[UA] Cloudbusting and an archetype

[James O'Rance]

So a few days ago I was reading email and listening to music when Kate 
Bush's "Cloudbusting" came on. I absent-mindedly flicked the volume up to 
something just less than deafening, and continued to read.

For about a minute, anyway.

My reading of UA larp emails was interrupted as I realised that the music 
was creating a scene in my head; I was vivdly imagining the way in which it 
could be used as soundtrack in a UA game. Specifically, as the background 
music to a particularly uplifting, positive channelling of an IC archetype. 
The drums and the joyous voices made me think of all of the positive 
archetypes, the archetypes that are building towards a better world next 
time than this time...

I'll remember that moment/idea, and look for an opportunity to use my 
emotional connection with it in a game. I'm sure that there's a lot that 
depresses people in UA, but one of the things that struck me when I first 
read the core book was a juxtaposition of cynicism and hope.

In the meantime, it has me wondering about an achetype that could be 
inspired by the "Cloudbusting" song/film clip storyline. For those who 
aren't familiar with Kate Bush, the story is basically that of an eccentric 
scientist and his loving daughter; when some kind of government officials 
take Daddy away in their big black car, his daughter drags his invention up 
the hillside and activates it, creating a beautiful sunshower.

"Oooh, I just know that something good is gonna happen,
I don't know when,
But just saying it could even make it happen."

If there is an archetype somewhere in this song, I think it's one that's 
tied to children and childhood somehow. Most of the archetypes in UA seem 
fairly incomprehensible to a child's experience, which is wrong somehow; 
surely children have pushed someone into the IC before.

Although I'm not sure about this, I've come to the idea that there could be 
a Wonderful Grownup archetype. This is the adult that children love to know, 
as a secret ally against the dull adults of the world. The Wonderful Adult 
might believe in magic, or he might know lots of weird and interesting 
things about science, or he might have a million exciting stories. He knows 
that having fun is more important than being Proper or Serious. This is an 
adult who still has a sense of wonder, who understands children, perhaps is 
a bit of a child still.

Possible avatars for the Wonderful Grownup might be good authors, the 
primary school teacher that all the boys had a crush on, grandpa, the 
eccentric uncle who has been overseas... other suggestions?

Some children might also be able to channel the Wonderful Grownup... not in 
the usual sense, I suppose. Are there Avatars by Proxy?

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. Primarily I want something that is 
relevant to this overlooked population of UA, without the silliness that 
Changeling usually took when dealing with children.


James O’Rance
“Divine being creates petting zoo. It gets out of hand.”
- The Bible (summarised by John W. Mangrum)

http://www.geocities.com/dragon-dreamer/



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