#of course there's also a lot of other shit about Arslan that drives me absolutely feral

[lanonima]

Obviously I wouldn't be working on a cross stitch project like the one I'm working on if I didn't love Arslan Senki but I cannot emphasize enough how much it is the story of all time for me

there is not a single version that I dislike, or that I think brings nothing to the experience of the story

but when you boil it down, the thing that has held me so captivated and brought me back to the story over and over and over is that Arslan himself is so gentle, and kind, and softhearted

and not only does the story not punish him for that like so many would, but those are the traits about him that his retainers love, and they would do anything to prevent him from losing that gentleness

the story shows over and over again that Arlsan is right and that he doesn't have to change who he is in order to learn to be a good king

and it just really gets me that in a story that can so often feature violence and deceit, that the core value is still that being kind is worth it

#Arslan Senki #and on the flipside I love Prince Freya because she does struggle with her anger and the story lets her do so #if you gender-swapped them I don't think either character would be as engaging for me #but the fact that they are both allowed to be who they are in defiance of both the gender norms and genre tropes #really serves to make both stories stronger #of course there's also a lot of other shit about Arslan that drives me absolutely feral #but this is unquestionably the thing that really gets me