#captainsnakepants

So, in regards to dragon lips (esp. in dragons who can articulate full-fledged human speech) what sort of facial structure would we consider? I have a dragon character who is able to switch between human and dragon form, and I largely designed him after a mix of horse and human, giving him leathery, rather than scaly, lips. I’m gonna redesign him soon, and I’d like advice!

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This is the dragon I mentioned doing a redesign of soon (or at least his face, I have plans for the rest of him, too). I’ve already acknowledged some flaws, such as the “sideburns” of horns along his jaw. I plan to shorten those and point them outward more so they’re not at risk of stabbing into his jugular if he turns his head too sharply, or of getting in the way of his ears, should he open his mouth too wide. The sketch is how wide his (comfortable) gape is, though I may tweak the skull so it’s less rigid and more kinetic. His front teeth are close together and come up in a neat scissor bite, like a wolf’s jaw, to better aid in mixing the idea of a predatory reptile with the ability to articulate human speech. I’m wondering if I should add more flexibility to the existing lip or if I need to fix or plump up his face. An important character trait is how thin and narrow his facial features are, so I’d like to preserve those as best I can, while still giving a very equine/canine face enough expressiveness to convey nonverbal communication (raising eyebrows, sneering, smiling, grimacing, etc.) To note, the lip ends where the bend in the maxilla begins, as demonstrated in the sketch. Any advice would be helpful!

we’ve got some good info in our vocalization tag, if u wanna check that out! lots of talk abt bird vocalizations and links to other sources of info

now I’m def not very versed in linguistic study, so I don’t necessarily have much specific advise. I’ll just say that lips aren’t always necessary, depending on the method of speech. birds, for example, have VERY complex vocalizations and can even mimic human speech in certain cases! these sounds are produced mostly in the throat rather than the mouth itself– their throat structures are just that complex! there are some sounds that they may not be able to produce due to a lack of lips (I wouldn’t know what sounds tho..), but bird vocalizations can be SHOCKINGLY complex, despite the lack of lips or even rounded tongues, depending on the species

the critical *basic* things in speech are whether the brain is capable of understanding/producing speech, and an ability to control air flow from the lungs in specific, complex ways. now whether the actual sound production is handled primarily in the throat with the aid of a syrinx, primarily in the mouth with the aid of lips/tongue, aided somehow by the sinus cavity, or a combination of these is up to you

also a quick anatomy aside:

the ear canal needs an actual structure in the skull (highlighted in orange), and the skull needs a bulbous base to attach to the spine, which I drew just behind the ear canal (based on a wolf skull, in this case)

RUBS FACE ON JAMES

I’m gonna eat my own ass holy fucc

Hang on a cotton-pickin’ minute that’s not a bear