#bookworm spoilers

[salmalin]

Fruhtrane's Prayer

Did anyone else who watched AoaB episode 26 way too many times notice something... interesting about the prayer in the scene when they replenish the earth?

The first time, Shikikoza (also spelled Shikikooza and Schicicoza depending on your source) is the one to recite the prayer. Obviously his mana isn't sufficient. (He canonically has less mana than even the lowest-rung med-nobles.) However, I'd like to highlight two things about the prayer, and then what they mean together.

Spoilers for literally the entire series.

Part One: Where Shikikoza Stops

Oh Fruhtrane, Goddess of Water Bringer of Healing and Upheaval And the twelve disciples who serve her Heart my prayer and grant me your holy powers

After the Trombe battle, Shikikoza begins this prayer. At this point the earth begins to heal around the staff of Fruhtrane. Things are going well. As expected, really.

Then, as he begins the next line, he begins to lose his composure.

Why is this important? Because Shikikoza just asked Fruhtrane for something. More specifically, he asked her for her blessing. This is exactly the moment he begins to falter. This is when it starts to get much worse.

The next verse:

Your sister has been hurt by the minions of evil Grant me the strength to heal Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth

He grimaces through the first line, struggles just to get the second line out, then has to stop the spell. He's sagging against the staff, visibly keeping it to remain upright. He has no strength left. This is curious because he just asked for strength. He is literally requesting that the goddess of healing, fortune, and change to bless him with strength, which he then immediately loses.

But that's just mana exhaustion, right? No big deal. That's a canon thing that happens.

But here's the thing.

Shikikoza should have been doing lots of these rituals as a Blue Priest. He should have been praying regularly. He then went to the academy and got his schtappe. He knows his limits. And his limits have only increased since he spent time as a priest. Just the fact that he's allowed to learn mana compression should tell you a lot about his progression. Still, isn't it strange that he can't even make it through the chant? It's one thing to faint at the end—it's another to not even make it through the first stanza with shitty results to show for it.

"But Sal," you might say, "a superior is asking him to basically use his mana until he collapses. Ferdinand knew this would happen. He literally called Shikikoza her foil. He planned this." Of course he did. Ferdinand plans everything. Do you expect anything less from the Lord of Evil? But at the same time, don't you find it interesting that the context within this context is that Shikikoza is asking Fruhtrane, the Goddess of Healing and Upheaval, for a favor?

We very rarely see other people fail to finish a spell in this series. Usually they're just exhausted by it or the effects are pitiful. This event actually stands apart as extra pathetic, in terms of mana efficiency and quantity. Did he know that Shikikoza would be unable to finish the prayer? Shikikoza's reserves of mana would have probably doubled since his time at school, due to his growth period and regular duties in the military. The Ferdinand we know would have accounted for this.

This may be why he was so frustrated when Myne did such an incredible job replenishing the earth. Yes, he was frustrated because it made her a target for the nobility. The disparity was ridiculous, which definitely made many of them consider trapping Myne in a contract to be a (baby maker) concubine. He did not intend for her to show off such a clear difference in mana. This is canon.

And here's the thing.

I don't think he just expected Myne to do less.

I think he also expected Shikikoza to do more.

Yes, Myne has an abundance of mana. But she's never really used it. Her control is gonna be iffy, and her ability to manifest the effects of the prayers should be sub-par, at best. Meanwhile Shikikoza is a noble who went to the academy and spent time in the church. He knows how to use mana. He knows how to implement it and perform prayers. Shikikoza is literally in his element, and Myne can't stop gasping at every little thing. She only performed her first blessing like twenty minutes ago.

But then this happens.

What was once a sad circle of thin grass surrounded by dirt becomes a lush crater filled with green so quickly I had to try several times to get the screenshots. Myne restores the land fully within seconds with a show of power none of the men there had likely witnessed from anyone besides Ferdinand and Bonifatius—characters who are literally in a league of their own. And this is a child.

This is not a level of power a child should have, period. That doesn't even touch on the topic of control. Ferdinand outright says he did not predict this.

Now, stepping back for a second, Shikikoza asked Fruhtrane for a favor. Ask yourself this little question for me: If you were Fruhtrane, would you do someone like Shikikoza a solid?

Mana isn't the only factor when it comes to channeling spells and prayers. The more you pray to these gods—and, more importantly embody their ideals—the easier the spells/prayers under their jurisdiction can be performed. Sometimes you don't even need to pray to them—they will see your deeds and give you their blessing regardless. Furthermore, we later find out that there are ways to lose favor with the gods. This makes magic and prayers in their jurisdiction less efficient and thus more difficult to use.

Now, we learn a lot of things about Shikikoza very quickly in episode 25. First, he is a man who enforces the status quo by actively taking advantage of his rank, to the point where he attacks a commoner who is under his protection simply because said commoner was granted a position reserved for nobility—a position he once held. He wants to show Myne that she is not his equal. Opposing change is in direct opposition of Fruhtrane's jurisdiction of "upheaval". He also draws a knife on a little girl and threatens to gouge her eyes out, which doesn't quite fall in line with "healing", either. Does this mean I'm implying Fruhtrane was hate watching the Shikikoza channel even though he wasn't praying to her, and that he lost her favor/blessing in this moment?

No.

Instead, there's a good chance she's been watching Myne.

Myne had been giving the greeting of the goddess of water for a while as a merchant. This is canonically part of a prayer. Prayers direct the eyes of the gods your way. (Myne also is canonically referred to as Benno's "goddess of water".) I wouldn't be surprised if the goddess saw the entire exchange during the Trombe fight. Especially since it's canon that Myne is the truest believer in the Gods and is one of the extremely few people who actually knows they're real. Her prayers may be the only ones properly reaching the gods. (She takes one look at magic and basically goes, "Full stop, gods are real.")

it is later explicitly established in canon that Myne is the only person who earnestly prays to the gods even when "reciting a spell". And it's not just the voice acting in the anime that makes me think that. (Shikikoza is reciting the prayer like he's trying to get through reading a line he doesn't like in class, while Myne uses inflection like she's speaking in a play.) Later in the series, literally everyone has no idea why Myne is releasing blessings while playing music related to the gods. This is considered so extreme that they're able to market her as a saint. It's one thing to only be earnest when asking for one specific thing in private (Sylvester when he was pursuing Florencia), but it's another thing entirely to actively acknowledge the presence of the gods in every aspect of the world around you. Myne is essentially a devout follower surrounded by uninterested skeptics.

(Ferdinand, by contrast, is an atheist. Not because he doesn't believe in them, but because he doesn't think they deserve to be worshiped. It's a trait he has in common with Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. Coincidentally, they also both speak with god, tell god to shove it where the sun don't shine, then strike a deal to get the body of the most important person in their life back. Oh—and they have absent fathers who yeah, might have loved him, but whose lack of action in their life leads to extreme bodily harm at a young age due to complications involving their mother. Do with this information what you will.)

To wrap up this part, I don't think Ferdinand anticipated just how badly Shikikoza had pissed Fruhtrane off, and had no idea how favored Myne was by said goddess. (At one point Myne even feels the presence of the goddess of wind while on a hunt for ingredients. I will never let that go. That was so cool.) Both of these things widened the gap even further when it came to performing the ceremony. I like that they also did this slowly. The first ceremony involving a specific goddess we get is a goddess they've been mentioning since the beginning of the story—a goddess so in line with the main character's prerogative that the main character is referred to as her.

Now that we've gotten that info dump out of the way (this was supposed to be like three paragraphs, send help) let's move on to—

Part Two: The Full Prayer

Oh Fruhtrane, Goddess of Water Bringer of Healing and Upheaval And the twelve disciples who serve her Hear my prayer and grant me your holy powers Your sister has been hurt by the minions of evil Grant me the strength to heal Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth In return, I offer you a sacred melody Unleash your supreme waves and offer your pure protection For as far as I seek, cover these lands in your hues

So I realized a few days ago that this prayer is a summary of the events in Bookworm.

Read it again and you'll get it.

Oh Fruhtrane, Goddess of Water Bringer of Healing and Upheaval

Urano appears as Myne, introducing technologies that are foreign to this world. She brings wealth to everyone around her and fortune to the people dear to her. She changes status quos by just trying to exist as she is. All this despite trying to play by the rules. Things that were taken for granted are now up in the air. This doesn't even go into the themes of her upending every community she enters and healing wounds that never got a chance to heal. (Her mother's repeated miscarriages/infant deaths forcing their family to watch children die, Benno's desperation to recover financially after the death of his parents and the woman he loved, Frieda's complete and total isolation, Fran and Wilma's trauma from being sexually assaulted in the church, Gil and Lutz's very real worries about starvation, the orphanage, the relationships of the nobles around her, the fracturing factions looking for direction, literally every retainer she took in from an abusive family, Damuel's place in the world, Angelica's literal entire life no going down the drain, the financial ruin of Ehrenfest, the mana shortage resulting in an approaching mass-starvation— I need to STOP. This isn't even touching the surface!)

And the twelve disciples who serve her

She receives people who support her slowly over the course of the story. By the time she gets to the end of part two she has emotional connections to the following characters who support her:

Lutz, Effa, Tuuli, Gunter, Otto, Benno, Mark, Freida, Fran, Gil, Delia, and Ferdinand.

Hey, look, that's twelve people who directly make sure her health is monitored while having a direct impact on the world around her. What a coincidence.

Hear my prayer and grant me your holy powers

Trust me bro, she hears you. But the lore basically explodes. Mana compression, the truth of the prayers, the truth of the gods. Myne is a busy little bee. Myne figures out how to get their prayers through to the gods at all. This line is doing a lot of heavy lifting. But also it implies that Myne finally has access to magic.

Your sister has been hurt by the minions of evil

Her family is attacked. She is attacked. But most of all, she realizes the whole world is crumbling around her, piece by piece. But more on that later. The point is that Myne is continually under fire until the person closest to her is taken and injured.

Yeah, it's Ferdinand, of course it is.

Grant me the strength to heal Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth

Okay so we've got another line doing a lot of heavy lifting. It's outright saying her home was attacked and needs to be repaired. This can refer to her family, to the fractures in noble society forming between people that should be allies, and the fractures around Ferdinand himself. Each of these things she sets out to heal, even if indirectly or on accident. (See the rant about everyone she's helped.)

Ferdinand at one point directly points out Myne's Geduldh, asking how it is. But Myne doesn't know how to answer. Ferdinand, at this point, is convinced that her Geduldh is Ehrenfest. Originally it was her parents, then the people supporting her in the church, then slowly expanded to Ehrenfest. As Myne's story moves through different stages, her Geduldh shifts, and so does her attention and the healing she brings. When Ferdinand asks Myne this question, she doesn't know how to answer.

This is because, very clearly, her Geduldh is shifting from Ehrenfest... to Ferdinand.

Ferdinand is who she protects next.

In return, I offer you a sacred melody

A "sacred melody" for Myne is literally a prayer. She's saying she'll give the gods mana, power, and influence in exchange for the safety of those she loves. Which is literally what she does. Over and over again.

Unleash your supreme waves and offer your pure protection For as far as I seek, cover these lands in your hues

After receiving the favor of the gods, Myne protects her Geduldh time and time again. And as her Geduldh gets tangled up in more and more political scheming, the reach of the influence she offers the gods increases. Until, in exchange for Ferdinand's safety, she gives them the whole of the country. For as far as she sought—all the way to the sovereignty and the homes of their enemies, and even her own body—she spread the power and influence of the gods under the banner of a Saint.

(It could be argued that Myne follows these beats with every single part—1 through 5—beat for beat. And honestly yeah, that's a big part of why I freaked out and wrote this stupidly long post.)

Part Three: The Symbolism Behind This Choice

Back to the beginning, the words Shikikoza and Myne were each about to speak are very telling.

Shikikoza makes it this far:

Oh Fruhtrane, Goddess of Water Bringer of Healing and Upheaval And the twelve disciples who serve her Hear my prayer and grant me your holy powers Your sister has been hurt by the minions of evil

This is where Shikikoza stops.

This is where Shikikoza stops because the nobility have been seeking the favor and power of the gods while giving nothing in return. They see their home has been hurt and are watching their world crumble because it doesn't even occur to them to upset the status quo. Unless, of course, they plan to commit mass murder. (Which is a violation of the half.) The nobles neglect their churches, kill their own people in large swathes, and abandon the gods while still demanding power from them so they can play their petty political games. Even those who mean well cannot break from the cycle. They refuse to unheave the system their lives are built on.

But Myne finishes the prayer where Shikikoza—where the rest of the nobles—could not.

Grant me the strength to heal Geduldh, the Goddess of Earth In return, I offer you a sacred melody Unleash your supreme waves and offer your pure protection For as far as I seek, cover these lands in your hues

Myne brings the gods back. She makes no demands with nothing to offer in return. It is an exchange. What's more, she fills the roles the nobility has been neglecting for so long. She sets out and heals the world, to the point where her final major act in the books is a country-wide healing spell to revitalize the land. To the very end, Myne prioritizes the health and safety of people, unknowingly filling her role of saint flawlessly, and literally covering the land in Fruhtrane's hues. Everything that happens after that...

Well, that's the epilogue.

Shikikoza cannot finish the prayer because he is not earnest in performing it.

Myne finishes the prayer because she understands you cannot grab everything forcefully from the world around you without giving anything back. She is a merchant. She knows everything has a price.

And she pays it.

I have this thing I say about Bookworm—that Ferdinand is technically the main character. That his mana, intelligence, etc. makes him the main character. And because he accidentally dyes Myne's mana as his own, and because that's a thing usually reserved for marriage, I have an even weirder joke where I say he basically gave her Main Character Syndrome like a sexually transmitted disease. (Taking this series even one degree out of context makes it hilarious. I highly recommend it.)

But here's the thing.

Ferdinand had all the qualities of a main character except for the one he needed. He was trapped in the same spiral as every other noble. He couldn't comprehend that things could be different. Even though he knew they had once been, he couldn't see their world changing, even if he had the ability. He, too, was afraid to upheave the system. He knew things were breaking, but he decided to hide. He was afraid, tired, and wanted to do what he loved where he could minimize his anguish. He saw no future for himself out in the open.

Ultimately, like the rest of the world, he had no hope for change. Not just for the world, but for himself. He saw no future for himself where he could safely eat, or relax with friends, or be emotionally open, or even have someone whom he could afford to love, let alone love safely...

... until this little shit came along.

And she gave him, very literally, a new perspective—the perspective of another world. She gave him options. She gave him safety. She gave him comfort. She gave him kindness. She gave him trust. She gave him love.

And, very slowly, like everyone else she had met, she gave him hope.

Very underrated thing, hope.

Because without hope, no one will take the first step to make change. The world will crumble around you, and you will do nothing, because why would you? It's all gonna go to hell, anyways.

But it doesn't have to.

And that's worth fighting for.

Thanks for making it this far. It's nice to have company in hell.

[shattermelyhfmlblog]

@warneraaronanderson @warnerslove

[pianokantzart]

One of my favorite things is little lines of dialogue like this that imply Luigi is perhaps the most underestimatable bastard in the entire Mario universe.

[moonwoods]

my favourite thing about being a reader is looking up fanart of the books after and seeing that another individual human being perfectly replicated what I saw in my head, and created a drawing of it. that’s probably one of my favourite things on earth. when I finished Gideon The Ninth and looked up fanart it was like people took my thoughts and visions and perfectly displayed it in a drawing or a painting. are you kidding me??? that’s so fucking cool. god bless artists

[licorice-and-rum]

This may be a hot take but people who hated Babel because they think of it as anti-white have never thought critically about a single second of any History lesson they ever had

I literally just read a hate review that was like that and my head just went ??????

You're reading a book about colonialism in its peak and you think white people will be anything but racist?? IN EUROPE??? IN ENGLAND?? In the middle of colonialism at its peak????

Enlighten me about how your mind works, please

[poppletonink]

Best Quotes From 'If We Were Villains'

"You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough."

"You can't quantify humanity. You can't measure it - not the way you mean to. People are passionate and flawed and fallible. They make mistakes. Their memories fade. Their eyes deceive them."

"I don't know, it's like I look at you and the sonnets make sense. The good ones, anyway."

"Do you blame Shakespeare for any of it?" The question is so unlikely, so nonsensical coming from such a sensible man, that I can't help but suppress a smile. "I blame him for all of it."

'She says, “Were you in love with him?” “Yes,” I say, simply. James and I put each other through the kind of reckless passions Gwendolyn once talked about, joy and anger and desire and despair. After all that, was it really so strange? I am no longer baffled or amazed or embarrassed by it. “Yes, I was.” It’s not the whole truth. The whole truth is, I’m in love with him still.'

'I need language to live like food - lexemes and morphemes and morsels of meaning nourish me with the knowledge that, yes, there is a word for this. Someone else has felt it before.'

'Below was the motto: Per aspera ad astra. I'd heard a variety of translations, but the one I liked best was Through the thorns to the stars.'

"We cracked up. [...] But we didn't really shatter until we were all back together again."

'The clock on the mantel struck twelve, and we stirred, one by one, like seven statues coming to life.'

'Actors are by nature volatile - alchemic creatures composed of incendiary elements, emotion and ego and envy. Heat them up, stir them together, and sometimes you get gold. Sometimes disaster.'

[astraeajackson]

OMG WHY ARE PIPRAVI SO CUTE I CAN'T-

[lostgoosebe]

Some sketch requests I took on Twitter!

[corvosdaughter]

"I'm sorry to see you go, Magdalene."

[readsquirrel]

I love the duality of Ferdinand and Rozemyne—

On the one hand, Rozemyne has said and continues to think that she has no understanding of romance and there’s no shade given about that. Fantastic 10/10 aroace representation.

On the other hand, as a couple, they seem like they’d eat every meal with the pinkies of their free hands interlocked, bantering away, and then insist that this is not a romantic gesture. And you know what, it’s not anyone’s place to disagree.

[sapphicclaw]

reading the locked tomb series is like being dropped into the middle of a conversation that’s already in the process and i honestly love it for that

[likesdoodling]

Spent a lot of the afternoon doodling~ I love these two :D

Rozemyne definitely has more methods, but this is a ~sample~ :D

The bottom half of that first panel is an example of what my sketchbook looks like 😂 (absolute chaos)

[shattermelyhfmlblog]

Remember when warnette

"Are you attracted to him? "

"I'm attracted to you"

"I'm serious"

"So am I"

And then AARON WARNER, THE CHIEF COMMANDER OF SECTOR-45 BLUSHED!?!?!?!?

Credits to the writer.

[a-hoe-for-dark-academia]

I'm reading Wuthering Heights for the first time, and homeboy Lockwood just came unannounced and uninvited to Heathcliff's place knowing he dislikes people AND THEN COMPLAINED when people reacted poorly to it and didn't comply to his demands. Like mister, they are not the ones being rude right now.

[wannabemasterofwindintraining]

Hello euphrasia nation how yall doing

[licorice-and-rum]

I try not to hate on Babel critics but God they make it hard…

The more I read “ur dur colonialism is bad we get it” critics about Babel, the more I think people overestimate their own media literacy. I mean, come on, ffs: what is the name of the book? “The Necessity of Violence”, right??

So is Kuang proving to you colonialism is bad in her book or is she arguing all the reasons why there is a necessity for violence in resistance against colonialism?

It’s NOT about colonialism being bad — that is NOT what’s in question here, any other notion is not even entertained. It’s about why you should “bite the hand that ‘feeds’ you” ffs, it’s why you should be violent.