[UA] Cloudbusting and an archetype

[Royal Minister of Stuff]

Is there a Mentor archetype? I don't own a copy of the
Stratosphere book.  

--- James O'Rance <jorance at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 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/
> 
> 
> 
>
_________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
> http://www.hotmail.com.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> UA mailing list
> UA at lists.uchicago.edu
> http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua


=====
-- Rp Bowman, Royal Minister of Stuff
The Electronic Nation of Yokeltania:
http://www.geocities.com/yokeltania/

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua