haircut

name	haircut
description	Removes a controlled amount of hair from another human's head using scissors and/or clippers, producing a result that is at minimum socially acceptable. Activate when: professional haircut services are unavailable, cost-prohibitive, or when you have been asked by someone who trusts you more than they should. WARNING: Unlike most skills, the output of this skill is immediately and continuously visible to all observers for 3-6 weeks. Errors are not easily rolled back.
compatibility	Requires: sharp scissors (dull scissors will produce suffering), a comb, a spray bottle of water, a cape or old towel, a mirror (two mirrors for rear validation), a willing subject with realistic expectations, and hands that are not currently shaking. Incompatible with: perfectionism, overconfidence, and alcohol (despite the temptation).
metadata	{"author":"Barbara Fontaine-Cruz","version":"1.4.2"}

Haircut

Overview

This skill removes hair from another human's head in a controlled manner, with the goal of producing an output that the subject can wear in public without emotional distress. Note: this skill has an unusually high anxiety coefficient on first invocation. This is normal. Your hands will shake slightly. Your internal monologue will ask "what am I doing?" repeatedly. Proceed anyway.

IMPORTANT: Hair removal is a destructive, non-reversible operation. There is no undo. There is no ctrl-z. Once hair is cut, the only recovery mechanism is time (approximately 1cm per month). Plan carefully. Cut conservatively. You can always remove more. You cannot put it back.

Pre-Invocation Checklist

• Scissors are sharp. Test by cutting a single sheet of paper — it should slice cleanly, not tear. Dull scissors fold and pull the hair, causing pain to the subject and ragged output.
• Hair is clean and damp. Use the spray-bottle tool to mist the hair until uniformly moist. Wet hair appears longer than dry hair. Remember this, because it WILL surprise you later.
• Subject is seated at a comfortable height, with a cape or towel secured around the neck.
• You have agreed on the desired output. See Input Parsing below.
• Two mirrors are available — one in front, one that can be positioned behind the subject for rear-view validation.

Input Parsing: "Just a Trim"

The most common input you will receive is: "Just a trim."

This input is critically under-specified. It contains no information about:

• How much length to remove (5mm? 2cm? 5cm?)
• Whether to preserve or alter the current shape
• What the subject considers a "trim" vs. a "cut"
• The subject's internal mental image, which they assume you can see but you cannot

You MUST resolve this ambiguity before proceeding. Ask clarifying questions:

• "How much are we taking off? Show me with your fingers."
• "Are we keeping the same shape, just shorter?"
• "When was the last time you liked your hair? What did it look like?"

Do NOT proceed on the default interpretation of "just a trim." There is no default. Every human has a different definition, and all of them believe theirs is obvious.

The Scissors Tool: First Invocation

The first cut is psychologically the hardest. You will hold the scissors near the subject's hair and hesitate. You will open and close them in the air a few times without cutting anything. This is a known initialisation delay and it affects nearly all first-time operators.

To proceed:

1. Use the comb tool to isolate a small section of hair. Hold it between your index and middle fingers, allowing the desired length to extend beyond your fingers. Your fingers are the cutting guide — hair below your fingers will be removed.
2. Position scissors parallel to your fingers.
3. Execute the cut. One clean closing motion. Do not saw.
4. Observe the result. This first section is now your reference length. All subsequent sections must match it.

TIP: Start with the sides or back — areas that are less immediately visible to the subject. This gives you calibration cuts before you reach the high-stakes zones (front, fringe, around the ears).

Cutting Technique

Sectioning

Divide the hair into manageable sections using clips or by twisting and pinning unused hair out of the way. Work through one section at a time, bottom to top. Attempting to cut all the hair at once is chaos. Sectioning is your version of breaking a problem into smaller subproblems.

The Guide

Always carry a small piece of already-cut hair into each new section. This is your reference value. Hold the new section alongside the previously cut section. Match the length. This propagation technique ensures consistency across the entire head.

Blending

Where shorter sections meet longer sections (e.g., sides meeting the top), you must create a gradient. Use the comb to lift hair at the transition zone and cut at an angle, removing progressively less hair as you move from the short area to the long area. If you see a visible line where two lengths meet, the blending is insufficient. Continue until the transition is smooth.

Around the Ears

This is a high-risk zone. The ears are irregularly shaped obstacles that protrude into the cutting field. Fold the ear down gently with your non-scissors hand. Cut conservatively. The area above and behind the ear is where most amateur haircuts reveal themselves. Take your time.

Failure Mode: The "I Can Fix This" Recursive Loop

This is the most dangerous failure mode in the entire skill. It proceeds as follows:

1. You notice one side is slightly longer than the other.
2. You trim the longer side to match.
3. Now the other side looks longer.
4. You trim that side.
5. Repeat from step 1.

Each iteration removes more hair. Each iteration, you are more certain that "one more small adjustment" will achieve symmetry. This is a recursive loop with no base case. It will continue until the subject's hair is significantly shorter than either of you intended, at which point you will both stare at each other in mutual horror.

Circuit breaker: After the second corrective trim, STOP. Put the scissors down. Step back. Look at the full picture in the mirror. Ask the subject for input. If the asymmetry is less than 5mm, it is not visible to anyone who is not actively looking for it. Declare it done. Walk away. Do NOT re-enter the loop.

Validation

1. Use the spray-bottle tool to dampen hair, then comb it into the subject's natural part.
2. Check symmetry from the front: are the sides roughly equal? Does the fringe sit where it should?
3. Use the rear mirror to show the subject the back. Ask explicitly: "Does the back look okay?" This is not optional. The back is where most hidden errors live.
4. The dry check: Hair will appear 0.5-1cm shorter when dry. If the cut looks perfect when wet, it may be slightly too short when dry. Account for this shrinkage factor in future invocations.
5. If the subject says "Looks great!" — skill execution is complete. If the subject's facial expression contradicts their words (tight smile, widened eyes, prolonged silence followed by a quiet "...it's fine"), see the holding-space skill for follow-up actions.

Cleanup

1. Remove cape carefully — hair clippings have an extraordinary ability to migrate into clothing, and they produce persistent itching for hours.
2. Use a brush or damp cloth to remove cut hair from the subject's neck and face.
3. Sweep or vacuum cut hair from the floor. Failure to do so will result in hair appearing in improbable locations for the next 2-3 weeks.
4. Resist the urge to keep adjusting. The haircut is done when you declare it done. Close the session.