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berserk sideblog. griffguts, meta, criticism, fangirling. i fucking love griffith.

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[erensmid]

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This is super obvious but I knew the way the manga showed it is amazing.

Griffith degraded himself after becoming femto, but it wasn’t only his humanity and morality which took a dive.

His dream and the way he went on to achieve it and what it stood for completely changed.

People followed Griffith because he represented hope and a possibility for change for the common man, he came from nothing and inspired and gave hope to people to change their circumstances, he inspired his own soldier to dream and want something for themselves.

As the white falcon he shook the status quo, the people who decided to follow him were the hopeful man, the dreamers.

But now as femto/the falcon of light he submitted to the idea of “fate”, to the idea he wasn’t just a common man, he was always destined to be great and to become a king. The people who came to his kingdom did so out of desperation rather than their own volition. A complete betrayal of everything he stood for before.

I really hate Griffith, yet here I am writing essay analysis about his character and development

Props to Miura for writing such an amazing character, who is utterly despicable and still manages to be complex and somewhat sympathetic to some people.

Assuming the 2nd message is also you.

Personally I don't know if I see the role of fate as dichotemy between human Griffith and NeoGriffith exactly... human Griffith also believed in fate, after all, as he says in chapter 8 ("We are all at the mercy of a great tide... fate, or whatever you wish to call it.") He wants to discover if it's his destiny to be one of the "true elite" by reaching for it as hard as he can, or at least, that's the justification for his dream that he tells himself.

The difference is that NeoGriffith now knows for a fact that he was right about being fated to be important lol. BUT that said, it is still a difference because it validates the lofty justification and makes it a whole lot easier for him to ignore the driving subconscious emotional reasons he has for pursuing his dream.

And yeah I think it's awesome that Berserk inspires you to think deeply and write meta about the story, even when you don't like the characters you're talking about. It's such a good story that gives you so much to think about and chew on, and Griffith is so interesting and complex whether you sympathize or not imo.

[griffithtruther]

holy hair🥀

[baobab-like-the-tree]

He think everything a fucking fight

(from yeaaaars ago. I’m under exams can’t berserk anymore….)

[griffithtruther]

u know Griffith grippin that POLE

[manga-and-stuff]

[manga-and-stuff]

Source: Berserk / ベルセルク  

by Kentaro Miura 

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Hi! I’ve been thinking about griffguts a lot the past couple of days. do you have any favourite canon divergent ideas for them, any specific moments in the manga that you think would be the best/most interesting points for their story to branch off in a different direction? I hope you have a nice day <3

Hi!

Well first I want to say that I loved your recent fic's branching off point, that's one that hadn't occurred to me before and it works so well!

In general if we're going for a happy AU I think Guts just successfully killing Julius and never hearing the Promrose Hall speech is probably the most convenient and the best way to keep things going on in a positive direction, since that's when everything changes.

I'm a sucker for the "do you think I'm cruel?" conversation going differently, Guts giving a different answer, recognizing Griffith's self-doubt and vulnerability and realizing he's human after all, etc. I think that would be a good scene to like, insert an impulsive kiss under the right circumstances.

Griffith winning the second duel is an interesting one imo, because then you get a starting point with a lot of confusion, resentment, self-loathing, and betrayal that has to be worked through. At some point they have to be forced to confront their issues and recognize their misunderstanding, but you can have a lot of painful sad awkward build up to that first.

Guts learning about the Hawks' exile after a month instead of a year and racing back to save Griffith a lot earlier could be interesting. All of the proof of Griffith's feelings, some of the loss of dream since Griffith is a traitor now, but he still has a tongue and can maybe heal and hasn't spent a year imagining Guts to escape torture so there's less despair and maybe a little self awareness. Would Griffith give up the dream or would he try to find another way to gain a kingdom? What would Guts say when Griffith can say something back?

And of course, Casca not telling Guts to leave again in front of Griffith's wagon, averting the Eclipse but solving zero other problems, forcing the characters to deal with the circumstances they've found themselves in. This might actually be my favourite canon divergence branching point in theory, I just love the particular blend of despair and hope. They've lost everything except each other. It's good stuff.

And post-Eclipse, well, I feel like NeoGriffith kidnapping Guts instead of Casca would be one of those firmly established fanon AUs if Berserk fandom was bigger lol. Other than that though, it's hard to think of good canon divergence scenarios post-Eclipse lol, at least simple straightforward ones.

Like I have had the idea that the behelit is Casca's, and it opens when she sees Guts and remembers the Eclipse, and she sacrifices Moonlight Boy/Griffith as like a dual thing, which alters Griffith's relationship to fate because he's now a step outside of fate as a sacrifice and basically cancels out his godlike untouchability, and things unfold from there. But that's pretty specific lol.

How about you, are there any you're particularly interested in?

[valarinde]

Thank you! I’m so happy you liked the fic, you always have the coolest thoughts <3

These are all great. I never really thought about the possibility of Griffith winning the second duel except for like, the pretty grim version of events in which he unintentionally actually kills Guts. But it would be fun to see the aftermath of him forcing Guts to stay with everything that prompted his departure still unresolved between them. I wonder if you could ramp up the tension enough to still have Griffith self sabotaging a bit as a response in that scenario, it could be really interesting with Guts there to witness it (and pick up the pieces, maybe).

I’d looove to read a take on the “do you think I’m cruel” scene where Guts picks up on Griffith’s vulnerability and gives a different answer and things snowball from there. I feel like I asked you about it before and you had a fun detailed answer as to how it might unfold, I should find it again.

For me, I like the concept of the Eclipse being derailed that’s behind that fic a lot, it’s been on my mind pretty much since I joined the fandom, and in general the idea of fate being challenged and the tension between doom vs defiance/hope. I think I remember tangentially asking you your thoughts about it re:your understanding of Guts existing outside of fate.

So yeah, anything that can be framed as like, a pivotal point in the flow of causality being disrupted by a strong unpredictable act of love will is a canon divergence I’d like to see.

Other than that, all rescue and post-rescue scenarios for sure.

I’ve thought about different timelines too - with Griffith getting arrested so shortly after the duel, Guts would be lumped in with the other Hawks in being branded an enemy of the crown, and he’s comically recognisable, so it always seemed very possible to me that he could be spotted while he’s on his way, maybe a few towns over, and that would result in him finding out something went very wrong much sooner.

And same about the no/narrowly averted Eclipse AUs - it’s absolutely one of the best moments to play with, and gives you a chance to put the two of them under a microscope and expose parts of their characters that would be a lot more closely guarded/repressed otherwise. I love that, based on the cues that the manga gives us, these divergent AUs can be used to explore Griffith being brought the lowest that someone can be while also textually retaining several of his core strengths. And ngl, I like a hopeful twist and would love to see them eventually find ways for him to regain more autonomy, maybe at a price. Like, I’m not as caught up as I should be with the manga, but Guts gets a wholly functional prosthetic arm with an inbuilt cannon and complimentary crossbow. Things like the Berserker armour and Skull Knight’s armour exist and can/have been forged. I’m easy enough that the image of post-torture, partially recovered Griffith with his own prosthetics or things like, magically enhanced gauntlets and such, being able to hold a sword and fight again, is pretty cool to me.

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Thank you!

lol honestly Griffith accidentally killing Guts in the 2nd duel is also a great AU concept, though probably more for a short angsty fic than a longfic.

You've probably found it already but just in case, I think this was the post about the 'do you think I'm cruel' scene.

And Guts learning about Griffith and the Hawks being deemed traitors because some Midlanders show up to kill/arrest him would make so much sense. And yeah in an AU that branches off right before the Eclipse, I think it's extra satisfying for Griffith to like, come to terms with everything and be happy. And yeah there are so many possibilities for like magical/mechanical assistive devices, I love the idea of just like magically enhanced armour, maybe not as hardcore as the berserk armour but incredibly useful for someone in Griff's situation. One idea I've had in the past is Schierke's psychic communication rings, which seems like some pretty simple magic that could help a lot.

Thanks for the response! Sorry it took a few days to respond, I needed the weekend to recover from sleep deprivation lol.

[griffithtruther]

realizing ur homeboy wants u Bad

[eliseliedl]

He said, "For you"... Berserk Episode 07, "The Sword's Owner"

[griffithtruther]

SIC HIM BOY!!!!

[campfireofdreams]

"Yes..."

[campfireofdreams]

[eliseliedl]

Boy... We'll suspend our duel for the time being. Unfortunately, I doubt I will have another chance to fight you... I will give you some advice. Or rather, I will foretell your doom. Berserk Episode 06, "Zodd The Immortal"

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Heyy , Given the new chapters post the Authors death, do you have any theories about berserk ending?

My theories/hopes haven't really changed, except I guess that now we know the behelit will play a role in the ending, rather than a potential second act downturn.

I'll link a few posts with some speculation on the ending that I generally still think is plausible, mostly thematic:

straightforward response about my ending theories how parallels with ganishka figure into my ending theories spring flowers of distant days as foreshadowing quick list of ideas about how other characters' stories might end casca opening the behelit at the climax + why i think it's casca's behelit in the first place

Thanks for the ask!

[griffithtruther]

bashful guts so fun to draw

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Neogriffith kidnapping Guts instead of Casca sounds amazing. The ultimate proof that Griffith still cares about him and Casca being the one having to rescue Guts gives her a little more aganecy and shakes the status quo of her being the damsel in distress.

Yeah it could be a very fun concept to play with! Casca as the rescuer would be so refreshing.

[pokutian]

uh...yeah...the plot