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Therapy: King's Quest Style

Started by Damar, September 06, 2010, 08:13:08 PM

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Enchantermon

Quote from: Damar on November 02, 2010, 07:09:08 PMBig Mouth: "He once beat me with a sock that contained an orange!  I say to you that..."
Big Hands: "No one wants to hear your tale!  You whiny snitch, your lies are beyond the pale!"
I lol'ed. :rofl:
So what if I am, huh? Anyways, I work better when I'm drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I'll just point my sword at him and saaaaaaaaaay, "Hey! Bad guy! You're not s'posed to be here! Go home or I'll stick you with my sword 'til you go, 'Ouch! I'm dead!' Ah-ha-ha!" Ha-ha. *hic* See? Ain't no one gonna be messin' wit' ol', Benny!

tessspoon

Quote from: Enchantermon on November 03, 2010, 06:37:13 AM
Quote from: Damar on November 02, 2010, 07:09:08 PMBig Mouth: "He once beat me with a sock that contained an orange!  I say to you that..."
Big Hands: "No one wants to hear your tale!  You whiny snitch, your lies are beyond the pale!"
I lol'ed. :rofl:
Made me think of Monkey Island 3 XD

Damar

Yes, I had Monkey Island on my mind as well when I wrote that.

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so I typed one up tonight.  For whatever reason I wanted to see if I could go any darker than the abusive gnomes.  And so I give you this.  This is what happens when you meddle in the natural order of things...

Caliphim: "My wife and I have returned for couples counseling.  May we enter your office?"
Therapist: "I...um...yes, yes of course your Highness.  Come in and have a seat."
Allaria: "Thank you for inviting us in.  I realize that it is late.  The sun is setting and the office must be ready to close."
Therapist: "Well...I am...it's alright.  I must admit that I'm fairly shocked.  I never expected you both to return to my office."
Caliphim: "And why is that?"
Therapist: "Because you died.  Both of you did."
Allaria: "Really?"
Therapist: "Yes."
Caliphim: "Reports of our deaths were greatly exaggerated."
Therapist: "I attended your funeral."
Allaria: "Well that's easily explained.  You see, there was a sleeping spell and we just appeared..."
Therapist: "It was a closed casket funeral.  Because you were both stabbed multiple times."
Caliphim: "A mistake was made by the coroner."
Therapist: "Your bodies were mutilated.  It was so horrific that I had to counsel the coroner to help him through the trauma."
Allaria: "Aren't you breaking confidentiality?"
Therapist: "It was widely publicized.  Everyone found out that the coroner went here for therapy after he did what he did.  The strain was just too much..."
Allaria: "We must have missed the news of that."
Therapist: "Yes.  Because you were dead."
Allaria: "Well, I guess there's just no hiding it."
Caliphim: "Quite.  Well, we have a secret to let you in on..."
Therapist: "King Alexander traveled to the Realm of the Dead and brought you both back to life.  Yes, I've heard the tale.  King Alexander won't stop talking about it.  Although, I must admit, I never really took him seriously until you both came walking in..."
Allaria: "Our son-in-law does like to go on, doesn't he?"
Therapist: "Well let's not talk about Alexander.  How has this death and subsequent resurrection affected you two?  I'd imagine this was quite the religious experience?"
Allaria: "Oh indeed!  I know I felt that our life had lost a certain spark prior to our deaths.  The excitement wasn't there anymore."
Caliphim: "I don't mean to be rude, but could we make this a short session today?  We have so much to do and I am very hungry."
Allaria: "You know I'm just as hungry, dear, but we really should fill him in on what's been happening."
Therapist: "So you've found purpose in your life then?"
Allaria: "Oh yes.  Ever since we entered the Realm of the Dead and walked the surface, mingling with the spirits of the lost and the ever-wandering unfulfilled and unresting dead..."
Caliphim: "We have truly known the embrace of the Dark Lord!"
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Allaria: "Since that moment we discovered our purpose in life.  Everything is new and exciting now!"
Caliphim: "Honey, I am so hungry.  Do you think we could...right now?  No one would realize..."
Allaria: "Be patient!  We already planned on going out tonight.  Anyway, we've grown closer than ever before."
Therapist: "That's very good to hear.  When last I saw you, before I closed your cases due to...um...death...you weren't certain that the marriage was working.  You were getting in arguments all the time and didn't feel you had any common ground.  Have you discovered that common ground since enduring the shared religious experience of death and rebirth at the hands of the...um...as you put it, the Dark Lord?"
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "Um...yes."
Allaria: "Oh yes, we've found that we are of the same mind now that we have returned to the land of the living.
Caliphim: "Food springs to mind."
Allaria: "Oh you and your food, sweetums!  But he is quite right.  We've both taken an interest in the culinary arts.  We favor the al fresco style of cuisine now."
Caliphim: "The more natural, the better.  It enhances the flavor.  And it's quicker to prepare for when you get those cravings."
Therapist: "You're cooking for yourselves now?"
Allaria: "Oh my yes!  We couldn't have the cooks doing that kind of work for us!  It's much more satisfying to feed for yourself!"
Caliphim: "We did make good use of the cooking staff, of course.  But now they're gone."
Therapist: "Well that is quite the achievement!  Before you both died, I had been working on having you take on some projects together.  I always felt that your castle staff and servants stood in the way of that."
Caliphim: "Oh yes, we've gone through our entire staff.  We're on our own now and we do everything ourselves."
Therapist: "That is really a positive step!  I am so happy to hear you both are doing so well."
Allaria: "And we've been trying new foods as well!  Things we never would have tried before!"
Caliphim: "Tell him about the brains, dear!"
Allaria: "Yes, yes!  We've discovered that we simply adore brains!"
Therapist: "Brains...oh, you mean sweetbreads!  Yes, I've heard that brains are quite the delicacy.  Calf brains in particular are quite decadent, so I've heard."
Allaria: "Yes..."
Caliphim: "All this talk of brains is driving me wild..."
Therapist: "Sweetbreads.  It sounds profoundly creepy when you call them brains."
Caliphim: "I'm just so hungry."
Allaria: "Oh you and your cravings for brains!"
Therapist: "Sweetbreads."
Allaria: "We'll get some soon enough at the tavern, or maybe off the street."
Therapist: "I didn't know they served sweetbreads in the tavern or from street vendors."
Allaria: "Oh, and we've started to take nighttime walks, just the two of us.  And we've also taken to visiting our neighbors!"
Therapist: "Now that is fantastic!  I remember back when you both wouldn't leave the castle without a royal entourage!  And now you're reaching out and making new friends!"
Caliphim: "Oh yes.  We always make sure we are invited in."
Allaria: "We must be invited in."
Caliphim: "We cannot enter unless invited."
Allaria: "So sayeth the Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Caliphim: "And so we stand by their windows and whisper."
Allaria: "Oh the things we whisper..."
Caliphim: "Until they invite us in."
Allaria: "For if we are to enter, we must be invited."
Therapist: "You...you go out at night and...and you whisper at your neighbors from the window until they invite you in?  But why?"
Caliphim: "We must be invited of their own free will."
Therapist: "You've said that multiple times, and I'm not going to lie, it's been creepier each time.  But why do you need to enter?"
Allaria: "We must prepare the way for the Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Allaria: "His return shall soon be neigh and the way must be prepared!"
Caliphim: "The reckoning is upon you all!"
Therapist: "I must admit I've become increasingly uncomfortable with the direction this session is taking."
Allaria: "Our time among the dead changed us.  It has opened our eyes.  They see the world anew with a dead light."
Caliphim: "Where once there was only monotony and stagnation, now there is a new purpose.  All will know the love of the Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Allaria: "And we must feed.  And through our feasting do we impart the love of our Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail..."
Therapist: "Ok, I think we're getting into a whole weird area and I'd just like to go ahead and bring things back.  Now, you've talked about your new purpose and how you're life has improved.  When last I saw you, you felt empty and that your marriage was a sham."
Allaria: We are now filled with the love of the Dark Lord.
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "You both felt mentally drained and stagnated, like nothing held your interest anymore."
Caliphim: "Our thoughts are now only for our Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "Right.  And you both felt like there was no excitement in life."
Allaria: "Every night we walk the countryside and convert the living to serve as the growing army for our triumphant Dark Lord!"
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "You felt that your relationship was tepid and sexually unsatisfying."
Caliphim: "The blood orgies have brought the spark back to our marriage, thanks to the Dark..."
Therapist: "I'm sorry, blood orgies?  What are you...you know what?  I don't want to know."
Allaria: "When we have been invited by the weakened in spirit and we have finished feeding, the power of the moment overcomes us and we..."
Therapist: "I said I don't want to know!  Wait...invited...like when you go out at night?  And you eat...you feed...you..."
Caliphim: "It begins to understand."
Allaria: "It sees that the reckoning is at hand."
Therapist: "You weren't talking about calf brains were you?  The tavern...the streets...your neighbors...you..."
Caliphim: "We have plans for tonight.  We grow stronger when night comes.  It is the time of our Dark Lord."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "King Alexander upset the natural order.  You were both dead!"
Caliphim: "And now the dead walk among the living.  Soon there shall be more."
Allaria: "The blood shall flow and the dead shall rise.  The reckoning is neigh and all shall be laid waste!"
Therapist: "How many have you taken?"
Caliphim: "Even now it cannot fully comprehend.  It searches for a way out, a glimmer of hope that it may yet survive the reckoning."
Allaria: "The hunger is strong, my love.  Perhaps we could feed briefly before tonight."
Caliphim: "It did invite us into this office."
Therapist: "NO!  I do not like where this session is leading!"
Allaria: "And after the blood has begun to flow we shall celebrate in the manner that is most pleasing to our Dark Lord!"
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samhain!"
Therapist: "UNACCEPTABLE!  COMPLETELY UNACCEPT...what are you two doing?  Sit down!  I'm not kidding!  I will call security!  SIT DOWN!  SIT...YOUR INVITATION IS REVOKED!  LEAVE MY OFFICE!"
Caliphim: "Oh come on!  Not cool!"
Allaria: "Uninviting someone is so gauche!  Come dear.  We'll go to the tavern.  We're always invited there!"
Therapist: "I will fight you!  Make no mistake!  So help me, if I have to call in the monks from Kolyma, I will put an end to your reckoning!  Your Dark Lord..."
Caliphim and Allaria: "Hail Samha...."
Therapist: "YOUR DARK LORD will never rule the land of the living!"
Allaria: "We'll make a follow-up appointment for next week."
Therapist: "You most certainly will not!  You are not invited back!"
Caliphim: "See you at your bedroom window tonight."
Therapist: "You won't be invited in."
Allaria: "That's what they all say.  They try to stay strong but after enduring our visitation night after night, they all weaken.  And then we feed."
Therapist: "YOU ARE UNNATURAL!  AN ABOMINATION!  I WILL NOT REST UNTIL THE BALANCE OF LIFE HAS BEEN RETURNED!"
Caliphim: "There will be blood and darkness.  You will die like the rest."
Therapist: "OUT OF MY OFFICE!  OUT!"
Allaria: "None of you are safe!"

King Caliphim and Queen Allaria of the Green Isles
Diagnosis: THEY'RE FREAKING UNDEAD!
DESTROY THE BRAIN AND BURN THE BODIES IN A CLEANSING FIRE!

LadyTerra

Wow.  I might not be sleeping tonight.  That was amazingly well written.
I have my cake and eat it too, until it's gone.  Then I can't do either.


Aww!  You have the Sword of Hugging +3!  All of your attacks deal affectionate damage!

KatieHal

I feared this was about to be the last therapy session for a little while there!

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Damar

Got bored so I figured I'd finally write the one character that I've been putting off for some reason.  Don't know why I kept putting her off.  It was pretty clear what she has.  Anyone who can cry at the drop of the hat like that then be fine clearly loves the drama!

"So, Queen Valanice, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.  I hate to be such a bother."
"Well you're no bother at all your majesty."
"I'm sure that I am.  Why look at you!  You look so tired!"
"I...no, it's alright.  I just haven't slept well the past few nights.  The voices at the window keep calling me..."
"Nightmares all night and yet you still come in to work!"
"Nightmares...yes..."
"Oh no, you're an absolute saint for fitting little old me in.  Oh, listen to me, calling myself old!  I don't look that old do I?"
"Not at all.  You look quite majestic."
"Oh dear.  Majestic?  That's just code for 'old' isn't it?  I'm just mortified!"
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, I'm just playing with you.  I feel we've known each other for ages already.  You're quite good, you know."
"Am I?  I believe we're less than a minute in..."
"Well my dear Graham has told me about some of his sessions.  Do you know that he actually managed to take off his adventurer's cap for a full five minutes yesterday?"
"He was quite proud of that, yes."
"And my dear Rosella...  That mineral, what is it called?"
"Lithium."
"Yes, the lithium has been so helpful.  Why whenever I think of her..."  (begins to sob) "Oh Rosella!  My daughter!  My sweet child!"
"I'm sorry, are you holding a golden comb?  Is that yours or..."
"It belongs to my sweet one, Rosella!  It's all she left behind that time she vanished into the forest pool!"  (cries again) "My sweet Rosella!"
"Do you cry every time you look at the comb?"
"Of course I do!  What else would I do when I think of my poor lost child?"
"But she's not lost now."
"Of course not, but the trauma of it all!  I just don't know how I kept going!"
"So how often did you just spontaneously break out crying on your quest to find your daughter?"
"Whenever I looked at her comb!"
"So your sadness needed a trigger object?  You weren't so much overwhelmed with grief as you needed to express your grief with a prop?"
"I cried in the desert.  And again when I used the magic statuette in Falderal.  Oh, now that was a jolly place!  I laughed so hard in Falderal!"
"Ah.  So you went from spontaneous laughter to spontaneous sobbing then?"
"Oh, you just wouldn't understand unless you were there."
"I'm sure you wish I was there."
"Whatever do you mean?"
"As an audience."
"An audience?"
"You clearly want to be seen.  To have an audience."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because of how rapidly your emotions switch and how extremely you portray them."
"Perhaps I have that disease my darling Rosella has!  My dearest one!  We'll both be on the same medication.  Why, people won't be able to tell us apart!"
"I'm sure they'll manage."
"Oh you're no fun!  I was..."
"You were fishing for compliments, yes I know.  Again, you seem to want to be noticed.  You have this concept of how things should be, and to you, the way things should be is to be noticed all the time."
"So you don't think I have what Rosella has?"
"No I don't."
"Why not?"
"Rosella's mood swings come and go in episodes and are extreme.  Your emotions are shallow, though you portray them as extreme, and they switch as the situation demands."
"Shallow?  Are you saying I'm shallow?"
"I'm saying your emotional expression is shallow."
"I've never been so offended!"
"Exactly my point.  You've never been so offended?"
"Never!  I'm quite surprised at you!"
"So you were kidnapped by an evil witch and held in a tower alone for years, but me saying that your emotional expression is shallow, well that's just too much?  You've never been more offended than this moment."
"What is your point?"
"I think that tower is the point.  You were held there during your formative years when a growing girl needs the attention of her parents to guide her as she grows into a woman.  Your life was literally stopped and you had no one.  You were alone."
"I don't like to think about that."
"I know you don't.  It's why you try to get people's attention whenever you can, isn't it?  You don't want to be alone.  So you make your emotions big and dramatic.  Something's sad, you sob.  Something's slightly amusing, you laugh loudly.  You always make an entrance everyone will notice."
"Well now that's just expected.  I am queen, after all."
"You pretend that relationships are closer than they are."
"Scandalous!"
"No it's not.  That's not what I meant.  Though I'm sure you'd enjoy the drama if I did mean it that way.  No, what I mean is that you act like you're better friends with people than you actually are."
"I do not!"
"You did with me when we first started.  You said that you felt like we'd known each other for ages when we'd met for the first time literally thirty seconds before."
"And this is because of the tower?"
"Yes.  You feel that if you're not noticed, then you don't exist.  And that's a feeling that you know very well.  No one knew that you were in the tower until King Graham finally received a vision from his mirror.  You vanished off of the face of the earth, for all intents and purposes you stopped existing and lived a solitary lifestyle until you were rescued.  And now you dread that loneliness.  If you don't have an audience you feel like you're back in the tower."
"Really?"
"Yes.  And on top of that, since you were in the tower during your formative years, you never had much practice on emotional expression anyway.  So now you just go by what you see.  You try to recreate what you never really knew and don't totally understand because of the extreme neglect of your upbringing.  You try to fit in, though you never feel that you do.  And so your emotions become a drama to attract an audience."
"And what does that make me?"
"A drama queen."
"Is that a clinical term?"
"Not really, but it's the most relatable one."

Queen Valanice of Daventry
Diagnosis: Histrionic Personality Disorder

Buddy1991

Damn, that is awesome! God, the one with Rosella and the first one with Edgar are my favorites! xD It's really interesting how Psychology can make everybody seem kinda sick... or it just means that we all are kinda sick?

Damar

Everyone has their own issues and quirks.  One in four of people actually qualify as having a mental health diagnosis to varying degrees of severity.  Unfortunately few people actually seek help due to the stigma of being "crazy."  Mental illness is no different than physical illnesses, but it still holds an incredible stigma.  People don't like to think about mental health because they see it as creepy and it reminds them that we all have the potential to have mental problems.  So programs aren't properly funded, people who seek help are shamed, the mentally ill are treated as dangerous criminals by the population and the media, and then when that small minority of the severely mentally ill actually does commit a violent crime, it's sensationalized and society cries out that something should have been done.  It's like defunding all medical care then complaining that people are getting sicker.  But enough of my soapbox.  You're here for mentally ill King's Quest characters, right?  Here's the latest!  Hopefully it casts the urgency of King's Quest IV in a slightly different light.

"Well, Ms. Genesta, it's good to meet you."
"I wish we could meet under better circumstances."
"We'll get into that in a moment.  First off, though, I was wondering if you as a practitioner of magic know of any spells to ward off the undead.  I'm...uh...a friend of mine is having some difficulties."
"Would that I could..."
"I'm just so tired.  They come every night.  Need to sleep soon..."
"Unfortunately magic is beyond me.  You see, my talisman has gone missing."
"Ah.  That's what you meant by wishing we could meet under better circumstances."
"I fear I shall be dead within a day.  I can feel my power weakening."
"Shouldn't you be in bed then?  Why are you here?"
"I was but my fairy nurses insisted I come here."
"That's interesting.  Why would they insist on that if you're dying?"
"I think they're tired of looking after me.  They say I get sick too often."
"Wait, this isn't the first time you've been sick?"
"Well, Lolotte once stole my talisman and I nearly died.  Another time the chain broke in the forest and fell off, but I didn't notice until later.  I nearly died then too but my nurses found it in time.  And then I accidentally knocked the talisman under my bed.  I didn't realize it was missing until a day or two later.  I could have died!"
"But you didn't die.  Did you get sick?"
"Once I saw it was gone I started feeling bad."
"And before that?"
"I didn't notice."
"I see.  And where is your talisman now?"
"I don't know.  I suspect that one of my fairy nurses stole it because she doesn't think I need it to live."
"But you do?"
"You must understand, my powers are tied to the talisman.  Without it, I die."
"You die?  You don't just lose your powers?"
"I need my powers to live!"
"I live pretty well without powers.  Most people do, in fact.  Are you saying that your heartbeat, brain activity, breathing, and so on are all tied to your fairy powers?"
"I..."
"Because you seem to be physically functional right now."
"But I'm dying!"
"I find it interesting, though, that when you misplaced your talisman before you didn't feel sick.  At least not until you noticed it was gone."
"What are you saying?"
"Well, it seems that your fairy nurses, who I'm assuming are pretty well up on fairy anatomy and medical care..."
"I only hire the best care."
"Of course.  And these nurses who are the best and brightest seem to feel that you're not in any danger and that your illness is more a product of your mind."
"What do they know?"
"Quite a lot.  You only hire the best, remember?"
"I'm dying!  My talisman has all my power!"
"Does it?  So you can't do anything now, can you?"
"Not without my talisman!"
"Refresh my memory.  When Lolotte stole your talisman, how did you get it back?"
"I had Princess Rosella get it for me."
"How did Rosella come to Tamir?"
"I brought her."
"Oh, you had your fairy subjects go get her and..."
"No, there was no time for that.  I teleported her."
"How?"
"With my fairy powers."
"Your fairy powers."
"It...it takes time for all my power to leave once the talisman is gone.  I wouldn't have been able to teleport Rosella back.  I was almost too weak to fly at that point."
"Ah, so this talisman that holds all your powers was gone, but you still mustered up enough power to project your image into the Daventry magic mirror, do a teleportation act, and to fly around."
"That's the way fairy power works."
"I guess I always just assumed that power was either something you had or your didn't have.  That's quite a lot you were able to manage without your talisman."
"I am very powerful.  But I am nothing without my talisman."
"Your talisman holds great power then."
"It is all I am.  It holds my greatest, most powerful magic."
"I guess we were all fortunate Lolotte was so lazy then."
"Excuse me?"
"Well it occurs to me that Lolotte's significant power combined with all your power would have given her the ability to utterly lay waste.  Why wouldn't she have just done that?  Why was she having Rosella run around Tamir fetching things that she could have used this awesome power to collect for herself?  Why wasn't she just taking over the whole world?  All I can think is that she was lazy."
"Lolotte was pure evil.  She wasn't lazy, she was vicious and..."
"Well there is another explanation then."
"And that is?"
"Your talisman doesn't really hold all your magic.  It may amplify a bit, but it doesn't contain all that you are."
"But I'll die without it!  I have no power!"
"Except for when you need to use your power.  Then you use it, though you're quick to point out that you're getting weaker and probably couldn't do it again.  You don't seem to be dying."
"I'm sick!"
"Medical opinion says that you're not.  What's more, your physical symptoms don't follow any sort of rational pattern.  It takes a set amount of time to waste away, but if you get the talisman back, you're healthy within seconds with no deleterious effects.  It seems to me that you're healthy with or without the talisman.  It's when you realize that the talisman is gone that you suddenly get the consequences.  That doesn't make sense.  It's Wile E. Coyote logic.  Gravity works all the time.  Not just when you look down."
"Are you comparing my magic talisman to..."
"Look, Lolotte had your talisman and it didn't give her any additional power.  You were without your talisman and were able to perform magic.  Your talisman appears to be irrelevant to your condition.  Your mind is making it relevant."
"You don't think I'm dying?"
"No I don't.  I think that you're making yourself sick due to anxiety and due to underlying issues.  How much stress would you say you're under?"
"Well Lolotte's guards have taken over her castle.  They've declared themselves an independent nation."
"Interesting."
"There are three cannibalistic witches in a forest of murderous trees."
"Right."
"An ogre and his wife terrorize the countryside."
"Ok.  So it seems that..."
"There's a diamond mine in my land.  The dwarves run that and...I don't like to think about the methods they use."
"I'm well aware of why the phrase 'blood diamond' exists."
"Oh, and there are the zombies.  Every night, the zombies and the ghosts and the mummies..."
"The undead...always whispering...always there..."
"The resident troll keeps eating people."
"Ok, right.  And meanwhile you're overlooking from your personal castle.  Your castle, which is the only haven from the..."
"Oh, and my island is surrounded by sharks."
"Right.  So a fair amount of stress then?"
"A little.  I'm feeling very sick.  I need my talisman."
"Yeah, no.  I think you need to deal with the stress.  Do you notice how you're feeling worse after talking about the stress?  Your talisman has nothing to do with it.  The issue is that you're in charge of a kingdom that you are, quite frankly, ill-equipped to deal with.  It's a wild world out there and you can't control it.  So your mind controls your body.  It's the one thing you feel is totally within your control.  You have your talisman and everything will be ok.  You don't and it all falls apart."
"I...I really don't need to be here.  I just need my talisman.  I'll feel better when I get my talisman back."

Genesta
Diagnosis: Conversion Disorder

Deloria

Speaking as someone who has or has had four different, obscure, highly rare things wrong with her in the last four years and was never taken seriously until she insisted on having an internal ultrasound and getting a proper diagnosis, I feel the need to point out that, even though it might make no sense, not everything is psychosomatic. :P
 
Holy Roman Empress
Queen of *all* Albion
Précieuse and salonnière! :D
"In cases of doubt about language, it is ordinarily best to consult women."-Vaugelas
Space! :D Extraterrestrium! :D Espace! :D

Buddy1991

Quote from: Damar on May 17, 2011, 08:45:24 PM
Everyone has their own issues and quirks.  One in four of people actually qualify as having a mental health diagnosis to varying degrees of severity.  Unfortunately few people actually seek help due to the stigma of being "crazy." 

Well said. I think something has to be done about mental illnesses - they still have a very rough reputation... Also, the awareness of these symptons or illnesses are just shocking. For example, I got an acquaintance who is schizophrenic, and everybody who know him too keep talking about him as if he was a multiple. Schizophrenia and DID are not the same, however. It is sometimes just shocking how little people know, altough they do judge everything without thinking further...

Quote from: Deloria on May 18, 2011, 10:06:26 AM
Speaking as someone who has or has had four different, obscure, highly rare things wrong with her in the last four years and was never taken seriously until she insisted on having an internal ultrasound and getting a proper diagnosis, I feel the need to point out that, even though it might make no sense, not everything is psychosomatic. :P

that sounds bad :S I hope you're fine!

Deloria

Quote from: Buddy1991 on May 23, 2011, 01:15:18 AM
Quote from: Damar on May 17, 2011, 08:45:24 PM
Everyone has their own issues and quirks.  One in four of people actually qualify as having a mental health diagnosis to varying degrees of severity.  Unfortunately few people actually seek help due to the stigma of being "crazy." 

Well said. I think something has to be done about mental illnesses - they still have a very rough reputation... Also, the awareness of these symptons or illnesses are just shocking. For example, I got an acquaintance who is schizophrenic, and everybody who know him too keep talking about him as if he was a multiple. Schizophrenia and DID are not the same, however. It is sometimes just shocking how little people know, altough they do judge everything without thinking further...

This is so annoying! :P I have similarly idiotic acquaintances. Maybe idiots have a collective unconscious? Or a shared collection of their idiotic misconceptions?

Quote from: Buddy1991 on May 23, 2011, 01:15:18 AM
Quote from: Deloria on May 18, 2011, 10:06:26 AM
Speaking as someone who has or has had four different, obscure, highly rare things wrong with her in the last four years and was never taken seriously until she insisted on having an internal ultrasound and getting a proper diagnosis, I feel the need to point out that, even though it might make no sense, not everything is psychosomatic. :P

that sounds bad :S I hope you're fine!
Nothing too serious. :) Just lots of very painful stuff. :(
 
Holy Roman Empress
Queen of *all* Albion
Précieuse and salonnière! :D
"In cases of doubt about language, it is ordinarily best to consult women."-Vaugelas
Space! :D Extraterrestrium! :D Espace! :D

snabbott

Quote from: Deloria on May 23, 2011, 07:52:17 AM
Maybe idiots have a collective unconscious?
It's called television. :P

Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Deloria

 
Holy Roman Empress
Queen of *all* Albion
Précieuse and salonnière! :D
"In cases of doubt about language, it is ordinarily best to consult women."-Vaugelas
Space! :D Extraterrestrium! :D Espace! :D

snabbott


Steve Abbott | Beta Tester | The Silver Lining

Damar

Yeah, the awareness of what the actual disorders are is pretty bad.  And people mistaking schizophrenia for dissociative identity disorder is something that really bugs me.  Likewise when people assume bipolar disorder means that you're up and down all day.  People are pretty ignorant about mental illness and tend to like it that way because no one likes to think that someone can go along normally until a mental illness onsets.  They accept it just fine for physical health, but mental health has always been considered "different."

Oh, and it's always best practice to rule out all physical health problems before diagnosing someone with conversion disorder.  Still, when it comes to Genesta, it's all in her head.  I'd put money on that.

Anyway, here's the next mentally ill King's Quest character.  She's pretty out there.  I tried to keep it PG.  It could have gone in a very...interesting direction.  But I don't want to get warned or banned, so I kept it family friendly.  Enjoy!

Therapist: "Ok, so is this a couples counseling?"
Beast: "It's more that I'm worried about Beauty."
Beauty: "I've told you, Beast honey, I'm fine."
Beast: "For the last time, my name isn't Beast!  Stop calling me that!  I'm not a beast anymore!"
Therapist: "Why do you call him Beast?"
Beauty: "It reminds me of what he was.  A poor beast that needed my love.  And I do love him."
Beast: "Do you?  Do you really?  I begin to wonder..."
Therapist: "Ok, according to the chart here, you were changed into a beast many years back by an evil witch and the only way to break the spell was to find a woman who would love and accept you even with your beastly appearance."
Beast: "Yes."
Therapist: "Well that is...interesting.  Ok, so Beauty, you agreed to go live with Beast and marry him.  I'd imagine a lot of thought went into that choice."
Beauty: "About a minute."
Therapist: "Right.  That's funny."
Beast: "No, she's serious.  She agreed to come marry me after talking to Prince Alexander for about a minute.  She broke the spell!  But now she keeps trying to remind me of what I was!  I think that..."
Therapist: "We'll get to all that in a minute.  Right now, since you're worried about your wife, I'd like to stay on this topic.  Beauty, you decided to leave your home and marry a beast after about a minute of conversation?"
Beauty: "Well, my home life wasn't good.  My step-mother made me work all the time.  I think she was afraid to have me leave the house.  And she hated it when I tended the garden.  She always told me I was unnatural and an embarrassment to her."
Therapist: "I can certainly understand wanting to escape an abusive household.  Still, making the choice to marry a beast you've never met...  What did Alexander do to convince you?"
Beauty: "He gave me a white rose."
Beast: "Oh, here we go with the roses again!  It's all about the roses!"
Beauty: "I love roses so much.  I tended them at home, until our front yard was all abloom with curtains and fountains of roses.  And then Alexander showed me a rose of white!"
Beast: "My wife loves roses.  A lot."
Therapist: "They are a beautiful flower.  I've always been partial to daffodils myself, but roses are nice too."
Beast: "No, you don't understand.  My wife really loves roses.  It's all she talks about.  She spends most of her time in my rose garden and in the hedge maze made from the rose bushes."
Therapist: "It sounds, Beauty, like your husband feels you spend too much time out among the roses, that he may be lonely."
Beauty: "I just feel such a sense of rapture among the roses.  I like to pick them and run their petals along my skin..."
Beast: "There's never a moment she's not holding a rose, or touching a rose.  She even makes me run roses along her when we..."
Therapist: "Family friendly!  Keep it family friendly!  Can I have a nice, tame session just once? "
Beast: "It never stops with the roses!  It excites her!"
Beauty: "And is that so wrong?"
Therapist: "Evidently your step-mother thought so.  You said she hated it when you were in the garden."
Beauty: "She said it was unnatural how long I spent with the roses.  Caressing them..."
Therapist: "And were you spending a lot of time in the garden?"
Beauty: "I would just stand there, touching the roses."
Therapist: "So that's why your step-mother was embarrassed.  And she became abusive because of it."
Beauty: "She was terrible."
Therapist: "I'm sure she was.  People's ignorance often leads to terrible behaviors."
Beauty: "All I wanted was to spend time with the roses.  And the guard dogs."
Therapist: "Wait, what?  Guard dogs?"
Beauty: "Oh, they're just so big and strong!  They're almost human, but they're not!"
Therapist: "Ok, and we've just moved into a whole new area here."
Beast: "If it's not the roses, it's the talk about the guard dogs, or the minotaur, or of me being a beast again."
Therapist: "How do you feel about the wildlife on this island?"
Beauty: "They're nice, but they're just animals."
Therapist: "You like the anthropomorphic creatures.  Creatures that look like a human in the skin of an animal."
Beauty: "Yes.  Oh, yes!"
Therapist: "So it wasn't just the rose that attracted you, was it, Beauty?  You liked the fact that you were to marry a beast."
Beauty: "It seems like such an adventure!  And he had a strong, kind face!  He was almost human."
Beast: "I am a human!"
Beauty: "And when I found that he had been transformed into a beast...well..."
Therapist: "You really loved that idea, didn't you?"
Beauty: "I must confess I did!"
Beast: "And you keep trying to return me to that form!  You know how hard it was for me to wear that twisted body!  She won't even let me change the name of the island.  It's still called Isle of the Beast!"
Therapist: "You try to make him return to being a beast?"
Beauty: "I love my husband.  It's just...well...the beast was more exciting!"
Beast: "She keeps insisting I wear pelts and bearskin rugs over my head every time we..."
Therapist: "Keep it family friendly!"
Beast: "Do you know how hard it is to rub roses on a woman while wearing a bearskin rug and still managing to..."
Therapist: "FAMILY FRIENDLY!"
Beast: "She won't have it any other way!"
Therapist: "Ok, while your wife clearly has some...issues that we can work through, you have your own share of difficulties, though nothing diagnosable.  Mainly, you've had these unrealistic expectations.  I realize that you were a beast for a long time, but even so, did you really expect a completely happy marriage from a woman you just met?  All couples have their spats and it's just something you work through and learn from.  But you had an impulsive wedding.  You didn't even know anything about Beauty."
Beast: "You're saying this is my fault?"
Therapist: "I'm saying that Beauty may have some things to work through, but you also need to back off her a little.  You were just as much a part of the decision to get married.  You didn't know your bride, but you married her anyway.  At least some of the responsibility falls on you to work through these difficulties instead of grousing over the fact that this pairing isn't ideal."
Beast: "But she keeps..."
Therapist: "I understand that you feel a bit of betrayal that these issues came out of nowhere.  You probably feel she hid them from you."
Beast: "Exactly!"
Therapist: "She didn't though.  If you wanted forewarning about these issues, you shouldn't have married Beauty the moment you saw her.  And really, if someone decides to marry a beast without even having met them...well, call me judgmental, but that raises a red flag or two in my opinion."
Beast: "I suppose."
Therapist: "But it's clear that Beauty does love you."
Beast: "She doesn't love me, she loves the beast!"
Beauty: "I love you both!"
Therapist: "I understand that, but you have to understand that being a beast was traumatic for your husband.  He didn't like it, even though you found his shape pleasing.  Asking him to role play that he's a beast again is going to be difficult for him.  The fact that he's actually done that for you shows how much he loves you."
Beauty: "I guess that's true.  I just loved the look of him as a beast."
Therapist: "Your husband's transformation back to a human hit you pretty hard, didn't it Beauty?"
Beauty: "I was saddened."
Beast: "She was downright depressed!  At first I thought it was because she thought I wouldn't marry her after the enchantment was broken.  But no!  It was because I wasn't a creature anymore!"
Beauty: "Though seeing him transform was...appealing."
Therapist: "But you'd prefer he change back to a beast again."
Beauty: "Is that so wrong?  I came to the island to marry a beast!  And instead I got a human.  I love him, I really do, but he's not a beast!  At least I have the roses..."

Queen Beauty of the Isle of the Beast
Diagnosis: 1. Fetishism – Dendrophilia
(She really likes roses.  A lot)
2. Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified – Combination Plushophilia and Transformation Fetish
(She's basically a Furry)

KatieHal


Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

darthkiwi

XD XD XD XD XD

That was fantastic XD

Also,

QuoteOh, and it's always best practice to rule out all physical health problems before diagnosing someone with conversion disorder.  Still, when it comes to Genesta, it's all in her head.  I'd put money on that.

Agreed!
Prince of the Aquitaine. Duke of York.

Knight errant and consort to Her Grace the Empress Deloria of the Holy Roman Empire, Queene of all Albion and Princess Palatine.

Buddy1991


Michelle

QuoteBeast: "Do you know how hard it is to rub roses on a woman while wearing a bearskin rug and still managing to..."

Best. Quote. Ever.

I'm impressed by how accurate to the games you can keep the therapy sessions while still making them hilarious. Oh, King's Quest. So many things to poke fun at, yet we love you so much.

Damar

I try to stay as true to the games as possible.  I find it funnier that way.  When you think about it, there are some really weird characters in King's Quest.  Sometimes the easiest way to explain their behaviors is mental illness.  Speaking of which...

"So I understand your granddaughter is worried about you."
"Oh, I can't understand why my little girl would be so..."
"Let's cut right to the chase here.  She's afraid you'll be eaten by a wolf."
"Fiddlesticks."
"Well according to the Kolyma Predator Registry, you do have a wolf residing in your area.  Reports indicate that he frequently stops in at your house."
"He's just a nice old wolf."
"Do you think it's wise to have wolves around your granddaughter?"
"Oh, she's out wandering the woods most of the time."
"Interesting.  You let your young granddaughter wander the woods.  Alone.  All day long."
"She's fine."
"And meanwhile you allow the wolf into your home.  What does he do?"
"Oh he tries to eat me.  I have to hide."
"And then what does he do?"
"Dresses up in my clothes and takes a nap in my bed."
"While you're hiding?"
"Yes.  He's just a nice old wolf.  And he does enjoy a good flannel nighty."
"Don't we all.  But I can't help but see this as a problem."
"Nonsense."
"How often do you let the wolf in?"
"Oh, he just breaks in."
"Does he, indeed?"
"Oh yes.  Well, that's just his way, don't you know?"
"And certainly we can't blame him for that."
"Certainly not."
"No, why would he be blamed for breaking into a woman's house, trying to kill her, stealing her clothes, and making himself at home?"
"I think you're painting him in quite an unfair light."
"You admitted he does all of those things."
"Well yes, but..."
"But what?  The reality is that he does all those things."
"People judge him so harshly.  People are so prejudiced just because he wears my clothes.  Society should be more enlightened."
"The fact that the wolf is a transvestite is not the issue here.  The concern is that he is physically threatening you and your granddaughter and you keep defending him."
"Oh you just don't understand.  People said the same thing about the vampire."
"I'm sorry, did you say vampire?"
"Why yes.  There was a very nice vampire who lived in the middle of that pretty lake."
"The poisoned lake."
"The very one!  Yes, he used to pay me visits and whisper things from the darkness."
"So you were terrorized by a vampire?"
"Terrorized?  That's such a strong term!  Well he did try to suck my blood once, but the cross that monk gave me scared him off.  He left behind his cloak and ring.  Such a nice vampire."
"He tried to suck your blood."
"Well of course!  That's what vampires do, silly!  You can't blame him for that."
"You certainly can!  It's your blood!"
"Well, regardless, he doesn't come in anymore.  He just floats by the window every night, scratching the glass, whispering for me to invite him in."
"And I'm sure your granddaughter just takes this all in stride..."
"She doesn't cry as much anymore.  She hardly talks much anymore either, come to think of it.  I think she just lies awake at night now.  It doesn't matter.  I like the vampire visits, though I won't invite him in.  I'd just end up scaring him with that cross again."
"Any other visitors you enjoy having?"
"Well the dwarf does come in and take my food."
"Do you ever lock your door?"
"Oh, the dwarf just keeps breaking the locks, so I never lock up anymore.  If the poor dear is hungry, then he can have my food."
"So you act as a food pantry for a thieving dwarf?"
"Sometimes I get hungry, but you know that dwarves have quite the appetite.  He needs the food more than I do."
"And your granddaughter?"
"She's little.  She doesn't need much food."
"So your granddaughter spends her day wandering the forest, her afternoons wondering if a wolf will be in her house, her evenings without food, and her nights wide awake being terrorized by a vampire?"
"Oh, posh!  That's all character-building!  Why in my day..."
"You know what, I'm going to cut you off there.  I've heard all I need to right now.  I have a ton of documentation to do on this.  I'm going to go ahead and call child protective services."
"There's nothing wrong with how I raise my granddaughter!  She's not in danger!"
"What happened to her mother again?"
"The wolf ate her."
"Excuse me.  I need to make a call."
"Oh, but he was hungry!  You just don't understand!  What will they do with my Little Red?  Put her in the system?  Give her to the antique lady?  She's the crazy one!  She talks to birds!"
"At least she won't be eaten by a wolf."

Grandma
Diagnosis: Stockholm Syndrome