Thanks everybody who played my goat-crow-rat association test game today. Very helpful.
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As some of you who read ribbonfarm regularly have probably already realized, this set of prompts has to do with the goat-crow-rat triangle mythos I'm trying to construct.
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Huh, all three are “ugly, smart survivor” archetypes; but rats are contemptible, crows are scary, and goats are ornery/difficult.
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That's an interesting reaction to the ensemble, I'm going to make that a separate prompt
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I just reread your two inaugural posts from back then (I had some older notes on this as well), & again had the sense that there was a good bit of value in the triangle, but the point was reinforced that you get yourself into trouble with the G/C/R stuff. A bridge too far?
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While the (mountain) Goat concept makes some sense as to the scaling of cliffs/etc., they are also Trickster/"Special Child" w/ these abilities, i.e. it's specifically not striving.
But as is being pted out that's true for other "feral special children" too, such as Ratatouille
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As Sarah says, "smart survivor" is definitely part of the Core Archetype. The crow is probably the least apt, as it is usually associated with "The Sphinx"/darkness/otherworldliness, and less with any sort of tribal/etc. "Public"
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Thanks for the notes, good to get your reads in these. I don’t necessarily want to harmonize with the existing archetypal perceptions but just be aware of them as context. I think all 3 can be reprogrammed unlike sharper ones like snake, crab, or lion.
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I think the modern practical perception of crows has shifted the most from the classic archetype. It’s now as much clever, tool-using urban bird as it is an omen of death or a witch familiar.
while that makers some sense, & I get the allusions that come up for you, it feels like you'd be working against the grain more than you need to? Note e.g. "The Crow" movie with the dark/ominous Brandon Lee death on set that several folks mentioned on your tread
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I take cultural archetypes much less seriously than you , these prompts were ,ore about seeking inspiration than constraints, and I have other sources. For example, in Indian comics I grew up with, the crow was a clever hacker character in a popular comic
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