Rant.
Yeah uh, it's midnight and I feel like ranting for no goddamn reason, and for anyone willing to read this entire thing and somewhat agree or care, can we be friends?
Topic of said rant is: Jamil Viper.
I'm not here to really hate on anyone but a specific comment that always concerns me or rubs me the wrong way is specifically, "I don't like/hate Jamil because of what he did to Kalim."
Okay, well first of all, I will admit it's not either of their fault.. Faults? Grammar's hard, okay? I do believe the system did set them up for this kind of toxicity, but let me expand on Jamil.
Jamil was born a servant, he claims one of his first memories ever was watching his family bow to the Al-Asims. What Jamil saw between him and Kalim is what the reality was—Jamil was Kalim's servant. And Kalim was his master. They would never be equals. Never be able to just be friends. Because Kalim'a family was of higher social class. Bigger priority. Therefore, Kalim was more important than Jamil.
And then the inferiority. Jamil knows he is better. Jamil knows he has bigger potential than Kalim, he's aware of the power he has. It's mentioned several times once Jamil's mask is broken, Jamil's magical prowess isn't average. But never was he allowed to show that. Never was he able to even place first once. "You must win twice and lose thrice." Or something like that. Imagine just spending your entire life in the shadow of someone you KNOW you can outshine. You have the capability, but you do not have the socially acceptable permission to do so. Your family gets put in danger. Your submissiveness is what keeps your family off the streets.
It was fair that Jamil over blotted, his freedom was stolen when he was born, and yeah, that meant going after the person keeping him shackled, which was Kalim. I'm not saying what they have is healthy or isn't toxic, in fact it's quite the opposite.
And I'm not saying Kalim is just some positive sunshine that is some not-so-traumatized contrast to Jamil, he may act positive but many fans like to act or genuinely aren't aware that it's a coping mechanism. He's been kidnapped several times, poisoned several times, has faced death more times than most will in their life before even reaching adulthood. And he just.. Acts like it's fine. "Others have it worse." "It wasn't that bad." "It could've been worse." He may act optimistic but he isn't naive.
And imagine the trust issues? Because of his status I doubt he ever was able to go outside the palace too often, let alone make friends his age, so Jamil was one of his, if not, ONLY friend. Then closest. Then best.
And then apparently he hates your guts because of how blind you've been to his suffering and tried having you expelled.
Yet he still forgave him.
"Jamil, please, just stop! You can have what you want! You can be housewarden! I'll go home to my family!"
Kalim never needed more status than he had, he didn't care about positions or authority. And even after Jamil overblotted, he asked if they could be friends. Without status dividing them.
And of course Jamil said no, but still.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the midnight rant, get some sleep, or don't if you're like on the opposite side of the globe.