Zandeh - Tumblr Posts
a lil follow up doodle to the drawing i did last week
i love them
Hilmes what the FUCK, didn’t you promise that position to Zandeh?
(This is from Chapter 114; I didn’t catch on to exactly what was being said here at first, I think because the scanlation didn’t specifically use the word ‘Erān’ but that’s definitely what he’s talking about.)
I even looked at the raw because I couldn’t quite believe he was saying this, but it’s true; he uses ‘大将軍’ (commander-in-chief) which is accompanied by the furigana ‘エーラーン‘ (Erān).
From Chapter 27:
Oh man, I am really not happy about this. I mean, I never thought it was a great idea to give this position to Zandeh just because he’s his father’s son (he’s too young and inexperienced for such a role at this time) and Sam is clearly the better candidate, but… Hilmes basically promised this to him and now he’s going to appoint someone else.
I wonder what Zandeh thinks? I get the impression that, if Hilmes is just telling Sam now, he hasn’t spoken of it to Zandeh, but Zandeh’s not stupid. He knows that Sam has a wealth of valuable experience that he doesn’t, and he’s seen Sam’s strategies in action. His initial reaction to Sam joining Team Hilmes definitely reads as a legitimate worry that he’s no longer Hilmes’s most valued subordinate precisely because he recognises there are valid reasons why Hilmes might prioritise Sam over him.
So perhaps he’s already anticipating it and will understand, but at the same time surely it will hurt a bit and that’s what I don’t want to see I don’t want my puppy boy to be sad 😭😭😭
Mage Hunt AU Drabble #1
(Context for this AU: Hilmes has a dead younger brother, Gurgin has a dead older brother, and after finding out that Team Zahhak were responsible for this Gurgin switches sides and starts working with Hilmes to eliminate them.)
The enemy mage had died wearing someone else’s face.
Tall, dark-haired; handsome features made ugly by a cruel smile. The fake, though faintly familiar, was not someone who Zandeh recognised, but he had not been the target. Gurgin’s reaction had almost cost him his life. The transformation had occurred at close quarters, the enemy’s face distorting fast, yet it was slower to revert in death.
Gurgin was taking a long time to clean his dagger in the nearby stream. Zandeh glanced at his distant figure, uncertain, but then he looked back at the dead body, saw the resemblance, and understood.
From Episode 14. Hilmes decides to leave Peshawar Fortress and return to Ecbatana rather than wait to see how things play out with Sindhura. This scene features just him and Sanjeh.
By contrast, here's the manga scene from Chapter 42, where Zandeh and the soldiers he inherited from Kharlan are present. This scene is accurate to the novel.
(Honestly, it's no wonder anime viewers thought Zandeh might be dead; if I recall correctly, after he fell down that cliff with an arrow in his back, he doesn't show up in the anime again until Team Hilmes are leaving to go and oust Bodin from Zabul Fortress!)
A sharp, reliable, easy-to-use sword
Arslan Senki : : Zandeh, Gurgin
Zandeh cares
for @innerchorus
"Listen, magician… Is it true that you worship Zahhak?"
Gurgin slowly turns his head, as if he have just seen Zandeh standing here.
"Why are you so interested, son of Kharan?"
"Because it's very dangerous! It's Zahhak!"
"Zahhak, Arslan's army, Turan, Lusitanians - there are a lot of things around that are dangerous."
"You do not understand!" Zandeh gets excited, infuriated by his indifference. "Yes, there are Turan and Arslan, but Zahhak is completely different!"
Instead of answering, the magician raises an eyebrow - so what?
Zandeh strains his brain, trying to formulate an elusive tought. It is difficult to explain the idea that is already obvious to him, but for the sake of the wizard, Zandeh is ready to try.
"Here!" He proclaims triumphantly. "Turan and Lusitania are enemies, but they ane ones only when we are at war with them. And when we are not at war with them, we can, well, deal with them. So… I mean, when they are our enemies, they are evil, and when they are not enemies, they are good. Understand? And Zahhak is not good for anyone! He's nobody's friend. He is evil for everyone!"
He reads a sudden understanding in Gurgin's eyes and considers it as a convince of his own rightness.
"That's it!" Zandeh nods to indicate the conversation is over. "So come on, stop with it now!"
Gurgin's answer sounds completely different from whatever he expected.
"Tell me, Zandeh… Imagine you've found a good sword on the battlefield, beautiful and sharp one, and it is just right for your hand, and you think: "I can protect my friends with this weapon!" So tell me, would you care about who owned this sword before?"
"Well… I don't know." Zandeh feels confused a bit. "If he was a good man and if he is alive, I will probably try to return the sword to him."
"What if he was a bad person? If he was a villain and you know it?"
"Then hell no!"
For a moment Gurgin is silent. Zandeh wants him to continue, curious what's next about the sword - but the wizard's answer is unexpected again.
"I grew up in the Temple of Mithras."
If Zandeh knew how carefully Gurgin keeps in secret all the details of his life, he would be flattered by this revellation. But he didn't. The Priests of Mithra are real sorcerers, and now Zandeh understand why Gurgin is so smart.
"Great! They say it's so hard to get there!"
"I left it."
If Zandeh expected a fairy tale about the life in Mithras' Temple, there will be not.
"I hadn't find what I wanted there. Wisdom. Magic. Power. And then I swore I would find a place I could get all of that."
The wizard raises his head, and Zandeh meets his piercing (wolfish, someone would say. But not Zandeh) look.
"Do you understand me? Have you ever feel the same, son of Karan? And now when I have gained the power to protect those who are dear to me - does it matter, Zandeh, does it matter where I got it from?"
Zandeh draws from his words the only one conclusion: this idiot is not going to break up with Zahhak. Then another idea come to his mind: he's a clever devil, the magician, maybe he can slip away even from the Serpent King? at least for now, and then Zandeh will chat him up or come up with something else. And Zandeh resigns himself - for now.
"Then just… take care of yourself, magician. And be careful there."
Gurgin snorts. Maybe this strange sound means laughter.
"I can definitely promise you that, son of Kharan."
Friendship Massage is magic! Arslan Senki : : Zandeh, Gurgin, (not so) Magic Healing AU
Oh, Zandeh is so big! it's not an easy job even for magician to knead his muscles well :) Yesterday I suddenly find that the crack friendship I made up still lives on and inspires people )) @innerchorus , it was so touching! How many yeas have passed? my blogs tell me it all was back at 2016-17 :D I'm rather far from Arslan theme now, but it is so strange and pleasant to go back there and find that people remember you still and the caracters are still warm & dear for you. I'd made some unpublished sketches while plotting "the magic healing au" & this is one of them. It is back from that time, yes.
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Arslan Senki | Heroic Legend of Arslan Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hilmes/Xandes (Heroic Legend of Arslan) Characters: Hilmes (Heroic Legend of Arslan), Xandes (Heroic Legend of Arslan) Additional Tags: Canon - Manga, Canon Compliant, Explicit Sexual Content, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs Summary:
After infiltrating Peshawar Fortress, Hilmes returns to the camp wet and cold. Zandeh warms him up.
Arslan Senki : : Modern!AU Zandeh, Gurgin, Zandeh's metal horse
I love it.
„Angry little biscuit“ yes, yes, yes a thousand tines yes!
Since I am now on the subject of Zandeh, I have an anecdote to share. Recently I was talking about ArSen with my partner. I said something about how Zandeh always shows his emotions and he said "Oh, is he an angry little biscuit?"
Those are not words I ever thought I'd hear used to describe Zandeh, but... maybe?
Feels very heartwarming to go and look for what the Japanese fans thought of the latest chapter and see multiple people now hoping for / theorising about a happy ending for Hilmes and Irina in Maryam, and two of them even mentioned Zandeh as well!
Arslan Senki Chapter 126 (Part 2)
And unlike Kmanga you don't even have to pay twice for the privilege of having it split into two. SPOILERS for this chapter, I can't stress enough that the ending is a huge fucking cliffhanger so if you don't want to get spoiled please don't look.
That's a piece of the (Un)Holy Master's cloak...
Nicely dealt with by Andragoras!
Anyway, this is proper confirmation that Team Zahhak's clothing has magical properties / a life of its own and can potentially be dangerous even when separated from the wearer.
Given how fast the Master can dodge (or more correctly this is a teleportation style of evasion that I mentioned before where he reappears behind them) it's impressive that Andragoras actually landed a blow, though it's not even close to being a fatal one. Still, he looks like he's aiming to finish the job until the Master tries to regain control of the situation by attempting to blackmail Andragoras with the location of his child!
These panels of a shocked Hilmes in the background just watching all this drama unfold, lol
Anyway, it turns out Andragoras cannot be blackmailed and he'd rather renounce his child than be manipulated like this, which is... very on brand for Andragoras, regardless of what the truth about the child turns out to be in Arakawa's manga.
The Master: tch! Hilmes: Yikes
(Is anyone of the Parsian royal line a good father? Doesn't seem that way in recent generations. Hilmes, please reverse this trend with Irina by your side, I'd love to see you both happy with a family!)
Anyway GUESS WHO'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR IN THAT LAST PANEL? THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S ZANDEH, PUPPY BOY TO THE RESCUE! And he's still got that little guy who was one of Kharlan's soldiers with him, and that warms my heart for some reason, I hope he gets to live.
Hilmes... 😭
I wonder what Zandeh thinks? It's clearly not 'nothing at all'.
Anyway this makes me really sad because where we saw Arslan open up to his followers and receive their support, Hilmes... can't bring himself to do that. Personally, I feel that at this point, Zandeh would support him regardless (as would Sam, who unbeknownst to Hilmes already knows the truth) but Hilmes can't bring himself to admit it, to admit the fact that he's based his whole life around a lie. Without his claim to the throne, who is he?
It's sad that he can't see that the right to rule and the qualities that might inspire loyalty and love are based on so much more. I'm not saying that he's a worthy ruler right now, unlike Arslan he hasn't even thought about how he'll govern the country for the better, but I do find it sad that his mindset leaves him so isolated here when it doesn't need to be that way.
(I'm going to need an Irina mention soon. At least show that Hilmes is thinking of her, even if he feels he can't speak with her.)
That's it for Team Hilmes content this chapter, anyway.
Who should Team Arslan bump into on the way to Mount Demavant but the Zot with a leashed Don Ricardo, still clinging on to Rukhnabad! So while Arslan did deliberately set out to get the sword, in the end it looks like it's going to happen via a chance encounter (well, if anyone can ever persuade Don Ricardo to let go of it).
Gieve recognising Rukhnabad is a great moment! Even he is so shocked that it seems like he's struggling to form the words as he processes what he's seeing.
I feel pretty sorry for Don Ricardo, he hasn't really recovered mentally from his encounter with Zahhak, he doesn't look to be in a great state, and while the Zot are merely intending to hand him over to Arslan, they can't communicate with him so presumably all he knows is that he's their prisoner, he has no idea what his fate will be and nobody to reassure him. Likewise, they don't know what he's been through.
Team Arslan try to figure it out thanks to Estelle, but Don Ricardo is too distressed, so they decide to find a village to stay the night. It's at this point that alarm bells started going off in my mind.
Narsus says "It's too quiet." (I start thinking of the village he stayed in with Alfarid where Arzhang had killed all the villagers.)
The horses start freaking out (we know they react this way to Team Zahhak)
Team Arslan find bodies of villagers with only their brain eaten (and who do we know of who has an appetite for brains?)
OH FUCK, OH SHIT, OH FUUUUCK
A weird mist begins to seep into the scene; Zahhak in the novels was described as exuding a miasma of sorts, I think it provoked fear in those who were close to it?
PANELS THAT FILLED MY HEART WITH PURE DREAD
Gods, I hope everyone survives this encounter. I don't know how it's going to go down but it strikes me that this could be it, this could be the actual deciding fight as far as Zahhak is concerned, because we have Rukhnabad on the scene right here, it could really be happening in Arakawa's manga right now, and I'm not sure I'm ready?
My head is ringing with questions. What does Zahhak's full form look like (we see the snakes clearly but not what they're attached to)? Is he fully resurrected or are the shoulder snakes just operating on the instinct of hunger? What happened to Kaykhusraw's body? Are any members of Team Zahhak here with the Snake King? If Team Arslan do fight Zahhak here, how do they go about it? One on one? As the strongest warrior, will Daryun take him on? Will Arslan (with Estelle's help) manage to persuade Don Ricardo to hand over Rukhnabad, and will he opt to take on the Snake King himself with the sword's powers?
Man I wish Kubard were here... I've always said he'd set everyone straight about the notion of taking on a being like the Snake King in single combat... Just kill it, any way you can.
Part of me feels like Zahhak won't be defeated yet and this encounter will serve its purpose mainly in showing Team Arslan that he truly has been unsealed, so now they'll know what the sorcerers were working towards and they'll know what they're up against. But will they come through this unscathed? I'm not ready for character deaths!
My working theory as of this post: Zahhak is not fully conscious and is mainly being driven by the snakes' hunger; he is heading for Ecbatana for some sort of ritual involving the head jars where he will truly return in full. The final confrontation will take place after matters in the capital with Andragoras and Hilmes have been resolved, and may involve entering Team Zahhak's lair beneath Ecbatana (ArAkAwA sHoW mE tHe DaRk TeMpLe).
Guys... I am utterly exhausted, this chapter has wrecked me. I'll keep an eye out for raws / somewhere to read the simulpub for free and post a link if I see it.
Full chapter reaction/reviews post(s) coming soon but for now, behold THEM
I finally thought to run this through Google Translate. It looks like Shingo Ogiso and I share the same sentiment. I wanted to see them appear together, too 🥲