The Sapphire becomes the Ruby... (Patreon)

Last night I did my first makeup test for Marion Lavorre, the Ruby of the Sea (aka Jester's mom!) I'll be playing Marion for my new music video that I'm filming on Saturday.

The Song

Little Sapphire's Lullaby is a new original song that I wrote! The idea is that Marion sang it to Jester when she was little, so it's pretty emotional.

Marion is agoraphobic, and as a high-profile courtesan, she wasn't supposed to have a child, so Jester was raised largely hidden away in her room. The song is intended to be loving and protective, but it also has some subtext of Jester being sort of trapped/stifled by her upbringing. 

The Cast

The video for this song is going to span the decades between Jester's birth and the start of the campaign. It will start with Jester as a baby, then Jester as a toddler, and finally Jester as an adult, leaving Nicodranas to begin her adventures. Throughout it all, Marion will be there, singing to her and doing her best to keep her safe.

I have made a terrifying blue baby for infant Jester (don't worry — she'll be mostly concealed in swaddling, I just felt like customizing a whole doll would make filming easiest, so we didn't have to worry about angles and framing):

For toddler Jester, I've recruited a friend's 4-year-old niece, who has become very interested in costumes and wigs lately! I made her a little nightgown, and we're carefully planning the shoot morning to be as efficient as possible so that she won't have to spend too long in makeup.

As for adult Jester, our own Morgan Danielle will be donning my Jester costume for the final segment! (Appropriate, considering that she's my actual real-life daughter that I birthed at the tender age of six) Morgan is working on a Nott cosplay right now, but she's volunteered to ditch the green for some blue for this project.

Because this video will take place in the same room, with but years between each scene, I will be spending a lot of my energy on the set. The idea is that the main set pieces will remain the same, but superficial things will change throughout the video to indicate that time is passing.

The Costumes

As for my costumes as Marion, I decided to save myself the stress of sewing a ton of new costumes (see?? I'm growing as a person!) and instead I ordered some fancy nightgowns on Amazon that I'm going to spice up with some jewelry. All of the scenes take place right before bed, so I think it's fair to assume that Marion would be in loungewear at these times, not full gowns. Now my biggest struggle will just be making sure none of my normal-colored skin shows through these...somewhat spicy nightgowns and robes, haha.

I'm finishing up her arm sleeves today, so hopefully I'll have some outfit previews for you on Instagram today or tomorrow!

I'm also going to have someone filming dedicated behind-the-scenes footage all day on Saturday, so you can look forward to a comprehensive making-of feature on this video! Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week!