#break's maturity is obvs but lottie's pervades through the story a minor character that she is it's not as apparent as break's

[fivekrystalpetals]

I-I-REALIZED SOMETHING AHFGGJKJKL;!!!

(how did I not see this before fr?!?!?!)

okay, so in Retrace 93, I had the general feeling that Lottie had a sudden change of heart to join the protagonists. I did not dwell upon it too much or take it as out of character or anything; just assumed that when Reim gave her a chance to join them (and all of them are on the same path anyway)—she jumped to take up on the chance.

But she did have a turning point I missed.

Yes, true, she had been skeptical of Glen-sama's actions since Retrace 81, after he killed all those Pandora men (going to the extent of skewering one through his mouth in his dying moments. I don't know what else passed through her mind then; maybe, flashbacks to the Tragedy of Sablier too where she killed lots against her will) but yeah, from then on, she had been mulling it over and over whether or not he was doing the right thing. She was always lost in thoughts, something even Doug points out to her.

Yet, she tries to convince herself that the Baskervilles are on the "side of justice" and trying to "save the world" from collapsing:

After this, Reim steps in to protect Sharon and proposes an alliance. Yes, again true that Lottie gets even more confused and hesitant over what she should do.... still she doesn't give an affirmative answer. If Lottie were convinced plenty by his words alone, she should have accepted his proposal then and there. But she doesn't. She continues to simmer in her indecision.

And now, we come to the end of Retrace 92, aka the most heartbreaking sequence of Break's death. At the time, Sharon and Reim must have raced on ahead (probably in the confusion, they managed to escape from the Baskervilles) because they are the only one that are there for Break at his last breath. The Baskervilles join in later.

Okay, now to the interesting part,

In Retrace 93, I overlooked this panel, because it was a tiny strip...

[Lily is asking Lottie, if the Hatter is dead to which she answers: ]

This. This is the moment she makes up her mind. Just the wordless realization in her eyes... how did I not notice ;_;

She realizes that with Break's death, the kids have lost an important mentor-kind-of-character as they go on ahead into the Past. That without Break, the kids might end up getting hurt or killed by Glen. (right? Oz wasn't using his powers to kill, but stop Glen. Glen would have killed Oz if Alice had not stopped him (and he is reminded of a younger Lacie). plus, Lottie doesn't know that Break cut off Leo's arm ;_;)

Or, well, if you think I am reading too much into it, she did def realize that someone needs to step into his shoes and "see the kids to the end" of their mission.

Also, most importantly, she decides to honor his death and the fact that he was the one to propose an alliance first (albeit in an overly suggestive manner lol break what even was that jghsgjsk) and stops Lily from shooting Reim.

Lottie says all those things about Fang set free from his burden and her being relieved for him, and it's all true. Of course, it is. But her immediate decision to stop Glen was as a result of Break's death and the realization if she didn't stop Glen, the kids might end up getting hurt at her master's hand.

As the underlying theme of the story goes, people do things not to achieve big goals like "saving the world", but for smaller, more selfish ones like "saving their present"—

Meaning, Lottie decides to stop Glen not because she thinks he cannot save the world—

(She says she will join in on Reim's wager—something that Reim himself isn't sure what it's about; he simply says Rufus Barma must know, the reason he let Oz escape:

A very wonky logic for her to accept, no? Especially, seeing how Rufus Barma's betrayal is what caused Break to regain Mad Hatter, fight back at his execution and kill (?) many of her clan.)

—no, not because she suddenly trusts Rufus over her master. Not because she suddenly pins her hope on the B-Rabbit saving the world. Not for any over-the-top reasons like those.

No, the truth is she had decided to stop Glen regardless. Because she had to step in to protect the kids her dead "friend" left behind. (Ijustghjsgjhjejscreaming-whoaaaaah)

All of whatever she was saying in that chapter was just specious logic to cover up her actual reason. No wonder, her dialogues felt so disconnected (at least, to me);

like when Doug asks if she was gonna betray Glen, she says:

which is all good and true.... but siding with the B-Rabbit must count as betrayal, right? No matter what how I love Oz, it doesn't change the fact the B-Rabbit did destroy the Chains of the world (twice), killed many of her friends and family and even dismember her master's body, right?

However, right now, in this present scenario, she is not looking upon Oz as B-Rabbit, but a kid she knows and gotta protect.

annnnnd, so, here, before Break, she drops her previous cheerful expression and sincerely speaks the truth (in my favorite panel of hers; yes, I am pasting it all over again; I am not even sorry lol):

I mean I was not entirely satisfied why she'd say this and more to Break, to a guy who killed her friend after all. Now, I think I am more satisfied. She made up her mind to stop Glen after his death, so she is stopping to thank him for helping her make her decision, something she had been "going round and round in circles in her head".

so to say, Break might not have helped influence her decision with his words (like he continually does for the kids) but with an unspoken responsibility he inadvertently passed to her with his death.

[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: