#𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘: // train your soul to remember

[doctordonovan]

@shesdaylight continued from here.

dreams,  like all things,   hold endless interpretations and meanings.    maeve has spent plenty more time than she wishes to say wondering what her subconscious says about her:  how there's so many graphic places in her mind  &&   how none of them feel like home.  how there's so many almost people  -   figures that feel important   -   yet her mind never finished naming or painting them.  ❝ and my mind is telling me that I'm terrible with naming things? ❞   she jokes instead,  knowing better than lingering on own insecurities too long.  ❝ what do you think your mind is trying to tell you? ❞

[lookedinfinite]

❝ really? i wouldn't have guessed that about you. ❞ from @pirateheroism

doe eyes don't look up, as if she hasn't noticed her own accidental sharing about herself - as if she wouldn't take the words back. maeve is a creature without true home: a hummingbird left fluttering, potentially endlessly, between worlds. so onwards is the only option maeve has ever truly had: to keep on going, until the path runs out. and then... when path runs out, it simply means it's time to get a little more creative.

still she splashes her face with water from the stream, relief at the coldness. she suits the woods, but then again, she knows how to suit most places. brown curls shifting with her movements as she flashes a playfully raised eyebrow, "and what would you have guessed about me?" games are much easier than learning how to be forthcoming. "I hope it's something interesting."

[phdiism]

𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘: // tag dump: verses (2)

[doctordonovan-a]

❀   ||     are  you  the  princess  in  distress  or   the  beast   in  this  story? 

[lookedinfinite]

𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘: // tag dump: verses (2)

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗘: //  I’ll be there to fall into the dark

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘: //  I have to reinvent myself again

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦: //  i don't wanna know who i am

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦: //  remember that all worlds draw to an end

𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥: // a very ordinary individual after all

𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘: //  train your soul to remember

𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗟𝗦: //  matter and spirit are one

𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘: // is imagination the mother of truth

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃: // hearken to the voice of our prayer

𝐆𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘: //  as the world caves in

𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬: // the ghost in me was true

𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗭 𝐔𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬: // starts with some pretty words

𝗪𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝐃: // so good til it kinda hurts

𝟏𝟖𝟗𝟗: // what if it’s not like they said it would be?

[doctordonovan]

❀   ||     are you the princess in distress or  the beast   in this story? 

[doctordonovan]

which YA princess archetype should you kiss?

❀    ||      the otherworldly fae with a secret

you have often been warned about the supernatural in your travels, but you love the world too dearly to be cautious. you do not notice the shadows growing longer, the moon swelling in the sky. you take a soil sample and it smells of sea salt and something metallic. the trees rustle, whisper to you. all you hear is wonder. your princess reveals herself to you as a mirage. she flickers, and you know resolutely in that moment: you would chase her to the ends of the earth. time falls away. when you finally stumble upon a clearing, shaded in blues, she is there. her dress aglow. her hair darker than the shadows. starlight catches in her teeth when she smiles at you. there is dirt underneath your fingernails, scratches latticed up your bruised shins. contrary to your eagerness, you are not stupid. your princess is known throughout the land, the locked away scion of the faerie queen. she devours travellers, they say. beware. but all she does is caress your cheek, blink at you with her mournful eyes, and you know there is more to the story. you are a curious sort of person. you hope. this is your most precious weapon. but you can be shrewd, when you need it. your heart is crystalline. your princess wants something of you. you know this, but she does not take it. she shows you her kingdom, this miracle, and she asks. that’s all it ever takes. you go to her. the world will never be the same.

[doctordonovan]

❀    ||      luna   &&  marina rios,   proof that cris finally got maeve that dinner    |    with @fromchile​

[doctordonovan]

❀    ||      Lemony Snicket,   ‘The Beatrice Letters’    |    feat.  @fromchile​

[doctordonovan]

❝ i thought i might find you here. ❞ | regina

forest is quiet - quiet enough she cannot quite help little jump, the way body subtly startles out of careful concentration. book on her lap is a big thing: heavy and ancient, balanced on her legs same way her back rests against large tree. out here she can think, can just study dusty texts, without eyes upon her or whispers about what unforgivable oddities are spotted within her this time. she is content to exist as she is - out of view, out of mind. 

❝ I’m nothing if not predictable, @thenightmareofyourdrems. ❞ maeve’s answer comes drily yet not without humour, no matter how subtle she might fight to keep it. ❝ don’t worry, the book will be returned to the shelf it lives on. I just couldn’t hear myself think in there anymore - after a while the portraits go from being decent art to having accusatory stares. ❞

[doctordonovan]

who you would be in a fantasy society

❀    ||       the mysterious witch

people are a little scared of you but you mostly mean well. you're smart, you like animals and nature, and on tuesdays you do blood magic but no one needs to know about that.

[doctordonovan]

❀    ||      she’s always been a memorable thing   (  pre bobby and post  )

[doctordonovan]

 ❝   I choose you,   no matter what the king says.   ❞

 no matter what the king says.    soul is equally torn between laughing and simply weeping at the words:    at the sheer insanity of all this holds.    their paths have both been decided,    have they not?    both with marriages decided by others     -   marriages they have been told,    time and time again,    that should be all they could want.  there's enough politics in her life already.    (  duty   &&   logic refuse to work together:    if she follows one,    the other will have to be abandoned.  )     she is grateful to be useful,    but if she follows duty,    she will only ever be useful.

 don't they deserve a little happiness?     ❝   and you'd choose me?    over a sure thing?   ❞     it's meant to be a joke   -    light,    hollow,    meant only to last only a heartbeat or two.    and yet there is a genuineness to question that maeve simply cannot avoid.    why would anyone choose her without any true cause?    bobby's interest made sense,    founded in her ties,    in her use,     in many things yet none of them truly her.    yet here is  @fromchile​  who looks at her and ensures she knows he's only paying attention to her.     ❝   I just...   I don't want to be the cause of any trouble for you.   ❞

[doctordonovan]

 ❝   he was an idiot.  you're amazing,  and if he can't see that,   that's on him.   ❞ 

 plenty would claim it is her,     not bobby,     that could be defined as the idiot in such a situation.     how couldn't it be?    his name    -    the myths surrounding him    -    the songs of battles and glory...     there are likely few villages they haven't reached.    he has made himself a pedestal from the impossible tasks that he has accomplished over years,     facing some of the mightiest beasts and monsters in the land.     yet much better men than him have died along the way,     left to be forgotten as he swooped in alike vulture and took every shred of the praise.    it was easier for him after all    -    the blaming of all mistakes on people not there to raise their swords again.

 she's plenty of things to plenty of people.   to the royals,   full of sage advice,   useful and sharp and always capable of offering the right advice to make them seem like born diplomats.   yet what is she to bobby himself?

 a pretty thing,    a good marriage    -    lacking in any impressive name,    yet connected to all those who could aid his continued 'growth' in reputation.    a mystery he had no interest in solving or translating,    who would surely look as needed by his side.   (  affection,    labels like 'amazing',     were certainly never going to exist between them.  )     yet rare laugh is stolen from her by rios' words,      ❝   not so amazing in the end,   @fromchile​.    I'm quite boring in the end.   ❞     yet still she cannot help but be glad for the fresh morning air of gardens,    la sirena both worlds apart from anything she'd known before,     and somehow still so very familiar thanks to his presence.  

[doctordonovan]

❝   i just want you to feel you are doing well.   ❞  

 florist is a walking contradiction:     she is aware of it,    aware of own nature,    no matter how hard she might try to downplay it.    few in little town truly know her   -   they almost all know bobby,     know of claimed heroism,    of how easily charm rolls off him and how naturally his smiles win people over.     it's the only way maeve can remember things being.     bobby,    the one people are drawn to,    and her the more reserved fiancée who keeps to her shop and nearby woods.    (   harmless    &&    forgettable in equal measure,    quiet nature allows for her to fade out of sight the same way she can slip out of rooms.   )

 his workshop is familiar in a way few places are,    and she invites herself around too often,     smile bright as newest flowers are brought to replace previous dying ones     -    blue and vibrant in the space.    ❝   worried my ego has shrunk recently?   ❞     it's not what @fromchile​​ means,    maeve knows that,    but true topic is harder to wrap herself around.    these days she is quiet even by her standards,    suffocated by little town,    own projects all that get her through the day.     ❝   honestly I'm just...    is it cruel to say underwhelmed?   like nothing ever lives up to how it should,    how I'm told I should be feeling.    I'll be fine,    maybe I just need to snap out of my ‘unrelenting positivity’.   ❞

[doctordonovan]

 ❝   Meet me at midnight at the fountain.   ❞

 she knows better.     she knows so much better.  her heart has only ever brought her endless trouble:    full of aches and cracks from past injuries    -    from the times she allowed herself to try and put heart over brain.    (   she has duties,    responsibilities,    debts to those who had given her a purpose.    or at least she did.   )    in the end she's made her choice:    to come so far,    to choose potential over the fears life has built into her.    was breaking curse not enough?    a universe approved stamp that feelings don't only reside within her own chest,    that there is longevity in being wanted back.

 rios has,    despite masks and walls,    been entirely honest with his heart...    when she has allowed herself to read between his words.

 the only curse that truly mattered to her is broken and for a couple of hours,    peace seems almost attainable.    so when midnight comes,    she's waiting at the fountain,    quietly balanced on stone edge and precariously pacing around it    -    natural easy balance matched with how attention remains on la sirena's central fountain.     ❝   most towns have gargoyles,    not mermaids.   ❞     usual burnt orange cape has been traded for a deep blue one,    a better fit even in cool night air.    but maeve has no need to turn to know when he approaches,   taking a second before turning around,    teasing lingering to little smile    &&    soft tone.    ❝   a girl wakes you from a curse then you're busy all day,     if I were anyone else I may feel insecure @fromchile​.   ❞