#sakutarou the kid

[ushiromiyacestcentral]

No actually cause the section of the AU where Puss and Death are turned into shotas when the six of them get to Hinanizawa is not just Shota fanservice but it totally is, but also sets up good character development.

Puss getting a taste of what it feels like being a normal kid since he was raised in a orphanage and receiving attention from Rika’s parents who act as parent figures to him, plus Rika and Ange make for good support friends.

Death seeing that people wasting their life is a good thing and some people are passionate about what they do, plus receiving closure from his final battle with Maria by them becoming friends and Maria even allowing Death to touch Sakutarou ( it’s a honor if Maria ever lets you touch Sakutarou) also he becomes friends with Satoko truly since Satoko is not Eua’s Guinea pig anymore and he’s always raising his hand in class and getting A’s, also a huge teacher pet for Chie.

[azdoine]

for the fandom ask: umineko umineko umineko

blorbo (favorite character): no items Yasuda Sayo only final destination. I'll echo what @hypdadaist said, Sayo elevates a story which already had a spectacularly executed high concept (murder mystery by way of magical battle shonen) to an insanely personal and touching piece of writing.

scrunkly (my "baby"): Sakutarou. he already has an unfair advantage given that he's a cute lion doll brought to life by a little girl, but I had a stuffed kitty that I couldn't bear to part with when I was a kid, and his relationship with Maria takes me back. a very good boy 10/10

scrimblo bimblo (underrated fave): DLANOR. she's so cool goddamn it. and is she Ronald Knox's girlsona, or is she just his daughter taking his name, Hokusai-style? what does it even mean to say that she hasn't grown up when she lives in the meta world, and is it really all because of her daddy issues? tell me everything Ryukishi

glup shitto (obscure fave): I'm gonna have to plead the fifth and keep some things close to my chest on this one, sorry

poor little meow meow (problematic fave): Gohda. I know there's some side material which gives real dirt on him but in the main text he's just such a refreshingly average jerk. Kumasawa, Genji, & Nanjo are actively enabling Kinzo's abuse or Sayo's murder-suicide and meanwhile my man is out here just puffing up his chest and dumping petty chores on his coworkers

horse plinko (character I'd torment for fun): hard to say, my poor little meow meow instincts make it hard to be sadistic as an author or a witch... probably Erika tho. I want to see her detective authority her way out of admitting that she's a lonely asshole. I want to see her face when she meets her ex and realizes there was a reason she knew about makeup.

eeby deeby (character I'd send to superhell): kinzo. he qualifies because there's no way that whatever he had with genji wasn't at least a little bit gay

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 2 (Part 1)

I’ve got (some) momentum here, let’s not waste it!

Lambda, Bern, Erika, and Dlanor are hanging around in Beato’s smoking room, waiting for Battler to present his gameboard to them. Bern talks about crushing it, because of course she does.

“I kept making strange faces all the time last game thanks to you... Thought I might start getting wrinkles.” lmao

“Th-there’s no need to worry. The beauty of my master’s face is without peer, no matter how wrinkly it may get.” and bern looks pissed, lmfao

Dlanor expresses remorse over Beato’s death, Lambda basically says “that’s the way it goes,” and Bern looks smug as she comments that no one remembers who invented chess. that sums up their personalities pretty well tbh

“If Battler’s kept us waiting this long, he must be pretty confident in his plan.” See, this, coupled with Battler’s knowledge of the truth, is part of why I feel like he knows what he’s doing in this episode. Battler may be rash and impulsive, and he may be emotional and prone to losing his cool, but he’s not stupid. Hell, if the end of Ep5 is anything to go by, once his anger’s dissipated and he starts looking at Beato’s game with a critical lens (i.e. Knox’s decalogue), he’s able to figure things out pretty quickly. He might not have expected Erika to be crazy enough to fucking kill people to corner him (though I will say that yes, he should’ve expected it, because that girl’s got problems), but I don’t think he’s incapable of solving the logic error on his own. It’s really quite trivial when it comes down to it, especially compared to the narrative viewpoint fuckery going on in Ep5 itself.

Anyways. Gold butterflies, human shape, and... SURPRISE! Beato’s here!

(only not quite)

Bern muses that this Beato must be Battler’s piece, while Dlanor says that piece or not, she’s still Beato. dlanor why did you have to get teamed up with someone as awful as erika :(

“Father will be here very soon. I ask that you wait for just a short while longer...” urk

Lambda laughs, thinking it must be a scheme like the one she pulled back in Ep3, and Erika immediately goes for her by calling Battler “incompetent”. i mean it was declared in red like four episodes ago, so

“I’m sure Father understands it quite deeply. He really is good at that sort of thing.” Erika is... less than happy with her response, and states that Beato is “just one of Battler’s delusions, so I’ll erase every part of you and knock you down into the abyss of oblivion.” good sportsmanship

“I too cannot allow you such an easy victory. ...I, uh, look forward to having a good, clean fight.” lmfaoooo

At that, everyone clues in that this Beato isn’t just Battler’s piece or something like that. Lambda asks, “Just who... are you?”

funny how beato’s support in the first half of the series is asking the same question beato wanted battler to answer huh

Poor chick Beato, though. “Am I somehow different... from the Beatrice everyone was expecting? [...] I... I was only born recently, so I have no memories at all... H-however, I will study hard... in order to become the Beatrice you all expect...”

And in comes Father Battler, telling her off for leaving her room like a strict parent would. this is certainly awkward in hindsight

Chick Beato says that she only wanted to help, calling him “Father” again. Kinda like in Eps1-4, while I can deeply empathize with Battler here (the word “Father” would have some really disturbing connotations to Yasu herself), I still feel sorry for Beato. She can’t understand what it is she’s doing wrong, but he pushes her away anyways...

...And, understandably, tells her off for calling him Father. She lets out a sad “yes” and leaves.

“...This is a pretty weird plan.” lmao thanks bern

“Let’s start the 6th game. ...Erika, and you too, Bernkastel. This will be my tale, proof that I’ve reached the truth about Beatrice. Lambdadelta, please oversee this game, as a former Game Master.”

Battler announces the title of the episode - Dawn of the Golden Witch. Given that Episode 3 was originally called Land, it can’t have been intentional on Ryukishi’s part the whole time, but I do wonder if the B A T T L E R ‘ D thing was completely unintentional or not...

Even the narrative points out that Battler’s a lot more subdued than usual, and we jump back to Ange and Featherine.

“Ange. Beato seems very different from the way she was before.” YOU DON’T SAY

Ange comments that she’s surprised Beato’s even alive, given that she died at the end of Ep5 before Battler reached the truth. Yeah...

“There are two kinds of death in this world. One of them is when a piece is taken from the gameboard. This is only a death within the bounds of the game, and these lives can revive over and over again each time you start a new game.”

After a bit of talk about pieces and vessels (using Sakutarou as an example), Ange asks what the second kind of death is. “That’s the death of beings outside the gameboard. To continue with the Sakutarou example, this would be like Maria’s death. [...] It doesn’t have to be her death. Loss of interest or concern would have the same effect... When Maria grows up from playing with stuffed animals, then ‘Maria the game player’ will die.”

“I see... In that case, ‘Beato the player’ completely gave up on winning during the last game... so she died and vanished. If so, and if Beato thinks she has a chance of defeating Onii-chan again, she’ll come back to life, right...?”

Featherine basically says that the concept of time is the problem, and Ange catches on quickly, using skipping school as a metaphor. “Skipping school for one day might not be a problem, but if you skip for three days in a row, it’d be really hard to convince yourself to go back.” Featherine asks how it’d be if that period of time stretched on for a thousand years, as it does in the world of witches.

“You would never again... be able to regain the self that you once were. It would never revive.”

“Beato lost any chance or hope of winning... Even though she knew this, she pretended not to, and kept on fighting for many, many games. So, Beato will not return. Her hopes were crushed. She’s spent all of the willpower that she might have used to regain the will to fight. Therefore... that Beatrice will never revive again.” Ange realizes that the Beato who was hanging around with empty eyes throughout Ep5 was her “corpse”, but eventually even that was erased.

The Yasu parallel here is pretty obvious, but at the same time, the differences are kinda interesting - namely, Yasu’s “thousand years.” Not the fact that they were stretched over six years, but the fact that there are numerous moments that could be argued to have “killed” her - Battler not coming back after the first year, Battler forgetting to write her a letter, her developing feelings for George and moving on, starting to realize there was something wrong with her body, solving the epitaph and having her entire sense of self ripped away from her, and of course hearing about Battler’s return in 1986.

I suppose you could argue that Beato getting her hopes crushed so many times over - particularly when Battler got stuck at the end of Ep3 and when he responded cluelessly to her big question in Ep4 - are the Meta-World’s “equivalent” moments, and that’s probably what Ryukishi was aiming at, but... Hmm. 

At any rate, Ange realizes that that’s why Lambda shackled Beato to the game towards the end of Ep4 - if Beato had died at that point, the gameboard itself would’ve disappeared. Once Beato’s will to fight was gone completely (Ep5), Lambda usurped her position as Game Master, and “Beato’s existence” stopped being a necessary condition for the gameboard’s existence.

“So... when Onii-chan managed to reach the truth... it was one game too late for him to tell Beato about it.” And in many ways, that sentence right there is the tragedy of not just the Meta-World, but Rokkenjima itself. Not one person even got close to figuring out the truth of Yasu’s heart before it was too late, and as a result, almost everyone died.

“The 5th game was a form of charity on Lambdadelta’s part... She merely showed Battler some mercy as the Witch of Certainty, acknowledging his strong desire to reach the truth no matter what...”

Ange disagrees pretty strongly, but gets back to the point. “...This weird Beato isn’t the player Beato. She’s just a piece Beato.” Featherine points out that if that’s the case, she should be the same trollish, cackling Beatrice we all know and love. Ange gets her point immediately - Battler doesn’t want an imitation of Beato that just does whatever he expects her to, so this Beato isn’t just a piece.

“Battler... might be trying to revive Beato in the truest sense. It is the never-dying dream held by children of man.”

Ange immediately takes issue with that, since Featherine herself denied the possibility in red, and she basically replies that there’s a difference between “Beato’s revival” and “Beato’s rebirth”. “Have you forgotten? I believe that Bernkastel herself revealed Beato’s true form at the end of the 1st game...”

“Now I remember... She said something about how Beato exists as the incarnation of the rules.” “Information began to be accumulated based around that rule, and in the end, it took the form of the witch known as Beatrice. If that pattern is followed once more, the same Beatrice will be born again, and perhaps one could call that a resurrection...”

“And that means... this pure and lovable kid will eventually grow up into that screwed up, crazy witch...”

Featherine muses that having Ange read to her is “far from boring,” and Ange quips that she seems to know all the answers already, and they trade a few more barbs. trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls etc. etc.

“Anyway. From what we learned in the 4th game... there’s no doubt that there’s some kind of antagonism between Beato and Onii-chan in the past. Learning about this Beato might give us a key towards finding the truth.” Featherine expresses interest in reading about chick!Beato’s story, and we jump to Battler in... uh, the meta version of Kinzo’s study, I guess? i dont even know okay. At any rate, more Battler/Kinzo parallels.

He finishes up creating the 6th game, and says to Genji (who’s there for whatever reason, probably because parallels), “I always thought being a Game Master meant you could make the tale however you want... but this is seriously harder than I thought it’d be.”

“You must write up multiple tales and make the inner and outer sides of the story match.” I really like this line. It’s a pretty good way to describe how the two sides of the story mesh together to create the “third” side - the fantasy tale and the mystery tale together make up the heart of the story. You can’t have one without the other, and you can’t reach the truth without both.

We get a bit of exposition on logic errors (i.e. don’t make them battler you fucking moron), and then Genji says that chick Beato - who Battler confirms is a personification of the rules - has awoken.

The way Battler lights up and starts smiling immediately once he hears that Beato’s awake... it’s heartwarming, but really sad at the same time, knowing how mistaken he is about what “Beato is awake” means...

“There was no trace in his expression of the hatred he had once felt towards Beato for murdering his family...” lmao

Ange and Featherine interrupt, with Ange saying, “In a way, that was the final riddle of the 5th game,” which, indeed, it is. “When Battler reached the truth, there was a great change in his impression of Beato.”

Ange wonders if that means that there really was something between the two of them six years ago, then recalls that that was denied in red back in Ep4. “We can read this as saying that Beato did not exist six years ago, or it could simply mean that she had no connection to Battler at that time. However, either way, Battler did not visit Rokkenjima at all for the next six years...”

Ooh. I’d forgotten that Featherine proposes that “Battler’s sin” was what led to Beato’s “creation.” “Almost as though... Beatrice was Battler’s piece.”

“Battler sinned six years ago. Because of that sin, people died. The killer was Beatrice... If you consider the possibility that everything is connected to Battler’s sin six years ago, then the one who created Beatrice was Battler himself.”

Ange expresses confusion, seeing as the culprit’s response to Battler’s “sin” (whatever it was) was a serial murder. Featherine replies, “The weight of a sin depends on the person measuring it,” but also goes on to say that even she thinks that’s “a bit excessive” as far as responses go. you don’t say

In hindsight, I don’t think it’s inaccurate to say that Battler’s sin was “the first straw,” if you will. Battler and his dumb pony promise and return six years later influenced the form of the tragedy, but not whether or not it would happen. I’m tired, I hope this is making sense.

Anyways, Ange wonders if Battler’s sin is hidden in the story up to this point. Featherine says she has a theory about it, then laughs and refuses to tell her. these two get along well don’t they

(Though yes, Ange, Battler’s sin is explicitly mentioned, so go looking for it!)

“Just what kind of connection do Onii-chan and Beatrice have with each other? Understanding that... will probably give me a massive clue towards finding the truth of this world.”

[ao3feed-daisuga]

Of Clubs, Occult Things and Chat Room Madness

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2m46vVO

by Ayasaki

What happens when you get the Kisaragi Academy students into a chat room with the Iwatobi Swim Club, Karasuno Volleyball Club, and Aoba Johsai VBC? Well, Ayumi Shinozaki probably found more victims for her occult things.

Words: 993, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Free!, Haikyuu!!, Corpse Party (Video Game)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Tachibana Makoto, Nanase Haruka, Hazuki Nagisa, Ryuugazaki Rei, Matsuoka Gou, Matsuoka Rin, Yamazaki Sousuke, Nitori Aiichirou, Mikoshiba Momotarou, Shinozaki Ayumi, Kishinuma Yoshiki, Mochida Satoshi, Mochida Yuka, Shinohara Seiko, Nakashima Naomi, Morishige Sakutarou, Suzumoto Mayu, Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou, Nishinoya Yuu, Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi, Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime

Relationships: Kishinuma Yoshiki/Shinozaki Ayumi, Mochida Satoshi/Nakashima Naomi, Morishige Sakutarou/Suzumoto Mayu, Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke, Matsuoka Gou/Mikoshiba Momotarou, Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi

Additional Tags: In a perfect world where Heavenly Host Elementary school never happened, But another school does the same events, Namely Another Child, But ignore the Kisaragis at the end, High school kids in a chat room, Where could this go wrong?, Team Moms meeting, Yuka still has a weird crush on her brother, But Naomi quickly changes it, Mayu stays in Kisaragi, Makoto and Yoshiki become best friends, Haruka befriends Kageyama, Nagisa is basically thugisa in some parts, Randomness basically

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2m46vVO

[ao3feed-haikyuu]

Of Clubs, Occult Things and Chat Room Madness

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2m46vVO

by Ayasaki

What happens when you get the Kisaragi Academy students into a chat room with the Iwatobi Swim Club, Karasuno Volleyball Club, and Aoba Johsai VBC? Well, Ayumi Shinozaki probably found more victims for her occult things.

Words: 993, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Free!, Haikyuu!!, Corpse Party (Video Game)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Tachibana Makoto, Nanase Haruka, Hazuki Nagisa, Ryuugazaki Rei, Matsuoka Gou, Matsuoka Rin, Yamazaki Sousuke, Nitori Aiichirou, Mikoshiba Momotarou, Shinozaki Ayumi, Kishinuma Yoshiki, Mochida Satoshi, Mochida Yuka, Shinohara Seiko, Nakashima Naomi, Morishige Sakutarou, Suzumoto Mayu, Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou, Nishinoya Yuu, Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi, Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime

Relationships: Kishinuma Yoshiki/Shinozaki Ayumi, Mochida Satoshi/Nakashima Naomi, Morishige Sakutarou/Suzumoto Mayu, Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto, Matsuoka Rin/Yamazaki Sousuke, Matsuoka Gou/Mikoshiba Momotarou, Hazuki Nagisa/Ryuugazaki Rei, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi

Additional Tags: In a perfect world where Heavenly Host Elementary school never happened, But another school does the same events, Namely Another Child, But ignore the Kisaragis at the end, High school kids in a chat room, Where could this go wrong?, Team Moms meeting, Yuka still has a weird crush on her brother, But Naomi quickly changes it, Mayu stays in Kisaragi, Makoto and Yoshiki become best friends, Haruka befriends Kageyama, Nagisa is basically thugisa in some parts, Randomness basically

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2m46vVO

[shslrecorderprince]

petty makes really dumb comics with no punchlines about time-travelling hypothetical children

[ushiromiyacestcentral]

Ranting about AU Maria’s dresses and their symbolism

Older!Maria’s witch of creation outfit:

“ I’m not afraid of anything anymore…”

since I figured Older!Maria wouldn’t wear the same witch of creation outfit she wore when she was a kid I designed a new one! Her new outfit is Grey symbolizing Maria realizing that everything is not black and white including her mother, the dress is still frilly and she wears white opera gloves and leggings as well as dark pink ballet shoes, she also wears a fancy fur cape which is themed after a lion’s fur representing Sakutarou, the insides of the cape reveal a fabric and sewing themed pattern related to how Older!Maria manifests her power by making sewing needles appear and create things from scratch, her staff is cross themed and draws heavily on religious symbolism, she even wears a grey pope like hat with bows on it.

Maria black witch of Removal outfit:

“ Relishing in untestable power

Glowing red in a black and white scene

The one and only candle queen”

Maria’s black witch of removal outfit is a combination of a black and pinkish red color, her outfit is primarily themed around a court jester because she views herself as a entertainer and is based on Beatrice’s outfit referencing how much she looks up to Beato, her staff takes the form of a dark pinkish red staff with a hellish circus and jester theme, this design is also her black witch AU and Mariatrice AU designs.

Maria’s grey witch of redemption outfit.

“ I’m neither a Angel or a devil I’m just a person.”

Maria after being redeemed of being a black witch becomes this form, this outfit has both the holy and devilish jester themes of her previous 2 witch designs and merges them together creating a hellish jester pope themed witch, her staff combined the holy and devilish themes.

[ushiromiyacestcentral]

After Maria and Ange/ Yukari gets married in the real world and Maria officially becomes the heiress of the Ushiromiya fortune, Maria makes an effort to right her family’s wrongs, she even changes the ushiromiya eagle symbol into a symbol of Sakutarou’s plush head, plus she’s good with kids.

[shslrecorderprince]

casually jumps onto bandwagons rlly late