Beyond Ferma

"Every good flesh beyond melted away... There is nothing but burning. You'll, see... and I will be here when you return." 

Through fragmented glimpses, follow Mar as she ventures beyond the protective boundary of Ferma—where good flesh melts away and only burning remains. Like Alice stumbling into a nightmare instead of Wonderland, this fractured narrative traces a path through mist and memory, revealing the consequences of crossing boundaries never meant to be breached. 

Video Series (Instagram links)

Read the Complete Journey

All the fragments of Beyond Ferma are available below, organized to reveal the full arc of Mar and Nawila's fates. 

Reading Guide:

• The early fragments follow a light-taker's solitary journey into the Ferma 

• The narrative gains momentum after the first flashback reveals Mar's identity and motivation 

• Many elements concerning Nawila and the city remain intentionally mysterious 

Note: These fragments form part of a larger narrative. A complete novella-length version is in development that will further expand this world and the characters' histories. 

Behind the Scenes and Development

Origins & Inspiration

The concept of Beyond Ferma emerged from unexpected sources. A scientific paper about climate change's disproportionate impact on the southern hemisphere sparked the initial idea, despite those regions contributing less to the problem. This merged with inspirations from William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land,". The nightmarish / dreamlike style of that story ressonate and lead to the conceptof of the Boiling Sea. 

Visual Evolution from SHADOWS

Beyond Ferma builds upon my earlier experiments in the SHADOWS series: 

• BEYOND THE BOILING SEA (RB013, April 2025) established the environmental foundations 

• SHAMAN (RB020, April 2025) defined Mar's character design and animation techniques 

• EVE OF WAR (RB009, 2023) was repurposed for "Southern Line of Contention" 

The series officially began with "Nawila at the Edge" (RA035, May 2025), which was initially a standalone piece that introduced the Ferma barrier: 

• "Beyond the singing marshes lie the salty flats of The Boiling Sea, a place where heat blazes so intensely that even the strongest Skinned cannot endure. The few who venture further tell of Ferma, a gigantic wall of vapor where the Boiling Sea defies nature, bending upward to form an impassable barrier. Some claim to glimpse shadowy figures and gleaming treasures within the swirling mist itself, but no one can peer through Ferma's veil. Who would dare journey there to discover if these visions are truth or mirage?" 

Production Process

The complete Beyond Ferma series required nearly a hundred finished and retouched frames: 

• Most episodes were created with three or more keyframes using AIVIDEO, particularly for keyframe interpolation 

• The series was published three times weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday) over four months (May-August 2025) 

• Four specialized posts explored the making-of aspects: 

  • "Shadows III - The World of the Ferma" (origins) 

  • "The Creatures of Beyond" (character creation) 

  • "The Last People" (Onawa and worldbuilding) 

  • "Dreamscapes and Hellscapes" (hybrid background techniques) 

Color Psychology & Environmental Design 

The color palette evolves strategically to represent increasing danger as Mar journeys deeper into Ferma

• Green Zone - The initial areas beyond the vapor barrier contain aberrant creatures but also new civilizations. Two granaries are located here. 

• Yellow Zone - The "zone of temptation" after The Golden Fields, where Mar can only stay briefly. The third granary is believed to be at the Plateau of the Ancient.

•  Red Zone - Accessed via the Woundstep Path, this deepest region contains rumored cities and granaries not visited for eons. 

Artistic Challenges & Alternatives 

Much of the generative work focused on references and backgrounds, resulting in numerous images that never made it to the final story. The narrative could have taken a more body horror or NSFW direction without careful filtering and adjustments. The red palette was particularly challenging, as older generators tend to interpret it in fleshy ways, while newer ones sometimes over-restrict even appropriate content (as with the Mar-Reliquary confrontation). 

Below is a collection of alternative directions—some served as starting points for keyframes that evolved significantly, others were abandoned concepts and compositions. 

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