Thilan

25 yo, French

[thil4n]

I hadn't read chap 115, and so I didn't know there were those awesome pannels with Sam!! He's so COOL and BADASS.

Hilmes is being a dumb ass!! Sam just wants to protect him from the awful truth that, he knows, will shatter Hilmes' world and beliefs. Look at how distressed he is when having a flashback of his conversation with Andragoras...

I also liked to see the look Kubard has on his face when admitting that Sam joined Hilmes. There is never contempt or anger, he just knows Sam too well to understand the pain and reasons behind this decision.

And yes Lord Sam is fucking too good to die, to cry out loud !!!

It also tears me apart to know that IT IS ABSOLUTELY OBVIOUS that Arslan would pardon him for giving his allegiance to Hilmes, and would allow him to live and regain his honor at his side. LET THIS MAN BE HAPPY FFS 😭

Also, it is interesting and quite touching that neither Kubard nor Kishward want to cross swords with Sam. In the anime Kishward do fight against Sam, though reluctant.

In a fight, I think both would win against Sam, Kubard has more brutal strenght and Kishward looks more skilled at close combat. But I picture Kubard as unable to bring himself to kill his old friend. A defeated Sam would tell him to end his life, but as I see it, Kubard would both spare him and ask him to live.

What do you think would happen ? Tell me about it !

PS : I also like that Sam refers at Husrab as "somebody I know", and not "old comrade" like the sorcerer suggested. Can't picture Sam being pal with a slimy cunt like Husrab.

[thil4n]

Just wanted to share this amazing fanfic I read. It's so incredible that I felt the need to share it. Royai is my OTP. But I don't like cheesy, overly romantic or OOC fanfics, and most are like that. This one is realistic, has a very good understanding of the characters, a good plot and a good dynamic.

I think I will be shortly going in a complete re-reading of FMA (again). After all this time, all the other mangas, animes, and stories I've been through, FMA is still my GOAT.

Btw I've noticed : I felt that the art of the last fma chapters and books is overall more precise and pretty than the art in the current Arslan Senki chapters. That's just my opinion but I wonder why. I do like Arslan Senki but I feel that the art in the last chapters was not as beautiful as what Arakawa showed us in FMA.

[thil4n]

Just a little sketch of Tahamine.

I don't see many fanart of her, but yeah I guess she's not very popular.

I am not especially fond of her either but the mysteries around her spice up the plot.

In the story she's said to be able to beguile any man, but it is also interesting to notice that she doesn't seem to have any effect on Guiscard for example (and we know he loves women). I also wondered how Andragoras could have stayed married with someone who hates his guts that much.

[thil4n]

It's been a long time and I got off Arslan Senki stuff for a while because of university and all, but as I was playing Pokemon Sword/Shield, I happen to notice how much one of the NPC of the game looks just like Sam, and there it was, I absolutely needed to go back to Arslan Senki stuff.

So I drew Sam again. I'm not even really gifted to draw older people (I find Sam very difficult to draw), I'm more at ease with baby-like ou young faces but well, I just love him so much...

The character from pokemon I'm talking about is Kabu, the fire-type gym leader, and obviously I love him just because he looks like Sam, but he even gives the same vibes and seems to have the same kind of personality (but it's still pokemon though, it's not the kind of games in which characters are extremely developed).

So because of that resemblance I began to match pokemons and Arslan Senki characters, like wondering which pokemon would suit each Arslan Senki character etc. Maybe it has already been a topic on tumblr idk?

Anyway I came up with these matchs :

I see totally see Hilmes with an Empoleon, change my mind. I don't exactly know why but I pictured Kharlan with a Weavile, I think it suits him in a way. For Sam I absolutely see Arcanine. Guiscard would have a Liepard don't you think? I pictured Alfreed with a Combusken, Elam with a Mareep, and Daryun with a Corviknight. I didn't find a pokemon for each Arslan Senki character but feel free to speak your mind. Also I am just a casual player on pokemon so I don't know every one of them (and I skipped a lot of gen.).

[thil4n]

I didn't post for a long time... I'm quite busy. I still hope to catch up about the Arslan Senki stuff when I have time.

Here is just a drawing

Have a nice day! :)

[innerchorus]

There have actually been a lot of updates to the Arslan Senki fan translation of the novels recently, and after almost three years of waiting patiently for more it’s been a real delight to have all of this content. The translator has stated that they are not active on Tumblr anymore so I thought I’d highlight the recent updates here for anyone who hadn’t noticed!

Read the Arslan Senki fan translation here.

[thil4n]

Did you miss him ??? BECAUSE I DID.

I watched again some Arslan Senki episodes recently and I just fell in damn love with him again, I mean seriously, I never had such affection for a character. I could go on and on about why I love him, but I already did a bit of that in a previous post 😅

Btw I noticed a thing, last time I wrote about his cheek lines (I still don't know how to name it in english), and how he had lost weight. But I checked in my mangas, and actually, in the scene he briefly talks with Kharlan after having woken up, he doesn't have them. So the conclusion is that he lost quite a lot of weight not because of the injury itself, but during the recovery..... when he was left wondering whether he should or not join Hilmes. So my guess is, he lost weight and all not because the injury was severe, but because he was depressed about the situation and the decision he had to take.

And, ladies and gentlemen, isn't it great to have such interesting psychological details in a manga just by the drawings of faces and expressions, if you care enough to pay a close attention ?

That's one thing I really love about this manga, and I really don't want it to end. Next chapter of Arslan Senki should be released soon, I'm so eager to read it (sadly it isn't likely Sam would appear)

[innerchorus]

❤ 

I always find paying attention to these details adds a lot to my enjoyment!

Did you notice as well that the white part of Sām’s hair seems to be larger now (bigger at the side and also that lock at the front appears to be longer now and often tends to fall foward over his face)?

Exhibit A: the good old days (well, not really since Ecbatana is under siege here but whatever).

Exhibit B: 6 months later.

I actually like the way the white part of his hair looks now, though.

Another of those little details that I liked is how, when he’s lying in bed injured, you can see a bit of stubble on his face.

[thil4n]

Yeah !! It's also because Sam's hair is longer, I wonder if it's also because he doesn't really take care of him (of his appearance and all), since he thinks of himself as "living on in disgrace"), his hair looks messier now compared to then. Thank you for the pictures ! The little stubble on his face is so cute !! I love those kind of details as well !!

Am I the only one who finds him SO HANDSOME EVERYTIME I SEE HIM ? 🥰

[thil4n]

I was recently wondering why Säm looked so different between before and after the fall of Ecbatana. I just thought that it was because he was drawn with more details now, and that because he has to look more tragic and all.

But if you look closely, and I didn’t notice until now, ever since the fall of Ecbatana and the moment he was half-killed, he has quite hollow cheeks, that he didn’t have before (the first image is taken from when Ecbatana is under siege while the second is from the siege of Zabul).

So that explains quite well why Kubard says to him, on this third image, “You have lost so much weight ! You should eat, buddy !”. When I first read the scans, he was saying something like “what’s with this haggard look ?” and I though it referred to Säm’s tired and worried face, but here on the French translation, it is more about his loss of weight, which is actually visible from his cheek lines but I didn’t notice and I really thought it was part of his character design.

Now if we take a look at images from the anime, his cheek lines (I don’t know how to say it in english actually) aren’t visible and that might explain why he also looks younger there. (I don’t always like the anime but Säm is so handsome in it so………)

I promise you I have other things in my life apart from Arslan Senki 😅😂

I am reading again Fullmetal Alchemist btw.

[innerchorus]

Yeah, he definitely lost weight after his injury! I checked my copy of volume 9 and Kubard’s line is translated as “What’s this? You’ve gotten awfully haggard!” so there’s no direct mention of weight loss there, but I went to look at the raw to see whether the Japanese version mentions it.

The Japanese word used is  窶れる (やつ), ‘yatsu’. Meaning: ‘to be haggard; to be gaunt; to be emaciated; to be worn out (e.g. illness, worry)​ .’ (source).

I saw your follow up post where you were speculating about the weight loss being due to worry rather than the injury itself so I’m sure you’ll find it interesting that the original Japanese word could imply both!

It’s worth considering the timeline for these events, too.

First, we need to work out when Sām ’s injury occurs. There is a partial translation of a timeline from the Official Reader’s Guide available here that has proved useful in combination with the manga. The fall of Ecbatana occurs on Month 11, Day 6 (the 11th day of the siege) so we can use this date for the date of Sām ’s injury.

The scene where Kharlan briefly talks with Sām after he wakes up is a manga original but seems to take place soon after Arslan and his group have broken through the blockade at Mt. Bashur, right before Kharlan departs to pursue them (since Hilmes tells him to ‘make haste after Arslan’ in that scene). The timeline lists the breaking of the blockade and Kharlan’s pursuit/death as Month 11, Day 13 (night). Given that this scene takes place only a week after Sām was injured, it makes sense that the full extent of his weight loss isn’t visible yet. Still, you can see how bad the injury was by how he’s sweating (probably with pain and fever) and the fact that he’s still bleeding through his bandages.

The following scene where Sām swears his loyalty to Hilmes takes place on Month 12, Day 6, by which time Sām ’s cheekbones are definitely looking more pronounced. By this time it’s been an entire month since Sām was injured. His wounds were so severe and the recovery so prolonged that this alone would have been more than enough to cause major weight loss and loss of muscle mass.

However, I definitely think that the mental stress he’s been under since Hilmes revealed his identity contributed too. The biggest supporting factor for this is the fact that even after more time has passed, he doesn’t seem to regain the weight that he lost. When he meets Kubard, it’s been half a year since the battle of Atropatene, so let’s say around 5 months since Sām was injured. His face still looks gaunt, and there is a lot weighing heavily on his mind. It’s been half a year, but he looks much older than he did when we first saw him, and I think the psychological factors have as much to do with that as the injury.

[thil4n]

Thank you so much for researching the detailed timeline, I was indeed wondering how much time had passed since his injury ! It's really meaningful that the word used in Japan means both worry and illness ! Poor lad 😭 he deserves so much a good big hug from someone (Zandeh please hug him, and let him pat your head).

Yeah Kubard should have given him food instead of wine 😂

Maybe Hilmes should pay more attention to his subordinates' health as well 🤔 (or he doesn't want to say anything about it becauses he might well know that it's mostly his own doing, both directly and indirectly)

[thil4n]

Narsus. Well to be honest he's more easy to draw than Sam............ (BUT I LOVE SAM SO MUCH I'LL JUST KEEP TRYING TO DRAW HIM AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL I DIE).

I like Narsus though, and he has definitely a great dynamic with Daryun, I really like their strong relationship (after all they hadn't seen each other for a long time at the beginning of the manga, yet their friendship was intact). He is also very kind and patient with Arslan, and lets him do his own choices, I appreciate that. Of course his cleverness makes him attractive. I think he matches well with Alfreed, at least I like how she chases after him, but I also like that he doesn't do anything to a still-a-bit-too-young girl.

I hope he doesn't look like a girl on my drawing 🤔

(btw I suck at colouring sorry).

[thil4n]

Did you miss him ??? BECAUSE I DID.

I watched again some Arslan Senki episodes recently and I just fell in damn love with him again, I mean seriously, I never had such affection for a character. I could go on and on about why I love him, but I already did a bit of that in a previous post 😅

Btw I noticed a thing, last time I wrote about his cheek lines (I still don't know how to name it in english), and how he had lost weight. But I checked in my mangas, and actually, in the scene he briefly talks with Kharlan after having woken up, he doesn't have them. So the conclusion is that he lost quite a lot of weight not because of the injury itself, but during the recovery..... when he was left wondering whether he should or not join Hilmes. So my guess is, he lost weight and all not because the injury was severe, but because he was depressed about the situation and the decision he had to take.

And, ladies and gentlemen, isn't it great to have such interesting psychological details in a manga just by the drawings of faces and expressions, if you care enough to pay a close attention ?

That's one thing I really love about this manga, and I really don't want it to end. Next chapter of Arslan Senki should be released soon, I'm so eager to read it (sadly it isn't likely Sam would appear)

[thil4n]

I recently watched for the 2nd time Princess Mononoke, and I enjoyed it much better than the first time I watched it. Maybe I was too young to really like it, back then. Yet, my favorite Ghibli is still Howl's Moving Castle.

[thil4n]

Just some drawing

[thil4n]

I was recently wondering why Säm looked so different between before and after the fall of Ecbatana. I just thought that it was because he was drawn with more details now, and that because he has to look more tragic and all.

But if you look closely, and I didn't notice until now, ever since the fall of Ecbatana and the moment he was half-killed, he has quite hollow cheeks, that he didn't have before (the first image is taken from when Ecbatana is under siege while the second is from the siege of Zabul).

So that explains quite well why Kubard says to him, on this third image, "You have lost so much weight ! You should eat, buddy !". When I first read the scans, he was saying something like "what's with this haggard look ?" and I though it referred to Säm's tired and worried face, but here on the French translation, it is more about his loss of weight, which is actually visible from his cheek lines but I didn't notice and I really thought it was part of his character design.

Now if we take a look at images from the anime, his cheek lines (I don't know how to say it in english actually) aren't visible and that might explain why he also looks younger there. (I don't always like the anime but Säm is so handsome in it so.........)

I promise you I have other things in my life apart from Arslan Senki 😅😂

I am reading again Fullmetal Alchemist btw.

[thil4n]

I tried to stay as close as his character design from the manga but I still lack something (but I think this one is a bit better than my first tries).

I want to see him smile more in the manga 😭 he deserves so much to be happy and peaceful.

I have also drawn him as a boy, maybe I’ll show you later, he must have been such a cute boy when he was young 😍

Säm is my fav for so many reasons… he’s very brave and has high moral standards. He’s not the kind of man who lives seeking the recognition from others, he only seeks to achieve what is right, what he belives in, even though he will be badly looked at, as a traitor : we have a case of him looking pained when Zandeh says to Kubard that his father did not betrayed, Säm is a bit distraught because he knows to be in the same position as Kharlan now, and feels pain at the thought that he will be despised by comrades he hightly thinks of, like Kishward for example, but even though, he won’t give up, he chooses to carry the weight of this burden, even if it means he will be alone on his path. He might even feel it’s ok to be the one alongside the darker, shadier Hilmes (compared to Arlsan) because it also means that Kishward, Daryun and Narsus will be free to carry on on their bright and right path (bc if Hilmes is totally alone it would trigger more pity) : yes he is the man willing to do justice to Hilmes by serving him, thus, in a way, allowing others to serve Arslan (he doesn’t think at all that Daryun or Narsus are wrong serving Arslan, as he says, it wouldn’t be fair if either Hilmes or Arslan were to be alone on their path because he feels that both of them deserve to be recognised and fought for). He does say to Kubard that what matters most for now isn’t who will become shah but how to draw out the Lusitanians. I love that he isn’t one-sided or blinded, or purposely refuses to acknowledge the valour of the “other side”, he is very much alike to Kharlan on this point (when he dies :“good grief, what a prince…”), contrary to Hilmes or Zandeh. In this way he has a soft heart, big heart and an understanding character.

But he’s not at all a weakling, I love that he stands fiercely for his high moral values, like when he bites Kharlan’s head off when meeting him in the palace, uttering blunt words (“what nonsense, a dog talking of preserving a human status !”), he can be “fiery” showing true anger. Even then he’s never cruel, or never becomes blindly enrages, he is angered but will not fall into a stupid or pointless massacre, we see him keeping all of his senses, and not blinded by rage. I read again the first moments of him, when Ecbatana is under a siege, and slaves began to rebel. I love how he is composed and highly disapproves of Gharshap’s killing of gholam, but he does’t shout at him or anything : what I love is his true wiseness. He’s really wonderful throughout this chapter, with his battle against Kharlan at the end.

He is a very humble man, also, and I’m very touched by this. He’s always measured, and doesn’t think too highly of him, in fact he doesn’t think about him often, he’s totally the opposite of egoist or egocentric. He sees himself too much as expandable I guess…. He is not to type to boast, or to take pride (even if he has great skills for example, the victory at Zabul is thanks to his military skills and strategies), because he only feels that he fills his duties and nothing more.

He’s also not the kind of man mourning again and again over the past, even though he does feels conflicted, and I love the cases where we see him pondering over something. Yet he keeps himself in action, and is never paralysed by his interior conflicts : he does what has to be done without hesitation, but again he doesn’t overlook the complexity of the situation he takes part in (like when he says he respects thoses who acts in keeping with what they believe so he won’t make fun of the templars). What I mean is that to me, he’s one of the most, if not the most, “aware” character of this story, probably one of the most conflicted (because not one-sided) and the most aware of the complexity of all situations he faces (up until now he possesses more informations about Hilmes, Andragoras and Pars than anyone else, but kept it to himself, not out of manipulation, but out of wiseness and compassion), BUT he is not the sort of man to mourn forever, refusing commitment into action, and rather has the bravery to carry his burden alone and in silence, utterly conscious of the painfulness and the weight of his acts, nevertheless doing it without any trace of hesitation.

We never really see his thoughts : up until now, there are many cases where he is silent, and reflecting or thiking about something but we never have his thoughts written. He talks not so much about his feelings or thoughts (he talks a bit about his heart mostly to Kubard and a bit to Andragoras, but in general he’s quite reserved) , and his interior self is not reveled through words contrary to other characters, but through facial expressions, it is something that beautifully reflects his mature and complex self. I really love that in the manga, Arakawa takes the time to show us his feeling trough panels with only his face, even though he is a “minor character” (compared to Daryun or Narsus etc).

I loved when he was with Kubard because he smiled geniunely for the first time. He is so serious all the time, and when he’s with Kubard we see a bit of his more peaceful and kinder self, what probably he was like before war begun. So that’s why I wanted to draw something similar, a happy and peaceful Sam…

I’m so damn in love with this character 

Btw I bought and so read again book 10, and the duo and dynamic between Kubard and Merlain is so refreshing, they are both characters I really like. Merlain has a very cool character design ~

[thil4n]

Hi, I just received Arslan Senki's books, and there was this bonus at the back of book 9, it's so funny I wanted to share it with you 😂

Hilmes says : "Hey it's not nice ! Let go of it ! Aah no ! Don't let go of it !!"

Their faces so funny, look at Kubard 😂

Btw the french spelling of the names is a bit weird, for exemple it is Qbad, Zandé, Sahm, Ghîb, Kishwahd, Gisqar, Khallhan etc 🤔 I wonder how came out in the English books of it, I wasn't like this on the scans I read on the internet

I'll buy book 10 soon, as it is available now. It really is a pleasure to look at the drawings on the paper, it's bigger than on my phone. 😁

[thil4n]

I have a new drawing of Säm but I feel like my mental health would begin to look suspicious if I keep posting only drawings of him, so here's Arslan and Hilmes. Well Hilmes if Andragoras had not burnt him, that is (how can they be of the same family, did Andragoras burn Hilmes because he was going to be so much more handsome than him ?? 😂) : I didn't know how to draw his burnt side so I just let it like this. Btw Hilmes is so cool in the last chapter (71), I really like his mischevelous smile when he says to Guiscard that he left most of his soldiers at Zabul (SHITTY move though because I'm sure that we won't be seeing Sam before a long time and I'm sad- well I'm sure it's Sam himself that suggested to Hilmes to stay guarding Zabul but anyway I'm still pouting). Btw has anyone noticed how much younger he looks in the anime compared to the manga (around 10 years younger 😂, like in the anime he looks around 40 but in the manga it would be more like 50)?

There's still a lot of flaws in my drawings but well, I'll get better little by little, and it may be cool afterwards to see the improvement achieved, compared to the first drawings.

I suck at colours, I tried on Arslan but I am not satisfied with the result 😒 so I didn't put colors on Hilmes apart from his eyes. Hilmes is not burnt here so actually he doesn't need a mask BUT I wanted to draw hands because I like to draw these, so I just put his mask in his hands 🙄

Sometimes I really feel like I'm talking like a baby because I can't find the words in english so I just keep it simple 😂

I noticed that the fandom of Arslan Senki is quite reduced in number (for I don't see a lot of pictures or conversations about this manga on the social media compared to other mangas, even the ones that have been over for a long time like Naruto), it's quite sad because I really feel like this manga's worth deserves to be more appreciated.

[thil4n]

I'm still trying to get Säm right but he is quite tricky actually, as a comparison, Arslan is easier to draw. Guess I'll give a try to Arslan next time, but I'm so fond of Säm.It's a shame that there isn't a lot of drawings of Säm or Zandeh on the internet, I mostly find Arlsan, Daryun, Narsus etc. If you have any links with Zandeh, Säm, Kharlan and Hilmes artworks, I'll glady take 😊

I have bought the mangas (so in French), soon they will be delivered to me 😊 although I saw that the english version of the manga is one book ahead of the french one (book 10 is not even available yet here !).

I'm sorry if my english is not perfect btw