First Session: Broen

It was, realistically speaking, more or less what he'd expected. It was a common sentiment, although Valli tended to see it mostly among people who had, for example, spiraled down with drugs and alcohol. They crashed, hit the bottom, and dug themselves out of the pit.

Then they spent all their time waiting for people to take revenge for how awful they'd been.

"I think you might have to accept that some of them--those who are closest to you, who the most understand what happened--aren't going to ever drop that shoe. Your circumstances are unique. While that was your lived experience, and you no doubt felt very in control of your actions, many people would place the blame firmly on the being that corrupted you. Supernatural corruption is a tricky subject."

It was something that felt almost uniquely Manta Carlosian.

"But I think most of them aren't sure. Most of them will sit and wait, and they'll see how you are in the aftermath. Are you still going to act the same way? Or are you going to change significantly, in which case they'll decide not to blame you? They don't know how much you were effected by what happened, so they'll wait and see."

Realistically speaking, they seemed like two different issues. That Broen was expecting those closest to him to snap and kick him out. To push him away for the things he'd done and the person he'd been. At the same time, he struggled with the possibility that everyone on the island could do things better... but also that anyone could kill him at any time.

"I would say," Valli said after a moment's thought. "That both issues are two sides of the same coin. You have spent the last few years without any true empathy. Without being able to consider the feelings of others. You scared others, and now you yourself feel that turned back on you. If you could lash out and harm others with your powers, it stands to reason that others would do the same to you. You are... still growing into your returned empathy. Just because you magically have them back doesn't mean you're operating at one hundred percent. Your emotions will be all over the place, but so will your empathy. You'll grow into them with time."

Everything he'd done to others, he now feared was coming back for him.

"Time is one option. In time, you'll come to regulate those feelings more effectively. Everyone lives with an awareness that others could harm them at any point, and choose not to. Even in the narrow reality, acts of random violence still exist. But these acts are rare because of the fundamental human contract. The understanding that society won't tolerate these things, and that if we lash out these ways, we will be punished."

He considered an explanation about fundamental human goodness, but decided against it.

"People, generally speaking, don't harm each other because they themselves don't want to be harmed."

"For some, yes," Valli said. He wasn't going to deny that. "People hide the worst parts of themselves, the parts they don't want others to see. The anger and the hatred, yes, but also the tears and misery. The weakness. It's part of society. Some people are more open. Some people are more closed off. But there are different levels. Some people are who they are in public all the time. Others have to hide more, or hide less. That's how people are. But the social contract keeps those rules in place."

"Then be yourself," Valli said. "And let the chips fall. There's no easy solution, no quick answer where you can do one thing and feel alright. But keep watching the people you're close to. Watch them, and accept, eventually, that they are who they are. That if they thought you were an awful person who only cared for yourself, that they would leave."

Valli considered for a moment, and then doubled down.

"Don't trust in their inherent goodness, or that they aren't wishing you ill behind your back. Trust in the people you choose as your friends and companions. Trust in your own judgement, that you would choose people who would pull away from someone they disliked, rather than spending more time with them."

It seemed he'd given him something to think on, and that was all he could really ask. That he would think about it. That he'd keep what Valli had said in mind as he moved forward.

"Your partner is being unfair to you," Valli confirmed, feeling the need to voice the unsaid words that Broen had not quite said. "If she doesn't want to deal with you, then she shouldn't. If she does, she should. But punishing someone for the things they did to teach them a lesson is an unhealthy dynamic. Teaching someone a lesson is an unhealthy mentality between people who have a clear power difference, like a child and their guardian, but between people who are supposed to be on the same level, it's even worse."