66/73

I'm not sure I know what you mean by that!

Well, in real life people don't usually start singing randomly the way that it happens in musicals. So sometimes when a musical is trying to be witty and self-aware it'll have a character who doesn't like to sing or dance and thinks that musical tropes are silly, and so if a musical number starts around them they'll complain or be confused. Sometimes that's to show that they're closed off to love or embarrassed about something they like and so at the end they join in, but sometimes it's to show that they're down to earth and practical and it doesn't have to be a flaw that they don't like musical numbers.

66/73

That's fascinating! I think that can definitely happen if that's the kind of story you like, although I feel like the person who doesn't like musical numbers will still end up saying or doing things that "fit" with the song. If you want to avoid that, you could probably take a drawback about it. Incomplete and Nullified might work for that, or I could come up with something just for you.

I think I want the first thing.

He doesn't really want an animal companion; the description for Bestest Friend doesn't really change this. He's mildly entertained by the thought of Transformer but what would that even mean.

Well, he can always ask.

What does Transformer do? If I wanted my lute to be my Best Friend would it turn into an intelligent lute? How would we communicate if it couldn't speak?

66/73

That could definitely happen! Most of the time if a Best Friend can't speak, communication happens through some sort of psychic or empathic connection, but it's also possible for a Best Friend who takes the form of an animal to express themselves through body language in a way that's unusually legible to you. I bet that if you wanted your lute to be your Best Friend, it could work together with your Soundtrack to talk to you!

That does sound fun, but he still feels a little weird about it. He realizes part of it when he reads the description for A Friend Like You.

How much am I the boss of my Best Friend? I don't think I really want to be the boss of anyone.

66/73

It depends a lot on what your Best Friend is like and whether you take other powers like Bestest Friend, Ascended Friend, A Friend Like You, or Conjoined Friends. That last one gives you the most opportunity to be equals, I think, but you can definitely influence that a lot with your own preferences.

Elan hasn't actually gotten as far as the description for Conjoined Friends yet; he reads it and then Another Kind of Friend for good measure. He thinks this still probably isn't the power for him.

He flips the page. Generosity, Helpfulness, Cuddle Buddies… he doesn't think he really needs help from the Spirit to find generous and helpful friends, especially if he's generous and helpful himself! And he doesn't need cuddles so badly that he wants to make sure that uncuddly people make exceptions for him.

Next page.

Does Flattery make people lie?

66/73

No! None of the powers in its family (Generosity through Quality Time) will make anyone say anything they don't mean or do anything they don't like. They can encourage people to look at things in a way that makes doing favors or hanging out with you or things like that seem more fun, though.

Elan decides he wants Quality Time but not Flattery. He definitely doesn't want Agree to Agree! He doesn't know anything about politics or philosophy! He flips the page as if that will protect him from Agree to Agree.

He loves Backchannel and Two-Way Street. After checking them, he thinks to ask:

Can I use Backchannel and Two-Way Street instead of Omniglot?

74/73

They won't do all the same things as Omniglot, but I think they can definitely help you communicate across a language barrier. If one of you is a beginner at a language, they probably won't teach you any new words but they can help you use the words you do know to say what you mean. And I'm not completely sure about this but I think they'll help you understand each other if you're communicating nonverbally.

Roundabout gives him heebie-jeebies the same way Omniglot and Eidetic did.

He can't take You Can Teach Better or More Magic. Not Like Other Girls feels… bad. He doesn't really want to hang out with people who would be prejudiced against him, even if they're nice to him because they think he's different.

Pacifist seems kind of neat, especially the idea of doing dance battles instead of fights, but it doesn't really sit right with him. A Gentler Way seems better, but he's not sure he wants to take that kind of power. Unless…

Do you think you could make a power that's like Pacifist or A Gentler Way but different?

74/73

What do you want to be different about it?

I think I might want it to be like A Gentler Way but more. I don't want to get rid of fights completely but I think that if I want to get people to stop fighting I want them to stop fighting, not just… have a fight except instead of using swords it's a race. Especially because I bet it's easier to cheat at a race than at a swordfight or magic duel, and that seems like it would make whoever got cheated against mad enough to start another fight.

74/73

I think I know what you mean! Although I'm pretty sure that "someone cheated during the fight replacement; someone else is mad enough about the cheating that they escalate to a real fight" is unlikely to happen with either Pacifist or A Gentler Way. It kind of defeats the purpose of the powers. Still, I've got an idea…

Give Peace a Chance ☐
Cost: 6
(replaces Pacifist)
You have a knack for defusing violent conflicts. People won't necessarily go from "at each other's throats" to "besties" right away, or even agree not to fight, but they'll always hear you out. This effect works better the more well-tailored your suggestion is to the specific combatants and their personalities and cultural expectations. You can propose a fight replacement if you weren't able to stop the fight completely and your success will depend on the same factors. Powers you have that give you advantages in fights also apply to fight replacements.

Hmmm. He literally asked for this but he's not actually feeling it.

Is it okay if I don't take this? There's nothing wrong with it but I think I'd rather use Backchannel if I'm trying to stop a fight.

74/73

Of course! I want you to have the powers that are right for you. It doesn't bother me if I think of a custom power and you realize you don't want it.

☺

He can't take Beauty Effulgent, Love Interest, Love Triangle, Love is an Open Door, or Love Dodecahedron. He really doesn't want any of those, especially not Love Triangle.

Time Enough for Love seems really good, though!

Does Work-Life Balance cancel out the thing about how you can't use Time Enough For Love on other stuff that you want to be in two places at once for?

He doesn't even know if there is anything that he wants to be in two places at once for but he's not sure what Work-Life Balance even does otherwise.

79/73

No, it's more about letting you take the time you need to take care of yourself. If Time Enough for Love exists so you can have fun with all of your friends and not neglect any of them, Work-Life Balance can be said to exist so you don't neglect yourself, no matter how busy you are.

It's nice that that power exists but Elan thinks it won't really add much to his life. He flips the page.

Baby Monitor is nice! If he's going to be having adventures he doesn't want to worry about how his mom is doing, or any of the friends he meets along the way. He doesn't want They Even Have Dental because he doesn't want to be anyone's boss, but Safe at Home is really good.

Except, he realizes as he flips the page, that Opting In is a replacement and it might work better with Dramatic Damsel…

I'm not sure how to pick between Safe at Home and Opting In. What makes them different from each other? Is one better to take with Dramatic Damsel?

80/73

That's a good question! The powers are very similar in what they do. I think that the biggest difference is… something almost like the attitude of the powers? Both of them are about fairness, in a way—it's not fair if a villain hurts someone you love who hasn't done anything else that might make the villain want to hurt them. The comparison I want to draw to Opting In is the last part of the Personal Slipstream power:

Things such as getting in a fight or giving someone a hug can count as making that choice, even if you would prefer that the person you punch or hug not be able to touch you back.

I think the attitude that Opting In takes is that catching the attention of villains can count as making the choice for them to be able to hurt you, but you can't make that choice for anyone else. They might get hurt if they also get involved, but it's up to them to make that decision.

I don't think Dramatic Damsel has much of a difference in how it affects these powers, because it only makes defenses protecting you slip. Do you think you're still torn?

Elan thinks about this for a minute. He thinks… if he ends up in a Dramatic Damsel plotline, he would rather have the kind of friends who get the choice to opt in.

No, that helped a lot!

On to I Can Fix Them and I Can Help Them…

He needs a little help understanding the disclaimer attached to the second one, but even before he's leaning towards it based on the name and first line of the description alone. He'd rather help people than fix them, and… it kinda feels like Not Like Other Girls. It's nice to be able to redeem villains but it feels weird it someone only stops being evil because he fixed them.

Next page. Inspirational is scary in the Not Like Other Girls and I Can Fix Them way. True Love's Kiss and Eternal Love are amazing.

The Rescuer… Elan can see why someone might want to take Work-Life Balance. He'd need to take Inner World to take Dream Together and he doesn't think he wants it that much.

What happens if I don't take Planned Parenthood? I mean I guess I would have to always remember to use a protection spell…

92/73

It would definitely be a good idea to do whatever you would do for contraceptives if you didn't have these powers! If they fail or you forget or something else happens, you're still less likely to have children when you're not ready for it but that's definitely not a guarantee.

Elan takes Planned Parenthood and turns the page.

None of these things seem like something that Elan would want to spend a whole power on. Laugh Together seems the nicest because it helps his partner too but he still feels pretty lukewarm towards it. Bop It is the same. He giggles at The Princess and the Dragon, but it doesn't seem very likely that… hmm. Maybe he should ask.

If I have Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, do I still need The Princess and the Dragon if I meet a dragon or whatever that I really like?

93/73

Dragon Fairy Elf Witch can help make The Princess and the Dragon work even better but it won't substitute for it completely, especially if you don't want to discover heritage from a particular partner.