Have a scene where someone drowns a man, and I want it to be as dark and gritty and violent as possible. As such, looking for some of the things that happen to people as they're being drowned. Do their eyes get glassy? Do they throw up while being drowned? What color does their face turn? How would you describe the desperation of reaching for something -- anything -- to grab hold to?
I'd guess this might need some parameters. Are they drowning the man in something specific? Are the arms free? Etc
In a bathtub, nothing in reach. FWIW, I already have him with glassy eyes, an unfocused look, aspirating, emesis, convulsing, and even shove a toilet bowl brush down his throat.
I live in a coastal island and had a mini almost-drowning experience in the sea as a child when there was a sudden wave that submerged me. 0/10 do not recommend. How would I describe it? Time feels slow, almost as if some mechanism inside your brain halts its gears so you can catch up and make decisions. The seawater looked grey instead of blue (wtf?) as my head spun along with my body. My nose was being burned by the salt, and by the time I had THANKFULLY resurfaced, I could not breath because the salty water had made my throat close up. I can't actually remember what the seawater I swallowed did but I definitely could not breath for a good five seconds, the whole event was probably 10-15 seconds. It was some seriously suspenseful stuff. Nothing really too serious since I wasn't in there for too long, but here you go, maybe it helps?
People die from anoxic brain injury. Their face turns a dusky pale blue/ purple color and they get a little pasty and floppy. After death the pupils become fixed and dilated. I don't see vomiting, though water enters the lungs and digestive tract.
I mean, I got a little something so far. Here's a couple pages of my current iteration (the drowning is just the first page and first line of the next page):
In the early stages maybe a scream underwater and an absolute battle to get their head above the water. I mean a violent struggle beyond anything you might normally expect from them. But what happens when people are forced to take a breath underwater is laryngospasm, where the lungs basically shut themselves off to stop anymore water getting in. So, silence, asphyxiation and little time left before unconsciousness. People can loose control of their bowels in the final moments.
I doubt throwing up while drowning would happen, as it's the lungs that are in trouble and not your stomach. I did google this myself once, because I was busy drowning someone in my story. I don't remember reading anything about the color of the face changing, though you'd think it would, right? People getting strangled usually turn purple. So I hear... The desperation, yeah, I wouldn't know how to describe it because I find "desperation" a very powerful word. I did almost drown once, and I don't even think that it's the drowning that's the problem. At first, anyway, obviously. It's the panic. Your brain just shuts off for manual input, and grabbing something to save yourself becomes top priority. Meanwhile, your brain is also finding its swimming.exe subroutine, but it doesn't have the CPU power to run it next to saving yourself, so all that happens is wild flailing. Then there are two things that kept coming up, which I didn't have to experience: Oddly, your lungs seem to feel like they're on fire because they are filling with water. And there's supposed to be a moment of complete euphoria just before the end, due to your brain becoming oxygen deprived. Those two kinda stuck with me because it's so opposite of what is happening. Drowning is an unpleasant death, and even though you're in water it feels like fire. And however violent even an accidental drowning is, there's peace before the end.
