Claire Ryland/Riot Purple || Magica Riot (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
keytarheroine) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
unfinishedlibrary2026-03-12 07:09 pm
keytarheroine) wrote in unfinishedlibrary2026-03-12 07:09 pm
Like Thee's debut - The Play's The Thing, To Catch The Conscience Of - [Week III]
Who: The Blood Moon Troupe - including Claire (the Luna Purpure), The Former Dame Guidulf (the Luna En Rose), Armin (The Luna Sable), Sigrid (The Luna D'or), Amalia (The Luna Argent), Jun/Lily (the honorary Luna Ermine); and OTA but especially Nero as audience members and/or security, and the like
What: The debut of Claire's play Like Thee, Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song
When: At the end of Week III
Where: The Roseland Theatre
Content warnings: Dramatic depictions of The Queer Struggle, Exciting Stage Battles And Pyrotechnics, whatever the hell is happening with getting Lily back in Amalia, potential spoilers for Magica Riot.
I: Before The Play - Word Of Mouth
Word is getting out - between jugglers of the Blood Moon Troupe saying so, mentions at the Roseland and the Laurelthirst, and maybe a few mentions to key people from the likes of "Lucas Azuresky" and Claire that there's a new play on, entitled:
Like Thee: Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song.
The posters and the players speak of an exciting tale of a swashbuckling Witches Pentacle, five heroines with fantastical musical magic, from all walks of life - a mortal sorceress, a vampire, a werewolf, and a changeling child who slipped the faerie hedge - fighting forces of unholy corrupting discord and dissonance, and of A Young Lad realizing that they never were a lad but rather one of those Witches destined to fight alongside the Pentacle, a tale of her coming into her own and finding the family she so desperately needed.
The sort of feel-good story of unity and goodwill in the face of sinister forces that Claire feels Montica needs right now, Nero's opinion of the Umbral court's tastes to the contrary.
II: The First Night - Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora, and of the pure who hear her Maiden-Song
The stage is set. Claire, in a chiton, with a harp, steps on stage with the curtains still dropped. The prologue begins:
"Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora,
And of the pure who hear her Maiden-song.
Once upon a myth, proud Jupiter
As a gift to Hera most filial
Did commission Vulcan, that forge-wise god
To first cast in their mold our humankind;
Thus did that finesmith, from his cunning throne
Carve Pandora, the first and fairest maid,
From white marble, with eyes of shining pearls,
Inlaid with bright sapphire and ebon;
Weave hair of sable silk, twisted in locks;
Minerva draped her in a tyrian robe,
Venus placed golden laurels on her brow,
And so, under Apollo's tutelage
Did Pandora's sweet voice first sing that verse:
That bright leitmotif of peace and goodwill
Now spoken of in awe: the Maiden-Song..."
She sings of the Jar. They speak of her opening it, and letting every ill in the world loose. They speak of Pandora having nothing left but Hope. And, too, they speak a new myth: of Pandora trying to rectify her mistake by teaching girls who are pure of heart the Maiden-Song, and using it as a weapon to make harmonious again the "discord, Pythos-born" she had wrought.
And then Claire bows, and slips backstage, and the curtains rise, and the others - and Sigrid! - are seated at a bar clearly modeled after the Laurelthirst (which gets a laugh from some), with Claire tending it; and, enter stage left, Amalia and Jun, in costume as Lady Elanor and A Young Lad: and then a tale unfolds...
III: The Confrontation - Servants of dissonance and discord, your crimes witnessed, be harmonized by the Witch in Amethyst
And then, one fateful night on stage, the speeches go as usual:
"Upon this stage, enter Rose in panoply,
Of the raging flames, I am the Witch Ruby!"
And so on, Sigrid:
"Upon this stage, Mari, of moonkissed fur,
the lightning-swift who's called the Witch Amber,"
Hannah:
"Upon this stage Chloe, in unlife bold,
the icy cool who is the Witch Em'rald!"
Nova:
"Upon this stage, enter Skye Slipped-The-Briar,
Of thunderous clouds, I am the Witch Sapphire!"
And, finally, Claire:
"Upon this stage, enter Lucia Barleycorn,
Of vines and violets, in Amethyst reborn!"
As one, they sing in harmony:
"Well do we players know to heart our parts,
We are the guardians of Song and Heart!
You of dissonance and discord, know well:
Be muted by our Witches' Pentacle!"
Jun - or Lily - rather, as Lucia's doubts, slithers onto stage on Claire's left: as her hope, Amalia in costume as Elanor, is at her right.
Claire exchanges a glance with Amalia. Showtime.
"So, playing at being a heroine?
Do you truly think the dress makes the woman?
You play games with the lives of your comrades."
Claire responds - breaking kayfabe in the process -
"Aye, I've been playing games with thee, Lily - from the moment I wrote this role for you."
Amalia cries: "BLOOD MOON TROUPE! TO ME! For our own Iris - and for a lasting peace in Montica!"
And then, things happen very fast that are not part of the show.
IV: Backstage, after the fact (Closed to Jun, Amalia/Lily, Sigrid, Claire, Armin, and Nero)
After that, Amalia and Lily - the planning mind and the yearning heart - are... if not one, then at least properly reunited, and the terror of fighting to reunite them is passing. Hazel cares for Jun, and Iris does her best, from her wheelchair, to reassure Armin and Sigrid.
And it is about this time that Claire excuses herself to find Nero, because she has the feeling that his presence will be helpful to Sigrid...
V - The Show Must Go On
The other showings of the play are far more exciting as in fun and far less exciting as in stupidly dangerous magic flying. Come, enjoy the show. Or play Statler and Waldorf from the cushy seats. Who'll stop you?
What: The debut of Claire's play Like Thee, Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song
When: At the end of Week III
Where: The Roseland Theatre
Content warnings: Dramatic depictions of The Queer Struggle, Exciting Stage Battles And Pyrotechnics, whatever the hell is happening with getting Lily back in Amalia, potential spoilers for Magica Riot.
I: Before The Play - Word Of Mouth
Word is getting out - between jugglers of the Blood Moon Troupe saying so, mentions at the Roseland and the Laurelthirst, and maybe a few mentions to key people from the likes of "Lucas Azuresky" and Claire that there's a new play on, entitled:
Like Thee: Or, The Comedy of Pandora and the Maiden-Song.
The posters and the players speak of an exciting tale of a swashbuckling Witches Pentacle, five heroines with fantastical musical magic, from all walks of life - a mortal sorceress, a vampire, a werewolf, and a changeling child who slipped the faerie hedge - fighting forces of unholy corrupting discord and dissonance, and of A Young Lad realizing that they never were a lad but rather one of those Witches destined to fight alongside the Pentacle, a tale of her coming into her own and finding the family she so desperately needed.
The sort of feel-good story of unity and goodwill in the face of sinister forces that Claire feels Montica needs right now, Nero's opinion of the Umbral court's tastes to the contrary.
II: The First Night - Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora, and of the pure who hear her Maiden-Song
The stage is set. Claire, in a chiton, with a harp, steps on stage with the curtains still dropped. The prologue begins:
"Sing, Calliope, of Lady Pandora,
And of the pure who hear her Maiden-song.
Once upon a myth, proud Jupiter
As a gift to Hera most filial
Did commission Vulcan, that forge-wise god
To first cast in their mold our humankind;
Thus did that finesmith, from his cunning throne
Carve Pandora, the first and fairest maid,
From white marble, with eyes of shining pearls,
Inlaid with bright sapphire and ebon;
Weave hair of sable silk, twisted in locks;
Minerva draped her in a tyrian robe,
Venus placed golden laurels on her brow,
And so, under Apollo's tutelage
Did Pandora's sweet voice first sing that verse:
That bright leitmotif of peace and goodwill
Now spoken of in awe: the Maiden-Song..."
She sings of the Jar. They speak of her opening it, and letting every ill in the world loose. They speak of Pandora having nothing left but Hope. And, too, they speak a new myth: of Pandora trying to rectify her mistake by teaching girls who are pure of heart the Maiden-Song, and using it as a weapon to make harmonious again the "discord, Pythos-born" she had wrought.
And then Claire bows, and slips backstage, and the curtains rise, and the others - and Sigrid! - are seated at a bar clearly modeled after the Laurelthirst (which gets a laugh from some), with Claire tending it; and, enter stage left, Amalia and Jun, in costume as Lady Elanor and A Young Lad: and then a tale unfolds...
III: The Confrontation - Servants of dissonance and discord, your crimes witnessed, be harmonized by the Witch in Amethyst
And then, one fateful night on stage, the speeches go as usual:
Five stock transformation sequences a la Shakespeare later...
Sara holds up a ruby brooch and bellows:"Upon this stage, enter Rose in panoply,
Of the raging flames, I am the Witch Ruby!"
And so on, Sigrid:
"Upon this stage, Mari, of moonkissed fur,
the lightning-swift who's called the Witch Amber,"
Hannah:
"Upon this stage Chloe, in unlife bold,
the icy cool who is the Witch Em'rald!"
Nova:
"Upon this stage, enter Skye Slipped-The-Briar,
Of thunderous clouds, I am the Witch Sapphire!"
And, finally, Claire:
"Upon this stage, enter Lucia Barleycorn,
Of vines and violets, in Amethyst reborn!"
As one, they sing in harmony:
"Well do we players know to heart our parts,
We are the guardians of Song and Heart!
You of dissonance and discord, know well:
Be muted by our Witches' Pentacle!"
Jun - or Lily - rather, as Lucia's doubts, slithers onto stage on Claire's left: as her hope, Amalia in costume as Elanor, is at her right.
Claire exchanges a glance with Amalia. Showtime.
"So, playing at being a heroine?
Do you truly think the dress makes the woman?
You play games with the lives of your comrades."
Claire responds - breaking kayfabe in the process -
"Aye, I've been playing games with thee, Lily - from the moment I wrote this role for you."
Amalia cries: "BLOOD MOON TROUPE! TO ME! For our own Iris - and for a lasting peace in Montica!"
And then, things happen very fast that are not part of the show.
IV: Backstage, after the fact (Closed to Jun, Amalia/Lily, Sigrid, Claire, Armin, and Nero)
After that, Amalia and Lily - the planning mind and the yearning heart - are... if not one, then at least properly reunited, and the terror of fighting to reunite them is passing. Hazel cares for Jun, and Iris does her best, from her wheelchair, to reassure Armin and Sigrid.
And it is about this time that Claire excuses herself to find Nero, because she has the feeling that his presence will be helpful to Sigrid...
V - The Show Must Go On
The other showings of the play are far more exciting as in fun and far less exciting as in stupidly dangerous magic flying. Come, enjoy the show. Or play Statler and Waldorf from the cushy seats. Who'll stop you?