#because kim is extremely normal and decidedly Not a Video Game Protagonist

[justdecadentcollectiondestiny]

One thing about disco elysium that really intrigues me is how it doesn't exactly break the fourth wall, it bends it. It doesn't have anything explicit where either the narrator or Harry acknowledge that "hey we know we're in a video game", but Harry's video-game-y-ness is still acknowledged and either explained by Harry's character or acknowledged that this is a weird thing that Harry does and not how Normal people act. Real life people don't constantly zip from one "interactable" object or "container" to the other, but Harry does because that's just the preferred method of officers in his precinct. Real life people can't/don't run everywhere they go, but Harry does/can. Because he used to be a gym teacher. On the other side of the "weird", it's a total mystery to everyone else how Harry can get people to just reveal anything he wants to know. That's just how Harry is. It's weird, and people acknowledge how weird it is. He literally has a reputation as the "human can-opener". Real life people don't speak in "lists" or "trees" of questions, and Harry can even acknowledge that he only has a limited number of "options", to which everyone replies "What the hell are you talking about." Many people can even remark how much Harry loves questions, which Harry usually just chalks up to being a cop, but that's never the full answer. So Harry is either the weirdest person in the world because Normal people don't act like video game protagonists, or he's the only normal one because he's the only one who's actually acting like he's in a video game (which he is).

[pomegranate-cuties]

#this is one of the things that makes kim such a perfect foil to harry#because kim is extremely normal and decidedly Not a Video Game Protagonist#having him there as contrast makes harry's weirdness even weirder#it's the 'lists' that are possibly the most intriguing to me#because even *dora* picked up on them (as evidenced in the dolores dei dream)#which means harry was a Video Game Protagonist before the game began

(via @justdecadentcollectiondestiny)

One thing about disco elysium that really intrigues me is how it doesn't exactly break the fourth wall, it bends it. It doesn't have anything explicit where either the narrator or Harry acknowledge that "hey we know we're in a video game", but Harry's video-game-y-ness is still acknowledged and either explained by Harry's character or acknowledged that this is a weird thing that Harry does and not how Normal people act. Real life people don't constantly zip from one "interactable" object or "container" to the other, but Harry does because that's just the preferred method of officers in his precinct. Real life people can't/don't run everywhere they go, but Harry does/can. Because he used to be a gym teacher. On the other side of the "weird", it's a total mystery to everyone else how Harry can get people to just reveal anything he wants to know. That's just how Harry is. It's weird, and people acknowledge how weird it is. He literally has a reputation as the "human can-opener". Real life people don't speak in "lists" or "trees" of questions, and Harry can even acknowledge that he only has a limited number of "options", to which everyone replies "What the hell are you talking about." Many people can even remark how much Harry loves questions, which Harry usually just chalks up to being a cop, but that's never the full answer. So Harry is either the weirdest person in the world because Normal people don't act like video game protagonists, or he's the only normal one because he's the only one who's actually acting like he's in a video game (which he is).