i wasn't looking for this

[from_scratch]

This is a successor to call me maybe and trade my soul for a wish, which were getting crowded.

with Emily (Maggie)

with Alex (ErinFlight)

with Destin (Rockeye)

with Nick (Rockeye)

Comments

[iamnotpolaris]

"I mean, my sister talked to most of these people in their heads. 'Didn't believe we were talking about a real thing' isn't really likely for most of them. Trying to be polite even if they were uncomfortable is...plausible."

[from_scratch]

"And if she can also, very neatly, just talk - take only what someone's trying to tell her, give back words or concepts no more influential than what people might hear or see just having a conversation - then even I might let her do that."

[iamnotpolaris]

"She can absolutely do that."

[from_scratch]

"Maybe most people just aren't as creative as I am about what telepathy could do that isn't these harmless utilities."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Maybe. I know some of them know what she could do..."

[from_scratch]

"Or maybe they just trust her as an individual more than I like to trust people I've never met whose powers plus creativity and a lapse of temper could be worse than anything else."

[iamnotpolaris]

"True enough. Most people haven't witnessed her responding to becoming very very angry by curling up in a little ball until she could trust herself to be rational again."

[from_scratch]

"A reasonable reaction, if you are a telepath."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Uh huh. If it makes you feel better, on the extremely rare occasions I have seen her lose her temper enough to do something about it, her reaction was to punch the asshole, not do anything with her mind."

[from_scratch]

"Well, I'm sure there are some people who wouldn't prefer to be punched over a telepathic lashout, but I am not one of those people, and probably wouldn't be even if I weren't indestructible."

[iamnotpolaris]

"None of 'em were indestructible, and Edie has a mean right hook."

[from_scratch]

"Good for her."

[iamnotpolaris]

"She really did have good reasons, though, she extremely does not just go around punching people."

[from_scratch]

"You spend a lot of energy defending your sister. I'm not even freaking out about the punching people thing, here."

[iamnotpolaris]

"I have actually had more consistent negative reactions to the punching thing than to the telepathy."

[from_scratch]

"It's not great, an unluckily placed sock in the face can cause brain damage, but it won't usually."

[iamnotpolaris]

"The part people react worse to is 'is known to do it.' Edie has never lashed out with her mind because she was angry."

[from_scratch]

"Never in her life?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"Nnnnot since we were little enough she couldn't do anything with it."

[from_scratch]

"Telepathic toddler. Yikes."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Telepathic fetus."

[from_scratch]

"You had mentioned that. I think the toddler version is scarier. To the best of my knowledge fetuses are less insistent about wanting things and having emotional states."

[iamnotpolaris]

"I don't know about wanting things, but she definitely had emotions."

[from_scratch]

"Well, I haven't had a lot of close contact with fetuses in my lifetime, so perhaps I'm wrong."

[iamnotpolaris]

"To be fair, we don't really have a large enough sample size to know if it's universal."