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spiral bound and college ruled
a bell does the mary sue cyoa
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Bella likes shopping for school supplies. Renée drops her off at a Staples and just kind of leaves her there for an hour, going to get a manicure or something in the meanwhile. (Renée needs school supplies too, but she makes a separate trip with the other teachers so there's no admixture of teacher discounts and budget allowances with Bella's personal swag; it's usually a pack of four or five of them, working out how many pairs of scissors they need between them and splitting giant boxes of pens and sometimes hitting five stores to get a good deal on construction paper and nametags.)

Bella has put into her cart glossy new folders and a twelve pack of mechanical pencils and a compass-and-straightedge set and the art supplies she doesn't need to get from a dedicated art supply store. She has a big three ring binder and a couple of those stretchy textbook covers. She has graph paper and a highlighter and a set of ballpoint pens half blue and half black. She has saved the best for last. Notebooks time.

She gets mostly the cheap kind, assorted colors of basic notebooks she can fill with math problems or history timelines without feeling like it's kind of a waste, but she gets some nicer ones from time to time, for compiling important stuff accumulated on other media and writing her mental processes out. There's a sale bin. She rummages, taking her time, no sign of Renée coming back to grab her yet. Some of them are just the same kind she normally gets with bent corners or squashed wire, but - ooh, that one's nice, the purple with the iridescent shimmer to it, she likes that one. Into the cart with it.

She doesn't finish her previous compilation notebook till a few days later and then, after dinner that evening, she inaugurates the new one. August 18 2002 she writes inside the front cover.

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An invisible pen writes below the heading:
Hello! It's nice to meet you!
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?
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I'm an avatar of the Spirit of Femininity Unleashed and I'm here to offer you its power!
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what the hell??
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I'm happy to answer any questions you have, but you might need to be a little more specific?
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Let us suppose that I don't expect notebooks to talk to me about anything, let alone that.
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Well, of course not. I don't think this world has any magic ordinarily. I'm very special!
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Do you know how explaining things works or should I just proceed under the assumption that this is a dream?
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There is a noticeable pause of a few seconds before the invisible pen writes slowly, in less joyously swooshy letters than before,
I think maybe we are having some trouble communicating.
Another pause, and then a new paragraph.
I am a magical talking notebook sent from outside your conception of reality—not even just outside your physical universe, but outside of the whole way of things being possible that contains physical universes—by the Spirit of Femininity Unleashed, which is sort of like a goddess of people being beautiful and powerful and special in a feminine way. I appear to people chosen by the Spirit, like you, and I tell them about the Spirit and the choices they can make about how to accept its power, and then they get to decide which powers they want, and the Spirit's desire to see people become beautiful and powerful and special in a feminine way is fulfilled.
A shorter pause, and in even slower, even less swooshy handwriting:
Does that help clear anything up?
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Thank you, yes.


Substantial pause while she rereads this.

Why me?
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The Spirit can't communicate its exact reasons for choosing any specific person, but it always chooses someone who is open to femininity and to being beautiful and powerful and special, and its favourite thing is when someone uses its power to live their best life in whatever way is right for them!
A little more life comes back into the handwriting around the end of that sentence.
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I mean, sure, I like the notion of being beautiful and powerful and special and living my best life...
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I'm glad to hear that!
A slight pause, and then,
(Well, read. I cannot hear, because I am a notebook.)
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Most notebooks also can't read, so you're coming out ahead there. Sorry for snapping at you, I was just super confused.
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The swooshiness reemerges further.

That makes sense. It must be a very confusing situation for you! I want to help you understand as best I can, but all I have to go on is what you write in me, so it can be hard to know where to start. Apology accepted, and very much appreciated!

Would you like to see my standard list of all the powers the Spirit offers? Or do you still have more questions before you want to get into that kind of detail?
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Are there more notebooks for more people? Are there more Spirits?
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Yes, there are more notebooks, and more people chosen by the Spirit of Femininity Unleashed. I've never heard of any specific other Spirit, but I think there must be some, because it would be a little strange if Femininity Unleashed was the only possible kind of Spirit like that. But maybe the other ones are so far away that we'll never meet them.

I do know that usually, people chosen by the Spirit of Femininity Unleashed are far enough away from each other that they don't tend to meet even if they get really good at dimensional travel, but there's an option in the list for making those meetings much more likely.
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But no option for meeting people chosen by other Spirits?
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Not straightforwardly, no. I can see what I can do, but my best guess is that even if I could offer you an option for meeting people chosen by other Spirits, it wouldn't guarantee that you really would meet any, it would just make it possible and unlikely instead of so unlikely it might not be possible.
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Okay. Uh, is... femininity as a theme... cooler than it sounds? I'm a girl but it's not that important to me.
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Well, I think femininity as a theme is very cool, and the Spirit thinks femininity as a theme is very cool, but maybe it doesn't appeal to you the same way. That's okay! You can still accept the Spirit's power even if your focus isn't really on being feminine.
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Okay. What's it do?
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Do you want the list of all the different powers, or do you want me to try to give an overview?
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Start with the overview?
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The first section in the list is your Destination, which lets you choose whether you'll stay in this world, travel to another world you've heard of or imagined, or let the Spirit choose your destination for you. Then there's two sections with powers: the Yourself section, which is for personal enhancements like being able to change how you look or learn languages really fast, and the Power of Friendship section, which is for social enhancements like having a loyal animal companion or being mysteriously fascinating to everyone around you. Last of all is the Drawbacks section; the standard way to simplify the complexity of the Spirit's power is to have powers cost points out of a total of 70 starting points, and the Drawbacks section lets you earn additional points in exchange for giving up some protections or accepting some inconveniences.
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Okay... can I see the list? Will you be offended if I take notes in a regular notebook to organize my thoughts about it so I can see the list and my notes at the same time?
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I don't mind at all! Although please remember that I can't read anything you don't write in me, and I want to help you find the powers that are best for you. It would help me out a lot if you'd copy over things that are useful for me to know, like your priorities and what you like and don't like about the powers, so I can have a better understanding of what matters to you when I'm answering your questions and suggesting alternate versions of powers you're not happy with.

Now just a minute while I format that list... ⏳
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Yeah, I can copy over my conclusions, just not my active reasoning process.
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The hourglass does little trickles of ink from top down to bottom while more ink swims across subsequent pages, until it's all done and the last grain of ink-sand rests atop the heap and the list is set out neat as you please like it was printed onto the notebook by laserjet, with a little (0/70) tally on every page's top outer corner.

A preamble paragraph before the main list reads,
These powers are offered under an aegis of metanarrative protection. Anytime you might expect a power to have obvious negative side effects, like glowing eyes making it harder to see, it simply won't—you'll be able to see just fine anytime it actually matters, while having dramatically hazy vision at cool, narratively appropriate moments. This doesn't apply to your own preferences about the explicitly described effects of the power; if you don't want to be Well Endowed, the metanarrative cannot protect you from choosing that option and having to live with it.

After that it gets long.

Destinations

You must choose exactly one Destination.

Name: Stay Put - Cost: 0
You're just going to take these powers and keep on keeping on right where you are.

Name: Somewhere In Mind - Cost: 0
You have a destination you want to go to. You can choose any place, real, historical, fictional, or made up in your own head right now, and the Spirit will take you there. After that, you're on your own as far as further interdimensional travel.

Name: Isekai Roulette - Cost: 0
Trust to the will of the Spirit and let it take you where you need to go. It will look at far more options than you could ever know about, and pick something that's likely to be even better for you than whatever you would have chosen on your own.


Yourself

These powers affect your own self and nature, without direct effects on other people. Some of them are prerequisites for powers in the later Power of Friendship section.

Name: A Thousand Ships - Cost: 1
Your face is simply exquisite, an ideal of feminine beauty. There are many possible ideals of feminine beauty, and yours is whichever one speaks most deeply to your soul. Others may match your beauty in their own way, but never exceed it.

Name: What's In A Name - Cost: 1
Magic to divine true names will accept whatever alias you choose to think of as your true name. Magic to use your true name against you will fail.

Name: Angelic Tones - Cost: 2
Your voice is supernaturally beautiful and you can sing in any vocal range.

Name: Emerald Orbs - Cost: 2
At all times, your eyes are exactly the right colour. This effect operates based on your sense of aesthetics, in-the-moment preferences, and narrative considerations. Your eyes can be ANY colour this way. Lightless black voids? Brilliant white stars? Limpid pools of endless sapphire? They will look exactly the way you'd want them to look if you were writing a self-insert fanfic about this exact moment of your life.

Name: Perfect Hair - Cost: 2
At all times, you have exactly the right hairstyle. This effect operates based on your sense of aesthetics, in-the-moment preferences, and narrative considerations. It is not limited to physically or logistically plausible hairstyles.

Name: Size Difference - Cost: 2
At all times, you are exactly the right height. This effect operates based on your sense of aesthetics, in-the-moment preferences, and narrative considerations. It will usually keep any height changes fairly subtle, but at dramatic moments you might discover yourself able to shrink to the size of a bee or grow to the size of a giant.

Name: Dressing Room - Cost: 3
No matter how ridiculous your outfit, it will stay pristine and perfect, unless it would be more dramatic for you to be artfully bedraggled. You can use any quiet moment to yourself to quick-change your clothes, shoes, nails, and hairstyle into a completely new look. (You cannot change your hair length or colour this way without Perfect Hair, but you can braid or style it.)

Name: Personal Hygiene - Cost: 1
You are always clean and fresh, never needing to use a bath or toilet.

Name: Like Roses - Cost: 1
(Requires Personal Hygiene)
You smell lovely. Your scent is unique to you, and may involve any combination of warm spices, floral notes, petrichor, or other things you think smell good. You do not need any justification for why you smell like this.

Name: Just A Little Longer - Cost: 1
If you push yourself, you can keep doing any task or working on any project indefinitely, visibly strained but never impaired by injury or fatigue. As soon as you stop, you'll collapse with exhaustion and sleep for up to a full day to regain your strength. This only works when what you're doing is personally important to you.

Name: Immunity System - Cost: 3
You can't get sick or poisoned. You can still use recreational drugs and alcohol normally, but can't overdose.

Name: My Ears Are Burning - Cost: 6
You always know exactly what people are thinking, as long as it's about you. This effect is not telepathy and is not blocked by effects that block telepathy. It applies even to people you can't perceive normally. You are never impaired by the flood of information.

Name: Well Endowed - Cost: 1
You have a generous figure, whether that's a classic hourglass or more of a well-rounded look; you can choose the details. Your endowments maintain a state of perfect grace and beauty at all times, never troubling you with uncomfortable bounces or uninvited jiggles.

Name: Hollow Leg - Cost: 1
(Requires Well Endowed.)
Regardless of your diet and exercise habits, your body maintains the physique and silhouette you prefer. Lack of visible muscle never impairs your strength or endurance. As your preferences change, so will your body; you are no longer bound to the generous figure stipulated by Well Endowed.

Name: Inner Strength - Cost: 3
(Requires Hollow Leg.)
You are implausibly, superhumanly strong, with endurance and toughness to match. You might have to strain a little to lift and carry at the same level as construction equipment, or deal with lightly scraped knuckles if you punch as hard as a battering ram.

Name: Battle Angel - Cost: 1
Somehow, you never get significantly injured in a fight, unless it's a very dramatic and plot-relevant fight in which case you might be glamorously wounded and pick up a cool new scar.

Name: Battle Demon - Cost: 1
You have an unerring intuition for gaps in an opponent's defenses, though it may be beyond your power to exploit them.

Name: Battle Maiden - Cost: 3
(Requires Battle Angel and Battle Demon)
No matter what kind of fight you're getting in, you're always a match for even the most skilled opponent.

Name: Making Ends Meet - Cost: 1
You have enough money to sustain a comfortable lifestyle. It comes from a source you don't have to pay much attention to, like a job with almost no responsibilities, a large inheritance, or a noble title.

Name: Motherlode - Cost: 2
(Requires Making Ends Meet.)
You have enough money to sustain a fairly extravagant lifestyle. It doesn't come from anywhere, you just have it.

Name: Four Star Daydream - Cost: 4
(Requires Motherlode.)
The answer to "can I afford that" is "yes".

Name: Dragon Fairy Elf Witch - Cost: 5
You can at any time discover previously unknown heritage from any type of being you encounter, even if this makes no sense or contradicts previously established descriptions of your family tree. You always get their powers without their drawbacks, unless the drawbacks are cool and dramatic. Any visible features of this heritage will appear at narratively appropriate moments and be cute, pretty, beautiful, or striking rather than awkward, weird, gross, or scary. This ability works even if the beings in question cannot reproduce with humans, or at all.

Name: Omniglot - Cost: 3
You learn languages insanely, ludicrously fast. You know exactly what any word said to you means, and you make strangely accurate guesses about how to phrase things you're trying to say. You never forget any grammar or vocabulary you learn.

Name: Anything You Can Do - Cost: 6
You learn implausibly quickly from friends, rivals, and love interests. If you have a personal connection to someone with a certain skill, talent, or expertise, you'll learn it five times faster than they did, or twenty times faster if they're actively trying to teach you. This applies even to forms of magic that you ordinarily shouldn't be able to learn.

Name: Closed Book - Cost: 1
You're immune to any supernatural, pharmaceutical, or other effect that would let people directly read your thoughts or feelings.

Name: Indelible - Cost: 1
You're immune to any supernatural, pharmaceutical, or other effect that would let people directly alter your thoughts or feelings.

Name: Iron Will - Cost: 2
"(Requires Closed Book and Indelible.)
You are immune to all forms of mental illusion, alteration, interference, or control. Even extreme torture, extended solitary confinement, advanced brainwashing techniques, and so on cannot touch you. You can be lonely but not cripplingly lonely. You can be upset but not traumatized. "


Power of Friendship

These powers affect how others see you and how you interact with them.

In general, effects that describe others' reactions (like their attention being drawn to you by Mysterious Allure, or their sympathy being provoked by Tragic Backstory) operate on a metanarrative rather than a causal level. They are not mind control, and are not blocked by effects that block mind control.

Your "true love" is anyone you're pursuing a serious romantic relationship with. You can have as many of these as you like, but your feelings for all of them must be genuine.

Name: Mysterious Allure - Cost: 5
There's just something about you. People are drawn to you, fascinated by you. You tend to be the most interesting person in the room unless something really unusual is going on.

Name: Captive Audience - Cost: 3
As long as you have genuine interest in what you're talking about, no one will ever get bored of listening to you talk about it.

Name: Blackout Binge - Cost: 2
(Requires Immunity System)
Heavy use of recreational intoxicants puts you in a carefree, uninhibited state in which it will be universally agreed afterward that you were not responsible for your actions.

Name: Disney Princess - Cost: 2
Animals are always friendly to you, especially the small cute ones. You can effectively tame any animal by feeding it and speaking gently to it.

Name: Best Friend - Cost: 3
You have an animal companion, like a horse or a cat or a raven. They have a cool name and maybe a few nifty cosmetic quirks, like glowing purple eyes. Their loyalty is infinite and they often hold the key to solving whatever situation you're up against. You can understand them perfectly even though they can't speak, and they always know exactly what you mean even if all you do is glance at them meaningfully.

Name: Bestest Friend - Cost: 5
(Requires Best Friend)
Your animal companion is a fully magical creature, like a dragon or unicorn. They have magnificent supernatural powers ready to be used at your command. They can speak every language you can, but can still communicate with you on a deeper level of mutual love and understanding.

Name: Generosity - Cost: 3
Your friends love to get you presents. They'll try to pick out things you'll like, but their success depends on how well they know you.

Name: Helpfulness - Cost: 4
Your friends love to do you favours. They'll volunteer eagerly whenever you need help with small tasks.

Name: Cuddle Buddies - Cost: 2
Your friends love to hug and cuddle you. Even someone who ordinarily isn't into that sort of thing will make an exception for you.

Name: Flattery - Cost: 1
Your friends love to compliment you and tell you all about how much they like you and why.

Name: Quality Time - Cost: 2
Your friends love to hang out with you and spend time together, even if you're not doing anything interesting or important.

Name: Agree to Agree - Cost: 4
You can always convince your friends to see your point of view about things like politics and philosophy. They might have a few quibbles here and there, but they'll see how right you are once you explain where you're coming from in enough detail.

Name: Love Interest - Cost: 1
(Requires A Thousand Ships and Mysterious Allure)
Anyone you fall for will inevitably like you back. They may not necessarily act on their feelings, but the potential will be there.

Name: Love Triangle - Cost: 2
(Requires Love Interest)
People you fall for will be open to dating you even if they already have another serious relationship, or other circumstances that would ordinarily interfere, like a demanding career or a vow of chastity. This may cause drama, but it'll blow over quickly and there won't be any serious problems.

Name: Love Dodecahedron - Cost: 5
(Requires Love Triangle)
When you fall for someone who is already seriously dating or even married, your romantic rival will be open to allowing their partner to date you, and may even want to date you themselves.

Name: Time Enough For Love - Cost: 5
No matter how many people you want to date or be close friends with, you will somehow find the time to hang out with all of them and express your love and care. This power can only be used for relationship activities and not for anything else you might want to use the ability to be in two places at once for.

Name: I Can Fix Them - Cost: 5
Regardless of how morally despicable someone is, your love can and will reform them into a genuinely good, kind, upstanding person who regrets their evil deeds.

Name: True Love's Kiss - Cost: 1
By kissing your true love, you can break any curse, heal any injury, and cure any illness. The same works in reverse.

Name: Planned Parenthood - Cost: 1
You can only have children if you actively and specifically want to. Your partners will understand this and not worry too much about it.

Name: Two Become One - Cost: 1
(Requires Planned Parenthood)
When you have sex, it is always special and wonderful and beautiful. No one ever elbows anyone in the face or makes undignified noises.

Name: Bop It - Cost: 1
(Requires Two Become One)
The mysteries of another's body are an open book to you, and you always know exactly how to move and touch in order to please someone in bed.

Name: The Princess And The Dragon - Cost: 3
No matter who or what you're trying to sleep with, the logistics will all work out, somehow. Arbitrary differences in size, biology, temperature, substrate, and underlying physics can be gotten around with sufficient creativity and determination.

Name: GGG - Cost: 4
Your true love will be willing to try just about anything you suggest in bed, and if you really enjoy it, they'll really enjoy it too.

Name: Before Your Eyes - Cost: 4
In your presence, people become willing to experiment sexually in ways they normally wouldn't. For some reason this applies especially well to boys kissing each other.

Name: Fated Lovers - Cost: 3
You will meet someone who will go on to become your true love. If you enter a specific universe with a specific target in mind, you'll meet that person under favourable circumstances, and if it doesn't work out with them, this power will keep introducing you to new possibilities until you find someone who's right for you. If you're the sort of person who can have multiple true loves, you'll keep meeting new ones until you have enough.

Name: Sorry About That - Cost: 3
Your true love will be extremely forgiving. Even if you make mistakes or act thoughtlessly toward them, a simple apology will mend things between you. They may expect you to try to improve, but they'll be infinitely patient about how fast that improvement takes place.

Name: Excuse Me - Cost: 5
(Requires Sorry About That)
All your friends will be just as forgiving as your true love.

Name: Tragic Backstory - Cost: 8
(Requires Excuse Me)
Something terrible happened to you in your past. Anyone who hears about it immediately forgives you for any and all bad behaviour in the present. They will not expect you to grow or change, and will continue sympathetically excusing whatever you do indefinitely.

Name: Sense of Style - Cost: 4
People who are romantically interested in you will start dressing more to your taste. The more romantically compatible they are, the better they'll be able to guess exactly what to wear to catch your eye.

Name: Bonus Style Points - Cost: 3
(Requires Sense of Style)
Luck will shine on anyone trying to dress up for you. They'll get their hands on outfits they couldn't normally afford, their clothes will fit better, and in extreme cases they might even find themselves able to change shape, sex, or species—though only in ways that make them more, not less, comfortable in their own skin.

Name: Popular - Cost: 3
Wherever you go, you develop a reputation fast. The sort of people who you'd like to have as fans tend to hear about you and be impressed. You may not make an impression on mainstream society at large, but you'll develop a following among the people who best resonate with your style.

Name: Famous - Cost: 3
(Requires Popular.)
Wherever you go, people really take to you. You're the subject of constant gossip and most people have heard of you before you meet them. People you've never met will get crushes on you.

Name: Undiplomatic Immunity - Cost: 6
You are above the law. Any crimes you commit will be overlooked by the authorities. Note that, if you do enough crime that you start looking more like an invading army, local governments will still feel free to declare war.

Name: Friends In Low Places - Cost: 3
You make friends easily among the lowest echelons of society, the underdogs and underworlders. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.

Name: Friends In High Places - Cost: 3
You make friends easily at the highest echelons of society, among the rich and powerful. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.

Name: Friends in Strange Places - Cost: 3
You make friends easily in small isolated communities, among those who may be scorned by mainstream society for their differences or may just be so obscure that mainstream society mostly hasn't heard of them. Moving and acting in these circles is intuitive and natural for you.


Drawbacks

These options grant points rather than costing them. They represent inconveniences or mitigations of existing advantages.

Name: Decorative - Grants: +1
You are unfailingly cute and pretty and feminine at all times, in all circumstances. You cannot wear insufficiently pretty clothes. You cannot make insufficiently pretty noises. You cannot ugly cry.

Name: Beauty Is A Curse - Grants: +1
"(Requires A Thousand Ships) No, you don't understand. Beauty IS a curse. People will NOT stop bringing it up. Everyone you meet just has to point out how pretty you are. This will never stop happening. Even the most tactful people find it slipping out subtly, as remarks about the luster of your hair or the depth of your eyes."

Name: Plain Jane - Grants: +2
No matter what you look like, nor how many times people tell you you're beautiful, when you look in the mirror all you see is imperfections. You will never be fully satisfied with your appearance on an instinctive level.

Name: Style of Sisyphus - Grants: +1
Anytime you settle on a personal style that works well for you, soon afterward you'll encounter inspiration for another style that you like even better. You might end up cycling between different fashions, or trying to incporporate them all into a single outfit (and then finding another inspiration and having to start all over again).

Name: There's Another One - Grants: +3
You are not the only vessel of the Spirit. You might meet someone else with similar powers to yours; you might even meet more than one. Your susceptibility to one another's powers will be governed by the narrative.

Name: Incomplete - Grants: +5
About half of people you encounter will be immune to all effects listed under Power of Friendship, and about half of those who remain will see reduced effects. You can do nothing to change this.

Name: Green With Envy - Grants: +6
People are so eager to be your friend that they become bitter and vindictive when denied the opportunity. You can tear apart long-established friend groups if you aren't careful to give everyone equal attention, and sometimes even then. This effect is particularly harsh around people you're dating.

Name: You Ruin Them - Grants: +3
Once someone has dated, slept with, or even shared a deep and longing glance across a room with you, their heart is never fully satisfied with anyone else. Other relationships pale in comparison to what they could have, or imagine they could have, with you.

Name: Jilted Lovers - Grants: +4
When you break up with someone, they become monomaniacally obsessed with getting back together. If you take Realism, this will absolutely escalate to violent stalking.

Name: The Crazy Train - Grants: +6
Powers that you should be able to control directly or influence by your mood and preferences (like Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, Emerald Orbs, or What's In A Name) instead answer only to the narrative, which is still using your aesthetics but might not necessarily have your best interests in mind. Combines... interestingly... with Realism.

Name: They'll Know - Grants: +8
This drawback lifts the veil that discourages people from realizing how your powers affect the world around them and their own minds. Warning: this knowledge can cause a lot of trouble.

Name: Realism - Grants: +20
Give up your metanarrative protection. Although your individually selected powers still work as described, the invisible synergies that protect you from, say, gaining violent stalkers through Mysterious Allure or being genuinely traumatized by your Tragic Backstory are removed. Additionally, though effects like I Can Fix Them still operate, they may take considerably more effort, care, thought, and narrative investment on your part.

Permalink Mark Unread
Metanarrative?


And in her separate notebook: it kind of looks like isekai roulette is the best option on offer but it's yikesy. But she doesn't have a fictional universe ready to visit lined up! And if there's places to go staying put seems like a waste. Bleah.
Permalink Mark Unread
Sorry, what's the question exactly?
Permalink Mark Unread
I'm not familiar with the term, can you define/explain/elaborate?
Permalink Mark Unread
The metanarrative layer is an aspect of causality that's removed from the ordinary flow of time, closer to where the Spirit lives. Effects that operate metanarratively get to arrange outcomes to their liking even if the results are very improbable or even break what would ordinarily be understood to be inviolable laws of base reality.
Permalink Mark Unread
Can you give me examples?
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It's metanarratively guaranteed that the first person who writes in me will be the person I was sent to empower. Otherwise I'd be so nervous about getting it wrong, I'd hardly be able to write! So no matter what, it will just turn out that the first person who writes in me is the right person. Even if the wrong person sees me and picks me up, they'll coincidentally turn out to get distracted or have something important come up before they can try writing in me, or they'll end up giving me to the right person somehow. Even if someone was really determined to keep me away from the right person, or to write in me first, they wouldn't be able to; everything they tried would fail somehow.

(Now that we've met, you can show me to other people and let them write in me if you want to, but I'd really rather you didn't; I get all flustered about not being sure I'll be able to tell the handwriting apart.)
Permalink Mark Unread
I wasn't planning to. Uh, what happens to you once I pick stuff?
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That's sort of a complicated question to answer, but the short version is that I return to the Spirit and get sent out on my next job!
Permalink Mark Unread
Have you done this before?
Permalink Mark Unread
Yes. Complicatedly. I don't interact straightforwardly with the same linear timestream you experience; right now as I work with you you're getting the full attention of the me that is this notebook, but there are many other notebooks that are also me, in different times and places, and it's very complicated to say which ones are happening "before" or "after" each other for me personally, even though if you met someone else who I've spoken to you would probably be able to find out what the relative timing was by your own reckoning.
Permalink Mark Unread
Weird.


Okay, point buy.

Thousand ships. Okay? It's cheap? She's fine with how she presently looks but if she doesn't wind up wanting to buy a lot of stuff, and she might not since some of it is plausibly mind control, sure.

What's in a name... uh...

How common is 'true name magic'?
Permalink Mark Unread
It varies! If you don't have particular reason to think you would really dislike being in the sort of world where true name magic might be a thing, then you'll probably encounter some eventually if you spend long enough wandering the multiverse.
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It's not the most interesting possible way for a magic system to work, certainly, but I guess I don't have anything against it...


Angelic Tones. Okay?? If she doesn't wind up strapped for points??

Emerald Orbs. Her eyes are already the right color! In what universe is this twice as expensive as the one that just makes you straight up ludicrously beautiful??

Perfect Hair. Sounds convenient but again why is it twice as expensive as Thousand Ships.

Size Difference. Maybe convenient if she winds up in some kind of Alice in Wonderland situation??

Dressing Room. Convenient and possibly even practical, sure.

Personal Hygiene, yeah, she'll grab that one.

Like Roses. ...what does it mean that she doesn't need any justification, the justification would be that she checked this box. If she's always clean she's not sure she cares about further smelling like vanilla and lilacs though.

Just a Little Longer: it's the "one more turn" Civ effect for other things but actually useful, sounds good.

Immunity System: yes, no brainer.

My Ears Are Burning: AAAAAUGH?

How many of these are mind-reading or mind-manipulation??
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Adjustments to eliminate mind manipulation from powers that could otherwise involve it are very popular. There are a few powers that can't work without interfacing with people's minds, but not many.
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Can you like, put those ones in red. I also don't want to read anyone's mind.
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Deciding which powers are more or less hard to adjust away from mind manipulation isn't trivial... I could do it but I'd need some time to think. It's much easier to respond to individual questions about how a specific power works and which ways it can be adjusted, because then I only have to think about a few things at a time instead of the whole list at once. Would you like to wait a little while for me to go through everything, or keep reading and ask me about specific powers as they come up?
Permalink Mark Unread
I'll keep going and put a question mark next to anything that seems important.


Well Endowed seems fine? - and it's a prereq for these better ones, sure.

The Battle trio is a maybe, kind of depends where she's likely to wind up.

The money ones...

Are these economy-breaking?
Permalink Mark Unread
That depends what you mean by economy-breaking. If you mean, can you use them to do things that would be impossible for someone with a normal amount of money who got it by normal means, yes absolutely. If you mean, will they have catastrophic unintended consequences, that's what metanarrative protection is for.
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But... if I spend ludicrous amounts of money and somebody investigates how I have that, and the answer is 'I just do', will I be in trouble for counterfeiting or stealing or securities fraud? Will the currency inflate? And if not, how?
Permalink Mark Unread
It will just turn out that those things don't happen. I am not very good at economics so it's hard for me to come up with examples or explanations, but your metanarrative protections don't rely on my ability to explain them, they just work. It also matters what kinds of solutions you're okay with; it sounds like you don't like mind manipulation, so you won't get solutions that involve mind manipulation, except possibly in really strange situations like where the entire universe you're walking around in is someone's mind and so all forms of causal interference are also mind manipulation by definition.
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How would I wind up in a universe like that??
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You can find all sorts of very strange things if you're adventurous enough about exploring. It's hard to step into someone's mind by accident, though, even if you're using an interdimensional travel method that puts you somewhere random.
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Oh good.


She probably wants the money ones if they REALLY won't fuck anything up.

...

Who or what decides if a drawback of a species is 'cool and dramatic'?
Permalink Mark Unread
That sort of question tends to be answered primarily in light of your own narrative preferences, but with some influence from the Spirit.
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And what is the Spirit's taste in the matter? For that matter, who or what is consulting my preferences and how?
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I'm not sure it makes sense to talk about someone consulting your preferences? It's more like, by accepting the Spirit's power, you become the sort of person whose narrative preferences influence the world around you. The Spirit's taste is hard to put into words but it likes for people to live their best lives as their most special and powerful and beautiful selves. Its favourite kinds of drawbacks like that are the ones that turn out to be blessings in disguise when the time is right.
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Okay...


Omniglot's a yes.

Anything You Can Do is probably a yes? Expensive and possibly socially fraught but still very shiny.

Closed Book and Indelible she doesn't even make a separate note on, just checks directly on the magic notebook as soon as she reads them.

Iron Will she has to think about for a bit but then she checks that off too.
Permalink Mark Unread

(The point tally in the corner of every page adjusts to account for her selections.)

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Now the spooky friendship ones.

Nope. Nope. Nope! - maybe the Disney Princess one.

How did these come by their names? They seem remarkably localized for something so presumably interdimensional.
Permalink Mark Unread
I always present the list in the language of whoever I'm speaking to, and I often don't understand the names, so maybe it's like that for everyone? Or maybe the list was standardized by someone from a world like yours. I wouldn't know; speaking loosely about concepts of time that I can't easily explain, the standardization was before my time.
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Disney is a specific media company.


Probably not, but if so then probably yes, nope nope nope nope nope, AAH NOPE, nnnope and no and no, ... yeah sure. Nope. Yeah okay. Uh...

I would rather my partners, whoever they might one day be, not be mind controlled into not worrying about the contraceptive situation.
Permalink Mark Unread
That's a very normal variant to ask for! I can just cross that part right out.
The entry updates accordingly.
Permalink Mark Unread
In that case it's a yes. ...maybe. no. nnnno. No. No. ....maybe. No! NO! NOOOOO! No. Maybe except for the prerequisite being a no and also it's expensive. Nah. Nah. ...probably not. ...sure maybe?

How do the Friends in X Places ones work?
Permalink Mark Unread
Primarily by giving you an intuition for how to understand those kinds of cultures and succeed socially in those kinds of environments. They can be really useful for interdimensional wanderers who are concerned about adapting to new contexts! If you want to be really sure not to let any latent mind-affecting aspects slip by, you can take the Incomplete drawback later on and I can use that as leverage to eliminate latent mind-affecting aspects from those kinds of powers more generally.
Permalink Mark Unread
She flips ahead to Incomplete.
Yeah, can I just take that twice so it applies to both halves of people? Does it apply to True Love's Kiss or prevent me from meeting a fated love or affect the time control one?
Permalink Mark Unread
It only blocks mind-affecting powers, and you can't repeat options but like I said I can use Incomplete to eliminate most secondary mind-affecting aspects from powers that can do their job a different way.
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Okay, that's almost as good.
She checks it and then starts reading drawbacks from the beginning.

Actually no. What's her point total at this point.
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She's not hurting for points at all; she goes back and checks off some she wasn't sure about... now she's almost, but not quite, crunched...

Can you elaborate on They'll Know?
Permalink Mark Unread
Ordinarily, when your powers especially mind-affecting ones do things that aren't supposed to be noticeable—like Size Difference making subtle changes to your height, or Motherlode giving you money that isn't from anywhere—they take extra care to arrange that those things happen with a little plausible deniability, like timing your height changes so that no one directly sees them happening and managing lighting so that it's not obvious you're a different height, or doing some sort of economics thing that I have a hard time understanding because I am a notebook. The mind-affecting powers also tend to conceal themselves in the straightforward way but you don't have to worry about that one. If you take They'll Know, then for example people will have a much easier time finding out that you have money that didn't come from anywhere, and it will still turn out that it's real money that you can really spend on things and isn't illegal for you to have, but people might be upset or confused about you having the mysterious ability to make lots of money appear from nowhere, and might even be more confused when they observe that it is also real money that you're allowed to have and isn't having negative side effects.
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Yeah she's going to check that one.
What about Undiplomatic Immunity?
Permalink Mark Unread
I think someone might have tried to make Undiplomatic Immunity non-mind-affecting once and the results were really bizarre. I can't tell you much more about it; I don't keep clear memories of any specific people I've helped while I'm out talking to new chosen ones like this, for privacy reasons. All I know is that you can have non-mind-affecting Undiplomatic Immunity if you want, and it will cause really strange things to happen if you do any crimes you need it to excuse you for.
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Could you... guess, maybe?
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I don't really have a lot of experience interacting with legal systems, because I am a notebook.
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Most notebooks can't do hardly anything this one can, but sure, that's why, because it's a notebook.

Well. She's going to be gallivanting through the multiverse and not all laws are just and valid and responsibly applied. She checks it off.

I'm running out of conscionable things to spend points on. Is this definitely the complete list?
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This is the standard list but I can sometimes grant requests, especially if they're close to a power that already exists.
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Can I get a friendship power that works like the fated love one - just lands me near people I'll click with without doing stuff to them?
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I think so. I'll have to take a bit to think about it but I can answer other questions in the meantime.
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What kinds of universes does the spirit tend to like to drop people on? What degrees of freedom are most readily specified?
Permalink Mark Unread
The Spirit does its best to drop people on universes they'll like. I'm not sure what you mean about degrees of freedom; do you have examples?
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Like, can I specify a lot of things about the place, like... well, for one thing that it should already exist and not be created just for me, and for another that it's not generally full of mind control, and stuff like that, but not actually specify an entire world?
Permalink Mark Unread
That sounds like a set of preferences you could take Isekai Roulette with!
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Okay. Figuring THAT out is going to take me a while. Can I save points for later?
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If you leave any points unspent, they will wait as unrealized potential until someday when it might turn out you need a power that wasn't on the list or that you didn't anticipate wanting, and then the Spirit will try its best to give you what you need.
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Oh, cool.
She'll go uncheck some marginal options.
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It doesn't necessarily always work, but the Spirit's best is usually pretty darn good!
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And I'm going to put on my desiderata for the world that I want it to make it pretty straightforward for me to become immortal, so it'll have a while for situations where those points need to do something weird to come up.
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A very sensible thing to want!

Just to be extra clear: the main difference between a very vague Somewhere In Mind and an Isekai Roulette with a long list of specifications is that Somewhere In Mind will prioritize getting you as close as possible to the world you're asking for directly, and Isekai Roulette will prioritize getting you a world that will work out well for you and be somewhere you can get off to a good start. So, just to pick a silly example that I don't think has ever happened, if you picked Somewhere In Mind and asked for a specific fictional world and you hadn't read far enough in the books to know that that world was secretly ruled by an all-powerful demon whose favourite snack was interdimensional travelers, and I didn't know either and so couldn't warn you ahead of time, then you might have a difficult time (though hopefully the Spirit's power would help you prevail!) But with Isekai Roulette, even if you specified enough things that you definitely meant that world and the Spirit couldn't sneak you into a version without the demon while still fulfilling all of your criteria, it would just drop or bend the least important criteria until it could get you somewhere safer, and you'd only end up in the world with the demon if all the things you specified to get you there were more important to you than being safe. You could say that Isekai Roulette means trying to guess what criteria you'd list if you knew everything and had all the time in the world to think about it, and since the Spirit is good at that sort of thing it usually does a very good job.

I guess if you have a meta-preference not to have your other preferences consulted directly then the Spirit might have to do some pretty weird things to accomplish that, but I bet it can still manage something.
Permalink Mark Unread
That sort of depends on if the Spirit is a... person?
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I'm not really sure how to answer that question! It definitely isn't a person in the same kind of way that you or I are. It has preferences and goals and takes actions, but it's too different from us to communicate with us directly.
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Does it have opinions? Does it communicate knowledge it has to other entities?
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I don't know what you mean by opinion that's different from what I meant by preference or goal. It has enough trouble communicating with me, a being it created specifically for the purpose of interfacing between it and other people, that I'm not sure it's capable of holding a conversation with anyone at all.
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Are there other spirits?
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It's hard to say! But I don't think the Spirit has ever encountered one.
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I guess I'm tentatively okay with it consulting my preferences.
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Okay! Then Isekai Roulette should work really well for you.
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Is there a way to like, specifically ask for a manifestation of my unspent points, or will that just happen when it happens?
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It will happen when it happens.
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In that case it is time to spend kind of a long while finessing what sort of universe she wishes to land in. It needs to give her a way to travel around from there, of course, she doesn't want to be like, bye forever Earth!, especially not if she can afford everything on the planet... needs to already exist, but she already said that... no rampant mind control, it squicks her even if she's personally immune... if she's going to be meeting her true love under these conditions she'd like to be able to do so working on some kind of important project but maybe not a screaming moral emergency that has her stressed out all the time... yeah this is going to take a while.

Permalink Mark Unread
A few minutes into this process, the notebook reports,
I've figured out that friendship power you wanted! I'm not sure why the cost is so high. It seems to be harder for the Spirit than the love version, for some reason.

Ensconced in the list right after Fated Lovers, the new option reads:
Name: Fated Friends - Cost: 4
Wherever you go, you will be steered into meeting people you'd do well to befriend. It's up to you to recognize and appreciate them.
Permalink Mark Unread
Huh! I guess the friends version is indefinite and the true love one probably tops out at some point even if it could be an otherwise-impractically-high number?


She'll take it though.
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That makes sense!


Her points total updates accordingly.
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Still leaves her some spare. But she likes having an ace in the hole.

I'm going to go tell my dad. Can I show you to him?
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Yes, but please ask him to introduce himself if he writes in me, so I don't get confused about who's who.
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I'll tell him but we have very different handwriting so I do think you'd notice.
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The next writing in the notebook says This is Bella's father.

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Hello! Oh, I see what she meant about the handwriting. I know it's silly of me, I just get anxious about not being able to recognize people because I can't see or hear them.
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Okay, he believes me now.
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Oh good! I'm glad I could help.
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And back to specifying her destination in excruciating detail.

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The notebook waits patiently.

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And when she's ready, and packed, and has hugged her dad -

off she whisks.