C* (Colouration)

Having been greatly expanded from the specification in the original code, this is one of the more complicated tags, since it must cover a wide variety of colors, color qualities, shades, patterns, differences between body parts, and so on. As with the skin type tag, while you can be very specific, it might be wiser to document only the most prominent color features, at least in casual use.

While many of these are just colors, or at least can be applied to both colors and materials, some are more commonly used to refer to materials. It may be that something else about the nature of their appearance is intended to be captured, or they may work best with certain skin types (ex. silver, gold, or bronze with metal skin).

• Cag: Silver, or argent. A lustrous white, like the metal.
• Cam: Amber. The natural material varies but the typical presentation is a kind of shiny yellowish-orange, not dissimilar to honey.
• Caq: Aquamarine. Generally presented as a light teal.
• Cau: Gold, or aurum. A lustrous orange-yellow metal.
• Cbk: Black.
• Cbl: Blue.
• Cbr: Brown.
• Cbs: Brass. Usually a yellowish metal, like dull gold.
• Cbz: Bronze. The color of the material is dependent on composition and may overlap with brass, but is typically presented as being redder and/or browner than the former.
• Cch: Chromium. A steel-gray, lustrous metal, somewhat darker than silver.
• Ccu: Copper, cuprum. The pure metal is a pinkish-orange color.
• Ccy: Cyan. Between blue and green, usually a lighter shade than teal.
• Ceb: Ebony. Presumably meant to reflect the polished wood, which is shiny and black to very dark brown; there is some overlap with the darkest human skin tones and some of those are described this way.
• Cfs: Flesh, human. Presumably intended to cover the whole range of human skin tones from light pinks to very dark browns.
• Cgr: Green.
• Cgy: Grey.
• Chg: Mercury, quicksilver, hydrargyrum. The material is a reflective, silvery-white liquid. The quality of the color is similar to silver or chromium, but there may be a differentiation by texture here.
• Cin: Indigo. Usually a dark, violet-ish blue.
• Civ: Ivory. As a color, usually described as an off-white with a faint tint of yellow.
• Cja: Jade. The material can be anywhere from white through yellow or yellowish green to a dark green; as a color it's usually thought of a somewhat unsaturated green.
• Cma: Magenta. A kind of purplish-red.
• Cmv: Mauve. A pale purple.
• Cor: Orange.
• Cpi: Pink.
• Cpu: Purple. Redder than violet.
• Crb: Rainbow, a.k.a. violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red.
• Cre: Red.
• Cta: Tan. A pale brown.
• Ctu: Turquoise. As a color, a greenish-blue similar to cyan, though generally somewhat darker or less saturated.
• Cmb: Umber. Representative of an earth pigment of the same name, generally presented as a dark brown. (Famous as the basis for the more reddish burnt umber.)
• Cvi: Violet. Bluer than purple, but not as blue as indigo.
• Cwh: White.
• Cye: Yellow.
• C~: Chameleonic, able to change colour at will.
• C?: Unknown. Presumably useful for when the color is either hidden from view or is so strange that it has no conventional designation.
• C: Colourless, e.g. ice, crystal, see-through, invisible.

Most of these deal with shade, quality, and pattern.

• +: Put after the colour, this indicates “light”. The more the plusses, the lighter the colour. For example, Cbl+ indicates: “Light Blue”.
• -: Put after the colour, this indicates “dark”. The more the minuses, the lighter the colour. For example, Cbl- indicates: “Dark Blue”.
• ^: Put after the colour, this indicates “metallic”. For example, Cbl^ indicates: “Metallic Blue”.
• _: Put after the colour, this indicates “transparent” or “gemstone”. For example, Cbl_ indicates “Transparent Blue”, “Blue glass”, or “Sapphire”.
• ': Put after the colour, this indicates “fiery” or “luminescent”. For example, Cbl' indicates “Blue flame”, or “luminous Blue”.
• %: Put after the colour, this indicates “pearlescent” (having the look of mother of pearl). For example, Cbl% indicates: “pearlescent Blue.”
• !: Put after the colour, this indicates “glittery” or “sparkly”. For example, Cbl! indicates: “glittery Blue.”
• |[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates “stripes”. For example, Cbl+|au indicates: “light blue with gold stripes.”
• =[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates “bands”. For example, Cbl+=au indicates: “light blue with gold bands.” (I'm not clear on the difference between stripes and bands for this purpose.)
• :[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates “spots”. For example, Cbl+:au indicates: “light blue with gold spots.”
• *[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates “stars”. For example, Cbl+*au indicates: “light blue with gold stars.”
• @[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates “mottled”. For example, Cbl+@au indicates “light blue mottled with gold.”
• \[colour]: Put after the colour and any modifiers, this indicates 'iridescence', i.e. another colour that shows under a different light or viewing angle. For example, Cbl+\au indicates: “light blue with gold iridescence.”
• /[colour]: Mix. This goes after a colour part to indicate that one is a random mix of several colours. For example, Cpu/ye/wh indicates: “I have areas of purple, yellow, and white!”
• #[colour]: Put after the colour, this indicates “plaid”. The first colour is the main colour of the plaid with the following colours the overlays. For example, Cre#bl#bk indicates: “Red Plaid with Blue and Black.”
• &[colour]: Put after the colour, this indicates “patterned”. The first colour is the main colour with the following colours the overlays of the pattern. For example, Cgy&re&in+ indicates: “Grey patterned with Red and light Indigo.”
• &1[colour]: Put after the colour, this indicates “marble patterned”. The first colour is the main colour with the following colours the veins of the marble pattern. For example, Cre&1re-&pu indicates: “Red marble with Dark Red and Purple veins.”
• >[colour]: In transition. For those who are changing from one colour to another. For example, Cau>ag indicates: “gold changing to silver.” Presumably indicates a slower process of change than C~ does.

As with the skin type tag, you can specify coloration on different parts of the body, separated by commas. These can be combined with each other and with the modifiers above, as in Cre-/br,bbl+,wor_,pye,eau: “I am a mix of dark red and brown with a light blue belly, transparent orange wings, yellow points, and golden eyes.”

• ,a[colour]: Arms. For example, Cbl,apu indicates: “Blue with purple arms.”
• ,b[colour]: Belly or Underside. For example, Cbl,bpu indicates: “Blue with a purple belly.”
• ,c[colour]: Claws/Feet/Hands. For example, Cbl,cpu indicates: “Blue with purple claws.”
• ,e[colour]: Eyes. For example, Cbl,epu indicates: “Blue with purple eyes.”
• ,f[colour]: Fur/Hair. For example, Cbl,fpu indicates: “Blue with purple fur.”
• ,h[colour]: Head. For example, Cbl,hpu indicates: “Blue with a purple head.”
• ,k[colour]: Crest. For example, Cbl,kpu indicates: “Blue with a purple crest.” There is no context here to determine what counts as a crest, such as whether it must be a structure in its own right or whether a plume of feathers on the head would also count.
• ,l[colour]: Legs. For example, Cbl,lpu indicates: “Blue with purple legs.”
• ,n[colour]: Neck. For example, Cbl,npu indicates: “Blue with a purple neck.”
• ,p[colour]: Points. For example, Cbl,ppu indicates: “Blue with purple points or highlights.”
• ,s[colour]: Spines. For example, Cbl,spu indicates: “Blue with purple spines.”
• ,t[colour]: Tail. For example, Cbl,tpu indicates: “Blue with a purple tail.”
• ,u[colour]: Aura. For example, Cbl,upu indicates: “Blue with a purple aura.”
• ,v[colour]: Horns/Spines. For example, Cbl,vpu indicates: “Blue with Purple horns.” As implied by the description, there is some overlap with the same concept as ,s[colour], and the difference may hinge on whether they grow from the head.
• ,w[colour]: Wings. For example, Cbl,wpu indicates: “Blue with Purple wings.”