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[beatojuice]

« un.owen » TEXT ✧ AUDIO ✧ VIDEO ✧ ACTION Beatrice ✦ Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
RESIDENCE ✦ Emerald District, Sumarlok
GEMBOND ✦ Ruby

Hoho, you dare to speak to the Golden Witch? Come, bring what tidings you may!

INFO ✧ PERMISSIONS ✧ KINKLIST ✧ EXTRA

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6/15

[loopsbian]

Miss Beato.
Are you, by any chance, in a position to offer a favor?
I appear to be stuck in a closet of some sort.

6/16

[beatojuice]

oh godd oh shit
are you okay
your not still in the closet are you
im so sorry yesterday got really weird and icant remember it well
after a point i stoped cheking mey phone

[loopsbian]

Am I? Who can say?
Why, perhaps I'm still stuck in that closet even now!

[ she isn't. she's being mean. ]

Miss Beato, you really should check your phone more often...
If I weren't such a resourceful young lady, you would have much to answer for right now!

(backdated to 7/5) text; un: comradek

[brokefate]

hey, i hope i'm not bothering you, beatrice
but i wanted to see if everything's alright
you haven't been at club for a while, and i understand if you've been too busy, but everyone misses you, including me,

(don't get me wrong, i'm glad you didn't see the outfit rena put me in last week)

[beatojuice]

[ It takes a few moments for her to respond but she does. He's definitely seen by now that she isn't the rude, taunting witch all the time, and right now her tone is serious, even a bit more on the formal side. ]

I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Keiichi-san.
You are aware that there was... trouble between Satoko and Rika, yes?
I was trying to advise both of them, and inadvertently led to their confrontation. I was also giving what in hindsight, was some truly bad advice, without understanding the situation. I made promises I should not have.
It would feel disingenuous to pretend the debt was cleared with their closest friends.
I apologize deeply, but those are empty words.

[ She doesn't know how much Keiichi knew, so she was leaving it at that. Even admitting that much was hard, but as their friend, he was owed something. ]

Satoko has been having a difficult time, so I've been coming to see her a lot. Doing what I can.

[brokefate]

Oh... they told me they had a fight, but neither of them told me what it was about.

But I don't think you should blame yourself. I think they both had things they needed to get out to one another, and they might have held those things inside. It could have caused resentment and hopelessness.

I have faith that Satoko and Rika-chan will work things out. So don't concern yourself with what I think, just keep being my friend like before, alright? ヽ(。ゝω・)ノ☆

FISHING DEITO - Early July - text then action

[loadbearing]

why is my phone buzzing with your name and FISHING next to it
and another saying ive rented fishing rods for a day

[beatojuice]

Wait, what? I've never gone fishing a day in my life. I would merely summon the beasts into my net if I did, or conjure meals fully prepared.

[ Beatrice scrolls up through their message log- and recoils in embarrassed horror. ]

You know what. Okay, fine. As long we get to eat it.

[loadbearing]

[Beatrice was doing more than Mikasa there. Mikasa had just gotten the alert and went straight into messaging the other woman. It was easier that way.]

we have to catch something worth eating first
eating a baby fish would be a waste of time

though it sounds like youre good luck
how quickly can you get here

[And what was attached was a map pin to a bridge. It crossed a small stream that seemed good enough for fishing.]

[in July after new arrivals] [audio]

[golden_dream]

[Rosa had been trying to adjust. Trying to survive. Trying not to stare in profound horror at her new environment and not feel utterly trapped. Caught between fear and relief at being free of her obligations. But there was one unknown which preyed on her mind.

There was a listing for Beatrice in the network.

What should she do? What could she do? She couldn't bear the idea of meeting her on the street. Therefore... she had to settle accounts. Convince herself it wasn't real. She gathered her courage, a process that took days, and finally called. She hadn't understood the phenomenon of "texting" yet.

Who would pick up? Who would answer?]

H-Hello? [...] Beatrice?

let's say a couple days before the deaging event starts

[beatojuice]

[ For several seconds, there is no answer. Is that voice really who she thinks it is? If she was here, if even that "detective" was here, it makes sense that a member of the family could be here. Indeed, she had been hoping for that. All of them deserved a chance to be saved, a chance to be free of their sorrows. Since coming here, Beatrice had prayed for that.

And yet... did it have to be her? No, she was getting ahead of herself. It was probably somebody else, right? ]

Yes, this is the Golden Witch, Beatrice. And who is it that calls upon me?

[ Her speech is quite different from that of the demure woman from so long ago. It's an odd mix of aristocratic and tomboyish, elegant and rude. But it might sound vaguely familiar. Perhaps just a little bit like a different voice she had heard before. A couple voices, even. But the witch was good at veiling herself. It's hard to place that familiarity. ]

[golden_dream]

...You know who I am.

[...]

Long time no see.

[It was an ironic statement, and yet soul-crushingly heartbreaking. Said with no attempt at humor.]

text | un: konoha

[lumberlady]

[a few days after a certain feral-adjacent gem transformation...]

greetings
is this way to contact BEATRICE, the witch of gold?

[beatojuice]

It is indeed!

My, this is a familiar name.

[ And also a familiar way of writing messages. ]

[lumberlady]

[please do not perceive her, beatrice!!!!]

hello
yes
is konoha 👩🐎

i wish to convey gratitude
for help received when GEM is hot

10/30

[loopsbian]

[ the morning of the thirtieth, satoko leaves to take care of some errands. she wears a simple skirt and buttoned top, almost reminiscent of st. lucia's; she reassures beatrice that she won't be too long.

and then, there is nothing.

an hour passes, and then two, and then four. it's fifteen hours later, just after midnight, that a knock finally comes at the door and an all-too-familiar voice comes through. ]

Miss Beato? [ she sounds... tired, on many levels. drained, almost. should beatrice open the door, she'll see the same satoko as ever - though clad in an orange hoodie and denim overalls. ] I'm afraid I don't have my keys on me.

[beatojuice]

[ She'd seen Satoko off with a wave, intending to get caught up with a few things herself today— she's been doing the bookkeeping for Monika's shop, and she's still taking classes at Zima Academy.

But as the hours stretch on, Beatrice begins to worry. After a two hours she sends a message. Another hour, and she sends several more. And she continues to bombard them throughout the day, eventually sending messages to their mutual friends in the club.

When Satoko finally comes home, wearing different clothes, Beato brings her in immediately, worry plastered all over her face. She rests a hand and Satoko's shoulder, looking at her intently. Was she okay? She still assumes she'd just gotten lost, and for some reason lost her keys and needed to buy a change of clothes. ]

Satoko! Where have you been!? Are you okay?

[meforsaken]

[Ding dong! At her doorstep, Beatrice receives a giant cookie that says, written in frosting,

"Sorry for stabbing your girlfriend! :("]

text | un: un.owen

[beatojuice]

Such eloquent diplomacy! I am in awe.

in person; 11/12

[loopsbian]

[ the world of witches is both alien and mundane, in a sense that feels very intuitive to her. some days, she acts on the whims of something ancient and eldritch; some days, she acts on the whims of a teenage girl; and the terrifying part lies in how they are the same existence, if not entirely the same person.

today lies closer to the latter than the former. she has no grand plans, no irons in the fire. she doesn't intend to free new arrivals from the diamond guard's cuffs, or start fights she knows she won't win. she's simply bored in a very mundane, very normal sense. it's about midday when, staring up at her friend and ex-roommate from her position on the couch, satoko speaks up to say: ]

...hey, Sayo. [ a notepad and pencil lays unused in her lap, half-started sketches and tanka covering the front. ] An odd question, perhaps, but- would you want to go see a movie sometime?

[beatojuice]

[ Beatrice visits Satoko quite frequently since moving in with Jessica. Perhaps it is a little tense at first, after the resolution of the flashpoint between her and Jessica. But things settle back into a more normal relationship soon enough. Satoko is a beloved friend, and they understand each other more deeply than perhaps anybody else. She has changed, its true, sometimes in unnerving ways, but it's still her and Beato likes being with her.

Like most days, she's perfectly content to sit quietly with Satoko, reading or studying or working on art. Sometimes leaning on her or holding her hand, sometimes exchanging remarks. She loves seeing how Satoko has explored her artistic side too— that's a frequent topic of conversation. ]

Oh? Of course I would.

[ An odd question indeed. They watch movies all the time. What would be strange about that? She thinks about the question a little more. Could it be that in this asking, the question is an odd one? What would that mean? Unless... oh. ]

Ah, do you mean...

Homework tea party

[poisondawn]

[ It was strange how the universe worked, somehow partnering these two for an assignment. A simple enough task that required a presentation. They’d agreed to do the research together at the library, quietly perusing books and searching for reputable sources online.

It was going smoothly, as far as Roxana was concerned. Neither wanted to do poorly after all. ]

It’s only a few minutes, so I think we should summarize this bit some more.

[beatojuice]

[ Beatrice takes her studies quite seriously. By understanding the basis of this world's magic, she may yet understand some fraction of Malachite's power. By understanding that, she can rewrite sad endings into something more suitable.

Therefore, she readily agreed to work together with Roxana. For all her pompous posturing before, she'd left an unmistakable impression on the witch, an ally useful to have. ]

Yes, yes, I suppose so. What ought to be condensed, then? The professor shall want to know that we have a firm grasp of theory, but that is often a dreadful time waster.

[ Beatrice's own magic is literally art rather than a science, in any case. Much of this knowledge has been as alien to her as it would be to any beginner, so she has had no particular advantage when it comes to studying magic on a theoretical level. ]

Delivery >> 25th December, Morning

[peninhand]

[ A small package arrives at her place on the morning of Christmas. Inside is a party dress that's somewhere between what Beatrice usually wears and something more modest like what her true self would usually wear.

There is a poem on the card, about happy endings and love. It's signed by Monika. ]

[beatojuice]

[ Monika gets a gold bracelet, and a color drawing of herself with her friends. Additionally, there is a note in her (un)surprisingly elegant handwriting: ]

Monika, I know not how to express the enormity my gratitude towards you. You have dreamed with me, grown with me, and soothed my troubled heart in times of grief. I have had the privilege of watching you embrace your freedom and build a world for yourself, brick by brick. We have lifted each other to ever greater heights, so very far from the cages that once bound us. I am so proud of who you have become.

Your beloved friend,
Beatrice the Golden
Sayo Yasuda