Archive of Our Own ^beta

{Main Chat}

Sisterly Stress

Your lack of work ethic hints at deeper psychological problems probably rooted in your childhood. Perhaps… you’re stressed? You feel like you lack control and so take it where you can? 

imdeadinside

Jazz! plz cool it

lumberjill

…hey Sisterly Stress, I’m gonna message you privately, ok?

Glitter Gremlin

Uh oh, you’re in trouble!

lumberjill 

nahhh I just think we should talk

Sisterly Stress

Um, sure, okay 

)(  )(  )(

{Private Messages}

lumberjill

so you were pretty spot on with that analysis

Sisterly Stress

I didn’t touch a sore spot, did I? I can do that sometimes. I never mean to

lumberjill

I just want to know how the heck you managed to do that when we’ve never even met in person

Sisterly Stress

I always try to figure out why people are the way they are. It’s interesting to me, and I like to help 

lumberjill

mm. but were you also maybe projecting a bit?

Sisterly Stress

Well, I have a very strong work ethic, so I don’t know about that

lumberjill

yeah but “stress” is literally in your username, dude. plus, calling me out like that sort of seems to me like “feeling like you lack control but taking it where you can” soooo

Sisterly Stress

. . . I don’t know

lumberjill

you know, I have a reputation as this cool, unreachable girl. 

Sisterly Stress

It sounds nice, having that reputation as a wall. A few people know me as “the girl who broke down because she was wrong once” and it’s incredibly embarrassing.

lumberjill

yeah, it can be nice, but the thing is, that i’m secretly a mess. i’m the only girl in a family of guys and they’re all absolutely wild. i love them, of course, but they get on my nerves. so i usually hang out at my workplace (dip and mabel’s great-uncle’s tourist trap) instead of with them. i’m stressed all the time and nobody knows, which is another stressor in itself because there’s always that undercurrent of “actually, they don’t know the real me”

lumberjill

sometimes i wonder if my friends would like me just as much if it turns out that i’m not just the cool girl. part of me wants to scream “that’s not who I am–not just who I am, anyway” but the other part wants to hide behind the mask of “I am untouchable, I am unfazed” when really i feel like i’m dying half the time

lumberjill

the reputation is good for some things, but is it worth your sanity?

lumberjill

. . . maybe “worth your sanity” was a little dramatic, but my point stands

Sisterly Stress

I hadn’t thought of it like that . . . 

lumberjill

look, i’m not telling you this because i want you to help me, even though you’d probably love to. i’m telling you this because 1. i think you can relate to the whole “stressed a lot” thing and i’m not sure if you’re like me and don’t really have anyone to talk to about it and 2. the “cool girl” reputation is just another mask to hide behind, not something you necessarily want to have

Sisterly Stress

There is one person I can confide in, though he’s an only child and I’m his only friend, so he doesn’t always get it when I’m concerned about my brother. I’m not sure that I’m able to communicate how pressured I feel sometimes either. And it’s not like anyone’s pressuring me! Except for, well . . . 

lumberjill

except for everybody and everything?

Sisterly Stress

Honestly, yes

Sisterly Stress

I want to get into a good college, but I also want to be here for my brother. I need to get A’s, so I have to study. I study a lot and I’m always reading psychology books, so some of the other kids make fun of me, and those who don’t just ignore me. 

lumberjill

i don’t study and am labeled a delinquent 

Sisterly Stress

How are you going to get into a good college then 😭

Sisterly Stress

Wait, do you even want to go to college?

lumberjill

i think so? 

lumberjill

don’t know what i’d major in but i want the experience

lumberjill

tbh i’m kinda afraid that i’ll be thirty and working a dead-end job

Sisterly Stress

I’m sure you won’t be. You seem like the kind of person who wouldn’t settle for something like that if you didn’t want it

lumberjill

thanks :) 

lumberjill

it’s been good talking to you. kinda nice to just vent sometimes, y’know?

Sisterly Stress

Yeah, it’s been good talking to you too. You’ve given me a lot to think about

Sisterly Stress

Whenever you want to vent, I’ll be here

lumberjill

same to you–stressed big sisters gotta stick together, right?

Sisterly Stress

Yes! Though I think I might change my name 🤔

lumberjill

what to?

Sisterly Stress

. . . I don’t know

)(  )(  )(

Sisterly Stress

Wendy, I think I have a new username, but I wanted to know what you think of it

lumberjill

oh?

Sisterly Stress

Sister in Arms

lumberjill

oooh nice

lumberjill

may i ask the inspiration?

Sisterly Stress

I.D.K., it’s like . . . instead of stressing out all the time, I’m fighting it. I won’t just succumb to the anxiety

Sisterly Stress

And I’ll go to battle for my siblings, too, so it has a double meaning

lumberjill

you should change it in the main chat ;)

Sister in Arms

😊