@glorytragedy : cheekbone. what makes them smile ? ( BARE BONES HEADCANONS )
every one of elia martell's smiles are entirely deliberate, they are something that she has to put thought and a varying amount ( depending on the day ) of effort into; it could be a large amount of effort to produce a smile that is fleeting, one that blossoms and fades within seconds, it could be a small amount of effort to produce a smile that lasts - that fades and grows again and fades and grows - and yet, always maintained. it could be a medium amount of effort to produce a smile that lasts only for the duration of a single conversation. there are some days where she ? cannot maintain them at all, no matter how much she wants to. and there are some days where the outward expression of emotion in general just exhausts too much of her energy to the point she cannot even bring herself to make the attempt.
because the majority of her reserves is going to keeping herself walking, keeping herself going and moving and doing what needs to be done; what being princess consort of dragonstone and later queen consort means ( it is something she manages by allocating her energy to where there is a perceived need - a thing she mastered growing up through trial and error. there were many times as a child where she did overexert herself and end up bedridden for a few days before she began to understand that she needed to listen to her body first and foremost so she knew at what pace she could go that day, so she could ration it out accordingly and could get the most done before she needed to rest ) no matter how much she wants to. smiling can be a very tiring process for her depending on the day, but even on her better days they still take enough energy that they can never be considered instant.
that said, a lot of things make her want to. a lot of things make her at least try to smile. a lot of people. her children, chiefly, are the ones who she tries the hardest to summon a smile for, and who most of the time she manages to summon at least a partial, faint one for. her niece and her nephew make her try to smile ( nieces and nephews in the verse where she lives to meet trystane and the sand snakes ) her husband makes her try to smile, her brothers make her try to smile, her mother and her father make her try to smile, her cousins make her try to smile, her ladies in wait make her try to smile, the children of courtiers or villagers or lords that she meets make her try to smile because she ? absolutely adores children - she tries her best to be as warm and welcoming as she can be to them so they feel safe around her and not as though they need to stand on ceremony, or do anything to gain her approval because of her station.
a gift that is indicative of a degree of understanding to the type of person that she is makes her try to smile - something that is demonstrative of clear caring and prolonged effort. a musical composition also makes her try to smile whether it's ? a happy or sad composition, because it's the music itself and the feeling that it invokes; the beauty of that and the dedication to making it be felt is what makes her smile - not the specific emotion intended. as a musician herself, she can appreciate the mastery and the technique aspects of it in a way that compounds with her appreciation of the loveliness of it to make the whole thing that much more important to her. to paint makes her try and smile, because one consistent theme in the want to for her is contentment, it's peace, and her passions make her feel the most at peace.
the quiet of a sunny afternoon makes her try to smile - watching her daughter play in the flower fields, watching her play on the shores, and always come back to where she sat to offer little aegon a shell or a flower or a rock - any little thing so he knows she hasn't forgotten him.taking a walk through a particularly beautiful area even when the weather isn't sunny makes her try to smile as inwardly she's ? thinking about how wonderful it would be to try and paint the sight, considering the colors that she would need to mix and how the landscape would translate from memory to canvas. swimming makes her try to smile, a hobby that she so seldom can dedicate enough time for after she got married due to being occupied with all of her other duties even when she had the energy for it - that she would jump at the chance to have the ability to do whenever she could at sunspear. she loves the water, genuinely. whether it be sailing or swimming or merely wading into the water to stand in, she loves it. her rooms at sunspear overlooked the sea and she would always move to sit by the window, and watch the sun set over the water, practicing blending colors on the canvas by painting the setting reflection on the water over and over again.
