#team zahhak

[tired-reader-writer]

Arslan Senki Reread

It starts out very early. I wonder when these sorcerers started becoming a presence in the royal court, if my hunch is right and they go way too far back (I mean, the royal line immediately turned on itself within a single generation, coincidence? mayhaps not).

When did they stop being a presence? Before the palace fire, definitely, I would guess, but did Osroes drive them out for being the catalyst that led Gotarzes to claim his bride? Imagine if they were present right up until Andragoras torched the palace, though. Hilmes, presumably dead, and the sorcerers just vanish overnight? That would be hella sus and since Andragoras seems to express no suspicion about it I'm guessing it didn't go down that way.

I don't believe they have true prophetic powers. I definitely have discussed this in an older post before, I'll see if I can dig that up, but I think it's all sleight of hand and manipulation and set-up to get people to believe them. That in turn was set-up for me to say: We can't know for sure if Osroes was actually infertile or not. If the sorcerer was manipulating scenarios to gain trust, why can we be certain this statement alone could be true? And even if it were true, I wouldn't be surprised if the sorcerers were the ones to make it true, aka, slip smth into Osroes on the sly, make him unable to sire children.

Andragoras here looks... sympathetic of his brother, almost sad, and it makes me wonder how close they were before they fell off? Did Andragoras rebel against Gotarzes, and resent Osroes for humoring their father? Did they form a tight bond of solidarity in response against Gotarzes' A+ parenting? Did they start bonding after this incident? Did Osroes only go to Andragoras who may have been taking an attitude against their father before, now that he can't take it anymore? Did he always? I remember they had a falling out over Tahamenay, was their bond already on so shaky a ground that they would feud over a woman? Okay, maybe that's an oversimplification of their conflict in that it's more than about Tahamenay it's also about Osroes breaking his promise and perhaps poking Andragoras' pride with that behavior but still...

What happened here?

Oof, the framing of the panel making sure to feature his eyes but cutting off at a weird spot to make it look even more unsettling.

Yeah Azrael, how did you?

Tus and Isfan good 🥹 But aw, I wish we were shown a panel of Isfan causing a diversion. What did he do to mask their presence?

Everyone with an eye can see how cold and distant the dynamic is between Arslan and his “parents”.

Kneeling, kneeling, I have thoughts regarding this reserved for a later entry.

And Arslan remains kneeling through the entire conversation.

#arslan senki reread #arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #the master #team zahhak #gotarzes #osroes #andragoras #kishward #azrael #arslan #isfan #tus #tahamenay

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 127

The long-awaited encounter with Zahhak is here! I'm tagging my posts for new manga chapters with 'arslan senki spoilers' but here is your reminder to look away (and probably avoid my blog until you've read the chapter) if you don't want to find out what happens.

Turns out I was right about a few things and my suspicions about something else seem likely to be correct, too.

The chapter opens with the legend of Zahhak and his defeat by Kaykhusraw as the Parsians know it. The title page features Kaykhusraw's open sarcophagus with his wrapped body and Rukhnabad inside, inside the tomb. This is clearly from an earlier time (presumably his burial?), well before Hilmes ventured down there, and given the chapter title it feels... ominous. (And it's right to feel that way, as you'll see when you get to the end of the chapter.)

The legend is conveyed in the typical stylised carving/illustration style that Arakawa has used for mythological history before.

Look what appears as a decorative border to one of the panels!

It might just be a nod to the existence of these creatures in the novels, but I really hope that their presence here makes it more likely we might actually encounter them before the end of the manga... DARK TEMPLE PLUS CREATURES, ARAKAWA PLEASE

Very much has the feel of something that has been mythologised, the details probably don't match up exactly with how it really went down, but the main points are there...

...and 300 years later, the Snake King appears to have returned

Farangis's raishal reacting like this is a nice touch and shows just how extreme the presence of evil is here. (Also I didn't know it could do that so I'm filing this detail away very happily.)

Those snake heads are really very freaky, the fact that they are so humanoid yet totally animalistic and driven by instict and hunger for human brains. Top notch horror!

Daryun's warrior instinct comes to the fore and overrides his shock!

The Zot do their best but one gets chomped pretty quickly, sadly. I'll go ahead and say it now, the Zot being the only casualties in this encounter was exactly as I called it, but Arakawa does her best to ensure their deaths don't feel trivial, as we later learn the names of those who fell, and even though we never got to know them it's clear that they meant something to their comrades.

Some very exciting combat scenes follow and Team Arslan enter the fray and get to grips with their frightening new enemy! Some key details about Zahhak rapidly become apparent: his blood is corrosive, and his wounds can heal.

The key is to keep moving! Alfarid realises this; one of the Zot tries to encourage her to flee, but is struggling with his terrified mount, but thanks to Elam and Alfarid loosing arrows at one of the snake heads he is spared.

Don Ricardo is in abject terror, but his behaviour later this chapter was a surprise for me, in a good way!

Estelle saving Don Ricardo just in time, and putting her life on the line to stand before him even though she's trembling in fear! 👌👌👌

She's so brave!

She doesn't know that the snakes have spotted/sensed Rukhbanad... but Don Ricardo does! Let's hope he will now give that 'junk sword' the respect it deserves. Anyway this is the part where he surprised me, as he breaks out of his terrified state to call out to everyone to rally to him and gather round the sword! Remember when I said 'quick, everyone group hug Don Ricardo'?

Of course, he's speaking in Lusitanian, but Estelle translates in an instant... and Gieve quickly grasps why!

"Is it truly Zahhak...?" This is the line that makes me think I might be on the mark when I say that Zahhak, although freed from Mount Damavand, may not have returned to full consciousness yet. I think those head jars may have something to do with a final ritual to bring about his true return.

So, it's now a stalemate. Zahhak cannot attack them, but they can't attack it either. But there's an ominous shape in the mist (and you can take one look at it and just KNOW it's going to be fucked up and even take a pretty good guess at how)

Before Team Arslan can get a good look at it, Zahhak withdraws, whether due to the arrows they fired at it it because of some other unknown reason isn't clear... Team Arslan leave without even being able to spare time to bury the bodies of the fallen, which clearly weighs on them, but night is drawing closer and they can't remain safely.

(I wonder whether they will still continue to Mount Damavand? Perhaps Arslan will appeal to Kaykhusraw's spirit to seek his approval to wield the sword? Or maybe priorities will have understandably changed and they'll change directions. Personally I think we'll at least get a scene that indicates Arslan has the right to wield Rukhnabad!)

Anyway Zahhak's also in a hurry to get somewhere and although Team Arslan didn't manage to glimpse the true horror, we do!

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

Well, now we know what happened to Kaykhusraw's mummified body? I did think that Team Zahhak would use him as a vessel for the Snake King, thinking this might occur in Ecbatana, but nope, that looks to be the case already.

The torso ending in a cluster of snakes, ugh.

I wonder whether Kaykhusraw's spirit is aware of what has happened to his body now that it has been possessed like this?

I wonder whether the intention is for Zahhak to retain this form? Because at the end of the chapter you see the host body's brittle-looking arm disintegrate where one of Team Arslan's arrows struck it, and it looks different to Zahhak's snakes pushing arrows from their bodies and regenerating. So maybe this takeover of Kaykhusraw is a temporary thing, and Team Zahhak are planning to transfer Zahhak to a new body once he reaches Ecbatana? And that new body... who better than another descendant of the Parsian royal line? 👀

I feel like with any luck I might get my wish for Hilmes to come face to face with Zahhak and in a moment of horror realise exactly what the sorcerers have been using him for and what he's helped to bring about...

(I want Team Zahhak to be planning for Hilmes to be a host for Zahhak but I don't want for it to actually happen! I'd love it if Team Arslan managed to step in just in time... augh my brain is racing into visions of Hilmes captured for a head jar ritual below Ecbatana)

Oh and Zahhak really is heading towards Ecbatana as I thought, so it looks extremely likely that all final showdowns are going to take place there. I feel like this direction was actually hinted at when the corpse of Kaykhusraw was slithering towards the setting sun. It's a panel I really like, as it both indicates the sun (which represents the Shah) setting on the royal line and Pars alike, and as the sun sets in the west and Ecbatana is west of Mount Damavand, you can tentatively extrapolate where the Snake King is heading.

So now Team Arslan have seen the Snake King. One day soon, they will have to defeat him for good. And given that everyone survived this time, can we hope for the same to happen again when they next meet in battle?

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #arslan senki spoilers #zahhak #team zahhak #arslan #daryun #estelle #don ricardo #kaykhusraw

[frogsinajar]

Taking a break from uni work to post some drawings of my favorite boy (featuring nepeta) since I saw he was doing bad at the character polls.

#Ive been so busy dawg #no time to even be a person tbh #homestuck #equius zahhak #nepeta leijon #meowrails #hs #equius hs #nepeta hs #frogsinajar #my art #I love equius #hes weird #im part of the give nepeta stubble team #hes building a scratch post for nep in the first drawing #probably #Im always rotating him in my mind #lamenting that he died before getting to grow as a character

[fnife]

Back with more food

#homestuck #homestuck meme #homestuck blue team #homestuck red team #red team #blue team #homestuck teams #homestuck fan creation #homestuck equius #homestuck karkat #karkat #karkat vantas #equius #equius zahhak

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Equius: D-> the red team is cheating

Aradia: h0w d0 y0u kn0w? what are they d0ing?

Equius: D-> they're using teamwork

#homestuck #incorrect homestuck quotes #equius zahhak #aradia megido #mod terezi #no equius cooperation in a team sport is not cheating

[tretv61]

nincompoop

#homestuck #team fortress 2 #nepeta x equius #nepeta leijon #equius zahhak

[strangeshipper]

The mask

When you have the most impressive mask, it costs you something.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #gurgin #team Zahhak #humor #magic #food

[autism-connoisseur]

BOY LOOK AT YOUR COMPUTER

#is this from when nepeta pestered him about being on the red team #act 5 part 1 #equius zahhak #nepeta leijon #i think #pau liveblogs

[dollarstore-kins]

Pokemon teams for a Feferi Zahhak with steel and fairy types requested by Anon!!

I wasn't too sure in what way Feferi was swapped with Equius that you meant, so I did two teams to make up for it ^^;

Hope you like it!

-Mod ET

#mod ET #pokemon team #pokemon trainer card #homestuck #homestuck kin #feferi peixes #feferi peixes kin #equius zahhak #equius zahhak kin #feferi zahhak #feferi zahhak kin #homestuck feferi #homestuck equius #homestuck feferi kin #homestuck equius kin #tinkaton #escavalier #metagross #empoleon #magearna #iron valiant #azumarill #klinklang #request

[davekat-sucks]

Sur cette UA ou c'est Karkat, Terezi, Kanaya et Gamzee qui meurent à la place de Equius, Nepeta, Feferi et Eridan, voila comme je vois leur mort:

Karkat went to look for Gamzee instead of Nepeta and Equius, he asks them instead to watch Sollux (knocked out by Eridan) and Eridan (Wounded by Feferi with her 2x3dent, and Karkat would have served Auspitice to calm them both). Gamzee takes him by surprise and stuns him, which does not give him time to try to appease him.

Another option, he died being touched by Eridan’s fate instead of Feferi. But I don’t think that if Karkat dies at Eridan’s hand, the others forgive him.

For Terezi, I have two ideas: 1/ she commits suicide after killing Vriska, eating away with guilt. 2/ she sees Gamzee assassinating Karkat and attacking him. And it’s not going well for her.

Kanaya would have died at the hand of Gamzee. She would seek to avenge the death of her friends. Since Karkat wouldn’t be around to say, "Don’t kill the clown," nothing’s stopping her from doing it.

And Gamzee would eventually be killed either by Eridan or by Feferi. The two seadweller thus punishing the murderer of several Lowblood. (it would be ironic that Eridan "defends" those he wanted to genocide)

All of this may be worth tweaking and developing, but that’s what I’ve been thinking about. (And sorry for me bad anglish)

~🦀

It's alright. Your English is pretty good here.

These here are excellent scenarios to have the what if it was the rest of Blue Team that survived and not the rest of Red Team.

#Homestuck #Homestuck AU #Homestuck What If #What If Homestuck #WI Hoemstuck #Blue Team #Red Team #Eridan Ampora #Feferi Peixes #Nepeta Leijon #Equius Zahhak #Gamzee Makara #Karkat Vantas #Terezi Pyrope #Kanaya Maryam #Sollux Captor

[tired-reader-writer]

I'm struggling to find it in my notifications but did you mention something about having considered Team Zahhak!Narsus a while ago? And/or Arslan? I think I meant to go back and ask you about it but forgot. Anyway it came to mind again now and I am super curious! (I hope I didn't just... dream this up somehow, lmao)

...I can't find it either.

I know for a fact that I mentioned it, though! Which makes it all the more irritating when I can't find it, lol 😭

In Narsus' case it's more on the side of sheer ✨Aesthetics™✨ and the thought that “holy shit Narsus would be a terror if he were in Team Zahhak bc I'd bet he would find all sorts of new horrible horrifying ways to utilize their magic” and not much more thought put into that— I don't think Narsus as he is in canon (or even recently pre-canon) would have the capacity to be a Zahhak mage, he loves his country despite everything, despite having been thoroughly disillusioned by it, but perhaps a much, much younger Narsus... but even then I feel like he wouldn't last long before breaking off because he's much too headstrong and too smart for his own good and the Master has no use for a puppet that keeps questioning and pushing boundaries, one with a too-strong will. Maybe. The aesthetic fucks, though.

In the case of Arslan (again, I don't think he has the capacity of horribleness to be a willing member of Team Zahhak) it's kinda a riff of Wolfpack where he was spirited away on the night of the massacre by Team Zahhak mages instead of being found by Shapur... Or he gets kidnapped in a canon-adjacent setting and his mind gets broken (or he just straight up dies and they end up puppeting his corpse, terrifying), unless one takes such drastic measures as severe indoctrination or just straight up death I don't think he'll willingly stand by their side. His is some more ✨aesthetic™✨ yes but also the looks of horror from the people who knew and loved him when they see a half-undead Arslan w dead dull eyes and black veins on his skin... Plus he'd look like a ghost in black, esp if his skin looks unhealthily pale like he hasn't seen sun in an eternity.

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #heroic legend of arslan #wolfpack au #winds of wolfsong #arslan #narsus #team zahhak #it's mostly just aesthetics lmaoooooo #though I do wonder about Narsus with none of his morals and all of his ruthlessness #his father died at a too-convenient time iirc I wonder if his mom had a hand in it or smth #he makes my brain go brr in a lot of ways

[innerchorus]

Remembered that the word(s) mage/magus/magi has roots in Persian and decided to look it up, and whaddya know, interesting shit!

“Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular magus /ˈmeɪɡəs/; from Latin magus, cf. Persian: مغ pronounced [moɣ]) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.”

×

“The word mágos and its variants appear in both the Old and New Testaments. Ordinarily this word is translated "magician" or "sorcerer" in the sense of illusionist or fortune-teller, and this is how it is translated in all of its occurrences except for the Gospel of Matthew, where, depending on translation, it is rendered "wise man" or left untranslated as Magi, typically with an explanatory note.”

And then I was like, well, the hell is “Zurvanic”? And

“Zurvanism is a fatalistic religious movement of Zoroastrianism in which the divinity Zurvan is a first principle (primordial creator deity) who engendered equal-but-opposite twins, Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Zurvanism is also known as "Zurvanite Zoroastrianism", and may be contrasted with Mazdaism.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zurvanism

I don't know what I'll do with it but!!! Very interesting!!!!!

Oh yeah, as someone who often thinks about Team Zahhak mages vs the priesthood in Arslan Senki, I'm aware of this and it's definitely of interest. Tanaka doesn't give us a Parsian word for mage but does use some terms for priests / priestesses (kahina, priestess, see the term 'kahinat', and magpat, a high priest, likely taken from 'magu-pati' / 'mobad' the first part of which obviously shares an origin with mage/magus/magi).

In terms of ArSen, I've talked about the similarities between the priesthood and the mages before. Of course, there are differences, but it's clear that the priesthood also have an understanding of magic that goes beyond that of even the most well-educated Parsians, even though aside from communicating with the jinn they don't actually use it (except for perhaps as a countermeasure against malicious magic, though this isn't something we see directly in canon). The mages of Team Zahhak don't seem to openly define / refer to themselves as priests, but in terms of function and how they essentially view Zahhak as their god, isn't that exactly what they are? It's telling that when Kishward and Zaravant first discover the underground space used by Team Zahhak in Book 12, Kishward comments on its similarity to a temple, leading Zaravant to wonder where the 'priests' are, and the fact that it's later referred to as the 'dark temple' both in the narrative and dialogue serves to emphasise this further.

The overlapping nature of the historical term and the way that the nature, doctrine and abilities of Team Zahhak and the priesthood seem to mirror each other is something I think about a lot, especially because of Gurgin! Yes, it was inevitable that I was going to mention him in this post, but it feels very relevant because here is a character who was occupying one role, and left it in favour of the other ...but did he ever really stop being a priest?

(This is also why, although I obviously wish the eventual outcome had been different, I liked his conversation with Guiscard in Chapter 108.)

#arslan senki #the heroic legend of arslan #team zahhak #gurgin

[qpr-competition]

WELCOME TO THE QPR COMPETITION

the matchups in round 1 are as follows

part 1:

Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens vs Peri Dubois and Abel Moreau from Entropic Float

Sonic and Shadow from Sonic the Hedgehog vs Joan Watson and Sherlock Holmes from Elementary

Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sextus from The Locked Tomb series vs Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist

John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from ACD's collection of stories vs c!Ranboo and c!Tubbo from Dream SMP

Arthur Lester and John Doe from Malevolent podcast vs Polly and Yaretzi from Hello From The Hallowoods

Abed Nadir and Troy Barnes from Community vs ART and Murderbot from The Murderbot Diaries

Team Rocket from Pokémon vs Mane 6 Ensemble from My Little Pony

Timothy Stoker and Sasha James from The Magnus Archives vs The Doctor and The Master from Doctor Who

part 2:

Jesse Cosay and Lake from Infinity Train vs Joe Tazuna and Sara Chidouin from Your Turn To Die

Miles Edgeworth and Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney vs Kris and Susie from Deltarune

Oscar Wilde and Zolf Smith from Rusty Quill Gaming vs Mollymauk Tealeaf and Yasha Nydoorin from Critical Role

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from Lord Of The Rings vs Loid Forger and Yor Forger from Spy X Family

Hunter and Willow Park from The Owl House vs Arepo and God Of Arepo from Tumblr Folktales

Sakuko Kodama and Satoru Takahashi from Koisenu Futari | Two People Who Can't Fall In Love vs Compton Boole and Cassie O'Pia from Psychonauts

Lapis Lazuli and Peridot from Steven Universe vs Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa from Buddy Daddies

Nepeta Leijon and Equius Zahhak from Homestuck vs The Scooby Gang from Scooby-Doo

see you at 6 pm GMT 17th February for the first half of the first round!

#qpr competition #swag competition #tumblr polls #good omens #infinity train #the owl house #malevolent (podcast) #the magnus archives #homestuck #lord of the rings #acd holmes #the locked tomb #rusty quill gaming #steven universe #pokemon #community #koisenu futari #ace attorney #sonic the hedgehog #elementary #deltarune #psychonauts #the murderbot diaries #my little pony #buddy daddies #critical role #fullmetal alchemist #dream smp #spy x family #scooby doo

[poketeam-headcanons]

Pokemon team for Equius Zahhak from Homestuck!

Full team consists of: Machamp, Mudsdale, Conkeldurr, Aggron, Milcery and Miltank

[requested by anon]

#homestuck #equius zahhak #pokestuck #pokemon #submission #machamp #mudsdale #conkeldurr #aggron #milcery #miltank

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Karkat: MAN THEY LOOK LIKE A REAL HANDFUL. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THEM? Equius, watching Aradia screaming, Eridan trying to set a sleeping Nepeta on fire, Sollux choking on air, and Feferi throwing cooked lobsters in the pool: D--> I don't know either.

b100 team shenanigans episode 7

#submission #Source: b100 team shenanigans episode 7 #Homestuck #Incorrect Homestuck Quotes #Karkat Vantas #Equius Zahhak #Aradia Megido #Eridan Ampora #Nepeta Leijon #Sollux Captor #Feferi Peixes #Mod Nepeta

[hydro-city-zone]

TAVROS ZAHHAK

Lore under the cut

The rest of the AU can be found Here

-Incredibly strong, but loathes his softness and apparent weakness -Was paralyzed in some sort of accident, during his time in recovery he learned the true power and influence he has as a highblood and has since amassed a small army of 'friends' -Started keeping meticulous track of his debts, the threat of his highblood strength keeps them paid - "yOU WOULDN'^ HUR^ ME, i'M JUS^ A LITTLE GUY! iN A WHEELCHAIR!" -Used to FLARP with Aradia as Team Charge, but doesn't have time now that he's large and in charge. -SGRUB will of course remove him from the comfort he's been enjoying for some time now, calling into question how - or even if - he'll be able to adapt. -Bard of Breath, wielder of Crossbowkind

#alterfall #homestuck #tavros zahhak #terezi vantas #tavros nitram