As I dive into researching signs of fear for my horror WIP, I wanted to share some of the most compelling and visceral reactions I’ve come across. Whether you’re writing a chilling scene or crafting a character’s panic, these 20 signs of fear can help bring tension and realism to your story.
Hyperventilating — sucking in air but never feeling like it’s enough
Chest tightens — feels like a weight or hands pressing down
Limbs shaking violently, knees buckling
Complete loss of muscle control — collapsing or unable to stand
Cold sweat soaking through clothes
Heart hammering so hard they feel it in their throat or head
Tunnel vision — the world narrowing down to one terrifying focal point
Ringing in the ears or sudden deafness, like the world drops away
Dizziness / feeling faint / vision blurring
Dry mouth — unable to speak or even scream
Screaming / sobbing / gasping — involuntary vocal outbursts
Panic run — bolting without thinking, tripping over everything
Clawing at their own skin / chest / throat — like trying to escape their body
Begging / pleading out loud even if no one’s there
Repeating words or phrases — “No, no, no” / “This isn’t happening”
Hiding instinctively — diving under tables, closets, or corners
Desperate grabbing — reaching for someone, anything solid
Loss of bladder or bowel control (for extreme terror)
Total mental shutdown — frozen, slack-jawed, staring blankly
Memory blackout — later can’t recall what happened during the worst moment
a label hoarder is someone who collects / “ hoards “ labels. this can be for many reasons; having a complex identity, feeling comfortable with a variety of terms, find it fun to collect labels, etc. this goes for collecting any labels, including names and pronouns.
a gender hoarder is someone who collects / “ hoards “ gender labels. this can be for many reasons; having a complex / fluid gender, feeling comfortable with a variety of terms, find it fun to collect genders, etc.
a pronoun hoarder is someone who collects / “ hoards “ pronoun labels. this can be for many reasons; preferring a variety of pronouns, being pronounfluid, finding it fun to collect pronouns, etc.
a name hoarder is someone who collects / “ hoards “ name. this can be for many reasons; preferring a variety of names, being nomifluid, finding it fun to collect names, etc.
this isn’t a coining / recoining post, simply alt flag designs for those who want to use them.
no IDs, help appreciated
taglist ( ask to be added or removed ): @radiomogai @rwuffles @somniabyte @fangpunk @khaenriahplurals
⋯ space themed id pack !!
andromeda ✴ orion ✴ aquila ✴ nebula ✴ lumen ✴ nova ✴ sirius ✴ gamma ✴ orbit ✴ stella ✴ celestia ✴ cosmo ✴ comet ✴ sol ✴ pleiades ✴ altair ✴ quark ✴ carina ✴ aurora ✴ aldebaran ✴ vega ✴ leo ✴ algol ✴ atlas ✴ mira ✴ pollux ✴ rigel ✴ auriga ✴ galaxy ✴ nyx ✴ singularity ✴ astro ✴ hubble ✴ jupiter ✴ zenith ✴ horizon ✴ ion
star/stars ✴ gal/galaxy ✴ quark/quarks ✴ cos/cosmic ✴ shine/shines ✴ plan/planet ✴ ray/rays ✴ pul/pulse ✴ moon/moons ✴ lune/lunar ✴ neu/neutron ✴ par/parsec ✴ qua/quasar
The Infinite ✴ (prn) Who Shines in the Night ✴ The Descendant of Stars ✴ The Celestial Knight ✴ The Remnant of Novae ✴ (prn) Who Bends the Light
the expanse ✴ the nebula ✴ the oort cloud ✴ stellar catalogue ✴ starstuff system¹ ✴ the collapsing stars ✴ the globular cluster ✴ andromeda's children ✴ solar satellites
¹ from the Carl Sagan quote: "The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff."
Going through my old astronomy olympiad notes to make this... this was super fun and a big throwback to one of our special interests that's a bit more background these days. Enjoy! -Iris/Zoa
credits: 1
Front-tied is the term for an alter who feels intrinsically tied to fronting at all times, even if they are not actually fronting all the time. This may include being the host / co-host of the system, always being near front, always influencing who’s in front, etc etc.
The green represents a connection, specifically a connection to fronting. It descends in darkness to symbolize the layers of intensity a certain alter may feel connected to front.
no credit needed to use this flag/term!
endos do not use this flag. make ur own flag/term.
Requested by anon
🎤-- Names: Net/Netty, Browser, Bug, Spy, Mal, Hijack, Mac, Tech, *Nano, Meta, Data, Pixel, Dell, Java, Key, Code, Sam/Sammy, Neo, Dot, Widget, Cloud, Ruby, Alexa, Lotus, Ajax, Tap, Shock, Hacker
🎤-- Pronouns: she/her, he/him, they/them, cli/click/clicks, dra/drag/drags, vi/virus/viruses, ran/ransom/ransoms, e/exe/exes, brow/browser/browsers, co/code/codes, bu/bug/bugs, spy/spyware/spywares, mal/malware/malwares, gi/gif/gifs, hij/hijacker/hijackers, me/media/medias, mou/mouse/mouses, pop/popup/popups, win/window/windows, di/disk/disks, hac/hacker/hackers, sca/scan/scans, spa/spam/spams, res/restore/restores, arc/archive/archives, anti/antivirus/antiviruses, dig/digital/digitals, soft/software/softwares, te/tech/techs, scri/script/scripts, over/overwrite/overwrites, pix/pixel/pixels, key/keylogger/keyloggers, log/login/logins, ho/home/homes, com/computer/computers, lap/laptop/laptops, gli/glitch/glitches, main/mainframe/mainframes, cre/creeper/creepers, c/cpu/cpus, mon/monitor/monitors, tou/touchpad/touchpads, da/data/datas, int/internet/internets, cyb/cyber/cybers, fi/file/files, plu/plug/plugs, cor/corrupt/corrupts, scre/screen/screens, bat/battery/batterys, pow/power/powers, ret/retro/retros, scre/screencap/screencaps, er/error/errors, wi/wire/wires, scr/scroll/scrolls, 404/404s
🔈/🔈s, 🔊/🔊s, 🔉/🔉s, 🗡/🗡s, 💻/💻s, 🖥/🖥s, ⌨/⌨s, 🖱/🖱s, 💿/💿s, 📀/📀s, 💽/💽s, 💾/💾s, 🔌/🔌s, 🔋/🔋s, 💣/💣s, 📱/📱s, 🛠/🛠s, ⚙/⚙s, 💵/💵s, 💳/💳s, 🎭/🎭s, 💔/💔s, 💢/💢s, 🗯/🗯s, 👀/👀s, 🎞/🎞s, 🎨/🎨s, 🧿/🧿s, 🎮/🎮s, 🎵/🎵s, 💡/💡s, 👁/👁s, ☣/☣s, ⚠/⚠s, 🔎/🔎s
zhe/zher, shy/hyr, shey/shem/sheir, fey/fem/feir/feyr, rhe/rher/rhers, ae/aer, em/er, tei/ter, shey/heyr, shey/sher, fem/fems, sh♡/h♡r, sh*/h*r, sh❣/h❣r, sh◻/h◻r, sh✖/h✖r, sh✔/h✔r, sh👁/h👁r, sh3/h3r, shx/hxr, sh♥/h♥r, xe/xem/xyr, ze/zer/hir/hirs, ey/em/eir, ae/aer/aes, ve/vis, ve/vey, h3/h1m/h1s, hei/heim/heir/heirs, ne/nim/nis, ne/nym/nys, le/lem/les, rhe/rher/rhers, ae/aer, em/er, h*/h*m, hy/hym, h♡/h♡m, h❣/h❣m, h◻/h◻m, h✖/h✖m, hx/hxm, h✔/h✔m, h👁/h👁m, h3/h3m, thxy/thxm
🎤-- Titles: [prn] The Trojan Horse, Your Personal Tamagotchi, [prn] The Rouge AI, The Corrupted Mainframe, A Glitch In The Server, The Pesky Popup Window, A Malicious Software, The Glitch That Deleted All Your Files, A Hacker's Best Friend
*Nano - short for nanocomputer
Resources: 1, 2, 3
both lmao
◞◟ masc / neu names · pronouns that gives off ' fun, silly, and loud ' vibes
· requested by anon // similar npt
◞◟ NAMES ✦
: arcade . aster . bandit . bennett . bobby . bobbie . buzz . casper . comet . cory . cosmo . dash . dewey . dex . dexter . emery . emil . finn . fizz . flynn . imp . jester . jett . jinx . joker . jupiter . ken . kip . maverick . milo . piper . riley . rio . rocket . scooter . sketch . soda . stitch . sunbeam . sunny . sunray . toby . tommy . zane . ziggy
◞◟ PRONOUNS ✦
: h!! / h!!m . th!!y / th!!m . !!t / !!ts . h☆ / h☆m . th☆y / th☆m . h⭐ / h⭐m . th⭐y / th⭐m . kit / kits . ki / kit . >.< / >.<s . paw / paws . pop / pops . pup / pups . si / silly . mrrp / mrrps . wah / waah . aah / aahs . ted / teddy . !!! / !!!s . !? / !?s . >:3 / >:3s . >:3c / >:3c . 🖍️ . ☀️ . 🌻 . 🌈 . 🐾
will update this every few weeks/months. alternatively, here are all my tagged Writing Worksheets & Templates
Chapter Outline ⚜ Character- or Plot-Driven Story
Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Magic & Rituals ⚜ Plot-Planning
Editing: Sentence Check ⚜ Writing Your Novel: 20 Questions
Tension ⚜ Thought Distortions ⚜ What's at Stake
50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character Creation
Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist
Character: Change; Adding Action; Conflict
Character: Creator; Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation
Character Profile (by Rick Riordan) ⚜ Character Sheet Template
Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Interview your Character
Story-Worthy Hero ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet
20 Questions ⚜ Decisions & Categories ⚜ Worksheet
Setting ⚜ Dystopian World ⚜ Magic System (AALC Method)
Templates: Geography; World History; City; Fictional Plant
References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
all posts are queued. send questions/requests here.
Hello tumblr we come bearing more userboxes.!! ✨!
Pronoun ones, but mainly aimed at other systems, other psychotic + disabled people who use pronouns other than “I/me/mine/myself”. 🙂↕️.
Fine to use 🩷. You don’t need credit us, but it is also awesome if you do credit us! /genuine tone. The second half of this collection will be in a reblog as usual! 🫡 . (There’s 20 in total).
made a heck ton of user boxes
free to use (plz like or rb)
NAMES ; aspen , noel , scottie , toms , robin , tyler , xavier , flynn , grime , zack , dominic , tucker , bruise , eddie , jacob , bobby , leon , rust , bane , lukas , dean , dexter , jason , will
PRONOUNS ; grime / grimes , rock / rocks , dirt / dirts , zomb / zombs , brui / bruise , cool / cools , gro / gross , lose / loser , bro / bros , scrape / scrapes , rot / rots , scab / scabs , weird / weirds , soda / sodas , dude / dudes
TiTLES ; the loser boy , the boy protagonist , this teenage dirtbag , [X] with bruised knees , [X] with scraped elbows , the awkward one , the videogame player , this weird dude
iDENTiTiES ; dirtbagteenic , dirtbagteenboy , stinkboy , unhingedloserfreak , emoloser , losergender , monsterenergygender , rotboy , rockmasc , hoodieboy , weirdbeing , protagboy , retrovideogamegender , weirdboy , pathetiboy , prettyboyloser , videogamegender , bandbruisenboy , recluminjuric , coolduden
SEE ALSO ; fem loser id pack
🦇 ——— REQUESTED BY ; anon
[ PT: masc loser id pack
names;
prns;
titles;
identities; (links)
see also; (link)
requested by; anon / END PT]