Fotia

Tags in use

Fanart: #fanart

Other fanworks : #fanwork

Digital art: #digital art

Face/body painting: #fp design

Crochet projects: #crochet

The Colors in Code (including art): #The Colors in Code

The Colors in Code (only world building and lore): #Colors lore

The Colors in Code

I decided to post my world building ideas occasionally. If you are interested and don't want to scroll through, you can use these links to get you to a particular post.

Physical manifestation of player code

Jumpers - players with birth defect in era code

Vampires - unnatural hybrid players

There are a few different kinds of unnatural hybrids - vampires, vexes and werewolves are only the most common in the Overworld, but there are more of them across all 3 dimensions (well, there were some in the End before its fall).

Code rituals

Code rituals are quite common, though in the Overworld they were much more frequent in the past, before the Admin Council rose to power. Because of that, people don't really see code rituals as something strange or wrong. Some groups of players or hybrids even perform code rituals as cultural traditions - one of the most widely accepted code ritual is wedding.

However, code rituals that are not frowned upon never truly change the code, they only mark it. Some of them work more than others but generally, they work more as a suggestion. (You should not cheat on your spouse, but you can. Allay hybrids feel the boundary of the grounds they are bound to, but they are still able leave...)

Transformation code rituals

Transformation code rituals are different. They irreversibly alter the code. Some say they damage it, others claim they perfect it, and still others believe that the ritual kills the player in the process. To accomplish such a drastic change, these rituals utilize the player code in its most concentrated state - blood.

Blood, along with the heart, is full of player code and as such can be used as a power source for code manipulation.

The transformation rituals of unnatural hybrids use blood from the neck of the changing player. They typically involve slicing one's throat or tearing it open and letting the blood flow. This is often not done willingly.

This violent process often leads to long-term problems. Many unnatural hybrids end up code-deficient and need to periodically replenish the lack of code in their blood from other sources - usually blood or meat of other creatures, not necessarily players. This gave them very unfortunate reputation. Even if an unnatural hybrid does not equal hostile, they are still shunned and forced to live out of the main society. In that sense, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. Why should they care about a society that rejects them? And if others already fear and hunt them, why wouldn’t they in turn go for their blood and flesh?

Differences

Other than that, each transformation ritual has its own unique features. Every type of unnatural hybrid ritual has historical ties to a less invasive code ritual. For example, the vexes’ transformation closely resembles the ritual of allay hybrids, in which children are bound to the land.

He could see the similarities between the rituals detailed in the journal that only marked the code and the rituals from the books and his own experience that truly changed it. The allay bound themselves to the land with flowers around their ankles. The vex were made by slicing their ankles and throat and binding them with wool. The shapeshifters shifted under the moon to stabilize themselves. The werewolves had their neck torn in the light of the full moon. The creaking bound their lifetimes to the trees by their wrists. The vampires… the vampires turned their fledglings by holding their wrists and drinking blood from their neck. From chapter 11 of Neither Here nor Then

These transformation rituals are the only known rituals that actually change the code. All of them involve blood and the identity code. Other rituals tend to avoid the identity code entirely - and certainly do not involve blood. That is why they can only mark the code rather than alter it.

Implications

This begs a question - if blood can cause such an effective identity transformation, could this principle be applied in other ways? Could blood enhance other rituals and would you want that?

For example, what would happen if you drenched a couple in blood during their wedding ceremony? Could you bind them together so tightly that, even when apart, they would share their lives - till death do us part, literally?

And what if, instead of the neck, you slashed your wrist and bound it to someone else’s? The wrist contains the time code. What would happen if both time codes were unstable or broken - let's say, a vampire with a frozen age code and a jumper with an unstable era code?

What would happen then?

Read more:

The Colors in Code - series on AO3

Physical manifestation of player code

Jumpers - players with birth defect in era code

This is not my design I found an image on Pinterest a while back and today I made it myself on my tablet, printed it out, laminated and cut it out. I also made a little dangle by crocheting chain with dark blue yarn and some beads I had, because they were just the perfect color.

Next time, I need to keep in mind that the colors don't print exactly the same, but I still think it came out great.

This is the original picture, unfortunately I could not find the original poster. It seems this picture is used all over on everything ever with no sign of the author.

I used 100 % cotton yarn with a 3.5 mm hook. I'll be using US terminology.

ch - chain

st - slip stitch

sc - single crochet

hdc - half double crochet

dc - double crochet

tc - triple crochet

Poncho

Pattern for the base poncho, can be found on this link. It's a great and easy pattern, however I used a smaller hook size and thinner yarn - so I had to change it a bit.

I found that I need more stitches than the biggest size for my head to fit properly. The only modification is with stitch counts on first and second rounds.

I made the first round 110 stitches. But you can make it as long as needed, just make sure you have an even amount of stitches.

For a second round, you need to divide the stitches in two - for me it was 55 stitches for each half (54 for double crochet plus 1 to fit additional stitches). Because you don't want your seam (end of the rounds) to fall next to the increase (the little loops in the front and back) you will start in the middle of the first. I personally started with 20 double crochet, in the next stitch you do 2 double crochet, chain two, and another 2 double crochet. After that you make 54 double crochet, then in the next stitch you do 2 double crochet, chain two, and another 2 double crochet. And at the end you should be left with 34 double crochet to finish the round. This way the seam is just off the shoulder.

As for the hood I just guessed the right length (I recommend making the rows longer rather than shorter).

Modified 1st and 2nd rounds in notation:

110 dc

20 dc, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next, 54 dc, (2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in next, 34 dc [116 stitches, without the chains]

Sunflowers

I started with a sunflower from this link. It is amazing and I did not change it one bit. So for this particular one, use the provided pattern. For reference, this sunflower ended up with a diameter of 11 centimeters with the yarn I used.

Now for the smaller/larger sunflowers - those I made myself (please take into an account I'm a beginner and these patterns were made only for me, so they may be a bit hard to read, sorry). It's pretty much the same process as the linked pattern with different stitch counts and slightly different stitches.

Leave a long end for sewing after you are done with each flower. I sew them with the brown yarn around the center and with the yellow one all around the petals and they seem to hold well enough.

I will list them from smallest to largest with approximate diameter measurements.

~4 cm (5 petals)

Center

14 hdc + 1 st [15]

Petals

5× (2 sc, ch2, 2 sc, skip 1) at the end of round st

5× [in chain 2 space (1 hdc, 1 dc, ch 2, st in first chain, 1 dc, 1 hdc), st]

~6 cm (6 petals)

Center

17 dc + 1 st [18]

Petals

6× (hdc, ch 3, hdc, skip 1) at the end of round st

6× [in chain 3 space (3 dc, ch 2, sc in first chain, 3 dc), st]

~9 cm (8 petals)

Center

17 dc + st [18]

6× (2sc, sc) [24]

Petals

8× (2 dc, ch 4, 2 dc, skip 1) at the end of round st

8× [in chain 4 space (4 dc, ch 2, sc in first chain, 4 dc), sc]

~13 cm (9 petals)

Center

14 dc + 1 st [15]

13× (2 dc), dc + st [30]

15× (dc, 2 dc) [45]

Petals

9× (3 tc, ch 5, 3 tc, skip 3)

9× [in chain 5 space (4 dc, 1 tc, ch 3, hdc in the first chain, 1 tc, 4 dc) sc]

This is the first piece of clothing I ever crocheted and I am quite proud of it. I had to modify a pattern and even managed to make my own pattern for most of the sunflowers (I started with a pattern for sunflower coasters to see how one would make a flat sunflower and then made smaller and bigger ones). I would say this is pretty beginner friendly project (as I would call myself a beginner).

I ended up working on Grian's wings for hours (I loved it, but it was truly a ridiculous amount of time). Do not worry I spent an unholy amount of time on Mumbo too - I redrew him entirely because I did not like his hands and he was not exactly in the right proportion to Grian (this was also after I colored him fully, so that was done again too).

Anyway, this is practically finished but I still didn't get to truly play with lightning so that may be something I come back to in the future, but for now it is good enough.

This is sort of a cover art for my last fanfic on AO3 Neither Here nor Then that is only a chapter and an epilogue from being finished.

Old lineart is in this post. New lineart below.

Not anything particularly fancy or anything, but I'm blown away by how much better than my phone or computer it is. So naturally I spent the day drawing this. The colored version will be sometime in the future.

I am really proud of this sketch, they actually look like people and the clothes are not horrible. Mumbo's outfit came together really quickly but figuring Grian's clothes was a bit of a challenge. In the end a settled on cargo pants and a mishmash of different backless tops.

The whole idea was first thought out as a cover/illustration for the fanfiction I am currently writing (Neither Here nor Then) and it spiraled from there.

Like all unnatural hybrids, vampires endure a violent transformation that targets mainly the neck and wrists. They still resemble their original species, but key traits shift: eyes turn red, skin grows cold and heart falls silent.

The process is extremely painful and often fatal. It must occur at night and the initiating vampire has to feed from the changeling’s neck while restraining the changeling’s wrists.

Immediately afterward the changeling needs player blood to survive. With their heart stopped they can no longer produce their own code and must absorb it from code‑rich blood.

Accidental turnings are rare. Without a care of others, changeling rarely survives more than a few years.

“It’s already starving, no need for us to interfere. It’s not going to live much longer. The poor little thing was an obvious mistake. Even its sire did not keep it – let the universe take care of it.” From chapter 1 of Neither Here nor Then

Sunlight becomes lethal and their senses sharpen.

Vampire society

Feared like all unnatural hybrids, vampires live on the outside of normal society. They form groups that expand by adding new changelings, who usually remain with the group that created them.

Transformation of new changeling is an important ritual.

The group selects a target changeling plus several other players to serve as the first blood supply (often close friends or relatives of the changeling - their deaths symbolize the end of the changeling’s previous life).

The chosen vampire (often the eldest) stands behind the changeling, grips their wrists, and bites the neck.

Other vampires restrain the “food” players, ready to provide blood once the change completes.

After feeding, the changeling’s first fangs are removed so proper fangs can grow in. These changeling fangs are valued as status symbols and belong to the vampire responsible for the change.

Vampires from an outsider's perspective

Natural hybrids and human players fear vampires. When someone is turned, they are declared dead. Funeral is often held to warn the newly‑turned that they are no longer welcome.

It took no time at all for him to be chased out by those from whom he sought comfort. He should have known – after all, their son was dead. He became something unnatural – a being whose very code had been rewritten, changed – an imposter occupying the body of their son. He was different – eyes red, skin cold, heart silent – he felt the same. Now, utterly alone, he left. Left the life behind and embraced the night. He mourned his death and accepted his new life with the still, heavy heart. From Night's Hold

Known vampires with a role in the story

Mumbo

Read more:

The Colors in Code - series on AO3

Physical manifestation of player code

Jumpers - players with birth defect in era code