Jamil may be sensitive to embarrassment, with multiple voice lines about not wanting to be embarrassed.
Jamil says that his motivation to improve his singing came from his sister telling him, “YOU’RE AWFUL!,” saying, “After my sister’s teasing, I put in some work. I’m good enough not to embarrass myself now.”
A reason Jamil gives for being willing to stand against Malleus in Book 7 is having “experienced enough humiliation to last (him) a lifetime.”
After seeing that copy of himself that will be occupying his dream while he is away Jamil says, “That thing better not do anything weird while it’s assuming my form,” and, “Just thinking about that annoys me. Let’s get going before I have to see it!”
While Jamil praises Ortho for being able to fly as steadily as he does with four people holding onto him (plus Grim), he follows with, “This looks ridiculous from any angle. If anyone saw me like this l’d never live it down, dream or no dream.”
When Cater invites Najma to join the Firelit Sky group Jamil is strongly against it, and when Malleus asks why Trey responds, “Maybe he’s just embarrassed about us seeing how he acts around his family. I’ve got siblings, so I know ALL about that.” Cater agrees saying, “I’d just about die of embarrassment if my sisters saw me while I was hanging out with friends.”
When Grim falls into an urn Najma teases Jamil with potential baby pictures from a similar incident with child-Jamil, and Jamil interjects, “Why do you have that?! No! Don’t you dare show them!” (Najma: “What, you think I walk around with your baby pictures in my wallet?”)
Rescued from the urn Grim says, “That was the worst,” and Jamil responds, “Thanks for embarrassing me in the process.”
Jami tries and fails to move the group away from a dried fruits and nuts vendor, and when the vendor hints at an incident from Jamil’s pat Jamil insists that it is “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
When the vendor begins to tell the story Jamil insists on telling it himself, revealing that, as a child, he once used fire magic in a panicked reaction to seeing a bug win a handful of dates he had been eating, which burned the whole awning to the vendor’s stall. The vendor says, “And you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to calm down Jamil. He was bawling up a storm!,” while Cater and Trey say, “Daaang” and “This guy right here, huh?,” and a possibly embarrassed responds, “Would you all just drop it?!”
It is Jamil who goes to Crewel and Vil for assistance during Fairy Gala and, when Leona disapproves, Jamil explains, “Yes, they’re going to run us ragged if we have them as coaches. But getting their help is the ONLY way to succeed. Period. Otherwise, we amateurs will just embarrass ourselves on stage, guaranteed.”
When Jamil and Silver become caught in adhesive mousetraps during the Little-Big Adventure vignette Silver suggests waiting for the rest of their group to arrive and help, to which Jamil responds, “I refuse to let freshmen see me in such a ridiculous-looking state!”
Jamil suggests they move by crawling. When Silver says, “It would look ridiculous, but at least the freshmen wouldn’t see us, right?,” and Jamil responds, “Quiet, you. But yes.”
On the subject of his Glorious Masquerade outfit Jamil says, “I thought this mask would be embarrassing at first, but now that I’m wearing it, it’s not half bad.” When he meets with Deuce in the city carrying a multiple of small boxes in his arms due to his bag having ripped open Jamil turns a scarf into a makeshift bag for him, saying, “You’ll embarrass your fellow peers-namely me—if you keep walking around like that.”
When Silver and Sebek decide to throw both Ruggie and Jamil into the air to honor their bravery Jamil responds, “That sounds really embarrassing. I don’t want to be the center of attention!”
Observing that, with their masks, no one can tell who anyone is, Jamil tells Ruggie, I say we just eat and dance the night away.”
When Rollo brings all the guests’ attention onto the students on NRC with spotlights for “a big round of applause” Jamil says, “It’s embarrassing, but people would expect something like this from the student council president who saved the school.”
Kalim praises Jamil in a vignette, saying, “I’m always impressed by you” and “Thanks for always being there to lift me up,” which might have caused Jamil to blush, which he possibly tries to hide by pulling up his hood, as if embarrassed.
After learning that Kalim is planning a parade for his birthday but “the planning is full of holes” and he “can’t step in to stop them unless (he wants) to be ambushed with some OTHER surprise,” Jamil takes it upon himself to “ensure they succeed the first time with minimal damage,” including “now-surveying the parade route in advance.” Ortho says, “So basically, you’re doing preliminary checks for your own parade?,” and Jamil responds, “You don’t have to spell it out so plainly…I’m just as embarrassed, believe me.”
Many of the students, including the Jamil, express displeasure when they are separated into groups during the NBC event. When Sally says, “Let’s not be selfish. Can you try to stick it out with your current teams? At least until tonight?,” Jamil responds, “Sally’s being so mature, it’s making me feel utterly ashamed of myself…”
Later in the event Jade mentions how Azul and Riddle “don’t remotely fear making fools of themselves or failing. Or incurring grudges from others with their self-centered conduct.” Jamil asks, “Are you insinuating that in contrast to them, I’m a coward afraid to act for fear of failure?,” which Jade denies. Shortly after this Jamil reiterates Jade’s comment, saying, “I’m a coward at heart. I’m afraid of failure, and I’m also afraid of making a public fool of myself.” (Jade: “Did you take my prior remarks personally?” – Jamil: “Not in the least!”)
While looking at a picture of soldiers standing against the Thorn Fairy, Idia asks Jamil, “How would you punish them? Make them stub their toes on a desk?,” to which Jamil responds, “Sure, something like that.” After Idia leaves, however, Jamil says, “…How would I punish them? If it were me, I’d make them suffer such humiliation, they’d never dare show their face in the sun again.”
In addition to possibly being sensitive to embarrassment Jamil seems to place importance on reputation, oth his own and that of groups with whom he is associated: in Book 5 he tells Azul, “The overblot incident has caused my reputation at school to plummet,” and describing the failure of his plot of Book 4 he says, “I’m the one who rushed in all reckless, and botched things, and blew up at everyone. Talk about embarrassing.”
When Rook compliments Jamil’s proactive measures to protect campus visitors from an overblotted Vil Jamil says, “This is just years of experience for me. And more to the point, If I let this play out, my whole plan to clean up my image will be completely ruined!”
In a vignette Kalim gives Jamil less than 24 hours to cook a banquet and decorate for a party for Crowley and Jamil reflects, “If the headmage is coming, we can’t put on a half-hearted banquet or it will reflect poorly on the dorm.”
When Kalim fails to arrive in time for a parade of his own making a Scarabia student suggests that Jamil take Kalim’s place, to which Jamil responds, “No. That would destroy Kalim’s reputation.”
When Trey compliments Jamil’s cooking during Beanfest Jamil says, “It would be an embarrassment to House Asim if I served anything less than the best.”
Jamil cautions Grim during Tapis Rouge, saying, “What you do here will reflect on all of us,” and when Azul refuses to accept an outfit that Vil has had designed and tailored specifically for him Jamil says, “You’re going to make Vil lose face. Think of someone besides yourself for once!”
Jamil overlaps with Floyd early on during Beanfest and silently reflects, “Losing to a housewarden or vice housewarden would be one thing, but it’s far too early to get eliminated by a regular student! This is going to be an embarrassment to Scarabia.”
When Jamil sees troublemaking campus visitors speaking with Deuce about bullying the students of NRC he decides to intervene, saying, If this ends up damaging the school’s reputation, it will reflect badly on me as well.”
When the prefect comments on the students being “way too hung up” on Halloween Jamil responds, “Why wouldn’t we be? Night Raven College’s reputation in many ways hinges on Halloween.” Floyd follows with, “If we do anything to make ourselves look bad, it can cause problems for way more people than us,” with which Jamil agrees.
When the students are deciding who will be going to confront Rollo during Glorious Masquerade Jamil says, “I can’t let that smarmy villain get away with mocking us like that. Our school’s honor is on the line,” and when Silver and Sebek get into an argument later on he cautions them with, “Please don’t start a scene at another school. They’ll think we were raised in a barn.”
Jamil also has a voice line about doing his part to uphold NRC’s reputation, and when RSA joins Malleus in sending fireworks into the air during a festival he says, “Regardless of how this happened, I wouldn’t want Night Raven to be outdone.”
