this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
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PrePub - Ascendance of a Bookworm

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  • Ascendance of a Bookworm
  • Honzuki no Gekokujou
  • 『本好きの下剋上』

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

In around 10 days (2024-07-12) there will be a fediverse wide event similar to r/place called Canvas. It have been made last year and we had made Myne pixel art with some additional stuff around her.

part of canvas 2023

Link to an announcement.

If someone wants to find or make another pixel art design you are encouraged to do so.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I love the heart + Quof bit. :) Respect well earned.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

All hail Quof - we are so lucky to have him on this series.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Another great part. How can we be so close to the end though?

Her library city. After everyone telling her it was impossible.

My mistake. It wasn't the smile he wears when dumping work on others--it was his revenge smile. 😂

The Zent gives her a final exam of destroying some medals, perfectly logical and normal, of course.

But man - this feystone exchange. It was a delight to see each of them react with such heartfelt feeling, and both messages basically "I will watch over you and protect you and the things you care about." The image for this part is just spectacular too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm glad to see there are no more hiccups in Alexandria so far. Although the same cannot be said about the rest of Yurgenschmid going by Eglantine's constitution and Anastasius' increased worry. Oh well, you reap what you sow gremlin laughter

I'm quite surprised how shocked all these nobles are that Rozemyne and Ferdinand are not this head over heels couple they thought, I suppose they all let their inner shipper run wildhwith speculation instead of staying grounded in reality. The pair's reaction to their engagement stones probably undid all of that shock though, actions speak louder than words and they all just witnessed something that will probably be enough material for 5 volumes of Elvira's Love Stories on its own. I suspect Ferdinand miscalculated Rogemyne's reaction and is coming to the realization that henceforth he'll be known as a passionate romantic.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was quite struck by Eglantine saying she owed Ferdinand and Rozemyne an apology, that there were things she hadn't realized before becoming Zent. WHAT THINGS? You can't drop a nugget like that and do nothing with it. 😂 Hoping it comes out in a side story then.

And then Rozemyne CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT WINTER PLEASE? Genius of Kazuki to make that her euphemism.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

To be fair here Rozemyne's reaction to the suggestion she and Ferdinand did the deed Pre-Marriage would elicit a similar reaction in our world even as recent as 100 years ago so that's just perfectly understandable. Although I think it would be best for Rozemyne and Ferdinand to keep the details to themselves, I suspect a lot of what they did would be considered more than scandalous by the other nobles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

As recent as 100 years ago? Keep in mind that Rozemyne is a bit shy of 14 (and just 15 by our calender, if you calculate that their year has 400 days). That would be scandalous... and outright illegal in most of today's countries. I think the age issue is heavier than the pre-marriage "coming of winter" issue.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

I put the focus on the pre-marriage part simply because underage marriage does not seem particularly rare among the nobility in Yurgenschmidt, pretty much how it was in medieval times here. I highly doubt Rozemyne being way too young for marriage by our standards elicits much of a response beyond "might be a bit young that one" from most of these nobles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

There is not a single example of an underage marriage in the entire story. Arranged engagements yes, but not a single noble pair married, before their graduation + coming of age. In fact we have been outright told that it's exceptionally rare for Detlinde to already marry just a single year after her gradation, when those plans were still on, due to just a single year of engagement being considered a rather rushed affair. That would have put her at 17, meaning that most nobles only marry at 18 or later. As in 18 their calender, which would be well 19 years old in a 365 day system.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Eglantine and Anastasius implied that underage marriage would be possible with the Zent's explicit approval

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I'm not sure that means much either way. The zent has significant leeway to do whatever they want. Even if no underage marriage has ever happened, the Zent can still approve it, because the Zent's word is law.

In this particular case, I think there is a strong argument that could squash any icky feelings from nobles not close to Rozemyne: "when the divine avatar of Mestionora went to meet with the gods, they altered the flow of time and matured her into an adult".

This has the benefit of being almost entirely true. And anyone with a functioning intelligence network should be able to pick up on the implausibly fast growthspirt she underwent shortly before bestowing the G-book on the Zent.

Plus they should also be aware of the pragmatics of "well, there is not much we can do about her being an underage aub; she did conquer the duchy and repell foreign invaders. So I guess she needs a spouse to help with archducal duties. Maybe give her a few winters off of snow shoveling though"

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I know has happened since part 2 but I do find it funny Ferdi mentioned Benno and Myne as potential lovers despite the massive age gap (both vehimently declining).

And here we are Ferdi and gremlin (with a masive age gap......).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

If I have the numbers correctly in my head, Ferdinand is 13 years older than Myne (not counting the 2 year coma or age-shift for Rozemyne's fake noble birth), and Benno is another 8 or so years older than Ferdinand. While 13 is a lot, 21 is still quite a bit more... At least Ferdinand isn't old enough to comfortably be is future wife's father, which Benno is easily.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I totally forgot Benno was older than Ferdinand 🫠

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

I'm jazzed that Ferd likes the message on the stone!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

"Oh my. By that logic, are things between you and Philine not strange too?" I asked in response. He had known her since her baptism.

Damuel nodded again and again. "They are. They most certainly are!"

I don’t care about the Gremlins I need this story.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I reread this part today and realized I forgot to mention another moment that really caught my attention, Sylvester telling Rozemyne that he entrusts his little brother to her.

That seems to me to be a hugely significant thing to say, particularly to one's legal daughter, and I'm still turning it over in my mind trying to understand what exactly Sylvester is thinking. Not that he's wrong of course. We've established many times that Myne saved Ferdinand even as he saved her, but it's super interesting to me that he specifically gives her the upper hand with that statement. And of course he knows that Rozemyne was an adult in another world before she was Myne also.

Then I also love that when Sylvester teased her about cleaning up nice until she opens her mouth, that Rozemyne shot it right back at him.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Didn't he say that already once, when she charged into Ahrensbach to save Ferdinand, while Sylvester was stuck in his own duchy, due to knowing of the imminent invastion? Or is my memory playing tricks on me?

Either way, here I think it shows that Sylvester noticed (and proofes) that for the first time since Sylvester met him, Ferdinand is doing things for his own wellbeing and not sacrificing his all for others.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

some cool links:
five laws of library science - wikipedia
British Museum Reading Room
Panorama

There was a side story where a pair of lovers (Cornelius and Leonore?) went to the gazebo and covered themself in a cape to mix their colors.
Not only Ferdinand had done something lewd in public but also with underage woman that he didn't even marry yet.

I think this is prime time for Rozemyne to publish some smut in Yurgenshmit

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm not surprised about Ferdinand choosing to look into Alstede's memories over Detlinde. Acidity of personality aside, I'd also expect Alstede to know better. Alstede is a diligent person and was the one who actually dyed the foundation, while Detlinde is often too arrogant to recognize the gaps in (or complete lack of) knowledge and shirked that duty to her sister. If anyone had the complete knowledge, it'd be the older sister, even if Detlinde could be trusted, wasn't layered in such unpleasant memories for Ferdinand and wasn't so unpleasant a person. With Alstede being a rather meek person, she also probably had less resistence to the mental interrogation.

I wonder who they'll make the knight's commander. Cornelius is a bit young, but definitely can be trusted by Rozemyne and Ferdinand and has the support of his soon-to-be wife Leonore, who complements his skillset quite nicely with her own. Eckhart could be trusted even more by Ferdinand due to being namesworn, but his personality and propensity to extreme actions at a moment's notice and disregard of anything that isn't Ferdinand's will don't strike me as ideal for the job. Strahl already has experience on the job and would know the former Ahrensbach nobles and the lay of the land better than the two Ehrenfest boys, but would also be least familiar with either Rozemyne's or Ferdinand's way to do things and despite having amply demonstrated his allegiance and loyalty, is still less trustworthy than Rozemyne's brothers. I suppose with two former Ehrenfest nobles in charge of the duchy, putting a local, rather than yet another Ehrenfester on the top of the knight's order would probably be a good political move, to keep the other nobles mollified.

The execution magic was already scary and horrific enough without knowing the full details, but assuming the gods grant the request, even the souls of those executed are affected...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

How does the memory searching magic tool work if the person being intergoated is non complient?

When we saw it used on Rozymne and Ferdi they both shared memories freely (when either was asked about a memory they showed it).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

We don't have the details, but we were given a vague explanation of it being a battle of wills of sort, where the interrogator has to force the criminal to show a memory, while the criminal can try to some something useless instead. While it was not mentioned, I would suppose that having more mana would give one an advantage, whether you are in the interrogating or defending position.

That it's possible for the interrogator to guide the memory search to some degree at least is also clear from the fact that it's possible to "interrogate" corpses, or just detached heads, albeit we were told that the memories from corpses are difficult to access and most often fragmented.