I suppose what I really wanted was more time with him, to see where it might have gone. We both made mistakes, I just have a lot of baggage.

That's a tough set of questions. I've tried to belong in that world, but every time I tried, it ended in disaster. People are afraid of me, of what I can do. And I'm afraid of being hurt again. Things need to change, and I don't think it will if I'm not there.

On the other hand, I've never felt more accepted in two thousand years than I do here. A person could get used to that, and having to go back to all that is painful.

Not-A-Monster