This is such a random question, but I'm curious what you think of jamil x minajael and their whole dynamic.
*cracks knuckles* okay so. I really fw the idea of jamil/minajael though I'm hesitant to say too much because we don't have a very full picture of mina yet. I haven't even directly watched the book 8 scenes where mina and rielle come in but I think I've probably seen it all through clips? anyways, I remember when the jamil/mina fanarts were rolling out in the beginning, someone else and I lowkey came up with a whole fic premise in the comments of this post 😭 and I stand by it so. yap is below the cut!
if there's one thing we know about mina, it's that he is very smart and cunning (and in that sense, the dynamic reminds me of azujami a bit. except better and worse--better because jamil doesn't "hate" mina's guts, and worse because there would be the matter of "can he actually decline any advances from a prince in his situation"). but he can see right through jamil. and I also love the dynamic of jamil just being overly formal to piss off mina. that's so funny to me. but also, jamil hates kalim especially because kalim is so incompetent most of the time, and he has to keep his own performance below kalim's. I wonder whether part of him wishes he was minajael's aide instead.
I also think the concept of jamil pulling an asian parent "why can't you be more like your cousin" to kalim is very funny, but I digress.
I really like the idea of jamil kind of scheming his way into landing an advisor position with mina. and mina sees right through him the entire time, but he's like "wait let him cook, he's actually competent at this." and meanwhile, jamil is slowly falling but he is Not happy about it. meanwhile, minajael is also falling, but he is struggling because he thinks this is just part of jamil's ploy. and maybe he tries to help jamil more, but that just makes jamil angrier. because he doesn't want to except mina's help; he wants to find his own way out of his situation and for things to be his victory, like he says in his b7 dream. and it would take a lot of honesty on both their ends, and a lot of minajael helping jamil work through trauma, but I can see them coming out of it okay. I also imagine minajael doing something really lovely for jamil's sister; maybe funding her education somewhere or helping her get an excellent job, etc. but that might be what really starts to make jamil realize his feelings. idk. kalim ships them btw
edit bc I was reminded of one of my favorite aspects of this ship: I imagine mina and jamil would work together to dismantle The System from within. jamil would be able to point out all the aspects that need fixing (basically just. all of it.) and mina actually has the power, smarts, and desire to do so!
I'll tell you one other thing though, I really fw leona/minajael 😋 I feel like the snark between the two would be unbeatable. but more than that, they are such polar opposites and yet so similar. leona is more than cut out to be heir to the throne, but he isn't, and he wants it so desperately. meanwhile, minajael has literally everything that leona could want, and he throws it all away. I think leona would despise him. but they are more similar than they think and I'm curious about how that would play out.
my solution? political marriage. leona gets to be king, mina gets to *not* have to shoulder the royal responsibilities. plus it's not at all unusual for the second son to be married off, and an alliance between the kingscholars and tealrajahs can't be a bad thing. arranged marriage-to-actual lovers trope, my beloved.
