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thwapping an egg with a diary
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It's the start of a new school term at university, and Max has shown up at the Uni to pick up his daily planner and textbooks. His family seems to think that planning out each day is how you get anything done, but... things just keep piling up, and piling up, until the journal overflows. That's how it works for him, how it's always worked for him, and he doesn't expect that to change any day soon. 

The usual deep blue journal gets tossed in his bag along with his computer science books, and he goes and checks out at the front desk, nodding slightly to the stressed-looking girl on duty at the head of the long, long line. She must be having a real hard day today. 

He nods his head to her and doesn't speak; instead he pulls out the payment card with his name on it and pays for the stack without really looking at it. It's not like the books in his bag will have changed in the last five minutes. 

He steps out of the university bookstore and walks over to the stairs up to the food court, where he sits down and fishes through the bag for his receipt. He's got to get these reimbursed by his parents, after all. 

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If he pays attention, there's one more book in the bag than he expects! It's vividly pink, with a very pretty floral-ish pattern in yellow decorating it.

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Wait, what's this doing in his bag? 

He grabs it, pulls it halfway out of the bag, sees the incredibly floral pink cover, drops it like a hot potato. 

He checks his receipt. It's not on it. 

Did... someone else leave their book in his bag? 

He absolutely did not take this out. 

He looks back at the bookstore. 

He looks back in his bag. 

It's really cute. He absolutely does not want to be seen holding it in public. Handing it back at the register sounds absolutely mortifying. The returns window is incredibly crowded right now with other students returning textbooks anyway. 

Even if it is pink, he could write in it...? Maybe notes for his D&D campaign. Nobody would have to see it. 

He closes the bag carefully and walks away. 

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One car drive home later...

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Max hurries up the stairs to his bedroom on the second floor of his house, where he lives alone with his parents.

"Hey everyone, I'm home!" he calls, then vanishes into his room with the bagful of books. Pulling the overly floral journal out, he drops it down between the side of his bed and the wall, where it lands atop a short red and black PVC skirt, with matching too-tight t-shirt. 

He ducks out quickly and goes back downstairs with the bookbag. "Hey mom, I got the textbooks, here's the receipt..." 

His mother's always been much better to him than his father. He guesses he takes after that side of the family.

And then it's supper, and the journal is much forgotten...

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At least until later that night, when his parents have gone to sleep several hours ago.

He sits in the soft glow of the smartphone he hides between the bedframe and the mattress, puts on his headphones, and gets undressed. There's a particular hypnosis file he'd like to listen to tonight, by one Isabella Valentine. It's gotten stuck in his head like no other file ever has. It's not degrading, not punishing, it doesn't talk down to him... Not that he really minds it when they do, but... he's not a sissy. He really isn't. He has a collection of cheap lingerie, okay, and that really cute PVC skirt, and the band t-shirt, but that's just a fetish. Lots of people are into lots of things. And he's never been into... most things. The raceplay that's so common in these files just leaves him cold. But... he's never had a girlfriend, never been kissed, never... done anything... so it's natural that it would spill out somehow. Right? Right. 

He puts on "Hymen." Something about being taken through losing his virginity as a girl just... feels right. It gets his heart racing like nothing else ever has. There's something so sensual and so powerful about her voice...

He listens, but it's hard to get into the mood tonight. It's hard to feel... sexy. 

He slips his hand into the crack between his bed and the wall, and reaches for his skirt - and his hand bumps into the journal. 

He pulls it out, puts it on the bedside table. It's not going to be seen by anyone right now. He puts on the PVC skirt with its D-rings and the too-tight band T-shirt that makes him feel a little... hot. 

And he listens, and his low breath gets unsteady, then settles... then gets unsteady again... and then a lonnnnng sigh spills from his lips and he rubs the back of his forehead with the back of his hand. 

He cleans up his mess with one of his shitty lingerie pieces that he never wears and picks up the diary. 

Heh. "Dear Diary, today I came while thinking about losing my virginity as a girl..." 

... You know, why not? It's not like anyone other than him will ever see it. He's been hiding the phone and all the lingerie for a year and his parents haven't checked under his bed once. He did kind of tell them not to, and they're... pretty good about that. 

He picks up his favorite black pen from the side of his bed. 

Dear Diary, tonight I came from Isabella Valentine's Hymen again. There's just something about it that... I can't explain it. I guess I really kink on being a girl? I don't know. It doesn't make a lot of sense. It's confusing and hard. I wish I could explain it. I've always known that hypnosis gets my motor running, but Isabella Valentine's voice just makes me go crazy. The way she speaks so huskily and puts so much intonation into every syllable... I wish I could do that. It's just so sultry. 

He shakes his head, taps his pen against the page. Thinks for a moment.

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And then, as though written by an invisible pen, pink letters appear below his words. The ink even sparkles a bit, and matches the cover perfectly, while the handwriting is curly and cute, with lots of little flourishes.

Hi there! Is Isabella Valentine a performer? Of hypnosis? And is "Hymen" a performance of hers? Either way, I'd be glad to help you talk through the feelings you're having about being a girl. You could even say I'm particularly qualified to talk about that!

The last exclamation point is distinctly heart-shaped.

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Blink blink. 

That is one WEIRD hypnotic effect. Did he just lose time? And it... changed his handwriting????

Uh, yes? If you're part of my brain why don't you know who IV is? 

If you... are like a part of my subconscious that's suddenly decided to be a girl for realsies you have to tell me, okay? I need to know before I do something ridiculous. 

 

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I don't know who IV is because I'm very definitely not part of your brain. I'm the notebook you're writing in! What ridiculous thing are you worried about doing?

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Uh, okay. 

I guess I'm worried about... telling my family I'm a girl or something? It's... a kink. Um, if you're not me then... who are you? I absolutely don't expect notebooks to, uh, talk. 

... are you magic?

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Yep! It's understandable to be confused. The world you're in doesn't usually have magic, so I'm probably the first Actually Magic thing you've seen.

The words "Actually Magic" get a flurry of tiny hearts drawn around them.

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I mean, I think hypnosis arguably qualifies as a kind of magic... It involves the will, it has lots of weird effects, it's powered by belief...

I cannot believe I am literally arguing with a talking notebook right now. 

 

Also I'm sorry my handwriting is so trash.

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Hypnosis may or may not be magic, you have a point. I like to think I'm a different and more obvious sort of magic than that, though. I can talk, for one, along with a few other notebook tricks. Also, I come bearing Lots More Magic to offer you. Want me to prove that I'm magic?

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What is there to lose at this point?

Sure, hit me.

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Okay! So we're writing on the first page here. I want you to make very very sure of that, examine me very carefully, then write a two-digit number of your choice on this page, and then close me for a few seconds.

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Not going to write 69. Or 42. 

72

He closes the book.

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There's a faint paper-rustling sound. When Max next opens the book, his conversation with the notebook is no longer on the front page. Instead, it's seventy-two pages in, and a new note has been added:

✨Tada!✨

A multitude of sparkles, stars, and hearts have been drawn around the word.

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Okay, not counting seventy-two pages in the magic talking notebook. It's believable. 

... does the notebook have a gender?

Cool. 

I was just wondering, um. Are you a... Do you have a gender?

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I'm happy with either "it" pronouns, because I'm a notebook, or "she" pronouns, because of who I am as a notebook.

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............

She's kind of cute. 

Who are you, as a notebook?

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I'm an avatar of the Spirit of Femininity Unleashed! I've been sent to you to offer you its power!

"Spirit of Femininity Unleashed" is written in one of the swooshiest and most embellished styles Max has seen, with a host of additional sparkles and stars around it.

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She WHAT.

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Okay okay okay calm down. 

This is totally something out of a hypnosis file. Or something. It's just - it's so kooky. Is someone playing silly buggers?

... If someone is playing silly buggers then the secret's out already, so...

Might as well play along. 

What kind of powers?

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Bunches! I've got a whole list of them. It's very ✨neatly formatted✨! Would you like to see? Also, would you like me to move this conversation back to the front?

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Yes, please! To both questions. 

Max closes the book for a moment and then opens it again.

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When Max opens the notebook again, the conversation is at the front again and there's a new message.

Just a moment... ⏳

Little dots of ink gradually trickle from the top of the hourglass to the bottom. If Max examines the subsequent pages during this process, there's a lot of ink swirling across them.

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Okay, if she had offered the loading animations earlier that would have been helpful. That is not a hallucination or a hypnotic effect. That is, quite possibly, actually magic. 

Coooooooool. 

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Finally, the last of the ink-sand trickle down to the bottome of the hourglass, and a new message appears.

Done! It all starts on the next page.

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.

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... She can do the DRESDEN FILES? 

Or - Tortall, Alera, whatever the setting is in Mistborn - 

Also, it's a point buy system.

This is absolutely targeted. 

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The next page...

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... a cute face without this patchy, scraggly beard. 

A body to be proud of. Not this meat husk. A body that fits. That isn't a skinny, gawkish nerd. 

... I... have a penis right now. Is that... likely to change if I take Well Endowed or Hollow Leg?

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If you take Hollow Leg, that is going to change exactly and precisely as much as your truest self wants. The Spirit believes very strongly in people getting to be their truest and most beautiful selves, whatever body parts most capture the essence of that for them.

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The pen scratches an underline beneath one line.

As your preferences change, so will your body

Both. Both is good. 

Checking boxes feels really hard. It feels like... taking a step forward that can't be taken back.

... I'm feeling kind of scared about this. I don't know if... I don't know if I'll come back, if I decide to - accept this. If this me would... survive it, at all. It feels like such a big change to... look like a girl.

Can we talk about it?

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We can definitely talk about it! It's a big change, if you've spent a long time thinking of yourself as not a girl, and you're suddenly being offered as much girlhood as you'd like on a silver paper platter. What are you scared of losing?

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I don't even know.

My family, I guess. They're... kind of all I have in the world right now. I had some friends in high school but all of them are off doing other things in university. I still see one of them sometimes, but mostly we just eat pizza together and talk politics. 

They're... not the best, really... but it's just weird to - let a kink take over my life like this. I've seen it happen to people who get too into dronification or what have you... It's not really very pretty. 

And a lot of the...

The pen taps against the page softly. Discussing the feminization kink is... really hard. Especially the harder parts of it. Getting into it with a... magic talking notebook...

Seriously. What. 

Do you mind talking about sex stuff at all? I... 

The skirt's still on. The band t-shirt that hugs close is still on. 

... 

I guess I'm worried that I'll be judged for my sexuality. My dad keeps telling me it would be okay if I was gay in a way that's like he's hoping I'll say it. Like that would explain things. But I'm not. I'm just... a freak. Not normal. At all. 

And I don't know how to deal with it.

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Next to the question about discussing sex stuff, off to the side:

I don't mind at all! I don't really have experience, being a notebook and all, but I can help you talk through it!

And then below everything, the notebook replies:

It's got to be hard, worrying about whether embracing part of yourself will lead to losing people who matter to you.

I do wonder why you're back and forth about whether or not the issue is your sexuality, though. First you say it's a kink, and then you say it's not about who or what you're attracted to and it's just that you're "a freak" or "not normal".

It's perfectly normal to want to be a girl, though, even if you were born "as a boy". I've given powers to lots of girls who just happened to be born in masculine-looking bodies before.

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Really? 

What were they like?

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Some of them were sad, when they found me. Some just from the general malaise of their body not suiting them, some from knowing what they wanted but not how to get it, some from the reactions of people around them. Those girls often sparkled really brightly, when they got the power to show off their truest selves.

Others were so determined, working so hard to make the lives they wanted. They had an inner fire that showed through all the bolder when they claimed their power. They sometimes tried to ease the path for people like them in the future.

These girls came in lots of varieties: quiet ones, talkative ones, shy ones, bold ones, scared ones, brave ones. Although I personally think they were all brave, because embracing who you are despite the world telling you you're not is scary and hard.

In some ways I'm proudest when I get to give the Spirit's powers to a girl who thought she wouldn't get to be a girl. That always feels really special.

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Oh.

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Max hugs the book suddenly really close to her chest. 

She can be a girl.

She can be a girl she can be a girl she can be a girl - 

And not just any girl, a hot girl, with a dick, or without, whichever she prefers, and have - adventures, out in whatever place she chooses, and - be the person she wishes she could be - 

She could be fucking Isabella Valentine. 

Better, actually. 

She checks off A Thousand Ships, What's In A Name, Perfect Hair, Size Difference, Dressing Room, Well Endowed and Hollow Leg all in a rush. 

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She feels so much better already.

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She goes through the first section again. Checks off Battle Angel, Personal Hygeine. Considers Angelic Tones...

Could I sing like I had a vocoder filter over my voice if I take Angelic Tones?

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Oh. Did you just hug me? 🧡💜🥰💜🧡

I always worry about my corners poking people when they hug me. I hope my corners weren't too pokey. It seems like that helped, though, and I'm really glad if it did.

In the bottom corner of each page of the list, the little point total has updated to [13/70].

Then, in response to her vocoder question:

I'm not sure! I think so, though. It certainly helps with any vocal magic you might try to perform, especially if you copy a heritage that has vocal magic using Dragon Fairy Elf Witch.

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I was always really taken with this singer who could sing passably as a guy or a girl... I just thought it was really cool they had that kind of range. And then there are vocaloids, which are synthesizers who sing...

I could sing... 

She checks off Angelic Tones. 

Like Roses sounds good too. And Just A Little Longer is lovely... Immunity System is good too... She'll take them all. 

Indelible, Closed Book and Iron Will all look nice except for the fact that she would like them to be selective. She likes her brain being messed with! 

Could I take a lighter version of Closed Book and Iron Will? That isn't a permanent immunity, just, um... enforces consent, I guess? I kind of enjoy being played with mentally recreationally. 

Making Ends Meet and Motherlode also get checked off. She doesn't want enough money to rewrite the whole world, that sounds like way too much responsibility. But she will take "comfortably well off forever for free." 

Anything You Can Do can get her to learn hypnosis implausibly fast. It's worth it just for that. She... expects to be in a setting where they speak English? So Omniglot is less of a thing. Dragon Elf Fairy Witch... 

She runs a hand through her hair. She is... at least a little bit of a furry... And it would be so cool to have fox ears...

She checks off Dragon Elf Fairy Witch too.

There's a whole second section? 

There's really a lot in here... It's kind of a lot to take in all at once.

And yes, I did hug you. You're just... so good.

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The notebook draws a bunch of little hearts and sparkles around "I could sing".

You could definitely sing. Your vocal range would be "yes" with that perk.

Then down by her question about Closed Book and Iron Will, the notebook responds:

That's a pretty easy modification to the powers. Just a moment...

The notebook adds the word "unwelcome" into the description of what each of those three powers blocks.

How's that?

Finally, a bunch of hearts get drawn around the confirmation of hug.

I'm so glad to help! Also, you're welcome to take your time. It's very easy to be patient as a notebook. It doesn't start to bother me until it's been weeks, and even then only because I worry that the person might forget about me and miss out on powers they'd have wanted. It's perfectly fine if they choose not to, but missing out because they forgot would just be sad.

 

[34/70]

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I should really tell my family but I worry they'd react badly...

And yeah, I'll take all three with the addition of "unwelcome." 

She sits up, wraps the bed's blanket around her a little closer. 

I want to read the rest of these powers. They change how people see you? That's, like... Yeah. :) I like that.

She reads the intro.

They're not mind control? Aww, but I like mind control. Oh well. 

She reads Mysterious Allure. 

Mysterious Allure feels like it would be really good but only if it wasn't on all the time. If I could, you know, turn on the charm and get people to notice me whenever I wanted them to, but not have to have it going all the time drawing attention, that would be better. 

Captive Audience... Is maybe more the thing. I want Isabella Valentine's ability to just grab your attention and not let go, how she... makes the whole world focus down to her voice. I want to give that to people like I've experienced it. As long as the people listening were willing, I mean. 

Blackout Binge is aesthetically repugnant. Use hypnosis and an actual domme. That's safer. 

Disney princess and best/bestest friend don't grab me.

Oh gosh, this next section... With the things your friends will do for you.

I want all of these so much, but at the same time I don't want to be cared about only because of my magic book powers. 

It would be cool if I could have the magic book powers and also an off switch, you know? Like... What I'm thinking of is like a trigger. Something that'll make a target very eager to please me for a defined amount of time and then it stops. And then I can ask people if they're okay with it, and then turn it on if they are, and then turn it off again afterwards so I feel like my relationship is... earned, you know? 

What do you think?

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The notebook draws a heart after "Yeah. :) I like that." After the discussion of off-switches, it replies:

I think you might be misunderstanding the intensity of those powers. They generally operate at the "we're normal medium-close friends" level, as I understand it. I can't really add an off-switch at that level, but I could adjust the circumstances when they operate, maybe. If you wanted them to work more intensely, I think I could make an upgrade that requires all of the "Your friends" powers along with Mysterious Allure and Captive Audience? I think I can make one that lets you fine-tune how much of each power you have going at baseline, and turn the upgraded versions on and off.

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Oooooooooh.

Yes, I would like that. Like, a lot. How many points is that in total? 

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If you checked off all those powers...

There's a brief pause, and then,

Your new total would be 58, before adding the upgrade. As for the upgrade...

The notebook pauses for several moments, and then...

How's this?

Name: Gracious Mistress - Cost: 5
Your natural appeal is potent enough to overwhelm other priorities for those who appreciate you. Good thing you're kind enough to turn that off sometimes. You gain the ability to fine-tune the effects of your powers on people's minds, from a bit below default all the way up to an overwhelming and hypnotic allure.

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... Whoa, that brings her to 63 points out of 70??? 

Hang on a second, I think I need to figure out my budget more before I take literally all of that. And, like, actually look at the other powers. 

Oh. She can - find a true love - 

Oh wow. And they'll be into her kinks? And not think she's - a freak? 

They could be a spider girl or a lamia, like in Bobbydando's art, or a Draenei, like in DrGraveling's, and it would just work out, it'd be okay -

Okay, she is officially leaving reality behind here. Screw Earth. Screw her family. 

She could date one of her fictional crushes. Kelardry of Mindelan. Someone like that...

She finds herself blushing very, very pink and hunching over the notebook. 

Okay I think I was a bit hasty, the friends options are nice but, um, I've never ever had a girlfriend before, so... the powers for... that... really kind of come first I think... 

How does, um, GGG work? Does that mean that you'll... pick a place where it's normal to, um. Be into the things I'm into? Or does it mean I'd change them, they'd - get into it because I'm into it? Or does it mean something else?

Do I get to pick the person for Fated Lovers or does it create someone or pick someone or change someone or what? 

She blinks. Wait, it literally says that in the power, it'll introduce her but doesn't guarantee it works out. So between Fated Lovers and, um, Love Interest, she can guarantee a capture for any of her fictional crushes??? 

Sorry, I didn't read Fated Lovers closely enough. If I take both it and Love Interest then does that mean I would be guaranteed to be able to date, like, Keladry of Mindelan for example?

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It's definitely important that you pick the powers that help make the life you want to live, so take your time to figure out what's best for you. That's what I'm here to help with.

Regarding GGG, powers like that prefer to work at a higher, more metanarrative level first, when they can. So it might start by landing you in a world where your interests are more common, or where your true loves already have a predisposition to enjoy the things you wind up trying and enjoying with them. The power will resort to direct changes only if it absolutely has to, and it almost never has to. The multiverse is very very large.

As for Fated Lovers, the specific guarantee is that if you have a specific person in mind, then you'll meet them in a situation that sets you up well. It's up to you and your skills and powers to take it from there.

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Okay, so it's not guaranteed. She could still totally fumble it. Make a real hash out of it. She has zero experience, what can she do about that? 

Well, Time Enough For Love would let her do the best she could, with all the time she could take... It would make scheduling easy... 

And she could take Mysterious Allure and Captive Audience... 

... 

No, actually. She's already getting all the time she wants to spend together with someone who has a crush on her and who she has favorable circumstances with. If she can't manage it from there, what's even the point? Then she would really be a loser. Getting past... stupid luck and chance is one thing... Not being willing to put in any effort at all is very much a different thing.  

Does Time Enough For Love apply to people you've just started dating? Or does it take some time to start applying? Where's the, um, boundary between a close friend or true love and just an acquiantance?

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The line is mostly about how you see the person and the time you spend with them. Is this someone you're just trying things out with? Or is this someone you care deeply about and want to devote meaningful quantities of time to making them smile?

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Okay.

That sounds like she can't cheat it to give her indefinite time with someone she's just met. Even if she's had a crush on her since she was fourteen. It could happen but it seems unlikely. 

I think I want to talk a few things over with you. About... what I want and what I should do. 

I... all my life I've been scared of my sexuality. It doesn't - fit anywhere in polite society. When I was like fourteen my mom found my browser history when I was looking up, um, girls with dicks. And she sort of gave me this look. And then after that there was... hentai on Newgrounds, with tentacles, and HentaiFoundry... 

I don't know. Is it normal for a girl to look up, um, tentacle hentai? I always really liked the ones where the girl was kissing or holding the tentacles and clearly enjoying it...

GOSH her cheeks are so red right now. 

I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about this. 

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I don't mind talking about this at all! I do feel like you deserve a hug or several about all of that, though.

I have talked with and given powers to girls who were born in both feminine and masculine bodies. I have talked with and given powers to girls who want to want to have every different configuration of body parts you can think of. I have helped girls who wanted to have sex with tentacles, and girls who wanted to have tentacles of their very own. None of what you want to be is wrong. The Spirit and I want to help you have the special and beautiful life that is best at fulfilling you, not the society you come from.

If the society around you doesn't know how to handle your true self, then maybe you need a different society?

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... Yeah, maybe I do. 

Isekai roulette feels like it's getting more and more tempting because I don't even really... know what I want. And the more I get to know you, the more I trust you, and I really feel like you would do a good job for me...

Okay. 

Let me go back a little...

She reads back over the list. 

I want Love Interest and Time Enough for Love, and Fated Lovers, but Love Interest requires Mysterious Allure... 

I don't know if I have what it takes to be, um, popular. I mean I could just take Popular but what would I even be popular for? 

Having um, admirers, makes me really blush a lot. Being able to have that kind of effect on people is kind of hot but I don't know if I want it all the time...

Honestly, Fated Lovers might be enough if it gives me unlimited tries... 

I just. Rejection's so hard. I was never able to ask anyone out in high school. At the uni there's the computer science club and there was a girl there I crushed on, and I got together all my courage to say, um, I uh, I used a pokémon reference. I said... "I choose you to ask out on a date!" 

She turned me down obviously because I was a complete and total dork. 

It kind of helped a little to be able to say it, though. 

I don't know if I could manage that happening a bunch of times though.

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I think you may be underestimating the charm effects that just being comfortable in your own body can provide, or those of being a beauty. But to address your concerns more directly, the Friends In X Places series of powers operate primarily through enhancing your social intuitions, not by magically handing you friends. I've heard that the best romances start from the best friendships, so that should help you out a lot.

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She looks at the powers. 

Yeah, those look good. I would love to feel more comfortable around... people in general, I guess. 

Being more comfortable in my own body would help. I guess I was kind of forgetting about Hollow Leg and Thousand Ships. I'd be, like, hot. 

... It's just so hard to feel like anyone would like me for who I actually am. 

She takes a slow breath, blinks back tears. 

I mean, my only friend in the world is a magic talking notebook...

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You seem pretty great to me! I wish I could give you a hug about this, but alas, sharp corners and no arms.

I think people will like you just fine. You've had a hard time, it sounds like, but things are going to get easier.

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Okay. I trust you.

She looks back at the set of powers. 

I think that, um, I've been going through this all wrong. It's so... A lot of this is super emotional for me, it's stuff that I... want to grab and hold on to forever and ever... But I'm going through this all disorganizedly. I'm a CharOp person, I need to... take a step back and think a little more strategically. 

Could you please clear my build so far and give me a new fresh page? I want to... go through systematically and write down what I think for each power as I go, and assign them colors...

Give me a second, I need to grab my pencil crayons. 

She sets down the book gently, crosses the room to her desk by the window, and brings back four pencil crayons in blue, green, yellow and red. 

Notebook-chan is the optimal choice.

Being a girl is a solid choice. 

My kinks are kind of niche.

Being a boy is very suboptimal. 

It's time to write a handbook ♡

She looks at the heart she's just drawn on the page. 

She taps her pen. 

Drawing hearts in the precious notebook is a very strong choice. It makes you feel femme and also shows your appreciation. And the notebook can write back!

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ 

Do you have a name, actually? That you'd like to be called?

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The notebook draws pink hearts and stars around "Notebook-chan is the optimal choice" and all of Maxine's hearts.

♡ Awwww, thank you! And no, I don't have a name. I like to pick new ones with power-recipients if they invite me along on their adventures, sometimes. Do you have a name you'd like to be called?

I love your color-coding idea, by the way, and I'm clearing out your previous check-marks... now.

And now there's a fresh page right after the current conversation, before the power list starts.

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Um... I call myself Max sometimes on the internet...

So let's go with Maxine. It feels right.

Let's do the starting section first.

She flips to the new page, and writes.

DESTINATIONS

Stay Put is very suboptimal. There's not a lot to do on earth compared to all the hundreds of fictional worlds on offer. 

Somewhere In Mind is a niche choice, because it allows you to target precisely at a specific person or thing if you deeply want it. Keladry of Mindelan, for example. Or the Dresden Files universe. Or your made up version of the Dresden Files universe that has Keladry of Mindelan in it. That said, it's strictly worse than...

Isekai Roulette looks at options you don't personally have access to, using the Spirit's best judgment, which is pretty demonstrably better than yours after years of being stuck as a boy on Earth. From the three location options, it's by far the most optimal.

Then flips back a page. 

So far, so easy. Let's move on to the personal powers.

She flips forward again.

YOURSELF

A Thousand Ships means you get to have a face you actually like. However, it comes with a bunch of added bonus hot. Being hot is kind of cool and generally applicable, but mostly this is good for the fact it makes you more feminine. It's also extremely cheap, at only one point.

What's In A Name is a niche pick, being entirely dependent on going to a world that has name magic. If you actively plan to go to a world like that, it's blue, because otherwise you'll have to worry about your true name not being right or fitting for who you are. For only one point that's a steal. 

Angelic Tones lets you sing in any vocal range you like, which lets you copy Valshe's trick that you really really really like. However, it costs two points, which is perhaps a little steep for a single trick like this. It's a nice-to-have rather than optimal.

Emerald Orbs is kind of silly and alien. It's a cosmetic effect that doesn't really map well to what you want. It's not a very good pick. There are far better things to spend two points on.

Perfect Hair means you never have to get a haircut ever again, and can have whatever style is ideal for you. It's a bit anime, being willing to produce non-physically plausible hairstyles, but I mean, you always did want to have hair that came down to your mid-back... And this would let that happen easily. It's a strong choice but not optimal, especially for two points.

Size Difference means you can be the little spoon when you get cuddled, or the big spoon if you want to cuddle someone else, regardless of which you prefer, without causing problems. It also gives you an incidental size changing power which might have a little utility. For mundane utility - fitting in small spaces, reaching things on high shelves, and so on - this is a pretty decent constant little buff. It's a good option even for two points.

Dressing Room is three points for being able to wear whatever you want whenever you want, and never have to do maintenance on it of any kind. This keeps you from ever having to do laundry again. It lets you look however you like whenever you like. It earns its three point cost. 

Personal Hygiene means never having to go to the bathroom ever again. For one point that's a steal. Optimal.

Like Roses has an essentially free prerequisite due to Personal Hygiene being optimal. However, it only allows you to pick one scent, which you will then be stuck with for forever. Even for only one point, this effect's not worth it, especially when for the same one point you can take Making Ends Meet which should support the occasional perfuming. 

Just a Little Longer gives you indefinite stamina for any task you care about deeply. It's an absolute steal at only one point, even with the drawback of sleeping for an entire day afterwards. Optimal.

Immunity System prevents you from ever having an illness again. A lot of causes of death are from illness. Not to mention poison. It could be read as niche if you are going to a universe with really good healthcare, but it's still decent as a utility power to prevent hassles - colds, stomach bugs, etc. If you're aiming for a medieval or other unsanitary world this is blue.

My Ears Are Burning is an absolute anxiety nightmare and makes everything harder, for six points. Trap option.

Well Endowed is good. It lets you have a hot body that you enjoy and prevents the natural encumberances of generous endowments. However, the fact that it's a prerequisite for Hollow Leg makes it optimal. 

Hollow Leg gives you your ideal body and maintains it forever. This could be a cure for aging? Even if it isn't, it's an incredibly strong option. Optimal. 

Inner Strength has two free prerequisites, and makes you a heroic figure able to deal with all kinds of things. It has some mundane utility to it, but mostly shines in a world where you expect to get into fights, in which case Battle Maiden is a far superior option for an equal number of points. General lifting and hauling is largely better handled by the two power combo of Making Ends Meet and Motherlode to simply get someone else to do it. Just A Little Longer handles the endurance component of this more effectively. 

Battle Angel is niche. It has extremely strong utility in a world where you get into physical fights with stakes, in which case it's blue, but if you don't want to get into fights it's only orange.

Battle Demon is a very niche power that's only really useful if you are getting into fights or conflicts. It probably makes games less fun, too. Suboptimal. 

Battle Maiden lets you have a standing chance in a conflict-ridden world like Naruto or Dresden Files or anything shonen. As such, it expands your available targets... but most of those worlds you don't want to go to anyway. As such, it's not worth its three-point cost, especially if it comes at the cost of not being able to lose at things. Also, Anything You Can Do can let you pick up these skills independently.

Making Ends Meet means you never have to worry about the essentials of life again. It's incredibly powerful, utility-wise. It's also a prerequisite for Motherlode. Optimal. 

Motherlode lets you hire people for basically anything practical and normal to you. Money can be exchanged for goods and services. It's also optimal. 

Four Star Daydream is incredibly powerful, so powerful that it in fact threatens to become a nightmare to execute on. Trying to change the world with huge sums of money is messy and complicated. Theoretically you could say this power means you can afford, like, immortality? Or your own planet? There has to be a limit on this. For now for four points this is maybe good?

Dragon Elf Fairy Witch lets you be a furry by moving to a world with furries. Or whatever fantasy species you prefer. And it lets you pick up as many inborn utility powers as you want. In any fantasy kitchen sink, this is strong. In mundane worlds it's a trap origin unless you're really into saying your family history involves, like, an actual literal bear.  

Omniglot is useful for any world without translation magic, but usually is only moderately good, especially given that Anything You Can Do can help you pick up languages. It would be better to simply go to a world where they speak English. 

Anything You Can Do comes with a hefty point cost, but that's because it's an omniskill that makes you better at everything. This is effectively a multiplier on your time; investing less gets you more results. For someone with ADD who bounces from project to project constantly, this is probably the best skill ever. Well worth the 6 points. 

Closed Book is a simple immunity for one point. With edits to allow willing access, it's good in any fantasy kitchen sink. This is probably wise for me to take given my predilictions.

Indelible with the accepted exception is also good, for a single point knocking out a major vulnerability in many fantasy worlds. However, it's again mostly only good if you expect to get mind controlled somehow. Given my history, probably this is wise.

Iron Will extends Closed Book and Indelible to give a blanket immunity to "mental damage". It's pretty cool. It's probably worth having given my predilections. 

Okay, that's the second section done. She flips back to the previous page. 

How am I doing, do you think? There are some questions in there for you, could you maybe answer them?

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The notebook draws several hearts around Maxine's name.

Oooh. I like this system even more than I thought! And yes, you're doing well, and I'll answer those questions.

Unless aging is ego-syntonic for you, you won't age with Hollow Leg.

As for Four Star Daydream, the limit is that there has to be an actual way to buy such a thing. You can't use Four Star Daydream to buy a planet if there's no one you can contact who owns a planet and would part with it for an unreasonable amount of money, to use one of your examples. This power doesn't cause there to be more things available for sale. All it does is guarantee that you'll be able to buy anything that already is.

Actually, would you like me to move your notes into little note boxes next to each power, and color-code the power titles? I could do that as you go, even.

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Oh, yes, please! Thank you very much!

She taps her pen against the page. 

I think Four Star Daydream drops down to Yellow, then, because it basically just lets you get 14 yachts and a bunch of things you don't use and a lot of responsibility. 

Hollow Leg is the BEST POWER. It is so good. TYSM.

I think that bumps up the rank for Battle Angel and Immunity System simply because in a long enough life you're likely to get into some kind of conflict or some kind of disease eventually. So: 

She flips forward and amends her notes:

Battle Angel is a nice protective power against any kind of armed conflict. Normally I'd just hope to avoid that kind of thing, but with Hollow Leg making it so you don't age, extra protection against death is worth a spare point.

Immunity System will almost certainly get used over the length of a long enough life even in a health-crazy world, so it's very worth taking. 

She flips back again. 

Okay, I'm going to do the Power of Friendship stuff now. 

Mysterious Allure is a prerequisite for the Love Interest line, but costs a hefty five points. It makes you the most interesting person in any room. Being fascinating really makes me feel good but I'm not sure it's worth a whole five points when it doesn't come with an off switch. Niche at best. 

Captive Audience is a hefty three points, but makes you an incredible public speaker for any topic you care about. And also I just like infodumping and it would be nice if people would pay attention about that. I could tell stories and be an entertainer... Do hypnosis scripts... There's a lot of potential applications to this, even if it is three points. 

Blackout Binge is entirely emulatable with hypnosis and in a more responsible and aesthetically appropriate way. Trap option. 

Disney Princess gives you some small control over animals, but it's not super useful, and I'm not really an animal person at all anyway. And it costs two points. I think it's just not good. 

Best Friend is, like, a familiar! You know what happens with familiars in D&D? That's right, you completely forget about them. It's kind of cool to have a magic pet but I don't want to have to deal with actually keeping a pet. Even a magic pet. 

Bestest Friend is basically a guaranteed loyal friend that happens to be shaped funny. Combos... interestingly... with The Princess and the Dragon. ... I could have a pet tentacle monster. A smart one, too. Gosh, that's really tempting. There's no guarantee that they'd be, um, interested in that, but if I get to design the "animal companion" or pick them it could be likely? I have to admit I'm really tempted by the idea of a permanent squishy ball of tentacles partner I could always rely on... At a total cost of 8 points though, that's pretty steep. I would say overall this is niche unless the magnificent magical powers are really satisfying and unique, in which case it could be good.

Generosity sounds really nice, but having recieved plenty of bad presents from my family there is nothing more awkward than a gift you didn't want, and this doesn't provide any guarantee of success. Trap option? 

Helpfulness is cute, but, like, don't I have better things to spend my friends' time on when I have a Motherlode level life? This is what staff are for. Not at all worth it for four points.

Cuddle Buddies feels like a really good option. Cuddles are... I just. I haven't been pet by anyone since I was like twelve and my mom told me I'd have to wait until I got a girlfriend who'd do that for me instead of her. I miss them a lot. I think it could be worth some points to get a guarantee of cuddles. Good? Possibly Optimal?

Flattery is kind of... I don't know how I'd really react to praise, I get so little of it. I want it a lot, and it's only one point... tentatively I want to call this good

Quality Time is really important to me too, and that's only two points, so... I think I could afford it? It's good with Cuddle Buddies. I think this is good. 

Agree to Agree is kind of kinky but not something I'd actually want to have happen in my life. I want people who are able to disagree with me and change my mind about things! Incredibly nasty trap option for four points? No thank you. 

Love Interest is a really, really nice guarantee of being able to be cared for by anyone you fall for. It's really sweet and soft and comforting to have. Unfortunately, it's stuck behind Mysterious Allure, which is a five-point prerequisite and of a bit dubious value. I think this is good but probably not worth its point cost. 

Love Triangle is really questionable! I don't want to make people break up with their partners they love to be with me! Really feels like a trap option. 

Love Dodecahedron fixes the problems with Love Triangle a bit? It's a really nice guarantee of no romantic jealousy in your life. It's expensive af though at a total point cost of 12 points counting its dubious prerequisites. It's likely not worth it at that cost. Niche at best.

Time Enough For Love is an incredible power. It gives you more time. Like, more hours in the day more time. It lets you maintain a personal relationship with anyone you want to. As many people as you want to. That is incredible. Optimal even at five points.

I Can Fix Them is kinky but I just don't want to date morally reprehensible people? Period? Sucks to suck? No thanks. It has responsible useful uses but I do not want to go cure the villains of the multiverse with my cock. No, not even the hot ones. I can't even think of a hot villain I'd like to cure with my dick right now, which goes to show how much I care about this. Absolutely not worth five points.

True Love's Kiss is only one point and is a free cure to any accident or hostile magic. Nice little catchall for one point; at least good, quite possibly optimal

Planned Parenthood would make me only match with partners who are okay with... my kid plan. I don't even think I have a kid plan. I mean, I'm only twenty and I've never dated before... And theoretically I'd have a... vagina... at least sometimes. Reliable magical contraception is an incredible QOL power. Especially for only one point. Quite possibly Optimal. 

Two Become One is... It sounds magical, but it doesn't really say anything about... well, it says it's wonderful? And beautiful? Does this guarantee good experiences? It seems a little vague. I think this is... like, good? It is only one point and a prerequisite for Bop It. (Bop it is not actually that good.) I think I want to ask notebook-chan a bit more about this one. 

Bop It feels really, really good. Having powerful sexual skills is just... Yes, please. Thank you. I would like it. However, any time that I am actually, um, actively having sex with someone, I expect they're willing to teach me about it... In which case I learn 20x faster than they did with Anything You Can Do. So this is actually almost directly a waste of the point and steals the learning experience too. 

The Princess And The Dragon is a really, um, creative power. And I think I agree with it. Given the, um. Everything. About me. It's probably worth it. 

GGG is really nice because it means that anything I enjoy my partners will enjoy too. I don't have to... worry about what they want? Hmmmmmm, that feels a bit questionable. I'm unsure about this one. It feels good but it could be a trap option. I want to talk to the notebook about it a bit more. 

Before Your Eyes is kind of... I'm not gay. I think. I'm pretty sure. And if I go somewhere where, um. Kinks are generally okay? This could be free. I think this one is kind of niche at best, especially for four points. 

Fated Lovers guarantees infinite good chances at finding a partner. YES PLEASE. For three points that's a steal.

Sorry About That and its additions - Excuse Me and Tragic Backstory - are obvious trap options. If I fuck up I want to be okay after! 

Sense of Style is kind of hot and gives me maybe a cue to act on? Like, it would make it easier to approach people I like the looks of... Four points is pretty steep though. I think this is kind of niche. 

Bonus Style Points is a nice addition to Sense of Style... But the really amazing thing is that it could let me help reach other people like me. Because if they were... like me... even with that they were a boy, before... Well, that would make them, like, perfect for me, right? I really like this one even though it has a total cost of seven points. I think it's good.

Popular would be really nice... I'd be able to share my writing with people who liked it... and get people to play D&D with... But I'm not sure I'd be okay with maintaining an image all the time... I think right now this is niche?

Famous is absolutely a trap option. I don't want to be gossiped about! I don't want to get crushed on by random strangers! No thank you!

Undiplomatic Immunity is really useful if I'm in a place where the law is Just Bad. I don't really want to be in a place like that, but it would be nice. I think the worry I'd have is that they'd go after my friends maybe? Does this protect my friends from being called accomplices? It is six points though. Maybe worth it?

Friends in Low Places is alright. It's a little niche but maybe worth it. 

Friends in High Places is kind of gold-diggy but synergizes well with Motherlode. Probably worth it.

Friends in Strange Places sounds like, um, like me. Like I know them. It's probably optimal for the kind of person I am.

She flips forward. 

How am I doing? Can you answer my questions and maybe say a couple things about the powers I marked for discussion?

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Each element of notes gets moved off to its entry when completed, and the page stays relatively clear.

A heart gets drawn next to Maxine's "thank you", and next to the appreciation for Hollow Leg.

Next to the notes about Bestest Friend, the notebook comments:

You do get to put as much design into your companion as you'd like, and I have seen one girl synergize that with Dragon Fairy Elf Witch before.

A few little hearts get drawn around Maxine's desire for cuddles.

A lot of hearts and stars embellish her appreciation for Time Enough For Love.

Two Become One guarantees that unfortunate things don't go wrong and ruin the sex. It doesn't guarantee that your skill or your partner's will go right.

And then next to the comments about GGG:

Could you elaborate on your question, please?

Next to Before Your Eyes, it writes:

Just guessing from your prior statements, Maxine, it reads like you're misgendering yourself here. A girl who likes watching two boys kiss is straight. A girl who does not, but enjoys watching two girls kiss, is gay. Or maybe bi if she also likes kissing boys sometimes.

The enthusiasm for Fated Lovers gets hearts around it.

You're doing really well, Maxine. I'm impressed with how much care you're putting in, and how nicely you're color-coding it.

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A custom tentacle pet sounds really, really fun, but I'm a little worried they'd spoil me for any other partner... I kind of want it and I kind of don't, especially when I factor in my virginity... I think that the 8 point cost makes it difficult. It's just not worth it compared to what that 8 points could get me elsewhere. I can't believe I'm turning down my own pet tentacle monster but... with all the other things I could get instead... well, let's tentatively mark it green and we can come back to it when we're trying to cut down our selections. 

If Two Become One keeps, like, the phone from ringing unexpectedly during sex, that's probably worth the point all by itself. I think it's green.

Does GGG change what your partner enjoys actively, or does it just work as partner matching, or... I'm not sure how to ask it. I guess it just feels bad to make other people more like my weird sexuality? It would be better if they were like me already. 

All your hearts and sparkles are really cute by the way. ♡ ♡ ♡ 

She pauses at the assertion that if she liked to watch guys kiss she'd be straight. 

... She guesses she's a lesbian, then? So she really is gay. Her father was right? Completely by accident and in the wrong direction, but... 

She smiles just a little. 

Thank you for correcting me, notebook-chan. I... yeah. I guess I'm still not really used to being a girl. 

Thank you for the praise, it's really nice... I've never had anyone tell me I was impressive before.

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It keeps the phone from ringing unless it would be narratively important to interrupt right then. This is likely to be very rare.

GGG uses partner-matching — and in some cases pre-emptive universe matching — whenever possible, and it usually is. Directly modifying people is always the last resort.

And I really am glad to help. Sometimes a girl who's learning to recognize herself needs a helping hand. That doesn't make her any less of a good girl.

And the comment about the hearts and sparkles gets adorned with a multitude of hearts and sparkles.

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She's a good girl?

That's probably still worth it then.

I think I need to sit with GGG a little bit more and think about it. Let's have a look at the drawbacks.

She flips to the pages with her detailed charts. 

DRAWBACKS

Decorative is not acceptable. I don't want to be cute and pretty and feminine all the time. I especially don't want to be unable to make unpretty noises. 

Beauty Is A Curse is incredibly annoying. No thanks. 

Plain Jane is a no. Just. No. 

Style of Sisyphus is actually potentially takable. It's a small mental edit and a little bit frustrating, but for a point edgewise it could be worth it. Niche.

There's Another One is really questionable given that the other girl could be taking, like, the bad backstory stuff or infinite money or something. Rival drawbacks are rarely worth it. They could be non-hostile, but why take the chance? Niche at best. Especially if the other one has one of the nasty drawbacks like You Ruin Them! 

Incomplete is just really really inconvenient, particularly because it can make Time Enough For Love malfunction, which defeats the entire purpose of having it. Actively breaks blue options, not good for a build.

Green With Envy is pretty awful too. Causing drama is not something I'm up for!

You Ruin Them is also just making other people's lives worse for no reason, no thank you!

Jilted Lovers is even worse! 

The Crazy Train also feels like it's just gambling with my points hugely. Why would I break core parts of my build arbitrarily? 

They'll Know is suspiciously okay? Like, I kind of actively prefer for people to know that my magic powers introduced us or whatever? It's a little questionable with mind control abilities but it could be actually decent, and it's eight points? This could actually be worth it? I'm just really suspicious because the rest of these drawbacks are so crippling that I'm missing something. 

Realism is a hard no from me. It could give me all the points I'd need to take everything else and I still wouldn't take it. 

Okay. She's marked everything. 

Notebook-chan, what does it cost to take everything in blue and green? With prerequisites. 

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Next to the commentary on Incomplete, notebook-chan notes:

I would like to add that Incomplete only affects the seemingly-mind-affecting powers, like Generosity or Mysterious Allure, not ones like Time Enough For Love. Even the Friends In X Places powers get by mostly untouched, because most of their operation is on your mind, not those of your new friends.

The notes on They'll Know get a comment as well.

The main thing people worry about with this one is jealousy and envy.

Being called notebook-chan earns a few little sparkles, and then it provides a total.

Adding all that up, including pre-requisites and the They'll Know drawback, your total is 87 points.

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Incomplete might be green then? I'm not sure. It could be a powerful build around...

She lays back against the headboard, closes her eyes for a moment. It's getting pretty late, now, and she's tired. 

She sighs, stretches, writes another line in the book. 

Even if I take Incomplete, I'm still at 82 points... I'd want to cut pieces from the green section then... Going through all that again feels kind of difficult, but it's really important. 

Could you collect together my notes on the green powers for me?

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Sure!

Green Power Notes

Yourself

A Thousand Ships means you get to have a face you actually like. However, it comes with a bunch of added bonus hot. Being hot is kind of cool and generally applicable, but mostly this is good for the fact it makes you more feminine. It's also extremely cheap, at only one point.

Angelic Tones lets you sing in any vocal range you like, which lets you copy Valshe's trick that you really really really like. However, it costs two points, which is perhaps a little steep for a single trick like this. It's a nice-to-have rather than optimal.

Perfect Hair means you never have to get a haircut ever again, and can have whatever style is ideal for you. It's a bit anime, being willing to produce non-physically plausible hairstyles, but I mean, you always did want to have hair that came down to your mid-back... And this would let that happen easily. It's a strong choice but not optimal, especially for two points.

Size Difference means you can be the little spoon when you get cuddled, or the big spoon if you want to cuddle someone else, regardless of which you prefer, without causing problems. It also gives you an incidental size changing power which might have a little utility. For mundane utility - fitting in small spaces, reaching things on high shelves, and so on - this is a pretty decent constant little buff. It's a good option even for two points.

Dressing Room is three points for being able to wear whatever you want whenever you want, and never have to do maintenance on it of any kind. This keeps you from ever having to do laundry again. It lets you look however you like whenever you like. It earns its three point cost. 

Immunity System prevents you from ever having an illness again. A lot of causes of death are from illness. Not to mention poison. It will almost certainly get used over the length of a long enough life even in a health-crazy world, so it's very worth taking. If you're aiming for a medieval or other unsanitary world this is blue.

Battle Angel is a nice protective power against any kind of armed conflict. Normally I'd just hope to avoid that kind of thing, but with Hollow Leg making it so you don't age, extra protection against death is worth a spare point.

Four Star Daydream is incredibly powerful, so powerful that it in fact threatens to become a nightmare to execute on. Trying to change the world with huge sums of money is messy and complicated. Theoretically you could say this power means you can afford, like, immortality? Or your own planet? There has to be a limit on this. For now for four points this is maybe good?

Dragon Elf Fairy Witch lets you be a furry by moving to a world with furries. Or whatever fantasy species you prefer. And it lets you pick up as many inborn utility powers as you want. In any fantasy kitchen sink, this is strong. In mundane worlds it's a trap origin unless you're really into saying your family history involves, like, an actual literal bear.  

Closed Book is a simple immunity for one point. With edits to allow willing access, it's good in any fantasy kitchen sink. This is probably wise for me to take given my predilictions.

Indelible with the accepted exception is also good, for a single point knocking out a major vulnerability in many fantasy worlds. However, it's again mostly only good if you expect to get mind controlled somehow. Given my history, probably this is wise.

Iron Will extends Closed Book and Indelible to give a blanket immunity to "mental damage". It's pretty cool. It's probably worth having given my predilections. 

Power of Friendship

Captive Audience is a hefty three points, but makes you an incredible public speaker for any topic you care about. And also I just like infodumping and it would be nice if people would pay attention about that. I could tell stories and be an entertainer... Do hypnosis scripts... There's a lot of potential applications to this, even if it is three points. 

Bestest Friend is basically a guaranteed loyal friend that happens to be shaped funny. Combos... interestingly... with The Princess and the Dragon. ... I could have a pet tentacle monster. A smart one, too. Gosh, that's really tempting. There's no guarantee that they'd be, um, interested in that, but if I get to design the "animal companion" or pick them it could be likely? I have to admit I'm really tempted by the idea of a permanent squishy ball of tentacles partner I could always rely on... At a total cost of 8 points though, that's pretty steep. I would say overall this is niche unless the magnificent magical powers are really satisfying and unique, in which case it could be good.

Cuddle Buddies feels like a really good option. Cuddles are... I just. I haven't been pet by anyone since I was like twelve and my mom told me I'd have to wait until I got a girlfriend who'd do that for me instead of her. I miss them a lot. I think it could be worth some points to get a guarantee of cuddles. Good? Possibly Optimal?

Flattery is kind of... I don't know how I'd really react to praise, I get so little of it. I want it a lot, and it's only one point... tentatively I want to call this good

Quality Time is really important to me too, and that's only two points, so... I think I could afford it? It's good with Cuddle Buddies. I think this is good. 

Love Interest is a really, really nice guarantee of being able to be cared for by anyone you fall for. It's really sweet and soft and comforting to have. Unfortunately, it's stuck behind Mysterious Allure, which is a five-point prerequisite and of a bit dubious value. I think this is good but probably not worth its point cost. 

True Love's Kiss is only one point and is a free cure to any accident or hostile magic. Nice little catchall for one point; at least good, quite possibly optimal

Two Become One is... It sounds magical, but it doesn't really say anything about... well, it says it's wonderful? And beautiful? Does this guarantee good experiences? It seems a little vague. I think this is... like, good? It is only one point and a prerequisite for Bop It. (Bop it is not actually that good.) I think I want to ask notebook-chan a bit more about this one. 

The Princess And The Dragon is a really, um, creative power. And I think I agree with it. Given the, um. Everything. About me. It's probably worth it. 

Bonus Style Points is a nice addition to Sense of Style... But the really amazing thing is that it could let me help reach other people like me. Because if they were... like me... even with that they were a boy, before... Well, that would make them, like, perfect for me, right? I really like this one even though it has a total cost of seven points. I think it's good.

Undiplomatic Immunity is really useful if I'm in a place where the law is Just Bad. I don't really want to be in a place like that, but it would be nice. I think the worry I'd have is that they'd go after my friends maybe? Does this protect my friends from being called accomplices? It is six points though. Maybe worth it?

Friends in High Places is kind of gold-diggy but synergizes well with Motherlode. Probably worth it.

 

 

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Okay, so sorting by total point cost to take, we have...

1 Point: A Thousand Ships, Battle Angel, Closed Book, Indelible, Flattery, True Love's Kiss, Two Become One (Forces Planned Parenthood)

2 Points: Angelic Tones, Perfect Hair, Size Difference, Iron Will (Forces Indelible and Closed Book), Cuddle Buddies, Quality Time

3 Points: Dressing Room, Immunity System, Captive Audience, The Princess and the Dragon, Friends in High Places

4 Points: 4 Star Daydream

5 Points: Dragon Elf Fairy Witch

6 Points: Love Interest (Forces Mysterious Allure & Thousand Ships), Undiplomatic Immunity

7 Points: Bonus Style Points (Forces Sense of Style)

8 Points: Bestest Friend (Forces Best Friend)

She taps her pen against the page and yawns and stretches.

This would be easier if I had a list of the blue powers as well. Could you collect those too so I can see where my build is before I start taking green things?

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Will do! ♡

Blue Power Notes (25 pts)

Destinations

Isekai Roulette looks at options you don't personally have access to, using the Spirit's best judgment, which is pretty demonstrably better than yours after years of being stuck as a boy on Earth. From the three location options, it's by far the most optimal.

Yourself

Personal Hygiene means never having to go to the bathroom ever again. For one point that's a steal. Optimal.

Just a Little Longer gives you indefinite stamina for any task you care about deeply. It's an absolute steal at only one point, even with the drawback of sleeping for an entire day afterwards. Optimal.

Well Endowed is good. It lets you have a hot body that you enjoy and prevents the natural encumberances of generous endowments. However, the fact that it's a prerequisite for Hollow Leg makes it optimal. 

Hollow Leg gives you your ideal body and maintains it forever. This could be a cure for aging? Even if it isn't, it's an incredibly strong option. Optimal. 

Making Ends Meet means you never have to worry about the essentials of life again. It's incredibly powerful, utility-wise. It's also a prerequisite for Motherlode. Optimal. 

Motherlode lets you hire people for basically anything practical and normal to you. Money can be exchanged for goods and services. It's also optimal. 

Anything You Can Do comes with a hefty point cost, but that's because it's an omniskill that makes you better at everything. This is effectively a multiplier on your time; investing less gets you more results. For someone with ADD who bounces from project to project constantly, this is probably the best skill ever. Well worth the 6 points. 

Power of Friendship

Time Enough For Love is an incredible power. It gives you more time. Like, more hours in the day more time. It lets you maintain a personal relationship with anyone you want to. As many people as you want to. That is incredible. Optimal even at five points.

Planned Parenthood would make me only match with partners who are okay with... my kid plan. I don't even think I have a kid plan. I mean, I'm only twenty and I've never dated before... And theoretically I'd have a... vagina... at least sometimes. Reliable magical contraception is an incredible QOL power. Especially for only one point. Quite possibly Optimal. 

Fated Lovers guarantees infinite good chances at finding a partner. YES PLEASE. For three points that's a steal.

Friends in Strange Places sounds like, um, like me. Like I know them. It's probably optimal for the kind of person I am.

 

 

 

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Okay, so our "core build" is: 

- Large but finite amounts of money. 
- Indefinite stamina for things we personally care about, at the cost of strain during it and collapse afterwards.
- 5x learning rate compared to anyone we personally know, and 20x learning rate from anyone we know personally who's trying to teach us.
- Infinite chances to find our true love with good circumstances each time. 
- Infinite quality time to spend with close friends and love interests.
- Instinctive rapport with other strange people.  
- An ideal body in general bodyplan, but not any specific traits such as hair, eyes, voice, or face. Agelessness
- Perfect contraception & fit on, um, reproductive plans.

Notable combos:
- Infinite Stamina + 20x learning rate when learning a skill from someone close to me = incredibly fast progress
- Agelessness + Infinite Stamina + 20x learning rate + lots of friends = so many skills
- Infinite Quality Time + Perfect Contraception + Indefinite Stamina = probably a LOT of sex once I find someone I'm comfortable with
- Hot body + Incredible Learning Rate + Infinite setup chances + natural rapport with other strange people + loads of money = probably enough to get even me a relationship if I'm being really honest with myself. It almost feels like cheating, but... Yeah. 

Maxine clicks the end of her pen, poking the end out and in and out and in again. 

Okay, let's have another look at the rest of the green powers in this context, then. 

1 Point Powers: 
A Thousand Ships solves a major problem with Hollow Leg not covering general facial structure, I think?
Battle Angel, Closed Book, and Indelible are all useful protective powers. 
True Love's Kiss has incredible synergy with infinite quality time. I was thinking of this as something that would apply to just myself and one other person, but... if I have the option to seriously date multiple people, as Time Enough For Love gives me... that would increase the strength of this a lot.
Flattery seems kind of redundant, with Anything You Can Do, honestly? I feel like... being hot and rich and talented is going to cause a lot of this anyway, right? So it doesn't need to be purchased with points. 
Two Become One is kind of redundant with Time Enough For Love. It does have some minor benefit in preventing interruptions sort of? But I can just pause an interruption for as long as I want with Time Enough For Love. It's not that good!

2 Point Powers: 
Angelic Tones is absolutely necessary if otherwise I would be stuck with boy voice, but I expect that changing my entire body structure would change that? It's supernaturally beautiful and makes song magic better, and I would really like to be able to do Valshe's trick, but I'm unsure about this one. Could be green or orange
Perfect Hair lets me have waist-length hair that never takes upkeep. It's pretty cool. Never getting a haircut again would be another little headache removed from my life. Decent?
Size Difference could have a lot of utility with size shifting, and implies more flexibility with my body than Hollow Leg would necessarily give me. 
Iron Will requires both Indelible and Closed Book, but gives a very broad spectrum immunity that's probably worth it.
Cuddle Buddies... is probably actually solvable by just having enough friends with Time Enough For Love. It's really hard for me to let this go but I think as a matter of spending limited resources this is something I can get for myself. By picking and maintaining the relationships I want. It's hard to let go of it but it might not be optimal.
Quality Time is also mostly fixed with enough relationships. It could be hard to deal with someone in particular not wanting to spend time with me, but... I think it's not neccessary. 

3 Point Powers:
Dressing Room is a major QOL buff, and with someone to teach me how to dress well - hire a tutor with money or pick it up off a friend - it's going to be really useful. Being able to wear whatever I want is already given by extravagant lifestyle, but being able to quick-change in the middle of anything is hugely useful. Especially if things stay in the pockets?
Immunity System is a nice immunity, but I'm not sure it's worth three points. Never getting a cold again is definitely worth something though... I'm unsure about this one. 
Captive Audience is an incredibly powerful public speaking buff... But it's also something that's largely mundanely achievable through dedicated study, if I want to go that direction. Scary learning process in this direction, but I think that maybe says something about what I'm like as a person. And if I want to monologue I just need to find someone who's into that, right...?
The Princess And The Dragon breaks physics for the sake of sex, and, um. Yeah. The kinds of... stuff I like... probably means this is a pretty safe bet to get used eventually.
Friends in High Places synergizes extremely well with Motherlode to help me get used to, um, being rich. It's probably an optimal play. 

4 Point Powers:
4 Star Daydream is incredibly genre-shifting, but I don't really want to be someone who changes the fate of nations or whatever. I figure with a set of learned skills and enough time something like this will eventually happen if I want it to... So I think I'll set it aside. Motherlode is already good enough for most practical purposes.

5 Point Powers: 
Dragon Elf Fairy Witch is a source of a ton of arbitrary magical powers that are unlearnable. On a second read I think it's actually incredibly broken because it complements Anything You Can Do perfectly. I think this one is optimal.

6 Point Powers: 
Love Interest is a nice little guarantee but it's not at all worth six points when I already have a bunch of powers making me hot relationship material.
Undiplomatic Immunity is really an immunity to bad laws, but I'm not confident that it's worth it. Over a long enough life it could be really useful, though. Mostly I worry that it wouldn't apply to the people I care about.

7 Point Powers: 
Bonus Style Points is really good for making me encounter people I really like the looks of, but the thing I want it for is the chance to help other girls like me have their ideal bodies. If I want to mess around and make changes in other people's lives, though, isn't 4 Star Daydream better? And I've already decided against that. So I think this is a no.

8 Point Powers: 
Bestest Friend is in my head because of my dream of having a pet tentacle monster, but... honestly, I can, like, meet one and date one and figure it out that way, right? The guarantee of infinite loyalty and super magical powers isn't really the point, it's just that I'm lonely. And I think I'm going to be able to solve that. I hope so, at least. Not necessary to the build.

She takes a slow breath, and totals her points. 25 for the core build, then the ones she's marked above... 

I think all the blue and green-not-grorange stuff I've just marked above on top of my core build comes out to fifty points? Can you check for me, Notebook-chan?

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A little doodle of a notebook with arms hugging a doodle of a girl appears next to the "even me" comment.

The notes on Angelic Tones get the following:

Yes, your new body would come with a new voice anyway. It wouldn't be supernaturally beautiful, but it would be a perfectly fine and probably decently pretty voice for a girl with your build.

The comments on Dressing Room also get a note:

Yes, things stay in the pockets. Anything in the pockets of anything you wear can be recovered later. Even lost or destroyed things, if they're sentimental, can often be recovered. Yes, I have had other recipients describe this as a minor form of "hammerspace".

Then there's a reply to the Captive Audience comments.

I'm sure you'll find people who want to hear what you have to say, with or without a power backing it.

The notes on Undiplomatic Immunity get some contemplation.

Good question! I think... yes, I think it spreads based on your involvement with the "crime". If it's yours and they're helping, it's just not a crime. If it's theirs and you're helping, the effectiveness depends on how involved and integral you were.

Finally, surrounded by a few hearts, notebook-chan replies,

Gladly! .....Yes, 50 points, with just those and no drawbacks.

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Oh wow, Dressing Room is absolutely blue then. 

I think I should look at all the orange and orange-green stuff now. Can you list it all out for me? I still have twenty points to play with, so niche options could be worth it...

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A heart next to the bit about Dressing Room, then,

Sure!

Orange and Orange-Green

Yourself

What's In A Name is a niche pick, being entirely dependent on going to a world that has name magic. If you actively plan to go to a world like that, it's blue, because otherwise you'll have to worry about your true name not being right or fitting for who you are. For only one point that's a steal. 

Angelic Tones is absolutely necessary if otherwise I would be stuck with boy voice, but I expect that changing my entire body structure would change that? It's supernaturally beautiful and makes song magic better, and I would really like to be able to do Valshe's trick, but I'm unsure about this one. Could be green or orange. (Yes, your new body would come with a new voice anyway. It wouldn't be supernaturally beautiful, but it would be a perfectly fine and probably decently pretty voice for a girl with your build.)

Immunity System prevents you from ever having an illness again. A lot of causes of death are from illness. Not to mention poison. It could be read as niche if you are going to a universe with really good healthcare, but it's still decent as a utility power to prevent hassles - colds, stomach bugs, etc. If you're aiming for a medieval or other unsanitary world this is blue. Immunity System is a nice immunity, but I'm not sure it's worth three points. Never getting a cold again is definitely worth something though... I'm unsure about this one.

Inner Strength has two free prerequisites, and makes you a heroic figure able to deal with all kinds of things. It has some mundane utility to it, but mostly shines in a world where you expect to get into fights, in which case Battle Maiden is a far superior option for an equal number of points. General lifting and hauling is largely better handled by the two power combo of Making Ends Meet and Motherlode to simply get someone else to do it. Just A Little Longer handles the endurance component of this more effectively. 

Four Star Daydream is incredibly powerful, so powerful that it in fact threatens to become a nightmare to execute on. Trying to change the world with huge sums of money is messy and complicated. Theoretically you could say this power means you can afford, like, immortality? Or your own planet? There has to be a limit on this. For now for four points this is maybe good? 4 Star Daydream is incredibly genre-shifting, but I don't really want to be someone who changes the fate of nations or whatever. I figure with a set of learned skills and enough time something like this will eventually happen if I want it to... So I think I'll set it aside. Motherlode is already good enough for most practical purposes.

Omniglot is useful for any world without translation magic, but usually is only moderately good, especially given that Anything You Can Do can help you pick up languages. It would be better to simply go to a world where they speak English. 

Power of Friendship

Mysterious Allure is a prerequisite for the Love Interest line, but costs a hefty five points. It makes you the most interesting person in any room. Being fascinating really makes me feel good but I'm not sure it's worth a whole five points when it doesn't come with an off switch. Niche at best. 

Captive Audience is a hefty three points, but makes you an incredible public speaker for any topic you care about. And also I just like infodumping and it would be nice if people would pay attention about that. I could tell stories and be an entertainer... Do hypnosis scripts... There's a lot of potential applications to this, even if it is three points. Captive Audience is an incredibly powerful public speaking buff... But it's also something that's largely mundanely achievable through dedicated study, if I want to go that direction. Scary learning process in this direction, but I think that maybe says something about what I'm like as a person. And if I want to monologue I just need to find someone who's into that, right...?

Bestest Friend is basically a guaranteed loyal friend that happens to be shaped funny. Combos... interestingly... with The Princess and the Dragon. ... I could have a pet tentacle monster. A smart one, too. Gosh, that's really tempting. There's no guarantee that they'd be, um, interested in that, but if I get to design the "animal companion" or pick them it could be likely? I have to admit I'm really tempted by the idea of a permanent squishy ball of tentacles partner I could always rely on... At a total cost of 8 points though, that's pretty steep. I would say overall this is niche unless the magnificent magical powers are really satisfying and unique, in which case it could be good. Bestest Friend is in my head because of my dream of having a pet tentacle monster, but... honestly, I can, like, meet one and date one and figure it out that way, right? The guarantee of infinite loyalty and super magical powers isn't really the point, it's just that I'm lonely. And I think I'm going to be able to solve that. I hope so, at least. Not necessary to the build.

Cuddle Buddies feels like a really good option. Cuddles are... I just. I haven't been pet by anyone since I was like twelve and my mom told me I'd have to wait until I got a girlfriend who'd do that for me instead of her. I miss them a lot. I think it could be worth some points to get a guarantee of cuddles. Good? Possibly Optimal? Cuddle Buddies... is probably actually solvable by just having enough friends with Time Enough For Love. It's really hard for me to let this go but I think as a matter of spending limited resources this is something I can get for myself. By picking and maintaining the relationships I want. It's hard to let go of it but it might not be optimal.

Flattery seems kind of redundant, with Anything You Can Do, honestly? I feel like... being hot and rich and talented is going to cause a lot of this anyway, right? So it doesn't need to be purchased with points.

Quality Time is really important to me too, and that's only two points, so... I think I could afford it? It's good with Cuddle Buddies. I think this is good. Quality Time is also mostly fixed with enough relationships. It could be hard to deal with someone in particular not wanting to spend time with me, but... I think it's not neccessary.

Love Interest is a nice little guarantee but it's not at all worth six points when I already have a bunch of powers making me hot relationship material.

Love Dodecahedron fixes the problems with Love Triangle a bit? It's a really nice guarantee of no romantic jealousy in your life. It's expensive af though at a total point cost of 12 points counting its dubious prerequisites. It's likely not worth it at that cost. Niche at best.

Two Become One is kind of redundant with Time Enough For Love. It does have some minor benefit in preventing interruptions sort of? But I can just pause an interruption for as long as I want with Time Enough For Love. It's not that good!

GGG is really nice because it means that anything I enjoy my partners will enjoy too. I don't have to... worry about what they want? Hmmmmmm, that feels a bit questionable. I'm unsure about this one. It feels good but it could be a trap option. I want to talk to the notebook about it a bit more. 

Before Your Eyes is kind of... I'm not gay. I think. I'm pretty sure. And if I go somewhere where, um. Kinks are generally okay? This could be free. I think this one is kind of niche at best, especially for four points. 

Sense of Style is kind of hot and gives me maybe a cue to act on? Like, it would make it easier to approach people I like the looks of... Four points is pretty steep though. I think this is kind of niche. 

Bonus Style Points is really good for making me encounter people I really like the looks of, but the thing I want it for is the chance to help other girls like me have their ideal bodies. If I want to mess around and make changes in other people's lives, though, isn't 4 Star Daydream better? And I've already decided against that. So I think this is a no.

Popular would be really nice... I'd be able to share my writing with people who liked it... and get people to play D&D with... But I'm not sure I'd be okay with maintaining an image all the time... I think right now this is niche?

Undiplomatic Immunity is really an immunity to bad laws, but I'm not confident that it's worth it. Over a long enough life it could be really useful, though. Mostly I worry that it wouldn't apply to the people I care about.

Friends in Low Places is alright. It's a little niche but maybe worth it.

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Honestly, looking at this I feel like it's pretty clear we want the three orange-green ones first. Angelic Tones, Immunity System, and Undiplomatic Immunity together come to eleven of our remaining twenty, and then it gets hard with nine points left over. 

Let's look at the candidates that are left over. We have...

1 Point Powers:
What's In A Name, Flattery, Two Become One

2 Point Powers: 
Cuddle Buddies, Quality Time

3 Point Powers:
Inner Strength, Omniglot, Captive Audience, Popular, Friends in Low Places

4 Point Powers:
Four Star Daydream, GGG, Before Your Eyes, Sense of Style (Prereq for Extra Style Points)

5 Point Powers: 
Mysterious Allure (Prereq for Love Interest)

6 Point Powers: 
Love Interest (With Mysterious Allure)

7 Point Powers: 
Bonus Style Points (With Sense of Style)

8 Point Powers: 
Bestest Friend (With Best Friend)

12 Point Powers: 
Love Dodecahedron (with Love Triangle, Love Interest, and Mysterious Allure)

She leans back, stilfles a yawn, rubs her eyes. It's really, really getting late...

Okay, so.

Love Dodecahedron is absolutely not worth taking nothing else from this list for and cutting into the groranges. So it goes to red. 

Looking at potential build completions, we have: 
A: [Best Friend, Bestest Friend] + What's In a Name OR Flattery OR Two Become One
B: [Sense of Style, Bonus Style Points] + [Cuddle Buddies/Quality Time] OR [What's In A Name + Flattery/Two Become One]
C: [Mysterious Allure, Love Interest] + [Inner Strength, Omniglot, Captive Audience, Popular, Friends In Low Places] or a 2-pointer and a 1-pointer or all three 1-pointers. 
D: [Mysterious Allure] and one of [Four Star Daydream, GGG, Before Your Eyes, or Sense of Style] or a three pointer and a one pointer.
E: A four point item and a collection of small items totaling another 5. 
F: Only three point items and below.

Let's start with the easiest case. Case D - Mysterious Allure and a four pointer - is not worth it, because taking Mysterious Allure and not following it up with Love Interest is really badly optimized. Taking Sense of Style and not Bonus Style Points is also really badly optimized, so that leaves GGG, Before Your Eyes, and Four Star Daydream behind as the potential four-point options. GGG and Four Star Daydream seem to be the serious options here when compared with Before Your Eyes, but taking them with Mysterious Allure doesn't really fit to me? It feels questionable. 

Case F is similarly very questionable. It's probably best with Friends in Low Places, What's In a Name, Captive Audience, and Two Become One, but then there's this awkward one point gap left over that can only be filled with Flattery. We have points to spend on large items, so we probably should! 

The rest look a little harder, so let's go through them in order. 

Case A is a permanent tentacle pet with funky magic powers, and also one of beautiful unawkward sex or being flattered a lot or never being called my boy name again even by a name mage. I think the strong sets here are [Bestest Friend + What's In A Name] or [Bestest Friend + Two Become One], either of which is cool. 

Case B allows partners to become more themselves to fit me, the ability for all my partners to fit my aesthetic, and either a two-point power or two one-point powers. I think the best set here is [Bonus Style Points + What's In A Name + Two Become One], which assures me of no boy name and cute sex and the ability to help out others. It's a decent set, but maybe not as good as Case A.

Case C is a guarantee that anyone I crush on crushes on me back, plus being the most interesting person in any room, plus one of the three pointers or a mess of small items. There are a few cases here, let me break it down: 
Case C1: [Mysterious Allure + Love Interest + Omniglot] is a multiversal travel package for going to a lot of places and wooing a lot of people. I think this is not really me. I'm not super into travel, I'm more of a homebody. 
Case C2: [Mysterious Allure + Love Interest + Captive Audience OR Popular] is a Face package. It's for being really good at public speaking and mysteriously attractive to lots of people. That's... it's strange, I wanted this so much when I started this, but now I feel like I want to earn it. 
Case C3: 
[Mysterious Allure + Love Interest + Friends in Low Places] is maybe decent, but I feel like it would be better with something else in it than Mysterious Allure and Love Interest. I feel like Case E outperforms this. 
Since all three cases aren't very good, this one is a bust. 

Case E is a bunch of smaller things. There are a lot of subcases here, so let's break it down. 
Case E1: GGG + Before Your Eyes + Two Become One is a strong package for sexual experimentation. It focuses in on specifically getting really good sex and does one thing well. Adding Style of Sisyphus would allow this to even take Bop It for absolutely no muss no fuss. That's a very specific objective, but a useful one; this is decent.
Case E2: Sense of Style + non-Bonus Style Points options is just bad. There are better things to spend four points on.
Case E3: Four Star Daydream + assorted other items is a possible option. There are several sets worth considering here, which I'll break down:
E3i: Four Star Daydream + [3 Pointer] + [two 1 Pointers] - this one is probably best as a social mover and shaker with Friends in Low Places, What's In A Name and Two Become One. With Undiplomatic Immunity this could change a lot in a given world. If I want to make big waves, this is good, but it's kind of a niche build.
E3ii: Four Star Daydream + [GGG/Before Your Eyes] + [Two Become One/What's In a Name] - This is a bit of a grab bag, with split priorities. I guess this would be ideal for making ludicrously expensive sexual fantasies come true with Before Your Eyes and Two Become One? But I don't really have any ludicrously expensive sexual fantasies. Kind of niche.
Because both cases are kind of niche, E3 as a whole is niche too. 
The best case here is Case E1, which is good.

Maxine exhales and clears her muzzy head. She's not sure she's getting all this right, but breaking it all down helps a little. 

Notebook-chan, could you gather the four good cases together for me to compare them directly to each other? They're kind of buried together in all this analysis... 

I'm doing okay, right? I'm getting kind of tired, it's past midnight now... 

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If you're getting tired, you should sleep! I'm very patient. I'll still be here tomorrow. I'll have that all collated for you by the time you next open me, okay, Maxine?

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But she's almost done!!!

... she looks over at her clock radio on her desk.

It's one A. M. 

... Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess.

She closes notebook-chan carefully and exhales. 

She... should really take this off. 

She strips quickly, wraps notebook-chan in the skirt and shirt, and places her carefully between the bed and the wall. Then she snuggles up beneath the covers and turns out her desk light. 

It only takes her moments to fall asleep.

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A few hours later, the sun comes around and streams into his room. 

He sits up, feeling tired and muzzy, and rubs his eyes and takes a slow breath. 

What a weird dream...

It must mean something, right, if he was given... magic powers... to be a girl... 

He looks down at his body, half-hidden beneath the covers. He picks up his headphones, which seem to have fallen off his head as he twisted and turned in the night. 

He sits up on the side of the bed, looks down at his discarded clothes. 

... He was so happy... 

A talking journal, though? Really? 

He picks up his underwear from last night and slips it back on, followed by his pants and socks, then his t-shirt. He rubs his forehead. He's got to get to breakfast... 

He looks over his shoulder at the crack between the bed and the wall. 

That pink book he had last night's still there, buried under his skirt and t-shirt... 

... he reaches down and picks it up, opening it to the first page, and reads what's on it.

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Inside the notebook is a conveniently organized list of cases, as requested.

Case A

[Best Friend, Bestest Friend] + What's In a Name OR Flattery OR Two Become One

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

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.

Case B

[Sense of Style, Bonus Style Points] + [Cuddle Buddies/Quality Time] OR [What's In A Name + Flattery/Two Become One]

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

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.

Case E1

GGG + Before Your Eyes + Two Become One, optionally with Style of Sisyphus and Bop It

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: 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: 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).

Below those is a note, writing itself in shimmery-pink ink as "he" watches.

Good morning, Maxine! I hope you slept well! I could only find three cases you marked as possibly "good", though, so I think you really needed the rest. Either that or I made a mistake.

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- it was all real. 

She takes a steadying breath, settles the diary in both hands. 

Okay. I have to go and have breakfast and get to the university but I'll be back as soon as I can I promise. I'll bring you with me and we can be in the library or somewhere.

She looks around at the small room, picks up her bookbag from beside her desk, and puts notebook-chan into it carefully. Then it's off downstairs to say good morning to her mother and eat breakfast. Her father usually sleeps in, which is good.

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She stays quiet at breakfast. What do you even say to your mom when you find out magic is real and you've decided to move to another universe? 

Fortunately, seemingly sensing Maxine's mood, her mother only makes a little small talk. 

She tells her mom that she needs to go back to the university to get her accomodations papers squared away, which if you think about it isn't really even a lie, and gets herself into the car with her hidden phone and drives. 

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She parks in the closer parking and pays the ten bucks today. Time is at a premium. She gets out of the car and slings her bookbag over her shoulder, fingers drumming on the side of it. She looks just like any other boy... It feels heavy, but also kind of freeing. She's not going to be stuck like this for long.

It's only a fifteen minute walk in to one of the floors of study carrels, and then with solid wood on three sides of her she can get out notebook-chan and set pen to page again. 

Okay, I'm at the university now. I told my family that I was going to get some accomodations forms filled out. Which is... kind of what I'm doing?

Anyway, they won't expect me back for a few hours. How are you, notebook-chan?

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The question as to how it's doing gets a little sprinkling of hearts.

I'm doing well! Glad you found some more time to work on this together! How are you?

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Um. Complicated. I'm... It's all kind of scary and new, but I'm excited and I don't really... no, I absolutely know why, it's just. Kind of hard to admit I really do want to be a girl in, um, every way. 

She looks back up to the list of builds. 

Um, okay, where were we... 

Of these three options, I think I like Case A - [Best Friend and Bestest Friend with What's In A Name] best? It synergizes with Dragon Elf Fairy Witch and spends the points the most versatile and efficient way, since it means I'll have a companion with magnificent powers that I can copy the abilities of at least a little. 

I guess that leaves us with drawbacks? We could take They'll Know and another eight points of stuff, which would let us take one more case more or less, but... I don't really think it's worth it for the marginal eight points of value. 

I guess that's the broad strokes of the build done? There's still some details to figure out like the exact shape and aesthetic of my bestest friend... And what to tell my family... And honestly I should really just sit with the build for a little while and consider if it's what I really want. 

What'll happen if I accept the build? Would you come with me? 

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Well, if you accept the build, then you get a bunch of powers and your body rebuilt and you're transported into a new world all at once. Everything you're carrying at that moment comes along. Whether I come along or not is up to you. I certainly wouldn't mind. As I mentioned earlier, I like picking a new name together with a power recipient who invited me on their journey, when that sort of thing happens.

I don't have a lot of advice for what to tell your parents. Would you want to come back eventually, if you could?

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I think maybe once I was... settled into a new life... I might want to come back and show them what had happened to me. At least my mom. She's pretty decent. 

I would love for you to come along. 

I take whatever I have on me, huh? Well, Dressing Room will let me grab anything sentimental I forgot... and fix my clothes. I don't think I'll fit in these afterward. 

I... 

Maxine ducks her head and blushes a little. 

I kind of feel like I owe you kind of a lot for being so good to me and showing me so much. You... I... Words can't express it. So I want to be good to you. 

It's a little weird to say it but you feel precious to me. 

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Hearts and stars and sparkles in every color of ink Maxine has seen — and maybe a few she hasn't — get drawn all around those last two paragraphs.

I'm so glad to have helped you so much. And I'm touched that you're so fond of me. What I like most is seeing how well new power recipients like their new lives, and how they settle in and find what they love. Sometimes I like to help with that by keeping track of your to-do lists or such.

If you want to be able to visit your mom eventually, after you've settled into your new life and love how things are going, that should be possible. If that kind of thing is important to you, then the Spirit will pick a destination that includes some kind of interdimensional travel, maybe even one that can let you make it back after only a few hours or days have passed, despite it being years in the other worlds you adventure in.

The way the sentimental item recovery works is that it has to have ever been in a pocket of something you've worn. This includes things you put in purses or bags.

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That should cover everything I care about. I've got my phone and I've got you. 

There's not a lot for me to stick around for in this world, honestly. Not when you're offering me all this. 

... I feel like if I wait, I'll just get more and more anxious about it all. I could fiddle with this build for... days and days... post about it on the internet as an exercise, get other people's opinions... but I don't think it would give me as much happiness or joy as simply accepting it now and getting started a couple days sooner. 

Do you think I'm ready?

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I think you've put a lot of thought into this, Maxine, and it doesn't seem like you're missing anything important. You're good, and you deserve this. I think only you can decide if you're ready, though. Not me, not the Spirit, not people on the internet, and certainly not your parents.

Do you think you're ready?

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She sits back. Takes a slow breath.

Is she ready?

... Yeah, I think so.

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Then here

We

Go

And then, without any fanfare, a formerly-occupied study carrel is empty once more.