Oz x Gilbert and Blue Feathers (PandoraHearts Theory/Headcanon)

Oz x Gilbert and Blue Feathers

One of the major themes of St. Bridget's Day is giving the person dearest to you a blue feather. Many people in the PandoraHearts fandom appear to believe that you can give a blue feather to somebody without any romantic intentions; however, I believe otherwise, due to the hints in the manga.

The shopkeeper specifies the gender Oz should give the blue feather to ("The man at the shop said I had to give it to a girl, so..."), indirectly indicating it would be inappropriate to give the blue feather to somebody of the same gender. (This makes sense for the time period PandoraHearts' world is supposed to be based on, the Victorian Era. If you were attracted to the same gender at that time, it would legitimately be considered a crime and you would be severely punished for it.) If you were simply supposed to give the blue feather to somebody dear to you, such as your best friend, I doubt the shopkeeper would have specified that Oz had to give it to a girl.

When Oz gives the blue feather to Echo, Echo blushes intensely and asks Oz if he knows what it means to give such a thing to a girl on St. Bridget's Day. You could say this is just because Echo isn't used to being flattered, even in a completely non-romantic way, but it seems more likely she's blushing because you're supposed to give the blue feather to somebody you have a romantic interest in.

At the same time, at the Nightray manor, Gilbert is visiting while trying to avoid being seen by the rest of his family. However, he runs into Vincent, who sits down to speak with him. The first thing Vincent says to Gilbert is this:

"Don't worry, Gil, I won't be long. After all, you have to go back and give a blue feather to that dear master of yours..."

I found this especially interesting, since I pointed out the way the manga subtly hints that you are supposed to give the blue feather to a love interest on St. Bridget's Day. Gilbert's response implies that even more. Usually, Gilbert wouldn't hesitate to declare his devotion and adoration for Oz, but at the suggestion of giving Oz a blue feather, Gilbert doesn't immediately jump to the occasion. It's notable that Vincent delivers his words with a half knowing, half mocking smirk.

Instead of Gilbert simply brushing it off and saying Vincent should hurry up or exclaiming that, yes, he does have to give a blue feather to Oz (which are his two expected reactions, should giving somebody a blue feather not imply anything romantic), Gilbert looks away. He appears severely wounded and dejected, and it takes a minute for him to move on, changing the subject.

It seems like, if you use all the things I mentioned before, Gilbert doesn't like that Vincent brought up giving Oz a blue feather, and that he's extremely sad that he can't because of what it implies and society's reaction.

The last thing I'd like to bring up is the appearance of blue feathers in additional artwork. In other pieces Jun Mochizuki has made for PandoraHearts, blue feathers come up alongside Echo and Gilbert, and only come up near Oz when one of the two is in the picture with him. Echo was confirmed later in an interview with Jun Mochizuki to have been in love with Oz, and that her feelings could have potentially been reciprocated had things been different in terms of deaths and such.

Note that, although blue feathers mostly come up in art of Gilbert and Echo alone, there is usually something symbolizing their connection with Oz in the pieces. For example, in a picture of Echo with a background of falling blue feathers, she is shown in her St. Bridget's Day outfit, the outfit she wore the day she gained an interest in Oz.

Another thing you might want to take to mind is that, interestingly enough, despite what I said before and Jun Mochizuki saying Oz and Echo could have become something, blue feathers are only in Oz's presence when he's in a piece with Gilbert. In the art book that took place after Echo's death, there is a piece—the only piece—where Oz and Gilbert are both in equal possession of blue feathers. There is a wing of blue feathers right in the middle of them, as they are sitting beside each other. What this means is up for debate since it still seems like the romantic side of their relationship is one-sided (Gilbert's side, naturally) by the end of the manga, but it's still interesting.

(If you can't see the blue feather in the picture above, it's in the tiny cage Gilbert has.)

Is Jun Mochizuki trying to imply that Oz x Gilbert, at least on Gilbert's side, is canon through blue feathers? Nobody really knows. She's never said. All we can do is guess, based on her love of using symbolism in her artwork.