Arconia! Where from here?

[arcon]

If the majority of our writers are busy with aspects of real life then thats understandable if not then im both concerned and a bit disappointed in the lack of partisipation lately. Ive seen no real effort on the "Journey Home thread" lately except for that of Lord Tellurine. A few of our
founding members didnt even see fit to post on the
thread about our one year anniversary.
If interest in (Arconia) and its place in
Fantasyland has seen its days. ...then the people need to let the crown know. Life will go on.
I will monitor things for the next few weeks and decide upon the extent of my future partisipation.

thanks for your time

arcon

[Zelda]

Arcon Darling,
Remember most of us are students and this time of year is exams. I am trying to write, but with 2 three hour exams looming in 3 weeks, I can only write bits. We still love you, honest and will be back as soon as we can.

[Swordsman]

Patience, Arcon. Few of us have the kinds of time we'd like to spend on fencing.net. I'm done with exams, but I'm still searching for colleges, looking for a job (which will take up time once I get one), and looking for volunteer work to do (same). Beyond that I'm also working on my application package to the Air Force Academy - no minor undertaking. I hope to have a rather major section posted in the next few days (school ends Friday), and more right after that. I don't know where Nækos is going immediately following the tournament, but I've got plans for the other three. Rayen really wants in, too, but started working recently and also lacks free time. And no offense to any of you, but when we have free time, Rayen and I like to spend it with each other, as well.


I see a long and continually glorious future for Arconia. The writing won't dry up altogether; we've just been having something of a drought recently. This too shall pass...hang in there!

[lochinvar]

Hello, gang.

One of the reasons I haven’t been posting much (aside from not being online very much lately) is that I’ve been wrestling with how to deal with this whole “cave-in” thing.

The established facts of the story so far are these:

 There was a cave-in in the dungeon, and Arcon and Buffy/Lady Moon were trapped together for an extended period of time.

 During (and immediately before) their enforced togetherness, they were experiencing romantic feelings for/about each other, stretching back into their childhood. These feelings and memories had been broutht to the surface and reinforced by an “outside” agency acting directly on their minds/dreams/memories. The outside agent was Zarcon.

 Buffy/Lady Moon is pregnant. The story has incorporated that in several places, too many to change it now. Signs of her pregnancy showed up right after she was dragged from the river without her memory.

 Buffy’s child is/will be a king. “The Stone of Wyrdnafal” and “The Journey Home” both establish this.

 Buffy/Lady Moon was unconscious much of the time she was in the hands of Zarcon prior to the duel on the cliffs.

All that being said, where do we take the story from here?

The answer hinges upon how we choose to answer the following two questions:
1) Were Arcon and Moon ‘intimate’ during the cave-in? and
2) is Moon carrying Arcon’s child ?

The story can take several directions depending on the combinations of answers, which I see as being four:

No and No -- They weren’t intimate and the child isn’t Arcon’s.

This set of answers is probably the most morally and emotionally palatable, but it leaves us with the mystery of how Moon became pregnant. The simplest solution is that she was raped by Zarcon during her kidnapping. This would also explain the “hidden king” reference, because her child would be the heir to the throne of Zarconia. Other plausible explanations could be written, I’m sure.

No and Yes -- Not possible, so I will move on to

Yes and No -- They were intimate, but the child isn’t Arcon’s.
Yes and Yes -- They were intimate, and the child is Arcon’s.

I will lump these two answers together, as the impact on the story and characters could be identical in many ways. It all depends on when we learn who the true father is. The following assumes that if the child is not Arcon’s the true father is not revealed right away.

By the way, I would like to state here that I personally have no moral qualms about either of these scenarios. Arcon and Moon are both fundamentally good characters, and whatever happened during the cave-in was not of their own volition--they were under the mental influence of Zarcon at the time, don’t forget.

Whether or not the child is Arcon’s, he will be wracked with guilt knowing that it could be his. Until the child’s true father is named, he will be living in his own personal hell. Plus, Moon should believe that the child is Arcon’s whether it is or isn’t, since that’s the only intimacy in her recent past that she knows of.

What will Moon and Arcon do about this, if anything? Will Moon reveal what she thinks is the truth, or keep silent for the good of the kingdom? Will Arcon follow his conscience and publicly acknowledge the child and assume responsibility for its welfare? What if they don’t agree on how it should be handled? Even if they don’t reveal the truth (or what they suspect is the truth), the guilt will have it’s impact on them both, plus the uncertainty of Moon’s--and the child’s--future.

If they do choose to make it public, then what effect will that have on Zelda? And how will it affect Arcon and Zelda’s marriage, which has been heavily played up as one of the strengths of the kingdom? Are they (as writers, not characters) up to the challenge of writing a story of betrayal, guilt, anger, shame, etc., etc.? Even if it’s established that the intimacy was beyond control due to Zarcon’s influence, the physical reminder of it in the form of Moon’s expanding belly is going to put a terrible strain on the relationships among Arcon-Zelda-Buffy/Moon.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that a public revelation that Moon is carrying Arcon’s child might destroy Arconia, at least in the form that we now know it.

If the child is not Arcon’s and that fact is revealed right away, we avoid some of the emotional and psychological pitfalls of the continuing story, but Arcon and Moon will always bear the knowledge that the child could have been theirs. That knowledge cannot help but affect their relationship with each other and with the other characters.

My primary concern (understandably) in all this, and the reason I even bring it up, is How does Lochinvar fits into this story? I hold no particular brief for any of the above scenarios, but I have to say that a public revelation of Moon carrying Arcon’s child--even if later proven incorrect--would present several thorny choices for Loch.

He is old friends with all three of the pricipals in this particular triangle: Zelda, Arcon, and Moon. How will he react to them, to the news, and to their interactions with each other? Will he have to choose between Zelda and Arcon? And whose side would he choose? How will the news affect his friendship with Moon? What if Moon and Arcon are in conflict over the child’s future? How will Loch react to that? Any way it’s sliced, he’s going to lose one or more old friends over this.

Frankly, I’m in a quandry as to how to handle it. Which is one of the reasons for my long silence.

So now I’m asking for everyone’s reasoned and considered answer to all of this. I don’t want to change those parts of the story that have already been established, but I’m not sure we want to go down some of the storylines outlined above.

Discuss. And state your preferences. Gently, please.

[Moonitic]

And now you all know exactly WHY I wrote the story about the cave in. This is good stuff. Originally, I thought it would be interesting for the carrier of the heir to the Arconian throne to be sold into slavery to the Von Schmidts (or whatever their names are) without the knowledge of anyone concerned but the reader. However, the plot took another turn. I'm not complaining, since I lacked the time to put in the effort.

How do I feel? At this point, whatever everyone else decides as far as fantasy land is concerned is fine with me. Am I up to the challenge to write about such intense feelings? Well, it's my intention to keep the story in its "purest" form for the novel. I have ever intention of taking that road to its end-no matter what the outcome. If you don't want to read it here, buy the book. If you do want to read it here, have a little trust in the scribe.

That said, I disappear again.

[Zelda]

Loch, you forgot the phonemenon known as "false pregnancy." To all intents and purposes the person believes they are pregnant, but in actual fact they arent.
Personally, I would rather the child isnt Arcon's but I will go with the flow.

[shine]

I would like to contribute. Many times men have experienced 'sympathetic pregnancy' for their wives. This usually takes place in underdeveloped nations where the men form more close bonds with the spouses. Now, in our case, Zelda, the protagonist is going to have or believes she may be having a child, or is it Moon, in any case, when is the baby due, we will name it Moonglow or Moonflower, and it will be placed in a reed basket and set upon a stream of water where it will flow into the Land of Nod. In that remote Kingdom, the infant will be adopted by a group of mongolian tribesmen who discover the baby and feed it yak milk. The child grows up with the herdsman and becomes interested in the way of swordmanship.

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[Willow]

Well, the way I look at it is this....Arcon and Moon knew what was going to happen with the cave-in in the first place. It wasn't just written out in the spur of the moment. Let's face it. Stuff that happens in books or fantasy or reality...it's not all nice and pretty. The good guys don't always win. Things happen. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Anything can happen, and this is a fact that has been proven over and over and over again. Look at my character. She was taken advantage of when drugged, and she's pregnant (man, I need to get her back to Arconia in time to give birth). There were a few "Oh, my's" when I wrote that, but no one complained or said it shouldn't have happened. Why complain over Moon being pregnant by sleeping with Arcon in the cave in? In my opinion, it's just the same as what happened to Willow, in that it just happened to the characters. Ask any writer. They will tell you that they may have intentioned for character A to be a certain way, but as it was written, A took on his or her own personality and the final outcome may be totally differend from what the author had in mind when the story was begun. Let Moon be pregnant if she wants that for her character. It's just another part of the continuing saga of the world of Arconia.

[135711]

I couldn't agree more. The gene pool is only so much and at this point, with eight billion people on board starship earth, it hardly matters which genes get passed around. Let me ask you, in the tradition of the Mongols who knew how to select a proper genepool, what's your stock like, I mean, does anyone in your family have an interesting thing that they do? Reedweaving? Map-making? What skills does Arcon and Moon possess. You call that a sleep over - there may be a slander suit, but don't worry too much about it, Arcon can just rinse off his undertard and no one will be the wiser.

[arcon]

All this is very interesting. Loch, I had no idea
that you had a problem or a block of sorts from the the cave in incident. I knew Sword had a problem with it (at least in the beginning).

Has everyone forgotten Niki? The native boy i planned to make Prince of Arconia.....and future King. We can go places with this. There can become a rivilary between Niki and Moons soon to
be born son. As far as whos child it is.......that could remain an uncertainty.....why?.....because
maybe both Zarcon and Arcon slept with Lady Moon.
One may have been by force(Zarcon)the other in a weak moment. Or maybe Arcon and Moon thought they were intimate. This would make the child...Zarcons of course.....this would produce yet another rival
generation.....as I stated before...Niki/moons son. How this could destroy Arconia is a mystery to me unless we write in its destruction.
If you are speaking of purity and innocense that it appeared Arconia stood for in the beginning....
then maybe so. Personally I find it a little unrealistic and boreing to write about a perfect world....even in fantasy.

just my thoughts

the Arcon

[ 05-29-2002: Message edited by: arcon ]</p>

[135711]

"maybe both Zarcon and Arcon slept with Lady Moon"

from z to a, okay, from soup to nuts.
a fraternity/p prank? maybe we should wait for a paternity suit? what about naming the infant,

zaroon, moocon, mocon, aron
we got it, aron, if a boy and nora if a girl


but i just thought, maybe they were in the cave trying to dig their way out? is it possible they may have been fencing? You know, believe it or not, people do others things besides procreate, it is possible that rather than behave in a foolish manner jeapordizing the moon's health by having her go into labor out in the backwaters by herself, they sharpened their swords on the stones and practiced their jumps and lunges, i know i would, it's important when your out there by yourself, you have to stay in practice.

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[Moonitic]

I have to say that I honestly don't see why this is an issue. It happens in novels, & it happens in real life. Maybe I'm thinking too much like a writer, but the fall of a "perfect" kingdom would speak volumes about just how fragile things like that are. The whole sex issue is really not as important as the big picture. Played correctly, such turmoil could strengthen the kingdom, rather than weaken it (in the long run). For all anyone knows, Moon could easily turn the child over to the throne & leave.

Maybe I'm closer to this than others, since I wrote the original scene. Why should we be afraid of REAL writing? It can't always be happy & fluffy. That makes for a boring story. If it's going to continue to cause this much turmoil, by all means forget it ever happened. Rewrite what happened in the cave. Remember: Nothing was ever written to set up a possible union between Moon & Zarcon. There are a lot of loose end that have new beginnings.

I know what my plans for the future are. I'm going to stick to them. Do what you all wish here on the board. Maybe the character isn't so different from the writer...

[arcon]

Moon,my dear,whatever you do dont take all this dissussion about the "cave in" personally. I remember you and i both talked about it before it was posted. Its good to discuss this aspect of writing in fantasyland. It brings up the issue of
the boundries in which we are going or not going to write within. I am in agreement with your previous post. If we want to write within the boundries of what is appropiate for a 4 year old then we will find ourselves so restricted that we'd bore everyone to tears.....except for the four year olds.
Try and be at peace with whats being discussed
let it pan out take its course and i believe all
will be ok.
Everyone has an opinion.
Mine is very close to yours.

Arcon

[Moonitic]

Don't take what I said wrong. My opinion is that I don't CARE. Whether the group gives it a yay or nay doesn't matter to me in the end. I have my own plans, & I'm having a great time making them real.

It's not that I don't enjoy this, I just feel like the character of Lady Moon is outgrowing it. I want to go deeper with her. Deeper, perhaps, than the rest of the group might want to go with me (save one or two). And, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I'm going to be pretty busy as of the end of June/beginning of July.

So, as I've said, do what you wish with what you've got. But please, don't be afraid of the less than fluffy!

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[arcon]

Why is your attitude on the defensive? We knew YOU were the professional writer in the beginning. Your creativity level should have exceded ours in the beginning. You have in "The past" cared very much about what was written here......if i recall
....it was even most stressful for you.

I have always liked you.....still do.....but
your defensive attitude toward my most honest
concerns about your relationship here( in fantasyland) i do not understand. Im only an "idea" man. Youre the professional writer. And a good one.
If your moving on.....thats good......I believe i can speak for most here......we'd like to remember the Moon that stood up for all the writers here in fantasyland.....and tried to promote and incourage
even the beginners.........Im done......I do wish you well....

still your friend in fantasyland

King Arcon

[ 05-29-2002: Message edited by: arcon ]</p>

[Swordsman]

Under the mental influence of Zarcon? Interesting. Never caught that part.

Hmm...as I said, it's not that I'm searching for a "perfect" or "happy and fluffy" story. Even if I were, we don't have that, do we? But a few elements can remain pure even if the rest is fraught with darkness. I'm not even really looking for something in specific here. I said only one thing: I was disappointed when Arcon, one of the mainstays of Arconia (duh) turned out to be tainted after all.

However, this is over and done with. Things happen, and can be forgiven if not forgotten. Forgiven, that is, by the other characters. As for me, I will (have, actually) simply get over it. Like Moonitic said - they're characters.

On to other matters. Lochinvar, thank you for you analysis of the situation! It is a wonderful, remarkably clear explanation of the various possibilities and consequences thereof. Here is my input:

Arcon and Moonitic were, in fact, intimate. Looking back through the threads (Aftermath of the Collapse and Duel in the Dungeon), there are NUMEROUS references to sexual intimacy between the two. In addition we have the phrases "...Arcon, her [Moonitic's] ill-fated lover" and "They had promised one another, so long ago, that the two would be one." I think it would be EXTREMELY difficult to go back and change the fact that they were in fact intimate. At the same time, while I wasn't aware of Zarcon's influence, I don't think that can be feasibly applied to the situation.

As for the child - I think it should be Zarcon's. If the child were Arcon's, that would set up MANY soap opera-style problems that I don't think we, as writers, are currently up to handling. Moonitic maybe, but I'm not so confident about the rest of us.

HEY!! I just found something ELSE in my research!! "...and that boot-licking puppy Naekos. God, what a tool HE is! Too bad; he might’ve been a proper man, but he’s too soft in the head; he’s besotted with that stupid pig Serana, when he could have had ME!"

Moonitic! Oh, that's great. I wish I'd seen that the first time around...man, I love that!

Anyway, back to business...

I don't want you guys to get the wrong idea of me. Yes, I'm something of an idealist. However, I'm also realistic and not by any means...fragile. I can deal with things, trust me! I opined twice about the situation between Arcon and Moonitic. I don't believe I ever asked that it be changed, and if I did, I take that back.

So, do whatever you guys want. Moonitic, it's your decision primarily. After that it goes to Arcon, and after that I don't care. You've got my opinion, now listen or ignore it at your leisure. I'll adapt and continue to write no matter what.

[Swordsman]

P.S.

I apologize to you all for my part in all this ruckus. I never meant to spark such a debate.

[Zelda]

I personally say we stick with what was orginally decided and go from there. Half the fun of this place is seeing where the story is going to go next. And as an aside.... I LOVE YA ALL!!!!

[Swordsman]

If only Shakespeare could have kept HIS asides so brief and concise...

[Moonitic]

I'm not really defensive about it. On the contrary, I'm more neutral about the situation. The fact really is that I don't care what is decided. The book's still going to get written!

So, it's really not my decision after all. At least, not as far as the board is concerned.