#example: kim kitsuragi

[gab-has-adhd]

BLORBO BY PROXY LMSKSSBUS REAL

:)))

[transhitman]

I <3 secondhand characterization. Like when two unlikely characters are besties and that fact alone says so much more about both of them than anything they do on their own ever could.

[thegrimreaperisanerd]

Kim’s not even that weird when you consider he’s the in-universe equivalent of an EX-catholic, guy could win a medal at “being normal” w all the shit he’s got going on

[camelpimp]

Im trying to think of who have been the true Tumblr Sexymen (may not necessarily be exclusive to tumblr) of the best few years

[stellarwing]

This post contains spoilers for Disco Elysium!

Ever since I learned what the good cop/bad cop score actually represents I have become obsessed with checking it constantly as I play through the game to figure out what makes Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi tick. There have been many things here and there that surprised me but I would like to share my absolute favorite thing I have learned about this man.

First, lest I give you all the wrong idea, I want to make it clear that Kim does very much enjoy watching Harry do good detective work and cracking open a case. But everyone knows that already. It's much less fun and interesting than this:

Kim loves it when Harry fails in a way that gives Kim a chance to swoop in and comfort him.

I have two examples of this coming into play:

1. Billie's Husband

When you talk to Billie to break the news about her husband's death there's an Empathy check to see how well you do it. If you pass the check and do everything absolutely perfectly, Kim will tell you that you did a good job and talk about what happens next. You neither gain nor lose points at any point in this interaction.

If you fail the Empathy check Harry completely botches the death notification. You neither gain nor lose points for this. Once you step outside Kim wants to talk to you about how it went. If you say there's nothing to talk about, you lose 1 point. If you admit you fucked up and apologize Kim reassures you that it wasn't that bad and you gain 1 point.

Once again, there's no way to gain points if you do everything correctly. What this means is that the version of the scene that makes Kim happiest is the one where Harry screws up the death notification but is apologetic enough about it that Kim can feel good about cheering him up.

2. The Moralist Quest

During the climax of the Moralist quest when you contact Coalition Warship Archer you have the opportunity to earn a total of 3 points. If you tell Archer about the 2mm hole in the world but then refuse to go with them, regardless of the reason you choose to stay you gain 1 point.

Once the conversation is over and you are disconnected from Archer there is a passive Volition check. If you fail the check then you climb down off the statue and that's it, that's the end of the scene. You leave with your total of 1 point. But if you pass the check you are given the option to stay sitting on the statue a little while longer.

If you choose to stay, Kim asks you if you're okay and tries to reassure you that you made the correct decision. Simply for going through this scene and giving him the opportunity to talk to you about it you gain 2 points.

There are a couple dialogue choices you can make but you get the 2 points regardless of what you pick. There are very few actions in the game that earn you double points. This is the same amount you get for finding the bullet in the hanged man's head. And you get it just for giving Kim the opportunity to comfort you after your failed Moralist mission.

Kim wants Harry to need him so bad.

[lintwriting]

I'm making this post to compile the Weibo allegations against Jullian Champenois, the voice actor for Kim Kitsuragi, since I found navigating the screenshots to be a bit confusing. I've translated some of them to the best of my ability and would definitely be open to others reviewing these translations for errors, as I am Chinese American and therefore could be missing some cultural context. I've linked to Chinese definition websites to explain some of the translation choices that are more inferences.

The rest of the translations are from 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter, who has been in contact with the original Weibo poster to ask for permission for their translated reposts, as well as permission for my repost here.

Outline of the Weibo Post

The allegations originated from a post on Weibo by a Chinese artist. The body of the post contains a summary of their experience, and attached are:

Screenshots of their personal Instagram DMs with Jullian

A screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's DMs

Screenshot of vent messages demonstrating how this experience has affected their work.

After posting, other commenters chimed in with similar experiences, and this caused the original poster to update the original post.

They first updated it with a screenshot showing them blocking Jullian Champenois

Next, a testimony from a commenter

A second testimony from another commenter

Screenshots of DMs from that second commenter

*Update: Additional testimony from the original poster

The Body of the Original Weibo Post

Below will be screenshots of the body of the original Weibo post, with translations from @woon__ton on twitter.

(via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

This text was later edited to update about the additional testimonies and to add greater context. The added context explains how the Weibo poster could tell that Jullian Champenois's DMs were targeted, unprofessional, and sexual in nature, as the poster had gone through a similar situation before with another creator. The updated context is translated below.

* I realized something was wrong so quickly because I had a similar experience at the end of 2019. Scott lobdell, a DC comic writer and screenwriter of Happy Death Day, came back to like my drawings and privately messaged me after I followed him on Instagram. His account at that time was nuked (chinese internet slang for when accounts get banned or suddenly have all their content taken down) [so I can't access the logs anymore], so I don’t remember the content of the chat, but for specific news discussions, you can google the keyword “Scott Lobdell sex harrasment”. This situation is very common in the industry. They deliberately prey on people from their fan lists.

For context, Scott Lobdell, from what I can tell, would hit on young female artists working at the same cons as him, both in person and in text messages, with implications of him holding his position in the industry over them.

Although the Weibo poster can no longer access the log of Scott's harassment of them because his account got banned/deleted (at least, I think that's what the usage of 'nuke' is saying, they could also be saying that their own account got nuked), they note how their chat with Jullian Champenois was reminiscent of the same conversation they had with Scott Lobdell—a man known and 'retired' for his harassment of young female artists.

Lobdell's harassment is a good example for context due to how he demonstrates the inappropriateness of 'flirting' and hitting on young female artists in professional contexts.

1. Screenshots of their personal DMs with Jullian Champenois

Below are the screenshots of the Instagram DMs the Weibo Poster had with Julllian Champenois. Note the profile picture, as his profile picture will look the same across other screenshots with him in it.

Also note the way the conversation starts out polite, focused on both of their respective arts. Then he shifts the conversation to sexual topics, first by mentioning his explicit song, then by suddenly bringing up an explicit art account, @ken_chk, they were both following. The Weibo poster steers the conversation away from these topics.

They also mention this in the comments, but they find the fact that he asked their age, ethnicity, and sexuality afterwards to also be suspicious/sexual in nature. The sentiment being "Why would the artist's age matter?" or "Why would you fixate on me potentially being 17 years old when I've mentioned college graduation finals?" or "Why would you ask that if not for sexual reasons?"

@woon__ton on twitter notes that he is seemingly consistently looking for college aged girls, and other commenters/victims got the sense that the strange insistent questions about nationality were related to "yellow fever."

2. Weibo Screenshot of an older post where they express feeling weary about Jullian's Dms

The next attached photo was a screenshot of a Weibo post the Weibo poster had made in 2023. I'm assuming that in this screenshot that they're talking about Jullian Champenois, since this whole post is about him.

First I'll be transcribing the translation. Then I'll be clarifying the idioms/translation choices with asterisks, before giving an overall summary of the screenshot.

Feel free to skip to the 2. Summary section, as the translation clarification section is a little long.

“It reminds me a bit of my PTSD, the last time I was praised in private [instagram] DMs it was the Scott Lobdell [situation] where [he] later disappeared from the internet for some reason[.] I don't remember the reasoning, but at the time I had suddenly felt that he was kind of creepy so I indirectly lost my interest on Jason Todd(桶 is the Chinese nickname of Todd/Red Hood, Lobdell was the writer of n52 Redhood comic). It was not a good experience haha..." * "I feel that there is a cultural difference where Chinese people may take getting sent private messages out of nowhere a bit harder. It may also be a me problem. Maybe I am a Sakura girl at heart (internet slang, sakura is the culture symbol of Japan so it’s the nickname of Japanese girl, they tend to be a little bit more shy and social in a more careful and polite way to avoid offending anyone, no negative meaning behind this). uneasy desu ('I am anxious' but using the word desu to stand in for "I am")" "I don't remember the timeline, but it seemed like someone in the industry accused him of sexually harassing young female artists." “As a result, even when I am excited, I am still very wary of people because I have become disillusioned."

*UPDATE: I have updated this post''s translation with clarification from the Weibo poster.

I translated a phrase as "pulled up carrot," but it was actually the transliteration of Scott Lobdell's name into Chinese. I translated a phrase as "climbing the wall" "bucket," but it was actually the Chinese fandom term for 'no longer liking' and the Chinese name for Jason Todd.

In addition, I translated Sakura Girl as (slang based on Japanese animation, meaning a delicately stupid young girl) but the poster has clarified that Sakura girl is not supposed to have a deprecating connotation. The focus is on shyness or politeness, not stupidity!

I will keep my first translations in the next few paragraphs in to maintain transparency and to keep some necessary information, but they are no longer accurate. The paragraphs in brackets can be skipped over.

[[[[[The full idiom goes "the pulled up carrot also pulls up mud," or the idea that investigating a criminal who was arrested first can lead to the exposure of other criminals. The same way pulling a carrot out will pull loose some dirt, exposing one person may also dig up dirt on their associates.

With the mention of "later disappeared from the internet," I think the Weibo poster was referencing Scott Lobdell, whose account was nuked and who also had privately DM'd them with praise/sexual advances. The implication could be that the last time they got DM'd like this, it was in a creepy way and they were too afraid to speak out for fear of getting attacked/exposed themselves. Or that he disappeared to avoid getting exposed. This paragraph is a little unclear.

The 'pulled up carrot' situation might also have something to do with the explicit artist, ken_chk, mentioned in the DMs with Jullian. The weibo poster clarifies in a later edit that they didn't censor @ken_chk's handle in the screenshots because ken_chk was also embroiled in a sexual scandal involving targeting his fans.

"*About why I didn't delete the artist Ken mention in the chat history—because he was the reason why I raised the alarm. One of the reasons is that I read something about his character on Weibo about a few months ago. I just forgot to unfollow him on Instagram. I can’t find any evidence about what he did, but the Internet has testimonies, so I won't write it off." "* Regarding the artist Ken, the matter has been issued with the consent of the person involved. According to the person involved, Ken will also select fans to target. Please see the person’s experience for details"

So another implication could be that Jullian bringing up such a shady person in the DMs unprompted demonstrates his shady associations. Jullian is the 'carrot pulling up the mud' by doing so.

For context, the poster had felt the need to disavow ken_chk by clarifying that they had only been still following ken_chk by accident. Jullian still following him and even bringing him up unprompted could be a bad look in light of the similar allegations of misconduct surrounding both him and ken_chk.

I am unsure though, as I am not very familiar with this idiom, nor am I familiar with the allegations against ken_chk listed here. I could be totally misinterpreting this line of the post and the ken_chk edit, as I've had to infer some pronouns and commas that weren't originally there due to the nature of Chinese grammar.

'Climbing the wall,' in addition to cheating, can seem to mean getting over obstacles in various contexts, like getting over the firewall to pirate stuff. However, I've translated it as 'cheating' as there's the word "bucket" that follows it. Bucket is also a word for 'trash,' so it'd make sense to translate it as 'cheating trash.'

Later another victim who responded in the comments accounted that by sexually harassing them, Jullian Champenois was also potentially cheating on his girlfriend that they knew he had at the time, lending more credence to the idea that wall climbing comment is about Jullian, though I am still unsure.]]]]]

2. Summary Section

I think this post was first made right after Jullian first messaged the Weibo poster with the innocent messages about their art back in October 2023, months before the more recent sexual DMs from him on March 30th, 2024.

Despite the polite nature of these October DMs, the Weibo poster was weary of Jullian's DMs in this first 2023 post, mentioning how in the past they had gotten similar DMs from Scott Lobdell, only for those complimentary DMs to later be revealed as openings for sexual advances. Their 'PTSD,' as they put it.

In addition, they note a potential cultural difference between Chinese netizens and Western/English-speaking ones. It might be a bigger deal in China to get send someone DMs. Maybe it's more intimate/intimidating/professional, in contrast to it potentially being more casual in the West.

With the summary out of the way, I do want to say that some Western netizens have responded to the later DMs with the sentiment of "these are not examples of harassment, just flirting in bad taste," but this could be related to the cultural mismatch the poster mentioned here.

Getting flirted with in the DMs is very normal to a lot of people in the West, as 'sliding into their DMs' is synonymous with flirting, but perhaps in China, either this is not the norm or Jullian's type of flirting is not the norm, especially within the context of a professional art account.

If you find yourself thinking the same way as those western netizens, I'd ask you to reframe Jullian's DMs less as a casual instagram DM, and more like a work slack or LinkedIn message from a colleague/client, as the DMs we have been/will be talking about are in the context of their own work or hiring him for work. This should help you get a better sense of why the victims felt uncomfortable.

3. Screenshot of Weibo poster's vent messages demonstrating how this has affected their work

The next attached photo was a screenshot of vent texts. I'm not sure the context of the texts, but the content is definitely about their regrets with Jullian Champenois.

Why shouldn't I just be frank and rant a little? I want to be so woke (as in another way to say clear-headed, not related to American progressive slang) that you'll see me awake, anaesthesia-free on the operating table when they cut me open[.] Do you get me[?] Well Any way you look at it, I'm miserable On top of all this, I've got a big graduation project that's in comic form. That comic was adapting the poem that is currently acting as my temporary nicotine replacement for my disco elysium withdrawals*** So I would listen to [Jullian Champenois's] songs at the time God, it hurts so much Luckily, my nicotine replacement was for another character (they're probably saying that the poem reminded them of another disco elysium character, not Kim Kitsuragi, hence their relief) For a moment there, I was thinking of to talking to him about my graduation project and about disco elysium.

*** So I'm making the assumption that the original poster is talking about a graduation project that they're working on. Since they're an artist, it's a comic that they're making. They then say something about an original poem. They use the word that means "original" in the context of adaptation, like the original book a movie is based off of. So the full phrase is 'the comic's original poem,' which I'm taking to mean that they're adapting a poem into comic form.

This is relevant because I think they're trying to say that the poem is currently the thing they're obsessing over while waiting for more Disco Elysium content. They use the term "meal replacement," which seems to be a Chinese fandom term referring to the content people look at during a fandom drought—like people hitting the end of all the Disco Elysium content out there and deciding to check out Pathologic, since they've heard that game scratches the same itch.

So I think this screenshot is supposed to be them venting their feelings about how this situation with Jullian made them feel. They want to be clear-headed about his actions, even if it makes them feel miserable. And they note how his actions have tainted their experience working on a Disco Elysium-inspired comic.

1. Screenshot of the Weibo Poster Blocking Jullian Champenois

After talking with other commenters, the Weibo poster posted their closing remarks with Jullian Champenois, especially noting how he used their work and their interest in his work as a pretense for flirting with them instead of genuine artistic interest.

2. Next, testimony from a commenter

(translation via 阿阮 @woon__ton on twitter)

阿阮 @woon__ton also notes that "If anyone questions why I didn't release the screenshots, it's because this fan suffered severe trauma and was unable to provide the original chat log."

3. A second testimony from another commenter

Hello blogger, I also suffered sexual harassment from Jullian at the end of last year. Because my friends know that I like Disco Elysium very much, [they] said [they] could give me an autograph. I was very excited and happy at the time. A few days later, Jullian himself said that he could add me on WeChat, so I could directly tell him what I wanted him to sign. I was so happy and felt very lucky. After that, he was always very polite and took the initiative to chat with me, but within a few days he started to sexually harass me. I can't find the chat records from that time, only one or two that were sent to friends. I was very disillusioned at the time…so I blocked him, but he added me on New Year's Day. After I saw your Weibo, I remembered this incident again. He was really disgusting… I loved Disco Elysium so much, but he ruined it all. Okay, I hope you can share this. He is a habitual criminal and has yellow fever, and likes to chat up Chinese girls. At the same time last year, I searched for his name on Weibo and found that many people who followed him on Instagram were greeted by him. Everyone thought he was very nice, but that‘s not the case. When I first added him, I didn't expect him to talk to me a lot. Because it was such a surprise, I expressed a lot of my love for Disco Elysium and Kim. He asked me if I knew about Kim's sexuality. When I told him that I knew, he emphasized that he was a straight man, and then asked a lot about exchanging private information. After he sexually harassed me, I couldn't even tell him off for it because my friend was_____, I was waiting until he left _____ before I could block him. After I rejected him, he was still interested in striking up another conversation. I said that I knew he had a girlfriend, and it was very strange to do this. He said that his girlfriend didn't care and knew that he was doing it, which 'was its own kind of fun.' Made me feel very sick.

4. DM Screenshots from the Second Commenter

This commenter then submitted DMs that Jullian had sent them. The original poster has shared them, noting that the profile pic is clearly Jullian's.

This commenter also commented that the friends they had mentioned also had similar experiences with Jullian Champenois, which could push the number of victims to 4+.

I'd also like to share a comment on the original Weibo post from this same commenter:

"This incident did not affect my playing of Disco Elysium (the voice will be turned off hhh), but I really felt a huge spiritual pain, like my faith was completely shattered, like the statue of the Innocence in the church turned into a smelly rotten rag."

Additions

In addition, there is a testimony from a third person not attached on the post, which @woon__ton posted on twitter. It can be found here, and it outlines how an anonymous user paid Jullian in a professional context to voice for a product for her, only for him to make an unprofessional advance on her. Although the harassment is not directly shown in the WeChat screenshot, his apology for his inappropriate behavior is shown.

This testifier would like to remain anonymous.

*5 Update: Additional Testimony from the original poster on Weibo

The original poster is emphasizing the predatory nature of Jullian's DMs, differentiating them from the "just awkward flirting" narrative that some Western/English speaking people have had in response to these allegations.

First of all, his "yellow fever" aspect of specifically asking about Chinese girls, who are often fetishized to be more shy/submissive/less likely to talk. But in this case, it's also him specifically being inappropriate with people for whom there is a language/cultural barrier, making it harder for them to speak out—either due to a literal language barrier between them and his Western audience, or the plausible deniability of all this being a 'cultural misunderstanding' (which is very unlikely, since Jullian has apparently lived in China and therefore is very aware of the norms there).

Second of all, his usage of a professional/work account to make sexual advances. Again, comparisons to the Scott Lobdell situation should be made, as they highlight why it's sleazy to use their work as an excuse/opening to make sexual advances on someone. Not only does it cross boundaries, but it's also not treating the artist with the respect they deserve as someone just trying to work.

Closing

The Weibo poster would prefer if people not follow them on Weibo over this situation, as they posted the situation on their work/professional art account, and it is painful for them to see too many notifications about this.

They also note that they still love Disco Elysium and Kim Kitsuragi and that the allegations against Jullian Champenois should not reflect on the dev team of Disco Elysium, as there were also women working on the team, etc.

With this post, I've tried my best to accurately convey the sentiments of the original poster of the Weibo without commenting on the proof or the legality or what the ramifications should be or how we should interpret this, etc (beyond a quick mention of a potential cultural clash). I'll update the post with better translations if something comes up or if anybody mentions any suggestions/clarifications.

[strawberrygiorno]

I know I already sort of talked about this quote, but I seriously can't stop thinking about it.

[Text ID: KIM KITSURAGI - "The Moralintern are a fact. I try not to have opinions on facts -- until they change. And," he looks at the city below, "it doesn't look like that's about to happen." End ID]

So many things that happen during the case take something Kim believes to be a fact and prove it to be wrong. For example:

- There is no "curse" on the commercial area, except there's a hole in the world that says otherwise

- There's nothing in the random shipping container, except there is a mega-rich light-bending guy

- The blue door in the Whirling won't be relevant to the case, except it was used by the killer to spy on Klaasje

- The killer is Ruby, except she's innocent

- The RCM wouldn't just abandon a cop as good a Harry, except it does

- There's no such thing as the Insulindian phasmid, except there is

Even the case itself does this! It looks very straightforward and it's obvious what happened and why, except there's a bullet in the guy's brain that throws those initial thoughts out the window and things are so much more complicated than they first appeared

Revachol is really trying to tell him something with all of this

[shufflerock-jam]

It's been discussed before how Kim is trigger-happy. A common example used is when he pulls his gun on The Pigs, and nearly blasts her head off. I was looking through Fayde and found some dialogue options I have never seen before/seen discussed before so I wanted to bring them up because I'm going to be thinking about them for a WHILE…

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant's eyes stay fixed on the woman and her gun -- he studies them closely, then mumbles: "Fascinating."

SetVariableValue("boardwalk.pigs_kim_noticed_gun_not_loaded", true) --[[ Variable[ ]]

KIM CAN NOTICE THAT THE GUN ISN'T LOADED.

I'm not 100% certain what's required to get this, but it looks like you need to pull the gun at Cunoesse earlier. Here's (basically) the whole thing:

(then theres the normal Harry dialogue/check. he fails it, and The Pigs tries to shoot him)

As you can see, Kim notices that the gun isn't loaded, which in itself is impressive considering the stress and dark and everything- it shows how adept and familiar with police guns he is. Then he silently urges Harry to go get the gun. 'It's safe' he thinks.

Then, the line that has me freaking out over this scene:

'I was 95% sure the gun is empty and still that instinctual muscle twitch could have ended in an unnecessary death.'

Like oh my god?? He thought the words 'it's safe' yet STILL felt compelled to shoot her. I wonder how many of his kills were unnecessary, how many times he couldn't control that instinctual muscle twitch. How fucking haunting. For him to be actively aware of this too…I have so many feelings about this, ones I can't exactly put into words. Something about a pair of traumatized cops, one fighting against shooting himself and one fighting against shooting everyone else

[maykitz]

INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] - At least 11 % of your personality is making literary references that nobody can understand. This is because you make reference to your own literature, which remains unpublished. For example, when somebody does something outrageously stupid, you might say, "Wow, you're really pulling a Gregory Berrycone there."

YOU - "Wow, you're really pulling a Gregory Berrycone there."

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant attempts to maintain a neutral expression. "What did you say?"

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success] - Gregory Berrycone is a minor character in your, as of now still untitled, absurdist novella about a man who wakes up one morning with a mysterious plastic knob on the back of his head.

[the-remote-viewers-division]

I have an alternate pale theory…

Consider this like a ‘Pale-AU’ (i.e. I know it is probably not supported by canon, and certainly not supported by some other works like Joshua Jenkins designs, for example… also I haven’t finished reading PJÕL, so maybe my ideas will change after that) but I started thinking about it as a “what-if” situation: If there were to be a direct sequel to Disco Elysium :insert prayer hands:, how could we reconcile the multitude of different Harrys the player could create? What about the fates of other characters? Some change due to our influence, some die. How could a sequel storyline somehow accept all those possible variances? Introducing my almost-certainly not-correct pale theory!TM using a little bit of in-game info, some real-life stuff, and a sprinkle of imagination!

Caution: Many spoilers ahead.

So what is Pale -- just the past?

After you talk to the Phasmid you’re given the impression that humans/people created the pale accidentally (with thinking and memory and ideas and invention?); and after talking to Joyce you learn that some think the pale is “rarified past.” It’s all pretty nebulous, but I think that the pale being a product (or a by-product) of the human mind/memory is close to what could be accepted as the canon origin of the pale:

INSULINDIAN PHASMID - The pale, too, came with you. No one remembers it before you. The cnidarians do not, the radially symmetricals do not. There is an almost unanimous agreement between the birds and the plants that you are going to destroy us all. YOU - Wait, the pale is human made? INSULINDIAN PHASMID - It is a nervous shadow cast into the world by you, eating away at reality. A great, unnatural territory. Its advent coincides with the arrival of the human mind. YOU - I don't have that kind of power. INSULINDIAN PHASMID - You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing -- just by accident. YOU - ...how? INSULINDIAN PHASMID - We suspect it will be something like the oxygen holocaust that wiped out anaerobic life 2.6 billion years ago -- when organisms first started breathing. Only much worse. CONCEPTUALIZATION - Instead of air, you exhale thoughts. There are no trees that eat thoughts.

JOYCE MESSIER – "Some say the damage stems from extreme sensory deprivation. Others argue that pale somehow *consists* of past information, that's degrading. That it's rarefied past, not rarefied matter." JOYCE MESSIER – "They call it *the blend-over of the self*. The pale does not only suspend the laws of physics, but also the laws of psychology, maybe History, even... The human mind becomes over-radiated by past." YOU – "Who says and who argues?" JOYCE MESSIER – "The logical positivists say -- the dialectical materialists argue."

An effect of the Pale is “entroponetical crosstalk" which you can experience when you use the doorbell intercom outside the whirling and hear the woman speaking from Tricentennial Electrics a long time ago, and additionally the old pale driver also talks to you about how she’s experienced the past in the pale, like the assassination of Dolores Dei. Both are snippets of human past:

KIM KITSURAGI - "It was a recording trapped in the circuitry. From some ancient tenant. This sometimes happens. Shall we conclude here? We have other mysteries to solve." YOU - "I do have one mystery that still needs solving... the radio ghost in the Doomed Commercial Area's electronic doorbell." SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "The creepy woman!" She slaps her forehead. "We were wondering about that when we worked there... but I had completely forgotten about it ever since!" SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "It must be entroponetic crosstalk. The one you get in radios and long-distance calls... Now it makes sense, with the pale right on the doorstep." KIM KITSURAGI - "Incredible..." the lieutenant murmurs. "This would also explain why we get it on the police radio all the time." YOU - "Entroponetic crosstalk?" SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "It's quite common actually. When the signal gets routed through pale, all kinds of irregularities take place. You may hear snippets of someone else's conversation, or the voice of your former lover, or an echo of an event that took place 100 years ago." SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "Pale is a shroud of memories and it doesn't really distinguish to whom those memories belong to. You could hear anything."

PALEDRIVER - "You don't need to turn back time. The pale is already churning with it. As the tide of pale rises, so does the past. Someday both will cover the whole world. That's it. That's the story." PALEDRIVER - "They say there is a point -- one that *I* have not crossed -- in the pale superdeep. If you stray too far off course on the U41-A, or in Lomonossov's Land... where every step you take is one step further from home, no matter the direction." PALEDRIVER - "It's a point you cannot come back from. Your mind becomes so radiant with the past -- there is a flip." She flicks the ash from her cigarette. "Instead of writing, it erases memory. Nearing some kind of..." She shakes her head. "Indescribable *finale*." PALEDRIVER - "Like Gabriel Buenguerro in 'Segure-me, Paraíso'..." She nods and smiles, unkindly. "You're the opposite of me then. I remember everything -- even the things I never knew." YOU - "Things you never knew?" PALEDRIVER - "The smell of liquor on Gabriel's lips after the shoot. In the motor park. The roses on the day of Franconegro's coronation. On the grand stairs of Raehl. The smoke from the fowling piece, when Dolores Dei was shot..." PALEDRIVER - "The look on her face -- like an orgasm. The wound in her chest. My hand in my father's hand..." She closes her eyes, her eyelids trembling. "Except I never had a father. And I never shot Her Innocence Dolores Dei." .. PALEDRIVER - "Thought insertion? *Dithering*? The Graad-Katla Magistral?" She savours the lungful. "It's more than dangerous -- it's *sad*. But... at first I had to make a living. Now..."

So you’d think Joyce’s theory checks out, it’s all history/memory---BUT! I did the moralist political quest my first play thru, and when you are trying to contact the airship you also get radio crosstalk from the pale.

KIM KITSURAGI - "It's cold now..." SHIVERS - A slight frisson at the point where your neck meets your spine. Something about the lieutenant's words, directed at you, but not *you*... YOU - "It's really coming down, now that you mention it." KIM KITSURAGI - "Mention what?" YOU - "It's cold, like you just said." KIM KITSURAGI - "I didn't say anything, detective." KIM KITSURAGI - "...someone has been maintaining it. The wiring has been repaired..." HORSEBACK ANTENNA - An uncomfortable silence falls over the connection. KIM KITSURAGI - "... It's been a long winter... Long and cold..." YOU - "Are you going to tell me you didn't say *that*, either?" KIM KITSURAGI - "I promise you, I didn't, even though it certainly *sounds* like me..." The lieutenant seems to wince at the sound of his own voice. YOU - "It must be entroponetic crosstalk. It's the only explanation." NOID - "So your partner's haunting himself. Trying to warn him off his current path, most like." KIM KITSURAGI - "It's eerie, for certain, but also harmless. I just wish I could remember what I was talking about..." ESPRIT DE CORPS - Something here is eating at the lieutenant, as much as he would like to move past it.

You can even hear it if Kim is not with you:

KIM KITSURAGI - "It's cold now..." SHIVERS - A slight frisson at the point where your neck meets your spine. You can *feel* the lieutenant's presence, even though he's nowhere to be found... YOU - "Kim? How did you get on my connection?" NOID - "Whoa, the cop's *own partner* is a radio-spooker. That's some *other core* business right there..." HORSEBACK ANTENNA - ... KIM KITSURAGI - "...someone has been maintaining it. The wiring has been repaired..." YOU - "Kim! Answer me." NOID - "No use, man. Don't think he can hear you." YOU - "I've encountered this before. It's entroponetic crosstalk. This is a piece of the past mixing in with our signal." NOID - "What..." KIM KITSURAGI - "It's been a long winter... Long and cold." NOID - "What have you gotten us into, lawman?" HALF LIGHT - Just *run*. Unplug that headset and get as far away as you can.

YOU - "Kim? How did you get on my connection?" … YOU - "What is he talking about?"’ SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "I believe you mean, what *was* he talking about." YOU - "Wait, what are *you* talking about?" KIM KITSURAGI - "It's been a long winter... Long and cold." SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "It sounds very much like entroponetic crosstalk. It happens sometimes when sending transmissions across long stretches of pale..."

Except IT'S NOT FROM THE PAST. It is Kim talking from the future, from the fort on the island. Which hasn’t happened yet.

And it can possibly NOT HAPPEN.

You hear Kim say this stuff even if he gets shot and doesn’t come with you to the island.

During gameplay they kind of just go “huh, how strange and spooky...” and don’t really delve into it.

But that completely changes the pale right? It’s not just past, it’s also future, and not just the ONLY future, POSSIBLE future.

So, my theory is that the pale is multiverse colliding: the near pale is the places where these universes begin to overlap, and deep pale is where universes overlap to such a degree they are cancelling themselves out into nothing.

Fungal communication – mycorrhizal network

When Joyce talks to you, she talks about a fungus growing at the edge of the porch collapse. I think this fungus could be acting like a mycorrhizal network, which in our world are an underground networks connecting fungi and plants allowing them to communicate or share information. I think the fungi/spores in Elysium pop up at origin points and thrive along the porch collapse and are allowing the universes to “talk” to each other.

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "I understand..." She closes her eyes. "A theory of the pale where instead of an *outer ocean* it metastasises -- like a cancer or a mould -- erupting in points *inside* the world."

JOYCE MESSIER - "An uproar of matter, darling, *rising* into the pale. Rolling. Evaporating even, a great vision. The area of transition between the world and the pale is called *porch collapse*." JOYCE MESSIER - "Imagine a grey coronal mist, cold vapour, marked by spores of an opportunistic microorganism -- a mould that's adapted to grow at the edge of the unrest. It's..." JOYCE MESSIER - She closes her eyes and breathes out heavily: "... the most *disco* thing you will ever see.

INLAND EMPIRE - The white noise turns into a wall of mist and grey mould, bubbling, sweeping over the city... it tears up buildings and raises sidewalks into the sky. It's Revachol -- at the end of the world. INLAND EMPIRE - ...and it hasn't even really started yet.

Destructive interference – “le gris”

When Lena tells you about the cryptid the Col Do Ma Ma Da Qua, you learn that they are nearly extinct because the scientists played back their own calls and since they are creatures made of sound, the recordings cancelled out the birds. They died because the signals matched and cancelled each other out.

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "It's the *Col Do Ma Ma Daqua*," the woman corrects her glasses. "Its name means 'thin whisper of sound'. And that's *precisely* what it is -- self-replicating sound waves, invisible and intangible! The Col Do Ma Ma is very afraid of us, which makes it incredibly difficult to track..." YOU - "Why is the Ma Ma Daqua so afraid of us?" LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "That is a sad story." She frowns. "A group of university students assisting with the field work, in their enthusiasm for the project and, no doubt, because they were preoccupied with impressing their professors, nearly drove it to *extinction*." YOU - "Extinction?" LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - She nods gravely. "They tried to communicate with it, and had no other means but sound. So they started sending out sound waves at frequencies they thought might match the Ma Ma Daqua's. And what happens when a sound wave meets another sound wave of the same frequency, dear?" YOU - "They cancel each other out."

So... admittedly this doesn’t directly connect to the pale, but it’s illustrating the concept of signals cancelling each other out and, I'm going to say, indicates that this concept is possible in Elysium. The pale is destruction, the overlap between universes causes matter, physics, and even numbers to dissolve. The more complete the overlap, the more complete the destruction.

In conclusion...

According to my theory, the pale is the areas of the world that are affected by these fungal organisms that allow very similar, but different universes to communicate with each other, and since their 'signals' are so alike, they are being cancelled out.

So why did I force myself to jump thru these mental hoops? I think having a multiverse like this would make a sequel more possible since there are so many ways the game can be played. Any possible playthrough would be its own universe. Having a multiverse like this acknowledges and validates any play thru as 'canon,' no player will feel that they somehow played the game “wrong.”  Whatever Harry appearing in the sequel is one of the possible Harrys even if he wasn’t “your” Harry. If a character died, they died only in some of the universes, not all. Whatever world the sequel would take place in is just one of the many possibilities.

Anyway, I thought WAYYYY too much about this and now you can too. Sorry!

[electric-sympathy]

The thing about Kim Kitsuragi is that he is the rare example of he could fix me

[multiplicity-positivity]

Source Separation for Introjects

Hello - it’s time for me to make a post here based on my own experience. We get asked occasionally how to go about source separation for those who are interested, and in our system, I (Cecil) am the only one who has achieved this to the degree of which I feel confident enough to write this post. So here we go.

I’ll format this in the way we’ve been formatting our other informational posts, because I’m fond of the question-and-answer format.

DISCLAIMER: The information shared here is from our own system’s experience. And particularly my (Cecil’s) experience. No two systems are alike, and further, no two introjects are alike either. What worked for me may not work for you. I am not trying to portray any information as absolute truths - only my experience with source separation as I understand it.

What is a source?

In plural contexts, a source refers to the person, character, concept, or item that an introject is based off of. Introjects are headmates who arrive in their system with an identity already based off of something outside of the system. An introject’s source is whatever they are based off of.

For example, my headmate Ralsei is a fictive based off of the character Ralsei from Deltarune. Therefore, the Ralsei character in the video game is my headmate’s source. My own source is Kim Kitsuragi from Disco Elysium.

What is source separation?

Source separation occurs when an introject aims to distance themselves from their source and form their own identity outside of their source in the process. Source separation can be small, like enjoying an activity or media that your source was never interested in. It can also be greater, like changing your name, appearance, and other identifying features.

Even recognizing that you are not your source - that your source exists outside of yourself and that you are your own person - can be considered source separation. In this way, source separation, even to the smallest degree, can be healthy and beneficial for many introjects.

Why should I separate from my source?

There are a plethora of reasons why an introject may choose to separate from their source. Whether being compared to their source brings them pain or anxiety, they have difficult exomemories to bear, they want to focus on improving themselves or simply wish to have more agency over their lives, there is no clear set of reasons why an introject should separate from their source. The purpose of this post is not to convince introjects that they must separate from their source - rather, my goal is to explain a bit about what source separation means to me.

How do I source separate?

Introjects may distance themselves from their source in a plethora of different ways. No two introjects are alike, so one introject’s method for source separation may not work for another. That being said, here are some ways that I have separated from my source (written with general “you”s).

1. Recognize that you are not your source.

You are not your source physically, mentally, emotionally, or in any other capacity. You exist outside of your source. If your source suddenly vanished or ceased to exist, you would still be here. You are capable of thinking for yourself and making decisions that your source wouldn’t necessarily make. For me, this first step was crucial. For some, this level of source separation is enough for them to live happy lives. In our system, Ralsei is comfortable still identifying as and with Ralsei from Deltarune, while recognizing that they are not literally their source. For me, though, this just hasn’t been enough.

2. Make small changes… consciously.

After I first learned I was a fictive, I found myself drawn towards things that my source was known to enjoy. Once I decided to try and separate from my source, I started branching out with my interests and tried exploring new things without holding myself to the standards set by the character I was based off of.

You might choose to try baking, coding, rock climbing, building puzzles, or anything else that speaks out to you. Don’t let discomfort deter you from trying something new - it’s normal for things outside our comfort zones to be uncomfortable. Experiment with your likes and dislikes, favorite things and activities, and all sorts of things - don’t let your source or your feelings about your source dictate what you’re capable of enjoying. Finding things to be passionate about can not only help you separate from your source, but enrich your life in the process.

3. Make larger changes, and lean into them.

After you’ve managed to find a few ways to distinguish yourself from your source, if you’d like, you can make bigger changes. This may include changing your name, experimenting with your gender and sexuality, altering your appearance, or finding other, lasting ways to make yourself different from your source.

I did this by changing my name and experimenting with my gender. I also am toying with the concept of otherkin, and am questioning if I even experience the world in a human way. While I still use my source’s pronoun set, I also am comfortable with neopronouns, with a keen interest in xe/xem/xers. This is different from my source, who used exclusively he/him pronouns. By steadily making changes about how you behave, view yourself, and interact with the world around you, you can further distinguish yourself from your source and develop into your own individual personhood.

4. Understand personhood is complex and identities are fluid.

You may wake up one day feeling more like your source than other days. This isn’t a sign that you haven’t been successful so far at separating from your source. Progress is not linear, and this goes for those attempting source separation as much as anything else. Be patient with yourself - recognize that making these changes will take some time getting used to. It may take weeks, months, or even years for you to reach a degree of separation from your source that brings you comfort and joy. Please don’t give up if it’s looking hopeless. A little patience and self-compassion can go a long way in this regard.

And there you have it. Of course, in my experience, being able to speak openly about my source separation with my system’s therapist has helped this process go much more smoothly. If you have a therapist in your life, or someone you trust who you can talk to, speaking with them about your process and how your separation is going may be incredibly beneficial. Journalling and keeping track of your progress in other ways can help give you hope when you worry you haven’t been capable of making much change. In the end, it is up to you as an individual to decide how to separate from your source and how much separation you hope to achieve.

Do I have to separate from my source if I don’t want to?

No. While at least some amount of separation is certainly healthy (see: step 1 of “How do I source separate?”), no one should ever be required to separate from their source if they’re not ready or if they don’t want to. This post is not a plea to convince introjects to separate from their sources. Rather, it is a rough guide for those who are already interested in or curious about this process.

Questions or comments may be directed to me, Cecil. Full disclosure, I am in the process of attempting to fuse with another member of my system. Therefore, that member (Margo) has been present with me as I wrote this post. Fusion doesn’t destroy alters, though, so if you have any questions we can still collectively provide a response, even after our fusion. We’re going to be undergoing a name change soon - so if you hear back from Corrie - that’s still me. That is the name Margo and I have chosen for our collective, shared identity.

I hope this post will be beneficial for those who are interested in source separation. Remember to take things slow, don’t hold yourself to unrealistic expectations, and show yourself kindness and compassion along the way. If you want it, source separation is certainly possible! And we wish you all the best as you attempt to distinguish yourself from your source.

(Image ID:) A pale orange userbox with a cluster of multicolored flowers for the userbox image. The border and text are both dark orange, and the text reads “all plurals can interact with this post!” (End ID.)

[ishouldgetadiary]

there are definitely cleverer people to discuss this at length than me and there are probably people who already have and come to the same or better conclusions, but i do just want to say that an aspect of kim kitsuragi i can't get over is his disconnect from being seolite (outside of the racism). i don't know, it's very important to have asian characters with strong cultural ties who have that culture accurately expressed through their character/stories and i do love those characters, but it's somewhat rarer to see the alternative (at least, when race and culture is acknowledged at all), let alone it being a point of pride for them, the same way it is for kim. all of this to say, i feel haunted by what he says when you ask him about his heritage.

i didnt ask him about it on my first run (because i found the way the question is initially asked to be kinda rude and i was afraid of if it'd make him like me less, lol) but i did in my current replay and the way he dances around the topic, 'i'm half seolite, well technically, my parents were both quarter, i guess you could also say im quarter, i don't know the language or culture and i've only lived in revachol', it fucks me up so bad! first is how you can tell it's mostly a defensive tactic for him, at least when he starts the rant— somebody asks about the race thing? deflect. i'm only half. i don't even know the language. i'm not one of those seolites. second is how he loosens into pride when he realises/remembers that harry isn't asking to be racist, he is genuinely having trouble remembering that the concept of race exists, but also because it lets kim kinda show that it is something to be prideful about in revachol.

dont get me wrong— i think kim kitsuragi is genuinely proud of being as revacholian as anyone else. he loves revachol. i dont think he’d go along with harry so easily on random side quests or have opinions on if harry helps or hinders the people of martinaise if he actually didnt care. i dont even know he’d still be a cop or (more accurately) be one for as long as he has been, especially when he’s spent most of it as a juvie officer, if he didnt believe in revachol. it’s people, what it is, and what the country could be. people like to take his position as a police officer as just his way of feeling a sense of power in a post revolutionary (khm. and racist) world that has never had the space for him or his dreams, but kim is more three dimensional than that. ESPECIALLY when there are ways that being a cop gives him less power than regular citizens in revachol. he likes, wants, and believes in both, and that’s not necessarily hypocritical. in the same way, i dont think it’s at all hypocritical that his pride is rooted in both his love for revachol AND the way white supremacy has impacted him. because yk, when he’s proud about his lack of connection to his heritage, it’s not just his love for revachol speaking, it’s also the disdain that we, the player, hear for seolite people (at least what we hear from or related to kim).

that all being said, i dont consider that to be a terribly complex thought at all— real life people are complicated and multifaceted, so kim kitsuragi is written to also be complicated and multifaceted. in disco elysium, the writers are never worried about presenting the world in a better or worse way than it already is. yes, it is definitely a heightened version of our reality, but it also presents everything as direct as possible. case example would be the racist lorry driver in what he says versus how he’s presented. in that very first interaction when kim confronts him and harry catches up on what just happened, he denies and hides in the same way a lot of people deny and hide that they are being racist, but you, the player, cannot avoid or pretend he isnt being racist, because it is literally in his name. you are not given the grace of real life where there is the option of either the benefit of the doubt or genuinely questioning your own assessment. despite all of that, ultimately, it is still haunting for that early kim question to be so reminiscent of what i see in real life.

in the example of a shorter ramble, kim's own ramble weirdly reminds me of myself, but in the opposite direction. i very easily and quickly tumble into word vomit and over-detail my heritage just to make it make sense that my name isnt white. and i'm not gonna boohoo over my own personal situation at all when i know i benefit from white supremacy, but i hate that ultimately, white supremacy ‘won’ when it comes to 'me'. because just like kim kitsuragi, i don't know a language that isn't english, i dont know a different culture, and i've only lived in my predominantly white country.

but a more apt comparison is my own father. a man who’s internalised shame cant even allow him to comprehend why somebody white would want a tan, because he’s always been at least a little tan, and that’s part of what ‘clocks’ him as not fully white, who does try to connect with his mother’s culture, but just kind of ended up with only odd bits and pieces of it and the language, because it was something that would’ve just made life harder than it should be, and despite everything, he’ll still do things like dunk on chinese people. there may be more to say, but you get the gist. and yet somehow none of it has quite reaches the point where he can recognise it in himself. because he knows racism and white supremacy is bad and he’s obviously against it, but it is hard to acknowledge that it is greater than just the lorry drivers and measureheads of the world. because we live with the consequences and the rot of white supremacy within us. assimilation has done it's job to it's logical conclusion.

… and yet it is a limbo, and a hollow one at that. regardless of how white i am, i still dont fully relate to my fully white peers, because there are ways in which i dont share in their accepted shared experiences. my father has never felt accepted in either club, ‘too japanese for white australians and too australian for japanese people’ (can you believe that disco elysium was almost banned from my country)! our fully white peers will never know what it’s like to be able to look at the face of a complete stranger of a different race and see family. to see their aunts, or grandparents, or parents.

but kim kitsuragi talks of that limbo with pride. he may never feel a true sense of community with either white people or other seolites, and this is something his brain seems to choose not to fully acknowledge, even though he definitely feels it. and really, it’s haunting in the same way i find both my father’s and my involvement in society disconcerting. the truth that, in spite of where white supremacy and assimilation can get you, you will never truly achieve the community or peace of mind there is in ignorance.

despite all that, on a brighter note, i do think that in terms of what kim truly likes harry for and what gains his trust in him is the choice for harry to be that sense of community he needs. (if i am remembering right) kim will only really trust you if you chose to defend him from the several racists you’ll encounter and make jokes at their expense with him, because it’s highly HIGHLY unlikely that barely anybody goes through that effort for him. even when it’s pretty clear that the writers were going for humorous ‘haha, white guy trying his best to be an ally’ dialogue choices, kim himself doesnt really show that he finds it obnoxious or unwanted, it’s genuinely something he would rarely get other rcm members even though that is the community he’s definitely and wholly part of.

anyways i have no idea if this post made any sense or if im really wrong (i could be!) because it came from a more personal place than maybe typical character analysis but whatever

[ddarker-dreams]

yooo lock from one gamer to another, any recs for the steam summer sale? i've got most horror jrpgs down like misao, ib, and witch's house

ANON FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE i was thinking about this ask for a few days and. ahem. in that time, the steam summer sale ended. 😦 just keep this in mind for the next sale perhaps?? alas. here are some of my favorite games on steam .

disco elysium

one of my favorite games of all time. i replayed it recently and have a newfound appreciation for every element of it. the extensive worldbuilding can be overwhelming at first, but i personally enjoyed how fleshed out the world is. the writing is sublime and i've never experienced anything like it across any medium. also it's the only game to have kim kitsuragi so that automatically makes it a 10/10

divinity original sin 2

this game is another favorite of mine. there were multiple times when i was playing it where i went 'huh, i wonder if i can do so and so' and i could. i killed a giant ogre with like 10k HP by sneaking an invisible character into its vicinity and teleporting it into lava. before leaving an area i killed a character who i bought tons of equipment from and got all my money back. it's just a really entertaining game. you can also play it with friends so that's fun. the game can be as dynamic as you want it to be. i like spending hours researching the most optimal builds but you don't have to be a nerd to make it through the content. or you can be like me and spend thirty minutes setting up explosives and perfectly placing each party member before every combat encounter because i've never felt the touch of a woman

hades

fast paced, fluid combat, greek mythology, killer soundtrack, pretty graphics, and bisexuality. what more can i say. i got such an adrenaline rush after beating the final boss that i almost collapsed onto the ground and rolled around like a pill bug. very very fun and addicting

hyper light drifter

HNGNNGN PRTTY and the soundtrack also slaps here too. the color palette is so gorgeous. once you get into the rhythm of the combat you feel like a god among men. zooming all over the place. nyooooooom.

omori

this game took my heart, ripped it out of my chest, stomped on it, slapped it back into place, then closed my open ribcage with a hello kitty bandaid. i cannot praise it enough. it's charming, the psychological horror is one of a kind; it's a game that seeps under your skin and stays there. if you haven't played it yet and you're comfortable with the dark themes it explores i'd recommend it 100%. go on without any spoilers.

pillars of eternity

i uh. i like CRPGs. pillars of eternity has a special place in my heart because it went onto influence how i do worldbuilding. the game has one of my favorite stories from a CRPG, it's overflowing with creativity that's explored to the fullest. it's also made by the folks who created fallout new vegas so that's a bonus. the combat isn't my absolute favorite when compared to something like divinity original sin 2, but i still found it enjoyable overall. interacting with the characters and the fleshed out world was what i had the most fun with.

planescape torment

this game's combat is scuffed but the story is one of the best across any medium. play on easy i'm not joking the combat does not matter. but the world, the characters, the factions, how it dabbles into philosophy, the story that leaves you with more questions than answers as you progress,, it's just so good. when it's on sale it's ridiculously cheap and so worth the price of admission. there's lots of reading but if you're into the type of stuff you'll love this game. also there's a floating talking skull

va-11 hall-a: cyberpunk bartender action

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVS THE VIBES ARE IMMACULATE THE WRITING IS IMMACULATE THE ART IS IMMACULATE THE SOUNDTRACK WOULD MAKE BEEHTOVEN JEALOUS and there's also bisexuality here too. this game is an example of the writing i wanted to aspire towards after i played it for the first time. it influenced me heavily.

[transsexualunderground]

Hi this article means everything to me forever and always so I have to post it here

[linisiane]

What Kim Kitsuragi Tells Us About Fandom Ghost

I don't know if this has been said before, but I feel like another reason why Kim Kitsuragi is so wildly popular and beloved is how seamlessly he maps onto the trope of the Fanon Ghost.

Fanon Ghost is a concept that originated on Tumblr, by user wildehack, to describe the phenomenon of fandom elevating certain white male side characters from canon into main characters in fic, using a very specific set of characterization.

(Examples: wildehack focused on Star Wars' Hux's popularity in fic in comparison to characters like Finn/Poe, but others include Q from Craig!Bond verse, Arthur from Inception, Draco Malfoy, etc.)

From wildehack's defining essay:

"... prudish til you get him in bed, whereupon he is The Most Kinky, the charmingly repressed rage, the Love of Research and Order, the way lust/interest/affection is coded into irritation at The Neat and Tidy World being All Roughed Up by the hot mess of the other half of the ship?" "This crowdsourced tight-lipped furious perfectionist with his neat clothes and his scowling defensiveness and his biting sarcasm and his embarrassed desire to have a dude who is both sweaty and emotional take him apart."

Sound familiar?

Well, the terms may be a little different.

Where wildehack uses 'prudish,' 'biting sarcasm,' etc. to describe their fandom's fanon ghost, Disco fans might use 'professional,' 'dry wit,' etc. to describe Kim Kitsuragi.

But, the idea is the same, down to his embarrassing / sweaty / emotional partner. Kim Kitsuragi is Fanon Ghost if fanon ghost weren't a white male side character.

quick detour that'll become relevant later: i feel SO smug about the fact that Kim's characterization is canon to Disco Elysium. You had to make up your own perfect blorbo, but ours came like that! And he's not a white character being used to ignore POC main characters!

wildehack's essay started a conversation on why fandoms gravitate towards "This One Crowdsourced Dude," even when he doesn't exist in canon. And when there are other, often more established, minority main characters to work with.

There are a bunch of responses to this question—the FandomLore article I'm referencing this discussion from has a bunch of the full metas—ranging from exploring why he's often white and what exactly about him appeals to fandom. I think Kim's popularity can be really helpful in sorting my thoughts to these responses.

For instance, there are two general responses as to why the Fandom Ghost is usually a white side character:

Whiteness is considered a a blank slate default, making it easier to write about without fear of misrepresentation/mischaracterization

VS

White men are considered more desirable/more relatable by fandom.

It's probably a mix of the two, but I think a fascinating THIRD take is that these white side characters in canon aren't just blank slates, but also share minor traits that all point to One Trope that causes people to obsess.

certifiedspacetrash postulated that the fandom ghost is actually a reskinning of a much older beloved archetype—the byronic hero: a character notable for being hard to like and hard to know, but usually possessing a rich inner life and a softer side accessible only to a special few. (Sound familiar?)

He theorized that part of the reason we don't see many POC Fandom Ghosts is because mainstream medias don't cast byronic traits onto POC characters.

"I think if Hollywood cast more young, striking actors who happen to be PoC, women etc as villains / byronic heores we would see lots of fanfic of them. But Hollywood is still in some weirdass reaction to being accused of racial stereotyping (which they 100% still do), and almost refuse to cast poc or women as bad guys. If they are, they’re either cast very old; or they’re the mary sue badguys - 100% beautiful, geniuses, incredibly powerful, no flaws whatsoever - and that tends not to inspire a lot of writers."

I find this take fascinating with Disco Elysium in mind because of the way Kim Kitsuragi is the exception that proves the rule.

Kim Kitsuragi is a rare, well-written mixed Asian character with byronic traits. And would you look at that?—Kim Kitsuragi has captured the hearts and minds of basically every Disco Elysium enjoyer ever.

Kim Kitsuragi is notably NOT overshadowed by Jean Vicquemare, who is a white side character with byronic traits that, in an alternate universe, could've been possessed by the Fandom Ghost to overshadow Kim. Jean, in our universe, already has a pretty big fandom in proportion to his screentime.

But, by the grace of moments where Harry can get Kim to "give a smile only you can see," Kim Kitsuragi is the breakout star of Disco Elysium. I find that hopeful, in a time where Asian male characters (outside of Asia, ofc) are often overlooked or boxed in or emasculated.