#mentions of the rest of the band but they aren't going to be major characters

[clonerightsagenda]

So... The Silt Verses were good.

As I mentioned, I should have anticipated this. If a podcast gets decently popular and people gush over its quality and it doesn't even have a core ship for them to fixate on, it must actually be good. And it was. Luckily the obligatory horror podcast 'organs, lovingly described' bits only lasted the first few episodes, and then we moved into what the show was actually stellar at: character drama and social commentary.

I've lauded Greater Boston as one of the few allegedly anti-capitalist podcast that actually examines structures and society instead of just going haha evil company go brr, and The Silt Verses joins those ranks, looking at the issue from a macro (society) scale rather than micro (city). It was a very good - and unflinchingly, painfully honest - look at how capitalism is eating us alive, even citizens of the imperial core, how so many people feel helpless to resist, and how as much as we want to root for a band of scrappy rebels, most of the time they're helpless in the face of the international machinery, and their brief bursts of rebellion will get absorbed and redirected by the lumbering beast that's feeding on us all.

Both Greater Boston and TSV posit an alternative - Wonderland and the Grace. If society is irredeemably rotten, we must leave society. That's a great dream. And to their credit, both podcasts acknowledge that this takes effort. (Is it any surprise that both leftist podcasts with a more sophisticated awareness feature that most central of rebel technologies... the committee meeting.) However especially for situations like the Grace where there's not trade with an easily accessible outer world, it does make me wonder what place in this glorious future there is for disabled and chronically ill people who need the care and resources our industrialized world can provide. To TSV's credit, again, the tiny hope spot we get for The Grace is less 'we're going to build a glorious future for everyone' and more, we are taking one small step for resistance. We don't expect to get very far. But we're hoping the next people might get a bit further.

I saw TSV referred to as an aro podcast and they were right. Sister Carpenter, woman that she is, is canonically aro, but also there really aren't any major romances and all the key character relationships are platonic/familial/at least not traditionally romantic. (Nodding at that post about Hayward being married to Paige like nuns are married to Jesus. I guess that makes her widow of wounds story true in the end, huh? Watch out when you build a false mythology around yourself. It might come true.) It's the aro woman out of everyone who says 'however it started, it can end in love', but the podcast's version of love isn't a big triumphant kiss. It's laying your brother's corpse to rest. It's killing your enemy in a way that's kind and telling a lie to save people you've never met. It's dying alone but at peace because you get to watch the people you care about walk away to safety. (Side note: as much as I tried to take that bit with Hayward saying goodbye to Paige seriously, it kept reminding me of the end of The Good Place where Janet goes 'i hate to watch you walk through the door at the end of the universe, but I love to watch you go'.

Faulkner had a great character arc and I can't believe the show got me to root for Hayward of all people, but naturally I am mostly going to gush about the women. Val was a surprise third act hit for me. You know I love identity issues. She reminded me of Breq a little - they hollowed out a woman to fill her out with a weapon, and who is she now? Does it mean anything to get revenge for the corpse she's wearing? I will fix it, do you understand me? And she can't fix it, but she can in her dying moments make one tiny change to give one tiny group of people she's never met the shadow of a chance. Also the way her powers worked was interesting, terrifying, and conceptually appropriate.

I loved Paige too. We first see her as a relatively privileged person uncomfortable with her own complicity but not sure how to break out and then follow her as she tries to break out anyway. This podcast understands that resistance is hard! It's messy, it's exhausting, it changes you in ways you don't expect or want, and then you feel compelled to pretend you're fine even if you've burnt out because you led these people here, you're responsible for them, what else can you do? She should read Emergent Strategies, especially the section on charismatic leaders. Diversity win! This trans woman gets a nightmare magic god pregnancy.

Finally, Carpenter. If Val is Breq, Carpenter is Murderbot - snarky, exhausted, antisocial, perpetually annoyed, but going out of her way to try to save people anyway (and sometimes kill her way through a research station with an ax). Part of me wants her to make it to the Grace and then wherever Paige stops walking and lay both her and Hayward to rest. Part of me wants her to get her relief in the cairn maiden's arms because if anyone deserves some peace and relief away from the goddamn trawlerman, it's her. It's fitting that a servant of pliant water and patient death ends with a fate that's ambiguous. Maybe she's still trudging onward. Maybe she's buried in silt at the bottom of the river with her brother. Maybe she's something inbetween, the ghost Faulkner kept casting her as. Dead and not dead yet.

My one minor complaint was that I couldn't always follow the action by the soundscaping alone. The transcripts were very helpful for this so I frequently kept them open as I listened.

[thestrangestthing89]

I feel like for the most part, the show has done a great job showing what life was like in the 80s but that doesn't mean they aren't allowed to take artistic license with some things. It's not a documentary but a fictional show being written in 2023. They are allowed to add a more modern approach to certain things since that's where the audience is coming from.

I think the main message of the show is supposed to be about found family and overcoming adversity. The bullies always lose, and not only that, the bullies aren't ever part of the main cast. Billy was there for two seasons and was the bad guy and he dies. The middle school bullies lose. Steve was a bully in Season 1 and reformed and is likable now. Jason dies.

All of the main characters are outcasts in some way and find support with each other. I don't think this is unrealistic. People who don't fit in tend to band together. But I also don't think it's a problem if people who would have normally been homophobic IRL aren't shown to be on this show. A cop in real life would have likely been homophobic, but that doesn't mean they are required to show Hopper as that. He already knows Will is gay because Joyce told him in the first episode. His "is he?" comment in response to this was not judgmental, he was looking for clarification. He's gone out of his way to help Will. He could have ignored that he went missing and no one during this time would have questioned it. But that didn't happen. He's consistently show as someone who doesn't do things in the conventional way (a major theme of the show). This show likes to invert tropes and not having Hopper be depicted as the cowboy someone like him frequently is shown as, isn't a bad thing. It's keeping in line with the themes of the story. He's messier than this and he frequently questions and works against authority/institutions to protect his family.

Same thing goes for the Wheelers. They are shown to slowly start questioning their conventional upbringing even though they have a Reagan sign on the lawn. Karen almost has an affair and isn't happy in her marriage. She is also shown to emotionally support her kids. She isn't going to suddenly start shouting homophobic things at Mike because she mentioned Margaret Thatcher's name one time in a vague conversation. They are allowed to show the complexities of human behavior. Even Ted starts to question the media propaganda at the end of the season. He's realizing that the normal explanations aren't holding up. It doesn't matter if this would or wouldn't have happened IRL. It's a story. And showing them questioning convention falls in line with the themes of the story they have been telling from the beginning.

I think the Reagan sign is there to show what kind of town Hawkins is and how the Wheelers fit into that. But when the whole town starts hunting Hellfire Club we can plainly see that the parents are not on board with this and are worried about their kids. They are questioning the mindset of the town. They are questioning the conventional ideals they were taught. They think separately from the masses because the masses are hurting their kids.

The bullies have consistently worked against the main characters. The whole point is that they work together as a team to overcome their problems. I think Season 4 was meant to be a set up for what's to come for Mike and Will next season (and obviously for the rest of the characters too but specifically with regard to homophobia). It's showing how these characters are outsiders in their own town, but not within their group. Like it always has. It has consistently done this since the beginning. This isn't working against the 80s backdrop in any way. They are using familiar themes from 80s movies and giving them a modern twist. They aren't trying to write another 80s movie as if we still live in that time.

[pyramidladleader]

I am going to try to refrain from mentioning griffguts or being preachy in response to this reblog as the arguments seem logical at first. There are three points in this post that I view as blatantly false and I'd like to both explain my pov and why I love the female characters of berserk so much.

Point 1: The majority of characters have writing flaws or not enough screentime.

This one really confuses me because I can't really think of major writing flaws in any of the characters mentioned (except debatably Casca but we will get to that later) especially Farnese (who has the best arc in the series second only to Guts who is y'know the main character) and Shierke (who has a wonderful little arc of grief, mentorship, and accepting a new family). Yeah technically most of the characters I mentioned didn't have much screentime but that's because they're mostly side characters and aren't as important to the larger plot or Guts' internal character. Even with reduced screentime Luca is one of the most lovable characters I've ever seen, Flora is wonderfully mysterious and pushes along Shierke's arc, and Erica is debatably the straw that breaks the camel's back for Guts and is one of the major reasons Cracks in the Blade is the best chapter of fiction I've ever read.

Point 2: Miura's writing is sexist and reduces the writing of female characters to plot devices in the name of male characters.

I won't lie this is probably your best point and is easily the most contentious part of berserk for me. However I do think the only times Miura was ever blatantly sexist was with Wyald and the Troll Cave and every other time is a side effect of how berserk changed from and external story to an internal one. Pre-conviction Berserk is about the interpersonal relationships of Griffith, Guts, and Casca or the people around Guts as he holds his temper tantrum. After-conviction the story focuses more on Guts' internal state as he improves as a person while also switching to the pov of the Neo Band of the Hawk as the rest of the world progressively gets colonized by Falconia. The unfortunate side effect of this shift is that almost every character that can't directly affect the Falconia plotline or can't communicate with Guts is severely reduced. This leads to people saying that Casca as Elaine as a plot device just to move along Guts' character and I would agree... if Corridor of Dreams didn't exist. Corridor of Dreams shows us that a small part of Casca was aware the whole time and we see her strife and the pains she had to wrestle with forcing her to regress into Elaine. This mini arc also happens to star only female characters while being the second best mini arc in the manga. Corridor adds complexity and tragedy to Casca as Elaine without having to use Guts as a vehicle for that. this conversation about the sexism in berserk is infinitely complex and much too deep a question for my tiny little tumblr post to delve into fully. I admit I have my biases but I really don't think that Miura was trying to directly be sexist with any of his major female characters.

Point 3: Gutsca is toxic and not compassionate

I will keep it a buck, this was your dumbest point by far. I may have miscommunicated my opinion on Gutsca so I will state it here without any doubt: Gutsca is a beautiful and compassionate ship of two people who truly understand each other that was ruined and torn apart by the actions of Griffith. Guts still loves Casca post eclipse but he cannot have those feelings reciprocated and, mirroring Griffith, has a temper tantrum about it which the store reprimands heavily Guts has to come with terms with the fact that his love may never be able to love him back again even with her mind restored. He has to realize he can never kill the monster that did this to him. He has to realize that all he can do now is protect the ones he loves. Gutsca was always doomed with Griffith around and the beauty of that relationship died because one man couldn't hold himself together. It shows the cruelty and beauty that is the nature of love and the world itself. Calling it toxic after it concluded is absurd.

Sorry for the long ass response I really really really like berserk if you couldn't tell. I might have made some messy points here but I tried to remain objective and not to rock the boat on Griffguts because yeah i still have opinions on that ship I will take to my grave. Lmk if I said anything dumb as hell here. Berserk is my favorite series to pick apart and analyze so I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

The misogyny in the berserk fandom is actually crazy bruh

Like I just saw someone say that a gutgriff amv is all that you need to know about berserk ignoring all of the wonderful characters not named Gut or Griffith. People who've only seen the anime have no excuse either cause Casca is easily the most complex Golden Age character and seeing her turn into a yaoi victim is really disheartening. Farnese, Shierke, Flora, Isma, Luca, Erica. None of these characters get nearly as much appreciation despite their importance and complexity. I have opinions on gutgriff I will not spill here but my main frustration with the berserk fandom on tumblr is the fact that people on here will criticize Miura's writing choices as sexist and then shaft all female characters in the name of a toxic yaoi ship. Worst part is that the same aspect of the fandom with mpreg guts and femto appreciation blogs is the least toxic part of the fandom. Casca I'm sorry girlie you deserve better.

[piratewithvigor]

Love Break My Heart: Chapter 1

Summary: A half-life relationship is disintegrating at the seams. Neither of them is good for the other, but after 14 years together, they don’t know how to be with each other anymore.

Word Count: 2109

A/N: This is a prize story written for @slashscowboyboots​ and I expect it to be about 4 chapters or so with maybe more if the chapters turn out to be much longer than this one.

I don’t know how long I’ve been standing in front of the mirror. My eyes have gone foggy from the bright lights bouncing off of every shiny surface in the bathroom and from trying to see a coherent reflection in the shattered glass. I keep meaning to go out and replace it, but every time it leaves my line of sight, I forget about it and the rage Axl was in when he punched it. All the pieces are there; just broken. It serves its purpose, just not well. It’s doing well enough that I’m able to spot the gray hairs. 

In the time I’ve stood there (God knows how long it was), I found twelve. Plucked them each out and dropped them into the sink. I’m not even thirty yet… Nowhere near old enough to be going gray from age. 

I turn the faucet just enough that a dribble of cool water begins to flow. The stream washes away the hairs and somewhere deep in my soul, I feel like I’m telling a lie. I know exactly why I’m going gray and it wouldn’t be all that much of a guess for anyone close to me either. Not a single one of us would say it out loud. I can almost taste bile at the thought of it. The wave of nausea urges me to cup my hands under the stream of water and toss it into my face. For a moment, I feel some brief sense of relief, but the moment is fleeting. 

I dab away the water with a nearby towel and the broken mirror confronts me with proof I can’t just wash away: what used to only be crinkles are now lines of age etched deep in my face.

I must have gasped when I saw them; something caused Axl to turn over in bed. He’d always been a light sleeper, for as long as I’d known him. Likely a survival instinct his mind had created for him. If he was already tossing and turning, getting back into bed would almost definitely wake him up. The last thing I wanted on a day I’d already slept as poorly as I did would be a crabby Axl. Or a bitchy one. Or an angry one. He could be moments away from waking up naturally, but if someone woke him up before he was good and ready, said poor fucker would need eyes on the back of their head for the rest of the day if they wanted to make it through alive. 

I shut off the light in the bathroom and paused in the doorway for a moment to consider my options. On the one hand, I could try to get another hour or two of sleep before I’d have to get ready to head out to the studio with Axl and risk waking him up as I got back into bed, or I could just stay up and try to get any kind of work done. Judging by Axl’s second groan and turn in the sheets, it’d be more prudent to take the second option. He may or may not be pissed at me already.

I don’t remember much about what triggered the fight between us last night. My brain had been foggy during most of it and I was riding a mild hangover when I woke up. It’s possible that might have been the beginning of the argument. Axl was no saint when it came to booze either, but he was the best about it and took it upon himself to chastise the rest of the band about their habits. 

My suspicions seem to be correct, judging by the apparent tornado that had swept through the living room at the bottom of the stairs. On second thought, ‘tornado’ didn’t do the wreck justice; it was carnage. Almost as bad as the shithole the whole band was sharing when we were first starting out. The only difference was that I know the room had been clean and proper the morning before. A real ‘Better Homes And Gardens’ situation. It looks more like a crime scene as I walk through it for damage assessment. 

Nothing seems to be damaged beyond repair at first glance, just moved or thrown. The only furniture still where I remember it was the couch, which had purposely been the heaviest one available for exactly fights like the one we must have had. Can’t throw something if you can’t lift it.

Bits and pieces of the fight started coming back to me as I step over the strewn chairs, magazines and various other shit that populated the room. I remember the remote for the TV being whipped at the back of my head and a side table being poised for an equal action, but I’d be damned if I could remember why. The only thing that makes me stop is the shattered bottle of Jack by the front door. Bottles had been thrown at each other before. Back in the day, they’d been thrown at almost anything. Perfect for subduing destructive tendencies. The difference between the wrecks I recognized and the one at the door was the lack of any splatter. There’d always be a splatter from the bit of liquid left in the bottle, but there was no sign on the door. Just a little mark in the white paint where the black ink of the label had hit. No splatter meant that Axl hadn’t taken it from me to throw. That impact was my doing. 

The pang of regret hits harder than I expect it to. I don’t remember feeling angry at Axl. Or the reason why I would want to hurt him. Axl’s rage burns fast and hot, but once he’s calm, it all goes away. I’m used to the tantrums. I’m not used to coming out of a blur and finding that I wanted to hit him with a heavy bottle that could have either knocked him out or given him need of stitches. And at the front door? He wouldn’t be there unless he was planning to leave. Make-up sex isn’t going to garner me the forgiveness I need for whatever transpired the night before. 

I start by cleaning up the glass and fixing up the room as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, it means leaving all the furniture I can’t pick up to move. How Axl can in his rages, I have no idea. Instead of looking like a crack den, I leave the room looking more like the middle of a redecoration project. The second step on my quest of forgiveness is breakfast. Neither of us are too big on it, or really food in general, but coffee and toast are still a staple of the day. 

Luckily, the kitchen seems to have been completely disconnected from the chaos. A little messy from a slipshod dinner cleanup, but nothing more heinous than any nuclear family would be facing after meatloaf night. The early morning hour keeps me from wanting to scrub and dry dishes, but I can at least leave them to soak while I prep the coffee. 

The old machine looks like it’s on its last legs, but I doubt we’d get rid of it even when it finally decides to stop. It was the one luxury we all chipped in on when we started renting the band house. We mostly stole anything more expensive than a Big Mac but security at the appliance store were on us like hawks if we dared to step into the store. We could have probably survived without food and most of our vices, but taking coffee away from a house full of drunks was just asking for murder. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was still kicking after the horrendous overuse we put it through. A memory of when the five of us weren’t too fucked up to work together.

I exhale softly when the thought passes through. Stevie may have been a pain in our collective asses, but he was our pain in the ass. Part of the guys. And he threw it all away over a vice. If one of the five of us could leave, then who was next? 

The little light on the coffee maker begins to blink. There used to be a shrill beep that went with it, but the speaker was promptly removed when five angry drunks with five angry hangovers unanimously decided that there was no place in the house for that kind of bullshit. 

I’m pouring the first cup when quiet shuffling from behind me results in two arms around my waist.

“I didn’t wake you, did I?” I murmur, setting the pot back down. I can feel Axl shake his head between my shoulderblades. 

“I was up anyway. Thanks for making the coffee and cleaning up.” His voice is still thick with sleep, making it deep enough that I can hardly hear him. 

“Want something to eat? I was feeling toast.” He considers for a few moments and I’m almost worried he fell asleep against me. He eventually nods, still holding onto me gently.

“Butter, unless you wanna open that jam from your mom.” I turn around in his grasp and place a kiss to the top of his head. He’s feeling the same way I am- remorseful for an event neither of us remember clearly, but knowing that reparations must be made. It’s why he’s being so physically affectionate. 

“Anything for you, Fireball.” He takes my cue to sit down at our little table in the middle of the kitchen. It’s big enough for the two of us and maybe one more if we squished elbows, not really more than a card table, but perfect for two introverts who like proximity.

When he sits down, I take my opportunity for looking him over for damages. His hair is mussed, but likely from post-sex instead of a bottle hitting it, so I’m not too worried. His collarbone is spotted with little bruises, but the placement and shape lead me to believe they’re nothing more than love bites. No scrapes or cuts along his arms. He doesn’t look like he’s facing anything worse than insomnia. I can’t blame him; the new album is set to be released within the next couple of months, and his vision for it is huge. Two full albums, released on the same day, and we’ve only got one album’s worth of songs written for them. It’s brilliant, but I’m as worried as he is about completion. 

The toast pops up and is smeared with my mom’s spiced peach jam. She sends us a few jars each summer as a care package that I used to protest about, but learned to accept. Childhood comfort foods are something that only last for so long. 

I set Axl’s plate in front of him with his coffee. We both like it strong, but he somehow takes it black without anything added. As far as he knows, mine is the same. He’s still looking a little tired and distracted, but not unhappy. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” I ask, nibbling on a corner of toast.

“Just the albums. It’s the third album curse,” he explains, only now noticing his breakfast.

“Explain?”

“Any band’s third album is always the worst. They use up all the songs they’ve written on the first two and by the third, they have nothing to say. Zeppelin 3? Dressed To Kill? We’re having the same problem, but we’re doing two at once.” 

I can feel the floor shaking between us. He’s bouncing his knee like he always does when he has nervous energy. I lean across the table and take his free hand in mine. It’s softer; no calluses common to a guitarist. 

“You’re forgetting Toys In The Attic, London Calling, Electric Ladyland… The last two also being double albums. Dunno about you, but those guys turned out okay.” Axl manages a small smile. It’s hard to believe that the same face that can look so sweet and charming is the same one who tried to throw a table at me less than ten hours ago. “Ours are gonna kick so much ass.” As fast as the smile came, it descended into a scowl. 

“It would if I wasn’t the only one pulling his fucking weight.” I sighed quietly, only letting the air escape through my nose. An out-loud sigh would only bring on another fight. This wasn’t Axl’s fault, or even my fault. He simply stressed out about details more than the rest of us and was definitely more vocal about it. It wasn’t anyone’s fault...

[crossdressingdeath]

While the origins only impact the prologue of Origins, you do find hints here and there in the game of the other origins despite which one you picked. Like Jowan escaping the Circle. Guards at Howe's estate talking about the elves who broke in there or the attack at Highever. But if I remember correctly, different races were only added later in development since they only planned for the inquisitor to be human, unlike origins which was about the origins. So they simply didn't have the time.

No yeah, that's what I meant about the origins in DAO being relevant insofar as they impacted the plot. We know they all happened regardless of who the Warden is, because the events that get kicked off by each origin happen; the Warden is decided by which location Duncan decided to go to for recruitment, not by which origin happened. I guess it's technically possible that Tabris, Cousland and maybe Surana/Amell as individual characters don't exist unless you're playing them, since as far as I'm aware they're never mentioned at any point in the series if you don't pick them and the events of their origins could conceivably have happened without them? Less so Surana/Amell since Jowan was using their status as a Harrowed mage to get the rod of fire to melt the lock of the phylactery chamber (although one of them is definitely non-canon for shared origin reasons, it's probably Surana based on plot relevance but I like Surana so I'm going with Amell as non-canon, also obligatory why couldn't Surana and Amell have separate origins Bioware there are five non-mage origins). Probably they're all canon, but it is possible that some of them aren't. Also, still annoyed that both Brosca and Aeducan are canonically male; Bioware, we know those two are potential Wardens, we would not have minded you doing some linguistic acrobatics to avoid using any gendered pronouns to refer to them.

Honestly, rather than a lack of time I suspect a large part of why the four Inquisitors (or five, if you count mage and non-mage Trevelyan as separate characters, which is a definite possibility given how the two of them have separate reasons for attending the Conclave) are never confirmed as all being present is just that... since they're all starting at the Conclave with no specific origin events to set up a major plot beat later, confirming that they were present would require the game taking a detour to do so. Could the story have brought up the existence of a Carta dwarf and a Dalish elf sneaking into the Conclave to spy on the proceedings (side note, imagine Cadash and Lavellan running into each other and teaming up. ...I may have to do a Cadash run just to set up a Cadash for future multiple Quiz AUs), or a band of Qunari mercenaries hired for security, or a noble and/or mage of the Trevelyan family being there as part of one or the other factions? Sure. Would it have added anything to the story? No. DAO never goes out of its way to prove the existence of the potential Wardens that you aren't playing as because it doesn't have to; the events of each origin have a massive impact on the plot of the game (except for arguably Cousland; somewhat amusingly the slaughter of one of the most powerful families in Ferelden has the least impact on the rest of the plot of all the origins. Still an impact, just less of one). In DAI the game would have to go out of its way to prove the existence of the other Inquisitors, so I can't blame them for leaving it up to precedent and letting the players make up their own minds from there.

[professor-doc-emeritus]

finally finished berserk today, breaks my heart to know I'll never read another chapter penned fully by miura

Part of why I wanted to finish was so I could get a good guesstimate on how much was left, since I think the answer to if we'll actually get the rest of the story ultimately lies there, and the simple answer is I don't know.

On the one hand, the driving force of the manga for the better part of 3 arcs and 2 decades is now complete: casca is (mostly) back to normal. On the other hand, there's still soooooooooooooooooooooo much left unexplored.

Oddly enough the part I'm most bummed about ultimately missing out on now is actually all the character dynamic shifts that casca's return will inevitably cause. She obviously got along well with everyone at first, but is she going to take on a leadership role? She was the defacto leader of the original band of the hawk when griffith went AWOL. How will she adapt to fighting apostle level threats? How will farneese develop now that her main role within the group is essentially obsolete now that casca has agency again? Is casca even going to be able to be in the group since she can't confront Guts? What is the ultimate goal the team is going to work towards now that casca is (mostly) healed?

Not to mention the obvious high-level plot stuff that still unanswered: casca actually meeting with guts, killing immortal Zod, the new dynamic of the world at large, falconia, griffiths kingdom, confronting griffith, the skull knights destiny, the skull knight's full backstory, the behelit, the true nature of the moonlight boy, the former godhand, the idea of evil... now I'm even more depressed.

Anyway, even with all that major stuff still unanswered, I don't actually think it's anything that couldn't get wrapped up in a big final arc if miura had really wanted to. A 'fast travel' system in the form of the world tree had been introduced in the last couple of chapters, and most of the major plot points are all concentrated in the same general area, so if the squad set their eyes on cutting down griffith and went at it, I think pretty much everything could get resolved in one big, juicy final arc.

BUT, I could just as easily see miura wanting to give both team guts time to figure out their new dynamic, and team griffith more development (griffith has pretty much solely been presented as a Godhead unto himself recently, I think miura wants him to have a bit more of a complex personal life going on before confronting Guts) before putting a bow on everything. He's been saying we're in the endgame of berserk for awhile now, but he definitely would adjust his gameplan as he went along, so it's hard to

Ultimately, the best case scenario for us getting a proper completion of berserk is if we really were gearing up for the final arc, miura had a ton of notes for how it was going to go since it was about to be the final arc, and the gaps that exist in the production materials and notes aren't anything a competent writer couldn't come in and smooth out into a finished product. I think the absolute most berserk that could get made in a way that's true to miura is about 15 volumes at 9 chapters each. Thats 135 chapters, which would put berserk at just shy of 500 chapters, making it less than a fifth of the overall series. If the fantasia arc was about to wrap up (they were only 1 or 2 chapters away from the next volume release) It also gives us the same length as the millenium falcon arc, which is the longest arc in berserk. We'd need extensive notation to finish it, and it would take a long time at that. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would get us home.

The worst case scenario is if miura actually wasn't anywhere near the final arc, left few to no notes, and worst of all, wasn't even sure about what a fraction of the unfinished plotpoints conclusions would be. At that point, i say just publish what little remains to be published and call it a series, however bitter a pill it is to swallow