Tag: b

flooracle
replied to your post “expyy
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just for fun he ties/braids his hair at the front to make it look like that

ok now this is an adorable image. like, teenage griffith just acting like a kid and making guts laugh.

hey… thought in griffiths thoughts on guts hypothetical facial hair andddd maybe vice versa though tbh i don’t think griffith could grow a beard even if he tried lmao

the thought of griffith with a beard made my brain 404 lol. and honestly kind of guts too, i can’t even picture either of them with facial hair

i think griffith would be fine w/ guts growing a beard? maybe even like it? tho wait didn’t i get specific and say griffith was into guts’ jawline once, maybe he’d be annoyed if guts grew a beard and it hid any part of his face lol.

idk what are your thoughts?

I’m in love with that fanart of Femto holding Guys’ broken sword. Would be so neat to have a broken sword come back sometime, like when his sword broke in the battle of Doldrey. Thoughts?

a-girl-named-chester:

bthump:

yeah i was also super into that fanart. probs not the artist’s intention but made me think of casca holding guts’ sword after he left lol

mm on the subject of broken swords in general, ng ia,l i like the idea of the dragonslayer breaking

like if guts dies that would be an appropriate af prelude to it. a nice subtle rebuke of living your life by the sword.

actually it could also be a gr8 prelude to guts sorting out his feelings properly. you know like how i say that i want to believe guts’ current sidequest is a distraction from his conflicted feelings towards revenge/griffith/etc and what he should actually be doing is trying to untangle the emotional snarl that happens when your “true light” is also your nemesis lol. well the point is guts’ sword shatting could be a nice symbol of his distractions failing him and leaving him no choice but to confront his own feelings. maybe say something.

like it would go nicely with a third duel that has a strong emotional core

This is all great and I’m sorry I don’t have anything intelligent to add to it, but imagine his sword breaking during a third duel bc NGriff and/or Femto is “the absolute”.

Like the Griff/Femto breaking the sword that gets uncomfortably close to striking him, and then having to deal with the possibly-not-so-frozen heart issue, bc suddenly Guts is v vulnerable and killable.

NICE

griffith’s brain suddenly scrambling for an excuse not to kill him lol.

long game: decides to keep him locked up in his cellar dungeon, won’t stop visiting and talking to him to guts’ consternation

eventually something gives and gay conversations happen

I’m in love with that fanart of Femto holding Guys’ broken sword. Would be so neat to have a broken sword come back sometime, like when his sword broke in the battle of Doldrey. Thoughts?

yeah i was also super into that fanart. probs not the artist’s intention but made me think of casca holding guts’ sword after he left lol

mm on the subject of broken swords in general, ngl ia, i like the idea of the dragonslayer breaking

like if guts dies that would be an appropriate af prelude to it. a nice subtle rebuke of living your life by the sword.

actually it could also be a gr8 prelude to guts sorting out his feelings properly. you know like how i say that i want to believe guts’ current sidequest is a distraction from his conflicted feelings towards revenge/griffith/etc and what he should actually be doing is trying to untangle the emotional snarl that happens when your “true light” is also your nemesis lol. well the point is guts’ sword shatting could be a nice symbol of his distractions failing him and leaving him no choice but to confront his own feelings. maybe say something.

like it would go nicely with a third duel that has a strong emotional core

@ anon who sent me an ask last night, my answer to your question is i hate miura

but tbh i have no energy or desire to get in depth here so apologies if this comes across as flippant. if you want a better answer feel free to message me or ask me unanon.

Just finished reading vol 34 and I’m genuinely confused about the creation of Fantasia. Did Griffith merge the physical and astral worlds on purpose or…?

Yep.

You get a bit more info about the whole merging of the worlds thing in the next like 10-15 chapters, w/ Rickert
visiting Falconia and talking to Locus, and some dudes talking about how
the world was altered in Elfhelm, so if you want to just keep reading and draw your own conclusions then ignore the rest of this response.

But basically I think the idea behind it is that for humanity (including apostles) to unite and yk stop being dicks to each other on a grand scale, they need a common enemy. And merging the worlds allows humanity’s collective imagination into the real world, turning it into a high fantasy and giving humanity a shitload of their own nightmares to deal with as that common enemy.

I think Falconia is also a side effect of this – humanity, or at least Midland and co, collectively willed it into existence as a safe utopia with a bird theme because Griffith just saved the world and they all want him to lead them. There’s that historical memory/legend of Gaiseric’s empire, so this is like version 2.0.

Quick and easy way for Griffith to gain a utopian kingdom with full support of the vast majority of the people in it. Plus saving the world, turning it into high fantasy, and ruling the only peaceful kingdom in it kind of gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want. Societal expectations are out the window. Human Griffith as king probably would’ve faced huge obstacles when it came to gaining support and implementing even small changes in, say, how much power the nobility had, while NeoGriffith can do whatever the hell he wants.

There’s also the effect of allowing the Godhand to exist physically in the world, I think, which will probably turn out to be important. Does it grant them more power? Does it make them vulnerable? Both? Something else? idk yet but it’s intriguing.

what do you think of the theory that griffith sent rakshas to assassinate rickert?

tbh I lean towards assuming Locus sent Raksas after Rickert, but I’d also be pretty ok with it turning out to be Griffith after all. bc like, if it’s Griffith then that’s got some intrigue because it seems like a reaction driven by emotion rather than logic – Rickert isn’t a threat in any way. He’s a kid and he was planning to leave on his own. And it’s a plan that spectacularly failed, while all NGriff’s plans succeed because he has fate on his side. Therefore, if NGriff sent Raksas, then it was probably a stupid decision driven by an emotional need to, idk, erase that rejection from someone from his past.

I think it’s a lot more likely that Locus sent Raksas on his own initiative though. Partly bc it’s kind of a hard sell that NGriff would fuck something up that bad lol, but also because, like… sending an assassin after Rickert, even if I can argue some emotional complexity out of it, crosses the line into villainous for the sake of villainous that I don’t think NGriff is actually going to cross.

Tho again like, if he does cross that line it better be in a way that I can argue demonstrates interesting emotions. I’d rather it involve Guts than Rickert tho.

an awful question: griffguts favorite/preferred positions?

no this is a high quality question despite what probably made you think of it tonight lol

cowgirl, griff riding guts, is the favourite. at least at first. it’s like how i automatically assume their first time would go. griffith has more experience and would take the lead, but guts would still be the one to top for trauma reasons. relatedly griffith’s past experience w/ m/m sex would have been with him having v little control and p much just being used, so this would be a nice change for him too. they can see each other and make eye contact and feel emotionally intimate. good way to make their first time a positive and enjoyable experience for all, 10/10.

also related but extra intimate, sitting up facing each other and making out, wrapped around each other.

more advanced relationship-wise, griffith being taken from behind, hard and desperate, manhandled a bit. maybe bent over something, or just face down ass up. made to feel like guts can’t not fuck him in that moment and just desperately needs him. also neck kissing, no matter how rough it is. griffith would love dirty talk whispered in his ear too but that might be a little beyond guts. well actually guts could probably manage easy stuff like “need you” and “god you’re so good” and w/e, which would work just fine for griffith.

add mild bondage when they level up further, but i’m not going to get into that rn bc we’ve chatted about it before

guts eventually bottoming i see as p missionary style, again at least at first, super slow, best described as “lovemaking,” griffith getting super perfectionist. and guts would bask in being under so much loving attention from griffith.

also sleepy morning sex while spooning. mb intercrural sometimes, either topping.

i think both would enjoy giving blowjobs and probably rimming too.

also griffith def fantasizes about guts fucking him on midland’s throne after he becomes king. like in guts’ lap, guts actually sitting on the throne. some manhandling and teasing, guts power tripping a little on having him there, making him wait to come, etc. i’m gonna say that’s a heat of the moment fantasy that griff feels weird about after he comes tho. yk it’s got an undertone of prioritizing guts over the kingdom.

i mean honestly idt any sex position is going to be ooc as long as it’s set up right (like guts being fine w/ getting fucked from behind the first time would not be believable to me, but yk, maybe after a while it could work), but there’s a few i immediately jumped to.

did i miss any good ideas?

@mugiwarayaa-luffy replied to your post “broke: the cute panel where griffith shows guts the kama sutra is…”

How is kama sutra and eclipse be related?

lol the one explanation i’ve seen was that the sex position on the kama sutra page was the same as “the one” during the eclipse

which was both incorrect and also nonsensical bc miura drew a different position for every panel of the rape scene anyway

it’s just ppl reaching to make griffith seem sinister during the golden age in the absolute dumbest ways possible honestly

sorry I’m not sure if you’ve answered this before or not but I have to ask you. I was lurking reddit the other day and I found this post about guts choosing casca over his revenge on griffith. what do you think?

I genuinely think the authorially intended reading of Guts’ decision is that it’s complicated and there are multiple reasons Guts is choosing to take Casca to Elfhelm over revenge right now. It’s not a simple matter of Casca straightforwardly being more important to him or just choosing Casca over Griffith.

Hopefully this is the kind of answer you’re looking for, idk the subject is a little broad. I’ve kind of said this in some other posts too but I think it’d be handy to have a nice and orderly list to link to so I’m just throwing it all out in response to you.

So here are the various complicated reasons I think Guts has for going on his take Casca to Elfhelm quest:

1. He gives a fuck about Casca. He gave a fuck about her and saved her life even back when he hated her, because she was his comrade, and I’d certainly hope he cares about her now.

2. Elf cave is gone, and he’s not so shitty a person that he’s just going to abandon her in a field for ghosts to eat.

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3. He is aware that revenging made him a worse person and he wants to be better. Guts at his best is someone who does not abandon his friends and family but rather stands by them in their hours of need, and he wants to be that person again.

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Good Guts:

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Bad Guts:

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Good Guts:

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Bad Guts:

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Like, yk, abandoning people or staying with them is kind of Guts’ major thing throughout the story.

4. He is longing for a piece of his lost past, and Casca represents the Hawks.

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Additionally suggested by how every time he pictures her from the past, after that last pic, it’s as a Hawk commander.

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And statements like this:

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And the general fact that he’s trying to “force” her sanity back despite forboding warnings and actually contemplating on page how awful it might be for Casca, suggesting that it’s less for Casca’s own sake and more Guts’ selfish need to regain some of his happy past.

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5. Griffith looking human and sexy makes him forget his urge to kill, lessening the temptation of revenge and probably making Guts doubt his ability to follow through.

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nuff said

6. Guts’ whole revenge campaign was less about revenge and more about making himself feel better and getting Griffith’s attention. Last time he saw Griffith the dude declared that he was completely free of his feelings for him and then “deserted” him in the snow lol. This has also lessened the temptation of revenge – now pursuing Griffith feels extra fruitless, because Griffith (claims he) doesn’t give a fuck.

quick illustration:

swinging his sword making him feel better

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guts wanting attention

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also i have this much longer post here where i talk a lot about guts’ attitude towards revenge and femto and neogriffith etc for a more thorough explanation

7. He feels guilty for abandoning Griffith back in the Golden Age and refusing to abandon Casca (this time) is a way to make up for that mistake.

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8. Like the Beast of Darkness says, Casca reminds him of “the wound Griffith left” because he wants to keep feeling the pain he caused him. Both because it helps simplify his conflicting and confusing feelings into rage, and because, harkening back to point 6, imho it’s a masochistic reminder that he meant enough to Griffith for him to be worth lashing out at.

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I mean consider the context of some discussions of wounds in berserk. “I too want a wound… that I can say you gave me.”

Or Griffith tracing his shoulder where Guts’ sword failed to touch him, maybe:

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Anyway regardless of how suggestively that statement can be taken in the greater context of Berserk and wounds, there’s definitely some truth to it because it’s what Miura gave as the reason he didn’t kill Casca:

“The only point I was cautious about was not to completely stop the
story’s flow with the Eclipse. I kept Casca alive precisely for that
reason. That’s because even if she died, and if the series continued for
a long time, Guts’ reason to seek revenge would become a thing of the
past and if Guts formed new relationships with people, his motivation
would weaken. It’s a cold, calculating move and it might feel
unpleasant, but it’s exactly because Guts has Casca at his side that he
can never forget about the Eclipse.”

9. He’s still planning to return his focus to Griffith eventually. He hasn’t so much given up his revenge quest as put it on hold. It’s probably easier to say “not now” to himself than to say “never.”

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10. Narrative convenience keeps him on the straight and narrow. eg:

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cue Guts literally passing right out ten seconds later. it’s pretty easy to decide to get on a boat instead of get revenge when you can barely stand and going for revenge would be literal suicide. and even then Guts needed Serpico to step in and tell him not to be a dumbass.

Soooo yeah I think that about covers the various reasons Guts has for putting aside his revenge quest to take Casca to Elfhelm, which add up to smthn a lot more complicated than choosing Casca over revenge. I contemplated adding another section that’s like… a giant list of Guts utterly failing to prioritize Casca or demonstrate that she’s “more precious than Griffith” lol, but I might just do that in a separate post next time I’m feeling salty.

Something funny that I noticed in a chapter of Berserk is that the king of the fairies told Guts that Casca is “scared” but honestly, is that true? because Casca did show fear to Guts after the elicpse … but after the birth of Griffith she let herself be played by Guts even though it was difficult to handle her, but everything changed when Guts tried to rape her, which generated in that Casca hate and all her expressions They showed that, a quite understandable hatred.

Sorry, just want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly, do you mean you think that instead of being afraid of Guts after he sexually assaulted her, Casca hates him?

Bc honestly I’d argue that it’s probably both, or at least I’d like to hope Miura doesn’t boil Casca’s feelings down to “fear” but allows for some rage and hatred too.

I think the timeline of Casca’s feelings that we’re pretty explicitly shown is that after the Eclipse she’s scared and mistrustful of him (Guts forcibly grabbing her several times afterwards and nearly kissing her after ripping her dress probably didn’t help that), but then Puck speculates that Casca “sensed” that Guts rescued her during the Conviction arc and therefore trusted him.

Then Guts got possessed and strangled her, dragged her around tied to a rope for a while, then sexually assaulted her, and those positive feelings understandably vanished to be replaced with fear, mistrust, and ia, what definitely looks like hatred in a lot of her expressions. And I really hope that’s followed through and not ignored or downplayed.

what are your thoughts on the scene of rickert slapping griffith?

major thought: it’s a sign that griffith is emotionally compromised. not just the slap but also the way griffith did not have a single thing to say in response to rickert other than acknowledgement that the hawk emblem has changed, ie that he’s not the same person rickert was loyal to

his silence suggests that this is troubling to him. that rickert’s rejection is meaningful to him as a rejection of his identity, and therefore that acceptance from the last remaining member of the old band (who is sane and hasn’t declared war on him) would have been meaningful to him.

which suggests that this

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said by Guts to Rickert shortly before this lol:

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applies to griffith.

basically i think that scene is a strong indication that it’s not just his dream ngriff’s longing for.

here’s another post where i talk about this scene a bit if you want like a better explanation lol

oh also I hope there’s also potential for ngriff to have a bit of an identity crisis a la ascended ganeshka after rickert’s refusal to accept him as the same person and ngriff’s acknowledgement – especially w/ his “nothing has changed” statement being repeated.

like there’s room for irony in both directions there, ykwim? “nothing has changed” = lol ngriff still has feelings for guts, he was right but not in the way he thought. and “nothing has changed” = a denial which he’s forced to confront eventually

oh and one more thing along those lines – you could suggest he’s doing the same thing guts is doing right now

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idk. i hope this all adds up to something.

Man griffith’s sad parting smile at guts after he sacrifices the hawks is the most heartbreaking thing ever and I die thinking about how that was last we ever saw of human griffith (if you doun’t count the lost chapter) and how he’s been dead for years. Everyday I wonder what would happen if neo griffith’s heart “unfroze”

this is a mood

idk how he does it but miura nailed this expression. what a mixture of like, genuine love and relief that he’s escaping it

here’s hoping we find out some good interesting stuff about neogriffith’s unfrozen heart soon

Hi there, Sorry about this but I wanted to start reading Berserk but I’m really confused on if I’ve found the right chapters. Does the story start with Guts already being with the band of hawks for three years? Or are there chapters I’m missing? Or do I start with the Black Swordsman arc (Episode 0A?) Thank you!

Ah I think I’ve figured it out haha Thank you anyway, love the blog!(I’m
the anon asking about if I was starting in the right place.) 

I just got home from work and saw this and wanted to reply real quick before bed, it’s probably unnecessary by now but just in case lol.

So yeah you probably know this, but definitely start from the Black Swordsman arc, there are sometimes fans who will recommend skipping it but they’re wrong. the chapter numbers are a little weird, the first 16 are unnumbered so some sites repeat them, some give them different designations (like 0A presumably).

And i’d say make sure you’re reading the official dark horse translation, because there are a lot of confusing scanlations floating around the internet that i don’t recommend. mangaseeonline has it if you’ve found a scanlation and want to switch over.

what are your top 5 favorite guts centric scenes?

this is a really hard list to narrow down ngl

5.

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Can I just say all of chapter 2? I was tempted to go with the end of chapter one as a character establishing moment, yk Guts looking scarier than snake man as he gleefully tortures him, but honestly chapter 2 is where it’s at when it comes to Black Swordsman Guts.

4.

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Guts finally, somberly realizing he shouldn’t’ve left, telling Judeau and Casca he’ll stay with Griffith, both of them telling him to leave because he did such a thorough job of proclaiming he’s got a nobler goal and separating himself, just hammering home how it was a mistake.

3.

This is a double feature because I couldn’t decide between these two scenes and they essentially say the same thing anyway:

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and

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Guts haunted by the fear and temptation of becoming a monster. I love the sewer nightmare, especially coming right before Promrose Hall. The way it conflates Zodd, Donovan, and Guts after he kills Adonis. Guts’ self-loathing here informing why he reacts so badly to the overheard speech too.

And then after Rosine and a fun child-killing spree, these ghosts voicing his inner thoughts. The self-loathing, muddied by the temptation of giving in and following in Griffith’s footsteps, ironically the same choice he made after Promrose Hall. Griffith’s dream made him a monster, and Guts’ dream is doing the same – and the Black Swordsman content is absolutely Guts pursuing his own dream, to fight stronger and stronger opponents.

2.

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Guts channeling all his painful feelings into rage here. I can’t really say the whole rampage through Midland lol, there are moments I like less, but definitely the start of it, the reunion in the depths, killing the torturer, one man army-ing up the stairs and out the door. It’s just so good. Exactly how Guts avoids dealing with his feelings, really awesome to watch, nice sense of protectiveness, and excellently illustrative of how devastated he is to find Griffith after a year of torture.

1.

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Guts finally, finally beginning to accept that he’s found a new home, the place where he belongs, here with the Hawks and Griffith, after Griffith risked his life to save him from a monster (in a particularly meaningful contrast to his childhood). Finally beginning to move on and heal a bit. This is the moment of greatest potential for Guts and p much the pinnacle of his life and it’s so effective at putting the reader and Guts at like, a height from which to fall.

Bonus 6:

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This only gets a bonus spot bc I’ve mentioned it a few times before as one of my favourite Guts moments and I don’t want to be too predictable lol, but it’s so good. This whole scene. Guts ostensibly wanting to fight Femto but more than anything wanting his attention and only being spurred on to even stand up when Femto says that.

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Oh Guts. ilu

freewilllife:

bthump:

@freewilllife I’m c/ping this bc that post is really long to reblog imo lol

I half-wonder if this is an issue with Miura writing some of Berserk
while depressed lol, considering how utterly cynical the Conviction arc
is.

I think this is the case.Depending on the real life issues of the author…and yes I think it somehow is fitting…

Because
sometimes a relationship even an unequal one is better than being
alone, however it can turn out worse if the dependent state doesn´t
develop…

Somehow I think ( I know what a  thought…most
Griffith/Guts fans do know that I suppose) that Griffith and Guts had a
dependency on each other that could have turned into a nice
relationship, but fate and their own insufficient communication skills
prevented it.

Guts wished to be the equal of Griffith…he
wished to acquire it…The way he chose was…It would have not been bad if
he had somehow come to another realisation than committing murder is his
“dream” ( That is just my priority maybe?).

Casca on the other
hand wished to maintain an unequal relationship at all cost…she wished
to be near Griffith, later Guts. It is depicted as if Casca only wished
to be Griffith´s sword since she wished to stay in his shadow…Whereas
Guts wished to obtain an own dream in order to be his equal…

Yeah there’s something to be said for Guts and Casca’s (and Charlotte’s) respective reactions to hearing Griffith’s dream speech. Even if it was a stupid speech and Guts’ decision was misguided, he’s still the only one who was like, well I’d better go out and achieve something so I can be his bff.

And it’s also very telling that Guts invited Casca along on his dream adventure – it shows that Guts is not thinking of her as an equal, he’s thinking of her as support for him, the way she was support for Griffith, rather than someone who could achieve her own dream and become an equal w/ him and Griffith.

(This probably says more about how Miura sees romantic (het) relationships as opposed to All-Important Bonds Between Men, but yk.)

Like imo the whole notion of dreams + equals is stupid as fuck, but it’s what Guts is basing his life around at that point and Casca just doesn’t figure in as a potential equal as far as he’s concerned.

Also of course I completely agree that Guts and Griffith’s relationship could’ve been exactly what they both needed, and could’ve been (and was for a time) a hugely positive influence on both of them, but fate and their own issues interfered and ruined it. Like I don’t think they were ever not equals – regardless of their stupid arbitrary standards, their feelings for each other made them equals, and I s2g the water fight is symbolic of that fact.

Like, not literally but symbolically, Griffith won the first fight, Guts won the second – the waterfight. So when Guts won a third – the second duel – it fucked up the balance and resulted in Griffith losing everything, and demonstrated that Guts was leaving based on a false premise.

(also lmao yeah the dream Guts landed on is kind of hilarious in how terrible it is. i love that you describe it as ‘committing murder’ bc it’s not exactly far off)

Like I don’t think they were ever not equals – regardless of their
stupid arbitrary standards, their feelings for each other made them
equals, and I s2g the water fight is symbolic of that fact.

Yeah…When you express it like this. I mean that would mean that equal, mutual relationships would just be possible between men…I don´t mean that you said that, but the narrative seems to point to such a belief. Or maybe men are supposed to have “a woman”, but the “real relationship” is just with their comrade(s)?

Since Casca is treated by both men as a woman, a mutual, equal relationship doesn´t seem to be possible….I don´t know what that is supposed to mean…As if the sex would determine a persons every character and dreams…

Yeah honestly that is the vibe I get from Berserk. I mean honestly that’s the vibe I get from a lot of media in general. I mean, that’s the vibe I get from society lmao. Relationships between men and women are for sex and for the dude’s self-esteem and sense of completion as a man, relationships between men are the meaningful ones with nuance and intrigue and significance, that reflect upon them as individuals. And relationships between women barely exist.

Obviously there are exceptions, but let’s be real here, this is just how relationships are portrayed in media most of the time due to misogyny, and Berserk is… well the main relationships are no exception. To Miura’s credit some of the side relationships between women are interesting + significant (eg Jill and Rosine, Nina and Luca, can’t really say Farnese and Casca yet but there’s potential there), and Farnese and Serpico have an interesting relationship by these standards. Though the fact that it’s non-romantic is probably related.

seisans
replied to your post “@freewilllife I’m c/ping this bc that post is really long to reblog…”

and then they didn’t get a 4th duel on the hill of swords and griffith just won the encounter by being untouchable and not giving a fuck, making guts feel basically like griffith or fate or whoever was just giving him a taste of his own medicine lol

lmao yeah true

I’ll never get over “this time I’m the one who was deserted” lol