#poor narsus

[innerchorus]

...Gurgin and Ranna claw-nail buddies

YES 👀

Also Yoshitaka Amano's Narsus, check these out:

Actually let me post the whole illustration even though it's only tangentially relevant, because it's one of my favourites.

This is, by far, the most attractive version of Narsus to me. This particular illustration is from Book 10: A Gathering of Clouds.

Honestly, if I didn't already know what Amano's Narsus looks like, you could have told me this was an illustration of the Holy Master himself and I would have believed you 100%. Funnily enough, Narsus is described as having an air of evil/wickedness to his expression in this scene, where the characters are speculating about what will happen in Misr with Hilmes. It's amusing and I can't blame Narsus for having an attitude of 'wouldn't it be great if Prince Hilmes died in a foreign land and never returned to Pars to cause trouble again' but damn, the line about hoping that his boat sinks still fucking hurts me for some reason.

"Storms at sea are unpredictable. The ship may capsize, upon which poor Prince Hilmes will become shark bait, for even though his talents are outstanding, unfortunately he has alway had bad luck." Ouch.

(The insight into Daryun's view on Hilmes provokes a similar reaction in me; again, it's totally reasonable that Hilmes is an enemy who he would fight and kill on sight for more than one reason, but... the fact that despite this, Daryun feels a bit of sympathy for him because even though the hardships of his youth were in the past, as an adult, no matter what his dreams expand to, he always falls short just as he approaches success. Ouch again.)

(Let me also just share Daryun's thought that 'the fact that Prince Hilmes was born in the same era as Narsus can only be said to be his misfortune'.)

Like, objectively some of this is quite funny but I do feel saddened by the 'Hilmes sucks and he should die'-ness of it all. And it's even worse because you know Hilmes hates being pitied and they definitely are finding him pitiful here.

Clearly I am doomed to have Hilmes thoughts at the slightest provocation, I did not intend to type all this out but here we are.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #yoshitaka amano #narsus #this particular illustration is just 👌 #hilmes #i hope his luck is better in the manga #anyway if it was at all doable for me #i would 100% have black stiletto nails too #how can a scene be so fucking funny yet also wound me deeply?

[tired-reader-writer]

Arslan Senki Reread

This reminded me of...

This Arslan panel for some reason! (Two sons eager to absorb tactics! Maybe it wasn't too far a jump making them brothers in my AU— though even without justification I would've done it anyways lol)

Very interesting contrast against Arslan's leadership. I would say more but my brain is scrambled. I probably should go to sleep.

Did this bird just fucking nod?

I swear, I swear to fucking god, Azrael has more intelligence than is normal, I tell you.

Narsus sounds like such a mischievous little shit, lol.

Aka: let Andycakes make a show of himself, we'll just, uh, take actual control of everything while he's busy posturing :)))))

Arslan's such a menace! I'm so proud of him! He is learning from Grade A+ menaces after all, “Fuck It Why Not” Daryun and “Fuck You That's Why” Narsus and “Fuck Everything Both Literally And Figuratively” Gieve and... you get the point. No wonder he's Like This™.

Absolutely eerie face that makes me feel queasy. He has to know this can't end well, right? He has to know the poor dude (I forget his name) isn't gonna have a good time, right? That he'd be hated? He just... doesn't care.

Oh, my guy, if only you knew...

Montferrat has a bad feeling about this. He Knows™.

#arslan senki reread #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #isfan #kishward #arslan #guiscard #azrael #narsus #daryun #montferrat

[marchdancer]

Because I finally have to clear my head so I can continue working on my story.

So now I'm going to bombard you with thoughts about my The heroic legend of Arslan modern AU.

Shapur

Oh my god where do I start? I have so many thoughts about him

- In his time in middle and high school, Shapur was a good judoka and was quite successful due to a shoulder injury, but he had to give up the competition

- He owns a motorbike and in his free time he likes to do some laps especially towards the mountains and forests. Sometimes he also visits Isfan when he is on duty at the ranger station at the weekend

-when he was 18 he took custody of Isfan (the backstory here is about the same as in the manga)

- Shapur is a passionate mountain biker even if he doesn't get to do it often because of his job

- He doesn't like spicy food but likes something sweet (at work he has a drawer with a stash of sweets)

- He doesn't drink much because he can't tolerate too much alcohol

- He was in the military until he was injured on a mission and retired. Kahrlan then took him to the M.o.P

- Kubard is his colleague

-Shapur is often annoyed by him, but their clearance rate and cooperation is the best in the entire team

- Shapur wakes up quickly and due to his military background he gets up early and goes jogging

- Kayra (my OC) can't understand that

"Honey why are you awake?" "stay down I'm just going jogging" "it's 5:30 on a Sunday morning" "I'll also bring fresh bread rolls" "and a croissant"

- he is a romantic

- He hates casesin which children are involved

Kubard (my brother in spirit or rather Kayra's 😂)

- Kubard wasn't in the military

- He comes from a poor area of ​​Ecbatana where there is a lot of crime

- he made it to the rank of police officer and was brought into the M.o.P through his merits

- He loves to mock Shapur and his reaction

- He played basketball when he was in school and still does today. once a week he goes to his old neighborhood to play a few rounds of basketball with the kids there and make sure they don't go down the wrong path

- he buys old houses, renovates them himself and rents them out cheaply. It's more about renovating. just let off steam and tear down a wall

- he loves vintage cars, he has three of them and tinkers around with them

- he lives in an old airplane hanger and has set up a bachelor den there, no woman has stayed more than one night so far

- he has a diving license

Ok so far until now

Might write some thoughts about Isfan, Gieve, Daryun, Saam, Narsus and Kayra (Oc) aswell

Maybe Arslan, Farangies and Elam to

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #oc x shapur #shapur #not canon #oc kayra #isfan #modern AU #just thoughts about it #need to empty my mind #family #Kubard #oneshot

[patriac]

tacticallis

  Brown hues staring down, disappointment and in shame - to be facing one of her best friends like this, he already knew who she worked for. She knew it was the right thing to do, despite never meeting Prince Arslan, she knew serving Prince Hermes was the right thing to do.

  “Narsus,” she could hardly look at him. “What are you doing here? If Prince Hermes sees you, I know he will have you killed.” The last thing she wanted for her friend, she could hardly face Daryun and tell him it was her fault if that ever happened. What was worse, her espionage in Ecbatana got her to feel utterly...stupid. 

#tacticallis #v; Fighting For His Highness #he's just gonna be so hurt and betrayed. #poor narsus

[yeruslan-blog1]

@reginae-noctis liked the starter call!

“Your figure is already conspicuous from the battlements; how long do you intend to remain hidden?” 

#reginaenoctis #// hhhHHHH welcome to my golden asshole-kinda muse. #// pooR Ai though I think she's better off acquainted with Narsus

[ryukoishida]

Arslan Senki Ch.55 Spoilers

Am I glad the Sindhura arc is FINALLY over, holy shit. Again there are some really good details (and so, so many delightfully beautiful shots of Narsus, Kishward, and Gieve I’m so thankful sobs).

YES YES YES. Farangis teaching Arslan (and Alfreed) archery I love this so much :’)

Gieve and Narsus partnering up in a fight, like hell yeah give me more of that please!

Extra:

@daryun: Your fave is finally here after god knows how many chapters! :’) But the poor man just never gets a break, does he?

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #manga blogging #arslan senki spoilers

[innerchorus]

Taking you up on your offer, I've got some thoughts and questions, some AU-specific and some not!

Do you remember the captain/soldier who Arslan and Daryun encountered in the earlier chapters? The one who was Shapur's captain? Yeah I've gotten attached to that guy too. You got any thoughts regarding him?

Do you think Shapur will wear little threads in his braids like the clan people do? (They favor braids and they tend to weave little decorative threads or ribbons in their hair). I thought he might wear black threads in them, not noticeable right away if at all (people might get curious and suspicious why he's suddenly wearing decorations) but still honoring his husband and his clan. Also would he ever take the bracelet off?

Was there any information on Narsus's parents, I wonder... I only know that his mother was his father's concubine.

On that note, I made Farangis an orphan in my AU but I wish we got to know about her parents in canon!

Please use this as an excuse to ramble about any and all thoughts you have, if you're up for it!

Oooh, what a good ask! Sorry it's taken me a while to get to it (I swear I have a never-ending list of ArSen posts I want to make, lol).

I do remember Shapur's captain, poor guy. I basically hone in on anything related to Shapur. I felt so sorry for this guy when I first read the manga, you can just feel how horrified he is by what's happened to the Parsian army, and what's happened to Shapur. I have a headcanon that Shapur was respected and well-liked by his men, because even if he was strict, he was always fair, and they knew that he cared about their fate in battle just as they cared about his. I think if Shapur had survived Atropatene, he'd have had a really hard time coping with how many men had been lost under his command.

Anyway, there's really not much information about this man, other than that he's a 100-rider Captain who serves under Shapur. He was probably fighting beside him not long before their entire group were overwhelmed. When I read the manga, I assumed he was trying to say that Shapur had been captured, but if you look at the novel scene he says "Our general Lord Shapur sustained grave wounds as well from both fire and arrow. Whether he still lives or not…” (The novel scene is a little different; Daryun is alone when he encounters this man, and he has to leave him to go and find Arslan.)

Daryun recognises him and knows his rank even though he doesn't recall his name, but Shapur must have had a close relationship with him — each Marzban had ten of these 1000-rider Captains and I'm sure they knew them very well. I wish we met more of these subordinates in the series! There are a few more named characters who pop up later in the novels (but only one I've been able to identify by name in the manga so far, Barhai.)

I suppose this guy's capture sets the scene for the later reveal that Shapur, too, has been captured, since we already know that the Lusitanians aren't necessarily just slaughtering all the Parsians indiscriminately, they are actively looking for higher-ranked individuals to take alive.

asdhfhf I definitely think Shapur would wear threads in his braids! If you think about it, the turquoise beads he wears are already a form of adornment/decoration, and black threads wouldn't be super noticeable, but he'd know they are there, and that's what matters. I headcanon that Shapur is a very private person so even if people noticed, I don't think they'd ask him or comment on it except for maybe Kubard who might wind him up about it so much that he snaps at him and blurts something out and then regrets it, lmao (though to be fair, if Kubard did accidentally find out about Shapur's marriage to Kazai, he absolutely wouldn't say anything to anyone else). As for the bracelet, I think he might take it off if he were going into battle — I feel like he wouldn't want something so symbolic of his relationship to get stained with blood.

Narsus's parents! There's not a lot of details but I have looked at this before, there's some relevant stuff in the novels.

Narsus's father, Teos, was a shahrdaran who held the Dailam region.

'Though Narses was technically a young master of an aristocratic family, his mother had not been Teos’s legal wife. She had been born a lowly azat, a freeborn commoner, and was merely one of Teos’s concubines, ranked perhaps twentieth or thirtieth in his favor. Upon giving birth to a male infant — that is to say, Narses — she had been chased from the estate by Teos’s wife. However, having received just enough for living expenses, she took her young son away with her and settled down at the royal capital of Ecbatana.' (Book 2, Chapter 1, Part ii)

Teos had 10 children apart from Narsus, but they were all girls. It's not stated whether they were all from his wife, but I'm going to assume not because we know he had many concubines and that's a lot of children. Plus, it seems that his wife's issue with Narsus and his mother is the fact that Narsus is male.

(...ever thought about how Narsus's situation is basically a more mild version of Isfan's? I headcanon that Isfan and his mother were abandoned to die not just because of Shapur's mother's jealousy, but also because another male child was a potential threat in terms of inheritance — and while Isfan shared a father with Shapur, he was of no relation to Shapur's mother. If it was just jealousy, why did she wait for two years after Isfan was born to get rid of them? I have thoughts... Anyway, that backfired when Shapur saved Isfan, because it's pretty clear that Shapur deliberately raised Isfan to inherit his own position etc...)

Teo's wife died when Narsus was 10, and at that point, Teos summoned him and designate him as his heir.

Teos was an old friend of Andragoras, apparently. So when he died, Andragoras instated Narsus as his successor. Little did he know what he was letting himself in for (though at that point, he needed that private armies of all the shahrdaran).

I always thought the deaths of Narsus's parents sounded a little suspect, but nothing ever came of it in canon so *shrug*

(Teos's wife died suddenly from food poisoning after eating mutton, conveniently allowing Teos to welcome Narsus back as his heir, and then Teos himself slipped on the stairs and hit his head just as he was summoned by Andragoras to help fend off the three country alliance of Sindhura, Turan and Turk, conveniently allowing Narsus to take his place and prove the worth of his strategy. There are some pretty dark headcanons in there, I'm sure.)

Farangis is an orphan in canon, too. Her parents died when she was young. Her father was a knight who left behind his wealth when he died, and when her mother also passed away, she left half of that money for Farangis and donated the other half to the Temple of Mithra in Khuzestan, asking them to support her daughter. Farangis was raised at the temple, and trained to become a priestess.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki novel spoilers #shapur #isfan #teos #narsus #andragoras #farangis

[tired-reader-writer]

This does make me wonder, for the sake of Wolfpack, what would happen with Maryam when Hilmes would ascend to the throne with Irina as his Queen— I'm guessing it'd become some sort of vassal state or something after the Lusitanians are driven out? Maryam has no male royal heir, and the only survivor of Maryami royal blood is Irina, who will be married to Hilmes. Would Maryam become part of Pars, then?

Their faces, lmao.

A man with both sense and heart!

Hm, I kinda have to partially disagree with Merlaine's beliefs here— the fact that you're in the right doesn't necessarily mean you'll be safe, especially when power dynamics and inequalities are considered. Sometimes, hiding is the best choice for the sake of survival, both for yourself and the ones around you and I don't mean literally hiding your face but like, hiding parts of yourself, hiding your true thoughts, avoiding those who would harm you...

But then again, I can't wholly disagree with what he's saying here because I'm reminded of this quote from Cinema Therapy:

“A lot of times, when you have someone who exemplifies what people want to be but they're too scared to be, it galvanizes a movement.”

It takes courage, I suppose, courage that I personally lack. And to so bravely hold your head high and expose your beliefs to everyone, you would become somewhat of a symbol, right? A symbol. Role model. Inspiration. Larger-than-life.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, except that hiding away doesn't necessarily mean you're automatically in the wrong, perhaps. The world isn't so cut-and-dry as that. Merlaine's thoughts are interesting nonetheless, ones I can respect.

Small steps are being taken! I wonder what the infantry soldiers thought of this— happy, probably. Arslan would be beloved, haha.

Logistics! Arslan has taken Narsus' lesson about provisions to heart, I see, and lmao poor Patius.

He has an incredibly mobile fighting style (at least on foot) so traditional armor would probably bog his movements down— but I can't help but ask the question “why not some leather at least?” with him and Farangis (and to a lesser extent Jaswant), but oh well. Choices are choices. At least Farangis protects her shoulders...

This made me think about what other paths Hilmes could've taken (removing Team Zahhak from the equation), perhaps he could've contacted someone whose loyalty he could be sure of and begin gathering allies that way (remember, cooperating with the Lusitanians means he shot himself in the foot via being unable to openly recruit Parsian soldiers and allies) though that too also might possibly devolve into a civil war. Still better than handing the country off to Lusitanians who will 100% wreck shit, but hmm.

I'm sure there must've been less bloody ways than, well, this. I'm interested in hearing y'all's thoughts. What could he have done differently?

In a past reread post I've pointed out the significance of the seating arrangement in this scene!

I have beef with Narsus for a couple things (well, one thing, really) but never for this. He's so soft in this scene. His faith in Arslan is something I will never fault him for.

#arslan senki reread #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #wolfpack au #winds of wolfsong #kubard #irina #saam #merlain #merlane #merlaine #arslan #narsus #patius #gieve #daryun

[narcasse-blog1]

@severemarquis

How QUAINT it felt for him to return to the capital once more. A man whispered by the ushered voices of many names - ONE which had long since been banned from the capital since the woeful dolor of his family’s downfall - he, once upon a time, had believed to been dead, yet it was he alone who had survived the House of Teos’ impeccable fall. Absconded by a fellow servant bearing the guilt of leaving his lord father & sisters behind, Weili relocated young Narsus and himself high within the seclusion of flouted mountains - a palace where the imperial guards would persue them less where they to remain never to be found.

          Yet, 10 years can do so much to a man’s looks. As he steps into the capital, what was once his customary greeting - people who cheered for the return of his father’s army - were now reduced to blank stares and unfamiliar glances. For Narsus himself has changed drastically both in appearance & in demeanor. Now relinquishing his old name and would call himself by the alias of Ruan Xiaowu, amethyst hues bestow upon a wary glance to a passing figure. “General Yujin ... I had not expected you to rejoinder so soon. Am I to trust you that no ounce of what is said will be dispense to the public ear?”

#severemarquis #⚜ ┊ ❝ beyond the frontier ❞ ❈ ( unknown verse ). #// I dont know why it feels weird writing Narsus in a chinese world xD #// but I'm hype for this verse ovo / #// took Ruan Xiaowu as the 'Star that represents Guilt' from Water Margin as my poor choice of names <//3

[tired-reader-writer]

They <3 (includes Gieve bc I am fond of him despite his Gieve-ness)

Ref! I forget what this would be called, a mess hall? Something like that?

(this page was missing on mangasee123 so I had to go grab it from another site, I think this may be a scanlation?)

I'm having too much fun laughing at Narsus' faces. Poor him.

Also, Barhai spotted in the background!

They 🥺

Same reaction, the two of them.

Reminds me of Daryun's “~nonchalant~/like I care” way back in the early beginning when they were hanging out in a cave.

Also, Daryun calling Narsus “Master Painter” sparked joy.

Beautiful prince is beautiful.

You got the gist? Jimsa's speaking Turanian... Does Arslan know a little Turanian???

Headcanon time: Arslan asks Gieve and Narsus to teach him a little about other languages just because he's curious.

Look at the soldiers! They're all pissed and wanting to whoop Jimsa's ass for insulting their prince. Their prince! How dare he! Get him, Lord Isfan!

#arslan senki reread #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #gieve #arslan #jaswant #narsus #elam #alfarīd #alfarid #alfreed #daryun #jimsa #isfan

[tired-reader-writer]

Interior design ref! Also, the poor household staff lol.

What do you call this creature

A tiny Barhai spotted!

I am fond of Bahman, but he does admittedly harbor some uh, hm, Old-Fashioned™ sentiments and attitudes, see how he describes Team Arslan. Narsus did talk back to the king yes but like he was frustrated after his (good!) work was constantly being obstructed, Daryun can be stubborn yes but so can the older folk he ain't special in that regard, etc etc. Aside from the bond he shared with Hilmes, it is clear here that he does put stock in stuff like status and bloodlines (and obedience to the monarch) and that's why Arslan's lack of royal blood shook him to this extent.

I am sympathetic of him but it is interesting to examine his flaws like this.

Kinda interesting that he described Khuzestan as “the countryside”— the impression based on this discussion I got was kinda rural but not exactly remote or backwater so hmm.

Narsus is watching over the training and I'm just fond of this because does he strictly need to? Back when Arslan was training with Vahriz it's not like his other tutors felt the need to supervise him like that— but Narsus is, and perhaps he wanted to tell Arslan something and decided to wait here until he finished his training or something, but that isn't the impression I got from this chapter, he didn't seem like he was in a particular hurry to tell Arslan something.

In conclusion: He Dad™.

Cuuuuute.

No comment, I just really like this part and I'm forcing y'all to appreciate it.

Getting ready to journey again! Not much to say in this scene except Hilmes please calm down a little bit. It is kinda funny that he has faith in Daryun and Narsus, lol, though if anybody were to point it out to his face I'm sure he'd get mad.

Oooookay. Mahendra. Another character I feel bad for, but also hm.

This moment kinda stood out to me during this reread— because my first thought upon reading this scene again was “ain't it your job to, uh, point this out to your charge/liege, my dude?” because that's what an advisor should be, isn't it? Try to steer your lord to a more appropriate conduct and path. Gadhevi acts so entitled and ignorant and arrogant, I assume his upbringing had to do with that and while we don't get much in terms of backstory or how the Sindhuran princes grew up and how much of a role Mahendra could've possibly played in it, we do get a small tidbit from the novels that apparently they used to play together, the half-brothers and Salima (Jaswant was present as well), so Mahendra could've had a part in Gadhevi's upbringing and he... didn't thought to interfere earlier? Just... went along with it passively? Dude?????

Maybe I'm being too harsh on him, maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I couldn't help but fixate on it this time around, he doesn't voice his concerns, he doesn't try to rein Gadhevi in, he's just going along with it and that doesn't bode very well. What if Gadhevi were to ascend the throne and makes for a horrible king with this sort of attitude? What then?? What kind of country does Mahendra want to see?

I suppose this is sort of a common attitude among royal retainers, be unquestionably loyal to your monarch and support them. That's it. That's what Andragoras probably demands of his subjects, that's kinda sorta also reflected in Team Hilmes a little bit (though Hilmes allows himself to be advised and actually values his men unlike fucking Gadhevi), even somewhat in Rajendra which we'll see in a future scene.

Narsus and Arslan's dynamic however, is different.

Arslan is smart and has a good heart, but he is inexperienced and Narsus recognizes this, and he takes every opportunity he can to teach Arslan better. Make better decisions, shut down potentially harmful assumptions, all around he's interested in shaping Arslan to be a good ruler in his own right. He's a dedicated mentor.

I feel for Mahendra, to be sure, he met such a tragic end, but I can't help but take note of his unwillingness to help make his liege less callous. I suppose he was planning to compensate for it with his mercy, but... It's not enough. It'll never be enough.

RIP in advance, Mahendra. No wonder you were doomed from the start.

Barhai spotted!!!

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #rajendra #barhai #balhai #bahman #narsus #kishward #hilmes #mahendra #two tired old men whose loyalty laid in the hands of princes with the “better” claim #two tired old men who met their tragic ends in this arc #two flawed men I feel sympathy for #when you think about it Bahman and Mahendra are kinda meant to mirror each other aren't they #to a certain extent that is #arslan senki reread

[tired-reader-writer]

Daryun is such a Little Shit, a side of him I think perhaps people usually don't get to see— people who are not Narsus, that is. And look at Arslan off to the side being all awkward because his new dads his new brothers Daryun and Narsus are arguing. Poor little bean third-wheeling.

Narsus: 0, Daryun: 1

How fucking dare you, bastard! DON'T ELBOW MY SON WTF.

Arakawa makes sure to show us him activating his trap (is the entire house booby-trapped? how and why did Narsus even decide to have this trap in the first place? maybe he was worried of assassins still being sent after him). I now want a Home Alone style show but w Narsus and Elam in this little hut, it'd rule so hard. Also, nice sandals!

Elam seems more an adult/parent than Narsus does, looool. They've got it reversed. Considering how much Elam looks up to Narsus and whatnot, I wonder if he was much, much shier than he is right now, a bold and strict young man who scolds his guardian adult like Narsus is an unruly kid. I've mentioned before a headcanon that Elam was unresponsive and borderline catatonic when he first arrived after his parents passed away, still lost in his grief and shut off to the world, and it was Narsus who coaxed some life back into him.

I love their dynamic, can you tell?

TO THINK HE WAS ACTUALLY CLAPPING, HA. Good lord he's so pleased with this turn of events. (I really, really do wonder the stuff I was still wondering about in my previous reread post tho, aaaaaaaaa)

Narsus: 1, Daryun: 1

Elam seems much more childlike here, like a stubborn teen being told to go to bed early or something. Contrast this against the previous scene where he was scolding Narsus, this reminds us that for all his maturity and competence, he is in fact still a child.

Arslan to the rescue! Elam looks so hopeful d'awwwww

Look! Elam is taller than Arslan despite being younger, sheesh Narsus what'd you feed this kid? And I think he seems to have a slimmer build too? Though that may just be because of their clothes building that silhouette. (Which prompted me to go down a rabbit hole of an admittedly odd headcanon w way too much thought put into it aka I went and checked the previous chapters again, I'll make a separate post about it)

I know I've brought this up before but Flying Elam is not an anime-original! Ha!

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki reread #daryun #narsus #arslan #elam

[tired-reader-writer]

Say what now?!

All this time I thought it was on the northeast not northwest??? Y'know, near his former domain????? What.

Excuse me ex-fucking-cuse me what do you mean it's on the northwest?! West of Atropatene?????

I'm sure this will actually end up making sense logically in the end but right now I'm losing my mind and I need to confirm it myself. It's fine, absolutely fine, it's just me misremembering shit, but my god what.

So hm, according to my past calculations Ecbatana to the east border is 200farsangs or thereabouts, the whole length between the east and west borders is around 347.8farsangs, ish. Which would mean the distance between Ecbatana and the west border should be around 148farsangs.

I'm sure Narsus' mountain villa doesn't quite go as far as the border, so some distance will have to be reduced, and Atropatene is not Ecbatana so, again, reduced.

I don't have my ruler w me so eh, let's just roll with estimations. I'm sure this can't go horribly wrong.

It can't be that far so I can believe they got there in a day of riding bc one can apparently cover 20-30miles (~32-48km, aka ~6.4-9.6farsangs) on horseback in a day. Probably.

It was the 16th of month 10 that the first battle of Atropatene took place. It was around... the same time, ish, two months later that Arslan and co. finally arrived at Peshawar, according to the fanmade timeline.

The distance between Narsus' villa and Peshawar could be around ~90-100farsangs perhaps? Just an estimation. Which means it'd take around 10-15 days, in ideal conditions (which they were not in), on perfectly smooth, flat terrain (absolutely not), with no interruptions forcing them to go in circles (not), soooo yeah. No wonder it took like two fucking months. Poor Team Arslan.

Don't mind me, don't mind me, just freaked out for a hot second after I realized I must've misremembered things, and ended up dumping my thoughts here since I didn't have a notebook within an arm's reach, whoops. Probably should've gone and grabbed a notebook but lololol eh you guys get to see me running around like a headless chicken so here you go, enjoy my chaos, I guess.

At least my mind can be put to ease with this, else I would've been wondering all the time. I thought before that they went all the way from Atropatene to around Daylam in a single day which didn't make a whole lot of sense considering the distance, haha.

What was I doing again? Oh, yes, the reread.

Man. This is horrific. Look at the man on the bottom right, he must've been trying to climb back up the pit and... yeah. Fuck. This hits harder after 121.

I wonder if being given a position at court or smth could be turned down or it would be seen as a great offense— Narsus clearly didn't want to be there (neither did Lushan, if I remember correctly) but he still stayed until he couldn't take it anymore, same with Lushan.

That aside though, I dig their clothes here.

Food ref food ref food ref food ref

I wonder what Narsus is thinking/feeling in these scenes. What assumptions did he have about Arslan, and which ones are being overturned? He was still at court when Arslan entered the palace, right? At least in manga canon. What did he know about Arslan? I don't think they ever came face-to-face, what did he think of the young prince back then?

(from a much later chapter) This panel too. Why does he Look Like That. Why so sad? What's going on???

Answers, Arakawa. I need answers. NARSUS TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON IN THAT HEAD OF YOURS.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki reread #arslan #narsus #daryun #elam is a prickly prickly boy #I swear I'll talk more about him in the future

[tired-reader-writer]

Okay so I tried to look what the name Alfarīd meant but all I could find was it apparently being a boy's name meaning “alone, loneliness” and I was like, huh? That... doesn't sound like a good name to have— Tanaka has a tendency to use names for the opposite gender so I'm not surprised about that but the meaning gives me pause. Maybe it means “alone” as in similarly to “in the heavens two suns cannot shine” type deal? Hmmmm.

Cool panel. Nothing much to add except that Alfarīd is brave. And this can't be her first rodeo— she's gotta have some experience right? Maybe her first was when she came of age (15). Or even before. Haltash doesn't strike me as someone who'd try to shelter his children...

Also, caught the bit where Hilmes called her slippery— I forget whether Narsus was directly called slippery to his face but Hilmes did say he was slippery to Gieve who is also slippery.

Welcome to the slippery slithery club, babygirl.

I mean, Hilmes, combat goes both ways, alright? This is giving me deja vu to when he provoked Daryun and then got mad Daryun's emotional charge made him lose his mask like m'boy what were you fucking expecting.

I will never not find this hilarious (esp considering Alfarīd's later crush on him hhhhh).

If it were Ranna in Narsus' place they'd be like “sure thing honey let's commit murder together :)”

Poor Alfarīd. This must be the worst day of her life— and she's a good kid.

Narsus connecting the dots on the spot!! (Like mentor like student, if I'm being honest, Arslan is a sharp kid) (didn't screencap but Narsus 🤝 Elam in using boulders!!)

Alfarīd makes very good points here and oh my god it's that bad? Not even the free folk have it good, huh... The classism is honestly stunning.

The Zott would understand why the clan doesn't like to go out all that much since they're deathly terrified of being killed or enslaved— (I haven't done the research to see if it's a real thing historically but I've seen a couple stories where bandits kidnap people to sell them into the slave trade, I doubt the Zott do that considering their views though other groups might?)

They're good.

Also, bandits come out in the dark... Ranna and Alfarīd would make a very fine pair indeed.

“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.” — Aozaki Touko

And Touko was right.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki reread #hilmes #alfarīd #narsus #ranna and alfarīd would get along like a house on fire #just realizing now that the clan would make terrifying bandits

[tired-reader-writer]

This could be a meme format like “hey dude check out this weird shit” lol.

SMOL.

Arslan is cautious and smart, and this is another instance of that though I have no doubt he wished to spare Etoile too. But he recognizes the risks of engaging in combat here, and dissuades Elam from making a move. One could even say he is prudent.

And y'know what that word reminds me of?

Merlaine's taste in women, LMAO.

It's from the novels, a novel reader kindly shared it with us, and iirc it's something along the lines of, “those who seem frail yet have prudent manners”. Does Arslan seem frail? Debatable, he seems plenty robust to me but hey. I'll take what I can get as the sole Arslan/Merlaine shipper in this entire fucking fandom.

Farangis being a wise voice of reason. She's gentle but firm, just what Arslan needs. Who can bet here that Arslan ever got something like that from anyone other than Vahriz?

What Narsus basically means here is: State a concrete vision, a cause, a goal, and people will naturally gather round to support it— to garner allies, you must basically broadcast what it is that you wish to achieve.

He says it in much clearer terms shortly after, too. Leadership 101, we gotta take notes!

I am sorry but also kinda not sorry.

More glimpses of household servants! Also, I like this fit on Arslan. Poor bb looks overwhelmed.

I like Elam's fit in this arc(?) too! He looks so good and aww look at him enjoying himself, that's a rare sight! And look at Daryun just going chomp-chomp on that skewer, lol.

Poor Arslan is so, so done. I think he tends to have a smile on his face and that's normally pretty unflappable (thanks @concernedbrownbread for their lovely fics that validated my view) but Gieve is one of the few who can break him out of that mask because he's such such a piece of shit.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki reread #elam #arslan #merlaine #merlain #merlane #bc he was mentioned #farangis #gieve #narsus #daryun #hilmes #andragoras #etoile #estelle #I ended up not talking much about etoile but #they're a good kid. going about it the wrong way due to propaganda but they have a good heart.

[tired-reader-writer]

Early setup for Hilmes' identity! So it's rampant gossip that many people seem to know. And it's hard to not speculate, especially since the king and his heir died on the same day but in totally separate events. It's just inviting gossip at this point.

The treasury! I don't have the screencap on hand but seeing Hilmes find it empty is... all thr more striking when you remember it used to look like this.

Guiscard, you bastard.

Based on the way he acts in battle later on it's very apparent that he was just. Not made to be a commander. He's fucking useless at it.

Not screencapped but even Lusitanians know Shapur was a badass. I am not letting go of him anytime soon, you understand.

Market refs!!

Oof, he got so angry the cut on his cheek reopened. Poor Kharlan.

He is not having a good time. Maybe this is the moment he's trying to find his resolve in actually killing Arslan, his expression looks... I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but it's not... it doesn't come across as pure malice to me.

Boy who is a girl vs girl who is a boy. The fight was a treat to read, both are skilled, and I wish there were some more gender shenanigans afoot, lol.

Elam is a fucking ninja. (Kazai would like that very much.)

And the slaves... God after being frustrated with their life so long it's understandable why they're so desperate for things to get better for them, but in this scene I can't help but recall the flashback where the slaves Narsus freed came back a while later bc they'd spent all the money they'd been given.

They need something more than a “yup, you're free now, have fun!” and Lusitanians are clearly not interested in that. It was a false pretense all along.

This panel looks so soft to me. Arslan is tiny! It makes it feel like a parent and a child.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki reread #kharlan #elam #etoile #estelle