Kelly pressed several buttons to pull up an image on her datapad and turned it over so Shepard could see it.
“What is this, Commander?”
“Rorschach inkblot test,” she said, shrugging. She felt like a smart-ass today.
Kelly sighed and rubbed her temple. “No, what do you see here,” she tapped her finger at the top of the pad, indicating the picture.
“I see a Rorschach inkblot test. It's the second inkblot, you're doing them out of order.” Yup, still feeling smart-assed!
“What,” Kelly took a quick look at the picture. It was, indeed, the second one. Shepard could see the frustration welling in her already. “Never mind. Commander, if you know what this is, you know what the purpose is. Stop being difficult.”
“You asked me what this is and I told you. Rorschach inkblot test,” she said and waved her hand in the general direction of the pad. “Now if you'd ask what the picture depicts-”
“Fine!” Kelly snarled. “What does the picture depict, Commander?”
“Oh, that's easy. You should've started like this,” Shepard said and stretched her lips in the most shit eating grin she could muster. “Two bears high-fiving.”
Kelly huffed and noted something on her omni-tool. She clicked something on her pad and pulled up the first picture of the set. Shepard's obsessive-compulsive side was satisfied.
“What does this picture depict, Commander?”
She pretended to contemplate the picture. She already knew how it looked like, having seen it in every fucking shrink eval ever forced into.
“Two Pikachus riding a bomb. Very Kubrick,” she supplied, smiling again.
Smile vanished when Kelly pulled up yet another picture. Fifth inkblot in the set.
“It's out of order again.”
“It doesn't matter, Commander! Just tell me what this picture depicts,” the yeoman sighed and rubbed her temple again.
“Garrus.”
“Al right, I think we're done with inkblots. And how the hell does this look like Garrus anyway. It's clearly a bat.”
“Not a bat!” Shepard smiled again, seeing the clear shot and taking it. Ah, it was always fun to mess with shrinks' heads. “BATMAN!” she yelled. “Garrus is Batman... In space! He completes the set. We already had Joker, that part's obvious. And Kasumi is clearly Catwoman, in her black catsuit. Miranda would fit too, but she doesn't have the acrobatics needed to pull it off. She's more of a Wonder Woman, but that's Justice League, not just Batman,” she mused, intent on dragging Kelly through the gutter of her thoughts. “Zaeed's Harvey Dent, with the whole two face thing he's got going on, you could be Scarecrow, you know? But I think maybe Mordin fits better with all the crazy shit he does in his lab. Or maybe Flash? He's awfully fast...”
She kept talking about comic books and sipping her coffee, giving Kelly detailed history of Justice League of America, straight from Silver Age era up to modern times, reviewed her favourite books, complained about hatred directed at Aquaman.
She watched Kelly slump lower and lower in her chair, rubbing her temples and forehead more and more often, her eyes gaining that sickly gleam to them.
That's right, not gonna reveal anything! She learned that trick long ago. When in session, the shrink has to listen to everything you say. Just throw irrelevant mind farts at them, confuse the hell out of them and they'll learn to leave you alone forever after.
“OK, stop, stop!” Kelly finally exclaimed and sighed, yet again. “Just tell me, how are you feeling?”
“Stupid. Idiotic. Idiosyncratic,” Kelly was a Jungian. Just another way to mess with her. “I feel fine, Kelly. And I think our hour is up,” she smiled her best innocent smile.
The yeoman visibly relaxed and dragged herself up from the chair.
“I'll talk to you later, Commander,” she said and fled in a hurry, clutching her head.
Shepard caught her later on a surveillance feed. She was asking Chakwas for migraine advice.
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 10:12:00 UTC
Glad it made you smile. :) I know, just her job. But this is Commander Shepard. Trying to actually do her psych evaluation would be like reading HP Lovecraft. Better make it funny.
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 21:28:14 UTC
Funny.. although, based on your IRL credentials as a shrink, I got a question; would a shrink in Kelly's position, if she were to get herself emotionally involved, would she have to refuse offering help to a Shepard that needs her assistance?
Or could their previous interactions allow Kelly to be less of a shrink and more of the possible friend that he/she would need to work out their problems with?
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 22:01:17 UTC
Well, I salways assumed Kelly's position as a counsilor was an unofficial one. But that's beside the point. Generally, if there is a patient/therapist connection that exceeds professional, the parient should be referred to another specialist. Then, there could be an issue of ex-therapist abusing the intimate knowledge of ex-patient's mind. You'd be surprised how many of us actually are mighty creeps IRL. Creepy patients also abuse this fact, usually playing up the wounded bird card. I realise that onboard the Normandy, perfect balance would be very difficult to achieve and I honestly don't know what would I do in Kelly's place. I'd like to think I'd err on the side of caution and sever any romantic feelings and help Shepard, rather than frolick obliviously with a somenone who's broken on the inside. But that's just me. I know some people would choose the other option. I know some people who would refuse to choose. But that's never a good idea.
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 22:07:51 UTC
....Eh, continuing that. Being friendly with patients is good. Just not overly so. Professional. Yes. Me trying to analyze my friends usually turned out good for them but bad for me. Sometimes, there are things people need to hear from a shrink and not a friend. And if you're treating someone who's your genuine friend, they don's always see you as a specialist.
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 22:33:06 UTC
Interesting, because I'm planning out a ME fic which sorta involves this potentially volatile situation, however, I always got this small whisper in the back of my head that if Kelly, being professional as she should be (Yes, I get a tad annoyed when people play Kelly as the village bicycle, when I believe the contrary), would have to recuse herself from helping Shepard because she allowed herself to become emotionally involved, however, being in the situation they're in, what can you do?
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 12 2011, 22:47:46 UTC
In their situation? You hide it. You don't act on your feelings and generally try as much as you can to be objective, and most of all, you don't manipulate. Because, in their situation, there's noone else who can help. Also, in their situation, the whole friendly therapist thing gets tricky. But you try. If your Kelly decides to recuse herself, she'd better be prepared to direct Shepard to someone else who can do the job. Samara might be best, seeing as all of the crew (maybe except Zaeed) has parental issues, them being either a bad parent or having a bad parent. Samara seems to be handling it the best, however. Also. I love and admire professional Kelly. Go you! :)
Re: Inkblots
anonymous
October 13 2011, 00:00:09 UTC
Yeah, don't congratulate me too quickly, I've only gotten a few pages so far.
Also, I noticed that you placed your drabble on FF.net. Excellent. Expect a PM from me soon. With your help, I want to make sure I get this story right!
“What is this, Commander?”
“Rorschach inkblot test,” she said, shrugging. She felt like a smart-ass today.
Kelly sighed and rubbed her temple. “No, what do you see here,” she tapped her finger at the top of the pad, indicating the picture.
“I see a Rorschach inkblot test. It's the second inkblot, you're doing them out of order.” Yup, still feeling smart-assed!
“What,” Kelly took a quick look at the picture. It was, indeed, the second one. Shepard could see the frustration welling in her already. “Never mind. Commander, if you know what this is, you know what the purpose is. Stop being difficult.”
“You asked me what this is and I told you. Rorschach inkblot test,” she said and waved her hand in the general direction of the pad. “Now if you'd ask what the picture depicts-”
“Fine!” Kelly snarled. “What does the picture depict, Commander?”
“Oh, that's easy. You should've started like this,” Shepard said and stretched her lips in the most shit eating grin she could muster. “Two bears high-fiving.”
Kelly huffed and noted something on her omni-tool. She clicked something on her pad and pulled up the first picture of the set. Shepard's obsessive-compulsive side was satisfied.
“What does this picture depict, Commander?”
She pretended to contemplate the picture. She already knew how it looked like, having seen it in every fucking shrink eval ever forced into.
“Two Pikachus riding a bomb. Very Kubrick,” she supplied, smiling again.
Smile vanished when Kelly pulled up yet another picture. Fifth inkblot in the set.
“It's out of order again.”
“It doesn't matter, Commander! Just tell me what this picture depicts,” the yeoman sighed and rubbed her temple again.
“Garrus.”
“Al right, I think we're done with inkblots. And how the hell does this look like Garrus anyway. It's clearly a bat.”
“Not a bat!” Shepard smiled again, seeing the clear shot and taking it. Ah, it was always fun to mess with shrinks' heads. “BATMAN!” she yelled. “Garrus is Batman... In space! He completes the set. We already had Joker, that part's obvious. And Kasumi is clearly Catwoman, in her black catsuit. Miranda would fit too, but she doesn't have the acrobatics needed to pull it off. She's more of a Wonder Woman, but that's Justice League, not just Batman,” she mused, intent on dragging Kelly through the gutter of her thoughts. “Zaeed's Harvey Dent, with the whole two face thing he's got going on, you could be Scarecrow, you know? But I think maybe Mordin fits better with all the crazy shit he does in his lab. Or maybe Flash? He's awfully fast...”
She kept talking about comic books and sipping her coffee, giving Kelly detailed history of Justice League of America, straight from Silver Age era up to modern times, reviewed her favourite books, complained about hatred directed at Aquaman.
She watched Kelly slump lower and lower in her chair, rubbing her temples and forehead more and more often, her eyes gaining that sickly gleam to them.
That's right, not gonna reveal anything! She learned that trick long ago. When in session, the shrink has to listen to everything you say. Just throw irrelevant mind farts at them, confuse the hell out of them and they'll learn to leave you alone forever after.
“OK, stop, stop!” Kelly finally exclaimed and sighed, yet again. “Just tell me, how are you feeling?”
“Stupid. Idiotic. Idiosyncratic,” Kelly was a Jungian. Just another way to mess with her. “I feel fine, Kelly. And I think our hour is up,” she smiled her best innocent smile.
The yeoman visibly relaxed and dragged herself up from the chair.
“I'll talk to you later, Commander,” she said and fled in a hurry, clutching her head.
Shepard caught her later on a surveillance feed. She was asking Chakwas for migraine advice.
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I know, just her job. But this is Commander Shepard. Trying to actually do her psych evaluation would be like reading HP Lovecraft. Better make it funny.
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In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power... Jacob Taylor's light!
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Or could their previous interactions allow Kelly to be less of a shrink and more of the possible friend that he/she would need to work out their problems with?
Genuinely curious here.
Reply
Generally, if there is a patient/therapist connection that exceeds professional, the parient should be referred to another specialist.
Then, there could be an issue of ex-therapist abusing the intimate knowledge of ex-patient's mind. You'd be surprised how many of us actually are mighty creeps IRL.
Creepy patients also abuse this fact, usually playing up the wounded bird card.
I realise that onboard the Normandy, perfect balance would be very difficult to achieve and I honestly don't know what would I do in Kelly's place. I'd like to think I'd err on the side of caution and sever any romantic feelings and help Shepard, rather than frolick obliviously with a somenone who's broken on the inside.
But that's just me.
I know some people would choose the other option.
I know some people who would refuse to choose. But that's never a good idea.
Reply
Being friendly with patients is good. Just not overly so. Professional. Yes.
Me trying to analyze my friends usually turned out good for them but bad for me. Sometimes, there are things people need to hear from a shrink and not a friend. And if you're treating someone who's your genuine friend, they don's always see you as a specialist.
Reply
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Because, in their situation, there's noone else who can help.
Also, in their situation, the whole friendly therapist thing gets tricky. But you try.
If your Kelly decides to recuse herself, she'd better be prepared to direct Shepard to someone else who can do the job. Samara might be best, seeing as all of the crew (maybe except Zaeed) has parental issues, them being either a bad parent or having a bad parent. Samara seems to be handling it the best, however.
Also. I love and admire professional Kelly. Go you! :)
Reply
Also, I noticed that you placed your drabble on FF.net. Excellent. Expect a PM from me soon. With your help, I want to make sure I get this story right!
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PM would be nice and I'll be honored to help.
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