#✧ ˚· ( rafiel ).

[serennes-art]

my piece for @ikesorenzine volume 1! ike and soren visiting some friends in the grann desert

[saffie-eve]

Massive pile of Fire emblem art: Tellius Edition!

[gloamvonhrym]

doodling rafiel hanging out with flightless birds

[aptericia]

Rafiel for the FE artscuffle! I attacked @barbieburnanator! 💕

[selenadem]

Day 6 of FE Siblings Week

“Return” ! Reyson and Leanne are happy to see Rafiel again!

[endsofthearth]

[arkus-rhapsode]

Gonna give some love to one of my favorite Radiant Dawn minor antagonists, Hetzel. And what he represents overall in Radiant Dawn.

Now when Hetzel shows up in PoR and Radiant Dawn he seems like an unassuming old man. Practically harmless compared to the other obviously evil senators. But the thing is, Hetzel is a great sign of somebody who is aware actions are wrong, but he never uses any of his own power to stop or take a stance.

He knows the Serenes Massacre plan is bad, but he doesn't really make any attempts to stop it. Because the truth is he's more ambivalent to the plight of the Herons. He bails out slaver and fellow Senator, Oliver, despite a whole point of Sanaki's campaign was to find the people still partaking in the slave trade and stamping them out. And while he makes no aggressive actions against Sanaki, he still is a part of the anti Apostle group of Senators. Yet despite all that he still frees Rafiel.

This is because Hetzel is probably one of the most mature criticism Fire Emblem has had of someone in power: Hetzel is ultimately a man who likes having power and maintaining the status quo. Unlike Lekain and other who their current position isn't just enough and need to keep aggressively expanding, Hetzel rather takes a position of doing what is best to main the power he has. Despite the fact he is aware that slavery and massacring is bad. He will still benefit if Lekain wins, but will never use any of his power to implement any significant changes. At best all he does is gestures of good faith.

Theocracy in Fire Emblem is honestly kinda shallow and very much a simplified version of it. That there is a religion that has some form of political power. And that one in charge is probably some person who pushes down on others because god tells them to. But Tellius seems to understand a theocracy isn't just about the dogma of a faith being implemented by the state and there for the only true religion and those with conflicting ideas must die, but rather those who benefit the most are the ones in the highest positions of the theocratic organization. Something that can be achieved less through actually believing but actually knowing how to rise in rank in a religious institution. All of the senators are Dukes, holding massive lands and they are the senior most members of their faith. While we know that warriors of the faith like Zelgius and others hold titles like Earl for their place in the military fighting for their faith. The theocracy of Begnion is one that isn't just about "because the Goddess" its a group of men who have grown rich and consolidated much of their riches and political position and now someone like Sanaki is going to upset this balance after they worked to avoid this happening with Apostle Misha. Delegitimizing Sanaki by revealing she's not the true Apostle would then pass over the power of the empire to Lekain and his cronies. And Hetzel was along for this ride for a long time.

And when finally confronted by Rafiel in the end, Hetzel only begs for forgiveness. He knows what he has done is wrong but pleas that he was kind to Rafiel so that means he's not all that bad. But Rafiel has nothing left to say. Hetzel did have a choice given where he was in the senate. And in the end he ultimately choose to go with Lekain's flow. And when Ike confronts Hetzel, all Hetzel refuses to surrender. He'll be disgraced. Even at the end knowing after everything and having one last chance to get out, he doesn't take it because his status is more important to him than doing the right thing.

Hetzel is a wonderfully pathetic villain and a genuinely good examination of those in power who passively allow bad acts even when they have a level of awareness. While there are a lot of people who like to dismiss many FE villains (and lets be fair) that aren't always that strong or that complex. But I always want to at least give praise to instances like Hetzel that make memorable antagonists.

[a-day-in-the-life-feh]

Installment 068: Desert mix-up featuring Nailah, Rafiel, Hilda, Summoner, Raphael

Artist: Katsura Ichiho

Released: February 24 2021

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

I like to think that when rafiel is in his bird form he hops around instead of walking

.

[snowwydaydreamr]

Completed Commission for a dear friend Basil! Including Character emotes from Fire emblem! This was a really big commission and I'm really glad for the work! Thank you again Basil for commissioning me for these!

[ Please do not Reuse or Repost ]

[aloneditee]

Lament of Lehran (Jan, 2023)

[pepoboyz]

rafiel

[id: a digital portrait of a young man with dark skin and long, curly platinum hair. he has brown eyes and a gold lip ring, as well as a bit of facial hair on his chin. his cheeks have dimples, and he wears a white collared shirt. birds fly in the abstract background behind him, and a gold circle frames him. end id.]

[sereneshymn]

And I Thought, I'm Alive

The first thing in front of his eyes when he comes to is an ornate stone ceiling, though his vision is far too blurry and unfocused to make out any details, nor does he try to. His body, still beholden to the law of nature in spite of his feelings, continues to take the weak, shallow breaths in its very last attempt to keep on living, and through that small movement, he can feel the fine silks surrounding him for comfort.

His exhausted eyes do not recognize the room. This is not Lord Hetzel’s mansion. Maybe he was caught by another Senator.

It doesn’t matter.

With the next breath he takes, his arm moves slightly, and at the edge of his mind, he registers the grains of sand in his sleeve. Sand. Why sand. Where sand…

Where was he. Where is he.

It doesn’t matter.

He is alive. Why is he alive. He should not be alive. He does not want to be a—

Behind the door, two voices reach him, quiet and muffled. One belongs to a woman, one to a man. Bits and pieces reach his exhausted mind through the fog in a disorderly manner.

“— — changes?”

“No, — doesn’t — react — — all.”

“— try. I’m not — — give up —”

The door then creaks quietly open. Steps – someone walks in. He doesn’t move. It doesn’t matter.

Within his blurry vision appears a woman’s head, surrounded by locks of lilac hair and adorned with pointy ears. One eye is covered by an eyepatch; the other looks at him softly and gently, trying to find him and connect with him.

His blank eyes stare through her, empty, unfocused, half-closed – as though he is not here at all.

“— — hear me?”

She raises her hand, and soon he feels her fingers stroking gently his hair and the side of his head. The feeling is pleasant. Even in its shattered state, his mind can register the genuine concern and care behind the gesture. It continues to reject them all, however.

She speaks again. “Can you hear me?”

He can, but he doesn’t answer. (It doesn’t matter.)

He feels her other hand moving to hold his own feeble fingers. Through that gesture, he feels how warm she is – or rather, perhaps, how cold he has become. Her hand is strong, reliable, stabilizing. Trying to offer him something to hold on to, to save himself from falling into the void.

He doesn’t want to.

She speaks to him again, to no avail. However, after a moment of troubled silence, she seems to get a new idea.

Perhaps he simply didn’t understand. Or perhaps her words cannot reach him for some other reason.

So, she switches languages.

The moment she speaks again in the melodious language of the ancients, a tremble passes through him. The sound of home, the sound of family, the sound of the forest – it rings in his ears. It reverberates all the way through his body, down to the very depths of his shattered heart, filling every corner of his broken mind with warmth.

It shakes the next breath he takes, turning it into a gasp for air – his body’s first weak, desperate attempt to connect.

(Does it matter?)

Eventually, two tears slowly roll down the sides of his head. Her fingers gently wipe them away, and finally, after she softly rubs his eyelids, his eyes flutter open again – and this time, he sees her.

────── ❀•°❀°•❀ ──────

Slowly, bit by bit, the world around him begins to take shape again.

He eventually understands that he somehow crossed the Desert of Death and found himself in the kingdom of Hatari, home to wolf laguz, and that his savior’s name is Nailah and she is their queen.

It takes a few more days before, through a labored whisper, he manages to also give her his name.

He learns that in this place, laguz, beorc and parentless live together in harmony. He doesn’t want to believe it at first, but later he remembers that multiple times, his food and water have been brought to him by beorc – and not once has he overheard them discussing his market price.

Queen Nailah quickly figures out his dietary needs. Assorted fruit, mashed into a pudding for easy swallowing, slowly but surely restores his fragile body’s strength with each passing day. She personally gives him water, as well; an assistant carefully holds up his head, while she brings the cup to his lips.

Days go by calmly, surrounded by light and the idle chatter of the castle life. Nights are still difficult, however. Sometimes he has to be woken up, because he cries in his sleep. Other times, he won’t stop screaming.

One night, he cannot calm down, no matter how hard he tries, no matter what they say and do to try and comfort him. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees devastation. His mind warps the voices of those around him into the pleas and agony of his kin.

Eventually, they send for Queen Nailah, and after some time, she finally manages to wake him.

What do you see in your dreams, she asks. He looks down at her hands, holding his, ready and willing to support him and the burden he carries. Still, he hesitates, the words struggling to pass through his throat. He takes a deep breath. A long while of silence passes before he can bring himself to acknowledge what exactly it is that he left behind – that he had originally thought would claim him, just as it did everything and everyone he loved.

Finally, two tears roll down his face as he whispers:

Fire. And death.

And then he breaks down.

────── ❀•°❀°•❀ ──────

Days continue to pass, and his strength continues to return. It seems as though the day he told his tale and washed his soul and memory with tears was a day of awakening.

Slowly, day by day, he grows to understand that he’s going to survive. And with that, for the first time since his arrival in this new world – he has long lost track of exactly how much time has passed, he can only guess it should be counted in weeks – the thought of getting out of bed crosses his mind.

Through the last remnants of the fog in his mind, he still remembers the time he had no intention, no will to carry on. And still, he cannot help but wonder: what is a worse affront to the departed? To keep going instead of joining them? Or to waste the new life with which he had been blessed?

He inhales, and then he raises his head. He digs up his arms from under the silks and slowly, as though it is an excruciating effort, he supports his upper body – first on his elbows, then his hands. He can feel the weight of his wings – weak, useless, dragging him down.

Still, he manages to sit up. Then, he moves his legs. Slowly, he pushes them through the bedsheets, until finally, for the first time in forever, his feet touch the ground.

He gasps, and two tears fall on his lap. Slowly, stiffly, he wipes them with his sleeve. I'm sorry, everyone. But I'm staying.

After a while, he manages to call for an assistant. A Wolf laguz soon arrives, lending him his strength to help him walk. It’s difficult, but he perseveres, stubbornly taking one step after the next.

It is tremendous, exhausting effort, to live again after waiting for death for so long.

As soon as they’re outside, he needs to rest. The Wolf carefully sets him down on the grass, and he takes slow, deep breaths, taking in the sun and the fresh air. He has almost forgotten how they felt.

In the broad daylight, he looks horrendously pale. Even though it’s warm, his body trembles – another assistant comes with a blanket, covering his arms and back. His wings are spread carelessly on the ground, a few feathers having already fallen off as he moved.

But on his face, there is a faint shade of a smile, and through the labored breaths, he raises his tear-filled eyes to the sky, understanding, and at long last, accepting:

he’s alive.

[gloamvonhrym]

Old joke alert

[aptericia]

some Herons that were supposed to be for FE Siblings Week but I never finished them 😢 I might get some motivation to continue if I post them, so here they are

[shiftingcuriosity]

a part of a page thats full of doodles of tellius peeps.