[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae

Outer Senshi Admin Roleplay Director

June's Featured Roleplayer: Sailor Mercury - Aurae!
[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae ZV6m408

Sailor Uranus wrote:: Aurae has done so much to keep this RP Section going throughout the spring months; when I took personal leave for a death in the family in March, she immediately stepped up and effortlessly took over all the pre-planned projects and activities we had discussed for spring, executing them expertly and taking them above and beyond the initial goals -- and this was after months of practical RP section hibernation!! We had huge goals for spring, and Aurae took them and ran with them and I feel like a great part of the fun stuff that has been going on has been in no small part due to her involvement! From Challenges to RP Cards to Writing Guild tie-ins to all the RIDICULOUSLY FUN RTRP's these past few months - I just cannot express how much Aurae's involvement has had a positive effect on everything we do here and everything that has been done throughout Spring of 2018 ((I mean before this she was awesome but this was like, above and beyond XD))

SO ANYWAY I'd like to award the Roleplayer of the Month of June title and beautiful bumper to Aurae, the best Tenoumaru I could have ever hoped for
~~secret RP admin helicopter ftw~~

Quick Facts about Aurae, The Roleplayer!

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae 2393257330

Aurae has been with us since late 2013! She was originally accepted as a Rainbow Crystal Moderator in April of 2016 ~~after many pointed looks and begging faces and disbelief that she wasn't a moderator yet >C IT WAS A TRIUMPH, I TELL YOU.~~ Since then, she moderated several sections, but started out in the Tokyo City section ~~and later jumped into her preferred Crystal Tokyo section as soon as she could XD~~

Aurae's very first roleplay was Batteries, where she played Sailor Saturn after reading through its request thread and officially joined the roster in July 2013! However... Batteries was graveyarded before Saturn was discovered, and wasn't able to make her first IC post within the thread until April 2014! So, chronologically, for IC posts, Aurae's first RP was [Relaxed] Pumpkin Patchwork as Saturn in October of 2013, and (near that time) also joined [Relaxed] Small Lady's Tea Party with her second approved profile - Sailor Chibi Moon. Aurae's first Roleplay Event was The Collector, but she started to show her TRUE COLORS during the Halloween Bash sign ups

Aurae wrote:: I'd like to play Tiger's Eye~ His costume is a banana suit. His biggest fear is permanent closure of all bar establishments.

Aurae's first "not open" (back then, some RP's were opened like Events - free sign-up period without an OOC thread necessary - just post and link your profile) was Medieval Sailor Moon, where she played with her first non-canon profile for Princess ((Small Lady)) Serenity

Since then, Aurae has joined 94 roleplays, including completion of 21 Casual Events, 17 Hardcore Events, 7 Hall of Fame storylines, and is in 11 active storylines at the moment.

Aurae has been in 17 of the 38 featured roleplays, ((NEARLY HALF!)) but Dead Ringer was featured twice!

All of the Featured RP's she's been part of! wrote:: Hotline Tokyo
Puella Magi Usagi Magica
Dead Ringer
Eternal Senshi
Thunder and Rain
Concordia
Crossed Wires
Phantoms
Beyond the Sea of Stars
Foreign Distraction
Love and Justice League
Silver Discordia
BSSM: Cardcaptor Chibi Moon
Newlyweds
That's No Moon!
Our Pets Save the Day
N.E.O. Sailors

For all of her hard work in the forums, this may or may not be the fourth time she's been featured roleplayer since we began featuring players back in 2014! Here's a link to her previous interview/stats from October 2016!

Aurae has 19 approved canon profiles (5 being antagonists

), 15 approved otaku/crossover profiles, 7 crossover profiles, 2 Adopted profiles and 6 multiverse profiles!

Of all of the roleplays Aurae has played in, she chose The Hunger Games as the most nostalgia-inducing! ((Here's Thread One and here's Thread Two))((yep - it got so many posts the forum had to split the topic ;D)) it was her first actual RP experience on the forums as she joined during the anniversary month that the Hunger Games event started in, and swept all of us away with her playstyle - especially me, with the Hunger Games being my first RP game-making experience. Her character was resourceful and into picking up everything and looking around for anything that she could add to her pack and I was scrambling to keep up with her! In the end, her character was the last to die in a battle decided by dice rolls, but, for me, she'll always be the MVP of that whole experience XD

Aurae's current rp obsession is the love triangle forming between Kitty, Cassandra, and Shaska in the Star Catchers Multiverse HC Event. ~~which is just so in line with her "SECRET" RP AGENDA XD~~

Of all of her currently-accepted original characters on the forums, Sailor Nocturnus is the nearest and dearest to her heart.

Aurae wrote:: She's been through a lot, and she incorporates some of my favourite elements for a sailor soldier.

Rainbow Crystal Stamps Collected:

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae WJG3cjy

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae XaEIY0z

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae RdEsdCO

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae QJkGjUw

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae 2Xmno3L

List of Accepted Characters: Aurae's list [June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae Rainbow_crystal_pixel_by_tsuki_no_kagayaki-d8x1l34

List of Storylines: Aurae's list [June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae Rainbow_crystal_pixel_by_tsuki_no_kagayaki-d8x1l34

When Aurae was interviewed by Sailor Neptune, she had this to say!

Sailor Neptune wrote:

Sailor Mercury wrote:: I'm so sorry this is so long! I got carried away.

Tell us about your first original character. I heard it has ties with your original forum name!

My first Sailor Moon-universe character was the first sailor soldier that I wrote fanfiction for and roleplayed with! Her "civilian name" was Princess Aurora. ~~I even have an ancient post about this...~~

(This is a very common name for Sailor Moon fan-created characters. On an early forum, I was nicknamed "Aura-chan" to distinguish me from the other five or more Auroras. I added the -e so I could use it as a username as more forums sprang up and I joined more roleplaying games.)

In her very first form, Princess Aurora lived somewhere outside the Solar System, but had no actual ties to it. A great (and totally undeveloped) evil threatened her world ~~(or system?)~~, so her parents planned to send her to the Solar System to seek help from Queen Serenity. Terrible non-descriptive destruction occurred before they used their powers to do this, but her ~*~*~secret fiancé~*~*~ sacrificed himself and forced her escape. She wound up on Earth in the modern day, meet the sailor soldiers, learned that she was really too late for Queen Serenity to intervene and save her home, and mopes about until—evil attacks! Forcing her to transform! (I changed her name as a sailor soldier several times.)

I don't RP with her anymore, nor do I have an updated profile, but I am still very attached to this character. I dream of someday writing her a "proper" fanfiction. ~~But, if I'm honest that is never going to happen. XD~~

Who is your favorite original character you have come up with?

I'm particularly fond of Sailor Nocturnus—I never expected her to face as many trials as she has. I whipped her up pretty quick at the time, based on a brief thought of "what can I use for inspiration MAYBE OPERA". She is not named after the death metal band. ;D

I wish I'd had more opportunities to write with Sailor Moon (~~no, not that one~~), second daughter of Queen Lady Serenity.

What gets you in an RPing mood? How do you handle writer's block?

Talking about RPs with others (current Storylines, prospective new ideas, thoughts about how to keep things moving, building characters, etc...) gets me itching to write!

I handle writer's block by writing. I don't wait to be "inspired". In my experience, inspiration doesn't exist in a vacuum. Sometimes starting to write a post, re-reading it, hating it, and thinking about it gives me the spark to delete that and write it better this time. Or, sometimes "good enough" is okay, and I can come up with something more satisfying when there another reply. It gets easier to write the more I do it. Writing a reply when the other person's post is old can be tougher than striking while the iron is hot, so to speak.

What gets you the most excited about a storyline? The idea? The people involved? What X factor makes you think, "Ooh! I have to be a part of this?"

It's partially the idea, but in many ways it is the people! The more I participate in the community here, the more I learn whose writing styles I deeply enjoy. As far as I'm concerned, a good RP involves people who mesh well together. I love the thrill of getting the "new post in this thread" update email, reading a reply, and thinking: "Ah, she understands that character so well! What nice imagery! Okay, I think my character would..."

For that reason, if I see an OOC thread posted or a message in the RP activity group and there is interest from writers I like, I may jump in even if the idea itself doesn't immediately ensnare me. (For example, I've joined RPs based on movies, shows, books, etc. that I'm not even familiar with! XD)

Do you prefer roleplaying as a character that is most like you or least like you?

I do not like roleplaying characters too much like me. I'm boring. If I wrote about me everyone would fall asleep and then boo me off the forums when they woke up.

I do prefer that a character shares some element of my personality—or an element from the personality of someone I know well. I have to have an "in" to understand how the character thinks and reacts. I try to blend my starting point with other personality traits so my characters are each different enough for me to be interested in writing for them.

Do you prefer Casual or Advanced roleplays? Why?

I prefer Advanced roleplays. Prior to joining the RP section here, I primarily roleplayed in groups with applications that required "proving" you met a level of writing development, usually with heavily-critiqued writing samples. I treasured some of those old roleplays—they read like beautiful group fanfiction. (Sadly, they are no longer online; the forum providers closed.) In a perfect (for me) roleplay, there would be detailed plot ideas; plenty of opportunities for comedy, drama, and romance; and paragraphs upon paragraphs for every in-character post.

Do you prefer canon or crossover or multiverse? Why?

In order of preference: canon, crossover, and multiverse.

Canon is my favourite. I love Sailor Moon conceptually and in all its actualized forms. There are so many great ideas that can be developed from what was written, broadcast, and shared in interviews and notes. I find easy inspiration within this type of project.

I can be talked into crossover if I'm familiar enough with either the concept being crossed over or adore what I read from someone's summary or notes. I don't enjoy all crossover executions (especially if the focus is more heavily on the non-Sailor Moon side, such as "What if the characters from [series] wind up in Crystal Tokyo!"), so sometimes I pass.

Multiverse is trickier for me because there aren't many series outside of Sailor Moon that I feel very interested in writing about. I only join those if the proposed idea inspires me.

We know you're that roleplayer who joins all the things! Are you looking for more storylines? Can members approach you to start a roleplay with you, and if so, what methods do you prefer? (i.e. Discord/PM, should they have an idea first or can they just walk up to you and say "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but RP with me maybe?"

I keep my options for Storylines open!

I am open to being approached with ideas or requests. Some of the messages I've gotten that start off with "I see you have [character] and I have [other character] but I don't get to use her in a lot of games, would you be open to making something together?" have resulted in lots of fun!

Discord message and forum PM are both okay!

What I really prefer when approached is considerate behaviour!
• An RP should be fun for everyone involved. Sometimes, ideas that sound really fun for one person don't interest someone else.
• Everyone deserves a right to say "no, thank you" and have that respected. Declining an RP idea isn't the same as telling someone else you don't like them.
• Don't be pushy. Please be courteous. It's stressful to receive many messages in a short time.
• It is especially nice, before asking someone else to start or join an RP, to think about why they might like to participate. Someone else is more likely to join if there's a clear reason for them to do so—and that reason has to be more specific than "As the creator, I want more players for my Storyline." A more personalized ask can go a long way!
Less-than-not-so-great: "I want to RP as Magical Dog from Another Series. You can be whoever but it has to be a character I like. Oh yeah, give me notes for the plot since I don't have any even though I'm gonna be Storyline creator."
Not-so-great: "I made a new character and they're super important, but writing a fanfic sounds scary so... I made an RP and we can all write together about my awesome character."
Better: "I really like how you played Sailor Uranus in that one Casual Event—my idea has a few people, but not a Haruka. Do you think you might be interested?"
Awesome: "So I hear you have this ~~not-so-secret RP agenda~~... Have you ever considered how close Chibi Usa and Diana are? What if they were in high school and discovered it was more than friendship? Maybe Diana finds out that she's a sailor soldier, too?"

Also, make sure you comply with the forum rules and the RP area rules, or I'll have to "tsk-tsk" with my Administrator and/or RP Moderator hat on.

What would you say is the best way for a newbie roleplayer to get their storyline started and generate interest from others?

I find that the best way to get interest from others and get a Storyline started is to join other RPs and build relationships with other RPers. That makes it easier to start a conversation about an idea you have. If you've RPed and chatted with the other players, you'll know a bit more about them. You might learn that one person prefers to play male characters, another person likes RPs set in the manga universe, and someone else dislikes filling out [Advanced] profiles. This would not be a good group to pitch an [Advanced] Storyline taking place in the 90s anime first season with only the canon sailor soldiers. Maybe you need to change your idea. Maybe you should ask your new RP friends what types of RP things they're thinking about. Maybe together, you can combine your ideas into something everyone thinks would be fun.

Sometimes it also helps to start with a one-on-one RP that can be opened up if there's interest. People like joining in to an RP that is lively. It also gives them a great idea to see how you write, so they can decide if that style works for them. A one-on-one RP is much easier to get started, because you only need one other person. It might be tempting to make a "required character list" with every single character from an entire series, but oftentimes, moving those characters to the background, instead of the focus, means a Storyline thread can get up and you can start posting!

What do you think has been the greatest lesson you have learned from all these years of RPing?

Self-centeredness makes for a lonely RPer.

Roleplaying is different from writing a story. In a story, the author has control. Which characters, what they do, where they do it, why they act that way, and what happens to them—the author makes everything happen.

When roleplaying, one person may start out with control. They have a plot summary, characters they prefer for it, and a general idea of where to go. But it's not an RP until they convince other people to join them.

It's not uncommon to have someone want to be the "main character" of an RP. There's something thrilling about designing a character and wanting to explore how they act and what they think. Much like how Sailor Moon is the "brightest star" in her universe, it can be tempting to start an RP where you play the only "main character" role. Unless you know other RPers very well and specifically helped carve out interesting opportunities for their characters, most of the time they won't want to play background roles. Sometimes that type of concept would be better as fanfiction, rather than roleplays.

A long time ago, it used to be common to "trade favours" with other RPers—you play my support in this Storyline, and in return I'll play your support in your Storyline. Even when it seemed like a fair trade, people often complained that they weren't having fun. People became attached to their "secondary" characters and wanted to have a moment in the spotlight, but I remember cases where the person leading the RP would get mad if her character wasn't the focus. I was in games where the "main character" player rejected any ideas from others—her notes had to be followed precisely—and others where the "main character" wanted everyone else to come up with all of the plot points to showcase her special character. In all of these cases, interest waned. People stopped posting. It wasn't fun. It felt like a chore.

RPs lasted longer when more characters had equal status. When people collaborated together for ideas. When someone wasn't rigid about the only correct way to play her character. (Things like refusing to temporarily change part of a character's history to fit with the timeline of someone else's RP idea, insisting that the entire plot had to be reworked to cater to her character's established history—and refusing to simply make and use an alternative character in the game.)

A willingness to work with others and build something together has given me so many more opportunities and introduced me to so many more wonderful writing partners. It's a lesson I am very thankful to have learned.

If you could pick to be any of your characters, either for a day or longer, who would you be and why?

I love tormenting my characters, so this is a really loaded question! Maybe they have interesting powers or relationships that seem like fun, but they usually have a lot of problems in their lives, too!

It might be fun to be Sailor Lir, because she is a pre-professional ballet student. I wasn't that active with ballet when I was that age, and it might be enjoyable to see what it's like.

Do you currently RP anywhere else besides GC?

Not really! Sometimes a friend will invite me to another project, but most of those haven't lasted. I'm currently in an exclusive relationship with The Galaxy Cauldron Forums RP area. ;D

Do you have any questions for Aurae our Featured Roleplayer of June? Ask her here!

Outer Senshi Admin Roleplay Director

CONGRATULATIONS AURAEEEEE

o_o you took me on a ride finding all of everythingggg I HAD TO COUNT SO HIGH WITH YOUR STORYLINESSSS

I love all of the advice you shared in your interview!!

I'm sure anyone who reads through it will get something out of it!

My question is....
if you could revive one of your old roleplays from the Graveyard for the sole purpose of BURNING THROUGH IT TO COMPLETION, which one would you choose and why?

Outer Senshi Admin RP Graphics & Canon Admin

~~I already asked all the questions but I thought of some more~~

What is your pet peeve in RPing? And do you have any part of writing/RPing you consider your weakness?

Pyramidal Crystal

What advice would you give those who have a hard time being literate? Or those who don't feel they're literate enough in Rps?

Inner Senshi Admin Activities Director

~~Muwahahahaha, my plan to overwhelm you with my endless RPs worked!~~

To answer your question, Kyra... Metamorphosis, hands-down.

I had a timeline that I would love to see through (it's in the spoiler of the first post in the OOC), but I don't think I could get enough interest. ;__; BUT IT LIVES ON IN MY HEART. I WISH IT WAS IN THE HALL OF FAME, COMPLETE AND BEAUTIFUL.

Oh-ho, more questions! >D My pet peeve is inaction: "let's talk forever about doing nothing but never discuss moving forward in the OOC or anywhere else, and then complain if a character tries to get everyone to move". Unfortunately, I often play characters who don't have enough motivation on their own to be the one who makes a decision. I'd like to change that. XD

My biggest writing weakness is... actually writing. So many projects, so few words written for any of them. *collapse*

My biggest RP weakness is, in my opinion, coming up with ideas for progress. I tend to just think situations for "what should happen next" will develop organically. I shouldn't really expect this, but I do!

As to "literacy", I think that really comes with practice! As far as I can tell, more reading and more writing are the best ways to increase one's confidence and satisfaction with one's own writing. Read to see plenty of examples of what great writing looks and sounds like. Write to try and move closer to that ideal!

Sometimes feedback can be useful, as well—but oftentimes writers get so emotionally-invested in what they write that feedback isn't as effective as it can be. If the writer feels defensive, they don't absorb enough of the critique to make changes. If the one giving feedback is afraid of causing too much offense or hurt, they may not be honest about what the writer needs to do to improve.

Lotus Crystal

I really appreciate you sharing all of your lessons on how to make an RP work for everyone's enjoyment!

So a question to pick your very experienced brain~:

As a writer with full control over everything, a huge plus to the experience imo is the ability to explore themes (e.g. alienation, justice, etc.). With there being more than one person writing, do RPs give you this same opportunity at all when you look back on a completed storyline?

Lotus Crystal

what is your advice to someone (probably me lol) that has trouble making advanced profiles?

Inner Senshi Admin Activities Director

Diagnosed wrote:: As a writer with full control over everything, a huge plus to the experience imo is the ability to explore themes (e.g. alienation, justice, etc.). With there being more than one person writing, do RPs give you this same opportunity at all when you look back on a completed storyline?

I'm glad you found some of my comments useful!

I do find that RPs give me opportunities to explore themes that I might explore in solo writing, but within a different reaction context. When I'm writing a story, I ultimately control all of it. When I'm in an RP, there are more opportunities for another player to interpret my character differently than I would have, because that other player has different experiences and is exploring his or her own themes separate from mine. This changes the way I'll respond or continue... and that's what I love about a really good Storyline! I'm sometimes forced to examine things from a new angle because of the lens of the other writer. In a way, it gets me out of my own head.

(I hope that answered your question!)

Sportsnutd wrote:: what is your advice to someone (probably me lol) that has trouble making advanced profiles?

The task of writing Advanced Profiles are a good way to tell if you really want to participate in an Advanced Storyline. We're actually really lucky that here, on our forums, the rules for the RP section are very welcoming. No one has to pass a complicated writing test or prove themselves before some kind of vetting group to join an RP.

That said, the purpose of the [Advanced] designation is to allow writers to challenge themselves in that thread. It's completely possible to personally seek higher development in a [Relaxed] Storyline, but the writer is doing so within a group that doesn't necessarily share that goal. Marking a Storyline as [Advanced], in my opinion, signals to other RPers that the Storyline creator wants improved writing. This might be posts with longer word counts—the "official" GC rule is 100 words per post, but that's actually fairly low for a well-developed reply. The exact type of writing-related development might even differ from person to person.

It might be worth evaluating about what your weaknesses are with Advanced Profiles. All writing skills can be improved, if the writer puts the effort in! There are lots of free resources online. Local libraries, colleges, park districts, etc. offer plenty of creative writing classes. Groups outside of the forum can be a great way to get detailed critiques—if you're able to withstand them. The most important thing you can put into your writing is your own time and effort.

You can send me a message on Discord if you want to talk about this more or have other questions.

» [September] RPer of the Month - Aurae (Sailor Mercury)!
» [June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Jupiter!
» [May] RPer of the Month: Sailor Saturn
» [July] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mars!
» [March] RPer of the Month - Sailor Jupiter!

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae

[June] RPer of the Month: Sailor Mercury - Aurae

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