(VT) Talking Shop

[Zodiac]

Dressed and with her hair in a ponytail, Zoey watched Avis a little blankly at first as she rattled off a bunch of her thoughts, pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting to listen. For the most part she simply nodded along in her agreement, until Avis concluded. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand as she considered the words, before shaking her head.

"Death is about duality, as is Spirit in its own way. Death is not about the ending of anything, not in particular, so much as the consistant change between one state and another. It's similar to the Tarot card Death: Endings, beginnings, change, transformation and transition. If you think on it more in that kind of open-context, I'm sure you can sort out the many ways it applies to film.

"Spirit," Zoey continued, "seems to me an easy one for film. Conceptually it's the notion that inanimate objects have a desire to fulfill some purpose that they were created for. Film itself does that - the goal that was wound into each frame of each image was to entertain and enlighten audiences, to tell a story, and to express enjoyment, or fear, or contemplation... the spirit of the movies.

"And I agree, in part, regarding Fate, though not entirely," she added. "The phrase Fate is Fickle is not often fully embraced in film. Predictability is what too often happens. And Fate is certainly not a predictable essence. However, when you consider both Fate and Death for a moment, there are plenty of rumours regarding hauntings on set during film, instances where actors do voluntarily leave their lives in the hands of Fate when performing stunts or difficult situations. Jackie Chan, for instance, has broken many, many bones in filming at Fate's whims. Fate may also play a roll in the popularity of a film, or the ascension of an actor or actress in any given instance..."

She took another sip of her coffee. "But really, I'm not quite awake enough to provide a more thorough analysis of the subject than that... so give me a few minutes for the caffiene to kick in."

[Star]

He got that thousand yard stare. Not the one Forrest Gump or Apocalypse Now one, but maybe the Beautiful Mind one. Where the eyes un-focus because there's just no brain to spare for focusing them. The lights are one but nobody's home. A flick of a finger collapsed his house, and the deck was assembled and began shifting between hands. Sliding, folding, riffing, unconscious movements the echoed the cog wheels turning.

And they took a while to turn. It was a lot to digest, conceptually. Side note? It was super cute the way Avis talked about Mind half the time. So Warlock. Cards slid out of the deck onto the table. Seven, and three, as she spoke. Like bookmarks.

Interesting stuff. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Like, next, would they be talking about diving into head space? A sliver rippled through him. Focus, grasshopper. Because.

"Okay, just thoughts. Not, like, arguing with Zoey."

A finger landed on one of the three cards on the table, pinning it and another flicked the edge to send it rotating like a pinwheel.

"Death, hmmm. Shadows do tell a story. Like Plato's Cave, where the shadows are the story," he said, giving the faintest wisp of smile at Avis. "But, more, darkness, and death, man. Every, uh, story, needs, you know. Whatever you call it. Contrasts. Like, Batman? He's cool, okay, but he needs The Joker to be epic. They're all contrasts. Darkness makes light meaningful. Death makes life precious."

He moved on to the second card.

"Spirit. A lot of times, films, are like, the anthem of a generation. There's a word. A German word. But, like, 'The Breakfast Club'. It's A Thing because it captured the spirit of that generation. It asked all the questions that people had. 'The Matrix', was like a commentary on so much. Anyway. That's how I would see spirit, in the way a film can do that. Not that film is being a good movie to entertain, but that it actually, like, embodies a concept so beautifully and perfectly that people can watch it years later, and know exactly how people felt at that moment, and what the world was like, you know?"

Last card? Prime. Too easy, yo. Because Angel.

"Prime, uh, isn't just the director and stuff. It's everything. Like, what kind of film it was shot on? Was it color, or black and white. What, you know, filming technique was used. All the things. Pieces. Like, uh, Factors."

He looked up from his cards, eyebrows raised as if he were surprised he'd said so much. Honestly? He still wasn't sure what he thought of the idea, but it was A Thing for Avis, and missing pieces, so he tried to help make it whole.

But Asp had a good question, too. Application.

[Avis]

Avis alternated between blowing on her tea and sipping it as her cabalmates talked, occasionally nodding with a wide-eyed look that came from having a concept suddenly illuminated in unforeseen ways by her cabalmates' words. By the time they'd all had the chance to say their share, the beginnings of a smile had appeared above her cup of tea. The vessel hovered at chin height, held with both hands while her elbows rested on the table, forming a platform so it was easier to cool her beverage down with casual gusts of breath.

"There are times when you all make me want to do violent things, but times like this remind me of just how much I like you people. Seriously," she said, the stillborn smile on her lips blossoming the rest of the way into reality. "Like, I knew we'd be able to figure out all the gaps in my idea, but after like two seconds of talking about it and y'all have already filled them in. Well, almost all of them," she conceded, nodding towards Asp, "but still, I'm really impressed. Death, Spirit, and Prime now make a whole lot more sense in the context of the symbol. And I think Fate still makes sense, too, but I kinda disagree with what you said, Zoey. I mean, Fate is all about manipulating and controlling fate, or predicting and understanding it. Forcing a narrative over reality seems like exactly what a Fate practitioner does. Least, far as I understand it. But you're point about how film depends on luck is totally true. I definitely agree with that," Avis said, eyes briefly meeting the Guardian's before flicking away.

"Um, as for how we'd actually use it, I'm not super sure. I've never actually used a whole lot of symbolism in what I do. Like, I don't even have a magical tool, yet. I just wing it, so I'm not sure I have the best grasp of how people incorporate defined symbols into their magic. That's part of why I brought up that stuff at the mall," she explained, looking to Zoey again, eyes roving over the other woman's face, searching for something before moving back to include Asp and Star. "Anyways, uh, disclaimer aside, I do have an idea. I think if we like, studied films, we could find instances of particular scenes matching whatever rote we wanted to do. We could maybe even print out stills and use them as offerings to burn. The scenes might help us shape and maintain the imago of whatever we were trying to do, and since the discipline of film is like willworking, we might find out that there's some kind of, I don't know, synergy or something. We could even figure out how to translate film terms into high speech."

[Zodiac]

There was a brow raised as she looked to Avis, resting her chin in her hand as she listened. Curious, how the other interpreted Fate. Curious, how she expected that the use of Fate was about manipulating Fate... she firmly disagreed. Fate had its own will. Practitioners of Fate were those who learned to adapt and ride the waves of Fate to an ideal result... one didn't simply reverse the flow of a stream.

She remained very quiet for a while, her expression mostly neutral - seeming contemplative, but little else - as she sipped at her coffee. Translating into High Speech, as well? This was the idea that was being proposed? And who among them was to do that, precisely? Symbolism was a thing she'd expect a practitioner of Mind to understand, given that simple memories and dreams meant many different things based on symbolism... based on culture...

Her eyes closed as she sat in silence, simply listening to the others. Death she had no jurisdiction over, nor Spirit, so the information she could contribute was limited to basic concepts, and they'd already chosen their movie theme, movie motifs and the like.

... it was really a fuss. She didn't particularly like most movies - mostly because of how annoyingly predictable she found them. But she'd already come this far with the others, and she was too tired still to bother being verbally argumentative.

[Star]

Violent things? No, that's not concerning, at all.

He poked at the cards again, staring to reconstruct his house. Actually? It was kind of surprising, how full-fledged it was. Avis had been thinking about it for a while. His eyes flickered to the silent Zoey, giving her a curious look. Was it disinterest? Or the differing opinions on meaning? Or something else?

Was she... asleep? Her eyes were closed. Well. It was kind of late.

"Ummm. Actually? I do have this other question?" he volunteered, giving Asp an apologetic look.

"Like, what, uh, made you think about this? Is there some, like, ritual in particular? That you want to do? I mean, I'm not objecting or anything. It's just kind of easier to wrap my head around, you know, with something, hmmmm, specific in mind. Not like, Mind mind. Uh. You know. To think about." Derp.

Or? Maybe it was just curiosity. Or some cabal bonding thing.

He shrugged. Two Angels. Two Demons. They probably had something in common besides... besides...

Whatever, yo. Because Totally Not A Cabal was Totally A Cabal.

[Avis]

"Uh..." That was a good question. "Well, that's something cabals do, right? They figure out ritual symbolism and stuff? Or take on secondary Ess-names or motifs to help them all bond around a central idea? Pretty sure that's true. And we'd also super briefly talked about that kind of stuff before, ya know, we just never really finished the conversation. Which I'm kind of noticing we do a lot. Start a conversation, or talk about starting a conversation, and then never finish or follow up on them. Like with the party."

She took a sip of tea and swallowed. "Anyways, I just kinda thought it would interesting to bring this up so we could talk about it and see if it fit us. That, and I needed some help fleshing it out all the way before I went crazy trying to do it by myself. Building up theories isn't really something I'm good at. I'm kinda like a dog that way. I'd rather chew on something until I get down to the bone than do the opposite and flesh something out." A quiet snort of amusement followed the thought.

"Um, as for Arcana and stuff, I only work with three right now. Mind, Space, and Prime. Disciple, Apprentice, and Initiate. What about y'all? And I am pretty curious what everyone is working towards, too. Not just in magic, but in other stuff. Like, I know we have some cross-over, being two Talons and two Guardians, so maybe we should figure out what we already have as well as the extra specialties that we can bring to the table."

[Star]

"Ummm, sure."

Sure, cabals did that. Maybe he'd just never really thought of them doing that. They could barely make it through dinner, sometimes. Which wasn't a bad thing. Honestly? They were great at... patching things back up.

Arguments in the middle of a ritual? Little different, yo.

"Well? I don't, uh, think it's because we're all like slackers? That can't finish anything. It's just, you know, getting used to one another." The card house. So delicate. Focus. "But, yeah, it's totally interesting, and a thing cabals do."

He looked up and grinned.

"Like, real cabals."

A finger flicked out, collapsing the house again, and he held up a hand and closed his eyes.

"Okay. Idea. Give me a sec. Okay," he said, opening his eyes. "Check this out. Let's do this. This ritual thing. Two Obrimos, right? And two Mastigos? Avis, you and Zoey can ritualize your Armors and Shield with one anther. And Asp I can can, too."

The words tumbled out faster, picking up speed.

"Because we totally need to. We can make them last longer, and be stronger, working together. And like, practice doing magic together."

He jumped up, slamming he thighs into the table, then slid out of the booth with a grimace of pain. Little too excited. Ow.

"So. Yeah," hand gestures. "So we actually make this happen. Legit. And if we wanted, we could all do it, you know together. At the same time. In the same theater. So even thought it's like two separate rituals, we're working all together!"

A jump and ridiculous downward sweep with his arm like he was spiking a football punctuated it. He threw his arms up. Because crowd goes wild.

Go wild, yo. He thought it was pretty solid.