Queen's Reign: Posts & Discussion

[FirstBorn]

Here it is folks! Chapter 26 of The Queen's Reign! The final chapter of the main storyline at long last.

Click HERE to Begin!

Synopsis:
A scant few seconds have passed outside of the newly ascended Queen Angela's mindscape and the view has been entertaining to say the least. But it seems like the old Queen is getting impatient once again. But her hubris and greed does not completely blind her to the threat standing before her. The nannites have survived near destruction before- they could likely do it again. One orbital bombardment and the old Queen can claim her prize from the ashes of the new. Can Queen Angela's new minions prevent such an untimely demise? Will they finally be able to defeat the old Queen, and the threat she represents to the entire human race? Find out in the Final Episode of The Queen's Reign. The end... is here.

Its been a long trip. I hope you enjoyed the ride! And as always- let me know what you think!

[Reinhardt]

I was a little worried that the computer had crashed and devoured all its content or something. A good thing it wasn't anything serious like that.

The end at last. Will there be an epilogue? It looks like an open ending where a little further info can be added. Or will there be an alternative ending, or are you done with this universe?

If you had changed your mind and decided to add one more chapter after all, would it contained something more than we have already seen, or just some more details of what is already there?

A few questions about the chapter.
Why does the old queen still have her horns? Is it so Angela can recognize her among the other drones and gloat about it every time she sees her?

Her mother's assimilation seems to have been frozen "in the act", but it seems like a temporary solution that will only last as long as there are still old drones around. What will happen to her mother once all the black drones have been converted into silver drones?

What happened to Casey? Was she deleted or just reprogrammed? And what happened to Samantha since Casey is told to get her on her feet. and what will happen to her once she is up?

What about all the Tayler clones? It looked like they were the raw material for the faceless drones. Was the Tayler Samantha fell in love with the original individual?

What will happen once Angela have converted all the old drones? Will she then start with normal humans, and how different is she from the old queen? It would be interesting to know what her future plans were and for the lack of a better word, her future evolution.

The ending really felt like a new beginning. The only thing I missed was the assimilation of a normal human being. But at least the queen's transformation was satisfying.

I realize the limitations of the medium, and the series have been running for a long time, so if you don't mind sharing, is there anything you would have done differently if the tools allowed you to do exactly the same as the imagination?

And again; I feel a little lonely here as the only poster for the moment. What about a discussion about the series?

[Bemustar]

A bit curious about the ramifications of Angela's victory. In which way is Firstborn leaning?

Is Angela as Queen determined to absorb the rest of humanity as the previous Queen was? It seems as if she is beginning to relish her new role and identify. As absolute power corrupts absolutely, the prognosis for her mental state is not encouraging. If this is indeed the case, her victory is not reassuring because this ending turned into a battle between competing collectives. Replacing one Queen for another, humanity is just as doomed. Angela as The Hero is thus a moral failure. She did not overcome her internal fears and external obstacles nor lead the world to a better state. She did obtain revenge upon her personal tormentor by becoming the monster she had been fighting.

On the other hand, if she is determined to allow individual thought to continue to exist among those infiltrated with the new nanites, the new nanites could be a means for humanity to achieve a higher level of existence, both materially and intellectually, leading to a new golden age. Perhaps to avoid being threatening and coercive, she will allow only volunteers to be joined with the new nanites. In that case she would be a true hero who overcame her personal challenges and liberated the universe.

Regardless, an extremely entertaining series. My only complaint would be that I wish there was more.

[FirstBorn]

-- First off- allow me to apologize to you guys for taking so long to answer here. Things have been... lets just say *hectic* here at home IRL. Now- on to the cookies.

The end at last. Will there be an epilogue? It looks like an open ending where a little further info can be added. Or will there be an alternative ending, or are you done with this universe?

-- That's... complicated. I intended to do an alternate ending. I hope that will still happen. But I'm not certain when but life hasn't allowed me to work on it this past month. I'll say more on this below but suffice it to say if I come back to it it will be very briefly.

If you had changed your mind and decided to add one more chapter after all, would it contained something more than we have already seen, or just some more details of what is already there?

-- Good question. It would fill in some of the gaps I felt were left in the final chapter and give a *little* bit more. But not much. More time with the transformation of Angela's mother- And perhaps the fate of Samantha but that one is touchy for other reasons. Once again- see more below.

Now for some of your questions:

The old queen keeps some of her horns as a label, yes. They are there so Angela can visually "see" her trophy. They aren't *necessary*- she's a Queen now- so there's no reason to believe she wouldn't just KNOW every time she looks at her inherently. But its a nice visual effect for us mortals.

As for her Mother's fate- the original collective must be completely assimilated before anything else happens on that front. Otherwise the old collective would just choose another drone to put on the crown. Until then- they wait. Call it a design flaw.


What happened to Casey and Samantha? The version of the doctor in her head was rewired and repurposed. There was nothing left of the old engrams there to "rescue" the original. So all that is left to do is upgrade the wetworks with new loyalty. As for Samantha- you noticed I didn't explicitly reveal her fate did you? What do you think happened next? I suppose that depends on what you think happened to Angela while she was under. How much of her "humanity" survived. See below.

What about all the Tayler clones? They were part of a long term plan that I didn't have time to monologue. The short version? They were all clones with *implanted* memories and altered loyalties. Perfect infiltration spies for the Queen to send out into the other Alliance colonies. The faceless were grown clones of the Green Alien assimilated back in the first few chapters. You'll note the green tint (instead of the usual purple) in them all. Another detail I didn't have time to wrap into the story. As for the "original" - all I'll tell you is that the Cassie clone version of Taylor was NOT the original. In case that wasn't obvious. Does it matter if that was the original?

I realize the limitations of the medium, and the series have been running for a long time, so if you don't mind sharing, is there anything you would have done differently if the tools allowed you to do exactly the same as the imagination?

-- Oh SO much. Seriously. If I could just "imagine" sets, outfits, characters? Instead of the HOURS it takes to do what I've done here? This story deserved to be SO much bigger. Larger scale. Grander sets. World spanning. Fleets of ships the Queen would build. Hoards of drones chasing down screaming crowds of people. Think the drone takeover from the latest "I Robot"- except everyone the drones touch is converted into new drones. How about a few scenes showing how the new armor works and the drones attempting to overcome it. Don't get me wrong- I like the story as it turned out- but you should see the way it works in my head. This was the short story. I have the graphic novel.

A bit curious about the ramifications of Angela's victory. In which way is Firstborn leaning?

-- And here's the crux of why the story had to stop where it did. And why I couldn't answer some of the more far reaching questions about "what comes next".

So- after all that's happened how do you feel about Angela? Was the the hero of this story? Or was there never really a hero? Did you root for her to win? Or hope that she would fail? Is she, as Bemustar suggested, the monster she had been fighting to defeat? Or is she the means for humanity to reach a new golden age? Or is she something in between- simply the savior of humanity who then leaves it forever behind to protect them from themselves. Nothing but a footnote in history as the alien threat dissolves into the void.

I know which way *I* lean on that issue. And- if you read my other stories you can probably guess. I don't tend to tell stories where the good guys win and walk away w/o a scratch. Hard hitting moral choices don't so much as leave a mark if there isn't an actual *price* to be paid for them. But that doesn't mean that Angela is going to lead humanity to the same doom she was fighting to stop. Or... maybe it does.

What happens to Samantha? Don't know. Is she the first real "human" drone? Does she get to be the first new "cassie" of the new collective? Or does Angela un-do most of the alterations and return her to something akin to "normal". Or does she take a few steps and press the button that enslaves the rest of the colony, with Samantha right along with it- proving herself to be the Monster after all. Or- is that the sacrifice she has to make to leave no evidence of the collective behind.

I didn't want to take that choice away. We all come here for our own reasons. So I'd be willing to bet most of you put her somewhere in between the hero and the monster. But that is up to you. That was the whole point in me wanting to give alternate endings- so that there wouldn't be just one "official" version. It could go anywhere- and everywhere.

The ending really felt like a new beginning.

-- Exactly. I hope you enjoyed the ride.

[Reinhardt]

Hope things have calmed down a little by now.

Since nothing can be said for sure about the new queen, one can only make educated guesses. Personally I doubt she would have turned Samantha into a new Cassie considering she seemed to condemn that sort of actions when she rewired Casey.

The original purpose of the old Queen/Collective was to be a weapon, even if the queen in the Haywire Origin story seemed to have found a loophole, possibly because she was a new species with unknown mental properties, certain parts of the nanite programs had been partly damaged and fragmented over time or because her assimilation happened as an isolated incident without other normally present elements being around, or some other reason. The new queen seems free to decide her own purpose, and therefore the collective will also be different. The nanites does appear to have altered her personality to some degree, and her old queen added her own influence on her, but otherwise more of her old self could be present than if she had been an original kind of queen.

If she is something between her old self and the old queen, I can imagine she could also create a new form of drones, assimilating them into a new collective. Before that happens , it is possible the nanites need another reprogramming. I had the impression that the doctor only wanted to improve what was already there and change himself into a king with fewer limitations than the original queen, but paid less attention to the drones and the collective. It was my impression that he was more than happy to just keep them the way they were as long as he was the one who was in charge.

The new drones would still be 100% loyal to the queen/collective, not go against its will or do anything that could hurt it or put it in danger (something similar to Taylor, only with a more drone like appearance). But beyond that, they could keep some of their old individuality and independence, free to do whatever they liked when not performing their duty. Being able to do some independent thinking while having access to the collective's accumulated knowledge and experience, would allow creativity and ideas to flourish while individual or small teams of drones were working for what's best for the collective. Their motivations would mostly be to do something for the common good (the collective) or just out of curiosity and a will to gain knowledge. Like communism that actually worked. Maybe they wouldn't even feel like they were drones what their personality is concerned, but believe their loyalty and decisions came from themselves, like in the new Robocop movie when his visor is down. Or like Angela's mother, who believed she had chosen to follow the queen all by herself.
(Not sure if the old drones could be converted into new drones as well, or if they would make up a subclass of their own.)

If you had so many ideas that never found their way into the story, maybe you could give it a try someday and write the story in words only and post it on http://www.mcstories.com or something, perhaps doing a collaboration with another writer, for instance Tabico, if they are willing and interested in doing so. I'm sure there are lot of people out there who would like to read the story.

[FirstBorn]

Hey guys- just drumming up some interest for my long delayed return to McComix.

Real Life time constraints are (hopefully) out of the way allowing me to get back to making comics. I know its been a while- but I hope you'll check back in for the Alternative ending I promised oh so long ago.

I am fairly certain this is gonna take 2 chapters and I intend to give it all the time and attention it deserves.

[Champ]

Best news ever! Welcome back! I am looking forward to the Queen's takeover!

[sohta123]

Yeah! Can't wait to read it!
And great to have you back.

[FirstBorn]

Yeah! Can't wait to read it!
And great to have you back.

Best news ever! Welcome back! I am looking forward to the Queen's takeover!

-- Thanks guys! Its good to be back. Picked up Poser Pro 2014 over the break and you can't do something like that and then NOT use it, right?

[Champ]

Sweet! Sample us some teaser pics. XDD

[kryton73]

Firstborn, I'm glad that you are back to making comics. The site has lacked some of the diversity that you provide and I've grown a little bored of the site without your transformation comics. I can't wait to see what happens to Angela in the alternative ending. I, of course, hope to see Angela and some of rest of the crew get the Casey treatment a la my suggested ending 3. It's long been past due to see converted Angela in a "Slave" collar.

[mauser8mm]

Firstborn, I'm glad that you are back to making comics. The site has lacked some of the diversity that you provide and I've grown a little bored of the site without your transformation comics.

Can you tease with some info? Will you picking up TheFallenStar series?

[FirstBorn]

Well hello again mind control & transformation aficionados!! I am proud to present Chapter 27 of The Queen's Reign. This is Part 1 of the Alternate Ending I promised some time ago.

For those who need it the chapter is available HERE.

Synopsis:
We all know one way things could have gone. But what if things had gone just a little... differently. What if, instead of breaking the nannites over her thigh and ushering in a new collective... What if her attempt was thwarted by the very person she intended most to save. What if the nannites were delivered safely into the hands of the original Queen. Would Angela somehow be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and still stop the nefarious nannite infested Queen from conquering the universe? Before she can save the universe, she has to save herself- as it seems the Queen is rather intent on adding her to her collective. Something some small part of Angela is afraid she actually wants.

So- this chapter is picking back up right at the same time as chapter 25, but takes us in a different direction. I hope you enjoy!

Sweet! Sample us some teaser pics. XDD

Can you tease with some info? Will you picking up TheFallenStar series?

-- I might be able to whip up some some extra pictures of some alternative options just for flavor and throw them in the "free" folders. I'll see what I can do.

As for where I'm going- I know The FallenStar series is a popular one- but my creative juices are currently taking me in a different direction. I think my next work is going to be more of a fantasy based story entitled Through a Twisted Looking Glass. I still have one last chapter to post to finish off QR and then we'll see images from that series start filtering in. Don't worry- I have stories for FallenStar- plenty of them floating around in my head. I just have another one making a bit more noise first.

Firstborn, I'm glad that you are back to making comics. The site has lacked some of the diversity that you provide and I've grown a little bored of the site without your transformation comics. I can't wait to see what happens to Angela in the alternative ending. I, of course, hope to see Angela and some of rest of the crew get the Casey treatment a la my suggested ending 3. It's long been past due to see converted Angela in a "Slave" collar.

-- Hmm... Well I think I could oblige you there in one way or another, but as you can see from chapter 27 Angela's current fate does not seem to be the "Casey" Treatment. At least not "officially". What will her final form be? Good question- we have to see what her first assimilated form is and then see if she survives the Queen's Ascension. Have to wait for next chapter for that.

As for the compliment- I'll take it in the spirit it was intended. We have a lot of good artists here at McComix but we are also fairly broad in our specialties. No matter who you're here to see- we're all just glad that you're here. Without our Fans we would all just shrivel up as the creative muse chokes for lack of attention.

[Reinhardt]

Good to see the old characters again. Feels like the next issue will contain a lot of action; first Angela's assimilation, then the Queen's new form, then another transformation for Angela, and possibly something for her mother, Taylor and Samantha as well.

[FirstBorn]

Good to see the old characters again. Feels like the next issue will contain a lot of action; first Angela's assimilation, then the Queen's new form, then another transformation for Angela, and possibly something for her mother, Taylor and Samantha as well.

-- Well, when you put it like that, it does sound like rather a lot to fit into one chapter doesn't it. :\ But still- I'm going try and fit it all in there. Yes- it will be a bit meaty, but that might just mean its a bit *long*.

I'd rather not stretch this out into a three chapter alternate ending. We'll just have to see.