Emotion and
state vocabulary

Dramatic circumstance: A surprising incongruity interrupts seriousness.

Possible manifestations: A smile in the voice, a checked chuckle or a light change of timing can fit; humour can also be very dry.

Distinction: Elation and teasing: amusement need not be highly energetic or directed at someone.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Something long hoped for suddenly becomes possible.

Possible manifestations: Lifted energy, wider pitch or movement and quickened uptake may fit; a stunned quiet response is also possible.

Distinction: Triumph requires an achievement context; elation does not.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A welcome sensation or deeply rewarding experience is allowed to register.

Possible manifestations: Ease, absorption or expansive enjoyment may fit; use food, music, rest or beauty as ordinary non-graphic contexts.

Distinction: Contentment is more settled; pleasure can be brief and intense.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: For this moment, nothing needs to be changed.

Possible manifestations: Unhurried timing, easy breath and settled attention may fit without requiring a smile.

Distinction: Numbness and fatigue: low activation alone does not mean satisfaction.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Another person’s help is recognised as consequential.

Possible manifestations: Specific acknowledgement and changed attention toward the helper matter more than a generic warm tone.

Distinction: Affection need not involve a received benefit.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The other person matters and is worth caring for.

Possible manifestations: Tender or brisk practical care, playful familiarity or attentive silence can all carry affection.

Distinction: Infatuation is a narrower fascination; affection need not be romantic.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An adult person is newly and disproportionately captivating.

Possible manifestations: Attention may linger, speech may become self-conscious, or confidence may briefly falter.

Distinction: Lust, affection and admiration are related but not interchangeable.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A valued future remains possible despite uncertainty.

Possible manifestations: A renewed practical proposal, brighter anticipation or fragile insistence may fit.

Distinction: Certainty is not required; hope often contains doubt.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An obstacle has been overcome or a contest won.

Possible manifestations: A decisive release, celebratory call or quiet assertion can fit the achievement and audience.

Distinction: Pride can persist without a recent victory.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A person or accomplishment is valued as reflecting something worthy.

Possible manifestations: Upright presentation, restrained satisfaction or generous acknowledgement may fit.

Distinction: Pride need not imply dominance, arrogance or loudness.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A target draws curiosity and invites further exploration.

Possible manifestations: Follow-up questions, orienting and responsive changes can fit; avoid equating all concentration with interest.

Distinction: Concentration can be obligatory and joyless.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Something exceeds the person’s accustomed scale or understanding.

Possible manifestations: Attention may widen or become still; breath, gaze and phrasing can suspend before a response.

Distinction: Surprise concerns unexpectedness; awe can grow slowly.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An expectation is abruptly contradicted.

Possible manifestations: A time-local interruption, change of gaze, inhalation or exclamation can fit. Record what follows.

Distinction: Surprise is not automatically positive, frightened or sustained.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A specific task demands concentrated attention.

Possible manifestations: Selective attention, checking and economical responses may fit.

Distinction: A cognitive-attentional state rather than an emotion; does not imply high intelligence.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A question is held open and considered rather than immediately resolved.

Possible manifestations: Pauses, alternative formulations and inward attention may fit.

Distinction: Confusion concerns a failure of understanding; contemplation need not involve difficulty.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An anticipated cost or threat is reduced.

Possible manifestations: A release in breath, posture or phrasing may follow the resolving information.

Distinction: Low arousal alone is not relief: the preceding concern matters.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A valued person, place or possibility is absent or out of reach.

Possible manifestations: Attention can return to a missing object or imagined encounter; quietness is optional.

Distinction: Sadness centres loss; longing includes an approach toward what is missing.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A provocation tests or plays with a relationship.

Possible manifestations: Timing and the partner’s uptake distinguish warm play from hurtful ridicule.

Distinction: Record relational context; teasing is an interactional action, not just cheerful prosody.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Delay or interference is becoming difficult to tolerate.

Possible manifestations: Clipped responses, repeated correction or restless timing may fit.

Distinction: Anger can be stronger, broader or principled; irritability need not become an outburst.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Adult desire is present in an explicitly authored, non-graphic relational context.

Possible manifestations: Represent attraction through context, boundaries and interpersonal intention; no explicit erotic script is required.

Distinction: No diagnosis of private desire from breathiness or appearance; keep adult context explicit.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A proposition or intended action is not secure.

Possible manifestations: Qualification, checking or a withheld commitment may fit.

Distinction: Fear concerns threat; uncertainty alone is not fear.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Something valued may be harmed or lost.

Possible manifestations: Freezing, vigilance, urgent action, a loud call or a whisper can all fit different threats.

Distinction: Arousal and breath disturbance do not uniquely identify fear.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The current demand is experienced or performed as difficult to bear.

Possible manifestations: Disrupted action, pleading, agitation or withdrawal may fit the specific pressure.

Distinction: A broad upset category: record whether pain, grief, threat or overwhelm is separately supported.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Available information does not form a workable understanding.

Possible manifestations: Failed revisions, puzzled checking and interrupted reasoning may fit.

Distinction: Do not equate accent, slow processing or low fluency with confusion.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A social exposure threatens ease or face in this encounter.

Possible manifestations: A small repair, self-conscious smile or altered gaze may fit.

Distinction: Shame can concern the self more globally; embarrassment can be fleeting and light.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The self is experienced or authored as failing a valued standard.

Possible manifestations: Concealment, difficulty accepting reassurance or a painful admission may fit.

Distinction: Guilt about an action is distinct; posture alone cannot establish shame.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An anticipated good outcome fails to arrive.

Possible manifestations: A falling response, revised plan or controlled acknowledgement may fit.

Distinction: Requires an expectation context; not simply low valence.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A meaningful loss or sorrow affects the person.

Possible manifestations: Often soft, vulnerable or withdrawn, but grief may also be forceful, angry or publicly declaimed.

Distinction: Do not force tears, whispering or helplessness in every sad scene.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An unresolved wrong continues to colour the present encounter.

Possible manifestations: Dry emphasis, recurring comparison or a guarded refusal may fit.

Distinction: Contempt dismisses another; bitterness centres a persisting grievance.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Another person or action is treated as beneath serious regard.

Possible manifestations: Dismissive wording, withholding engagement or cold economy may fit.

Distinction: Do not use a unilateral facial motion as sufficient proof.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Contact with something is rejected as aversive.

Possible manifestations: Withdrawal, interruption or a rejecting response may fit. Separate bodily and moral contexts.

Distinction: Sour taste, nausea and moral disapproval can overlap without being identical.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: An obstruction or wrong mobilises opposition.

Possible manifestations: Often forceful, explosive or hard; a controlled whisper can be equally intense when the scene motivates it.

Distinction: Loudness is not anger and anger is not necessarily hostility toward the listener.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: In fiction, the person intends another’s loss or takes satisfaction in it.

Possible manifestations: A courteous surface can carry an authored harmful intention through context.

Distinction: An intention category: not a diagnosis of evil character from a voice or face.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: A sour taste produces a sensory response.

Possible manifestations: A brief mouth, face or vocal reaction can fit a tasting scene.

Distinction: Anchor-v5 sense is gustatory, not a bitter or grumpy personality.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Physical hurt is reported, scripted or visibly performed.

Possible manifestations: Guarding, interruption, altered breath or a cry may fit; some pain is concealed.

Distinction: Expression cannot determine pain severity or medical cause.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The person cannot find a workable way to influence an unwanted outcome.

Possible manifestations: Abandoned attempts, a request for help or exhausted insistence may fit.

Distinction: A low-status role can still have agency; do not confuse dependence with incapacity.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Available effort or reserve is low in the authored or supported situation.

Possible manifestations: Slower recovery, shortened phrasing or effortful continuation may fit.

Distinction: Quietness is not proof of fatigue; high-arousal exhaustion is possible.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The authored or reported experience is emotionally blunted.

Possible manifestations: A flattened display can be an outward counterpart, but it can also be deliberate restraint.

Distinction: Inner numbness cannot be inferred from a neutral face or monotone alone.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: The scene supplies an altered state with an explicit provenance.

Possible manifestations: Speech or movement may be changed in a scenario-specific way; avoid one generic “drunk” stereotype.

Distinction: Never diagnose substance use, impairment or a psychiatric state from performance alone.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.

Dramatic circumstance: Another’s advantage or a threatened valued relationship becomes consequential.

Possible manifestations: Comparison, guarded congratulations or protective attention may fit.

Distinction: Keep envy of an advantage distinct from jealousy over a relationship in the scene metadata.

Intensity options: 1 trace; 2 moderate; 3 strong; 4 extreme. Each can be freely expressed or held. Specify the target, source of knowledge and time interval.