What do you think is the best way to adapt/be inspired by Berserk without fully ripping it off?? I want to write a story with similar ideas n characteristic of Berserk, but I want to make sure I’m not copying it. Thanks

Honestly, ihni where that line is drawn lol, I don’t think I’ll be any help. Sorry, I wish I could give you a good thorough answer, but I‘d just as likely be completely wrong lol and accidentally advise plagiarism or smthn.

I hope you figure it out though and write your thing because any story inspired by some aspects of Berserk is probably worth writing!

honestly before reading berserk i expected g*tsca to be some star crossed lovers shit and griffith to be one dimensional gay villain with one-sided crush. like g*tsca isnt even that good and griffith is really sympathic. this fandom is really straight and have no reading comprehension lol

ikr, it really surprised me how downplayed and non-romantic their relationship was in the manga considering how fandom talks about it. and ofc it’s not even close to subtle about the fact that griffith is guts’ #1 priority and vice versa throughout the Golden Age. I mean, that’s literally the whole point lol, Griffith’s conflict during the GA is Guts vs the dream, and Guts’ conflict post-Eclipse is Griffith vs his humanity.

like the direct source of tension of both of their narratives is in resisting the fact that the other is Their Most Important Thing In Life.

also tbh I think the anime is to blame for a lot of the fandom’s interpretation of g*tsca. It often emphasizes their relationship in a way the manga just didn’t lol. Like eg anime Guts’ ultra romantic “I never want to stop holding you” or w/e the line was complete with Touching Music vs manga Guts’ ‘come with me because I want to fuck more’ complete with Ominous Eclipse Foreshadowing.

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Kinda does! 😮 To me it comes off as he’s finally found a social order he can get behind and will do whatever is necessary (by his morals) to uphold it. Nothing personal for Griffith like Guts.

yeah ia, locus’ devotion to griffith really feels way more like a knight to a king or even symbol, rather than anything personal. which is fitting for neogriffith who doesn’t seem like he’s had a personally revealing interaction ever lol, and it makes a great contrast to human griffith and his relationship w/ guts, and even the rest of the hawks too.

I liked your theory about casca using the behelit but it made me worry that it will be guts who uses it and he’ll sacrifice casca to do it (similar to ‘the beast’ wanting him to rape/eat/kill casca so he could be close to griffith) and therefore reduce her to just another pain source AGAIN but idk… I guess their ‘sacrifice’ status helps prevent that but then can either of them use the behelit because of that?

ty! and tbh I don’t think you don’t have to worry about that (unless Miura decides to retcon hard facts).

in addition to the count not being able to sacrifice guts because he doesn’t love guts lol, they point out

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you can’t mark someone for sacrifice twice.

But yeah there’s nothing saying that someone marked for sacrifice can’t use a behelit themselves, and everyone knowledgeable about these things seems to believe that Guts potentially could use it (like Slan saying “why not make a sacrifice” in the troll cave, eg).

Though I don’t think the behelit is Guts’. Whether Miura was considering it for a while is a possibility, but since the Berserk armour made an appearance and we started getting a lot of “is it yours or are you just carrying it for someone hmmm” moments, I feel like it’s been really unlikely that Guts is ever going to use it. The armour is more his way of letting his inner darkness loose. Which has the handy effect of not being necessarily permanent, but with the ever present threat of becoming permanent. Perfect for a protagonist lol.

Also speaking of the Beast of Darkness telling Guts to assault and murder Casca so he can pursue Griffith, I think that could be another like… factor in Casca using the behelit. Right now she’s the symbol of Guts’ humanity, so if she becomes a monster it makes thematic sense for Guts to follow suit by losing himself to the armour. He could later be brought back by ~the power of friendship~ to demonstrate that despite their quest ending in tragedy and darkness, it was still worthwhile because of the character development and relationships formed along the way.

Ha! I’ve been fretting for ages about how Casca going apostle could work thematically w/ the whole interpersonal relationships as positive influences/power of love and friendship stuff of the last 200 chapters, but there, that totally fits! Then mb Casca could have her own personal narrative rather than continuing to be a symbol of Guts’ humanity.

ok yk what

if half of the g*tsca sex scene is meant to be a positive step towards guts getting over his trauma, and ignoring my personal feelings by all rights it absolutely should be, because the central point of berserk is that interpersonal relationships are positive ways to heal from trauma and guts having a flashback and then talking it through in front of Casca b4 having comfort sex seems like it fits right into that theme

so yeah if that is meant to be a positive emotionally healing experience, then i simply do not understand why it… changes literally nothing.

guts’ dream is a distraction, swinging his sword is his way of not thinking about his issues, and after this he goes right back to harping on about his dream and insisting he’s gonna keep fighting stronger and stronger enemies.

during the wyald fight he refuses to let casca help and refuses to run because he feels like he’s got a score to settle with monsters as a concept, and therefore he has to beat wyald all by himself (”by my own sword”), which is also an indication that he’s still mired in his issues, obsessed with his dream, lashing out to assuage his personal pain.

and he finally, finally chooses to let go of his dream for someone else’s sake when it’s Griffith who needs him, not Casca.

having sex with Casca after the flashback should be Guts’ turning point. When Casca asks him to stay his answer should be yes, or at least be ambiguous enough to show that he’s seriously considering it. that he’s beginning to recognize that relationships > dreams and the Hawks are his family. He suggests that Casca come along, but makes it very clear that his dream gets first priority when he does. “Whether bein’ with you will get in the way of what I want to do… or the opposite… I can’t tell now.”

rather than considering staying when Casca asks, he immediately says he wants “to draw a line, keep things separate.” And ofc Griffith ends up being the turning point. Casca telling him Griffith destroyed himself because of him, thinking about Griffith’s emotional vulnerability during the rescue mission, finding Griffith after a year of torture and now dependant – these are all what lead to Guts wavering and wondering if leaving was a mistake. Not Casca yelling that he’s a selfish idiot who only cares about himself and dreams, but Casca yelling that Griffith ended up in a torture chamber because of him.

Miura even shows us Guts choosing to stay with Griffith before even consulting Casca.

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Like he could’ve split the difference, had Casca tell Guts she can’t leave with him because she needs to take care of Griffith and have Guts make up his mind then, showing that his relationships with Casca and Griffith are at least equal in importance, but nope. Guts wants to stay with Griffith regardless of what Casca decides. It’s before they talk again that he reaches his conclusion that he fucked up and the Hawks were his home all along:

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their relationship could not be more of an afterthought to Miura here. it’s so painfully clear that he added it just to destroy her character and motivate Guts, because where there should be a shitload of thematic resonance and character development in their relationship, there’s none. it’s absolutely unnecessary, it affects nothing at all except the eclipse rape, to such an extent that it’s awkward, because it would’ve been so easy and straightforward to tie it into existing themes and make their relationship matter, and Miura just didn’t bother.

Like if I shipped them I’d be mad lol, I’d feel ripped off. Instead I’m just weirded out by how badly written this one subplot is in the midst of the otherwise pretty outstanding Golden Age.

Why do I have a very strong feeling that from all the great possible endings you’ve suggested in the past and now recently we won’t get one half as satisfying from the author

lol I’m glad you’re into my ideas, ty! and also yeah, ikwym about The Dread too. At least we’ll always have the Golden Age I guess? As far as endings go, “You’re the only one… you’re the only one… who made me forget my dream. I sacrifice.” is flawless so I’ll just pretend that’s the real ending if I need to lol. Or Guts picking up the Count’s behelit and walking sadly out of the castle at the end of the BS arc.

Different anon, but how do you think someone should get started on Tumblr writing Berserk headcannons, blurbs, etc? I’ve been wanting to make another blog just for writing, but I feel like it all be for nothing because it wouldn’t get any attention anyways so no one would really see it to read it. That could just be my self doubt speaking. But if you have any tips on how to get started on Tumblr for writing Berserk please let me know. Thank you 🖤💜

I made a sideblog and just started liveblogging into the void lol. ihni how people found me but eventually followers started to trickle in. Tho like, I liveblogged half of Berserk before I got more than a handful of readers, so perseverence is probably key. Don’t be discouraged if your first few posts don’t get much response.

It probably would’ve helped if I’d followed people first and sought out interaction too lol, so I recommend doing that, replying to people’s posts, reblogging stuff and starting convos, etc. I know I’m more likely to follow people (or regularly scroll through their blogs when I’m bored lol, since I like to keep my dash fairly slow) if I’ve seen them in my notes and interacted with them. And it’s a good way to make friends.

So yeah I guess my advice is just do it, follow people and don’t be shy about interacting with them, and don’t expect to get like hundreds of followers immediately, but give it some time and eventually you’ll get noticed. Build it and they’ll come lol.

Oh also tag your posts. Personally I avoid putting anything that could be even a little controversial in the general Berserk tag lol, but if you tag stuff berserk, or griffguts, or whatever, ppl should see it.

What characters do you want to make it to the end of the series? Like who do you most want to see get a happy ending (or even a not so happy ending)?

C A S C A

I got this pipe dream of Casca using the behelit, being the one to kill NGriff, then ending up an immortal mercenary a la Zodd. (Hey, if the rumours are true about her being named after this book it might be plausible.) It would be a sad happy ending for her – alone, a monster, but like, finally her own sword.

And Casca riding off into the sunset with Farnese as a genuine happy ending is my other pipe dream, so Farnese is another character I’d prefer not to die.

I suppose I’d like Rickert to live too. And I can’t immediately think of a fitting way for Serpico to die, and I like him, so I’ll err on the side of wanting him to survive also.

I’d probably want Puck to live, though I could maybe see killing him off for a huge “shit just got real” moment since he’s the second longest running character in the manga and p much represents positivity lol. But I doubt it.

I’d want Charlotte to outlive NGriff and take over ruling Falconia. With Anna.

I think that’s about it, everyone else I either couldn’t care less if they live or die, or I actively want them to die lol.

On that note, Guts is the character who I probably most want to die. After his whole narrative full of being “the struggler,” refusing to die againt all odds, etc, I’d find it so anticlimatic if he lived happily ever after and died of old age lmao. His story should build to a v meaningful and emotional death imo. Also purposeful – self-sacrifice, dying to take NGriff down with him (lbr the two of them dying together would be gr8), letting NGriff stab him the way he often lets people stab him when he’s upset lol, something like that. It should feel like a choice on his part, a significant and revealing contrast to his struggler thing.

imo the only other fitting cap to his life of refusing to die would be becoming immortal, and I think that would be framed as a sadder ending for him than a meaningful death, since he’d basically be following in Skull Knight’s footsteps in that case, which has always been suggested as a Bad Ending.

Also I want NGriff to either die or live forever haunted by Guts’ memory.

This is all ignoring the ominous afterlife thing, which tbf is a huge thing to ignore, but w/e. I’m not that interested in Berserk’s afterlife, idc whether my faves go to the nice whirlpool or the mean whirlpool. (Tho honestly the happiest ending of all as far as I’m concerned would be Casca and Farnese living happily ever after while Guts and Griffith end up dragging each other to hell and ~becoming one~ so if afterlives feature heavily at the end let’s do that. hey it’d be a fitting end to all the equals shit too. you’re truly equal when you’re just a big mass of souls melding together.)

(I mean theoretically ending up in heaven together works too but I feel like there are too many hoops to jump through to justify that lol. just as long as they aren’t in separate afterlife pools.)

Any thoughts on the chapters about Cascas mind and her restoration?

Oh, lots.

Off the top of my head I find them fairly disappointing. I feel like Miura’s really half-assing this glimpse into Casca’s psyche – eg we got a few scattered Golden Age scenes from Casca’s perspective, but they didn’t bring anything new to the table, we didn’t learn anything about Casca that wasn’t already obvious. The chapter full of dick monsters was ridiculous lol, and the whole concept of piecing Casca together like gluing together a broken doll is like, kind of cliche and super shallow? Again, we’re not learning anything about Casca, we’re just montaging through a dumb dream quest.

On the other hand this sequence does have good points. I loved Farnese w/ tiny Casca. The fact that Farnese is now v intimately familiar with Casca’s whole life, seeing through her eyes and feeling her feelings, is interesting from a shippy standpoint even if canon does nothing with it. I liked that dog Guts just fucked right off and got destructive to everyone around him when pterodactyl Femto showed up, to the point where they were worried he’d smash Casca. Gives me hope lmao. The portrayal of the Eclipse was remarkably restrained so I applaud Miura for that lol. And of course I loved that Casca’s heart is covered in ominous despair thorns, and that shit got dark as soon as Casca saw Guts after waking up.

Like it’s not enough to make me super confident that g*tsca isn’t gonna happen, but it was enough to make me fistpump lol.

I have mixed feelings about the fetus showing up. On the one hand, I fucking hate that fetus and every glimpse of it fills me with dread. On the other hand, the fact that it symbolizes Casca’s heart backs up my wild reach-y theory that she might sacrifice it lol.

I have seized on the fact that Danann 180ed from ‘get lost Guts Casca’s scared of you’ to ‘wear this dress and go see Guts right now’ and I completely believe that Danann is plotting something and Casca going into despair as soon as she sees Guts (who has a behelit on him js js) was planned.

Actually here’s my post full of plot-focused theorizing if you’re interested.

Also my immediate reactions to recent chapters are here

Tbh I wouldn’t mind switching Guts’ current rpg squad with Rickert, Erica and Silat. They’re wayyyyy more interesting to me atm. Rickert is probably the only child character I can stand lol

(This is the anon who talked about replacing the rpg squad lmao)
Actually you know what, I’d be so happy if Guts’ group was made up of
Farnese, Serpico, Puck, Silat, and Rickert. That’s it lol. I’m not even
gonna complain about Casca bc I don’t think she’s going anywhere 

Honestly same, this would be a rly fun lineup (well, lose Erica, but i think you did in your 2nd message lol). I’d love to see Silat and Guts interact more especially tbh, I think they’d be entertaining reluctant allies.

Do you think Griffith had some sort of mental disorder?? I think that he could’ve had borderline personality disorder and maybe something else.

lol the problem here is that idk a thing about psychology in general or bpd specifically. I feel like answering this question/trying to diagnose him based on the wiki article and what may or may not be the current diagnostic criteria I found on google would be doing a disservice to actual ppl with bpd.

So I’ll just say from my media-focused perspective that imo Griffith’s behaviour, emotions, reactions, etc, all make perfect sense to me based on what we’re told and shown about the setting, about his past, about how he deals with his emotions (ie he doesn’t), etc. I don’t feel like further explanation is required, and his more “extreme” behaviour/emotional responses seem to be a result of either his feelings for Guts or specific extreme situations (eg feeling responsible for a kid’s death, torture), and discussed as anomalies rather than patterns (but Griffith, so calm and composed, always gets impulsive when it comes to you!), so I personally don’t headcanon him with any personality or mental disorders. Well, give or take ptsd lol.

But at the same time there are people who have bpd or are otherwise personally familiar with it who see Griffith as borderline, so I’m sure it’s a v legit and reasonable reading/extrapolation of his character.

lol so tl;dr, idk enough about mental health so i don’t incorporate it into my own reading of his character, basically, and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, but i def think there’s room to incorporate it into your interpretation of him.