istg the knives out franchise is literally made for people like me specifically. good at noticing and remembering details? have a wealth of random information that generally wouldn't even matter/be brought up? have a really specific understanding of certain things? knives out is for YOU

for example, in glass onion, there's a scene (semi-spoilers) where all of these characters are arriving onto a private island where they intend to spend the weekend. before boarding the boat, they were given "wristbands" that would give them access to their rooms.

miles (who owns the island) says that he color-coded them based on the different chakras, and one character loudly exclaims about how she was given the sacral chakra.

now, if you are a normal person, this might not mean much. but if you've spent time researching things for no real reason, you'll know the associations of the sacral chakra -- creativity, joy, and perhaps most applicable, sexuality.

birdie (the character who gets the sacral chakra) is miles' girlfriend. she's loud and dumb and flaunts her sexuality. the sacral chakra definitely fits her character.

but thats not all. its a misdirect.

while she's talking excitedly about getting the sacral chakra, we get a split-second glimpse of another character, whiskey, who was brought along as another characters' plus one.

and for just a moment, while birdie is still talking, we see her wristband flash green. the color of the heart chakra.

while i was already theorizing the existence of an affair between her and miles due to their greeting on the island and the necklace comment, that tiny detail was what made me go, "oh yeah. they're having an affair."

(side note: birdie is used later in the movie as a misdirect -- not so much as a red herring, but as cover. i's wager she's used a lot more to "cover up" things in the movie, but i'll need to do a few rewatches before i can say for sure. still though, very cool to see how this not only fits so artfully into her characterization, but also foreshadows her later misdirect!)

So this is kind of a question that’s unrelated to any specific thing but I feel like it’d give more perspective on Birdie and be interesting to see different bias’, so my question is what kind of stuff did the crew say about her without her present in her time on the ship? Like, it’s a new person that was constantly kind of evolving on how she is on the ship and with the crew and so I assume people talked about her even if it’s just casual talk of “oh did you see Kids girl today after the rain, she looked like a pissed cat” or just general “so what do you think of this whole thing” conversations. And there’s probably a big difference between people who get along with her (Mohawkian, Booka, Heat, ect) people who are more neutral (Doc and wire) and people who might not care for her (even if they don’t outright insult her in fear of Kid) also a weird second question based on that last part, how does Kid care if ppl talk shit on birdie? Because I know (especially as they get closer) that he wouldn’t like it but is he a “threaten to chop off their balls if they say another word about her” kind of dude or a “she’s strong enough to deal with guys saying stupid remarks about her so she can just handle it herself” kind of dude?

Hey, thanks for the ask and sorry for the long wait. This is a very interesting question! I can reply but unfortunately only incompletely because we'll touch upon this in Bonds and I don't want to give everything away.

Birdie was obviously a very hot topic among the crewmates during the month she spent with the Kid Pirates. The conversation shifted over time, as her own role with the crew changed. At the very beginning, men were mainly making lewd comments about her looks, what they'd do to her, and how the captain may be enjoying her. Not everyone of course, Heat and Wire were neutral and not interested in such conversation, the doc doesn't engage with the other guys too much in general, the girls were obviously absent at the time (you'll see why in Bonds), and I assume some of the others are gay/non binary/not interested in birdie anyway, so they wouldn't care much. After they see her fighting alongside them, the topic shifted to her fighting skills, like "did you see the marine girl today? She's a fucking good shot!". Not that the coarse appreciations completely died out but they were diluted, and more so after her sniping show against Daifuku's ship. At that point, her out-of-chart sniping skills were the hottest theme. Slowly but surely, the crew developed respect for birdie as a warrior, and that's when the gross sex-related discussion finally ended. Then, alongside respect, a sort of affection started to blossom - birdie's sharp tongue, her outbursts, her sarcasm, these things were endearing for the Kid Pirates. The men abandoned degrading comments and switched to subtle praise. Like "our little marine girl was moody today, eh? Choppy sea with the captain, I guess". They also started using her name more. Finally, when they realized Kid had actual feelings for her, the conversation evolved to her relationship with him, and whether or not she would become a proper crewmember. Many of them already considered her one, at least subconsciously, so they'd talk about her as such.

Of course this is a very general summary. Heat and Wire, as stoic dudes and officers, wouldn't discuss her with the crew at all, and the doctor too. The men knew about Heat's relationship with birdie, so they'd avoid talking about her when he was around. The Mohican started praising her quite soon, while Booka would turn aggressive if anyone talked shit about her. As for Kid, once again, the men wouldn't bring up the topic when he was around. If by any chance he heard something he didn't like, I figure he'd just punch the man who spoke without a world, a gentle reminder to be more aware of where your captain is. 😂