There is a place that exists beyond this world, somewhere in those wonderful moments between dreams and reality, lying between fantasy and waking life - a kind of peace, where all else beyond its embrace ceases to be, existence and sensation and tears falling away, dwindling, fading into nothing. All the celestial bodies of the heavens march there, vigilant and patient and waiting for eyes that see beyond sight - while there may be darkness, there always Light will be, and so I am not afraid...

For all the times I ever called Luke a weenie. <3

20. Adobe PhotoShop 7.0. ~2 hours.

EDIT: This was a completely random image - the relative simplicity of it reflects the lack of thought behind it. To be completely correct, in part it was me rebelling against university for reasons I won't get into... but really, I guess you could say it's about Luke - while there may be little thought behind this, there is a helluva lot of feeling behind it, although I'm not quite sure how much of it anyone will understand. I've been having a difficult time at university (and at home) the past little while, especially since this weekend, and Luke does an unbelievably good job at keeping me alive and functional, to the point where I feel like I almost owe him something. So, in retrospective, I think this is the result. He'd probably say it was unnecessary, but, well, that's just too bad!

Imagery is inspired by a few things... I've been wanting to do a little conceptual more conceptual art, and while this isn't what I mean, it does depict what an archer of Amiiroh might look like. However, it was more inspired by feelings that conceptual plans - the smouldering gold sky to me represents the almond sky of Rohma, the fallen capital that was once green and beautiful, where battle came and went and returned once more, and yet it still holds about it a sense of wonderment and awe, for things still beautiful lay beneath the dust and ruin, waiting to be rediscovered and given life again. The stars - the stars! - are a recurring theme, and the piece of symbolism from the Tripartitus that touches me the deepest: they are companions to the lonely, beacons for the lost, hope for all things seeming hopeless. They are finally finding one's place in the universe, and being at peace with what comes with it, good or bad. They are overcoming the tears and pain and horrors, so that life and love may endure - there is a reason Luke is called Lodestar. Even his name means "bringer of light" - he does it well.

Story and characters © Jen Philpot (The Tripartitus)