Evidence That Rafal Could Be An Ever: Stymphs Only Like Evers. In Book 1, This Claim Is Presented. The

Evidence that Rafal could be an Ever: Stymphs only like Evers. In book 1, this claim is presented. The Stymphs cuddled Agatha, and attacked Sophie. Also, the Great Mistake wasn’t a mistake; the Stymph was never confused.

At the same time, the Stymphs are Rafal’s birds. So, he could be the exception, not the rule, because he’s their master. Plus, Rafal has a streak of sadism that feels like it disqualifies him from being an Ever, and I think the twins’ Good-Evil statuses are more nuanced than this, probably. By comparison, Agatha’s just morbid, not sadistic.

I feel like I saw a post like this somewhere before, but to apply it to Rise:

I love that the fate of the world depends on teenage emotions and hormones, but it should really be more stable than that in the long run. Why were teenagers elected as School Masters? (I know the book is middle grade to YA for its target audience, but I mean this in terms of common sense.) Like, whichever fairy tales affect the future of the Woods, even those that work more incrementally than the turn-of-the-century and era-defining ones, are still driven by teenagers. For instance, Sophie and Agatha's fairy tale caused change in waves, and they weren’t even as well-equipped as freshly-graduated alumni.

A system depending on a few individuals is not a system at all, in terms of practicality, and the likelihood of catastrophe. But, I’m all here for it! Because of conflict! It's great for storytelling purposes, and I live for drama.

But, Rise is still the worst cliffhanger I’ve ever read in my life. I’ve never been this invested in a cliffhanger before, like ever. I think it's because I was already too attached to Rafal and the idea of Rhian before reading the book. And, I was interested in the two brothers and the School Master/Great War lore in general. They're some of my absolute favorites.

A Dissection: Rafal Has Motion Sickness and It Has Symbolic Significance

I’d call this a hot take, but probably no one has given thought to it? At least, I haven’t seen it anywhere else. So, this might not even be a hot take if there isn’t already a common consensus for its existence or nonexistence. The lines I will refer to could be weird, throwaway, minute-detail, trifling pieces of character trivia. But, Rafal has motion sickness, and I consider it to be close to canon, if not actual canon.

Also, you may be wondering why I’ve glommed onto this particular trait. I projected onto Rafal probably since I also have motion sickness. I’ve never ridden the taller sort of roller coasters, and although I grew out of it, I used to throw up on airplanes.

This character detail will definitely appear in one of my future fics, by the way. The dialogue portion is already written. Unfortunately, that fic is, like, the 7th or 8th in a little series, so no one will see it for a long time, if I ever get that far. I am trying to be as prolific as I can these final days before Fall comes out though. Hopefully, that’ll extend to later fics in the far future.

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Evidence:

“All the while, the Evil School Master bellowed and cursed into his gag, at once furious, incredulous, and motion sick” (201).

“[...] Rafal, who was still inside his bubble, slightly green and shaky from his tumble through the forest” (203).

Possible explanations:

Theory 1 - The motion sickness here could just be circumstantial/almost universal. A type that occurs under such extreme, severe conditions, perhaps. Considering the ordeal Rafal’s gone through, maybe anybody would be motion sick afterward. This would disprove his motion sickness however. And, I would think most people don’t have the stomach capacity to tolerate this type of motion. I wonder if most people would be knocked unconscious, or even be conscious enough to deal with being thrusted and rolled around in a giant prison ball? It could also be Rafal’s immortality as a factor sparing him further suffering.

Theory 2 - Rafal must be in control of his movements and be the “driver,” as a general rule. This could explain why his own flying doesn’t cause him motion sickness, while everything else might. Ok, so he needs to be in control, and applying that on a literal and figurative level just works so well for his character. With the Storian, in his interactions with Rhian, with the prison workers/guards, Aladdin, the other students, and the Pirate Captain, he’s always grasping for control.

Another key to this: the motion would have to be predictable, like his own flight. If he knows the direction he would travel in, then it probably wouldn’t jar him as much, and he’d be able to adjust his body to be in line with that anticipated movement. If he had driven the ball, instead of the matter being out of his hands completely, maybe, the motion sickness wouldn’t have occurred.

As a character, I think he also hates to be directionless and ambitionless, and the motion of the prison ball could have been only radial. Or, directionless/from all directions at once, with lots of conflicting signals in the attempt of maintaining his balance (nonexistent at this point) and disorienting to his eyes and inner ears.

Theory 3 - The whole event could have been a one-time thing, played for comedy. Or, simply, a rare occurrence.

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Final thoughts:

This post is highkey an appreciation post for the prison bubble scene! It was hilarious, and probably one of the best things I’ve ever read. The height of comedy and one of the best scenes in the book, in fact. But, Rise is a masterpiece in my eyes anyway.

And, we get to see Rafal, the practically-all-powerful, dark sorcerer struggle, be trapped, be helpless, and be saved from his own moment of weakness and vulnerability, which is so rare. Because, usually, he has everything under control and locked down, saves Rhian, and is the custodial worker of the Balance. He’s literally lost his balance here though. And, at least, that isn’t as bad as losing the Balance.

Then, the contrast of sorcery vs. electricity. Incredible and ingenious in its own right. The bubble is magic-resistant, no matter what. Repels all magic. Can’t be popped or burst on its own. So, ha Rafal! Checkmate.

And, he can’t even be heard, talk, give others instructions, or lead. He’s a powerful character, and incapacitated in this foreign, spherical-force-field-thing. It keeps him mute! And, he can only communicate through gestures and facial expressions. And, it blocks his usual acidic comments. He’s lost his ability to be snarky and dry! The whole scene is so loud and chaotic!

Also, I’m obsessed with the part where Rafal laughs at trading away the Storian while he’s still in the bubble. So assured, when he has no leverage! But honestly, at this point, the Storian deserves it for duping the brothers.

A Cut Epilogue from "Simony"

Here, I present you with a scrapped epilogue to “Simony” that didn’t quite fit in the fic, or meld well with my characterization of Rafal. His murder of Rhian is supposed to be uncalculated and driven by unrestrained emotion, and it comes across as planned in this:

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The Evil intent, the injurious intent, festered in Rafal’s heart since Rhian had wounded him with his words at the start of the year. Rhian hadn’t paused to see how he’d hurt Rafal. To see how Evil would be useless, futile, lack all purpose to live if everyone was reformed to Good. Did Rhian ever spare a thought as to how he’d affect the other side? And look at his brother. His own brother. A revelation, Rafal thought bitterly. A walking contradiction of the waking world. In other words, for Good, not for Balance like he’d once vowed.

For the sake of the Woods, they’d better not judge by appearances again. Yet, that was how it continued, year after year. The tales became predictable, the bound tomes piling up like stones in his tower.

All the princesses were the same. Vapid but virtuous and beautiful, as beautiful as they were virtuous. It didn’t console him to know that all the lovers would become graves in time.

All the villains were the same. Rafal was more than a bit unnerved, but as such was how the tales went: they were as ugly as they were wicked, and they were woefully sore losers. Every new crop of Nevers was worse, more hideous, incompetent, and pitiable than the last. And just as unloveable as he was. Not that any love was worth the effort. Better to teach them they were incapable of love from the beginning.

Sometimes, I think Rafal isn't a School Master, just a glorified custodian, cleaning up Rhian’s messes, and literally the only one with more than a single brain cell.

Headcanon: Rafal is more internally uptight than he seems to be on the outside. This goes back to my anxiety disorder/paranoia headcanon. He’s not necessarily snobbish, but holds high expectations for how he expects to be treated. He’s probably grown used to students obeying him, so every character that disagreed with him, or refused to concede to him in Rise must have been a bit of a jolt and a blow to his ego.