I was supposed to just pick out some examples of typical Jamil lines. How he speaks, the vocabulary he uses, things like that. Something I could easily refer to when writing to get the tone right.
But then it kinda blew up, oop – because it’s hard to talk about how a character speaks without also dipping into why they say whatever they say.
Plus then I wanted to get examples of Jamil in different moods, and could not resist some poignant things that were more related to his character or backstory rather than strictly the speech patterns themselves, so… It expanded a bit.
Anyways. Some things I noticed he tends to do:
Sighs (more than I realized)
Snarks
Tch (though could be a more general twst writing choice too)
Stutters when he’s flustered / embarrassed / caught of guard (what a cutie)
Goes ahem like an old man when he’s trying to get back on track in those off-kilter moments
Kinda formal with his manner of speech and choice of words (especially in servant mode) (I always worry I exaggerate this but he sure does do that)
But there’s still some animatedness with the way he emphasises words, for example
(so long-suffering and ready to bark out directions to Kalim oh boy - the way the directness just comes through when he loses it)
sugarcoating his opinions if he doesn’t feel like he can say them plainly (tyrant becomes rigorous, etc.)
sarcasm, sometimes with a side of deadpan, sometimes with a smirk
“Good grief” (another thing I didn't realize was that much of a catchphrase)
Very mild on the level of insults & swears honestly, (I mean, "drat"?) but I imagine this is more of a result of the game's rating (I guess for in-game reasons we can say he's been very conditioned by his upbringing)
I put the screenshots that seemed telling, and some related notes, on to a google sheet. That way one can filter and order it in various ways.
The sheet is probably best viewed on a computer or another larger screen, the screenshots might make it a bit difficult to navigate on mobile.
I did go in with the assumption that Jamil might speak differently pre-overblot (when the servant mask is firmly in place) and post-overblot (at least those occasions where he allows himself to be more honest). Like, there’s the sycophantic (as Leona calls it) flatterer, versus when Jamil’s honestly voicing his own thoughts. Which also shows in how I chose to categorize the screenshots.
Of course events are a bit wibbly wobbly in relation to the main story so can’t be placed in the timeline in the same way, but there are still those occasions where it seems you can tell the difference between the servant mask and a Jamil who’s not saying things just for the sake of appearances.
So, to explain the logic of the sheet:
First column has a screenshot of something Jamil says. The second two columns give the source.
The column for whether or not this happened before or after the overblot is only really used for main story things, since event stories are kinda murky timeline-wise.
Next is whether Jamil seems to be putting on the servant mask or speaking more honestly. This is where get more to interpretation territory, and I’ve not applied it to every screenshot (either because that didn’t seem like the relevant part for that line, or because I couldn’t tell).
The last column of the sheet is where we get most to my personal interpretations. So of course you might read these lines differently than I do, and that’s completely fine, these are simply the aspects that seemed poignant to me. Some notes are simply pointing out specific word choices or style of speech, others delve more into character analysis side of things.
Totally fine if you want to copy this file or modify it to your own needs. All I ask is that you don’t pass off anything I wrote as your own thoughts.
Order of lines is based purely on the order the pics were in my screenshots folder, so guess this is also an insight on the order I played things in, lol.
Tagging some jamil peeps in case y'all find this useful:
Can't believe I made a whole post about Valkyrie Heart and didn't properly talk about the LIs.
Smh as if I'm not here for the chara interactions.
Tbf, I haven't really seen much of all of them yet, but let's do a rundown anyway.
Leiknarr: a sweetheart who deserves the whole world and not a smidge less (I may be biased). Calls mc master which... well, I can appreciate it, for sure even if I might prefer mistress.
Tyr: haven't seen much of him, seems to be doing your usual kuudere things - which usually is my jam, but so far his strictness hasn't spoken to me. I've seen very little of him so far, tho.
Sheehan: the way I want to tease this man oh my goodness. Really wanna see if he's as flusterable in his H scenes as his behavior in the main story suggests. Fingers crossed we get to be more assertive with him (or any of the guys, really), at some point, too.
Erik: main story definitely left me intrigued. I'm looking forward to learning more about him, but I'm not sure yet if he's bias material or just intrigue material. Do wanna dig more into him tho.
Jago: now, I don't generally care for the boisterous types... But he seems to be doing it in just the right way to be catching my eye. Another guy that I sure look forward to learning more of, but seems like he could be getting on the bias list too.
Aaron: an absolute menace with apparently the most efficient puppy dog eyes known to man. Seems fun, but not my personal preference.
Ashen: another guy I wanna learn more about before I can really make up my mind about him. Gotta be grinding to unlock those character stories 😔 Originally thought he'd be the type to catch my eye, now he's in the middle ranks until I learn more about him.
So, back in October I was putting together the Jamemi relationship timeline, and mentioned Emi getting a cozy cuddly mamasan chair for Ramshackle as part of the repairs after book 6.
And ever since then, I've had in my head this image of Emi and Jamil falling asleep on that chair all cuddled up.
So I commissioned @mellosdrawings to bring said image into reality, and
Just look at them! So cute! So cuddly! So cozy!
Hasdfsf y'all don't even know how much I've been dying just looking at the sketches.
Not to mention how the finished result is just taking me out.
Just
Really I can't even
So, uhh, anyway *clears throat, tries to hold it together*
In my head this is happening early on after they became official (at least to each other), so sometime near the end of Emi's first year at NRC.
Their plan was to just sit around and chill for a bit. But it's been a long day of all the nonsense that NRC likes to throw at people (and what Kalim likes to throw at Jamil), and at some point Emi got cozy enough, all snuggled up against Jamil, that she ended up drifting off. And turns out Jamil didn't really have the heart to move her around or wake her - and ended up falling asleep, too.
Cue the picture.
Goodness though my heart, it is just so lovely seeing this brought to life. 🥹
Tagging my Emi folks: @scint1llat3 @diodellet @moonyasnow @bibi-cha
If anyone else would like to be added to the Emi / jamemi taglist, just let me know!
You can find more information on my yuusona Emi and her relationship with Jamil here on the masterlist.
Seeing the overblot animations got me thinking if there's any meaning to which eye the overblotters get the flame effect on 🤔
We've got
Riddle: right eye
Leona: left
Azul: left
Jamil: left
Vil: right
Idia: right
Malleus: right
So that would give us groups of
Riddle, Vil, Idia and Malleus, and
Leona, Azul and Jamil
I mean, there definitely is a possibility that it's just random, but I can't help but wonder if there's something in there.
It doesn't seem to correlate with their handedness, at least, but I've yet to figure out a thematic connection or anything like that that would actually work 🤔 Like, the cause for their overblot, or the way they embrace it (or not), or anything like that, doesn't really seem to fit one group in a way that would exclude the members of the other.
So we all agree that Jamil enjoys when he can nudge others to do what he wants, right? Like, one of the basketball jersey lines is about controlling the flow of the game and making others react, and beans camo has a bit of a similar vibe.
Plus like, the whole plan in book 4 of setting things in motion and having others actually take the decisive steps once he paved the way.
So, consider: Jamil nudging his s/o to being the one to actually act on his desires. Because yeah you're together, he knows how you feel about him, but it's just nice to get himself to feel extra desired and wanted, isn't it? Having you come to him, rather than him going to you.
So he does all sorts of little things he knows get to you.
Knows how you feel about seeing his bared arms? Casually pulls up his sleeves while cooking (if he's not in his dorm uniform already).
Or maybe he'll ask you to come watch his practice or a game, if he knows him on court is a weakness of yours.
The sight of his hair loose gets you weak? Oh better undo his ponytail and take his time readjusting his hair.
A million and one totally casual touches, he just happens to touch you in passing while doing his thing or while you're hanging out.
Similarly, he just happens to be close to you while talking, lowering his voice or using a particular tone that gets to you.
You like his more cocky, scheming side? Oh, why doesn't he tell you about a little something he just pulled off earlier (or is planning on doing), that'll give him a reason to hit you with that smirk and everything.
Sweet words from him are your weakness? Sure he can slip something nice and totally matter-of-fact into the conversation (when you're alone, at least).
Just, all those little things, until he can really see all that love in your eyes, that desire in your expression.
And the satisfaction he feels when you're the one getting close to him, when you're the one to turn those fleeting touches into something more. When you don't let go of him.
He loves pushing you like that.
And how easy it is to make you express your love to him? Well, that just tells of how much love you have to give to him, doesn't it? And how could he possibly not want to see the proof of that, time and time again.
Thinking of Emi like years later being all hmm, maybe wanting to date someone when I did was actually a bit of a trauma response. Maybe, after being thrown into a whole new environment where I knew very little of how the world worked, and had basically no support network, I really wanted to make sure I'd have someone in my corner, someone to help me out and look after me. And perhaps someone who seemed well clued in to the ways of the world and how to navigate it was a particularly appealing option in those circumstances.
Like, nothing that would undermine the very real attraction and relationship Emi & Jamil have, just something to highlight to herself as well why she was so willing to take the chance in such uncertain circumstances (not knowing for sure whether she'd be able to go back home at some point or not).
Plus, the power of turning a traumatic experience (Jamil's overblot and all the events around that) into something healing (he has hurt me but now he will not / he will keep me safe instead).
It's gonna be an interesting moment of soul searching for sure when that realization hits her.
Tagging the Emi peeps:
@scint1llat3 @diodellet @moonyasnow @bibi-cha
If anyone else would like to be added to the taglist (or if you'd like to be removed from it), just let me know!
You know, for all the clowning we like to do about Jamil's flame motifs, both his sleepwear and the new birthday card have him actually in pretty... muted stuff.
And yeah, we'll have to wait and see what kind of a pattern the newest series may have, but I suppose it's a valid reminder that the dorm motifs are dorm motifs, and we still don't have that many glimpses to their personal tastes.
