Earlier this week, a plastic bag blowing in the wind made me question all I knew about the world, but in whatever way the opposite of life-affirming is.
Less blowing, actually. More taunting me from my screen maddeningly like a middle finger salute from a man with no hands. It was a baffling piece of licensed merch from Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM and Atelier, who I assume are three hyenas in a board room sniffing each other's crotches for eternity.
I couldn't tell you exactly where I first saw the bag - which has actually been on sale for a few months now - but I soon realised why it had likely entered the zeitgeist again: an extensive set of a documentary podcasts by YouTube creator The 41st Precinct, the latest of which interviews writers Dora Klindžić and Argo Tuulik for more time than I have ever spent on anything.
Here's a clip on Atelier and that fucking bag. "I have in the past received threats from management when I had tried to push back against some items, because this is an incredibly successful business for them," says Klindžić. "The darkest thing I ever heard was - I don't remember who it was from that circle - but they told me that it doesn't matter at all what people are saying on Twitter, because you see those same names who say they're never going to buy…they're the ones ordering these expensive items from ZA/UM.
That this loud minority doesn't matter because people covet these items more than they care about this." If you haven't been following the mess since Disco Elysium's release, it began when setting creator and lead ideasman Robert Kurvitz got booted from the studio, with a web of allegations of fraud and misconduct coming from either side.