the circus arrives without warning

We were born in the circus or woven into it like cloth. We grew up and live in secrets and mystery, reading the past and the future in faces and stars, hiding secrets with enchantments and illusions. We were born to be both an attraction and a battleground - secrets are our lives. Come closer, carefully, and maybe you can learn them. Now, the circus is open. Now you may enter. *** [[Independent multi-muse RP blog for the characters from the Night Circus. See about page for more.]]

[fashionsfromhistory]

Robe de Style

Jeanne Lanvin

c.1926

MET

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

{ change the detailing to white }

{ white top trim }

{ less volume in the skirt }

{ crystal headdress; no fan - impractical }

a.p.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Dresses from Liberty & Co.’s Autumn 1925 Catalogue (X)

[awakingdream]

The silence that falls between them is a comfortable one. He longs to reach over and touch her, but he resists, fearful of destroying the delicate camaraderie they are building. He steals glances instead, watching the way the light falls over her skin. Several times he catches her regarding him in a similar manner, and the moments when she holds his eyes with hers are sublime.

Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (via awakingdream)

[quotes-in-books]

I couldn’t tell the difference between what was real and what I wanted to be real.

Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (via quotes-in-books)

[jenl212]

They are enthusiasts, devotees. Addicts. Something about the circus stirs their souls, and they ache for it when it is absent. They seek each other out, these people of such specific like mind. They tell of how they found the circus, how those first few steps were like magic. Like stepping into a fairy tale under a curtain of stars. They pontificate upon the fluffiness of the popcorn, the sweetness of the chocolate. They spend hours discussing the quality of the light, the heat of the bonfire. They sit over their drinks smiling like children and they relish being surrounded by kindred spirits, if only for an evening. When they depart, they shake hands and embrace like old friends, even if they have only just met, and as they go their separate ways they feel less alone than they had before.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

My favourite quote from my favourite book.

(via jenl212)

[anightcircus]

Music Box by Key-of-M

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

smother

~~~

The circus is black and white, but the interior of the Artist’s tent is soft, snowy white, and draped with cloth. 

It was pure love that made him relinquish decorating power to her, and now, unless the lights are out, when he enters the soft room he feels as though he is surrounded by clouds, suffocating in nothingness.

It’s nearly six years before he realises that maybe that soft, empty feeling drifting down upon them is exactly what she wants.

~~~

[ephemeral-elegance]

Evening Dress, ca. 1920

B. Altman & Co.

via Leslie Hindman Auctioneers

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

{ ~ change some of the details and fabrics to lighten the look }

{ ~ feels too "funeral", add more white }

a.p.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Dresses from the Hitchcock, Williams & Co. Catalogue Autumn 1926 (X)

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

one has entered the circus -- ((london, england))

[peaceamongstmadness]

"You’re going to be a dad, I’m going to be a mum, and Mama is gonna be a grandmum!" Isis suddenly started to laugh again. "Your sister is an aunt!" Hell, everyone at the circus would have some sort of family member role in this child’s life. They just had to figure out who was who in their odd family. But she was certain on several of the members already.

A family of her own, her own child with her husband. It was almost too much of a dream to be true, but it was real.

"It was Mama and I, doing a scan in the TARDIS. I trust my mama more than any other doctor… And just a few weeks along. What will I do when I start showing though?"

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

Lord, Poppet would be an aunt. He loved his sister but he wasn't sure what sort of an influence she'd be on this little girl, he realised with a grin. Widget was thrilled to have a family though, really, it was something they'd been wanting for a long while, and finally it would be real.

Widget hoped he'd be a good father . . . he was young, he wasn't sure.

"We should probably go to another doctor for a scan sometime . . ." Widget suggested slowly. "I love your mother dearly but I'm not entirely sure I trust her to deliver a baby! I think. I don't exactly know what happens," he realised. He looked around for a moment, baffled, as though maybe the answer would pop out from behind the draped cloth in their tent. It was starting to dawn on him exactly how little he knew. "When you start showing, Tante will have her work cut out for her making you new things that fit!"

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

"I feel numb." ((for. . . Tante. Or any.))

"Oh sweetheart," Pavda said gently, squeezing her hand. "I can’t even imagine how you must feel. I miss her terribly as well - we all do." Pavda wrapped an arm around the Doctor’s waist. "Listen, dear, how about tonight I be your mama? I’ll take care of you, and we can talk."

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

Padva nodded, rubbing the other woman’s back slowly, but she didn’t break. It just wasn’t something she did, something she didn’t even do as a child. Not in front of people, anyway. But Padva was grateful, she truly was, so she cupped the Doctor’s face in her hands and brushed away the tears, kissing the woman’s forehead. “Oh, you have such a kind heart, my dear. But today is about you, where I take care of you. Not about me. I don’t need to cry.” Padva wrapped the Doctor close in her arms. “You can keep talking, darling, you can tell me more. I’m not so strong as you, but I can help carry what weighs you down. Don’t thank me.”

A daughter should be able to talk to her mother, Padva told herself. Daughters should not have to suffer because of their mothers’ burdens. Padva wasn’t going to upset her or leave her that night, she decided it then and there.

[theladychimestwelve]

"I… I don’t know how much I can say without constantly breaking on you… I don’t want to always break…" But she wanted to, the Doctor wanted to cry about her father, about her first wife, about the horror that she endured back home and how River pieced her back together. She didn’t want her friend, no, her mother to see her like this.

The Doctor didn’t say it out loud, but she was glad Padva was staying by her side, that she wasn’t just going to leave her alone to be shrouded in pain. “I… I wish I wasn’t so… Ruined.”

[stepintoafairytale-blog]

"It doesn't matter if you cry, darling," Padva said softly. "You're still my daughter. I want to know about your life, dear. Tell me stories." Padva settled onto her back, guiding the Doctor to lie there with her. "You have nothing to be afraid of anymore."

Calling herself ruined. Lord, Padva never wanted to hear those words out of her daughter's mouth. "You're not ruined, my little butterfly. You're still wonderful, still my sunshine. You're hurt, but I know that there's still a strong girl inside you." Padva kissed the top of the Doctor's head. "Besides, you've been doing very well lately, coping with this. I'm seeing some of that fire that I haven't seen since our wonderful River died. You're allowed to have nights where you need somebody to care for you. Tonight that person is me. I'll stay with you from now until day, my darling, I promise."

Still resting on her back, Padva pointed up at the sky, at a little group of twinkling stars. "Do you see those few stars up there, Theta? It's the constellation of Andromeda - though I'm sure you've already been to those stars, and so many more. But in the story, my love, Andromeda's father believes that the only way to save the kingdom from a hideous sea monster is to chain his daughter to a rock as a sacrifice." Padva paused for a moment, starting to toy with the Doctor's hair. "Andromeda makes me think a little of you, I suppose. Especially since she was rescued, by Perseus. Did you have another Perseus before River?" 

[kanariya013]

a circus of dark dreams. by BelleBlackwood.

[autumn-glamour-deactivated20150]

Books everywhere on We Heart It http://weheartit.com/entry/100873430/via/smiledespiteall

[thebookquotations-deactivated20]

You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows that they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.

Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (via thebookquotation)

[insideofyourlungs-deactivated20]

Le Cirque des Rêves

[heartisbrave]

“Is it not that bad to be trapped somewhere, then? Depending on where you’re trapped?” "I suppose it depends on how much you like the place you’re trapped in," Widget says. "And how much you like whoever you’re stuck there with," Poppet adds, kicking his black boot with her white one.” 

[recklessly-infinite-blog]

Stories have changed, my dear boy, There are no more battles between good and evil, no monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my experience, at least the ones worth something, in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep overlapping and blur, your story is part of your sister’s story is part of many other stories, and there in no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess and a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? Though perhaps it is a singular wolf who goes to such lengths as to dress as a grandmother to toy with its prey.

Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (via recklessly-infinite)