Why do people feel the urge to bring elephants indoors? Once you bring an elephant into a room, you either can't shut anyone up about the damn thing, or everyone refuses to acknowledge it's even there.
Irrelephant. Yes, I've had my fun now...
It's hard to find fiction without some level of romance in it. Particularly in the west! We've got some cultural aversion to talkin' about bonin', and that seems to translate into a need for outlets like Harlequin and damsel-in-distress action movies and Sarah Jessica Parker. It's probably indicative of some serious problems. True to form, I'm gonna refuse to address those problems!
Not only am I thinking there will be a romantic element to Arbiter, I'm thinking of making a pretty grand experiment out of it. I plan to populate the world with a ton of characters and cultures, so it's only natural they'd want to hook up with one another. It's also only natural that this wouldn't always follow the Disney formula - same-sex couples, polygamy/polyandry, involuntary bethrothals/political marriages, and most prominently, the clan's marriage-less (inspired by the Mosuo, but not a mirror of their) culture.
"What clan?" you ask? That's right, we haven't talked about them yet, have we! Well, I know what's on the agenda next week.
Contrary to what strangers would probably accuse me of, this won't be an attempt to promote a non-monogamous agenda in the real world. Like the concept of magic, it's just a theme to explore what a society might look like if this thing was done this certain way.
Plus, think of how this could give birth to a good arc - things might get messy if a couple who aren't supposed to love each other are exposed to the public. Plus, jealousy is always a plausible motive for chaos and bad deeds.
And if a certain culture's approach to love starts to seem appealing, and thereby people wanna accuse me of trying to promote it in the real world, all the better: controversy is a great way to promote a story!
Awh, that's cute; li'l Gordo wants to pretend he has any idea how to sell a book!
Whatcha think? Ever wonder why, as a society, we're so obsessed with one-on-one love? Is there another way to do it that intrigues you more than any other? And can you think of any other franchises that have experimented with this sort of thing? Do share!
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