This should be fun. No shenanigans, don't try to skirt the rules or find "loopholes"! Vote and discuss!
Most interesting... let's analyse each one in turn: Pink: While the surface benefits look good, I do wonder if there are still benefits of sleep beyond simply feeling 'rested' that you'd be missing out on while benefitting from this potion. I'm sceptical about this one. Orange: While it'd mean I'd no longer need my Duolingo course I've been working on to learn Welsh, and would be able to recover and expand upon my French and Spanish language knowledge from GCSE, there would be loads of languages I really wouldn't have any interest in speaking. Can be useful, but on a lower tier for me. Dark Green: I can see how this one could go awry pretty quickly... very soon you'd have an army of cats trying to get into your house and smell it out. And not just your ordinary tabby variety either... any lion or tiger you meet at the zoo would try and break out of their enclosure to follow you home! Blue: I'd like to think I have a pretty good memory, but this would be an ample boost to cover all the iffy areas in my mind. Plus, I can record memories at will, so can ignore any bad memories and preserve the good. I like this one. Purple: I couldn't give a toss about the modern world outside the UK, especially as you can see all the bits in any way worth seeing on TV, so this one's a pass for me personally. Now if it allowed me to travel back in time and see the Ancient World, with so many much more interesting peoples and cultures, it'd be worth trying... but there were no airports anywhere until the 1910s/1920s, so the potential for time travel and exploring history is very limited. Grey: I'm a discerning eater that only eats that which tastes pleasurable anyway, so this potion is of limited use. However it would mean I could eat more healthy vegetables without having to experience the vile 'green' taste that many of them have. A possibility. Red: While this may be of certain help against some diseases, it wouldn't stop all their symptoms, and I can't see why else you'd want your body temperature to not change. An oddity that won't be among my selections. Brown: Having a general phobia of wasps and other flying insects that bite or sting, I'd take this one in a heartbeat, especially as most harmless insects still fly away from you anyway because they're not keen on contact with such a giant, dangerous creature as a human. White: While I like cheese, I'm not prone to kicking things. And I wouldn't eat cheese that had been in contact with any ground outside, especially if it had just been kicked by my shoed foot. Just why? Yellow: While I do all I can to help my parents with chores when I'm not working, this would give us all a break and would mean I can spend more time hobbying and fulfilling my life's missions. Yes please. Light Green: I'd have thought emotions are pretty easy to identify on the surface, and I'd like to think I'm emotionally intelligent, but this potion would certainly still be a help in my continuing mission to master the art of social fluency and maximise my attractiveness to a potential mate. And it'd give me a helping hand in truly understanding whether a girl is interested in me to boot... Black: Finally, something to help me grow my Celtic Warrior moustache! But in all seriousness, this one's purely something to improve your looks by a certain extent and nothing more. One I might take for a laugh or if the other choices were all complete rubbish, but I think I've already found my three now. With that, I'd choose the brown, yellow and light green potions, please.
I've seen a lot of "monkey paw" stories where wishes are taken literally and supernatural gifts come with a price. My choices depend largely on how much I trust the source of the potions. All felines like me. I wouldn't mind if I could pet cats with zero risk of them scratching me. But that is not as cool a trick as some of the other potions. And the all thing makes me concerned. I think there has got to be a downside to all insects avoiding me all the time. Insects don't bother me very often unless I'm by myself. I joke that I must not taste very good because when I'm outside they always attract more mosquitos than I. Along the lines of absolute, I imagine my body temperature never changing would have unintended consequences. I don't being hot or cold but I add or remove clothing or seek shelter. Never sleep and always feel rested. Again this has absolutes and when it comes to magic wishes, absolutes are dangerous. I would not mind having eight more productive hours in the day though to be honest I'd probably waste them. If this was reworded "get fully rested on two hours of sleep every 24 hours" I'd be okay with that. In real life I just got a CPAP machine and now I am waking up more refreshed than ever. I think a lack of sleep would cause mental issues too. I think I'd rather have faeries finish my chores than not have to sleep. Ideally the faeries would do most of my chores while I'm asleep. Maybe they can paint my miniatures too. Still, there a lot of stories of chore performing faeries turning rogue. Teleporting to any airport sounds badass. The only downside that I can see is that if I was the only person in the world with teleportation powers, governments would hunt me down. Speaking every language sounds fun. I think there could be some hidden drawbacks but potentially not as bad as the others. If could read and write every language too this would be a definite pick. I'd really like to be able to make a fortune translating ancient writing. Also if I was fluent in dead languages in the written from, that could help my fantasy writing. I could say Babylonian is Gnomish and make really detailed "fictional" languages. Some fantasy fans eat that up with a spoon. Plus, speaking every language would work well with teleporting around the world. Selectively recording memories has no downside that I can see, but it has relatively little upside as far a I can tell. Being able to have lean meat and vegetables taste like my favorite chocolate cake would worth a lot. It would certainly make eating healthy easier and I certainly like being alive. Being able to identify people's emotions would be handy as I long as I wasn't a full empath. There is a lot of ways this could backfire. I have a pretty nice beard already. It's not the platonic ideal of a beard, but I'm pretty happy with it.
Ok. let's see: 1) never sleep. Basically i gain 1/3 of my lifespan do do things. GOOD 2) speak every language. It has always been one of my dreams. Plus, good job opportunities. GOOD 3) felines like you. They already do most of the times. NOPE 4) remember things you want. Great ability with lots of utility. GOOD 5) teleport to airports. i struggle to see how i could put this to good use. NOPE 6) things tastes as i want. can be really nice, basically i would forever eat top food, but i'm not fixed on eating. MID 7) costant body temperature. No more suffering from heat in summer, never suffer cold in winter, stop sweating, stop spending money for high quality winter clothes... GOOD 8) All insects avoid you. Well, that's nice but circumstantial and not mandatory. MID 9) kick for cheese. err... what? NOPE 10) fairies finish the chores. that's certainly good, but not in my top list. Or maybe yes, if i don't pick "never sleep". GOOD 11) Identify emotions. i don't particularly have the need for it, but it certainly would be nice. MID 12) grow ideal beard. see 9. NOPE so, i've narrowed it down to 5. which ones i'm going to pick? probably speak, remember and fairies
Ability to speak every language: hell yes. I always hated that my attempts to learn another language faltered and died. I don't have the head for learning languages. I speak two languages: English, and BAD English. As a bonus, I see the word "every" and that just ups the desire even more. The ability to speak dead languages? Cripes, yes please. Unfortunately the word "Speak" means that hieroglyphics and sign language are out of my grasp, but considering I have every spoken language that has ever existed? That's a small downside compared to the massive upside. Record things perfectly in my memory: I can't fail to emphasise how much I would love to never forget a detail or thought I'd had. And if I can tell myself what not to remember? I've had moments that I'd like to forget, so that is al big win for me. I can focus my mind less on objective details and more on the imaginative pursuits without feeling like I have to delete trivia to make space in my brain. Fairies do my chores: I hate doing chores. They take away precious time from pursuits that I want to be doing. So, if every night I get some fairies cleaning my home, cleaning the dishes and sorting all those tedious and boring chores? It's a pure convenience choice, but is one I'll take in a heartbeat.
Gods, I didn't think of this application of the orange potion... I could instantly speak Brythonic, and Old English... That makes said potion a whole lot more appealing. But I've cast my votes already, and I'm still happy with the three potions I've chosen.
Great lists everyone! As I guessed, there are lots of interesting variations in the votes and good rationales behind them No monkey paw nonsense. The potions are fair and as described, no trickery to worry about!