Purple Bry

Orange - Bee

 

I. The Basics

Your Name: Elliot, though you may call me Elly if you prefer.
Your Age: 23
AOL, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Screen Names: christian.chan (YIM)
Your E-Mail: RoninH@gmail.com
Your Forum Username: Starlight Prince
Rping Experience: I've been RPing since I was 16. Been in quite a few good ones, but this is my second Sailormoon RPG. Most of the others have been free form fantasy or Harry Potter themed.


II. Just Your Everyday Girl…or Boy

Character Name: Gabriel "Opie" Evangeline / Young Master Tryphon
Name Meaning:

  • Gabriel is the name of an archangel, or more correctly translated "primary messenger", in abrahamic religions.
  • "Opie" (pronounced "oh-pee") is a nickname Gabriel got from playing the role of Ophelia in a production of Hamlet when he was in middle school. (On a side note, Ophelia is also a greek name, it means "Help")
  • Evangeline is a greek name meaning "good news", again pointing to his past as a messenger.
  • Tryphon is another greek name that means softness and delicacy.

 

You either need to make clear your reason why Gabriel has two names from the get go or find a way to introduce this information in the history section as it’s very confusing at first sight. Plus, not everything about the genre needs to relate back to Greece; musicals are famous and well known in many more places.

 

I would like to see Opie's name have more relevance to his genre versus his past. I understand why you'd use his past to generate names but honestly, he needs to be somewhat related to his genre. The last time I watched a performance of Hamlet, I don't recall there being lyrics hence Hamlet doesn't fall under the musical theatre genre either, thus his name is lacking any genre-related portion. I'd like to see his name changed to something more related to his genre. Whether using segments of names from musicals or simply using a baby name meaning site like Parenthood (http://www.parenthood.com/babynames.html) to look up related words such as "musical," "voice," and "vocal," we'd really like to see your character with a name of relevance.

 

Character Position: Musical
Birth Date: March 12
Astrological Sign: Pisces
Age: 15
Blood Type: Type O
Birth Place: Bakersfield, CA
Nationality: American
Occupation: Student
School: Las Vegas High School
Academic Level: The grade your character is currently in.

 

You forgot to let us know what grade he is in. Now being fifteen we could assume freshman or sophomore; however, we don't know if he'd been bumped a grade, held back, or kept where he should be.

If Opie is in high school, then they're in a he's level. I'm assuming you didn't know this but at age 15, Opie would be a sophomore.


Major/Minor: Theatre
GPA: 3.8
School Involvements: Drama Club



III. The Nitty-Gritty Character Information

Likes: Professional Theatre, Stuffed Animals, Sweets, TV Crime Dramas, Soft Fabrics, Rainstorms, and Trees (unless they're Coniferous)
Dislikes: Dogs, Being Wet (or worse, covered in goo), Heights, "Boy Clothes", and Blazing Hot Weather.
Hobbies: Origami, Writing, Doodling, Singing, and Acting

 

Likes, Dislikes, Hobbies: nothing you wrote really digs into Gabriel's character, not to mention the one word answers that leave this boy a mystery.

 

You have far less likes, dislikes, and hobbies than I would expect. I know even the laziest of people have more hobbies than these so show them! They can even be in this list format but you need to add things out of the ordinary because the listed likes, dislikes, and hobbies are very general and almost every can agree they like sweets but dislike blazing hot weather. Even the oddest ones can add another dimension to Opie and I'd like to see it. I don't even see anything related to his genre here but rather theatre. Remember, these characters were chosen to personify their particular genre, and Opie isn't showing why he was chosen for musical theatre whatsoever based on his likes, dislikes, and hobbies.


Favorite Food: Angel Food Cake
Hated Food: Sauerkraut
Favorite Animal: Monkey
Favorite Color: Purple

 

The favorites sections are used to help you develop your character and realize why he likes the things he does such as his prized food or animal. I feel that if you explained why he likes or dislikes these things, it'd add more dimensions to Opie. I'd like to read why he hates sauerkraut so much! Did he have an embarrassing experience with the food in the past? Does he enjoy baking angel food cake in secrecy? Why monkeys? You need to elaborate and it'll help your character grow.


Aspirations: To become a famous Actor/Singer and to find love.
Flaws: Indecisive, lacks situational awareness, can't swim, extremely gullible, trusting, clingy, afraid of heights and dogs, is a complete creampuff in battle.

 

In the flaws section, what exactly does it mean to be a "complete creampuff in battle?" For Opie's sake, you should elaborate on his flaws to strengthen his character. For examples of how accepted characters have handled the flaws section, please check out their character sites. We put the sites up for applicants so they could look at examples of accepted characters in order to get a knack for how they should sculpt their own application so don't hesitate to utilize these resources.

 



Physical Appearance
Hair color and style: Golden brown, layered down to around shoulder length.
Eye color, shape etc: Blue, large (think Elijah Wood) and very emotive.
Facial Features: Round, Childish features, with a slightly lop-sided grin.
Body Type/Build/Skin Color & Height & Weight: Slim, slightly wirey frame, caucasian skin. 5'2", 104lbs
Walking Style/’Carriage’: Light, fairly graceful.
Clothing Style: Often older styles with contemporary twists. Older British styles, younger punk styles, bright colors, and faded colors, among other things.
Distinguishing Marks: Two scars, both on the forearms.
Other Physical Appearance Details: None of interest
Voice: High

Details are a must! Especially in the appearance department: brunette, blue eyes, short. That describes so many millions of persons it's not even funny, really look at any of the other senshi's pages or reviews to see what we expect with personal appearance.

 

It's very difficult to get a visual image of your character based on the simple replies to the physical appearance section. Much like I said earlier, you should go back, look at all the accepted characters' sites, and see how they handled the physical appearance section. In the future, I'd like to see this section in greater depth as you have a wonderful foundation for an appearance that needs to be elaborated on just a bit more. You say his voice is "high?" You need to describe what "high" is. He is the significance of musical theatre so I'd definitely expect much to be said about his voice based on the genre which relies on the performer's powerful voice to enchant audiences. How large are these scars on his forearms and what were they caused from? Caucasian people have a myriad of skintones, whether a ghostly pale from sitting inside all day or sunburned from hours out in the garden. Does he have freckles spread across his face or any blemishes of the skin? Is his hair straight and silky or wildly curly? Again, elaboration is truly needed to each part of this section.

 

 


Personality:

  • Opie is rather effeminate. In fact, he often prefers to be referred to as a "she", so as to avoid people staring or causing trouble. He dresses in skirts and other female clothes and seems very comfortable in them. Due to him still being very young, in addition to being on hormone replacement therapy, he's still very passable as female, and people rarely give it a second glance. He gets depressed every time his dad punishes him by making him wear his "boy clothes", which consist of regular fit jeans and a 49ers t-shirt. Opie makes frequent attempts to 'accidentally' burn or otherwise destroy these.
  • Opie is very trusting. Too trusting. If he suspects someone of lying, he'll ask if they're lying, and simply trust their answer. There was a lot of trouble as a child with him trusting complete strangers. He knows enough now to use more discretion, but often finds himself trusting strangers anyway. If he finds out someone has exploited this, he's normally devastated, and even sometimes gets very angry.
  • He usually gets very attached to friends, often a little too close for their comfort. He's been known to climb up onto an older friend's and insist on a piggy back ride, or sudden, unwarranted hugging or cuddling. This is often trouble, as not all of his friends are used to being around a boy dressed as a girl.
  • Opie is afraid of dogs. Terrified, even. In most situations, he'll run away from them, or get really nervous, or in extreme circumstances, he freezes like a deer in headlights. His fear of heights had no particular causes, but he refuses flat out to ride ferris wheels and rollercoasters.
  • Opie often has trouble with decisions. He can take a while to decide between two things he wants to do, and often attempts to do both, and usually fails.
  • Opie is very graceful, and can dance with relative ease and skill. When he screws up, he screws up big, often with much flailing. For some reason, though, he can't get the hang of belly dancing, even though he really wants to.
  • Opie is highly excitable, usually caused by the sugar he eats. This can also be caused by big events such as christmas, opening night in a theatrical production, among other things. This is also the result of nervousness, often experienced before a doctor visit, or meeting someone he like likes.

 

His personality offers a good start, but something just doesn't seem complete to me. It's as if you've not really described him as a whole person. Typically there is an overview before an in depth telling of who he or she is, here it seems you left out the list and just wrote solely about his hobbies and flaws (while these are important they shouldn't be the sole factors to his personality).

 

If you couldn't tell, PC members are advocates of listing out personality traits then elaborating on them as it really helps you balance out his general positive and negative traits while maintaining a decent amount of each. I feel if you did this and brainstormed a few more traits, Opie would be much better developed. I don't feel that this personalty tells me much about Opie as it isn't elaborated at all. I feel like you should give Opie general traits which describe him in order to elaborate versus being so specific. Why is Opie afraid of dogs? This could be an interesting event to write about and could also explain the 2 scars on his forearms.

If I made a list of Opie's traits, this is what I'd have to work with thus far:
Effeminate
Trusting
Clingy
Physical
Fearful of dogs and heights
Indecisive
Graceful
Easily excitable

His traits don't mesh well with the Pisces sign at all and you can clearly see this once you have listed out the traits. I would suggest researching your astrological signs' personality traits to get an idea of what else to add to his personality section or change his astrological sign altogether. A well-known aspect of personality in Sailor Moon, astrological signs and blood types play an immense role in a character's personality. By adding traits relevant to his sign or even blood type, it would add more depth to his character along with a well-rounded list of general traits that apply to Opie. An important aspect to Proelium Cantus is relevance to your genre and I think Opie should prove himself as the epitome of the musical theatre genre through his personality above any other part of the application. Make Opie into a walking, living, breathing representation of musical theatre and don't be afraid to be bold about it!

 

History:

  • ~ Act I Scene I : Lyrica ~

    Born a noble of the northern kingdom in a golden age, Tryphon was all his parents could ever want and more for an heir. There was nothing to indicate that he wouldn't grow to be a fine young man, and a credit to his family. He would marry a beautiful bride and carry on the family name. But alas, it was not to be.

    Young Tryphon seemed to have no eye for the fair maidens of the court, instead he was caught flirting with any tall, handsome young man he can find. Both parents disapproved, but Tryphon's father, Magius, was livid to see such behavior from his son. Noble tradition expressly forbid the marriage of a noble to someone of the same gender. The time had come to set his son straight and and betroth him to a young lady of the court. His soon to be bride, Cecilia, was very taken with Tryphon, and was looking forward to the marriage. Tryphon, however much he tried to love Cecilia, had no room in his heart for anyone but Gregarian, a diplomat from the Moon Kingdom that he had met.

    Tryphon faced his parents, and after a very heated argument, he left and Magius declared estrangement. His mother Aria, however, still loved his son deeply, and wanted to do what she could for him. She appealed to Queen Euterpe herself, pleading that she allow Tryphon to be a royal messenger, so that he could marry who he liked without completely losing his social status. The Queen granted Aria's request, and Tryphon became a member of the royal guard.

  • ~ Act I Scene II : Jealousy and Betrayal ~

    Cecilia, having been spurned by the one she loved, felt betrayed and insulted. To be cast aside in favor of a male was a serious slight to her beauty and noble standing. She spent several dark days locked in her chambers. There she brooded, stewing in her own jealousy and grief. It was then that a demon by the name of Akeba, attracted to the foul stench of Cecilia's emotions, appeared to her in her despair. There it seduced her with kind words and comforting thoughts of retibution. She made a pact with the demon. Akeba would enact revenge on Tryphon and Gregarian, but in exchange, Cecilia must give him her life.

    Akeba struck at Gregarian first, hoping to take him hostage and kill them both in one stroke. The plan backfired when Gregarian turned and attacked Akeba when his attention was diverted. Akeba was forced to take Gregarian's life, but in turn, Tryphon had a chance to shoot Akeba in the heart with a bow and arrow he had found on one of the guards.

  • ~ Act I Scene III : Tryphon's Demise ~

    Even though Gregarian was dead, Tryphon was rewarded for his bravery. The Queen of the Moon Kingdome enchanted the simple bow that had slain Akeba and gave it the ability to shoot bolts of sound waves. It was a kingly gift, but it did nothing to fill the void in Tryphon's life. He continued to serve as a royal messenger for Queen Euterpe for several years yet.

    Meanwhile, Akeba's spirit, dreadfully weakened by death, finally returns to Cecilia to collect his prize. Taking her body for his own, he returns to seek revenge on the one who had killed him. Tryphon, still grieving for his lost love, was no match for him, and was dispatched easily. Cecilia, seeing the one she loved dead, turned on her possessor, and began to struggle for control of her own body. The resulting battle ended with a burst of energy, and both Cecilia's body and the two psyche's that possessed it drifted off into space, never to be seen again.

    Tryphon's soul, riding on a glimmer of hope, drifted away to land on earth, and be reborn.

  • ~ Act II Scene I : Rebirth ~

    Gabriel Evangeline was born on a chilly early spring morning in March. His parents, Ellen and Gregory Evangeline, were very happy indeed. They had undergone years of trying, and had almost given up before Ellen's tests showed that she was positive. Now they had a baby boy.

    Ellen was a sweet, but rather dotty woman who worked as a researcher for an archeology team. Greg was a lighting specialist for photography, stage, and movie sets.

    Things were normal for the first year or so, but Greg and Ellen began to notice that Gabriel wasn't taking well to his toy trucks and cars, but instead seemed keenly interested in dolls and his mother's make up. Greg thought this behavior strange, but payed it no mind at first. It wasn't until Gabriel began asking to wear girl clothes that he finally put his foot down. He forbade his son from anything that had to do with being feminine.

    Ellen didn't explicitly approve of this behavior either, but didn't see that restricting would do any good. She insisted instead that Greg try to engage him and try to get him interested in more masculine activities. He agreed, but after hours of trying to coax him to play catch, or discuss how cool wearing pants is, there were minimal results. Finally, they both resolved to simply discouraging the behavior, and leaving it at that.
  • ~ Act II Scene II : The Theatre ~

    Seven years old and Gabriel is in the first grade. Though Gabriel allows his parents to dress him as a boy for school, on weekends he could wear a few colorful girl outfits that his weary parents had bought him. So long as he had that to look forward to, he could survive week to week. That is, when he wasn't terrorized by the neighborhood dog, a large akita who would chase him on his way to school almost every day.

    Soon after graduating the first grade, Greg accepts a job in Nevada as the chief lighting technician for a new theatre. Ellen makes arrangements with her research center to work online from their new home. The small family leaves the quiet streets of Bakersfield, CA to settle into the sleepless capitol city Las Vegas.

    Gabriel starts second grade just as Greg begins coordinating the lighting system for the new theatre. Winter hits and the new theatre is finally ready for its first production. A Christmas Carol would play for the whole month of December until Christmas Eve, and everything was running smoothly, except for one thing. The director just couldn't seem to find a young actor suitable for the role of Tiny Tim. Greg, seeing a chance to, perhaps, coax Gabriel into being more masculine by playing a masculine role, offered to audition his own son.

    From the moment he stood up to read his lines, Gabriel knew that he had found his calling. Not only could he enjoy the attention of being on stage and in the spotlight, he was fully allowed, for the first time, to wear make up. Gabriel shined as Tiny Tim, and the production was a success. He continued to audition for future productions, and continued to grow fond of the theatre.

  • ~ Act II Scene III : The Deal ~

    Despite his parent's efforts, Gabriel's desire to express himself the way he wished grew by the day. By the end of elementary school he was constantly depressed, and resigned to do nothing at all, if he couldn't do girl stuff. His grades plummeted and his parents became concerned.

    That's when Gabriel decided to strike a bargain. Grades for girly things. If he worked hard and got good grades in school, he would gradually be allowed certain privileges. It started with his hair, Greg and Ellen decided to let him grow it out when he started coming home with A's and B's on his report card. By the time he was in middle school, he was unrecognizable. He was teased, of course, but he took it in stride. He could outrun any bully at the school, and after some time, the students just learned to leave him alone.

    It was that summer that the youth theatre group was beginning production for Hamlet. The director, not knowing Gabriel was male, cast him as Ophelia, the role that would give him his infamous nickname "Opie".

    Eventually, Ellen and Greg Evangeline gave up on having a normal son, though Greg often comically laments having such a strange child. They kept an old 49ers t-shirt and a pair of regular fit jeans on hand, and made him wear them in place of grounding, which did no good, as he stayed in his room most of the time anyway.
  • ~ Act III Scene I : All the World's a Stage ~

    Opie's middle school career was coming to a close. With his GPA very close to a clean 4.0, and his girl clothing privileges intact, Gabriel's life was looking wonderful...until one morning.

    He had woken up to brush his teeth and get ready for school, where in the mirror, he nearly died at what he saw. A single, black hair on his chin. Distressed, he hurried to his mother, to show her the foul foreshadows of puberty that had graced his chin.

    Out of concern, their parents could no longer dismiss this a stage that he was going through, so in the best interest of Opie's health, his parents took him to see a psychiatrist. After several sessions and numerous tests, and at his patient's request, the doctor recommended that Opie be started on hormone replacement therapy to help combat the effects of puberty.

    The puberty crisis averted, Opie began his first year of high school with confidence. He also began formal singing lessons, where he would also learn how to raise the tone of his normal speaking voice to match his feminine appearance.
  • ~ Act III Scene II : Ophelia's Saviour ~

    High School had started for Opie, and he was now participating in every Theater production he could possibly manage, including musicals of every kind. This, of course, meant that he was always busy. Between school work, memorizing lines, performances, and tests, he didn't have much time for friends or clubs. He was always so busy that often he'd space out while walking to and from school.

    One day, after a particularly long night of studying, Opie left to walk to school the next morning. Due to the lack of sleep, he carelessly crossed a busy street, thinking longingly of the classroom desk, where he could sit down and rest, or perhaps get a little nap in. He didn't see the semi speeding towards him until it was too late. He was narrowly saved by a college freshman, who managed to leap out and push Opie out of the way in time. Instead, the truck skidded and ran over the stranger's leg, shattering the kneecap and leaving him lying in the middle of the road in pain.

    Opie, who was bleeding from his forearms from the landing, was able to call an ambulance, and they were both taken to the hospital for treatment. The English majoring college freshmen, Joshua Keyes, paid a heavy price for his deed. His right leg needed to be amputated from the kneecap down. Saving Opie had cost him his ability to walk on his own.

    This shook Opie greatly. He felt deeply responsible for Joshua's condition, and visited him every day afterward. They soon became good friends, and Opie would visit his home frequently and help him around his house. Joshua insists that it isn't necessary, but Opie feels duty bound to help him in any way he can. He would soon find that he's in love with the young writer, but is far too embarrased to tell anyone about it.

    He hopes one day that he can be a savior to Joshua, just as he was to him. To protect him from whatever harm may come his way, but can't often see how. For now he continues to participate in both the youth and adult productions of his father's theatre. A year and a half has passed since then, and Opie will soon be enjoying his first leading role.

 

I enjoy the thought of making your history like a play, sing as plays can be musical and musicals are your genre; however, the content is a bit much to take in. Firstly the Lyrican life - though a great idea - left me kind of baffled: I understand the tragedy in musical theatre; however, I don't recall there being demons in Lyrica. I feel that if revised and tweaked the past life can become a great addition. Gabriel's current life however, bothers me some. Most parents wouldn't be willing to just begin buying their son girl's things to keep his grades up, nor would they promote his desires by allowing him to begin hormone treatments, I see rather a chance for torment and tweezers than parents getting pills. Also, I don't believe school children would just learn to better leave things be - people are cruel, it's sad but true, and I feel with Opie's effeminate ways that he would be picked on. Lastly, the car accident just seems a little over the top. The entire section just seems dramatic and as if it's seeking lime-light.

Also: Hormonal Replacement Therapy for a fifteen year old boy? I don't see this realistically happening: no parent I can think of would allow their children to begin something so severe and furthermore I think it would be near impossible for a doctor to take liability of such treatment for such a young child.

 

Although I gave you permission to make Opie into a citizen of Lyrica in a past life, I didn't expect it to play such a role in his history and even influence his name meaning and senshi weaponry. Half of his history is spent describing his tragic past which isn't necessary. The past is the past and shouldn't have anything to do with the current Opie, especially in his name. I deemed such a dramatic past with his lover and the angry fiancee acceptable as the musical theatre genre has much to do with drama, tragedy, and emotion but I wasn't expecting it to be so involved in his history.

The demon is unnecessary. I feel like his past on Lyrica would appeal more to the tragedy side of the musical theatre genre if his jealous lover had killed Opie and his lover herself. Until this is fixed, I would honestly say drop the entire backstory; Opie has so much history from his theatre performances to his incident with his savior Joshua to his desire to dress like a female, hoping those around him accept it and move on. I don't think Opie needs anything more as he already has a rather dramatic background in his current life. Why did you decide to do this past? What're your intentions? I don't see any need for this background whatsoever at this point.

In speaking of his background, I don't think that the hormone replacement therapy would be approved of by any parent or recommended by any doctor. Think of the reality of what you are stating in Opie's background as this is utterly unrealistic. Even if true, you would have to provide a background behind the entire incident as hormonal replacement therapy isn't just something any parent would allow their kid to begin without fighting, a deep discussion, or other forms of trying to convince their 15 year old kid if this is truly what he wants at such a young age.

 

No matter what, it's a sensitive issue whether a liberal parent or a conservative parent. If you research hormonal replacement, you'll notice there have been studies proving that such therapy would increase the risks of breast cancer, especially in lean individuals. HRT (Hormonal replacement therapy) causes the growth of breasts along with other feminine attributes which weren't even included in the physical appearance section. There are numerous types of HRT and this wasn't even specified and HRT causes many diseases as well. I actually have a human sexuality class I'm taking which has shown that HRT is a choice men take if they aren't comfortable with their sex to such an extreme degree and is a very tough decision to make, even for those who are intent on being a female especially with the possibilities of intense side effects. I find it very unlikely that Opie's family and especially doctor would recommend and allow such a thing. If you want Opie to still resemble a female, I think you should stick to something more realistic at his age such as crossdressing versus HRT and focusing on that.

Remember the cliche phrase "Show, don't tell?" This applies to your history and if you are to include all of these dramatic incidents into his history, you must also go into detail as to how Opie is going to react. Most men who do crossdress don't walk to school carefree and with confidence, expecting everyone to accept or ignore them and move on with their lives. Obviously Opie is going to deal with these things and even experience a few anti-crossdressing students along the way which gives you a great paragraph or so in his history to write about.

If you divide your history up into specific incidents, you will realize that each segment is quite short but there's such a plethora of dramatic instances that makes the history seem lengthy. I want to read about Opie's life and how he has reacted to being so different from others, not about some demon who killed a lover in the past life that Opie doesn't even remember in the first place. I want to read about realistic instances and not so many drama-filled, unrealistic issues that don't even matter to the present-day Opie at this time.

This character's history needs reworking as it doesn't seem plausible. You nearly write off every person as being either accepting of Opie's bold lifestyle in female clothing or ignoring it while bringing in hormone replacement therapy, bargains "grades for girly things," female theatre roles, a semi truck accident, and a lengthy past with a jealous lover and a demon. His present history is unrealistic and any parent wouldn't be caught dead approving of hormone replacement therapy especially in "the best interest of Opie's health" when there are so many side effects to HRT especially for thin people at as young of an age as Opie. For a 15 year old boy, I think his his history has too much in it and you need to focus on fewer but more realistic events in order to make Opie's history more believable and above all, acceptable.

 

V. Relations & Miscellaneous

NPCs:

  • Gregory Evangeline, Father, works as a chief lighting technician. Though he doesn't necessarily approve of Opie's 'habit', he is used to it.
  • Ellen Evangeline, Mother, Archeology Researcher. Loves her son unconditionally, approves of his 'habit', but does often wish he could have been a bit more normal.
  • Joshua Keyes, friend, College Student. Enjoys Opie's company, doesn't seem to mind his habit.

 

What are Gabriel's relations like with his mother, father, and Joshua? How does he feel about them and how do they feel about him? These should be longer than a sentence. What are their personalities like? There is so much we should know to further know Gabriel.

 

My immediate reaction to this section was the briefness of it; it lacks detail and you keep referring to something of Opie's as "habit." I don't even quite get what this "habit" you speak of as Opie has so much going on that's unusual for a 15 year old boy. Again with the showing and not telling, you need to describe each of these individuals and their in-depth relationships with Opie. I'm certain mom and dad do more than just approve and disapprove of his "habit" after all. His dad seems to be involved in the theatre business, wouldn't this make him feel proud to see his son partake in theatre too? Wouldn't this strengthen their relationship? You don't even give a basic age or any sort of physical appearance for any of these people. Joshua Keyes' college isn't even specified although the schools can be found on the site. Obviously the two have to have a very in-depth relationship as Joshua severely injured himself when saving Opie and I'm certain there's more to this relationship than the mere sentence you provide on him.

 

Character Relations: None of particular interest.
Character Theme Song: "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera
Secret(s): The accident with Joshua. As of right now only him, Joshua, and his parents know about it. He also has a very deep crush on him. Something he keeps a secret from everybody. Other than that, he has a small tattoo on his upper thigh of a butterfly that he got under his parent's noses.

 

As for his secrets; the tattoo and what significance it holds should be listed in his physical appearance section too.

 

You should describe the butterfly tattoo under the distinguishing features section of physical appearance along with what it specifically looks like. Why did he decide on a butterfly versus something else? Of what significance does the butterfly hold to Opie?


VI. Proelium Soldier

Senshi Name: Sailor Operetta

 

Drop the sailor, Gabriel should just be known by his genre name, which I thought was musical theatre.

 

 

It states directly in the application that the "Sailor" portion of a male character's senshi name is dropped but why has it been added here? Being your character crossdresses, I think it'd be neat to add the aspect of him perhaps becoming female when a senshi? In Sailor Moon, the Starlights do this and I think the concept suits Opie as well.

 

Why Sailor Operetta? This makes absolutely no sense and as you have seen on the cast page, there is already a senshi of opera. I will define operetta for you briefly with help from Wikipedia: "Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is closely related both to opera and also to other forms of lighter musical theatre, and in many cases, it is difficult to assign a musical theatre work to a particular genre." The challenge with Proelium Cantus in sculpting a character is that you have to cover the genre wholly, without aiming at one aspect of the genre. You cannot declare musical's name changed to operetta to sound better because it has the words "lighter musical theatre" in its definition. You need to cover all bases and I advise you to stick with the simple name "Musical" in combat.


Symbol: The two masks commonly seen in theatre, one happy, one sad, both in front of a cleft note.
Henshin Item: A small pendant on a necklace, if you look closely you can see the two mask and cleft symbol in the blue jewel. He normally keeps this tucked into his shirt.
Henshin Phrase & Description: “Musical Soprano Power!”
Catch/Introduction/Challenge Phrase: "For love and beauty, I am the prettyboy prince of the stage, Sailor Operetta! On behalf of all that is pure and innocent, I will punish you!"

 

The symbol works well as does the henshin item. I do like his catchphrase except the ending being exactly what Sailor Moon herself says.


Fuku

Sailor Operetta's fuku consists of a basic off-white leotard. A slightly loose, sleeveless v-neck top covers down to about mid-thigh, and is tied off at the waist by a gold ribbon, and knotted in a bow in the lower back. Covering the feet are brown leather sandals with ribbons wrapping intricately up the legs and tied just below the knees. A golden armlet adorns his right arm, while on his left forearm is tied an intricate leather arm guard. Around his head is a crown of golden laurel leaves.

 

His fuku works well, though I think you could do so much more with musical theatre than the Greek aspect.

 

I'm very impressed with the fuku, especially the leotard part as it's relevant to musical theatre. If you've seen a "behind the scenes" portion of any musical, they always show the men in leotards of some sort, practicing their singing and dancing so I was very in awe of this. The visual of your senshi helped a lot with visualizing the fuku and we highly appreciate you providing us with such a wonderful visual aid. I don't understand why you didn't use a mask though as fukus aren't all about trying to look as glamorous as possible but having relevance to the genre and laurels, although said to communicate the spirit of poetry, isn't as geared towards the genre as a mask would be. Even using the mask in addition to the laurels would be a nice touch but I'm a tad confused as an interesting part of the fuku would be a mask but you were against it when we spoke last, choosing something less relevant to his genre like the laurels.

Attacks:
Attack Names: Shining Arrow Vibration!
Attack Descriptions: Sailro Operetta summons a magic bow and shoots a bolt of shining sound energy at the enemy.
Attack Effects: While this is a weapon attack, the projectile itself has no real substance. Instead it's a concentrated beam of sound. One shot from this is hardly lethal, but it's enough to pin someone against a wall momentarily, while doing some damage as well. The real usefulness of such a weapon is more in the fact that it can actually send a message on it's own. The bolt can be stopped by disrupting the wave, or by simply blocking it with something else. He can send about 3 bolts per 15 minutes or so before becoming too tired. (Considering that most battles don't take as long as 15 minutes)

Weapon: His bow was enchanted from a regular longbow for him by the Queen of the Moon. It can be summoned on command, but sometimes won't come if he is too weak. It doesn't have a string, but instead it fires bolts of sound energy.

 

A bow and arrow? I feel the weapon doesn't fit the genre. Perhaps something like a mask or an accessory (i.e. Sailor Jupiter's tiara being the source for her attacks) would better suit the musical genre, after all musicals don't only have to be serious and tragic, they can be fun and different.

 

Overall, the soldier section is a great start, I just feel you need to change a few things.

 

Weaponry is an issue we're strict on and wish for the weapon to be as relevant as possible. Like I said, when I approved of your character being a reincarnate of a past Lyrican, I wasn't expecting it to influence so much of his application. In fact, it almost seems like a cop-out as you could have gone above and beyond, conjuring a weapon more unique than just a sword, wand, or bow in your case. There are so many possibilities of attacks with your selected genre that you don’t even need a weapon! But if you’re still intent on a weapon, you could even use the mask as a weapon that activates an attack once worn or something to that effect. Or as I stated to you when you contacted me, a handheld microphone with a specific song he sings in order to activate his attack whether putting enemies into a daze when listening to the song or being so high pitched (After all, you said his voice is high-pitched) that it deafens the enemies.

 

With the microphone, you could make such a unique spectrum of attacks. After all, in the earlier ancient Greek times, sirens were depicted as bird-women who sang songs of knowledge and made all sailors stop to listen to such alluring songs, only to have their ships wrecked from such addiction to the song. Sirens in modern days also sing so sweetly that they lull mariners to sleep so you could work off of this with the microphone if wanted. These are just suggestions to inspire you as a bow and arrow from the past life isn't acceptable especially with our strict weapons policy and wishing for much relevance towards the genre over anything else.

 



VIII: Writing Sample Optional


"I did it! I got the part!" he announced, bouncing into the entrance hall. He was wearing an oversized denim jacket today, faded and arfully torn in places. On the back was a star pattern and the words 'Mega Mega SuperStar!' on the back. Underneath was a grey v-neck shirt, a pair of thick stringed necklaces, and a pair of black dye low rise jeans. "Mama! Papa! I did it!"

"A-ah! Great job, son!" said Greg; a small, guilty emphasis on the word "son".

Ellen, giving her husband half a reproachful glance, then turned to her child. "Congratulations, hun! What part did you get?"

"I got the lead role for Phantom of the Opera! My first lead role! I'm so excited!" and indeed, he seemed as if he were about to burst, hardly able to stay in one place.

"Raoul?" Greg offered, with only a faint hope.

"Of course not!" Ophelia said, standing still for the first time to give his father a stern look. "I got the part of Christine Daae, of course."

"I knew it...oh my son, where have you gone?" his father replied woefully, slumping against the table, nearly spilling his tea.

"That's wonderful, sweetie." Ellen cut in, pointedly ignoring Greg's laments. "It looks like we'll definitely have to come see this," her tone turned icy as she turned her gaze back to her husband. "won't we, dear?"

Greg sat up at once, waving his hand in the air dismissively, laughing uneasily. "Of course, of course! Maybe we can call grandpa and grandma and have them come see too!"

But Opie was barely listening. "I'm going upstairs to practice! You know what they say: 'Practice makes parfaits!' Ohhh I can't wait!" and with that, he was gone upstairs.

"...It's supposed to be 'Practice makes perfect..." Greg added to the sudden silence.

-~=[
]=~-

Carefully placing his hand drawn 'do not disturb' sign on the doorknob, he slipped into his room, making a rather sloppy pirouette out of it and jumping back onto his bed. Taking a plush white kitten off of one of his pillows, he holds it up above him, surveying the fuzzy underbelly and bemused expression.

"It hardly seems real." he commented aloud. "I feel like I'm in a wonderful dream. Now if only Joshua were playing Raoul...then it'd be perfect." and for a moment he let his mind wander, as it often does, into a world where Joshua still had his leg. He would hold Ophelia tightly, his head resting on his chest, listening to his racing heart.

But then reality set in, and the pang of guilt that plagued him since the accident threatened to wash over him again. Quietly, he rolled to his feet, trying to put it from his mind. The plush kitten lay splayed and forgotten on the bed as he stepped to the window. Something else was bothering him.

"What?! You've got to be joking! He's not even a girl!"

Chantelle...She was the only one who was vocally against him getting the part. He knew why too, she had been hoping for Christine, and instead she got Carlotta. In a way, he wondered why the director had picked him. Chantelle was far and again a more powerful singer than he. Even with the years he's been training his voice, both for more feminine speech and for singing, he still wasn't sure he could pull off the notes required by the role.

'Maybe I should go to the director and ask to switch roles with her...?'

The silence in the room started ringing in his ears, just as this thought was, but then he dismissed it. The director has known both of them for years, and knows full well both of their capabilities. He had his reasons, to be sure.

"Oh well," he announced to the silent room, suddenly bright and cheery again "no use brooding on it right now. I've got practice to do~!"

IX: Other Shtuff

Potential plans: I do plan on having an arc with Akeba to shake up the antagonist side of things. It doesn't have to happen, but I thought it would be a wonderful diversion from an already wonderful plot. I don't have much in mind just yet, but the details can be hammered out later.

 

As stated over and over, you need to get rid of this unnecessary demon character. With so many complexities in the game already and every senshi of the opposite side seeming villainous to the other group, it's really overbearing to have a demon involved in the plot too with such a vast amount of elements in PC already. While a wonderful diversion from the main plot, I feel like you are trying to invent a story that revolves simply around Opie when in reality, PC is about having various characters interact hence the game is not a story with a main character, but a roleplay with many main characters whose lives are, to say the least, incredibly intertwined.

 

 

 

 

 

Final Verdict: Rejected for Revision

 

Okay, this was a great start, don't get me wrong and don't get discouraged by the criticism above. It was a good application but it was just too much all at once. There were so many different aspects to Gabriel's personality, so many loose ends in the history, and overall too much to take in without it wrapping up nicely. I also hate the feeling I get that with this application, and all the drama, you're character seems to want to grasp the lime light or be a major character when we're all pretty much equal.

Also, all musical theatre does not need to relate back to Greece and ancient "musical" plays - musical should be fun and upbeat also as to reflect shows like Hairspray or also convey sorrow like Phantom of the Opera. I feel you're leaving it too classical. While you should indeed incorporate some aspects from the Greecian or more classic types of musicals; I feel you aren't entirely grasping the genre to it's full potential. Yes it can be serious but it can also be fun.

I can't wait to see your revisions, I feel like this could really turn into a great Musical; however, diamonds start as coal and that being said, this could use some sprucing up.

 

I strongly recommend that you start fresh or prepare to heavily alter your application. It seems like you have a lot of personality traits that didn't relate to his genre and seem slapped together with little thought as to how they all related. I suggest you use the personality list format before delving into the personality as it helps you see your character as a whole and allows you to view what needs to be tweaked or changed so Opie can be a well-rounded, relevant character. By having this list, you can ask yourself and answer such questions as: "Does Opie represent the genre I have selected?" "Does he match up with the sign I specifically gave him?" "Is Opie well-rounded?" It also helps to glance at accepted character's sites to see what they did in order to have acceptable personalities and such.

Please make sure to read the PC information on the site intently, as there were mistakes in the application like tacking a "Sailor" to the beginning of his senshi name. Be sure to do lots of research on your genre that you apply for and keep your character relevant by selecting odd, obscure, or neat things that you don't think anyone else would have done with their character without going overboard. Instead of putting so much emphasis on dramatic and often unrealistic events in his history, try focusing a bit more on details elsewhere such as physical appearance, personality, and relations. Why even have this past? If he's a reincarnate, he obviously doesn't remember any of this past thus I don't even see the need to add it but instead focus on something else to make the current Opie a better character.

I would personally drop the whole past life portion as it's taking away from making Opie into the proper character for his genre. I think you should stop and question your motives for adding all these extra parts to Opie, especially the Lyrican past and the demon involved. Every time I want to read another portion of his application in hopes of seeing more of a musical theatre influence, I keep seeing thing that link back to his Lyrican past like his name meanings and weapon. You tend to lean heavily on theatre versus musical theatre too, and they shouldn't be confused. Instead of focusing on theatre so much, do something fun and interesting with singing instead. May be Opie likes karaoke or breaking into song in the middle of class, after all! Make him stand out as the proper personification of musical theatre and don't be afraid to make him quirky personality-wise to show this! We actually want you to show this side of Opie and I haven't seen it yet.

Your writing is neat and I wasn't able to find much, if any, grammatical errors your application. This pleased me as your application was a solid, easy read and your thoughts seemed to make sense although not brought into detail. You present many good ideas but have relied too much on Opie's past to make him into what we're looking for in this particular senshi. Some of these ideas were too dramatic and didn't mesh together at all.

You've got a lot of potential and have proven yourself a great writer, but you're going to have to do a lot of tailoring to this application in order to make Opie acceptable for his genre. The application seemed unfinished in the sense that your thoughts were concise but not brought into the detail that it should have been. I'm certain if you go over everything, look at the profiles of accepted senshi, and really research the genre you're applying for, you'll be absolutely perfect and good to go. ^__^