#a study in body language

[another-little-hippie]

Robert gets silly, gets nervous, then keeps talking like the pro that he is:

[destiel-wings]

Dean Winchester & hug dynamic analysis

I was thinking about how whenever Dean hugs someone he's almost always the one hugging the other and how this links to his psychological trauma of always being the caretaker of people, making himself bigger to protect them.

Because that's how Dean sees himself, as a shield for others, and then I thought about how Cas actually is the shield, and he's HIS SHIELD, specifically, the only one who's really there to protect HIM, which is why it hits so much when we see this:

The way Cas wraps his arms around him, trying to protect him with his whole body--that he'd use as a shield and give up in a second if he could spare him from any pain and save him.

(for context: Dean was about to go use the soul bomb on Amara there, it was a suicide mission)

Bobby is another one that hits, he hugs him as the big hugger because he's his father, he loves him and he's actually here to protect him (and Dean LETS him -barely, but he lets him *and Cas* - in a way that he doesn't let Sam)

I watched a compilation of Sam & Dean hugs to check if i was right about it, but it's almost always Dean the big hugger with Sam, except when he's about to die or Sam sees him alive again after losing him.

Even then, Dean mostly tries to hug Sam as the big hugger anyway, with at least one arm, like a way to comfort him, making him feel protected, like his body language is saying "I'm here, I'm okay, I'm still strong, i can still protect you" (because their real father failed and Dean thinks it's his job).

He rarely lets himself be the little one hugged with Sam, unless he's barely conscious. Which is why it kills me so much more now that in this moment (s14, when Dean was going to lock himself in the Ma'lak box cause he was possessed by Michael) and Sam has a desperate breakdown and punches him (to stop him) he forcefully hugs him as the little hugger, the way Dean always kept him, like a way of saying "I still need you to protect me, please don't do this to yourself".

In the scene below he gives Sam his blessing to do a dangerous (possibly suicidal) mission, and one of his arms is down, but the other one tries to stay up--he's forcing himself to do it and he struggles because he still wants to protect him, but (as the seasons progress) he slowly becomes more prone to let go.

So in this view the hug dynamic becomes an indicator of how Dean sees Sam (and himself) and his protector role, how adult and self sufficient he considers Sam, and how much he lets people around him take care of him, lowering his walls and letting himself be hugged.

This is also why i think hugs from characters like Garth or Charlie are so special, because they're just like us: they see Dean and they just know that he needs to be hugged a lot, and that he's not used to it, so they just go for it-- and it's so normal and kind and spontaneous that Dean's just not used to it-- he doesn't know how to respond (especially with Garth, at the beginning, but as the seasons progress, he learns to, and he even initiates the hug eventually).

I love the hugs where they're 50/50 (one arm up, one arm down both), feels like they're equals, both taking care of each other. I feel like with Sam and Dean, this indicates a healthier dynamic, because Dean lets go a little of the role that was imposed to him and manages to see Sam as the strong individual that he is. But the same applies to 50/50 hugs with other characters, like with Cas, where I feel like it testifies how equals they feel in terms of being fighters, there's a show of respect of each other's strength that transpires by the gesture (which is even more astounding considering that Cas is literally a powerful angel).

And just to end on a destiel note, I'd like to note the possessiveness and protectiveness of Dean (rightfully so) whenever he finds Cas after he thought he had lost him, and how that translates into his body/hug language:

[ghostlightfic]

im so obsessed with how loop and siffrin share expressions by the way. the fake smile is literally like the exact same expression on both of them. they both lean forward when they get super upset. you two make me sick

[beaulesbian]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

So we're just supposed to let people die because some algorithm says that that's supposed to happen? You realize how messed up that sounds, right?

[dawnbreakersgaze]

Guys I was playing the event stories again one last time before they went away forever and I just noticed the sweetest fucking thing ever

When you first walk up to Zayne and catch him on his phone, look at his face. He goes from his normal neutral expression to the softest little smile when he realizes it's you/mc walking up to him 🥺🥺🥺

He even straightens himself up a little taller when he sees you i'm dying send help 😩

I'm gonna squish him 🥲

[shrimp-milf]

yeah i can feel shrimp emotions. thats why im on mood stabilizers

[hyohaehyuk]

Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson about *Dreamstat* (Interview with the Vampire Season 2 ❤️🩸 Behind The Scenes)

Note: i dont know what is the original source (maybe is a content from amc+ u need to pay to watch) but i found a similar video on amc official channel.

Sam saying that it was Jacob that came up with name "Dreamstat" (what surprise ofc it was him) and Jacob mentioning about Sam was mirroring his/Louis' body language when he was playing Dreamstat.

[coochiekrab]

Having a phobia of French language is not that Life Intrusive as someone who lives 2576478585 miles away from any Location that has any French influence whatsoever but the only truly annoying thing is the fact that i can’t listen to stromae anymore. I fucking loved stromae. There are a handful of French songs i can comfortably listen to and even enjoy mostly by francoise hardy or france gall (wow both France derivative names. Ironic) but for some reason stromae can’t pass the censors in my brain that turns the fight or fight response into overdrive

[chicago-geniza]

People describe Lestat's gait and general movements as "leonine" but I think that's just a temptation to pun on his surname and mistaking light-footedness for feline movement. Honestly Louis' Predator Prowl when he hunches into himself then STRIDES forward with a swinging inexorable purpose is much more catlike--JA has slight scoliosis so his head is lower down toward the center of his chest the way a big cat's would be, and when he moves his arms it's like they're propelling him through space. And when he moves his arms with intent, e.g., to attack Santiago, it's like his scapulae are only attached to muscles and ligaments, his movements are THAT liquid. Also he holds his hands at rest in a sort of cupped/curled position, a C-shape, and Sam Reid-as-Lestat keeps his hands in straight-line shapes. I remembered it was Jacob who introduced the "vampires hissing" thing to IWTV: The Show and it reminded me how his movements made me think of cat shoulder anatomy lol

[coulson-is-an-avenger]

i wonder how many people meet Arthur Lester and just assume he's autistic because Arthur is allergic to telling people he's blind and John clearly has no clue how to hold eye contact and so nine times out of ten I bet Arthur starts casually chatting to someone all while looking around in every direction like a chameleon to the point where people are like yeah fella's just nervous with eye contact. real and true

edit: yes y'all i know nobody was getting autism diagnosed in 1934 but what i Mean is that people are likely still reading him as disabled in some way, whether that's bad at eye contact/ unfocused eye disorder/something of that ilk

[fitzjamesbulletwound]

sometimes when i’m watching a show or a movie i think “oh yeah this is (insert actor) playing (insert character)” but when i watch the terror it’s just like. no that isn’t tobias menzies that’s literally james fitzjames, it’s not adam nagaitis i’m looking at, it’s hickey. the acting in the terror is just so good that it completely brings me into the story and out of reality in a way no other media has really done for me and i think the fact that every single one of the actors seemed to put their heart and soul into their performances is a big reason why

[kaurwreck]

y'all stop saying fyodor has never looked so sincerely angry before. he has.

I know this because, and this is not an exaggeration, the vast majority of my manga revisits are to enjoy his expressions of anger, disdain, and malcontent. i shit you not, several of my bsd meta posts wholly unrelated to fyodor were written because I happened to notice something else while flipping through to imbibe fedya's hissy fits. I don't reread the manga when I do this, just those scenes, unless something else catches my attention.

anyway, stop disrespecting my beloved pastime.

[studies-in-the-art-of-deduction]

Deduction Tips #16

The size of a bag is indicative of how much a person needs to carry, and usually we prefer to carry less things. When you see someone with a bag (be it a backpack, a purse, or anything else) think about why this person needs a bigger one rather than a smaller one, and what that says about the contents of the bag and the situation of the person carrying it

[lemonynuggets]

Having a good art class for the first time in my life is such an insane feeling, all the other classes were just my teachers being incredibly mean, not actually teaching anything and making us do nonsensical assignments and now I have a teacher that actually takes note of the kind of art I’m into and gives me assignments based on things I enjoy and can improve? I made an oil painting of my current blorbo because this way I’d be drawing something I like and still trying a new medium and learning things? My first homework was making concept designs for my OC? My next assignment will be making a scrapbook-esque research about Julia Lepetit from drawfee? Is this even real

[snarkylinda]

OHHHH SO THAT IS THAT GESTURE SPENCER WAS DOING WHEN CONFRONTING CAT. I get it now.

[bratspike]

mark s 🤝 helena: gemma…. idk her