#rolanth

[ddarlingdean]

the queen’s aesthetic

[agarotado27dejunho]

Three Dark Crowns aesthetics: Main cities of Fennbirn

[queencamden]

Broke: Natalia gave Katharine the tattooed crown to show that she was the true Queen and always would be, even in a time of dissent.

Woke: Natalia gave Katharine the tattooed crown because, while breaking out of the Volroy cells, Arsinoe grabbed the silver crown and yeeted it into Bardon Harbour (while screaming “yeet”)

[bookguide]

“The fire will reach for her, and she will embrace it, let it have the run of her body as she spins with her arms flung out. She will wrap herself in it like chains and let it burn. Perhaps it will burn her love for her sisters right out of her heart.”

—Kendare Blake, Three Dark Crowns

[realismreading]

The triplets (Forgiveness)

On her sixteenth birthday, Arsinoe looked back at her childhood since reaching Wolf Spring and tried to forget that it was without the raven haired sisters she had once loved so much ... the ones she was now supposed to kill.

On her sixteenth birthday, Mirabella watched the festivities in Rolanth and felt connected to her city and her people, but yearned for her sisters to share it with her.

On her sixteenth birthday, Katharine cried as she threw up the poisons she'd ingested at her Gave Noir, wishing more than anything, for the first time in years, that she had Willa to nurse her back to health.

On the day that Arsinoe watched her second sister, the baby she was supposed to protect, sacrifice herself for Arsinoe, her world lost its colour.

On the day marking ten years since Arsinoe had last set foot on Fennbirn, she stepped off a boat in Wolf Spring with Billy and their triplet daughters close behind her, breathed the sea air, found the familiar multicoloured eyes at the other end of the dock immediately, and felt at home again.

~

This is kinda what forgiveness looked like to me for the triplets. Arsinoe taking time from the island, coming back when she had made her peace, and forgiving it for everything when she was ready.

[saedii-gilwraeth-simp]

Mira/Bree - Midnight

When Bree heard that Mirabella had died, her first thought was of her mother’s garden at midnight.

They had snuck out without considering how they would sneak back in but Bree didn’t care that it was crazy, because she never cared when Mirabella looked as happy as she had.

Bree remembers staring at the moon and stars and being surprised when Mirabella had taken her hand. She hadn’t even thought about it when they kissed for the first time.

Now that she’s back in Rolanth and her queen is gone, Bree thinks of that tender moment all the time.

Send me a pair and a word

[gemathest]

Mira

(contains spoilers for ‘the young queens’)

Headcanon A: Mirabella had her whole Black Council setup planned out in her head. In addition to how she would change the Volroy to accommodate elementals once again as well as naturalists (which involved putting a tight lock on the poison room).

Headcanon B: When she seeks entertainment, she often heads into Rolanth and plays a little game called ‘Geysers’. Essentially she sits by the aquaducts and running water and waits for immature, or annoying individuals to wander over before sending them flying sky high with a powerful torrent of water. Of course, ensuring they land safely.

Headcanon C: She remembers what Miles did to her in TYQ, and whilst she has put it behind her, she cannot feel comfortable around him. It doesn’t help when she is expected to play the loving queen to the devoted Westwoods. 

Headcanon D: Arsinoe has fallen victim to ‘Geysers’ about five times now.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Notes on “The First Word I Can Never Say (Not to You Anyway)”

Here’s the fic.

The country in which Three Dark Crowns is set (does it even have a name?) consists of Fennbirn (aka the Island) and the Main Land which was not really described at all. Mainlanders don't like the islanders and vice versa. There is not much contact between the two parts of the country and they aren't quite familiar with how life goes in the other part. Also, the Island has magic aka the different gifts.

Elementals control the elements (such as water, earth, lightning, fire, wind as far as I can remember being mentioned in the book). Naturalists can control animals and make plants grow plus, they also have familiars that are normally small animals but the stronger the naturalist, the bigger the animal (the biggest that appears in the book is a mountain cat). War-gifted have gifts connected to war (it was not truly explained in the book or I missed something but yeah, they're good at war). Poisoners are resistant to poisons aka can ingest them (and not only, they can also have them rubbed in their skin or injected in their veins) without it harming them one bit (and most of the poisoners that appear in the book are said to consume "tainted" = poisoned food and drinks on the regular as they don't like them untainted). Poisoners are, naturally, good at assorting poisons and, well, murdering people but they can also be healers since the difference between poison and medicine is the dosage, however, it was said in the book that they have forgotten about the good side of their gift meaning that they don't use it anymore (I might have tweaked that in the fic but hey, I reserve my creator freedom rights). There is also the gift of The Sight but that one is trickier as it is said to make the people who have it paranoid and drive them crazy. Generally, the Sight gift is the rarest. (And in the second book there is the legion curse aka one person having two gifts which, despite being weak, are said to drive the person mad.)

That sends us to the Queens. Every generation of Queens are identical triplets who are incarnations of the Goddess (who was not explained; she's just the Goddess aka the ultimate power on the Island and that is that on that). Each of them has a gift and their mother aka the previous Queen (since Queens are said to not have a mother and father but to be sent to the Island by the Goddess) knows what that gift is. If a triplet has the Sight gift, they are drowned on the spot because they don't make for good Queens. The triplets are sent to the Black Cottage where they live until they are six. After that, they are sent to foster families of corresponding gift (so in my case here Stella who is said to be a poisoner was sent to the Sylvanes who are the most prominent poisoner family) until they become sixteen. Then there are some details that I'll skip over since they are not mentioned here and after that starts the Ascension Year during which the three Queens are allowed to kill each other until there is only one left who will become the Queen Crowned. She marries one of the suitors (which is what Riven is) who all come from the Main Land and he becomes her king-consort (like Oritel is for Marion). She rules until she has her triplets and then she and the king-consort depart for the Main Land.

In the sixteen (well, actually seventeen when you add the Ascension Year) years between the birth of the triplets and the crowning of the new Queen it is the Black Council that rules. The head of the Black Council is chosen by the queen and it is usually someone from the family that raised the queen. Then the head chooses the rest of the Council to a total of 9 members. A poisoner queen means a majority of poisoners in the Black Council, a naturalist queen = a majority of naturalists and so on.

Greavesdrake Manor is the home of the head of the Black Council (from what I gathered) and is found in the capital - Indrid Down (where the castle also is but let's not dig there rn). It is currently inhabited by the poisoners (both in the fic and in the book) but that may change depending on who the next Queen Crowned will be. The poisoner queen (aka Stella here) is being raised in Greavesdrake Manor instead of Prynn which is the poisoners city since the Black Coouncil is in the hands of the poisoners (aka the Sylvanes) and it is seated in the capital city. The elemental queen (so Bloom here) is raised in Rolanth - the city of the elementals. And the naturalist queen (the third sister who I've picked but won't reveal just yet in case of changes) is raised in Wolf Spring - the city of the naturalists. There's also Bastian - the Warrior's city.

The Breccia Domain is a deep (considered bottomless) chasm where the bodies of the fallen queens are thrown after they die in the Ascension Year. It is called "the heart of the island" and it is a sacred place. It is said that the blood of the fallen queens feeds the Island.

That about covers everything mentioned here.

[braddock-the-bear]

Bree x Elizabeth!

hate it | don't like it | meh | like it | love it | literally the best ship

okay they didn’t have much screentime (pagetime?) in Five Dark Fates, but in the other books they had excellent chemistry

headcanon: Bree spends several years on the council in Indrid Down, but Elizabeth goes back to the temple in her hometown for a while. Pepper, fierce little soul that he is, ferries love notes across the island for them while they are apart. When they eventually reunite permanently, it is back in Rolanth, where Bree fancies opening a dress shop for dresses of her own creation. The designs are always extravagant, sometimes scandalous. 

[ddarlingdean]

Arsinoe, when she saw the Sandrins and realize they didn’t know what happened to Joseph:

[mira-nicodiangelo-grey]

I love the Queens of Fennbirn (Contains spoilers about the Three Dark Crowns Series)

If you haven’t read until Five Dark Fates, don’t read this. Be advised that the following list of Queens Of Fennbirn Island is still incomplete. I’ve added the names of each queen’s foster families and home cities to their own (if I could find or guess them), because I like how it sounds. These are mostly, but not all, Queens 👸🏽 born of the Goddess. These Queens may not even be in the right chronological order. But is in the order of oldest to youngest triplet (if I can the queen’s sisters). The oldest I could find was 1000 years old.

I love all the Queens of Fennbirn Island, starting with the first queen, the Legion Queen with all five gifts, the first bearer of the triplets.

Queen Bethel the Pious.

Queen Caedan, the first Blue Queen.

Mad Queen Elsabet Lermont Of Sunpool, the Oracle.

the Vatros War Queens from Bastian, preceding Philomene.

Philomene Vatros Of Bastian, the War Queen.

Queen Theodora of Wolf Spring, the Naturalist, bonded to a Horse.

Queen Veronica

Queen Leonine Traverse Of Sealhead (what she would’ve been), the Naturalist.

Queen Isadora Lermont Of Sunpool (what she would’ve been), the Oracle.

Blue Queen Roxane Westwood Of Rolanth (what she would’ve been)/Illiann Of Indrid Down/Daphne of Centra, the Elemental.

Blue Queen Illiann Of Indrid Down, the Elemental.

Queen Andira of Wolf Spring, the White Handed Naturalist.

Queen Bernadine Of Bernadine’s Landing, the Naturalist, bound to a bear.

Queen Shannon the Elemental.

Queen Elo Westwood Of Rolanth, the Elemental, the Fire-Breather.

Queen Sylvia Arron Of Indrid Down, the Poisoner.

Queen Nicola Arron Of Indrid Down, the Poisoner.

Queen Camille Arron Of Indrid Down, the Poisoner.

And I especially love...

Queen Mirabella Mistbane Westwood Of Rolanth, the Elemental...

...Queen Arsinoe Milone Of Wolf Spring, the Poisoner, the Bear Queen, the last true Queen born of the Goddess...

...Queen Katharine Arron Of Indrid Down, the Naturalist, the Undead, the last Queen Crowned of Fennbirn, she who draws power from forgotten dead queens...

...and finally Legion Queen Juillenne “Jules” Milone, the War-gifted Naturalist Of Wolf Spring, bound to Camden the mountain lion, not of the Goddess’s blood though she ended the era of queens killing queens.

[starfallensea]

Rolanth was the seat of the Redfern Archipelago until it sank eight years ago. The archipelago's surviving islands are desperately trying to raise funds for a second expedition to save their gods, the first having ended with most of its members killed or lost in the labyrinth.

[queencamden]

Mirabella: Welcome to Rolanth. May I help you?

Jules: I want you to validate me.

Mirabella: *hugs Jules* You’re a good person.

Jules: No, I meant, can you validate my parking?

Mirabella: Oh-

[mira-nicodiangelo-grey]

Felicite of Rolanth

Elemental Queen Felicite

Next Queen! There’s not much known about Felicite besides how she won her crown, but I hope y’all enjoy her nonetheless!

[realismreading]

No one asked for it, but here’s a Jules/Arsinoe wedding. 

“Do we really have to have a huge ceremony in the temple?” Arsinoe whined. 

Mirabella sent her a disapproving glare as she hurriedly stitched up the hemline of Arsinoe’s dress. She was nowhere near the seamstress that Katharine was, but with the youngest already fixing Jules’ straps over at the Milone house, Mirabella was left to fix Arsinoe’s. Goddess only knew the mess Arsinoe would make of it. 

Willa had spent six years mending all their clothes, and had tried for eighteen months to teach the triplets basic sewing skills with easy tasks. 

Katharine had continued with her work, taking great pride and joy in her natural knack for it. 

Mirabella had for a little while, until Rho had frightened her out of it. The priestess had told her that having so many sharp objects around a queen was dangerous, and unless she wanted to be poked to death by her sisters before she reached sixteen, she would leave the sewing to the professionals in Rolanth. 

Arsinoe, however, was more for creating holes in her clothes rather than mending them. She was a natural at it, that was for sure. She always had been.

“It’s important that we keep to tradition.” Mirabella insisted. 

“Why?” Arsinoe asked. “It’s not as if anything in the last three years has been traditional. All three of us survived the Ascension, we gave up our thrones and crowns, we bent the knee to Jules and we don’t have to wear just black anymore. I don’t get why this, of all things, has to be traditional.” 

“We may not be of the Goddess’ line anymore, but we still have to honour her, and show the people that we respect our island’s culture.” Mirabella said. 

“Don’t you think people are mad?” Arsinoe asked. 

“Why on earth would they be mad at a wedding? If anything, I’m sure they’re relieved. Jules has been Queen Crowned for three years, and she’s only just getting married.” 

“Well, we’re the old line.” Arsinoe said. “What if they see this as a way for us to reclaim power?” 

“They wont.” 

“But what if-”

“Arsinoe, they won’t.” Mirabella insisted. “You’re marrying Jules because you want to, yes?” Arsinoe nodded. “And Jules is marrying you because she wants to, correct?” Arsinoe nodded again. “Well, then what’s there to worry about?”

“Why do you have to be the logical one?” 

“Because I’m the eldest, and I have infinite knowledge.” Mirabella said. She tied of the last of the thread, turned the dress back to the correct way and stood, shaking the fabric out. “There, I think that should do it. Come on, get changed. Let me see my baby sister in her wedding dress.”

“You’ve seen me in it before.” Arsinoe argued. 

“But not when it’s perfect.” Mirabella said. “Kat has made some alterations as well. Hurry up, Syn! Anyone would think we had hours until the ceremony. Only you and Jules would leave it until the hour before to say that the hem and the sleeves aren’t right.”

“Still can’t believe we’re being forced into dresses.” Arsinoe mumbled as she took the dress from her sister and went behind the nearby screen to get changed. 

Both her and Jules would be wearing white dresses laced with a few pale green patterns along the ends of their sleeves, necklines and hemlines to pay homage to the naturalism they both held dear. 

Arsinoe’s dress was not as tightly fit as she’d dreaded, thinking of nothing worse than a corset and all that restrictive fabric. 

Instead, the skirt was small and tapered out slightly, the sleeves were long to hide her scars, the neckline was comfortably high an inch or so below her collarbone and the torso was made of accommodating fabric so that she could still breathe and walk and eat and drink to her heart’s content. Not having to wear a corset was a small victory that she relished in. 

When she stepped out from behind the screen ten minutes later, confused at all the fabric and getting all twisted and turned around at least four times as she tried to arrange everything, Mirabella’s eyes misted up and she clasped her hands together, looking immensely proud. 

“You look beautiful.” She said. 

“Cheers.” Arsinoe replied. 

“Come here, let me sort your hair out. I really wish you hadn’t cut it last night.”

“It needed doing.” 

“Not the night before your wedding.” 

“I thought I had to look my best?” Arsinoe said, letting her sister drag her fingers through the short strands. 

“Yes, but you could’ve waited twenty four hours so I had a little more to work with.” 

“It’s neat, it’s wavy, what more do you want?”

“It was neat and wavy. Now it looks like you’ve been dragged through a rosebush backwards.” 

“That’s what it felt like trying to get into this bloody dress.” Arsinoe complained. “Honestly, I don’t know why I couldn’t just wear a nice pair of trousers and a shirt. Maybe a tie, just to please the temple.” 

“Just play by the rules for today, Arsinoe.” Mirabella said. “Goddess knows you haven’t for most of your life. Right, okay, I’m done. Shoes on, and let’s go. We’ll be late.” 

~

Arsinoe and Jules flopped down onto their shared bed - which was really just their two cots in the Milone house pushed up against each other - full of giggles and too much wine. The taste of it was disgusting, but after the first few sips, they’d gotten used to it enough to keep drinking. They were comfortably tipsy now. Both were still in their dresses. 

Jules looked much better than Arsinoe, in a moss green dress sleeveless dress in a similar fit to Arsinoe’s. Her neckline was slightly lower, and the hemline higher. Neither felt like getting up again to get changed, they just grabbed ahold of their shared favourite woollen blackets and bundled up beneath it, facing each other. 

“Well?” Jules whispered. 

“Well what?” Arsinoe asked. 

“Is being married worth wearing the dress?” Arsinoe remembered now. 

Before they’d been parted that morning, Arsinoe had jokingly said that married life better be worth having to suffer a dress. She hadn’t really meant anything by it, just meaning to alleviate some of Jules’ nerves. 

Arsinoe smiled, raising a hand and cupping Jules’ face with it, her thumb stroking her wife’s cheekbone. 

“If it meant marrying you? Yes.” She whispered. The two smiled, pressed their lips together and slowly drifted into sleep, hands linked between them and the comfortable weight of a ring on their fingers. 

[saedii-gilwraeth-simp]

Another World - TDC Holidays - Day 7

I’m experimenting with a new style so tell me what you think!

DAY 7

AU: BAND

POV: MAGAZINE

‘Queens of Music - The rise of girl group Reign’ by Mathilde Seer - Sunpool Magazine

The Rolanth pub is alive and bouncy tonight as new kids on the block Reign take the stage. I sit at the bar and laugh along as singer and guitarist Arsinoe interacts casually with the crowd before the start of their set, while her fellow bandmates warm up their instruments. She is bubbly and shockingly alive as the dimmer lights hit her iconic black and red half-face mask.

The crowd eats it up, cheering as eventually drummer Katharine starts their beat. Bassist Mirabella grabs the attention of every person in the room as she joins in. Their synchronicity is currently unmatched by any band their age (hell even bands older than them) and their set roars into action.

The Queen sisters rose into the music scene nearly a year ago and I’m lucky enough to be one of the few journalists invited to the pub gigs they play in between sold out stadiums. Their set is filled with their own self written hits as well as countless classics that everyone knows (even an improvised cover of Bohemian Rhapsody) and the crowd just gets higher and higher.

When I’m allowed back stage at the end of the night, or early morning (there were a lot of impromptu encores), I’m unsurprised to see the sisters still completely wired. Katharine and Arsinoe (who is hanging upside down on the couch) are playing a game of UNO that is surprisingly intense and Mirabella looks like she is trying and failing to meditate. The background speaker is playing what sounds like Hey Violet’s ‘Guys My Age’ at a volume that is just short of too loud.

Arsinoe looks up when I walk in, smiling and flipping herself right way up, standing with a skip. She’s taken her mask off and her deep facial scars catch the light of the backroom, but her smile is infectious as she hugs me, UNO cards still in hand.

I’m lucky enough to have been offered to travel with the sisters for the next stop in their tour and I can tell already it will be as chaotic as all else, especially as Katharine yells at Arsinoe to “get her ass back to the game”. I take the seat Mirabella subtly offers me and prepare myself for the road.

~

The next morning, I wake on the tour bus before the triplets and prepare to interview the three of them. Mirabella’s the first to rise, stretching to touch the ceiling of the bus and apologising for not waking up earlier. She grabs a protein bar and comes and sits down across from me. I start with their break into the music scene, the Quickening Music Festival, which they shouldn’t have been playing in and everyone I talk to agrees they definitely crashed illegally.

“Our start to the music industry was definitely one that could have gotten us in trouble, mostly because Arsinoe takes opportunities where they come, no matter how hair-brained they are,” Mirabella tries to sound mad, but she actually sounds like a proud older sister, which she is. Her protective nature is well known in the fandom and is the subject of many journalistic questionings and internet memes that, when mentioned, gains a serene and agreeing nod.

Speaking of serenity, I am quickly learning that Mirabella is the most calm musician I have ever met, and when I mention this, Mirabella just laughs.

“Compared to my sisters, sure. But I have my days, just like any one else,” at that exact moment, a loud thump comes from the bunk area and Katharine stumbles out a minute later, rubbing her hip. She doesn’t speak and I’m vaguely reminded of a zombie. But, a really short one. My interview with Mirabella ends there as she stands to check on her sister. Quintessential older sibling.

Katharine is my next interviewee and she tells me to just call her Kat. The youngest triplet sits across from me, fiddling with the 8 rings she wears, one of which is definitely an Arron family seal ring. When I ask, she tells me she stole it. I can’t tell if she’s messing with me. She’s the smallest of the three and looks like she could lose a fight with a strong gust of wind, but you wouldn’t think that if you saw her on the drums.

“I have a lot of pent up emotions,” she declares when I ask about her instrument, “I nearly broke one of Arsinoe’s violins when we were younger, so she bugged Willa to buy me a drum kit. I haven’t looked back since,” I can’t help but smile at the story. Arsinoe and Kat seem to enjoy the most banter, but anyone looking at them can see there is genuine sisterly affection there. “But yeah, I went through some shit when I was a teenager and the drums helped me express my aggression healthily.” I don’t ask for any more. Anyone who listened to songs on their debut album like ‘Down, Down’, ‘Viper’ or ‘Dead and Gone’ can hear the deep emotions lying underneath Kat Queen’s skin. Their technical prowess and gory themes have also immortalised the songs as fan favourites.

Kat is gone by the time I look up, seeming to be inspired as she sits on another table and begins writing something down that she eventually hands to a passing Arsinoe, who has spent the morning texting a mystery person with a nearly imperceptible blush on her face as she enters the kitchen area. When she catches me looking, Kat leans over and whispers to me;

“Her and Junior have been chatting forever, if that’s enough of a scoop for you,” she laughs slightly as Arsinoe comes back into the table space.

Arsinoe seems to be the brain behind the operation’s more chaotic elements. She is a verified master of at least four instruments (five if you count voice) and has written the most songs on their album. She looks at me with a cheshire grin and the first thing I can think to ask about is her scars.

“I fought a brown bear and won,” she says, casually enough for me to question whether she’s actually serious (it seems deadpan outrageousness runs in the family). I move onto her music.

“I did a lot of travel when I was a teen, so I had a lot of influences as I was learning my instruments. I also had a lot of people with different styles who have made my music better,” and then she says “shoutout to Jules Milone” and laughs. Her laughter is rough but bright. Much like her songs, which include ‘Sea Ports’, ‘Mount Horn’ and ‘Pub Song’.

She makes me feel comfortable enough to even ask about her love song, ‘Maybe More’. Despite being on the B Side of the debut album, it sent fans crazy with theories. Most in Reign’s fanbase agree that the song is about Arsinoe’s old friend and fellow famous musician, Billy Chatworth, who has also written a song with strikingly similar themes and metaphors, ‘Caught Out’. Both are so tight-lipped it’s almost confessional, but that never stops anyone trying to confirm. Arsinoe laughs when I ask but doesn’t answer, a la Barney Stinson when asked about his occupation on HIMYM.

We get off the bus at the castle-turned-stadium that acts as Indrid Down’s hub of entertainment and it’s all systems go. Mirabella is co-ordinating with the roadies who are moving their stuff. She is somehow both kind and authoritarian. Arsinoe is writing lyrics as she’s walking while listening to something through earphones. Kat is rubbing her drumsticks together and tapping her legs with them while also trying to trip Arsinoe up as they walk together.

They take the stage an hour later and the crowd is deafening as Kat hits the first beat of their set (the jaunty 'Pub Song’). The next two and a half hours go by quicker than expected. The crowd is wild as all three triplets interact with them, and even I’m swept into the hype and I go to concerts like this for a living. Finally, the gentle but haunting lull of ‘Queen Crowned’ finishes their setlist and the audience roars as Arsinoe hits the final, stunningly high note of the song.

Backstage is bustling as mics are removed and sweat is wiped away. Arsinoe picks her sisters up with the force of her hug and then she pulls me into a tight (and very sweaty) hug. The back area fills and Mirabella squeals in excitement as two women who must be her girlfriends kiss her. Kat is embraced by a tall, blonde guy. Arsinoe grins and continues a conversation as she helps one of the roadies pack up before they go out to sign merch.

I leave before the triplets enter the venue lobby to sign merch and meet fans, but I hear the cheering and loud speaking a block away and can’t help but smile. Reign will be around for a while, I reckon.

Crowned - DEBUT ALBUM

Yin

Dead and Gone

Protect

Pub Song

Down Down

Queen Crowned

Viper

Falling Rocks

Sea Ports

Mount Horn

Yang

B-Side

One-Handed Mistress

Fire Maiden

Maybe More

Court Rules

Jules

Cliff and Tower

Three Prisoners

{Cover} SUPERBLOOM (MisterWives)

{Cover} Clean (Hey Violet)

Tag List: @nataliaarronn​, @poisonerrose​, @alwaysbored005​