It's hard to put the words to the effect that Tess made to my life.
Tess was a wonderful, bright spark that I met near the end of 2022 because I saw her art on twitter and was immediately in love with her style.
A fellow purple peacock Tiefling haver, we instantly bonded and she was immediately making art of Hijinks and Arahael together in
.. situations, and in return I wrote how the pair got into said situations as a thank you for the wonderful art.
And then she joined in with the writing, she said she hadn't in years but could have fooled me. She was a great writer at the start and at the end, despite everything she was going through, she'd only gotten better.
Everything she made was filled with so much love and care and no matter what she persevered through it.
Art was truly her passion and often cancer tried to take that from her, and sure there were days where she couldn't but she still managed to draw some of the most incredible pieces of art I've ever seen.
The day she got her cancer diagnosis, three months into our friendship, I bailed out of eye surgery and missed the announcement she had made on twitter.
I had been talking to her about me chickening out, how awful I felt for wasting the doctors time but how scared I'd been when they put a clamp on my eyelid..
All the while she was dealing with the news that she had an incurable illness that would likely take her sooner rather than later.
But even after finding out and being so apologetic about not seeing her news, she refused to let me feel bad (I still do, don't get me wrong) about talking about the experience and we kept talking about it until I felt better.
And she'd continue to be like this through her treatment, listening to others rather then taking the floor herself. You'd think she was dealing with a slight annoyance then a terminal disease.
But that was Tess, incredibly selfless, brave and just.. wonderful.
It's still hard to believe she's gone.
I try and remember the good times when I see sunflowers, or it's her pushing me to continue to be creative in this trying time.
There's an absence left by her passing felt by all who knew her, but we all continue her legacy through her whether it's art of hot Tieflings and hideous monsters, or when we comfort each other.
I'm not a believer in the afterlife but it does make things easier, to believe she's pain free and able to draw to her heart's content and listen to Ghost or Kaarija and will be able to watch the One pieces finale..
