maskormenace | 003. - Book Club!

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003. - Book Club!

Alright, so I've suggested this a little to some friends of mine, but I'm thinking about throwing this out a bit wider.

I'm thinking about starting up a book club. Less in the style of book of the month and more organizing one or possibly more groups who can share books or even genres they love most with other people. People would still do the whole guiding discussion but not looking for high end critique so much as just talking about it.

We all need something to unwind and I don't doubt some of us are really fans of reading. I would think the arrangement might work best with members willing to buy their own books. I think for the first few meetings I'd be willing to cook either a simple meal or some finger foods to enjoy, but people could also volunteer to provide food or drinks.

Anyone interested in the idea?

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So you still think I didn't have Peter's best interests in mind. I fed him. I gave him a roof over his head. He was officially my responsibility. Everyone else here was harming him more by confusing him as to my intentions.

[He likes to forget - or ignore - how manipulative he had been in the process and how he'd ended up virtually trying to frighten and trap Peter into staying with him.]

He had food, he had a roof, and the official responsibility was a clerical error. And none of this matters anymore, Beck. If that is something you wish to address with a professional, then I suggest you do so.

[Deal with your persecution complex. He doesn't mind.]

What matters, Beck, is processing what you've been through. All that you've been through. Sometimes society teaches us that strength is in ignoring and overcoming our pains and our weaknesses. True strength comes in addressing them, and allowing ourselves to heal.

I want you to do it.

I don't care if you say it should be someone not so close to making it personal, I want you to be the one since you do know what's going on. I don't want to to talk to somebody who will turn off caring about the entire situation as soon as a session is up.

[What? David stares at Quentin with out and out shock. Disbelief. Confusion.]

You do know I haven't gone through any medical review boards to prove my degrees in coming to this world, right? I don't have the right. It's also ethically sketchy at the ABSOLUTE best.

And I'm trying to get that all processed, to get myself certified to work with cases and help people. Doing this could get me blackballed from any hope I have of serving in any medical field.

You're an extra set of eyes. I'd say do this as a friend but you're not my friend, so do it as an enemy who wants to put somebody on the right path and nullify a threat.

Unofficially.

[This is so grossly manipulative that it's literally like there is a neon sign over Beck's head. And really, if this was anyone else, he'd laugh, blow them off, and go bowling or something. Worse, this is a man who has threatened his safety. Peter's safety. Marco's safety, and the last one is one of his two best friends.

Walking into this is stupid. Josh might hit him upside the head for it and David would absolutely deserve it. And yet.]

You would be required to NOT have your tech on you for any discussions. Meeting in a place that I decide upon, at the last minute to prevent you seeding the area with anything that could harm me, others, or be used to project illusions. I set the ground rules. You follow them.

If you can't agree to that, I'm not even going to entertain any conditions you might want to add. And I'm going to say this now. Choosing a potentially hostile party as a therapist only reinforces the fact that you aren't handling this properly. The ultimate goal would be to get your comfortable enough to hand the situation off to a licensed professional.

[Beck does it so often - almost every waking breath - that he doesn't even realise he's manipulating. Sometimes, yes, he's doing it consciously and on purpose but other times, it's just how he talks, always trying to swing the situation to his advantage, acting whatever part feels right in the moment. Or sometimes just in desperation. By this point, he's lost touch of who the real Quentin Beck even is. He's been acting and manipulating for so long that it just feels to him like the natural way to be. This is also why he can't understand people's objections to how he handled Peter. In his mind, he was helping him and doing what he thought was the right thing. It'll take a lot of work to straighten out his twisted logic and way of thinking.]

Fine, I'll agree to your conditions but I do feel that my tech could make you understand better if I can show you rather than just tell. I would like to bring it in later, once some sort of trust can be established.

[Also maybe an impossible task.]

We can add the tech later, provided we become comfortable with the first attempts. But you do have to start with words. There can't be trust without one to one communication.

'Show don't tell' is for writing. It's not for matters of the heart and brain. Humanity evolved communication and language and the written word so we can connect with each other. And yes, walking in someone else's shoes metaphorically is helpful. But seeing doesn't tell me how you felt. What you feared. What you waned in those moments. That only you can give.

Words. Books. I'm sensing a pattern with you.

[And there's a more amused, friendly-sounding Beck.]

You're very much discounting the visual mediums of art and movies. 'A picture is worth a thousand words.'

Edited 2019-09-19 19:44 (UTC)

I was a telepath, Beck. Maybe not a very good one, maybe not always the most useful one, but I understand the value of communication in ways that other people can't begin to fathom.

A picture will make me feel something. Mental healthcare is about how you felt. Your system can't give me that.

So it's as simple as saying what I felt at any given situation? Then I'll be cured in no time.

No. If it were that simple life would be a wonderful thing. Healing is a process. Think of it...

Have you ever had to do physical therapy?

No, I haven't.

But I've seen movies about it.

Seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist is more like that than it is like going to your GP. Each step is slow. Sometimes you take one step forward and two steps back but some days it's three steps forward and only one back. It's a slow spiral up and out of the darkness of your heart.

This won't be easy. I seriously need to know if you feel like you're strong enough for this.

'The darkness of your heart.' So dramatic! Maybe you do have a way with words after all, David.

Am I strong enough? Are you trying to insult me?

[But his tone remains that easygoing, more friendly persona, keepng it light.]

Hey, I knew some people who thought they were poets. I'm just not good at that.

I'm not trying to insult you. I know I'm still trying, after a few years, to be strong enough for it. I'm hoping you're braver than I am.

[And it seems a fair point.]

I can do anything I set my mind to, right?

[At least he has confidence? Or, at least, a show of it. How seriously he's going to commit to this remains to be seen.]

That's what people say.

Oh. Buy a yoga mat.

A what?

Yoga mat. Probably some clothes too, for working out.

That has nothing to do with having a chat.

Oh you'd be surprised about the ties between body and mind. Trust me. My specialty might be in developmental psychology, but I've got a LOT of experience in the care of people with powers.

I'm already fit. I don't need help with that.

You might be, but trust me. This helps. Buy a yoga mat.

.... If you say so.

[ He'll play along for now.]

003. - Book Club!

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