"I think so. Just to see if there's anything I can bring to it."

"I think that makes sense. Just remember to say it's you if you decide to ask questions."

She leaves to get dressed to go outside and collect what she needs for class.

"I will." He turns his attention to cleaning up the breakfast dishes.

Sapphire stops to give him a hug before heading out.

And then it's Tom's turn to look through the notebook's list.

The first thing he looks at is the destinations. Sapphire has technically not marked one but by this point they all know what she's choosing.

"Trust to the will of the Spirit and let it take you where you need to go." He reads the words out loud. "I envy you sometimes," he says to himself, "finding it that easy to trust. To really trust."

He flips again to the perks Sapphire has turned down for one reason or another. Maybe there's something she missed. It also gives him time to work up to reading the parts he's most worried about.

He smiles at the ships powers. He is biased but he doesn't think Sapphire needs help there.

He reads the other unselected appearance powers carefully but ultimately dismisses them.

Cosmetic Equipment doesn't quite substitute for Breathe Easy or Warmhearted but he understand Sapphire's preference.

He's glad he argued Sapphire out of taking My Ears Are Burning.

He might be more inclined to take Lightfoot and Inner Strength but this is about helping Sapphire choose the right powers for her not living vicariously through her.

He continues in this vein for a while.

A part of him really wants her to take Iron Will but it's a bit of a silly part. It won't protect her from Down To Earth, and he agrees that having trauma just dissolve at the end of a storyline sounds unsettling.

Living Canvas and Shadow Puppet are fun in the same sort of way Where The Heart Is. He agrees they don't fit what Sapphire wants as well though.

Musical Number is fun, and he's amused enough to actually break his silence and ask the Notebook a question.

Hi, It's Tom. I've been looking through to see if there's any powers Sapphire should take a second look at before I try to come up with a better argument for why she shouldn't take Down To Earth.

Or maybe convince myself that it's okay for her to take it. I should keep an open mind.

Anyway I don't want to talk about that just yet, I was looking at Musical Number. I don't think it makes sense for Sapphire to take it but I'm curious what it's like with Nullified and They'll Know.

Under those conditions it becomes more of a prompt for people to break into song if they wish.

That makes sense. Does it also help them get the words and choreography right if they opt-in?

Yes.

He reads through Best Friend and everything based on it. He can see some appeal there and it would give Sapphire someone to rely on right away but he trusts her to make friends wherever she ends up. And she's not defenseless.

The love language friends perks aren't really something that needs more thought either. Agree To Agree is probably pretty limited with Nullified and awful morally without it.

A part of him wishes she was willing to take the original Pacifist but again it wouldn't protect from Down To Earth.

The everyone must love me powers are the same as Agree to Agree.

The powers for keeping loved ones safe...

Does Sapphire taking Down To Earth mean bad things can happen to me in order to help her understand something?

That depends somewhat on her mindset.

If she sees you as part of her, and the important thing about what happens to you is its effect on her, then drawbacks can cause trouble for you in order to have effects on her. The more she cares about you for your own sake, the less they can do that.

I think that makes sense. I'm pretty sure she cares about me for me more than for what I can do for her. That's how she is as a person.

Yes, I think you're right.

He continues reading without having any particularly new thoughts until he gets to Planned Parenthood.

So... I'm remembering that Providential Parenthood was something she choose partially because of The Crazy Train but she's not taking that anymore. Is it also more resistant to other drawbacks like Down to Earth? Or is that just down to mindset and they both work equally well?

It's just down to mindset, yes.

Thanks.

Nothing else from the powers is catching his eye.

Moving on to the drawbacks the only ones that seem like they might warrant reexamination are the Great Responsibility Line he previously argued against and the Very Distinctive Line she narrowly turned down.

"That is an option... not a good one but an option."

And then it's time to look through what she is planning to take.

For the most part he understand the reasons for all the powers she's taking and he doesn't see any gotchas.

He does flip to a blank page and make a list though.

Tom's musing on possible cuts

Angelic Tones 2
Size Difference 2
Undressing Room 3
Well Endowed 1
Hollow Leg 1
Making Ends Meet 1
Where The Heart Is 1
Roundabout 2

And then it's on to the drawbacks she is taking.

He's a little concerned with the bit about not being able to kill and more worried if she changes that to being unable to injure but really she doesn't think that Sapphire could bring herself to do that regardless.

No the real worry is from the Dramatic Damsel tree.

I wonder a little if Sapphire is reading the term "love interest" too narrowly in Love Is A Battlefield. I think she's translating that into meaning really close friends, people she's comfortable saying "I love you" with because she doesn't really get crushes. Do you think it would actually work that way or is it broader than that?

I think it would be both broader and narrower in different ways. Love Is A Battlefield is focused around romantic connections, meaning that close friendships without a romantic or sexual element would be noncentral to its focus and might not count for it; but it also doesn't require closeness in the sense of trust, as long as there is a relationship where the potential for intimacy and intensity is strongly present.

I think you'll probably want to talk with Sapphire about this then. I'm not really sure how that would translate to what she's said about how she sees her relationships with people.

Yes, that makes sense.

Down to Earth says that taking other drawbacks under Dramatic Damsel you can bring back the normal Dramatic Damsel storylines. Is that something Sapphire has a choice about or is it tied to specific drawbacks or what?

It's tied to specific drawbacks, like Delicious And Nutritious and so on, that rely on and tie back into the normal Dramatic Damsel-style storylines.

Okay, so not any of the ones Sapphire is taking.