Yes, it does.

Next is the cluster of Green With Envy, You Ruin Them and Jilted Lovers

Oh right these are next. I would not touch any of these three even if they were worth more points than any other drawback or all the others combined.

She draws arrows in case it isn't clear what she's talking about.

I don't think I would want to meet anyone who takes them either. Although now a corner of me is curious what happens to a person who meets two people with You Ruin Them. It sounds like it might be really bad for that person.

I don't remember either way, of course, but sometimes when I read those drawbacks I worry that they were created by someone who really, really wanted them and then turned out not to enjoy them as much as they expected.

I think that makes it even more sad. At least if they like it someone is getting something positive out of it. Is there... I guess it might defeat the purpose of drawbacks but is there a way for people to escape drawbacks that are really hurting them? It feels like it's kinda at odds to the sentiment behind I Can Help Them and It Gets Better if there isn't.

In the long term, if someone grows beyond the person they were when they made their first choices, it's possible for those choices to be changed. It's very rare, though, because it's really important to the Spirit that people can depend on their powers and not have to worry about losing them, and the Spirit can't really communicate with people directly so it has a hard time asking. So it makes sure to only make that kind of change when it's not only true that the person would endorse the change, but also true that they're in a position to realize that it only happened because they were going to agree they were better off that way. Otherwise it would be too much of a betrayal of trust.

That makes sense, trust is hard without communication. That's part of why I care so much about good communication.

Good communication is really, really important!

She draws a little smiley face.

And we return to The Crazy Train. I'm still really uncertain about this one. I trust the narrative some but I'm not sure I want to hand over control of my powers to it. I feel like I need to make a list of everything I'm taking and see what's impacted.

And I'm unsure about whether powers like I Can Help Them and Backchannel would work inconsistently.

You would still be able to call on Backchannel when you needed it, but might also find yourself using it without quite intending to. I Can Help Them is likely to be similar.

I don't think I would mind that. I guess some people might be bothered by Backchannel but I Can Help Them only works when the other person is okay with it.

I think after this round I need to make a list of which perks are affected by Dramatic Damsel and The Crazy Train.

That's potentially a lot of them! I can help clarify which perks do and don't interact with them, but I probably can't come up with a whole list myself; it's a really open-ended question and it's easier for me to think in terms of "which kinds of perks would interact with this drawback?" than to just list them all.

That makes sense. I can try to group things together myself and ask if I'm doing it right.

As for the remaining drawbacks, would Secret Identity and therefore That's How it Goes mean that powers like Backchannel were suppressed with me also taking They'll Know. My guess is yes and if that's true I don't think I'll take anything like it.

Backchannel is one of the least likely powers to be suppressed under That's How It Goes, and one of the most likely to remain usable with Secret Identity (although Secret Identity plus They'll Know does mean that Backchannel will be suppressed because it isn't possible for it to operate subtly in the background). The only power that is absolutely never suppressed or weakened by a drawback is It Gets Better.

That's helpful to know. I think... I'm probably not going to take That's How It Goes. I think it's a sign that I'm already reluctant to take The Crazy Train and That's How it Goes is just broadening the control that The Crazy Train has to all my powers.

Live The Role is going even further and I can't see a scenario where I'm okay with forgetting the people I care about.

... and amnesia is another thing that might be covered by Down to Earth isn't it?

Yes, Down To Earth could potentially make you experience amnesia, but you would recover your memories completely afterward because of It Gets Better.

It's good to know it won't be permanent at least. I really need to figure out if I want this. I feel like a lot of this becomes an exercise in trust. No, that's framing it in a way that could push me into doing it when I don't want to. It's a matter of deciding how much trust I'm willing to extend to the narrative and how much control I'm willing to give up.

Yes, I think it's a good idea to think carefully about how much control you want to have over your own life. It's a pretty big decision and it's important to choose the answer that's right for you.

Agreed.

With that in mind let me look at the last few drawbacks.

I think I'm less willing to give control over my powers to everyone I care about than the narrative... or I might be more okay if it was an either or choice but Marionette means both.

I definitely want They'll Know because it makes powers that I care about work better.

And a lot of the options I'm considering would be way too dangerous with Realism.

Realism is a bad choice for most people. I think some people need the comforting familiarity of a world that works according to predictable rules, but they have to give up a lot in order to get it.

I think that makes sense. Actually I wonder about that a little, if someone grew up somewhere that worked more on the narrative to begin with and they took realism would that mean the world around them started to work more according to predictable rules?

I'm not sure! I think it might depend on details of the relationship between their world and narratives and predictable rules.

I think I'm going to take another break soon, but before I do that I want to make sure I understand some things.

First, I want to make sure I understand the Crazy Train, I think if I'm understanding it right then it works on everything that isn't... passive. So even powers like Pocket Dimension where I need to intend to do something it may or may not work depending on whether it suits the narrative.

Yes.

Okay.

And Dramatic Damsel... but I'm not really thinking about taking Dramatic Damsel am I... And Down To Earth can just touch any powers that it needs to.

Actually, Slapstick Comedy still requires taking Dramatic Damsel so I guess I should care about what Dramatic Damsel does.

So Dramatic Damsel works on things that I perceive as protecting me? And I think that's mostly protecting me from big external things rather than minor inconveniences or things like aches and pains?

Yes. Dramatic Damsel will only interfere with minor protections like that if for some reason that interference is necessary to facilitate a good story.