11.01.19 Braiding

Hermetic Hair Braiding
Hermetic sisters bond over hair braiding.
IC Date	11.01.19
IC Time	Evening.
Players	Bobbi Catelynn Typhanie
Location	Prospect Roasters Basement
Spheres	Mage
Theme Song	"Stuck in the Middle with You" - Stealers Wheel

This log has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

--

The mages are meeting in the Basement of Prospect Roasters. Bobbi, the aloof Hermetic Hippie, has just finished braiding the hair of a 5 year old named Lily, when she calls over Catelynn, a new Hermetic in town just getting to know people ...

Bobbi smiles, "You're welcome Lily. If you ever want your hair braided again, and your mama is too busy, I'd be happy to do it again." She looks around the room, "Alright, who's next." Her gaze falls on Catelynn, "Hey, want to get your hair braided by your Hermetic sister over here?"

Catelynn looks up towards her head when the dragon lands on her, a soft giggle escaping her lips as Alwa chases him off and then they both go tumbling. Her eyes drift over to Bobbi and she rises, closing her notebook. "Sure! But um.. it's the Order.. right? Not sisterhood?" She remembered that from much earlier in the meeting. She has a good memory. She sits down in front of Bobbi and rests her hands in her lap, her back facing her Order sister.

Bobbi smiles at Catelynn, "Oh honey ... we'll never smash the patriarchy with that attitude." She pats the couch next to her, "Here, have a seat, just mind the leg."

Catelynn blinks a bit at Bobbi's words, taking a seat on the couch and shaking her head a bit. "Um.. I'm not sure if the Order's really invested in smashing the patriarchy Bobbi." But then she holds her head still, remembering that her hair is going to be getting braided.

"NO, Branton," comes another young voice from upstairs. "You just paid for it, but you don't get to eat it." Down the stairs comes a fiery curly haired child with more freckles than one could easily count. SHe has a cookie. JUST one cookie. With a bite taken out of it. "Mama! Tell Fire butt that he can't have my cookie." The little girl, just as a safeguard, LICKS the cookie. Licklicklick. No one wants red-head germs. They're DANGEROUS. Coming down the stairs is another redhead, though more refined, and not a cookie licker. "The Patriarchy of the Order needs to be smashed. Fuckers."

Bobbi smiles and nods, "That's why we as sisters need to come together. You should read some of the pamphlets the Verbena have, they're making a lot of sense to me these days. Soo ...." she gazes at Catelynn, "... what kind of braids do you want?"

Catelynn bites her bottom lip as she hears Typhanie's words and then Bobbi talking about Verbana pamphlets. "Umm.. Ms. Bobbi, maybe you shouldn't be reading Verbana pamphlets as much?" Oh yes, this aspiring mage has been taught well by the Order. She keeps her hands in her lap and smiles to the little girl coming down with the cookie. "Oh, a french braid will be perfect, thank you."

Bobbi smiling, gives Typhanie the Worker's Fist, and calls out, "Right on sister!" Then turning back to Catelynn, "The Verbena may have brainwashed me, but the Hermetic Brothers have you /really/ brainwashed. Also, it's just Bobbi. I let the little girl call me Ms. Bobbi because it was cute, but as your sister we should be equals." She starts slowly gathering Catelynn's hair before leaning in asking in a conspiratorial voice, "You've at least read Marx, right?" Leaning back and starting to braid Catelynn's hair, she adds "And don't stop at the Manifesto, you really need to read Das Capital to know what's up." Her previous goofiness, seems to slowly be replaced by an academic militancy. For now. "After that, Bakunin and Kropotkin are musts, but that's just really the foundations of the movement." She starts humming while braiding, and occasionally naming another 'must read' anarchist and communist writers. "I mean, of course they all pale in comparison to Hermes Trismegistus, but the point is we need a Marxist-Feminist theory of Hermeticism if we really are ever going to move into the 20th century, never mind the 21st. I mean, we all agree that the Technocracy is bad, but how do we ever hope to bring and end to them if we don't first bring an end to the patriarchy and The State itself? Not going to happen. I mean forming The Sisterhood within the Order is an important step, but it's not all there is to it. As they say, 'Any movement that's not also a class movement is a bowel movement.'"

The look on Catelynn's face reveals that she did not anticipate signing up for a lecture on marxist-feminist ideology. She remains politely still but there's a look in her eyes that silently screams 'help me' to Typhanie as she comes down the steps. After a moment though her face relaxes as she remembers the first thing that Bobbi said. "Wait.. they brainwashed you? Like, literally brainwashed you? You're joking, right?" She desperately wants to believe Bobbi is joking. She smiles to little Willow as she talks, giggling at the shaking bracelet. "I'm a Hermit too. I mean, as of recently. Stellasaurus Rex?"

Bobbi shakes her head slightly while smiling, "No, I was brainwashed, but the Verbena have opened my eyes and now I can truly see. I use the term brainwashed affectionately and strategically. It's part of the aloofness that allows for me to slip under the brothers's radar. I mean, people might be threatened by 'The Sisterhood of Hermes,' but no one is going to worry about the 'Eternal Fraternal Order of the Psychedelic Cybernetic Sisterhood of Hermes' until it's too late and we're marching in the street an seizing the means of production and magick. To quote Cybulkiewicz, 'It is a great universal and immutable law of life to never underestimate a woman. Because in any situation there is usually a woman whose power is greater than yours, capable of doing incredible acts of epic magnitude.' By taking advantage of our position of 'inferiority' we are able to turn that into their greatest weakness." While braiding Catelynn's hair, she adds, "I have some books I could lend you."

Catelynn's eyes just about bug out of her head when Bobbi rather enthusiastically admits to being brainwashed. Her eyes shift around to the others in the room though as she looks to see what their responses are. She's still rather new to this whole society but she didn't know casual brainwashing was part of the package. "Oh.. um.. yeah. I love to read. I'd love to read some of your books sometime Bobbi." She giggles nervously before she begins whispering under breath, "please don't brainwash me, please don't brainwash me."

Bobbi smiles that goofy smile as she nods, "Come down to Tent City anytime, I'll have a whole syllabus prepared for you. Once you get up on theory, I can start showing you some practical knowledge like improvised explosives and advanced monkeywrenching. Oh ..." She stops dead in her tracks, and slowly leans to ask, "Do you like crystals?" Leaning back and going back to braiding the hair, she continues, "I can show you my crystal collection. I have a ton. I'm not sure yet you have a hippie soul, so I can't promise to reveal the true secrets of the crystals, but you can definitely see them. Back in Oregon I had a van, but I traded it for a bunch of crystals. Best decision I ever made in my life ..." she chortles "... well, besides reading Hermes Trismegistus."

Which makes it official, everyone in this room is crazy. Maybe not the kid. Catelynn, just sits with an awkward smile on her lips as the brainwashed mage braids her hair, slowly nodding her head. "I mean, yeah? Who doesn't like crystals? Right?" There's an awkward laugh from her a moment later as her rather long hair continues to be braided by Bobbi. She glances to Branton and smiles. "Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Catelynn. Order of Hermes? I mean, studying to be? I'm a sorcerer too. I manipulate magic." She smiles and then realizes the wrong word. "Oh, mana!"

Willow peeks back around with a big glass of milk and goes to sit on the floor so she doesn't spill anything. "I'm a sorcerer too. I can move things with my brain. Wanna see?" She glances up at Bobbi and.... lets go of her cookie and it just kind of hangs there in the air. Typhanie breathes. "I thought you were going to do the milk." Typhanie brings her hand to her chest to make sure that her heart is still where it belongs. "So, Bobbi, are you ACTUALLY a Hermetic or are you an Etherite?"

Bobbi smiles as she braids Catelynn's hair, "You have such long pretty hair ... this is going to take forever ..." she starts listing off types of crystals for what seems like forever, until she hears her name. "Wait, are you talking to me or Robert? Oh wait, no. Robert wasn't actually here, they were just talking about him. Uh, yeah, of course I'm Hermetic, why do you ask? I mean, I've been mistaken for a lot of things before, but an Etherite? That's a new one."

It's true, Catelynn's hair is rather long which she usually likes but right now is proving to keep her anchored to the crazy woman. When Bobbi directs her attention towards Typhanie again Catelynn looks back to Branton. "Oh? I'm just getting started really. I can't do much more than the stuff with a mana. But I'm starting to work on enchanting."

Typhanie nods to Bobbi. "I was just confused with your title. Best to just clear those things up when I'm not sure." Willow grins ear to ear and even takes a little mock bow and bites the cookie in the air and then picks it up and munches it again."

Bobbi throws back her and laughs while smiling, "ohhhh .... that thing ...." Braiding the hair, she says, "That's just an ironic literary device. I have some metal plates screwed into the bones in my legs." She looks back, "You know, you're the first one that's said anything about it. I admire that. Anything else I can clear up?"

...Everyone besides Catelynn and Bobbi leave the Basement ....

It's just Catelynn and the crazy brainwashed mage. No one even cared that she's brainwashed. The color drains out of her face a bit and she swallows, turning around once Bobbi is done to smile nervously at her. "Hey.. great. Thanks!" She rises, laughing softly as she goes to retrieve her notebook. "You know. I'll /definitely/ look all of that up. You know, tomorrow. At the library." She doesn't run. She scurries.

Bobbi nods, "Oh, definitely consult your local library, but stop by Tent City and I'll have a whole syllabus ready for you. Good night sister, it was great meeting you!." After watching Catelynn scurry up the stairs, Bobbi says to herself, "She seemed nice. I think we made a friend."