Do you think something happened to Jade in their childhood to make Floyd afraid of Jade being quiet? Like maybe he got really sick or injured and as a result went quiet because he was recovering and it freaked Floyd out because he thought his brother was dying. Or maybe it could be the opposite, Floyd’s been shown to care about his brother immensely and given the fact that Jade was incredibly concerned when his brother went missing during their childhood due to ghosts, it’s easy to say that Jade cares immensely for his brother as well. Jades also shown to be quite ruthless when wronged given his statement in Schemer of the Sands, “I'd lash out with a torrent of unmitigated verbal abuse to break them down mentally, then bind them and drag them beneath the waves.” Plus it’s Jade, one of the famous octotrio, who have shown they are possessive of one another, he’s gonna be well Jade. So there is the chance that Floyd being scared of Jade being silent has another potential reason, perhaps something happened in their childhood, perhaps something happened to Floyd and maybe Azul too, perhaps one of their peers caused it, and eels are predators, and Jade has shown that he’s willing to lay in wait for his prey. Perhaps Floyd saw how silent his brother was, stalking his prey, biding his time until he struck. Perhaps that’s why Floyd fears his brothers silence, because it either means his brother could be dying or he’s hiding his time until he can strike.
I personally think it's because silence isn't completely "Jade-like" from Floyd's perspective. We've learned that Jade can be pretty talkative and energetic on his own (he can even be more than a little violent) but when he's beside his more extroverted brother, of course he seems tame by comparison. So the Jade that Floyd knows is probably vastly different from the Jade we know.
That said, I think it's fun to imagine scenarios from the past like what you've mentioned! It's entirely possible they experienced trauma (because it's the ocean) and I think it's just as likely Floyd can't 100% trust his own twin (which in and of itself is Terrifying... because your twin should be the very first person you can trust).
Of course, I love complicated, contradictory relationships, so I choose to believe they care for each other with a wee amount of distrust.
.... as a woman, please please PLEASE expain... that one line has me so concerned. Please explain. Please
See, I too am a woman. A running joke at my all-girl school was that anytime there was a boy on campus, news about him would spread like wild fire. Some of us said it was almost like we could smell him.
Floyd in Jade’s lab SR: You suddenly got all silent and froze and it scared me. What’s wrong?
Floyd in Playful Land event: It’s creepy when Jade is quiet…
Jade may be full of nonsense 90% of the time according to Floyd, but the twins (and Azul) are always chatty with each other, especially when sharing stories of their fun experiences, so to not have his brother talking to him must be unsettling.
Famously, Floyd’s unafraid of a lot of things.
But Jade’s silence seems to genuinely scare him.
Fellow Honest’s Unique Magic is revealed to be called “Life is Fun” (lit. “Rose-Tinted Dream). The chant for it is “C’mon, to the theater!”
This spell increases other people’s optimism and makes them feel “floaty.” He says that it encourages people to do what they normally wouldn’t without too much thought. In other words, it’s how he was able to make the boys dance on stage in front of an audience.
But “Life is Fun” has its drawbacks. It’s a weak spell and cannot work on everyone. For example, if someone just witnessed a traumatic event, he can’t easily lift their spirits in the moment, especially if their heart is against it. It also isn’t guaranteed to work on cautious people.
However, because it requires so little magical output, he can cast it multiple times in conversation without being noticed and without accumulating a lot of blot. He tells Ace he’s been casting it on the boys since earlier in the day and praises himself for supplementing his weak magic with strong charisma and negotiation skills.
Here is a brief clip of him casting it (with voice work):
You know… I wonder if Jade and Floyd’s parents are jewelers, or perhaps pawn shop owners (supposedly common professions to conceal mafia activity).
In Floyd’s Sui Sui vignette, he says his parents run several accessory shops along the shore and in his Platinum Jacket vignette he says his father has a lot of knowledge about rings. Floyd goes even further and says the area his parents’ shops are located in isn’t really safe for children (and pawn shops are sometimes associated with seedy business).
I think it would be interesting if their parents made the tweels their sturgeon scale earrings years after they won them in a fight, then gifted them before they went on land.
There’s a couple other instance where accessories come up: Platinum Jacket Floyd says he felt as if his moray eel ring was made for him when he put it on, and in general he says he loves to accessorize. He even gives Epel a uniquely designed watch as a birthday gift.
Whatever mama and papa Leech do, they definitely make A Lot of money.