Mordax et al

This is in fact a question I had intended to answer quite soon myself, so I’m glad that you asked.

There is in fact, an exact, reflected physical duplicate of each person, on each moon (for the most part.)  This is due to the way that carapaces are born, or rather produced. The physical genetic archives for the citizens of Derse are the same as those for Prospit. In video game terms one could consider them ‘recolors; or ‘palette swaps’ of one another.

On the moons this is known as having a ‘twin’. The Black Queen for example is the White Queen’s twin.

Here, however, unlike the human notion of twins where one assumes the individuals to be much alike, on Derse and Prospit, twins are assumed to be (and generally are) opposite in nature.

The main thing that twins have in common with one another is their occupation or role in society. For example, twin to Jack Noir is Jack Blanc, the White Queen’s advisor and personal assistant. Blanc and Noir share the position of being closest in rank below the queen, however in most other ways they are opposites, or imperfect mirrors of one another. Blanc, for example, is renowned for his patience and good humor.

Twins are prominent in Dersite (and prospitian) pop culture, often used as a shlocky plot device in the same way that ‘evil twins’ are on earth. In Dersite thrillers, it is not unusual to discover that if someone is acting strangely in fiction its because they are really a prospitian with dark makeup and contact lenses.

Likewise there is a small, but persistent genre of pornography (and Derse has *lots* of pornography) dedicated to the idea of twins meeting and engaging in carnal relationships. Generally these involve soldiers meeting on the battlefield, unless the author has deigned to make up a more contrived reason for two twins to meet. (I am told there is at least one about the Queens themselves)

In normal carapace society however, the idea of romance between twins is taboo, not for any incestuous reason (due to the lack of procreation) but due to the enmity inherent in anyrelationships between Prospitians and Dersites. Furthermore, twins are expected to dislike one another, due to the fact that they share just enough commonality to make their clashing personalities all the more noticeable. Real interactions between twins are frankly quite rare.

As for Parcel Mistress and Ms. Paint specifically I have some information. Parcel Mistress’ twin is a woman who runs the counter at the royal mail facility. Her title is Postal Supervisor, and to be frank, when I interacted with her she did not seem very invested in her job. She was however, quite cheerful and talkative.

Ms Paint however I was unable to locate a twin for. After some research, I have discovered that no record of any such Prospitian exists, much less her twin.