The Big Mistake
I joined other RPGs, using the same name but different personas. This caused some confusion as to who 'Maq' really was. My solution? I began to number them. This seemed like such a good idea at the time: Round up all the personas that'd had and give them all numbers, leading up to the personas I used now. The Maq that ran this webpage at the time was Maq#032, while the Maq in the new RPG I had just joined was Maq#033. This insanity went on for longer then it should have, and only added to the confusion (mine included). There were gaping holes in the numbers, since I'd never been good at planning, and thus were 'missing Maqs'. I attempted to fill these holes, and only managed to dig myself a deeper grave.
Then one night, while talking to an old FR buddy, Akira, I came up with the idea of restarting the FR. It had been too much fun to allow die! It might have stayed open, but those that ran it had grown tired of GMing. So I got permission from them to rebuild, and attempted to restart the FR from where it had fallen. It was a rocky start, but with the arrival of another oldtimer named Kail, the RPG soared. But I looked back at Maq, and saw that the RPG storyline she'd had no longer fit. So, since she needed a make-over, I decided to make a Maq just for that RPG, deemed Maq#031 (since technicly, this persona had existed before 032 and 033). She got a new look, and everything went well once again.
Around the corner, this webpage was turning 4 years old. I began to take a deeper look at this, and noticed several things needed to change. Since I was going to do a major page-overhaul anyways to celebrate 4 years, I decided to clean house. I finally gritted my teeth and threw out several old sections and dying pages, including the Maq numberig system. I deeply regret ever starting that, but at least it was over. The problem was, what about Maq? Should I keep using her RPG form to run this page? Or should I create a new persona and let her keep the age-old namesake? I finally opted to use the old Maq, and just give her a different backstory. I simply never told anyone what that story was. I'd dug myself enough holes before, thank you.
Around this time, I stopped playing at the RPG. I just didn't have it in me, and I had grown tired of Maq playing there. I still liked the idea of her being a mercenary, and held onto that for later. So I decided that there needed to be only one Maq in existance, and that Maq would be the one for my page. From that point on, I vowed never to join another RPG using that character name, unless she had the exact same backstory as the one running the webpage. And thus, Maq was completely reborn. She had her own (non-Mary-Su) history and personality, and I even gave her a completely new look, to help put the horrid past behind her.
So to this day, this has been the norm. There is but one (terminator!) true Maq, and she is firmly planted here, at MHHO. This may not be where she was 'born', but this is where she reigns. She will continue to grow and evolve with the webpage, but for the most part, she will remain the same lovable, bubbly, and aggressivly friendly reploid we've all come to know and love.
