Two Paradises fantasy/fiction realm

## Basic principle

The **‘Two Paradises’ fiction realm** as devised by Jonnie Comet consists of two distinct but often-interrelated domains: Paradise One and Paradise Two.

Together the two domains represent the dual nature of homogamous Paradisian society and culture, as delineated on the back-cover text of earlier editions:

> There are *TWO* Paradises:
>
>

> One *Public*, *Overt*, *Hospitable*, of sunny *Weather*, warm *Water*, lush *Foliage* and a pleasant *Citizenry*;
>
>

> One *Private*, *Subtle*, *Furtive*, of innate *Desire*, sensual *Pursuits*, romantic *Seduction*, and intimate *Pleasure*.
>
>

> Both are the stuff of *Dreams*, *Fantasy*, and literary *Legend*.
>
>

By design, this embodiment of Paradise is necessarily dual-natured, with neither nature being subject to the other but existing in two domains, each representing a facet of human life in ‘the most exotic locale on earth’, intertwined and in constant interaction together. The only difference is the focus and attitude of the content of any given episode within the overall realm.

Novels, short stories and episodes, illustrations, and compilations are classified as P1 or P2 based on content and intended audience appeal.

## Paradise One

The P1 domain tends to include stories about family, school, friendships, history, and action such as Strategy-game activity or sailing adventures. Whilst including situations typical of the exotic Paradisian way of life, the content of stories tends to be mild, characteristic of a film's BBFC ‘12’ or ‘12A’ rating.

### Acceptable content in Paradise One

Any of the following may appear in or be a focal theme of a P1 story:

* Interpersonal relationships, family disagreements, adolescent rebellion;
* Tourist-local relations; politics; business;
* Dating; questions of social, romantic or ethical propriety;
* Non-sexual nudity; brief, innocuous descriptions of slightly-risqué images or action;
* Awkward situations, such as a character unwillingly appearing undressed before strangers;
* Action, argument, physical contests and fighting;
* Romantic or sexual attraction between characters, including those of the same sex;
* Kissing, fondling, not rising to a level of sexual involvement.

Treatment of potentially-risqué story elements will rise only to the level of ‘fan service’ in film or anime/manga realms. In the main, mentions of nudity, even when inadvertent or inappropriate, will be consistent with Paradisian mores and legality as defined in the decency statutes– in other words, what one reads in a P1 episode or novel will rarely transcend what one might witness in public as a matter of course during a physical visit to Paradise.

Despite any similarity in content to that of ‘Young Adult’ fiction, the P1 stories are *not* aimed at a younger audience, due to their themes being more relevant to those over age 14 or 15. The P1 domain is simply the one of the ‘Two Paradises’ realm in which sensual or sexual matters are less likely to be described in detail in the stories.

### Examples and exceptions of Paradise One

Not surprisingly, one prevalent theme of P1 episodes is that of the game Strategy, as played by many young people in Paradise, especially the Cavaliere siblings of Camelot. One good example is the compilation *All In The Game*, about young Amy Cavaliere’s first foray into a Strategy-game melee. The unavoidable aspects of the game– boys and girls in close company, the practicality of brief clothing for activities in hot jungles or waterine conditions, the perspiration and near-constant exertion, and the paradox of virile young men campaigning against and alongside nubile young women who may be allies in arms, aggressive adversaries, vulnerable maidens truly in need of rescue, or just inert bodies lying as though dead after being put out of the action– make for some spicy situations that, within the P1 domain, are typically handled with suggestive but not overly-descriptive detail. Any prurient permutations of such situations shall be left to the reader’s conjecture.

#### *Noemi's Wold*

*Noemi's Wold* is the self-contained story of a young girl who, having indulged in excessive nudism since a very young age, must face the inevitability of her own maturation. Aside from attending school and important social events, Noemi is more often without clothes than dressed, even when working her family's sugar-cane plantation; and the story is rife with scenes in which boys and men awkwardly come to terms with the necessity of interaction with a privileged heiress in her altogether. Despite a premise that seems farfetched, the story is credible, due to accuracy of details, and is essentially charming, containing nothing prurient and in fact depicts Noemi as a noble, charismatic and amusing character who just happens to enjoy doing without clothes.

#### *All In The Game*

The story of 12-year-old Amy Cavaliere's first experiences in playing Strategy repeatedly mentions the lax modes of dress of some of the participants in the game, notably Lady Susie, who appears first naked, and later, in actual game operations, in just knickers (an example of either private attire or dressing down). The juxtaposition of competitive boys in combat gear with nubile girls scantily dressed illustrates the weird world of the game itself, in which anything goes. But whilst touching on fan service, the story never delves into unflattering detail and the occasions of someone seeing bits of a half-dressed girl are handled matter-of-factly, if not only in passing.

P1 stories already published or in production include:

* ‘Neat knickers’ (aka ‘Undies odyssey’)
* *Twilight Comes Soon*, compilation
* *Wine Run*, novella
* *All In The Game*, novella and compilation
* ‘Bosom buddies’
* ‘Youngbloods’ ball’
* *Jungleboy*
* *Dawn Raid*
* *A Farewell to Paradise*, story arc
* *The Vee*
* *Noemi’s Wold*, novel

Numerous other related story arcs, such as those of the Wilshire Tales, might be included within the P1 domain. In particular those leading up to the settlement of the Cavaliere family in Paradise (1990 in story-arc timeline) can be included for continuity and exposition, including

* *Catch a Falling Star and Put it In Your Pocket*
* *East of the Sun*
* *Eden’s Bliss*
* All of the 'St Simon’s Cay' arc

## Paradise Two

The P2 domain may contain any of the topics covered within P1, with the added feature of more detail, more deeply-descriptive scenes, and added content, particularly about earthier aspects of the story. The focus is typically on the gravity of central characters’ relationships, often necessitating a more intimate look at what they do in order to know their thoughts, intentions and decisions.

### Appropriateness of audience-age ratings

None of the P2 stories rises to the equivalent of a BBFC ‘18’ rating; however a BBFC ‘15’ rating, allowing a certain degree of sexual content, would be appropriate. As a rule the audience for P2 episodes should be those over age 15 or 16, whatever the age of the actual characters. It is a fact of Paradisian culture that young people mature earlier than their Western counterparts, due both to economic and cultural expectations and to environmental freedoms and obligations, such as the near-constant interaction with foreign tourists and the profound lack of government aid for the wilfully idle. Especially within the P2 domain, it is not uncommon to read of 15-year-olds in Paradise having freedoms and responsibilities with which most 18-year-olds elsewhere might struggle awkwardly. Many of those aged 12 or 13 in Paradise encounter situations and take decisions that would reflect well on those three and four years older in America or Europe.

### Acceptable content in Paradise Two

In addition to anything common to the P1 domain, any of the following may appear or be a focal theme of a P2 episode:

* Intense conversations about romance, intimacy, sexual relations;
* Nudity, including explicit details of specific postures, actions or gestures;
* Descriptions of characters’ bodies, in sexual terms;
* Sexual seductions, or romantic seductions with a strong sexual component;
* Sexual intercourse and other activity, including between those of the same sex;
* Sexual situations involving those of under statutory age (which in the Paradise Islands is 15 years);
* Mild depiction of rape; coerced sex;
* Statutory incest (note that in the BPI romantic and sexual relationships between first cousins are not prohibited);
* Mentions of further sexual activity, including practices outside the bounds of law, morality or good taste;
* Violence of a sexual nature (most commonly in descriptions of defences used by unwilling subjects against their attackers);
* Various machinations of teenaged characters, especially about how they keep secret from parents the details of their private lives (vis.: the closeted hussy), or about how they circumvent the (lenient, compared to those of most Western cultures) legal requirements or penalties.

Treatment of such story elements will remain, as in P1, respectful, restrained and free of prurient language or use of disagreeable vocabulary in narrative. The focus shall be kept on the interpersonal relationships, not merely on the characters’ activities. The resulting message of a given story, even a sad one with little catharsis in its resolution, shall be instructive, moral and respectable. In other words, this is *not* pornography.

### History of Paradise Two

The earliest P2 story arc centred on Lord Jonathan in his various romantic escapades, first with Elyse Holloway (a plot that was minimised, almost abandoned), and later with Corinne Baker (a plot that was later revamped to permit further romantic interests). A very touching story was developed, to detail, even delicately, the ardent affection and innocent eagerness of two young people as they discover each other and avail themselves of the opportunities that a life in Paradise provides.

#### *The Seduction of Susie*

The first major work of the P2 arc was the novel *The Seduction of Susie* (1994), about the sexual indoctrination of Lord Jonathan’s adopted sister Susie at the hands of her close friend Darby St Claire. Though exquisitely detailed, the story never quite rises to the level of pornography (what would be termed in Japanese manga or light novels as *hentai*) because of its diffuse tenderness and its elevated literary calibre. The adolescent Lady Susie can be considered a kind of standard-bearer for the P2 approach, a girl of two worlds under the almost crushing weight of vital responsibilities to family and to society, who, at once indubitably sexy and staunchly conservative, faces the constant conflict about how to be fully both at the same time.

### Examples and exceptions of Paradise Two

Nearly all stories in the Paradise Two domain, despite their explicit content, carry some message of morality, reformation, or redemption. Sex for its own sake is rarely a focal theme and, when it is, will be tempered either by social convention or by characters' inclination towards respectability and romance.

#### *The Love of Gwendolyn Dahl*

In the *Gwendolyn Dahl* story arc, Gwendolyn mentions that her older cousin Lon had sexually harassed her since she had been 8 and coerced (or forced) her into sexual intercourse with him when she had been 10. As a direct consequence both her older brothers began having sex with her as well. Though all three of these boys continue to persecute her emotionally and psychologically after she meets and becomes monogamously involved with Lord Jonathan (in the story arc’s initial episode), they never have any sexual activity with her again. Lon will continue to attempt her but Gwendolyn artfully, and sometimes even forcefully, rebuffs him.

Funnily, none of these boys ever faces any substantive consequences of such abuse. It just abruptly stops at Gwendolyn’s insistence; and she is able to build on the new-found sense of confidence in her own career and interests.

#### *Kissing Cousins*

The *Kissing Cousins* story arc centres round a blended-family household after Doris Flagg’s sister is jailed in New Zealand for failing to protect her two daughters from being sexually abused by her live-in boyfriend and the girls come to live with Doris and her son Anthony. Either because of or in spite of their past, both girls pursue Anthony with romantic and sexual ardour, resulting in a *ménage-á-trois* and the extraordinary complication, confusion and situational humour that entails.

Though ostensibly the girls are Anthony’s first cousins, it is later revealed that Doris and her sister are only half-siblings, halving the actual degree of consanguinity and paving the way for Anthony to settle down with one of them in a controversial but satisfying– if necessary– marriage.

#### *Amelia, a Vahine*

*Amelia, A Vahine* is the story of a precocious ingenue who is encouraged, by older friends including Lady Susie, to take up a pastime as a ladies’ call girl. At times Amelia’s adventures descend into near-abuse but, in her singleminded eagerness to be accepted and loved, she is able to defend herself from the worst risks even whilst gaining an unparallelled education about people, relationships and lesbian sex. Following the breakup with Chloe Jamison, Lady Susie invites then-16-year-old Amelia to London as her lady’s companion. But, rather than availing herself of eager Amelia’s company, she teaches her a way of respectability, responsibility, and even education, so that when next they meet, Lady Susie’s brother George falls deeply in love with Amelia and vows to defend her respectability in order that she might be seen as worthy of becoming his own life’s exclusive companion.

Full-length P2 stories already published or under way include:

* *The Seduction of Susie*, novel
* *A Small Affair*, novel
* *A Night on The Town*, novel
* *Rivals at Heart*, novel
* *Girls Will Be Girls*, novel
* *The Goddess and the Princess*, novel
* *Amelia, a Vahine*, novel
* *The Love of Gwendolyn Dahl*, story arc
* *Janine, of Paradise**,* story arc
* *Kissing Cousins*, story arc
* *Star of the Garden*, novel
* *Pure Haze*, novel
* *The Castle of The Seven Virgins*, novel

## Discouraged content

By design, the Two Paradises story realm is meant to present the very best of what young people can be, whatever their pursuits, using the juxtaposition of evil or amoral characters to represent undesirable qualities. Good qualities are embodied in protagonists who, far from being perfect, often take decisions of questionable practicality or morality but are always understandable, sympathetic and forgivable. In order to maintain this essentially moral view, there are some elements that are nearly never represented in the story arcs.

### Prurient language

One element that nearly never occurs within the whole of the Two Paradises realm is that of obscene language. No sympathetic character ever says foul words; and examples of antagonists uttering such things are extremely rare. According to the decency statutes, public use of sexually-perverse language is considered a form of sexual harassment, even punishable by law; yet, with the whole English language before them, most Paradisans tend to find much more eloquent ways to express themselves, even upon sanguine, spontaneous occasions.

In both the *Gwendolyn Dahl* and the *Janine of Paradise* arcs, the girls are first to use the term *fuck* to refer to sexual intercourse; and in each case the boy is moderately repulsed by the word’s application to what they share as a couple. Gwendolyn will slip a few times and use the word again, obviously having become used to it because of her past; though Lord Jonathan never uses it with her (nor with anyone else) and dissuades her from saying it. Janine and Charlie adopt a playful repartee in which either of them will use the word to refer to particularly heated lovemaking; it persists as an amusing device and, though they never utter it before others, it carries no offensive stigma to either of them in private.

Less-polite terms for parts of the anatomy are rare; some never appear at all.

Gwendolyn does ask Lord Jonathan what he would prefer to call her vaginal area; he replies that he knows it only as a part of herself, in that he makes love with her, not to any discrete part of her body. Charlie mentions the word *cunt* to Janine a few times, only in intense arousal or in good humour; and as with *fuck* the two decide to allow the term in private. In conversation with Janine, Ginnie Petter reveals that she enjoys hearing such terms from her boyfriend, Ralph; but, as differences between Ginnie and Ralph surface, Janine advises her to think more respectably of herself and Ginnie, perhaps the more assertive in the relationship, will abandon such terms.

The words *cock* and *dick* for *penis* never appear.

No character ever uses the modifier *fucking* as is so commonly done in Britain; but this may be only because these are younger characters, unexposed to the word from without, who have established a society in which a term like this is not necessary.

Terms like *motherfucker*, *cocksucker* and *son-of-a-bitch* do not appear, generally considered too taboo for respectable people in any context. Perhaps tourists say such things but it is never reported.

Conspicuously absent are even milder terms such as *damn*, *shit* and *hell* (except when referring to the place). The better characters use terms like *drat* (an expletive), *foo* (for *rats*) and the Polynesian *kaka* (analogous to, but funnily not quite as offensive as, *bullshit*). *Bloody* does appear, albeit infrequently.

Scolding tends to keep to actual criticism of the subject’s faults, avoiding irrational and irrelevant name-calling. An unsavoury female may be referred to as a *cow*, sometimes a *harlot*, never *whore* or *slut*.

At no time are such terms ever acceptable in third-person narrative, in part in order to maintain a literary standard for the whole story realm.

### Rape and violence

The only incidences of rape, as it can be generally defined, occurring within the P2 arc involve misunderstandings between female characters. In 'The Seduction of Trudy', Darby attempts to persuade Trudy Wells to yield to her physical and sexual interest; and, when Trudy declines vehemently, Darby’s ego is offended and she attempts to force her to submit. Though ostensibly violent, the episode is told respectfully, clearly establishing Darby as the antagonist; and Trudy’s virtue and physical safety are preserved when, with the help of Lady Susie, she is able to get free and to go home safely, fearing only Darby’s (short-lived) disrespect as reprisal.

### Politics, bigotry and racial/ethnic commentary

Paradise as depicted in the Two Paradises realm tends to be a reliably conservative environment. Paradisians get on tolerably well with each other, all acknowledging some sense of obligation to the often-fragile maritime environment, and few troubles arise that are not resolved with co-operation and shared responsibility. There are few, if any, occasions in which a character devolves into ideological dogma. More likely, one or two of a few politically-astute characters may appear and drop opinions on the state of affairs, with which most other characters are either in agreement or with which someone declines to debate because of feeling intimidated, unsure or outnumbered by the boorish critic.

Racism is only obliquely touched-upon, the most salient example being the disdain Celeste Kure Chesney, the daughter of a Polynesian mother who committed suicide, holds for her English father. People primarily of Polynesian heritage, tactfully known in Paradise as Original Islanders, are rather rare, possibly due to ancient migrations away from the islands; but friction with the majority Anglo population is never mentioned or only rarely so. Other races are *de facto* underepresented in the islands, though there are a few Asians and Africans due to the presence of the British military.

Most Paradisians are Christian (whether practising or not) though Jews are occasionally mentioned who attend several synagogues in the territory, notably Ervin Kane, the jeweller of Hurricane Hole, and his daughter Ava and son Albert who both exist as important supporting characters in the *Janine, of Paradis*e arc.

In spite of numerous lesbian associations being frowned-upon, no-one ever seems to either condemn or defend the practices or preferences of anyone’s sexuality. Relationships exist in a vacuum of fantasy, with no context of real-world political or social matters (such as the potential for people contracting sexually-transmitted disorders). Male homosexuality is nearly never mentioned; this may be due to a cultural predisposition or just coincidence but tasteful representation of the practice, consistent with context, is not out-of-bounds.  A view of the Decency Statutes may enlighten the curious about the dichotomy.

In any event the fiction platform of Two Paradises is not meant for serious diversions of a sociopolitical nature.

## Classifying as either Paradise One or Paradise Two

The difference between what may be classified as Paradise One and what should be classified for Paradise Two comes down to an evaluation of content and how it is presented. Editorial oversight shall step in to apply responsible parameters to determine the eligibility of any given content for inclusion in one or the other.

A few stories have been able to be classified as both Paradise One and Paradise Two, depending on a degree of censorship and editing. Examples include:

* ‘Bosom Buddies’
* A *Night on the Town*
* *A Global Awakening*

As yet none of these, nor any other, has been released for publication in both versions concurrently. Heretofore there has been a question of editing.

## Literary purpose of Two Paradises

The original intention of the P2 domain, which formed the basis of the entire Two Paradises realm, was to explore and describe a world in which teenagers were empowered, enlightened, responsible and trusted. However idealistic, this has endured in these and other works by author Jonnie Comet and is here promoted for others to contribute their own interpretations of a similar vision.

## See further

Introduction: insight into core Paradisian concepts as originally conceived, and subsequently developed, by principal author Jonnie Comet and others

Two Paradises: explanation of the two domains within the fantasy/fiction realm (*vital* for interested contributors!)

*The Essential Paradise*, series sourcebook: detail into key elements of the fantastic realm and its features and characters

Stories: key works of fiction, including the originating novels and novellae, with literary apology (explanation) and constructive detail

Characters: as feature in various story arcs, with data, illustrations, personal histories (including Wikipedia articles, where applicable!)

Home page

Jonnie Comet Productions Ltd. All rights reserved

######