#also based on Jade’s school uniform vignette

[sandbees]

Yuu: Mmmmm, tea.

Kalim: Oh, hey Yuu! What are you drinking?

Yuu: Sweet tea, it’s a popular drink where I’m from. Want to have a try?

Kalim: Sure! I can never say no to tea, especially if it’s sweet!

Kalim:

Kalim: Why is it cold?

Yuu: Because it’s sweet tea? Wh- Oh! Sorry Kalim, forgot to say that it’s iced. Kind of weird that no one ever thought to drink iced tea before- Kalim?

Kalim: This is…a disgrace! Who drinks tea cold?! Yuu, we need to make proper tea, stat!

Yuu: Wait, what?

Kalim: Don’t worry, Yuu! I’ll show you how to make proper sweet tea!

[b0njourbeach]

My Jade Leech Rant!

"Haha, funny Mushroom man!"

No.

The joke was funny the first 53 times but it's getting boring.

I get it, he spends a lot of time studying and growing mushrooms, he's fascinated in it, so it's easy to make it his personality. I get it, I really do.

But Jade is more than just some twisted merman version of Mario.

Possible spoilers for Book 3 and following. Proceed with caution.

For one, I feel like people often miss the part where Jade expresses interest in *all* kinds of plants - He loves the nature because he grew up in the deepest parts of the ocean where they probably barely had plants and even if they did, they definitely hadn't the kinds we have on land. And this one might be more my own guess but the - possible - reason why Jade is so fixated on mushrooms is the simple fact that they're relatively easy to grow (compared to other land-based plants) and let's be fair here: I don't think a merperson has automatically the needed skills for land-based plant-sitting. So, give a Mushroom a bit of light (optional), some moisture and something to feast on and everything's thriving (I'm guessing. Haven't grown a Mushroom myself before but I do know that they feast on pretty much anything, so).

Also, why is no one mentioning Jades passion for tea? It would actually work with the fandoms insane passion of comparing him to Sebastian (which - again - was amusing the first few times but it's getting annoying). He meets Kalim while studying tea and mentions he's quite interested in it (it was his School Uniform Vignette, if my memory serves me right) and in Ruggies School Uniform Vignette we learn that Jade is also always trying to improve his usage of Herbs of all kinds. His literal special item in the Guest Room is a TEA GUIDE.

And there's another thing I don't get in this fandom: Why does he have to be compared so often to Sebastian? Sure, they both have the "polite gentleman" personality but both of them have very different reasons to do so and last time I checked, Jade ain't a who knows how old demon who made a contract with a severely traumatized orphan just to have a quick snack on his soul later on. I watched Black Butler and as far as I'm concerned, Jade has more depth in his personality than "perfectionist cat loving demon butler for little British brat". But then again, thats just my hot take (and I never really liked Sebastian anyways. On another note: Stop comparing Riddle to Ciel as well).

As I said: Jade is trying to be a polite little guy but fails with elegance on hiding his rather sadistic nature behind a wide smile, leaving him with that everlasting aura of pure mischief which is rather charming in my personal opinion but many people find this more intimidating than charming. So a natural layer of Fear surrounds those who have to deal with Jade - Unless they share a similiar sight like him (as we can see in his interaction with Rook: Instead of being intimidating by the Hunters heartfelt Invasion of privacy, they end up giggling together, causing Riddle - the third wheel of this conversation - to feel mildly but certainly uncomfortable to the point where he left the two of them alone.

Jade is shady, no questions asked but I would like to remind you that Jade also grew up in a very different environment: Not only has he been growing up under the sea, he also had - most likely - fight to survive at some point. Not to mention that his family is heavily implied to be shady business and with shady business, there comes a shady mindset. While Floyd doesn't bother hiding this "setting" of mind, Jade pretty much does so. For what reason? There could be many but as far as I'm aware, we haven't been given a confirmed reason.

It could be a tactical strategy: If he can convince people to trust in the "polite" side of him, giving him the opportunity to surprise them with the true depth of his mind - Luring his enemies like a siren with charming manners, only to slaughter them in a dark alleyway. He openly admitted that he enjoys having control over someone's/somethings life and death (although this was more about the living organisms in his terrariums - Book 4 and his Halloween Card make me believe that this also applies outside of the glass.)

There's also something about Jades specific reaction whenever he shows his more.. Passionate side: He often stops himself and pauses for a moment, before saying that he's joking. In my eyes, he notices how uncomfortable the person in front of him is getting, quickly thinking of an excuse and choosing to pretend that he's joking - It would cause trouble in the future for him if he were to intimidate people to the point of them avoiding him at all cost. People who say things that could be very well from the depths of the darknet happen to freak people out - A lot. More often than not, the person with this knowledge only realizes *after* starting to speak that their words are not necessarily "normal" for the average person. And especially Jade, who - assumingly - grew up surrounded by all kinds of dark stuff, it's certainly rather difficult to adjust your personal average to societies average.

I can also see him as a very extroverted child who wanted to make a lot of friends but never had the chance because of several reasons (for one, kids were often scared of him and his brother and possibly due to family affairs he wasn't allowed or it was significantly more difficult/dangerous to make friends with your average neighbourhood joe. Additionally, many kids misunderstood his gentle teasing as insulting the others even though being mean was a part of his "love language"). I'm also almost certain that he always had to make up for Floyd's mistake growing up, leading him to have this habit even now where he cleans up Floyd's messes or tries to keep up with Floyd's moods the best way possible. Which leads me to one specific personality trait of Jade: He never had the chance to be himself. He always had to be something: Father needed him to be careful, brother needed stability, classmates needed to feel save enough to be comfortable around him, Azul needed a capable right hand. The only times where he was truly himself were the times he was alone - In the nature. In peace, in harmony, studying the land he had not seen before, for he was bound to the Sea.

He's just a guy who's trying to please everyone while also trying to hold onto his personality as good as he possibly can.

And now some headcanons for my favorite shady eel!

He definitely has at least one scar in the shape of a bite mark from fighting with Floyd as kids (including possibly several other scars because these two just can't not fight - Surprisingly, Jade would win most of the fights).

Everytime he gets overwhelmed by something or if he's too stressed, he just leaves for a few hours to go hiking and to just touch some grass to calm down again. He then proceed to cause some petty mischief to call it even (only ¼ of the time people actually knew it was him causing said chaos).

I can't explain this one but I feel like he would have a lactose intolerance.

Out of all three, Jade was the first one who nailed the walking - He struggles with other typical land-sport activities. (One of his worst enemies is couple dancing. It's the only social gathering he tries to avoid like the plague.)

Have I gotten all my thoughts on my dear eel? I hope so. If not, I shall add it later

Ps: I know it's manners but you don't have to thank me every time I answer your ask, dear. I'm enjoying the attention, so it's mutual benefit /lh

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Thank you for answering my question about Leona and his gloves!

There I meant if guys can cast spells without their pens? Or it’s just dangerous without them?

[Referencing this post!]

I’m pretty certain it’s possible to cast magic without specifically magical pens; it’s just risky to do without some kind of magical item or something embedded with a magestone to act as a magic conduit. Without that, one accumulates blot much more quickly and it can be difficult to gauge how much blot you’ve already collected without a visual (like the color of one’s magestone).

This is topic addressed in the Vargas Camp event, when the students’ magical pens are confiscated. They realize that this will make using magic (to help with camping) very difficult for them. However, they were later able to use raw magestones they mined and that Ruggie pilfered to help them overcome certain obstacles. So… it’s not so much the magical pen that’s important, but the magestone in it. Trey also clearly states that they can use magic “without their pens”, but that they’re at a greater risk for blot without the pens.

If you look across the various cards, there are numerous examples of characters or even whole lines where other magical objects or items with magestones are used to help the boys channel their magic. In the Dorm Uniform series, Vil uses a grimoire, Leona/Azul/Riddle/Kalim/Malleus use staves, Idia’s magestone is inside of a floating skull device. Presumably, this occurs because they have a magestone embedded in these alternative use items (for example, when Idia OBs, the blot is shown pooling in the magestone inside of his skull device).

Magestones can come in many different forms, so it’s not limited to just magical pens. RSA has magestones in brooch form, and Lilia explains to Trey (in Lilia’s School Uniform vignette) that though magical pens are what is chic now, they have gone through many different size iterations through the years and describes the changes like trends. Popular fan speculation is that the NRC staff wear their magestones in alternate forms as well, such as Trein’s cravat and Vargas’s bracelet.

Various events also utilize different items, enchanted or not, to aid the boys in combat. For example, the flower bouquets in Ghost Marriage are already enchanted with the power to dispel ghosts. Many other items the boys use for combat don’t inherently have magical properties (fishing poles, cooking utensils, pies, peashooters, instruments, etc; the Diasomnia boys just do martial arts for their Halloween costumes). There are also cases where people cast their UMs without explicit use of the magical pen (such as Jade on Kalim in episode 4; if Jade had his magical pen out, it would instantly give away he intended to do something). Given what we know from Vargas Camp, I believe the implication is that as long as a character has a magestone ON them, they can safely use magic (ie the magestone helps them use everyday objects to channel their spells, and/or they can cast their UMs without necessarily whipping out the magical pens to wave for the spell). It’s also possible for someone to use magic without a magestone, but there is a greater risk associated with that.

The only notable exception I can think of is that Malleus uses magic on the regular by just waving his hands around rather than by utilizing his magical pen like most of the other students do (see the School Uniforms for an exemplar). This could just be another case of "a character uses magic with a magestone on him", but I think if there are any characters that can easily use magic without a magestone, it's probably him (because of how overpowered the Draconia line seems to be)? Like I said before though, my general impression based on the current lore is that it's the magestone, not the pen, that allows for magic to be safely conducted. Again, safety is an emphasis here; it’s possible for any mage to use magic without a magestone, but blot is a much greater concern.

[yuurei20]

Azul Info Compilation part 9: Jade

Jade enjoys mocking Azul extremely.

He goes off-script during Halloween to force Azul to dance in front of visitors (“it’s called ‘ad-libbing’, my dear Azul”), and when a possessed Azul is discovered during Spectral Soiree he says “Oh, but it’s so entertaining. Couldn’t we just leave him like this for a while?”

When Azul regains consciousness Jade confirms whether or not he is still possessed by quizzing him on Mostro Lounge earnings from the previous night.

(When asked what he remembers about being kidnapped he says he does “faintly recall hearing Azul’s voice”, while Azul says he “had a dream where I was floating in the ocean. I was unusually buoyant.”)

Jade jokes about Azul being thrown “into the depths of despair” when the lounge has few customers, teases Azul about being an “ink-spewing crybaby” despite having signed an NDA covering Azul's childhood and happily leaves him with a difficult task during Vargas Camp 2 during a tense moment, taking up a far easier task for himself.

We also see him tease Azul during Book 4 by complimenting Kalim on his compassion and saying, “would that Azul could take a page from your book” and when he observes that Azul says he would like to “offer (his) services” during Wish Upon a Star, what he actually means is “take advantage of people’s wishes for your own gain”, he follows up with “That sounds rather fun, actually.”

When Jade makes a comment during Vargas Camp 2 about going to fish for an octopus Azul responds that, in that case, he looks forward to grilling eel.

Azul encourages Riddle and the others to go to Jade’s Mountain Lovers Club exhibition in Book 5 as “I assume he’d be all alone and bored out of his skull otherwise”.

Jade’s dorm uniform vignette consists of Jade feigning interest in transferring to Pomefiore in accordance with a plan that Azul has devised in order to trick Vil into promoting a drink offered at Mostro Lounge.

There is an interesting interaction where Vil presses Jade for information about how he met Azul and Jade refuses to answer, saying that he hasn’t “the foggiest idea” what brought them together.

Vil is suspicious about him having forgotten “such an important event in his life”—perhaps related to aforementioned NDA?

The vignette ends with Jade returning to Octavinelle (“Azul convinced me—tears in his eyes—that Octavinelle is at a complete loss without me”) and Azul welcomes him back as “the best in the school at worming your way into other’s hearts”.

Jade assures him that “satisfying Vil was like child’s play in comparison to a certain someone. My stay at Pomefiore was like a well-deserved breaks”. Azul responds, “Oh, you jokester, you.”

For all his mocking of Azul, however, Jade does seem to concede to his requests in a way similar to Floyd: Jade does not wear a t-shirt that Azul has forbidden and refrains from filling the Mostro Lounge menu with mushroom-based dishes when Azul asks him to stop.

In a vignette we see Azul being quite strict with Jade when he made a poor decision related to Mostro Lounge, but Jade is undeterred: in the same vignette we see Riddle complimenting Azul’s role in capturing Grim, which transitions to Jade going above and beyond at a task Azul had assigned him by drafting a list of home countries, hobbies, least favorite foods, worst subjects, public magicam accounts and “secret” magicam accounts for Azul’s use.

Riddle explains, “At first glance, it may seem as though Jade only follows Azul and Floyd’s lead, but that is a grave misunderstanding.”

We also get a small example of Jade keeping Azul informed about goings-on in the school when, in a separate vignette, Jade is nearby when Floyd commits himself to performing in a live show with Kalim, and Jade says he will be notifying Azul.

Jade and Azul also seem to share a healthy rivalry, teasing one another both before and after Beanfest.

[taruruchi]

Hello taru just checking in how are you doing recentlyyyy🫶🫶

FAVORITE AZUL HEADCANON GO!

HI SIPPYYY so happy to see you in my inbox!! I'm doing all right, no more having to go to school for now 💪 Finally free to draw and writeee 🎉🎉 I hope you're doing great as well <33

You're asking me to talk about Azul?? Oh, well— *tucks papers away in my suitcase*

My favorite Azul hc is he has a hot mom /hj (but it's true guys I've met her /j)

I don't know if I have a fave hc? Mostly bc I don't remember them sjkdfka My favorite things about him are canon, y'see, so hopefully it's okay if I talk about that instead? Prepare for a lot of rambling which I will put under the cut bc I'm afraid it'll be too long

One of my most favorite things about him was shown in Chapter 6: the fact that he still doesn't think he's doing enough and still wants to do SO much more. The scenes I'm talking about showed that he's super ambitious and wants to achieve all of those goals—beating Riddle at #1 in their grade, opening a new Mostro Lounge branch, etc. I already admired him a lot before because he's a dorm leader as a second-year, runs a business, does research related to economics, and tons of other things. I was like, “Wow, he's doing so much for his age and he's still doing so well?? I wish I could be like that.” It's especially because Azul and I are practically opposites I think? We're really different. That's probably mostly why.

Slightly going off topic, that scene is so special to me, though. Azul and Riddle know each other's strengths and how they both work hard to get to where they are and I'm just *sobbing on the floor*.

Anyways, continuing what I was saying, he also talks about when he was younger and how he didn't try as much before. He talked about how his family wouldn't be strict about schoolwork and just let him do what he wanted. He was spoiled when he was younger, but after he got bullied, he was motivated to become better (as he should, he did not deserve that and I'm WKSNCKSNF). And I'm just so proud of him because he didn't just give up and he became a version of himself where he could be more confident and I *curls up and cries* And this isn't even remotely close to a hc anymore I'm just talking about everything that's canon...

... I think that's it for that part. If you wanna hear about more light-hearted things, tho, we have: the fact that he can play the piano and he's REALLY good at telling what ingredients are in something just by tasting it like hello???

I'm a sort of musical person, I enjoy playing the piano, singing, listening to music, so. That's probably why the fact that he plays the piano stands out so much to me. You can tell me about any character that plays the piano and I will turn my head so fast. And I NEED CONTENT OF HIM PLAYING THE PIANO, DISNEY, PLEASE I'M STARVING

As for the second thing, the first time I read about it, I went “Wh. What?? Hello?? How did he— What?????” BECAUSE LIKE?? THAT'S SO IMPRESSIVE??? (If you wanna read it, it's Azul's dorm uniform vignette. Not completely sure if there's another time he does that but Jade does mention it either in the Applepom story or vignette, idk)

AND NOW I ACTUALLY DO THINK OF A HEADCANON. He's very good at cooking. Period. This is based on facts. I will not take criticism because I'm right. (And I cannot cook for the life of me, I am asking for his hand in marriage rn. This is why we'd be a good match /j)

[yuurei20]

Idia Fact Sheet (No Book 6 Spoilers)

Note: This character sheet has no spoilers from the Ignihyde Dorm chapter because spoilers are the worst. There are references to JPN-only things like Idia's dorm uniform card vignette, etc, as usual.

(Ranked 7th in a combination of seven different character-ranking surveys by the jpn server held throughout 2021)

Idia rarely leaves his dorm room, attending classroom lectures via a tablet. He says he “never wanted to be housewarden”, insinuating that he was appointed to the position against his will.

In Book 5 we learn that Riddle has been housewarden of Heartslabyul longer than Idia has been of Ignihyde, so it is safe to assume that he did not become housewarden until his third year.

Illustration notes: "Stronger flames. He makes this expression sometimes when he gets excited. Like when he comes across a strong enemy in a video game, or when things are going according to plan. Most people won’t see this look at first; not until he’s grown close to them. Surprise.”

When provoked Idia becomes extremely upset, much like the character upon which he was based, but he cools down again very quickly. He also slips into outdated internet slang when he speaks with passion.

The name he uses most widely online is “Nekura Samurai”, and his closest online friend is “Muscle Red”. We learn in card vignettes that “Muscle Red” is actually Lilia, but neither student is aware of the online-identity of the other.

Despite his extreme dislike for talking to people face to face, it is surprisingly easy to goad him into becoming talkative, especially about his hobbies and interests. Idia seems to have great disdain for tradition (ref: homescreen and beansfest).

Idia is very protective of Ortho, an android he built himself and programmed to act as a little brother. When Idia was kidnapped by a ghost looking to marry (and subsequently murder) him, Ortho was the only student willing to try and save Idia’s life. Ortho joined Crowley in blackmailing the rest of the characters into helping.

Idia spends the vast majority of the “Wish Upon a Star” event fulfilling his tasks to the bare minimum while constantly, audibly hoping that it will be cancelled. When this ‘wish’ comes close to being fulfilled, he witnesses Ortho’s disappointment and turns around to invent the Stargazer gear for Ortho that saves the entire event, even participating in-person in accordance with a bet he lost to Deuce.

Idia’s desire to not disappoint Ortho is, however, fallible. In his ceremonial robes vignette we see Idia get goaded by Riddle into promising that he will attend the opening ceremonies, much to Ortho's delight. Ortho asks that they take a picture together in their robes, as Ortho had not been allowed to participate in Idia's opening ceremonies upon his enrollment in the school (just like the player and Grim, Idia and Ortho are enrolled as two halves of one student).

Idia gets as far as changing into his robes and reaching the school’s courtyard, but when a confused Malleus comments on his clothing (“I simply cannot understand the meaningless things humans do at times”), Idia panics, insults Malleus and retreats to the safety of his room without ever seeing Ortho at all.

Ortho follows up later to apologize for asking him to attend in the first place, assuring his “brother” that “We don’t need to go somewhere to be together” and “I’ll always be with you”.

There are only a few characters with whom Idia will communicate in person and only under certain circumstances, like Jamil and fellow board games club-member Azul. He is particularly uncomfortable around Kalim, Cater, Trey and Rook.

In his birthday vignette he is asked what dorm, besides Ignihyde, he would like to live in (a question asked of all the students in the second round of birthday cards), he answers “Octavinelle wouldn’t be bad, but I want to stay far away from those disturbing twins", insinuating he has issues with Jade and Floyd as well.

When Ortho requested that Idia design him a pair of legs that can walk on land (instead of levitate) Idia refused on the basis that “floating around is every guy’s dream”, “ walking is total NPC stuff” and “flying is for heroes”.

Floyd and Jade proceed to blackmail Idia into designing the legs for Ortho anyway (via an “interesting piece of information” they have about him), with Floyd underlining their point by gifting Ortho a pair of shoes for his birthday. This incident may have something to do with Idia's discomfort around them.

Idia had originally intended to join the Science Club, but it had more members than he’d anticipated and he switched to the Boardgames Club instead. In the official fan book, it is said that the club is a reference to Disney’s Hercules movie.

Idia dislikes the outdoors and physical activity extremely. (“Humans are the only creatures that do pointless exercise to consume the nutrients they have taken in! It's really stupid!" from homescreen)

In the Beansfest event, we learn he has set up a deal with Sam where he hides out in Sam’s shop until the end of the event. In exchange, Idia (under the alias “Mr. Smith”) designs one-of-a-kind bean-shooting weapons for players to purchase from Sam.

While constantly down-playing his abilities and knowledge, we learn in the Phantom Bride event that, if goaded enough, he will reveal that he actually thinks very highly of himself and his accomplishments (much to the surprise and awkwardness of Riddle and the other students). He can also become quick to insult and belittle others, leading to Ace’s comment of “he’s actually really cool…as long as he keeps his mouth shut.”

Rook refers to him as “King of his own room”, Floyd as “Hotaruika-senpai” (for firefly squid) and Leona calls him カイワレ大根 (kaiware daikon), for being shady, frail and tall. Despite this unflattering name, Leona tells us that “He’s got more power and brains than ordinary students”.

Idia has said he likes cats, will try talking to Lucius during history lessons and accidentally terrified Grim in his lab wear vignette when he mistook Grim for a regular cat. He is also fond of dogs, but has said he does not get along with dog people like Crewel.

Idia seems to have something of a complex with his hair, and his fear of others making fun of it in his ceremonial robes vignette and Book 5 seems to insinuate that it is unusual even for the Twisted Wonderland universe. He also expresses concern that people will recognize him as a member of the Shroud family.

Despite being only eighteen, he seems to be a household name in the field of magical engineering, and we learn that that he “can buy a gymnasium full of canned tuna” with just a single part of the various elements that make up Ortho.

From his voice line of “Tests are like games. The higher you score, the better you feel”, it seems that he might actually be an accomplished student despite his habit of staying up all night, absorbed in his hobbies.

At the very end of Book 5 Ortho reveals that Idia has received a large number of offers from various companies soliciting him for internships, including the VDC event’s sponsor, Olympos Co. Idia orders Ortho to delete them all, saying “I’m not going anywhere regardless…”

Rather than a magical pen, Idia uses a floating, skull-like drone in battles that also stirs the cauldron in alchemy lessons.

He is always wearing headphones in order to listen to music with the best possible sound quality and to shut out the world around him through noise-canceling. His favorite music is by a three-member girl group called “Precipice Moirai” whose members are “older than they look” (although, in Epel’s dorm uniform vignette, he says they look old while having the spirits of 17 year olds. This conflicting information is consistent on both the ENG- and JPN-servers, and may be a continuity error). It is speculated in the fan community that is a reference to the three Fates in Disney’s Hercules.

Idia’s favorite food is dagashi because “it is easy to eat while gaming”. Dagashi are cheap snackfoods that became popular in Japan during the Edo Period when sugar was particularly expensive. 

This site is great if you would like to learn more (bonus: if you have seen Spirited Away and ever wondered about the star-shaped food eaten by the soot sprites? Those are a form of dagashi, introduced to Japan by Portugal).

Potato chips and cheap chocolate are also dagashi.

Idia dislikes raw fish because of the smell, how it is eaten neither hot nor cold, the texture and how troublesome it is to prepare. Idia says that “block snacks” are good enough for him, as he is only interested in consuming the nutrition he needs to function, regardless of the form it comes in.

Dagashi comes in both sweet and savory forms. By “block snacks”, I would assume that twst is referring to something similar to “Calorie Mate”-brand snacks without using the copyrighted name. A common snack food in Japan, it is marketed as being an alternative way to consume enough calories to keep going when you don’t have enough time to prepare and eat a proper meal.

Some great artists for Idia fan-art and more (SFW, no story spoilers) Idia looking amazing

Idia and Ortho

Various Idia

Stargazer Idia and Ortho

Voice Idia is voiced by Uchiyama Kouki (内山 昂輝) whose other work includes Roxas from Kingdom Hearts II, Neku Sakuraba from The World Ends with You, Shigaraki Tomura from My Hero Academia, Soul Eater Evans from Soul Eater, Kamyu from Dragon Quest XI and Kirishima Ikuya from Free! -Dive to the Future-

More information here

Additional Fact Sheets ・Riddle Rosehearts ・Trey Clover・Cater Diamond ・Ace Trappola・Deuce Spade ・Leona Kingscholar ・Ruggie Bucchi ・Jack Howl ・Azul Ashengrotto・Floyd Leech・Jade Leech ・Kalim Al-Asim・Jamil Viper ・Vil Schoenheit・Rook Hunt ・Epel Felmier ・Idia Shroud・Ortho Shroud ・Malleus Draconia ・Silver・Sebek Zigvolt・Lilia Vanrouge ・Sam・Crewel・Trein・Vargas・Crowley

[yuurei20]

Azul Info Compilation part 8: Floyd

In the original game Floyd has a sea-creature-based nicknaming convention that he applies to everyone in the school besides his own brother, with one exception: Azul.

When asked why, he responds “‘Cause Azul’s Azul, duh.”

(If you’re on NA then continuity will vary)

Floyd can be difficult to ask favors of, as we see in a vignette where Ruggie asks for his help during a shift at Mostro Lounge. Floyd refuses outright at first and only acquiesces once Ruggie points out that Azul might get angry at Floyd as a result.

Ruggie says Floyd might earn himself a bonus and Floyd says “Can’t say I’m all that interested in bonuses”. Ruggie observes, “a free spirit he may be, but I guess even Floyd bows down to Azul”.

Vil seems aware of this, invoking Azul during Beanfest to get Floyd to cooperate.

Floyd expends an unusual amount of effort in his Dorm Uniform vignette for Azul, haggling with Sam for the rights to the Mystery’s Shop’s “Mystery Drink” and trading a “legendary jewel from the Land of the Scalding Sands” that he receives from Kalim for them, even though Sam offers him anything he wants, as “I’d rather not have Azul angry at me”.

Floyd also talks about a time he had a takoyaki party with members of the dorm where they had a contest to see who could make the worst ones, but no matter how disgusting they were he was “sure to eat every last one” because “Azul gets all huffy if we waste food”.

Azul’s displeasure is not always enough, however, and in Book 5 Floyd happily abandons his assigned task, despite Azul assuring him that the profits lost from his decision to set up a “free drinks” sign in his stead will come out of Floyd’s pay.

During Halloween we see that Azul does not disagree with Floyd’s “non-verbal means of persuasion”, though he prefers it done outside.

Floyd says he finds it “hilarious” how Azul “goes all-out like some kinda shark in guppy’s clothing” when “professors or bigwigs come here for ceremonies” and he is happy to tell a traumatized, post-overblot-Azul that he likes “the old Azul” because “He’d make a better meal than the one we’ve got now”.

Floyd explains that he once hydro-dipped one of Azul’s hats and Azul was not pleased, magically returning it to its original state without so much as trying it on.

Undeterred, Floyd explains that the next time he comes up with an interesting idea, he will be trying it out on Azul.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hHi Miss Raven!! I wanted to ask about which boys you think are best at being lie dectors? For exmaple if someone lies to them, which boys can catch them in the lie?

To answer this question, I only considered the main 22 NRC students.

Please also note that just because I did not include a character in my response, it doesn’t mean I think they’re terrible at telling when someone is lying or can’t tell when someone is lying; it just means I don’t think they’re as adept at detecting it as others in the cast are.

Anyway, here’s my list (in no particular order other than by dorm):

Trey -- This one’s easy; Trey is like the ONLY person to have noticed that Cater and Rook were lying and/or being evasive about the truth. No one else realized that Cater actually hates sweets or that Rook isn’t comfortable talking about himself to others, but TREY did.

Cater -- This is mainly because if he really wanted to, Cater could hunt down anyone’s information on social media to discredit or to confirm something. You’d be shocked to know how much dirt you can dig up online. Cater is also just very emotionally in-tune with, and socially aware of, others!

Leona -- In Jamil’s School Uniform vignette, Leona notably points out that Jamil’s face doesn’t match his thoughts, and that Jamil’s eyes “always glare”. Leona knew that Jamil was putting up a facade and that he posed a danger to Kalim even when Jamil wasn’t doing anything suspicious. This prince has got good instincts and observation skills on him!

Ruggie -- Honestly, I can see Ruggie learning the common physical tells of a liar (such as avoiding eye contact or having twitchy hands or eyes) so that he can avoid getting scammed himself. After all... it takes a liar to know a liar!!

Azul -- He’s generally a very observant guy, and with information on all of the student body, it’s hard to think that he wouldn’t have a tentacle or two writhing out to grasp for the truth in every matter. Azul tends to notice little things that no one else does, and makes educated guesses based on them. For example, Azul says that he notices that Jamil always scores in the middle in every subject, but to even do such a thing consistently requires a lot of skill in of itself. Thus, Azul suspected that Jamil was purposefully scoring in the middle, and can, in reality, perform much better than that.

Jade -- Shock the Heart aside, Jade is one of the two that deals in Azul’s dirty work, and seems to serve as the main informant of the Octatrio. With all that blackmail knowledge behind him, he can have an extensive understanding of anyone, and thus also understand their habits, beliefs, and what they are likely to lie about.

Jamil -- This one’s mostly because he’s always on high alert and cautious, especially in situations that involve Kalim. Of course Jamil will be suspicious of everyone and vigilant for those who may betray him (and thus betray and/or harm Kalim in the process). Look in a mirror, Jamil--

Vil -- As an A list actor, Vil can tell mediocre acting from the real deal, and this extends to lies. There’s many instances in which Vil expresses a distrust of others because he believes their characters are shady, or that the words they offer are potentially false ones (Azul’s Ceremonial Robes vignettes, Jade’s Dorm Uniform vignettes, all those times when Vil tells Epel he knows Epel cuts loose whenever he thinks the dorm leader isn’t around to watch him, etc).

Rook -- Huntsman. That’s it, just huntsman. If he can tell your height and weight from a single glance, what makes you think he can’t tell when you’re lying to his face? Huntsman.

Ortho -- Ortho’s a robot, and that means his abilities can surpass those of living beings. Being a machine, Ortho can LITERALLY be a lie detector, which reads physical reactions (like sweating, heart rate, etc.) to determine if a subject is lying. Of course, giving off a physical reaction doesn’t ALWAYS mean someone is lying (it could just be the nerves, and some expert liars may not give a reaction at all), but I think it’s totally possible for Idia to equip his little brother with other tools to help him tell lies from truth. Like... what’s stopping Ortho from instantly searching online/on someone’s socials and filtering out relevant information to see if it’s a lie or not? What’s stopping Idia from installing a program specifically for detecting lies? Nothing, really.  And maybe Ortho wouldn’t be good at it when he was first created, but I can see him improving at it over time with the more data he collects. That’s how machine learning works; keep feeding it information and the machine gets more accurate with its predictions.

Lilia -- With age comes wisdom. As a long-lived elder fae, Lilia has a ton of life experience under his belt. He can use all of his experience and knowledge to his advantage when determining if someone’s telling the truth or not. It also helps that he has raised a few kids; he’ll be able to sniff out those little white lies kids tell, too!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

just a thoufht, u know how u sometimes see Jamil misspelt as Jalim??? Imagine the Octatrio just constantly doing mispelling/(mis?)calling his name on purpose jsut to annoy himlol (And bet it burns too, for it to sound so close to Kalim...What? Can't even b his own person? Is his image so tied with Kalim's that Kalim's superceeds his??) Hmm niw that I think about it, this has good angst potential:D

Personally, I don’t believe Octavinelle would purposefully call Jamil the wrong name 💦 (especially after the events of chapter 4). Floyd already has a sea creature-based nicknaming system for his peers, whereas Jade and Azul are more polite with their phrasing (both of them refer to their classmates with the honorific “-san”, roughly meaning “dear” or “honorable”). There’s a certain professional demeanor they maintain, and it feels... I don’t know, too juvenile even for Floyd, the most fickle of the trio, to do something as low as purposefully screwing up a classmate’s identity (especially when they later discover the very reason for Jamil’s scheming and eventual Overblot). I think it would be more likely that they would annoy Jamil in other ways. For example, I can definitely see Jade reciting OB Jamil’s lines back to him or using more subtle tactics (because only a select group of people understand the context for it). Floyd can get on Jamil’s nerves just by fucking off and not agreeing to listen to him, or generally misbehaving.

It’s specifically difficult for me to think of Azul as calling Jamil by the wrong name. Azul prides himself on his public “image”, which plays heavily into how he dresses and presents himself to others. It would damage his reputation of professionalism if Jamil (or other people) started circulating rumors that “Azul calls his classmates/clients by the wrong name”, so it’s safer for him and his business if he avoids if altogether. Moreover, I think Azul has genuine respect and admiration for Jamil, even if he is slimy about how he expresses it (it reminds of of those generic evil villain speeches where the Big Bad tries to convince the Good Guy to join him so they can rule the world together). All the NRC boys are pretty emotionally constipated but to me, the ending of chapter 4 demonstrates Azul attempting to “reach out” to Jamil. I’m not saying Azul has no ulterior motives in doing this, but he seems to feel a sort of kinship with Jamil (their strengths, their backgrounds) and probably wants him as an ally instead of as an enemy (seeing as what his UM is). It’s in Azul’s best interests to stay on Jamil’s good side—but if he were to annoy Jamil, I believe his methods would be similar to Jade’s.

In conclusion, while the Octatrio can be cruel, I also think they would have enough tact to address others properly (or, in Floyd’s case, in his own way).

On that note, I do think that people mixing Jamil’s name up with Kalim’s would irritate him. (Ironically, I’m pretty sure the early international TWST fandom made that mistake a LOT... but to be fair, people were also calling Kalim “Kamil” just as often.) Jamil’s whole conflict in chapter 4 is to “be free”, and he claims that can’t happen “as long as Kalim exists”, because Kalim represents the very institution he despises: a society that holds him down and tells him what he can and can’t do, just to save face to others. If he can’t act on his own, can’t he at least have his own name? His own identity? Can’t he have this one thing that’s just for him, and him alone? Without Kalim seeping in and ruining it for him? I can see why it might make for a interesting character study/angst, but I would also caution that it could fall down the slippery slope of “foreign names get misspoken or mistaken” 💦

Fun fact, the official TWST localization actually made a mistake on Kalim’s name in Jamil’s School Uniform vignette (though it has been corrected in a recent patch):