Fortunately(?), the notebook is oblivious to her embarrassment.

Oh, that sounds really fun! And I think it makes me understand some of what you're going for. Would it be off base to guess that making yourself stronger or more graceful with magic is more appealing than taking those abilities as powers because it's more fitting for an enchantress?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Come on, Sara, you're a big girl.

No, I think you're right. Like… obviously life isn't literally like a roleplaying game where being strong in one attribute directly trades off against another,

"…except for the part where that's literally what I'm doing here,"

but it still feels more narratively fitting for the enchantress to start out with normal strength and grace, or even as a little weak and clumsy. Except for the part where I don't really want to make myself weak or clumsy.

I think I understand! That kind of thought process definitely lines up with the way the Spirit works.

Also, I don't necessarily think that you need this particular reminder, but while we're on this topic, I feel that it's important to say that… even if something doesn't seem to fit the narrative of the devastatingly clever enchantress, if it appeals to you then you should take it! It's better for you to combine narratives that you like to maximize self-indulgence than to prioritize adherence to a single narrative over what you would actually enjoy.

Oh, don't worry. I'm definitely focusing on what things I want to have as part of my life :)

I think… I'm going to add Lightfoot and keep Inner Strength for now, because it'll be easier to drop them if I need the points (or decide I don't actually like them that much) than to try to make room for them when I don't have enough points later.

She checks Lightfoot and puts a star next to it and Inner Strength.

Oh, and if you want to shuffle the newer stuff into the list to make it tidier, you can do that. After I look at Snowglobe and Unleash the Magic, I think.

Okay! Did you have specific thoughts about those two powers that you wanted to share?

Yeah.

So for starters, part of me looks at those and goes "yes, give me more magic, MORE." And I'm pretty sure that, you know, you and the Spirit agree with that part. :P

But on the other hand, I'm not sure I totally understand what Unleash the Magic… does? At least, that its prerequisites don't already do, besides the thing you said earlier about immunity to antimagic or being in the wrong universe. So maybe it's mostly redundant and I shouldn't take it, maybe it isn't. But I definitely shouldn't take it if I don't fully understand it.

We do agree with that part, but we also think that you get to choose how you make decisions about powers. ♡

In general, powers love to reinforce and synergize with each other. This is especially true when the powers are thematically linked in some way: mental enhancements, for instance, or the combat powers, or the powers that affect your appearance.

Unleash the Magic specifically makes sure that its prerequisites don't leave any gaps in your ability to learn or use magic. So for example… if you found a kind of magic that would normally depend on aspects of your personal history that you don't have the power to change, like being born at a certain time or having had specific events happen to you at a specific age, Anything You Can Do, Dragon Fairy Elf Witch, and Snowglobe might or might not let you learn it, but Unleash the Magic definitely would.

Does that help?

Yeah, I think so.

…I had a funny thought just now that I'm going to write down because I think it's funny but before I do I want to be clear that I'm joking and not asking for a power.

That being said, a power that edits or lets you edit aspects of your personal history like time and date of birth seems pretty solidly within the scope of the other powers. Like, Dragon Fairy Elf Witch lets you edit your species without messing things up for your actual family tree; I'm sure that if someone wanted a power that was like "at all times, you have exactly the right birthday" or whatever that'd be small potatoes.

Well, now I'm mildly tempted to come up with that power anyway. Later, though.

Unrelatedly, I think I've got a couple working ideas for powers about people who work for you! I can show you now, if you want.

Hmm.

She does want, she thinks, but she's also pretty sure she wants to take Snowglobe and Unleash the Magic, which will put her at 65/70. And she's only about two-thirds of the way into the Power of Friendship section.

Well, there are a couple things she can do about that.

Yeah, go ahead.

Also, is it possible to make a custom drawback, or are those different from powers somehow?

Here are the two ideas I've got so far:

Baby Monitor ☐
Cost: 1
If you love someone or consider their welfare to be your responsibility, you can always take a moment to wonder about them and get an accurate sense of how they're doing and if they need help.

They Even Have Dental ☐
Cost: 2
(Requires Baby Monitor)
If someone is in your employ, service, debt, or otherwise has a relationship to you where you can give them directions or orders and expect those to be reliably followed, you're always able to provide for their welfare. This includes, but is not limited to, fulfilling basic needs such as food and shelter, paying or otherwise compensating them fairly, and in general ensuring that their working conditions are agreeable to them. By default, they are protected from negative coincidences, but not from active enemy action. The degree of your ability to protect and provide for them scales with investment of effort on your part and how keenly you would feel it if something bad happened to them.

Custom drawbacks are definitely doable. Do you want to think of some right now?

Also…

The writing slows down a touch again.

I notice that you seem to have a bit of a focus on powers that let you know what other people are doing and that make it easier for you to manage them. This can constitute a lot of responsibility and mental overhead, even with the mental boosts you asked for, so I wanted to check in with you about whether this is something that you want for its own sake or as a way to accomplish something else, like keeping yourself safe or preventing other people from having power over you. If it's the first thing, I'm happy that these powers are helping you get it! And if it's the second thing, I'd love to work with you on ways to accomplish that more directly.

Sara flushes in angry embarrassment and snaps the book shut. She was just starting to open up to it, too! And then it hit her with—

She peeks at the offending page again. That… looks like it's actually genuine concern and support that she once again read as backhanded for basically no reason. Oops.

She shuts the notebook, not sure if she trusts herself to not say something dumb she doesn't mean. Maybe she should take a breather?

She checks the time. It's kind of late and she hasn't eaten dinner yet. She should probably. Do that. And maybe go to bed. And also think about figuring out a way to squeeze Time Enough For Love into her powers list.

Sorry for vanishing. I needed to sleep and eat. I did think about what you said, though.

So the thing is… I kind of just want power in general. Because when I look at the world, I see so much inefficiency and pointless waste and brokenness. And it offends me. I don't think that as I am right now I can really make a difference, which also kinda offends me, but these powers would change that.

That's not the main thing, though. But the main thing is… hard.

I think there might be a little bit of wanting to keep myself safe from other people having power over me in there, but it's kind of hard to extract from me just liking control for itself. Because, like—to me part of wanting control is seeing that it sucks when other people have it, or when nobody has it. And so powers that keep me safe from other people's control only solve part of the problem. So… I guess I'm pretty sure that I do want to be in charge of people. And so I'm trying to make sure that I have powers that make me good at it.

It's really all right! Pauses between statements don't literally feel the same to me regardless of how much time passed for you, but it doesn't make me upset or bored or anything if you take a long time on your end to gather your thoughts or take care of tasks like eating or sleeping.

Thanks for explaining your reasoning for me, by the way. I think that wanting power in general and being offered these powers are a good match! I'm glad that having them will make your life better. And… it's okay if you don't completely understand everything about your mind and motivations. I'm not interested in trying to suss out the purity of your desires, just make sure that the powers you pick fit you and feel good to have, instead of causing problems that we could have prevented by understanding each other better.