EktoPhobic

Word Count: 1,179 (This was supposed to be way shorter, I'm more passionate about psychoanalysis than I thought)

Now I'm making inferential estimates/guesses here based off Australian National Statistics (as thats what I learn off in uni, internationally the most i could go off is Spain and the Netherlands soz chat), so this could be completely different from the reality of the fictional city of Revachol.

Kim is a war orphan, and due to the terrible government and societal issues, Kim was more than likely chucked into an orphanage (with Out-Of-Home Care probably not an option as he has no known relatives, and foster care would be a very rare or maybe impossible thing in Revachol; and even Kim could get into foster care, I'm sure the 1/4 of his heritage would be an 'all-good-things deterrent').

Children placed into care like this are highly likely to have their first instance/interaction with the CJR (Criminal Justice System) within the first few months- year or two of being in said residential care. Children with disabilities (mostly mental, but I would say Kim's poor eyesight-or the headcanon that he has autism- could also snag a similar effect) are at close to 100% likely to interact with CJR, and all of these likelihoods are increased if you are a minority of any kind.

Low literacy rates also heavily impact how likely anyone interacts with CJR- and while in game Kim is very literate and highly competent (duh)- there is a possibility his orphanage (along with many other orphanages) could have had issues in access to fine education (this a systemic and financial thing more than anything). So, Kim as a child could have had a lack of education, and due to that, lower literacy and a higher likelihood of interacting with CJR (though I doubt this would have affected him for long, if at all- he is a lieutenant for a reason).

We can see around two examples of how low literacy and a lack of stable education has affected two Disco Elysium characters: Cuno and Andre. Both confirmed to have lower education, with both doing drugs, both considered as delinquents by Kim (both with different backgrounds and character info, but I can analyze every DE character some other day mkay).

Anyways- in other words, there are so many variables in the world against Kim- I could even go into criminological theories of how he could have acted out and why- but he chose to be the good in the world instead. Only to then be thrown back into a unit where he is faced with what he was/could have been- the juvenile crimes unit.

Suggested that Kim was somewhat rebellious (I fully agree that he would abuse systems to his advantage and can be a mega snitch) and that he considered himself a moralist when he was younger (wanting to see the good in everything)- it's easy to believe that he wanted to humanize and empathize with the delinquents he dealt with on a daily basis. Only to have that ruined too. Criminal and Justice institutions and culture quantify offenders. Turn them into numbers and a chore, as opposed to people. Notice how we tend to call those who have broken the law? "Criminals", "Inmates", "Felons"? "Delinquent" is one of those names too. Cops within those spaces (mostly prisons or detention centers) become more like tools. Tools to uphold control, rather than uphold the law or peace. Prison environments are way more personal than media and politicians talk about. dont get me going more

Now let's mix Kim's views on himself as a cop, his views of delinquency and his pride of his own self-discipline. Kim has a tendency to look down on others. This not black and white, he doesn't jump to as many conclusions as Jean does (or how he outwardly does, Jean is rightly bitchy through DE), but Kim will often categorise people (as everyone does, but then that goes into both social and neuropsychology). As much as he doesn't want to jump to conclusions on anything and to stay professional, he is still human and has his biases.

How he approaches Joyce Messier, or Titus, or Evrart- despite them being higher or on the same grounding as him, he still has disdain for them. Seeing them rather as cloths to wring dry, but that's reasonable as these guys are heavy lore relevant. People like Gart, Lena or Lizzie (mostly before its revealed she's a lawyer) are people he looks almost down upon- at least in interaction. Think like batting a fly away so they stop annoying you or distracting a child so they bugger off- tiring but not exactly a threat. And delinquents have just a massive 'DO NOT INTERACT' sticker slapped over them. This is obviously the stressor disorder thing, but I'd like to tack on extra reasons for this attitude because I like making inferences on characters via psychoanalyzing damnit.

Kim has had to claw his way to where he is now, ignoring the extra disadvantages slapped onto him by society and its people. He's a rare gem of wanting to do good in Revachol, creating something much more stable, recognizable and close to permanent as he had nothing like that growing up and continues to never have a graspable routine. Kim loves control for multiple reasons, and manipulating said control for multiple benefits (one of them being the one cig a day, he likes the 'cool factor', and in that is a bit of rebellion against himself and drug culture in a sense). Kim likes taking control of his life and coming out on top.

Delinquents- in Kim's eyes- don't. Taking the easy way out and sometimes being allowed much more flexibility than he ever was in his whole life. Kim being stuck with consistent reminders of his potential social life when he was younger and a further reflection of himself. These little shits go on to make his existence hell, and despite being a capable adult, both the RCM and these kids continue to bully Kim into feeling like a floundering child (a few mentions here of how Kim is compared to a younger boy when he's being almost bullied into a corner-). He's stuck as a juvie cop, he's stuck with constant enforcers of the idea that he is a dependent weakling, he's stuck in a system that encourages dehumanizing others and himself into an institution, he's stuck with reflections of his younger self and he's stuck with the antithesis of what he believes in (control, composure and self-discipline).

But in all of this, I know Kim still has some kind of compassion for these kids. He can understand rough circumstances, systemic abuse and when someone is struggling and trying to cope as opposed to mindless self-indulgence. He sees a bit of himself in these kids. Maybe not wholly as himself as a person, but compartments. He wants these kids to do better, but he doesn't quite have the deconstructionist criminological perspective to see different, viable approaches to crime and rehabilitation. At least not within a system overseen by the Coalition. He believes in the RCM and that's all he's got.

I am like, kind of in the final stretch of my next comic thing lol this is from last night, im at about 29 hours now and 1.9 gigs. Ive been working on it non stop in my free time and honestly could've probably had it done by now if I streamlined it better. But im excited lol though seeing how I drew kims face in profile keeps giving me whiplash when I look at it, but idk Ive tweaked it multiple times and its like proportionally correct as far as i can tell, but maybe ill have another go later on. Im also kind of unsure on how good the pacing, paneling, and even dialogue is but I think its just due to my inexperience with comics and anxiety about making them seem out of character, plus keeping it to 4 pages. Guess ill find out