"Usually I have to fit the metaphors I'm planning to my available chess pieces. I'd give you a white queen and James the black king and queen from the same set, and myself all four rooks, and I'd just have to pick the set that came closest to what I'm aiming for. But since I have the option, I might as well fit the chess pieces to the metaphors instead. Jamie's taking queen-as-sword and king-as-crown; you're taking queen but I'm not planning the exact aspect in advance, so the important thing is for your queen to be something that resonates with you. Oh, and I didn't specify, but it also helps if my rooks are either the traditional turret shape, or something else with a stone-walls motif. That's my usual rook aspect. But it's less important to include that than to get the rest of it."