The Black Betties

The Black Betty is a weapon that has gained many abilities since it was first created and has done so due to its legendary status. The stories told about it and the woman who wields it forces both to live up to the expectation. The bat is lighter, and hits harder when she uses it. The leader of The Betties also finds that her wounds are always less several than they should be and heal quicker as well. She can take far more punishment than the average person could.

The idea of the weapon's tall tale came from the first wielder, Betsy, who began to notice these changes. When the next wielder broke the weapon and attempted to reforge it, she failed. It didn't work and would take her three more tries to make it close to the original. The weapon had to be intentionally sanded to give it the look of age, the weapon has to have the teeth attached at the end, and it had to be a black, wooden, Louisville Slugger.

The current wielder discovered that the legend of the wielder could be enhanced as well, giving different stories about how she came to join the Betties, even changing her name in each one.

The Betties trace their roots to the 50s, without the classic concept of the nuclear family, and the idea of a woman's place being at home, the founders would never have been able to take advantage of the narrow-minded view and escape the scrutiny of their husbands, who were either at work or sleeping during their hunts. Both Betsy and Elizabeth were fond of music, and that love carried on as well. The Black Betties have picked up many styles and added it to their own, but none shine through as much as the modern rockabilly style.

The group dress in all colors, though black is prominent in all of their outfits. Plaid is a common pattern as well as floral. Members can often be seen in attire not fitting their profession, such as swing dresses and pencil dresses. The nature of their legends dictate that these dresses never interfere with their hunts, however.
Other styles are also common like roll up, high waist, denim pants, cardigans, rip tops, tank tops (A more modern addition) and fitted button down shirts. Jewelry, bandannas, high heels, are common accessories. This list of course is not exhaustive and it's fairly common to see things out of the norm from time to time as the style of the Betties is so critical to their legends.

The leader is not the only member who cultivates a legend. Each member has her own legend that they spread actively. They are renowned story tellers, never giving the same origin story twice and even refusing to give their real names. Once the organization began a second chapter in California, the leader decreed that any chapter house of The Black Betties shall have no more than 24 members. This number by active members in the Shreveport Chapter house at the time.

When a new member is accepted, she sheds her old name in a sense, refusing to reveal it to anyone involved in the web. They adopt one of 24 names that have stayed true to this day, called personas.
Exceptions have been made, of course, especially in recent years. Examples include revealing names to other members, adding male names for female to male trans members like Cash, Dean, or Elvis, and starting families.
Members throughout most of the 60s and 70s could not have living family who would recognize them. If they did, it would disrupt their legend. Since then however their legend has attached itself to their names and style rather than the face who wears them.

Initially, rumors began to spread that The Betties never age. The first members of The Betties were in their thirties when they started, and since their names were still in rotation after they retired many began to wonder.
In the 90s, people realized these women were not immortal. As new members flowed in and older operatives in The Web began to notice the same names with different faces, hence the change in how the legend is applied. A member with your name in another chapter is referred to as a sister or twin.

   

Beatrice is in a rather difficult position with the current roster of The Black Betties. A major theme of the group is changing times. Beatrice is 40 years old, and finds it difficult to handle some of the younger members and their broader definitions of what defines a "monster" hunter.

Numerous incidents have occurred where the group broke its own rules, tracking down completely normal human criminals. While what these men and women have done can easily be understood as monstrous, Beatrice holds firm to what the organization has always done: Leave the humans to the lesser authorities.

This ideology has put her at odds with several members of the organization. While this is a problem, it never creates so much hostility that Beatrice is actively challenged. Her word is still law...for now.