Image of Topaz courtesy of Sally Wright:)
Name: Aurora Stapleton
Stage Name: Topaz
Date of Birth: November 5th, 1991
Starsign: Scorpio
Topaz is the only child of rich parents . Her father died
weeks before she was born and for the first sixteen years of her life, she
and her mother Melissa were everything to each other. Then, when Topaz was
sixteen her mother remarried and her new husband has children of his own,
particularly a son, Tony, who delights in teasing Topaz. Topaz hates her
stepfamily and her dissatisfaction with her homelife gets her involved with
wilder crowds and shady boyfriends. Though a bright girl, with a lot of academic
potential, Topaz would be the first to admit that she's wasted opportunities,
and is often rather self-critical, particularly about her involvement with
men. She openly admits that her taste in the opposite sex leaves something
to be desired, particularly since certain of her ex-boyfriends are in prison
for one offence or another, and Topaz herself was once questioned on suspicion
of involvement in a crime relating to one of these boyfriends. She also admits
to being a liability with guys when drunk, something which is
largely due to her subconscious need for attention. Feeling neglected by
her mother after the remarriage, Topaz has never quite found her niche and
settled down, for somewhere inside is a fear that what she's gained will
once more be taken away from her. It is because of this that she is hesitant
to commit to Cameron Milligan and quick to try and
move on after they have a row, despite the depth of her feelings for him.
However, Topaz is a very unselfish person, if not always the most careful
in who she gets involved with, and it is very rare that she puts her own
needs before someone else's. She is especially close in the band to Sylva, since they share many interests and, though
she won't admit to it, Sylva rather looks up to the worldwise Canadian. Though
her mother is of Quebecois descent, Topaz was raised in an English speaking
part of Canada and her mother spoke to her mostly in English when she was
growing up, in memory of her dead father. For this reason, Topaz's knowledge
of French is not fluent, unlike Copper's Spanish,
though it is perhaps more substantial than that of her bandmates, and she
has no qualms about singing in her mother's language.
Topaz left home after a row with her mother one night,
taking her money with her. Though falling on hard times, she met up with
with Eric Raymond, who owns a local nightclub chain and who heard her sing
and asked her to sing for his patrons at least once a week. The earnings
she gets from this and from waiting tables in the club's diner help her pay
for meagre accomodation, which her refined childhood tendencies have never
gotten used to. She meets up with Jewel when singing in the club in her native
Canada, and later joins the group when Nancy and
the others fall out. A fan of both Sirena and Jewel's
music, Topaz has no real understanding of why there is such a rivalry between
her group and the unpredictable singer, and though she pledges her loyalty
to the group she has joined, she never really harbours any malice for the
singer, even when Sirena is the mastermind of a smear campaign against her.
Topaz is the best singer out of the group, though she
never boasts about her ability and probably does not believe she is as talented
as she really is. Her laid back, easygoing nature helps her to overcome Nancy's
awkwardness with people, and the two girls get along well, Nancy even offering
to teach Topaz to play bass guitar in order to better secure her position
in the band. An eager student, Topaz soon finds she likes life in Los Angeles
and begins to settle down in America. Though she doesn't often go in depth
about her feelings regarding her family, her frequent allusions to them suggests
that deep down she is still hurting, and that one day, somehow, she would
like the wounds to be repaired.
Topaz's stage name is chosen because of her date of birth,
since topaz is the November birthstone.