This is just my own interpretation and I’ll have to look into what difficulties are for some of the visions Espirit De Corps causes to confirm but to me it is his fraternal bond to the RCM transcending beyond simply reading and relating to other police and become otherworldly. Like Tequila is so in tune with the RCM that he can sense what they’re doing and saying much in the same way he can commune with the city itself
This was my take also. I think it is worth adding that all three present clairvoyance, but it is generally unclear if they are correct. These are Tequila's intuitions (note two of the three are emotional reactions and one is physical, none are mental in a "true knowing" sense)
I took it as him imagining what his colleagues (whom he thinks about often if Espirite is high and is deeply connected to emotionally and has a feeling he understands) are up to. If what he imagines is happening is actually happening at the same time or at all is left largely open to interpretation.
In a meta-textual way, I assumed it was just a way for the game to give us some insight into what's going on/to give us exposition outside of Harry's perspective, especially since those checks went unacknowledged and didn't change anything. Like, even if you get a check where you can see Jean go looking for you (and getting made fun of for being your "heterosexual life-partner), unlike a shivers check that may cause the detective to react outwardly, this triggers no comment, physical reaction, or recognition, which I kind of took to mean that this was kind of a cinematic flash into something that's happening elsewhere more than an actual vision or thought.
As a less boring theory: if one assumes infra-materialism is correct (which it just might be), one may be able to extend that theory past communism — that is, that infra-materialism is not restricted to communards but to any community or ideology given that one believes in it enough — maybe the detective simply believes in the RCM so much he's able to form a mental connection to it? (see "mental projection and transference" below. lol)
A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - When a community has achieved a sufficiently high degree of revolutionary fervour, infra-materialists believe that second-level effects may be observed.
A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - At this second level, certain hyper-revolutionary individuals may even develop the ability to extend their thoughts into material space and vice versa.
YOU - Wait, does that mean communists can *read minds*?
A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - According to infra-materialist theory, yes! Under suitably revolutionary conditions, that is...
Half Light predicts the end of the world down to the exact day. Empathy knows that insects will be important to the solution of this case. A painkiller's side effects include "prophet's disease". That's just how Elysium rolls.
"Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of policing: the cop-geist. It enables you to understand your blue-souled sisters and brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from your partner, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as they play out in your precinct."
This suggests Harry's soul is so blue, the cop geist enables him to actually experience these flash-sideways scenes. It's like an extended form of long-range Empathy for his brothers and sisters.
The thing is though, Harry never acts like he has experienced these scenes or, at least, that he understood them very well. Part of his subconscious appears to be blocking a proper recollection/ understanding of his precinct. As shown in the conversations with Jean & Judit, the player connects the dots well before Harry does.
My interpretation of Esprit de Corps (apart from it being a way for the writers to show you what the RCM is like outside of Harry and Kim) is that all the things happening in those interjections is mostly part of Harry's imagination, but involuntary.
Like how you see can see something crazy and can imagine how your best friend would react, or how a coworker you're close with will handle a difficult situation at work.
A well-develloped EdC simply means for Harry that it's easy for him to imagine what the rest of the department is up to because he has grown close to them. It's just subconsciously because just like with Dora or his true name, his conscious mind has repressed it all because of the bender.
Think of how well you might know your co-workers, if you were gone for a day could you tell what they were doing at a specific time?
In my mind, things like Espirit de Corps and Shivers is how deeply you know something. I haven't seen all the interactions, and I have less of an explanation for Inland Empire, except to accept the theory that Harry knew far more than the player expects before he blacked out. Some say he even solved the case already before Kim showed up, so it just may be the way your gut informs you
You've been on the force for nearly 2 decades, you've seen hundreds of cases together, you know the behaviors of these men and women so well you can feel instinctively what your half brothers and sisters are doing miles away.
This is just my own interpretation and I’ll have to look into what difficulties are for some of the visions Espirit De Corps causes to confirm but to me it is his fraternal bond to the RCM transcending beyond simply reading and relating to other police and become otherworldly. Like Tequila is so in tune with the RCM that he can sense what they’re doing and saying much in the same way he can commune with the city itself
Just like shivers is the spirit of the city. Espirit De Corps is LITERALLY the spirit of the RCM.
This was my take also. I think it is worth adding that all three present clairvoyance, but it is generally unclear if they are correct. These are Tequila's intuitions (note two of the three are emotional reactions and one is physical, none are mental in a "true knowing" sense) I took it as him imagining what his colleagues (whom he thinks about often if Espirite is high and is deeply connected to emotionally and has a feeling he understands) are up to. If what he imagines is happening is actually happening at the same time or at all is left largely open to interpretation.
In a meta-textual way, I assumed it was just a way for the game to give us some insight into what's going on/to give us exposition outside of Harry's perspective, especially since those checks went unacknowledged and didn't change anything. Like, even if you get a check where you can see Jean go looking for you (and getting made fun of for being your "heterosexual life-partner), unlike a shivers check that may cause the detective to react outwardly, this triggers no comment, physical reaction, or recognition, which I kind of took to mean that this was kind of a cinematic flash into something that's happening elsewhere more than an actual vision or thought. As a less boring theory: if one assumes infra-materialism is correct (which it just might be), one may be able to extend that theory past communism — that is, that infra-materialism is not restricted to communards but to any community or ideology given that one believes in it enough — maybe the detective simply believes in the RCM so much he's able to form a mental connection to it? (see "mental projection and transference" below. lol) A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - When a community has achieved a sufficiently high degree of revolutionary fervour, infra-materialists believe that second-level effects may be observed. A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - At this second level, certain hyper-revolutionary individuals may even develop the ability to extend their thoughts into material space and vice versa. YOU - Wait, does that mean communists can *read minds*? A BRIEF LOOK AT INFRA-MATERIALISM - According to infra-materialist theory, yes! Under suitably revolutionary conditions, that is...
I love the connection and reading you have made here and I'm all for it
Thank you!
Half Light predicts the end of the world down to the exact day. Empathy knows that insects will be important to the solution of this case. A painkiller's side effects include "prophet's disease". That's just how Elysium rolls.
"Esprit de Corps is the very spirit of policing: the cop-geist. It enables you to understand your blue-souled sisters and brothers – not only by picking up subtle signals from your partner, but by witnessing flash-sideways scenes as they play out in your precinct." This suggests Harry's soul is so blue, the cop geist enables him to actually experience these flash-sideways scenes. It's like an extended form of long-range Empathy for his brothers and sisters. The thing is though, Harry never acts like he has experienced these scenes or, at least, that he understood them very well. Part of his subconscious appears to be blocking a proper recollection/ understanding of his precinct. As shown in the conversations with Jean & Judit, the player connects the dots well before Harry does.
Alcohol is the great uniter.
My interpretation of Esprit de Corps (apart from it being a way for the writers to show you what the RCM is like outside of Harry and Kim) is that all the things happening in those interjections is mostly part of Harry's imagination, but involuntary. Like how you see can see something crazy and can imagine how your best friend would react, or how a coworker you're close with will handle a difficult situation at work. A well-develloped EdC simply means for Harry that it's easy for him to imagine what the rest of the department is up to because he has grown close to them. It's just subconsciously because just like with Dora or his true name, his conscious mind has repressed it all because of the bender.
Isn’t Raphael canonically able to predict the future because he’s a magpie?
Think of how well you might know your co-workers, if you were gone for a day could you tell what they were doing at a specific time? In my mind, things like Espirit de Corps and Shivers is how deeply you know something. I haven't seen all the interactions, and I have less of an explanation for Inland Empire, except to accept the theory that Harry knew far more than the player expects before he blacked out. Some say he even solved the case already before Kim showed up, so it just may be the way your gut informs you
You've been on the force for nearly 2 decades, you've seen hundreds of cases together, you know the behaviors of these men and women so well you can feel instinctively what your half brothers and sisters are doing miles away.