#so that i can leisurely reread it and wonder why i didn't see so and so small plot point the first time hahaha

[fivekrystalpetals]

Yes ;-; yes *sniffles* I am on Retrace 82 now and I can say I thoroughly hate Jack.

In the beginning, I was merely entertained by his corruption arc and how he stopped at nothing to make his "hopes" come true with the Tragedy of Sablier but from the moment he got a little girl to kill herself for the sake of his "hopes", I can very well say I hate his manipulative ass.

That child was Lacie's child. She was the child of the woman he claimed to love. Does he even, no, how does he even think that this is what Lacie would have wanted?? True that Lacie got pregnant through very dubcon means but I don't think she hated the child in her womb if she went all the way to the Abyss to request both the core and the dolls to be friends with the child if they ever find her. How is he so completely unaffected by Alice's death?!?!

and honestly, the Core of the Abyss cared more about the two girls than Jack ever did. When she appeared in place of Alyss and warned that her body won't be able to take on the kind of power Jack was asking of her and when she interfered again to save both the girls' souls in Retrace 77 and sealed up B-Rabbit's power.

Next, is the way he completely screwed over the present Vessallius family. Oscar and Xai are confused over how much of what happened was Jack's plans but I think Xai is right. Not only did he get rid of his newborn child, but also his wife and Oscar's wife and child as well. he totally massacred the entire lineage for the sake of fulfilling his plan. Xai has become obsessed over Jack and probs lives in constant fear of what is gonna go wrong next, whereas Oscar has never gotten over the grief of losing his wife. Jack singlehandedly broke the entire family,, we don't even know what Xai might have been, maybe he is a kind and loving person, maybe he is worried that he might lose Ada too that's why he is cold toward her as well in order to protect her and not let her be used by Jack as his weakness,, to the extent, I can't even have a brotherly bonding between Xai and Oscar either. What were they like before that fateful day Jack came into Xai's life?

And you know what, he didn't even change his mind after the first time. He still wants to plunge the world into the Abyss like what why? He forced Alice to take her own life, forced Alyss to go almost crazy and framed her as some sort of villain to everyone (you know the one where they go back to the Vessalius mansion and he is all like shhh, the Will of the Abyss is watching you, be careful), he dismembered Lacie's older brother's body into pieces and sealed it up for years and he is still not satisfied?? Does he really really think Lacie would have wanted this if she was alive? She says (whether it was just words to console her brother or not) she does love the world and her life as long as she lived. Yes, the generational abuse against crimson-eyed kids that the Baskerville family practices is immense but .... this is all too much.

But then again, I doubt Jack is doing any of this for Lacie's sake. He is doing this all for himself to be honest. If I have to say, he never really loved Lacie, he simply liked the idea of her, because she made him feel good about himself. To the point he is obsessed with her because he wants to return to the time he felt good for the first time. I mean, he had no song on his mind except Lacie and no mission in life except meeting her for eight years? that's some obsession. I can't call it devotion, but devotion is also borderline obsession so yeah. That's why the moment he loses her, he falls into a bleak depression. He does absolutely nothing for one month until.... Levi comes to visit him and gives him "hope". Because, his life is nothing without Lacie. Is that really love? idk. but I know I would be fed up if a man obsesses over me like this that his life revolves solely around me and he has simply no other hobby except being by my side lol. No wonder, Lacie kept saying he is weird, and Oswald said how he could feel nothing off him (something Oscar repeats albeit an independent observation and man gets mad lol)

Whereas, Oz, who he says is a plush doll and can't have feelings or things of his own, has a way more deeper personality than him. He was grateful to Lacie for bringing his existence to life, he truly loved Alice and liked seeing her smile, even in the present, he cared about Ada and Gil and Uncle Oscar so much that they refused to give up on him in spite of knowing what he truly is, Oz has thoughts and opinions of his own you know, when he tried to cheer up Break after listening to his backstory, heck he even got Echo to maintain an independent personality of her own not even knowing that she was in reality Zwei. What I mean to say is the Oz, in spite of being a non-living thing brought to life, has connected with people in a more positive way than Jack ever could (Jack's only other 'friend' is Miranda and we know what she is) Oz is selfless and truly cares about the others around him,, maybe, he got this from observing Lacie or Alice or maybe it's his own personality idk but watching Oz take control of Jack's body and getting rid of Jack's remnant soul was very satisfying and delightful to watch. (after that Uncle Oscar noooooo ;-;)

About Gil and Jack, yes, the moment I finished Retrace 65 and got over the initial shock of finding that it was Glen's head that was sealed up, I directly went back to the Sablier chapters to recheck and.... Jack is a lying bastard is all I can say lol (I made the post here) Jack even rolls on the floor and laughs, so self-satisfied was he by his performance before Gil istfg

About the whole Oz is a B-Rabbit twist, uh, I was actually very close because I guessed the B-Rabbit must have Alice's protector just like Humpty-Dumpty is for the next Glen in line and Cheshire is for Alyss but I assumed Alice was B-Rabbit's old contractor and Oz is its new one and not that Oz is the B-Rabbit itself!!! that would have beyond me anyway, not in my wildest dreams would I have made that connection so I am not really disappointed that I didn't see that coming. What I am more disappointed about is that from long ago, it was continuously mentioned that the B-Rabbit is a chain that kills other chains like the Mad Hatter (which is a dangerous ability to have and how does Break have that??) and yet I never questioned how such a dangerous chain might have come into existence. That single thought should have put me on the right path.

About Alice and Alyss, sorry to say but I am still very very confused about what \'s happening. I can't....really understand Retrace 76/77 so I skimmed through it and skipped ahead; I have to reread the whole thing to grasp it because in the first place, I am confused which is which Alice all the time. (for example, which is the Alice that was bullying Vince about his red eye and told him about Gil becoming Glen, I am guessing it is Alyss??? buuuut I am not quite satisfied. and I don't understand how the Alice (our Alice) became the B-Rabbit either so yeah. def re-read esp paying attention to the sisters' parts)

but the scene of Alice screaming "I will never forgive you" hits different now ;-; it just made no sense to me then;;;

oh yes. Alice's mellow response!! yes, I mentioned it in the same post above! I too was impressed by how mature she was acting all of a sudden and wondered if that was her real personality from 100 years ago. yes, Alice saved Oz from killing that woman Marie in the start of Head Hunter Arc.

Sorry this went tooooo long hahahjksjkf; I kind of went on a fullon rant I am just so full of.... emotions right now ;-; I think I will finish the whole series soon because the chapters are getting shorter now and more importantly, I need answers or I can't sleep (/▽＼)

wow who would have thunk the reason the Tragedy of Sablier went down was not because of some intricate political intrigue, the four Dukedoms wanting to grab the power of the Abyss for themselves, the Baskervilles made to become the scapegoats for the Tragedy etc. etc.

but because...... every player in the backstory is I N S A N E

(I haven't read a wilder backstory for anything than this,, Retrace 66-74 what even are you???????? WHAT DO YOU MRAN OZ IS B_RABBIT DOES IT EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE??!?!?)