There's a sense in which True Love's Kiss is about connection because it makes connection a more central and powerful part of your life, but yes.

She stares a little at the list.

I think these are a little different from the previous groups. With those it felt like each power was doing a different thing with maybe a little bit of overlap, for these a lot of the powers feel like they're different ways of achieving the same goal though.

Dream together is really really important to me so I'm absolutely taking everything I need for it.

Soundtrack, is really unique and it feels like it can fill in the gaps left by other abilities in a really nice way.

I could imagine not taking Omniglot but I feel like that means I'll either mysteriously meet people who already speak my language or else I'll be in stories more focused on language learning than I'm really excited about.

That leaves:

Backchannel 4 +
Roundabout 2 +
Friends In Places 9 ✓
Cuddle Buddies 2 -
Quality Time 2 -
Work-Life Balance ✓
I Can Help Them 5 +

One thing I'm noticing looking at that, and also just whole whole list is that it's not very symmetrical. I think that makes sense because they're my powers but it would still be nice if there were powers that would make it easier for people to connect with and understand me. Approachable does that a little but it's more about countering the effects of being Popular than changing things at their base.

I think it's much easier to make a power that changes what you're capable of than to make a power that changes what other people are capable of, just because it's you who has the power. But let me think...

Name: Two-Way Street - Cost: 2 ☐
(Requires Backchannel)
Anyone you're talking to can invoke Backchannel for themselves, and when you're having trouble making yourself understood, they will instinctively know that they can do this and that now would be a good time.

She smiles and giggles. "This notebook."

That's great.

It gets an immediate +.

"Judging by the name I wonder if this came before roundabout."

"Huh, you're right it does seem like that might be the order."

So... maybe this doesn't have an actual answer but Tom was wondering if there's a sense in which Roundabout got it's name based on Two-way Street.

Where the names of powers come from is one of those deep mysteries. You're right that they sound related in that way, but it's hard to know.

Huh, what's that like? Because it seems like sometimes you're figuring out a power from scratch and other times it seems like you're pulling it from another version of you if I'm understanding right. When it's the you here with me who's coming up with a power does the name just suddenly come to you after you figure out the right shape for a power to be?

Building a power always has an element of discovery to it. I don't think it's necessarily the case that every power is built from scratch exactly once and then pulled in from another version of me every subsequent time; I think many different versions of me can discover the same power and there's not necessarily an answer to who found it "first".

I think that makes sense, I'm still curious what that process of discovery feels like though if it's something you can put into words.

It's pretty hard to put into words, because it's so close to the Spirit and so far from ordinary mortal experience. I'd say, rather than the name suddenly coming to me, it's more like the words sort of crystallize out of the shape of the power as it's finishing coming together?

Huh, I think I vaguely understand, thanks for putting in the effort. Now I'm wondering if powers like Disney Princess that are such explicit references to things in my world crystalize with different names in worlds that don't have that context.

I've always suspected that some of the really weird power names are a result of names getting translated into one world's context when they more naturally fit another.

Do you have an example?

I think Chaser Six When is the most word salad of all of them.

Yeah... I have no idea where that could have come from either.

"Same."

I assume it must make sense in context, but what's the context? Probably most of me will never know.

It must be so interesting to live that way. Knowing that there's so many other parts of you who remember things you don't.

It's inconvenient sometimes but overall I like it. Being the way I am lets me do things that I couldn't do if I wasn't.

I can't argue with that. You're wonderful just the way you are.

Aww, thank you. ♡

You're welcome.

She looks back a bit. Where was she? Oh.

Okay, so I'm absolutely keeping Backchannel and now Two-Way Street.

I Can Help Them is a prerequisite for Ever Onward which is one of my favorites so I'm definitely taking that.

Roundabout and Work-Life Balance both feel important to taking care of myself. I could go without them but I'm taking a bunch of other risks with myself so having more of a buffer is a good idea.

She upgrades Work-Life Balance to a plus.

That leaves me with the ones I'm less sure about.

I'm torn with the Friends In Places power. I think I like the idea of learning the things those would tell me better than just knowing them, but a part of me is worried that if I don't take them that will mean there's people I would have been able to make friends with that instead won't be open to that.

I think the Friends In Places powers mostly don't give you anything you couldn't get the long way, but sometimes the long way takes quite a while and there are paths that would have been open when you started learning that are closed by the time you finish, even though other paths might have opened along the way.

She nods to herself.

Yeah, I guess it comes down to stories again. Do I want to live the story where I have those opportunities right from the start or do I want to work my way out of ignorance. And there's also points to consider. I think I feel a similar way about Quality Time and Cuddle Buddies and I feel like those are less something that closes out opportunities.

She unchecks those.

I think this is one of the decisions I'm going to have to come back to at least one more time.