e-dragonic

[e-dragonic]

Writing Description Notes:

Updated 9th September 2024 More writing tips, review tips & writing description notes

Facial Expressions

Masking Emotions

Smiles/Smirks/Grins

Eye Contact/Eye Movements

Blushing

Voice/Tone

Body Language/Idle Movement

Thoughts/Thinking/Focusing/Distracted

Silence

Memories

Happy/Content/Comforted

Love/Romance

Sadness/Crying/Hurt

Confidence/Determination/Hopeful

Surprised/Shocked

Guilt/Regret

Disgusted/Jealous

Uncertain/Doubtful/Worried

Anger/Rage

Laughter

Confused

Speechless/Tongue Tied

Fear/Terrified

Mental Pain

Physical Pain

Tired/Drowsy/Exhausted

Eating

Drinking

Warm/Hot

[e-dragonic]

Some various doodles of hogs. Werehogs.

Heh.

[e-dragonic]

Here’s an invaluable writing resource for you.

[e-dragonic]

DOUBLE werehogs

[e-dragonic]

Writing Notes: Emotions

“Emotion” is a term that came into use in the English language in the 17th and 18th centuries as a translation of the French term “émotion” but did not designate “a category of mental states that might be systematically studied” until the mid-19th century (Dixon 2012: 338; see also Dixon 2003; Solomon 2008).

Many of the things we call emotions today have been the object of theoretical analysis since Ancient Greece, under a variety of language-specific labels such as passion, sentiment, affection, affect, disturbance, movement, perturbation, upheaval, or appetite.

This makes for a long and complicated history, which has progressively led to the development of a variety of shared insights about the nature and function of emotions, but no consensual definition of what emotions are, either in philosophy or in affective science.

3 Traditions in the Study of Emotions

Emotions as: Feelings, Evaluations, and Motivations

Although emotion theories differ on multiple dimensions, they can be usefully sorted into three broad traditions:

The Feeling Tradition - takes the way emotions feel to be their most essential characteristic, and defines emotions as distinctive conscious experiences.

The Evaluative Tradition - regards the way emotions construe the world as primary, and defines emotions as being (or involving) distinctive evaluations of the eliciting circumstances.

The Motivational Tradition - defines emotions as distinctive motivational states.

(Scarantino, 2016)

Each tradition faces the task of articulating a prescriptive definition of emotions that is theoretically fruitful and compatible at least to some degree with ordinary linguistic usage.

And although there are discipline-specific theoretical objectives, there also is a core set of explanatory challenges that tends to be shared across disciplines:

Differentiation: How are emotions different from one another, and from things that are not emotions?

Motivation: Do emotions motivate behavior, and if so, how?

Intentionality: Do emotions have object-directedness, and if so, can they be appropriate or inappropriate to their objects?

Phenomenology: Do emotions always involve subjective experiences, and if so of what kind?

Emotions as Constructions

Constructionists are convinced that emotions are put together on the fly and in flexible ways using building blocks that are not specific to emotions, roughly in the way cooked foods are constructed from ingredients that are not specific to them and could be used according to alternative recipes.

One of the ingredients out of which emotions are built is said to be core affect, which is a:

neurophysiological state that is consciously accessible as a simple, nonreflective feeling that is an integral blend of hedonic (pleasure–displeasure) and arousal (sleepy–activated) values. (Russell 2003: 147)

Psychological constructionists emphasize that we are always in some state of core affect, which is a sort of barometer that informs us of our “relationship” to the flow of events.

The readings of the barometer are feelings, understood as blends of pleasure-displeasure and activation-deactivation.

These readings can be represented as points along a “circumplex structure”, with the vertical axis representing the degree of activation-deactivation and the horizontal axis representing the degree of pleasure-displeasure (Russell 1980).

Despite the great diversity of views on the nature and function of emotions, a broad consensus has emerged on a number of topics. Here is a tentative list of what a plurality of emotion theorists agree about, with brief mention of where the disagreements begin:

ONE. Emotion episodes involve, at least in prototypical cases, a set of evaluative, physiological, phenomenological, expressive, behavioral, and mental components that are diagnostic of emotions and are to some degree correlated with one another.

The degree to which these correlations are instantiated continues to be a central topic of theoretical debate: latent variable models assume that emotions cause the changes in components and expect to find strong correlations, whereas emergent variable models assume that emotions emerge from changes in components caused by something other than emotions and expect to find weak correlations.

TWO. Token episodes of the same folk emotion type (e.g., anger, fear, shame) manifest a great deal of variability with respect to expressive, behavioral, physiological and phenomenological features, as well as intensity, duration, valence, arousal, type and range of intentional objects.

Researchers disagree on whether underlying all this variability there exist measurable bodily patterns of some kind that are still distinctive of different emotions.

THREE. Emotions have intentionality or the ability to represent.

Researchers disagree on whether emotions represent descriptively or imperatively or both, on what exact contents they represent, and on what grounds the emotion-world representation relation. A small minority of researchers, hailing mostly from the enactivist movement, have argued that emotions lack representational qualities.

FOUR. The physical seat of emotions is the brain, but there are no neural circuits that correspond one-to-one with any folk emotion type, and brains are embodied and embedded in environments that are essential to their proper functioning.

Researchers disagree on how exactly the brain implements tokens of different emotion types, and whether emotional phenomena are best understood in terms of emotion-specific or emotion-unspecific neural mechanisms.

FIVE. Emotions typically involve conscious experiences, but such experiences are not strictly necessary for an emotion to be instantiated, in part because some emotion terms refer to dispositions and in part because most theorists consider feelings conceptually distinct from non-dispositional emotions.

A handful of influential researchers such as LeDoux (2017) and Barrett (2017) continue to identify emotions with conscious experiences.

SIX. Evolutionary and socio-cultural considerations must both contribute to our understanding of a great many emotions’ functions. These are both intra-personal functions —e.g., helping organisms coordinate organismic resources to deal with urgent demands—and interpersonal functions —e.g., communicating information useful for the negotiation of social transactions.

Researchers continue to debate whether there is sufficient empirical evidence for basic emotions and other special-purpose emotion mechanisms. Some see the role of evolution as limited to the shaping of general-purpose adaptations, such as core affect and the ability to categorize, which jointly lead to the emergence of emotions.

SEVEN. Emotions are no longer considered structurally opposed to reason.

Researchers continue to debate the circumstances in which emotions manifest various kinds of cognitive and strategic irrationality.

EIGHT. Emotions can be appropriate or inappropriate with respect to their intentional objects.

Researchers debate the grounds of, and distinctions between, different forms of appropriateness (e.g., fittingness, moral appropriateness).

NINE. Emotions typically involve appraisals of the significance of the stimulus situation, ranging between primitive and sophisticated forms of information processing.

Researchers debate what the structure of appraisals is, and whether appraisals cause or constitute emotions or both.

TEN. Emotions typically correlate with changes in motivation to do things.

Some researchers think emotions cause or consist in such changes in motivation, whereas others think that changes in motivation have other causes, or are too unspecific to ground a theory of what emotions are.

The exploration of these insights and the resolution of the disagreements around them is a thriving interdisciplinary project in contemporary emotion theory.

Philosophers and affective scientists will continue to engage in it for years to come, putting their distinctive theoretical skills at the service of projects of common interest.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References Word Lists: Uncommon Emotions ⚜ Other Words to Use ⚜ Positive Feelings

[e-dragonic]

"Guidance"

Day 5 of @sonic-au-august 's monthly prompt.

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Whisper kept her ears on a swivel as once again the Cub broke down into hysterics when she brought up the suggestion of bringing him back home once again. Tangle brought it up a few days after Whisper had found him in the Woods, following the Ripples of the Changing Cub and, by the grace of Luna, was able calm him down before it went into full swing. The Cub broke his four days of silence when they did and broke down on the spot, Whisper had to move in the calm him down or he'd probably Change on the spot as he sobbed out over and over that ' He couldn't go back!'

So the two went quiet about it for a week and cared for him, got him some cloths. Tangle did some research and eventually found the Cub on the Internet as a 'Missing Child'.

As he slept, they both wondered why he ran from home, especially Whisper. Because at first, she thought he was a Pup. A pure bred Werebeast.

But now as they talked under the cover of night while Tangle slept peaceful in the RV, it dawned of her, horrifyingly, that he was not a Pup...

But a Cub.

A newly turned Werebeast and at such a young age too. Unless they were a Pure breed, Children can't survive the First Change. They couldn't. They'd die from the shock alone.

But here she was, looking at one that has. A child that had gone through the First Change all alone.

She had some doubts. He didn't bare the Mark like all Bitten do but his story sounded too honest, too real to be faked...

Salty tears rolling down his muzzle, " ...I-I can't ...I can't go back... Please don't make me go back..." "Why?" She frowned, " If you're afraid of being all alone, I'm willing to come back with you. It'd be irresponsible for me to leave a Cub, especially one as young as you, alone and untrained." "... I can't...! I ... just... I-I just know I did something bad... REALLY bad..." Nicky sniffled, "But I ...I can't remember...!! Why can't I remember!?" "That's typical when the Wolf is in control..." Whisper explained, "Sometimes you'll remember, sometimes you don't, but it will always be vague. "

The cub slowly sits up , wiping at his dripping nose, " The... Wolf...?"

"Your other half, Little Cub." It took a moment before his eyes widen, " A-Are you talking about that thing from my dreams??!! That's not me!! I'm not that monster!! I'm NOT a Monster!" "...Is a fox a monster when it kill a mouse? Does a bear take pleasure when it snatches salmon from a river?" Her eye narrowed.

Nicky thought about it, " ...No ...? But they're j-just animals..." "And so is your Wolf, to a degree. Like all predators, it just wants to survive. Following its instincts, it takes little pleasure from killing and hurting others. Only Monsters do." The Cub curled in on himself, " ... So the ones who attacked me and killed my friend..."

"Those are monsters. Those who kill, not for food or defense. Just for the pleasure and power that come from it." She growled, " Your 'Sire' will meet justice ... but for now, you need Guidance. You need to learn how to Hunt, how to fight... but most importantly, you need to learn Control. I shall help you ... ...Maybe then you'll feel more comfortable to go back ho-."

"No!... Please... I'll go anywhere ... but back home... ... Not like I have anything to go back too... " Nicky wiped at his watery eyes.

There was a moment of silence, " ... Fine. You're training starts now." Whisper climbed to her feet, " Let's go."

"Uh??" He sits up slightly , watching as Whisper heading deeper into the Woods, " W-Where are you going?!"

"For a Run." She answered," And you'll be joining me."

"A Run???" He muttered confused.

"We are going further into the Woods where we shall Change. Let our Wolves spread their legs for a couple of hours then we Change back and return to RV." She explained like it was simple.

But the Cub looked like he was starting to panic, hugging himself, " Change??? N-No, I can't...! I don't wanna...! I-It hurts... so much. Please... Please, d-don't make me..." Fresh tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.

Whisper looked back to him ...and sighs as she walked back, kneeling down in front of him.

"It will be painful ...but it will be worth it. This is not just to keep you safe but others as well. It's better the bring on the Change in a safe place than to wait till the Wolf forces one. It affirms control." She eased, " Do you want Tangle to get hurt?

He soon shakes his head, " ... No... I like Tangle. She's funny."

Whisper chuckles, " She is." She then held out a hand, " Come. I'll Change first then you."

It was a while before Nicky took Whisper's hand and climbed to his feet as she lead him into the Woods.

"... I hate this..." Nicky whimpered.

"I know... but this will get easier over time. I promise." Whisper swore.

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[e-dragonic]

[e-dragonic]

Writing Notes: Fight Scene

How to Write a Convincing Fight Scene

In practice, writing a realistic fight scene for your novel is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do.

That’s because fight scenes can be boring to read.

A movie allows the audience to take a passive stance and have the action wash over them.

In contrast, reading a fight scene requires the audience to activate their imagination.

The audience must participate in constructing the fight scene from your clues and seeing it play out in their mind’s eye.

That’s a lot more difficult than getting it fed to you visually.

Below are strategies for writing fight scenes.

Fight Scenes Should Move the Story Forward

The very first rule for fight writing (and writing any scene in general) is to ensure that it moves the story forward.

Say “no” to gratuitous fight scenes that only show off fancy moves or writing skills.

Here’s the easiest way to find out if your fight scene moves the story:

Delete it.

Now, read the scene before and the scene after.

Can you still make sense of what happened?

If the fight caused some type of transition in your story, keep it in.

And remember: Not all transitions are physical. Some are mental.

You don’t always have to discuss the physical aftermath.

You can also explore the mental fallout after a fight.

This can be how the fight moves the story forward.

Fight Scenes Should Improve Characterization

Because reading a fight scene can get boring quickly, it’s important that you focus on more than the bare-knuckle action.

Use fights as a way to explore your character(s) and provide more insight on the following:

Why does the character make the choices that they make in the fight?

How does each choice reinforce their characterization?

How does each choice impact their internal and/ or external goals?

Is this conflict getting the character closer or further away from their goals? How?

What are the stakes for each character? What do they stand to win/lose?

What type of fighter is the character? What are their physical or mental abilities? (Remember that not every protagonist will be a trained assassin, so they’re prone to make sloppy mistakes during a fight.)

Use the fight scene to reveal necessary information about the characters.

Be sure to give the reader a glimpse into the character’s soul and not just into their fighting skills.

Fight Scenes Shouldn't Slow the Pace

In movies and especially in real life, fights go by quickly.

But in literature, fight scenes can slow the pace.

That’s because you have to write all of the details and the reader has to reconstruct the scene in their minds.

However, if you employ certain literary devices into your narrative, you can actually create a taut fight scene.

Here are some tips:

Write in shorter sentences. Shorter sentences are easier to digest. It also speeds up the pace of a story.

Mix action with dialogue. Don’t just write long descriptions of what’s happening. Also, share the verbal exchange between your characters.

Don’t focus too much on what’s going on inside the character’s mind. Introspection happens before and after a fight, not during.

Keep the fight short. Fights should never go on for pages (unless you’re discussing an epic battle between armies, and not individuals).

Hit ’Em With All the Senses

One of the best ways to get visceral when describing a fight is to activate every sense possible.

This includes sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

Think of how you can use these five descriptors in your writing to immediately transport the reader to the scene.

Sight 

Perhaps the most obvious.

You’ll describe exactly what the characters are seeing and what the reader should pay attention to in the scene.

Hearing 

Is a little more delicate.

A fight scene is a perfect time to introduce onomatopoeia into your narrative.

Onomatopoeia - a word that sounds like what it is describing.

Try using more subtle examples, such as:

Boom, Clang, Clap, Clatter, Click, Crack, Creak, Crunk, Fizzle, Gargle, Groan, Grunt, Gurgle, Hiss, Howl, Hum, Knock, Plod, Rattle, Roar, Rustle, Sizzle, Smack, Splash, Splatter, Squeal, Tap, Thud, Thumb, Whine, Whisper

Taste 

Be careful with going abstract here.

Instead of using phrases like, “he could taste fear in the air,”

go for something more concrete like, “blood mixed with strawberry lip gloss was a strange taste.”

Touch 

Perhaps one of the easiest senses to convey.

Describe how the characters feel and interact with each other physically.

Smell 

You often see or hear a fight, but can you smell it?

In person, what would the fight smell like? Probably sweat.

Consider other scents, such as the ambient aroma in the scene.

Example: If the fight takes place in a car garage, there may be the lingering scent of motor oil and tire rubber.

Don’t be afraid to add that into the scene to introduce a different dimension.

When Writing a Fight Scene, Edit, Edit, Edit

A good story is an edited one.

The same rule applies to fight scenes.

A sloppy fight scene can slow the pace of your story and/or confuse the reader.

When editing your fight scene, keep the following in mind:

Don’t include a blow by blow of what happens in the fight. After your initial draft, remove non-essential details that can slow down reading.

Delete flowery language. Extra words drag the pace. Remove every single word that you can.

Consolidate characters to reduce reader confusion and frustration.

Source Word Lists: Fight ⚜ Poking/Hitting ⚜ Panting ⚜ Running ⚜ Pain

[e-dragonic]

headcanon infodump graphic but i make tails do the infodumping!!

[e-dragonic]

Werehog doodle please and thank you!

Please someone tame him….

thank you for the suggestion!

[e-dragonic]

THIS IS MY VENT CHANNEL!!!!!!

[e-dragonic]

"Destiny"

Day 5 of @sonic-au-august 's monthly prompt.

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He had mentally drifted off mid way through his session with Ms. Ebony. He couldn't focus on anything properly after this morning, waking up smeared with dirt and... possibly- <No, It wasn't.>

His sister had woke him up early, saying that some monster had crept in through his bedroom window last night... but he'd DEFINETELY remember something like that. He thought she was joking but then he saw the dirty prints across his room floor and all over his bed... Anita wanted to tell Mommy but he swore her to secrecy about it. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't want to throw Mommy into a panic. He did his best to clean the floors and his bed before she woke up. She hadn't said anything...but he didn't know whether he did a good job or she hadn't noticed yet. He was still trying to piece together in his head why he was covered in dirt this morning... Had he sleepwalked...?? He heard that was a thing.

But he's never done that before....

He tried to recall last night but couldn't ...remember much. He remember felling awful, getting water, bumping into Anita... he leapt out of his window for some reason... then... nothing. He could only assume he climbed back into his room and went to sleep... but it didn't explain the tracks and the mess he was in...

so what happened last night...??

"Nicky!" He jumped as he was snapped back into reality.

Ms. Ebony looked at him with concern, " You did it again... Did you even hear my question?"

His eyes fell to the floor, shamefully, " Uh, no. Sorry."

She sighs, " It's okay. I was asking about your glasses. You're not wearing them. Did you you forget them at home?" "No. I just... don't need them anymore...." He muttered slightly.

She raised a brow, " You don't need them???" "Y-Yeah... I can see surprisingly well now actually." He explained, "My Mommy scheduled an appointment with Eye doctor in a couple of days to really see if I don't need them anymore..." "I see... " There was a moment a quiet, " ... Did ...anything happen last night for you? Word on the vine people heard howling from the woods. The police are thinking of doing another search of the Woods because of it..." " No, nothing happened." He answered.

What else could he tell her? That besides the big blank spot in his memory of ever falling sleep last night, he didn't noticed anything? She lets out a breath, "Okay... I'm sorry for scaring you with my vision yesterday. I've had them since I was kid and always felt that if I had a bad vision that I should do something to prevent it ... ... But some times no amount of nudging can change what is destiny..."

Nicky thought about the vision, <I didn't leave out the house by nightfall... I left it during nightfall. Then I ended up covered in dirt and... and blood.>

What happened last night? The bell rang. Nicky winced. " Have a good lunch, Nicky." Ms. Ebony waved. " Oh. Send my condolences to your Class. I heard about what happened to your class pet. Poor thing. I can't imagine what could have gotten to it. "

Nicky only nodded and left out the office but as he walked down the hall. He carefully reached into his pocket and glanced down as he partially pulled out a small cat bell...

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[e-dragonic]

Who would love a monster.

[e-dragonic]

I love your Dragon Shadow, have you ever designed how its super form would look (doom powers + super form would be so powerful)

ANON WHAT A MIRACULOUS COINCIDENCE YOUR ASK IS, because I've been toying with a super form for him these last few days! I was just hogging everything in hopes of gathering more pictures to dump in one post lol

he's a floofy birb boi now! trading demonic body horror for more angelic feathered themes, now he resembles the style of the other two hedgies' dragon forms more with the cartoony big eyes and visible pointy ears. the black arms influence is still there, remaining as dark flight feathers and (now scaled, bird-like) black legs. the tip of his tail resembles chaos spear instead of doom spear, and he's got his inhibitors back! (not that they go anywhere in doom dragon/morph, I suppose; just invisible/"absorbed") he'd be relying more on his chaos powers than doom ones, too

here're also some chibis featuring the other super dragons!

[e-dragonic]

Importance

Day 4 of @sonic-au-august 's monthly prompt.

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"I see... Amelia was like your shield, wasn't she? She protected you. She made you feel strong." Ms. Ebony hummed, "But without her, you feel like you've lost your protection... ...and more." Nicky frowned, gripping the hem of his stitched up sweater. He was quiet, glancing at the painted wall. He had been quiet most of this session but Ms. Ebony somehow manages to say what he didn't like she was reading his mind. She was nice, lends an listening ear, offered advice...but the kids around school, and even some Teachers, mutter about her being a bit weird.

But he didn't care. If anything he wanted this session to end as soon as possible. He was so ready to go Home right now.

After the Incident and spending a week and a half in the hospital, he felt better then ever...besides his intensified senses causing him to have an minor headache by the end of school.

But now, day by day, everything began to get overwhelming. The World was too loud and too ...smelly. Little things annoyances left him utterly frustrated. He wondered if the flu he had before was coming back... "Nicky!" Suddenly he was snapped back to the real world. "H-Huh??" He sat up abruptly. "I called your name three times, Nicky. Is something still on your mind?" His eyes fell to the floor once more, wondering what to say or if he should say anything at all.

"You know, I may not be a Therapist but School Counselors are held to the same code of conduct. Anything you say won't leave this office." Ms. Ebony nudged.

There was a lingering moment of silence between them before Nicky spoke. "... I...I haven't been feeling well... N-Not just mental but...physically...." Ms. Ebony raised a brow, sitting up more straight in her chair with interest. "Physically...?" "...It all started after the incident. After I got home from the Hospital... I felt great... like it didn't even happen...but also... I -I started to hear things I should hear. See t-things I shouldn't see. Smell things I-I shouldn't smell..."

He took a couple of sniffs, "... You had coffee along with a toasted sausage, egg and cheese sandwich...."

Ms. Ebony had to do a double take, brows furrowing, "I had that... hours ago."

"See! And then there's the dreams...!" He gripped the hem of the sweater tighter, " I keep having this dream... of waking up in a misty forest...and seeing this-this creature?? I don't know what it is... It used to be this vague blob...but now it has more of a shape... it ... it sort a looks like a...a-" There was a sudden thud that caused Nicky to jump as Ebony suddenly shot up in her seat causing it to tip over. He looked at her and noticed that how her whole body stood ridged, fur bristling as she had a distant gaze in her eyes. "Ms. Ebony...?" Nicky sat there for a moment while she stood there so still he wonder if she was still breathing. He was about to get out of his chair when she suddenly gasped, almost lurching backwards but just barely managing to catch herself. "Ms. Ebony, are you okay??" He asked worried but also a bit spooked by what just happened. She blinked a few times, rubbing at her temples, "Y-Yeah, I just..." She glanced at Nicky before striding over to him and kneeling down. She had a serious look on her face as she gripped his shoulders, gentle but firm, " Listen, Nicky. Tonight, you must LEAVE your home by nightfall. Do you understand? Do NOT stay in there. " "I-I don't... Why???" He asked, panic in his voice. "I don't know! I don't know... I was - I was looking in through a room window and I saw you in bed... and something else in the corner... I could make out nothing but its gleaming eyes... Then blood began to pour out from the window ..." Her hands fell as she looked away, " ... I've never had a vision that strong before..." Ebony glanced back at Nicky to notice the utterly terrified look on face, " Hey hey hey... It'll be okay. Listen... My visions aren't always correct... I could be completely wrong and nothing will happen."

"B-But something could happen." Nicky whimpered. Ebony gives him a comforting hug, "The future is never set in stone. Things can always change." The Lunch bell then rings and Nicky winces at it.

"Looks like our session is done." Ebony said, standing up and smile, "Have a good lunch, Nicky."

"Thanks..." Nicky slid out of the chair and walked out of the room, an unease feeling settling in his gut at the ominous vision...

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(Introducing this AU's version of Ebony, she's Nicky's School Counselor and a Mystic. Think like a diet Witch. She can't tap into Chaos and utilize it but she does have some tricks up her sleeves. She has an affinity towards things like Tarot Cards and getting the occasional vision.)

[e-dragonic]

They wrote this song specifically for team dark