@the22dragons said in Bookworm Fanbook 2 Discussion!:
The act to receive other people mana into yourself is described as disgusting and difficult, but in Myne's case it was easier (and the potion containing Ferdinand mana tasted sweet) since their mana colors were already identical (all 7) so their compatibility was perfect.
That would normally be the case. But this is Myne, who has the devouring, and Fanbook 1 says that makes a difference.
Q: Why did Ferdinand seem so surprised when Myne found the synchronization potion sweet? Does the flavor change depending on one’s mana quantity?
A: The potion is easier to drink the more elements you share and the closer your mana quantities are, and likewise harder to drink the less elements you share and the further apart your mana quantities are, which explains why Ferdinand was so surprised. That said, Myne having the Devouring means she would find anyone’s synchronization potion easy to drink.
So how do we explain this? There's some property of the devouring that makes it so.
"Devouring" as proxy for "commoner" as a proxy for "colorless"
Devouring is the domain of commoners, born from those who have little mana themselves, and who don't exercise their mana and connection to the gods, and presumably lose their colors over time. Then, if one is exposed to mana of a certain color set, they adopt that all the way into their mana generation.
This is the "initially-blank permanent-dyeing" theory in a nutshell, and it explains the similarity between Myne and Ferdinand without saying that's just how the dice rolled.
The biggest counter-indicator is the rainbow eyes and yellow mist in the forest/temple crushing episodes.
Devouring dilutes mana colors
She had some/all colors, but they expressed very weakly, whether naturally or because Devouring, or both.
The general idea remains that Myne's mana would be very open to influencing through dyeing by a potion.
Permanent dyeing would be up for debate.
Some other property of "devouring" makes their own colors somehow not matter. [explanation needed]
This explanation needs to fill a big leap of logic with big assumptions, as there's no material to fill it with.
Q: In the previous fanbook, you mentioned that anyone's potion would taste sweet to Myne because she has the Devouring. Does that mean even a laynoble could use the memory-searching magic tool and easily synchronize with her?
A: Her mana would be dyed rapidly if mana were to be poured into her, regardless of whether she drank the synchronization potion that makes mana easier to dye. If the mana was from another person, there'd be a little more resistance, but it wouldn't stop the dyeing process.
I'll read that as "another person than Ferdinand", since "another person than herself" doesn't make sense.
That means they likely have some natural compatibility already, which makes it less likely she's blank.
There is still an open question of how devouring factors in, more so as we don't even know the non-devouring case well enough.
Mom does the incubating, dad has nothing to do with it after conception. So unless you are saying that the attributes are conveyed via the ovum and sperm, it would seem that any in utero dyeing is going to be from mom only.
Remember from getting the divine will, they had to not touch anyone to keep their mana pure for their schtappe? That indicates that touching ("Ferdinand! HUG!") might be all it takes to temp-dye/synchronize, just at a far slower rate. I imagine this is especially true when... making a child. Then you'd have the synchronized colors at the point of conception.
...we have a girl, coming out of his hidden room [HIDDEN ROOM! They were ALONE!] and comes out even more synchronized... in-universe speculation time!
