#but I've got asks in the inbox that also address those same points. :33

[pianostarinwonderland]

No because sometimes I go, what if the fans are misinterpreting azul wrong?

Like yeah everyone has their own hcs and all, but I see too much crybaby azul content :/ granted he WAS a crybaby, not anymore, that's what I remember at least. And after his breakdown he's been dubbed a crybaby again 😂 I mean come on everyone breaks down once in a while. Floyd said he's not the same crybaby anymore, and yeah he'd have his insecurities but is it THAT bad?? Where did all his confidence disappear off to :((

But I'm also wondering about his romantic side. Twst is not an otome so fans make up their own hcs, but I see a lot of "shy, nervous, simp, bottom (help 😭)" etc azul when it comes to this. Personally, I think it sort of clashes?? I sometimes wonder, "what if our interpretations are completely different than what yana believes" 😂

Like okay, I don't think he's had a romantic experience before but he can't be AS pathetic as how some fics have shown him to be? I don't know he's just so useless and pitiful there, and can't do SHIT without the tweels.

Another thing is his strength. Yeah his stamina sucks and all but even after getting it confirmed that he's physically strong I see posts like: azul can't lift a fly

NOOOOooo like in chp 6 we even get to see more of his strength! And I believe he mentions how he's confident in his strength. I don't know, I've been seeing too much of this 😭

In the end everyone can interpret him how they like tbh because he's just a character, but I don't wanna stray away too much from canon. Your thoughts perhaps??

First off, you're very valid for feeling this way. If anything, you're definitely not alone in feeling this way. Trust me, as an Azul stan and as someone who yearns to know more about him, seeing the fandom reducing him to a crybaby has made me feel frustrated.

I actually had to hold off from answering this ask at first because topics like these are hard to really discuss especially when you established a reputation somehow. I can't just say that the fandom is stupid or shitty for interpreting a piece of text or a character in a way that I disapprove or disagree (and lawdy trust me, I made that mistake at least three times, and I think that ended up ugly). Not everyone has the patience or the time to look at TWST in such a deep way, and that's okay! Each of us show our love for the game in our own ways. And as you said, anon, everyone can interpret Azul—and pretty much everyone else in TWST—how they like.

Sadly, it doesn't erase the fact that it gets frustrating at best and downright depressing at worst to see that the common interpretation for Azul is crybaby octopus when there's so much more to him than just him having a mental breakdown.

Azul worked hard to become someone better than his past self. He studied hard, he practiced his magic until he made a powerful UM. He planned his way into becoming Octavinelle's dorm leader (according to Dorm Idia story). He established a student business that's thriving (which Ace says in his Union story, which says a lot that someone from the outside can say that it's a success). Anon also said it. It was Jade actually, but he implied that Azul hasn't cried in a while in chapter 3-35.

Floyd: What now? Azul, are you getting a little misty-eyed?

Jade: My my, have you gone back to the ink-spitting crybaby? [TL by shel_bb]

Take note that the phrasing is "have you gone back", not "are you being the ink-spitting crybaby again", which is heavy implication that Azul hasn't cried in a while.

He worked hard to be a better person. Even TWST puts such emphasis in Azul's hard work. Where people like Leona and Vil felt that not even hard work would bring them the recognition that they want, hard work was what brought Azul to some of his most successful years.

One time, a friend pointed out that one of the biggest misinterpretations about Azul is that people underestimate his determination and hard work. And holy shit, it is true.

Once, someone asked me about Azul's voice: If it was shown in the flashback that he stole someone's voice, wouldn't that mean that his voice would be different starting from chapter 4 now that his contracts have been dusted?

A good question honestly. And at the time, I didn't know how to answer it because huh, that's interesting, but also, his voice never really changed at the end of chapter 3 either. But the short answer? No. Long answer? Azul didn't just cheat his way and use the talents of others that he took. Yes, he used the abilities he took, but it doesn't mean he didn't slack off. He worked hard to build an image: someone confident, intelligent, unbreakable. He would have made sure that he sounded that way to people.

On the topic of Azul's determination, he has his own skills too. Anon pointed out his strength, so I'll get into that. Yes he can't fly, but by God, he has strength. Even Floyd had a miffed reaction to people calling Azul weak. He didn't have to tell Riddle, Vil, and Epel during Beans Day that Azul was actually strong, he doesn't have reason to. But he fucking did.

Riddle: And where do you get off mocking ME? Your housewarden Azul is hardly a heavy hitter himself with his magic out of the equation. From what I saw earlier, he was the only one on the monster team struggling to catch his breath.

Vil: True. If he's that desperate to improve his PE grade, he could try putting in the work every day to—

Floyd: Wait, hold up. Who said anything about Azul bein' weak without his magic? He's real strong. [Beans 2, Chapter 20, official localization]

That same strength is also confirmed in chapter 6 as well! While I don't have a reliable translation to quote it from, Azul tells Riddle that even if he was collared, he would still have the strength of his arms.

So okay, this is just one explanation as to why Azul isn't just crybaby. Again, we all have our different interpretations and that's okay~.

What is not okay is when people not only reduce Azul to being a crybaby but also calling him pathetic for it.

I think some of you guys know this recent Twitter poll about the most pathetic character in Twisted Wonderland. It's a fun poll, it's really funny to look at the results (like that one round where Ace got 93% of the votes lmaooooo), and it was all in good fun. But the problem was that some of the qrts said that Azul is pathetic because he cried in chapter 3, or that chapter 3 was the proof you need to justify Azul being pathetic.

Listen, many of us would agree that it's funny to point and laugh at Azul. Like for example, a lot of Azul stans, myself included, find it funnier than frustrating that Azul didn't get event cards for nearly two years because he was the first character to murder us with 2 SSRs in one month. Right now, it's also funny that Azul's recent Camp outfit almost makes him look like a middle aged Korean grandma, but let's be honest, it's still a good outfit. But still, there's a lightheartedness to all the joking. It's nothing mean spirited.

But call Azul pathetic for crying, for breaking down in tears, even if it's joking, and that's when it gets hurtful. Yes, Azul is a fictional character, so it's more "okay" to call him pathetic for that than to call real people pathetic. Yes, maybe I do care too much for fucking pixels.

But seeing so many people say that Azul is pathetic for being a crybaby speaks so much about the kind of people they are. It speaks of a bigger societal problem regarding toxic masculinity, where boys are pathetic when they cry. If Azul was a girl, would you still call her pathetic for breaking down?

I don't think people realize it, but having to hear these comments about Azul hurts. I've heard these comments everywhere: Twitter, Tumblr, and especially my own fucking friends and fellow Octavinelle stans.

There was one time I saw a friend say that they would find Sebek being crybaby adorable but if it's Azul, it's pathetic coming from him. At the time, my mental health was down the drain. I went through days when I just wanted to lose it right then and there and cry my heart out. Azul is one of my few sources of comfort, so I especially held onto him tightly that time. So to have someone just say that? I felt hurt by that. Maybe it sounds crazy, but at that time, I thought, "So if you think Azul's crying is pathetic, does that mean you'd say me crying is pathetic?"

There was another time when I wanted to scream about how hardworking Azul was because chapter 6 highlighted that even more. Someone made a tweet (in JP) how Azul's magic isn't as good as some of the other boys, but the fact that he's one of the strong mages still is a testament to how hard he worked to reach that point. And I linked that in a server, and before I could say anything, someone went in and said, "Lmaooo this crybaby is actually okay." Needless to say, not only did they just say it when I was about to lovemail, I was hurt by that comment too because just having people say that they look at Azul like he's pathetic felt hurtful.

I'm going to repeat, hearing those comments hurts. A lot of people love Azul for a reason. He made people feel seen, he's someone that a lot of people intimately relate to. He's a lot of people's comfort character. Please remember that.

I'll end this post on that note. Sorry anon that I used your ask to ramble like this. But I really want this to be said and heard. Again, to repeat, it's okay to interpret things differently. Some of us don't have the time to look at TWST deeply, and some of us just don't have that patience to do so, and that's alright. And we're not perfect, our biases may come out, and we may say things that may sound mean. But yeah, I just want people to at least know that there's more to Azul than just being crybaby. And that calling Azul pathetic for being a crybaby is hurtful and feeds to the bigger problem about how boys are seen to be pathetic when they cry.