Regalti - Color Perception and meaning
The Regalti as a species have the ability to see into the UV spectrum of light, having evolved it millions of years ago. Combined with the color changing abilities of their skin, and the variety of colors their feathers can come in, they have developed their own system of color associations and symbolism.
Reflecting UV: Actual color a Regalti sees when the body is reflecting UV light, making them light up. This is just a close enough analogue in visible light as the actual colors will appear much more vibrant to a Regalti.
UV neutral: Not absorbing or reflecting UV light. Actual skin color is on the gradient below the three columns. Some Emotions are tied to UV Neutral, but not always.
Absorbing UV: Actual color a Regalti sees when the body is absorbing UV light, making them appear darker. This is just a close enough analogue in visible light as the actual colors will appear much more vibrant to a Regalti.
Note: The colors seem to break and only display white in article previews and might just break on some browsers. I recommend reading the full article to see them.
(Description of the color and what it means to Regalti, not just by emotions, but by concepts as well.)
███ (Visible light)
███ (Visible light)
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Color Meanings
A note on Skin Color
Regardless of the natural tone of a Regalti's skin, changes in body temperature or being flush with emotion will cause nanocrystals under the skin to move apart, come closer together, or change shape entirely, which allows them to reflect longer and shorter wavelengths of light. They generally do not have control over this.
This also causes their skin to reflect or absorb UV light, which, to anyone who can see UV radiation, will make them appear brighter and even slightly violet, or darker and more grayed out. To anyone who can't see UV light, they won't be able to accurately read Regalti emotions unless they also look for facial expression and body posture.
Because of this, the below section will show what Regalti see what a particular color is also absorbing or reflecting UV light, with the actual color in the middle. It will also show below that what someone who can't see UV light sees what a Regalti of any given skin shade changes into this color.
How to read this Article
Color Name - Associations with this color
Reflecting UV: Actual color a Regalti sees when the body is reflecting UV light, making them light up. This is just a close enough analogue in visible light as the actual colors will appear much more vibrant to a Regalti.
UV neutral: Not absorbing or reflecting UV light. Actual skin color is on the gradient below the three columns. Some Emotions are tied to UV Neutral, but not always.
Absorbing UV: Actual color a Regalti sees when the body is absorbing UV light, making them appear darker. This is just a close enough analogue in visible light as the actual colors will appear much more vibrant to a Regalti.
Note: The colors seem to break and only display white in article previews and might just break on some browsers. I recommend reading the full article to see them.
Emotion (reflecting UV)
███ (Reflecting UV)
███ (Reflecting UV)
(UV neutral)
███ (Visible light)
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Emotion (Absorbing UV)
███ (Absorbing UV)
███ (Absorbing UV)
(When UV neutral, this is what Regalti actually see and is a representation of their skin tone in visible light. It is also what someone who can't see UV light sees)
(Description of the color and what it means to Regalti, not just by emotions, but by concepts as well.)
Colors and Meanings
Red - Fire, Royalty, Happiness, Rage, Strength, War, God
Happiness
███ (Reflecting UV)
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Annoyance
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Anger or Rage
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Red is a color of strong emotions and represents happiness and anger. It is also a great way to tell if a Regalti is uncomfortably hot or even overheating. Facial expression is still important in communication between Regalti, because a smiling red Regalti is likely not dying of heat exposure.
Red also represents the concepts of War, Fire, and Royalty. It is also the 'Color of God', because in Collena's atmosphere, the star Ventar appears as a deep red color. The star is a representation of the only god or chief god in many Regalti faiths on Collena. (On Sephar, the star looks more orange, making that the color of God)
Orange - Curiosity, Anticipation, impatience
impatience, Frustration
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Curiosity
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Anticipation
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(visible light only)
Orange is a color of 'warmer than neutral' emotions, being frustrated at something but not quite angry, Anticipating something, on the verge of anger or happiness depending on how it goes.
This color represents unpredictability and chaos because to Regalti, anticipation and frustration can just as easily turn the other direction into sadness, sorrow, fear, and other emotions.
Yellow - Neutral, Stability, Acceptance, Calm
Accepting
███ (Reflecting UV)
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True Neutral
███ (Visible light)
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Tolerating
███ (Absorbing UV)
███ (Absorbing UV)
(visible light only)
Yellow is considered the neutral color for the Regalti. It represents acceptance and tolerance.
It is the main color their skin naturally reflects, though underlying blood vessels and varying pigment levels actually make them appear rose, orange, light tan, or brown colored. And when reflecting or absorbing UV light, their skin appears to be relatively close to their natural skin color anyways, which is why Yellow's primary symbol and emotion is one of neutrality and calm, even though Regalti skin is normally incapable of showing as any true yellow color.
If a Regalti's skin is able to turn yellow, they are one of the rare Regalti able to do so, but if they live on the surface of a high gravity world, especially their home world, it is recommended they get themselves screened for Magnesiosarcoma, a cancer that is usually known as "Surface Sickness".
Collena orbits a yellow-white star that appears yellow in the planet's atmosphere. Early Regalti considered their Star to be the stable force that all of creation revolves around.
Green - Calm, Serenity, Apprehension, Balance
Serenity
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Apprehension
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Green is considered the calm color for Regalti, as there is no strong associated emotion with it. It is also the color that many higher latitude plants are, which for northern and souther cultures, it also means life. Is is the color of "cooler than neutral" emotions.
To some Regalti, Green appears more yellow than green, and some cultures don't distinguish the two at all, which is why both Yellow and Green represent Calm.
Cyan - Fear, Surprise, Water, Air, Confusion, Instability, Chaos
Fear
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Surprise
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Terror
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Cyan represents both Water and Air, or more accurately, the clouds in the air and the storms they create. Lower Latitude plants tend to be slightly more cyan than green, which, along with it representing water, is why Regalti associate this color with life. It represents instability, and like Orange, represents Chaos as well.
Emotionally, Cyan represents fear, terror, and surprise. Fear and Terror are very similar emotions, and are often considered the same thing. To the Regalti, they are not. To put it in a simple way, fear is what a Regalti feels after a jumpscare, or are being chased by something, or are afraid of something happening. Terror is what a Regalti feels after understanding something that shakes them to their core, that causes them to lose a bit of their sanity, the look in their eyes before they die.
Blue - Sadness, Depression, loneliness, Longing, Cold, Ice, the Oceans
Loneliness
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Sadness
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Blue is a cold color, a lonly color, a depressing color. It depresses Regalti even writing about it. A Regalti that is freezing to death will also be this color.
Near Violet - Sympathy, Love, admiration, compassion, friendship, Spirituality
love, admiration
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Compassion
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Sympathy
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Near violet is the color of comrades for Regalti. It is the color of friendship, compassion, love. Regalty associate it with spirituality, and often change into this color as they pray, feeling they are getting closer to their god.
When Regalti are in this state, and the far violet state, their blood vessels expand irregularly, creating pockets that reflect blue light, and pockets that reflect red light, making them appear violet. Normally, Regalti skin is incapable of making this color.
Far Violet - Passion, Excitement, Energy, Purity, Extravagance
Passion
███ (Reflecting UV)
███ (Reflecting UV)
███ (Visible light)
Ecstasy
███ (Absorbing UV)
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(visible light only)
Far violet is the color of passion, energy, and excitement. Blood vessels are even more irregular, and the expansion falls completely out of sync, sometimes creating bands of 'rainbow' skin between the dark purples. This is especially apparent during sexual activity. in the UV spectrum, a Regalti appears much more vibrant in this state than any other, reflecting and absorbing UV light at the maximum level their skin structure allows. In visible light, they appear darker than in any other state.
Other Colors
Regalti don't change into these colors naturally, but they still have meaning:
███ Black - Darkness, the Void.
███ Gray - Center, Green, Calm.
███ Silver - Wealth, Sickness.
███ Gray - Center, Green, Calm.
███ Silver - Wealth, Sickness.
███ white - Light, Everything, Death.
███ Pink - Spirit.
███ Gold - Wealth, Wellbeing.
███ Pink - Spirit.
███ Gold - Wealth, Wellbeing.
How to hide emotions
Having skin like a moodstone might make it rather easy for another sentient species or fellow Regalti to tell exactly what they are feeling at any given time, but it is more complicated than that. Because the way their skin color changes is mainly a function of body temperature and movement of blood vessels, all a Regalti has to do to confuse others is to wear uncomfortably warm or cool clothing.
If it is 30°C outside and a Regalti is wearing a thick sweater, they will almost always appear red, regardless of emotion. So they may be happy, or angry, or even afraid, you won't know. If it's 0°C outside and they aren't wearing that same sweater, they will appear blue, even if they are in a state of terror or utter rage. At this point, the only way to know for sure is to rely on traits that most sentient species have, such as facial expression or body language, and at that point, it isn't too difficult for a Regalti to fake those expressions too.
It is also possible to steel the body and mind to hide skin color, regardless of emotion, and appear red or any other color, even when shirtless in a blizzard. This takes a great deal of practice and concentration. Usually diplomats and soldiers have this skill. Religious monks are also known to have this skill.
A Note about the cover image
The cover image is a close approximation of how the Regalti percieve color. They can see into the UV spectrum down to 275-325nm, and can see red light up to 700-725nm. By comparison humans typically see light from 380nm to 750nm.
The brightest colors in a Regalti's perception is Cyan. Far-violet is the second brightest, which sits just outside the visible spectrum of light for humans, with Blue and Violet in-between as the third brightest colors. Red is the dimmest color to them.
The colors Humans typically percieve as the brightest color, yellow-green, are not that distinguishable for a Regalti. In fact, they sometimes just call Green and Yellow the same thing. This is also true for the color Orange sometimes being the same as the word for Red. These distinctions do not occur simultaneously in any Regalti Culture.
I've seen this used every rare so often in fiction and I love it every time I see it. Nicely done!
Thanks. Glad you liked it!