Expressive volumes (Patreon)

The first time I met my boyfriend's mother, my first thought was that this woman must be on the brink of suicide, the way she only has the energy to weakly complain about everything and find nothing positive to say about anything. It took me a long time to understand that this isn't an expression of utter despair, it's just hpw she talks. That level of expressing dissatisfaction is normal to them.
In return, my boyfriend often asks if I'm sad when my face is just neutral, because my "sad" is so muted that he can't tell. On the flip side, the first point where I usually notice that my boyfriend felt like he has been unreasonably angry is when he apologises for it, seemingly out of nowhere.