Hetalia kink meme (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hetalia_kink) wrote2011-02-26 01:33 pm
hetalia_kink) wrote2011-02-26 01:33 pm
Past Part Fills Part 2 -- CLOSED
This Past-Part Fills post is now closed to new fills.
Fresh past-part fills post HERE
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Ricette d'amore [4b/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 01:12 am (UTC)(link)That was right. Tino knew Gilbert, because Tino knew Elizaveta. They’d both belonged to the same book group. Or was it the same gardening club? Ludwig didn’t know if he didn’t remember or if he’d just never bothered to know in the first place. But Tino had definitely known Elizaveta, because her connection to Ludwig had gotten Tino his job at The Black Magic in the first place (Just because Ludwig and Gilbert didn’t speak didn’t mean Ludwig and Elizaveta were also estranged).
“There was an accident.”
The concern on Tino’s face was real. “Is he alright?”
Ludwig thought about how he could answer. He could say that Gilbert’s world had been destroyed. He could say that Gilbert was refusing to speak except to curse, and was refusing to eat except to spit in the mashed potatoes the nurses brought him, so as to make them inedible for anyone else. “No.”
Arthur spoke. “Beilschmidt, get out of here.”
Was he being fired because he was so grossly late? That was unfair; his track record had been perfect up until today. Ludwig’s fuzzy, sleep deprived mind jumped between excuses for his appalling tardiness and harsh reprimands. It wasn’t like Arthur hadn’t stumbled into the restaurant five minutes before opening before, reeking like cheap scotch.
“I don’t understand.”
Arthur motioned for him to stand and began to lead Ludwig towards the door. “There’s nothing to understand, Beilschmidt. I told you to go home and get some sleep, and that’s what you’re going to do. That’s an order.”
It was an order?
“Now, just between you and me… how bad is it?”
Ludwig’s mind was still reeling from the fact that he was being sent home. “What?”
“Your brother? How bad off is he?”
What was he supposed to say? “Dr. Wang said he may be able to walk again, someday.”
Then Arthur asked the question Ludwig had hoped no one would think about. “And your sister-in-law? Lovely girl, if I remember correctly. How is she holding up?”
He spoke before he could stop himself. “She’s dead.”
For a moment, Arthur just stared. Then he reached his arm up and placed it on Ludwig's shoulder. For another moment he didn’t say anything, and Ludwig was thankful. Finally, Arthur muttered something under his breath and sighed. “Right then. Get out, and don’t come back until everything’s settled.”
“What?”
“I’m putting you on an indefinite break, Beilschmidt. Take care of your brother. Take care of yourself. We’ll manage without you; I’ve been meaning to hire someone to share your workload anyways. It’s not normal that you come in every single night.”
A break? Don’t come in to the restaurant? The Black Magic was Ludwig’s life. He needed this, he needed the order and activity and regularity and normality and everything more than ever now. Left alone in the silence of his apartment, the static in his head had almost driven him insane. The hospital was little better.
As Ludwig was about to protest, another voice cut him off. “In all the years you’ve worked here you’ve never taken a day off.” It was Tino. “I know for a fact you came in last Christmas even when we were closed.”
He didn’t see what was wrong with that. Arthur did. “Oi. How do you know that?”
Jan stepped out from behind the potted plant he had been lingering behind. “Mikkel left his keys here. None of us wanted to put him up for the night, so we came back and broke into the restaurant to get them.” He walked past Tino to put his hand on Ludwig’s other shoulder. “The point isn’t that we want you to leave, or that we think someone else will do a better job than you. The point is that you have other places to be right now.”
Every time Ludwig had to put up with flighty or confused new waiters during the afternoons, he was thankful that The Black Magic employed an expediter. He was even more thankful that their expediter had the personality and the temperament that Jan did. Ludwig trusted Jan’s judgment on most things outside of the kitchen, as Jan trusted Ludwig’s judgment on most things inside of it.
Ricette d'amore [4c/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 05:31 am (UTC)(link)Arthur stepped back. “Good decision, man. Berwald can keep things together until I hire someone else. And before you say anything, no you cannot help with the interviews, and no Berwald doesn’t over-salt everything. That’s all in your head, you nutcase.”
For the first time, Ludwig entertained the thought that Arthur’s daily parting insult might be intended to be affectionate. Probably not.
With the assurances of the few sane members of the restaurant staff that he and his cooking would be missed, Ludwig left The Black Magic, and headed home.
“And then? What did you do after you left the restaurant?” Dr. Zwingli had left her seat on the opposite chair halfway through his story, and was currently sitting close next to Ludwig on the couch in her office. Just holding his hand.
“I went home. Arthur told me to go home.” She didn’t say anything, she just waited for him to finish. A lot of Ludwig’s problems had to do with his communication skills, she found. Most people didn’t give him enough time to think over and say everything he needed to put to words. “I made Gilbert dinner. Just some simple pasta. Do you know the kinds of things they try to feed patients? I was not surprised he had been turning his nose up at the slop the nurses were bringing him. Usually I would assume Gilbert was just being difficult, but I don’t think you could really call that food.”
Lili was always happy when Ludwig began to talk of his own free will, when she didn’t have to prod him into a discussion. Except for when the discussion became a rant about food. She tried to steer her patient back in a more constructive direction. “It’s good that you were thinking about your brother. How have the two of you been doing?”
“He refused to eat it. He threw it at the wall.”
“I see. Have,” she hesitated, trying to find the right way to say it, “have you and your brother talked yet? About… Elizaveta?”
“She asked me to teach her how to cook, once.” Ludwig’s eyes were far away. “She did everything wrong. First she put the pasta in before the water had begun to boil. Then she didn’t cook it long enough. Then she tried to make the process go faster by turning up the heat again… I can’t remember how many times she scalded herself. In the end, she was left with a gelatinous mass stuck to the bottom of the pot.”
For once, one of Ludwig’s food lectures (no, this was more like a story) was taking him in the right direction. Lili didn’t interrupt.
“She just laughed and agreed with me when I told her it would be inedible. After that, I tried to show her how to make a simple sauce. Just olive oil and pepper. I assumed it would be too easy for her to do incorrectly.” He looked her in the eye. “She managed to pour an entire tin of pepper into her… dish.”
Lili smiled, and remembered her childhood, and her own culinary attempts. “Do you think, by that point, she was just playing with you?”
Ludwig blinked once. Twice. “I had not thought of that. I just assumed she was a terrible cook.”
“And?”
“And so I corrected her mistakes. She… she didn’t mind.”
Good siblings never showed it, even if they did. “And how did the meal taste?”
His face closed off again, and he broke eye contact to resume staring at one of her potted plants. “I do not know. She had to leave by then, so she took it home with her. Their home is not close to my apartment.”
Ludwig always closed off when his brother came up. “Did Gilbert eat it?”
“Of course not. No one could have.” Gilbert definitely wouldn’t have tried. “He laughed at her when she showed it to him, and she hit him.”
“I have a question. You don’t have to answer it, but… you said you and your brother don’t speak. And yet you know so much about him…?”
“Elizaveta is—was a perfectly good person to talk to. Unlike Gilbert. She wrote to me. She listened. And she put Gilbert in his place. I—(miss her wish she was here don’t know what to do). Yes. Elizaveta was a good listener. And she had good taste in food. Even if she couldn’t prepare it.”
“Did you love her?”
Ricette d'amore [4d/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 05:34 am (UTC)(link)She smiled. “Lili, please. I didn’t mean it like that, Ludwig. I meant exactly what I asked.”
A pause. “Yes. Yes, I did love her. Sometimes…” his voice quieted at his confession, “sometimes I loved her as a sister more than I loved Gilbert as a brother.”
“Then I think you owe it to Elizaveta to try again with your brother. You both need each other right now. More so than ever.”
He didn’t respond. Their discussion, while so important, had been too much, too fast. He began muttering under his breath again (“Carrot, onion, garlic, parsley, celery… cut in pieces, do not mince, cook in olive oil…”). She recognized it as an attempt to hold back tears. Lili wished he would just allow himself to feel.
“Oh Ludwig…” she squeezed his hand. “I think we got very far today. In fact, how about we end today’s session here? You can go home early, I think the rest would do you good.”
He did not protest. Surprisingly, not because he wanted to escape Dr. Zwingli’s sympathetic gaze and precision questions, but because all of a sudden, he felt tired. More tired than he’d even been after coming home from the hospital, on the night of the accident.
Ludwig stood and collected his overcoat, all the while refraining from looking at Dr. Zwingli. He could tell that she was watching him.
“I’ll see you out.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
There was a man in the waiting room. It was the same man that was always in the waiting room when Ludwig left his sessions. Ludwig had assumed that he was the next patient. Except Ludwig’s sessions with Dr. Zwingli were usually an hour and a half long, but today Dr. Zwingli was letting him leave after only thirty minutes. And the stranger was already there. Waiting.
He was truly a strange man. Ludwig had walked past him many times, on his way out the door, but the man had never acknowledged that anyone else was in the room. All he ever did was tap his fingers on the coffee table in front of him. It was as though he was trying to play along with the piped in piano music Dr. Zwingli insisted on having in her shared waiting room.
“Oh! Ludwig, let me introduce you.” Dr. Zwingli walked up next to the stranger. She waited until there was a small pause in the music, and put her left hand over the stranger’s right. “Roderich? There is someone I’d like you to meet.”
His right hand struggled to keep tapping out the pattern indicated by the music, but he didn’t move his gaze from the blank wall in front of him. “You cannot allow me to halt prematurely. I must continue for forty-nine more stanzas. I must.”
Dr. Zwingli let go, but only on the condition of “Seven more stanzas, Roderich.”
Roderich looked visibly calmer once Dr. Zwingli stepped away from him. When she was about a meter away, he muttered “fourteen” and continued to ‘play’.
Ludwig looked on, confused.
Finally, Roderich’s fingers stopped moving. He slowly placed both of his palms flat on the table in front of him. Several seconds passed. And then he spoke “It is not time for us to depart yet?”
The doctor shook her head. “We can leave early today, because Ludwig is leaving early.” She smiled at Ludwig. “Ludwig, this is Roderich Edelstein. He’s a close friend. Roderich?”
Roderich had begun tapping his fingers again, in time with the music.
“Roderich, are you listening?”
He did not look at her, but he replied. “Indeed.”
Dr. Zwingli nodded. “Roderich, this is one of my patients. Mr. Ludwig Beilschmidt.”
Ricette d'amore [4e/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 05:50 am (UTC)(link)She nodded again, this time at Ludwig. It was a dismissive gesture, for all that it was undemanding. Ludwig could recognize that. “Good afternoon, Dr. Zwingli. Mr. Edelstein.”
“Get some rest, Ludwig. Until next week.” She lightly tapped Roderich on the shoulder. He didn’t say a word. “Roderich wishes you a good afternoon too,” she chided. Roderich just kept tapping, kept staring.
Ludwig left.
He did not have anywhere to go that evening. Arthur had banned him from lurking around the restaurant on his ‘vacation.’ Ludwig considered ‘lurking’ too strong a word. He had just been trying to see his replacement. Undoubtedly his kitchen was in disarray without him; they could barely even manage when Ludwig was with them.
As Ludwig made his way along the street, heading home, he was barreled into by a stranger. The man was smaller than him, and therefore took the brunt of the collision. Looking at the new stranger sprawled over the pavement, Ludwig could appreciate that he was… well… ah… he was a very aesthetically pleasing person. Indeed.
Until he began to speak.
“Ve! Ouch!” Ludwig would have apologized and helped the man to his feet, except the moment he bent down to help, the man jumped up, speaking a mile a minute. “Oh, I’m sorry for running into you, ve, it was all my fault that I wasn’t looking where I was going it’s just that I’m really excited because I just moved into this city and ve, my new job looks really exciting and I can’t wait to go back there because the people are so nice!”
Ludwig waited. He hoped the man would not start speaking again. He did not like people that spoke too much. Usually, he found, they never had anything substantial to say (Gilbert…).
“I am alright. Good day.”
The stranger obviously did not understand a dismissal when he heard one. Either that, or he ignored it. “Alright then!” he shouted and waved. There had been no need to shout, because Ludwig hadn’t been able to get more than a meter away before the man accosted him again.
“It was interesting meeting you, Mr. Stranger.” The man grabbed one of Ludwig’s hands between his own. Ludwig blushed at the contact. “I really do hope you have good day, ve, and I’m not just saying that. Because you look so frowny right now, but I bet you’d look so much nicer if you smiled!”
This… this was one of the strangest days Ludwig Beilschmidt had ever had. So he pulled his hand back, turned and walked away as quickly as still could be classified ‘walking’. The stranger smiled and waved after him. Not that Ludwig checked.
Thank you to everybody who commented. Characterization is really important to me, it’s what I try the hardest to get right. So I’m really really really can’t really express it through text really happy that you like the characters. I hope I didn’t botch the Nordics after attempting them; I wanted to contrast their familiarity and easiness with Ludwig’s isolation. And bonus points to anyone who gets what I’m trying to do with Roderich.
And I owe all of the little food details to your awesome helpfulness, cookingnon. If some of the wording seems familiar to you, well… my eyes, they are shifty.
Re: Ricette d'amore [4e/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 02:14 pm (UTC)(link)Your characterization is top notch, really, and you've got a true gift for writing Ludwig - the way his work is entwined with everything else in his life, even his feelings, is I think both very IC and perfect for his character in this particular AU.
Also, that part with Elizaveta broke my heart. Yeah, everything about him does, but that part really gave a measure of how lonely he is - basically, food is the only way he has to relate to the rest of the world.
I've also realized I might be a bit OCD myself, when it comes to cooking. Not that there's anything wrong with that, right? >_>
Well, I did draw a little fish on the wooden spoon I use for fish to avoid using it for everything else... but that's perfectly normal, right? Right?
OP doesn't know if she's crying or laughing
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 02:18 pm (UTC)(link)I think you're writing Ludwig's OCD pretty well. He's functional, but he's just downright crazy. And I KNEW Roderich had an Asperger syndrome with all the time he devotes to music !
Anyway, I'm very happy to see that Feliciano has finally appeared. (Just after the “Dr. Zwingli. You know about my preferences…”. It made me giggle like a five years old. Then sort of bad since the rest of this conversation was serious business.) The staff of the Black Magic (What a name !) is hilarious. Especially Tino. (The american tourist, GOD, the American tourist...)
Also, I like how you're not exaggerating Gilbert's "awesome" obsession, if I can call it like that. He's IC, cocky and self-centered, but not too much. I wonder how you'll work it out, with the whole crippled issue and all.
So, yeah, great job. I can't wait to see Frederick !
Re: Ricette d'amore [4e/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)This. Story. Is. Lovely. ♥ I haven't seen the original movie but I'm really considering finding it now. And I can't wait to see Feli more~.
I love how you're doing this, I think you're doing REALLY well so you seriously have no reason to worry. Especially the scene at the hospital... it broke my heart. >__> And I love the whole crew, really, I love the people at the restaurant, I love it that you included the Nordics. ♥ And you just get inside of Ludwig's head so well.
I wonder if Arthur was really right about forcing Ludwig on a vacation... Although I get why he'd do that and it might even be good for Ludwig to have his rituals broken, but I think he would really need some normality in his life to deal with the shock...
B-baww Elizaveta... She isn't even actually in the story (what with being dead and all) but she's still such a presence and her character is just everywhere even though she's gone...
I feel really kinda stupid for not realizing what was up with Roderich before OPanon said it up there. xD; I must have been really distracted because it's so obvious that it's something like Asperger. And whoah, it really makes sense... I wouldn't be surprised if he had some sort of mild form in canon too. The social awkwardness and... okay it might be just me but he seems really oversensitive to touch too, doesn't he? And of course the constant piano playing and EXPRESSING his feelings through music. xD Well, I'm not saying I really know much about the syndrome, though.
Oh, and in the first chapter you said something in the notes that you needed information about mental health stuff but couldn't find a lot online? I'm not saying I'm an expert or anything but I do have a lot of experience about it... both personal and what I've heard from friends (our little circle of friends is a real collection of mental health patients, seriously) and fellow patients from different group sessions.
... So what I'm saying is if you want to ask something, feel free to. o/ But I'm not going to comment about that unless you want me to, because seriously, you are doing great IMHO. The sessions sound sort of familiar to me. xD There is some stuff that seems off but mostly those are technicalities and whatever, you have artistic licence. The actual feelings are believable and that's the most important thing, I think.
Author Here
(Anonymous) 2010-04-11 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)Cookingnon: “Basically, food is the only way he has to relate to the rest of the world” is exactly what I was trying to achieve. And I agree with the passerby, everybody’s got their little things. When I was younger, sometimes even now, certain things would just bother me. Especially some sounds. I had to cover my ears and bite my cheek to have something else to focus on… now that I think about it, that’s kind of weird. But I guess what I was trying to say was that if something doesn’t impede your normal way of life, then it’s just another thing that makes you you.
OP: I feel like a sneaky bastard, because I kind of took liberties with your prompt… when I was first looking up ocd for this, I wondered whether you actually meant ocd, or just a really heavy type A personality. And then I found some info on ocpd (p=personality) and went ‘holy shit, that’s Ludwig.’ What I mean to say, is that I’ve been writing Ludwig as though he has ocpd (he wasn’t kidding. He doesn’t have compulsions, and he finds nothing wrong with his established routines). From your comment, I’m starting to think that you really meant ‘ocd’, and that I should have asked but… uh… please don’t be mad? I can still add in little things to make it more like ocd at this point. Ludwig having ocpd gave me the idea to bring in Roderich for comparison. At first he was going to be legit ocd, but once I started looking through some webpages, Asperger’s really stuck out. Like insanely, I agree with you. Austria has a lot of the symptoms. Glad you like Tino; I find that I’ve read so much of him not being super!moe that I can’t write him as anything but a hardened badass with a drinking problem + knives now. And finally, I love extra details, but it always feels like cheating to rely on certain things. Like Prussia’s “awesome/meters” or Sweden’s apostrophe-speak or N. Italy’s “ve” or China’s “aru” or tomatoes for anything that has to do with Spain or Romano. Sometimes I think they work, sometimes I use them anyway, but sometimes you just have to think, ‘If I didn’t use ‘aru’ would anyone still recognize that it’s China, and what does that say about how he’s written?’ And Fritz isn’t going to be super huge, but he’ll have a scene.
Passerbynon: If you end up seeing the movie, go for the original! Thank you. Although I’m starting to think that I get into Ludwig’s head easily because I myself have a hard time with social situations. By far not as bad as Ludwig or Roderich, but still. I think Arthur was right in not letting Ludwig work (someone distracted by grief isn’t safe around kitchen chaos), but I think he was wrong in basically condemning Ludwig to being alone; I mean, the guy’s gotta know that Ludwig’s just gonna go back to his apartment and be alone, and that’s not good. But for once, I think Arthur wasn’t thinking of Ludwig as a crazy, but that if something like that happened to him, the last thing on his mind would be work. So yeah. You bring up a good point; I like seeing other people’s take on things. Don’t feel stupid; if I hadn’t done any reading before looking at this part I would have just thought ‘oh. Is that guy OCD or something?’ I’ve found some books/websites online, but I don’t like trusting to online with things like this, because a few hours of reading is nothing compared to real experiences. But that might just be me being weird. And since you’ve offered, I’m asking. I’ve never been to therapy, and I don’t know anyone with these disorders. So basically, I’m just reading and winging it. What are sessions typically like? How would a real therapist conduct herself around her patient? How do you think an ocpd patient would react in therapy (generally. I ask ‘cause I read something about patients getting angry with their therapists, and I don’t want to put Liechtenstein through that unless I have to)? What stuff seems off? If anything’s reeeeeaaaally big that I’d need to change, I’d really like to know to erase some of my ignorance, but I might do as you said and pull an artistic license.
Passerbynon here
(Anonymous) 2010-04-13 12:27 am (UTC)(link)First of all, I don't know anyone with these disorders either. At least no one I'd know of. I am interested in psychology in general but it isn't really my area of expertise, it's much more like a hobby. (I do know some people who study psychology though.) Oh and also, these things might vary by country and culture and I really wouldn't know about other countries than mine... Although I'd think it's somewhat similar in Germany. I hope.
*goes read some more about OCPD before answering* (I sort of know what it's about but not the details and it's good to refresh memory.) Hmm. I think it was a good choice to go with OCPD rather than OCD. Germany is definitely more like the former. OCD people are more like just people with weird habits that they know are pointless but can't stop. Well, simply put anyway. *shot for simplifying people's disorders*
Okay. I'll start with what seems off. Like I said, mostly technicalities. First of all, you don't get sent to a therapist just like that. The first person you go to might be a general doctor or a nurse or possibly a consultative psychologist. He/she would then listen to what you have to say, pose a few questions and probably make you fill some psychological tests (you can find many of the usual ones online, if you want to know what they are like. Also, at least here you will have to fill those A LOT and often the same ones several times as your development is surveyd). Then they will recommend some kind of treatment to you.
I think there is some kind of a myth around that you can be forced into treatment if you have psychological issues. Actually, as far as I know, that is only done when the patient is considered a danger to his/her surroundings or him/herself. In the case of psychosis it might be done too, since the person wouldn't be able to judge the situation right. (Also the myth that psychotic patience are violent is highly exaggerated. Usually they are violent if they are intoxicated.... which really goes for most people. Much more often they are a danger to themselves. But I digress...)
In any case, I suppose Arthur might threaten to fire Ludwig to get him to get treated? But I really don't know if he could actually force him. And honestly, unwilling patients don't often get treated, not here at least. There are enough willing patients to flood the clinics already, unwilling ones are really just a waste of time because you really need to accept that you're ill and want to get better before there's anything that can be done. And as long as you get your work done, as Ludwig does, you might not even be considered sick in a formal sense. The consultative psychologist or whoever might try to talk sense to him but if he doesn't want to get treated, he wouldn't have to.
And one thing: I really, really don't think they'd recommend him to see a therapist before he has at least admitted that he has a problem. Until then, he'd probably be told to keep visiting a consultative psychologist or something similar. There are huge waiting lists for therapists so they wouldn't send anyone there to waste the therapist's time and take the place of another patient who is willing to co-operate. Of course there are private therapists who might not have such requirements but they are expensive. I'm not kidding. It'd be an incredible waste of money. It's about 50 euros per hour. That's about 70 USD. Per. Hour.
Passerbynon here: take 2 (/3)
(Anonymous) 2010-04-13 12:28 am (UTC)(link)... Okay, that was pretty much the big problem here. What also bothered me a little was how lenient Liech is being with him. Although I'm not saying it's not realistic because there are many, many kinds of psychologists and psychiatrists, some are more insistent than others. Some just let the patient talk and won't urge them on at all, some keep asking questions to the point that the patient can hardly get a chance to talk (... neither of which is very good if it gets excessive... and I have experience of both kinds, in the bad way.) But I think if she would want to know about Ludwig's family, she would really insist and not just let him talk about pointless things, Unless she is just a bad psychiatrist. ;;;; Which I don't think you were trying to do with her?
Another thing is... that I think if I were her, I would ask Ludwig to write about his thoughts, since he clearly doesn't seem to be willing to talk. And possibly actually make is a task. I realize that she's trying to change his behaviour but I think it's too early for that and she might as well adapt her methods according to his current behaviour. But this is just my opinion, honestly. Different therapists have very different methods. But I had... similar problems at first, and wasted a lot of time going nowhere and just frustrating my psychologist and psychiatrist. And I found it helpful to write things down, it was actually a suggestion by a friend. Later, in a therapy group we were told similarly that we could express ourselves however we liked, including writing, and we have been given writing assignments too. One of my earlier psychologists tried to give me writing assignments too but I didn't get them done. orz;; I think they might work for Ludwig though.
Okay, about your questions: How would a real therapist conduct herself around her patient?
Like I said, there are many different approaches. I'm not really even sure, what to say. Generally they try to be nice, understanding and friendly and polite and respectful. I've found that at least the people I've been seeing treat me very much like a sensible adult who can make her own decisions, they are just there to give me their advice. I haven't felt patronized at all which was something I think I might have been expecting. Anyway, I suggest you read about the different forms of psychotherapy and think about which school Liech would belong to or be inclined to.
Passerbynon here: take 3/3
(Anonymous) 2010-04-13 12:30 am (UTC)(link)Oh dear... I don't actually know what to answer. It depends... And I have to confess right now, I haven't been seeing a therapist yet. Like I said in my long and rambling essay above, it's not that easy to get one. xD; So I really don't actually have experience about that. My usual sessions are very free-form, actually. Typically we talk about how I've been since the last session and just talk about what kind of problems I currently have and what to do about them. I think with an actual therapist, the sessions are more concentrated on a certain issue, although it might be that some therapists like to keep them quite free-form too.
In any case the point of therapy is that there is some problem you want to solve and then you work on it with the therapist. The method of how it's done depends on the therapist. There's the psychoanalytic method, which is the cliché, Freudian thing with a lot of "tell me about your father" and "what does this blotch remind you of" and long, long sessions of just talking and talking and talking with the therapist mostly listening and asking questions. The point, I think, is identifying the reasons and causes of the problem. Then there is cognitive therapy which focuses less on the reasons and more on solving the actual problem, usually trying to recognize the harmful ways of thinking the patient has and changing them. (I think cognitive therapy would probably be better for Ludwig but I don't know.) And there are others too, those are just the ones I'm more familiar with.
Oh yeah and does Liech assume Ludwig only has OCD or is she suspecting OCPD? Or something else? I... think she should discuss her thoughts with Ludwig more? I'm not sure if everybody does that but in my experience it'd be pretty probable... It's respectful, I think, and it can be very fruitful to discuss the theories with the patient. Ludwig seems to be up to it too.
And then there's medication of course... Seems like OCDP isn't necessarily treated with drugs (and Ludwig might just refuse to take them) and since he didn't have depression or anxiety (didn't seem like that at least?) he wouldn't necessarily have needed them. Now then again, he is definitely in greater risk of that so Liech might even suggest medication in the future if it seems to get bad.
How do you think an ocpd patient would react in therapy (generally. I ask ‘cause I read something about patients getting angry with their therapists, and I don’t want to put Liechtenstein through that unless I have to)?
I think it'd be very much like you've portrayed it. Not that I'd really know? :D;; But it sounds alright. And uhm... well, getting angry depends on their temperament and such... and the therapist's behaviour too. I don't think Liech is the kind of person you'd get angry with easily. But I don't really know. It does bring up emotions, though, therapy, and that's actually a sign that something is happening so it's really a good thing. But I definitely don't think you have to make him angry with her!
Phew, that was a lot of text...... o_o;; Uhm. I hope I didn't just confuse you or anything... I'm too lazy to read through all of this to check that it makes sense so it might not what with me rambling and all. And I hope I'm not totally incorrect about something. Don't trust random anonymous people on the internet too much! xD;;
Cooking anon checks this regularly for updates....
(Anonymous) 2010-04-17 01:05 am (UTC)(link)Again, I don't know if it's the same in Germany, but their system is considered top notch, so I think there's probably something similar.
I also take this chance to mention that I loved Feli's first appearance. He's just too sweet, d'awww.
Also, not to completely waste this post in chatter: unrequested random cooking lesson! There are so many different kinds of pasta (literally hundreds!) because each area of Italy has his own sauce recipes, and each kind of pasta 'holds' better a particular kind of sauce.
Spaghetti are good with light, simple sauces, like the aglio, olio e peperoncino. Also carbonara.
Cacio e pepe is tipically done with maccheroni (also the original Roman recipe wants pecorino, not parmesan! I forgot mine was a Nordic variant, lol).
Farfalle are
too cuteperfect for anything with cream (Italian panna da cucina is basically single cream I guess. Check there is no sugar or sweetener. Today I made farfalle with cream, zucchini and shrimps. Tasty and, if you don't use too much cream, not that fat ;)).Linguine go with pesto. Oh, how they go with pesto.
Penne are good with thick, heavy sauces, like arrabbiata or fumé.
Generally speaking: 'short' pasta, especially the variants with grooves, are better for thicker sauces that need to be 'picked up', while 'long' pasta like spaghetti is better for lighter things. All sauce that remains in the plate after the pasta is over can be picked up with a piece of bread and eaten - it's called fare scarpetta, lit. 'do the little shoe', and while you can't do it in a fancy restaurant or polite company, it's so, so fun (and you should never waste good food anyway).
Sorry! I really don't mean to intrude. I just want to help with this awesome fill! Also, thank you for the reassurance. My fishy spoon is cute, I'd feel bad having to get rid of it!
...but should go to sleep and stop being dumb. Sorry!
Unless its smut.Well, at least the cooking lesson still stands. Sigh.
Re: ...but should go to sleep and stop being dumb. Sorry!
(Anonymous) 2010-04-18 02:49 am (UTC)(link)That kind of stuff is just too typical though, being sent to a million places. My psychiatrist sent me to hospital because I was getting worse and she was afraid I was going psychotic or something, idk, I think she was seriously exaggerating.... But I said okay anyway. The hospital people decided that I was way too sane to be there and put me on weekly visits instead and then sent me over to a municipal dayward kinda thing and after spending a month there the psychiatrist over there sent me to this therapy group and gave me a certificate and all and told me that she put a recommendation for psychotherapy there too so I should get on with looking for a therapist if I want to. So yeah. They just toss you around a lot. xD;; I think I've lost count on how many psychologists and psychiatrists I've had so far. This wasn't even the first time I'd been sent around to places... orz And I think I actually have it pretty easy compared to some people I know.
Uh wait, what was my point again...? Right, so yeah, it's all more like "we recommend that you find a therapist, so consider that" rather than "you must see a therapist right now want it or not." I know it might have sounded like I was sort of forced to move around from one place to another but actually it was more like "okay, we think this would be good for you, what do you think? Want us to write you a referral?" and I'm like "err okay? o_o;; dontaskmeidontknowwhatthehell..." It's just that all these places are so full that they can only keep you for a period of time and then you have to move on.
Even that hospital thing was kinda like "You know, I think it would be best for you to go to the hospital. Is that okay with you? Alright. Would you like to go right away or later? Perhaps tomorrow?" <--- it amuses me how in the movies (except for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I think, there it was actually a twist) it seems to be all men with white coats dragging you into an ambulance and tying you into a bed. Of course those cases happen too but most of the time people go there on their own free will. In fact, often you have to plead for them to let you in because they are pretty strict about taking only the absolutely worst cases. Here, anyway. I've heard some hospitals have more lenient policies so it varies even within a country.
orz I just can't shut up, it seems. Never mind, I'm stopping now.
Re: Ricette d'amore [4e/13]
(Anonymous) 2010-04-14 04:33 am (UTC)(link)