#forevernumbertwosquad

No but on a more serious note. I focused on Jamil here coz my boi just can't catch a break, but the truth is that Book5, for as much as I love it, really doesn't have a satisfying ending.

It's not a matter of "we lost" and me being salty about it, obviously it was very important for Vil's character arc.

Buuuuut... Well, it wasn't the only character arc started in this Book. All previous Books were (mostly) completely focused on the overblotter and the previous overblotter that joined the frayed to help out. Here we don't just have a continuation of Jamil's character arc, there was also Epel and Deuce who got a big thing, and Kalim had a throwaway line that never got anywhere (and I'm salty about it. I wished we heard more about how he felt competitiveness towards Jamil for the first time).

In the context of Jamil and Epel's character arc mostly, losing the SDC is extremely unsatisfying. Jamil finally got handed the spotlight and accepted it, and he still failed. Even when he get the one thing he wants he still ends second. Nothing changes. Rip my forever Number Two loser.

Epel also got a whole arc about accepting to weaponize his cuteness. It falls flat. His finally using his cuteness doesn't make the team win, he doesn't one up Neige, he doesn't fulfill his role as Vil's poisonous apple. Just bad.

If they really just focused on Vil for this Book like they did in previous Books, that ending would have been much stronger. But with the numerous character arcs there, I feel like there should have been another way so that they could all have their respective good ending.

There, I'm done with my rant. Here's a bonus: