Astral Artist

The Astral Artist, otherwise known as the Beholder (from "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"), is the true creator of everything, including other Unknown. They exist beyond their masterpieces, personifying the very idea of artistic expression. and are the source from which all inspiration flows. The Astral Artist is an avatar of the creative collective.

Their existence is, however, a two-way street. The Astral Artist may have created everything, but everything also created them... and continues to create them, so that they may continue to create everything. A box cannot be a box unless something can define it as one; much the same, there can be no "Beholder" without the idea of one. In other words, so long as there is an idea (and thus the idea of an idea), so too is there the Beholder. 

The Astral Artist is better viewed as the Unknown of Unknowns; even to the incomprehensible Ouroboros, they are an entity and concept scarcely understood. Only two Unknowns (Ouroboros and the Trickster) are truly "aware" of the Astral Artist. Ouroboros and the Beholder play a strong role in sustaining one another; the Sourcestar is, in essence, a self-aware self-insert. The Trickster, on the other hand, is better viewed as their first masterpiece and once-imaginary friend. The missing eye of the Beholder belongs to Ouroboros, and their voice belongs to the Trickster.

The Beholder utilizes parts of their body to create their art, such as wielding their braided hair as a paintbrush or using strands of their hair for paintbrush bristles. The paints they work with are made of their own blood, which is primarly siphoned from what flows from their unhealing, absent eye.

The Beholder "oversees" the Astral Artist Atelier, a shop dedicated to Items used by Official (Moon) and Guest (Moonlet) Artists for the species. (Think of it as visiting their studio!)

Artwork by lycoris