I think I'd really like to see a power like that. Maybe other powers would do what I want though. How hard is it for you to make new powers? Should I wait to ask until after I've seen everything else and I'm pretty sure I want it?

It's not that hard! Usually I just think about it in the back of my mind while talking about other things and it'll come to me eventually.

Alright then, please do that for a power about avoiding fights.

While we're talking about you, is there anything I could be doing to meet your needs better here or just make this a more enjoyable experience for you?

My brother and I have been talking with each other about powers for example would you like it if I copied those exchanges down for you? Or would you like to take breaks sometimes? I haven't met any talking notebooks before so I'm not sure what kinds of things you might want.

Okay, I will!

I don't need breaks, but I would like it if you copied down what you and your brother have been saying about the powers! That sounds like it would make it easier for me to help you.

If you want to do something nice for me personally, though, I always like it when someone copies a poem into me. Poetry is really pretty.

She flips back through the pages and thinks.

It looks like I mentioned a lot of what we talked about. I didn't really explain why I like "Like Roses" I think that might make people remember me better and if I'm doing things right relax more when I'm around just because of how important smell is to memory for a lot of people.

I also don't think I explained some things about how I'm choosing powers. I definitely said some of this to Tom but maybe not all of it.

I'm trying to choose powers that let me be more myself than I could be without them, that's why I asked so many questions about whether powers would force me to change things. At the same time I'm also picking powers that might be able to help me convince other people of some of the things I really believe in. Especially the way people think about sex and their bodies.

I'm also trying to err on the side of checking things I might want instead of leaving things unchecked.

I think the only other thought that I didn't tell you about is that Lightfoot sounds like something a lot of people would really like but it doesn't really sound like I want it. Maybe I'm getting hung up on the really extreme parts of it and I would like the more low-key parts though. Does Hollow Leg help at all with balance?

Hollow Leg helps a little with balance but not very much. Would you like me to try to come up with a less extreme version of Lightfoot?

I like the idea of being a bit better at dancing and things like that but I'm not really sure I need grace to be a part of who I am forever. And maybe there's existing powers that do that. I generally like to see more options though. If toned down versions of powers are a thing would it be possible to get a version or Inner Strength that's toned down too? I don't really want to be as strong as construction equipment.

For complicated reasons, I can tone down Inner Strength but it won't cost any less if I do. Do you still want me to?

Can you just add a note that it can be toned down like that so I remember when I'm doing a second pass?

Okay!

She looks over the money powers and checks Making Ends Meet but not the other two.

I think I mostly have inexpensive tastes and I don't really want to bribe people into doing what I want. Depending on Isekai Roulette it might make sense to take motherlode if I might end up in a world where people are a lot worse off than they are here.

She continues.

I don't think I want the heritages power, it feels like that's about changing me into something other than who and what I am so I can fit into new places.

She checks Omniglot.

I don't think that's how people usually see Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, can you tell me more about what you mean?

I think I'm starting from the examples in the name. I don't really want to be a dragon or an elf or a fairy or even a witch. Maybe I'm not thinking broadly enough but every example I can think of would be a way of changing myself to be more like some other type of person. If I became a witch, in theory that just gives me more options but it also pulls my focus in a new direction.

I think...

If it's important to you to definitely keep experiencing the world the same way you do now, then Dragon Fairy Elf Witch is not the power for you. Dragon Fairy Elf Witch is about new options and new powers and new ways of being.

But I think a lot of people see Dragon Fairy Elf Witch not as making them less themselves, but as letting them explore different ways to be themselves. Travelling the multiverse, it's possible to meet someone who is the person you would have been if you had been born a dragon; some people like to experience what it's like to be that version of themselves, even if they never meet them.

I might come back to this later and change my mind but I think for now it doesn't sound like what I want. Right now it sounds like it's a path towards a different story than the one I want to live.

Hmm, next is Anything You Can Do.

This feels too strong and too absolute to me. It feels, I was going to say like a way to grow past people but it doesn't do that I guess. I still feel like if I become as good as everyone I care about at the things they care about really fast that it would be easy for that to push us apart instead of bringing us together. I'm not sure exactly how to fix that though. The part about rivals feels especially weird.

Weird in what sense?

I think mostly I don't imagine myself as the sort of person to have rivals.

Not everyone does! But a lot of people really like the feeling of being energized by that kind of relationship and learning quickly and easily from it.

I think it's the asymmetry of it that bothers me most. If the people close to me were also learning quickly it would be more something we were doing together instead of something I'm doing apart from them.

There's also a power later on for teaching your friends really easily!

Could you highlight that somehow so I can find it easily and look at it?

Sure!

She breaks out in a wide grin. "This Notebook-"

"is adorable." Tom finishes.

"It so is."

My brother and I were just commenting on how adorable you are. It's not related to the powers but I thought you would still want to know.