Why Kinn’s voice fucks me up: a silly little analysis
I’ve been obsessing over this for a solid month now but haven’t seen anybody really talk about it in depth so I’m taking it upon myself to write this meta. Dw my brand as Unhinged Shit-Stirrer in the tag remains intact. 🤙🏻
This post is kind of hard to do without audio clips (and I’m way too lazy to do all that lol) but hopefully screenshots will still give you a sense of what I’m talking about.
First things first, let’s talk about Mile’s voice. Especially next to Apo, he comes across as a lot quieter, more reserved, and even when he’s excited his voice tends to be softer, not really high per se but lighter. My guess is he’d be a tenor if he sang, mayyybe a baritone with a more limited lower range.
In real life, interviews, BTS clips, etc, his voice makes him sound gentler, more mature, more approachable, even a little shy. His voice projects kindness and gives you the sense that he’s the sort of person you’d like automatically if you met him.
It would make sense then, in his role as Kinn, if he altered his voice, spoke lower or louder, affected a different timbre and tone, all to add to his appearance as someone dangerous and maybe even violent. It’s an obvious choice to make, given not just Kinn’s personality on the page but also the world he lives in, a world dominated by men and toxic masculinity where he’s already dealing with derision and snide comments for being openly gay. It would be completely reasonable for someone like Kinn to use every tool he can to protect and enhance his image and especially his masculinity, which would include his voice.
But Kinn doesn’t do that. Mile doesn’t do that. His voice stays more or less the same in the series as it does in real life, obviously with a little more dramatic tension involved. Kinn speaks softly, calmly, even when he’s at his angriest. Sure, he can go a bit louder in certain scenes, like when he’s running from those gunmen in ep1 or when that hot assassin is beating the shit out of him with her baton (ma’am I am begging u for literally just one date, pls), but there’s always a softer undertone to his voice despite the occasional need to yell.
So how exactly does the exact same voice manage to convey two totally different personalities and general energies? How does Mile totally embody this character who’s extremely dangerous, possessive, ruthless, and often violent, with that soft, gentle voice?
Because in the context of the story, that voice tells us something about Kinn. It’s intentional on Mile’s part, an interpretation of who Kinn is and how he interacts with the world, and it immediately breaks him out of the mold of this archetype that viewers will want to instinctively place him in.
In the first episode alone, that voice tells us three things.
1) Kinn is comfortable and confident in his skin. Does he have issues? Fuck yes. But he doesn’t give a shit about trying to appear threatening or dangerous. He expects that everyone already knows this. His quiet voice in moments like that first scene with the Italian mob show that he doesn’t need to appear anything. He knows he’s in control, and he’s confident everyone else knows it too. His reputation precedes him, and he doesn’t bother with projecting power through his voice when he already sees the power as his. (Another indication of this is his clothing. His suits could present as a kind of armor, and they do in a way, but he’s just as comfortable, emits the same level of charisma, when he’s in casual clothes or even matching silk pajamas. I won’t talk more about the silk pajamas because the things I want to say would all get god’s lightning bolt on me w a quickness.)
2) He’s a strategic thinker. He’s learned to keep his outward cool in almost every situation, and moderates his voice accordingly. Even when he yells, it’s well-controlled and only to make himself heard, not to show strength or aggression. In fact, his voice tends to pitch higher when he speaks louder, maintaining that softer undertone. It shows that he’s not reactive, that he’s working to manage his emotions and think ahead while he’s talking. All of that is external though; he’s still a freak and certified gay disaster on the inside.
3) He’s not cruel. He may look like it, may even want people to think he is, but his voice gives him away. His scene with Yok in the bar is staged to threaten Porsche, to make him nervous, but the way he speaks to her, even though it’s partly for effect, is still courteous and kind. He wants Porsche to feel the threat of that interaction, but he doesn’t make anyone else feel that threat unnecessarily. Yok may understand more than she lets on about what’s happening, but there’s no sign she’s overly nervous or uncomfortable around Kinn despite that. (As an aside, the low-class mafia comment and the way he says it is hot, but it also ties back to the first point. He has no need to force artificial authority or strength or power into his voice. His confidence and charisma speak for themselves, and he’s so self-assured that the people around him don’t need any reminders of who he is or what he’s capable of.)
There are a few scenes from eps 2 and 3 that stick out in my mind too where Kinn’s voice is especially important to setting the tone for the scene.
The coffee scene:
Kinn adds a bit of bluster to his voice in this scene, inflecting more and speaking just a little louder overall than he usually does in ordinary conversation. His body language and facial movements are also interesting here, along with the blocking, with him seated and looking up at Porsche, but that’s another post lol. Essentially he’s projecting his voice more, which he doesn’t do much with Porsche, and directing it upward to meet Porsche’s eyes. It adds such a subtle vibe to the scene that I didn’t even notice it on a first watch, but after seeing it a few times it’s obvious what his voice is indicating here: he feels bad. We know (from how he talks but also just the hints we’ve gotten so far) that he’s not cruel by nature or needlessly violent. He did what he did in the previous scene to protect Porsche, but he didn’t like doing it. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it real guilt. He’s practical enough to know he made the right call and he’s not close enough to Porsche to truly care about him yet. But I really think in this scene he’s working a little too hard to meet Porsche’s eyes, to act like himself. His voice is a little louder and more...provocative isn’t the word, but something like it, to give no room in the scene for any appearance that he does feel bad for what he did. This is one instance where he does raise his voice to project an image of strength and maybe even defiance, and all so Porsche doesn’t have any reason to wonder if he regrets hurting him. Babie behavior imo but go off king
The wound tending scene:
Kinn does this really fun thing where when he’s being possessive or reasserting his dominance (jfc Kinn are u gonna pee on him next, like ffs), he softens his voice, makes it a teensy bit slower, and enunciates very clearly. When he does this, it’s to make you lean in to listen, to make you pay extra attention. It’s a power play, and it’s interesting that he uses it so often on Porsche. He wants Porsche to lean in, to pay extra attention to him, and even if he thinks it’s solely to put an employee in his place, it’s obvious to the viewer that there’s something else going on.
The pier scene:
This is pretty much the first scene where we see Kinn really let down his guard and be emotionally intimate with Porsche, even if it’s only because he’s drunk and his inhibitions are lowered, as seen earlier when he was shaking his tiddies at Porsche like it was a Lizzo concert. It’s not just that he’s looser and smiles more easily and talks more freely; it’s also that his voice is lower, which lends a sense of intimacy to the scene despite the open space around them. He’s talking to Porsche, focusing his eyes and his voice on him, rather than at him. There’s also something about his tone that feels...idk receptive, like he’s speaking to Porsche on equal footing for the first time. It makes me wonder what he’ll sound like when he’s being genuinely affectionate and loving toward Porsche, because his voice here sounds like a taster of that even though they’re nowhere near that point yet.
In general, Porsche makes Kinn’s voice do things it doesn’t usually do. Kinn is actually a little less well-modulated with Porsche, given how much he gets under his skin, and it shows. His voice has more variety in it when he talks to Porsche; he swings from a soft murmur to a more brash, loud tone in the span of a few seconds. It’s like Porsche’s chaos is rubbing off on him a little, messing with his control. He feels more human because of it, more dynamic, which I think is a good indicator of how Porsche will change him more generally as a person.
Other posts in this series:
Kinn’s voice in episode 4: basically my man is losing it
Kinn’s voice in episode 5: Kinn, respectfully, go to therapy
Kinn’s voice in episode 6: aka Kinn’s Camp Rock “this is real, this is me” era
Kinn’s voice in episode 7: heart boners everywhere
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get to know tag 🤙🏻
thank u @probablylilly for tagging
last song: God-ish by Pinocchio P
favourite colour: don't.
currently watching: What We Do In the Shadows and Interview with the Vampire the show
last movie/tv show: Interview with the Vampire the movie (even in 2024 they continue to have me in a chokehold)
spicy/savoury/sweet: sour 😎 but spicy-sweet is a baller combo
relationship status: platonically married to multiple of my friends
current obsession: as mentioned above, but also Project Sekai and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
last google search: "scarlet violet dark pokemon" (i am entirely predictable 💀)
tagging :3
@staubilein @cruddyart
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Hello,I Hope You Are Fine And Doing Well💖
There are some queries that are bothering me and i am sending this ask to my every favorite LOA blogger here.
I would love it if you reply to it and if you don't want to reply,it's fine.
SO MY QUERY IS THAT-> AFTER SEEING SO MUCH GREAT SUCCESS STORIES OF LAW OF ASSUMPTION AND VOID STATE,I AM IN AWE THAT LIKE THERE IS NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME NOW IN THIS WORLD AND I AM FEELING VERY HAPPY THAT I CAME TO KNOW ABOUT IT.
1. BUT WHEN I SEE THE BEST BLOGGERS ASKING TO SIGN A PETITION FOR A GOOD CAUSE LIKE STOPPING THE WILLOW PROJECT (i have also signed the petition as well),I THINK THAT WHY THEY NEED TO SIGN A PETITION WHEN THEY CAN JUST MANIFEST THE DESIRED OUTCOME
2. WHEN CERTAIN BLOGGERS HAVE A SUBLIMINAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL,THEN WHY THEY CAN'T MANIFEST ATLEAST 50K TO 100K SUBSCRIBERS IF THEY CAN DO IT IN AN INSTANT, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY LAW OF ASSUMPTION BLOGGER HAVING A GREAT FOLLOWING.
3. SORRY IF I SEEM RUDE IN ANY WAY BUT THESE QUESTIONS ARE BOTHERING ME A LOT.
I HOPE YOU WILL REPLY ME,THANK YOU SO MUCH.
💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙💛💙
I am not replying that for obviously reasons.
I don't want 50k of subscribers lol and 100k? Damn, thats crazy. I don't really like subscomunity. those folks don't persist and always have a lot of limitant beliefs. I am fine with my followers. Not everyone want to be famous. I know i am one of the biggest bloggers here but i never cared about numbers but doing a great and helpful work. I almost cant reply the comments i have, imagine if i had 100k ppl there 😂 NOT for me. I don't want to play around with those law attraction folks never again.
This not even a question tho- so 🤙🏻🛀
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