Heroic Legend Of Arslan - Tumblr Posts
Thinking about the Turanian invasion (the one in the canon era, not the one that's looming over the horizon in the fic rn) and Kishward (and Bahman?) imploring lords around the country to omg go and help Team Gorgan PLEASE and thinking about who'd show up... I think Lushan would. He just has that air about him— I wonder if Tus and Zaravant would, and if so, what would prompt them...
Meanwhile Gorgan is chaos.
(also thinking a lot about Ranna and Alfarīd, help me)
Ooh, some logistics at play here! Since this is AU based I'm not sure how much advance warning they have of the Turanian army's approach but from the sounds of it in this scenario the border has already been breeched and Team Gorgan are attempting to hold them up which... I don't envy them the task but it sure sounds like it'll be exciting to read about.
I don't know what Bahman's mental state is like here but if he's troubled by anything like he is in canon then I imagine Kishward may take the lead... However, Bahman still has some steel in him and it's not unbelievable to think that Gorgan's need for reinforcements would galvanise him into action (though perhaps he's more likely to eventually surprise everyone by stepping forward to lead troops to bolster the defences himself rather than taking the lead with initially reaching out to various lords etc, which is a task I imagine would fall to Kishward while Bahman is still beset by apathy and other worries).
I assume they're sending messages to ask for reinforcements? That makes it even harder to apply pressure on reluctant lords, so they're probably aware of who they can likely count on and who they can't (Andragoras may have been able to essentially strong-arm the shahrdaran but many of them, like Hodir, would be content to sit and wait and see how things play out in his absence, especially if their own territory is not under threat.)
It's a tricky one because it's Prince Arslan's presence and proclamations that draw the various lords and their troops to Peshawar. It's hard to say exactly how many would come otherwise. I feel as though Zaravant would, he evidently feels a sense of duty towards his country and would put himself forward to represent Oxus as he does in canon. The fact that the Marzbans in Peshawar are trying to organise further defense of the border and Pars's lands would likely be enough for him. That might be a nice surprise for Kishward and Bahman who may have assumed nobody from Oxus would come. Tus would go too, probably. He has a garrison of men who would be of great help.
Lushan likewise would help if he could, even if he's not shown leading troops on the battlefield himself he's still had a military education and would presumably have troops available to him. One thing to consider though is where everyone is coming from and how much time they have (as in, how fast do they need to get to Peshawar and then on to Gorgan in order to be of real help?). This is a large invasion and the Turanians probably have very good troop mobility, I don't know how long Gorgan could hold them before they break through or bypass their defences and beseige Peshawar itself instead. Some characters might have some debate about whether it's worth leaving their lands or whether it would be better to sit tight and wait, especially as Andragoras's fate is unknown. There's likely no precedent for what to do when the Shah is missing.
I don't know how helpful these ramblings will be since a lot depends on the specifics of your AU! Happy to talk about it more (though I won't be online again now until later or maybe tomorrow).
Randomly browsing through my Arslan Senki tag and I realised I’ve gotten into the habit of calling a lot of the characters cute (or some variation thereof). Then as I kept scrolling I decided that I have no regrets because you know what? A lot of the characters really are cute! Even some of the bad guys! I think it’s a true testament to the writers for their portrayal of these characters and the fact that they’ve successfully made so many of them well-rounded and appealing.
You know who’s definitely not cute though? Fucking Bodin and Andragoras. Yeah, fuck those guys.
A bit unusual but
If your LARP DM seriously overstepped and it's the final straw, which Daryun panel would you post and leave the group chat with?
Also taking recommendations
Arslan Senki Reread
Some Elam appreciation! Narsus looks like a proud dad.
Arslan is so excited he's literally jumping at the chance to spoil Elam, lol. What a good bean.
Good panel!
Dorks.
Azrael looks so proud. I swear this bird understands it's being praised 😭
It's the reason Kishward couldn't/didn't choose to come with Arslan, after all. The conflict of loyalty/duty. Daryun does realize that.
Makes me wonder why Narsus chose to go with Arslan's wishes here. What did he seek to gain?
Zaravant: *all puffed up and excited for the honor*
Jimsa: ...weirdo.
Things I liked here:
Merlaine standing where everyone else is kneeling
The peeps leaning back to stare.
Arslan's lil “please?”
Merlaine folding immediately (so much for your tough act, boy)
Like,
Not even a “fine, I'll do it” or “sure” he says “As you wish.” politely? His speech bubble is shaky? Adorable.
Am I reading too much into it because it's my ship? Possibly, but I don't care. I like this ship, therefore I will overanalyze it.
Headcanon: Being Daryun's S/O
Anime: Arslan Senki- The heroic legend of arslan
• I believe Daryun is a man of few words, espacially outside. But,but when you guys are inside he will tell you sweet things
• It's a bonus point if you can fight well, he won't have to worry about your safety
• You will get extra points when you can protect the crown prince
•Talking about the crown prince, I think Daryun needs you to have a great bond with Arslan.Without that I don't think the relationship will last long...
• Daryun will love your cooking! Like, have you seen those muscles///0.0///
•The man is soft heartend, don't break it
• Loves to go one horse rides with you, whether that means riding next to each other or you sitting behing/infront of him.
• Childeren? Hmmmm, I think Daryun would think he won't be a good father.Worries about leaving you and the child alone because he is a knight, a marzban at that. Worries he would die and won't see his child grow up.
•You probably reassure him that that won't happen, restoring the faith of the black knight. You also made him fantasize him and his child having sword practice so the guy is now looking for good wood to make pratice swords and dummies out of scratch.
•About your relationship with Arslan, how can you not love the white head?He so cute and thinks the best for everyone so it was easy to love him.
•You three sometimes walk together in the city
•Be prepared to see alot of blood,A LOT
•He is a marzban after all
•Protective but not possesive. He is devoted to protect you and Arslan so he must know where you go most of the time our this man will go ape shit.
•He will get possesive when guys will hit on you what is probably the worst move the poor soul could have made in his life because now he is a target of Pars strongest knight.
•Scenery dates, yes.
•Espacially the ones with sunset or just a warm day to picnic.
Head cannon: Being Gieve's little sister
Anime: the heroic legend of Arslan
• You two are something, it's either good and healthy relationship or just straight up gaslighting each other
• Pure. Chaotic. Siblings
• You two can be the best of friends, helping and supporting each other
• And a second later, you two fight over the smallest thing
• You are, just like your brother specialised in romance, flirting, playing instruments
• You two earned money by with your plays, Gieve plays an instrument and you dance to it
• That made you two the talk of town multiple times
• there were posters of your faces hanging in walls, a famous harmoical duo
•But also a famous robber duo
•You can't convince me otherwise, the two of you have stole things, quite alot
•While mostly you. Gieve is there to distract your chasers or will help hide you
• You two fill each other in. If that's in battle or poems
•And then, you two joined the Prince's company.
•You sure had a thought of robbing the prince but after some time saving, running, ploting, killing you two grew a soft place for the prince in your heart.
• You make moves on the prince, where the pour soul onlblushes at the comment or the contact
•Save to say you two are the company's main entertainment
• You are skilled, mostly in long and short swords. Dancing helps you to react and move swift.
• You support your brother in winning over Farangis
• The Priestress is tough, but who can resist your brother charms?
• You are a big teaser, to anyone
• But when it comes down to the real work, you are a bussiness woman.
• When the prince asked you and your brother to go on a mission up in the mountains. You did without complain.
• Only to see a backstabbing take place. Pour Hilmes
• Oh well
• And when you returned, you two hoped for a warmer welcome. Not the ducking war.
• You also try to smile alot, you believe a person heart is won by the smile for the heart
• And when it doesn't, you aren't afraid to dance a bit seductive
• like I said, you are tease
• And when asked about your age, well they don't tend to stay.......a man as they get their nuts busted.
Areyan is finally finished! This was a Journey™ for me. This is depicting a design (the second one, to be precise) from the design sheet I made for him! I went very in-depth about all the symbolism there, so if you wanna go check that out, it's under the #the character design sheet saga tag. I did add a few things but with the bag it's just that I saw a pretty design and I wanted to copy that.
His crutches, however, are made of white beech wood! So what I had in my notes about beech was that it symbolizes protecting and nurturing, old writings and knowledge, rediscovering old wisdom, wishes, understanding, sustenance, and letting go of fixed ideas. And I thought that was interesting because in the Wolfpack AU he (Areyan is Arslan in case you're new to my blog) and Hilmes actually end up on the same side and he's a positive influence on Hilmes kinda like an advisor and guiding light and it's Hilmes who needs to let go of fixed ideas and the one who rediscovered the forgotten histories of Kaykhusraw's time and the clan, especially Areyan, is the key that provides that change in him. Their existence, his entire existence, is like a middle finger to the very rigid and fixed societal notions that shackled Pars for so long.
I kinda wanna attempt a simple background for this piece at a later date but for now my shoulders are stiff, my spine is screaming, I need to go lie down for the rest of the day 🥲
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TEAM ARSLAN PRAYER CIRCLE. I AM SO SCARED.
I think there's just something in the way even Narsus was stumped when before he said something like “I fear nothing that talks” when faced against a sorcerer, but this time he's up against a true monster.
I know I've brought up this quote by Aozaki Touko from Kara no Kyoukai a lot but:
“There are three conditions to terrify someone: One, the monster can't speak. Two, the monster has to be unidentifiable. Three, it's meaningless if the monster can die.”
Zahhak, at present, qualifies for two of the three conditions, but can be stretched to all three since the characters don't know where he originated from, how he came to be. Even Kaykhusraw could not kill him.
I am glad Daryun is with Team Arslan 😂
@askrukhnabad what are your thoughts on Prince Arslan’s sword? A ‘prized dagger’ with ‘impressive embellishments’?
Chapter 127 is now available on Mangasee123!
Progress on the WIP! Finally! We haven't had reliable electricity for more than an hour these days (and even that hour isn't consecutive it's just a couple minutes scattered throughout the day because I guess the ministry of energy is just. pranking people or something I don't know) and it's been hell. I'll probably flip the canvas so that their scars are facing us, the screen, later even though it'll probably make things harder for me, I'm dreading shading Hilmes' scars, but I think it'd be appropriate to showcase their mirroring and Hilmes' growth of feeling comfortable going maskless even we beyond the screen aren't being shielded from it? I hope that made sense.
I haven't decided what year the coronation would take place, but I decided to draw Areyan in the hairstyle he would come to wear as an adult, if you've read my Areyan/Merlaine ficlet this would be the hairstyle he's wearing there too, I based it off of Azel Halgal from Otoyomegatari:
I've been planning this for a while and I'm so happy to finally be able to draw Areyan with this hairstyle!
Every year or two... after a random arslan senki chapter update, i go back to looking up stuff like fan fics, fan art or just anything about arslan senki and then i end up re-watching the anime....sometimes i rewatch all the episodes and sometimes i skip a few but so far I've watched the anime 5 times and read the manga 3 times and whatever was translated from the novel once....this is the only show I've ever given so much attention to...i remember the day when arslan season 2 (anime) was released and being so happy about it that i posted the op song on yt and got copyrighted in a minute lol....it feels a bit unhealthy to be interested in a show this much but well....i enjoy it
..i think it'll always be top 1 series for me...not sure whyyy i love it a lot but it's always interesting and never boring..the plot is beautiful, each character is unique and different, no event is pointless and arslan's development is something i enjoy watching.
Historical stories are always better than a modern time story (my opinion ofc)
Nothing was useful here...just feelings, thank u for reading this far...
have a good day!
And one more (actually one of the first that I thought of, since I know this scene really well because I like Shapur a lot!).
Kubard speaking at his reflection in his sword during the battle at Atropatene. The dialogue is the same in the manga, but only in the anime is it constructed like this so you see his sword acting as a mirror while he speaks. He’s saying that a king has the responsibility to protect his kingdom, and if he doesn’t fulfil that duty then he has no right to be king. And he’s not wrong (except for the fact that Andragoras did try to order a retreat; it’s just that word of him fleeing spread across the battlefield a lot faster thanks to Kharlan’s men). If you want to think of it in terms of a character struggling to recognise something, in this scene it’s Shapur who tries to deny the truth in Kubard’s words.
Kubard even glances at him and points out that Shapur cast off his helmet in anger at the king’s behaviour just moments earlier, to which Shapur replies “No, that was thoughtlessly done” (or “N-no, I was just being rash…” in the manga) as he tries to deny that he felt something similar to Kubard, declaring that the king did not run away but meant to fight again at Ecbatana.
…and of course, only one of them got out of there safely.
…it’s also interesting that we get Kubard’s views on the responsibilities of a king this early in the anime, and they are perfectly in line with why he doesn’t serve Hermes, and also why he DOES end up with Arslan (who on several occasions has gone out of his way not to abandon others, and wants to free Pars from the Lusitanian occupation that Hermes brought about).
Wonderful work as always. I love the position the hair and how the clothes are floating
@innerchorus As promised I worked on the coronation WIP! :D
Ashaya backstory revamp
Ever since classes started again I have been consistently unable to either draw or write, and it's frustrating me a lot, so I'll just have to settle for making AU posts.
Andragoras and Tahamenay's child, that has not changed.
Given to some family in the Tabaristan region (formerly known as Mazandaran in ancient times), who were given hush money in exchange of raising them.
Ever since she was young, Sherine has noticed that she is... different.
Her parents leave her out. Her siblings pick up on that and leave her out too. Her parents don't treat her the same way they treat their other children.
Besides which, Sherine is not dumb. She realizes pretty quickly that she looks different from the rest of her family. Face too pointy. Hair too light.
People say she's a beautiful child.
Her parents seem determined to prove them otherwise.
Sherine is given more chores to do. Given plainer clothes. Made to stand behind her siblings at any given event.
She cries. She screams and struggles and stomps and yells in hopes that they'd listen, they'd know, this is unfair, she's their daughter too, isn't she? Sherine is—
Sherine is not dumb.
Sherine knows that whatever she is, she doesn't belong here.
People say she's a beautiful child.
Her family says she's nothing but trouble.
She wanders her hometown, sneaking off from doing chores at home. Spends her days scanning the faces of the townspeople— the merchants, the neighbors, the strangers, even the slaves. She looks and looks and looks, for any hint of similarity, any bit of resemblance, anything that might echo back to what she sees in the mirror, in the waters, every day.
Sneaks out of her house, flits from street to street, in a desperate bid to find someone, anyone, with some iteration of her features hiding amongst the crowds.
Stalks the family of that jolly grape seller from a couple blocks over, because they were light-haired like her even if the shades don't even come close to matching.
Hers is always different.
Hers is too peculiar.
Ivory-blond with rosy tips, hair of an outsider.
Mama beats her and sends her to bed without dinner.
Curling up in bed, hungry in a way that no amount of food would satisfy, Sherine thinks.
She doesn't belong here.
She isn't a child of this family.
She doesn't think she's even related to them.
Where are her parents?
Did they die? Is that why papa and mama take her in? Because they knew her parents?
Except, really, they mustn't have loved her parents, whoever they were, because if they did then surely they would treasure Sherine too. Right?
Right?
If they died and nobody here loved them, then why is she here? Wouldn't she have been put on the doorsteps of a temple or taken from the streets by... by...
She'll never get the image out of her head, a slaver, flogging a young boy barely older than her.
She's seen them, on her escapades, prowling the streets sniffing around for any abandoned baby by a roadside or in an alleyway.
She shudders thinking about it. Mama always says one of these days she's going to sell Sherine, too.
She's scared.
She doesn't know.
Whatever the case was, she was unwanted in some way. Is unwanted, right now in this present she lives in, unwanted by this family, unwanted by whoever decided to leave their daughter on this doorstep.
She clutches her aching stomach.
She doesn't sleep.
Day by day, night by night, she prays what little words she manages to remember.
Prays to be loved.
Prays to be found.
Prays to be...
To be...
There's a tale in this town.
If you wander deep into the woods, you'll find a dilapidated place.
They call it a temple. That's stupid. The building looks nothing like a temple.
Those who wander in, they say, come back wrong.
Come back days, months, years later.
No matter how long they take, they don't look a day older.
They were playing, her siblings and the other kids, they play, but she never gets included. They get mean when she tries. They always give her whatever's the worst.
She runs.
She runs and runs and runs until her legs burn and there's no air in her lungs.
She doesn't notice the butterflies frozen in air.
She doesn't notice the sudden stillness of the trees after a certain point.
Not until she trips.
There, on the ground, stained in mud and dirt and snot and tears, she curls up like she always does at night.
She's so hungry.
She hears their voices, a couple bushes over, arguing about the prey they were supposed to hunt.
They don't find her.
She bolts upright, startled, nerves tingling with something she doesn't know what to name.
She looks around.
Silence and stillness.
She should be afraid, she thinks. She should try to leave. To go home, to go find those dummies who didn't even see her when they were nearby.
But she thinks of their meanness, of mama's anger and papa's weird stares, of the prowling slavers wandering the streets.
Just a little bit, she thinks. Just a little longer. Just a little bit of peace. She'll take the beatings later, she'll deal with that when they catch her.
That's right.
She just has to not get caught for a little while longer.
[brain juices running out so this will be reverting back from story mode to summary mode, augh]
Anyways, she spends a long time (to her) in the woods and doesn't really notice that the sun isn't moving in the sky bc she's a little kid and she's too busy rolling around and having fun until she falls asleep out of exhaustion (both physical and emotional, since all the shit she went through finally caught up to her in a safe moment)
(you'll notice that in the story/narration part “Sherine” refers to themselves by she/her bc at the time they hadn't had the chance to realize y'know, the gender stuff)
Sherine wakes up, finds that it's night, and she can't find her way back.
(the haunted area actually booted her out so she's in a different spot of the forest)
Kid has an epiphany of sorts.
“She can't stay here.
Not anymore.
If she's so unwanted anyways, what harm would it do for her to disappear?
For her to leave?”
So she does.
Anyways, it's night, Farangis (with some clan adults) is wandering the area for a reason I have yet to fully decide on.
They meet.
Sherine is absolutely taken by this gorgeous lady.
One long conversation later while Farangis does her best to clean the kid up, it's abundantly clear that Sherine is Not Okay.
So they get taken!
And Sherine gets to chop off their hair and choose a new name.
But until she settles on a proper name she chose for herself, their temporary name is Ranna.
Sherine has a complicated relationship with girlhood because of the toxic standards that were forced on her by their “parents”.
Anyways that's how Ashaya comes to join the clan!
What I imagine a young ex-Sherine to look like as she leaves with Farangis.
Fun fact, Areyan is usually a sweet and gentle kid but for some unknown reason he and Ashaya regularly gets into fisticuffs.
They're 7 when they join the clan. Farangis is 15, she'd just come of age.
At some point I kinda wanted Ashaya and Alfarīd to have met in their younger years but I don't see that working out w this trajectory sooooo... oops.
Anyways, a look into Ashaya's trauma! Where their lack of hope and faith in the world stems from. I somehow couldn't get into it in the narration but her family house could own slaves, maybe, (still she gets made to do chores bc Double Standards), and on her escapades to find her parents or relatives in the town she gets to see a whoooole lot of violence thrown at slaves and poor commoners and it always stuck w them.
She tries questioning it once, they got punished.
Kinda echoes Alfarīd's hopelessness in the nation too, she did say in the manga “there's no point to restoring the nation, it'll just make new nobles and new slaves” and it's an attitude Ashaya holds, too.
It'll be up to them to find that hope again. Alfarīd would be the one to eventually give back hope to Ashaya, but for that she herself will have to believe.
Unlike in canon I don't really see Alfarīd coming to believe in someone changing the system, rather that there's something worth living for even in a broken world. I think she'd have an attitude like that. It just fits her.
(I'm reminded of the song Kamado Tanjirou no Uta from the AU playlist, and that one video from Hello Future Me about the Ghibli movie The Boy and the Heron.)
(“We did not choose this world. But we must live in it.”)
To elaborate on why Ashaya lost faith in the world, it's smth like, if something so terrible and hurtful like the slavery system is allowed to exist, if nobody batted an eye at the abuse she went through, if nobody thinks to hold abusers accountable, if people are rewarded with brutality for their kindness, then... there's nothing worth saving here.
In addition to their own abuse they also saw others being abused, remember that the clan is made up of runaways and hurt people and abandoned people and victims and survivors— almost nobody who comes to the clan... came from happiness.
Is it any wonder that their faith was broken?
In contrast, let's look at Alfarīd. Protective instincts, strong sense of justice, responsible if a bit chaotic, remember how in the manga Alfarīd urges Estelle to remember the women and children and injured they'd saved? That they must think of, that they must protect, instead of thinking about the King?
Alfarīd, I think, abhors the system, but still sees people and things worth protecting anyways.
(and not to jump all over like a kangaroo but let's talk about Farangis this time)
She's an orphan. She entered the temple of Mithra after her loss. She was too talented. Too diligent. Too beautiful. People shunned her because of it.
And I'm willing to bet there's aggression and subtle bullying, too.
Look, it's a closed community. That sort of place gets rancid real fast.
(I would know. I myself was trapped in a prison of a boarding school where my suicidal ideation got wayyyyyyy bad.)
So, y'know, Ashaya-as-Sherine is a reflection of her days in the temple. That's why she has a soft spot for her.
Farangis is one of the few people Ashaya will listen to.
Anyways that concludes thus the post about Ashaya!
Can't write rn so have this:
“I'll kill them,” says the saffron-clad girl with jagged tattoos. “I'll kill them all. The fake-ass princes, the king, the nobles. Everyone. All of them. They'll never become a problem for my hometown. Never. I'm gonna make sure of it.”
Alfarīd takes in the sight of Ashaya's hidden face, the tremor in their lengthy frame. Takes in their voice, so full of bitterness and anger, so full of...
Fear.
Ashaya is afraid.
And who wouldn't be, when it's you against the world?
She lets herself plop down on Ashaya like she's seen cats do with each other. You can die at the hands of royalty, monkey. Consider it an honor. “Well, that makes it two of us, ey?”
Ashaya snorts. “Congratulations, you've just got a roadside fox stuck to your side for perpetuity. Now what?”
“Were you even listening to yourself? We're gonna rid the world of pests.”
“The rat bastard with the silver mask first?”
“The rat bastard with the silver mask first.”