#v: my center stage

[herstoriies]

There has been more than one occasion Priscilla found herself resorting to measures that nearly risked her career just to escape a picadillo with her dignity intact.

A prominent gentleman’s dinner invitation she ensured it remained nothing more than a dinner and no after-show affair. And mutter to fire with the consequences. She fought to preserve as much of her dignity and reinforced she was no mere singing courtesan.

While she was performing as one of the Three Graces, the trio had disbanded due to one of the ladies becoming a Marquis' mistress; and abandoned the stage to live in the lap of luxury. The other, shared the stage with Priscilla at the Royal Opera House before greater opportunities were seemingly handed to her for playing the game. (It would seem that later Priscilla nearly faced a similar fate with Philbert Winston, but fate had different plans for her...)

Yet fortunately Priscilla turned a snub and closed door to an open one and allowed her moment to shine as the prima donna of the Royal Opera House.

[myxcenterxstage]

Priscilla as Lucia in the opera The Bride of Lammermoor (Lucia di Lammermoor) - art by myxcenterxstage

[aka my excuse to attempt drawing Pris in late-victorian bridal wear even if it’s on the pretense of being a stage costume!]

Lucia Di Lammermoor was always an interesting opera for Priscilla... I think I’m going to be writing a meta about it.

[herstoriies]

Some random thoughts on Priscilla's living arrangements after leaving her Uncle Thomas's house to pursue the stage (courtesy of some old headcanons I rediscovered):

The first stop is her cousin Emmett's residence. Emmett is by far the most sympathetic of the situation, and if anything commended Pris for breaking things off with Edmund, only wishing she had turned to him sooner if it could have saved her reputation but that's in the past now. Emmett's residence is either in or just on the outskirts of London. She stayed here for some time, until she no longer wanted to be a burden.

In my old notes, I have something that Uncle Charles helps Priscilla but think now that he would have 'disappeared' around the time she became a debutante and before her engagement to Edmund.

There's also supposedly this Aunt Agatha Kimbleton I completely forgot about and recently discovered from a note from 2016... I don't even say whose mother/sister she is, so I'm going to declare Aunt Agatha is Cousin Emmett's mother.

Cousin Emmett may be still living at home (being the sole heir and inheritor). It is yet to be determined if both Emmett's parents (Aunt Agatha & Uncle James) are still alive.

The second stop is after scrapping enough money together and her pride doesn't want herself to overstay her welcome with cousin Emmett, Priscilla moves to a hole-in-the-wall apartment to rent closer to the theatre. She's pleased to call it her own but soon finds it eventually to be uninhabitable.

The two-and-a-half stop is possibly briefly staying with Maestro Markus Hart, but this nearly strains when Markus oversteps his trying to (too soon) encourage Priscilla to make amends with her Uncle Thomas. She possibly makes an excuse she's going to be visiting her Cousin Emmett & Aunt Agatha (& Uncle James? if he's still alive) for the holidays to depart on amicable conditions.

The third stop is by answering a newspaper job posting for a companion to an affluent gentry widow living in London. (Alternative to the newspaper posting is a possible reference from Aunt Agatha? Or a chance encounter?)

The widow may or may not recognize/know Priscilla as Aunt Agatha/Thomas Kimbleton's niece, but finds amusement in Priscilla's adventure. And tolerates her pursuing the stage, even finding interest even if it's almost vicarious. I think in my old notes this could've been M(r)s Jane Gibbons, but it's open for grabs to anyone who wants to write it!

Upon her passing, the widow's residence goes to a relative, but Priscilla did gain some small enough monetary gift (& now debuting at the Royal Opera House with more major roles with a better salary) to find a better apartment. Which leads to...

The fourth stop is an apartment in a better neighborhood that's still within reasonable distance of the Royal Opera House.

But surprise! Le gasp! Grimsby turns out to be her neighbor. Yes, THAT Grimsby!

So guess which fella starts showing up in the neighborhood that Pris can't stand? Did you say, Edmund? Cuz that's right!

It's a way for Pris in her Diva story to sort of see Edmund's more neer-do-well and criminal inclinations, teasing a parallel story of the Baroness (but without the titular character) and one Priscilla merely spectates. Pris gets a peculiar opportunity to see into what life could have been hers as the Baroness!

Plus by now things are rocky with Pris' beau, the wealthy opera patron Philbert Winston (with an impending scandal), so this only adds to her agita and urgent desire to leave London.

So where does this leave Priscilla to go next? Vienna? Rome? Destination: Paris!

[herstoriies]

Random Diva!Priscilla headcanons / thoughts...

In spite of having a number of suitors, as far as I can tell, Priscilla rarely to never accepts courtships from stage actors. There've been a couple male leads she's performed alongside where the chemistry wasn't really acting and the sparks were real, but Priscilla called the shots to not allow it past the professional boundaries of harmless flirting and giving the best performance.

Additionally, she avoided relationships that weren't platonic with fellow performers knowing these would be her colleagues for years, if not possibly (at least the more renowned tenors and baritones) her entire career.

Opera patrons? On the other hand, these sorts of 'beaus with benefits' were fine in Priscilla's book. These had their own risks, but the pros and coin outweighed the cons and worse come to worse she could always find a different theatre... *coughcough this is basically what happened with Philbert Winston cough*

I crack up over the line "well brought up young women aren't the girls lighting the cigars of their escorts at Delmonicos" from the Gilded Age and just imagined scandalous Priscilla dining with Philbert Winston and that happens, or at least definitely in Paris. All irony Priscilla being a 'well brought up young woman' and Kimbleton upbringing is open to interpretation, as she neither accepts nor denies.

Tho speaking of restaurants, inspired by Jenny Lind - opera singer of the 1850s - who did have a table at Delmonico's, as a renowned opera singer I'm sure Priscilla did have her own tables at such fine dining establishments.

Admired by afar, but not welcomed as a social equal. - a quote I stumbled upon (describing victorian opera singers & those that are 'well brought up' upperclass) while researching the above, and yeah, it's accurate. Almost painfully so when thinking of Priscilla's decision to leave everything behind to pursue the stage after the death of her reputation. But at least Priscilla likes it this way, as she only transiently felt like an equal among her Uncle Thomas' ranks.

Speaking of Uncle Thomas, I think there were a few times they reached out to each other in their own ways. Or at least tried. Priscilla knew her Uncle's newspaper reading habits and he'd be able to know she was alive and well from the number of times the gossip columns and opera world news mentioned her. Something to make herself be proud of. It seemed more appropriate than the pile of unsent letters she leaves in her dresser drawer. Perhaps Thomas did try to send letters in the early years trying to convince Priscilla to return 'home'.

Perhaps even this is (one of many) that ultimately had Priscilla and Maestro Markus part ways. Markus & Thomas' friendship goes back to their days at Oxford. And Markus has been Priscilla's tutor since her adolescence. Markus would do anything to help both of them, and perhaps in trying to aid them both in making amends too soon, he overstepped, and ultimately retreated. It's like Priscilla to run away from things, so likely she retreated first to not allow their rapport to sour after it became awkward enough.

Still, Priscilla is forever grateful to Markus it was through his connections and agreeing to go along with her that she even debuted on the stage. So Markus still gets the occasional season's greetings card.

[herstoriies]

❝ So what are we going to do with this snake in the grass ? ❞ [About Pris' ex (Edmund?), maybe?]

"Shame that making him disappear isn't an option..." Priscilla muttered before letting out a heavy sigh. "If I had a penny for every time that I've run into Ed-- what'shisname after such discretion on my part, I would have three half-pennies. Now that's not a lot, but it's mighty peculiar enough coincidence that it's happened more than twice."

Holding back a grimace, she shook her head, then pensively looked back at the chessboard between Thera and herself, "As with most strategies, the question remains whether to choose the defense or offense approach." She pulled back her rook a few spaces, "...or tactical retreat."

" -- Your move, my dear."

[herstoriies]

ok but lowkey the vocaloid song “Candle Queen” is ironically giving me Pris vibes in a satirical way 🤣

She's born to play this part

A diva's always center stage

Royalty with a crown of fire

Setting ablaze an extravagant scene

The one and only candle queen !

the last bits of the song don’t fit at all because we know Priscilla’s a precious cinnamon roll and fortunately even when she does attain fame doesn’t meet the ‘cautionary tale’ end (& only narrowly dodges it in the Joie De Paris story I mean what), but for the whimsy it’s amusing given Pris can and does have her difficult diva temperamental moments and gets away with it fabulously xD

[herstoriies]

drunk :   my  muse  takes  care  of  your  muse  while  they  are  in  a  drunken  state.

some  one  word  prompts . Accepting !!

On an evening of reverie and no performances until evenings later, it was only too easy in Paris to lose track of one’s cups. Especially when galavanting from one lounge and restaurant to the next, and when dashing dandy insisted on treating the lovely ladies to another bottle of whatever was the most expensive. One too many champagnes later… was one too many champagnes. Priscilla was already a handful when sober, and when one would hope she would be more mellow on this state… one could only sigh, if only. She was as bubbly as the champagne itself, only three times as impulsive, and could laugh at everything remotely witty, but only at a fraction of energy to actually do anything…

“Oh, but dearest Thera, the night, la nuit! It is still young! Why return so soon and not watch the dawn’s daylight break?” It was half past 2am. “There is a lovely… ah, what’s the place called…” Who knew. “You know, that chap I bumped into just before we left was rather handsome. I wonder if he frequents there often.” Priscilla you bumped into a lamp, apologized to it, and said ‘you have a very fine hat, tres avant-garde, my good Monsieur.’

“On second thought, belay that.” Priscilla stopped on their promenade, more heavily leaning on her dearest friend for support, Thera, who was in fact a lifesaver. “I think it best, that…” and just like that, she was out.

Once returned to her proper state of mind on the morrow, she would repeatedly profusely express her gratitude to Thera. But for now, a good nights rest was due.

[myxcenterxstage]

‘This punch tastes like alcohol.’

{ this party blows // accepting! }

     “ That’s because it is alcohol, Mr. Hancock~”The diva grinned with a look of amusement, daintily raising her glass to the gentlemen, as though to make a toast.     “ At a party like this, it should come as no surprise that the second bowl of punch has been spiked~ ”

[myxcenterxstage]

Victorian Waltz Big Mood <3

[myxcenterxstage]

The Baroness & The Diva - art by myxcenterxstage

omg I completely forgot I did this art where Diva!Priscilla encounters Baroness!Priscilla in a Princess and the Pauper style crossover parody... 

but can the world hand TWO Priscilla’s???

[myxcenterxstage]

Vanilla cake.

🍰 Cake Shop Asks 🍰|| accepting!!

Vanilla Cake: How do you spend a lazy, rainy day?

“Preferably indoors and out of the downpour! It’s opportune timing for days when I have my music instructions with Maestro Hart, or snuggling under a blanket on my window seat with a good romance novel non-fiction story, or practicing my singing and performing around the house - there’s plenty to do, you know! -- And, I can confess too that I have more than once in the summer decided to forget that all together and instead go outside to dance in the rain~!”

[myxcenterxstage]

🍃 + a character: What would they have to do to get your muse to be more trusting towards them?

Headcanons !!! || accepting! 

“In all sincerest honesty - being yourself! Treat others as you’d wish to be treated as a friend. And haberdashery, put away the pompous masks of social obligation. If I know you are you, and who you are on the inside is expressed on the out - it instantly both lightens the mood and increases my levels of trust! It’s a shame when people try to impress others by showing off something that isn’t really them.” she coughs awkwardly, not entirely innocent of not doing that herself, but at least she tries “So if you’re you, and I’m me, then everything shall be trustworthy glee, see?”

[myxcenterxstage]

Maybe I, maybe I am just as scared as you It's alright, stay by my side On the edge, on the edge of everything we know It's alright, just don't look down And I will hold on

I'll never let go You're right beside me So just close your eyes I'll never let go, you're all that I need So just close your eyes

[myxcenterxstage]

I'll steer the wind, don't you move Will it carry me, will it carry me close to you Don't, loose your sight When the fire in your heart takes a hold of your life Are you holding your breath again? Breathe, release it all Come on now, I'll keep you warm Come on! Breathe, release it all Come on now, I need your love Come on now! Never give up, never give up

[myxcenterxstage]

Ex's and Oh's

v: My Center Stage / v: Joie De Paris Priscilla’s Exes (Edmund Staunton & Philbert Winston) & Dandies (Pris’ dalliances during the peak of her career on the stage as Prima Donna)

[myxcenterxstage]

The Many Faces of Priscilla Kimbleton