didnāt want to derail from oomfās awesome post, so i made a separate oneā but (puts on nerd glasses) i really hate when people say the knives out franchise takes Too Many Shots at conservatives/that itās Too Political and should Focus On The Murder. i donāt think a lot of people realise that 90% of golden-age murder mysteries are actually never about the murder.
the murder acts as a vessel by which to deliver some kind of political commentary or moral message to the audienceā largely stuff like, āgovernment corruption is badā, ābe nice to marginalised peopleā, āthe legal system sucksā, and so on. for obvious reasons, a lot of these messages in the 18-1900s focused on classism, financial abuse, and corruption in high societyā which is why we HAVE the modern murder-mystery stereotype of A Bunch Of Rich People In A Big Mansion House Killing For Money. even in terms of detectives, there has always been political commentaryā poirot and marple specifically are always dismissed by others on account of them being foreign and old respectively, and holmes and watson meet in the first place because theyāre both poor and the latter was WIA. this stuff gets played for laughs a lot in modern adaptations, but itās actually a big part of their personalities and the stories the authors are trying to tell.
murder mysteries have ALWAYS reflected the modern political climate, because they have always had to answer the question āin this day and age, what would people kill for?ā. some constants remainā money, love, etc.ā but a lot of the environmental context changes with age. good modern mysteries recognise this; iām sure the killers in the thursday murder club, for example, would not be given half as much mercy in the 1900s as they are by modern viewersā and yet in todayās world, where we can recognise their pain as something that exists within the context of modern society and its disregard towards the vulnerable, WE, the audience, feel that their actions are justified and that they should be allowed to remain above the law.
itās why a lot of contemporary hollywood mysteries donāt work. so many modern authors try to return to āthe good old daysā by copying the 1900s formulaā tossing a ton of rich people in a house and saying something vague about moneyā without realising that the appeal has always come from the tackling of real, relatable issues, and in justice for those who deserve it. itās the reason why murder on the orient express, widely considered one of the greatest mystery stories of all time, HAS to end the way it doesā because having it end any other way would completely undermine everything the story is trying to say about the legal system. in a similar way, thereās a reason why knives out CANāT end with fran surviving/ransom getting away with it, why glass onion CANāT end with miles being arrested normally, and why wake up dead man CANāT end without jud taking marthaās confessionā because those endings miss what the films are trying to say about the very real modern issues at the centre of them.
sorry for how ranty this wasā what iām trying to say is that the knives out filmsā focus on āwokeismā and their insistence on taking shots at right-wing radicalism, political corruption, etc. is what makes them good films, because good contemporary murder mysteries are inherently reflective of modern society, and those things are increasingly prevalent within modern society. murder mysteries are political; they have ALWAYS BEEN political. THE WOKENESS IS THE POINT OF THE MEDIUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! šššā¼ļøā¼ļøā¼ļø
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idk why but kuroo to me like a āhm?ā guy. he takes in the information and gives himself a careful moment to filter it before answering . yaku blurts out whatever he thinks there is maybe One filter between his brain and mouth and thatās to be polite to strangers and his elders. kuroo has at least seven hundred and one filters and analyses the situation from numerous angles before choosing how to handle it . which I think is why sometimes when a situation he didnāt think of pops up heās thrown a bit (I think yaku surprises him sometimes)
so i was having a conversation about and then there were none and lombard in general a while ago. i thought it was so stupid that killing 21 africans was deemed as āless badā by the narrative than, like, vera killing a kid. it was something i just took for granted as a doylist thing, a byproduct of the racism of the timeā¦
ā¦until i realised, suddenly, that the fact that itās stupid is part of the point.
wargrave is inherently an unreliable narrator. he kills these people based on his own individual definition of justice. heās a white man in the 30sā of course his definition of justice would cast the killing of africans as inherently less villainous than the killing of whites. itās the same definition that casts marston with less guilt because heās ānaturally evilā, and the same definition that casts vera with more for the crime of being a Hysterical Woman.
even if you say these people DID deserve to die, the manner of their deaths is a power fantasy come to life. in spite of its commentary on the ineffectiveness of the justice system, and then there were none isnāt a cathartic story of killers being brought to justice. itās just as much a critique on the the power that the justice system has over individual livesā a massacre committed by a man who has been taught by the system that he has the right to play god, to decide who is deserving, to decide who gets to live and die. thatās how i read it, anyway.
iām not a big fan of the mystery itself, but i think thursday murder club is so uniqueā¦ because although there are lots of stories about old people being sleuths, iāve never seen one that makes you so constantly aware of the main castās mortality.
penny is in the hospice unit. stephen has dementia. preserving the memory of dead/dying loved ones is a central theme. joyce is widowed, and she loses another lover by the end of the story; the rest of the TMC lose their best friend. the idea of the elderly being viewed by others as Disposable/Temporary/Stupid and thus Worth Less permeates through the whole narrative.
so many subplots of the book are buried in loneliness and an insurmountable grief for things that have happened or Certainly Will happen, and yet the story itself is so full of Sweet Old People moments in spite of it. such a juxtaposition begs the question, āhow do you even begin to deal with so much loss?ā ā and in every instance, the book looks you in the eyes and tells you the only way to survive is through connection and love.
thinking about FTM foreman again; obviously, the way his queer identity would add to his existing arcs about feeling imposter syndrome because of his raceā because, you know, intersectionality and stuffā¦ but also, how it would recontextualise his whole fear of turning into house as an allegory for the transmasc fear of becoming TOO masculine, passing TOO wellā turning into, in the eyes of society, an āunsafeā manā and having to weigh the pros and cons of that identity, that loss of community around him vs his knowledge that he HAS to do whatās rightā finding the middle ground between house and not-house, between masculinity and the traditionally-oppressive cis male identityā the way he walks that lineā¦.
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do tou have any form of like.. analysis for anything in house!! i love analysis posts or even just when people spill out a take for anything or how theh viewed something.. id love to hear!!
i had trouble thinking of what to write for this so i think iāll use it to finally go stream-of-consciousness about The Kraken
(ā¬ļø most autistic image of her btw. #loner)
to clarify this isnāt an āamber is autisticā post. i am very aware that sheās not, i just want to put forth some traits i see in her & relate to as an autistic person. donāt take this as canon, donāt vaguepost me, and ESPECIALLY donāt pull the āYouāre Attributing Regular Human Behaviour To Autism, Not Everyone Has To Be Autistic!ā bullshit because i am NOT in the mood. this is my self indulgence post and if you disagree then please letās talk about it Nicely in the comments of the post as god intended.
more points. itās 5am and iām lazy so weāre going sourceless, iām taking for granted that you have a good enough grasp of the source material and autism to understand what iām talking about when i reference specific canon events & symptoms of high-masking autism. iām also largely talking about fellowship amber because i like her, and i wonāt cover everything here because thereās a lot!!! here is a summary of my thoughts & some traits in no specific order.
āļøāļøāļø
ā hangups on fairness.
obviously amber doesnāt play fair in the competition, but her rule-breaking never Actively goes against the Overarching Rules house has set about the competition. the car wash & dog collar stunts are two examples; itās her way of eliminating the competition from within, but she never Forces her targets to leave. in a similar way, she doesnāt seem to begrudge cole or brennan for their tactics, nor does she hesitate in getting cuddyās thong in an underhand way.
her issues arise when the Win Condition ITSELF is changedā when kutner changes his number, and when terzi suddenly takes a spotā and BOTH instances make her mad, because itās not Fair. itās not FAIR that kutner just gets to come back, and itās not FAIR that terzi gets a free pass. THATāS why she gets so hung up on both.
ā social ineptitude.
amber is BLUNT as FUCK.
āoh, but nick!ā i hear you cry, āamber doesnāt count because sheās rude on purpose!ā. and yes, this is true Sometimesā with thirteen, for example, she is Obviously acting cruel on purposeā but there are several instances where sheās around people sheās trying to please and she actively brown-noses them so much that it actively makes them dislike her.
i mentioned it in this post which has explicit quotesā particularly noting the cuddy & cameron onesā but she also does it to chase once, and house Several Times. and yes, i know what youāre thinkingā you absolutely CAN put this down to neurotypical social messupsā but that brings me toā¦
ā ācutthroat bitchā as a mask
gets its own section. amber has that speech mid-s4 about always having to choose between love and respect, which itself is a very autistic sentiment (the idea that Being Yourself means people will inherently perceive you as lesserā hello?!?!?!).
it also, however, brings up the idea of āCutthroat Bitchā being The Method By Which Amber Gets That Respectā āif you want to win, you want cutthroatā or whatever she says. because if you canāt naturally garner love from people through her personalityā which, well, seems like itās not her strong suitā then the other option is being so good you garner respect instead.
amber is not an inherently cruel personā cruelty is a means to an end for her to reap the benefits a normal person would get from social aptitude and kindness. which leads nicely ontoā¦
ā āif they donāt like you, you gotta be right, or youāre not worth anything.ā
like house, she is laser-focused on Winning and Being Right. her one-track mind and black-and-white views on patients (which are both traits, btw!!!) are literally what get her fired. sheās also generally stubborn and competitive (see; Her Whole Thing, but the whole kutner betting thing comes to mind).
she is So focused on winning that getting fired genuinely makes her burst into tears. and sure, you can argue that sheās just sensitive, butā¦ is she??? because it definitely feels more like frustration in the context; she did everything right, she even acted Suitably House-ian, and then got nerfed for the same logical one-track mind that hinged her own worth as a human being on her success in the fellowship competition.
DONāT MISINTERPRET ME. i am NOT saying she shouldnāt have been firedā house had EVERY REASON to fire her. what i am saying is that, in the context of the previous point re; ācutthroat bitchā being a means to an end, amberās firing serves as a proof that being Right and Independent and Betterā something that she relied upon as a substitute for Loveā was Never Enough on its own. she cannot be liked OR respected, she is chopped AND unc, yadda yadda yadda.
ā safety in control
kind of unrelated to the previous points, since it concerns wamber-amberā¦ and i will admit, this is more of a Theory or one of those highly fantastical watsonian points where the doylist explanation is undoubtedly āthe writers didnāt care enough to think about her character like thatā. but wilson-relationship-era amberā aka, amber after having the Curse Broken and being Healed By Loveā is the one looking after wilson. she puts his feelings before her own, she takes care of himā¦ hell, she even takes care of house in the events leading up to houseās head.
i think the idea of her being autistic would offer a good explanation for thisā because amber likes to Be Right, as demonstratedā likes to Know The Score, to have some kind of objective metric to make herself feel Worth Something (which sheās just lost on account of being fired). wilson, in all of his needy glory, perfectly provides that for herā because he NEEDS someone to be gentle with him, and who can Fight for him like amber does. his weakness/willingness to let her take the reins gives her a kind of control & safety in the romance which she is in desperate need of after the sheer Lack Of It she was left with at the end of the fellowship competition.
*in spite of my personal dislike of the ship, i am quite biased towards this interpretation, because Amber Benefitting From Wamber By Wilson Allowing Her Control is quite possibly the only way i have found to read the romantic relationship between them as Mutually Beneficial. it also offers a deeper reason for amberās upset re; the water bed thingā because the foundations of the relationship are actively disturbed by wilson NOT trusting and relying upon her. i hope iām explaining this clearly because i donāt know how else to phrase it in a way that makes senseā but tldr; control makes her feel safe and wanted, so wilsonās neediness lets her feel secure or whatever
ā random miscellaneous points
sheās not very good with hiding her expressions. taub telling her āshiksas are for practiceā & amber (slight delayed reaction time) going š¤¢ is one example. Surprised Pikachu Face amber is another. her smile when terzi is fired and her elation whenever she solves a case, her Abject Disgust when kutner checks her outā¦ sheās generally just a goofball. iām too lazy to get these gifs so this is a #trustmebro situation
in the rare moments she does actively try to connect in a vulnerable way, she is awkwardā her blurting out āi hate thirteen!ā in an attempt to please house is crazy. thereās also this scene, which is kind of giving I-Love-How-You-Can-See-Quackityās-Emotions-On-His-Face Memeā itās literally just her trying to butter up thirteenā but her body language here vs how little of a fuck thirteen gives DOES fry me, so i WILL gif it:
she doesnt care girlā¦ā¦. girl ur doing too muchā¦ im sorryā¦ā¦.
she generally Goes Places Most Self-Respecting People Wouldnāt Go for the jobā you could put it down to competitiveness, but iām making a case for social disregard. would you go commando for a job? would you climb through the window of an oncologistās office MID-MEETING??? WOULD YOU BRING COFFEE AND DONUTS FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO DIG UP A GRAVE?!?!?!?!
& a point for high-intelligence but low common sense/social perceptionā letting a smoking addict alone in a room with an oxygen tank. NOT HER FINEST MOMENT!!!
sorry that this was so rambly and probably ooc!!! i had fun writing it though. like i said before if you have any harsh criticisms please either phrase them nicely or keep them to yourself (i am normally up for debate but iām kind of sensitive to this one so please be nice to me <\3).
there is also def more iām not thinking about rn so if u have any additional thoughts feel free to leave them. i am very normal about amber volakis can you tell??? i like amber volakis a normal amount
I love making kai have the most amazing life in the background of kryk fics like kuroo and yaku are fucking struggling with their emotions and changes all while Kaiās up a tree watching birds flutter by, at utter peace
tagged by: @robinticism and @reineyday , thank you guys š«¶
last song:
jane remover has taken over my brain . /I crashed the car I saw an angel and it watched me burn/ repeats in my head so often as well as /oh god, Iām so tired, of being young / sheās just. so fucking good one song of hers spawned a whole kryk au
favourite colour: I like dark purple :3
last book: on earth weāre briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong. jesus fucking christ. I kept sobbing on the train. I had to take BREAKS and one break lasted almost a year. loved it <3
last movie: twilight - new moon LMFAO watched it with my friends had a blast !!
last tv show: the sopranos! watching it with my parents and rly enjoying it
sweet/spicy/savory: savouryā¦
relationship status: taken āš»
last thing I googled: haikyuudle! lmao (Iām bad at it because I always start with Yaku who is nearly the worst character objectively to begin with)
current obsession: jane remover. oh my god her lyrics just roll around in my brain like a really REALLY large marble ā¦ sheās so good at saying phrases that evoke feelings and I love thinking and thinking about her lyrics ā¦ as well as that, the sheer WALL of sound in census designated songs? scratches my brain so nicelyā¦ sheās up there with haikyuu because like I listened to a reviewer praising her and I started tearing up because I was so elated !! . so of course I also think of kryk during it
looking forwards to: spending a lazy weekend with my gf in a hotel & also fucking off alone on a ferry next year for a week to work on TLK because I just need to be kept in a cabin for a while . alone. that will fix me
no pressure tag: @sophistired18 @yakkunmori @javasleuth @tetsuyaku @otakurooster907 @just-anotherrandomartist @cavewretch @bbagelbitch @heylanini @what-the-f-is-going-on (youāre not escaping)
