#and erika also mentioned that she likes reading books as a form of self care in the ep of too grool for school i watched last night

[modernsapphicism]

i feel like 'art freaks' also include cady and it's not just janis and damian. so if janis is into visual arts, damian with performing arts... can i headcanon cady bring into literary arts?

growing up in kenya, she most likely reads books to pass the time since there's not much to do. she also has a knack for writing poetry and has a bunch of notebooks filled with them. cady would write about everything and anything whenever inspiration hits her.

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 3 (End) & 4

I like how I ended the last post literally just before the end of the goddamn chapter.

Well, uh, anyways! Let’s see how far we can get before Chiru arrives officially.

(Also, shout-outs to everyone over on Rokkenjima for the warm welcome! <3)

Back on the gameboard itself, the typhoon’s started. “No longer would anyone be able to leave this island... and no longer would anyone be able to reach it. No one... unless blessed with a miracle.” Erika drags herself to her feet, cackles at the sky, and invites Battler to “entertain her.” here we go, chapter end

Like in Ep5, Erika’s welcomed as a guest, and everyone is enjoying a good conversation after dinner. Interesting - this is usually when Beato’s letter would surface from Maria or someone else, but this time, there’s no mention of such a thing.

“A strange family in a western mansion on an isolated island during a storm... Now that we have a detective stopping by to take shelter from the rain, we’ve got all the major factors lined up.” god damn it battler

Erika assures them that she’ll solve whatever crime might happen, and Krauss replies, “It almost sounds as though you want a bizarre crime to occur. I hope I don’t have to play the part of the victim.” ahaha oh man

and she goes off on a tangent about how there’s nothing new in the genre etc etc. y’know for a self-proclaimed detective she doesn’t seem to actually care much for mysteries does she

though i guess that’s kinda the point

“By that argument, wouldn’t it mean that romance was perfected back in Shakespeare’s time, so everything after that isn’t worth reading?” Erika replies yes, because of course she does.

“Just reading classics of the past and never anything new is being overly nostalgic, don’t you think? That sounds to me like the excuse of an old person who’s too lazy to read anything.” SHOTS FIRED

The conversation topic changes to Maria’s quiz book, and Erika starts rattling off the answers at an incredible rate. bern r u having fun

CHEESE RIDDLE

really though i don’t think i have much to say about this part other than it’s funny watching battler flail around while everyone else works it out

YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS BECAUSE IT’S CHEESE

Battler hitting upon his answer of one cut when the “correct” answer is three is interesting, though - it’s definitely not a conventional answer in any sense of the word, but in a way, I feel like that kind of thinking is how you need to approach Umineko itself. If you get caught up in the logistics of how the crimes could’ve been done, then you’re likely to miss the truth, even if you end up with “an answer.”

NOW I KNOW I’M READING TOO DEEP INTO THIS, GETTING MEANING OUT OF THE CHEESE RIDDLE

Erika is less than happy that Battler managed to figure out the “one slice” answer as well, though, heh.

Meanwhile, Ange concludes that Battler must’ve gotten it wrong, and Featherine just kinda laughs at her... before saying that the shape of the cheese isn’t specified in the rules. On the board, Battler says pretty much the same thing - while everyone else thought of a cheese wheel kind of thing immediately, he ended up thinking of sliced cheese.

“Since [the illustration of the cheese] hadn’t been shown, the interpretation of the cheese had been left to the answerer.”

Battler goes about demonstrating his answer. “With normal cheese, it’d break if you tried to fold it like this... but the rules say that this cheese can’t break unless you use a knife, right?” IT’S LIKE ALL THE RED TRUTH WORDPLAY

“We were thinking in three dimensions... but it looks like Battler-kun and Erika-chan were thinking in one dimension higher.” the magic of having a meta-world presence

Erika drops all pretenses of politeness at this point. “She was no longer a guest who would be staying until the storm passed. She had transformed into an annoying guest who wouldn’t leave until the storm passed...”

George tries changing the subject by springboarding off of the next puzzle (coins in cups), mentioning picking up coins with chopsticks, and Erika freaks out. lmao

And suddenly the narrative cuts back to meta-Battler in his logic error room from later on. I’d forgotten that it’s framed like this, to make it “concurrent” with the events on the gameboard.

In desperation, Battler runs into the bathroom, even though there’s no “exit” to speak of in there.

except of course smashing yourself to bits so you can fit down the bathtub drain (ryukishi why)

Next up, the windows, which have been clamped shut. I forgot just how chilling the atmosphere is during this whole sequence, not gonna lie...

Battler smashes a window open and tries sticking his arm out to break the window shutters... only for the glass to start growing and cutting into his arm. LOGIC ERRORS MAN

and there goes his finger jkfdshgjfkldhgfkljd

Back on the board, the cousins and Erika mention hearing a “clunking” sound. eep

At Erika’s prompting, Shannon mentions that there are guest rooms at the end of the hallway, though they aren’t being used. meta-battler would probably disagree

Erika and Battler trade a few jabs about her “role” as “detective”, while Shannon seems to be understandably spooked by it. kinda funny when, y’know, she’s the one killing everyone on the other boards

The cousins and Erika make their way to the front door, and as they pass by Beato’s portrait, Erika asks about it.

“Well, to be honest, I already know that it’s Beato’s portrait. Still, we only just walked past it in the last game, which is no fun.”

Shannon begins with “This is the Master’s benefactor, Beatrice-sama.” Interesting, was “benefactor” ever used to describe her in earlier Episodes? Let alone by any of the servants, or anyone who acknowledges her as a witch...

Oooh, this is interesting. Jessica brings up the ghost stories, and Battler recalls being afraid of them when he was younger. In response, Maria repeats the old adage of “she’s not scary if you respect her,” but this time, she also asks Shannon for her thoughts on the matter. On some level, Maria’s definitely aware that there’s some connection between Beato and Shannon (and Kanon), even if she just thinks “they’re friends” or some such.

Jessica giggles a bit, bringing up the story of the servant who got injured and quit. George joins in a bit, pointing out the main entrance staircase as being where said servant fell. spooky

I’m not quite sure how to express it in words here, but this is interesting - I do get the sense that Jessica and George are “in on something” in a way they weren’t before. Might just be confirmation bias, but hmm.

Erika asks for clarification on how the ghost stories and the portrait being put on display relate, and Shannon says that the ghost stories existed beforehand, but became more common once the portrait was put up.

And then, since she’s Erika, she dismisses it all as “worth less than the useless drivel of a half-sleeping nitwit,” much to Maria’s chagrin. In response, she just invites Beato to curse her, and Battler jokes about how having the detective killed right at the start is “a little too radical.” lmfao

Maria gets out her scorpion charms, Shannon remarks that spiderwebs are good as magic-repellants, and Maria says it’s because Beato’s “the incarnation of a butterfly.” Jessica responds in confusion that the spirits of Akujikishima were weak against spiders. Come to think of it, Ep6 is where we first start getting the hints that the “evil spirits” and “the ghost of the witch” tales combined to form Beato’s own mythology, isn’t it?

Everyone leaves the entrance hall... and chick!Beato arrives in front of the portrait of herself.

“Without a doubt, the figure depicted there was as like her as an image in a mirror. However, it felt as though its eyes and expression... were just a little different from hers.”

“Who... are you? ...Please tell me what kind of person you are... [...] ...Your wings should have existed for Father’s sake. ...Just when did you have one of those torn off... and end up so drastically different...?”

I’d completely forgotten this line, but now that I read it again, I absolutely love it.

Ahhh, right, this is where the narrative mentions that chick!Beato doesn’t have an adverse reaction to spiderwebs or scorpion charms.

Beato reaches out and touches the portrait, and it “ripples slightly.” something something Super Umineko 64

“...Yes. This is... a doorway. A doorway to the long path that would lead her to the Golden Witch, Beatrice...”

Chick!Beato falls through the portrait, and after resolving to “be born for Father’s sake,” she finds herself in the mansion’s entrance hall, face to face with... herself.

“That’s right... I wasn’t the only one born from the egg. She was also born. [...] ...Both of us are lacking something and immature. Yes. Both of us are chicks... but we are also... fragments of the true Beatrice.”

Elder Beato asks why chick Beato (I think I’m just gonna call them Chick and Elder from here on out) has the same face as her, and the narrative points out that she speaks the same way as the “true” Beato.

Elder’s profile is added to the menu at this point, and it’s pretty damn interesting - “A mysterious witch who existed even before the rules,” for one thing, as well as specifying her as the one who gave Shannon the gold butterfly brooch back in Ep2.

Elder posits herself as Chick’s older sister. I’d forgotten that it’s actually specified like this that “the witch of Rokkenjima” existed before Beato as we know her (i.e. the dress and hair).

Chick states that she wants to become “a complete Beatrice,” and Elder says that she herself was complete until Chick came along. Man, I’ve really forgotten everything about Ep6, haven’t I? This is a pretty obvious parallel to how Beato developed as one of Yasu’s characters, from pulling small pranks here and there to the Golden Witch herself.

Chick realizes that the portrait in the entrance hall is missing, meaning this has to be 1984 or earlier. She also puts herself forward as the ruler of the mansion at night, as other characters have said before.

The two of them head further into the mansion, with Elder planning on introducing Chick to her “boring everyday life.”