#Retrace XLVI

[fivekrystalpetals]

[this is mostly a repost of this chain of reblogs bc I had a few more things to add after rt.93+, wanted to have all of it in one place easy to read instead of adding one more rb to that chain, nobody talks about Lottie in general :( etc. etc.]

1] Lottie's real character

—is not the whole 'bloodlusty-sadistic-femme-fatale' persona she puts up but something close to this—

—the moment she sees a strange ragged child, a newcomer to her house on top of that, her first instinct is to go: "oh no, you are so dirty... come over here I will clean you all up."

then she goes on to console Lily for everything that happened in her life and explains why none of it was her fault—

Everyone here's gone through similar trials... but at the same time, it warps 'something' in people around you.

I am so curious about Lottie's past (on one hand, I am sad I won't ever have an answer; on the other I am happy bc I can make up whatever backstory I want for her!) because she says this as a matter-of-fact, like she (and everyone there) has experienced her share of trauma and abuse so can easily relate to Lily (also, please look at Lily's cute little adoring this-lady-is-so-cool face and her round, neatly combed mop of hair lol)

Lottie is a caring, motherly, nurturing person from her heart. This isn't even big-sisterly; she just straight up adopts a child that appeared at her doorsteps. At first, I thought her sweet character got warped after her traumatic experiences from the Tragedy of Sablier, but actually no. She still is the same, she simply suppresses it for the sake of her persona.

Because, here in Retrace 34, her first instinct on seeing Vincent beat up Echo was to confront him about it:

and she gets angry too when Vincent very coolly replies that he was taking out his pent up frustration on Echo.

However, then, she slowly relents, probably making up her mind not to interfere any more in his personal business because it was doubtless more important to keep Vincent on their side than making an enemy out of him.

annnd yet, she still voluntarily offers to accompany Zwei on her assigned mission to Sablier. because she is worried about her running off somewhere by herself. Practically a mom, I am telling you

.

and yeah, something else to add on here: the reason I say her Sadistic Sexy Girl persona is fake,, because she doesn't seem to enjoy the attention men 'give' her at all. two times iirc: when Vincent and Break grope at her without her proper consent, she appears highly uncomfortable. (or, it could only be dubcon at the best ig (also see: Lacie who was requested for her 'permission' in Glen's 'experiment' by the Glen himself. It is mentioned time and again that Baskervilles' can't go against the Glen's wishes,, implying her 'permission' was merely a formality))

See this, her first instinct is to irritably slap away Vincent's hand when he so much as touches her hair (Retrace 34):

But Vincent ignores her and continues to grope at her body.... with her finally giving in. Or rather, she was shown to be very shocked and annoyed all of those three panels before she abruptly switches to her 'sadist' persona.

With Break, I don't know how she would have reacted if he pressed on but since he pulled away, she went from being annoyed and uncomfortable to ending up more confused about what was going on (Retrace 41)

on the whole, I feel like on returning from the Abyss after a hundred years and finding that the Baskervilles had been replaced in the society and condemned to being barbarians and mass murderers, the survivors had to obviously collect more information about what really had happened. They had to find their master Glen as well. Hence, she assumed this persona to achieve her objectives—using her face and body to lure in possible informants. Also, when she needs to interrogate 'weaker' men, she simply uses it to scare them and get what she wants (sorry Oz, don't mean to dunk on you but you are the example here lmao). Like how Break clowns around so that people don't take him seriously. but.... that's not what she is, nowhere near what she is, and that's why she is so uncomfortable when men voluntarily make advances at her.

2] Lottie's smart observations

—because, many a time, it's because of her observations I started to think in an entirely new track.

in fact, the first time I started to pay closer attention to Jack's words is because of this panel (Retrace 27)—

Till then, I simply took it for granted that Jack Vessalius was a celebrated war hero, that Glen Baskerville was the one that caused the massacre which Jack put a stop to by killing his friend etc. etc.

But when Lottie pointed this out, I started to wonder if there was indeed something more to the whole Tragedy than that meets the eye. Well, honestly, calling a war hero a hero is in itself not all right but now when I realize what Jack was actually up to, it doesn't surprise me that he had no proper answer to Lottie's accusation here. He simply scares her off saying the Baskervilles won't be any match to B-Rabbit, to which, at the time I was reading this chapter, I went— okaaay? and what's that to do anything with anything?

He doesn't answer anything with regards to Glen because, apparently, he was trying to protect his dear friend's honor (bullshit); he says this to Glen's loyal followers as if they are gonna desert Glen or something. They stayed and still searched for him even after he gave the orders to kill everyone in Sablier so Jack, what's your point?

Next is here (Retrace 46)—

the first time I read this statement, do you know my mind directly went: oh, does this mean Vincent is the Head Hunter? Because if the Baskervilles don't know who the Head Hunter is but she is helping them out (in other words, in league with them), won't this narrow it down to Vincent? plus, he did kill Phillipe's dad (within the excuse of not wanting him to be dragged into the Abyss) with the chain which had connections to the Head Hunter case they were investigating.

But then, Vincent went on to say the Head Hunter attacked Gil too (which he couldn't have possibly done), and that he would be the one to slay her, and.... I entirely dropped that line of thought. Afterward, we went through the whole seesaw of whether or not Elliot is the Head Hunter to finally getting revealed Vincent was the true Head Hunter after all and I was like: ah, my first hunch was right after all... (ノへ￣、)

In the same chapter, here too:

Vincent (who is one of the smartest characters in the story) commends her on picking up things super fast. So does Break when she directly questions him about his words from the other day (Retrace 52):

Next, this one might be a bit of a weak argument but I think, of all people, it was only Charlotte who never fell for Jack's charms. In her past memories, it is shown that she didn't trust him at all. He enraged her, in fact. Yes, this whole scene is played off for gags but.... tl;dr, is that she questions him every time he enters their mansion without any particular permission or intention (Retrace 27)

and see here too:

She is shocked when she comes to know that Glen had let in Jack, an outsider, on to their secrets. Well, we have Jack here denying that he was at all interested in Glen's affairs but we later on realize that was not the case. That Jack was very much interested in Glen's affairs. So, Lottie's instincts ring true every time,,

(I was wondering why Lottie didn't know Jack at all since that guy has been loitering around the Baskerville Mansion since forever but that too was explained. she became a Baskerville after Lacie was cast into the Abyss, Oswald became Glen and Jack fell into his depression.)

but here, here (Retrace 87) can we talk about how smart Lottie is in this scene? (I love you, Break! but this post is about Lottie so I am gonna leave you out; I have made a separate post for you and your badass ways so there, there,)

Had it not been for Shirley, Break might have lost here, died even,, because what she says is right. He is fighting but he has not at all healed from his previous injuries (which, thanks to Vincent, got aggravated, seriously what's the sewer rat's problem?!),, so he is fighting for and with his life. Using his chain only adds to burden that his body can't take. lol, and so what a simple logic she uses-- just stay away from him by a certain distance, out of Mad Hatter's range and don't throw your chains against it either. He would self-destruct by himself ;-; Break looks so annoyed here, he must have realized that her logic would work.

3] Lottie is NOT a blind, stupid Glen fangirl/follower

As I mentioned in the 2 section, she is the only one that questions the intentions of Glen-sama's 'one and only friend' Jack who loiters about the Baskerville grounds for a lot of no reason;

similarly, she is the one who first hesitates at Oswald/Glen's actions after his taking over Leo's body and on a regret-fuelled warpath of probably more disastrous outcomes from changing the past than the Tragedy of Sablier.

Look at her, she is horrified at the way Glen killed that man, even skewering a sword through his mouth in his last moments (Retrace 81):

Yes, it is true that Pandora can not be easily cleansed of their brainwashing by Jack and misunderstanding of the Tragedy of Sablier but.... this was too ruthless and too cruel a murder of an innocent person. I think this is the first time she starts to question if Glen was really doing the right thing. (Even, I wonder if she gets flashbacks to the Tragedy of Sablier like Vincent bc she looks visibly shaken here)

Also, back in Retrace 79, she is right by Glen's side and even comically annoyed at Gil and Oz's escape and at Rufus for hiding while Raven attacked the place, so it didn't seem like she was questioning Glen at the time. Maybe, her first instance of hesitation was at Glen's immediate decision to get Gil killed, Gil who is one of them and was once Glen's valet. I don't know but she did seem to me to be a lot shaken there as well.

And not only now, back then, too. A 100 years ago. Yes, in front of Glen, it was Fang who openly questioned Glen's decision to kill all humans in and around Sablier but Lottie too was equally shocked to hear it (Retrace 27)

(Well, back then, it is true Oswald had no choice but to go ahead with killing all humans to save them from breaking away from the 100-years cycle or getting turned into chains (although I am writing a post on how a lot of the tragedy could have been avoided had he not been so passive; when I finish, I will link it here) but not in the present.)

Back to Lottie--

In the previous chapter (Retrace 26), she tells Oz that Glen's orders are absolute and the Baskervilles are 'built' to obey them. Her mannerisms show us (and Oz) that she has no remorse in killing all those people and is, in fact, super gleeful about the massacre and the role she played in it ("Aah, it feels like only yesterday", she says, as if she is nostalgic and thirsty for more bloodshed.)

However, this.... is all a huge lie.

Maybe, she thinks it will be easier to get an answer out of a hostage if she behaves cruel and threatening. Maybe, she is trying to hide her own regrets and guilt by putting up the mask of a psychopathic killer. Maybe, she feels there is no point in trying to justify their actions from a 100-years ago (something the Baskervilles themselves don't understand properly) to the citizens in the present, because, no matter what, they won't understand their stance and look upon them as barbarians and murderers, so it'd be as well to accept it.

Whatever be the case, the truth is: (Retrace 98)

What is this...? What exactly have we gotten ourselves into....?!

Lottie scolds Fang for even harboring a thought like one of their family has turned traitor, ultimately breaks down and cries in his arms. Plus, the Baskervilles themselves were scared of Jack and his chain-killing-chain (they didn't know it was Jack at the time) but they knew that someone, a human contractor or maybe one among themselves, had turned on them. Fang was so relieved to see Lottie alive. He feared she too might have fallen at the hands of the traitor, who had killed off many of the almost immortal Baskervilles assigned to be the messengers to and from Glen. I suppose had those messengers managed to reach Lottie and co., they would have known the real reason behind Glen's orders to kill the humans (if you see Retrace 74-pg. 29 (not adding that panel too) Glen does explain his decision to a red-hooded Baskerville, who I presume was killed by Jack on their way to the others)

Having said all this, I can't not add this panel bc this too is canon *face palm*

4] Lottie's views on living and death

This is a bit difficult to explain but there's a lot of stuff about this in spite of her few appearances (gotta read between the lines), so let's start with this panel:

while reading this for the first time, I thought she is talking about the Tragedy of Sablier. I am not so sure now. Because, although they killed lots of people, it was not for their own gain at all. It was to save those people from a fate worse than death. But, in this chapter (Retrace 25), Lottie doesn't yet know why Glen had asked them to commit the massacre so.... she must have bought the common (Jack-fed) tale that Glen wanted the Intention of the Abyss for his own gain. In a way, she is still trying to convince herself that their crimes on that fateful day were justified.

It's impossible to keep on living without hurting anybody, okay?

What I mean is this should be her own idea of life—that living is cut-throat and unfair. If we simply do nothing, then others will trample all over us and use us to achieve their own goals. Even if we try to live a life without hurting others, the same need not always be reciprocated. (which is exactly what went down between Jack and Glen jkjkgsjk but Lottie doesn't know lol)

I feel like the whole conversation hints more at her past than her days with the Baskervilles, because, even prior to that, the topic she was discussing with Oz... had nothing to do with the Baskervilles or the Tragedy. She was merely curious why Oz surrendered so fast when Ada was with him and why he wasn't fighting back right now. Thinking about it, Oz underwent a tremendous character development from a This-is-Fine, If-I-do-Nothing-I-will-be-Fine attitude to actively fighting back for his friends and family. Retrace 82, when he finally wrestles the control out of Jack's hands in spite of his constant taunting that nothing could belong to someone like Oz. In a way, he did take Lottie's advice and act upon it.

Lottie has the right hunch about most things. Remember this scene (Retrace 75):

I wonder what her life before joining the Baskervilles was like because she sure has tons of worldly experience and can easily see through people. Just like that, she offers words and advice that people (here, Oz) needed to hear.

.

I believe this is also the reason why her reaction to Break was quite... different compared to little Lily's outburst whenever she spotted him that they gotta kill him and get revenge for Fang.

For one, yes, she knows Fang passed with a smile on his face and was freed from his burden. She was relieved for him. But I also think she doesn't want revenge on Break because of this very principle of life. Fang died protecting Lily. It was a fair fight, a fight for life where if one even slightly falters, they are gonna get killed. It was not like Break had an advantage there; it was not like Fang was gonna go easy on Break had he given in or something,, (compared to Glen's killing of those Pandora men, where he had an overwhelming powerful chain, ig those men were mostly unarmed too idk)

And of all people, it was Lottie who finally ended that cycle of vengeance that started with Reim and Lily. Remember how it went?

Lily kills two of Reim's companions -> Reim seeks revenge and shoots Lily in the head -> Lily didn't die instead she attacks Reim -> Break arrives at the spot (coz of Vincent), jumps to conclusion that Reim is dead and seeks revenge -> in the fight that ensues Fang dies and Break gets grievously injured -> Lily wants revenge for Fang (in the meantime, Vincent reopens Break's half-healed wound from then) -> in the fight between Break and the Baskervilles, he gets even more exhausted bc of his chain (the reason he went all out was for Sharon getting slightly hit in the head btw) -> finally, Break dies but Lily isn't satisfied, she wants to cut up his body -> Reim offers her to shoot him instead bc he was the one that started it in the first place

Had Lily killed Reim here, this cycle could have gone on forever (maybe, Sharon might seek revenge next lol)

side note: from this, I realize that Break acts a lot more out of emotion than Lottie; Fang was equally important to Lottie like Reim or Sharon were to Break. Yet, she decided to put an end to the cycle of vengeance and accept Reim's offered hand of friendship. Supposing if Reim and Fang were the ones that died back then and Break lived in the end, would he have agreed to ally with the Baskervilles? I doubt...? (Another thought with no real proof is that she'd already been thinking of working with the protagonists ever since Break asked of her (remember, she was the one curious about his words) but that's a topic for another post ghjshgjs I promise it won't be shippy lol)

Back to the topic, I am genuinely surprised that she didn't hold the slightest grudge against Break. I understand allying with the protagonists for they are pursuing the same goal but she really didn't have to stop and say such a sweet prayer for his soul, a man who killed her friend after all:

May your soul return to this Earth.... once it has completed its hundred years cycle.

She is promising him to see Oz and the others through to the end in his place! Something he was regretting at the very brink of death, that he didn't have it in him anymore to continue on the path with them,, so whether he can or not hear her, this sure was a reassurance he needed to hear. (As I said before, she just..... knows what to say, she can easily see through people but I don't think it is appreciated enough ;_;)

And here comes in her views of death and the Hundred Years cycle (reincarnation) of the soul, something she takes very seriously (she should, considering they are the servants of the Abyss) and I believe she is of the view that demise needs to be respected, no matter friend or enemy. Now, do you see why she was so horrified at Glen stabbing a sword through the man's throat while he lay there dying? A close example I can give is that of Chuuya from BSD rebuking Dazai for shooting bullets at a corpse. They might have killed lots but they still know to respect the dead/dying.

This went so long--and I will go on and on about Lottie lol (I even reached the 30 image limit ig idk) so I will end here with Charlotte reconciling with her master and assuring him that she will support Leo in his place. This is the first time she has visible tears in her eyes:

[patchworkprince]

pandora hearts by jun mochizuki retrace: XLVI

[gentlecooks]

PH Challenge Day 29 - Favorite Manga Volume.

I'll have to pick Volume 12 which contains

Retrace XLVI: "Persona", Retrace XLVII: "Unbirthday", Retrace XLVIII: "Isla=Yura", Retrace XLIX: "Night in gale"

Not only is my favorite chapter "Night in gale" in this volume, but the other three chapters are pretty great too. I believe this volume is the beginning of something big, it has a little peace in Retrace XLVII, a little uneasiness in Retrace XLVI, and then much scheming in Retrace XLVIII and XLIX.

A few highlight points for me:

Ada x Vincent. HIS REACTION TO HER HOBBY is pure gold.

Xerxes just worrying over Sharon, like usual.

TEA PARTY~

Isla Yura. That man is disturbingly awesome.

Not to mention the cute Xerxes x Sharon scene in "Night in gale".

[fivekrystalpetals]

please enjoy these Vincents progressively losing his shit more and more as an oblivious Ada continues to bubble with enthusiasm until he finally explodes

T-minus 5

T-minus 4

T-minus 3

T-minus 2

T-minus 1

GO!

(AGFHSHGFJJKKSL THIS IS THE FUNNIEST FACE OF THIS GUY YET)

[fivekrystalpetals]

Seems like I was needlessly worried about Ada; who knew she had the power of god and witchcraft on her side (✿◡‿◡)

okay but the whole sequence was downright hilarious like—

they should be in a romantic comedy; the amount of misunderstanding between them *facepalm*

Vincent's thoughts, as always, are down the gutter, the sewer rat that he is,,, whereas poor Ada took his words in a literal sense and decided to lay bare 'the real her' lmaoo

again, second misunderstanding here: Vincent assumes she 'brings a lot of boys home' and thaaat's the reason Uncle got her a secondary residence...

whereas, the real reason probably is— both dad and uncle must have lost their sleep over all the occult stuff their teenage kid was obsessed with (yk how teenage girls are, once they are obsessed with something, they are simply unstoppable). I am guessing she must have brought home her friends from her school's Occult Fan Club, probs even done some hexing, black magic, voodoo stuff right inside one of the main rooms, one night—and the adult men got scared shit out of their pants hahaha

That's most probs the actual reason why she was forbidden to enter the main building, rather forbidden to bring that kind of stuff into the main building. Uncle got Ada her own little sanctuary for her occult collection, the kind of power she has ᕦ(ò_óˇ)

Third misunderstanding: after a long misogynist monologue courtesy Vincent-sama (all women are foolish, feeble, frivolous etc. etc.), we get to this scene. I had assumed it was Vincent who introduced himself to Ada to get at Uncle Oscar. Maybe, it is so.

But assuming it was Ada who introduced herself, I have a better explanation why she would do that rather than 'wanting to share his bed' as Vincent immediately assumes.

She just wanted to get close to him so she could 'passionately discuss' her obsession with him!! She assumed that he was a high-society closeted fanboy just like her ahfsjjshhaha

moral of the story: rather than saying Vincent should have been clearer with his intent, it's more like— Vincent should have clarified what he was getting into before entering a fangirl's cave;

in the end, it was not a hero or a villain, but a fangirl that KO'ed this piece of shit, serves him right

[fivekrystalpetals]

[I am unable put all of my thoughts in a single post (it is growing to a monstrous size ;-;) so I decided to split it into long-ish posts of utmost three chapters at a time bc I have so much to say about each chapter.]

My thoughts so far: Retrace XLIII to Retrace XLVI

Continuing from my last post, our main trio have started working on tracking the Seal on Glen’s soul that needs to be moved and hidden before the Baskervilles get to it. After the first Seal was broken (and led to the earthquake in Sablier), Oz and co. (+ Sharon this time) are off to find the second seal thanks to Rufus Barma’s information. Everything goes well, the old man accepts that Oz is the rightful owner of the seal because he is the contractor of the B-Rabbit and agrees to hand over the seal to them... when Vincent with his Demios strikes :) happy times 👏

Vincent, this guy, really has the patience and confidence to sit back and enjoy the show, doesn’t he? He gets others to do the job for him, hoping, or rather, watching things fall into place perfectly according to his plans and step in for the final act to reap the rewards. I said here too how he let the heroes run around for him, tracking down Alice’s memories from Cheshire’s domain and all—then simply kidnaps Sharon and gets Break to destroy their hard-earned reward. He has been the puppet master in almost 3 consecutive arcs. 

tl,dr; Oz and co., lose the second seal as well.

Some points about this short arc: 

1] tbh this arc felt less about Oz, Gil or Alice but more about Sharon. After Break was put out of commission because of his sudden albeit developing handicap, Sharon realizes she has to improve herself a lot more if she is to be of any help to Break. In the initial chapters of the manga, I had assumed that Sharon and Break were partners-in-crime, as in Sharon is a sort of plan-from-chair sleuth while Break does all the field work, brain and brawn duo but turns out Break is a one-man army, brain, brawn, diabetes, depression, everything. 

so, thrice within the span of two chapters, reality smacks her right in the face. One, her naivety about the world and how calculating and dishonest people can be:

and two, how weak she is if not depending on her chain:

By the end of the Retrace 46, she ends up coming to a self-realization that she is powerless. And that she was too dependent on her chain (and Break as well)

which is all true, but I have to agree with the latter part of what Grandma Shirley says—

because I don’t think Sharon necessarily has to be adept at martial arts or field work? We already have Gil, Alice, Oz, Break and others doing that. At this point, what we need is more manpower for research and study and only Rufus Barma is actually looking into the history and records of the Tragedy. Since everything started from there, Sharon can devote herself to processing those files, research and planning? Running around blindly would only cause more casualties. We also desperately need someone who can counter Vincent’s masterplans. Whereas on our heroes’ side, nobody is playing against him in his game of chess. Someone has to predict the opponents’ next move if the heroes wanna be one step before the Baskervilles. I’d be so excited if Sharon takes on that role—I feel she is more than capable of doing that but she has been, in her own words, been coddled and guarded for too long. Plus, I’d love to see the look on his face when he finds out that the one to thwart his plans is a woman lol (which Echo already is doing btw, more about this here).

2] Oz, once again, ever since he met the Glen in Sablier, wields the B-Rabbit’s scythe to kill Marie this time. Had it not been for Alice, he might actually have cut off her head. Not chronological but I will simply dump my thoughts about this here—

After how Humpty Dumpty (a chain from the body of a previous Glen), who is always around in the human world to guard the latest Glen, going to the extent of killing at the slightest intent to harm Leo; and how Cheshire was the guardian of the Will of the Abyss, I have a similar theory that the B-Rabbit is not actually Alice, but a chain to protect Alice, because she is the host to the Will in the human world.

I also believe that Alice (the human from 100 years ago) was the actual contractor for B-Rabbit. But then she was murdered. Vincent says in Retrace 59 (and someone else said before but I forget) that a chain cannot exist in the human world without a contractor. Unlike Humpty Dumpty, where the rank of the main contractor passes to the next contractor in line, B-Rabbit had only one contractor. 

So, it’d mean the B-Rabbit must have returned to the Abyss. Which is how we found it in Retrace 1-2. 

Seeing how a lot of Chains are quite sentient—Cheshire, Raven (that continually challenged Gil through the Door of the Abyss), even Humpty Dumpty etc..—it is not impossible that even after her death the Rabbit tried to protect her soul and kept it safe within the Chain? This might also explain why the Chain is able to assume two forms (a human form) unlike other Chains.

But now, inadvertently but of course since he had no choice either, Oz has made a contract with the B-Rabbit. With the new contractor in the present, Alice’s consciousness as a contractor or even as a person is slowly vanishing (in Retrace 65, her body has started to become see-through), because she is already dead.

Whereas the chain is slowly transferring into Oz from Alice; 

that’s why I am pretty sure here (Retrace 57)—

(Okay, this scene was so beautiful that I had to add the whole of it because just look,,,, if someone says something like this to me, I will only cry even more (TT﹏TT))

—it is on the dutiful desire of the B-Rabbit to protect Alice that Oz is involuntarily acting upon. However, he (or the B-Rabbit) is getting more and more violent, the more the hand of the seal moves and immediately goes for the kill whenever something tries to hurt Alice (like in Leo’s case). Must be because Alice’s connection is diminishing faster as it moves by yet another degree; so, the B-Rabbit is trying its best to save what remains of her. So, unless Oz has better control over his chain (getting increasingly difficult because of the moving hand), the B-Rabbit is going to end up killing someone important in its misguided mission to ‘protect’ Alice, a girl who no longer exists. 

Even in the beginning, when questioned by both Will and Jack as to why he wanted so badly to protect Alice,

he couldn’t find any particular reason other than that he had to do it. I guess right from the beginning, the B-Rabbit’s emotions were already seeping into Oz. 

Another point,, in favor of that the B-Rabbit is taking over Oz's body is (Retrace 56):

This is not Oz-kun anymore, it's the Blood-eyed B-Rabbit that's taken over the driver seat. Oz is rapidly losing control of his body.

However, I am not so sure about what role the B-Rabbit played in the Tragedy. That it was there, is for sure now; I guess those were the B-Rabbit’s memories that Oz looked into in the Cheshire Arc where he first encountered the corpse of Alice. Oz keeps getting the feeling that he killed and killed and killed but is that what happened? The Baskervilles have already confirmed that they were the ones that killed the citizens of Sablier so I am not sure what Oz is seeing. Anyway, Oz might be able to retrieve all memories of the B-Rabbit only when the needle returns to the starting point and then, it will be of no use anymore.

(please tumblr let me add this scene (Retrace 57) too because Oz going all BAMF mode for Alice is so satisfying to watch 💕 look at those action lines, he is so fast with his scythe they can't keep up!!)

3] Oz says something interesting here (Retrace 43).

This completely escaped my attention during my first read. So, for the other illegal contractors, the seal, after the chain is used, remains visible only for a while before vanishing and the skin becomes clear again till they use the chain again or the hand moves?

Well, that explains why in Retrace 53 Break was in such a hurry to get Gil to look at Elliot’s seal. I knew, since he was blind, he couldn’t possibly check it for himself... but I couldn’t tell why he was in such agitation and hurry. I simply assumed it’s because he had other urgent problems to deal with as well. This explains it better.

The reason why Break’s seal is always visible is because he had already gotten through one round. But then why is Oz’s seal always visible? Is it because this is the second time someone is contracting the same chain? First, Alice; now, Oz. And how is Oz’s relationship with Alice (B-Rabbit) as a contractor different?

4] But of course, we have yet another little mystery of Oz not being the actual Oz. That Xai Vessalius switched his kid with this Oz—is a theory that Uncle Oscar, Break and Grandma Shirley come up with, something that might or might not be true.

Some other ‘fun’ details: 

1] Rufus Barma is so nosy ahjfksl (I love him, he is a funky little dude) look at that slight eyebrow rise,,, he has to know Things or he will die lmao. How does mochijun draw every character so expressive?? I am just in love with her art fr

2] I know this woman killed a lot of people who came to their house, searching for the Seal

but it's sad that the moment her duties to Rytas were over and she finally got her freedom to live her life was when she got killed. [She looks a lot like Melinda Desmond from Spy x Family btw lol]

3] Pandora’s Contracting method: so they simply dip a mirror into the chain’s blood and keep it on their person to exert the chain’s powers. If it breaks, the contract will be nullified. Seems dangerous. If the Baskervilles come to know of this, ig they will simply break Break's mirror to rid the Mad Hatter, no?

Also this, 

I didn’t think much of it then,, just that Elliot, being a non-contractor, was ignorant of these details. But after finishing this arc, I am all ✨FoReShAdOWing✨

4] Alice hasn’t been doing... much these last few chapters. What with Oz taking on the scythe of the B-Rabbit himself, it seems like Alice is getting shoved out of the story a bit,, but it makes sense (even if it is heartbreaking) bc she is, as I said earlier, dead. And it’s only probably the last piece of soul being protected by the B-Rabbit (and if you take into account the memory/soul found from Cheshire and destroyed by the Mad Hatter), we have even less of her in the real world now. 

By the way, I like this panel a lot. She doesn’t know why she stopped Oz from killing Marie, she is struggling to find a reason herself. but... this seems to be a glimpse of the real Alice from a hundred years ago. 

That’s why I don’t like whenever Gil keeps jumping to— let’s kill Alice to rid Oz of the contract. I get what he says but it... is not fair to Alice, is it? She has, at least, a right to find out the reason why she was killed before she departs for good this time. The B-Rabbit went out of the way to protect her soul, this is the least she deserves.

[fivekrystalpetals]

what in the world is this?

okaaaaay, why would you hide this kind of important details in the Ada-Vincent fun date chapter that I would completely overlook it???

this...... raises hella lot of questions for real? it disrupts my very shortlived theories too wtf

The Oz we know is not the real Oz Vessalius????

No, but ig this explains why his dad doesn't even want to so much as glance at his face... which implies he did the baby-switcheroo without his consent,, was he blackmailed into this? the doctors and servants have disappeared, so no evidence resurfaces,,, probs killed off who knows?

were the Nightrays somehow involved in this? They were the ones who supposedly killed Oz's mother but Break also adds no proof has been found yet

Okay but, these lines from the man himself: "Oz Vessalius is a vessel to hide the existence of Jack Vessalius" and more that Lottie tells Break (Retrace 38),, are something I can make no sense of, however I read it.

That Jack is like Glen and he too is a reincarnating spirit that passes from host to host over a hundred years cycle is somehow,,,, too much for me to believe. Two immortal spirits in one story? Moreover, Jack was never shown to be anything but a human in the past memories. So, what's this about Oz being a vessel to Jack?

Secondly, let's say Jack is indeed getting reincarnated in the present into Oz's body. This raises a whole bunch of other questions such as: wasn't his body sacrificed and dismembered to lock up Glen's spirit? Then how does Jack's soul reappear while Glen's remains trapped? where is Glen's body now? etc. etc.

Next: (this only gets more confusing the more I read it lol)

If the bodily vessel is destroyed, the existence of Jack comes to light (everyone knows of Jack, why does his existence have to come to light) and the Intention of the Abyss will interfere less regularly with this world. which is like um, okay?

this line makes even less sense to me..

if the Baskervilles drop Oz alive into the Abyss before the Intention senses him, then what happens? what's the point? if Oz is some sort of sacrifice for the Will, won't it be better if she actually sees him, right?

like no correlation anywhere between 'destroying' Oz (like Break asks, why don't they simply kill him if destroying is what they want?), throwing him into the Abyss, buuut the Will shouldn't see him, the Will not interfering with the world anymore and where does Jack Vessalius even come in any of this? feels like I am missing something major.

well anyway, I do feel like I said in the other post that Oz's existence sure feels like it came from dubious sources like the Will of the Abyss.

The two important questions now are:

1] Where is the real Oz Vessalius, born to Xai Vessalius and his wife and what is he doing now? If he is alive, he'd be 25, actually 25 years old because he won't have the timeskip.

2] Who is the kid whose story we have been following so far, if he is not Oz? Who are his parents? Why is he growing up in the Vessalius household taking up the identity of another person?

[fivekrystalpetals]

So, I was trying to figure out a bit of the timeline for a fic and found this interesting (to me) something here: (this is a fun analysis and probs won't go in the direction you expect lol)

The events between Retrace 42 to Retrace 45 happen over one and a half day at the most. Something in this order:

Break wakes up after being bedridden for three days, finds that he is almost fully blind,

Oz and gang have a discussion in his bedroom,

They prepare to find the second seal at Rytas' place, Sharon insists on joining them

They arrive at the village as per Duke Barma's orders and meet up with Gruner

Next day: The fight between Marie and Oz goes down, Rytas acknowledges his right to be shown the seal

Finally the Head Hunter attacks, kills every one present and destroys the Seal.

Next, in Retrace 45, we find Vincent and Ada on a date and they discuss the Head Hunter as well. (which is being discussed at around the same time by Leo and Elliot)

He asks her to tell everything about herself, her father, her uncle Oscar whom he is targeting for the Key to the Door of the Abyss. And this, if you remember, he mentions as part of his plan to obtain the Key in his discussions with the Baskervilles in Retrace 46.

Which means... the Vince-Baskervilles discussion happened before his date with Ada, or let's say, sometime after the Head Hunter attacked Rytas Mansion. Or, maybe, even on the same day cuz, of course, news spreads fast, you know.

Same day, the day the Seal got destroyed, which if you keep count of, is 3/3.5/4 days after the Sablier Arc, the day after Break woke up.

So here, the second seal has already been destroyed and Lottie is questioning why the chain Head Hunter, having some involvement with the Nightrays, is destroying the seals (supposed to be the Baskervilles' job)

Well, we know the answer to this, but that's not the interesting thing I wanted to point out.

It's that Lottie was mad af right from the start of this conversation. She is so grumpy here and even slams the seat to silence the group, which.... is so unlike her.

Because, she is usually the noisy and talkative one in this group. Back in the Lutwidge arc, Fang was struggling to keep her under control when they kidnapped Oz. (It's only after Fang died, she became full-on depressed.) But here, Fang, who is the voice of reason in this little ragtag group, is carefree and chatty and playing with Lily. Even the silent Doug is playing chess with Vincent.

It's strange that only Lottie should be so serious and frustrated here.

On reading this for the first time, I assumed this conversation is happening a week after the Seal was broken. annnnd, so, it didn't make any sense to me why she should be mad for so long either. She generally gives me the impression of being cool headed over most things.

But this is just utmost four days after Sablier.

So, my (not so) secret headcanon is that she is still mad, not at the Baskervilles for not getting to the second seal fast enough, not at the Head Hunter for breaking the seal either..... but at Break (lmao) cuz she is still not over what happened to her. As in, she is still confused frustrated because she couldn't get why and what the guy was aiming at?

As I said, this is interesting to me cuz I wanted to see her reaction after Sablier. I thought we never see it cuz the next time we see Break and Lottie interact again is at Isla Yura's place. They never ever openly react to anything nor openly give their inner thoughts that I have to pick up from small things like this.

Anyway, to continue, I imagined the Vince-Ada date in Retrace 46 and the dungeon scene happens as a continuity to the one in Retrace 45. that is, Vince and Ada roamed around the park for some time, visited the opera following which she takes him home.

But, their clothes are different in both? I suppose these are different dates they went on.

So no clear timeline of when the Opera Hall date happens. But the one in the park is definitely after he discusses his problem and solution of targeting Uncle Oscar through Ada with the Baskervilles.

These scenes happen a week later, though.

[fivekrystalpetals]

PH MASTERLIST

(aka I wrote a lot of stuff about this series now trying to put all of it in one place so I find Things when I search for it)

CHAPTERS

retrace i | retrace ii | retrace iii | retrace iv | retrace v | retrace vi | retrace vii | retrace viii | retrace ix | retrace x | retrace xi | retrace xii | retrace xiii | retrace xiv | retrace xv | retrace xvi | retrace xvii | retrace xviii | retrace xix | retrace xx | retrace xxi | retrace xxii | retrace xxiii | retrace xxiv | retrace xxv | retrace xxvi | retrace xxvii | retrace xxviii | retrace xxix | retrace xxx | retrace xxxi | retrace xxxii | retrace xxxiii | retrace xxxiv | retrace xxxv | retrace xxxvi | retrace xxxvii | retrace xxxviii | retrace xxxix | retrace xl | retrace xli | retrace xlii | retrace xliii | retrace xliv | retrace xlv | retrace xlvi | retrace xlvii | retrace xlviii | retrace xlix | retrace l | retrace li | retrace lii | retrace liii | retrace liv | retrace lv | retrace lvi | retrace lvii | retrace lviii | retrace lix | retrace lx | retrace lxi | retrace lxii | retrace lxiii | retrace lxiv | retrace lxv | retrace lxvi | retrace lxvii | retrace lxviii | retrace lxix | retrace lxx | retrace lxxi | retrace lxxii | retrace lxxiii | retrace lxxiv | retrace lxxv | retrace lxxvi | retrace lxxvii | retrace lxxviii | retrace lxxix | retrace lxxx | retrace lxxxi | retrace lxxxii | retrace lxxxiii | retrace lxxxiv | retrace lxxxv | retrace lxxxvi | retrace lxxxvii | retrace lxxxviii | retrace lxxxix | retrace xc | retrace xci | retrace xcii | retrace xciii | retrace xciv | retrace xcv | retrace xcvi | retrace xcvii | retrace xcviii | retrace xcix | retrace c | retrace ci | retrace cii | retrace ciii | retrace civ

some Serious posts: may-reads-ph | some Fun Posts: ph musings

MY ANALYSIS POSTS

1.] Lottie | (add: re: real reason why Lottie changed sides in the last arc)

2.] Noise | (add)

3.] Alice(s)

4.] Lacie

5.] Glen, Children of Misfortune, Juries and the Baskervilles | (Part 1 : Glen, Jury and Knowledge of Abyss) | (Part 2 : Choosing a side) | (Part 3 : Oswald and his sin of passivity) | (Part 4 : Oswald and Lacie)

6.] Core of the Abyss and "her" Children of "Misfortune"