༉˚*ೃ 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐑𝐄... (𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒)

it's important to establish small quirks or foibles that your characters have, particularly when they're experiencing certain emotions. for example, one of my characters (violet) bites her nails when she's stressed or anxious — which none of my other characters do — and another oc (tea) softly bites her knuckles and fingers when experiencing fear or nerves. setting up these small physical quirks each of your characters do makes them feel more alive. perhaps some characters are more susceptible to crying while angry, frustrated or stressed; perhaps others have a tendency for angry outbursts or violence under those situations.

every character will react differently depending on their personality, and therefore not all these 'symptoms' of emotions will apply, rather, this is a general list of all the different ways people may react to such emotions.

STRESSED, NERVOUS, ANXIOUS OR AFRAID.   →      *   .    &

.     &     ━     pull their own hair .

.     &     ━     bite inside of their cheek .

.     &     ━     gnaw or chew on their lip .

.     &     ━     clench or grind teeth .

.     &     ━     cry .

.     &     ━     scratch skin .

.     &     ━     bite nails .

.     &     ━     softly bite the knuckles on their fingers .

.     &     ━     bite their tongue .

.     &     ━     actively avoid the source of stress and do something else .

.     &     ━     rub or wipe their hands over their faces .

.     &     ━     pinch the bridge of their nose .

.     &     ━     angry outbursts .

.     &     ━     sweating .

.     &     ━     pacing .

.     &     ━     feeling of being hot or cold all over .

.     &     ━     stuttering .

.     &     ━     not maintaining eye contact, darting eyes .

.     &     ━     visible panic .

.     &     ━     shaky hands or legs .

.     &     ━     quivering / staggered breath .

.     &     ━     fiddling with objects or fingers .

.     &     ━     crossed arms as reassurance or protection .

.     &     ━     trembling, shaky voice .

.     &     ━     might grip onto something .

.     &     ━     crossed arms as reassurance or protection .

.     &     ━     jumpy, prone to flinching .

.     &     ━     insomnia .

.     &     ━     feeling tearful, overwhelmed .

.     &     ━     difficulty concentrating .

.     &     ━     use of drugs, alcohol or smoking .

.     &     ━     anger, irritability .

.     &     ━     feeling out of control .

HAPPY.   →      *   .    &

.     &     ━     smile and grin .

.     &     ━     crinkles at the outer edges of their eyes, smile lines .

.     &     ━     laughter .

.     &     ━     humming and singing .

.     &     ━     positive and optimistic .

.     &     ━     becoming touchy, physically affectionate .

.     &     ━     bouncing around, moving a lot or dancing .

.     &     ━     talking more, starting conversations .

.     &     ━     joking around, teasing .

.     &     ━     beaming .

.     &     ━     selflessness .

.     &     ━     feeling joyful and free .

.     &     ━     doing things they love .

ANNOYED AND FRUSTRATED.   →      *   .    &

.     &     ━     short, crisp replies .

.     &     ━     rolling eyes .

.     &     ━     huffing, sighing and groaning .

.     &     ━     avoids eye contact out of irritation .

.     &     ━     angry outbursts .

.     &     ━     might interrupt people mid-conversation .

.     &     ━     turning body away from you, don't want to be there .

.     &     ━     storming away, leaving in a huff .

.     &     ━    crying out of frustration .

.     &     ━    clenched jaw .

.     &     ━    sensation of their throat closing over .

.     &     ━    tightness in their chest .

.     &     ━    a strained, visibly irritated voice .

.     &     ━    throwing hands up in an "i give up" gesture .

.     &     ━    pinching the bridge of their nose .

.     &     ━    drawing in breath and releasing it before speaking .

.     &     ━     stiff posture, rigid muscles or corded neck .

.     &     ━     impatient snorts or sneers .

.     &     ━    using more force than necessary   →   stomping feet, throwing instead of handing, pushing people away .

.     &     ━     displays of violence out of frustration   →   destroying something in release, kicking, grabbing, shaking .

.     &     ━     gritted teeth .

.     &     ━     trying to hide tears .

.     &     ━     briefly closing one's eyes to attempt to quell the irritation .

HURT.   →      *   .    &

.     &     ━     falling expression .

.     &     ━     biting back, hurting them in response .

.     &     ━     cry .

.     &     ━     sensation of an itchy throat or throat closing over .

.     &     ━     hide their hurt .

.     &     ━     looking away from the person who hurt them .

.     &     ━     avoiding eye contact .

.     &     ━     quivering lip .

.     &     ━     hot tears in eyes .

.     &     ━     ignoring the person who hurt them .

.     &     ━     anger in response to hurt .

.     &     ━     confide in a friend .

.     &     ━     turn and run away .

.     &     ━     distance themselves, shut themselves away .

.     &     ━     a deep feeling of hurt and sadness, betrayal .

.     &     ━     biting their tongue, lip or cheek .

.     &     ━     visible expression of hurt on their face .

.     &     ━     expressive brows .

.     &     ━     downturned mouth .

.     &     ━     trying not to cry .

ANGRY.   →      *   .    &

.     &     ━     boiling feeling in chest and throat .

.     &     ━     screaming, yelling .

.     &     ━     turning to violence   →   puncing, scratching, spitting, kicking, lunging, tackling .

.     &     ━     "feral" anger .

.     &     ━     digging fingers into palms or anything .

.     &     ━     throwing things .

.     &     ━     pent-up   →   visibly building / rising rage .

.     &     ━     curled lip, flared nose, furrowed enraged eyebrows, bared or gritted teeth .

.     &     ━     angry trembling .

.     &     ━    clenched jaw .

.     &     ━     speaking in a snarl or through bared teeth, venomous .

.     &     ━     holding it back (if they're a usually reserved person) .

.     &     ━     angry crying .

.     &     ━     snapping at people .

.     &     ━     saying (cruel) things they don't mean .

.     &     ━     physically pushing people away .

.     &     ━     tensed body, neck .

.     &     ━     furious expression .

.     &     ━     murderous eyes .

.     &     ━     calm, deadly type of anger .

.     &     ━     long-term, festering rage .

.     &     ━     doing things they'll regret later .

.     &     ━     hitting a snapping / breaking / boiling point .

.     &     ━     lashing out .

i'm going to write specific guides for most of these emotions later in greater detail, the specific steps many people and character personalities might go through when experiencing these amplified emotions (grief, anger, sadness or hurt, etc.) because i think showing emotions is an incredibly important aspect of creating a likeable, rootable character. but i hope this short list helped you!