#which puts everyone except for maria and kumasawa as being in one place

[pochapal]

OH??????

[johannwolfgangvongoethe]

Further Umineko-ing. Again

episode 1, part 3

whenever battler is unavailable, kumasawa has taken the up the role of exposition and comic relief, which is nice. i like granny characters and id be interested to hear more from her perspective, since she is sly and nosy. being a maid really exposes you to a lot of dirty laundry.

a new plot point came up. i didnt initially take this one seriously bc of how stupid it sounds. apparently there is a SECRET FAMILY TREASURE OF GOLD hidden on the island somewhere. really not a direction i expected but suuuuure. physical 10t of gold somewhere. there is something deeply funny about the headship and possibly the pact with beatrice being tied to a little private family paperchase. fact of the matter is, kinzo is WAY too serious about being chuuni to lie about this. as unrealistic as having 10t of gold just sitting around somewhere is. its an almost cute touch that beatrice is the family's personal boogyman - an entity children get warned about so they dont stray too deep into the forest and stay out after dark. except shes real i GUESS.

well, thats ominous.

maria once again exhibits a scary amount of sincereness towards the topic, which on its own isnt that weird, since shes nine years old. she mentions she wants to grow up to be a witch as well. another thing to put a pin into.

(looks at krauss' hair colour) uh oh sisters

at the same time, the same discussion is happening between kinzos children. since it seems clear krauss has in the past misappropriated his fathers funds, his siblings are - loving as they are -, offering him a way out. they will not investigate further, should he meet the following conditions:

right, hideyoshi is there too. btw.

at this point its perfect to mention that eva's va, ito miki, is doing an amazing job. every word eva says drips with poison. and hideyoshi has a way of being extremely unyielding, while keeping a kind and sincere face and voice. probably explains while george is like that

worringly, krauss just accepts it instantly but remarks hes too poor to pay the 10% in advance. everyone hated that!!!! however, krauss did his homework too. evas husband is plagued by shareholders that want to dispossess him. rudolf somehow got himself in front of court, without the knowledge of his wife nonetheless. no idea what rosas problem is, aside from the fact that her siblings talked her into the contract and she has yet to make it. as it turns out. everyone is neckdeep in trouble and NEEDS MONEY RIGHT NOW!!!! (the game spells this out in caps) except for krauss. funnily enough. he would only need instant money, should he sign the contract.

so there is no upper hand to be gained or control to be had. they are ALL cringe.

(this is where hideyoshi finally cracks. he does not lose his temper but is visibly uncomfortable.)

the contract remains unsigned. also they got spied on. it turns out kinzo also tolerates kanon around him, if its to spy on conversations his children had. needless to say he finds this hilarious and he has other worries anyway. hes trying to resurrect beatrice with black magic fuelled by the risks hes taking in life.

this truly is like world's shittiest family get together over the holidays. except way more money is one the line. but the emotional exhausting and toxicity is very true to life. rich people probably live like this. horrid.

magic in this vn is built up on risks taken and wagers made. the smaller the possibility of success, the better. which is why kinzo encourages the gold hunt in the first place. the more people look for it, the more powerful he becomes. and then he can ??!??!? resurrect beatrice. im just accepting that. necessary plot device to keep moving.

nanjo has the kindest reading on the gold paperchase: kinzo might have put it together to force his children to work together in solving it, thus mending their relationships and becoming a happy peaceful family.

yeeeeeeaaahhhh no................. at least thats not his prime motive. it could still be a side effect though.

the riddle to get there is as follows:

KILLLLLLLL !!!!!!!! REND! MAIM!

so here we are. "my beloved home of old" might already be the island. or maybe its more metaphorical than that. it is currently october 4th in the game and i have read up to the afternoon. that COULD theoretically mean the a "first twilight" could happen soon. if that part of the riddle is already relevant at all. welp lets see

[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.