[Coldsaturn]

Ok now that you watched Ebb and Flow, a few notes:

- We've known about Ebb Day since the very start of the story. When MC goes to the gallery for the first time, she stops in front of a painting and Raf AI tells her about it. Except he leaves out all the details that would make it relevant info for Lemurians or people who know them.

- Continuing on the trend of Raf telling the truth as if he's joking so nobody will believe him, there's this dialogue: 
"So do you have a tail?" (which we know it's true because we saw it, but MC had fainted by that point)
"Yep. Whenever I cry, my tears turn into pearls. I can kill anyone with just a song. And those scales you touched are the sharpest weapons in the world"
"So you're just mocking me now?" 
"You could tell? I guess you're not as gullible as you seem"

We've seen his tail. And in his official trailer (the one you saw with the lyrics to the Lemurian song) he shows a somber look and there are several pearls on the table. We can infer the rest without needing actual cards to see it.

- The iconic "I could kidnap you right now if I want. You can cry pearls, make sharp weapons, and create amazing art. Why should I let you run away? I'll lock you up in a cage, and whip you every day. I'll force you to finish your paintings. You also have to address me as "Master" if you want to eat..."
Which is an insane dialogue (put a pin on it!) and really shows the constant sassy banter they have with each other (literally at the start of this Bond moment we have Raf's "It's round like you" which always cracks me up), and MC talks to him like she's expecting the usual sass in return, except Raf is extremely serious when he says "You really want that?" "...What?" "Master."

- He's still playing around how much info he's feeding her, and sometimes even looks like he's battling himself between pushing her away or pulling her closer. He didn't need to go into details, but he chooses to frame his condition around the real matter of life and death, rather than masking it again as something trivial. "Even the most feeble human can kill us once they know of this." "If you want to push me away...kill me even...I can't stop you"
He also almost taunts her by trying to make her admit that she's scared of him now that she knows who he is, and doubles down with "There's still time to care for someone else" (the subtitle says "You still have time...") like he's showing her the door. This is the moment she can still walk away and he would go back to fighting their growing closeness rather than dangling with a foot already over the edge. Or better yet, he's already fallen, this would be the moment MC can step back so he doesn't drag her down with him.

He follows that by talking about fairy tales characters, and it would almost sound like an abrupt change in topic if it weren't contextualized by what comes before and what comes after. This is dangerous -> you should choose someone else -> fairy tale characters don't always end in a happy ever after (I have a tragic end) -> maybe the mermaid set a trap to kill the sailor (I might kill you)

It's all from the perspective of him being someone MC needs to stay away from for the sake of her safety, but then when he tells her that the look in her eyes tells him she's regretting staying there, he sounds half-disappointed, half-sad, half-over it like he already expected it. And MC finally recovers from the roller coaster started with her failed attempt at banter, and manages to see the underlying fear behind his words, no matter how prickly they are. She has two options, and the one in the video I linked is the one I like the least: it sounds like we're going back to sassy banter despite this being an obvious touchy subject for him, but it's also an attempt at stepping up from the low expectations he's put on her. If he's dangerous, she is just as much. If he can hurt her, she can hurt him, too. Between the two of them, who's predator and who's prey isn't so cut and dry.
The second option is a bit sweeter, and goes something like "No. If you actually wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have waited until now"

The important part is still the end, where she goes "I'm not sure why you said those things but...I will never hurt you."
"Promise?" (HIS VOICE HERE)
"Promise."
And he concedes, but only just. Only until the sun rises. Which would still be allowing her to be with him when he's very vulnerable, but it's also on a countdown like he can't yet bear to risk anything more than that.

- For someone who says MC could kill him and do whatever she wants with him because he's so weak, he sure is gripping her hard enough that she can't break free.

- Testing boundaries, trust test, calling each other's bluff. What a moment.

- Not in the Bond, but relevant to Rafayel's character and the relationship with him: flame lilies (his flower) are extremely toxic, even just to the touch.

[ChicletPrime]

After watching Ebb & Flow, I am pretty convinced that the section about kidnapping and whipping probably actually happened. Its way, WAY too specific even the the main character is technically just pulling it out of her ass. If it didn't happen to Rafayel, it probably happened to somebody he knows - maybe the mermaid that Raymond pulled out of the water.

Even though its her saying it, it just rings too much like a real thing, you know? Maybe she's channeling another life - and that Rafayel immediately offered to 'play along' with his whispered 'Master'(?). Yeah, that's something all right. The further conversation about how he could be killed, how weak he is, that there's nothing he can do all kind of plays with that.

I mean, I'm not saying that the main character really was a terrible person in another life, but honestly, it comes across that way to me. Rafayel's responses are too... I want to say deprecating because I suddenly can't find the word I want. Too weary, maybe, that undercurrent of ".. it's been done (you've done it) before."

Maybe he did set a trap for a sailor. Maybe he was the one caught and put in a cage and forced to sing for his life.

I assume there's a card (likely a Myth?) that gives more insight into the actual fall of Lemuria.

Harkening back to a different story/Anecdote, that mermaids can choose to die and that when they do, they revert to foam is a lovely touch. The first version of "The Little Mermaid" I ever read as a child, she loses the prince, changes to foam and her sisters cry in the sea and cause unending storms to batter the land in grief. It's stuck with me ever since.

[Coldsaturn]

So there's this things with them where they constantly echo other timelines. Raf remembers their past, doesn't know their future (even though we do if we follow a certain chronology of his myths), MC jonsnows nothing, but there's always this looping echo of memories and future events with them. So MC saying something so incredibly on point could very well be accidental on her part, even though Raf definitely knows how heavy her words are. Sort of like "that embarrassing moment when you go for kinky flirt and instead make a slavery joke to an oppressed minority"

With the way Raf is fighting against every instinct to trust her, yeah, it feels like at a certain point she did something she wasn't supposed to do.
Weary and exhausted is a good way of describing Raf.

Fall of Lemuria: Forgotten Sea myth. It's in the playlist you'll be hit with.

I've also always loved how they're referencing the original fairy tale. The connection will get even more explicit with his 4card Fragrant Dream (which, you can already guess, you'll get in the playlist after Forgotten Sea)