"The End is Just a New Beginning" | The Princess VS Featherine Augustus Aurora (Slay the Princess VS Umineko: When They Cry) | Connections in Comments

[u/Duragoji123]

By u/wtfbooomsh

[u/Duragoji123]

Connections:

(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR UMINEKO AND SLAY THE PRINCESS BELOW)

• Mysterious and fashionably dressed women of honorable positions (The Princess being a... princess | Featherine being the Head of the Witch Senate) who serve as the main overarching obstacle in their visual novel-based story, which is a metafictional subversion of a certain genre/storytelling trope (Fairy tales where the princess is a damsel in distress meant to be saved | Murder mysteries).
• Initially, they appear to our protagonists as cold, calculating, manipulative, but ultimately normal individuals, however quickly reveal they are much more than they seem, truthfully being magical and unexplainable in nature (The Princess trapping The Hero in her 'lies', changing and morphing depending on their perception of her | Featherine appearing as Ikuko at first, but swiftly revealing that she was a witch).
• With their nature slowly being revealed to us over the course of the story, their full reality warping might is put on display, with it being shown they have control over reality, the multiverse, and even the very plot of the story itself.
• They are feared and shunned by the signature authorial figures of their universes, with their reputation preceding them (The Narrator is terrified of what the Princess is capable of to an extraordinary degree, leading him to trying to use the Long Quiet to prevent the end of everything from coming | Every witch, though most notably the likes of Bern and Lambda, are terrified of Featherine, with it being considered taboo to even attack those closely associated with her as per witch custom and also because of Auau's power).
• However, they do have somewhat of a contrast here with the Princess being in opposition to the Narrator while Featherine herself is the author of the story.
• Their big goal involves manipulating the protagonists through a loop made by another individual (The Construct, which was made by the Narrator | Beatrice's gameboard) and turning everything into a meaningless flow of void, which will spell bad news for the main characters and the ones guiding them if it comes to past. Really though, this goal is lined with a lot of nuance, attempting to assist our amnesiac protagonist with accepting a tragedy and moving on from it while also dealing with a lot of mental struggles of their own (The Princess sending the Hero on a quest to retrieve her lost selves and trying to get him and all of the personalities within - really the Long Quiet - to remember his former glory and rise back up to be with her again, in the process also trying to remember for herself what she was | Featherine's pursuit of the single truth is really just Ikuko wanting Tohya - who is a new personality that spawned in Battler's body after he 'survived' the Rokkenjima massacre - to remember the tragedy that happened to him, accept it, and move on from it in the form of writing stories on it, also in attempt to appease her mental boredom which is literally lethal to her).
• Their true form is that of an immutable law of the universe itself, supporting it in conjunction with others and acting as a transmitter of life and more into it (The Princess actually being the Shifting Mound, which is the very concept of change and the embodiment of the 'ebb and flow', and acts alongside the Long Quiet to balance the universe | Featherine's true self being an indescribable Actor Entity, which exists as a fundamental law that permeates itself throughout the universe alongside other Voyagers).

[u/Duragoji123 → u/Duragoji123]

• This 'true form' is what gives them their anomalous properties, especially in regards to their ability to be in a constant state and flow of 'change' (The Shifting Mound existing as the Absolute Reality, the totality of all of the Princess' alternate selves, and the concept of change | The actor is an entity whose entire purpose is to play different roles, with characters like Featherine, Ikuko, Hanyuu, and Eua being only temporary 'avatars' that it takes on, like a play) (Note: While it isn't yet completely 100% confirmed that Eua and Hanyuu are part of the actor, additional context from Ryukishi interviews and the way the entity itself is described, plus all the easter eggs involved with how Hanyuu and FAA relate to each other, makes this incredibly likely to be the case).
• However, this leads into one key difference between them: whereas the Princess represents change and peace with the concept of death and moving on from it, Featherine is deathly afraid of 'moving on' from her own reality despite what she is. She's scared to fully complete her journey to the Creator where she'll become 'one' with it and lose everything about herself, but in the process lives in a constant state of emotional stagnancy and existential agony. This serves to directly contrast the Princess' entire existence, which is change itself, and it leads to her actively wanting to rise back above the Construct with the Long Quiet to become 'one' again.
• Despite having elements of horror and existential dread, ultimately their stories are about learning to love and being able to move on and accept tragedy, with both having core statements reflecting this ("This is a story about love" | "Without love, it cannot be seen").
• [Debatable] If you believe the theory that it's both Tohya and Ikuko that make up Featherine, then both of them share an existence with an person incredibly close to them which ultimately gives them their ultimate power (The Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet being one singular entity in the Absolute Reality | Ikuko and Tohya both coming together to create Featherine, the author for themselves in the story of Umineko).

[u/Duragoji123 → u/Duragoji123]

Ideologies:

Honestly, this is the big thing that sold me on cooking this matchup, so I wanted to give it an entire section to its own. When I was playing through Slay the Princess, I noticed a lot of parallels between Featherine and the Princess (which is funny considering Beatrice is the first Umineko character people wanted her to fight; chat does this mean S=I is real?), and even picked up on comparisons in the little tidbits about their backstories we get through the text.

So really, cutting to the chase, I imagined the whole fight being a giant metaphor for Ikuko/Featherine's constant struggles in regards to her identity as well as her loneliness. As I touched on in the connections, a big part of Auau's entire journey is about coping with the fact that she can't move on without losing herself to the Creator, and therefore an implied representation of the fear of death without leaving behind a mark on the world. That's why Ikuko is a writer, after all; we know that she used to love writing novels, however after getting panned nigh-universally by the public her confidence was shattered. She's actively trying to create stories people can love, but she can never seem to find the right rhythm, at least until Tohya comes along and convinces her to put their ideas together to create something truly special.

The Princess kind of encapsulates the ideology of Ikuko just perfectly???? She's a meta construct designed around fairy tale princesses, the story of how the hero will always swoop in at the last second to unlock the doors to the big dark tower, and slay the dragon to save her. She represents an idea of stories back in the day when they were... more simple, easier to understand, and when people were more willing to listen to the tales everyone had to offer. Even after the whole thing about her being a conceptual entity which will bring destruction to reality is revealed, the main goal of the whole story is about coming to understand and accept the change she will bring, and about saving the both of you from your prison. Despite not being based around a mystery like Umineko is, STP still hinges big on the mystery and intrigue of who the Princess actually is, something which Featherine can play into perfectly with how she works as a character (she always wants to know things and figure out complex mysteries).

Once again, like mentioned in the connections, the Princess is the very concept of change itself who tries to encourage the Hero to move on from his hesitation and reluctance regarding embracing his true nature, which serves to counteract Featherine always wanting to hide away and shut herself off out of fear for change. So I imagine the fight being less of their powers meshing (which you can and should absolutely do in a fight, I just don't think it should be the main focus) and more of them trying to convince each other they have the correct outlook. Featherine constantly belittles others who claim to 'understand' her and her stories, when in reality all they do is read without comprehending the deeper messages... the heart behind storytelling. The Princess on the other hand is very intelligent, mainly emotionally, which would allow her to pick up on the messages FAA is putting forward with her writing. This could lead to a more nuanced understanding between the two, which leads into another big reason I came up with the idea...

[u/Duragoji123 → u/Duragoji123]

At the very tail end of Umineko, the last time we see Featherine is her giving a monologue to the audience in EP8's Tea Party. She says a lot of things here, a few of which have massive implications for her character, motives, backstory, etc., but the big thing I wanted to focus on here is what she says about her "friend". She mentions that a long time ago, she had a friend she respected very much teach her a very valuable lesson on the nature of stories; even though you put down the pen, that doesn't necessarily mean a story has to truly end. In other words, the end is just another beginning, and you can accept a change of pace without losing who you are or what you represent. Exactly what the Princess is, as a fundamental concept.

Essentially, this can lead to both of their egos clashing, before coming to one big cosmic understanding of their positions, before the 'fight' ends on a slow burn with it turning more into both trying to push their ideology onto the other and convince them of it. Because it directly brings up Featherine's friendship, something which an unfortunately very small number of Featherine's options do, you can give it a strong emotional core which fits into both the atmosphere of STP and Umineko; have the Princess try to save Auau from herself, but she just keeps pushing back and refusing to move on to true happiness because she's scared.

Regardless of who wins (which I'd imagine would be Featherine), you can have a great ending. Regardless of if the Princess wins or loses, I think the only right way for this to end is that she actually manages to win FAA over to her side, and convince her that while moving on might be scary..... it's okay; because, at the end of it all, the Princess is change, so she'll be right there by Hachijo's side to push her onward and give her assurance whenever she needs. It builds off of the theme of escapism and how both represent different aspects of it, and to also serve as a reminder it's okay to retreat to worlds you love but also that at some point you will need to face the world for what it is. However, you can face it with your own ideas and views, because that's what stories do; they inspire us, they teach us, and they allow us to bring the lessons we learn from them on our own journey even faced with the 'adversity' of change... because when you have a hold of yourself and who you are, change isn't really so bad, is it?.

Altogether, the perfect theme for a fight between Slay the Princess and Umineko IMO.

[u/Duragoji123 → u/Duragoji123]

Also yuri potential chat this is so peak

[u/AmbassadorDeep9297]

This truly Slays my Cry...

[u/Duragoji123 → u/AmbassadorDeep9297]

When They Slay 💅

[u/AmbassadorDeep9297 → u/AmbassadorDeep9297]

Peak

[u/WilburDrake]

Welp, looks like Featherine is about to Avenge Asriel, lmao.

[u/Emotional_Panda1454]

Ah Princess, you poor, poor thing. Getting low diffed by two Umineko characters. Peak MU! I especially love how their ideologies inherently clash, and that it could offer character development to Featherine!

[u/caski16 → u/Emotional_Panda1454]

Dunno about Low Diffed when she has arguments for Outer

[u/Emotional_Panda1454 → u/caski16]

Oh right, I forgot LOL. I still think she loses to both, they kind of just have all the right tools to beat her xD

[u/Duragoji123 → u/caski16]

Featherine is High Outer bare minimum so...

[u/caski16 → u/Duragoji123]

Well, at least Is Mid Diffed instead i guess

[u/Duragoji123 → u/caski16]

High Outer is infinite^infinite times above baseline Outerversal

[u/caski16 → u/Duragoji123]

Oh

Well

Damn

[u/Omensama]

Amazing writing as usual I kinda wanna update my Featherine tier list now

[u/Duragoji123 → u/Omensama]

[u/WTFBOOOMSH]

Damn, did not expect to see my TN here lol. Where’d you find it?

[u/Duragoji123 → u/WTFBOOOMSH]

Gosdoi

[u/caski16]

Three When They Cry MUs for the Princess, damn

What's next? a Ciconia MU?

[u/Duragoji123 → u/caski16]

Once Ryukishi decides to actually continue it..........

[u/caski16 → u/Duragoji123]

So...

Never basically

[u/Party_Importance_722]

Hydrogen bomb vs coughing baby ahh matchup 😭

[u/PrincePowers21]

RIP the princess

Should've stuck to bullying a flower

[u/Duragoji123 → u/PrincePowers21]

Nah don't worry

It ends with them making out trust

[u/PrincePowers21 → u/Duragoji123]

Or The Princess getting erased

Or

....

Lex luthor

[u/Duragoji123 → u/PrincePowers21]

Featherine wouldn't do this in-character

[u/PrincePowers21 → u/Duragoji123]

Fair, but this is Death Battle we're talking about.

[u/Duragoji123 → u/PrincePowers21]

What even is that supposed to mean 😭

[u/PrincePowers21 → u/Duragoji123]

That someone gotta die lol