2020-09-16: Waffles, VR, Etymology and other Esoterica
| Waffles, VR, Etymology and other Esoterica | |
|---|---|
| Esoteric conversation involving an alien, a hippy and a soldier | |
| IC Date | September 16th, 2020 |
| IC Time | Early to mid-morning |
| Players | Bobbi, Lazzaro, Rufus, Vic Rasmussen and Vivian |
| Location | Wafflemania |
Early morning run over, Vic's showered and gone to the best place she knows in Prospect City for breakfast: Wafflemania.
Always accommodating, Jennifer had given the young woman an odd look when she ordered a customization of two dishes: Strawberry Apocalypse w/red colored waffles as the base; along with this she's ordered a tall glass of chocolate milk and a side plate of bacon. On the table, next to Vic's food, is her laptop, on and displaying a news feed that she's reviewing while she eats when she isn't flipping to various shopping sites and making notes of items in a file on her smartphone which is within reach on the opposite side of her dishes from the computer.
A couple of other tables are occupied one with another single person and another with a young couple who are paying as much attention to each other as to the delicious food in front of them at their table.
~~ pancakes, I want pancakes, tay-stee pancakes, stacks pf pancakes ~~ comes a quiet song as Bobbi enters Wafflemania. This morning she is wearing a tank top, tiny lil running shot, knee high socks, and trainers -- all black and all Adidas, as is required of her people -- a light sheen of sweat vaguely visible on her tattoos, indicating a move towards a post exercise breakfast. Picking up a menu, Bobbi shakes her head and puts it right back, remembering that she always gets the same thing. Seeing Vic, Bobbi slides right into the seat across from her without asking permission, as hippies are wont to do. "Goooooooood morning," she says to her in a particularly chipper voice. As a waitress passes by she exchanges a look and a nod with Bobbi, probably indicating an order of 'the usual.' Looking back to Vic, Bobbi gives her a friendly smile as she waits for her own order to be processed.
Grinning at her friend, Vic says, "Morning, Bobbi," and slips her phone into a pocket. Into her mouth goes a bite of red waffle and strawberry bits after which she washes it down with a drink of her milk. "You seem chipper, how're you doing?"
The couple continues to remain focused on each other but the tat-laden hippy joining the focused tech-head attracts the attention of the single guy for a moment but only briefly as he looks back at his own news feed on a tablet while continuing to eat his breakfast.
"I'm doing well," Bobbi responds to Vic with a smile, "just finished my morning exercise and figured I should get some breakfast. I love this place, the perfect food whether you're in a good mood or need to stress eat." Bobbi turns to receive her mug of coffee and offers the waitress a "thanks!" Proceeding to add way too much sugar to her black coffee, she picks up a spoon and begins to give it a good stir. Seeing milk being drank, Bobbi momentarily scrunches her nose, but her thoughts on the matter seem to quickly leave her head. "Whatcha working on?" Bobbi wonders of Vic, "computer stuff?"
"Research," Vic says after swallowing a bite before another sip of milk. Continuing she says, "I'm going to be talking to Astra soon about a project I want to involve her in and I'm trying to be prepared with ideas for the components that I suspect we'll need to assemble a VR-Rig for me," speaking softly so it doesn't carry beyond their table; she's apparently unsure how well that term meets the Consensus-level understanding of technology. Having noted the scrunched nose she asks Bobbi, "Something the matter there?" also.
"What's a VR-Rig?" Bobbi wonders, seemingly having never heard this term before -- she's only slowly coming into the 21st century, though Vic might think other reasons for this confusion. "Astra's good people," Bobbi explains to Vic, "I haven't seen her much lately, probably my fault, so I'm not holding it against her. Hopefully you too have a successful project together." Bobbi smiles and seems to genuinely mean this, despite whatever issue it is she hinted at. "Oh, milk," Bobbi responds, scrunching her nose again, her head shaking in a tight, but vigorous motion.
Vic and Bobbi are sitting together at a table. Both have waffle-based breakfasts, Vic's has a laptop sitting on the table next to it along with a tall glass of chocolate milk while Bobbi's breakfast is accompanied by a steaming mug of coffee. The women are obviously friendly and are deep in a conversation.
In addition to the two young women, Wafflemania is hosting three other customers: a couple is engrossed in breakfast and each others' company and a single gentleman is eating breakfast while reading something on a tablet. Naturally the chef and waitress are present also, taking care of their patrons at this early hour, a bit after sunrise.
Vic, addressing Bobbi, says, "What's your problem with milk?" and then says something to her more softly at their table as well.
At the table, Vic says "Its a computer-based interface which I'll be able to use to access the Digital Web. VR stands for Virtual Reality. Its whole body rather than just goggles and possibly a glove like most people use."
"It's gross," Bobbi explains, her nose still scrunched up, "and I mean, even if you didn't think it's gross, the kinda milk they have at stores is disgusting. Like if you really care about your body, but still want to drink milk, I can hook you up with a farm where you can get the good stuff. None of that processing and pasteurization they do in the mass-produced stuff. In general, I recommend taking a tour of one of the factory farms. Will really make you think about what you're consuming every day. I mean, it's not what either side says of it, which is why I don't recommend reading either side's propaganda. It's an incredibly efficient system where-in animals live short and sad lives, if you can call those lives. If you really want to be put off on some foods, look into pig farms and eggs. Once you understand why chickens need to be manually rotated and what happens if they don't ... " Bobbi shudders lightly and then adds, "but of course I still eat all that stuff once a month to maintain proper enzymes. Allows me to eat what is served to me at someone's house. Being a good guest is more important than any discomfort I might have with the system."
At the table, Bobbi says "Ohhhhhhhhhh! I did that once. I was told I was acting like a 'glitchy newb,' whatever that means."
Lazzaro comes walking into the diner his black cane tapping off the tile flooring. He seems to be able to walk fine though he does seem to naturally favor his right side. He offers a smile to the waitress and heads to a booth of his own to sit pulling out a tablet from his pocket typing away.
Vic shakes her head and says, "Never watch sausage be made," as if it is an axiom for approaching life in general as well as food in specific. "I avoid somethings yes, but this is an extreme I'm going to avoid," she explains while nodding to another part of Bobbi's response addressed just to her.
At the table, Vic asks, "You a newb, Bobbi?" with an air of faux disbelief, "Never." She laughs and says, "Truthfully, everyone is a newb until they can build up experience. Not everyone can be a L33T, after all," pronouncing the slang as leet naturally.
"Oh yeah," Bobbi notes with a nod, "I used to help my brothers make sausage. All sorts of exotic ones really. We'd go hunting in the woods and then process our kills, filling a big freezer in our garage with various cuts of meat and things like sausages." Oddly, Bobbi seems to have no problem with hunting, butchering animals, or making sausages, but milk and eggs? yech! "Thank you!" Bobbi says to the waitress in a chipper voice as a big stack of pancakes is served to her -- no butter, in case you couldn't guess. Picking up the syrup, she lowers her head until it's almost eye level with the pancake stack. With the look of a child playing with brand new toys on Christmas morning, she begins to slowly drizzle syrup over her stack of vegan virgins.
At the table, Bobbi grins as she looks from her syrup pouring up to Vic. "Yeah, I guess that's not much of a surprise," Bobbi notes, "I had fun once I figured out how to stop walking into walls and screaming, though honestly that was a bit fun as well."
Lazzaro is lost in his own work until the waitress comes over to him and he looks up with a smile. "Hello, may I a have a decaf and a short stack please." He then hears the tale end of a conversation in the diner and looks over to the two ladies one of which is artistically drizzling her syrup on her pancakes.
The waitress nods to Lazzaro as she takes his order, pleasant words and a smile at the end of the order interaction proceed her departure to fill the order.
Vic laughs at softly stated comments from Bobbi before consuming another bite of her red waffle Strawberry Apocalypse. She then says, "I like how you embrace the joy in life there," to her friend.
The coffee is delivered to Lazzaro fairly quickly with a friendly comment saying that the pancakes are being prepared for him.
At the table, Vic asks, "You know its just part of the greater 'otherworld' of course, right Bobbi?" using bearly veiled code for Umbra due to the public venue.
"You gotta," Bobbi ensures Vic as she places the syrup to her side. Grabbing a napkin, she unfolds it and places it over her tiny lil running shorts and tattooed legs. Going for her fork and knife, she begins to cut up her stack of pancakes, her tongue sticking out every-so-slighty in order to cut at the proper angles. "I mean bad stuff does happen," Bobbi notes, as if this might be a fact that some people are unaware of, "but ultimately you gotta have faith in the good an joy, do your part to Help the Universe, y'know? Like I had something bad happen to me a few months back, and someone thought it was weird that I did it with a smile and a laugh, but it's like what am I supposed to do? Cower in fear? Give someone the satisfaction of seeing they were effecting me like that? Nah, you power through with a smile and it's not that bad, but you also have to make sure to really experience things and have a good cry when you nee it."
At your table, Bobbi nods, "That's sort of my specialty. Though I do find the Web a bit confusing. I think it's because according to the 'Math of the Tree' it is a bit different in it's own way. We never got to that part, we should talk about it sometime if you're interested still. I know all that stuff can be a bit esoteric, so not offended if you aren't.
Lazzaro listens to their conversaton a bit more nodding along with what Bobbi says as he adds cream and sugar to his coffee. As his pancakes come he focuses his attention back to the table and cups his hands and closes his eyes. "Bless us O Lord for these thy gifts we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen." and then grabs the syrup and drizzle it on his own pancakes.
At the table, Vic says "You and Rufus might get along, he's a mathematician." She then asks, "Have you met him?"
Vic says something softly to Bobbi and then finishes her Strawberry Apocalypse and her milk. The plate of bacon, which had been left in reserve, then is moved onto the now empty waffle plate as she says, "People are surprised at how I'm coping with my situation also. Basically take the same approach, just... never saw someone get eye level for their syrup delivery like you did I guess."
At the table, Bobbi nods to this, and notes, "He actually took me out on a 'date' to a steakhouse the previous Monday. It was a good excuse to dress up and we need to resolve some things, so I didn't have the heart to tell him."
Bobbi nods with understanding to what Vic said. "Yeah, you are handling it well," Bobbi notes to Vic, "I figure it's not going to help you out any if I point out how tough it must be. At the same time, I'm always around if you just want to talk. I've been told I'm a good listener." Bobbi glances to her pancakes, and then looking back to Vic, and says, "Oh, you gotta get involved with everything you do. They say that washing the dishes should be like bathing the baby Buddha. I actually used the creation and eating of waffles, and the washing of the related dishes to explain a lot of advanced philosophy to one of my former students. She said that's when it really clicked. If I make my actions a part of my world, then they contain a microcosm of everything else." Bobbi shrugs lightly and adds with a grin, "plus, it's fun." With that she forks some pancakes and begins eating. "rfeel rfree froo frake fruh frite," she begins to say before swallowing and adding, "if you want to see how the vegan ones are different from the regular ones, and how much flavor proper syrup techniques add."
Vic's expression twists up at the suggestion of vegan food and shakes her head. Putting on a mock-Tarzan-esque vocal tone she says, "Meat good. Important," and she adds a playful, "Ugh," before chuckling and punctuating this with half of a strip of bacon being bit off and chewed gleefully with a satisfactory ummm accompanying it. "I hear you," she says more sincerely with, "But seriously, our lifestyles are not going to align in that way, Bobs."
Lazzaro continues to just listen to the two women speak as he eats he pancakes and starts focusing in on his tablet as it isrude to interject himself into a conversation especially one that is in the privacy of another booth. He smirks and chuckles a bit at Vic's impression still just working away on his own.
"Oh, I wasn't suggesting that," Bobbi notes as she takes a sip of her coffee, "I didn't get the impression about you. And contradictory to what some people think, we're not always trying to convert everyone we meet. Heck, sometimes these 'converts' cause way too many issues for us." Bobbi gives a little shrug to this as she continues to eat her pancakes.
The couple, having finished their breakfast and thus lost the excuse to keep hanging out here, stand up from their table and, after the gent pays their bill, depart. The single guy with his tablet orders a refill of coffee and Jennifer, the chef, takes the lul in orders to be an excuse to do a light cleaning of the stovetop griddle.
Vic glances over in Lazzaro's direction and leans closer to Bobbi to say something softly at the table and then says, "Backing up a bit, that date..." and asks something else softly at the table.
At the table, Vic's first comment was, "I think we're entertaining the swarthy gentleman over there," and after suggesting they back up she asks, "What was it that you didn't have the heart to tell Rufus?" adding, "If I'm not prying deeply of course."
At the table, Bobbi looks to Vic and says, "Well, that I'm Vegan, of course, he did ask me out to a steakhouse after all." Going back to eating her pancakes, she adds almost as a casual afterthought, "rhan rhat rom ray." Bobbi swallows her pancakes and takes a sip of coffee, before she clarifies, "and that I'm gay."
Lazzaro finishes his breakfast rather quickly and goes crosses his hands again and closes his eyes again. "We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen." Then puts up a finger to get the waitresses attention. "May I have another cup of decaf please when a moment to spare." Flashing her a smile before returning to his tablet.
Bobbi eats her pancakes and drinks her coffee while talking quietly with Vic at their table. The hippie seems a bit oblivious to the fact that someone has been listening to their conversation or that her table-mate has noticed this fact. Living with your head in the clouds can be a blessing and a curse.
Vic laughs kindly at something her companion said and replies quietly at the table before continuing to eat her bacon. She also nurses her chocolate milk to last though the remainder of the nicely crispy meat product.
At the table, Vic after the kind laugh she says, "I didn't even think of the first and I suspected you might mean the latter but I had no clue really. No 'gaydar' here, partially because it really doesn't matter to me as long as everyone's happy and consensual naturally," after a sip of milk she adds, "Poor Rufus though... and unfortunately while I'm pretty much pan, certain forms of piercings are unappealing to me. Not that he's approached the subject or asked me out... I did sleep on his couch one night though. We're more like bros than anything else."
At the table, Bobbi looks to Vic and says, "Why would you know? I mean, I've never been secretive about it, but I'm also not exactly flying a flag so to speak. Among our group, I seem to get attention from straight men who didn't even consider it, as well as straight women who seem to decide that because they want to 'experiment' I should be falling over myself to accommodate them. I mean, I don't know how much Rufus was actually trying to romance me, I mean all we did the whole time was talk metaphysics." Bobbi pauses and then adds with a laugh, "He called me an asshole at one point, though that was from a misunderstanding. Which is fair, as the reason we even went on the date was to clarify the misunderstandings after I thought he kept implying that I was a whore." Bobbi shakes her head as she goes back to eating pancakes.
Lazzaro gets his second cup of decaf and begins to sip it. He looks over what he was working on and nods seemingly satisfied. He pulls out his wallet putting cash down on the table, grabbing his cane, and heading toward the counter.
Bobbi laughs lightly as she quietly talks with Vic about something, her stack of vegan virgins slowly dissappearing under the power of her post workout appetite.
Vic gives a subtle nod towards Lazzaro to acknowledge his non-intrusive eavesdropping on her conversation with Bobbi. She "ughs," over something her companion said to her and shakes her head as she says something quietly at the table. After that she picks up another piece of bacon and gladly consumes it.
At the table, Vic says, "Rufus can be a bit mercurial from my observation of him. Also... experimentation. No, not my cup of tea." This she doesn't clarify as personal information may not be desired and she respects this possibility.
At your table, Bobbi nods, and notes, "Yeah, I got that impression as well, seems like a good guy. Apparently he legitimately didn't get why I might take offense to being asked 'How's tricks?' immediately after he was discussing a brothel." Bobbi has an amused expression as she shakes her head. "Yeah, I try to explain to them," Bobbi begins to say, "that every gay woman has the story of a confused straight girl that broke their heart, just like every gay man has the story of a confused straight boy that kicked their ass. This general assumption that being gay means I'm promiscuous, it's dehumanizing in it's own way, but I try not to take offense."
Lazzaro pulls his black card from his wallet and hands it to the waitress at the counter. "Thank you the food was delicious." He says with a smile and heads toward the door.
Bobbi continues to eat her pancakes and drink her coffe while chatting at her table with Vic. The two seem to be having a friendly, though at times somewhat serious discussion. Through all this, there's a kind smile on Bobbi's face.
Waffle time again! And actual waffles this time, not just waffle-approximate! It is with this idea that Vivian steps into Wafflemania, an anticipatory smile on her features. Moving with purpose, the blonde woman makes a bee-line for the counter, offering up a nod of greeting to Lazzaro as he prepares to pay and only then taking in a bit of the room. It is then that she notices Vic and Bobbi, and her eyebrows arch and she raises a hand in greeting to the pair. After a moment of indecision, the short-haired blonde leaves the counter and makes her way over to their table.
"Hey there Laundry Whisperer! And... Bobbi, right?" Vivian says with a wide grin, looking to each in turn, "Not sure you remember me, ma'am, but we met in Roasters and had a talk about Rule 34 and my lack of cooking ability."
"Vivian!" Vic calls out to the blonde in response and then, smirking at the comment about her two friends' previous conversation, asks Bobbi, "Please tell me that you didn't dive into that rabbit-hole," and shifts over a bit to show that she is trying to make room on her side of the booth despite that with her computer on the table and her bag on the bench that attempt is doomed to fail - there is obviously more space on Bobbi's side of the booth.
Lazzaro takes his card back and slips out the door.
"Oh, uh, hey Vivian," Bobbi says as she looks to Vivian with a slightly goofy grin. "The sloth porn?" Bobbi wonders, "no, I decided I probably did not need to see that, but uh ... thanks for telling me about it?" Bobbi glances to Vic and then back to Vivian and asks, "Would you like to join us?" Bobbi looks to Vic's bag on her side and then scoots a bit over to make room for Vivian to join them, should she choose to, pulling her mostly finished plate of vegan virgins and coffee mug with her. At a passing waitress, Bobbi gives a bright smile and says, "more coffee, if you please."
"It was just something that came up," Vivian states with a sheepish smile to Vic, "Better forewarned about the weird side of the internet than stumbling upon it. I think she was going to search for sloths and there might've been furries associated with it?" The blonde lets out a bark of laughter, grinning lopsidedly to Bobbi, "Well, sloths and everything else. Rule thirty-four states that if it exists, there's porn of it somewhere on the internet."
Her eyes light up at being offered to join, "Well, I certainly wouldn't mind joining you. Always better to eat waffles and waffle-related sustenance with a group. As long as I'm not disturbing you two?" Vivian looks between the pair.
Vic shakes her head. "No, nothing earth-shattering being discussed, just shopping and the odd convolutions of misunderstood romantic advances by clueless people," Vic says before attacking another piece of bacon from the pile on a small plate atop another plate with evidence of a previously consumed Strawberry Apocalypse... with red crumbs among the hint of fluid strawberry remains.
"Oh, I had forgotten about the furries," Bobbi says, as she scrunches her face into an amused yet horrified grimace. "More and more I get the feeling," Bobbi starts to say as she finishes the last sip of her coffee, "that there's a lot of weird things on the internet. Like way more information than you would find with good ol' microfiche." Bobbi then glances to the open space in the booth next to her, nodding to Vivian and saying, "please join us. I just finished a run, but I swear I'm not gross." Bobbi closes her eyes and scrunches her face once more as she wonders why exactly she said it like that. As the waitress come back and fills Bobbi's coffee, Bobbi flashes her a winning smile. Then she proceeds to add way too much sugar into her black coffee, carefully stirring it in with a spoon.
Vivian winces slightly. "Ahh, romantic entanglements. Not something I have all that much experience with, honestly. I go for friends-with-benefits rather explicitly." The blonde can't help but laugh at Bobbi's statement, grinning broadly with a wink. "Oh, yes. There's lots of weirdness on the internet. It's kind of its charm." She clears her throat and adopts a super serious voice, "It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." Then she breaks into a huge grin and drags a chair over.
"Yeah, microfiche is information people either approved for publication or public records or the like... the internet is unfiltered by others' approval as you can upload expressions of your inner thoughts directly and only after its published do other people apply their opinions to it. No editors in control, equals no control, equals anarchy and chaos. For some people this is good, for others bad... or in programming terms... feature or bug," Vic explains taking a break from bacon which she corrects as soon as she finishes speaking.
"Anarchy an chaos are neither good nor bad," Bobbi notes to Vic, "they simply are. Facts of the Universe that you can either accept or lose your mind running from. Honestly, I believe the way that laws are applied unequally an often discriminatorily or with nepotistic benefit means that all forms of governance are in some ways lower-case 'anarchy.'" Bobbi gives a little shrug to this as she takes her last few bites of pancakes. "Microfiche and books got me through college just fine," Bobbi notes, "and while I can see the advantage to information presented in such a fashion as with the internet, isn't there the issue that people might misinform others, intentionally or not? I feel like this could probably cause some issues, a whole new strain of anti-intellectualism, which there already is plenty of in this world. I dunno, I'm figuring out these computer things more and more every day, and it helps me make sense of a lot of things beyond just the keyboard."
With a grin Vic says, "Note that I did not say that I was either of these sorts of people, you're preaching to the choir, my friend." She then adds, "Okay, so there's been a mix of philosophy and other forms of Deep Thought - trademarked - in the conversation as well," specifically for Vivian as an update to the earlier, proven incomplete, inventory of what she's joining.
Cocking her head to one side, Vivian half-listens to the conversation as she goes over the menu. She peers over the rim of the menu and at Bobbi curiously. "But that doesn't fit the definition of 'anarchy', does it?" she says, "Even a corrupt, nepotismic system is still a -system-. Anarchy, pretty much by definition, means there isn't a system at all." The blonde shrugs absently, returning to her menu, "Sure, misinformation can happen. It's up to the user to sift through what is or is not correct. Break it down into its component parts to find the facts. It takes a bit of work, but I actually prefer that process to just being told things are one way and one way only." Suddenly she gasps, "Ooh, yeah! The whole chocolate malt waffle thing! I'm going to get that."
The blonde grins at Vic and nods, folding her hands in front of her, "Hey, I like Deep Thought! And philosophy! Mind you, I don't have any formal training in either, but I do like entertaining both."
"Yeah, I do that sometimes," Bobbi notes as she bobbles her head from side-to-side, a slightly guilty-but-gonna-do-it-anyway look on her face. "If I ever get too much like that," she notes, "just let me know. I sometimes don't realize I'm doing it, and it's been helpful to me to get called out when I'm being annoying." Bobbi looks from them, and with an almost pleading grin notes, "but my heart is in the right place. I just find this stuff interesting."
Bobbi shakes her head lightly at Vivian and notes, "You can very much have an anarchic system. Anarchy has more to do with authority, laws, and rulership. An anarchic system can still be organized and even have leaders. Good examples of this would be the European squatter networks towards the end of the twentieth century and even larger anarchist communities such as Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War. Orwell's book on the topic is a great read. In the case of my examples the anarchic elements come in from those who are supposedly 'in charge' not recognizing the own authority of the laws they have supposedly implemented. It is not strictly anarchic, though it is a strain of it that is swirled into these other systems."
Vic gently jerks her head twice towards Bobbi as she says, "Formal... or semi-formal... training central," to Vivian, adding, "I'm with you, interested but not formally educated in such." She sips away the last of her chocolate milk and shifts one of the ever-present glasses of water closer to replace the now empty milk glass. "Be warned, Vivian, deep waters ahead," she adds with a wink towards both of her friends.
Blonde brows furrow slightly in thought as Vivian regards Bobbi. "I think you're just redefining what 'anarchy' means, then, to fit a bias. The actual definition of anarchy is a lack of any organization. It's like you're saying 'I now define triangles to be four sided shapes because three sided shapes are terrible!' But that's not what the definition of a triangle is. Hold on a moment..."
Vivan digs into her pocket and produces her smartphone, tap-tap-tapping away at briefly before nodding, "Yeah. Anarchy, noun. Absence of any form of political authority. Political disorder and confusion. Absence of any cohesive principle, such as a common standard or purpose." She then stuffs her phone away and shrugs, "So, yeah, even those squatter networks would not be anarchic because there is still a cohesive principle and common standard for behavior."
The blonde grins at Vic, "Hey, in between porn, videogames, and training, talking like this is really all a soldier has."
"You're stating multiple usages of the word," Bobbi begins to say, "as if they were a single definition. 'Anarchy' can often be used dismissively by it's detractors. This is not what anarchist thought or anarchist communities have ever been suggesting. Look at the word itself and how it is constructed. It is only meant to refer to a lack of rulership, not a lack of organization, systems, or guiding principles. Those that wield authority often use the former definition to suggest that without them there would be complete societal breakdown, and they clearly have a vested interest in this misunderstanding. There are many strains of anarchist thought, and what is being rallied against is not assosciations, but rather coercive associations. It's said that one of the definitions of 'the state' is that it has a monopoly on the legitimate usage of force. Those of anarchist persuasion instead think that the only legitimate use of force is in dismantling the state."
"But we might have to agree to disagree here," Bobbi notes to Vivian, "as we seem to be each using different usages of this word, though both are legitimate." Bobbi looks to Vic and notes, "I had this problem with Rufus when we tried to discuss 'Chaos.'"
Having tapped some keys on her laptop during this conversation to consult an online dictionary herself, Vic shakes her head and says, "Words have meaning. This one has multiple and so you're both right like Bobbi said." Looking to Vivian she says, "As a soldier I'm not surprised you'd focus on the first... although since it also can mean lack of obedience to an authority... or insubordination... I'm surprised you didn't bring that up." Turning her attention to Bobbi, she says, "Anarchism is what you're referring to and yes, anarchy can mean that as well, but the origin of the word is from Middle French, Medieval Latin or even from a related Greek word. 'Lawlessness' or literally the 'lack of a leader.'" She pauses and says, "Not trying to add fuel to the fire of course but the etymology of the word supports Viv more than you Bobbi." Language geek alert for anyone who had any doubts.
Bobbi, Vic, and Vivian are sitting at one of the tables, chatting; Vic has her laptop and Bobbi has on a running outfit. The remains of breakfast are in front of those two. "You're right that they're different definitions, but they all fall under the umbrella of 'anarchy'," Vivian replies to Bobbi, "But okay, let's only go with -one- definition, the first. Absence of any form of political authority. That still wouldn't make nepotistic systems anarchic in any way, since they are a political authority, just a corrupt one." She shrugs again, "Again, though, those who you are citing are redefining what anarchy means, something which you accuse others of doing in bad faith. If it's wrong for one, it's wrong for others, yeah?" A wry smile spreads over Vivian's features, "Though I do wonder how those who would dismantle 'the state' would propose to -keep- a 'state' from forming again -without- becoming said state. Nature an politics abhors a vacuum."
Vivian turns to Vic with raised eyebrows, "Honestly? I didn't see the definition for a lack of obedience listed where I found it on my phone. The site I got it from only had those three definitions listed." But she does grin as the linguistics lesson favors her.
Turning back to Bobbi, Vivian offers an apologetic smile, "Yeah, I think we might be at an impasse here if we can't even agree on standard definitions. Hard to talk about things when one person says 'orange' and another says 'apple', but they're both referring to the same fruit." A beat. "Which is probably a grape." She tilts her head to one side questioningly, "Rufus? There's a Rufus in Katie's DnD group, I think. Kinda an odd name, but I doubt it's the same guy. I mean, what are the chances of that happening?"
Rufus had a shopping list today. Silicon boards, circuit bundles and. processor cores. Why did strawberry waffles make the cut? Who knows. Well....Rufus does. Numbers told him. And so, into Wafflemania comes Rufus, with a full backpack. His sunglasses are on which means he was forced to deal with people. He goes to the counter and pulls out a card. "Strawberry Apocalypse please. To go." He asks. "Wait!...and a large coffee." He orders.
"The problem is you are using etymology in translation," Bobbi notes to Vic, "and taking of of context. Monarchy is another word with the same suffix. If you'll notice that you mentioned French, Latin, and Greek, I think it's clear we're talking about a European context for this word, and indeed that's where a lot of capital 'A' Anarchist thought is developing -- distinguished here from the lower-case 'a' anarchism of say Taoism. This word is coined in relation to the systems they were trying to dismantle, European Monarchies. In terms of the Monarchy, the organizing system of socuety comes from the rulership of the King and the laws they set forth. In thise sense Anarchy is a lack of laws enforced through the violence of the state and a lack of the /rulership/ of the King. However, this is no way means that Anarchists do not believe in voluntary organizing systems or leadership. You have to remember that the dictionary is a history of warfare, and the state is very much in an existentialist war with those that would seek to dismantle it, so of course related authority would attempt to confuse this."
"If you're dismissing all but one definition," Bobbi says as she looks to Vic, "then of course you will find other definitions at odds with. I suppose my point was a bit of an esoteric one, but it was that corrupted authority is deligitmized authority. In short that the very ones in a position of authority are denying their our legitimate authority in favor of deriving greater illegitimate authority. At this point rulership and laws are no longer a system of the state. I mean to really get to this we have to start going into the definition of what 'law' is. Already we've seen we'll have a problem there based on Vic's 'lawlessness' definition. How anarchists propose preventing a state from forming again is also probably something that will take us way further down a rabbit-hole than we need to, especially since Anarchist though is as you might guess, rather diverse."
"I think we can all at least agree," Bobbi notes to them, "the a corrupt state is an unfortunately common state of affairs."
Hearing Rufus's name, Bobbi begins to turn to look, but as it's almost immediately followed by 'Katie,' Bobbi snaps her head back to it's previous position, and then looks down at her coffee, seemingly deep in thought about something -- in a more emotional than academic way, that is.
Vic, who happens to be facing the entrance due to the side of the table she's on, sees Rufus' entry and chuckles at the timing of the whole thing. "Speak of the devil," she says to her companions at the booth she sits at - Bobbi and Vivian. Her bacon is as finished as the waffle she'd had prior to that and, without consulting the other women, she calls out, "Hey there Rufus!" attempting to interrupt his plan to depart.
Rufus gets his coffee. The waffles though. He has to wait. Damn. He sighs, looking around. Then it happens. The summons. Rufus looks toward Vic and nods, grabbing his coffee and heading toward the table. "Yo." He greets with a wave to the table. "What's shaking everyone?" *sluuuurp*
For entirely OOC reasons Vic's player had to bow out of the scene and it was decided that for her the scene did a Fade to Black here with her having gotten a message from New Hope Gym (Raise's place) to come and check on her servers update.
