On the matter of getting my thoughts out I have interesting suspicions about Higurashi When They Cry Mei.
Now I am not big on the details but I know the original Higurashi When They Cry had Takano Miyo as the Culprit(the link shows her defeat I do believe) and that Hanyuu is the Patron Deity of Rika.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/HigurashiWhenTheyCryProtagonists gives us details on how the Protagonists work too.
That combined with every entry in Higurashi Mei’s Events and Unit List allows me to figure out where Higurashi Mei is going.
https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/%22Oyashiro%22_Rika_Furude combined with https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/w80khl/higurashi_mei_gousotsu_spoiler_character/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/11ldjs1/higurashi_mei_monster_of_darkness_satoko_hojo/ explains what is going on with the Gameboard.
Witch Satoko(the Witch’s abandonment of Satoko here(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m06RqGGGEaQ)) who is implied(despite the YouTube Title according to 07Ryukishi Eua is not Featherine but considering Featherine’s alias Hachijo which is similar to Satoko’s last name Hojo the Witch Eua seems to have inserted Featherine into Satoko) to be Lambdadelta seems to find Ayaka’s Player to be a threat and dangled Satoko in front of her while arranging for Mion to force said Player to loop into a Fragment with Rika.
After that Witch Satoko unleashes Monsters called Tsukuyami on Rika after she escapes Takano’s trap to make her an important fixture of Ayaka’s labyrinth of Worlds then sends people from the future to add further fixtures to the labyrinth.
https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/%22Witch_of_Despair%22_Rika_Furude is the end result of Witch Satoko’s scheme resulting in Ayaka’s Player(who is now playing Hanyuu) being forced to eliminate Rika while creating an imposter called the Witch of Despair Rika Furude.
https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni_Mei/Plot_Summary_Part_1 describes the characters that Witch Satoko(disguised as Midori Kawata as proven by her personality and liking of Takano Miyo) arranged to arrive in Hinamizawa.
https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Dimension_Academy_Z/Summary is about Ayaka’s Player using her Hanyuu disguise in an attempt to persuade Kazuho to offer herself up for dissection so that Ayaka’s Player can figure out how Kazuho unbalances the Gameboard.
https://07th-expansion.fandom.com/wiki/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni_Mei/Plot_Summary_Part_2 describes Witch Satoko(disguised as Midori Kawata) getting rid of Kazuho now that she served her purpose to have a Fragment where Rika exists yet gets captured.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/yzk6xz/higurashi_mei_monster_of_darkness_kazuho/ has Ayaka’s Player take advantage of Kazuho to experiment on the Tsukuyami for research and https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/10dulgx/higurashi_mei_monster_of_darkness_miyuki_akasaka/ has Ayaka’s Player lure Featherine’s Game Piece into opening herself up to Ayaka’s Player by creating an “Utsushiro” under her direct control.
Bernkastel’s Game Piece of course is already exposed as a Game Piece by Ayaka’s Player as shown by Bernkastel going pale after Nao’s Blue Truths removing Bernkastel as a major Player(and having Ayaka’s Player go scarce whenever Bernkastel shows up).
https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/13amp3d/higurashi_mei_monster_of_darkness_rika_furude/ shows Ayaka’s Player making a move to turn Rika into a Black Witch on her side as shown by https://www.reddit.com/r/Higurashinonakakoroni/comments/vtgnka/higurashi_mei_dark_awakening_rika_furude_and_dark/
Incidentally if Featherine’s name Ikuko Hachijo(19th person AKA the Culprit of Umineko) is an implication that Eua is metaphorically represented by Kyrie Ushiromiya in Umineko When They Cry then both Beatrice(whose backstory is suspiciously similar to Hanyuu’s) and Ange to my mind represents Meow Mitake who is Hanyuu which means Ange staying home represents Hanyuu leaving behind her Scent while she initiates her scheme in Ciconia When They Cry.
Of course(after Hanyuu is chased out of Satoko by Featherine and forced to defeat Featherine’s Player Eua) Eva(Rika’s Player in Higurashi When They Cry Gou) decides to give her power to Hanyuu’s scent(becoming Rika in the process) so that she can leave Rika which ultimately(after having Eva’s memories awakened by Featherine) turns her into Inori Mikazuki(and teams up with Lambdadelta in the form of Kururu who is projecting herself into the Umineko Gameboard) from Higurashi Rei(wa) while she avoids Eua.
Since Eva is a Black Witch(probably due to Eua shoving Rosa’s power into her) that means that Ayaka’s Player awakening Rika as a Black Witch is the resurrection of Rosa Ushiromiya.
As to what happens next: I suspect the presence of Rika alongside Rena and Nao will revive the true Maria Ushiromiya with Eva(empowered by Ayaka’s Player playing Hanyuu) being responsible. Fun Fact: i suspect the real Eva’s name to be Featherine Auaurora(whom Featherine Augustus Aurora was created in mimicry of). Bernkastel will be reunited with her true master at last while Ayaka’s Player continues his/her game with Witch Satoko/Battler(along with Featherine and Lambdadelta) though how I do not know.
