古手 梨花 . Furude Rika ( "frederica" ) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
badend_replay) wrote2014-06-06 10:27 pm
badend_replay) wrote2014-06-06 10:27 pm
The Headache That is Bernkastel
Maybe the hardest and most insane thing to understand about Rika is "Furuderika Bernkastel". If you've read/watched Umineko than you probably know Bernkastel is a cat-tailed witch that likes to clean the tea out of cups and stare around blankly. And then sometimes troll people.
In Higurashi, Bernkastel has two major instances of being mentioned. The first is in the poems she writes; The arcs are usually accompanied with a sad and mysterious poem written by Frederica Bernkastel. The second is in Rei, and is the biggest connection between Rika and her "split personality.
To start, you need to keep in mind that Higurashi is about world jumping not time skipping. There is some time travel involved in the sense that Rika goes to a time before when she is supposed to die, but every time she dies she is sent to a new world rather than going back in time in the world she dies. Proof of this is shown due to the fact that Shion and Rena both have canon appearances as adults, and there is a tip about an interview with Keiichi. In all of these instances, time has progresses passed Rika's death, even though she does beat her fate eventually in canon. This means that Rika left these worlds where she died and time continued to pass in them.
So how does Rika World Hop anyway?
The key is Furude Hanyuu. It's suggested that both Hanyuu and Rika hold some power, which Hanyuu uses to create the world hopping. When Furude Rika dies in one world, Hanyuu gathers up the memories that Furude Rika held and sticks them in a Furude Rika in another world.
Naturally, this leads to a personality swap, which is where some distinctions will be made to avoid further confusion.
The Rika that has no memories of the cycle of dying is called "Furude Rika". She's a clean slate whose personality is of an innocent child. This is the girl that the other people of Hinamizawa know.
But when the memories of other worlds are put in her, she becomes "Frederica Bernkastel". Rika picks this name for herself, combining "Furuderika" into a Western name and then stealing "Bernkastel" from a brand of wine her father drinks. Rika says that she only feels alive and pain-free when she is drunk on the wine, so sarcastically says that "she is the wine".
Anyway.
Frederica Bernkastel is not, however, the witch from Umineko. Bernkastel in Umineko is cruel and sadistic and ruins people's lives for fun, which is certainly not the personality of Rika. Even Frederica Bernkastel, Rika's dark side, would never promote cruelty. She's trying to get out of the cruelty.
The distinction between Frederica Bernkastel and plain ol'Bern is made in Rei. In short, once Rika has defeated the cycle of death she continues to hold the "if I die, I can try again" mindset. This is definitely not a human mindset, at least, not a normal or healthy one. We see a glimpse of just how unhealthy this is in Minagorashi-hen, when Rika nearly commits suicide so she can go to a world where Satoko isn't abused.
In Rei, Rika realizes that she's developed this unhealthy tendency to leave worlds and look for happier ones in a non-human way. Like a witch, almost (FORESHADOW?). It is at this point, when Frederica Bernkastel decides that she wants to live a normal happy human life, that "Frederica" and "Bernkastel" split. Frederica accepts that she has found her final world and that the next time she dies, she is dead for good. And slowly, "Frederica" deconstructs back into a happy little "Furude Rika", who no longer has to suffer but can enjoy her life.
And Bernkastel floats off to go troll the hell out of people.
It can essentially be seen as all of the cute happy thoughts going to Frederica and all of the batshit insane going to Bernkastel. And then Bern's crazy multiples and triples and it just gets really bad.
Anyway, for the purpose of this Furude Rika...
I generally play her as "Frederica Bernkastel". She has not found her happy ending yet and continues to travel between worlds, so still retains both the "Frederica" side of her personality and the "Bernkastel" side. She is not a witch though. Frederica Bernkastel is just a girl with more memories than she needs.
In Higurashi, Bernkastel has two major instances of being mentioned. The first is in the poems she writes; The arcs are usually accompanied with a sad and mysterious poem written by Frederica Bernkastel. The second is in Rei, and is the biggest connection between Rika and her "split personality.
To start, you need to keep in mind that Higurashi is about world jumping not time skipping. There is some time travel involved in the sense that Rika goes to a time before when she is supposed to die, but every time she dies she is sent to a new world rather than going back in time in the world she dies. Proof of this is shown due to the fact that Shion and Rena both have canon appearances as adults, and there is a tip about an interview with Keiichi. In all of these instances, time has progresses passed Rika's death, even though she does beat her fate eventually in canon. This means that Rika left these worlds where she died and time continued to pass in them.
So how does Rika World Hop anyway?
The key is Furude Hanyuu. It's suggested that both Hanyuu and Rika hold some power, which Hanyuu uses to create the world hopping. When Furude Rika dies in one world, Hanyuu gathers up the memories that Furude Rika held and sticks them in a Furude Rika in another world.
Naturally, this leads to a personality swap, which is where some distinctions will be made to avoid further confusion.
The Rika that has no memories of the cycle of dying is called "Furude Rika". She's a clean slate whose personality is of an innocent child. This is the girl that the other people of Hinamizawa know.
But when the memories of other worlds are put in her, she becomes "Frederica Bernkastel". Rika picks this name for herself, combining "Furuderika" into a Western name and then stealing "Bernkastel" from a brand of wine her father drinks. Rika says that she only feels alive and pain-free when she is drunk on the wine, so sarcastically says that "she is the wine".
Anyway.
Frederica Bernkastel is not, however, the witch from Umineko. Bernkastel in Umineko is cruel and sadistic and ruins people's lives for fun, which is certainly not the personality of Rika. Even Frederica Bernkastel, Rika's dark side, would never promote cruelty. She's trying to get out of the cruelty.
The distinction between Frederica Bernkastel and plain ol'Bern is made in Rei. In short, once Rika has defeated the cycle of death she continues to hold the "if I die, I can try again" mindset. This is definitely not a human mindset, at least, not a normal or healthy one. We see a glimpse of just how unhealthy this is in Minagorashi-hen, when Rika nearly commits suicide so she can go to a world where Satoko isn't abused.
In Rei, Rika realizes that she's developed this unhealthy tendency to leave worlds and look for happier ones in a non-human way. Like a witch, almost (FORESHADOW?). It is at this point, when Frederica Bernkastel decides that she wants to live a normal happy human life, that "Frederica" and "Bernkastel" split. Frederica accepts that she has found her final world and that the next time she dies, she is dead for good. And slowly, "Frederica" deconstructs back into a happy little "Furude Rika", who no longer has to suffer but can enjoy her life.
And Bernkastel floats off to go troll the hell out of people.
It can essentially be seen as all of the cute happy thoughts going to Frederica and all of the batshit insane going to Bernkastel. And then Bern's crazy multiples and triples and it just gets really bad.
Anyway, for the purpose of this Furude Rika...
I generally play her as "Frederica Bernkastel". She has not found her happy ending yet and continues to travel between worlds, so still retains both the "Frederica" side of her personality and the "Bernkastel" side. She is not a witch though. Frederica Bernkastel is just a girl with more memories than she needs.