[UA] Re: Work in progress - Archetype: the Caustic Brunette

[Simon Moody]

"Roselyne :)"

"a) Archetypes. Look at the books. We're talking broad-ranging ideals.
Messenger. Mother. Ideals that can have different manifestations, but that
represent a recognizable figure for most, if not all, people (in Western
culture, at the very least). At best, this archetype would qualify as one of
the character types from All Flesh.

b) If you DO manage to play this, you've got a character that can come up
with snappy dialogue (without a team of scriptwriters behind her - neat
trick, really) that the player can't necessarily come up with. Unless
someone can find a way to make this at least vaguely believable in-game...
And it takes away from any player who DOES manage to pull off that type of
dialogue or character in-game.

c) Implying that someone can cause stress/helplessness checks in a fully
developed adult human (well, character) through any sort of snappy put-down
is rather odd. Seeing dismembered bodies? Yes. Being told they're idiots in
an insulting way? ...

d) I hope you don't have any female players in any game you're going to
introduce this in."

I seem to have offended, which was far from my intention. Let me just take a
moment to explain and clarify what I was trying to do here. It seemed to me
that while such ideas as the Warrior, the Mother, the MVP, the Masterless
Man, and the Trickster are all strong and omnipresent in the human
collective unconscious, there are some ideas that are coming forward now
that are just as strong in the public perception. Consider Simon Diulio's
bid for ascension as the Terrorist in the wonderful one-shot "Flight to
Heaven." I got the notion after numbing my brain in generic sitcoms that
there is a certain kind of character that appears in film, TV, and in life,
who happens to have brown hair, be snappy, and be female. I agree that the
channels are a little odd; I do think there's something to the idea of a
comment that's just so completely brutal that it causes a personal crisis;
I've seen it happen, experienced it once myself. The archetype might be
better as a GMC exclusive, should it ever arise. I rarely have a
stable-enough group to play many sessions, so I primarily create content for
other people to use.

On your last comment: Being Mexican, I probably would have had the same
reaction if someone posted something about "the Noble Savage," "the Magical
Negro," or anything about Aztec and Mayan mythology without proper
fact-checking. I'm not looking for a fight; I'm just looking to share some
ideas. I submitted the idea of the Shepherd a while ago; maybe you'd like to
look that over and tell me your thoughts, I'd be interested in what you have
to say.

That all being said, I think I'll refrain from posting on the mailing list
or the site for some time.

-S
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