#to rokkenjima. just to kill those people

[kushanna]

i hate this type of red truth cause it's not specified whether the red sentence by itself is a truth for the murder we're talking about atm or for the game board as a whole. genji and nanjo were not killers? if you're telling me they can't be killers at all in the first game board then that's a huge bummer for me

also hate this one cause yeah?? does she guarantee that the unidentified corpses are actually corpses though?? i do understand that yes, since she did say "there were no body double tricks", but GOD that's such a ridiculous play with words. get out of here

[whenthechickencry]

Umineko EP8 Tea Party, ??? and End

Featherine is writing and starts talking about when is an appropriate time to finish a tale, remarking that this kind of tale should probably be left in a cat box. Bernkastel is sewing Lambdadelta back up in very sexually charged language, Erika comes to the room, Bernkastel reveals Dlanor is still in touch with her, LambdaBern flirt some more and Erika gets jealous.

Gertrude has earned a promotion, Cornelia is learning martial arts. Will is.... a landlord who plays Badmington with Lion. Dlanor is still hard at work. Lambdadelta and Bernkastel promise to see each other when something else cries.

I think I mentioned it before, but one of my goals for this replay was to have a deeper appreciation for Bern and Lambda. I played the game originally as my first WTC game so I was constantly like, "Well that's definitely hinting at something I don't get". On replay, I appreciate them a lot more and I think reading their lines also gives you a lot of understanding towards other characters, as well.... a lot of scenes are even further contextualized by GouSotsu. If you don't have the context for Higurashi it is very easy to villainize Bernkastel a lot and not understand her as anything more than evil, which I think is a disservice for any Umineko character. I also appreciate Erika a lot more, she feels kind of like a tertiary main character of the answer arcs haha, I mentioned it a lot but I really do pity her a lot and I do kind of hope for better for her anyway. Meanwhile....

Sakutarou is now famous, and also Ange I guess. Or Kotobuki Yukari. Ange is spending her life writing books, hoping to help more children find magic and happiness. Then the name Hachijo Tohya gets brought up... Ange remembers how Hachijo's refusal to reveal the truth ultimately led to the Rokkenjima Mystery to die down, and thanks her. Ange agrees to meet with Hachijo and it is revealed that Hachijo is 2 people.

Ange doesn't really know how to deal with the reveal Battler is "Alive", other than shock. Happy he's alive though. She mentions how if it happened at another time, she would probably be pissed he hadn't shown himself up earlier, but right now she's just happy the miracle happened. Battler confirms what we saw at the very end of ep8, and Ange seems to blame herself for the reunion taking so long, due to her changing her name. But then she thinks about how she did try to meet with Hachijo once and was denied, but then instead of blaming anyone decides to just thank God for the miracle. I am so happy to see Ange so.... at peace. But Hachijo and Tohya reveal that they were perfectly capable of meeting her before, which throws her for a loop, and starts getting actually angry. Tohya explains how he has Battler's memories, but isn't Battler.

I forgot Tohya tried to kill himself, damn, considering Sayo's own issues with identity I can imagine writing the forgeries also helped him cope with his own fragmented identity....

Those tears are so pained... I want to cry. Ange accepts that Battler is both dead and came back to her, and is doing her best to hold herself together for Tohya.

I am a little relieved it is an entirely different Gospel House, the original was kind of fucked up, but this is a house for children to learn of magic. Ange reveals that not only is this a replica of the Ushiromiya Mansion hall, but it's the same as EP8's Halloween party... certainly showing the Battler inside Tohya that he can rest easy with everyone else now.

Battler is back home, Ange and Tohya can keep living in the future with no regrets.

Man, I really don't know what to say. I have already said so much but it still feels like I have so much to learn from Umineko. Umineko and Higurashi have meant so much to me across the years and I am so glad my replay led to me loving this experience more than I did. I hope one day I can revisit the game in Japanese, I am on classes and I want to come back once I am good enough to read this. That's uh, very far in the future though. I still have a lot to say and I will make more posts about my general thoughts once I finish reading all the side content. For now, I will say this replay made me appreciate a lot more how carefully handled the mystery was, and how it made me appreciate the answer arc in a lot of new ways.... first time I thought ep5-6 were one of the weaker arcs and now I think they are among the strongest. It's kind of funny though, I don't really feel the finality I feel when ending a lot of games. I still have so much more to learn about the world of Umineko and When They Cry, so finishing a game doesn't feel like an ending but just a step toward understanding more. This blog has mostly just been a tool for me to force myself to think a bit deeper into scenes than usual, via forcing myself to write down my thoughts. It's a little embarrassing but it has been a fun thing to do. I will probably keep doing it in the future, and I hope doing this will help me improve myself if only a little bit.

[ultfan]

@schxdenfreude continued from this ask.

"Hoh? Taking credit? Please clear your throat and say that just one more time, okaaaay? I can't quite tell if that's audacity or disease talking! Actually, just looking at you... you're seriously doubting me, aren't you? I hate that more than anything else in the world!"

She lets out a laugh full of disdain and mockery. The word 'despise' is practically etched across her body when she looks at him. A woman who hates humans has had her hatred amplified tenfold, just by having to bear witness to his existence.

"Regardless, I am very gracious and kind to guests! Since you've found your way here by circumstance, I suppose I can let your putrid ignorance slide just this once. You're a young man who must be educated, I can't blame you for that at all! I'll be sure to carve every inch of knowledge into this scrawny body of yours, but try not to bleed on me too much, okaaaaaaaaaaaay? Kihihihiyahahahahahahahahahahahaha.....!!!!"

She grabs his shirt collar, pulling him forward so they're practically nose to nose. Her mouth twists into a terrible, loathing grin. As if he's far less than human. As if killing him would be the same as crushing an ant.

"I am Beatrice, the Golden Witch, the true ruler of Rokkenjima! Go ahead and deny me as much as you wish! In return, I'll show you a taste of torture... a special service just for people who call themselves my opponents! Ahhh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!"

                     her disdain means nothing to komaeda. he does not cower in the presence of the great witch, does not show her the respect that he should. he is insolent, foolish — perhaps even worse than your typical humans. those oozing with the anti-magic toxic.

                     komaeda does not resist being pulled into her vacinity — does not flinch — does not even show an iota of fear. he just... can't take her seriously! not in the slightest! and as she makes her claims, as she challenges him, as she promises to torture him for his his impudence...

                     ‶  hah...  ″ a wheeze, lips are quirked up in a smile as something he can't contain starts erupting past his mouth. a spirited, manic laughter. so intense that it sounds like his own lungs can't support it. his chest hurts, but he can't help but laugh through it — wheezing and gasping for breath when he must.  ‶  ahahaHAHAHAHAAHAHAA!! — hahah! HAHA!!!  ″

                     ‶  amazing!  ″ madness spirals in his eyes, a sharper inhale taken so that he may actually speak.  ‶  you really do act like a real witch! — haha... you say you're going to torture me? make me bleed?  ″ he giggles, grotesque and giddy, the kind you wouldn't get from a normal person. a real human. it's almost like he's something else entirely. an aberrant being.

                     ‶  aahh... okay... that's fine then.  ″ it's sudden, but his voice suddenly calms itself. a storm turned into calm waters, eerily still.  ‶  i still won't believe it. magic... haha... how ridiculous!  ″

[rose-reads-visualnovels]

reply sent to me by homa from @goldenwolfwitch

So I've been thinking on how to address this for a while, because I can see this is a topic very close to your heart. It's not my intention to be callous or victim blaming when dealing with abuse, and it's also not my intention to say being forgetful is an intentional act by people who just want to be punished.

However, I must stand both with my reading of Shannon as a blind liveblogger and with my liveblogging method itself. I show my genuine interpretation of the characters and their dynamics, but I also think about what it all means beyond the characters themselves.

Shannon has been working as a child servant for the Ushiromiyas since she was 6 years old. She's 16 now. 10 years of her life spent in that island where nothing happens and time stands still as she cleans and serves while being abused by those in a position of power over her. (emotionally by Natsuhi and who knows how by Kinzo). Kanon helps her now, but he's only been working here for about 2 years.

When discussing the character, Shannon is someone who appears to be completely broken in spirit. She has her pride, when she doesn't let Kanon snitch to Genji about what happened between her and Eva, but her resistance towards abuse thrown at her is at zero. She has no boundaries she won't allow her masters to cross. She has completely given up on the idea of not being disrespected at every turn. Battler can molest her in front of her maybe boyfriend George, the family heiress Jessica and Maria a 9 year old. Shannon's mind is far, far away from her body.

If we talk about her place in the narrative, she's shown in contrast to Kanon in a very particular way. It's not a furniture vs furniture dynamic. It's the "real" vs "unreal". Even when she self identifies as furniture, Shannon is real. She represents the reality of being a child in servitude to a family of unstable power hungry adult children. Everything that could go wrong in such a dynamic does go wrong. Shannon is always being scolded, and teased and harassed because being completely powerless and surrounded by abusive people opens you up to abuse. Kanon only gets scolded by a fellow servant for not smiling enough and then all the Ushiromiya adults jump in to defend his honor from that old mean Gohda. He lives a fantasy. He represents a fantasy world, a magic world where masters are good towards their servants, where "going through puberty" is justification for not punishing bad behavior.

The family conference happens once every year at the same time every year. With that whole timeframe to prepare herself, be familiar with what's inside the kitchen and what tea Natsuhi usually wants served, why didn't she? Why must Shannon forget about the flavor of the tea when everything about her background (10 years working in Rokkenjima) says there's no way it can even be possible?

The Watsonian explanation is that the nervousness made her mind blank. This is what you took from the scene because you're also a forgetful person, according to your own words. But the Doylist explanation says Shannon must be punished. The narrative threads around Shannon would never allow her to escape an interaction with Eva with a simple answer and smile. Shannon must forget and she will forget in the future again, she won't be allowed to ask Kumasawa or Gohda beforehand for more information on the things she's supposed to do because Shannon has to suffer.

Shannon is doing her best to be the target of abuse, because there are no other ways her character can go. I'm not saying she - the character we're watching - is intentionally throwing herself at situations unprepared out of a desire for punishment. I'm saying she's the first victim in a horror movie who's making all the terrible obvious mistakes that will get her killed that make audiences groan in frustration.

Shannon is walking towards her doom every time she enters a room. This is not her fault, the script is obviously against her. Shannon's forgetfulness doesn't reflect her inner feelings and heart in the same way a group of friends splitting up to investigate an abandoned house doesn't mean every individual in the group is a low IQ worm.

Shannon is a lynchpin of human suffering, and thus she is furniture.

-- Rose, the Revolutionary Witch

[construingseacats]

Umireread - Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 17: Notebook Fragment in a Wine Bottle

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

This is an interesting one, because while this is de facto the shortest chapter in the series - quite literally just an ending cutscene - this is remarkably dense with important information. Unlike Chapter 9, which was short for seemingly no reason, the emphasis placed here is well earned.

So already we’re off to an interesting start - if we’re fighting for mystery, the bodies never being found is quite a significant hurdle to overcome. Of course, it’s an isolated island, so you could invoke the usual rules and say that they were dumped in the sea or thrown in the forest somewhere, in a way that evaded the police investigation or future discovery. But then you need to construct an argument that someone survived past midnight, and managed to escape police investigation - which would be a relatively tall order, given we have established that the police would be able to search for fingerprints and find traces of the culprit afterwards. How do we explain all of that?

Of course, Notebook Fragment in a Wine Bottle lives and dies on the fact that it doesn’t tell you that half the island was blown up. It dances around this fact - perhaps a little too safely, as I wouldn’t have minded some sort of reference that still encourages the interpretation of magic, such as saying that it seemed like the island had been rained down on by lightning or some other powerful force. The use of 18 is also fun here - with the truth sealed away, the fantasy of the two additional humans has become imbued with magic.

Exceedingly clever work here - of course, Episode 1 is a fabricated tale in a message bottle. Those present are the only ones who have heard that tale - because even we haven’t, at this stage.

And of course, people did imagine what may have happened during those two days. After all, we have Episode 3 through 8 to show for it.

PHENOMENAL work here by swapping from “that” tale, Rokkenjima Prime, to “this” tale, Episode 1. It’s so natural that you’d be a savant if you caught it and realised it was referring to two separate tales.

Referring to Episode 1 as “a tale which didn’t need to be heard” also carries several meanings - on the one hand, it alludes to how the catbox could have been kept shut; how, if it were not for the message bottles, the incident likely wouldn’t have spiralled into the irresponsible sea of forgeries that it inevitably did. And, on the other hand, no-one needed to hear Yasu’s penmanship; a personal piece of vent art that spilled out many emotions that she had bottled inside, now bottled in a more physical sense. But even though this tale didn’t need to be heard, Yasu wanted it to be. Perhaps it was selfish of her - perhaps this selfishness was justified. But consequences be damned, she just wanted someone, anyone, to know of her. No matter the cost.

I honestly cannot believe how excellent the writing is in this section. “Through this notebook fragment” makes the implication that Episode 1 is the truth, that we have seen Rokkenjima Prime - but that’s not what it’s saying at all! It is through the existence of Episode 1 that people will learn the truth, as it sets in motion the wheels for people to pick apart and understand the rules at play, to come to understand the culprit and to come and understand Yasu. Of course, there’s something to say about how Rokkenjima Prime is never truly uncovered, and that the world does not necessarily know the full details of it - but of course, the truth is so much more than simply saying who killed who, right?

Dilettante is a phenomenal choice of word - it’s so entirely accurate to what the story wants to capture. Umineko is not critical of those who delve into worlds and treat them with care and respect, who take the time to understand what they are dealing with. It is critical of those who play with the legacies of others without ever progressing past a surface level interest in the subject.

This chapter! Is! So! Good! Okay, so we’ve now established how occultics latched on to this incident, and - with a surface level understanding, by the use of the word dilettantes a moment ago - proceeded to write their own forgeries while adding their own spins on the massacre, using this real life tragedy to write tropey fanfiction for their own amusement. And these are the people who cannot understand Umineko - who, by not engaging with it any further, lock themselves out of a true understanding and appreciation for what is contained within. You cannot find the truth from the comforts of your armchair, from a position where you neglect any mental challenge in favour of stagnation. It must be actively fought for. It must be earned.

We also confirm the earlier comment about how “this” tale and “that” tale are separate - Episode 1 does not reveal the truth of Rokkenjima Prime. Of course, you can interpret this as the fact that you’re not told who the culprit is, but we both know that’s definitely not what it’s referring to, right?

And we acknowledge that, when this message bottle was written, Yasu had no knowledge of how Rokkenjima Prime would play out - Episode 1 predates it, after all!

So, there’s a big point here, made about attribution. After all, Yasu can’t just name herself as the author in these tales - they’re made for people to learn about her, after all.

Hold up - is this just the North Wind and the Sun once again? After all, Yasu can very easily let people know about her - she just names herself as the author, or better yet, writes message bottles saying “Hi, I’m Yasu, here are some facts I would like you to know about me.” But that’s the North Wind - she’s blowing the facts at people, and if she does that, no-one will learn the true her. People would take a passing interest, but they’d be disinclined to dig much deeper. By using the Sun - to persuade people to find the truth by digging deeper into the tales - while many people may not go that far, she hopes (if not ensures) that someone, anyone, will take the time to understand her. And who she really is.

Anyway, we got sidetracked - the point I was intending to make there was that Maria is a curious choice of attribution. We know she couldn’t pick herself, so why her? I don’t really have a good answer for that, and I’m not entirely sure if this is properly addressed anywhere in the text. My best guess at this moment in time would be that, again, Yasu had a soft spot for Maria - attribution is a kindness that she’s bestowing upon her, that her name will carry on with additional meaning. More cynically, I suppose it could be a case of picking the youngest child, to make people go “hang on, a nine year old shouldn’t be able to write like this”, and encourage people to bypass the surface level and begin investigating who Yasu is. But of these two, I’m leaning towards the former.

This is another one that should be tripping up people digging into the mystery - beyond Maria’s jaw being detached from her body, and nothing else being discovered, we say “there had been many body parts that couldn’t be identified as belonging to any specific person”. That does not match up with what we know about the rest of the murders in Episode 1. Something else has gone on right at the end, here.

Very good choice of words accounting for all outcomes on the roulette - she’ll probably be dead, but maybe Yasu is defeated, or Maria manages to escape the explosion. Similarly, depending on how the final hours shake out, there may or may not be a corpse; she may be mostly unharmed by the edges of the explosion, or her body is eviscerated by it. And of course, Yasu wants people to know the truth, she wants people to know her. That is her only wish. That is Umineko.

After all, even if they desired the 10 tons of gold, they did not solve the Epitaph. It remains out of their grasp.

The winner is the Golden Witch Beatrice. The roulette ball falls into a pocket of rouge or noir. It is the expected outcome, but we have so much to go - we may hope once again that we finally hit the zero. We receive the gold. And deal with the consequences associated with it.

And so the introduction to Umineko comes to a close. A novel and a half worth of content has been consumed - and now the tale can truly begin.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate; we have the Tea Parties to get through, first. But hey - it’s not like anything important ever happens in a Visual Novel Wrap Up Party, right?

[knoxs2nd]

thinking about yasu's relationships with her parents - how she sees herself in them and how that terrifies but also empowers her, and how she wants to and does honor them both

i've talked about yasu's views on kinzo here and here

yasu and the beatrices is similarly complicated: yasu adds their stories to beatrice's legend to remember and honor them both, as three generations of women trapped on rokkenjima whose stories and lives are lost to history and the ushiromiya's dark secrets.

to the world, they don't exist. they're legends, at best. even the one outsider to kinzo's secret, rosa, never talks about kuwatrice, further rendering kuwatrice invisible. if kuwatrice had lived, rosa had resolved to help her, but after her death, rosa pretended she didn't exist.

yasu thought her own existence was a sin, but she also HATED feeling denied, like she shouldn't exist. that's why battler forgetting her is so impactful. if he broke the promise, it'd be fine. but he forgot her, and didn't send her a letter. it's like she doesn't even exist.

oh, but that's how it should be, according to genji! furniture shouldn't speak, furniture exists to serve their master. furniture can't love. (genji doesn't really mean it this way, on how yasu shouldn't exist, but the important part is that's how YASU sees herself as furniture.)

and that's why yasu punishes people who don't believe in beatrice. she uses her headship to scare people who disparage beatrice. in the message bottles, she kills the non-believers agonizingly, inevitably, reminding them that beatrice exists. yasu exists.

so yeah, being forgotten and treated like she doesn't even exist, like the beatrices - not something yasu wants! but also, to her, the beatrices were women who were captured and caged, just like her. but they were able to escape those fates...via their death.

the idea of being like them and only being able to escape through death was terrifying but also freeing. she frames their deaths as a "choice" - as a good choice, in fact! after all, death is the golden land, where you'll be free of your cages and chains.

the rokkenjima massacre is yasu both becoming her parents but also saving their memories. she becomes kinzo by killing everyone on the island, but she won't frame it like a selfish love, like him, but a selfless love, where she can save everyone and free them of their fates.

yasu also becomes beatrice, through choosing her death to escape her fate, but this time, she won't let them be forgotten. she'll immortalize all of the beatrice's names through the message bottles.

no one will ever forget that she, or they, existed....

[troofless]

yo i finished umineko and here is my tierlist on how much i enjoyed the characters. thoughts further below.

overall i would not recommend to anyone else because the plot thread is so hard to follow for a minimal payoff 6 chapters later (everything is revealed in chapter 7 and chapter 8 is a fucking nightmare of a tying up loose ends that was fucking painful to go through), EVEN CONSIDERING that it is a ‘murder mystery’ meant to be reread several times. would rate it i don’t understand why people call it iconic/10.

my main thoughts/grudges with the story:

let me preface by saying that battler is amazing. meta battler, piece battler, whatever, he stayed a consistent sunny force throughout the entire novel and is always a delight to watch his journey and thoughts throughout the game. he stays consistently empathetic, forgiving, despite his growth into a hardened warrior of a intelligent mystery solver on the ruthless gameboard of the likes of bern, beatrice, and lambda. this is why i thoroughly dislike when the game diverts away from his POV to someone else’s, mainly ange’s and later on, will’s.

about ange: i hate ange. her whole arc was about her struggling with being forgiving and not forgiving everything, shown with the scenes of imaginary maria and her journey to rokkenjima. i really liked the scene when she commanded the seven stakes to kill her classmates but they couldn’t, causing her to shun then, which has a huge payoff later on when she is told later how that keys into the basis of magic, where as long as no one else knows how things happen, magic can hide human crimes as magic. but then ange takes up so much time away from battler and the mystery just for her own angst filled journey that eventually ends in an anticlimatic end - battler in chapter 8 coaxes her to believe that magic and love can be an encouraging force, and she shuns that completely, opening the diary - up until here, that’s ok because i too wanted to know the truth, but then when she opens the diary she shuns the truth??? and suddenly she runs back to battler like a wounded animal saying that she should have trusted battler all along like a proverbial son. and it’s done so abruptly that i hate it. at the end of it all i just wanted her journey to be over and go back to battler, the obviously better protagonist of the two. i get that ange is supposed to be a flawed human being in contrast with bitterness and hatred and jadedness, but it is also because of those same flaws that make her so boring because she’s just so predictable.

also let me say here, that i fucking hate sakutaro. sakutaro was okay as a lion, but the moment they made him a human avatar with that annoying ass uryu tick i fucking hated it. maria was already ticking me off by taking so much screen time with her scene with her and rosa, MARIA convincing ange ‘magic is real!!’ and the whole sequence where ange imagines her being friends with the seven stakes. it was pulling time away from the mystery with beatrice and battler to set up something that could be explained in fewer scenes - that you need love to believe and twist the truth or some other theme relating to that - and it was utter torture going through all of ange’s moments because of this.

about beatrice: so sayo/yasu was basically three-timing battler (by holding onto feelings for him), jessica, and george. which is just. why. the twist is classic for a murder mystery - i particularly like the clue that kanon’s body is never found after he’s murdered, shannon and kanon are never seen together by other people, shannon is the only one who knows natsuhi’s favourite season is autumn, when beatrice marks them with a butterfly burn so they know them meeting her is real the marks are identical on their hands to show they share the same body - so it’s fine. but the whole business with her manipulating other people’s feelings is just so weird and fucked up that i (battler) can’t condone. plus, who is she really? at the end she meets up with battler as beatrice and jumps into the ocean, which means that she has settled on beatrice being the dominant personality but that’s just cruel to the other two personalities that suddenly feel a lot ‘lesser’ because of this. also, the possibilities for incest with the reveal (triple incest with battler jessica and george, lmao) makes it so funny. 

my dislike for the narrative: throughout the entire game, it’s basically a given that narrative lies to you; about shannon/kanon, about the fantasy stuff that happens in the mystery sections not being real but a lie told by someone’s POV, the sprites of beatrice, shannon and kanon, being wholly different even though there’s no way they don’t look similar in reality, even the meta sections or the sequences where ange is in the real world don’t actually occur. it confused the hell out of me and made me so frustrated because they never explain the lies either; the solution to the mysteries for all the games are never explained but vaguely alluded to, meaning i have to pick up a wiki or reddit section to get explanations for those. heck, i didn’t even know or theorise that kanon was one of yasu’s personas until i pulled up a reddit section after the end of the game! i hate that the game doesn’t give you the answers, i get that they’re supposed to make you think, but that’s just bad mystery writing. explain all the tricks fairly by the end of the book.

the epitaph: the fact that someone solved it as soon as chapter 5 was amazing, but i hate that they didn’t give the taiwan hint until chapter 7. insert something about a detective rule that all hints should be given at the start of the game bla bla. i do like the quadrillion hints from as far as chapter 2 (battler offhandedly mentioning it when he visits the chapel?) and chapter 4 (photo from kumasawa’s family visit?) though.

THE FUCKING JEBAIT IN THE NAMES OF THE GAME. ANSWER ARC IS NOT ANSWER ARC. YOU ONLY GET ANSWERS IN CHAPTER 7. chapter 5 and 6 are a fucking pain in the ass to get through because of this, ESPECIALLY WHEN they tease battler understanding beatrice but never explaining what it is at all. (and yes i didn’t know how to solve chapter 6 logic error at all after chapter 6 ended.) and the fact that chapter 7 has the nerve to start with WILL as the protagonist and battler never appears... is so infuriating. tldr i spent 4 chapters of the question arcs having so many questions, making theories, enduring all the shitty fantasy sequence bullshit because i thought everything would be answered in the ANSWER ARC and have a huge payoff only to be sorely disappointed by the shitty answers that were chapter 5 and 6. i truly believe that if chapter 2, 4 and 5 didn’t exist, the game would have been better. 

i might as well put it in now that i remember that i spent the first half of chapter 2 groaning at how shitty it was that they had to divert from the interesting mystery - especially after the wonderful hook of chapter 1 tea party - to tell about the love story of george/shannon and jessica/kanon that i was wholly uninterested in, and it only got interesting once the mystery section came into play. and yes, all things considered, i still think that whole section should be cut out, or at least in later sections, slashed in size because yes we need to hear that shannon destroyed the mirror like five different times in five different points of the story, stop recapping pointless things!!!! (yes i know it’s supposed to key into the mystery that shannon is sus and later in the reveal that beatrice blew it up with dynamite cements that she is shannon)

also i hate the fight scenes like bern having to go the extra length to hold a single truth book party which has to lead to a fight scene with lambda that ends with the storyteller god killing lambda because 1. they are so obviously fantasy and the narrative blatantly tells you that they are using this to misguide you and 2. exactly as above. they are all skippable because of that in my mind.

oh yeah. and kyrie shooting eva but not checking to see that eva is dead is so completely bullshit, especially since it happens TWICE with beatrice, and then A THIRD TIME with eva again. like i hate the author for making her look incompetent as hell without giving a satisfactory explanation like she was rushing for time or rudolf chased her out of the room or smth.

welp, i’m just glad that now i can look for cool fanart know what they mean and browse through the wiki and ao3 to soothe my enraged heart from the shitty storytelling of umineko.

anyway, here are some fun screenshots i got from reddit while i was post-reading the wiki and reddit for answers even as basic as HOW TO SOLVE BATTLER’S LOGIC ERROR IN CHAPTER 6:

[colourful-void]

Right so I was thinking more on umineko, stopped playing a bit ago but mainly there’s two things I come back to.

1: I wanna note for those who don’t know me outside of umineko posting- in games like this if you put like, a kid in there esp if they’re like, misunderstood, I will form an iron strength attachment to them so so fast. Maria falls into so much of what I love in characters I’m already on her side so hard. We could get to the end of the game and she’s killed everyone on rokkenjima while singing “me Maria with no occult influences or anyone else helping me has killed these people for no reason other than fun” and I’d probably still like her. Now idk there’s still like 100 hours of reading left maybe I’ll change my mind, but for context sake it will be difficult to do so I already like her a lot

2: so obviously right now I know basically nothing, but. Assuming that Beatrice is entirely real and all: her relationship with Maria is very interesting to me. Like, under the assumption that she’s real and not really tangible atm… how did she give Maria that umbrella? And more importantly; why? What purpose does the umbrella serve outside the context of protecting Maria in some way from the rain. Just to keep the letter dry maybe? Maria would’ve read the letter without the umbrella. So then the alternative is; the umbrella is meant to be perceived as a caring gesture, regardless of actual sincerity. And that in combination with the “Maria doesn’t get witchy near Rosa anymore” thing jus makes me so curious about how Beatrice, if she’s real, views Maria….

(Liveblog posting I may come back when I’ve played more.)

umineko update:

1- oh that's not the first time rosa's slapped her.

2- honestly, out of everything that convinces me most that its just maria playing and not witchcraft, that she used to do it around her mom but faced punishment and stopped. if it really is possesion of some kind, than beatrice or whoever is possessing her is... mindful of that? which is intruiging....

[pinkie-satan]

So I just reread umineko (I think I'm addicted to this story now) and I was wondering what other umineko fans think of the differences between vn and manga, especially the part about Battler and Beato escaping the island together, aka the magic ending of 8th episode.

Manga shows us what happened in a very detailed way from the beginning on that night, we get to see clearly that Sayo dressed as Beatrice survives the shooting in the the secret golden room.

She's full of fear and grief discovering her loved ones are gone.

Then she meets Battler who recognizes her as Shannon and she explains her story to him. She still acts in very polite and shy way (quite opposite of Beatrice).

Then they find a boat, escape from Rokkenjima and Beato jumps into the ocean like in the vn. Yet Beato's thoughts are a little bit different. One of her main concerns is still her body.

Now let's take a look at vn Beato. The last time we see Sayo (we know it's Sayo, she's very calm and doesn't seem to care about her life, despite beeing voiced by Sayaka Ohara who's Beatrice's seiyuu her voice is quiet, sounds kinda like Shannon's voice) is when she is beeing shot by Kirie at the end of the 7th episode.

And that's it. We don't see her get up. Sayo is dead. And I think that's why the what happens next during the family conference of 1986 is called magic ending. It's not Sayo who saves Buttler. It's an illusion of the witch Beatrice.

Just look at her. She behaves in this nasty and rude way as the Beatrice we know would. And Battler is not suprised at all. That's the Beato he knows well and the Beato he loves. He fully acknowledges her beeing this awful witch. If it was Sayo that she just met and found out about her past, he wouldn't do that. And now it makes sense why she tells him that she has to return to the world of illusion. She's not real. She's one of the people Sayo's soul was devided into and she can only exist in her illusion, in her Golden Land. And that's why there's no body left when she finally drowns. We know Battler's body is being lift up and it's only a part of his soul that joins Beato in the abyss, but her body should be lying at the bottom of the ocean. And yet there's only a golden rose left. It's because Sayo's real body vanishes in the explotion.

I think both versions of those events are right. What really happened on Rokkenjima is probably what is shown in the manga and what we see in vn is just the magical reconstrucion of that day. There are some differences (mainly in characters' behavior) but it's still the same story. I really love how it is presented in vn, Ricordando il passato playing in the background as Beatrice and Battler sink together into their magical abyss. It's the ending that reader can perceive the way he wants, it's not said strictly why and how it happens so we're free to interpret it in lots of different ways (you can even think it's still Sayo since it's neither denied nor confirmed, I think that kind of situation is what we call the devil's proof, right? *wink wink*) . I also love what they did in the manga, showing us Sayo's fear and doubt about her beeing able to live. Then we see her commit suicide and it just adds to her tragedy. Despite finally going away from Rokkenjima with Battler, as she dreamed since her childhood, she decides to kill herself. I find the manga version way more sad but the vn is way more magical to me.

What you think? Which one do you prefer? Or maybe I'm just looking to find something that doesn't exist and despite of what I said you think it's still Sayo-Beatrice at the end? Does it even matter to you? And most importantly, tell me I haven't miss something and my writing makes sense to you cause maybe I skipped something and didn't get things right??

[luluvsumineko]

okay, real quick my thoughts on the end of episode 1, very paraphrased since i no good when brain use too long

the tea party.

so im told this is based off of something from the higurashi, but its clear that the narative in this is very seperate from the one in the actual episode. I imagine that from now on, the events on rokkenjima are going to be one seperate world, and the tea party battle of wits between battler and beato are gonna be in this second tea party dimension, while peering into the “real” world. What bothers me is the acknoledgement by battler and co that they are from a story called umineko. Are they just,, accepting that they aren’t real? are they accepting of their fictional deaths? i am confusion.

but back in “fictional” rokkenjima world, I AM HAVING IDEAS. they entire ending credits roll paints this as some real crime drama. The ending that we saw and the tea party heavily tries to lean on the “beatrice did it” theory, but i have come up with my own idea of how a human on the island could have done it

a majority of my thought process and brainstorming id did in my stream of ep 1 at the end, but i’ll give the cliffnotes version right now.

I think there are three culprits in this case: Rudolf, Kyrie, and Doctor Nanjo.

First, Kyrie siguises herself as Beatrice and gives Maria the letter. She then changes back for the On the night before the incident, Rudolf told Battler and Kyrie that he suspects he might die. However, this is an act put on by Rudolf and Kyrie in order to draw suspicion away from the two of them. And also possibly to mislead Battler in his deductions. This leads to the night of the first “six” murders. Rudolf and Kyrie work together to pick off Rosa and Krauss. Then them manipulate either Shanon or Gohda into giving them the rose garden shed key. They also would have taken the ring of keys that Shanon and Gohda have at this point. Once they had that, they just had to kill them off and set up the scene in the shed. After the bodies were mutilated, they simply had to cover their own faces with blood in order disguise themselves and wait to be dicovered with the rest of the bodies. This is where Dr. Nanjo comes in. Knowing of the plan, he confirms the deaths of everyone in the shed, including Rudolf and Kyrie. With the two of them dead in the eyes of the survivors, the two of them could start to act as the “19th person” hiding on the island killing them off.

For Kinzo’s disappearance and death, I believe it went just as Battler deduced: Kinzo waited until the receipt seal on the door had already been broken before leaving his room. From there, Rudolf and Kyrie jumped him and killed him.

The reason I believe both Rudolf and Kyrie are the culprits is because of the Eva and Hideyoshi locked room. What i believe the solution to this locked room mystery is requires two people to work together. First the killer, who I am assuming is Kyrie, knocks on Eva and Hideyoshi’s door and is allowed to enter. With the element of suprise, Kyrie kills them both with those stakes, and sets up Eva’s body on the bed. While still inside the room, Kyrie locked it with the chain. When Genji and Kanon tried entering and left to get help, Kyrie quickly unlocked the door, drew the Glyph, left the second letter, and relocked the door. Before anyone could break in, Kyrie then hid under the bed. Meaning, that, when the whole cast entered Eva and Hideyoshi’s room, the killer was still inside the room. This would have been a very risky move, if not for their plan of attack.

While Kyrie was killing Eva and Hideyoshi, Rudolf had put Kinzo’s body inside the furnace, letting the stench of a dead body spread through the house, and then hid in the boiler room’s shadows. This was bait used to lure someone down to the boiler room, so that Rudolf could kill them. The shock of a another murder, or at least an attack, would be enough to distract everyone in Eva and Hideyoshi’s room away to the boiler room. With everyone gone and trhe lock undone, this was Kyrie’s chance to escape, fooling everyone into thinking she was never there at all.

The last piece of the puzzle is the suddenly appearing third letter in Kinzo’s study. Unless Kinzo’s desk has a very subtle dispenser of letters that activates whenever people are distracted by the painting, I believe it’s most likely that someone placed there. Natsuhi said that the suspects who could have put it there are Nanjo, Genji, Kumasawa, and Maria. Including them, Natsuhi could be lying to cover herself or Jessica. Those would be the six main suspects, but I personally already suspect Nanjo so that seems like an open and shut case for me.

After that, the three together could easily overpower Genji and Kumasawa while tricking Maria to face the other way in the parlor by disguising Kyrie as Beatrice. And then in order to diguise Dr. Nanjo’s involvement, it’s possible that they could have disguised one of the previous dead bodies as Dr. Nanjo’s corpse when Battler and co. arrived. From there, when Natsuhi was isolated, they could have killed her with their own gun, and we never see what happens with the kids so... yeah.

So that’s my theory. It has a bunch of holes in it, such as motive and some reliance on how the survivors act, but it’s honestly the best i’ve got. The reason I think Rudolf and Kyrie are the culprits is because, among the dead initially found, they seem the most likely to co-operate. I had another theory that since the Ushiromiya family were rich and fucking lunatics, they could have just had a basement full of replica corpses they could have used to fake their deaths, but that seems a bit out there. I’m fairly confident that the solution to the Eva and Hideyoshi locked room is accurate, but hey i could be wrong,

So... yeah.

[rickyriddle]

Sociopath/Psychopath characters in anime/manga

Hi there. So after the first and second psychopath lists and the sociopath list, here’s a fourth list for other psychopaths/sociopaths anime/manga characters. For this list I chose 20 characters that I believe have anti-social personality disorder (aka sociopathy and psychopathy), explaining whether its regular sociopathy, high-functioning sociopathy or psychopathy. Keep in mind that I’m doing that for fun, I’m not a specialist, so I may be wrong about certain details. Spoilers, especially for the series Revenge Classroom, Umineko, Higurashi and Danganronpa. TRIGGER WARNING FOR SENSITIVE SUBJECTS

Yuri Meichi (Akuma no Riddle)

High-functioning sociopath/Psychopath

I guess I can’t make a list without at least one AnR character. I first diagnosed this chapter with a superior complex but I come to realize it’s more than that. Yuri is a woman that seemed empty and hiding behind the same smile that looked printed on her face. She showed through the series that she lacks empathy, she has dubious morality, she’s manipulative and seems incapable de bond or love. In fact, the only time we saw her losing her usual smile was when a character proved their love for someone. Yuri is the typical calm mastermind who’s never bothered and doesn’t sympathize with anyone. I don’t know if I would classify her as a high-functioning sociopath or a psychopath, but given that she’s implied to have a rough childhood I feel like she’s not born that way but made.

Igarashi “Ulith” Rumi (Wixoss)

Conduct Disorder and High functioning sociopath

So, Conduct disorder is the precursor of Antisocial personality disorder, the former being diagnosed for child and teenager and the latter adult. Since she saw this character as a child exhibiting antisocial behaviours such as animal cruelty (well, more like bugs cruelty), lack of empathy, and a total disregard for rules. As an adult, Urith hasn’t changed and is quite manipulative and charismatic, and is, in addition, a sadist. She likes to manipulate and torment pure people until they break and commit suicide. If it wasn’t of the ending of the movie that made her break down in cry I would have diagnosed her as a psychopath, so I’ll go with high-functioning sociopath.

Matsuzaka Satou (Happy Sugar Life)

High-functioning sociopath

Satou is quite disconnected from her emotions but hides behind smiles and a kind persona, her mask to pretend to be normal. She has no problem manipulating others, threatened and even kill. She’s quite antisocial but she isn’t a psychopath. Unlike them, she’s capable of bonding and feeling love, even if it’s quite obsessive, her love is still genuine and sincere. She’s not born that, she was made this way because of the twisted environment she grew in with her unstable aunt. All of this caused her to become numb inside. But she’s not impulsive and is quite in control of her pulsion, making her high-functioning.

Donquixote Doflamingo (One Piece)

High-functioning sociopath/Psychopath

Even since he was a kid, Doflamingo was a monster. True, he was raised in a society of noblemen who view common people like trash, but his parents were so good and kind, so it’s more likely that his behaviours are nature, not nurture. His total lack of remorse or empathy seems to classify him as a psychopath, but at the same time he does seem to have genuine sympathy for some of his comrade, so he could also be a high-functioning sociopath who was born with genetic predisposition to become one (since sociopathy can be both caused by environment and genetic predisposition). So I would say he lay between those two disorders.

Esdeath (Akame ga Kill)

High-functioning sociopath

I was going to classify her as a psychopath at first before I remembered her genuine love for Tatsumi and her past. Her past with her father shaped her actual mentality that the strong lives and the weak die. Esdeath has no empathy and doesn’t show remorse for all the horrible acts she has committed, she has no problem killing innocent people or torturing them. But she’s not incapable of love or bonding, she seems to at least care a little bit for her comrade who earned her respect, and deeply love Tatsumi. But in the end, she’s a cruel a ruthless woman who enjoys hurting others and has no remorse whatsoever for all the horrible things she has done.

Kamiyama Itsuki (Goth)

Psychopath

This one is interesting because he is most likely a psychopath, yet doesn’t hurt or kill anyone. In fact, most psychopaths in real life don’t, so he feels more realistic. The manga made it really clear that he’s wearing a mask to appear normal, typical of psychopaths. He doesn’t seem to be able to bond and genuinely love others, his only “love” interest is a girl who he fantasizes about cutting her hands. He actually put this girl in danger just to achieve this goal. But he never takes direct action to cause her harm. He is also quite fearless and doesn’t show empathy, other signs of psychopathy.

Musician Of The Forest Cranberry (Magical Girl Raising Project)

High-functioning sociopath/Psychopath

A character that looks at first really calm, cool-headed and somewhat charming, but the more we know about her the more we noticed that she’s quite fearless and always in need of stimulation. She seems quite rational and in control of herself, without any sympathy for others. She treats life and death situations as a game and is always calm. I only saw the anime but I read about her backstory, being through a horrible situation where all her comrades (she was a child) were brutally murdered in front of her. Hard to tell if that moment traumatizes her and made her the way she is, or if it awakened something she already had inside her. So I can’t make a definitive diagnosis but to be she’s definitely antisocial.

Abigail (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka)

Sociopath

This girl looks like the lovechild of Nio and Otoya from Akuma no Riddle. She’s all cheerful and looks sweet, but is actually ruthless and commit atrocities remorselessly. She’s cruel and has no empathy and hides her true self behind a cheery mask. But Abigail isn’t high-functioning, she’s pretty impulsive and can get easily angry, she basically has no self-control. But she’s capable of bonding and feeling love for her master. In addition to being a sociopath, she’s also a sadist who enjoys torturing people. 

Enoshima Junko (Danganronpa)

Sociopath

I hesitate to put her on my list because I saw an analysis of Junko with different disorders, but her being a sociopath is also a high possibility. She hides her true self behind a charismatic mask, she’s highly manipulative and doesn’t seem to have a single drop of empathy for anyone. Even people she claimed to love she ultimately hurt them (or even killed them) for her own selfish desire. I wouldn’t say she’s high-functioning though, the main reason why she succeeded was because she was rich, she had a super strong sister and she was really intelligent, but she doesn’t seem to have much self-control and is pretty impulsive. So I would say she’s pretty mid-functioning, enough to carry out her plan.

Takano Miyo (Higurashi no naku koro ni)

High-functioning sociopath

Another one I have been conflicted about for a long time, but I think high-functioning sociopath could qualify her. She had a rough childhood where her parents died tragically in an accident, she was abused horribly by her orphanage and her adoptive grandfather who she deeply loved was humiliated to the point he suffered from mental illness and committed suicide. It’s understandable if Takano broke after all of this and became numb and disconnected from her empathy. She’s a liar and quite manipulative as an adult, committing atrocities and hurting people without a shred of empathy and even enjoying it. She’s quite cruel, hiding being a nice and friendly mask while in reality she enjoys frightening people and toying with them. She’s still capable of love and bonding, but it has it’s limit as she has no problem killing her own allies. I would say she’s mainly high-functioning, but when she loses her certainty to win she can crumble.

Ushiromiya Kyrie (Umineko no naku koro ni)

High-functioning sociopath/Psychopath

From the same series as Higurashi. It took us a long time before realizing what kind of person Kyrie truly is. We discovered that she’s the true murderer of the Rokkenjima Massacre along with her husband. At first we’re lead to think Kyrie is a cool person, I would even say a calm big sister. She seems like one of the best adults on the island. Wrong, totally wrong. Kyrie is actually cold-blooded and lacks empathy, she would kill anyone who gets in her way. She was obsessed with her husband, getting jealous and cursing any women who get close to him, and she was even ready to kill his new wife. Luckily for her, she died, so she got what she wanted without dirtying her hands. Despite all she did for her husband, when he died she didn’t seem sad at all, which lead me to think she was simply obsessed by him but never actually loved him. She even revealed that she never loved her own daughter and her family was nothing more than a facade. We don’t know exactly Kyrie’s past so I can’t say if she’s born or made that way, but given that she seems incapable of love or bonding, I would say she’s most likely a psychopath.

Bernkastel (Umineko no naku koro ni)

High functioning sociopath

Another one from Umineko. For half the series, we’re led to believe that Bernkastel is an ally, she’s on the side of the hero and she reminds people of Rika from Higurashi, who was the heroine. She seems to sympathize with Battler and doesn’t show much bad intention. But then, she began to be more antagonistic, taking control of Beatrice’s game with Lambdadelta and toying with everyone, while heavily mistreating her piece Erika, revealing her true cruel and sadistic nature. She basically treats everyone as her toy and doesn’t hesitate to torture them for her own pleasure without a single drop of empathy. She can hide her true dark intent and pretend to be nice when she wants, but it’s only an act. She’s also quite petty, she lost so she plots to take revenge by literally destroying those who offended her. Bernkastel isn’t born like that, she was made that way after spending hundreds of years of being brutally killed and another thousand years being taught how to be cruel by her old master. At least Bernkastel is capable of love, but let’s say that her love is really twisted.

Kiryuin Ragyo (Kill la Kill)

Psychopath

Mother of the year… That woman has no empathy, no love and only cares about herself. She used her own children as tools for her goal, and didn’t feel remorse at all when she thought one of them died and regularly molested the other one. She tried to kill her own husband when he got in the way. This woman is incapable of having empathy, love or bonding, yet we could say she’s quite charismatic in a way, a lot of superficial charms. Even in the end, she preferred to kill herself with a smile.

Medusa Gorgon (Soul Eater)

Psychopath

Another mother of the year… At the beginning of the story, Medusa pretends to be the kind nurse of Shibusen, while she was actually a ruthless witch who abused her own child and raised them as a tool and an experiment. She treats pretty much everyone around her as tools or experiments and has no problem manipulate and using people. She never showed any empathy or love for anyone, she was a cold and cool-headed person who was in perfect control of her pulsion.

Yamase Yuuya (Revenge Classroom)

Psychopath

Nearly forgot about him. Yuuya is portrayed as a soft and kind boy for almost the entire manga, until the end when it’s revealed he’s actually the mastermind behind all the events, starting with people starting to bully Ayana which leads her to seek revenge and ended up in a bloodbath. Yuuya knew exactly that something like that would happen and still caused it, why? He was bored. He always felt empty in the inside and always had been an excellent manipulator, so he decided to start this just to satiate is boredom. He actually enjoys to see people suffer, he doesn’t seem to have any empathy or love for anyone. He’s quite a good actor and managed to fool everyone, until the end when his masquerade is finally revealed. He does have some bad stuff happening to him in his past, but I don’t feel it’s enough to make him this way, so I would say he’s born that way, thus a psychopath.

Celestia Ludenberg (Danganronpa)

High-functioning sociopath

Another Danganronpa character. Celes is known to be the queen of liars, she’s good at manipulating others and usually keeps her composure, looking rather elegant and superficially charming. She doesn’t seem to appreciate humans, proof is that her most important person is actually her cat. Some sociopaths prefer animals over humans. Everything about her is a lie, her name who is Yasuhiro Taeko, her past, her origins, and most of her personality. As we see in her class trial, Celes can be quite impulsive and aggressive, but most of the time she wears a mask that make her look calm and elegant. She doesn’t seem to have empathy for people, she had no remorse to manipulate Yamada and then murderer him, shamelessly lying to everyone, ready to get them all executed for money. She’s the type who had no problem sacrificing and using others for her own ambition.

Since I have three spots left to make a 20 characters lists I’ll take this opportunity to fix some of my mistakes from my first psychopaths list.

Oh Sangwoo (Killing Stalking)

Psychotic sociopath

On my previous list, I said he was a psychopath, but the manhwa wasn’t over yet and later we see how mentally unstable he was which makes me think he’s more psychotic. But he still shows lots of antisocial symptoms such a superficial charms, lack of empathy and remorse, deceitful, cruel and manipulative. But he’s not born that way, this is the result of his abusive parents, especially his mother who tried to kill and rape him. I would say he’s mid-functioning, enough to kill efficiently, but still really unstable.  

Yagami Light (Death Note)

Sociopathic narcissist

Another one I qualified as a psychopath but after rereading about him I have to change my statement. Light does show a lot of antisocial symptoms such as charisma, liars, lack of empathy and remorse, deceitful and manipulative. But he’s not born that way, we saw when he lost his memory that he was capable of sympathy. And he doesn’t seem to have anything in his past who would have made him that way. My guess would be that he’s a narcissist that gains sociopathic tendencies due to the influence of the Death Note. Maybe he has genetic dispositions for sociopathy and it got awaked by the feeling of power and the ability to kill. I think Light is mainly a narcissist, he feels superior to others, he wants to be God and he’s power-hungry. He feels morally superiors and thinks he has the right to kill whoever he wants.

Baek Yeonhwa (White Angels Have no Wings)

High-functioning sociopath

And another one that was classified as a psychopath on my first list. Don’t get me wrong, with the first manhwa she could definitely have been a psychopath. But the author made a sequel and I have to change my diagnosis. Yeonhwa is definitely antisocial, she’s a cruel and remorseless girl who hides behind an innocent mask, she uses her disability to gain sympathy from others and hide her true self, she enjoys tormenting and hurting others and even went as far as raping her own sister. She showed no remorse for her actions and doesn’t seem to have any empathy. In the sequel, however, she fell in love with a girl and seemed to genuinely care about her. She’s not incapable of bonding and love, but it doesn’t erase all the antisocial traits she has. So I suppose high-functioning sociopath would be a better diagnosis for her.

That will be all for this list, I don’t know if I’ll make a fifth one, but if you have any suggestion feel free to tell me! 

[neko-when-they-cry]

Trick of the Golden Witch chapter 1

After the death of her aunt, Ange decided to go on a quest to find out the truth about the Rokkenjima Massacre. She ended up asking the help of a certain detective.

So here's an Umineko fic based on my theory regarding the Trick Ending. Spoiler for the end of Umineko. Enjoy!

Ushiromiya Ange remained still in front of the detective agency. Not that she was hesitating to enter or anything, she was simply lost in her thought. Her aunt Eva recently passed away, but she wasn't sad about it. She always hated her ever since she became her legal guardian, and it was mutual. Ange always felt like Eva was keeping the truth from her, about what truly happened in the Rokkenjima island. She was suspecting her of being the culprit behind the tragedy that took away her family, but she still needed concrete proof. Ange was desperate to know the truth, and quite frankly, ready to try anything. Now that Eva was dead, she was free, the chain keeping her from finding out the truth had been broken, and she was ready to investigate this mystery.

"What are we waiting for, oujo?"

Ange sighed. Hearing him just reminded her that she was stuck with him. Amakusa Juuzo, her bodyguard. Hired by Okonogi to protect her. Quite frankly, she would do perfectly fine without him, but he didn't seem like he had any intention to leave. Well, at least he wasn't preventing her from looking for the truth, so his presence was bearable. At least it gave her someone to talk to.

"Nothing, let's go," Ange said as she stepped inside the agency, followed by Amakusa.

The agency was rather small but well decorated. They walked in a small corridor until they reached a door, which Ange knocked at. After a few seconds of waiting, someone opened the door. It was a middle-aged woman with short dark blue hair barely reaching her jaw, lighter blue eyes and wearing a rather professional outfit. She smiled politely at Ange.

"Oh, you must be Ushiromiya Ange-san. Please come on in."

Ange nodded and stepped inside the office, followed by Amakusa. Inside was a desk, a couch with an armchair in front, with in between a coffee table. The blue-haired woman put two cups on the table and poured tea in it, before sitting on the armchair.

"Please take a seat, Ange-san."

"I suppose I'm not invited," Amakusa said.

"No. Go wait in the corner and stay quiet," Ange ordered him.

"Roger, oujo."

Her bodyguard did as she told him and she sat on the couch. The woman took a sip of her tea, smiling in a serene way. Ange looked at her tea, with no intention of actually touching it.

"You know, I always wanted to contact you, but your aunt never let me. Not that I'm happy she died, but at least I'm free to talk to you know."

"You can be happy. She was a bitch," Ange replied bluntly.

"Ouch, I see you two didn't have quite the aunt-niece loving relationship. Well then, I'll be frank. Her death was surely in my best interest."

Despite her cruel words, the woman was still smiling softly. Ange felt that despite her rather elegant appearance, this woman was much sinister than she looked like.

"Let me introduce myself again. I'm Furudo Erika, nice to meet you."

Ange remained quiet. After her aunt's death, she looked for the second survivor of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, Furudo Erika. Totally unrelated to the Ushiromiya family, according to what she read she would have ended up on the island after a boat accident. But Ange knew that there was more to this. So she contacted Erika and organized a meeting between the two of them. Since she was a detective, it seemed that she might be even more useful to her investigation.

"Why did you want to contact me?" Ange asked.

"Well, since you were one of the only Ushiromiya left, I wanted to talk with you, and hopefully learn more about your family. But your aunt never let me, she was quite protective of you."

"Bullshit. Eva oba-san never loved me, she didn't care about me."

"If you say so. Anyway, I simply investigated on my own to find the truth, but I never had any conclusive result. I kind of give up, but when you called me, it made me want to continue my investigation."

"What a coincidence, I also want to investigate the Rokkenjima Incident. I want to know the truth, and I was hoping you could help me."

"Oh my, so here's why you called me. I feel like we'll get along just fine. Both looking for the truth-"

"Tell me what happened on the island."

Erika remained quiet for a moment, before taking a sip of her tea and putting it back on the table.

"You're not sugarcoating it, I like that. Well, it's not like I hide what happened to me on the island. I fell from a pleasure boat near Rokkenjima and in some miracle, I survived and arrived on the island. The Ushiromiya family welcomed me as their guest, and I spent a lot of time with the younger members of the family, including your brother Battler-san."

"No need to tell me superficial details, come to the point. I want to know about the murder."

Erika chuckled.

"Very well then. It all started during dinner, Maria-san brought back a letter that she claimed was from a witch named Beatrice. It was a riddle, the Witch Epitaph, to find Kinzo-san's gold. Whoever would be the first one to solve the epitaph's riddle would inherit the gold and become the new head of the Ushiromiya family. The adults asked the kids to leave so they can talk about this mysterious letter alone, and even though I wanted to be part of it I was forced to stay with the cousins," Erika started to explain. "Then the cousins were called by Rudolf-san apparently on the behalf of Kinzo-san. Apparently he judged all his children to be unfit to be his successor and wanted to test his grandchildren instead to choose his heir. Jessica-san was asked to go to the parlour and George-san in front of the chapel. When those two left, I stayed with Battler-san and Maria-san in the cousin room."

Ange took the time to think about it. Her father called Jessica and George on the behalf of Kinzo? Somehow, that sounded fishy. Almost like a trap.

"Later, Battler got called at the chapel and I remained alone with Maria-san," Erika continued. "But my instinct told me something was odd. I knew there was something wrong. This epitaph was highly suspicious to me. So I decided to leave the cousin room and go investigate on my own. I went to the parlour and discovered… Jessica-san's corpse."

"Jessica's… corpse… how did she die?" Ange asked.

"Are you sure you want to know? It was pretty brutal-"

"Tell me. I'm here to know the truth after all."

"Very well. Her face had been smashed beyond recognition. I only knew it was her because of the clothes and the hair," Erika revealed.

Ange felt a little bit nauseous. Such an awful way to die. Whoever the culprit was, she would never forgive them.

"What happened next?" Ange asked.

"Well, I realized that there was a murderer on the island, so my detective senses got quite stirred. I decided to go see the chapel and on my way, I found Rudolf-san's corpse. He looked like he was shot twice, once in the chest and the second time in the head. I also found George-san's corpse in the forest near the chapel, similar injuries as Rudolf-san. I decided to go back to the cousin room and on my way found the corpse of most servants, and later Maria-san with her throat slit in her bed. I left once again, looking for any survivors, and found Kyrie-san's corpse in the garden, a bullet in her throat. The only people I haven't seen their corpse were Battler-san, Shanon-san, Kanon-san and obviously, Eva-san."

Ange felt sick. To learn how her family died, especially her parents, was truly awful. But she repressed those feelings, she had to remain strong, for the sake of the truth.

"Then, how did you escape? According to what I read, you found a boat and left the island before it exploded. How did you find that boat? I don't recall reading about that," Ange insisted.

Erika became quiet for a moment as if she was hesitating to continue.

"Well, that's when things become really weird. I didn't tell anyone about this because I didn't want people to think I was crazy. But since you are an Ushiromiya, I suppose you have a right to know," Erika started to say.

Ange became tense. Whatever Erika was about to tell her, it must be shocking. But she was ready to face anything, she wasn't scared of the truth. Whatever it was, she would accept it.

"I saw… the Golden Witch, Beatrice," Erika revealed.

Ange became speechless when she heard that. Beatrice… the woman on the portrait? She remembered talking about her with Maria as a child, when they played witches together. Beatrice was the witch Maria admired and respected. But she wasn't real, right? Just a child's delusion, so how… ?

"You saw… Beatrice… ?" Ange wanted to confirm.

"Yes, I did. She's actually the one who saved me."

"But… how? What happened!?" Ange demanded, more and more flustered.

"She brought me to an underground tunnel and we reached a boat. She told me that since I wasn't linked to this family, I didn't deserve to die. Obviously I asked her for an explanation, and then, her expression changed. She grinned in such a malevolent way and laughed madly, saying that she was the one who killed everyone because the Ushiromiya owed her. She took back everything that belonged to Kinzo, and that I simply wasn't part of that."

Ange remained quiet, clenching her fists in anger.

"Are you telling me… that my family has been killed by a witch?! That magic is real!? Impossible! I won't believe such foolishery, this is insane, it can't be the truth!" Ange shouted.

Most to Ange's surprise, Erika's smile turned into a sinister grin as she suddenly burst into an almost demonic, before she gazed at Ange with such arrogance.

"Of course not! Do you think I'm dumb enough to believe in magic? Obviously she wasn't a real witch, only a human wearing a fancy costume and a wig! But this human pretending to be the witch Beatrice may be the culprit we are looking for, the one behind the Rokkenjima Incident," Erika said.

Still shocked by Erika's sudden outburst, Ange remained quiet for a moment, before feeling relieved. She was worried that Erika actually believed in magic for an instant.

"Who is this culprit? Who was this person pretending to be Beatrice?" Ange asked.

"I don't know. Either one of the 17 people on the island, or some mysterious 18th person. My bet would be either a servant or an Ushiromiya."

"It must be Eva oba-san! She disguised herself as Beatrice and killed everyone!"

"Hm, I wonder. I'm still not sure if this Beatrice is really the culprit. After all, she saved my life. I can't forget this panicked expression she had on her face when I first met her, and that bloody shoulder… no, she wasn't the culprit. She had been attacked. Well, according to the Epitaph she may have wanted to murder everyone, but someone might have beat her to that. Or the adults solve the riddle before the deadline and one of them decided to kill everyone for the gold. Simply by the existence of Beatrice's wound, this level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika! What do you think, everyone?"

Ange remained skeptical. So this Beatrice, whoever she truly is, wouldn't be the culprit but would have intended to kill everyone for an unknown reason. But Ange didn't care with she wanted to, she was only interested in the real culprit, the one that stole her family away from her.

"So Beatrice is pointless. No need to find who she is, we should focus on the actual culprit," Ange said.

"Well, the fact Rudolf-san called us for some kind of test and before going there were killed is highly suspicious," Erika said.

"No, my father can't be the culprit! After all, he was killed too. You said he called on my grandfather's behalf? Then maybe it's him, who tricked my father and orchestrated the murder of his family," Ange theorized.

"That's an interesting theory, I did think of it too."

"Is there anything else I don't know about the incident?"

"No, I told you everything I know."

"How much will it cost?"

"Eh?"

"You're a detective after all, you can't have told me all of that information freely. How much will it cost me?"

"Ah! Don't worry about that, for you it will be free. After all, I did want to discuss with you."

"Fine. Well then, if you have nothing more to tell me, I'll leave. Thank you for your time."

Ange rose up, ready to go, but before she could leave, Erika suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Wait! I'm not done with you," Erika said.

"But I am."

"Let me finish! What if we work together to uncover the Rokkenjima mystery and discover the truth?"

Ange thought about it. Somehow, she wanted to do this alone. It was her family, it felt personal. But, Erika was a survivor of the Rokkenjima Incident, she was there when her family was murdered, and in addition, she was a detective. Her help could be precious.

"Fine, let's team up," Ange agreed.

"Wonderful! How about you work with me at my agency? Helping me solve my cases, it would sharpen your skills. And we could work together to solve the Rokkenjima Incident."

Ange hesitated. Working for Erika didn't seem that much pleasant, but it was true that it could help her develop better deduction skills, which could be useful to find the culprit who killed her family.

"Okay, I'll work with you. But it better not be a waste of time," Ange replied.

"Don't worry, it won't. Glad that we'll now work together, my dear new assistant."

Ange sighed. This alliance was the start of her quest. The quest of the truth regarding the Rokkenjima Incident and the murder of her family. And she was determined to succeed, no matter what.

***

Suddenly, a truly devilish smile appeared on Erika's face. Under Ange's expression of disbelief, Erika started to shrink, her hair grew long and was now tied up in twintails, and her clothes changed for a fancy white and pink dress. Her smile softened as she grabbed her dress to lift it a little and bowed elegantly.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Furudo Erika, the detective, as well as a Witch of Truth."

Ange remained shocked by what she witnessed. A middle-aged woman just turned into a teenager in front of her eyes! And now she was calling herself… a witch? She looked around and discovered that Amakusa had disappeared.

"It can't be true… magic can't be real, you can't be a witch, you said it yourself that they don't exist!" Ange exclaimed.

"Magic and witches do in fact not exist, in your world. But this isn't your world anymore. Welcome to the Meta-World, Ange-san."

"I… I don't understand…"

"It's fine if you don't. Anyway, whether I truly am a witch or not doesn't matter. It's Beatrice's status as a witch we need to disprove."

Ange reminded quiet for a moment, still shocked by what she saw, but eventually come back to her sense and regained her composure.

"No. We need to discover who the culprit is. If Beatrice isn't the culprit, then there's no point in finding out her true identity," Ange said.

"But you can't know for sure that she isn't the culprit. Wouldn't it be better to discover who she is in case she is the culprit?"

"But didn't you say yourself that you didn't think she was the culprit?"

"The Erika of this world did, but I'm not her. I'm the Erika from another world. But I do know everything about this world, but it doesn't mean I agree with everything my human self said."

"Right… well then, are you going to help me find the truth?"

"That's what I'm here for! I'll be your witch guardian, and I'll help you find out the truth and destroy that illusion of the Golden Witch. Surely you know about those message bottles? Even if the books weren't written in this world, those messages still exist here, as well as all the forgeries made."

"You mean those messages signed by Maria onee-chan? Yeah, I know about them. Different scenarios about what happened on the island. A lot of people become fans of those theories and started writing their own, I suppose that it was your mean by forgeries."

"Creating a perfect catbox for the Rokkenjima Incident. But together, we'll open that catbox and reveal the truth. Let's put an end to those theories and destroy that illusion once and for all! Join me on that quest and be my assistant, Ange-san, fellow Witch of Truth."

Erika held out her hand, smiling. Ange hesitated. This just sounded all so crazy. But she did want to know the truth, and she hated all those forgeries. Her family's death shouldn't be a show or something to theorize about, she wanted them to finally rest in peace, and the only way for that was to reveal the truth.

Ange made her choice. With a serious gaze, she grabbed Erika's hand, who immediately grinned in a way only a witch could.

"Good. Very Good."

A world where Erika survived and become a private detective. My interpretation of the Trick Ending.

This story might stay as a one-shot, but I do have a full plot in mind. So if you're interested let me now, leave a note or a comment and follow the fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956274. Thanks for reading and maybe seeya next time, bye!

Oh, before I leave. I made a When They Cry discord server, to talk about Higurashi, Umineko, Ciconia and other 07th Expansion series. You can join here: https://discord.gg/NhwaPX7

[sealer-of-wenkamui]

I didn’t write anything since the beginning of episode 4 and now A LOT has happened!

With Ange in the mix, things are progressing a bit different from normal now that she’s attacking from 12 years in the future, two points of view to take down the witch~ Oh, and I think it is likely its a cage to keep Battler trapped, especially since people in this story sure like to do that to the people they love, I mean Kinzo, Lamda...... why not Beato too? She’s cruel, but isn’t completely heartless either (that way she was tricked into trying to cheer Battler up?!)

Kyrie is right to avoid her family, Kasumi is scary, and definitely enjoys torture....

And we’re getting a look at her past too, even if Maria is dead, her soul still remains...ahhhh and Sakutarou’s too right, despite what happens......

I heard “blue truths” mentioned sometime before, so this is what they are, and the way to fight with them is to come up with a whole bunch of theories!

Lamda may have been trying to get Ange to further her own goals, but at the same time, she’s probably right that Ange won’t reunite with her family, it seems like.... the same sort of connection Bern and Rika have..... Ange and ANGE Beatrice.... uhhh the whole disappearing because she’s a piece thing though?! And what if Beato is Lamda’s piece...... Hm..... or at least Lamda made her human self a witch and can take it away.....I suppose she was around before the game so its not the same, but Lamda is still in control here. The way she was described made her sound on a different level from Beato.... Lamda is an 8th dimensional being!! OVERSEER LAMDAAAA

I can’t lie, I was thinking I wanted to see those girls saying such horrible things to Ange get killed by the stakes too, though it wouldn’t have helped Ange’s situation in the long rung... but the stakes themselves were trying their best to support her, so to do that to them....and deny Sakutarou too.....no... ;A;

But it seems like she’s already started repairing her relationship with Maria and the sisters, the hotel scene is really nice.... (and I’m glad it was Mammon whose stake remained, they were the closest weren’t they...)

AT2/AT2 NOVEL SPOILERS AHEAD

It did not help that they reminded me of those awful IPDs who said such terrible things to Infel after they learned what was in her heart, though in that case, those IPDs had gotten her girlfriend killed, and Infel actually DOES get to carry out her revenge against them....

END SPOILERS

And if that wasn’t heavy enough.... the story of Maria’s past continued, and ROSA IS ACTUALLY THE WORST!! As if I didn’t already know that, but killing Sakutarou?! And declaring to Maria’s face that he’s dead, what the hell is wrong with her?! Maria is such a sweet and innocent girl.......

And not even Beato can revive him.... And with that wish to Beato to take revenge.... I think this might be where the other Maria (the one that goes kihihihihi) came from, and even that she could be behind the Rokkenjima game, together with Beato.... The message bottles contain what seems to be a description of the games is in Beato’s handwriting, but signed “Maria”. Beato is good at making magical documents, and that signature could really be Maria’s, like how Virgilia signed the document to acknowledge Sakutarou. The thing I couldn’t understand at the time was why Maria would sign something like that, but after this....... and that other Maria seemed to know what was going on, not to mention the comments in the first game seeming to be from her perspective (Rosa’s even says she’ll get to see her again, so she won’t be lonely)

And in the end, everyone is revived in the Golden Land... what is the Golden Land.... a dream like world where everyone can live happily? (...maybe something like Sublimation..?) Escaping to a dreamlike world after going through what she did HMHMMM

And to how Kinzo fits in, they could just be taking advantage of the ceremony he created, and with the risk of the epitaph being solved, they get the power to create miracles...or something.....

....I should probably sit down and come up with a more solid idea once I finish episode 4, before starting the answer arcs......

[ryouverua]

Miu and Co’s Stimulating Virtual Adventures (Part 1)

is this going to be a normal field trip?

WITH KOKICHI OUMA? NO WAY ~ !

insert shuichi groaning

Oh cool we got a whole animated sequence!

I FUCKING KNEW IT

AAAAAAH!

AAAAAAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

THEY’RE SO FUCKING CUTE WHAT THE HELL

THIS ISN’T WHAT I EXPECTED AT ALL!!!!

Yeah, seriously! I guess I was expecting sprites similar to Hajime’s from last game, or at least an island setting - this really does look like a murder mystery manor! good god we aren’t on rokkenjima are we

I’M SENDING A STRONGLY-WORDED LETTER TO THOSE IN CHARGE

Aaaaw, it’s played off for laughs but it really is sad for K1-b0 to be constantly disparaging himself like that.

But there is good and bad about the new sprites, which someone who has been incredibly aware and sensitive of the changes in his own body probably clued into immediately...

See now that the audience knows, he can slip and say stuff like this out loud, huh? It... almost makes me wish the scene at the end of the last chapter had taken place at the end of this one. That might just be a pacing thing though...

PUSH HIM DAMN IT

PUSH HIM ON IT SHUICHI I BEG YOU

... DAMN IT HE’S NOT PUSHING HIM.

HA

I just realized, we’re going to see a lot more of people’s emotions thanks to the way the sprites work. I wonder if they directly translate to mood? Does that mean Maki and, hell, Kokichi will be more transparent here?

Omfg the literal first thing Kokichi does to K1-b0 is punch him!!! The robophobia never ends...

Wait, question though - how is it connected to K1-b0? I mean blah blah blah, brainwave technological voodoo etc is connecting all the other kids to the helmets, but what about for K1-b0? How does that work? I... guess it’s better not to think about it too hard? 8′D

Man, Iruma’s a lot cuter here too. Also, seems like a good time to mention I’m totally in love with their little headshots at the bottom left with the little animated dialogue bubbles. The others might not like the sprites, but I like it, Miu! Maybe it’s just different when you’re in a 3rd person POV vs 1st person POV?

I love it when Tsumugi goes off like the total fucking nerd she is.

DAMN WE’RE NOT EVEN ON A TROPICAL ISLAND AND PEOPLE ARE STILL GETTING BURNED

LEAVE K1-B0 ALONE KOKICHI JEEZ

So basically they’re leaving the door open for someone to be killed in here. I figured that would be the case...

Kaito is pretty quick on understanding too which I appreciate, considering how they’ve been playing up his ‘brash dumb’ character type up lately.

You are way too happy about that.

Though it also means that if someone dies in here, we’re not going to see any marks left on the body in the real world or here? That’s not good either!

Yeah, that’s... honestly what I’d like to know. Seriously, wouldn’t Miu have found it when recoding everything if it was in here already? And if she did, why wouldn’t she tell them?

I’m telling you, Tsumugi being a snobby nerd will never get old to me. You know she’s got a N64, Super Nintendo, and maybe even older consoles like Atari and Dreamcast tucked away somewhere!

It’s funny - Kokichi doesn’t reference games nearly as much as Tsumugi, but he’s clearly a gamer too. Makes sense I suppose - I always think of a chessboard when I look at his scarf.

I’m sure this info will come in handy, but not sure how yet. 

THAT WILL DEFINITELY BE IMPORTANT FOR GONTA-RELATED REASONS

NO DAMN IT STOP DEATHFLAGGING HIM BY NEUTRALIZING HIS ADVANTAGES DAMN IT

This... really sounds like they’re setting up the rules for a murder mystery game...

Maki made an interesting note about the game - when you take physical advantage away and talent in general, it’ll completely change how a killing game would potentially go down. But I mean... wouldn’t that just be battle royal-type slaughter? Not that any kind of killing game can be considered ‘elegant’, but I can’t help but wonder why a brutal option like this is available at all..

Also can I just say the remixed music and the cute little noises when they waddle around... I love this. I love this, guys. Also watching Shuichi run is hilarious tbh.

A wild rarepair Kaito x Tsumugi appears???

I’m telling you, we’re going to be seeing more of everyone’s genuine emotions on their face here! Man, I’m really liking this set up already.

Kokichi is desperate to ship Kaito with anyone other than Shuichi so he can have Mr Detective all to himself

I think it means he falls for Kokichi’s verbal bait way too easily. 8′D But hey, Tsumugi doesn’t seem to be against Kaito’s interest! Not... obviously, anyway. just gonna casually that pairing to the question mark pile...

Yeah, that’s a pretty classic Kokichi move and... that’s... also a really bad idea. Maybe this is a good chance for Shuichi to get to know him in the context of the game as opposed to FTEs?

Okay, is it just me or is he trying to piss Kaito off especially right now??

NO GONTA YOU’RE TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD AND THE ABSOLUTE WRONG CHOICE TO WATCH KOKICHI

fml if Kokichi gets Gonta killed which is where I feel like this is going I will be so upset - but I feel like Kokichi won’t do it himself??? Maybe someone attacks Kokichi and Gonta puts himself in harm’s way instead and dies instead? Like, Kokichi is basically turning Gonta into a goon of his, and we all know what happens in movies and games to the henchmen of ‘Supreme Leaders’...

Honestly guys, how soon do we forget? Are we really going to let them go off together like this? The Bug Meet-and-Greet was literally just a week ago! I know a lot has happened since then, but still!

I do like that both Maki (not included) and Kaito caught on that Kokichi pulled that trick on purpose to have Gonta with him - I just wish they followed up!

On the other hand, we could just as easily get Tsumugi murdering Miu lmao. I’m telling you, if Miu shows up dead...

I didn’t need this in here but I kept it because he’s adorable like this

SHIT THAT’S RIGHT THAT’S HOW MY DOG REACTS WHENEVER HE JUMPS IN THE SNOW I-I mean don’t call Kaito a dog, Maki! That’s not very nice even if it is accurate

Man, I’m starting to wonder if Tsumugi is going to kill Miu here for real 8′D

Always a ray of sunshine, our Sweetcheeks. I’m leaning towards them having some sort of incident happen by the end of this, if not an outright murder. They’re talking too much about how the brain and senses experiencing ‘death’ and causing the body to follow suit for them not to do anything with it. I mean, I guess the exception would be if it’s talking about an overall VR experience like the last game!

So the storage room is pretty much empty and the binoculars can only see as far as the line on the map which Miu is going to explain too. Man, the more things get set up, the more convinced I am that someone isn’t going to make it to the end of the chapter...

Next K1-b0 has an interesting bit of dialogue about how there’s nothing beyond the walls of this world, and how it makes him think about the academy walls. Which... again, I think is leaning towards an apocalyptic world/space scenario? It certainly seems that way to me. It’s interesting to have him point it out though, for some reason. 8′D

I’m 99% sure that’s her default setting, but okay.

weird tangents like this is why I love shuichi

It’s like, a legitimate thing to fixate on and worry about and I totally relate to it but at the same time I’m sure he recognizes how ridiculous it sounds in his head

Isn’t that you? 8′D

oMFG WH A T

WHY ARE YOU DOING HIM WRONG LIKE THIS MIU

MAKI NO I THOUGHT YOUR ROASTING DAYS WERE FINALLY BEHIND YOU

HIMIKO I THOUGHT WE WERE BONDING EARLIER

WE WERE BONDING DAMN IT

I’m shocked that the sprite is able to capture the absolute betrayal on it face but somehow, it does

whispers this is getting its own special post

“Look at my glorious self, doing you the favour of allowing you to prostrate yourself in front of all your classmates!”

Miu you’re making a lot of enemies this chapter, including the sub (lol) protagonist. We've already had one first POV murder - do we really want another one?

That’s going to go missing at some point. If the murder happens, maybe the murderer will grab it and hide it or something?

"Oh, I’ve been lurking here for a while! But I needed some time to come up with my best masochist!Shuichi jokes and lines. You’re not going to hear the end of this for a long time, Masoichi Subhara!”

... or that. could be that too.

Hm, so I guess it’s on the other side of the map. It would be one thing of Kokichi is by himself but Gonta is with him and I trust him way farther than I’d be able to throw him and Kokichi for that matter

KAITO NO YOU’RE MAKING THINGS WORSE

OMFG SHUICHI IS JUST A COMPLETE WRECK AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED

And you know Kokichi is totally trying to figure out what he missed, and why all the other classmates are giving the two of them weird looks/snickering...

Oh, and now we’re finally getting to the line shown in the map.

Kokichi are you just trying to cash in some Saiouma chips because you realize how much Saimota happened when you were away with Gonta? 8′D 

H-Hey don’t look at me, look at Miu! She started it!

Okay at this point I will be shocked if there isn’t a murder here or some sort of incident causing a murder in the real world.

Also Kokichi you’re way too happy about this...

What are you playing at here man???

And you! Shouldn’t you know where it is since you reprogrammed the whole thing?!?!

Miu and Kokichi are conspiring about something??? Again???

Please don’t fall for it...

..... Yikes. 8′D I-I’ll give it to him because I have a feeling his failing health and the events of last chapter regarding the occult probably have him feeling emasculated.

Yeah, seriously. So Kaito is on the roof, Kokichi is in the salon and... free for all for everything else. Uh, okay....?

IF GONTA FUCKING TURNS UP DEAD KOKICHI I SWEAR I WILL DUEL YOU IN A SHADOW GAME MYSELF duel links has upped my skill somewhat I should be able to hold my own...

Thank goodness for Tsumugi’s odd affinity for Gonta oTL

a) Maybe this is the chance for us to get to know Tsumugi a little better in-game since we’re going to explore the rest of the mansion together

b) Kaito really has no bloody idea how he and Shuichi’s relationship comes off to the rest of their classmates (or maybe he does and he’s a-okay with it)

c) MAKI...... 

oh no

THAT’S.... NOT..... QUITE IT.....

nothing like the sting of figuring out you’re third-wheeling 

This is in no way the game trying to establish groups and/or alibis. Got it.

Left side: Kokichi, Gonta, Kaito, Shuichi, Tsumugi

Right side: Miu, Himiko, Maki, K1-b0. Alright, good to know.

I really don’t need this to be here but the fact that Kaito is so woefully oblivious and also apparently just... completely into Maki as a friend only is  hilarious to me. I mean, maybe the game will push more romantic feelings on his side in the last chapter but he’s just coming off as so gung-ho about their friendship without taking it to the next level - it’s just.... so refreshing...

It’s nice to see Kaede always being in his thoughts outside of general ‘I must do this for Kaede! Inspiration via manpain!’ stuff.

FUCK YES I THINK I’M RIGHT ABOUT THE ESCAPISM SECONDARY THEME we’re finally bringing it up in nearly identical words again! sorry tsumugi things aren’t looking good for you mastermind-wise

With that said, of all people, she dismisses it herself. 8′D Maybe if the game had better graphics engine - would that be good enough for you princess???

DANGANRONPA YOU ARE DANCING ON A KNIFE’S EDGE RIGHT NOW

Man I keep dancing back and forth between the idea of her being a victim this chapter and a killer and I just... can’t... decide on one. Ugh. The only thing that keeps me from thinking she’ll be a victim is having Gonta right there, raising just as many death flags as her. I-I guess we’ll find out shortly anyway...

Meanwhile while I ramble, K1-b0 has Priorities

[sayo-beatrice]

Legend - EP 1

Massive spoilers for Legend of the Golden Witch! Do not read if you are not okay with spoilers! 

First Game Legend of the Golden Witch

Culprit: Sayo Yasuda Accomplices: Nanjo, Genji, Kumasawa, Eva, and Hideyoshi

Preparations: In Chapter 6, after talking with the cousins, Shannon ran off claiming that her break was over. It stated that she was headed toward the rose garden, but we didn’t see her after that. In this same chapter, Kanon was unaccounted for the entire time. Rosa and the cousins soon left Maria alone in the rose garden, since she refused to stop searching for her lost rose. Yasu, as either Shannon, Kanon, or Beatrice, gave the letter to Maria while she was searching for her rose in the garden. In this game and almost all the other others, Yasu told her to read it to everyone at dinner. Along with this, she must have taken the rose on the way to the rose garden to keep Maria there, otherwise it was simply a prediction of hers (it would make sense, she predicted the typhoon).

First Twilight: In the dining hall, Yasu killed Krauss, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, and Gohda, hence the blood on the seats. It is not certain why she killed those particular people, but it was most likely so that the adults wouldn’t solve the epitaph before Battler, which is what she wants to happen. With the help of one of the servants (she is the head, so they will obey her, and nobody else would help her; for more context, the servants with the exception of Gohda all accept Beatrice as their second master in Chapter 12), Yasu moved their bodies to the rose garden storehouse and painted the magic circle to give off the witch’s presence.

Although it is very discreet, Yasu presumably bribed Eva and Hideyoshi to conspire with her. Before she is killed, Eva refers to the blood as “horrible makeup” with a very firm tone. In Chapter 10, Hideyoshi did not allow George to come near Shannon’s body with the excuse of preserving her dignity. Nobody except Eva and Hideyoshi saw “Shannon” on the ground. That’s where Willard’s solution comes into place. “Illusions to illusions. The corpse that cannot return to earth returns to illusions.” Shannon’s corpse isn’t real because Kanon was at the scene, so lies took place.

To explain the scene at Natsuhi’s room, we will go back to Chapter 6. Maria rants about how scorpion charms ward off witches such as Beatrice. Shannon reaffirms this theory, and later puts it to use while planning the six murders. In Chapter 8, Jessica gives her scorpion charm to Natsuhi, and she hangs it on her door. Yasu most likely saw the charm and gave up on killing Natsuhi (keep in mind the purpose of killing the parents). She then settled for Gohda, who is the only servant who didn’t know the truth about her. To add the finishing touch, Yasu added the fake blood she uses later in the murders to her door to scare her, which fully recreated the scorpion charm myth.

Second Twilight: According to the epitaph, the victims of the second twilight will be “two who are close.” The only two who are close are the married couple of Eva and Hideyoshi, and are also dangerous accomplices who could expose her, so it would be twice as reasonable for Yasu to murder them. At a time where Kanon was unaccounted for, Yasu went to Eva and Hideyoshi’s room dressed up as Kanon. She shot them in the head and placed the stakes in the bullet spots in order to stick to her epitaph motif. Hideyoshi was placed in a running shower to create further chaos and confusion. It can be presumed that they were shot first because otherwise blood would be all over the walls and the bed.

Afterwards, Yasu went to the kitchen to get Genji as a watchdog in order to paint the magic circle. We as the readers are tricked to think that they are innocent and just checking on the couple. This can be predicted because the magic circle just suddenly appeared when Kanon came back with Kumasawa. It is said that it is a perfect closed room, but if they knew that these events occurred, they would probably come to a conclusion that is the same as mine. “Illusions to illusions. A chain of illusions can only hold back illusions.” Eva and Hideyoshi never mentioned a chain locking the door, only Kanon and Genji, so it had to be a lie. Even if the chain existed - logically, it would be easy for Yasu to lock the chain before leaving the room, creating the illusion of a perfect closed room.

Fourth Twilight: In Chapter 12, Eva talks about how she placed a receipt into the study door before she asked Natsuhi to go check on Kinzo. When Eva and Natsuhi went along to check on Kinzo, he “disappeared” and wasn’t in the study. Additionally, the receipt was in the exact same place as Eva put it in as they entered the door. To clarify, the receipt really exists because Natsuhi later says that she threw it in the trash when she saw it on the floor.

This would create a closed room scenario if not looked upon carefully. But with the evidence presented, it can be concluded that Kinzo was never there in the first place, even though everyone says he is. What would this suggest? He was already dead. “Illusions to illusions. Let the man of illusions go to where he belongs.” Krauss, Natsuhi, and the servants are “seen” with Kinzo throughout the first half of the novel. But looking back at what I just said, that is not possible. This means they are all faking his death, most likely to prevent a crazy incident to happen within the Ushiromiya family (I mean, look at the Rokkenjima Mass Murder). Knowing all this, it would be extremely easy for Yasu to stage Kinzo’s death to the unknowing family members.

Fifth Twilight: Considering the alibis, there is no possible way for Kanon and Kumasawa to hear a door closing in the boiler room. Kanon rushed down to the boiler room and saw “Beatrice.” Since Beatrice is Yasu, Kanon yelling at Beatrice would represent Yasu’s internal conflict about being a murderous sadist who causes grief to Battler and the others. In the end, Yasu goes through with it and stages a death for Kanon, so she can finish the last twilights easier. She presumably used the blood-like substance that was on Natsuhi’s door to stage Kanon’s death. “Illusions to illusions. The witch and stake of illusions can pierce naught but illusions.” The stake that apparently pierced Kanon was near him, not in him. Additionally, he was face down and the only confirmation of his death and the stab wound was Nanjo’s inspection.

Sixth, Seventh, & Eighth Twilight: The letter in the study must have been sneaked onto the table by one of the servants; most likely Genji. After all, Genji was with Kanon during the preparations for the second twilight, so he must have also slipped the letter under the door. While everyone was looking at the epitaph in the study, Maria and the servants were the only ones who weren’t seen. Maria couldn’t have done it because she legitimately believes in magic. After Natsuhi kicked Maria and the servants out, they went to the parlor. When the group in the study came down after getting the phone call in the study (from Yasu or Maria, this would also imply that Genji lied about the radio and phone not working), Maria claimed that Beatrice came through the door in the form of golden butterflies and spoke to them.

Again, when Genji said he was going to give all the keys in the mansion to Natsuhi, he lied because Yasu couldn’t have gotten in otherwise; Genji would have to lock the door in order to create an illusion for Maria. “Illusions to illusions. Illusions are the blind girls's song. Illusion of a closed room.” Adding onto Maria’s claim, she stated that Beatrice told her to face the wall and sing while she killed everyone else in the room, in order to prohibit Maria from seeing how she really does it. Either Yasu or Maria made the phone call and just left the wire hanging. Afterwards, Yasu left a taunting letter for Natsuhi and waited for her in the area with the portrait. Lastly, on the notion of Kumasawa being frightened (as Maria stated), it can simply be explained as her anxious nature toward the subject of death. Even if she knows something is going to happen, she’s still scared, as seen during the second and fifth twilights upon the body discoveries.

Final Moment: Natsuhi never fired the gun until the fight with “Beatrice.” The only logical explanation is that the gun had blanks (not by coincidence, Yasu had access to Kinzo’s room and his weapons; this means that she could tamper with them), because Natsuhi has no reason to kill herself as Jessica thought she did. Additionally, Alliance of the Golden Witch gives us two useful truths to help prove this:

“The bullet that killed Natsuhi was not fired from Natsuhi's gun; the thing that shot Natsuhi wasn't a trap, it was a real shooting murder with a gun raised and trigger pulled!”

The letter was about a duel between who should be the family head, as described as Natsuhi through her battle cry. Yasu revealed herself (dressed as Beatrice) to the children and simply waited for the explosives to go off (Rokkenjima used to be a military base of sorts, as elaborated on in Requiem of the Golden Witch).

Aftermath: It is said in the credits that Maria sent a message bottle to sea about the mass murder, but this was probably a fabrication by Yasu in order to conceal her identity to the police. The deaths by the game’s end were symbolized as “goats chewing them up,” which most likely refers to the Goat Butlers. Also, Shannon and Kanon can apparently exist as different beings inside Purgatorio, possibly because it is described by Bernkastel as “Beatrice’s realm,” and that Beatrice herself is a representation of the rules of the games (she doesn’t know about Yasu yet).

Pure Theory: Lastly, in Twilight of the Golden Witch, it is implied that Yasu committed suicide by drowning in the real world after the massacre and Battler tried to save her. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed and instead suffered major brain damage and amnesia, making him a new person (Tohya Hachijo). This would mean that the only logical explanation for Battler not knowing anything in Legend of the Golden Witch and thinking it’s his normal life is that when both Yasu and Battler (Tohya’s former life) arrived in Purgatorio, Yasu started her game plan immediately.

Bonus: Here I will talk about how I think the Umineko universe and its writing works. It’s a bit simplified, but I hope I make sense.

Real World: The universe of Umineko When They Cry has multiple layers. The main two consist of fantasy and the real world. The message bottles are Yasu’s plans to murder the entire Ushiromiya family, but she never went through with them. In the first and second episodes, we see two of her message bottles in action. In addition, Ikuko’s novels (the third to sixth episodes) are based off of Yasu’s other message bottles that we haven’t seen.

Fantasy still plays a major part in the real world and how it shaped the characters. As seen in Twilight of the Golden Witch, Tohya comes to terms with everything in the end, with all of the magic and human characters around him. This was not just for us to see nor was it only an ending that wasn’t supposed to make sense. It would imply that the magical perspective of Battler and his adventures with Beatrice was part of Tohya’s thoughts and his regret over Yasu’s death.

Fantasy and Magic: Ange also has these types of thoughts, as revealed more clearly. Starting from the third (mainly the fourth) episode, we see that she uses Maria’s diary to escape in a fantasy world and go back into her past where she played around with the members of Mariage Sorciere. Bernkastel embodies her nihilistic thoughts of her life and the people around her. While it is supposed to look like the Ange we see in each episode is traveling to one world to another, it is actually a linear explanation of her experiences with a bit of magic added in.

The eighth episode concludes Ange’s journey, and shows that she has come to terms with everything that has happened to her family and herself. Ange in the seventh episode can be interpreted as what Tohya imagined she would feel when she discovered the truth, as Requiem of the Golden Witch is basically Tohya discovering the truth. This includes Yasu’s whole history, not just her plans to murder the Ushiromiya family.

[sg2tiger]

The EP7 Manga Yasu

Eyyy long time no post!! I’m actually gearing up for my upcoming EP8 read (October sure crept up fast...) so I thought I’d finally go through and finish the EP7 manga, which I was reading alongside my EP7 reread last year...but if you’ve followed my liveblogs thus far you’ll know I find EP7 rather boring, so reading through all those flashbacks again kinda killed my interest and I dropped the manga somewhere around 1983.

ANYWAYS here’s a prelude to my upcoming return to seacats liveblogging. Spoilers under the cut.

So as I’m making my way through catching up on that I noticed something interesting. You may remember this post I made previously about how well I believe the manga handled the transition in POV from ‘Yasu’ to ‘Shannon’. 

Now, I know a lot of people give the EP7 manga grief for the whole ‘blonde Yasu’ thing (I’m not a huge fan myself), since we know that’s not how she really looked. But consider the fact that this is the adaptation of a visual novel, wherein most of these flashbacks were shown from a first-person POV...and a big part of the whole mystery that Ryukishi didn’t want to just spoonfeed readers would have been ruined if Yasu was depicted here as she’d have realistically looked. Instead, the manga opted for a similar sort of ‘veil’ over the character (who HAD to be depicted due to the visual nature of manga) as Clair - remember, Bern gives Yasu the appearance and name of Clair specifically as a last sort of safeguard for the culprit’s true identity. On the meta (meta-meta?) level, Clair was Ryukishi’s means of depicting the culprit without DEPICTING the culprit. The blonde Yasu of the EP7 manga is essentially the same thing...yet you never hear people complain about Clair in the same way. I feel like this nuance is lost on a lot of people, who take the EP7 manga’s portrayal of Yasu in these flashbacks far too literally, when we should be seeing it simply as an equivalent to the fact that you ALSO don’t actually see Yasu in those parts of the VN.

Anyways, this technique was used to interesting effect when Yasu ‘modified the world’ in order to become Beatrice, separating that identity from that of Shannon (as seen in the above-mentioned post). Well later on, when Yasu is working on solving the epitaph, I noticed that the same sort of technique was used again.

So first it’s important to note how ‘Beatrice’ behaves during the majority of the epitaph solving segments. Essentially, she behaves like Beatrice - boisterous, mocking, confident, sneering at all the lowly humans as she’ll surely solve the epitaph before them and achieve her true resurrection.

It’s the usual shit we expect from when Yasu is absorbed in her Beatrice identity. This is just another game, another means to assert her existence over the humans of Rokkenjima. Of course at this point Yasu has no idea what’s in store for her, so this is really just a fun diversion she can escape into, away from all those cool cool insecurities that would have been piling up around this time. Unlike the siblings (WHO ALL NEEDED A LOT OF MONEY RIGHT NOW), for whom this was a huge deal and a very real chance for them to get out of their various debts, Yasu’s goal wasn’t the gold - just solving the epitaph in itself, and awakening as a true witch, was what she sought.

So despite the various frustrations upon realizing the epitaph was tougher than she thought, Yasu basically behaves as her Beatrice persona throughout, indulging in the whole ‘local witch participates in own resurrection ceremony’ thing. And once she gets over the tougher hurdles, she seems to be thoroughly enjoying the challenge.

In fact, right up until the point she actually enters the gold room, Yasu is riding high on the feeling of actually being able to solve this seemingly impossible riddle. 

That all changes as soon as the reality sinks in that she’s standing in front of a real 10 ton pile of gold...and that’s when things get interesting (and when I get on with my original point, apparently).

She’s quickly brought back to reality as Yasu/Shannon, a servant of the family that owns this mansion, and not an ancient and powerful witch that rules the night. But the most interesting part to me is the fact that this page will be the last one where you see Beatrice’s facial features for the duration of this scene.

This faceless figure with the long blonde hair sure looks familiar, doesn’t she? While the ol’ ‘face obscured for dramatic value’ thing is common in manga, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the artist explicitly chose to draw Beatrice faceless for the remainder of this scene (up until she puts on the dress and wig and meets with Kinzo). That’s because this isn’t ‘Beatrice’ anymore. Ironically, the very moment she’s being told that she is, in fact, the true Beatrice...she couldn’t be feeling less like her Beatrice character. She’s been fully yanked back into the reality that is Yasu - at first terrified that she’ll be scolded for entering this secret room (not exactly something a thousand year old witch would fear), and then feeling overwhelmed and, ultimately, undeserving of the prize she just won. This was just a game she’d made with herself to solve the epitaph...she never imagined it would honestly lead to all this gold, the headship, and a whole bunch of revelations she never asked for. She’s timid and nervous and almost definitely dropped the Beatrice-style of speech the second Genji entered the room (I don’t care enough to double-check with the voice patch).

Yeah, she’s still being drawn as ‘Beatrice’ the same way she had been for this entire epitaph solving extravaganza...but merely by obscuring her face behind her bangs like that, it takes you immediately back to the way she was portrayed in the flashbacks as a child. To the fragile, vulnerable, Yasu.

Even the chapter’s title page invokes this image.

So I’m pretty sure this was 100% deliberate. And I thought it was quite a nice throwback to the previous depiction of Yasu, while further emphasizing her shift in personality as soon as the reality of solving the epitaph actually hits her.

So yeah - blonde Yasu was never meant to be taken literally. Of course she doesn’t really look like that. We know Li’l Yasu was just Li’l Shannon. But the manga’s depiction wasn’t out of ignorance - it was simply an effective means of portraying a character who purposefully had no graphic in the visual novel, whose existence is meant to be veiled in illusion.