Thanks.

Hmm, next on the list is Undiplomatic Immunity.

I still don't think I need to be immune to laws. I have Undressing Room for getting away with some things and I think Reaching Out might help with some aspects of protecting people doing things with me which Undiplomatic Immunity does less of. I know these powers make me an exception to a lot of things but I don't think this needs to be one of them.

I still want the Friends powers, the reason I might not take them is that I already have a lot of powers pointing in the same vague direction from other angles, I'm not sure if I should give them pluses.

I guess the other reason I might not want them is the bit about them being intuitive and natural. In some ways that's an advantage but there is a part of me that worries that aspect could make it harder to put myself in the mindset of someone who's less skilled, or maybe shift my instincts towards doing things that are 'correct' but also less me.

I probably don't need to worry about that last part though, all of these powers are channeled through me.

Yes, your powers will naturally want to arrange themselves in ways that work well for you. But, speaking of making it easier to put yourself in someone else's mindset...

Name: Approachable - Cost: 3 ☐
(Requires Popular and Backchannel)
You have a knack for putting your fans at ease. No matter how famous you get, anyone who sincerely has something to say to you will know you sincerely want to hear it. This effect fades every time you're rude, threatening, or otherwise unpleasant to someone in that position, but can be built back up by cultivating patience and kindness instead.

Name: Down To Earth - Grants: +3 ☐
(Requires Approachable and Dramatic Damsel)
You are cursed to relate to other people's perspectives and experiences. When your life has been so charmed for so long that you forget what it's like to have difficulties or limitations, you will be reminded. When you meet someone who needs you to understand what they went through, you'll go through something similar. This directive supersedes Dramatic Damsel's storyline parameters, but you can add those storylines back in by taking other drawbacks in the Dramatic Damsel family.

Approachable is really good. It makes sense that it stops working if I'm not earning it.

Down To Earth sounds like it's what I asked for but it's also... concerning. I'm pretty sure that drawbacks like this override defensive powers so this means that if I meet someone who's been raped and needs me to understand that then I'll at least be assaulted. Or that's the vibe I'm getting. I'm not really sure I'm prepared for that.

Yes, you're right to be concerned. It Gets Better helps a lot in that kind of situation, but it would still be reasonable to not want to make that kind of sacrifice in order to get better at understanding people.

I think the issue for me is that there's no limitations on it. Even if I took something like Iron Will I don't think it would apply here. I also worry it would... make me resent people? If I knew or suspected that I was raped because it was supposed to help me understand them? Even if it was in some ultimate sense my choice they would be closer at hand.

That makes a lot of sense! I think it's a good idea to only take Down To Earth if you think you can truly accept that you chose it yourself and not blame or resent people for the things they need you to understand.

It probably isn't possible to really truly understand what going through something is like without going through it yourself. But I don't think we can ever truly and completely understand what another person experienced, even if we did go through a similar circumstance.

I'm not sure if the real thing I want is to just not take certain powers. Or maybe I do want something based on The Crazy Train Instead.

I'm almost to the drawbacks I think so maybe I should read what exists before I ask for more.

Down To Earth will also help you draw on your experiences to understand people; it's not just making sure you have the experiences themselves. But yes, it makes sense to hold off on digging into that further until you read more.

I wonder if it would be possible to... defuse some of the badness with a power that helps with ... for lack of a better word aftercare.

Oh, I see what you mean! Maybe something built off of It Gets Better...

Yes, that's what I was thinking too.

"You're not seriously considering this. I know you want to understand people, but you're already good at that do you need this much help? Are you really okay with these risks?"

"I don't know. I'm willing to consider it at least. I'm not going to take it unless I'm sure I'll be able to handle it with the powers I have available."

"I don't mean to minimize how bad rape is but I think it's a bad choice to anchor on. This could also cover a lot of other things, it could mean slavery or extended torture. I just... I don't see how you can take such an unbounded risk and for only three points."

"I'm anchoring on rape because it's the one I have a power to protect me from. Nothing says I couldn't be tortured, nothing says I couldn't be enslaved. I'm already trusting in the narrative. And again I haven't made a decision yet."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I just... I want good things to happen to you instead of bad things."

"I know, and mostly I want that too. But it's important to me that I'm not... living a charmed life while everyone around me has to deal with sharp edges I don't. I'll have Ever Onward and Cotton Candy. Hopefully, with enough time, there won't be very many horrifying experiences for me to emulate."

"Okay, I'll reserve judgment."

Tom and I talked a little about Down To Earth, he's really worried I'll regret taking it. I'm still unsure about it too. Part of what makes me think it might be okay is a sense that I wouldn't want to read a story that's mostly bad things happening to the protagonist without something important coming from it. I'm also leaning a little on Cotton Candy and Ever Onward to make the world better so there are fewer terrible things in general.

Yes, I think Down To Earth is a lot less threatening when you also have Cotton Candy and Ever Onward. I'll keep thinking about that extra power.

Thanks.

She takes a couple deep breaths and recenters herself. 

As it happens there's only one power left in Power of Friendship: Vending Machine. She reads it and then boggles and reads it again and she just has to laugh.

Vending machine sure is something. I don't want to take it but wow, what adventures people must have. They get to meet all their favorite characters from stories and maybe even do it in a way that's plausibly ethical. I can see the edges of the temptation. Getting to meet the crew of the Enterprise or Twilight Sparkle and her friends or... well Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes is probably best kept on the other side of the page. It would be fun though. And if you're someone who finds it hard to trust being able to make people you already trust seems like it could help you a lot as long as it's just a stepping stone.

Yes, I think that kind of thing is a big reason why people go for Vending Machine. It's a pretty niche power, though!

It is a huge ethical quandary and a lot of points.

Well, on to the drawbacks. First up is Decorative.

I'm not any more okay with Decorative than I was originally. I think I might be even more against it actually now that I'm actively thinking about things that set me apart.

I also don't want compliments about my appearance being the focus of people's interactions with me. I'm actually thinking of making up a scale for drawbacks. I think the four rough categories would be: Things I actually want, things I'm neutral on, things I'm willing to tolerate, and then things I actively don't want. I think this is between the last to. I can imagine tolerating it but I don't want to. Decorative is in the actively don't want category.

That makes sense! I recommend mostly sticking to taking drawbacks you actually want, though it can be worthwhile sometimes to take something from the middle two categories.

That's probably good advice. I'll keep that in mind.

Well... Even Worse is for me Even Worse. I don't want to invite people like that being obsessed with my appearance.

Plain Jane also seems like a curse. I guess for some people that's already how they feel so it might not feel like a cost but it still seems sad to me to lock themselves into that.

Style of Sisyphus is... a little intriguing but I don't like the idea that I would stop being comfortable with nudity because of it. I would be more worried if I wasn't taking dressing room because then it would get really expensive.