Thoughts That Go Whump In The Night For Rafal

Thoughts That Go Whump in the Night for Rafal

Note: I tried to find as many torture methods as I could that involved the bird motif. Do not search for these if you do not want visual representations of them.

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Caught in a snare trap like a dumb woodcock à la Hamlet.

Eyes plucked out by doves à la "Cinderella."

Bird-who-was-formerly-a-ghost-boy-now-reincarnated drops a millstone onto his head à la "The Juniper Tree."

Transformed into a bird and stabbed by pins on a windowsill upon landing à la "The Canary Prince."

Chased by geese in the park.

Hitchcock-style bird attacks.

Viking blood eagle execution method. (When the rib cage was broken and opened, the lungs allegedly fluttered like "wings.")

Gibbeted in a cage.

Cucking and ducking stool.

A mock-Icarus scenario, flying too close to the sun and overheating, perhaps afflicted by the drip of burning wax.

Tarred and feathered à la American Revolution.

Bound to a rock to have his liver feasted on by an eagle everyday à la Prometheus.

Pau de arara or "parrot's perch," a stress position. (Bird sellers use it for transporting birds.)

White torture. (A form of psychological torture and sensory deprivation—everything in sight is white. Would be halfway decent camouflage, actually.)

The whirligig. (It has a whimsical name, yet it involves a spinning cage.)

Strappado or "pigeon torture."

Live burial. (Self-explanatory. Fits the vibes of TLEA.)

Second Circle of Hell. (Whipped around in an endless cyclone, representing Rafal's wind motif. That motif is actually more present in the main series than in the prequels and it featured in an OTK flashback.)

Seventh Circle of Hell. (Preyed on by harpies.)

Stymphalian birds. (Sorry to the Stymphs, but they were originally man-eating in classical mythology.)

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I feel like all this shouldn't need a disclaimer, but obviously, don't try any of this at home, not that anyone could in most cases. These ideas are for strictly fictional purposes.

Also, suppose Vulcan could've used any of these? I have another post with less graphic mentions of torture here.

If Rhian were a villain as his own character, in character, I feel like he'd be the kind of villain to explain his whole Evil plan, giving it away completely instead of keeping it to himself because he's incapable of keeping it to himself. He would be hyped up with excitement for his vision coming to fruition, and most importantly, he would want to do it for the showmanship as he's theatrical like that. Then again, he may be too smart to reveal it all.

If you recall his thematically-appropriate outfit during the Circus of Talents, he seems to love causing a scene, and while Rafal does share this tendency towards the dramatic, I don't believe it's to the same effect or as extreme as Rhian's.

And this brings me to the point that it's just flat-out unusual for Rhian to wear essentially the same outfit for 200 years.

I mean, that seems unlike him and extreme. For evidence, it's implied by TLEA, by the image of his midnight blue robes hanging on a hook in the tower like a relic at the beginning of the book, that he's worn that selfsame outfit all that time. Sure, he must've not had an occasion to dress up for, but when did that ever stop him? Did imitating Rafal mean he had almost given up on his fashion sense? It's not like anyone had seen him. He didn't have anyone to perform in front of after all. Maybe that's the reason: no one would see him, so it wouldn't matter? He'd probably become depressed, and perhaps, the loneliness drove him insane and away from old behaviors.

Yet, how could Rhian, the man who was a fashion icon in his better days, be reduced to wearing the same midnight blue robes for 200 years, as the first trilogy implies? Even villainous Fall Rhian with his pure spun gold cloak did better than this version of him.

Wearing the same clothes like a uniform is Rafal behavior, and while taking that trait completes his disguise, which I'm sure Rhian had down by SGE's present, if no one had the faintest memory of what the real Rafal was like, what was keeping Rhian from caring about his appearance like he once did? He only seemed to fall back into fashion and indulge in it in order to appeal to Sophie and that's it. Did he never regain the right state of mind for fashion to be of any importance by himself? Did Sophie revive that lost part of him?

In conclusion, that is the most implausible thing about the Fall twist: Rhian's lack of fashion sense. /j

Have u ever played a sport or are currently doing a sport? Im curious.

I swear, this is just bizarre—I was just thinking to myself what could the next anon question be, in what seemed to me like a trend of making the rounds of typical introductory questions, if this is indeed the same anon. May not be, I suppose. And so, I had thought: well, no one’s asked about sports yet. And lo and behold, the very thing: a sports question!

Anyway, to answer your question, I used to play tennis, and I’ve played a bit of badminton. All of this was recreational though. I’m not that athletic by any means.

Is Rafal an Allegory for Autism and Is He Autistic Himself?

DISCLAIMER: This is just one niche interpretation of the text that points to his being autistic, even if it were not intentionally written into the narrative. I am in no way claiming this interpretation is factual or that it is an absolute or “correct” reading of the text.

Therefore, feel free to disagree with me or add onto this! I will not be offended by opposing viewpoints at all, and it could be fair to say I’m just pathologizing him, if that’s the case, which may be true. I’d also love to hear other takes if anyone agrees with me, or suspects another form of neurodivergence, seeing as comorbidities are possible and one condition doesn’t rule out the existence of another as symptoms alone could themselves be attributed to other causes.

@hyperfixating-chic Thank you for bringing up the idea of Rafal having autism since I had previously suspected it due to some of his (potentially negligible) traits, and discarded the idea. Now, I see it as plausible and your thought about masking definitely helped everything else slot into place!

Currently, I'm straddling the line between:

Is Rafal an unintentional allegory for autism, or beyond that, does he have enough traits for him to actually be autistic?

With him, any traces of autism seem to present themselves in such minor ways that I might just be cherry-picking evidence to fit this particular image of him. Though, his autism could just be higher-functioning anyway. And, while he does have seemingly autistic traits, there could be other, equally plausible reasons for their existence apart from neurodivergence, such as his idiosyncratic personality. And, because he is fictional, we can’t truly be sure.

One side note: The word “autism” could be translated as “selfism,” as the prefix “auto-” means “self,” or it could allude to self-absorption. Yet, not all autistics are selfish and some may only appear “selfish” to others. However, this interpretation of the word happens to work in favor of Rafal’s autism existing, as he is selfish (and does possess a somewhat graceless mode of socializing).

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Evidence for his character being an allegory:

He's central to the order of the world he lives in, to the Schools running, continuing on, to pure utility, but does he have any social value beyond that?

Quick digression: I'm almost tempted to say that the worst thing someone whose opinion Rafal actually cares about could say to him is: “You're useless/purposeless." (And that is what I have him think about, or say at times, to Rhian, but if it were directed toward him, I feel like it would be something he couldn't brush off easily.)

Looking at his “value” and other traits:

He has virtually no relationships and thus, has little social currency apart from his School Master status.

He is viewed as an outsider in a sense by society (partly because of how far above everyone else he stations himself). But, if he didn’t do that as well as threaten punishment so frequently, would he be ridiculed behind closed doors? Even though he was admitted to the Black Rabbit, it was (probably?) because he was respected and feared, not because he was “welcome” in an amicable way, even if he was treated well. How do we know he wasn’t merely tolerated because he had to be, according to social conventions or mandated politeness driven by fear? Albeit, some Nevers probably did actually idolize him.

I believe there was even an assumption by others that he had a purpose for being at the nightclub, that he was there strictly for business, to scout out prospective students, not necessarily because he was there to join the festivities. Though, I may be misremembering.

He is irreverent and a “killjoy” to some, often upsets the status quo on large (leaving the School) and small (the trainwreck at the Snow Ball) scales, and often questions things usually accepted by most. He also doesn’t respect any authority apart from his own. This again is due to his Evil, in-narrative, as Evers are commonly depicted as rule-followers and traditionalists. (Neurotypicals, those who aren’t neurodivergent, generally do not question implicit social rules, even when there is no reason to keep to them or no reason for their existence.)

Rafal might only have been valued for his tangible, quantifiable contributions to society, as both a Never of prodigious talents and as an individual with a high-standing.

That begs the question: what about him as a person?

He is broadly viewed as unlikable.

To play into allegory, he is dehumanized, not necessarily for potential autism, but for his Evil, if it could be seen as a symbol of his autism.

At the start, Rhian, in originally wanting to eradicate Evil from the Woods and reform every soul, inadvertently demonizes him. And so do his students, when they sentence him to prison.

Sometimes, in-world, the Pen dehumanizes him (as well as Rhian) for his position as School Master. It reduces him to his role, strips him of individuality and selfhood because he is one of an indivisible pair, and it views him as replaceable, which, again, relates heavily to utility above all else, in how his sole purpose for being there and having his life preserved is pushing the tales and future forward.

So, while yes, he is respected and valued and held up as an exemplar for what Evil should be, how deeply does others’ approval run? Was anyone in-world willing to vouch for him or defend him as a person, for personal traits, apart from his skills and achievements?

(I’m not trying to suggest this in poor taste, but a real-world example of this phenomenon happening historically is the moral quandary of saving Einstein, who might've been neurodivergent. Einstein’s singular life as a Jew was prioritized over other lives, a plurality, during the Holocaust because he was a genius and therefore, a person of value. And, to generalize, sometimes groups only claim unlikable or "inferior" individuals as one of their own because they can benefit and get ahead from doing so. For instance, a Nazi could rationalize something absurd and say: "Oh, that Jew. He's a personal friend of mine. He's an exception, not like all those others. He's a good guy, and so, I'll help him escape Germany." Any “loyalty” from a member of the in-group is conditional. The moment that person of value crosses a line or becomes useless, it’s “abandon ship!” Or worse, denial: "They were never that great in the first place!")

Initially, to Rafal's students, he was a Folk devil, or their chosen scapegoat, even if their accusations against him proved pretty valid later on with the torture. (So, admittedly, he is deserving of a lot the narrative did to him, and can’t be defended completely.)

In fact, both Rafal’s own students and Vulcan (importantly designated as Rafal’s competition) seemed perfectly happy to see him fall. Thus, we can ask: did he suffer from a case of Tall Poppy Syndrome?

For reference, here’s a definition of the term I’ve pulled from the internet:

“Tall Poppy Syndrome occurs when individuals are attacked, resented, criticized, or cut down due to their achievements and success. The metaphorical ‘tall poppy’ represents someone who stands out from the crowd, excels, and reaches new heights.”

Maybe, he was only ever valued, not for who he was, but for what he could bring into the world.

Even if anyone post-Fall suspected that Rhian was the “Rafal” they saw, maybe they truly didn’t care. They still had a “him” in a sense that must have seemed just as good and serviceable as the original—if, again, they only valued him for the sake of utility.* It probably didn’t matter because no one was suffering from a lack of Evil School Master (yes, just the title, not the name) and likely no one realized they were suffering from a lack of Rafal (and balance). Him as a person probably meant nothing in their eyes, considering how he used and abused them.

So, here we have a figure, who was never that personable to begin with, who only succeeded in further alienating himself from potential allies and friends as stakes rose, who excelled in other areas rather than socially.

Could he have used his sorcery and other preternatural, prodigy-like abilities (considering his mental/physical age, if not his chronological age) to compensate for his ever-present social deficit? Possibly.

*Thus, we might be able to confirm he was always viewed, not for who he was, but for what he could do.

His death was caused by the failure to say the right, emotionally-weighted words in an emotionally-charged situation.

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Evidence for being autistic himself:

His default mode of speaking appears to be deadpan with little intonation and his emotional expression is overall low. He’s also rather impassive and placid compared to other characters as long as he remains in control and isn’t taken by surprise. Thus, I suspected he could have a flat affect (or blunted affect), unless he is deliberately seducing or appealing to another character he intends to manipulate to his own ends.

He has irreverence for existing traditions or established ways of doing things, given how he changed the date of the Snow Ball without warning, without consulting anyone, and with little concern for others because he saw his decision as fit to serve himself.

He seems to have a case of one-track-mind or monotropism when it comes to saving Rhian or attaining power for himself at any cost. His narrowed, obsessive focus tends to center on either Rhian, vengeance, the balance, or gaining control over his immediate surroundings whenever he is incapacitated; he has a need for order and control in everything he approaches. He also has a strong internal sense of justice, however perversely-aligned his may be.

He doesn’t distribute his attention widely, and (once) seemed to love his brother deeply and narrowly. He had no friends outside of Rhian, his twin, which could’ve been a given since the start. He had difficulty maintaining all of his relationships (or situationships) and had a marked lack of interest in forming relationships or friendships with others outside of Rhian because he often cut ties with people like Hook or Midas when he no longer had a practical use for them.

One of the greatest “sins” to some autistic people is lying, and it occurred to me that, a few times over, Rafal never lied. (This statement excludes the few exceptions of his Fala disguise, a thought not completely of his own volition which the Storian may have planted in his mind or implicitly suggested with its illustrations, and his general practice of withholding information.) He just weaponizes shades of the truth, unlike Rhian who did outright lie at times. Rafal instead misled, passively allowing people to believe what they wanted to believe about his moral character (oftentimes in the “fact” that he was trustworthy) without truly affirming their views of him or correcting them, as long as doing so continually worked to his advantage. He let them fall into their own delusions, and used lies of omission, which aren’t technically lies.

Although he is often driven by his selfish, insular nature, like towards the singular pursuit of power and becoming the One in Fall, I also suspected that he's often mind-blind in regards to others, sometimes willfully, if it’s not “errors” in how he processes the world. I would guess that he might experience difficulty in understanding and empathizing with others' perspectives, meaning he has trouble with “Theory of Mind.” As evidence, he uses the “wrong” wording when he attempted to placate Rhian at the climax of Fall before the fratricide scene since he’s not used to consoling or providing others with emotional reassurance or comfort. In addition, he seemed unable or unwilling to sympathize with Rhian’s perceived loss to him when he momentarily appeared to hold the Storian’s favor.

Rafal also strikes me as the type of person to devalue a form of emotional, Ever-like “data” he cannot read. If he does (or ever formerly did) suffer from mind-blindness, I have a theory that, possibly, because he could have begun with the inability to comprehend others' mental states, he found an alternate way to operate in and successfully navigate his world with, to thrive in it, consciously comporting himself as Evil, due to the easy potential overlap in autistic behaviors and being a conventional Never, in a way that was insensitive and cold enough to allow for any kind of social faux pas he could have made to be viewed as intentional on his part, assuming he spent most of his time around others masking his autism (covering up and compensating for deficits so as to be perceived as “normal”) even if such a label probably wouldn’t exist in the Woods. He also seems to dislike or barely tolerate any kind of flagrant sentimentality.

If the above point were true, then he would probably not only lack affective, visible empathy he could feel, imitate, and display through his facial expressions and body language, but also cognitive empathy. And this could be potentially because it would be convenient to him, to disregard and not take into account data that is ostensibly “meaningless” to him. Besides, I think there is a chance he’s taught himself to be persuasive or seductive when he wants to or “has” to be, in order to appeal to his victims. The other general possibility I had in mind was that Rafal could have learned to read people until it became second nature to him, with how he used suggestive manipulation on Aladdin to get the thief to steal back the lamp, proving Rafal consciously knew how predictable and pliable human nature could be.

In total, from what I can tell, he is able to manipulate others exceptionally well and lead them on, and yet, when it comes to actually relating to anyone, he seems to have difficulty understanding their points of view if he doesn't just flat-out disregard them in favor of his always being "right," which brings me to his tenacity, how he seems set in his ways, and leans towards extremes. Rafal seems like an all-or-nothing person, and either commits all the way to a cause, even bringing life-or-death ruminations into his internal monologue, or is apathetic and doesn't care at all.

Perhaps, Rafal suffers from sustained emotional dysregulation during certain plot points. He clearly has an inability to “let things go,” as is common with autism because when he was more than slighted by his mutinous students sending him to Monrovia Prison, his temper flared and he went to an extreme of methodically torturing every last child. And afterward, he continued to hold onto a grudge against that one particular class, until he was in closer contact with them, and gradually began to see himself and how he’d conducted himself as School Master from their perspective, literally in the shoes of the Never student Fala he fabricated.

He often has sharp lines of dialogue and witticisms the reader sees as comedic when his intention probably wasn’t to be, thereby meaning he could be unaware of precisely how he comes across to others, as hyperbolic as he is.

His quick wit and resourcefulness led me to think that he is at least partly a verbal thinker, evinced by the Vulcan shanty he composed and some of his scathing one-liners. Plus, he does muse philosophically on occasion in his narration, about matters like the nature of Evil, villainous purpose, and its role in the Woods, or how villains usually work alone while pirates, as a breed, are known to be more communal.

He also twists others’ words at times, uses the “Exact Phrasing” fairy-tale convention, and exploits loopholes oftentimes. I’m pretty sure he sees language as up to interpretation? E.g., he offers to pay a Man-Wolf his "weight in gold" and then, turns the Man-Wolf into gold to make an example of him, weaponizing literal meaning. Overall, as a reader, I feel as if I must watch out for the true meaning of his dialogue.

His reclusiveness, contrasted with Rhian’s desire for romantic love and companionship, and his general social withdrawal are quite prominent, and those asocial, isolative (or more destructively, “antisocial”) tendencies could, as well as being a preference, function as a coping mechanism. Perhaps, he feels better and overall more regulated whilst alone than in the company of other people, who neither give him peace of mind nor obey him, especially those whose every action he cannot control? And maybe, he needs room to breathe and think, and left the School at the start of Rise to shut out the offending emotional stimulus of Rhian’s words, about how all Evil-doers could be reformed to Good and that Evil lacked purpose. If he was emotionally affected by the brothers’ argument, the Aladdin bet, and the chaotic events of the Snow Ball, maybe he just had to sever himself from it all and leave it behind?

He might have Sensory Processing Disorder, which often accompanies autism. I’m not an expert, but from what I could see, there are hints of Rafal having an aversion to light, such as when, in his internal monologue, he remarks on Rhian's glass castle. Additionally, when he intentionally renovated his School, it was dark and dimly lit.

In the ice classroom, he sat at his desk for days on end, entranced by the mirror he enchanted to view the Doom Room with, like he was watching television, like it was some form of a singular obsession, and he did all that presumably without feeling any bodily discomfort. Thus, it occurred to me that, while this instance could be attributed to his invulnerability/immortality, he might just have trouble with interoception or internal bodily sensation. He rarely seems to sense or acknowledge dehydration, exhaustion, or hunger, and seems ascetic while Rhian is slightly more dependent on creature comforts.

One last qualifying trait could be Rafal’s lack of sensitivity to (external) pain as seen when the Storian slashes his palm open for the oath.

As far as the previous two points go, I’ve been questioning whether his potential difficulty with interoception could coexist at once with the artificially-induced traits of his Storian-bestowed invulnerability that later fades over the course of Fall, rendering him mortal, or conditioning over his lifetime as an Evil-doer, as Evil thematically seems to undergo more pain than Good does throughout the series. Even while vulnerable and mortal in Fall, he manages to walk on his limp, and contends fairly well with his broken leg, despite the pain.

If his invulnerability or his Never status does indeed coexist with his possible interoceptive difficulties, it could mask the deficit of sensation, instead being construed as simple invulnerability or the “mettle” of a tough, stoic, Never soul, as Rhian, who possesses the same invulnerability, reacted more towards the same source of physical pain than Rafal did.

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Counterarguments:

Despite all these signs, anyone could have all or most of these traits in isolation, which still may not add up to a complete diagnosis. Basically, this is not only a matter of totalling up traits. We don’t really know how his brain functions as he is fictional and I would bet that if he were real, he couldn’t be arsed to answer interview questions.

I don’t believe he was intended to be autistic, given the fantasy genre of the series and its vaguely historical time frame, even if all this could form a viable headcanon.

We can't entirely be sure that he has a social deficit, or if his manner and apparent “deficit” are displayed by choice or out of practicality.

The most generous (non-deficient) interpretation we can hand him is that he’s simply out of practice. After all, he almost never associates with social equals, aside from Rhian, whom he doesn’t view as an equal.

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In response to my one of my counterarguments:

Then again, neither was Sherlock Holmes intentionally written as autistic since the diagnosis didn’t exist during the Victorian era and hadn't come about until later in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's lifetime—although many people today conclude that Holmes is indeed autistic and use modern terms to describe him because Doyle based him off of an “eccentric” academic acquaintance, the medical professor Dr. Joseph Bell, who might have been autistic.

In conclusion, I could just be a bit delusional, and this speculation could be far-fetched. Do you think I’m reading too much into whatever may have been intended for Rafal’s character? Could Rafal be autistic, or if not, could his characterization indicate some other type of neurodivergence?

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Thank you for taking the time to read through my thoughts! I’m open to “peer-review.” Anyone?

personally i love rubbing salt into wounds

I've been reading a bit about the themes of justice and retribution in fairy tales lately, and I keep finding excerpts that sound like they were ghostwritten by Rafal, haha.

"Most parents today shield their children from the violent imagery found in Grimm’s fairy tales. But if you’ve had enough conversations with young children, you’ll find that they already think a good deal about violence and death and what it all means, so sanitizing fairy tales will not stop children from thinking what they naturally think. If children are nursed on fairy tales that have been sanitized to appease the sentiments of adults and not left alone to nurture their own spiritual development, it will damage their ability to develop a sense of justice, [...]"

"The thirst for justice is strong in children. To deny them drink is to deny them redemption. The next time my daughter pronounces a death sentence on a wicked sinner, I won’t talk her out of it. I’ll agree: they do need to die. [...]"

Source.

“For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.” ― G.K. Chesterton

"Modern crime fiction has nothing on the ingenuity, brutality and sheer bizarreness of the offenses committed in classic fairy tales. Moreover, fairy tales are ruthless. Our contemporary crime novels have the monopoly on moral ambiguity, true, but fairy tales take no prisoners and often offer no redemption. Mercy is not a hallmark of the genre and even the kindest, most benevolent maid-turned-princess isn’t afraid to take out her wicked stepmother."

Source.

"[...] revenge tends to break out whenever legal remedies are blocked, as when the evildoer controls the legal machinery or is otherwise above the law, or when public law enforcement is very lax."

Source.