Queen

[Admin]

Queen's primary skill is Cloak, the ability to conceal all vital statistics (weapon and armor, skills, whether or not the immortal is holding the Grail, etc.) from other immortals.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:57 am

MG wrote:

Anybody have a last name recorded for Queen, or can I make one up for her and her twin bros?

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:58 am

AreaneCreator wrote:

Last name away, MG. Queen is just Queen, though we assume that's not her real name

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:59 am

EJ wrote:

No last name from:
Pahmela
Sha
Cris
E.J.

I don't know of anyone writing with her yet.

Thanks for asking!

E.J.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:00 am

MG wrote:

Okay well, I gave her twin brothers the last name of DeGhas (as their real last name, although their first names are unknown to everyone except them and Queen), but they rarely use it. I might decide to get into their history in a later publication.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:00 am

EJ wrote:

You may want to be careful with twins. I know more than one of the contracted authors with Character Arrays are working with twins and Ryan is starting to nix twins as they are becoming too common. Can the brothers be close in age with a tight emotional bound rather than twins?

E.J.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:11 am

Ryan DiMassa wrote:

I am "nixing" twins left and right. They seem to be a very sure-fire way to show a "special" bond between siblings. I am seeing twins in about 40% of the proposals. I would avoid them.

MG, you may want to send me a proposal for your story or novella so that we can get the title under contract and into what I call The Timeline. If you don't feel like you'd like Queen's Character Array, or if you simply don't have the time or interest in a full Array, having the story or novella proposed and accepted would give you some security. It would mean that no other author could legally start writing about Queen without first checking with you and your ideas would be "on record" first.

If someone requested and was awarded Queen's full Character Array at some point in the future (whether or not you'd completed your piece), then I would have this person work closely with you so that the work would mesh. But, again, anything you had committed to the proposal would be on record as cast in stone.

Ryan

*Note from Cris DiMarco: At the time this was originally posted, Ryan DiMassa was the Brand Manager for Mardi Gras 3000. All novel proposals, character arrayr, etc. were approved (or not) through Ryan.*

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:12 am

Ryan DiMassa wrote:

Ah, now I see from a closer look at the forum that MG is already under contract. I'm going to leave my earlier post in place though for writers coming in. I want writers to know that everyone can be protected -- even those not able to pull of an entire Array.

Let me ask this one thing, though, MG. Are Queen and her brothers characters in the book you proposed? Or is this a separate book? Obviously, if the same book, you're safe and covered already. If a new book, then the above post applies.

Ryan

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:13 am

MG wrote:

Hah, sorry to confuse you about my username. I can change it to something a little less confusing if you like...I just used MG because Launa knew that one so I knew she would recognize me when I registered.

Well, right now I have Queen as a very-much aside character in my currently proposed book. Since she's the Gemini twins' sister, they speak with her from time to time for advice, or simply to talk, but she isn't a main character. Anyways, I just gave them a last name for last name purposes on e-mail, Myspace, etc. etc. It can be changed at any time if anyone has a better suggestion or doesn't like it. Anyways, Queen isn't really supposed to be in my book in person at all at this point, but I'll bounce it around if an idea pops up in the plot for me.

As far as the sets of twins being depicted in books, I know that at least in Launa's case the twins which she is writing about are the same ones in my own writing. I've already ok'd her excerpts that include them, and I haven't heard of any others involved (but obviously I haven't read everyone's work). I guess I got under the bar first on the "special sib connection" thing.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:13 am

EJ wrote:

Now I'm confused about something else though: You're writing about twin Terrapyres? Castor and Poly... ugh... sorry, can't remember the spelling. I thought they were Celestials because the names are celestial bodies. Wow. Head spinning. LOL

E.J.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:14 am

MG wrote:

Haha, nope. They're Terrapyres, created originally by Launa but a gift to me

...Okay, so I figured mine were probably the only ones. xD It'd be a bit weird to have two sets in the forefront of Immortal warfare and legend.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:15 am

AreaneCreator wrote:

I don't know about how they're going to be handled from here on (that's MG's business ) But I originally named the Gemini because it's a title of closeness and, well, it's easy to remember and marketable. Castor and Polydeuces, according to greek mythology, were the twins that became Gemini. Gemini is a constellation, but their names are mythological, not celestial. In my version of the twins, they liked the connotation when they changed their names. It would be as if they'd named themselves Romulous and Remus (that may be spelt wrong) who were the legendary twins that founded Rome. They're old, MG has confirmed that, and the names would be more common when they were younger. THat was my original reasoning.

Again, it's totally MG's decision, I thought I would just explain why I originally named them that. If she feels it would be right to change their names, go ahead darlin'. I can see where the confusion would be

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:16 am

MG wrote:

Actually the confusion I was referring to was in respect to my own name. xD I don't plan to change Castor and Polydeuces because I love the whole idea and everything.

And yeah, they're really old. Queen is about 3 centuries ahead of them, but I got the impression that she's one of the oldest living Immortals. Their parents aren't mentioned at all, but like I said, if next year or sometime in the future I decide to write about their past, we can discuss more.

Anyway, the idea of them having a name that is worldwide (i.e., almost every culture has some aspect of astrology entwined into it) definitely appeals to me. That's why I like it. It's almost like an instant cultural bridge, which is good when they have international business.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:17 am

EJ wrote:

Hey, whatever works for Abbie is cool. A vast precentage of our stars are named after characters in mythology so this is hard to avoid. Beyond being part of the constellation, Castor and Polydeuces are indeed the names of a specific star and a specific moon.

I'd simply like to respectfully ask that, in the future, the community of writers please not assign mythological/celestial names to Terrapyres. Celestial bodies (which means most mythological characters) are associated closely with Celestials and I'd like to keep these lines clear.

Yes, I know that many, many names can find mythological roots (even "common" names like "Jennifer" or "John") but they do not cross over into celetsial bodies.

Personally, I think it's perfect: Abbie has the only two twins. Abbie gets the only two Terrapyres with Celestial-style names. So be it

E.J.

[Admin]

Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:19 am

Cris wrote:

Abbie and Launa,

E.J. has asked me to weigh in on the Castor and Polydeuces issue as the Senior Editor.

When I first heard about these two characters, I assumed they were Celestials because Castor and Pollux are the two primary stars in the constellaton Gemini and Polydeuces is the name of a moon. Celestial names come from Celestial bodies. That seemed simple enough. I was surprised to learn these names had been given to Terrapyres.

I did a little research into the mythology surrounding these two twins and discovered two distressing facts which I don't think we want associated with MG3K.

1. In the mythology, Castor and Polydeuces abducted two young women. Some accounts say the women were raped; others say the brothers simply "married" them.

2. Reubens (the painter) created a painting called "Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus" which is often displayed in conjunction with this legend.

While I think some of the mythology surrounding the brothers is heroic, the fact remains that Castor is killed in combat directly related to the abduction of Leucippus' daughters and this sheds a different light on his brother's empassioned plea to Zeus.

However, the bottom line is that Celestial names come from heavenly bodies--Terraypre names don't. I'm sorry, Abbie and Launa, but the names of these two characters will need to be changed. If you are interested in persuing a mythological pairing, I suggest you look into Lava (or Lav) and Kusha from Hindu Mythology, twin sons of Rama and Sita Devi, as they seem to be a more palletable choice.

E.J., stick to your guns here. The writers' community can come up with other ideas for Abbie and Launa if either of them get stuck on coming up with another set of twins to fulfill these roles. You have created a vibrant, wonderful world and I, for one, am committed to making sure that your vision is honored. If we convolute the mythology at this point, then we're in for a real headache later on, so let's just make this change now and move forward from here.

Cris