I declare this a Moriarty appreciation post.

worldlyexpression:

Seriously, how do you go from this

to this?

actually— and i’ll put it down to ascott’s acting— the answer’s there in the first gif.  dude’s not entirely manic cheerful at the pool; look how fast his his grin disappears after he finishes saying “i did.”  it was there for a second, and then, as he’s dropping his head, it’s completely gone.  flat affect is baseline for moriarty, even when he’s being playful.