nvm this is still on my brain. kim does not like to watch harry sufferā¦ to say that kim takes satisfaction in harryās pain is a huge misconstruing of his character.
the āgetting thrashed like a schoolboyā line comes from a board game, lol. itās a tease, not a cruelty. thereās never any line that implies that Kim enjoys seeing Harry taking actual morale damage.
he can be amused if you fail a check, but the check is always relatively inconsequential, and again, Harry isnāt taking damage in these.
Failing to pry the trash bin open:
Failing to shatter Rubyās lorry window:
(also in both of these examples he only responds smugly if you choose for Harry to stubbornly dig in his heels. if Harry gets huffy, Kim teases. If Harry backs down right away Kim wonāt rub it in, which feels significant to me! it reminds me of that recent post goin around about Kim meeting your energy!)
and hereās some reactions to failed checks where he does take damage.
Failing the jump to get your cloak:
Failing to break down Plaisanceās door:
heās not laughing if Harryās taking damage because heās not a dick lol.
aaaaand hereās some other instances of morale/health damage and kimās reactions.
alternate dialogue for failing the harbor jump:
after the call with precinct 41:
seeing bullet holes in the wall:
most significant examples to argue this point for me come when harry has done something to jeopardize the RCMās image. which kim goes on and on about the importance of maintainingā and yet even here, he still extends worry and assurance.
telling Billie about her husband and handling it badly:
hardie authority check failure cock carousel:
aaaaand the car. this line is one of the most mask-off kim moments we get in the game in my opinion, honestly.
tying this back to the schoolboy lineā that line doesnāt show up if you have a negative reputation with Kim. if you have <1 rep, it gets replaced with him calling it āabout four hours of our lives that we'll never get back,ā lol.
itās affectionate ribbing!! twisting it into anything else is bizarre 2 me lmao!
anyways. kim is a foil to every other cop we meet in the game specifically because he doesnāt view harry as a punching bag or a lost cause. gottlieb does nothing but sling jabs and glib jokes about harryās health. torson+mclaine and the others laugh at harryās panic attack over the radio. in response to harryās suicide-by-car attempt(!!!!) jean yells about RCM budget. all kimās lines in response to harryās check failures and health-damage are consistent, explicit textual contrast against the callousness of the rest of the RCM. twisting kimās character here requires a bad faith interpretation of the whole game.
