percyvalli

[percyvalli]

heart 4 brains

[percyvalli]

Ok it took me forever to figure out how to post this because youtube said I had to verify my account to upload a video over 15min??? I think not. So here it is (if the link doesn't work, pls let me know)! Thank you for all your help!

ps. It is not perfect and this is my first ever video essay so be nice lol there are def parts that I wish I had time to redo but the assignment is due today lol

[percyvalli]

Dr. House is some of the best unintentional autistic representation I have seen in popular media

I think the title is a slight overstatement, but I honestly feel this way. I'm not finished with House MD by ANY means so do keep that in mind, but I'm almost finished with season 2 so this is based off what I have seen.

Also: I am aware that there is an episode where they discuss the possibility that House has Asperger's. Obviously that term has fallen out of favor because Asperger was, you know, a Nahtzee, but I am going to emphasize that House has particularly low-support needs. My source is that I'm autistic and this is a topic I'm relatively familiar with. (Also. please take this with a grain of salt because David Shore also created "The Good Doctor" which is a comparatively pretty poor representation of autism, but I'm going to talk about House MD in its own vacuum.)

Lack of knowledge or concern for social cues. I don't really think this needs explaining, but House doesn't seem to have much regard or respect for social norms. He doesn't care much for social approval or maintaining relationships. I don't necessarily characterize this as specifically being an autistic trait, because this can greatly vary, but this is something I see in myself and other autistic people.

Strong sense of justice and morals. I see a lot of people calling House a "sociopath" simply because he isn't particularly empathetic. But the word sociopath gets thrown around a lot and it really doesn't characterize him well at all. I would argue that House feels cognitive empathy rather than the more emotional sense of empathy that most people experience, but equating empathy and morality is a big no-go. House has little concern for some ethical principles, as the show points out pretty often, but House is never looking to hurt anybody. House is always pretty dry and easily annoyed, but the only time we see him openly angry and upset is when someone endangers a patient. When Chase fucks up the angiogram, potentially putting a woman's life in danger, he holds it against him for ages. And in "The Mistake," when a woman dies and it has to be determined whose fault it was, House yells at Chase in the middle of the lobby over his negligence. Also, House does actually have empathy when it's necessary. He typically softens himself around younger patients and will make an effort to be calm, and when Stacy admits that she and Mark have been fighting and becomes upset, he tries to help her calm down and doesn't try to make the situation about himself. When he thinks that his "nemesis" from school is faking the results of his migraine medicine, he goes out of his way to prove that he's right - partially because, yeah, he wants to be right and get Weber back - but also because he sees this as cheating, and knows it's ultimately harming people.

Very few, specific interests. House doesn't seem to have a lot that he's interested in. His job is one of them, because he gets joy and satisfaction out of solving medical problems. It's also established that he's deeply invested in General Hospital and monster trucks (although I wasn't sure if that was a House thing or a Wilson thing? But he seemed pretty excited about it too). Other than that, he doesn't have many obvious or noteworthy things he's interested in.

Difficulty maintaining interpersonal relationships. Wilson is House's only friend, and House seems to be (mostly) content with that. He cares about other people, in his own strange way, but he consistently struggles to create and maintain personal relationships, whether because of his disregard for social niceties or because of his fear of vulnerability. Again, this may not necessarily be in relation to autism, but it's worth noting.

Odd speech patterns. I'm sick of media making it seem like all autistic people can't comprehend sarcasm. It is common for autistic people to take things literally, but autistic people also sometimes use sarcasm and metaphors more than the average person in verbal communication. I do this all the time. House is constantly saying weird, offbeat things, or making strange, vague metaphors, especially when he's deep in thought.

Stimming. Throwing his ball at the wall. Pacing. Spinning his cane around. Tapping his cane on the floor. Spinning it like a baton when he's alone in the room and trying to think. Sometimes he also nods his head back and forth when he's thinking.

Routine. This one is a little hard to spot, because House actually does seem to thrive when things are changing or new things happen. I see this mostly in House wearing the same things all the time. He's usually wearing some button-up and a blazer/jacket over it, and typically jeans and the same pair of shoes. The shoes are most likely for his comfort, but sometimes autistic people like to wear the same things a lot because it's what's most comfortable or they don't have to worry about unpredictability. Also, it seems like he eats the same thing a lot, since everyone knows he gets a dry Reuben sandwich.

This is just what I noticed and based on my personal experiences as an autistic person. This doesn't mean I think the show discusses autism in the most graceful or meaningful way - I just really like to break down my favorite characters and analyze them.

[percyvalli]

YOU PEOPLE DONT UNDERSTAND-

HOUSE IS AUTISTIC.

They acknowledge it in S3 E4. Wilson heavily suggests to Cuddy that House has Asperger syndrome, but they decide that he can't possibly because he's just a jerk.

Let autistic people be jerks. Let autistic people be assholes WITHOUT USING AUTISM AS AN EXCUSE. IM AN ASSHOLE SOMETIMES. NOT BECAUSE IM AUTISTIC, IM JUST A PRICK. Yes I understand that one of the reasons for him being such a dickhead is because of his leg, he's in pain all the time. But thats even more of a reason to believe that it is a separate issue.

They say that he wants to relate to the kid because then he can get away with being a dick, but he does relate to the kid. He hates change, he thrives on consistency, he needs stimulation or he gets bored and frustrated, he isolates himself- and when he does have to interact, it's with the same people he sees everyday.

House can be autistic AND an asshole. Those two things do not cancel each other out.

(Edit: as a disabled autistic person, I see myself in House in ways that I never have in canonically autistic characters. I am aware it's never confirmed in the show. I am aware that not everyone agrees with this headcanon, and genuinely that is all it is, a headcanon. I'm not Hugh Laurie. This was just a rant about how House is treated while showing, what I and many other people, including characters inside the show, view as symptoms of ASD or other such disorders. I apologise if it came across as lying or spreading false information.)

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This is the plot right?

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lets hear it for transgenderism and faggotry. can I get a round of applause for transgenderism and faggotry

[percyvalli]

sooooooooooooo many things to scream about tonight but number one on the list is the difference in the ways dylan and mark's outies talked to their innies. from the get-go mark scout is nothing but patronizing to mark s. he created mark s as an escape from his grief, and now he wants to use mark s as a means to an end to save his wife and pick up his life where he abandoned it. he gets helly's name wrong and calls her 'the person you're seeing' because he doesn't recognize mark s's humanity. he sees mark s as an extension of himself, and he only loves gemma, so of course whatever mark s feels for helly can't be real or worth fighting for. and when mark s understandably doesn't see it his way, mark scout lashes out, calling mark s a child.

but then you have the letter dylan george wrote to dylan g. in three paragraphs dylan george talks to his innie like an adult, like they are peers. he's angry at dylan g, but at the same time, he understands why dylan g did what he did. he would have done the same if he were in dylan g's place. after years of being jealous of his outie, dylan g learns that his outie thinks he (dylan g) is the one to emulate, the self-assured badass. and where helena and mark scout made their innie's decisions for them ("i am a person. you are not.") dylan george breaks the cycle: he offers his opinion, but ultimately puts the decision back in dylan g's hands.

at the end of this season, dylan g is gifted agency. and after fulfilling his purpose, mark s steals his agency back.

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[percyvalli]

holy fuck okay. holy shit. severance said what if the tragedy was kindness. because innie mark did the kindest thing he could. he went back for her. he got gemma out safely. he ushered her out the door he looked at her through the glass he saw that she was alive and free. but walking out the door is killing yourself and killing the woman you love. so you turn around and you take her hand and you run and you don't kiss her in front of your outie's wife but she's safe! you did what your outie fucking asked even after he treated you like shit! and you just want ten more minutes for yourself because you're a person too. what if orpheus forgot who eurydice was and still saved her but then he stayed behind. what if orpheus saved eurydice and then when they stepped out of the underworld they swapped roles. what if eurydice was the hero all along and what if she had to watch orpheus go back into hell. i'm going to be sick

[percyvalli]

y'all, it was always going to end this way. from the moment mark scout told mark s. about reintegration, it was always going to end this way. mark scout literally looked mark s. in the eyes and said "we're going to have a life, and it's going to my life. we're going to live in my house with my wife and have the life i want. and you're going to like it because you're an extension of me." he didn't see mark s. as a person and that, in the end, was his greatest downfall.

mark s. did what mark scout asked. he fought his way to the elevator and he ran ms. casey to the stairs so she could be gemma again in the outside world. he saved the poor, tortured, woman trapped in lumon's basement because that was the right thing to do. but then, when faced with a choice between dying forever or turning around to try and somehow have a life of his own? with the woman he loves? of course he turned around.

this doesn't have anything to do with which ship is better or what was the most logical thing to do or even what mark and helly are going to do now. the point is mark s. stood there at the door, at the literal precipice of death, and said "i want to live. i want to live. i want to live." and come on, wouldn't you do the same?

[percyvalli]

"Help me," She begged, a little hysterical,

"I can't find it. I must have dropped it somewhere.

Help me look." I can't. or maybe I won't

I know what she's looking for before she tells me

A little baggie, full of white powder.

"I'm not digging through a trashcan to find your coke," I tell her, firm.

"FUCK," She groans, "That was expensive Percy.

Be a fucking good friend and help me. I need it. I don't get paid till Friday."

I just stare at her, digging in that trashcan,

remembering who she was when I met her.

The woman in front of me, I don't recognize.

[percyvalli]

he can't keep a job. he hasn't found his thing yet. his only point of pride is earning enough to put food on the table and buy baby wipes. he asks his wife to stop being nice to him. his wife kissed his innie because he reminds her of how he used to be. he threatens to kill his innie. he stopped believing in perks when he was hugged by his son. he stayed behind to give his family a chance to see the world he saw. he spotted irving's suicidal ideation, ran after him, and kept him alive for a little longer. it's his outie's wife, not his. he didn't listen to irving's warnings about helly. he apologizes at irving's funeral for letting him down when he's the only one left. he made a ring out of a fingertrap. he can give her a life. he doesn't have anything else. if he didn't have fingertraps, he'd kill himself. he won't find the black hallway. he killed himself.

[percyvalli]

Severance is actually insane for making calling out of work a major point of tension/plot. because it's true, when we call out of work i know so many people--myself included--feel subconsciously compelled to craft the perfect excuse to avoid being perceived as lazy or ungrateful by their employer. but we watched in real time how his lie unintentionally permitted Milchick to push personal boundaries even further by asking for his exact location, which is insanely creepy for an employer to do, but he was taking the ground mark was giving. and then!!!! mark pivots and gives no excuse. "I just want a day off, and no you don't need to know why" and suddenly milchick's power is gone. the dynamic shifts right back to mark, and milchick is reminded "this is just a job." it's just a job! everything he's doing is just a job, and they can pretend they have power outside of lumon all the want, but they don't have power if their employees don't give it to them

[percyvalli]

I've been making my friends watch Severance with me and one of them said Ricken looked like the wig guy from Despicable Me and bro she could not be more right lmao.

LIKE LOOK.... THAT IS HIM

[percyvalli]

We Know Where We're Going

by occasional_loverboy

"'No, like I said, the parts are gonna take a while -” Eddie listens for a moment, yanking his shirtsleeve up and turning to plant his elbow on the counter, rubs his free hand over his face, pushes his hair back. “Because it’s a German car,” he says through his teeth.

His eye-roll is so impressive that his gaze ends up landing on right on Steve where he’s still standing by the door, arms crossed in amusement. Eddie’s face splits into a wide grin and it’s like the sun coming out.

“Sorry, I’m gonna have to let you go,” Eddie says into the phone, an urgent edge to his tone. He’s rotating around as he struggles to free himself from the cord. “Yeah, one of the cars is…on fire.” He winces and nearly hangs up, then quickly brings the phone back to his ear. “It’s not yours. Bye.'"

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[percyvalli]

Mark S has lived his entire life hungover and Helly R has lived her entire life hungry. They don’t even know what life is like without their afflictions. They don’t know what it’s like to feel clear and full. To feel well.