Staring self portraits

I've done my old trick of a Google image search of 'self portraits' and I've found that the vast majority do have intense gazes, and look like they were done while staring into a mirror. I suppose that those of you who know me will pick up on the wide-eyed gaze more than those who don't. Another contributing factor is that the light in the garage studio is very dim, so my pupils are dilated. I want to mess around with mirrors so, like the profile picture, I'm not gazing into my own eyes, but seeing myself from an oblique angle. I also want to place myself in a setting, so that the background is also relevant to the overall picture. Lots of work ahead of me, I know.

Here's some examples of other self portraits I found which appealed to me: