Rafal Leaving And Vulcan Arriving Are The Two Destabilizing Conditions OfRise. (Also, I May Be Mistaken,

Rafal leaving and Vulcan arriving are the two destabilizing conditions of Rise. (Also, I may be mistaken, but don't these two events happen in close proximity to each other? Months might have narratively gone by, but I think the pages must have been close? Not sure.) I know this is obvious, but I feel like this particular quote applies well:

“All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” ― Leo Tolstoy

And the prequel duology is both. Just food for thought. Many stories, literary or not, are both, and it's interesting to see where and when such divisions intersect.

Fall Countdown Day 4: Aladdin

Aladdin looks sulky here, so I wonder if Kyma broke up with him. He looks scuffed, disheveled, and dirty too.

I doubt he’s sided with the School Master brothers, but could he have sided against Hook?

I also wonder what he’s gone through to look this way. It’s likely he’s gone through something of an ordeal because his photograph is literally the darkest one we’ve seen so far. Was he stuffed in the prison hold of a ship? Or, he could have been held prisoner for not cooperating, as compared to Kyma who actually looks well, and is dressed better.

My thought is that, maybe, Kyma is smart enough to cooperate to benefit herself, or to gain the enemy’s trust, assuming the students were actually kidnapped by Hook. There is a chance they went willingly. But, Aladdin resists authority more than she does, and it probably doesn’t work out in his favor.

Fall Countdown Day 3: Kyma

She’s not wearing very typical Ever or princess-like attire. Her blouse gives me Edwardian-era vibes, and that fits that time period of Peter Pan, so it seems like she’s already connected to pirates and Neverland, especially given that skull and crossbones flag behind her. I wonder if she's adapted to survive, or has undergone character development similar to Beatrix’s turn in AWWP and later in the series when she became a knight? Kyma could have turned rogue or pirate-like, given the people she’s been around. But probably, she’ll retain her essential Goodness.

My assumption is that she was either captured by Hook, or persuaded by Hook to follow him, and thus loyal to Hook and his crew. I don't think she's currently a prisoner though because she looks well. Or, maybe, she has stakes in keeping other loved-ones safe, and followed along with Hook for her own self-preservation. I wonder what exactly happened to her to cause her to end up like this though. It’s intriguing, this change.

Fall Bingo

A final collection of predictions. I haven't gotten my preordered book yet, but when I do, I will read it eventually, and fill this out.

Please do not comment any spoilers!

Here’s to vaguely hinting at the vibes my unfinished Fall prediction fic, "When Lightning Falls," will be drawing from! I hope it'll turn out flammable.

Source: “Crazy=Genius” by Panic! At The Disco

Note: I have edited the lyrics slightly, to twist them to my own purposes.

⸻

Rafal: Rhian said at night in my dreams, “You dance on a tightrope of weird. Oh but when I wake up you're so normal that you just disappear. You're so straight like commuters with briefcases towing the line. There's no residue of a torturer inside of your eyes.”

Rhian: If crazy equals genius. You can set yourself on fire. But you're never gonna burn, burn, burn. You can set yourself on fire.

Rafal: But you're never gonna learn, learn, learn hey! Rhian said…

Rhian: Darlin' you know how the wine plays tricks on my tongue. But you don't seem to change when you stuff all of your feelings with drugs.

Rafal: Other boys you may have dated serrated your heart with a slice.

Rhian: But the cut of your love never hurts baby, it's a sweet butter knife.

I feel like he'd say that. It's such a mood.

At long last I've done another Rafal drawing. Just a sketch this time, along with Rafal's characteristic, staggering apathy.

that’s enough emotions for a whole year. ciao