Finally, Finally I Am Back On My ArSen Bullshit. So Starting From Where I Last Left Off (chapter 94):

Finally, finally I am back on my ArSen bullshit. So starting from where I last left off (chapter 94):

Fr tho, Hilmes, where was this when I needed you to have the attitude? This just reads as copium ffs.

I normally don't give that much thought to Team Zahhak's philosophy, but this time I decided to sit down and mull on it a bit. Evil is the way of the world, the root and origin of all things, and humans have established “justice” to oppose it. The problem? Justice isn't One True Thing as many like to think— to borrow Narsus' metaphor it's actually like a thousand stars fighting to dominate the sky. And what this causes is conflict, everybody thinks they're right, and therefore the others must be wrong, and to prop up their own justice blood is shed.

One would normally associate bloodshed with, y'know, evil. Which makes me wonder if Team Zahhak thinks of justice as a hypocrisy— in fighting for their justice the pain and loss the fight inevitably causes is no different from that which evil would cause. In seeking to banish evil they just kept inventing evil itself over and over, with a prettier facade on top.

Maybe Team Zahhak sees it as a pointless, fruitless endeavor, and thus chases evil in its own right instead of dressing it up in pretty ideals that ultimately mean nothing.

That's my interpretation of these panels, I buy that line of philosophy obviously, but I think I can see where they're coming from, especially considering the origins of Zahhak himself (which, to make it as vague as possible, he was born from evil, so surely that must've shaped his worldview?).

I want to say, “what did you think was gonna happen when y'all went crazy like rabid dogs on the capital and let Bodin run free to do whatever he wanted???” because I am right— but my anger is tinged with dread/grief because the consequences. They're going to bite Hilmes in the ass.

Interesting. VERY INTERESTING. I'm spinning this in my head. What can I do with this, hmmmm~

They were conscripted, ey?

There's something about their faith taking the shape of brutality. That their “love” for their God wasn't characterized by, like, I dunno how to put it, a genuine connection with Yaldaboath nor spirituality nor anything like that if that makes sense, but rather in the form of... Gah, my brain isn't cooperating.

The way they were so proud of killing the defenseless and vulnerable (women and children) leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“I think we've done our duty to God well enough to call it a day.” my god my fucking god, like, killing enough people means you did your job means you don't have to do anything more no meaningful deeds or introspection you don't need to do more you've murdered and that's apparently fucking enough shut uuuup.

I know they were manipulated by those above them, the clergy and the higher-ups who wanted this campaign but ugh. Ugh.

If one were to only look at the deeds of followers of Yaldaboath, I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that Yaldaboath is an ever-hungering bloodthirsty god who demands bloodshed and human sacrifice as worship.

Of course, it's not the case, I'm sure the faith means something else, something far less murderous, but there's a point where the original intent and purpose is lost and the twisted version takes over. It is the real, tangible impact it has on the world and the people in it that ultimately matters.

Of course, this is not a problem unique to the faith of Yaldaboath, the Parsian priesthood is pretty corrupt (@innerchorus made a post about that, I'll link it if I can find it again), and y'know, all institutionalized, big religions seem to follow the rough chops. Hell, in my homeland's history one of our kings went to war to seize Buddhist texts from another king!! Like what!! That's so antithetical to what Buddhism is supposed to be about!

Where am I going with this? Honestly, I've got no fucking clue. I just needed to rant, I suppose.

Everybody's big sister comes into clutch and nudges Arslan to not lose focus.

Also, is it just me or does Arslan's hair seem kinda long in this scene? Like,

Am I imagining things???? Was his hair always this long?

After two whole rants in the same post I no longer have the brain juices to dedicate any meaningful thought about the Royal Academy thing but I will say that I definitely want to know more about it. Who attends it? Is it a boarding school? Do other regions of Pars have similar academies? How do children of nobility and the wealthy in more rural areas learn? At home, with private tutors? This was never elaborated on and I'm left with a bucketload of questions.

They!! Alfarīd looks so cute here, look at that smile! And Farangis is so fond. I really love their bond, though I wish it was featured a little more (I guess it kinda is, but it involves Farangis pushing Alfarīd onto Narsus and I'm not sure how I feel about that so yeah).

And between and behind the two there's one of the dresses Alfarīd showed Narsus later on! The one she didn't end up buying, though I have to admit it's a cute design.

ARSLAN SENKI (2013-?) by arakawa hiromu

Oh my good my heart…..am I crying? No you are crying!!

You awake my inner fangirl and I absolutely love your interpretation of Kayra.

I love the earring idea….it was only a little thought in my mind with the necklace, brooch etc but the earring idea is absolutely amazing and I love the fact that Shapur would wear the other one.

The look in her eyes/on her face….I love it. The first thing that came into my mind that this is Shapur point of view and he tells her that he still loves her or Arslan PoV when he tells her that she is like a sister/mother figure for him and that her past didn’t matter to him.

And I like how good the color of her hair and eyes worked out together and can I say that I am in love with her hairstyle?

That sketch definitely made my day!!!!

@marchdancer I drew a Kayra! This time, actually clothed, with colour! Wow! (I'm so sorry for the unfinished one from before hhhh) I decided to adjust her design a little bit... for reasons (Saam-related reasons, though I'm not sure how successful I was in that regard). I had, like, a Vision™, of someone making this expression and I went, “this is just vibes but this would suit Kayra so well”, this sort of melancholic, longing energy in her eyes that made me think of her missing Shapur on her travels perhaps. I had to adjust the brooch/necklace idea into an earring though, as the way I composed this sketch left me with no space for either. Maybe Shapur has the other earring of this set.

I love it!!!! Can’t wait to see more of your OC

One of my projects is done!

I love when artist make OC drawing memes and since I'm starting to be more active on my blog with my art, I want to catch up on some of them so...

Here, have this "Draw your OC as..."-Reel as a mini comic with Azar! (can we even call this a comic?)

And some close ups

The only thing that I'm still unsure about is the backdrop colurs... But the rest? Man, was it fun to do!

Hope you guys like it as much as i do!

Night Wings~

Turning the day into the night, the sun into the moon

Part of my translucent wings series

Porcelain dress. Porcelain flesh.

I guess I'm in the translucent dress phase these days✨