Song

_{Waking me up to dreaming
Reality in your eyes}

---------------------- FIRST TIME ----------------------

<sub>First, this image is meant to be viewed while listening to the song linked above, as it pertains very much to it symbolically. Secondly, I do apologize if this actually literally burned anyone’s face off. As you all know, I am a fan of high contrast, and sometimes that includes death to your eyes in the process.

On another note before I begin my long ramblings on the significance and meaning of this image, I would like to point out I made this for Avant-Garde’s Weekly Prompt for the theme Song.

Now. My persona, Orcane (in a human-esque form), is being depicted in this image with my character Lyricals, one of my deepest and most profound characters of all. Both of these characters (Orcane and Lyri) hold a large significance to me personally and symbolically, as well as have extremely important roles in the Realm of Dreams novel series I am writing.

If you listened to the song, you’ll probably understand that their relationship is indeed of the romantic sort. While that probably sounds cliché, I do have a very—as I said—personal meaning behind this relationship. Let’s just face it: my family is very dysfunctional, as many of you probably know. The relationship between my father and his ex-wife are basically non-existent. Because of this, growing up during the divorce and events that occurred, I have a very different view of marriage and love relationships in general due to everything the divorce has put me through.

To be honest, marriage frightens me. I am afraid that, if I ever do fall in love, my fears of divorce will hinder me. I would never want to go through that a second time, and I would not want my children to have to go through what I did. The divorce rate is ridiculous—there are so many people out there that have gone through this. I don’t want to add another name to the list. It’s just something I avoid and rather dread.

However, I understand what a marriage is supposed to be, even though my parents never really gave me a good example of it. A marriage isn’t just... lovesick, dumbstruck, giddy amounts of glee and just pure joy. Yes, there is joy there—a feeling of completion, because you are two halves that make up a whole, because you level out each others weaknesses and combine your strengths—but believe you me, love is not just the good times. It’s about the bad ones as well. It’s about forgiving the other even when you don’t want to; it’s about being patient, kind, understanding, reconciling. It’s about getting back on your feet when you’ve fallen, apologizing when you’ve wronged. These same concepts can be applied to any relationship, just like a friendship.

If you dump someone just because they’ve wronged you... then how can you ever expect to have a lasting relationship? People are human. People will make mistakes. People will fall down, say rude things, hurt your feelings, mess up. This is why divorce is so high. People fail to see that it’s not just living in a happy dreamworld. It’s a lot of effort on both sides to be understanding towards one another.

Having said all this, you may wonder, if I am open to the idea of marriage, even though my parents’ divorce has rather made me shy away from it? I am indeed. If I can find someone that truly understands the concepts of love and marriage and forgiving, then why not? It’s hard to find, yes, but there are people out there that understand. Besides, if I close the door, I’m protected from pain – but for what, at the sacrifice of any love or happiness in return? No. No thank you.

Orcane and Lyricals (yes, yes, a spoiler for you if you have read this far) do indeed end up getting married eventually. (And mind you, when I was still in pondering whether or not they should, I had a dream regarding the subject. I got an official answer of yes in my dreams so it went from there and developed further.) They are an example of what I’ve just mentioned, of true love. (Oh and if you’re reading this far and still wondering what this has to do with the song theme, hold on, I will get around to my point in due time.) They understand it’s not just the joy, but the hard times too, that we have to pull through and stay true.

Now, onto the reason why this relates to the theme. In my world (the Se-Nathiir Kaba) and its own little symbolisms, special interpretations, significances, et cetera, songs are always a metaphor or depiction or what you will of the idea of Creation. The Lyricals (where Lyri gets his name from) was created by the Songmasters, by the magic of the song. Songs are an important part of the mythology and ideas of the world.

That is why when I saw the Weekly Prompt, I immediately thought of this idea. How better to depict such a theme of creation, than with my two deepest characters of all? Orcane and Lyricals, in their true love, in true marriage, are creating something beautiful and totally new, yet the same. Two halves have become a whole. It is the creation of life itself. (Although yes, another spoiler, Reicha!)

Among the same idea of the mythology / legends / symbolism inside the world of my storylines, Lyricals’ own name relates to the word song, obviously. His name comes from the location in the Se-Nathiir Kaba called The Lyricals, a place of continuous music and singing. The Lyricals is the entrance to Itosii, like a door that opens up into a whole new room. Creation. Life.

Keys and locks, which play a rather major role in both Lyricals’ actual storyline and the symbolism in my world, also mean creation. Like the metaphor I just used, it is like opening up a new door, to a whole new room you’ve never seen or explored before.

So overall, I think the ideas this deviation was meant to portray very much fit the theme of song. This image also has loads of significance to me, personally. And for that very reason is why this is such a long description in the first place, because it deserved to be said.

Thank you very much for reading and have a most wonderful day!

(Oh by the way, I meant to mention in here that as regards to the picture, they are dancing. I was experimenting heavily with this image and figured out some new tricks in my art program while doing so, so this image was a good learning experience for me as well as highly relaxing / enjoyable. Also, more humanoid art for you! And it’s mixed with amounts of abstract as you can tell with the flowing dress / swirls and faceless features. The thing entwined around their arms symbolizes that they are now a part of each other. And on another note for this image I also thought the title Animated would be good, as this is supposed to be a lively picture. However, I wanted to stick with the theme and so decided against using my alternate title idea. This image was bigger but I resized it down for viewing.)</sub>

_{The characters, names (Orcane, Lyricals), designs, ideas, storylines, image, and all other related content is copyright © ~raxgond 2010. This may not be used, replicated, ripped-off, redistributed, copied, stolen, or any other destructive action without the explicit written and public announcement of the right-to-use by the owner ( ~raxgond ).}