#i would like to talk about farnese as her own person but i think she is more interest outside of her marriage

[felipe-v-fanblog]

Hi my friend 👋, May I ask did Philip V of Spain loved his wife Elizabeth Farnase?

How did he treat her and his children with her?

Hi !! Its totally a coincidence that i am replying to this in his birthday xD not at my best but i hope to entertain you . I dont know why are you asking if Felipe V loved someone , specially his second wife Isabel , when he is well known as have been the most loving person ever ( lol ) . I dont know if there is someone as forgiving as him , or as affable as him . He loved both of his wives a lot , Isabel was very important for him . But it is also known he was not as his best after Maria Luisa Gabriela de Saboya . It is also know he has physically violent at the last years of his life in response to the verbally and psychologically violent ways of Isabel . I must clarify , I dont excuse this behaviour nor I justify it by the attitude of Isabel , but if you really want to understand their relationship it has to be clarified that it was toxic from both parts . Felipe was never someone who put boundaries and always let other people take everything from him , I cannot remember one time he denied something to someone if they asked for it ( xD what a guy ) .

About his kids , as I have already said , Luis I was probably his favourite . The others , after Maria Luisa Gabriela de Saboya died , were raised as far away from him as possible . I think this was good , I think he knew he could not raise them correctly , and took care of them in the way he thought was most important , which was by making sure they were deeply religious . Felipe had a very deep religious trauma , and so feared God very deeply . He loved his kids a lot , and it is obvious when we read about how much he cared about them being saved by God . I think that is very cute , even if that was induced by his own issues . Philippo di Parma , one of his youngest sons , was very similar to him , if you are interested in understanding them better . Philippo is one of the kindest of his sons , Carlos III and Fernando VI , as much as I love them , both had their own issues . Carlos III was more inclined to sarcasm and ill comments , anyway , not in anyway mentally disturbed as the others , or at least didn't showed it . The infante don Luis de Borbón y Vallabriga it's probably the most normal one of them , an also my favourite of his kids , I think he had a very funny story and I love the Borbón-Vallabriga line ( which dies with Luis' son , Luis María de Borbón y Vallabriga ) .

Anyway , Farnese was the one that took care of the kids . She loved her kids a lot , genuinely a lot . She was the one that arranged the duchy of Parma for Philippo and arranged many beneficiary marriages for her daughters . I don't think Felipe V lover her any less than Maria Luisa , but Felipe didn't had a boundaries and that let people use him as they desired . I don't think there is any good in the situation they were in , but I wouldn't blame any of them for it , I think both were victims of a situation they were forced in . Ofc not forcing my opinion on you , I dont care if people agree or not while they are respectful about it . Like its not that deep happy 341th birthday felipe !!

[uelden]

Vanity Fair interview translated

Just a side note before the actual translation; I don't know why, but instead of reporting the full questions and answers in full as she should, the journalist decided to report only summarized fragments of what Måneskin said and patch these fragments up into messy clusters. She also worded a couple phrases in a very confusing way (and yes, she's fully Italian). In short, she did quite a poor job, so the final shape of the interview is not that good. I didn't expect top-tier journalism from Vanity Fair but ffs. You'll see what I mean.

I translated it as it is, adding just a couple footnotes to give you insight on Italian pop culture references.

Translation under the cut

Måneskin: "Different from whom?"

by Lavinia Farnese, 09 June 2021

"True justice is being judged for what you do and not for what you are." The ones who are convinced of this are Damiano, Victoria, Ethan and Thomas who, by being the emblem of a generation that is finally free, refuse labels and conformism. In life, in love and on the stage. Where, maybe precisely because of this, they're winning everything

With the still unexpected (first place at Sanremo Festival) and the incredible (triumph at Eurovision) in their eyes, Måneskin are on the sofa of the house-studio they rented - to resume writing songs and rehearsing them - like you are after a won battle: lying in a calm and unreal silence, alert and a bit irreverent, happy.

In the garden there's the tennis table and the pool, the light of summer when it's starting and calming the country all around, and it filters inside from the large windows, and it goes onto the shining black of Ethan's hair, which blends with Thomas' eye shadow and the butterfly he has tattooed oh his naked forearm, which completes the picture of Victoria's golden crucifix hanging between neck and tank top and ends on the black nail polish of Damiano's stretched hands.

It's a human fresco, a Theatre of wrath [translator's note: "Teatro d'ira"] - to call it with the title of their latest album, a platinum record already - where their flaunted 20 years of age, their irregular femininity and virility are grown into proud and challenging custom, a pop glam rock generational manifesto of hard-earned liberties in a finally-unconditional expression of the self.

To watch them from any angle and from another age is to think that a great love will be born in those who'll understand: this new way of being in the world, the true and sovereign realm they hold where "diversity=exceptionality", the power of the artistic and cultural revolution of which they are healthy carriers in establishing in all lyrics and gestures the right to live according to one's own nature past the "people (who) talk, the people (who) unfortunately talk, and don't know what the fuck they're talking about." [tn: "Zitti e buoni" lyrics]

We go where we're afloat, where the air isn't gone. [tn: journalist's own variation on "Zitti e buoni" lyrics]

Miley Cyrus says hi – The numbers of a phenomenon

"The streams of Zitti e buoni are growing by the second, and they bring us above Muse, at the top of English charts, twelfth in the Spotify Global Chart. Followers almost tripled, in the post-Rotterdam period (from 1,4 to 3,3 millions, ed.) Contagious and universal folly: t-shirts and merchandising sold out in 10 minutes. Like the records, the tickets for a tour that keeps adding dates and expanding over geographic maps. They're contacting us even from some festivals were The Rolling Stones went." Thomas

"After the pretextual controversy over cocaine that France built against us, later disproven by my drug test, some graffiti popped up in Spain depicting me as a “No drugs” poster guy. Some tweets made us laugh: "Congratulations, Italy! I've never been more certain that four people have had sex with each other." Miley Cyrus started following us -You're great. -You guys are greater." Damiano

From the garage to the stars – Story of a flight

"It was only 2016, and we played in restaurants, in the streets, in via del Corso. Damiano without even a microphone, Thomas' guitar with wonky strings, Ethan was drumming on a cajón. During Rome highschools' sit-ins (Kennedy, Virgilio, Mamiani) we had our first confirmations and half-hours of celebrity, playing among those who criticized us and those who went "wow they're really cool." One of the rare times when they would have paid us – 50 euros each – we gave the money to the next band in the lineup so that they would make us play in their spot, later in the day, when there would have been more people. We had already realized how things worked. Visibility mattered more than money. And we still think that." Victoria

The intimacy of rock – Choice of a genre

"Music allows us the miracle of extending to others some very personal and private topics, sometimes even difficult and thorny ones. They are and they remain deeply your own, but at the same time they become a confession that reaches a wider audience, and in this passage that is alike a delivery, they find a place in you as well, a processing of them. You overcome them, you accept them. One second it's something aggressive, the next it's a ballad. Cathartic». Damiano

Against panic – The stage as therapy

"I've suffered a lot from anxiety and panic attacks, it's an issue I've worked on thanks to a psychotherapy course, my friends and my family. Playing helped me in not letting myself be paralyzed by my fears, not making myself limited in my private and professional life. I've learned to accept, to live with this side of myself. I don't hide it. I don't feel ashamed of it." Victoria

Analysis as necessity – Relying on someone saves you

"This belief that only madmen go to the psychologist is a widespread ignorance. No-one's born learned. [tn: common Italian saying] And it's often hard to understand the very reason why we're here, let alone the origin and direction of our desires. It's a long and legitimate journey towards lucidity, a kind of backing to become transparent." Damiano

Being out of our minds – But different from them [tn: "Zitti e buoni" lyrics]

"When you feel a strong passion towards something that is not a canonical job but an artistic language, that already puts you on a level of anomaly, which is not superior or inferior to other people, but it puts you in the position of the one who breaks the mold and also works at a loss, the one who sustains great risks while trying to do something that who knows if it will take you anywhere. "Why do it if it doesn't pay?". You want to give this dream of yours an aesthetic, but it becomes "You're dressing so weird! You must be gay!" - now that I'm 22 I laugh about it, but when I was 17 it had an effect on me, too." Damiano

The beauty of uniqueness – Of believing in it and defending it

"And I mean, at the end of the day if we're all different it's not because we want be alternative but because, really, no-one is the same. Justice is being judged on what you do and not what you are. Justice is equality, respect, beauty." Ethan

Fluid sexuality – Pride is freedom

"Heels for men that like themselves in them, kisses among ourselves, we have an open, extended mind, and we're proud of it. The horizons become vast, past the oppression of conservative families. With the information on the web knowledge becomes greater and with it the possibility that minorities will be less and less minorities, because the majority will be less of a majority. This way we'll make insults and bullying grow quieter. If social media get to a village of 50 souls and reveal to a girl who's afraid of the dark that someone has felt her same fear, then there's no reason to give a name to that fear, to mark it with labels which also limit and restrict. Definitions always had this effect on me. You shouldn't even consider the gender when judging someone, let alone their orientation." Victoria

Sexism – A culture to be dismantled

"Emma [tn: Emma Marrone, Italian singer] drops the bomb: “At Eurovision when I was there they massacred me for a pair of shorts, while they said nothing to Damiano – bare-chested and in heels.” The easy judgment against women is more fierce, constant, debasing (if I have a lot of sex I'm cool while Vic is a whore, where I show myself strong I'm a leader while Vic is despotic and a pain in the ass who reached success because she's hot.) As a male I'm privileged, the abuse I get is not comparable to those a woman has to live through, the comments over my aesthetic are centered only on my aesthetic and don't insinuate anything about my professionalism and my competence, while women are victims of this kind of thought in a systematic way. It happened though to find myself standing with a woman who while pulling me to herself to take a selfie, started licking my face out of the blue... I mean, what the hell do you want? Who asked you? Consent exists, and it's due." Damiano

Grow yourself – The only commandment

"To me conformism is the opposite of education [tn: could also mean "politeness"] and is the asphyxia of expression. I fortunately never endured heavy bullying, heavy enough for the the judgement of others to change me. But the mold of the small crumbs of bullying I got and of the kind of aggression that scars is the same. If I'm a kid who dances and likes dolls you have to let me do what I like. I was a kid who wanted to keep his hair long and played with Barbie. As a teen, my friends looked at my hair: " You have to find a girl with short hair to be at your side." My grandparents took away my dolls: "Stop it, they're not for you." Ethan

"When I was six I was already sick of them, the distinctions between masculine and feminine. I've always had strong ideas about how I wanted to be. I refused things that were typically defined as girly, and all around me they mocked me because I went skateboarding, I played soccer, I didn't wear skirts, I was giving myself the chance to be as I wished. I endured it a little, I suffered a little, but I had courage, and now thanks to that courage I know that I could have gotten even much more hurt, otherwise I would have left to others the most important choice: the one about myself." Victoria

Love in progress – Music, girlfriends

"I've been married to music for the last 20 years. I can't wait to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary." Ethan

"Everyone makes their own experiences, sometimes it goes well, sometimes it goes wrong, but it's always not anybody's business." Thomas

"When I first felt feelings and attraction towards a girl it was a bit disorienting because I had never had the courage of going beyond the limitations I had put for myself. For society being heterosexual is the norm and so you often define yourself in that way automatically, depriving yourself of the freedom to live many shades and faces of love. Once I overcame the initial insecurity of having to call into question my certainties I've lived my sexuality in a very natural and free way, as it should be for everyone." Victoria

"I had paparazzi at my door every day and night. So, after four years of relationship, I revealed her name. I still have paparazzi at my door every day and nigh, but at least I don't have to hide anything anymore." Damiano

The worth of the group – Phenomenology of protection

"The true engagement though, the true family is among ourselves, our band. We've believed in it since day zero, even before we called ourselves Måneskin (Moonlight in Danish), even before Ethan drew a giant moon on the flier for the first concert we ever did. We share everything, even the pain for the tragedy of Seid Visin, who committed suicide at 20 because of racism. [tn: I think the journalist asked them their opinion about Seid Visin's death, which was a current events topic in Italy, and then pasted it syntaxically in the middle of Thomas' answer, which was not a great move] A group is what we all should be: stay united and not back down an inch in the face of oppression that is generated by a distorted view of diversity." Thomas

I'm not of the right age – Like Gigliola [tn: Gigliola Cinquetti won Eurovision with her song "Non ho l'età", which means "I'm not of the right age"]

"Before you the only one who won both Sanremo and Eurovision on the same year was Cinquetti (1964). If there's anything I feel I'm not of the right age for? No, honestly no. Maybe having children. Regarding children I'll be honest: I'm not of the right age." Damiano

Having touched the sky – The fears that remain

"We're more than inside the dream, we're in the conquered dream. When you fly high there's the risk of plummeting and hurting yourself, but we'll work hard not to end up like Icarus, who burns his wings with the sun. Everything is in our hands. And this - a bit pretentiously - reassures us rather than scaring us." Damiano

[dropintomanga]

Kentaro Miura - A Manga Legend That Used Darkness as Light

There’s a saying that a lot of mental health experts preach - you don’t know what someone’s going through unless they either say it or you directly talk to them. 

In the case of Kentaro Miura (who passed away at the age of 54 earlier this month), this was the case.

I’m sad about this because I just started diving into Berserk a couple of years ago and kept up with the new story developments despite the irregularity of chapter releases. Miura also died on my younger sister’s birthday (May 6), so May 6 will be conflicting going forward.

I’m also sad because we lost someone who sounds like the kind of guy who went against “good vibes only” stories to produce something that really spoke to the general experience of everyday people who struggle (and continue to) with their own despair/grief/trauma.

My first discovery of Berserk was years ago at Book-Off and I browsed through the initial arc. I thought to myself, “Oh, this is brutal, but so fascinating to read.” I didn’t get a chance to read the entire Golden Age arc (one of manga’s greatest flashback stories ever), but I did read the Eclipse stuff. It was one of the most traumatizing things I have ever seen in a mainstream manga. Seeing Casca, a strong heroine having her entire psyche shattered, was too much for me at the time. 

I understood what Miura was trying to say - good people become monsters due to outside sources. No one’s immune to it. Griffith was driven by despair in order to realize his personal dream of ascension. Guts became driven by despair after the events of the Eclipse. Monsters are usually created, not born.

I would later watch the Conviction Arc in anime form as I never read the original manga story. Although the animation sucked, the story still resonated with me because of the contrast between Guts and Farnese, a female character who started off as a uptight religious believer of God and later became one of Guts’ most important allies in healing Casca’s trauma. Farnese was so caught up in her faith and always shamed herself for sinning. She also wasn’t able to question any acts that her religion deemed righteous when they hurt innocent people. When she sees Guts continue to fight despite being filled with despair, Farnese notices that Guts accepts despair as part of his life. That inspired her to fight back in order to find meaning in her life. There’s a really good post about this on Crunchyroll News years ago and it stuck with me ever since.

I always hear stories of people mired in faith and dealing with grief that are told things like “God has a plan”, “You didn’t do good enough to save your child/husband/family”, etc. Those statements aren’t compassionate and are inconsiderate of the griever’s feelings. I think Kentaro Miura made it okay to not feel okay. Feel all the bad shit and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. That speaks volumes for people who are always told to cheer up and move on when they always just can’t.

I’ll end this with a quote from Guts that I wish was drilled into people’s minds.

“I’ve had my fill of miracles. Enough to make me puke.”

Just live and be there for the people around you. Appreciate the mundane. Grow through hardships. Miura mentions normal everyday life in an interview for the Berserk Official Guidebook on his drawing process post-Falconia.

“I’m drawing a ‘window onto another world’ where ordinary people, useless people, children, and old people are all living in ordinary ways.”

Expect both the unexpected and expected. Maybe that way we’ll have Guts’ infamous grin or better yet, his smile from Chapter 344, and not be afraid of anything that comes our way.

R.I.P.

[bthump]

How have you come to read Berserk? Do you remember what your thoughts and impressions were while reading this story for the first time?

ty for your interest!

I actually watched the 97 anime first. I watched it with a friend like a decade ago and I don’t remember those first impressions very well because a lot of weed was involved lol. But I do know I thought I’d be bored by it and ended up surprisingly invested and engaged. I of course shipped griffguts and I was definitely shocked at how close to canon it was, with scenes like Casca’s cave monologue and Griff’s torture chamber monologue.

Then I found the Band of the Hawk scanlation and read that bc I wanted more, though I often found it confusing. I actually just checked and realized I still have a little wordpad doc I wrote notes in back then while I was reading it. So here’s some highlights:

- I adored both Guts and Griffith, and I called Guts “Gatts,” thanks to the scanlation.

- I found their trauma backstories really fascinating since I’d never rly seen that with male characters before.

- I hated Puck a lot lol :(

- From around the Lost Children arc: Hell, he's doing the same as Griffith did - building a mountain of bodies. I predict that he will eventually use the Behelit, and his sacrifice will be... Griffith! Because enemies can also be the most important person to you. But then he will turn it down. Also if he takes Jill, she'll be the Casca to his Griffith. Waaaiiit... if they explicitly state that it's a possibility Gatts'll use the Behelit and get all demon-y... well, obviously the temptation will be soon, and he'll say no. Not a climax as such. Just an event. Damn. Well, unless a central theme of the rest of this is Gatts' temptation to monsterize himself.

well hey I called Guts getting his own Casca parallel follower, I just didn’t know it would be Farnese.

- I was seeing Casca and Griffith parallels apparently, but I was being vague so I don’t know what parallels exactly. Maybe just the ‘shell of former self’ thing.

- very exasperated by how no man can interact with Casca without trying to rape her.

- went ham during hill of swords ofc but surprisingly not at Guts forgetting his urge to kill lol: OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS CHAPTER IS CALLED REUNION ON THE HILL OF SWORDS OMFG REUNION OMG OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMOMGOMGOMOGMOGMOGMOMGOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

- bb me still knew what was up re: Griff: He's not sociopathic, he's just so singleminded that he'll do anything for his goal. I was going to say that he's so single minded that he doesn't care what he does for his goal, but that's not true - he DOES care, he just does it anyway.

- I was getting bored with the Millenium Falcon arc and didn’t care about any of the new characters aside from kind of liking Serpico and absolutely hating Isidro. I didn’t say anything about Farnese but I do have a vague memory of getting excited that there was another female soldier character followed immediately by disappointment that she can’t actually fight. So if I didn’t like her back then that’s probably why.

- I was a little disappointed when Guts got the berserk armour because fight scenes aren’t as cool when the protag has a magic power up. I was right tbh.

- I seem to have quit writing around the beach chapters. I think I did actually drop it around there probably, I’d already taken one break and I was forgetting stuff and generally losing the thread of the story iirc.

also I believed Griffith was very likely to get redeemed at the end? Here’s my “reasoning” lol:

Consise, laid-out reasoning why Griffith will be redeemed. He'll probably die right afterwards, but he will certainly sacrifice himself in an act of redemption. 1. The slug-dude did so for his daughter in an act of foreshadowy self-sacrifice. 2. Skull-knight dude tells Gatts that he perhaps has the power to stop fate or whatever. 3. Griffith's whole friendship speech that throws everything in motion. It's super important, but one aspect that is truly important is that for him to call someone a friend, he has to be an equal - following his own dream, etc. When he becomes Femto, this gives Gatts the motivation he needs to get real. If Femto/Griffith eventually sees Gatts as his equal, this metaphorically equals friendship. Of course this will manifest in a respectful arch-enemy thing, once Femto learns to truly fear Gatts, but the metaphor is still there and it will come out when he eventually DOES sacrifice himself because he can't bear to lose his one equal/bff/etc. It will be very Final Gameish. 4. The only man who made Griffith forget his dream is Gatts. Gatts has a huge amount of power over Griffith in regards to his desire to rule everything. 5. Portions of the story are still seen from Griffith's point of view - indeed, a humanized Femto - and this gives me great hope that during these bits we'll see more greyscale characterization. 6. Also in a weird way they kind of have a child together apparently. Idk. 7. Based on the whole sequence before The Golden Age, Gatts gets dark. And ruthless. Mirroring Griffith's transformation, just a bit. 8. Also the fact that Gatts has a freaking

I didn’t fail to copypaste it properly, I just never finished that sentence. But it was probably “behelit” if I gotta guess. Final Game def references the never-made 70s Doctor Who episode where the Master was going to sacrifice himself to save the Doctor, fyi, not the Sherlock Holmes story. Me lowkey comparing every hero/villain dynamic to Doctor/Master when I was 20 is presumably why I assumed they’d get to a respectful arch nemeses vibe lmao.

I guess tbf I wasn’t talking about a redemption arc so much as a humanizing death lol, I just wouldn’t call that a redemption now. I don’t completely disagree with my past self, though I def had some dumb ideas.

It sucks that I dropped it before all the good parts of the MF arc tbh, Griffith vs Ganishka and Guts and Zodd teaming up etc. I wonder what I would’ve thought of it.

Anyway yeah lol, ty for asking and prompting me to find this lol, it was fun to reminisce!

Oh also if you want to see my more recent and technically third impressions lol I did start this blog just to liveblog my more meta-y re-read of Berserk. Here’s the tag for that in chronological order.

[bscully]

I see a lot of people praise caska for being an amazing female character but I kinda feel like she’s written like a bad joke about women (looses battle because period, too emotional, told her role is to comfort guts, etc...) she doesn’t get much time to really shine as a fighter either bc she’s constantly being saved of course I love her and will always defend her but do u think she’s actually written well as a girl? I feel like I’d be lying if I praised her for it

Hello and thanks for the ask!

No offense but I mean…

Let’s put it into perspective. There is a reason why Casca during the Golden Age was written the way she was, and I don’t think it’s necessarily bad writing. Some (questionable) views about women were expressed that way, but I’d like to think that’s more because of the time the Golden Age was written in, rather than because of malicious intent.

During the Black Swordsman Arc we were shown how Guts handled those who were weak: He absolutely detested them.

During the Golden Age we were shown how he dealt with other’s weakness (Casca’s) and also *why* he hated the weak during his Black Swordsman Arc days: During the Eclipse, the Hawks all died because they were weak, and Casca was violated and lost her mind because she could not defend herself either. (The irony of this is that both of these things all happened because of his best efforts to save Griffith, boyo was too distracted)

Black Swordsman Arc

Guts generally was very contempt towards those he considered weak, and also especially towards other men, e.g. Vargas whom he just let die. Another time someone weaker than him died, it was the priests’ daughter, who was slaughtered by evil spirits. He also felt remorse killing her possessed body, even then and also vomits later on (he always vomits when he hurts a child or girl, see Adonis, see killing the fire children in the lost children chapters). In the page below, bottom panel, you can see white sprinkles which I believe are tears.

He then goes on to say how he cannot bother to crush ants below his feet when he walks. That was his way of dealing with the sadness, getting someone who is weaker than him killed because of him. His love-hate relationship to weaker people was also shown to us by his interactions with Theresia: in some way, he did save her here from falling off the ruins. But she had to hold onto a sharp blade so she wouldn’t fall.

Guts was hurting someone who he would love to protect, and he also hated himself for it. He made Theresia go down the very same path like he did because revenge is the only way to give her something to hold onto after losing everything.

It reminded of his own suffering, losing the Hawks and Casca. At least, this is the conclusion I made when I read the Golden Age and then look back to the Black Swordsman arc.

Golden Age

When Casca was later introduced during the Golden age, IMO Kentaro Miura wanted to show us how Guts usually treated people. As it turns out, Guts does want to protect and make sure people are safe. He also listens to them trying his best to meet their expectations. In other words, he was not always an asshole. In regards to other people’s weaknesses, his treatment of Casca was still rough in the beginning, but at the very least imo, well-intentioned.

Now you can critique Miura for his display of Casca’s womanhood. I am personally not particularly bothered by it, especially if this situation is a set up for romance in the first place. Of course the protagonist is going to take note of another character’s feminity if the author plans to hook them up. Guts was confronted with Casca’s female problems (periods) and what we were shown is that Guts, while he may have had his preconceptions about women too, still is understanding of their struggles AND their weakness.

Like… he first gets upset at Casca, but then acknowledges that she doesn’t have it easy, dealing with her own problems and emotions at times (Casca is a VERY emotional personality, too, but usually she has more self-control than this).

If anything, this bit right here displays Guts’ willingness to change his mind, his capacity to understand others and also help them in the process. Empathy, compassion, y’know? Something he lacked during the Black Swordsman Arc (this here happens right before Vargas is being beheaded):

That being said, I don’t think Miura actually thought that women being emotional is a negative thing when he wrote this, but he may have been affected by negative (cultural?) bias.

In the face of that weakness, Guts tries to help Casca out where he can and be supportive of her, e.g. by protecting her from Adon and his men - the 100 Man slayer scene was basically Guts protecting Casca’s womanhood from thirsty mercenaries, while she COULD NOT defend herself as effective because of her state (and he does that DESPITE of Casca throwing a knife at him earlier). This theme also repeats during the Eclipse, however, here he could do nothing but watch in his own helplessness.

Also let it be said that Miura’s potrayal of Casca’s period isn’t too far off, because periods CAN knock you the fuck out like that. My last one was absolutely devastating and I wouldn’t have survived without taking pain meds. So can periods affect your capacity to fight? Yes, they definitely can. You also gotta consider that Miura is male, and males *usually* do not know the effects of periods in detail unless they confronted themselves with it; also consider the Golden Age was written in the 90s, so that topic wasn’t prevalent for men at all.

Contrast & Comparison as writing tool

Miura also set up a nice contrast by adding in a particularly sexist character: of course I’m talking about Adon.

Adon calls Guts a fool for protecting someone at the cost of his own well-being, and the way he talks it’s like saving multiple women and exploit them is normal and acceptable.

But: Guts is literally taking multiple arrow shots for Casca and does not ask for anything in return. (It’s also interesting to note that through Adon’s mockery Casca realizes what Guts is doing for her) Now, you could argue that Guts is still a sexist asshole, however, at least in comparison to Adon, Guts still appears like the good guy  You can critique the ideas about women, how their prejudices and problems they struggle with are depicted, yes, and imo it is valid critique, too. But creating comparisons by showing how differently the characters act or think in the same scene is still an effective way of story-telling.

What Miura later did with other female characters, like Farnese or Schierke, was to “mature up” his writing. His tools however, stayed the same.

More examples comes to mind:

Guts leaving the Hawks

When Guts leaves the hawks, Griffith, Guts, Casca and Judeau all hold monologues, depicting how differently they think. While Casca and Rickert view  the Hawks as family, Judeau still considers them a mercenary band, and Griffith treats his subordinate Guts like a possession and has no inhibition to kill him if it meant he would either not leave or not join another faction and potentially become his enemy. I wrote about this in more detail here on my website

Conviction Arc Farnese

The contrasting happens again when Miura makes Guts meet Farnese for the first time. He was captured by the Holy Iron Chain Knights.

Farnese treated Guts pretty badly: she whipped him out in a desperate attempt to assure dominance, then threw him outside into the cold so he would eventually freeze to death.

When Guts takes HER hostage, they switch roles. Surely, he is being rough to her, but at the same time, is saving her multiple times, e.g. from falling to death or evil spirits.

This is the same writing tool used, just filled with different ideas. Miura’s writing itself hasn’t changed.

Casca is not powerless

Also Casca indeed is capable of defending herself. She is NOT always being saved. Even when being pursued after escaping from the 100 Man Slayer Scene, she gave the pursuing mercenaries a hard time, e.g. ramming a branch into one of the merc’s eyes. In that scene, it didn’t look like Casca was losing, she just got herself out of a dangerous situation and leaps to grab her sword! Only THEN we see how a volley of arrows interrupts the fight.  Does this look like a Casca to you that is about to lose? It doesn’t to me. She could have easily defeated the other two pursuers all by herself.

Casca, NOT GUTS, later defeated Adon all by herself and she was at a disadvantage too (think the poison dart).

Even during the Eclipse she dealt the final blow to take down the apostle that killed Judeau. She is not being depicted as powerless at all. She always seems at a disadvantage, struggling against all odds, and *still* is victorious. Guts acknowledges the strength it takes for her to do what she does, and that’s why Guts is helping her as much as he can.

Now you could STILL say “omg but that’s still sexist”, but eh. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging someone else’s struggle, celebrating them for pulling through despite of all the obstacles, and also willing to help out, but I’ll keep that politics stuff for another post. Stuff like this can go wrong yes, but in either case and as far as I am concerned, Guts is not trying to be patronizing or strip her off her independence in any way.

However, Casca’s strength does have limits and her full strength was not shown to us either, but I’d like to think that’s mostly because she is more a side-character and didn’t have much chance to shine during the Golden Age. I really really hope that will change with future chapters.

TL;DR Just because an author expresses outdated ideas or ideas you disagree with, does not mean it’s bad writing.

[thecatsaesthetics]

Round-Up:l Historical Fiction I’ve read in the past 6 months or so…

I wanted to do a round-up, I don’t think I’ve told people here but I got a job last December where I work from 3pm to 11pm as a data processor and I’m not allowed to have my phone or anything on me but an mp3 player. So I’ve been listening to audible books after audible books. So today I’ve going to give you a short round-up of the books I’ve listened to. 

Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey:

This book centers on the Young Marie Antoinette, through her childhood to her accession to the French Throne. It’s a rather good take on the character of Marie Antoinette, they show how underprepared she was for life at the French Court. How different the Austrian Court was. They showed how Maria Theresa had to fight battle after battle to ensure the alliance took place. The marriage of Louis and Marie was so well done. The author really took her time to slowly build the relationship up and highlight how deep there love for each other became. This book was actually perfect for a historical fiction novel, stuck to the facts, very well researched about the era and had interesting characters. The only issue I had is a series but the rest of the series isn’t available in audiobook format. I hope one day the other two books get narrated and I can listen to them.  

The Romanov Empress by C. W. Gortner: 

This book centers on Tsarina Maria “Minnie” Feodorovna (mother of Nicholas II), it starts with her sisters in the engagement of the future Edward VII and to WWI and the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. The book closes out on Minnie and her remaining children fleeing to Great Britain. 

Now this book was very conflicting for me. The problem I had with this book was the characterization of Alexandra Feodorovna (Nicholas II’s wife). It seems Gortner is of the opinion that Alexandra caused the downfall of the Romanov’s, which frankly just isn’t true. The problem for me is, it could be Gortner doesn’t actually believe this, historically Minnie and Alexandra didn’t get along, the book is written from Minnie’s POV. So it’s natural that there is a lot Alexandra hate, but it also seemed over the top. The book blames Alexandra for Nicholas for celebrating after the Khodynka Tragedy (which literally ensured his poor reputation amongst the people). However, everything I’ve read on the topic indicates it was Nicholas’ uncles that insisted the parties continue. To blame Alexandra for every action Nicholas took is just incredibly unfair and simply not true. Alexandra certainly wasn’t a victim but we really need to let Nicholas II stand on his own. If you’re interested the History of Russian Rulers did amazing podcast episodes on Nicholas and really showed how his own actions led to his demise. Now the positives of this book are it really highlights Minnie’s relationship with her sister Alexandra of Denmark (who was the wife of Edward VII). It also shows how interconnected all the families of the first WWI was. The characterization of Alexander III is spot on, and the love between him and Minnie is incredibly believable. I also loved Alexander II in this book (his good and bad sides). Minnie’s relationship with her sister in law Maria of Mecklenburgh adds spice to the book. They were true frenemies. The book does a great job of taking you back to the late 1800s and into the last hours of Imperial Russia. They also highlight the danger the last Romanovs were truly in and how naïve they were to the challenges they were facing. It also showed how Minnie and Alexander’s parenting came back to bit them. Minnie seems to just face conflict after conflict with all of her children. But it’s also heartbreaking to read her reaction to her sons (not just Nicholas but also her son Michael) and grandchildren were murdered. Not to mention the other children she lost (to illness). Also the death of Alexander III was touching. If you’re interesting in Russian history I would give this a go, but take the Alexandra stuff with a huge grain of salt.

The Queens Vows by C. W. Gortner: 

This book centers on Isabel of Castile, going from her childhood to events of 1492. Now I’m going to say this if you’re interested in Gortner as an author you should read this book. Out of the three books I’ve read by him this is the one I believe is most worth your time. His exploration into the character of Isabel is near perfect. While he does have a few inaccuracies (which he mentions at the end of the book) they only add to the story. This book was really able to capture the 1400s for me in a way no other book has to date.

The marriage between Isabel and Ferdinand in this book is extremely well done. You get to see how much they love each other and how troubled the marriage could be. I truly enjoyed the characterization of her brother Henry IV. The weaknesses he had and the struggle between him and Isabel. If you enjoyed the Isabel TV Series this would be a great add on. It’s not exactly the same (Gortner makes it near certain that Isabel’s niece is illegitimate unlike the show) but it’s a perfect add on if you have been craving more since the show ended. I think Gortner handled the Jewish expulsion of 1492 very well. He notes in the back we really don’t know what went through Isabel’s head during that decision, he chose to take one version of it. He also notes how incredibly powerful the idea of damnation was, and that even if Isabel had no personal issues with Jewish people in her realm the overwhelming religious pressure cannot be denied. I agree with him on this point, and while it’s easy for us (in the 21st century) laugh off the idea of damnation in 1492 it was a part of there reality.  

The Vatican Princess by C. W. Gortner: 

This follows the life of Lucrezia Borgia from the start of her father’s succession to the papacy to her entering her marriage with Alfonso d’Este. This one by Gortner was my least favorite. Like the other two, it was incredibly well researched and it does a great job pulling you back. However, I personally didn’t like the characterizations or the route he chose at times. I’m going to give spoilers for the book FYI so scroll past if you don’t want to know. He took the route of victim Lucrezia, which doesn’t appeal to me very much. Also he had Vannozza dei Cattanei hate her daughter for steal the attention of Rodrigo, it has Giovanni Sforza be an abusive ass who sexually assaults her, it has Rodrigo sending Giulia to sleep with Giovanni Sforza to keep him off Lucrezia (And sleep with Juan as well for some reason), it has her brother Juan rape and impregnate her and he does this because he’s upset Cesare killed his lover Prince Cem and wants to hurt Cesare, has Rodrigo grow to despise Lucrezia for Cesare murdering Juan, Rodrigo allows Cesare to murder Alfonso of Aragon to hurt Lucrezia like he was hurt by Juan’s death, oh also Cesare doesn’t murder Juan for the rape itself it’s more about Juan getting to have Lucrezia “first”, it also has Vannozza upset with Lucrezia for Juan raping her as well, and has Lucrezia end up despising Cesare after the murder of Alfonso of Aragon.

Now I’m not a Borgia expert by any means but the book seems to just be filled with nonsense to me. The only good parts of this book were Sancha of Aragon and Lucrezia’s friendship (WHICH BOTH TV SERIES DENIED ME OF) and Giulia Farnese massively calling out Rodrigo for basically pimping her out. While I find the latter inaccurate it was enjoyable to read Giulia talk about how Rodrigo took her when she was barely more than a child and ruined her. Personally, I’d skip this book it’s really not worth it.

The Accidental Empress and Sisi Empress on Her Own by Allison Pataki:

This follows the life of Empress Sisi of Austria-Hungary from her childhood to her assassination.  

This is a series but the two books were read by different people so it didn’t feel like to me. I think all series should have to be read by the same person. To sum it up, the first book is interesting and the second book is a dud. 

The first book I enjoyed so much, it follows Sisi from her childhood to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. It follows her disasters marriage with Emperor Franz Joseph at the age of 15, her struggles with her mother in law, her struggles with postpartum depression, and her romance with the Hungarian Count Andrassy. The first book really makes you feel bad for Sisi, she struggles with a rather cold abusive man who claims to love her (but only really loves her image not her) and her struggle for freedom in the Austrian Court. Sisi is more or less pushed out of Franz Joseph and her children’s life. Franz replaces her with mistresses and her mother in law takes over the role of mother to her children. The book ends on a clear high note (Sisi gaining Hungary proper status in the Empire) and honestly the author should have left it there. 

The second book is set after the birth of her final child Valerie (the only child she’s allowed to raise) and to her assassination. The book was a drag, I personally didn’t like the narrator and it took me forever to finish the book. The book makes Sisi incredibly unlikable, it makes it seem more like she abandoned her husband and family rather than being pushed out. The book opens up with Sisi having the opportunity to oversee Crown Prince Rudolf’s (And to have more involvement in his upbringing) but would rather go to Britain to ride horses. She basically is framed as being responsible for his tragedy. The author also ruins the love story she had set up between Andrassy and Sisi (which I had adored in the previous book). Now I understand you have to keep with history but you can’t set up a massive love story in the first book and they tear it down a few chapters in by the second book. The whole second book was a massive let down, I’d reread the first one but not the second one.

The Summer Queen, The Winter Crown, The Autumn Throne, by Elizabeth Chadwick: This book series centers on Eleanor of Aquitaine from childhood to death.  

This series was by far one of my favorite reads of 2019. You should really believe the hype about this series, it truly is that good. Now the books span a massive amount of time so I can’t go into everything but it was 1000% worth reading. The books explore the early Medieval World incredibly well. The author takes a highly realistic approach to Eleanor (who at the end of her first novel claims wasn’t a woman ahead of her time but rather a woman of her time) with a few dramatizations. This book series should be picked up for a TV series on Starz, HBO, or Showtime. It has all the material you need to make an epic TV series. I highly enjoyed the exploration of her marriages to both Louis VIII of France and Henry II of England. How different and yet strikingly similar the relationships were. The only slight issue I have is the author does tend to go the route of King John evil, King Richard I good. Which I personally don’t believe is true. However, they do a great job showing that even though Richard is Eleanor’s favorite she does love John. Again the books take a highly realistic approach to Eleanor so the author more or less stays away from all the rumors about her  (with the expectation of one which I find to add more to the series rather than take away). This is a must-read series, and I can only hope Elizabeth Chadwick will write more series like this. I also hope one day a TV network picks up the novels to adapt.

House of Rejoicing (Part 1), Storm in the Sky (Part 2), Eater of Hearts (Part 3) (The Book of Coming Forth by Day Series) by Libbie Hawker:  These books have multiple points of view (GRRM style) set in Ancient Egypt during the Amarna Era. Starting at the end of Amenhotep III and to the death of King Tut. The POVs range from Kiya, Nefertiti, Tiye, Sitamun, Beketaten, Horemheb, Meritaten, and Ankhesenpaaten (I might have missed some but idk). This series is not for the light of heart, the books include rape, incest, pedophilia, violence against women, etc. I mean this book series is just a lot to take in. The author goes down the route that Akhenaten was an abusive pedophile screwing every barely 13-year-old girl he could get his hands on (his daughters, sisters, sister in law etc). The concept of this series was excellent. A multi-narrative series set in Ancient Egypt, however, the series just misses the mark. I feel like Hawker wanted this to be the ASOIAF of Ancient Egypt novels but couldn’t commit. One of the biggest writing issues I had with this was how short the books were for A. the number of POVs we had, and B. for the span of time we went through. I think this series would have benefited from more books and longer novels. The author also tries to dive into the misogyny and how it affected women. However again she just misses the mark somehow. I could see what she was attempting but it just never got there if you know what I mean. I think this series feels more a draft than a finished product.  Also, the plot is a jumbled mess. Now it’s Ancient Egypt you can really do anything (especially with the Amarna era) but this series was so out there… and I’ve read Philippa Gregory. Some of the things that happened nearly had me bursting out laughing at work.  I really can’t get into all craziness of this series but it’s a lot just trust me. Like I said Akhenaten is a pedophile (actually a lot of the men were) in this book, which idk I don’t feel comfortable with how all of the problematic stuff was handled. The first book was the best book of the series and the last two are really where the craziness begins. But truly I would skip this series unless you up for hours of nonsense and craziness.

[jojolightningfingers]

The New Party Meta - Part 2

Welcome back to my attempt to dissect character relationships in Berserk! Today we’re gonna talk about the disaster that is Serpico!

Serpico-->Guts

Serpico's relationship to Guts is intrinsically one that revolves around his relationship with Farnese and as such is slightly challenging to parse. It feels at times as though there are two halves to it—the half which deals mostly with how Serpico feels about Guts and what he means for Farnese, and the half which deals more with how Serpico interacts with Guts in matters where he's suppressing his “personal feelings” and doing his best to get along with him.

The biggest and most obvious thing is that Serpico considers Guts to be a threat—to Farnese's safety, and to hers and his views of the world and their places in it—and he has told Guts this on at least one occasion. He has stated that were it his choice, they would not be traveling with Guts. In the beginning, before they're traveling with each other, he does try to hide these feelings—neutral faces and simple requests that he not antagonize Farnese overmuch, which only break in the instants that he attempts to claim Guts' life (shooting him in the back with a crossbow bolt, the one-stroke battle after Farnese is possessed, and their later battle on the cliffside spring to mind). The real heart of their relationship, as laid out by Serpico himself in his own ruminations, is both that Guts is dangerous for Farnese's well-being and changing her in ways that Serpico could not or did not think to try to (which, I think, bothers him more than he lets on) and that Guts also is changing him, making him feel things with an intensity that shocks him (“While I arrayed myself in feigned ignorance, perhaps before I knew it, I too was affected by that heat. You certainly are a man impossible to ignore.” “Truth be told I thought to kill you many times. And the violence of these emotions within me shocked me.”)

Yet, they do still get along with each other quite well on the surface, when Serpico's threats don't hang over them overmuch. Even right after the Tower of Conviction, when the Kushan attack, Serpico admits that there's nobody more reassuring to fight alongside than Guts. Serpico is willing to offer him his shoulder when he's wounded, to try and carry him to safety when he's been struck by Ganishka's lightning (and here I think it's interesting that Guts calls him out on trying to do that, accusing him of not thinking straight because there's no way he can lug Guts back to shore even with the sylph hood). He overhauls Guts' attire with ease of use in mind, which Guts shows appreciation for. He defers to Guts as the leader of the group. With the exceptions of the instances in which Guts dons the berserker armor and poses a legitimate danger to the entire group, Serpico seems to have mellowed out to Guts the more time has worn on, and I wonder if that's not because of the extent to which Farnese has changed for the better—proving perhaps to Serpico that Guts is far less of a threat to her than he thought.

As far as the facet comparisons go, I think Serpico most represents Guts' fixations—on someone who he feels he must protect at all costs, and on someone that he believes to be a danger to that person. There's also an interesting little thing going on regarding how Serpico feels about his freedom—he's stated that he feels chained down by obligations (to his mother, to his father, to Farnese), and Guts, while certainly chained down by the obligation to keep Casca safe now, once roamed the lands without aim and without purpose, and he wasn't very happy doing that. What I'm saying is that what Serpico thinks he may want, as far as this freedom goes, may not be what he actually wants in the end.

Serpico-->Farnese

If I'm being totally honest, the first time I read Berserk I thought theirs was a nigh impossible to sort out trainwreck, and I do still kind of think that now.

There are two big things to keep in mind when trying to figure Serpico's side of the relationship out. The first is that Farnese is the most important thing in Serpico's world, without question. Serpico will, and does, prioritize Farnese's safety over the safety of everybody else in the group even after he warms to them. The second is that he considers Farnese his other half, considers them to be if not exactly the same, then similar enough as makes no difference—save for expressions in emotion of course.

Serpico was introduced to Farnese as Farnese's servant, and up to a certain point, this is how Serpico acts to her. He goes where she goes without question or complaint, but he is not always direct about it. He appears to refuse Farnese's order to kill Guts because they're only supposed to capture him, but he makes an attempt to do just that as soon as she's run away. He doesn't explicitly protest her decision to leave the Holy See and go chasing after Guts, but he does pick and choose his moments to try and get her to go back. The only reason that Serpico appears to stop acting like a servant to her is because Farnese stops acting as his master.

Serpico knows Farnese—he knows her moods, her expressions, and what each of them mean, again because he was raised with her, but he only is certain of them until she begins to change. And then, frankly, he's at a loss. He does not “know this defenseless side of her”, as he tells Guts. He resists these changes in his own way—trying to get her to return to the Holy See in an oblique manner, trying multiple times to kill Guts, who he perceives as the root cause of all these changes. And then, eventually, he stops, because Farnese is growing for the better and he can tell that it's for the better despite how he personally feels about it. So he lets it happen, neutrally accepting at first (“[...]the wind has blown. A wind strong enough to blow down everything you yearned for. And so I shall at least see to it that my other half isn't torn to pieces in the storm.”) and, gradually, with pride and happiness at her accomplishments.

And then, of course, there's the romance that never was. It's my read on it that Serpico does harbor at least some romantic feeling for her—otherwise he wouldn't call Farnese's mother 'astute' after her comment (“Such companions cannot be separated, because they cannot stand without entwining against each other, just like a pair of trees... my, the scent of the forbidden.”). This is of course to say nothing of his initial reaction to her entreating him to run away with her after her father intends to marry her off, though that's admittedly ambiguous at best and may or may not be influenced by him knowing that he's related to her while she does not.

There's also the slight side-issue of what kind of negative feelings he may harbor towards her because, for all that he's devoted to her, he does imply she's something that he's chained to, and Serpico again has weird issues with the idea of being free. When she asks him outright if he hates her his answer isn't an answer (“To talk of hate...”) and the subject is immediately dropped, never to be brought up again. Worthy of consideration, maybe, but as far as present canon goes it may well be a moot point, as they both seem much happier with themselves and each other.

Oh yeah and there's also that he completely, 100% loses his cool when Farnese says she wants to become a witch, and it notably takes him a while to wrap his head around that idea and accept it. Not sure what the significance of that is but it was pretty funny.

Serpico-->Schierke

Serpico and Schierke don't interact directly very often, but she does give him items blessed by wind elementals and oddly enough, they appear to be the means by which he begins self-reflecting in earnest. He thinks the wind is the thing most alien to him, being free to do whatever it wishes without consequence—so then, what does it say that he masters that power so quickly, as Schierke notes?

The other interesting thing is his general attitude towards magic. Delighted, I think, isn't the right word, but he seems much more smiley when in magical places, surrounded by magical things. The aforementioned sylph hood and sword are things he considers heartening to have in battle against monsters and they end up rather attached to him—he's impressed with their power, and with Schierke's power. He urges Schierke to have pride in herself when she feels down about her inexperience, calling her skills miraculous. He defers to her on matters that he's less experienced in, with a view that isn't colored by differences in age or gender.

Serpico-->Isidro

Serpico and Isidro aren't very close to each other—if Isidro's view of Serpico is hard to pin down and theoretical at best, Serpico's view of Isidro is even harder. He does have opinions of him though—opinions that giving him a dagger that spits fire is probably not the safest idea (though he does note that at least it's better than Farnese getting it), and that Isidro's skill in improvisation is surprisingly good (noted mostly by how Serpico sits up and takes notice when Isidro starts dual-wielding against Guts in practice, managing to make some headway but ultimately coming up short).

Aside from this the bulk of their interaction is kind of the hotheaded eager to prove younger brother and the cool aloof older brother who checks some of his more reckless impulses, though Serpico doesn't seem to go out of his way to do it. Serpico holds him back, physically if need be, when he's about to do something rash, he's constantly telling Isidro to mind himself in battle, and he's willing to explain himself to Isidro if Isidro doesn't understand something (at the end of his second fight with Guts, for instance).

I think the problem here is that we don't see a lot of the interactions they do have, but are implied—they do after all go out into Vritannis alone together to search for a ship, and at some point Isidro must have told Serpico something about his past, because Serpico's the only one who brings up that Isidro grew up in the mountains.

[medea10]

My Review of Berserk (2016 - 2017)

THIS NEW STORY: It has been approximately two years since that fateful day when Guts nearly escaped a bloody hell-hole. Since that time, he roams the countryside. With one eye missing and an arm made of metal, he continues on a solo journey. But because of a brand on his neck, he has become a roaming target for demons that lurk in the night. This story of Berserk takes Guts into a whole new set-up with new allies, new enemies, but his attitude remains. Most of the first season is dedicated to finding Casca (who ends up missing), while the second season adds more characters that travel with Guts as they slay random demons. BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: First the sub. Unfortunately, it’s the same cast from the movie trilogy instead of the original cast from the television series. I’ve already made my views pretty clear that I liked the TV series cast better than the movie cast (with the exception of Takahiro Sakurai playing Griffith). For new character purposes, there are many voices I can recognize within seconds (including Mitsuki Saiga and Satomi Arai). Now for licensing purposes, this anime is being streamed by Crunchyroll and will eventually be released by Crunchyroll on Blu-ray and DVD with an English dub. So now Berserk has three licensors for the franchise. The original series is with Media Blasters, the movies are with Viz, and now Crunchyroll has the new series. Never mind…I think FUNimation has its hands in this as well. And with that said, let's talk about the new dub. I didn’t think it was possible, but they just made this shit worse than it possibly could be by replacing the remaining 3 voices with other people. I don’t want to pass judgment on the new voice actors. I honestly think Kaji Tang is okay as Guts. But it’s just a definite kick in the ears when they replaced Guts, Griffith, and Casca’s English voice actors. And seeing as the dubbing company is in L.A. and two of these voice actors are stationed in L.A., this seems really fishy. Especially since they’ve been doing these characters for almost 20 years and just recently did the movie trilogy. With that said, here’s the NEW English cast to Berserk 2016/2017. *Guts is played by Kaji Tang (known for Archer on Fate/stay night: UBW, Tsumugu on Kill la Kill, Kizakura on Danganronpa 3, Kouen on Magi, and Derflinger on Familiar of Zero) *Griffith is played by Steve Staley (known for Hitsugaya on Bleach, Neji on Naruto, Inumuta on Kill la Kill, Moondoggie on Eureka Seven, and Senri on Vampire Knight) *Casca is played by Karen Strassman (known for Takano on Higurashi, Suigintou on Rozen Maiden, Kallen on Code Geass, Anna on Monster, Miyuki on Lucky Star, Sawako on K-ON, and Yasuko on Toradora) OLD CHARACTERS: So it’s been two years since the events of the original series/story. So aside from Guts, where are the other memorable characters? Let’s start with the Band of the Hawk…oh…that’s right, they’re all dead. Except for little Ricket! Little Ricket grew up in 2 years and spends his time as an apprentice for a blacksmith. Princess Charlotte is still missing Griffith and her father is dead. Casca has no memories of her past left and literally has the mind of a child since the day she escaped from the blood-soaked, corpse-filled hell-hole. Griffith…is still a fucking demon! But somehow has acquired his human form back. NEW CHARACTERS: In a tough new world Guts is in with demons and evil spirits looming around, why don’t we add fairies, witches, and Christians? Yeah, why not?! First we have Puck, a fairy that’s there…He’s just there. Isidro is a young boy who takes a shine to Guts after he saved him. But I honestly think he’s just the comic relief of the show. Farnese in the first season was a leader of a prominent group of knights and was heavily religious. But after being saved by Guts on several occasions, Farnese and her right-hand man Serpico wound up traveling with Guts. Schierke is a witch-in-training who ends up helping Guts. And Sonia…I want to say this bitch has some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. She ends up following, helping, and praising Griffith. She's just a complete mystery! With that said, here’s what you might recognize these new characters from. JAPANESE CAST: *Puck is played by Kaoru Mizuhara (known for Misao on Lucky Star, Rea Amano on Mirai Nikki, and Satoshi on Anohana) *Isidro is played by Hiro Shimono (known for Hiro on ef – a tale of memories, Hiro on Soul Eater, Aoba on Durarara x2, Akihisa on Baka and Test, Connie on Attack on Titan, and Shou on Uta no Prince-sama) *Farnese is played by Yoko Hikasa (known for Mio on K-ON, Rias on High School DxD, Izumi on Working!!, Satan on Umineko, Yukinokouji on Inu x Boku SS, Young Rei on Free!, and singer to songs on Attack on Titan, K-ON, and Hayate) *Serpico is played by Kazuyuki Okitsu (known for Madarame on Genshiken Nidaime, Seishin on Shiki and Vincent Phantomhive on Black Butler) *Schierke is played by Chiwa Saito (known for Senjogahara on Monogatari, Natsumi on Sgt Frog, Aika on Aria the Animation, and Homura on Madoka Magica) *Sonia is played by Yoshino Nanjo (known for Eli on Love Live and Akio on Baka and Test) ENGLISH CAST: *Puck is played by Sarah Williams (known for Sayaka on Madoka Magica, Nonon on Kill la Kill, and Rika on SAO) *Isidro is played by Erik Krimerer (known for Takeshi on Your Lie in April, Sonic on One Punch Man, Ryuuji on Toradora and Alibaba on Magi) *Farnese is played by Erica Lindbeck (known for Kaori on Your Lie in April, Eli on Love Live, Anaru on Anohana, Moko on Skip Beat, and Gyokuen on Magi) *Serpico is played by Max Littleman (known for Saitama on One Punch Man, Kousei on Your Lie in April, [older] Konohamaru on Naruto/Boruto, and Yunan on Magi) *Schierke is played by Mela Lee (known for Rena on Higurashi, Erika on Durarara, Shinku on Rozen Maiden, Rin on Fate/stay night, Yuuki on Vampire Knight, and Darry on Gurren Lagann) *Sonia has not been announced yet. NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER: So in the old Berserk series, I enjoyed Casca very much. But in this series, unfortunately Casca’s memories and mind are just…well, let’s not go there. This time, I found myself liking Luca from the 2016 season. I don’t care that she’s a literal whore. She was faithful to her friends and did what she had to in order to survive. And did her best to protect Casca and even help out Guts. She’s one of the nicest characters out there in a world of uncertainty, demons, and God-fearing dick-wads. SHIPPING: Sighs...Someday dammit! Someday! Schierke x Guts is still cute though... MUSIC: As you know, the original Berserk had one of the best OST’s in anime history (excluding the opening and ending themes). And even those themes were pretty awesome in their own way. Now if there was one thing I was satisfied with watching this abomination, the music was decent. The background music was fitting and definitely a step up from the movie trilogy. As for the opening and ending, I really loved the first opening. The music I mean, the animation can suck it. The first opening shows a 1:30 condensed story to Guts’s time with the Band of the Hawk, while the second opening shows more action with the new cast. The two ending themes were softer than the openings. But if I had to choose my favorite songs, I would pick the 2016 opening, Inferno by 9mm Parabellum Bullet and the 2017 ending, Issai wa Monogatari by Yoshino Nanjo. ANIMATION: So did the animation improve after the movies? Hell no! I don’t condone the animation being so CGI. A lot of the character designs feel very sloppy and lazy to a point where I’d almost compare it to the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal. The animation to this series is somehow WORSE than the movie trilogy (I didn’t think it was possible). It almost makes the series unwatchable. Me personally, I like to see things through to the end, but the animation is just so atrocious that it bugs me how some of the character designs and movements can set off my eyes. For God’s sake, the Playstation games for Berserk have better character design than this fucking anime and that’s a fucking shame! ENDING TO SEASON ONE: For half of the season, Guts has been searching for Casca and every episode he gets close but no girl! Casca has been literally wandering around where she’s cared for by a band of whores, groped by creepies, revered by more creepies, praised, condemned, and eventually captured by bad guys. And let’s not forget that her brain has been reduced to that of an infant's! Casca ends up being kidnapped and is about to be sacrificed because she has a mark (just like Guts) and is somehow immune to being eaten by these demons that consume regular humans. Isidro and Puck were able to save Casca before she could be burned at the stake. And Guts was able to slay his way to where Casca is and take down a few angels. But during this night of hell, demons of all shapes and sizes were coming towards anything remotely human. But thanks to Guts, he was able to take care of them all. And then morning came and there’s one more giant monster to take care of. But that monster has… ...wait...is that Griffith in human form? Well seeing as this is the last episode of the season and the last 5 minutes of the episode, we're not getting any questions answered. Thought so. Okay, onto season two. SEASON TWO: The animation is still giving me eye-cancer. Come on guys, if Sailor Moon Crystal could improve tenfold within nine months, you guys could have improved to a point where the characters don’t look like dead-eyed bowel movements! But I digress! Guts and Casca return back to Ricket and the swordsmith (or lack there of). The old swordsmith died sometime after Guts left. But that moment has passed because guess who returned? Bastard betrayer and dude looks like a lady himself, Griffith! Because Ricket doesn’t know, he’s optimistic of a revival for the Band of the Hawk. But Guts is all, “HELL NO, GRIFFITH MUST DIE!” Griffith even has one of the old monsters (Zod) that Guts fought in the very first season go after and fight Guts. It wasn’t until Griffith and Zod left that Guts told Ricket everything about why he hates Griffith now. That he was the reason all of his comrades are dead and that Casca is in a state of…let’s just call it confusion. And so it’s decided that Guts and Casca will take a trip to wherever the hell Puck (the fairy) came from. Because fairies for whatever reason this story has to continue! However, certain bad things happen at night that cause Guts to act beastly around Casca. A possible side-effect to the brand on his neck, who knows? END OF SEASON TWO: So this 2017 version seemed a little better compared to the previous season in the action department. Guts does get another upgrade in the weaponry department thanks to the Skull Knight (the same one that saved him at the end of the third movie), though this upgrade does come at a price as it does shorten Guts's life-span. But Guts does get the job done when protecting his group from uncertain doom. Well, Guts now has the Berserker…and now part of his hair has a silver streak. And this group got a hot tip that this next town may help Casca regain her brains and she can go back to normal. YAY, my favorite character could go back to normal! How many more episodes to this season? One. But…there could be another season next year, right? Manga author puts Berserk on hiatus until further notice. OH, FUCK ME! And I suppose we’re not going to see any interactions between Guts and Griffith! Didn't think so. So the last episode has them in a new town filled with humans. There’s a meeting between Schierke and Sonia. Then another meeting between Isidro and Wolflame (that turned into a brawl)! So Gut’s comrades meet Griffith’s comrades. And the final episode is just Schierke getting upset at Isidro for saying something but then he apologizes to her by the end. And for a second, we had to worry about Schierke joining Sonia, which would lead her to work with Griffith. But she’s sticking to Guts. And we end with Schierke getting a wardrobe update (since she gets looked down a lot for dressing like a witch). And a promise of this journey continuing! This anime is a fucking mess. While the original Berserk anime left off on a WTF ending, the two seasons that followed were just a mess to sit through. And at the top of the list of complaints, it was the damn animation. I think many of us long for the days of the hand-drawn animes of the 1990s, especially when we get this CGI dump. But I think another thing that set me off was setting us up for something that might be amazing only for the last episode to just give us a middle finger. I think it’s too late to ask for a reboot to this since the reboot to Berserk has shit animation too. But as long as we’re waiting for a continuation, you think the animation could improve…just a bit? I don’t urge anyone to sit through this eye cancer. But if you were a big fan of Berserk, original Berserk and were truly curious of what happens to Guts next, go for it. If you want to watch Berserk…I urge you to find the original series. Please, see it if you can find it. But if you can’t, the movie trilogy is available for purchase from your video retailer and even Youtube has it available for purchase/rent. As for this series in particular, as usual Crunchyroll has all the episodes available (including the two recap episodes). And FUNimation has the dub available for paying subscribers.

[farnesca]

otp meme time, buckle in

Admin here is super bored so it’s some OTP memes time.  These are all just my thoughts, of course - if you’ve got your own hot take - or even different prompts - please send them in!!  The ask box is open~ <3

who wakes up first in the morning

Casca - her sleep schedule can be pretty erratic (her brand being trouble + night terrors) but she’s always up at the crack of dawn... that isn’t to say she’s a morning person!

who’s the first to fall asleep at night

Farnese - who usually actually wakes up pretty rested.  Farnese is rather “ah another lovely day” while Casca is more “not actually alive for the first two hours of being awake”.  

what they playfully tease each other over

Casca teases Farnese about her family being so high-class and generally just bougie as hell.  When she’s really in a good mood, Casca will get all huggy with Farnese and whisper into her ear, call her “Princess”... it’s like, the quickest way to ruin Farnese.  

Farnese will literally just talk about her buff her gf is and fawn over her, joking but also totally real and sincere as hell.  Same thing if Casca has to wear more feminine clothing for whatever reason.  Might trace her finger over Casca’s collarbones in a flirty way publicly.

If Farnese ever learned about Big Sis Casca she’d probably find it humorous and might want to tease about that, but that’d also probably be a raw wound so uh, maybe not... 

They just complement each other incessantly.  They’re in love??

what they do when the other’s having a bad day

I feel like Casca would give small gifts and tokens of affection... like she’ll see a particularly pretty flower or even a colorful stone and take it back to Farnese and just.  Leave it somewhere she’s sure it’ll be seen.  She’s open to talking about the problem, but she’s bad at approaching it head on.  She’d probably hold her hand unexpectedly.

Farnese is better at sitting down with Casca and talking her either out of or through it, or just listening, if that’s what Casca needs... picture: Casca running down her whole life story, feeling bad (rightfully) about the numerous terrible hands she’s been dealt at no fault of her own, maybe she even gets teary, and she looks over at Farnese, who’s just... staring back at her with so much love and care and understanding in her eyes that Casca has to stop and take a minute to compose herself.  I think Casca would find pressure soothing, so Farny would gladly hold her to soothe her while she’s upset or after night terrors.

how they say ‘i’m sorry’ after arguments

I feel like both of them do best when talk out why they were upset or did what they did + sincerely apologize to one another... things have to be out in the air for them to cool off.  They rarely end up in feuds.

Also they sleep pressed 500% tighter together than usual.  Catch them fast asleep in each others’ arms.

which one’s more ticklish

Farnese 100% - touch her ribs and she’s on the ground.  Casca takes full advantage of this

their favourite rainy day activities

Listening to the rain and drinking warm drinks, when they have the time.

how they surprise each other

Casca is actually really good at handling kids while Farnese sucks at it.  Farnese doesn’t now shit about sewing while Casca’s pretty adept.  Farnese is very outwardly emotional when drunk.  Might think of more examples later.

their most sickening shows of public affection

Farnese already hangs over Casca like 24/7... there’s not a whole lot more she can do LOL!!!  That said, Casca’s more likely to spontaneously kiss Farny or be PDA Touchy while others around.  It’s pretty uncommon, but when it happens HOOO it happens.  It’s usually when Casca gets a little pissy with someone who’s not her beloved gf or wants to get something off her mind.

[swipestream]

Sensor Sweep: Schuyler Hernstrom, New West, Zothique, Starship Troopers, S’rulyan Vault

Fiction (Everyday Should be Tuesday): “You may talk of cities and justice all you wish.  Tonight, the pagan wins.  My anger will be sated and these 

wicked people brought to ruin.”

Mortu and Kyrus in the White City is a new novella out from Cirsova standout Schuyler Hernstrom, the first in a planned series equally sword and sorcery and far future post-apocalyptic.

Speaking of Cirsova, congrats to Donald Uitvlugt on winning the Cirsova no. 9 giveaway!  Check out Donald’s own work.

          Publishing (Strategy Business): The media and entertainment industry has a long history of embracing disruptive innovations, from the printing press to the personal computer. But the rapid shift from physical to digital over the past decade or so has been truly revolutionary. In general, physical media has suffered a great deal. Printed newspapers and magazines have migrated to online versions, while DVDs and CDs have been supplanted by film- and music-streaming services.

  Fiction (Jon Mollison): Newsletter readers and those who follow me on Twitter already know about my next release.  As a quick break from the Heroes Unleashed Universe, I knocked out a nice fantasy epic that features a gladiator clawing his way out of the arena, crossing half an empire and back, and confronting a derelict empire with sword in hand. Along the way he must face the difficult choice between two enchanting women, and he must learn how to become the leader he was always meant to be.

  Fiction (Paul Bishop): Debuting as an imprint of Kensington Books in 1975, Pinnacle became a hugely successful publisher of paperback original action-adventure series typified by their vanguards, The Executioner series created by Don Pendleton, and The Destroyer series created by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir. Pinnacle displayed long-term market savvy, either by setting genre trends, or quickly responding to popular output from other publishers by creating similar series of their own—which were usually a cut above the originals.

  Fiction (Tellers of Weird Tales): I have read a paper by my friend Nathaniel Wallace, who presented at the Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium in Providence, Rhode Island, in August of last year. Nate’s paper is about adaptations of Lovecraft’s work to musical forms. That got me thinking about other adaptations of Lovecraft’s stories and poems. Until someone tells me different, I’ll stick with Harold S. Farnese’s musical settings for two poems by Lovecraft as the first adaptations of his work to a form other than that of verse or prose. Here are the first adaptations into various forms, in chronological order beginning with Farnese’s compositions. The source is the website The H.P. Lovecraft Archive, here.

  Fiction (Wasteland and Sky): I’m back with more horror for you today! After last week’s trio of stories, it was pretty clear Mr. Paget would really have to outdo himself here to keep up with the craziness. But these stories are not as insane as those were, though a few have some issues of their own. Let us continue the spooky fun with my ongoing look at The 27th Pan Book of Horror Stories. It promises to be an interesting ride.

Cinema (Swords & Sorcery): Jim Cornelius posted today that Mel Gibson is planning to remake Sam Peckinpah’s epochal The Wild Bunch. While I don’t doubt Gibson’s affinity for bloody action, I have, let’s say, serious doubts about this undertaking. You don’t remake perfect movies, only crappy ones that have some cool idea buried inside. Still, I’ll wait and see what happens.

It got me to thinking about my plan to review Westerns here a few years back, which in turn got me to thinking about which of them are my favorites.

  Cinema (Sargon of Akkad): The politics of the movie Starship Troopers. Thanks to everyone who made this video possible. Below are some links if you’d like to want to read further about all this, support me.

  History and Fiction (Karavansara): My friend Shanmei is writing another historical mystery (we talked about her first mystery story here). The book is set on the route between Italy and China at the turn of the century, and is loosely based on her grand-grandfather’s diaries and letters. Looks good. A few days back, Shanmei asked her readers what level of historical accuracy they think is needed for an historical mystery like the one she’s writing.

  Fiction (DMR Books): Clark Ashton Smith was a writer that made an indelible contribution to the genre of sword and sorcery fiction. However, his work is usually associated with the cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, rather than the father of sword and sorcery, Robert E. Howard. In truth, Smith acts as a sort of connective tissue between the two. Many of his characters would not be out of place in say, a Conan story, while the various worlds he created were just as imaginative as any produced by the writer from Cross Plains. As for tone however, Smith drifts towards the Lovecraft side of the spectrum; his stories are fatalistic in tone and the vast majority of his characters die horribly.

  Cinema (Walker’s Retreat): The Father of Battleboars saw the new Halloween, and he has one of hell of a discussion with co-host Dorrinal about it and its context in the wider world of horror films. Well worth the time listening to it, or watching us in the chat.

  Gaming (Niche Gamer): We’ve learned Grinding Gear Games is possibly bringing their massive free-to-play action RPG Path of Exile to PlayStation 4.

The news comes via the Taiwan Digital Game Rating board, which published a rating (via Gematsu) for the game on PlayStation 4.

While a PS4 version isn’t confirmed, the game is currently available for Windows PC and Xbox One.

Here’s a rundown on the game.

  RPG (RPG Pundit): This is a review of the RPG Supplement “The S’rulyan Vault“, written by Venger Satanis, published by Kort’thalis Publishing. This is a review of the print edition, which actually appears to be a combined book containing what was originally two different books (the S’rulyan Vault I & II).  It is a thin softcover book of about 30 pages.

      Cinema (RPG Confessions): Sword and Sorcery became an exploitation genre, rife with quickie production schedules, recycled sets, props and costumes, and written-on-the-fly scripts that checked boxes for mandatory story elements. The only bronze-thewed barbarian that managed to escape such a fate was, inexplicably, Beastmaster, which made not one, but two sequels and then morphed into a syndicated television series that lasted more than one season. Unbelievable.

    Sensor Sweep: Schuyler Hernstrom, New West, Zothique, Starship Troopers, S’rulyan Vault published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[bthump]

now im aware this isnt exactly how that meme works but maybe the meme Could inspire some (slides 5$ across the table) Farnesca Thoughts?

I’m always down to talk Farnesca!

Ok so assume Casca comes back, nothing awful happens, and they’re hanging out taking a well-deserved break in Elfhelm.

Farnese would start out extremely awkward around Casca because she was her babysitter and very familiar with her as the regressed traumatized shell. But she wouldn’t avoid her - at first she’d keep trying to take care of her in some ways. She’d bring her her meals while she’s first recovering from the mentally exhausting process of coming back and being whole again. Maybe she’d ask if Casca wants help brushing her hair, eg.

Casca… hmmm I can see her feeling vulnerable and, whether she remembers what happened in her regressed state or not, associating very positive feelings with Farnese. So while she might say she can do it herself, maybe even snap a little if Farnese is hovering, she’d follow up with something like, “but you can stay if you want.”

Anyway that would continue, Farnese would try to be her attendent and start being her friend. Casca would probably be the first one to open up to her, offering some fond yet sad reminiscing about the past. How she used to be a mercinary captain, what it felt like to wield a sword, dealing with Corkus - nothing about Griff and v little about Guts. Farnese would share parts of her own life, and they’d grow closer.

Casca would start doing sword drills and physical exercises to recover her physicality, and she’d start teaching Farnese some basics as she goes.

Idk I don’t want to do a play-by-play of their entire possible relationship span, but as far as early dynamics go as they tentatively grow closer, this seems like a good start.

Also I think Casca would make the first move. Probably after some serious emotional catharsis - magical therapy is one thing, actually talking to someone is another - and if it’s an attempt on her part to once again find another person to latch on to and shift her identity around, it could mean interesting things for their relationship as it progresses and they have to deal with some underlying unhealthy aspects. I always prefer complications to pure perfect relationships so I think it’d be interesting to explore, especially with Farnese as a caretaker type and Casca as a protective warrior type, kind of relying on each other for their sense of selves.

Especially since, well, they’ve both got histories of that - Casca with Griffith and then Guts, and Farnese with Serpico.

If that is the case though they could have a realization and work through it. Or they could just roll with it and still have a gr8 interesting relationship even if it’s not picture-perfect and they both see themselves as the protector of the other (Casca physically, becoming another sword, and Farnese emotionally, guarding Casca’s heart).

Or they could mitigate the potential unhealthiness by, you know, having other healthy relationships and friends and not solely relying on just one person for that feeling of validation. Casca and Guts could still be friends, and they’ve got the whole posse, and Farnese has Serpico and Schierke and everyone else too.

Lots of good + interesting possibilities, basically.

ty for asking!

[bthump]

what if it’s Casca’s behelit?

yk maybe now is a good time to lay out my Casca uses the behelit theory in full.

- the manga keeps bringing the behelit back up recently, including the reminder that Guts might just be carrying it for someone else

- “your wishes might not be her wishes” is ominously brought up many times, plus “even if you force back what was lost it still won’t be the way it was.” Emphasis on “force” because there is a sense that Guts is just doing what he wants without considering that Casca might not be ready for it.

- sadly if I had to lay odds on one member of the RPG group dying it would definitely be Farnese, ie, Casca’s prime sacrifice material. I don’t want that to happen for various reasons but the signs are there. Her arc is largely about improving her self-esteem and feeling like a valuable person but she’s a jack of all trades master of none right now and doesn’t bring anything unique to the group except her bond with Casca. And it has that extra tragic feel when a character who is just starting to come into their own gets cut down.

- Plus the irony of having her killed not by Guts, but by the so-far weakest and most helpless member of the group.

- PLUS it would give Serpico motivation to do something. And while I’m nhf motivating a male character by killing off a female character, I mean, you can’t ignore all those “if she dies I will commit murder” scenes, or the fact that Serpico is... kind of a non-entity rn. Like I actually really love him and the screen time he has, but so far he’s pretty much there for the cooking, being Guts’ dps back up, and the wry little comments, and this is the most obvious and hinted-towards way of motivating him

- plus further irony of Serpico vowing revenge on Apostle Casca instead of Berserker Guts and maybe later clashing with Guts over it. Or maybe joining Guts in his campaign against the Godhand/apostles and either way adding another angle and/or cautionary tale on revenge and how it fucks up your soul or whatever.

- look, Miura is a hack who is mostly shit at writing rape, but the first like, 4 instances of rape and attempted rape were at least good about focusing on the victim, how it affects them, how it changes them, how it motivates them etc. the eclipse is astoundingly bad at that aspect, but it is possible that he chose to delay the focus on Casca as a victim on purpose. sure it took 20 fucking years, but if he knew that it would cause Casca's moment of despair leading to apostlehood, but had to delay it for the right moment, the mental regression actually makes a little sense from a plot perspective and not just a shove-Casca-out-of-the-narrative perspective.

- basically now that we're finally getting her perspective on the eclipse, it makes sense to get her reaction to it, and imo the only way to even come close to justifying delaying that for 20 years is if her reaction is extremely plot-relevant and has to happen at this point in the story

- and I really, really want Casca to do something pro-active and plot-relevant and just for herself, even if it does damn her soul.

- imagine Casca's wish is to gain enough power to avenge herself. so she becomes an ultra elite apostle a la Ganeshka, but, because of the brand, she's a little outside causality and therefore actually has the power to harm Griffith. imagine SHE gets her own revenge, not Guts. Can be bitter sweet due to the story’s take on revenge, ie it bad, but still satisfying.

- but hey, while Berserk has only shown revenge as a strong negative so far, there are so many different perspectives, different sides of the coin, different characters and different motivations and different strokes for different folks angles in the story that it wouldn’t surprise me if it showed the idea of revenge in another, less negative (at least more ambiguous or justifiable) light.

- plus we’ve already seen that Griffith has his own very significant weakness if he needs to fight her.

- more irony if Griffith’s own “sword” destroys him. also Femto sowing the seeds of his own destruction as his first act.

- tbh i was watching the anime and had the thought that the scenes where Casca talks about how much she worships Griffith would just be sooo good if she ultimately kills him. especially since she became his “sword” in the first place because he encouraged her to kill her attempted rapist. killing Griffith would bring her narrative gloriously full-circle.

- plus it would make Casca’s initial worship of Griffith less ironically tragic and depressing and more ironically awesome. Instead of re-reading the scenes where she waxes poetic about him and thinking ‘aw man poor Casca’ you’d re-read those parts and think ‘heheheh just you wait Griffith’

- i like irony as a storytelling device, as you may be able to tell.

- it would add more depth to the concept of apostles. I’ve mused before about whether apostles are automatically damned to hell or whether they can still make better choices, and in lieu of Guts going apostle someone close to him who the audience also loves, like Casca, could make an interesting study in that - how monstrous vs how human do apostles have the capacity to be, yk?

- Plus if Casca has the opportunity for revenge but exemplifies the theme of Berserk by choosing another route, it still brings her narrative full circle.

- it would just add so much relevant fuel to the revenge theme and kick the plot back into gear and make Guts go back to contending with his dark side without stripping Casca of agency again by eg killing her off or something.

- And by moving the revenge narrative from Guts to Casca, Guts might be put into a different position - maybe attempting to stop a conflict. This would both continue to move Guts’ characterization forward rather than having him regress back into revenge-mode, and provide a new challenge and internal struggle, as the hound, say, urges him to join Casca.

- like how are you going to keep the hound relevant if Guts and Casca are honeymooning it up together without turning Casca into a damsel in distress in some way to agonize Guts? plz.

- ok that’s alll i got so far. this ended up a lot longer than i expected lol.