#scene: eclipse rape

[bthump]

Graphic and somewhat crude discussion regarding the eclipse rape here so fair warning.

rereading the eclipse, and also keeping in mind the recently translated interview where Miura apparently said that Casca may have derived pleasure from the rape if it was Griffith perpetrating it… I’m starting to honestly think that maybe the actual authorial intent of the scene was indeed to convey Casca experiencing emotional and physical pleasure from the rape. This could explain the eroticized portrayal to some degree. It’s still obviously problematic as hell but I think it makes it slightly more… acceptable? (not really but idk how else to phrase this sorry) that it was drawn that way, because then it means there was some actual reason behind the rape being portrayed that way and it wasn’t just done for the hell of it yk? But then again I find the supposed reason itself very disturbing and problematic and don’t see how it adds any meaning to the story. Slan saying “love, hatred, pain, pleasure, life, death, all are there”. I think is also indicative of this… I mean I don’t think anyone else could be feeling pleasure in that moment other than Casca. Femto possibly? Feeling spiteful pleasure at hurting guts? Guts, certainly not. It’s also suggestive that slan says this and it cuts to Casca in a sexualised pose. It’s obvious Casca had an orgasm or at the very least felt some physical pleasure based on all the effects on the page (the shudder/shake/twitch, sparkles on the page, sparkles on her nipples after femto sucks them, the highly eroticized poses, her blushing…). Also the fact that right after casca tells guts not to look, she raises up her arms to wrap them around Griffith (her arms aren’t restrained at this point) and seemingly willingly kisses him. I just.. the framing of the scene makes it kind of undeniable to me that miura was trying to portray Casca experiencing pleasure. In this scene casca is drawn very similarly to Charlotte during her consensual sex scene with Griffith. And obviously the matter of consent in the Charlotte scene itself is also dubious, but as you’ve explained previously it’s clearly not intended to be seen narratively as such (it’s just miura and his unfortunate portrayal of these things). It’s like miura was deliberately trying to blur the lines here, to what end I don’t know. Obviously the rape was still traumatic for her. But I really hope it’s not supposed to be understood that the main reason she was traumatised to the extent of her mind being broken and regressed to that of a toddler was because she also enjoyed it and couldn’t take the humiliation and shame of this, which I’ve seen many suggest. I think her telling guts not to look before kissing femto lends itself to this idea though. However, like I said, I just don’t see the value in this to the story? Or to Casca as a character? Or any character for that matter? The alternative is that miura drew the rape scene in this way for no reason, or even to be titillating which is equally as terrible to me. Maybe worse

Sorry I know this ask is graphic and kind of tactless. I understand if you don’t want to post it

link to the interview for reference

lol honestly you pointing it out is the first time in several re-reads that I actually noticed that Casca wraps her arms around Femto of her own volition. It's definitely a fact that Casca had an orgasm during the rape scene, so to me there's no doubt that she was experiencing physical pleasure. The idea that she was experiencing some amount of emotional pleasure too is more ambiguous, but yeah with that quote from Miura and the panels of her wrapping her arms around Femto it does seem pretty undeniable that that's also intended an element of the scene, though idk if it quite reaches the level of text, rather than implication.

And yeah like, I get what you're getting at, and I think it makes sense. It sucks either way, but if we're meant to understand the porny eroticization of the Eclipse rape as a context clue that Casca's not just feeling unwanted physical pleasure but also some amount of emotional fultillment, then yeah it arguably works better on a strict storytelling level.

Though if it was Miura's intent to show that Casca is torn emotionally between desire and horror, idk if I'd make that argument because I think that would be much more effective if we were shown/told more directly that Casca is feeling confused emotions (perhaps hearing her thoughts from her point of view) while being visually shown the horror, to match the rest of the Eclipse, and to prioritize the horror in the hierarchy of confused emotions.

As is, if we assume Casca is feeling desire for Griffith/Femto, to me the eroticization of the rape could be more indicative of Guts' feelings while watching - maybe Guts interpreting it through a lens of jealousy? I think that could potentially be effective if, like, it had any bearing on the story/characters/relationships at all lmao. If it was something Guts had to deal with, something that impacted his feelings towards Casca, something that was depicted as a major flaw to overcome, and potentially something shown from Guts' point of view as erotic but shown as horrific when in an objective (or even Casca's, if we got hers) pov, etc.

Buuuut it's all pretty moot anyway lol because like you said, what's the value? As it is, it's not a well-done depiction of complicated emotions. I agree that it would suck a lot if that was intended to be the reason for Casca's regression lol, like yeesh, it'd be absolutely dismal and I really hope that's not the case. It seems to have had no bearing on Guts' feelings or decisions, in fact it hasn't been referred to at all. We're only infering Casca's mixed feelings right now based on like two panels of Casca lifting her arms and one Miura interview, so if it is meant to have an impact on the story/characters then it should probably actually be textual and yk, have an impact.

So yeah, ultimately I agree with your conclusion that it's bad either way. Personally I think I'd actually prefer a more straightforward "Femto rapes Casca and Casca is plain old horrified and traumatized and it's sexy because it's in a magazine aimed at horny men" interpretation than the story making Casca confused emotionally and doing nothing with it except adding some eroticism, because without any impact on the story/characters it feels less like the eroticism is a way of underscoring Casca's mixed feelings, and more like Casca's potential mixed feelings are a way of justifying the eroticism while adding even more misogynist and otherwise problematic baggage to the rape scene and not even doing anything with it.

Or maybe even worse, doing something with it now that Casca's in Falconia. Because I gotta say I have negative faith in the ability of anyone involved to write this kind of thing well lmao and I am horrified at the prospect.

Thanks for the ask! And no worries, it's a difficult subject to discuss but I don't think you were tactless about it at all!

#ask #anonymous #b #a #scene: eclipse rape #theme: critique #theme: misogyny

[cacaitos]

honestly the third funniest berserk dudebro fans are the ones that are like ‘damn casca, guts... damn.. assault... they’ve had literally the hardest lives there are ... such traumatizing mucho sad’ and then moment a female character that slighly annoys them enters scene they immedeately go ‘hey someone needs to r*pe her like someone put the whore in her place lol’

#txt #rape mention #rape tw #ask to tag in an specific format if you need #bitches cry over the eclipse scene but i know their asses wouldnt have cared abt her if casca had stayed '''a bitch''' and they didnt #*as in personality #undertood her as guts' ''''woman''''' #said to frnese on her first appearances but not now that shes 'on guts' side'. said to nina. w charlotte and w sonia like shes a teen wtf. #morda appeared like for two chapters and did maybe 1 meanie thing and got told already. what a record. #like obviously im not minimizing casca and guts' experiences it's that they only care for the edge and not the actual harm and #consecuences it produces

[farnese0]

I cannot emphasize enough how much I hate the treatment Casca gets as a character after The Golden Age (I have some problems even with her characterization after she fell for Guts during that same arc, but those are minor complaints compared to the state of current Casca).

The first complaint would absolutely be the treatment of her situation as an SA survivor. I don't think her trauma is ever explored on a deeper note, nor her actual pain for the whole situation she got trapped in. The focus of her rape isn't on her, it's always on Guts' pain and Guts' feelings about it, backed up by actual interviews in which Miura stated he made the rape scene just for the eclipse to be more painful for Guts. The rape itself is drawn in a way that makes it extremely uncomfortable to witness, not for its brutality nor because you feel the pain she's feeling, but because it's drawn as if it was a non-con hentai, something that always disturbed me. How come the same person who put so much heart and genuine care into realistically depict Guts' trauma as a survivor could do something so distasteful ?

That event would curse her character into becoming a complete tool for the story and its male characters to use. During the eclipse her body serves as a mere object for Griffith to project his pain onto Guts, the same Guts that thinks about raping her as a way to get closer to Griffith. The same Guts that on a lot of occasions thinks about abandoning her to chase after Griffith, and that a lot of times treat her as an inconvenience. Even after getting her sanity back, she can do nothing but become a narrative tool to give Guts' a reason to chase after Griffith again.

During the Golden Age she was interesting, but she's always been "a girl in love", always pining for some guys. Griffith didn't want her so she got with Guts instead, to cure their mutual obsession with the man. I hope the manga doesn't end with Casca staying romantically involved with Guts, because to me their relationship never felt genuine. Casca in the narrative is something Guts use to delude himself into thinking he would ever be able to just let go of Griffith and forget all that happened.

In the current arc, after being kidnapped, she's getting dressed in fancy clothes, dreaming and sleeping, while Guts is more concerned about his sword than he is for her. I don't think she would ever recover from this character assassination, but I do hope she gets a bit of autonomy in the end.

#rambles #berserk #i just wanted to talk about this #if i said something like this outside of tumblr I would be eaten alive #just my opinion #casca #griffith #guts berserk #sorry if my english is bad

[flowerandblood]

The Impossible Choice (51)

[ Aemond • Targaryen x Baratheon! • female ]

[ warnings: angst, trauma, mention of rape ]

[description: Aemond comes to Storm’s End to choose his future consort. However, Lord Borros Baratheon presents him with only four of his five daughters. Being attached to his youngest child, he does not want to marry her. The prince, however, thwarts his and her plans with his decision. This is slow burn, with a lot of dark angst and sexual tension. (Anon Request)]

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

______

Aemond had never seen his wife like this before. Pale, shaken, her hands clasped on her laps, her head bowed in thought, her eyes wide open. Even when he hadn't spoken to her in the first weeks of their marriage, even before their first wedding night, she hadn't looked so shattered and broken, terrified.

He swallowed quietly, wondering if she felt what he felt now as she watched from the sidelines how he acted when Luke appeared in his sight.

His hand massaged her womb affectionately and she shuddered as if awakened from a trance, looking up at him sleepily.

"Everything all right?" He asked uncertainly, and she sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the table.

"No. This is some sort of nightmare." She mumbled, sorrow, sadness and weariness in her voice. He thought that now that she was expecting his offspring she shouldn't be worrying about such things, looking at these humiliating scenes.

Both he and she had suffered enough in recent times and he felt he should spare her that.

"Let's go to our chamber. You shouldn't upset yourself in your condition." He said softly and she looked at him surprised. He saw her hesitate for a moment, turning behind her, looking disapprovingly at Aegon and her sister, and then she sighed quietly and nodded.

They both stood up, he let her go ahead, placing his hand on her back, his gesture of reassurance that he was beside her, that he would not let any harm befall her.

Never.

And then he heard his brother's voice directed at them, slightly amused, feigning surprise and disapproval.

"Brother, sister, are you leaving us already?"

They both paused, glancing at them uncertainly. His brother seemed exceptionally pleased with himself, a slight, gallant smile on his face, sure at the thought that he was going to fuck that stupid idiot in his bed tonight.

He wondered how to congratulate him on such a success, and then he noticed the look Floris directed at his wife, superiority and mockery in her eyes.

"My pregnant wife felt worse. She needs to rest." He said with emphasis that his wife was expecting his heir, his child. He saw how surprised Floris took a quick look at her sister's abdomen and pressed her lips together seeing that indeed, it was slightly rounded.

Good for you, you stupid bitch, he thought.

He was sure that Floris, in her empty head, was already planning to torment his wife with questions about why she hadn't given him an offspring yet.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me, sister?" His wife eclipsed, and a big, creepy smirk stretched across his face, not reaching his eye. The satisfaction and pride he felt when he heard her use his own words was indescribable to him, as were the faces of his brother and her sister.

He could feel them burning with shame at the fire of his wife's words and watched it with delight.

He wondered if she had learned this by watching him, or if she had always been like this, only he didn't know it.

Floris swallowed hard, knowing she couldn't leave the question unanswered.

"Congratulations, dear sister. May the labour be easy." She said quietly, he found with satisfaction that there was no trace of her confidence.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw his wife approach her unhurriedly. She placed her hand on her shoulder and leaned towards her with a warm smile, as if to give her some sisterly advice.

"I am sure that you too will soon live to see your child, sweet sister. From the righteous bed, I reckon." She said it so calmly and softly that it was only a moment before he burst into uncontrollable, mirthful laughter, filled with delight at the embarrassed faces of Aegon and Floris.

He thought she had crushed them and felt honoured to be watching.

His wife moved with a light, joyful step towards the exit and he moved behind her throwing his brother a smile over his shoulder, a grin full of mockery.

Stick your cock inside her if you want, he thought.

He didn't give a shit.

When they returned to their shared chamber his wife immediately asked her maid to help her undress. She sighed with relief when she was left in just her nightgown, her hair loose, wavy by being tied up all day. She lay down on their bed, looking up at their baldachin. He got up from his chair and approached her slowly.

He pulled his boots off his feet and his top tunic, staying in just his chemise and black trousers, then pulled the eyepatch off his head. He clutched his sapphire, his head bursting with the way it had been rubbing him all day.

"May I?" He asked, looking at her, asking her permission, and she nodded quickly and smiled affectionately.

When he removed the precious stone from his eye socket she did not even flinch, she just leaned towards the table standing next to the bed and took a small bowl of ointment from it.

He lay down beside her on his back and let her lean over him. She didn't even ask him what he needed, she could see that the inside of his eye socket was all red. She sighed heavily seeing this, her finger covered in ointment began spreading it over his skin, he swallowed quietly feeling instant relief.

"Why are you wearing your sapphire when you have an eyepatch? You're causing yourself pain." She said with sincere worry and displeasure, focused on her task. He did not listen to her, his large hand squeezed lightly on her soft breast hidden behind the transparent material.

"Wait a moment." She said with amusement, but without taking his hand away, allowing him to continue with his activity.

He thought about how soon her breasts would be full of milk, firm and large. He thought of how he would be able to taste her in a new, completely unfamiliar way before, and felt his manhood pulsate hard in his trousers.

Despite his desire, he decided he would let himself and her rest after a hard day. The truth was that the commotion with Floris and Aegon pleased him, for it diverted his thoughts from Daeron, from his burning body.

From the thought that his little brother had died because of him.

He hadn't felt it so much at first, simply being in shock, unable to come to terms with what had happened, but now the knowledge of his death hit him harder and harder and he couldn't cope.

He didn't know how he was supposed to live on with this thought, where to hide from it, so he simply cuddled his face into his wife's chest, allowing himself to be locked in her embrace.

He was ashamed, and he would never say it out loud, but he needed her to quiet the whispers in his head, the stabbing pain in his heart that refused to go away. The touch of her hand, her fingers combing through his hair, stroking his head soothed and calmed him, made him stop thinking about anything and just fall asleep.

He would usually wake up in the middle of the night with his name on his lips, rising up on his elbows, breathing loudly, feeling that his whole body was unbearably hot. His wife touched his shoulder, his cheek, already knowing what she was facing, what he was confronting and for what reason.

"I killed him. I cut his throat. He looked at me surprised, and I don't know why I did it. Where is his body now?" He muttered, looking at her horrified as if he could not believe that he could really have committed such a monstrosity that he had killed his little brother. His wife shook her head.

"My beloved, it was a dream." She whispered, and for a moment he was relieved to think that Daeron was alive.

"Your brother fell from the sky with his dragon over the Eyrie." She explained, seeing the look on his face, his baseless hope that the reality was different to what he would have wanted.

He would then cover his face and burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs, her small hands trying to encompass his whole body, shield him from this pain, comfort him.

He only calmed down when she hugged him to her chest, when she stroked his cheek whispering that his brother was no longer suffering, that he was safe in the heavens with his father, that no one in this world could hurt him anymore.

That her father was surely also watching over him as he had watched over his own son.

This vision, a vision of the heavens that he himself was not sure he believed in, a vision that he would still see him, that his brother was watching over him, reassured him.

He would then come back to his senses and calm down, wiping his face, embarrassed by his state, apologising to her, explaining that he didn't know what was happening to him, that he would pull himself together.

"You're suppressing it too much inside and your body can't cope anymore. You have to let all the grief and sadness flow out of you because otherwise this poison is running through your veins and killing you from the inside." She whispered, kissing his temple, and he tightened his eye, stroking her hand that embraced him, the hand of his beloved wife, the only person he trusted, to whom he could tell all this.

"I'm afraid I won't be a good father, sweet wife. I won't be able to show this child what I feel even if I want to." He said helplessly, and she sighed quietly, stroking his cheek and shoulder reassuringly, letting him lie on top of her in a semi-sitting position.

"No one is born a good parent, only becomes one. Our father rarely spoke of his feelings, but he showed them with his gestures. Just as he showed them to you." She said calmly, he felt a warmth in his lower abdomen when she said "our father" about Borros, as if she recognised that in fact, what her father had done for him was in some way his show of fatherly love, his acceptance of him.

He swallowed loudly and slid his head down, hugging her abdomen, placing a kiss on it through the thin material.

"Gods, what a joy you are in these cruel moments for me and your mother." He whispered softly, feeling her hand on his hair, stroking his head tenderly. He firmly believed that their child in her womb had felt and heard his words.

He watched from the sidelines as his wife struggled to accept the news that, despite her initially platonic intentions, Floris had finally ended up in Aegon's bed. Aemond was unsurprised, he knew they were both desperate to prove to everyone around them that they could be happy and fulfilled, even if it was just for show.

It was pathetic, but he had begun to worry when Aegon had said that his wife's father's body would leave King's Landing in Ser Criston's care, and that Floris Baratheon would remain in King's Landing as a lady of the court. Aemond's lips tightened at these words.

"Does our sister know of this and has she consented to it?" He hissed clenching his hand in front of him into a fist, the other members of the Small Council also looked at the king in disbelief. Alicent shook her head, Aemond knew she had made Floris drink the moon tea.

She was not going to let Aegon have his white-haired bastards running around the Red Keep to the humiliation of the whole family.

"Aegon. End this at last. You are causing a scandal with your behaviour and breaking any good manners. The Great Sept has also expressed its indignation on this matter, and I do not understand why you remain deaf to my requests." She said with desperation, Aemond had never seen her so pale and sleepless before.

She was tired.

His brother did not speak for a long time, looking ahead in thought. He didn't like the concentration on his face, he knew his brother was thinking hard about something and it didn't bode well. Everyone waited in suspense for his words.

"I realise that my behaviour has caused outrage and opposition from the lords. That I harm the good name of House Baratheon, to whom, after all, we owe so much, and the good name of my brother's wife." He said calmly, Aemond looked at him breathing unevenly sensing that something was coming. He could feel the cold sweat on the back of his neck.

Something was wrong.

"I have decided to put an end to this contemptible action on my part and marry her as my second wife in the tradition of old Valyria, as my namesake predecessor, Aegon the Conqueror, did." He concluded, finally lifting his head, meeting stares full of disbelief.

Aemond heard this silence around him.

A silence full of tension.

He hid his face in his hands resting his elbows on the table thinking that his brother was a moron, an idiot, a fool and would destroy them all. His mother looked at him on the verge of a nervous breakdown, leaning back in her chair, shaking her head.

"Aegon. You already have a wife. The wife you couldn't take care of, your sister, and who will remain your only wife until you die." She said with emphasis on the last words, desperation and rage in her throat. Otto stared at the table with his lips clenched and laughed under his breath.

"You are a fool, Aegon. A hollow child, hungry for kind words, who only wears the crown of Aegon the Conqueror. If you think anyone at this table will allow you to take a second wife, you are sorely mistaken." He said sharply, quickly, somehow wanting to turn his words into a joke, as if he had simply pulled another stunt that everyone must forgive him for.

Aemond saw the look on Aegon's face, however, and knew that Aegon had foreseen this turn of events. He turned to one of the guards standing by the door.

"Please escort my grandfather out and lock him in his chamber until I change my mind −"

"− Aegon −" Their mother began, but he continued.

"− as from today, he is no longer the Hand of the King." He communicated dryly, wiping the table with his hand as if he had just shaken some fleck off the table. Otto lurched away, but the second guard moved to the first's aid, his grandfather looking at him with rage.

"What are you doing? Have you completely lost your mind?!" He hissed through clenched lips, Aegon looked at him dispassionately.

"Be glad you are alive, grandfather. For such words concerning the king and his future wife, anyone else would lose their head." Said with emphasis on the last words, the guards led Otto out of the room despite their mother's objections. The door closed behind them, everyone sat in suspense.

"Does anyone else wish to be led out of here and stripped of their function? To insult their king?" He asked, looking around at the faces of those gathered, Aemond looked blankly at his sphere. "Very well, then −"

Aemond stood up suddenly, interrupting him, Aegon threw him a surprised look. His brother's lips tightened when he saw that his younger brother had taken his ruby orb from its niche and approached him with an unhurried step. He looked down at him, placing it in front of him.

Aegon looked at him as if he expected Aemond to spit at him.

"You are making a huge mistake, brother." He said, turning and walking out of the hall, paying no attention to the pleading voice of his mother.

He walked down the corridor towards a chamber he seemed to have not been in for ages, though he did not know why. When he entered, Helaena was sitting on the floor with her children, arranging some sort of construction with them. She lifted her dreamy gaze to him and smiled, rising slowly from her knees.

He wasn't sure when they last spoke. Did he ever ask how she was feeling and if it was hard for her. Although he felt sorry for her, he couldn't show it to her. He wasn't as supportive of her as Royce had been of his wife.

"Do you know about what our brother decided?" He asked dispassionately. His sister nodded at her servant, who grabbed her children's hands and led them into a second, separate room, closing the door behind her. Helaena walked to the window, fiddling involuntarily with the rings on her fingers as was always her habit.

"Yes. He asked my permission." She said finally. Aemond's lips tightened at those words.

"How could you say yes?" He asked in disbelief, stepping closer to her. She looked at him as if she did not understand his question.

"He said he wouldn't do it if I objected, but that when he married her he would be happy at last. That he had never experienced such a feeling." She whispered, looking down at her hands, the skin near her nails was red, just like their mother's.

Their expression of stress, panic and terror.

"If she becomes his wife and bears him children out of wedlock, I'm sure she'll slit my nephews' throats while they sleep." He said grabbing her shoulders, wanting to shake her, to make her realise how serious the situation was.

"Uprisings will break out, people will turn on him. He will destroy everything Daeron died for, all the advantage we gained. He will give Rhaenyra a gift she could never even dream of."

Helaena looked away and shuddered heavily at the sound of their brother's name, she did not look at him, clearly confused and undecided.

"He… changed while you were in Harrenhal. He doesn't drink as much anymore. He visits our children, we have dinners together sometimes. He doesn't force me to do anything, we even talk sometimes, I…" She said and did not finish, her voice breaking off. Her gaze was distracted, her body was trembling all over.

"I'm afraid that if I refuse him, he will turn into what he was again."

Aemond hugged her to himself and she burst into such a loud sob that he was surprised. So many years it had seemed to him that his sister had endured it all meekly and silently and paid no price for it, that she was simply pretending not to see what her brother was doing.

He didn't ask her if Aegon was hurting her, if he was causing her pain, because that was more comfortable for him, because he didn't want to fall asleep with the thought that perhaps his brother had just raped his sister.

Now, however, he wanted to be there for her, to take Royce's example and show her that her fate had never been indifferent to him. He stroked her hair.

"Aegon will only listen to you. For the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of all of us, you must go to him and convince him that he does not want this wedding at all. Otherwise it will destroy us all from the inside. I promise I will never let him hurt you again." He whispered, pressing his forehead against her shoulder, and she wept loudly in his embrace.

He knew she would do the right thing.

What happened next depended on her success.

He thought that the face he had seen in the dream was not Daeron, but Aegon.

And that it would become a reality if his brother chose wrong.

____

Taglist 1

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[deripmaver]

was the wagon scene in berserk sexual assault?

i mean whatever lol. im ngl in some ways this feels like making a whole ass meta post about whether or not "casca enjoyed it." like do i even need to take this perspective seriously? yeah, yeah, i know, that's a pretty inflammatory thing to say, and a lot of the people who i've seen say the scene is NOT assault don't deserve to be belittled like that.

i think it's possible, and very interesting, to discuss the nuances of the scene. what was griffith's intention in that moment? why didn't casca bring up what happened to guts when he asked? how does this contradict or supplement what we already know about their characters?

per usual, though, most of the discussion of the scene itself put very little thought into one of the TWO main participants - casca. so let's do that, i guess, and look at the scene on the whole.

CW, i will show one eclipse panel (the kiss) in this meta, but that's is

what happens before?

the scene in the wagon comes immediately after the band of the hawk's encounter with wylad. wylad has thoroughly humiliated griffith in front of the entire band of the hawk, told them that griffith is totally defeated and broken, and tried to rape casca while griffith struggled uselessly, unable to help at all.

the band is regrouping afterward, and the reality of griffith's situation is sinking in to the members of the band. we don't know for sure if griffith can hear this, but the band is even discussing whether it makes sense for casca to permanently become the band's leader. where would that leave griffith? a burden, helpless, unable to even lead his own men.

griffith can, however, overhear casca talking to guts just a moment later. she says guts isn't reliant on griffith's dream, and griffith through the wagon can easily see their closeness.

at this point, casca goes to griffith in the wagon.

so where is griffith? his men, who despite his capture have been sustained by his dream, are losing their faith in him because wylad showed how utterly powerless he is. meanwhile, guts is touching casca in an intimate, close way. he feels like everything is slipping through his fingers, even his particular place of importance for guts. he's lost guts to casca. i would argue this piece, seeing casca intimate with guts, changes his mindset even compared to where he was during the scene with wylad.

where is casca? she's still clinging to that hopeless dream. she was so lonely as the commander of the band of the hawk, trying to face the reality of griffith's injuries and the overwhelming way that their roles have been reversed. she's leaning on guts, on anyone, for support for the first time, while being forced to put on a brave face not just for the whole band of the hawk, but for her idol and savior.

what happens during the scene?

casca is changing griffith's bandages. she knocks over a bowl of water, and when she goes to leave the wagon to replace it, griffith grabs her, and... well, that's kind of the whole crux of this meta, isn't it?

griffith forces himself on top of her. the question is why, and what's his intention? that's been discussed a lot on tumblr. the other question is: what does casca think his intention is, and how does she take it?

there is a lot of visual language in the scene that, to me, clearly indicates sexual intentions from griffith, and clearly indicates that's how casca takes his intentions.

side note, i think griffith is crying in the above panel. could be sweat, could be tears... it's subtle enough to leave it up to interpretation.

that last panel in particular is EXACTLY paralleled with the kiss panel during the eclipse. the helmet, the direct eye contact, the pose... miura has always been very intentional with his parallels and his paneling, so i doubt this was an accident. the eclipse panel is just below, btw. scroll quick if u dont wanna see

.

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this is also how griffith and charlotte's sex scene started.

the wagon scene and the sex scene with charlotte happen because griffith is doing something rash purely on emotion after feeling stripped of all power and no longer in control of a situation. it's not as simple as griffith being an evil rapist from the start, but you can easily see a pattern of him lashing out and trying to regain control through pushy/coercive sex with women. would griffith do this kind of thing normally? no, of course not. but nothing about the situations he's at these points in the manga are "normal," and again there is a pattern of him lashing out and using women as an outlet for his feeling out of control. they ALSO both happen because he feels like he's losing guts.

casca tells griffith to stop, and griffith does stop, but it's not clear to me if he stops intentionally, or if he simply is physically incapable of continuing. i've seen the idea put forward that griffith is terrified that guts and casca are going to abandon him, and so he offers his body as the only thing he has left in a fit of desperation. i'm not opposed to that being part of it - griffith has used his body and sex as an offering before, with gennon.

this is how griffith is looking at casca during the scene:

one is normal and even wistful and sad, the other is...... fucking batshit LOL put those damn things away!!!! blue eyes white demon

one thing, though, that i want to say very clearly: griffith may have offered himself sexually to casca out of desperation, but it is very clear to me that casca did not want it. griffith fully forced himself on top of her, too, with his arms wrapped around her. if it was unwanted and forced sexual contact, regardless of why griffith did it or how much of a woobie he is to u, that is BY DEFINITION sexual assault.

this is the part that kind of drives me crazy. i don't personally believe that this was an act of self-loathing or self harm, like take my body because i have nothing left, but even if it is - it is still sexual assault. it is!!!! this isn't an argument!!!!!! yeah he was sad about it but it was still sexual assault!!!!

but anyways, enough about griffith. how does casca react?

i've seen the fact that she doesn't push him off presented as evidence that this wasn't assault. i'll... get to that.

what happens after?

after, we get these panels of casca, obviously shaken, outside the wagon.

she is clearly VERY upset. when guts approaches, he sees something is clearly wrong, but she brushes it off and says its nothing. when he keeps pressing, asking if it was something with griffith, she eventually breaks down and tells him that she can't leave with him. she has to stay with griffith, she has to care for him in his fragile, broken state. guts, on the other hand, has to go. even if its alone...

is this reaction in conflict with the idea that what griffith did in the wagon was sexual assault???? no. not at all.

casca feels immense devotion to the band of the hawks, and especially to griffith. she reminisces about how strong griffith seemed to her while she bandages him in the wagon. he gave her everything - a purpose, a reason to fight, a dream, and now even though the event was terrifying she sees griffith's physical weakness and knows she can't leave him. she can't leave him. how often irl do women overlook instances where their boundaries were violated, or a man they're close with was sexually aggressive towards them, because of those pre-established relationships? because that's their boss, or manager, or idol?

and not telling guts - honestly, that to me oddly is evidence to prove it WAS sexual assault. i think casca's single-minded devotion to the hawks and their dream would have made it so that she wouldn't dare bring up griffith doing anything to make her uncomfortable, because everyone is already on the brink of falling apart. even before this, we see her putting everyone above herself to keep the hawks together - crying alone when she thinks no one can hear her, barely sleeping, so exhausted she becomes suicidal, there is no reason to believe she would bring up something that just upset HER. she is less important, in her own mind, than the good of the whole. it makes perfect sense that she would do exactly what she does - she cries alone by the side of the wagon and doesn't tell anyone what happened.

another thing that i want to be very clear about: the idea that because casca didn't immediately push griffith off of her, and because she didn't bring it up to guts, and because she decided to stay with him afterwards, that means it certainly can't be sexual assault? that is rape apologism. full stop. if your argument hinges on any of those things, your argument is rape apologism. this is not up for debate.

NOW - did kentaro miura in the 1990s in japan know about the nuances of how women react to sexual harassment and sexual assault? that i'm not sure about lol. the argument "this is not in line with the way i assume cishet man kentaro miura in 1996 would understand sexual assault, and therefore i don't think it was his intention to depict sexual assault" is something i can understand. that's NOT what i'm seeing though.

that being said, there is some evidence that miura DID have a very nuanced understanding of assault. here, we have griffith talking almost to himself (though casca is nearby), breaking down about how dirty he feels for sleeping with gennon.

and yet, when casca embraces him, trying to comfort him, what does he do?

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

and yeah, guts kills gambino, but only because gambino tries to kill him. guts first reacts by crying and asking why?

finally, compare the above panels of casca after the wagon scene to casca after almost being raped by wylad, and after the eclipse:

i mean, this is how miura draws casca when she's fucking going through it generally, but STILL. they are similar. she's shaking while bandaging him because he's so weak, but afterwards she is unable to mask how shaken she is. i don't think her reaction is JUST because he's weak.

this is so fucking long LOLLLLLL. i'm not interested in arguing with any of the various meta posts about the wagon scene not being sexual assault directly, or discussing it with the authors. if you want an alternate perspective, one that takes into account more of casca's POV, this is for you, and i hope you found this helpful! finally i've got this all in one place

tl;dr i think due to the framing you're supposed to see griffith's intention as sexual during the scene, casca very clearly doesn't want it, if your argument that it's not sexual assault hinges on her not pushing him off immediately u suck

uhhhhh that's it

#berserk #berserk meta #casca #casca berserk #gutsca

[swordoftheberserkgutsrage]

hey i have a question about berserk. i read it all the way until the eclipse chapter and then maybe 1 or 2 after that. i stopped reading because i found casca’s rape so horrific and the chapters afterward seemed to discard her as broken. i was wondering what you think of the rest of the story? i’ve thought about continuing but not sure if it’s worth it / if there will be more brutal rape scenes.

its been a very long time since i read berserk in its entirety so my thoughts probably wont be as informed or articulated as i would like them to be.

i think the eclipse is as bad as it gets. not to say theres never any like sexual assault or anything after that but theres never another explicit rape scene like that. im never gonna give someone shit for disliking the sexual violence in berserk, thats a valid feeling, but it IS kind of crucial to the story and themes. to me berserk is first and foremost an examination of abuses of power and the trauma associated with that. guts, casca, and griffith were all victims of some kind of sexual violence in their childhood/young adulthood, always by someone they know with some kind of power over them. eventually griffith would become a perpetrator of sexual violence himself. the bulk of berserk is about processing trauma and learning to trust other people again and i dont think you really get to that stuff until after the golden age. i wouldnt say casca gets discarded, guts' main motivation for a lot of the story going forward is trying to help heal casca and she DOES get better but thats not until later. theres a lot to be said about her treatment in the story and i think its valid to be critical of it. personally there isnt much i would change about her place in the plot bc it would make it a much much different story. i really love the rest of the story. golden age is unparalleled for its character work but the next two arcs after it are soooo fucking cool theyre my favorite so yeah personally i would recommend continuing.

also one thing i will say about the rape scene in the manga is i do think it was unnecessarily explicit and kind of tactless. i muuuch prefer how its done in the 97 anime

i hope this answer was remotely satisfactory

[aster-spiral-30]

It’s been one month after Hazbin Hotel season 1 has finished.

I have such conflicting feelings on it, because the bad aspects of this show strongly eclipses the good parts of it.

I really wanted the show to be good. It would have been somewhat good even with its flaws- if Episode 4 didn’t exist. It was painful to watch.

And if there were more episodes to explore the characters and the world building. I miss the days of 22 episode TV seasons.

But like, I’m still genuinely disgusted with the entirety of episode 4, and Viv’s flippant attitude toward serious material.

It was disrespectful as Hell, like that shitty “I Spit on Your Grave” movie but at least there’s revenge in that movie.

Write a scene calling the rape victim character a “loser” in a shitty song repeatedly? …Fuck you, I genuinely hate you.

I can’t watch that episode again, knowing that she hired & she is friends with a shitty person that fetishized sex crimes- and sexually harassed a critic. Vile.

I seriously wish that some higher-up in Bento Box (animation company) or A24 or Amazon (distribution) had put their foot down because the final product of episode 4 was godawful.

But I doubt they will for season 2 and more. I don’t have the high hopes for it, let alone expectations for it to be consistently good. Because season 1 had 4 years to be made, and it was not good.

And at the end of season 1, Angel Dust is still a sex slave, despite surviving the Extermination Raid. Charlie knew about it for nearly 6 months, she didn’t do a goddamn thing to stop it.

“BUT IT TAKES PLACE IN HELL! EVERYONE IS SUPPOSED TO BE AWFUL!!” —annoying people

Oh is that right? Then redemption sure does seem fucking pointless, I’d say. Why should shitty people go to Heaven? (Yes Adam was there which made no sense, but he’s only one)

I’m so fuckin tired, man. This sucks.

Why do I even bother with any new television? None of it’s good.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #i’m so tired #rant #rant post #small rant

[mosasadogs]

my favorite character trait of griffith’s is how he is constantly rendered powerless via other’s attraction to him, his perpetual sexual vulnerability caused by men and monster’s attraction, assault and horrifying lewd comments that don’t even stop once he is literally unable to be touched by them. there’s an entire military campaign waged in the golden age arc that’s sole goal is to rape griffith. his torturer inserts a speculum into his flesh. he sells himself to outfit the band of the hawk. he gets stripped and displayed naked to the entire band of the hawk by an apostle after he’s been mutilated. his torturer refers to himself and griffith as “husband and wife.” the dialogue from other characters brutally explain that griffith is attempting to fuck his way to the throne with charlotte. when he’s helpless and newly disabled to the point he needs someone to hold a cup for him he literally throws himself on top of casca, trying to fuck his way into having a caregiver. it’s so pathetic and ineffective that he weeps and attempts suicide the same day. you can see the source for fans commonly suggesting griffith’s unseen mother was a prostitute, but the flashback scenes during eclipse to his childhood showing him on the street with no family or money suggest much more that griffith was feeding himself that way.

[jaylienpotter]

*~Masterlist~*

¦ Jaylienpotter on Ao3 ¦

¦ Intro on alt: @boyswillbebugs ¦

¦ Bellatrix RP: @bestblacksister ¦

Ao3 fic: Shedded Snake

(TW: r*pe/non-con; read tags and notes!)

Regulus Black's life changed when he was raped by his best friend and roommate Barty Crouch Jr. Not wanting to ruin the environment of their shared friend group, he kept the traumatic event to himself. The only one who knew about it was, surprisingly, his brother's best friend, James Potter, after a confrontation in the hallway. Follow Reg as he tries to overcome and heal from the trauma, while falling for the one helping him in this journey.

Ao3 fic: For you, anything

James Potter's life turns upside down when Lily - his wife and mother of their two year old son - asked for a divorce. Will he lose himself in the midst of a failed marriage and joined custody? Sirius Black has been in love with his best friend for over a decade. After offering for James and his son Harry - Sirius's godson - to move in, will he manage to keep his feelings a secret?

Prompt tumblr blogs

A list of tagged tumblr blogs that give you prompts! Both Marauders-based (general or specific ships) and unspecified/general prompts. Hope it's helpful!

Prongsfoot Bingo

A challenge to complete a set of 16 prompts about James x Sirius

The bingo card

Raising Harry snippet

Mutual Coming Out (Ao3)

Let them be

A small collection of 9 chapters/parts, each one about a character and their relationship with gender, sexuality, feminism, or love.

Let boys wear trousers

Let boys wear skirts

Let people want both

Let people want none

Standalones

Prompts or something random that I remembered turned into microfics (sometimes not so micro), not connected to each other. Not including those short chats.

Jegulus proposal

James gets trans Reg a dick (light nsfw, fluff)

Lily and Sirius sibling problems solidarity

Jegulus "don't go" prompt

Rosekiller brews amortentia

Sirius finds out about Jegulus

Jegulus raise Harry

Coffee shop AU Jegulus

Drunk Regulus confesses

Trans Regulus runs away

Jegulus breakup

Trans Regulus and intimacy (fluff, implied sex)

Regulus is taken in by the Potters

Regulus tells James he was SA (Ao3) (READ THE TW!!)

Prongsfoot (romantic) meet through pottery

James can't stop thinking about stranger Sirius Black (prongsfoot)

Muggle AU James crushing on artist Sirius

Prongsfoot (romantic) bonding over text

James meets Sirius's friends at his birthday (prongsfoot)

Sirius approves of Jegulus

James gives Lily a sweet bday gift (Jily)

Regulus defends James to Lily

Harry Oblivious Potter (Golden Trio Era)

Snippets of WIP Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

The fic (not published yet) is Wolfstar, mostly canon-compliant, focuses on Sirius as a person and his character growth.

Very heavy but most of the posts on tumblr will be of more casual parts of the fic.

Quidditch teams debate

James finds out Sirius bottoms (light nsfw)

Wolfstar coming out to James

Eclipse WIP

James is a single dad and Harry has advanced cancer. He wishes to meet his favourite author before he dies (R.A.B). Regulus agrees to it and falls in love with James.

E-mail to the author

Headcanons

My personal headcanons/theories about the characters :)

My personal ships

Blind Regulus

Peter Pettigrew headcanons

Different ships in cottages

Marauders Era dancing AU/headcanons ft. reggiecantswimm (a thread)

Marauders Era health headcanons

Lesbian Wolfstar

Alcoholic Remus Lupin (TW: addiction)

Prongstail (James x Peter) hcs

Regulus and Lily friendship

Marauders and the Holidays

Ideas I won't write

Feel free to use them as long as you credit me and tag me (I wanna read!)

Remus goes back in time

Two dimensions cross

Formation of Jegulily [might write]

Toxic mix of Wolfstar, Starchaser and one-sided Prongsfoot

Smut (18+)

Small scenes/one-shots with explicit sex (check the TW/CW)

Wolfstar chastity cage (Ao3)

Jegulus kitchen sex (Ao3)

Wolfstar x James threesome (Ao3)

Knife play Rosekiller (Ao3)

#marauders #marauders era #the marauders #marauders fandom #harry potter marauders #dead gay wizards #moony wormtail padfoot and prongs #marauders fanfiction #marauders fic #masterlist

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Yesterday I saw a post that basically said that Avatar wasn’t a feminist show that has a bias towards Zuko and that no female villains get redeemed(?!?) 

And said that the show oversexualises Azula which like WHAT

This is not a Cuties situation the camera never accentuates cleavage or anything, if you just saw Azula showing more skin in the beach episode (because she’s at the fucking beach) and then immediately thought about sex that sounds like a you problem.

People really gotta learn what words mean - and that no show from nearly TWENTY YEARS AGO is gonna present social issues the same way modern series would. Avatar has two whole episodes in which the whole lesson is "Sexism is bad, don't mistreat women", and a ton of the female characters are absolutely badass and incredibly well-written. One or two questionable moments is not enough to make claim it is misogynistic.

A female villain not getting redeemed while a male character does is only sexist if her gender is presented as the reason why she can't be redeemed, or if they did all the same things but her actions are presented as worse - and while the ATLA fandom is often guilty of that last one (not always because of sexism, but also because of ableism), that doesn't mean the writting of the SHOW was sexist.

I say this as someone who loves Azula's character and wants a redemption arc for her: the show's ending is a tragic, but logical one. Not everyone changes. Not everyone wants to change, or even gets the chance to. It's sad, but it makes sense and there's nothing offensive about the finale (unlike the way Azula was treated in the comics, but once again the root of the problem there was "the mentally ill are inherently evil/beyond help so anything and everything done to them is justifiable").

"The show oversexualizes her" That one is bit more complex - but not THAT much.

Avatar is a show with lots of fanservice (see Zuko taking off his shirt causing birds to fly and fangirls to appear behind him squeeling), but all of it is stuff that was ALWAYS presented in a way that was 100% appropriate for children. More importantly, the show never tried to use the fanservice to compensate for poor writting or to make Azula an evil seductress (a trope that is not inherently sexist, but can become so if the writer isn't careful with it). Making Azula gorgeous in a scene, or letting Grey Delisle have some fun like the did during the confrontation Zuko and Azula had in The Awakening, is not the same as them reducing Azula from character to sex-object.

Once again, the fandom is far more guilty of the "Attractive means sexual and sex is evil" mentality than the show ever was. I lost count of how many people "theorize" that Azula is a "slut" who slept her way to the top and has even raped people (usually Zuko and Suki) even though the show made it clear she can't flirt to save her life, is so respected/feared because she's a great fighter/manipulator, and has literally never forced herself onto her brother and was obviously lying when implying she had done something Suki because THE SHOW ITSELF told us everything she was telling the Gaang on that scene was just an attempt to buy her father more time until the eclipse was over.

Some of the fans treat her as the typical "evil femme fatale that you can tell is evil because she sleeps around", but the show itself never did that.

Also a lot of what I sometimes see fans claim is "sexualization" is just mundane stuff. I lost count of how many times people were losing their shit because "WHY IS A FOURTEEN YEAR GIRL ALWAYS WEARING MAKE UP?"

Maybe because said fourteen year old is a perfectionist that can't even stand to have one hair out of place, so obviously she'd want her face looking perfect too? Or maybe she wants to look older not to "seduce" anyone but because she'd rather not risk not being taken seriously for being so young? And, crazy thought but bear with me here, maybe, just maybe... Azula likes make-up. Revolutionary concept, I know.

And it's not like the show ever got weird about it like the comics (seriously, girl is hallucinating in a straight-jacket and her hair is all messed up, but SOMEHOW she put on lipstic/the doctors did it for her????). She had a clean face when she was sleeping and when she was at the royal spa getting her hair done, and even at Chan's party her make-up is exactly the same she wears during the day. The "weirdest" place she wore it at was at the beach, and again considering it's Azula, who always wants to look perfect, I can see it.

Seriously guys, there's a difference between "TikTok is constantly telling women, teen girls and children they need to buy 37 different products that they gotta put on before anyone can *gasp* see their face" and "This cartoon had one of the characters constantly wearing make-up because that's a thing teenagers do sometimes + it helps the character be more memorable"

#azula is no femme fatale

[bthump]

I think I can see some sort of twisted story logic to the Eclipse rape.

Miura has said before he wanted to make a story about anger, and got Guts. He wanted to trace backwards why he was angry, and came up with the Golden Age arc, but I think he ran into a roadblock with how he wrote the characters.

Guts, as he was written at the time, couldn’t really get angry at Griffith for the sacrifice because there was still some plausible deniability that Guts would have clung on to. He would have just kept saying “no, that’s bullshit, Griffith would never do this, I know him, he would never want this” while everyone died around him.

Casca getting raped, as disgusting as it is to say, is what moved their relationship along to the murderous, rage filled mess it is now. It proved without a doubt that Griffith did want this, he approves of it, and seemingly doesn’t care anymore. It paves the way for the Guts of the Black Swordsman arc and the Guts of the rest of the series.

Still, just cause I understand Miura’s possible internal logic doesn’t mean I approve. Just felt so tasteless.

Yeah I pretty much agree with this I think. The impression I always got from the first two arcs is that early on Miura intended for Guts' rage to stem from Griffith betraying him and sacrificing him, hence the focus on ghosts taunting him about belonging to them, the parallels between being 'given' to malevolent spirits as a sacrifice and Gambino selling him to Donovan, Guts screaming about having to fight an army of the dead thanks to Femto, etc.

Then after the Golden Age Miura reevaluated and decided that that wasn't enough to make Guts vow revenge against Griffith anymore, so he threw a rape scene on top of everything.

Idk if that's actually what his thought process was, I'm sure there are many factors that went into the Eclipse rape including plain old edginess and, frankly, maybe even fanservice/potentially just adhering to the vibe of the magazine it's published in.

But yeah, that's how it comes across to me lol. Though idk if I'd say it's plausible deniability - before the rape Guts does seem to accept that Griffith sacrificed him. He's just sad and wistful about it rather than violently angry:

So yeah I feel like it's more that Guts can't fully blame Griffith for it, because he blames himself for leaving Griffith first, and because yk, he loves Griffith.

#ask #wechaoticblazebouquet #a #b #scene: eclipse rape #theme: revenge

[luchicm04]

|Tonowari x Jake| ft. Aonung

Masterlist

Summary: You are mine, Ma’Jake. Forget them. Forget everybody and focus on me.

Pairing: Jake Sully/Tonowari

Word count: 3.7k

Overall warnings: yandere, rape/non-con elements, sexual content, dirty talk, angst, character death, extreme violence, mature language, death of minors⚠️🔞

All characters belong to Avatar, and all rights are reserved to the original work whose author allowed me to translate it.

A/N: Before reading this story, everyone needs to throw the gentle fish man out of their heads first. Hope you like it <3

posted on ao3

Beautiful. 

The only thing that could describe the rider of the last shadow is beautiful. 

Jake Sully, the ex Olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya clan and the former great warrior Toruk Makto, stood before him. Those two beautiful, thin arms held his ‘despicable’ little daughter and did not let go. 

Oh- 

Great Mother- 

Have you sent me a gorgeous gift? 

“We welcome you as our brothers and sisters.” 

His mouth spoke in words. His voice was calm and not displeased, but his mind was more ‘excited’ than anyone else’s. 

“Thank you so much, Olo’eyktan.” 

That smile... so lovely. 

“My pleasure.” 

I don’t like your family at all. 

What should I do? 

What do I have to do to make you mine? 

──

When the light disappeared after a solar eclipse, it was time to go to bed. Jake put his arms around his young wife’s waist, and she hugged him again. Not far away were the bodies of growing children lying in each other’s arms. 

It looked like a warm family that is too difficult to separate. 

Sea-colored eyes looked at the image through the darkness. The heat of anger flickered everywhere. His elegant strakes and palms were now stained with bright red drops of blood from something the ‘past him’ loved. 

However, to possess that man... even if the entire tribe was to be exterminated, he would accept it. 

──

The dawn returned to the wide sky. A loud noise woke the Sully family from their slumber. 

Neteyam was the first to be alarmed. He pushed Lo’ak’s legs that were resting on his chest and ran to look outside of the marui. 

The Metkayina people were running around. Whether the warriors were on land or in the water, they all had angry expressions. 

A thin arm grabbed a marine one. “What happened?” he asked in a puzzled voice. 

“The Tsahìk was killed last night. We are looking for the perpetrators.” 

The bad news that greeted the new household made the newly awakened Jake frown. He was so afraid that his family would be labeled as cursed. 

“What did the Olo’eyktan say?” the former clan leader asked severely. That made the ears of the young reef boy the same age as Lo’ak automatically droop. 

“He is very angry because our Tsahìk had just become pregnant.” 

“Take me there.” 

Neytiri approached and grabbed his shoulder. Her fierce face was full of worry. Jake turned to look at his young mate and gave her a smile that softened her a little. 

──

The Olo’eyktan’s marui stood from a distance. She immediatelly realized that a tragedy had occurred, because the water beneath the marui was filled with blood and the cries of the tribe’s children. 

“Please, let us through.” 

Ma’Jake pushed his way through the crowd and entered the big space before covering his nose with his hand. The smell of blood was so strong that he almost vomited. 

“Oh mother... How did this happen?” 

The youngest cried a river of tears, hugging her mother’s body with her chest open to reveal her ribs and her heart. One side of her face had a stab wound that went all the way to the back of her head. 

“Oh, Eywa... Children, go out.” 

“But mom.” 

“Neteyam, take you younger siblings.” 

Because the scene in front of her was too horrible. Neytiri wanted to protect her children from it. She couldn’t let them see these things. The eldest knew this well and he took his younger brothers and sisters from the circle of warriors. 

──

Jake’s amber eyes occasionally glanced at the Olo’eyktan of the Metkayina. His fierce and gentle face was filled with tears. 

His eyes were red and glowing with anger and looked terrifying. But those fierce eyes turned to look at him as if they knew they were being watched. 

Jake felt his strength slip away in fear. 

That face... no longer matched the gentleness he had seen before. 

Probably devastated because his partner and future child were murdered. If it were him, he would hunt down the culprits until he had gone all over the planet, from top to bottom. 

Tonowari looked unbearably pitiful. Losing your wife and baby this way must be so difficult to accept. 

Jake looked away from him and looked closely at Ronal’s soulless body. He should be useful at times like this. Use his knowledge to find out the truth. 

...But why was the Olo’eyktan’s oldest acting like that? 

His gaze was empty. 

But from the bloodshot edges of his eyes, Jake knew that he had been crying recently. 

Aonung did not have a distressed expression like his younger sister, Tsireya. Instead, he had a blank expression above all, like a lifeless doll. 

Maybe that boy knew something that he couldn’t tell anyone. 

The eyes of that kid looked at Tonowari with a futy that was difficult to explain. 

What had happened last night? 

──

Several weeks had passed and the search for the culprit had still not been resolved. Jake tried his best to find a way to help, but all he had achieved was failure. 

They could not find the criminal’s weapons. There were no traces of an escape. All Ilu and Tsurak were present. 

It was just a small tribe, but why hadn’t anyone noticed anything? 

“Or perhaps she committed suicide?” 

“If she had done that, the examination of the body would have said so.” 

The options were expressed seriously. Hopes for revenge had been reduced to almost zero. Jake held his head in frustration. During that period, he almost never returned to lie down and rest. 

“Toruk Makto, you should go rest.” 

“Don’t call me by my previous title.” 

“I should not... but should know how valuable this position is.” 

It was a fact that Jake couldn’t deny, but he could not go back and rest while he let these warriors hunt down the Tsahìk’s assassins. 

“There will be a solar eclipse. Today, we will have to sleep outside the tribe,” someone said, and Jake agreed. The darker the sky, the better his eyes will work. If anyone were to try anything at that time, he would be the first to see it. 

“Then-” 

“Toruk Makto!!” 

“Is there something wrong? You’re running out of breath.” 

It was Rotxo, a reef boy and close friend of the chief’s son. He came running towards him, looking so worried he seemed out of place. 

“Your mate-” 

He didn’t wait for the other Na’vi to finish his sentence. Jake ran away. His heart contracted... he was so afraid that his beloved wife was in a condition no different from Ronal’s. 

──

Great Mother, please... don’t let that happen to my family. 

The sound of sobs and prayers in his head never stopped. His slender legs moved forward as fast as they could. 

Jake felt so bad that he burst into tears. Neytiri was the woman he loved most in his life. 

The marui!! 

“Neytiri!!!” 

“Ah! Dad is back!! I really missed you!” 

His little daughter’s body rushed forward, and he hugged her longingly. 

Jake panted heavily... His heart trembled and he nearly fell to his feet. 

“Is there something wrong, Ma’Jake? Your face is pale and you’re shaking.” 

She approached with a worried expression on her face. A small four-fingered hand caressed him with the greatest delicacy. 

“Are you alright?” 

“I’m fine... just a little dizzy from the search.” 

Relief flooded in until the tall, thin figure fell to his knees on the ground. With a deep voice, he thanked Eywa for continuing to protect his family. 

“Come.” 

“I... Neytiri, I love you.” 

“I know, my love. Did you run to tell me this?” her caring voice spoke softly before thin lips placed a soft kiss on his temple. 

“Dad, are you crying? Neteyam!! Dad is crying! Quickly, come and see!!” 

The mischievous middle child of the house leaned in to look as he heard the commotion before shouting and calling for his older brother, who was swimming with Kiri, to hurry up and come see the strange picture. 

──

“Neytiri... don’t leave me.” 

“Why would I leave you, Jake? Are we not partners?” 

She hugged him in the midst of the children's laughter. With those surroundings... at that moment, he was the happiest man in the world. 

──

“Is your lover still beautiful?” 

The question was asked... when someone’s ‘head’ rested in front of him. 

A familiar face with thin lips he once held. 

... 

Neytiri... 

“What have you done?! Tonowari!!!” the man screamed between tears. In the middle of the darkness in the Olo’eyktan’s marui, two lives collided with each other as if no one would give in. 

Nevertheless, Jake was so furious that his eyes were bloodshot. Unlike the sea Na’vi, who smiled without a care as he dealt with the force that was pressing him against the surface of the marui. 

“Bastard!!” 

His thin lips let out all sorts of curses. Five fingers squeezed the Olo’eyktan’s throat, wanting to take his life. 

“Ma’Jake... when you get angry, you become so beautiful. Are you not happy that the shameless demon disappeared like this?” 

“Neytiri, she was my wife!! Why did you do that...” 

At that moment, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Jake had lost his mind. Many tears filled his eyes. 

He repeatedly questioned the Na’vi below him for answers. But only a disgusting laugh was heard. His palm rubbed and gripped his tight, while the more fragile body rested on the lower part of his abdomen. 

“Ma’Jake, ah Ma’Jake, from now on you will be mine.” 

Tonowari shouted his name sweetly while two hands caressed his waist and lowered towards the end of the rope that held his loincloth. 

“You pervert! I’ll kill-!!” 

As if he had suddenly lost consciousness, Jake looked at the pair of hands with such panic that he accidentally freed his palm from the thick words, giving the stronger Tonowari the opportunity to take control of the situation. 

“Tonowa-!” 

“Ma paskalin... Look at you. Who dares to make you cry?” the senior man said with a sneer. His face lit up with a terrifying smile. He was filled with a passion that was more than Jake could imagine. 

“I killed both Ronal and your mate... so that the two of us would be a perfect bonded couple.” 

“Let go!!!” Jake barked through his teeth, fighting back tears. At that moment, he was angry and scared. 

“Ma yawntu, ma Eywa ... ah-” a faint whisper murmured in his ear. The forest man turned away from those hot breaths in disgust. 

But when he opened his eyes again... 

Instead, he came to face with the lifeless eyes of the woman holding his heart. 

Both he and Neytiri looked at each other. Even if he is the one crying. 

She died leaving only her head. As for him, he was being sexually abused before her lifeless eyes. 

“Please, I beg you.” 

The sobs did not stop Tonowari. The force of the bite on his throat and the wetness of the tip of his tongue made Jake feel like he wanted to die right now. 

“Neytiri...” 

Suddenly... 

Just by saying her name with his mouth. 

All action stopped. 

“Do not mention her name in front of me. Otherwise, I will cut out your tongue.” 

How did those terrible threats come from the mouth of the generous Olo’eyktan of the Metkayina? 

Jake bared his teeth, his growl as hoarse as anything. 

He did not have enough strength left to resist any longer. 

──

The forest man groaned in unbearable agony. Shame was imprinted on his body again and again. 

The tips of his long nails scratched furiously all over Tonowari’s body. But it always returned immediately. 

His dry eyes were empty. Thick lips kissed his entire body. 

... 

The reflection of two Na’vis making love appeared in the lovely amber eyes of a woman who had only her head left. 

A drop of water from the side of the woven ceiling fell to the edge of her eyes and flowed down, as if she were crying for what had happened. 

Tonowari smiled. 

Did you see, Neytiri? He is mine. 

Not yours. 

──

When he woke up, Jake prayed that it was all just a dream. However, his wounded body always reminded him. 

Defenseless in this marui, only the figures of Aonung and Tonowari entered and left. 

That boy always brought him a tray of food at every meal, and he was the only one who healed the wounds on his body with a face of constant sadness. 

“My kids... Where are they?” 

Jake didn’t know how many times he had asked that question. But no answer ever came from the Olo’eyktan’s mouth. 

“...” 

“Aonung, please... are they safe?” Jake pleaded to the young man through tears. If he had not been chained, he would have run looking for his children, going over the entire island. 

“...They are safe. They’re staying with Tsireya.” 

The blue eyes strayed, not daring to respond to a foreign Na’vi who was no different from a prisoner at that time. 

“Really? Tonowari didn’t do anything to them, right?” Hearing this, the father felt somewhat satisfied, but he couldn’t help but be worried. 

“...” 

“Aonung?” 

“Yes.” 

When he finished, that figure immediately stood up and disappeared. Jake didn’t dare stop him, as a terrible feeling began to consume him. 

Was what Aonung said true or false? Were his children really safe, or was it just word of mouth? 

Those fragrant meals at that moment were absolutely disgusting to him. 

He could no longer swallow them comfortably like before. 

Neytiri’s face haunted him every time he moved. 

Jake hugged himself tightly. Saying that everything would be alright... although what he feared most in his life had already happened. 

He had lost Neytiri... 

The children themselves did not know of their fate. Nor did he know theirs. 

“Why don’t you eat? Tsireya would be very sad if she found out about this.” 

Jake let out a violent growl. The closer that large silhouette got, the more whistles he emitted non-stop. 

The tip of his big tail moved gently; his beauty again showing a cute behavior. 

“Get out!!” 

“Ma paysyul... this is my marui and yours too. No matter how much you wish to chase me out, I won’t go.” 

Tonowari knelt in front of him. He brought the wrist of his slender arm closer to him. Jake was surprised and trembled, trying to escape the embrace of this demon from hell. 

“Let go of me! You bastard!!!” 

The sea Na’vi smiled gently, leaving passionate kisses along the beautiful temple. One hand left his narrow waist to move and hold a long braid that reached past his hips. 

“We both are now a couple. It’s really like destiny.” 

‘A destiny I made,’ the voice in the Olo’eyktan’s head resonated. 

He clung to Jake tightly, possessive. The first time they made love wasn’t very good. The next, he hoped the gorgeous Na’vi would be more cooperative. 

“Tsaheylu with me-” 

“No!!!” his pleasant voice said in a harsh tone of denial. The fight became heavier little by little. But that was not enough to free himself from this strong bondage. 

“Being stubborn is useless, Ma’Jake... because you have been mine from the moment you set foot in Awa’atlu.” 

The light-colored eyes flashed with fear. That Jake himself hadn’t been able to realize it... 

His slim body was pressed so that he was lying on the ground of the marui. His two arms were pinned by a single hand of the Olo’eyktan . The terrifying smile of the Na’vi above made Jake’s whole body shiver. 

His fierce face leaned down and left a mark on the crook of his neck. Jake wrinkled his neck to escape but didn’t succeed. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. 

Repressed feelings. 

Passion turning into madness. 

Too much love to understand. 

The biggest hatred you can imagine. 

Jealousy towards Neytiri. 

And the satisfaction of having managed to kill her. 

They slowly flowed into his body. Jake had tears streaming down his face. He looked into those happy eyes. 

We are together now. 

He had been forced... It was done. 

“Is your grief that great, Jake?” 

Tonowari’s black pupils were wide, almost completely covering his ocean blue eyes. Deep down, Jake hoped that the other would take pity and let him go after knowing all his feelings. 

But not at all... Tonowari laughed again. 

He laughed... 

And smiled. 

So euphoric that he was shaking... ecstatic with the karma he had just committed. 

“I hate you...” 

“Yes, I know... I know you hate me.” 

For an instant, those eyes flickered... but it only lasted a moment before disappearing. Nobody noticed, not even himself. 

──

Day after day, everything passed slowly. 

Jake was drowning in sadness... he couldn’t know what was happening on the outside at all. 

There were some Metkayina children passing by the marui, but they didn’t care at all about the chained figure of the former Toruk Makto. 

... 

He looked across the water balcony... into the distance. 

He saw a reef Na’vi feeding the Ilu in the area. 

Jake was desperate to escape. Because no matter how much he made the sounds, they acted like they didn’t care. 

He didn’t know what had happened... but it was too abnormal. 

The remains of minced meat were thrown into the water. The Ilu swam and ate it... 

Jake continued to look like that, not moving. 

Until finally, what brought him out of his trance was the familiar sound of the placing of a tray. 

Aonung gave him medicine and food. 

Suddenly... 

“...” 

His fin was gripped tightly, and even when the young boy moved away from him, he could not free himself from the five-fingered palm. 

“My kids... I want to see them.” 

Every time they met, that plea was made. 

Aonung’s breathing hitched when he saw those amber eyes... sad, as if he were about to break. 

Why had his father done so much? 

He killed his mother... he killed the beloved mate of the former Toruk Makto and... 

“Aonung! Please, I beg you.” 

In the end, he couldn’t bear this horrid feeling. The young man’s mouth opened as if he was about to say something. 

However, the figure of the Olo’eyktan appeared before them both. 

Those fierce and dangerous eyes made Jake immediately let go of Aonung’s arm. 

“What were you talking about, Aonung?” he questioned with a kind smile but with some hidden meaning. The future Olo’eyktan was feeling as if he were being pressed to the brink of oblivion. 

“Nothing, father... J- Sa'nok was asking about his children.” 

Tonowari was very satisfied with the way Aonung referred to him. So, this time, he wouldn’t mind if his eldest child got involved with his Jake. 

“You may go now.” 

The boy nodded and after the tall and slender figure exited the marui, his eyes looked at Jake with mixed feelings. 

“Children? Your children?” 

The sea Na’vi stopped in front of Jake’s helpless body. He dropped down and hugged his body without resistance. 

“Tonowari... where are my kids?” his weak voice asked through tears. At that moment, he didn't have enough strength to resist any longer. 

“They are fine... they are happy with Neytiri.” 

Jake’s mind was pounding, struggling to form those words. 

Tonowari squeezed his body with his full hands and sat him on his lap. He spread his lips and kissed all over his neck. 

“What did you say?” 

“I sent them to live with their mother. You won’t have to worry about them anymore,” he responded casually in a low voice. Like he was talking about general matters. 

“Tonowari... do you know what you’ve done?” 

Tears that he thought would never flow again were now streaming all over his face. The smaller palms struck the robust body fiercely. 

Jake’s brain stopped, and he couldn’t think of anything... Don’t tell me Aonung has always avoided talking about his kids because of that. 

“I know. I know it very well.” 

“My sons. My daughters. How could you do this? They were just... kids.” 

Jake’s words began to blend together until he could barely make out his voice. While those sobs sounded, Tonowari simply comforted the man in his arms with a perverted smile. 

“Ma yawne, don’t cry. We can make your kids again at any time.” 

“No... no, no, stop talking.” 

“Come, Jake... From now on, you’re mine. Forget everything related to your old family.” 

“Tonowari... I’m begging you, please stop,” Jake pleaded through tears, using the last of his strength to try to escape from the man’s grip. 

He had lost everything... 

Everything... 

Nothing remained... 

Oh... Great Mother, Eywa- 

Wasn’t that the family you gave me? Why did happiness last so little? 

──

Hoping to get his family away from danger... he ended up sending them to their deaths. 

He can’t go back and fix anything... 

A loss that Jake cannot know about. His suffering would go beyond words. 

Every memory was in Tonowari’s head from the beginning. 

Cruel and immoral is an understatement. 

Perverse as a beast is not the right expression. 

Of what malevolent praise is this Olo’eyktan worthy? 

──

She was ambushed with great force to prevent the hunter from being able to defend herself in time. 

When that body lost its rhythm, the edge of a spear killed her with a single cut. 

- That’s how Neytiri died. 

──

Kidnapped at dusk, they tied his arms, blindfolded him and released his body outside the reef. 

The screams of the silhouette fighting to survive while being torn apart by a Pxazang echoed in immensity. 

The sea turned bright red one night that no one knew about. 

- That’s how Lo’ak died. 

──

They beat her with a stone and crushed her body while she was still alive, repeatedly until the flesh turned pulpy. Not even the bones were visible. 

It was mixed with fish scraps and distributed among the Ilu of the tribe so they could eat it. 

- That’s how Kiri died. 

──

Both his arms were amputated before tying his leg with a rope to a large rock. 

A bloody body that was still breathing and abandoned in the water not far from the village. 

Numerous air bubbles appeared and filled the surface of the blood-red water, before everything went silent. 

- That’s how Neteyam died. 

──

They gagged her, skinned her alive and rubbed salt all over her body. 

Some pieces of meat were cut to draw blood and attract animals to graze on her. 

The screams of unbearable agony only lasted a few minutes before disappearing. 

- That’s how Tuktirey died. 

──

If this is a dream... 

Jake Sully will probably never wake up from his nightmare ever again. 

THE END 

Vocabulary list: Pxazang ('Akula', ferocious Pandoran ocean animal that roams the reefs of the Eastern Sea), Ilu (large plesiosaurlike sea creature), Tsurak ('Skimwing', creature inhabiting the tropical oceans), Tulkun (large, intelligent marine species), Paskalin (sweet berry, 'term of endearment'), Yawne (beloved), Yawntu (loved one), Paysyul (water lily), Muntxatan (husband, male spouse), Sa’nok (mother), Tsaheylu ('bond', neural connection), Tsahìk (head shaman, high priest, interpreter), Olo’eyktan (clan leader)

Part 2

#atwow fanfic #atwow fanfiction #tonowari x ronal #atwow #avatar the way of water #avatar #james cameron #avatar fanfic #avatar fanfiction #lo'ak #kiri #jake sully #neteyam #metkayina #omatikaya #tonowari #jake x neytiri #tonowari x jake #tuktirey #aonung #tsireya #ronal #neytiri #tonojake

[alovelyburn]

Hello, I just wanted to say that I'm a leftist and even I think that

saying Berserk is misogynistic is stupid as hell. If

anything, it's the opposite. The easiest example

would have to be Caska. The story doesn't treat

her as incapable of taking care of herself or being

strong. It shows in great lengths how hard she has

worked to become a warrior, and how she tries

desperately to be respected in a male-dominated

field. Much like women in real-life who work in

male dominated fields. Considering that this story

came out in the late 80's and early 90's, it makes

sense to compare Caska to young women trying

to pursue a career at that time when women

(especially in Japan) had rigid expectations of

what they were expected to be. Then there's her

fight with Adon, and how she kicks his ass after he

poisoned her. He was a misogynistic character,

but he was portrayed as an idiot. The scene when

Griffith told her it was a woman's duty to lie with

men wasn't exactly portrayed in a positive light

either, and I'd argue that Judeau was annoyed by

it. She was clearly respected by the Hawks/

Falcons, with the exception of maybe Griffith. But

she's never portrayed as incapable. And when she

mentally regresses post-Eclipse, yes she loses her

agency, but I'd say it effectively portrays how the

trauma of the Eclipse effected her. A female

character can lose agency and be humiliated in a

story without it being misogynistic. The same way

the same can be done with a male character

without it being misandrist and emasculating.

I'm also a leftist and I don't care about your politics in the context of a media discussion.

I really don't even know what to say to this since it's once again responding to things I didn't say (that Berserk is misogynistic), while also making arguments that make me wince until my eyelids fuse.

Look, I don't think Miura or Berserk is particularly or notably misogynistic, particularly in the context of it being a 30+ year old Japanese story. The fact that you're lecturing me about this just proves you have no idea what you're talking about or what I think about anything because I'm always the one defending Berserk's rough edges because of cultural differences and time period differences.

That said, this doesn't mean it can't be criticized for, say, the way it overuses and eroticizes rape scenes, particularly from the mid-golden age through volumes in the early 20s. Even if I say I understand why it does that - namely that Young Animal is like a stroke book - I can still say it doesn't feel great. In a way the fact that Miura did want to do better than many mangaka in this area and strove to do so (and succeeded to some degree but not the degree to which I assume he wanted to) makes that kind of thing stand out more, at least to me. Because if I'm reading some hentai I expect to see that, but I don't necessarily expect to see it in a story that treats women and certain subjects with degree of gravitas.

The argument that people are saying women shouldn't suffer or fight is an egregious strawman because literally no one ever said that. What they are saying is that Casca's experiences, her abilities, her traumas, are as a generality, not treated with the same respect as the other characters' similar experiences, abilities or traumas are. I have no problem saying yes Casca is said to be extremely competent but that doesn't change the fact that one of her finest moments, defeating Adon, is portrayed as cute and funny instead of epic like Griffith or Guts's great moments are. It doesn't erase the difference between the way Guts' rape is portrayed and the way Casca's MANY SA experiences are portrayed. If you don't see that, that's you problem and there's not much I can do about it.

I wouldn't even be bothered that her mind collapsed if it were treated as tragic instead of kind of kooky and adorable. And before you say it is tragic, I'm not talking about Guts feeling upset about it, I'm talking about Casca herself being portrayed/depicted with gravitas instead of having her like trying to eat elves or follow butterflies around while making cute faces.

Frankly, I'm not even sure how much of this is really misogyny as such, because he didn't really treat Farnese (or Schierke) this way. He is on record as saying that he wrote Casca "not as a woman" but as "a character made up of a collection of (Miura's) own complexes and weaknesses,"so maybe he was just kicking himself around, I have no idea. I personally tend to think he just got better at writing women, but what do I know. (note: that is a link to a translation of a Miura interview snippet. You can find sourcing and explanations and often the original Japanese if you poke around that twitter).

We can criticize the things we love. I am a full on Berserk stan - I think it's a masterpiece, I think Miura was a gd genius, it's literally my favorite story, nevermind my favorite manga, but I'm still aware that it has flaws. As do all things.

#ask #anonymous #ariel talks about berserk

[bscully]

I haven’t really been in any ‘fandom’ in general for over a year now, but I’ve definitely noticed the wider Berserk fandom has gotten much more horrid in the past year and a half. The weird dudebros who made rape jokes always existed but they weren’t that difficult to avoid a couple of years ago but now Those types of fans have increased like five times over so they’re almost impossible to avoid. You even have big Twitter meme accounts making Eclipse and Donovan jokes.

Not only that, but Berserk trends every other month on Twitter now because some bait account decides to post uncensored Eclipse panels captioned something like ‘Miura deserved to die for this’ or ‘Berserk fans are sick’. Dudebros obviously can’t tell it’s bait and QRT it en masse, and it catches a lot of non-Berserk fans as a result so Berserk ends up trending. Again, this happens every other month and it’s tiring to see people argue about SA all day long - it’s so vitriolic on all sides and it never goes anywhere. I remember last year when a bait account instigated this discourse wrt the Eclipse scene but days later joked about how it satisfied his NTR fetish. Disgusting.

Sorry for the rant, I’m just tired. More people are going to get into something when they hear the creator passed away but I miss the fandom from even a couple of years ago.

Speak the truth my anonymous fren 👏

#berserk #ask

[deripmaver]

Which is worse, rape or murder? - Or, should Casca have died during the Eclipse?

Unlike most of my meta posts, this is one I'm making as a direct critique of a specific take I've seen. It's similar to my meta about apostle Casca in that regard, where I want to look at a specific idea and why I dislike it, as opposed to wanting to explore my thoughts on an aspect of canon. To be clear, this is only something I do if I've seen a take a bunch of times, enough so I know it's not a one-off. It's also not something I do because I want to engage in discussion with the people who've said whatever the take is, it's something I do in case other people who agree with me might be interested in a meta post that's more in line with their viewpoint.

I provide this disclaimer because, as I've said a few times now, the idea that it's the better choice to have Casca die during the eclipse is one that I just really dislike, and I make that preeeeetty fuckin clear. I can't control who sees this or who comments, but I did think I should make my stance explicit.

Berserk fandom is an absolute treasure trove of bad takes about rape and sexual assault. Considering the seriousness with which the manga takes rape, despite it's sometimes quite dodgy framing and portrayal, the fact that the fandom is Like That is fully a testament to cishet men's inability to consume media without turning into a brainless amoeba of toxicity.

I have to say, though, what shocked me the most was that this particular take, that Casca should have just died during the eclipse, was not from the dudebro side of fandom ('cause if she had they couldn't make their silly little "casca enjoyed it" jokes).

I'm coming right out of the gate with my opinion, which is a firm no, Casca should not have died during the eclipse, and the story would be weaker if she had. I'm going to presume during this analysis that the people who say this assume that her death would be instead of her rape, as opposed to her being raped and then dying, which would be... Horrific. Even more horrific than canon, lol.

I do have sympathy for some of the people who wish she had died, and in a way I understand, though I vehemently disagree. Some of the posts with this POV sound almost traumatized as they proclaim I wish she would have died, it would have been better. As this is something I've only noticed in the tumblr fandom side of things, where most people are women, I think this comes from women readers feeling furious and sick about one of the most vile rape scenes out there. In some ways its intentionally vile, in others - ie how grotesquely sexualized it is - it's unintentional. Then, of course, she continues to suffer in her disabled, infantilized trauma state. I hear these readers wanting to shout at Miura that he should have just killed her off rather than force her, and us, through reading that. It would have been kinder.

I have... Far less sympathy for others. There's a side of fandom that simply does not care about Casca (in a different way than the dudebros who don't care about her despite gushing about how she's peak tomboy waifu). It's amazing the veneer of progressivism these people put on as they say that Casca should have died, because she did not contribute to the narrative before the eclipse, and she certainly hasn't after. Going to get even spicier for a second and point out fandom's long history of wanting female characters dead because they get in the way of mlm ships, and how I think this is SOMETIMES simply another manifestation of it.

To be fully fucking clear, I do NOT think that being a grffgts shipper (censored so this doesn't show up in the tag LOLLLLL) precludes being shitty about Casca. I think tumblr's demographics, and those demographics' typical shipping preferences, mean that grffgts is naturally going to dominate. By simple statistics, most of the people whose opinions I hate are going to be grffgts shippers. Same with most of the people's opinions I like on tumblr tbh. I do, however, think it's prudent to point out old school fandom misogyny, and how I personally feel it's showing up in the fandom, and also point out that it pisses me off that Casca dying during the eclipse is at all presented as the least misogynistic outcome.

I'm also going to say now that this is firmly being kept in the realm of fiction. In real life, there are horrific discussions about how being a victim of rape defiles you for life, and that it's better to die without the "shame" of being raped than live with it. While I have to be blunt it's difficult for me to separate some of the discussion of Casca dying during the eclipse from that anti-survivor bias I see in real life just because ~we live in a society~, I in general think this sentiment is coming from a place of simply analyzing, narratively, which outcome is less misogynistic given how the rape in canon is portrayed.

Would it narratively have been better for Casca to have died? What about the impact of her death versus her current storyline?

First, I think I need to outline my interpretation of the eclipse rape. I don't think that the decision to have Griffith rape Casca was Miura simply being a misogynistic cishet dude who threw in rape for the hell of it. I also don't think it's OOC. Again, there's much to critique in how it's drawn, but not in the fact that it happened. Griffith, in his moments of feeling out of control and powerless, uses sexual advances to reassert his control over the situation - see Charlotte, or the wagon scene with Casca. A distaste for sexual violence committed by his enemies doesn't mean Griffith is incapable of wielding sexual violence as a weapon himself. In real life, there's a paradox where rape committed by political or social enemies is seen as the worst crime one could ever commit, while the mundane rape committed as a consequence of patriarchy is excusable and the victims should be blamed and shamed. Did Miura have the gender studies acumen to think about that when writing? I dunno, but neither does anyone who thinks he didn't.

I also think it's supposed to establish his actions during the eclipse as fully over the moral event horizon. Without it, it's easy to ask if ultimately, Griffith's decision to sacrifice his followers to a cruel death is justified to create a perfect utopia. With it, it establishes Griffith as acting fully on cruel, malicious impulse in moments of emotional turmoil, which puts his future utopia in jeopardy. I can't be the only one who sees Falconia as a ticking time bomb. Of course, this doesn't mean he needed to rape Casca, but simply that I think it was necessary to his character to do something that crossed that moral line. He could have raped Guts I suppose. Killerbambi has entered the chat.

While I think this might sound strange, I actually think it's immensely validating to have a character who is a victim not just of rape, but of rape committed by someone she already knew. That's genuinely unique in media on the whole, which plays into that paradox I mentioned earlier - in real life, the vast majority of assaults are committed by someone the victim knew. Having the story surround the continual, horrific trauma of betrayal, of having to watch the person who hurt you move on while trauma keeps you in horrible stasis is almost so realistic it's... uncomfortable. Painful. Hard to read.

There's no greater purpose to what happened to Casca. She didn't grow from it, instead she regressed.

Her general lack of agency post-eclipse is much critiqued in the fandom and like. Fucking yeah fair LOLLLLLL BUT ALSO... But also. Fandom on the whole can be so cruel about traumatized female characters, like there's no way they can do trauma "right." In Casca's case, her lack of agency is turned into a reason she should simply have been killed off instead, as though there aren't so many survivors who, while not as literally as she does, retreat into a shell of themselves and are frozen with trauma as the world begins to pass them by. Of course, the critique would be that she's not a real person, she's a female character written in a misogynistic way by a man, but I personally think this overstates Miura's issues with his portrayal of rape. To me, it presents what they think are his biases as justification for their own biases.

Time and time again, I see survivors discuss feeling validated by Casca's trauma response after being assaulted. Even the parts of the rape scene that I vehemently dislike, such as the hyper-focus on Casca's body and the physical reactions she's having, I've seen more than one person say they felt validated because they too had an unwanted arousal response during an assault. I'll still critique the scene, but regardless of if this was Miura's intention, its impact is clear.

I'll again plug this article by Jackson P. Brown, How Berserk’s Casca challenges the myth of the “Strong Black Woman.” Just to show a quote from it:

All of the action of the story after Conviction Arc is in service of restoring Casca's mind. During Conviction Arc and after, Casca has groups of women who love and protect her, with women as her source of safety. Guts is single mindedly focused on bringing her back, putting his body on the line again and again to protect her and restore her. I wondered about including Guts here because I'm sure I'll get some anon about the Beast of Darkness, which again fair LOL. I have complicated feelings on that, but mostly I think the importance the narrative puts on her mind and her protection is touching, and I think this outweighs how the negative things apparently mean that she should have died.

Her story and trauma, despite its flaws, is shockingly realistic and validating to so many people. She's also a key narrative component post-eclipse, and not just ~for Guts' manpain~ or as a helpless plot device, her story is her own. I've written about Elaine as a character and what she represents, but in brief, Casca doesn't disappear after the eclipse. Miura wrote Elaine with these moments where Casca comes to the surface, and while I wish we had more of her POV I think you can look at how she's coping from how Elaine reacts to the world around her.

I also think it's necessary to have Casca at the Hill of Swords. There's Guts, who Griffith torments in the way only a bitter ex can, and Rickert, who doesn't know what happened the day of the eclipse, but I think Casca is the key component in that scene that cuts through all of Griffith's posturing and Guts' anger. She is there, making the real, human cost of what Griffith did during the eclipse unignorable in a way that no other character could. It's one thing for Guts to be furious with him and Rickert ignorant, it's another to have someone who loved him so innocently and dearly trembling just at the sight of him. Let's not pretend that the depth of betrayal in this scene would be the same if you swapped her for, say, Judeau.

It's funny, Miura is quoted as saying that his initial reason for keeping Casca alive was to provide Guts an ever-burning flame of vengeance, an eternal reminder of everything that he lost during the eclipse. What's wound up happening, on a meta level, is that Casca provides the reader a constant reminder of what happened during the eclipse. As more and more focus is given to her PTSD with her revival, the cruelty with which Griffith acted (and continues to act) becomes harder and harder to ignore. It becomes more difficult to push it aside as just bad, misogynistic writing.

And also, quite simply, I like narratives about trauma recovery, and therefore I'll always find Casca's story worth telling despite my frustration with a lot of it. It's absolutely wild to me that for how often I see the fandom complain about her being "fridged" they think it would have been better to see her ACTUALLY fridged, no chance of coming back at all, just dead to fuel Guts' revenge arc. Would it really be better to have her be just another dead girlfriend? Really?

That's really what it comes down to. I like Casca as a character, and I want her to have lived. The people who wish she had died, many of them simply don't like her as a character. Not all, particularly in that first group I mentioned at the start, but many. Everyone has their preferences of course, but I don't think I need to respect when someone thinks a character has so little influence on the narrative that they should have just died, especially if that character is Casca.

If Casca had died during the eclipse, it would not have been a good death. It would not have been brave, or triumphant, or worth anything for her as a character. Judeau died to protect Casca, but even his death was not brave, it was just sad. That's the whole point of the eclipse.

To have Casca die that way would be a disservice to her as a character, far moreso than to have her struggle on as a traumatized victim of sexual violence. That's genuinely what I believe.

#berserk #casca #casca berserk #berserk meta #casca the og victim of yaoi IN CANON

[beansterpie]

18 and 8 for Berserk?

thank you for the ask!!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Oh god if we're talking about the mainstream fandom then there's.... so many..... let's make a list

Griffith was ~always evil~ (yeah fucking right. there's plenty of textual evidence to the contrary, and even beyond that, if Griffith was always evil then that makes the intrigue of the GA and the black swordsman arc coming before it kind of fucking pointless doesn't it? the question you're meant to have while starting the GA is 'how is this Griffith from the past, who is complicated but clearly not evil, turn into the demon femto that we see in the BS arc?' for a fandom that constantly lauds Miura as a genius storyteller, they sure do like to interpret the story in the least compelling way possible)

The Beast of Darkness is an external entity possessing Guts (uh, it's his inner darkness y'all)

That Guts only feels hatred and bloodlust towards Griffith post-eclipse (there are so many instances where it's explicitly said that his feelings towards Griffith are complicated! Hatred and bloodlust are certainly part of it, but so is fear, love, betrayal, sadness, wistfulness....)

That the Griffith+Charlotte sex scene was SA (I get where this comes from because it's got some dubcon-y vibes in a bodice-ripper sort of way, but if it was meant to be read as SA everything surrounding the event makes no sense. Charlotte's uncomplicated, happy feelings regarding the sex the next morning make no sense, it would frame the King's imprisonment and torture of Griffith as morally justified which also doesn't make any sense)

That the eclipse rape wasn't sexualized/eroticized, and anyone who claims so are the ones who are freaks!!! (SO MANY PEOPLE SAY THIS IT'S ACTUALLY BONKERS, anybody with eyes and a drop of common sense can see that it's pornographic, and how the SA of male characters vs female characters are depicted is like night and day!)

there's definitely more but these are the ones coming to mind atm

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

hehehe... chasca (charlotte/casca) and also something I've recently been awakened to, but slasca (slan/casca). What can I say, it would be hot.

[choose violence]

#ask meme #13eyond13 #tw rape mention