Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2019-03-26 10:49 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2019-03-26 10:49 pm
Entry tags:
Every Once In A While, Remember Us.
(I wanted this entry's title to be the Peep Show quote 'Shakespeare basically said something about how there are more things there than there are actual things you can see with your eyes', but alas it wouldn't fit.)
I've finished the eighth and final instalment of Umineko: When They Cry!
NATSUHI IS GIVING SEPARATE INSTRUCTIONS TO KANON AND SHANNON, WHAT, DOES THIS CHALLENGE THE THEORY I WAS SO CONVINCED OF
Then again, Natsuhi has interacted with Beatrice, so maybe she buys into other Attempted Murder Baby Collective illusions as well.
KANON JUST PHONED GENJI IN A ROOM SHANNON WAS IN, IS EPISODE EIGHT JUST FUCKING WITH ME
Okay, Kinzo's alive and he's being nice, this episode is definitely fucking with me.
Is this a universe where the Ushiromiya family isn't a complete dysfunctional mess? What a scary thought.
Aww, Battler being concerned for Ange but not knowing what's wrong, so all he can do is squeeze her hand to let her know she can talk when she's ready.
He doesn't rush her; he just stays quietly near her. What a good big brother.
As weird as this universe is, it's nice to see Battler and Beatrice together again. And happily getting along! I enjoy their relationship, regardless of whether they're BFFs or psychologically destroying each other (or BFFs who psychologically destroy each other).
'See you later, Beato.'
'Of course! I have a mountain of things I wish to discuss with you. And I'd like to have some time alone tonight. We must act the part of a married couple every now and then.'
Beatrice, don't make arrangements to bang Battler when his six-year-old sister is right there!
awww, Battler carrying sleepy Ange
Poor Eva. She had to hide the truth, because Ange couldn't know her parents were murderers. And Ange assumed Eva was the culprit as a result.
Is Battler trying to say to Ange that the truth, in a world where nothing can be declared with certainty, is what you believe, and there's nothing to prevent you from accepting a kinder 'truth' if it makes things less painful? That night, we've been told, Ange's parents murdered everyone on the island and were killed in self-defence. But does Ange have to believe that? There are a thousand possibilities for how things played out, and the 'real' version is agonising, and accepting it doesn't bring the victims back. So is it okay to create a different reality, to believe in a world where the people you love aren't responsible for these murders; it was a witch?
A tragedy happened; that much we know. Do we need to speculate on it; do we need to pick it apart? Or will that just cause more pain unnecessarily?
The philosophical questions Umineko raises are fascinating.
Okay, I cheated on the ambulance puzzle and looked up the answer (I actually stumbled acrosskeltena's Tumblr post about it!), but IN MY DEFENCE it required knowledge of Japanese emergency numbers.
Kinzo and Genji are definitely boyfriends.
BEATRICE HUGS NATSUHI, THIS IS GREAT.
ROSA, NO, DON'T ASK A MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM ABOUT TRANSPORTING GOLD INGOTS BEFORE ROKKENJIMA EXPLODES
I failed on Rosa's problem. I was deceived, and I accept this. (Maria's also fooled me. She's such a dick about it, too!)
You know, Rudolf, it's pretty terrible that you swapped your wife and mistress's babies because it was more convenient for you if the mistress had the stillbirth, but, frankly, it's probably for the best that Battler wasn't raised by Kyrie.
I'm getting slightly tearful over the fact that Ange had a nice evening with her family, even if (especially because?) it wasn't real.
Okay, no, I'm not getting slightly tearful, I'm outright sobbing.
I'M CRYING SO MUCH OVER ALL THESE INCREDIBLY TERRIBLE PEOPLE. I'm a mess.
Ange, please don't go where everyone is. I mean, I'd love to see you hanging out with all of them, but they... they are all technically dead.
I got stuck for ages on the game Bernkastel presented, because I became fixated on Maria's claim 'looks like all the victims died instantly' on the first twilight. I'd worked out that someone from the first twilight had to be alive, therefore Maria was lying, therefore Maria was a culprit. Therefore George was also a culprit, because he'd claimed Maria couldn't kill anyone. But no; I suppose by 'the victims' she meant 'the people who'd actually died' rather than 'the apparent victims'.
My first accusation was George, Maria, Rosa, Eva and Hideyoshi (as George and Maria, if culprits, could have lied about whether their parents were alive). Then I remembered the claim after the second twilight that the culprit of the first twilight really did kill six people, and I concluded that two people had to have survived the first twilight, in that case. So I tried accusing George, Maria, Eva and Hideyoshi.
Then I just went, Okay, here are the facts:
- I'm pretty sure two people survived the first twilight
- I don't have any real way of knowing which two
- but I do know that culprit kids can lie about their parents' deaths
- I'm pretty sure one of George and Battler is a culprit, because George says Nanjo couldn't have been killed in the guesthouse and Battler says Nanjo never left the guesthouse, and they can't both be telling the truth
- if George is a culprit, so is Maria, and vice-versa, meaning there are three potentially alive parents and I can't narrow it down to two
- if Battler is a culprit, on the other hand, Kyrie and Rudolf could have survived the first twilight: two survivors, the number I need
- let's try Battler, Kyrie and Rudolf
Boom! I had the right answer, but, I'll be honest, I didn't feel that great about how I'd got there. I don't have a clue how they did the murders; I just brute-forced it!
Honestly, I don't know why I bothered trying to reason when I could have just gone 'okay, it's Bernkastel; which combination of culprits will make Ange suffer the most?'
HOLY SHIT, ERIKA SAVES THE DAY???
'That this is all truth... isn't necessarily so' YOU PIECE OF SHIT, BERNKASTEL
Battler just ends up befriending everyone. It's like Kingdom Hearts with more murder.
Battler: Boy, I can't wait to reminisce over old times with my good pal Erika.
(fond flashbacks to the time he was semi-comatose and Erika promised him an eternity of sexual assault)
hey, Umineko, stop attacking me for being a fanfiction writer
Umineko: Look, it's really, really important for you to craft your own theories. This is a mystery; it follows the conventions of the genre; there are answers to be reached. There are clues. Don't just read passively.
Umineko: oh no, you crafted too many theories and now it's killing everyone
I'm going to be very unhappy if Beatrice and Battler sacrifice themselves.
Will and Dlanor fighting together is great.
'If you eat a cat, then you only get to enjoy it for one night. But if you let it live, it might start calling you names and getting sarcastic.' The classic pet ownership dilemma.
Battler made a closed room mystery where the answer was that there was NO CEILING oh my God I love him.
'I hope we can take advantage of the time they've given us,' Beatrice says to Battler, as the goats amass to destroy them, and I don't know whether she means 'let's bang on the tiny amount of land that still remains over the endless abyss, in front of these goats,' but I hope so.
There's all this 'OH NO, EVERYONE'S DETERMINED TO MAKE THE EVENTS ON ROKKENJIMA INTO A TRAGEDY' business, but... I mean, it doesn't take a lot of effort to make it into a tragedy. Approximately eighteen people were on the island, and there was a huge explosion, and only one person came back. It doesn't have to be a murder, but it takes real effort to find an explanation that isn't a tragedy.
Ange and Erika constantly deadpan insulting each other is great.
I have no idea what's going on now. Ange jumped off the roof and landed so hard she woke up in the past?
I really can't look at Kyrie and Rudolf the same way, even after that 'that this is truth... isn't necessarily so' nonsense. If I recall correctly (it's possible I'm wrong), we were told at some point in episode five that the actions of pieces are constrained by their characters; you can't make a piece do something that person would never do under their own power. So Kyrie, on the day she went to Rokkenjima, was totally capable of cold-bloodedly murdering everyone for money and going 'lol I don't give a shit about Ange', whether she actually did it or not.
Battler and Ange having this gentle reunion and Battler matter-of-factly saying 'We're already dead' and my heart can't handle this. I'm so weak against fictional siblings.
I sobbed a bit and the cat looked at me in alarm.
I laughed at the fact that they then ended up having a physical squabble.
Why don't I have any phone numbers saved in here? Oh, right, I have no friends.
'hey, look, I care about this person, so you're only allowed to eat her arms and legs'
Battler, please stop trying to sacrifice yourself!
I am not at all surprised that this series contains a scene of mutually attempted vore between Lambdadelta and Bernkastel.
I love the bit explaining that you can shoot a theorist with a gun, and it'll kill a fantasy-supporting theorist by being a tangible symbol of the capacity of humans to commit the crimes, and it'll kill any other theorist by being a gun.
'The Ushiromiya family never turns back!' exclaims Kinzo, the guy who fucked his daughter because she looked like his lost mistress.
Is Battler going to die of mystery novels? In a way, did everyone in this visual novel die of mystery novels?
everyone please stop dying (this could be the tagline for Umineko)
HECK YEAH, BUILD YOUR OWN TRUTH
I'm grinning so delightedly at this triumphant return of all these fucking terrible people. The Ushiromiya family is the most horrendous mess and I love it.
This ending is just a magnificent FUCK REALITY, WHO NEEDS IT. I'm so happy.
I laughed aloud at Beatrice retorting with 'I'LL MAKE YOU WATCH BATTLER FLIRT WITH ME EVERY DAY' when Ange says she hasn't accepted their relationship.
Beatrice showed Ange her left hand was empty, and she waved it around, and then she opened her right hand and there was a sweet in it. 'Was this a trick or magic?' the game asks me.
It was magic. Of course it was magic.
yes, Ange, you make that decision to live ♥
THE THIRD DAY
Battler is alive! I was wondering about the fact that we never seemed to see him die!
Beatrice demands that Battler close his eyes because she's too embarrassed to kiss him if he's looking at her face, and then she slaps him when he tries to open his eyes afterwards. You guys are ridiculous. And also extremely cute.
BATTLER'S EMBARRASSED TO BE KISSED, YOU USELESS KIDS
I'm strangely, intensely glad that Ange has made the decision to write. I think she needs it. Plus it's good just that she's now able to look at the future and go 'there's something I want to do.'
Though Lambdadelta had been brutally dismembered in the final fight, she had survived. But, unfortunately, she was still dismembered. So, Bernkastel was sewing her arms and head back on with a needle and thread.
what the fuck
Put your mind at ease, as there is nothing remotely terrifying about this scene.
thanks, Umineko
Awww, it's good to know Will and Lion are still hanging out.
Ange wrote novels about Sakotarou! My heart!
'HARI-POTA': HARRY THE POTATO
HOLY SHIT, THIS IS THE BEST THING IN THE ENTIRETY OF UMINEKO
You can't just stick eighteen-year-old Battler's face unaltered under some grey hair and claim it's him as an old man! That's really disconcerting!
Okay, no, I hate 'Battler's body is still alive but he's fundamentally not Battler any more and has no emotional attachment to his memories as Battler' and I reject this epilogue, even if it did give us Harry the Potato.
Fortunately, Umineko will entirely support me if I want to reject the truth it shows me and create my own truth in its place! Ange and Battler were reunited around the year 2000, and Battler was fully himself, and it was intense and beautiful, and no one can take that away from me. The Tea Party can stay, but there's no ?????? for episode eight.
...did Ange just functionally murder Tohya to get her brother back? I... I mean, this is a morally horrific action, but I'll be honest: I can get behind it.
(EDIT, eighteen hours later: I can't stop thinking about Battler plunging into the ocean after Beatrice. I think that's going to stay with me for a long time. I think Umineko as a whole is going to stay with me for a long time.)
And that's the end of Umineko: When They Cry!
What a strange, intense, beautiful, bewildering experience this has been. I can't believe I only started reading this in November. And I took a two-month break in the middle, so I read all over-a-million-words of it in the space of two months. I have lived a thousand years in that time. I have learnt so much about magic. I have accepted the terrible Ushiromiya family thoroughly into my heart.
Especially Battler, this goddamn idiot.
It's so strange to be finished! What am I going to do now? (Wait impatiently for chapter seven of Higurashi, I suppose.)
I've finished the eighth and final instalment of Umineko: When They Cry!
NATSUHI IS GIVING SEPARATE INSTRUCTIONS TO KANON AND SHANNON, WHAT, DOES THIS CHALLENGE THE THEORY I WAS SO CONVINCED OF
Then again, Natsuhi has interacted with Beatrice, so maybe she buys into other Attempted Murder Baby Collective illusions as well.
KANON JUST PHONED GENJI IN A ROOM SHANNON WAS IN, IS EPISODE EIGHT JUST FUCKING WITH ME
Okay, Kinzo's alive and he's being nice, this episode is definitely fucking with me.
Is this a universe where the Ushiromiya family isn't a complete dysfunctional mess? What a scary thought.
Aww, Battler being concerned for Ange but not knowing what's wrong, so all he can do is squeeze her hand to let her know she can talk when she's ready.
He doesn't rush her; he just stays quietly near her. What a good big brother.
As weird as this universe is, it's nice to see Battler and Beatrice together again. And happily getting along! I enjoy their relationship, regardless of whether they're BFFs or psychologically destroying each other (or BFFs who psychologically destroy each other).
'See you later, Beato.'
'Of course! I have a mountain of things I wish to discuss with you. And I'd like to have some time alone tonight. We must act the part of a married couple every now and then.'
Beatrice, don't make arrangements to bang Battler when his six-year-old sister is right there!
awww, Battler carrying sleepy Ange
Poor Eva. She had to hide the truth, because Ange couldn't know her parents were murderers. And Ange assumed Eva was the culprit as a result.
Is Battler trying to say to Ange that the truth, in a world where nothing can be declared with certainty, is what you believe, and there's nothing to prevent you from accepting a kinder 'truth' if it makes things less painful? That night, we've been told, Ange's parents murdered everyone on the island and were killed in self-defence. But does Ange have to believe that? There are a thousand possibilities for how things played out, and the 'real' version is agonising, and accepting it doesn't bring the victims back. So is it okay to create a different reality, to believe in a world where the people you love aren't responsible for these murders; it was a witch?
A tragedy happened; that much we know. Do we need to speculate on it; do we need to pick it apart? Or will that just cause more pain unnecessarily?
The philosophical questions Umineko raises are fascinating.
Okay, I cheated on the ambulance puzzle and looked up the answer (I actually stumbled across
keltena's Tumblr post about it!), but IN MY DEFENCE it required knowledge of Japanese emergency numbers.Kinzo and Genji are definitely boyfriends.
BEATRICE HUGS NATSUHI, THIS IS GREAT.
ROSA, NO, DON'T ASK A MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM ABOUT TRANSPORTING GOLD INGOTS BEFORE ROKKENJIMA EXPLODES
I failed on Rosa's problem. I was deceived, and I accept this. (Maria's also fooled me. She's such a dick about it, too!)
You know, Rudolf, it's pretty terrible that you swapped your wife and mistress's babies because it was more convenient for you if the mistress had the stillbirth, but, frankly, it's probably for the best that Battler wasn't raised by Kyrie.
I'm getting slightly tearful over the fact that Ange had a nice evening with her family, even if (especially because?) it wasn't real.
Okay, no, I'm not getting slightly tearful, I'm outright sobbing.
I'M CRYING SO MUCH OVER ALL THESE INCREDIBLY TERRIBLE PEOPLE. I'm a mess.
Ange, please don't go where everyone is. I mean, I'd love to see you hanging out with all of them, but they... they are all technically dead.
I got stuck for ages on the game Bernkastel presented, because I became fixated on Maria's claim 'looks like all the victims died instantly' on the first twilight. I'd worked out that someone from the first twilight had to be alive, therefore Maria was lying, therefore Maria was a culprit. Therefore George was also a culprit, because he'd claimed Maria couldn't kill anyone. But no; I suppose by 'the victims' she meant 'the people who'd actually died' rather than 'the apparent victims'.
My first accusation was George, Maria, Rosa, Eva and Hideyoshi (as George and Maria, if culprits, could have lied about whether their parents were alive). Then I remembered the claim after the second twilight that the culprit of the first twilight really did kill six people, and I concluded that two people had to have survived the first twilight, in that case. So I tried accusing George, Maria, Eva and Hideyoshi.
Then I just went, Okay, here are the facts:
- I'm pretty sure two people survived the first twilight
- I don't have any real way of knowing which two
- but I do know that culprit kids can lie about their parents' deaths
- I'm pretty sure one of George and Battler is a culprit, because George says Nanjo couldn't have been killed in the guesthouse and Battler says Nanjo never left the guesthouse, and they can't both be telling the truth
- if George is a culprit, so is Maria, and vice-versa, meaning there are three potentially alive parents and I can't narrow it down to two
- if Battler is a culprit, on the other hand, Kyrie and Rudolf could have survived the first twilight: two survivors, the number I need
- let's try Battler, Kyrie and Rudolf
Boom! I had the right answer, but, I'll be honest, I didn't feel that great about how I'd got there. I don't have a clue how they did the murders; I just brute-forced it!
Honestly, I don't know why I bothered trying to reason when I could have just gone 'okay, it's Bernkastel; which combination of culprits will make Ange suffer the most?'
HOLY SHIT, ERIKA SAVES THE DAY???
'That this is all truth... isn't necessarily so' YOU PIECE OF SHIT, BERNKASTEL
Battler just ends up befriending everyone. It's like Kingdom Hearts with more murder.
Battler: Boy, I can't wait to reminisce over old times with my good pal Erika.
(fond flashbacks to the time he was semi-comatose and Erika promised him an eternity of sexual assault)
hey, Umineko, stop attacking me for being a fanfiction writer
Umineko: Look, it's really, really important for you to craft your own theories. This is a mystery; it follows the conventions of the genre; there are answers to be reached. There are clues. Don't just read passively.
Umineko: oh no, you crafted too many theories and now it's killing everyone
I'm going to be very unhappy if Beatrice and Battler sacrifice themselves.
Will and Dlanor fighting together is great.
'If you eat a cat, then you only get to enjoy it for one night. But if you let it live, it might start calling you names and getting sarcastic.' The classic pet ownership dilemma.
Battler made a closed room mystery where the answer was that there was NO CEILING oh my God I love him.
'I hope we can take advantage of the time they've given us,' Beatrice says to Battler, as the goats amass to destroy them, and I don't know whether she means 'let's bang on the tiny amount of land that still remains over the endless abyss, in front of these goats,' but I hope so.
There's all this 'OH NO, EVERYONE'S DETERMINED TO MAKE THE EVENTS ON ROKKENJIMA INTO A TRAGEDY' business, but... I mean, it doesn't take a lot of effort to make it into a tragedy. Approximately eighteen people were on the island, and there was a huge explosion, and only one person came back. It doesn't have to be a murder, but it takes real effort to find an explanation that isn't a tragedy.
Ange and Erika constantly deadpan insulting each other is great.
I have no idea what's going on now. Ange jumped off the roof and landed so hard she woke up in the past?
I really can't look at Kyrie and Rudolf the same way, even after that 'that this is truth... isn't necessarily so' nonsense. If I recall correctly (it's possible I'm wrong), we were told at some point in episode five that the actions of pieces are constrained by their characters; you can't make a piece do something that person would never do under their own power. So Kyrie, on the day she went to Rokkenjima, was totally capable of cold-bloodedly murdering everyone for money and going 'lol I don't give a shit about Ange', whether she actually did it or not.
Battler and Ange having this gentle reunion and Battler matter-of-factly saying 'We're already dead' and my heart can't handle this. I'm so weak against fictional siblings.
I sobbed a bit and the cat looked at me in alarm.
I laughed at the fact that they then ended up having a physical squabble.
Why don't I have any phone numbers saved in here? Oh, right, I have no friends.
'hey, look, I care about this person, so you're only allowed to eat her arms and legs'
Battler, please stop trying to sacrifice yourself!
I am not at all surprised that this series contains a scene of mutually attempted vore between Lambdadelta and Bernkastel.
I love the bit explaining that you can shoot a theorist with a gun, and it'll kill a fantasy-supporting theorist by being a tangible symbol of the capacity of humans to commit the crimes, and it'll kill any other theorist by being a gun.
'The Ushiromiya family never turns back!' exclaims Kinzo, the guy who fucked his daughter because she looked like his lost mistress.
Is Battler going to die of mystery novels? In a way, did everyone in this visual novel die of mystery novels?
everyone please stop dying (this could be the tagline for Umineko)
HECK YEAH, BUILD YOUR OWN TRUTH
I'm grinning so delightedly at this triumphant return of all these fucking terrible people. The Ushiromiya family is the most horrendous mess and I love it.
This ending is just a magnificent FUCK REALITY, WHO NEEDS IT. I'm so happy.
I laughed aloud at Beatrice retorting with 'I'LL MAKE YOU WATCH BATTLER FLIRT WITH ME EVERY DAY' when Ange says she hasn't accepted their relationship.
Beatrice showed Ange her left hand was empty, and she waved it around, and then she opened her right hand and there was a sweet in it. 'Was this a trick or magic?' the game asks me.
It was magic. Of course it was magic.
yes, Ange, you make that decision to live ♥
THE THIRD DAY
Battler is alive! I was wondering about the fact that we never seemed to see him die!
Beatrice demands that Battler close his eyes because she's too embarrassed to kiss him if he's looking at her face, and then she slaps him when he tries to open his eyes afterwards. You guys are ridiculous. And also extremely cute.
BATTLER'S EMBARRASSED TO BE KISSED, YOU USELESS KIDS
I'm strangely, intensely glad that Ange has made the decision to write. I think she needs it. Plus it's good just that she's now able to look at the future and go 'there's something I want to do.'
Though Lambdadelta had been brutally dismembered in the final fight, she had survived. But, unfortunately, she was still dismembered. So, Bernkastel was sewing her arms and head back on with a needle and thread.
what the fuck
Put your mind at ease, as there is nothing remotely terrifying about this scene.
thanks, Umineko
Awww, it's good to know Will and Lion are still hanging out.
Ange wrote novels about Sakotarou! My heart!
'HARI-POTA': HARRY THE POTATO
HOLY SHIT, THIS IS THE BEST THING IN THE ENTIRETY OF UMINEKO
You can't just stick eighteen-year-old Battler's face unaltered under some grey hair and claim it's him as an old man! That's really disconcerting!
Okay, no, I hate 'Battler's body is still alive but he's fundamentally not Battler any more and has no emotional attachment to his memories as Battler' and I reject this epilogue, even if it did give us Harry the Potato.
Fortunately, Umineko will entirely support me if I want to reject the truth it shows me and create my own truth in its place! Ange and Battler were reunited around the year 2000, and Battler was fully himself, and it was intense and beautiful, and no one can take that away from me. The Tea Party can stay, but there's no ?????? for episode eight.
...did Ange just functionally murder Tohya to get her brother back? I... I mean, this is a morally horrific action, but I'll be honest: I can get behind it.
(EDIT, eighteen hours later: I can't stop thinking about Battler plunging into the ocean after Beatrice. I think that's going to stay with me for a long time. I think Umineko as a whole is going to stay with me for a long time.)
And that's the end of Umineko: When They Cry!
What a strange, intense, beautiful, bewildering experience this has been. I can't believe I only started reading this in November. And I took a two-month break in the middle, so I read all over-a-million-words of it in the space of two months. I have lived a thousand years in that time. I have learnt so much about magic. I have accepted the terrible Ushiromiya family thoroughly into my heart.
Especially Battler, this goddamn idiot.
It's so strange to be finished! What am I going to do now? (Wait impatiently for chapter seven of Higurashi, I suppose.)
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It's straight out of the uncanny valley, honestly.
I'm sure they also still psychologically destroy each other! It's just fully consensual now. ;)
(^ A victory pose from the official fighting game, incidentally.)
Whoa, small internet! But yeah, that one was a complete headache without the cultural context required. I was honestly surprised, because the localization on some of the previous ones had impressed me, but I guess there wasn't much they could do in that case.
I actually once saw an interesting meta post once on that subject, though so far I haven't had any luck finding it again. It went over evidence that Genji is in love with Kinzo in the context of the "why does he also call himself furniture despite not fitting either of its main narrative definitions??" issue—their idea was that internalized homophobia + being the servant of a very high-status, traditional Japanese family in love with his master = Genji considering himself to lack "the right to love" as well and adopting Sayo's terminology for it. It's not the official explanation, but I still like the idea a lot.
Oh god, Maria's puzzle. I spent literally the better part of a day trying desperately to come up with a strategy for solving it, to the point of digging out a pile of old mismatched Pokémon toys to physically act out the moves with, before it finally hit me that it was just more of the same exact misdirection trick Beato had been using the whole game. DAMN IT, MARIA.
umineko.txt
Back when I first hit that part, someone made a comment along the lines of, "You know, next time I'm feeling bad about myself, I should remind myself that even if I really were as awful as my brain says I am, Battler would probably still want to be my friend." The thought still makes me happy.
I am now incredibly sad that I already know that fanfic doesn't exist, because it's a beautiful thought.
Ange and Erika's dynamic is the most unexpectedly amazing thing!
Come on, Ryukishi, I want a whole bonus episode of them winding up in shenanigans together postgame!The surprising part is that it only contains one.
I will never stop being amazed by how Ange decides that a nice way to surprise Tohya would be surrounding him with the strongest flashback triggers possible for the memories he almost died from forcing himself to think about. It's. It's something. (Technically, "Ange effectively murdered Tohya to get Battler back" isn't quite the intended reading of that scene, but my eyebrows are still going to be raised at Ange's actions here for eternity.)
Congrats on finishing! It really is a surreal feeling to actually be done, and the Umineko withdrawal is real. I think when I finished the VN, I coped by just immersing myself in every single bit of Umineko content I could find now that I was safe from spoilers, haha. (...And by being Featherine at any new reader who came after me. The fandom cycle of abuse is eternal.) If more bonus content sounds like a good time to you, here's the extra TIPS released post-EP8:
If you want, I could throw more extra content, fanwork recs, and/or memes your way. But most importantly, enjoy your new existence as an Endless Witch!
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Coincidentally, every time you reply to my posts, I'm reminded again of how great you are. (Princess Tutu icons are also excellent!)
I was honestly surprised, because the localization on some of the previous ones had impressed me, but I guess there wasn't much they could do in that case.
I think part of the reason it threw me so badly was that they'd evidently put effort into the localisation, so my first thought was 'emergency numbers?' and then 'wait, Japanese emergency numbers? but they'd have localised them, right?' and then 'but surely they're aware that English-speaking parts of the world have different emergency numbers, surely they wouldn't localise them without specifying which country's numbers they're using' and then 'I suppose it can't be emergency numbers, then.' Surprise!
Ooh, I love that Genji theory.
Back when I first hit that part, someone made a comment along the lines of, "You know, next time I'm feeling bad about myself, I should remind myself that even if I really were as awful as my brain says I am, Battler would probably still want to be my friend."
I went 'awwww' aloud at this. Battler ♥
The one where Ange and Virgilia are an Umineko BL doujin circle, and that should be all I need to say.
HOLY SHIT
Battler Absolute Uke ANGE WHAT
I don't mind omitting big brother for once.
ANGE, DO YOU SPECIALISE IN BL DOUJIN ABOUT YOUR BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING (I bet Beatrice loves it)
My role is, as always, to head towards the thunderstorm and scream, BEATRIIIIICE.
This is already the best thing I have ever read.
People searching for Kinzô and Genji are pretty rare anyway.
PEOPLE EVIDENTLY HAVE NO TASTE.
I love that Ange's objection to pairing up her big brother and her dad is that they obviously can't let Battler top.
I hate this witch's game!!
I feel I owe Battler an apology for being so amused. I can't believe this exists.
Battler/Battler? I'm into this. (Black Battler tormenting Tohya: also good.)
I'll check out the rest when I have a moment! I just... really needed to read that one immediately. (I will take all the weird Umineko content you want to share!)
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Aha, thank you! I really enjoy talking to you, so I'm glad to hear that. (And yes, Princess Tutu is also excellent. ♥)
I'll be honest, this is exactly the reaction I was hoping for with that description.
All right, let me see what I have! This is probably going to be a lot of links, but I figured you could just check out the ones that interest you. As far as official content goes...
There's a handy wiki page listing all the extra TIPS out there, many of which have translations on the wiki. (Most or all of the ones included in Tsubasa probably also have translations on YouTube somewhere.) I think I've linked you a good chunk of them already, but you should be able to find the rest there.
Answer to the Golden Witch is a really interesting interview between Ryukishi07 and a fan from shortly after EP8 was released. If discussion of Ryukishi07's creative choices and the Japanese fandom's reaction at the time interests you, it might be worth checking out.
There's also an official Umineko fighting game, Golden Fantasia, which is... honestly very cool! I mean, I can't properly appreciate the gameplay because I'm terrible at fighting games, but it has beautiful sprites and backgrounds, and a lot of great details in the characters' movesets and animations. Here's a short video showing everyone's ridiculous super moves—if nothing else, I'd recommend looking at Erika's because it's amazing—and here's a playlist of the story mode routes, which are short and often cracky. I've only played about half of them myself, but of those, the Shannon/Black Battler and Erika/Dlanor routes are my favorites for being, respectively, a surprisingly fascinating character study and the hardest I've ever laughed while playing it. Jessica/Kanon, Dlanor/Virgilia, and Will/Kanon are also delightful.
From what I've seen, there's a bunch of official Umineko image songs out there. I'm not familiar enough to recommend any of them except "Declaration of Love", the work of art that is George's official image song (yes, really), but they're probably not too hard to find. The four official soundtrack releases also have some bonus tracks—this one is my favorite, personally.
And... as of last fall, there are some crazy people making an official English dub of the visual novel??? To be released in the form of a free patch for the VN that also includes the PS3 graphics, along with a free audiobook adaptation featuring the same cast. The Kickstarter to fund the project has been worryingly delayed by red tape for a while, but hopefully it will still happen. They've released an excerpt from the audiobook with added visuals—and an amazing dub of the anime OP, "One-Winged Bird"—to preview some of the VAs, and I'm really impressed so far. I recommend giving it a look; if for no other reason, then because Battler's English VA does an excellent job at this:
As for fan content... I'm not the best source of Umineko fic recs, because my "to-read" list is several times the length of my "read" list, but out of what I have read:
On the fanart front, here's some I liked. (On the off chance you're not already familiar, be aware that browsing Pixiv at large without filters will probably result in porn thumbnails on your screen.)
And some other fun stuff:
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I've now read 'Our Confession', which was fascinating (and horrifying)! Also:
Excluding exceptions like Genji, most bribees are easier to manage if they aren't informed that they're involved with murder.
what the fuck, Genji
I also watched the Labour Thanksgiving Day story you linked to in an earlier comment! I was initially perplexed by the tale of how George's present was switched with Jessica's and Eva went 'oh, what a nice present', the end - I was going 'that's not a story!' - but now I've realised it's a story of how George is an idiot who goes 'of course, it's the thought that counts' and then drops 200,000 yen needlessly on a present for his mother, when his mother adores him and would be delighted to receive anything thoughtful.
Regarding the fighting game special moves: oh my fucking God, George. (ALSO, IS ANGE'S SPECIAL MOVE HER FALLING FROM A GREAT HEIGHT ONTO THE ENEMY, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS EXISTS)
I also can't believe there are so many Umineko characters that the fighting game, A GENRE THAT TRADITIONALLY HAS LOADS OF CHARACTERS, had to leave a bunch of them out. I wanted to see Natsuhi's special move!
I'd caught sight of YOU'RE BACK ON YOUR ASSHOLE GRANDPA'S PRIVATE ISLAND on AO3 and I've been looking speculatively at it, largely because it's got the best title I've seen in my life.
Loving all the fanart! (I laughed far too hard at Eva and Rosa falling down the stairs. My housemate came into the room to check I was okay. AND NOW I'M LOOKING THROUGH THE REST OF OHCORNY'S UMINEKO STUFF AND IT'S ALL INCREDIBLE. I also love how much gogopri loves Battler!)
An audiobook version would be incredible (and more accessible to people who don't play visual novels). I suppose you'd need distinctive voices for all the billions of characters so the listener can keep track of things, though.
The voices in the extract seem pretty good on that front! They're obviously putting real effort and care into this project. (Also, I love that it has a female narrator; nothing else would make sense!)
listen to Battler completely failing to keep it together, this is so good, I cannot wait for this.