#alicexoz

[cheekbites-moved]

oz, alice & the creation of love: an ozlice meta

hello it is i, known ozlice defender. here to explain why they need to be credited for inventing love, bc. They Did That. & i just wanna gush about my favorite scene of all time, involving my favorite couple of all time, because both are very precious to me and i’m very passionate about them!!

disclaimer: if your interpretation of oz/alice’s relationship differs from mine, i respect that. all i ask is that my interpretation of their relationship being romantic be equally respected. i am simply writing my own post, on my own blog, discussing my own interpretation of this scene and their relationship dynamic within it/as a whole. if you disagree, please refrain from debating me on my interpretation. my voicing of my interpretation doesn’t mean yours is in any way invalid or not allowed to exist, so please don’t treat mine that way if you don’t share it. thank you. 

tw for blood, gore, and mentions of neglect/abandonment issues.

anyway so! the scene in question is the cheek biting scene from chapter 41. in my opinion, this is one of the most crucial scenes for oz’s character development, & is a scene that beautifully encapsulates the depth of the impact oz and alice have on each other.

before i get into the meat of the chapter itself, i’d like to first establish my perception of oz’s character up to the point this chapter takes place, to really get across why this moment is so pivotal for him.

pandora hearts is one of those series that begins with a collection of stereotypes, both in the story and characters, then works to completely dismantle them as the story goes on. oz is no exception to this trend.

he starts out as a pretty typical protagonist, to be honest. he’s bubbly, peppy, (also flirty) and is always the first to bounce back from the rougher things the cast goes through. he’s an optimist, and prefers to focus on happy distractions rather than the reality of the harsh situations the cast finds themselves in.

but, see, that’s the thing. his entire outward personality itself is a distraction. it’s all a facade. oz hasn’t forgotten any of the pain he’s been dealt, nor has he even begun to heal from any of it. because he has put the role of “the happy friend who has to stay happy for their friends’ happiness’ sake" on himself. which has caused him to learn to bottle things up. which has lead his mind to believing that presenting any negative emotion would be a burden to those around him. he’s afraid of presenting them because he fears rejection, but also, he’s afraid of his loved ones hurting for his sake. 

a lot of oz’s arc revolves around him overcoming this mentality, and the development that entails starts with chapter 41.

for those who need a refresher, chapter 41 takes place while the group is exploring the ruins of sablier. they all get separated at one point, lead astray by the hauntings of their unremembered pasts. 

oz finds himself alone, and is confronted again with the horrors of the tragedy, as well as his own unremembered past, and begins to panic.

elliot and leo hear him screaming, so they go off to look for him. 

after they first arrive and oz properly notices them, he instantly snaps back to his bubbly self, acting like nothing happened.

they walk together, eventually running into gil and also xai. xai’s appearance, and proceeding dismissal of oz’s presence further burdens oz with the trauma of his father’s neglect, on top of the already previously disregarded distress from his past.

xai was sent to retrieve elliot, who denies his help, saying it should be offered to his own son instead. xai scoffs, and further dismisses oz’s existence in a more direct manor by speaking ill of him, further contributing to oz’s increasing emotional instability.

leo manages to get xai to leave, explaining that he and elliot already have plans to get back on their own, so his help isn’t necessary. xai departs as oz’s emotions start to fully destabilize, with oz thinking to himself about the pain he’s feeling. he attempts to reach out to gil, but gil runs off after xai to confront him.

oz canonically has abandonment issues, and they originated from xai’s neglect. i’m sure in the moment, after just having confronted the source of his abandonment issues, having gil leave him behind felt like a further abandonment, and it breaks him down the rest of the way.

his mind starts to spiral, putting him in conflict with himself, as his tendencies to remain stable and happy are pitted against the destructive urges arising within him to cope with the instability.

he begins a descent into darkness he can’t control as his powers start to spark up and begin causing destruction, a very similar scenario to his breakdown in the cheshire arc.

before he can commit any permanent damage, however, alice arrives at the perfect time to disrupt his spiel.

her interruption snaps him back to reality, and he is instantly tamed by her appearance

as he regains himself, he also defaults to putting up his facade yet again, casually talking to her as if nothing happened. alice knows him well enough to notice the subtle cracks in his mask, though, and asks him what’s wrong.

oz holds to his habits, and attempts to brush his emotions off by saying it’s nothing,

but alice interrupts him before he can continue disregarding his feelings through biting his cheek

oz is completely taken aback by the action, and alice explains to an equally baffled elliot that sharon showed her a book where a woman ‘bit’ a man’s cheek to cheer him up.

alice further explains herself to oz, telling him that she heard him calling out to her (through a memory, though she’s unaware of that in the moment), with “such a pitiful voice she had to go find him.” 

noting afterward that she wished he would be that open with his emotions more often, so she could cheer him up.

as she says all of this, oz looks at her in pure bewilderment

but then, realization strikes him

he notes his realization, thinking to himself:

"My anxiety, my weaknesses.. I thought if I gave my voice to them.. I would be burdening the people around me... But... ...I guess it’s not always like that."

this line is crucial for the rest of oz’s character arc, and the weight it entails carries on throughout the rest of the series. 

this realization, this moment as a whole, is the first time oz lets himself properly acknowledge the deception behind how his mind has forced him to perceive himself. this is the first time oz actually acknowledges and processes that he is allowed to feel pain. that having pain does not make him a burden. and from this moment forward, oz begins to open up about his feelings more.

starting moments later when they reunite with gil, and oz openly expresses that he’s hurting to gil for the first time.

this progresses to him slowly becoming more direct about his feelings, both through his words and the facial expressions he allows himself to show.

(chapter 60)

(chapter 74)

(chapter 75)

and this all culminates full circle when he finally allows himself to fully cry in later volumes when he needs to.

(chapter 82)

(chapter 87)

(chapter 92)

(chapter 97)

(chapter 104)

that scene in chapter 41, is what directly leads to the emotional vulnerability oz allows himself to have as the series goes on. alice loved oz enough to feel his pain, and to make an effort to seek him out so she could cheer him up when she was aware he was hurting. oz’s love and trust for alice finally allowed him to feel comfortable enough to let down some of his walls to someone for the first time. 

after the realization sinks in fully, oz notes that despite how strange her words are to him, they still spark a fire in his heart.

he observes alice afterwards, noting that her presence is what brings beauty in the scenery of the rain, something he tended towards disliking before.

alice is the first person oz allows himself to be vulnerable around because he’s that comfortable around her. alice is the reason that in a moment of negativity, he is able to pause and admire something that’s beautiful to him; something that genuinely puts him at ease, rather than him just faking a moment of serenity to avoid being vulnerable.

whether you see their relationship as romantic or platonic, their deep love for each other is undeniable. and this is the moment that it shines the brightest, in my opinion. this is the moment they invented love together. and i think it’s beautiful to witness.

[alicebrabbit0406]

wanna take a kiss or a bite?

[lynxxt]

because i have nothing left in this world, not even memories

[alixerain-blog]

I ship it❤️❤️❤️❤️ • • {#anime #animecute #animecouple #animecouples #animeship #oz #alice #alicexoz #pandoraheartsb#ozvessalius}

[powwidge]

For the Pandora Hearts questions: 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 6, 18, 29, 30, 45

ok!3: Favorite Baskerville: That's quite hard, because I have to choose between Gil, Vince, Leo and Lily but since I relate to Leo a lot, I think Leo????8: Favorite Nightray: Gil. I had a crush in him for like two years haha xD but I absolutely adore Vince and Elly too!!!9: Favorite Vessalius: Mh, I really really like Jack but I have to say Oz here. I love Jack but I also kinda hate him because he could've solved his problems differently and Oz is just adorable?? Also his developement is so so so so so good and I plan to have a tattoo with three quotes and one of it will be his 'I am here'10: Favorite Rainsworth: SHARON. (if break counts as rainsworth, then break, of course because he is my bae and son and master and I love him with all my damn heart) I really like her ha11: Ok I think break counts as rainsworth since there are only three barmas and I think Reim goes into that category too but then REIM. I love him so much I can't bear it he is so cute I could scream about him 24/7 he is one of my top fav characters in ph EVER.6: OTP: ......................................can I die. SharonxBreak. It was my otp #1 for three years (-> till vanoé haha xDD) and it still kills me with the angst But my ph otp #2 is reimxgil xDDDD18: Do I hate or like Jack?: uh. I love him because I was like him with all his depression and anxiety and this clinging to one person but he did so much wrong but overall I like him I think?? xDD29: Least favourite character: Ada. I don't know why, probably because of the crush I had on Gil when I was younger xDD I have a hate-love relationship with Jun's big-boobs-characters oh god30: If I could make two characters interact more, who would they be?: GIL AND REIM YES. I ship them way too hard just because of that special chapter. they are perfect and I want Gil to suffer next to #perfectReim xD I just love them so much!!!45: NOTP: mmmh I have two. First is AdaxGil (yes, fault of my crush on gil again xDDD) and alice and oz. I brotp them too hard to ship them, I don't know xD But I'm ok with people shipping them and I've already wrote alicexoz content so hey. but I ship them as ot3 with gilalso thx that the ask is so long because that makes me happy

[m-d-tr1]

"Still Connected Across the Abyss".

Oz and Alice from the manga/anime Pandora Hearts.

This is the first time I've ever tried drawing them together.

I absolutely love this couple!

I dont own the series, characters, etc. Only the time, paper, pen and pencils it took to make this picture.

[powwidge]

My thoughts about VNC 20

Ok. Where do I start?

-u can really say I ship Vanijeanne now like, wow, that end was just so cute?? It isn’t near otp level at all, but I am completely ok with it now. I ship it as much as AlicexOz now (and I don’t like this pairing a lot but more than other pairings). That means a lot.

-U can’t tell me Jeanne isn’t crushing hard on Domi, holy shit. xD

-Those faces were perfect

-I thought Jeanne wanted a date with him to keep him away from Noé, so that Ruthven could go and hurt him, but apparently she did it because she hates him xD

-Noé just went on and told Domi a very personal information about Vanitas, like, Noé, he finally trusts u, do u really think U SHOULD DO THAT HOLY DAMN xDDD

-vanitas reaction was gold.

-Noé, reacting to the Vanijeanne kiss: :o oh why

-Noé, reacting to Jeanne sucking Vanitas blood: qwq I am feeling weird and don’t know why and my heart hurts so much

-Noé, reacting to them dating: I DON’T EVEN WANT TO IMAGINE IT GUYS qwq

[guavas-on-patrol]

[yukiinaa]

[vrriskaa-blog]

Just to fulfill my personal need for OzxAlice.