#hyperopia

I’ve read a fair amount of fanfic in the Disco Elysium fandom now, and I am honestly a bit amazed with how well done they are. Subject doesn’t matter, even the porn-without-plot is well-written. 

But one thing seems to trip some authors up. 

Kim’s eyesight problems. 

A bit of info about me first (I promise, I’ll get back to our beloved bomber-jacket-wearing bino soon enough): I wear glasses. Since early childhood. I have hyperopia combined with a lack of proper binocularity and strabismus. This leads to a very specific set of problems for me. Like having a hard time judging distances or if objects move towards me. Staring at small text or holding things near me puts strain on my eyes, even with glasses. When I am tired, I get clumsier, the whole not seeing things near or judging distance getting worse. I have no trouble seeing stuff afar and when I practiced rifle shooting in school, I was a crack shot. 

If this sounds familiar, I think you already sussed what I am getting at, detective. 

I have the same eye-sight handicap as Kim Kitsuragi. The exact same, in fact. Kim points out in game that he has hyperopia and analysing things up close is what trips him. He has a good shooting record, but looking at stuff near is difficult. He tailors his own clothes to fit, and that must be a gnarly thing to do. I guess he does it in the mornings on his days off, because doing that when tired is a sure-fire recipe for migraines. 

And the one thing someone with hyperopia would NOT DO when trying to look at something near, something small, that they’re fiddling with, is take their glasses off. It makes everything worse. A near-sighted person would, but not hyperopic people. 

This is compounded with age-affected eyesight changes, which means the distance he would have to hold something to get it in focus, increases. Threading needles will require a very steady hand once he passes 50. 

Glasses are corrective. Kim sees perfectly fine with them. If he is tired, he may start missing things, perhaps bump into things as his distance judgement takes a hit. Which makes him driving fast kind of hilarious. It is as if he pushes himself, pushes his boundaries for what he is capable of. Proves to himself that he is more than his eyesight. 

It also makes me think that the glasses are a fairly new addition, possibly after Eyes. This is just headcanon based on minimal textual evidence and vibes, mind. That Kim got the glasses after Eyes passed and refused a new partner, because the RCM couldn’t afford him missing things, so they footed the bill for prescription glasses. 

What I am getting at, is that as someone with the same handicap as Kim, it throws me out of well-written fanfics, when people either a) treat Kim as functionally blind WITH the glasses and b) have him remove them to see better up close. It is a tiny thing, but it matters so much for the character’s portrayal.