griffith is the campus heartthrob who’s always on the deans list and is about to graduate summa cum laude with a political science degree. guts is the muscular, sweaty landscaper who mows the lawns every tuesday (and sometimes takes his shirt off when it’s too hot.)
So this is incredibly self indulgent. A male bonding experience between roommates becomes something else. GriffGuts modern AU. Special thanks to @madchen for the prompt. NSFW.
Griffith took
the last box out of the entry way to his new house and took a moment to sit at
the edge of the couch. (An avocado green mid century inspired piece purchased to
match the house. Guts had agreed to it only when he had been able to lay out completely on his back on it. He had fallen
asleep while Griffith and the woman who had placed the ad on Craigslist haggled
over the price.) Griffith’s kitten, Medusa walked into each unfamiliar room and
meowed in confusion. She walked over to
her new housemate, Guts,and tapped him with her paw.
“What, buddy?” said Guts.
Griffith could
imagine him nearly engulfing the kitten in his hand as he pet her like a dog.
He smiled and let himself lay down for the first time that day. Griffith’s hair
fanned out behind him as he pressed his head onto the cool terrazzo floor. The cat trotted over to
him and sniffed his face for a moment before settling into his hair and
kneading his scalp. She purred.
“Hey dust bunny.” he said as he stroked the long,
grey fur. He blew a raspberry on her tummy.
Griffith noticed
the little bit of ooze from the corner of her eye and gently brushed it away.
She made a little sound of displeasure before walking into the kitchen with her
tail down. Griffith sighed and reached feebly after his cat.
“Do you want to get a start on the kitchen?” Guts
said, box cutter in hand. Griffith could see the sweat soaking through his black
t-shirt. Griffith whined.
“How are you still standing?” said Griffith.
Guts turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. He walked
over to Griffith and stood over him, with Griffith’s body between his legs.
Guts crossed his arms over his chest.
“You planning on challenging me again?” said
Griffith.
“You scared?” Guts said. He nudged Griffith on the
tip of his nose with his foot.
“Guts!” He wrinkled his nose.
“Huh?” Guts gave him a little smile. He bumped his
nose again, this time with the ball of his foot and rubbing it in a little bit.
Griffith could see the calluses on his foot.
“You’re gross!” he said.
Guts laughed and turned to put the box cutter on the coffee
table. Griffith took the opportunity and wrapped his arm around his ankle.
“Griffith!” Guts yelled as he fell to the ground.
The two of them grappled for a moments before Griffith
straddled him on his back and held onto his wrists.
“We have hard floors asshole!“said Guts with a
huff. Griffith spit some of his own hair out of his mouth.
He smiled as he leaned down to whisper in Guts’ ear. Their
chests were pressed flush against each other.
“You should have thought of that before you turned your
back.” he said. He gripped tighter around Gut’s wrists as Guts bucked up
uselessly with his hips. Guts reached for his hair and pulled gently.
“No you don’t.” Griffith said. He swung his hair
over his shoulder. Guts laughed.
Guts hooked his legs around Griffith’s hips.
“Oh shit!” Griffith said as Guts threw him on his
back.
“Gotcha.” said Guts in a low voice.
Griffith panted for a moment and Guts looked at him. His
eyes were glassy and Griffith could see a new trail of sweat going down his
neck. Griffith adjusted his hips
slightly, and felt the unmistakable bulge hardening in Guts’ shorts.
“Guts are you -?”
The air seemed to go out of the room, then. Guts eyes
widened a bit and he opened his mouth speak. Griffith reached up and gently put
a hand on his cheek before he knew what he was doing. They stared at each other
without breathing. Guts bit his bottom lip and nodded. He turned in and breathed into Griffith’s neck.
He moved his hips carefully. Griffith answered him with a movement of his own. He could feel Gut’s heart beat against his in
his chest. And he soothed his hand down his back. He reached down to squeeze
his ass.
“No.” said Guts, his whole body going rigid.
“What?”
“Not there.” he said.
“Okay.” Griffith said. He stroked the wet dark
hairs at the base of his neck carefully. He could hear Guts’ breath shake in
his ear.
They sat in silence for a few moments and Griffith felt his
heart twist. Had he ruined whatever this was?
“Guts?"said Griffith.
Guts moved his hips again. Griffith moaned in response, more
at the suggestion than the sensation. He felt Guts’ lips press against his
neck. Their thrusts turned into rolls and they were no longer meeting each other
in the middle but moving together without breaking contact. Griffith was painfully hard.
"Guts, I need to.” he gestured to his pants.
Guts nodded and undid the button on Griffith’s jeans. Gut’s
hands stilled at the waistband of Griffith’s underwear.
“Yes.”
Guts wrapped around Griffith’s cock through the thin fabric.
After a few times they became firm strokes.
“Don’t tease me.” said Griffith. He felt Guts nod against his cheek and his
cock was exposed to the air. It was
already dark read at the tip and dripping wet. Guts ran his thumb along the
head in slow circles and Griffith bit back a whine.
Guts leaned up on one arm and Griffith could see the biceps
flexing under the weight. Griffith leaned up on his elbows to get a closer look
at the heavy bulge in Guts’ shorts. Guts blushed but managed a little smirk. He
shrugged.
“Is it okay if I?” he said, hooking his thumbs
into the waistband of his shorts.
“Come here.” Griffith said and he had to hold
himself back from mouthing at the front of the shorts. He pulled them down and
gently took his cock out. Guts settled back over top of him again and smiled.
He nuzzled Griffith. Griffith leaned their foreheads together.
“I’m going to put my legs here alright?” said Griffith.
He put his hands on Guts’ waist, slipping his hand under the damp shirt.
“That’s fine.” said Guts. Griffith wrapped his
legs around Guts and tilted his head back to bare his neck.
Guts made a sound from the back of his throat and took them
both in one his hands and started stroking them urgently, without gentleness.
He leaned down and sank his teeth into Griffith’s shoulder. Griffith bit onto
his fist. A little noise escaped his throat.
Guts reached up and took Griffith’s hand away with his free
hand. He laced their fingers together.
“Let me hear you.” he said. Griffith gasped. He
moved his hips in time with Guts’ hand and let himself go.
“Oh fuck, Guts!” he said as he finished. Gut’s grunted as he followed.
“Shhh.” said Griffith. He could feel Guts’
shoulders tremble under his hand. Guts was looking at him with the an intensity
that was unreadable. Griffith tilted his chin up; they kissed for the first
time. Guts sighed as he rolled off of Griffith and caught his breath. Griffith
reached down to the wetness cooling on his stomach.
Of the new party I really just care about Farnese and Serpico. Also miura had spent a lot of nuance on Farnese I doubt she’s going to be an expendable character
same, and yeah I think you’re probably right. After Guts and Griffith she’s the third most developed character (more than Casca was I’d say) so it would seem like a huge waste to kill her off just for the extra tragedy.
Guts’ reaction to Casca being threatened is usually: Don’t do it, She’ll fucking kill ya.
And Guts’ reaction to Griffith being threatened is: DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH HIM .I WILL CLEAVE YOU IN HALF.
not that Guts’ wouldn’t step in on Casca’s behalf but whenever he does there’s always this “why am I doing this?” “Do I like her” “Don’t pop a boner on my head” “Griffith what are you doing?” it’s almost a part of a whole different train of thought?
It doesn’t seem to be the tunnel visioned desperation which comes when Griffith is concerned.
i feel like guts’s feelings for casca are really poorly written, as you kinda mention. when judeau asks him about his feelings for casca, he says he sees her as a comrade more than anything, which is appropriate – but then with further prompting, he’s like “no… i’m just no good for her… as i am now…” because she’s caught up on griffith still and all that. because miura hadnt originally planned it, having FEELINGs for casca is an afterthought on everyone’s part. it really (to me at least) comes across as a “wait, im a dude, im supposed to be into girls and this is the one girl around”. he assists her multiple times, not real sure why, so hey, guts thinks, romance?? perhaps?? basically guts doesnt know fuck shit about girls but maybe he has a concept of compulsory het. thinking on this reminds me of how griffith also had to chase het – as is characteristic for griffith, it was thought out ahead of time and part of his plan (even if it his plan kinda went to shit). guts, on the other hand, relies not on thought but rather just on acting, often really impulsively, and thats where gutsca came from. unfortunately for the girls, what it al really comes back to is each other. everybody knows griffith has like 0 sincere feelings for charlotte and is eternally hung up on guts, but gutss is a bit more vague. hes the same way tho- the girl in his life is means to an end. i posted a few panels just recently that make this evident – even post-eclipse, when guts finds out casca js missing, he swears to rescue her By Himself (that falls thru) but if he runs into griffith, “then [he’ll]…” implying he’ll redirect his attentions there. chance of another type of eclipse, AND casca’s gonna be there in need of rescuing? how convenient. there are a lot more caps that point towards this that i think bthump has either mentioned or posted, but im on mobile and cant dig em up atm.
I was just thinking about that bit when Guts is about to leave where Judeau’s like, hey Casca’s single wink wink nudge nudge and Guts is like, I see her more as a comrade than anything, and Judeau’s like, are u sure??? and Guts is like, well anyway she’s into Griffith so if I was gonna d8 her I’d have to fulfill my dream of being Griffith’s equal first either way so bye.
And it’s framed as like burgeoning romance, Guts seriously wanting to become the kind of man Casca likes, but god it comes across as such an afterthought lol. Like he already wants to be Griffith’s equal for Griffith, this Casca thing is just added on and changes absolutely nothing about his goals or motivation. It’s like, off Guts goes because he desperately wants to be Griffith’s bff, btw here’s some heterosexuality just in case you’re uncomfortable with that, heterosexual male reader.
And more re: mmod’s original post, it’s just inarguable facts that every time Guts’ feelings for Casca and Griffith are compared, Casca comes up short. He decides to leave and take her with him until it turns out Griffith needs him. He goes on an animalistic rampage while rescuing Griffith whereas Casca gets told to fuck off bc she’s too naked and distracting after her attempted rape (which I’m sure is meant as a funny manly het moment and GOD IT’S BAD). He leaves her in a cave for two years to pursue Griffith. Hell when he thinks about the last thing he saw with his missing eye it goes Casca’s assault -> naked Casca -> Femto staring at him as the very last thing given the most significance. He decides he has to rescue her in the conviction arc but still plans to ditch her again afterwards now that Griffith is human-looking and in reach of his sword. He finally decides to stay with her and take her to Elfhelm when a) Griffith tells him he gives zero fucks and ditches him and b) the cave caves in and he can’t leave her there anymore. And he still treats it as a temporary sidequest.
I agree with all of the discussed above. I don’t really have much to add accept to say that Guts is doing a thing that is familiar to me as A Gay that is very femme and is often read as straight. His environment at this point hasn’t really given him any feedback that he is in any way deviating from traditional masculinity so, he has no reason really to assume his feelings are “queer.”
Obviously, it’s not that simple. I knew I was attracted to other girls in a sexual/romantic way but I also kind of always assumed that I somehow would become interested in men as I had been allowed into traditional straight girl/woman bonding experiences that are centered around the interest and pursuit of men. It took an embarrassing amount of time for me to untangle what I was feeling out of kind of social obligation and what I felt from an authentic place. Guts is very young, medium feral and I think in his heart of hearts wants something to be normal. It feels “easier” to project these feelings onto Casca than to look to hard at himself at this point.
tbh the whole “little white spirit is moonlight boy” thing is a little too on the nose for me, miura doesn’t tend to beat people over the head like that generally? and also another thing that makes ppl think it’s like a part of griffith’s soul or w/e is its hair, and honestly that’s more convincing to me than the whole “you’re like some playful kid” thing
I see what you mean about the hair, tho I could see that as the pure light astral version of MB’s hair. But yeah Miura does kind of slap you upside the head with significant shots of MB after astral kid saves Guts, so it would be an interesting twist if they were 2 different beings. Esp since despite those obvious connection shots (I don’t have any saved and I’m too lazy to try to find them rn but yk what I mean) Guts does still pose the question of who Astral kid is instead of assuming it’s MB because they show up at the same time, which suggests that it’s still meant to be up in the air.
Guts’ reaction to Casca being threatened is usually: Don’t do it, She’ll fucking kill ya.
And Guts’ reaction to Griffith being threatened is: DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH HIM .I WILL CLEAVE YOU IN HALF.
not that Guts’ wouldn’t step in on Casca’s behalf but whenever he does there’s always this “why am I doing this?” “Do I like her” “Don’t pop a boner on my head” “Griffith what are you doing?” it’s almost a part of a whole different train of thought?
It doesn’t seem to be the tunnel visioned desperation which comes when Griffith is concerned.
i feel like guts’s feelings for casca are really poorly written, as you kinda mention. when judeau asks him about his feelings for casca, he says he sees her as a comrade more than anything, which is appropriate – but then with further prompting, he’s like “no… i’m just no good for her… as i am now…” because she’s caught up on griffith still and all that. because miura hadnt originally planned it, having FEELINGs for casca is an afterthought on everyone’s part. it really (to me at least) comes across as a “wait, im a dude, im supposed to be into girls and this is the one girl around”. he assists her multiple times, not real sure why, so hey, guts thinks, romance?? perhaps?? basically guts doesnt know fuck shit about girls but maybe he has a concept of compulsory het. thinking on this reminds me of how griffith also had to chase het – as is characteristic for griffith, it was thought out ahead of time and part of his plan (even if it his plan kinda went to shit). guts, on the other hand, relies not on thought but rather just on acting, often really impulsively, and thats where gutsca came from. unfortunately for the girls, what it al really comes back to is each other. everybody knows griffith has like 0 sincere feelings for charlotte and is eternally hung up on guts, but gutss is a bit more vague. hes the same way tho- the girl in his life is means to an end. i posted a few panels just recently that make this evident – even post-eclipse, when guts finds out casca js missing, he swears to rescue her By Himself (that falls thru) but if he runs into griffith, “then [he’ll]…” implying he’ll redirect his attentions there. chance of another type of eclipse, AND casca’s gonna be there in need of rescuing? how convenient. there are a lot more caps that point towards this that i think bthump has either mentioned or posted, but im on mobile and cant dig em up atm.
I was just thinking about that bit when Guts is about to leave where Judeau’s like, hey Casca’s single wink wink nudge nudge and Guts is like, I see her more as a comrade than anything, and Judeau’s like, are u sure??? and Guts is like, well anyway she’s into Griffith so if I was gonna d8 her I’d have to fulfill my dream of being Griffith’s equal first either way so bye.
And it’s framed as like burgeoning romance, Guts seriously wanting to become the kind of man Casca likes, but god it comes across as such an afterthought lol. Like he already wants to be Griffith’s equal for Griffith, this Casca thing is just added on and changes absolutely nothing about his goals or motivation. It’s like, off Guts goes because he desperately wants to be Griffith’s bff, btw here’s some heterosexuality just in case you’re uncomfortable with that, heterosexual male reader.
And more re: mmod’s original post, it’s just inarguable facts that every time Guts’ feelings for Casca and Griffith are compared, Casca comes up short. He decides to leave and take her with him until it turns out Griffith needs him. He goes on an animalistic rampage while rescuing Griffith whereas Casca gets told to fuck off bc she’s too naked and distracting after her attempted rape (which I’m sure is meant as a funny manly het moment and GOD IT’S BAD). He leaves her in a cave for two years to pursue Griffith. Hell when he thinks about the last thing he saw with his missing eye it goes Casca’s assault -> naked Casca -> Femto staring at him as the very last thing given the most significance. He decides he has to rescue her in the conviction arc but still plans to ditch her again afterwards now that Griffith is human-looking and in reach of his sword. He finally decides to stay with her and take her to Elfhelm when a) Griffith tells him he gives zero fucks and ditches him and b) the cave caves in and he can’t leave her there anymore. And he still treats it as a temporary sidequest.
Thank you so much Anon I’m glad you’re enjoying this whole… thing lol. ❤
In the DH translation he says “You’re like… some playful kid.” Which IS similar to how he described Griffith early on (”he is tough to read… but probably just a kid…” and “that innocent grin… ear to ear like some little kid…”) but not really exact enough for me to think it’s much more than a coincidence.
Though the fact that the spirit kid thing does seem to be directly connected to the Moonlight Boy, like his astral projection or w/e, and the fact that a lot of ppl theorize that the Moonlight Boy is the soul of the fetus that NeoGriff grew out of (which seems like a reasonable theory), I mean it doesn’t seem farfetched after that to suggest that there could be some of Griffith’s unfrozen soul/heart/whatever in there too.
Tbh idk if thinking the soul of his ex is in there makes the Moonlight Boy better or worse lol. Kinda makes shipping awkward, but I’m also very not into the MB as the soul of Guts and Casca’s kid making a happy picturesque family.
The more times I read Berserk, the more l like Corkus and the less I like Judeau.
I CONCUR LOL i dont have a particular fondness for corkus but my attachments to side characters have intensified tenfold while i dislike judeau more and more
Actually the most recent anime adaptation completely coloured how I viewed that scene for a while there because Griffith looked so hateful
I probably shouldn’t read too much into this bad CGI model but …… I mean come on holy shit
lol wow, i’ve only seen this episode in a really laggy stream so I never rly noticed this.
I feel like chalking this up to a bad adaptation needing to make it painfully obvious that this guy is Villainous and throwing nuance and subtlety to the wind.
But I still do think that in the manga he got a petty thrill from getting to be the one to ditch Guts this time.
And Guts kinda recognized it as payback too?
I definitely think Griffith was purposely being smug here actually, but I don’t know if he actually felt that way.
Because the “it’s fitting for us to reunite here as the Band of the Hawk” was just too markedly and boldly insensitive to be Griffith’s natural style imo?
I feel like he was testing out how they’d feel on his tongue. If saying them, to perhaps the person he’d primarily consciously shitted on would inspire any guilt.
I feel he was purposely trying to get a rise out of Guts to see if that reaction or Guts trying to angrily guilt trip him would actually lead to a guilt Trip.
Just a hole-y theory though.
It’s just obviously implied that Neo Griff knows something we don’t and i want to fucking know what it is.
Ooh interesting point. The Band of the Hawk assembling once more is like… a really ridiculously dickish thing to say lol, and testing himself that way, deliberately making Guts rage at him, does seem like something he’d do, and he declares that he’s free 2 pages later so yeah this works for me.
(tho when you say it’s implied that he knows something we don’t when/how do you mean? I mean I def feel like he does too but i’m wondering if you’re referencing a specific moment that’s slipping my mind)
I think it’s just how the IoE chapter ended. Like I feel like Griffith chose the the salvation option, and in some twisted way all the shitty things somehow tied in into a weird ‘greater good’ concept which we don’t know.
Like because if he chose the doom humanity response, where’s the surprise? That’s what most people would assume anyway, post Eclipse.
And I keep remembering how big a fan of starwars Kentaro Miura is. (Millennium Falcon :,) And i’m pretty sure Griffith has a lot of Anakin-Darth Vader parallels. And this is all air theory. But I think the ending is going to have some gray area partial redemption action going.
I feel Griffith is moving towards a goal way beyond the kingdom which we don’t know of.
I had always assumed that, anyway? Like, people seem to think that there’s a twist coming with Griffith’s eerie utopia, but I think the twist is that Berserk is an edgy manga and so the of questionable morality of Falconia and Griffith’s way of doing things is if not the right thing to do then just the way things are meant to go down (now, anyway)
A big theme of Berserk is “humanity’s desires,” both “good” and “bad,” and how they affect and shape the universe. Simply put, while I agree this can be annoying, the plot of Berserk is on a much larger scale than I think most people realise. Griffith literally spoke to “God.” Whatever he’s doing 1) he is right to do and 2) he isn’t going to get punished for it, imo. If he’s going to get punished for anything, it’ll be his emotional repression
Aww Casca distracting him from his revenge boner, how sweet.
So then what’s this? “The instant I saw him… I’d forgotten my urge to kill. And I’m kinda concerned about that because I should want to kill him, and this is gonna fuck up my revenge groove.” Sounds like you just don’t feel like killing him quite as much now that he looks like your crush again.
So is it sexy naked Griffith or Casca killing it for you? What is the truth?
Well he lets Rickert hold him back from Griffith too, and I’m js Rickert isn’t exactly a match for Guts.
Looks like he’s taking any excuse he can not to swing a sword at him yk?
Finally he does shove Rickert aside only to yell at him again:
Gets Griffith’s “I’ll not betray my dream, that is all” in response, and finally attacks, only for
Zodd to suddenly appear out of nowhere in what is frankly such bullshit egregious plot convenience and timing (where the fuck was he hiding in the middle of this field? behind a sword?) that I can only assume Guts saw him and knew he’d be interrupted.
Like, I’m js Guts was a whole lot better at this when he had 20 broken bones for some reason.
Guts are you obligated to remember Griffith naked everytime or
yes
Aww Casca distracting him from his revenge boner, how sweet.
So then what’s this? “The instant I saw him… I’d forgotten my urge to kill. And I’m kinda concerned about that because I should want to kill him, and this is gonna fuck up my revenge groove.” Sounds like you just don’t feel like killing him quite as much now that he looks like your crush again.
So is it sexy naked Griffith or Casca killing it for you? What is the truth?
Well he lets Rickert hold him back from Griffith too, and I’m js Rickert isn’t exactly a match for Guts.
Looks like he’s taking any excuse he can not to swing a sword at him yk?
Finally he does shove Rickert aside only to yell at him again:
Gets Griffith’s “I’ll not betray my dream, that is all” in response, and finally attacks, only for
Zodd to suddenly appear out of nowhere in what is frankly such bullshit egregious plot convenience and timing (where the fuck was he hiding in the middle of this field? behind a sword?) that I can only assume Guts saw him and knew he’d be interrupted.
Like, I’m js Guts was a whole lot better at this when he had 20 broken bones for some reason.
Actually the most recent anime adaptation completely coloured how I viewed that scene for a while there because Griffith looked so hateful
I probably shouldn’t read too much into this bad CGI model but …… I mean come on holy shit
lol wow, i’ve only seen this episode in a really laggy stream so I never rly noticed this.
I feel like chalking this up to a bad adaptation needing to make it painfully obvious that this guy is Villainous and throwing nuance and subtlety to the wind.
But I still do think that in the manga he got a petty thrill from getting to be the one to ditch Guts this time.
And Guts kinda recognized it as payback too?
I definitely think Griffith was purposely being smug here actually, but I don’t know if he actually felt that way.
Because the “it’s fitting for us to reunite here as the Band of the Hawk” was just too markedly and boldly insensitive to be Griffith’s natural style imo?
I feel like he was testing out how they’d feel on his tongue. If saying them, to perhaps the person he’d primarily consciously shitted on would inspire any guilt.
I feel he was purposely trying to get a rise out of Guts to see if that reaction or Guts trying to angrily guilt trip him would actually lead to a guilt Trip.
Just a hole-y theory though.
It’s just obviously implied that Neo Griff knows something we don’t and i want to fucking know what it is.
Ooh interesting point. The Band of the Hawk assembling once more is like… a really ridiculously dickish thing to say lol, and testing himself that way, deliberately making Guts rage at him, does seem like something he’d do, and he declares that he’s free 2 pages later so yeah this works for me.
(tho when you say it’s implied that he knows something we don’t when/how do you mean? I mean I def feel like he does too but i’m wondering if you’re referencing a specific moment that’s slipping my mind)
i get a cold chill down my spine every time i consider the possibility of rickert and erika becoming a couple after a timeskip
this is so mood… i remember ages ago i think farnesca got an ask that was abt rickert/erica and it gave me strep throat. theres like a 6-7 year age difference right. if they arent the definition of adopted siblings what are they
lmao right?
i’m re-reading the part where guts comes back and casca’s gone and going like, oh hey there’s a pretty direct comparison here between guts and rickert and casca and erika wrt acting like a responsible person, that’s cute and kinda de-romanticizes guts and casca’s current dynamic somewhat by comparing them to siblings oh shit
i get a cold chill down my spine every time i consider the possibility of rickert and erika becoming a couple after a timeskip
Guts: tbh… his tenacity – his
attitude that you have to see things through to the end, and how in most
stories this would be shown to be a virtue, but in Berserk while it is
often shown as admirable, it’s also one of his biggest flaws at times.
It’s there in touching moments, like when teenage Guts risks his life to
take a flower to a hill, and it’s also there when he vows revenge and
abandons Casca and Rickert to go off on a two-year monster hunting
spree. It’s there when he insists on getting Casca magically healed
despite Skull Knight’s warnings and his own musing that things could
turn out very bad if her sanity is forced back. It’s there when he
becomes obsessed with becoming Griffith’s equal, explicitly ignoring all
evidence that Griffith already cares for him. It’s there every time he
refuses to die.
The closest Guts came to abandoning a course
of action once he’d decided on it is when he switched from his “dream”
to realizing he wants to stay with Griffith, right before the Eclipse,
and that would’ve been the best thing Guts could’ve done, if he’d had
the chance. Switching from revenge to helping Casca is close too (and
pretty explicitly paralleled to leaving Griff vs returning and staying),
but he’s doing it with the thought in his head that it’s temporary
(”when this journey ends, I’ll…” [pictures Griffith]), and his
tenacity is still there in how he’s not letting doubts and warnings
deter him from fixing Casca, so it’s a bit of a double-edged sword.
Idk man I love Guts’ doggedness, both as a virtue and a flaw.
My
favourite Guts moment though, now that’s difficult. I’ll go with one of
the best early moments, during the Black Swordsman arc, for the sake of
making things easy. It’s my first favourite moment, at least:
Like
half his bones are broken, he couldn’t do more than crawl on his
stomach and beg for attention before this when faced with the object of
his revenge obsession, but he stands up and marches up the stairs with
his sword when Femto says he’s beneath his notice. I love him.
Griffith:
Griffith is one of my all-time favourite characters period so narrowing
it down to one thing is hard, but I think if I had to settle on one it
would be his emotional repression? The way he doesn’t realize he’s in
love with Guts until it’s too late, the way he refuses to acknowledge
his feelings of guilt and self-loathing, the way he comes so close to
getting more emotionally healthy and open with Guts at his side but then
Guts leaves without a word and everything falls to pieces, the way he
falls back on the fact that he “won” Guts in a duel and fights for him
again because he can’t articulate why he can’t stand the thought
of Guts leaving, the way he self-sabotages himself into a dungeon
because he’s so unfamiliar with his own emotions that he can’t deal with
his feelings after Guts leaves, etc.
Funnily enough, in contrast
to that, I think my favourite Griffith moment (lbr my favourite Berserk
moment) is probably his moment of greatest self-awareness:
But like the reason this monologue is so effective is because
he’s so emotionally repressed, and it took him a year of nothing but
torture and self reflection for him to recognize his feelings. It makes
this moment really, really shine.
Casca: I love that
she genuinely commands respect among the Hawks. It’s one of the few
really satisfying aspects of her character role and her treatment by
other characters to me – from Corkus getting scared and apologizing when
she threatens him, to Griffith giving her the most important job in his
capture Doldrey ploy, to the Hawks stepping back so she can take out
Adon herself and cheering her on, to being able to rally the Hawks as
their leader in the most panic-inducing circumstances, etc etc.
I think my all-time favourite Casca moment is this:
God she deserves this moment of glory.
Farnese: I love
her “you just have to become a storm yourself” thing. The way her
reaction to fear is to join the thing that frightens her and become the
frightening thing. I loved it when it lead to her doing terrible things
like burning people alive and I loved it when it lead to her doing great
things like joining Guts and learning to defend herself and Casca and
becoming a witch.
My favourite Farnese moment is a pretty obvious one but what can I say it’s so good:
Fighting
off a demon tiger taking out whole crowds with a swipe of its paw, with
a candlestick, at a fancy ball, man, how can you not love her?
Serpico:
I like the contrast between his chill and diplomatic
go-with-the-flow-ness vs how solid and immovable he is when it comes to
protecting the people he loves, and how what ties those contrasts
together is a willingness to be hurt for their sakes, from dueling
people to a draw to avoid feelings of resentment towards Farnese, to
standing between her and Berserker Guts.
My favourite Serpico moment is:
Putting
himself in danger while defusing a tense situation with that chill
diplomacy. And not even for Farnese, but for Guts this time.
you're the only one 